PROCEEDING

The 2nd International Scientific Conference

SAMRO 2016
„News, challenges and trends in management
of knowledge-based organizations“

Pãltiniº, Sibiu County, 2016

th th
14 -16 of october 2016

Editors:
Constantin OPREAN
Mihail Aurel ÞÎÞU
 nd
The 2 International Scientific Conference
SAMRO 2016

„News, challenges and trends in management

of knowledge-based organizations“

Pãltiniº, Sibiu County, 2016

th th
14 -16 of october 2016

Editors:
Constantin OPREAN
Mihail Aurel ÞÎÞU

Bucuresti, 2016
 Copyright Ó
2016 EDITURA TEHNICÃ
Toate drepturile asupra acestei lucrãri aparþin editurii

EDITURA TEHNICÃ
Str. Brezoianu, nr. 44, sector1
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Bucure?ti, România

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ISSN 2537-3463
ISSN-L 2537-3455
ISBN 978-973-31-2390-3
  
 
INTERNATIONAL  SCIENTIFIC  COMITTEE 
 
Professor Ioan ABRUDAN, Romania, Technical University of Cluj Napoca 
Professor Moise Ioan ACHIM, Romania, “1st December 1918” University of Alba Iulia 
Professor Daniela Tatiana AGHEORGHIESEI, Romania, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi 
Professor Silvia AVASILCĂI, Romania, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iaşi 
Professor  Doina  BANCIU,  Romania,  The  National  Institute  for  Research  and  Development  in 
Informatics Bucharest 
Professor Maria Viorica BEDRULE‐GRIGORUȚĂ, Romania, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi 
Professor Nicolae Aurelian BIBU, Romania, West University of Timișoara 
Professor Ghiță BÎRSAN, Romania, Nicolae Bălcescu Land Forces Academy 
Professor Ioan BONDREA, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Professor Ionel BOSTAN, Romania, Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava 
Professor Constantin BRĂTIANU, Romania, Bucharest University of Economic Studies 
Professor Aurel BURCIU, Romania, Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava 
Professor Rodica Maria CANDEA, Romania, Technical University of Cluj Napoca 
Professor Dan CANDEA, Romania, Technical University of Cluj Napoca 
Professor Viorel CORNESCU, Romania, Nicolae Titulescu University 
Professor Cosmin DOBRIN, Romania, Bucharest University of Economic Studies 
Professor Camelia Cristina DRAGOMIR‐PÂNZARU, Romania, Spiru Haret University Brașov 
Professor Dănuț Dumitru DUMITRAȘCU, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Professor Valentin Cristian HAPENCIUC, Romania, Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava 
Professor Livia Puia ILIE, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Professor Liviu ILIEȘ, Romania, Babes‐Bolyai University Cluj Napoca 
Professor Octavian JABA, Romania, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi 
Professor Lloyd‐Reason LESTER, Anglia, University of Cambridge 
Professor Liviu Nicolae MIHĂESCU, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Professor Dănuț MOȘTEANU, Romania, Nicolae Bălcescu Land Forces Academy 
Professor Emanoil MUSCALU, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Professor Panaite NICA, Romania, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi 
Professor Ovidiu NICOLESCU, Romania, Bucharest University of Economic Studies 
Professor Constantin NIȚĂ, Romania, Transilvania University of Brașov 
Professor Valentin NIȚĂ, Romania, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iaşi 
Professor Constantin OPREAN, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Professor Stelian PÂNZARU, Romania, Spiru Haret University Brașov 
Professor Ion PETRESCU, Romania, Spiru Haret University Brașov 
Professor Ion POPA, Romania, Bucharest University of Economic Studies 
Professor Gabriela PRELIPCEAN, Romania, Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava 
Professor Adriana PRODAN, Romania, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi 
Professor Costache RUSU, Romania, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iaşi 
Professor Bogdan RUSU, Romania, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iaşi 
Professor Odile SOLNIK, Franța, IAE Gustave Eiffel, Paris Est University 
A/Professor Camelia OPREAN STAN, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
A/Professor Ramona TODERICIU, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Professor Amalia TODORUȚ, Constantin Brâncuși University 
Professor Mihail Aurel ȚÎȚU, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Lecturer Natalia VOZNENKO, Kharkiv, Simion Kuznets National University of Economics Kharkiv 
Professor Dumitru ZAIȚ, Romania, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi 
Peter James WELLS, France, Higher Education Division UNESCO 
 
 

   

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 
 
Professor Mihail Aurel ȚÎȚU, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Professor Constantin OPREAN, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
A/Professor Ramona TODERICIU, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Professor Ovidiu NICOLESCU, Romania, Bucharest University of Economic Studies 
Professor DănuțDumitru DUMITRAȘCU, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Ec. Mihai Gabriel CRISTIAN, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Student Ștefan ȚÎȚU, Romania, “IuliuHațeganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj‐Napoca 
Sc.D. Eng. AlinaMihaela VANU, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Ph.D. Jr. Daniela Maria FLUCSĂ, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Ec. Daniela LUCA,  Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Sc.D.‐Student AndreeaSiminaRĂULEA, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Student AndreeaSimona ANGHEL, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Student Denisa Elena CLENCI, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Student Roxana Anamaria DRĂGHICESCU, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Student Ștefan COJAN, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
Ph.D.‐Student Ec. Marinela Lidia BĂCILĂ, Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 
 

   

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 Preface
 
Romanian Academic Management Society (SAMRO) is a nongovernmental elite scientific
organization, apolitical, founded on the principles of democracy, whose mission is, on the one hand,
the promotion of sustainable management based on knowledge, through cooperation with the
Romanian academic elites of management schools of notoriety in the world, and on the other hand,
promoting the managerial experiences of excellence of Romanian and managers everywhere.
The conference organized this year (2016), at The Conference Centre from Păltiniș "Holy
Hierarch Andrei Șaguna", proposes a meeting of members of the company at the leading edge
Romanian Academic Management Society (SAMRO), specialists in management from Romania,
but also from countries invited to discuss developments in the field, promote sustainable
management based on knowledge, fostering cooperation with the Romanian academic elites of
reputation management schools in the world but managerial experiences and promoting excellence.
The evolution of the Romanian economy after 1990, once with the shift to a market
economy, has reinforced the important role it plays in getting performance in acquiring success,
management science. Thus, in our country it has produced a veritable explosion in terms of the
complexity of economic and social phenomena, general and particular relationships that foster
creative and effective assertion of private initiative. In this context, through its content, the
Conference seeks to make available to students, but also engineers, economists, managers, all those
who, by the nature of the activities, are interested in the activity and practice management,
fundamentals of modern management concepts, notions, functions, and other methodological
elements. Having noticed that the activity acquires new valences at managerial levels, and the need
to increase the permanent traffic routes its profitability will be studied in the context of measures
prefigures the development of our economy and the integration of environmental concerns in the
modern mechanisms promoted by the international communities, the principles of which Romania
has joined, the Conference promotes a rich literature designed to provide all knowledge needed
specialists in management activity. Management is conceived as a complex of concerns and actions
of a person, to create, to enable that through her work or group to achieve a specific objective in
terms of efficiency and quality. Managers-defined as those persons who hold managerial posts,
people taking decisions and which directly influence the actions and behavior of other persons-must
possess a number of qualities, knowledge, skills required of all those around him. In the first
category belong to intelligence, memory, observation, concentration ability, health, character-
qualities needed in any profession, but the increased dimensions for managers, given the complexity
and difficulty of managerial processes. In the second category belong the knowledge. The role of
managers in an organization can be achieved through actions that constitute the complex work
processes. Managerial activity is characterized by the so-called management processes, which
ultimately shows the mode of action of managers to ensure activity co-ordination and direction to
all personnel within the company. Driving process is carried out through a series of actions that
have been formulated and named by specialists in leadership attributes, which can be identified with
functions of management.
The six sections of the Conference include topical areas of interest to the company and,
being coordinated by the emblems of the management. Change management is a vast domain,
which must be addressed in a proactive and systemic manner in order to enable its integration into
5
 
the development strategy of the organization. It was designed to support efficient transition to an
upper stage, supporting management which in turn manages effectively the processes within the
organization. Quality management represents a set of activities aimed at the achievement of goals
through optimal use of resources. This ensemble comprises planning, organizing, coordinating,
monitoring and quality assurance. Now proposes a series of "strategic objectives": economic, social,
technical, commercial, which is achieved through "operational objectives". The latter would be:
obtaining products and services of appropriate quality requirements, the quantity applied for, the
time agreed and that must be available at place or desired market, however, in conditions of
minimum costs. Knowledge-based organizations are "collective actors," intelligent information and
society have an important role in affirming it; belonging to the contemporary reality in both the
quality of their work environment and management, as well as the object of scientific research and
strategic project, they mark the convergence between the two phenomena that define human nature-
that of knowledge and that of the organization. You can discuss such an emblematic construction
for proper social ideas of collective competence, intelligent and sustainable performance action. In a
business world increasingly located under the sign of competition, pithy capital migrates to new
opportunities, to new areas of profitability, and the transfer of technology has become a simple
matter of financial resources. However, between companies which operate in the same
environment, on similar coordinates from a technical standpoint, we find notable differences in
terms of performance, some of them at the top of the successful companies, while others are
fighting for survival. Essential element through which the companies concerned differentiates is
how to deal with human resources issues, in other words the content and quality of management of
these resources. Moreover, more and more experts are of the opinion that an organization's
competitive advantage lies in its people. At the same time, innovation, intellectual property
respectively is considered generally as the main engine of economic growth in today's global
economy. Through the introduction of new technologies, of new patentable products may be
obtained with improved quality characteristics, high quality services, new manufacturing processes,
more efficient and cleaner (environmentally friendly), improved models of quality management
system, in the end of strategic management. Sustainability as a concept can become a model of
development only if countries, economic sectors, businesses and citizens realize and use its
principles. The company's contribution to creating a promising future must be the result of complete
integration of sustainability into the DNA and its strategies.
Situated at 1350 m above sea level at the entrance to the mountain resort Paltinis, the small
church dedicated to the titular saint “The Transfiguration of Jesus” was built between 1925 and
1927. It is built of wood and covered with shingle style imitating the ancient wooden churches in
Transylvania. In the immediate surroundings of the Hermitage is located the grave of the
philosopher Constantin Noica, who has lived for the last 13 years of his life at Păltiniş.
This particular place near the Hermitage Păltiniș - Conference Center “Holy Hierarch
Andrei Șaguna” - will host the second International Conference 2016 SAMRO called "News,
challenges and trends in management of knowledge-based organizations."

Professor Constantin OPREAN,

Professor Mihail Aurel ȚÎȚU,
"Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu

6
 
 Content

Managing a cloud-based documents system (Doina Banciu, Mihail Dumitrache) ............................................ 13

The role of strategic and / or operational choices in the management of Romanian fast growing firms.
Decision-making and investment decisions (Nicolae Bibu, Diana C. Sala, Maria Alb) .................................... 20

The change need evaluation based on the stakeholders satisfaction in technical higher education
(Ana-Maria Bogatu, Irina Severin, Gheorghe Solomon and Constantin Petriceanu) ........................................... 26

Considerations on oraganization agility and change management (Anca Drăghici, Daniel Paschek,
Adelin Trușculescu and Alexandru Cânda) ........................................................................................................... 36

Reform in the education system. The role of the school principal in the implementation of
change in the education system (Horriyah Saab)................................................................................................ 42

Changes in the schools – who managesthe change? (Horriyah Saab) ............................................................... 50

Change management – challenges and perspectives (Hussein Saris)................................................................ 57

Editorial management: from experiments and experiences to evolution (Paul Marinescu,

Sorin-George Toma and Cătălin Grădinaru) ........................................................................................................ 65

Challenges of managing cultural projects in an urban setting - case of Slatina city

(Virgil Nicula, Simona Spânu) ............................................................................................................................... 71

Revaluing the culture of health organizations. A path analysis approach

(Ion Popa and Simona Cătălina Ștefan) ................................................................................................................ 79

Reinforcing change management in business environment. A psychological overview

(Bogdan-Emil Stroe and Ionuț-Eugen Sandu)........................................................................................................ 86

Comparative analysis of scientific research performance of some romanian faculties of

economic sciences (Tiță Silviu Mihail, Neştian Andrei Ștefan) ............................................................................. 92

Aspects regarding quality management processes machining of aluminum alloys

(Alina Bianca Pop, Mihail Aurel Țîțu) ................................................................................................................. 103

A point of view on the methods of quality evaluation and improvement services

in a university library (Albu Cristina, Cristian Adriana and Valter Narcisa) ................................................... 110

Indoor localization application (Bălan Matei-Călin, Bălan George)................................................................ 120

Changes and challenges in management of public local administration (Camelia Dragomir) .................. 124

Contributions on reconditioning by ultrasonic field spray coating metallization

(Gheorghe Amza, Relu Fenechiu) ........................................................................................................................ 131

Contributions to the structural modifications that occur when reconditioningby spraying

on ultrasonic field (Gheorghe Amza, Relu Fenechiu, Dan Florin Niţoi, Zoia Apostolescu) .............................. 137

Risk management. Evaluation method of the professional risks

(Ionescu Victor, Calea Gheorghe, Amza Gheorghe, Niţoi Dan, Dimitrescu Andrei) .......................................... 144

The quality and the management of human resources quality within the knowledge based
economy and organization (Muntean Laura, Țîțu Mihail Aurel, Oprean Constantin) ...................................... 151

7
KPI applications for IT&C used in natural gas sector
(Constantin Oprean, Mihail Aurel Țîțu, Dorin-Vasile Deac-Șuteu) .................................................................... 159

Intellectual property quality management in automotive field

(Mihail Aurel Țîțu, Constantin Oprean and Andreea Simina Răulea) ................................................................. 166

Leadership strategies for supporting organizational knowledge processes

(Ruxandra Bejinaru, Costică Roman) .................................................................................................................. 179

The influence of knowledge as a component of intellectual capital within the global business
context (Ruxandra Bejinaru, Cristian-Valentin Hapenciuc, Daniela-Mihaela Neamțu, Costică Roman) .......... 188

Developing generic skills in business education (Constantin Brătianu, Elena Mădălina Vătămănescu) ........ 197

Understanding university intellectual capital (Constantin Brătianu) .............................................................. 203

Empirical approach to knowledge, knowledge economy and knowledge based organizations

(Marius Daraban) ................................................................................................................................................ 209

Tripadvisor: a virtual community of pratice (Ramona-Diana Leon, Costin Dămăşaru) ................................ 216

Data science, specific instrument of knowledge based organizations

(Claudiu Pîrnau, Mihail Aurel Țîțu, Liviu Ioan Roșca and Mironela Pîrnau) .................................................... 224

The influence of the principal’s leadership style on the teachers’ self-efficacy and extent
of burnout in an arab schools in Israel (Osama Arar) ..................................................................................... 235

Comparative evidences of cultural intelligence profile for management and non-management

students (Laura Brancu, Valentin Partenie Munteanu and Ionuț Golet) ............................................................ 242

The influence of leadership styles on acceptance level of new technologies in companies

(Marius Constantin Guluță, Costache Rusu) ....................................................................................................... 250

Contribution of human resources to the sustainability of the knowledge-based organizations

(Muntean Laura, Oprean Constantin, Țîțu Mihail Aurel) .................................................................................... 260

Destination management organizations’ (DMOS’) roles and performance – literature review

(Adina Letiția Negrușa and Monica Maria Coroș) .............................................................................................. 267

Philosophical and managerial values of Mary Parker Follett’s contribution

(Adina Letiția Negrușa and Gheorghe Gh. Ionescu) ........................................................................................... 275

Challleges in romanian higher education (Cristina Oprea, Delia Mioara Popescu,

Adrian Bunea and Irina Barbu) ........................................................................................................................... 282
Management of dysfunctions and conflicts in public administration
(Stelian Pânzaru, Liliana Constantinescu, Camelia Dragomir) .......................................................................... 288

Study on management training to employees of organizations in Romania (Stelian Pânzaru) .................... 293

Management of stressful jobs in knowledge based organizations

(Irina Rotariu, Emanoil Muscalu and Mihail Aurel Țîțu) .................................................................................... 301

The principal leadership style in bedouin secondary school in the negev (Salih Alasad) ............................. 308

Innovation and creativity in educational managerial process

(Amalia Venera Todoruț, Vassilis Tselentis)........................................................................................................ 315

The development of a romanian construction industry business: the case of unimat

(Mihai Balaban, Dănuţ Dumitru Dumitraşcu) ................................................................................................ 325

Who provides management software solutions in romania? A preliminary analysis of information

management producer organisations (Mihai Ilie Balaban, Dănuţ Dumitru Dumitraşcu) ............................... 330

Financial management of the economic entity using alternative decisions

(Berechet (Dragnea) Mihaela Cornelia, Scarlat (Lazăr) Maraina Laura) ......................................................... 336
8
The role of european projects in leveraging entrepreneurial initiatives of students from romanian business
schools (Căpățînă Alexandru, Micu Adrian, Nicolescu Ciprian, Cristache Nicoleta and Micu Angela-Eliza)... 341

Challenges of entrepreneurship in the society of knowledge (Gabriel Croitoru,

Valentina-Ofelia Robescu and Sorin Păun) ......................................................................................................... 347

Challenges and key issues in building and the management of a knowledge based
organisation in Romania (ph. d. Ioan Enoiu) ................................................................................................... 356

Clusters as innovative partnerships for economic growth and new jobs in Romania
Christina Leucuta) ............................................................................................................................................... 361

Social responsibility strategies in support of romanian education

(Maria Tătărușanu and Angelica Neculăesei) ..................................................................................................... 369

Ceprocs the system of success – a case study about an outsourcing company (Dan Miricescu,
Daniela Curmu and Virginia Groza) ................................................................................................................... 377

A brief review of the vocational education and training in romanian smes

(Dan Miricescu, Wiegand Helmut Fleischer) ...................................................................................................... 383

The characteristics of innovation in romanian smes - based on 1375 entrepreneurs

and managers interviews (Ovidiu Nicolescu, Ciprian Nicolescu) ..................................................................... 387

Technological innovations in museums as a source of competitive advantage

(Izabela Luiza Pop and Anca Borza) ................................................................................................................... 398

Family businesses: a global presence (Sorin-George Toma, Paul Marinescu and Cătălin Grădinaru) ........... 406

The link between innovation and performance: a comparative study between

romanian and german SMES (Zenovia Cristiana Pop, Ovidiu-Niculae Bordean and Anca Borza) ................ 411

Benchmarking in university libraries - between theory and practice

(Albu Cristina, Cristian Adriana and Valter Narcisa) ......................................................................................... 421

Contributions on the environmental impact of sections of the foundry an enterprise technology equipment
(Gheorghe Amza, Dan Valentin Petrescu, Dan Florin Niţoi, Zoia Apostolescu, Oana Roxana Chivu) .............. 426

Sustainable development from a manager's point of view in the industrial field

(Cristina Feniser and Marian Mocan) ................................................................................................................. 435

The climate of resort Păltiniș Sibiu, a factor in management of sustainable development

(Virgil Nicula, Simona Spânu) ............................................................................................................................. 441

Optimization method for the decision to invest in housing construction

(Ovidiu Gavris Pascu, Sorina Anamaria Ciplea, Horea Stelian Dan)................................................................. 449

Sustainability – key factor for integrated supply chains (Teodora Roman, Adriana Manolică and
Maria Madela Abrudan) ...................................................................................................................................... 456

Index .................................................................................................................................................................... 467

9
10
 Topic 1

Management of change – challenges and perspectives

The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

MANAGING A CLOUD-BASED DOCUMENTS SYSTEM

Doina Banciu1 and Mihail Dumitrache2

1
National Institute for Research & Development in Informatics – I.C.I. Bucharest, doina.banciu@ici.ro
2
National Institute for Research & Development in Informatics – I.C.I. Bucharest, mihaildu@rotld.ro

ABSTRACT: The paper presents characteristics of the Cloud systems and the way multiple users can share
available resources. It also presents types of services that may be provided by cloud, compared with classical
systems, together with advantages and disadvantages that users can come across when using the cloud systems.
The paper approaches the Cloud system manager's tasks compared to organizational management. At the end of
the paper we present, as an example, the cloud system implemented at ICI Bucharest and some of its
beneficiaries.
KEYWORDS: cloud, system, computing, infrastructure, administrator, platform, manager.

1. INTRODUCTION
The term of “Cloud Computing” involves the storing, processing and usage of data,
applications and information systems on remote equipment. Access to Cloud resources is
done through Internet-based communication systems.
It is widely recognized that Cloud Computing systems reduce costs on users' side and
facilitate the development of numerous services. Usage of cloud computing is increasingly
spreading in various fields: energy, environment, health, education and culture, and,
especially, in public administration, due to the ways these systems facilitate inter-operability.
Some authors consider that “Cloud Computing represents a new phase of industrialization
(standardization, expansion, broad availability) in providing computing power as a matter of
public interest ("utility computing") comparable to the industrialization of the supply of
electricity power plants energy" [1].
When it comes to IT&C, Romania is not among the EU foremost developed countries,
occupying the 67th position f the 142 countries ranking of The Network Readiness Index
(NRI) 2012. Romania had fallen from the 59th position out of 133 countries in NRI 2009. In
the 2011-2015 plan on e-Government for Europe it is highlighted that the IT system currently
used in public administration is characterised by fragmentary access to resources, duplicate
systems, poor use of available resources, complicated procurement procedures, and, generally
a complicated environment for management and control, with immediate effect on the quality
of services provided by the Government to the citizens. An important factor in the
development of e-Government services is the Cloud Computing system, that can significantly
help the Government through services of high availability, innovative and accessible
immediately to the citizens and to the business community.
The Cloud Computing concept is presented schematically in Figure 1.
Immediately after the launch of the Cloud Computing concept, industrialised countries have
started studies and research on how to implement Cloud systems in various areas, especially
in the public administration domain.
Among the most notable initiatives in the EU member countries are: G-Cloud (United
Kingdom), Andromede (France) and Trusted Cloud (Germany). All these projects have
demonstrated particular efficiency as a result of optimization of data centers usage. In the
United Kingdom there has been a 10% less power consumption in infrastructure compared to
standard non-Cloud solutions. Also, at European level, there is a single point of access to a
wide range of data relating to institutions and bodies of the European Union, “EUROPEAN
UNION OPEN DATE" [2]. It provides free and easy access to data, aiming to promote
13
innovatiive use of it and increaase its econnomic poten
ntial. Outsidde the Europpean area, the Open
Governm ment initiattive (also known
k as Open
O Data) from the U.S.
U Governnment is no oticeable,
which aims
a to incrrease the traansparency of the Govvernment acctions, throuugh standard dization,
consoliddation and unified
u pressentation of data.

Sourcce: http://ro.wikippedia.org/wiki/Clooud_computing#mediaviewer/Filee:Cloud_computiing.svg

ure 1. Cloud Computing co

Figu onceptual diaggram
Accordiing to a stuudy conduccted by Inteernational Data
D Corpooration [3] at European n Union
level, a direct inveestment of 45 billion EUR
E in Cloud Compuuting Servicces in 2012 2, would
have haad by 2020,, an impactt on gross domestic
d prroduct (GDP) of 957 bbillion EUR R. These
facts coompel the accademia and the researrch commun nity, and allso the mannagers, regarrdless of
the deciision-makinng segment, to pay incrreased attenttion to the Cloud
C system
ms.
2. CLO
OUD TECH
HNOLOGY
Y PATTER
RNS
Cloud Technology
T y patterns used
u in orgaanizations are
a mostly Private or Hybrid typ
pe, while
service providers use
u the Public and Hybrrid type (Figgure 2).

Figure 2. Cloud
C Technollogy Patterns
Private Cloud: thee IT infrastrructure is used
u by onee organisatiion consisting of severral users
and cann be adminisstered by the organisatiion itself or outsourcedd to a third pparty.
Public Cloud:
C the IT
I infrastruccture is avaailable to thee public or a part of thee public, on
n basis of
certain criteria,
c or a segment or
o area of innterest.
14
Hybrid Cloud: the IT infrastruucture is coomposed of one or morre componeents of the public
p or
of the private type Cloud technnology, takeen as a who
ole while using the sam
me technolog
gy.
Commuunity Cloud:: the IT infrrastructure is i shared by y several orgganizations in order to
o provide
servicess to a particuular commuunity, that shhares the saame functionnal requirem
ments.
Institutiional Cloudd: Cloud infrastructur
i re administered by an
a organizaation and used
u by
multiplee users.
The Clooud System manager haas several functions
fu sim
milar to an organizationn Manager.. We can
make a direct paraallel betweeen the funcctions of a Cloud System managger and those of an
organizaational mannager. In Table
T 1 aree shown th he main atttributions oof a Cloud System
manageer comparedd to the oness of an orgaanizational manager.
m
Taable 1. Compaarison of functtions betweenn an organizatiional managerr and a Cloud System manaager
Manager C
Cloud Manageer
Foresight Plannning users' acctivities (accesss rights, resource
alloccation, planninng teams worrking in the clo oud)
Organising Organizes phhysical paths in the Cloud
Orgaanises operatioonal and mainntenance techn nical
teams (nummber of shifts, appointing
respponsibilities, eetc.)
Organizzing security ssystems
Command Deeciding how too implement ssecurity system ms
Asssigning tasks according to abilities and job
requirements
Control Chhecks compliaance with the appointed task ks
Checcks compliancce with the useers' data/resou urces
security and
a privacy reegulations
Checks system's functionality
3. CLO
OUD COM
MPUTING SERVICES
S S
Cloud Computing
C Systems can provide many typees of servicces. Figure 3presents some of
these seervices [4].

Sourcee: https://www.sim
mple-talk.com/iw
writefor/articlefiles/cloud/2011/11/cloud-service-moodel.png

ure 3. Types of
Figu o services in Cloud Compuuting

15
The service types were specified by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
[5], and grouped into three main categories or “service models.”
IaaS (Infrastructure as aService): the first model that respects the Cloud Computing
characteristics as specified by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). In this
case, a service provider leases the IT infrastructure.
IaaS examples: Amazon Web Service (AWS), Google Compute Engine (GCE), Rackspace
Open Cloud, IBM SmartCloud Enterprise, HP Enterprise Converged Infrastructure.
PaaS (Platform as aService): the provider maintains and offers pre-configured components
including programming languages, application servers and databases for developers of web
applications.
PaaS examples: Engine Yard, Red Hat OpenShift, Google App Engine, Heroku, AppFog,
Windows Azure Cloud Services, Amazon Web Services AWS, Caspio.
SaaS (Software as aService): the provider offers to users applications “on-demand”.
SaaS examples: Microsoft Office 365, Google Gmail, Google Docs, Zoho Office, Salesforce,
Citrix GoToMeeting, Cisco WebEx.
Each of these services has advantages and disadvantages for the end user. In this regard, users
must make a detailed analysis of the cost / performance elements, and take a decision
accordingly.
4. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CLOUD COMPUTING
A survey conducted in 2011 by the European Commission shows that, following the adoption
of Cloud-Computing, 80% of organizations reduce their costs by 10-20%, with significant
increases in the following components: labour mobility (46%), productivity (41%),
standardization (35%), as well as, new business opportunities (33%) and markets (32%) [3].
Table 2 compares Cloud model characteristics to the traditional ones.

Table 2. Cloud model characteristics compared to the traditional ones

Traditional model “Cloud” Model
Each entity maintains its own IT infrastructure The infrastructure is shared and used as needed by
several entities
The systems are heterogeneous and complex The platform is homogeneous, simplified and
controlled as a unit
Infrastructure management is carried out by those The infrastructure is virtualized, optimized and
in charge with the processes managed by a specialized team
The level of assistance from authorized staff is High level of operational support
low
The security level is low and each component of High security over the entire system
the process needs to be secured
Intensive use of energy resources in order to Optimized use of energy resources by aggregating
operate a large number of data centres data centres
Cloud Computing presents a number of features and benefits:
• Cloud Computing provider manages the systems and the storage devices (hardware), not
the user that interacts with it through the Internet;
• The systems are virtualized within a network, and the user does not know precisely the
exact location of data or the processes, only the access point to the infrastructure;
• The user can very easily and quickly change the hardware volume he/she uses, i.e.
increasing storage capacity;
• The user can access data and programs when needed through a device (PC, laptop, tablet,
smartphone) connected to the Internet;
• For a user who uses multiple devices connected to the Cloud, data synchronization is
simplified;
16
• The Cloud service provider can migrate certain client processes optimizing available
resources;
• User pays according to usage, very much like a public utility service (eg.: electricity), with
no costs related to configuring and operating the systems.
• Disadvantages of Cloud Computing regard several key aspects presented below:
• Fast Internet and secure communications - the user needs a stable and fast connection to
the Internet;
• Data Security - all data and records are held by the service provider and this can lead to
user distrust in the provider keeping the data confidentiality and integrity;
• Unwanted attacks - DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) type attacks are more common
in Cloud Computing;
• Processing of personal data and the free movement of such data (lack of user control over
that data and insufficient information on how, where and which entity is processing that data),
the user does not know whether the personal data is stored domestically or abroad;
• Concentrated infrastructure - hardware, software data - in the event of a major incident,
the user can lose programs and data entirely, if the Cloud Computing system lacks specific
safeguards (data recovery, back-up systems);
• Appropriate legal framework - the operational legal framework is not comprehensive
enough to cover possible, sometimes unwanted, scenarios [6].
5. ICIPRO PROJECT - EXAMPLE OF CLOUD COMPUTING SYSTEM
National Institute of Research - Development in Informatics - ICI Bucharest implemented
through ICIPRO Project (Cloud-type Infrastructure for Public Institutions in Romania), a
Cloud-type platform with the following services:
• IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service - represented by virtualized servers, data storage space,
virtualized sets of resources with access to the self-service-type interface. This service offers
to various institutions a “self-service” type software interface for access and management of
virtualized computing resources. ICIPRO platform is a platform for cloud services hosted
within the ICI data centers, and based on Windows Azure technology.Through the self-
service Portal within the infrastructure services, users having the necessary clearance level
will be able to allocate and administer infrastructure services. Specifically, through this portal
they will be able to define virtual workstations, they will be able to manage the parameters of
these virtual workstations, they will be able to define and manage complex services running
on multiple virtual machines.
• Virtual Library service offers public institutions access to electronic archiving services
and the opportunity to publish electronic documents through a public access portal. The
electronic documents archive implemented within this service ensures storage of documents
in professional conditions regarding security and safety, and also grants management rights at
document level for the owner of the document.
• Through the Open Data Service, public institutions are able to publish in a standardized
manner public information, generated by the institution itself or as replies to public requests.
For each data set published through the portal, there are made available to the users metadata
describing the data set: brief description, source (the institution which has generated the data),
status (e.g. work in progress, finished version), the type of data (e.g. Statistical, Legislative
Initiative, map, etc.) notes from the authors, authors' contact info.
• Inter-operability Platformis a middle-ware and integration solution that provides process
management and operational abilities, leading to the development of a SOA type architecture
(Service Oriented Architecture) and implementation of infrastructure for:
• Inter-connectivity of applications that already exist within an organization - EAI
(Enterprise Application Integration);
• Inter-connectivity of applications from different, partner, organizations, - Business-to-
Business (B2B) integration;

17
 • Definition and management of business processes and regulations - BPM (Business
Process Management)[7].
The schematic diagram of the system is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Schematic diagram of the ICIPRO system

ICIPRO project is an institutional Cloud. Management of the system is entirely ensured by
ICI Bucharest, through all the functions presented in Table 1. Most of these features are
carried out by a centralized management system, developed within the Cloud (Microsoft
System Center), ensuring the following functionalities:
• Provisioning and service management in a virtualized environment;
• Application monitoring (operating systems, middle-ware, databases);
• Management of virtual machines' configuration (e.g.: management of updating the virtual
machine's operation system);
• Management of the virtualization system;
• Optimize performance and capacity through analytical tools, dashboards and alerts;
• Ability to create and implement recovery plans, and also the possibility of extending them
through scripts.
Currently the system has several beneficiaries, apart from ICI-Bucharest - the owner - that has
moved 70% of its IT infrastructure into the Cloud.
The Cloud platform provides services to 27 entities, while for other entities the Institute is in
the process of establishing the specific usage procedures. Totally, there are 31 subscribed
Public Institutions as follows:
• 10 public libraries;
• 11 public Universities, and Research and Development Institutions;
• 7 central public institutions (ministries);
• 3 local public institutions.
Each institution has its own secure system for generation, assignment and management of
passwords and of the resources that it has requested.
18
For maintenance of these systems 3 categories of human resources are necessary:
• Staff for permanent maintenance (access control, video surveillance, fire detection and
monitoring, monitoring air-conditioning equipment, power supply monitoring, monitoring the
building etc. - 4 persons);
• Permanent stand-by (3 shifts of 2 persons each);
• Staff for technical services (account validation and allocation of IT resources to users,
system monitoring and updating etc. - 4 persons);
• Customer service (2 persons).

6. REFERENCES
1. ***:http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0529:FIN:RO:PDF
2. ***: European Union Open Data Portal, http://open-data.europa.eu/ro/data/
3. ***: Quantitative Estimates of the Demand for Cloud Computing in Europe and the
Likely Barriers to Take-up IDC (2012)
4. ***: An Introduction to Cloud Computing Characteristics and Service/Deployment
Models, http://cloud.dzone.com/articles/introduction-cloud-computing
5. ***: National Institute of Standards and Technology, http://www.nist.gov/
6. Banciu, Doina; Andrei, Neculai; Dumitrache, Mihail; Sandu, Ionut-Eugen. CLOUD
COMPUTING – Noțiuni generale
(http://www.icipro.ro/cursuri/Curs_CLOUD_COMPUTING.pdf)
7. Dumitrache, M. Servicii publice electronice oferite instituțiilor publice prin proiectul
ICIPRO (Infrastructură de tip Cloud pentru Instituțiile Publice din România), In: Revista
Româna de Informatică și Automatică, Vol. 25, nr. 4, pp. 27–32, București, 2015, ISSN:
1220 – 1758.

19
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC AND / OR OPERATIONAL CHOICES IN

THE MANAGEMENT OF ROMANIAN FAST GROWING FIRMS.
DECISION-MAKING AND INVESTMENT DECISIONS

Nicolae Bibu1, Diana C. Sala2, Maria Alb3

1
West University of Timisoara, nicubibu@yahoo.com
2
West University of Timisoara, diana.sala@feaa.uvt.ro
3
West University of Timisoara, mariaalb@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a current image of the management of Romanian fast-growing firms,
highlighting the role of strategic and / or operational choices of the entrepreneur-managers to achieve rapid
growth. The paper discusses two major issues: (1) The main managerial decisions in the years of rapid growth,
which have proved their efficiency, over time, in relation to business development and entrepreneur-managers'
expectations; we grouped them into favourable decisions and less favourable decisions; (2) Discussing strategic
choices and / or operational choices of the entrepreneur-managers in the years of rapid growth. Research issues
were examined through a qualitative research. To achieve the research goals we used interview as a research tool
and content analysis as a method of analysis. The results presented in this paper come to explain and highlight
the importance of entrepreneur-managers choices at one point in time, that over time have proven their strategic
and / or operational efficiency or on the contrary – inefficiency – in relation with the rapid growth of companies.
KEYWORDS: strategic choices, fast-growing company, management.

1. INTRODUCTION
Many publications in the field have examined various research issues related to fast-growing
firms. These are ranging from discussing how to define fast-growing companies to issues
regarding attributes of the fast-growing company, fast growth factors, practices of fast-
growing firms and up to aspects of finesse such as the vision of fast-growing firms managers.
Considering the fact that we have not identified until this moment a detailed research on
strategic and / or operational choices of the fast-growing firms managers and yet, no analysis
of the manager's decisions in the rapid growth period, we considered it appropriate to
approach these issues for the Romanian fast-growing firms. In our opinion, our results present
a new perspective on the process of rapid growth of the Romanian fast growth oriented firms
from Timiş County, which would help us to better understand how the rapid growth of
companies can be achieved in the Romanian context.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW SUMMARY
Wennberg (2013) presents that, with few exceptions, we do not know much about the
management of high growth firms. [9]. Fischer and Reuber (2003) believe that management
issues associated with the company's rapid growth can lead to poor performance and that
rapid growth is more difficult to sustain than to obtain. Firms’s growth is limited by capital
and managerial constraints according to Barringer, Jones and Lewis (1997). [3], [1].
Fischer and Reuber (2003) discloses that in the literature, common management problems
associated with rapid growth are associated with people, processes and resources. In
connection with issues related to processes, the authors show that communication, decision-
making systems and processes existing in the company rarely are well adapted at the moment
of rapid growth. [3].
Zhang, Yang and Ma (2008) believes that rapid growth is not random, being associated with
company-specific attributes, behaviours, strategies and decision-making. The authors present
that in literature it is specified that when the perception of the environment is accurate better
strategic decisions will be made. [10].
20
OECD (2012, p. 49) present that most high growth firms are undergoing a succession of
changes in their evolution and these high growth firms have a hybrid structure allowing
harmonization of functional and product management. About important decisions and strategy
choices decisions it is referred to as being decided in a general consensus. [7].
Branka and Boštjan (2004) consider the decision-making as being one of the key determinants
of survival and success of small firms. Branka and Boštjan (2004) also emphasizes that in the
literature it is presented that in the small firms entrepreneur usually acts as a strategic
manager, making all operational and strategic decisions. [2].
In their paper, Miozzo and DiVito (2016) present how manifestations of technology
development act as signalling devices to attract funding and management, which according to
the authors, influences the speed of firm growth. [5].
About assets and capabilities that businesses need to develop to be able to grow rapidly,
Mason, Robinson and Bondibene (2012) present that these bring forward some skills
challenges that however accompany the rapid expansion. Firm's growth rates may be affected
by firms’ choices of specialist products and target markets that are considered to be key
components of strategic decision-making. The authors found a strong positive correlation
between product strategy and average annual growth rates of employment and sales at the
firms with higher growth rates of sales and number of employees. [4].
Wennberg (2013) on Nicholls-Nixon (2005) present that companies should build their
capacity to make things to be done even when the formal structure and systems do not keep
up with the rapid growth of the firms. To build such capacity it means to develop new skills
and capabilities which may mean hiring personnel and obtaining resources such as new sales,
accounting, or information systems, to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
[9], [6].
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
For selecting fast-growing companies from the Romanian context, more precisely from Timiş
Country, we used definition criteria according to OECD (2007, p.61). [8]. As it is presented in
the literature, there are many discussions regarding the appropriate method by which to
identify companies with high growth or rapid growth. Considering that there is still no
consensus on the definition of fast-growing firms, but as many researchers apply into their
studies the OECD definition criteria for identifying fast growing firms, in this research we
applied the criteria of the definition to which we referred above.
First, we identified Romanian companies from Timiş County that achieved rapid growth in
the reference period, 2008 - 2013. We verified the companies that had rapid growth in terms
of turnover during the reference period. The result was that 153 companies had a rapid growth
by turnover calculated as annual turnover growth rate and as average annualised growth.
Please note that not all companies had a rapid growth in all consecutive calendar years in the
baseline period, but all companies had rapid growth for at least 4 consecutive calendar years
in the reference period such that at least three years to be considered years of fast growth.
Next, we used the second OECD criteria which was related to the number of employees at the
beginning of the growth period, being at least 10.
Of the 153 companies, only 17 companies were noted as having rapid growth in the reference
period both, by turnover and number of employees. The growth of these companies was
calculated as average annualised growth as shown in the paper of the OECD (2007, p.62). [8]
Further, collecting information for studying the research problems, the analysis and the
interpretation of collected data / information were performed through a qualitative research
methodology.
After establishing the research sample fast-growing companies, were organized in-depth
interviews with entrepreneur-managers from the 17 Romanian fast-growing firms or fast
growth oriented firms that were selected from the population of 153 companies. Top priorities
21
at selection for conducting the interviews were the 17 companies that met both criteria:
turnover and number of employees. Of the 17 firms where interviews were conducted, 5 firms
had rapid growth, both by turnover and number of employees. The remaining 12 companies
where interviews were conducted, were satisfied the criterion of turnover. As regards the
second OECD recommended criteria which was related to the number of employees, being at
least 10, 12 firms out of 17 where interviews were conducted respected this criterion.
For each interview we wrote the transcript (where possible) or we wrote the sheets of paper
containing the details of discussions during the interviews. To find answers at the research
questions we applied the content analysis method of transcripts / sheets of papers.
For the written text being contained in transcripts / sheets of papers, the main type of analysis
unit used in the content analysis was the word, the sentence or the paragraph. We grouped the
words, the sentences and the paragraphs according to the specific subject so that to catch the
hidden meanings of text on the research problems that we have proposed to examine in this
research.
Further, we used the metaphorical reduction to determine each symbol or key pathway actions
of each entrepreneur-manager based on a retrospective exercise, setting out the classification
of each entrepreneur-manager and by default, of each analysed company.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 Analysis of the main managerial decisions in the years of rapid growth in terms of their
effect on the rapid growth
In our opinion, the analysis of decision-making, whereby strategic decisions and operational
decisions were adopted by the entrepreneur-managers during the rapid growth period helps us
to achieve a better understanding of rapid growth. Moreover, identifying certain decisions that
proved to be less favourable for rapid growth of the companies, decisions that can be brought
to the light by the means of this analysis, and from which useful lessons can be learned for the
management of the fast-growing firms and firms that intend to engage into a fast growth
process.
The first research problem presented in this paper refers to the analysis of the main
management decisions made in the years of rapid growth through the effects or consequences
that occurred over time from when deciding, starting from the assumption that the experience
gained over time makes people look with different eyes opportunities that they have passed
over. In order to investigate it, we asked the entrepreneur-managers what would they do
differently in the management of the company in the period of rapid growth if they would
have the chance to go back in time, at a specific moment. The purpose of the question was to
find out whether entrepreneur-managers have situations where, if it would be possible to do
otherwise they would act otherwise to support / manage the rapid growth of the company.
We analysed the decisions of entrepreneur-managers that were taken during the rapid growth
period in connection with investments during the period of rapid growth. Starting from issues
such as directions toward entrepreneur-managers oriented to, key steps that entrepreneur-
managers went through the years of rapid growth, investment and changes made in the years
of rapid growth, we delivered a list of the most favourable decisions from the years of rapid
growth in relation to the rapid growth of Romanian fast-growing firms.
The results of the analysis of the interviews validate that in decision-making, entrepreneur-
managers have done the following: (1) analysed the opportunities and threats in the external
environment, in parallel with the analysis of the firm's internal capabilities, using SWOT. (2)
They were interested or were looking for relevant data and information for making the most
appropriate decisions. (3) They had done considerable thinking on the importance and future
effect of their growth-related decision.
The analysis that we performed highlights that during the rapid growth period entrepreneur-
managers not only made good decisions in relation to the company's activity and implicitly, in
22
relation to rapid growth. All entrepreneur-managers stated that during rapid growth period
they made decisions that, during that period, proved to be less favourable then expected, being
ranked below the anticipated expectations when making decisions.
Following the findings of the analysis we considered appropriate to present in Table. 1. a brief
summary of the research results in an antagonistic approach: favourable decisions and less
favourable decisions for rapid growth of the company.
Analysing decisions that, over time, proved less favourable for rapid growth of the
companies, meaning that they caused some delays, tensions or difficulties during the
implementation of the decision or in the immediate aftermath of the decision, as stated some
of entrepreneur-managers at the interviews, we could draw several best practices, such as:
• employing specialized and competent personnel from the beginning;
• better prioritization of major / strategic investment using specific situation criteria (for
instance, avoiding focusing only on the investments, without paying attention to the earlier
development of agricultural exploitation);
• maintaining a balance between growth and company earnings;
• promotion / to-market products or services;
• diversifying earlier the range of products or services offered;
• minimizing losses when making decisions
• avoiding (as possible) problems in cashing;
• earlier making decisions for decisions;
• a much rigorous organization / management of the company;
• a greater attention to be paid to lifelong learning of employees.

It is important also to specify that the analysis performed reveals that all the entrepreneur-
managers of companies in the sample have assumed all the decisions. Next, they also used
them as support for their future decisions, founding appropriate to learn especially from the
decisions that proved to be less favourable in relation to expectations of entrepreneur-
managers vis-a-vis the efficiency and effectiveness of the aftermath of the decisions made, in
relation to the rapid growth of the company.

Table 1. Example of useful or favourable decisions and less useful or less favourable decisions for rapid growth
in the management of Romanian fast-growing firms
Useful or favourable decisions
-decision to reinvest every year profits in the company
-prioritizing investments and their funding in order to achieve them
-decision to make periodic changes in the firm: organizational changes, changes in functioning and changes of
personal
-decision to execute some less profitable works but necessary for customer retention
-decision to gradually increase the percentage of profit of the company contracts, while increasing the
effectiveness / efficiency / quality
Less useful or less favourable
-development of related activities that over time proved unprofitable or less profitable
-maintaining too friendly relationships with customers, which led to delays in payment collection from some
customers who have failed to inform the manager about the problems faced
-continuing collaborative relationships to companies that could not pay their debts, which caused some financial
losses
-purchase for larger amounts of money less efficient equipment or equipment with limited functions
Source: author's own processing based on information from interviews

4.2 Discussion of the main strategic and / or operational choices of the entrepreneur-
managers in the years of rapid growth
As regards the second research problem presented in this paper – analysis and discussion of
the role of main strategic and / or operational choices of entrepreneur-managers in the years of
rapid growth we proceeded as follows. To understand the ways of action during rapid growth
23
we analysed the strategic and / or operational choices undertaken by entrepreneur-managers in
the years of rapid growth and we drew several findings. In reaching findings we have
carefully reviewed the investments made by entrepreneur-managers during rapid growth, by
field of activity of each firm from the sample.
The main strategic and / or operational choices presented in the paper, stemming from the
initiative and the decisions made by the entrepreneur-managers in the years of rapid growth,
sheds new light on the steps taken by entrepreneur-managers to achieve and to support rapid
growth of the firm. In Table 2 we present the most representative examples of strategic and /
or operational choices of the Romanian fast-growing firm’s managers.
Table 2. Synthesis of the main strategic and / or operational choices of Romanian fast-growing firm’s managers.
Investing in tangible assets (buildings, land, assets, inventory and so on)
- investment in fixed assets for exploitation - second hand (at first) and new (after)
- investing in buildings, own head office / certain annexes to the head office, land
- investing in opening new workstations (in other locations)
- investing in renovation / modernization
- investing every year in equipment and the latest technology, efficient and yield: tools, machinery work (a
track of what is new: improvements / innovations in the field)
- investing in better logistics, machinery, warehouses
- investing in quality products offered
- investing in diversification of products / services
- investment in increasing production capacity
Investing in know-how, software technology or marketing
- investing in the creation and product development
- investing in new features of the services (consulting and so on)
- investing in achieving a Management Systems Certification
- investing in IT infrastructure of the company
- investing in the development of database (suppliers, customers, collaborators)
- investing in a performance management system (the transparency of objectives)
- investing in computer software
- investing in marketing and promotion (website, visual appearance, catalogues, marketing research,
promotional campaigns and so on)
Investing in human resources
- investing in maintaining specialization of the employees and employees authorizations
- investing in quality human resources training, specialization
- investing in employees specialization and employees improvement of work technique
- investing in improving knowledge and learning how to use new technologies
Source: author's own processing based on information from interviews
Referring to the findings that emerged from the performed analysis, we present the followings
conclusions.
First, there is a major difference between companies in terms of how investments were made
during the rapid growth period and in terms of their magnitude. By investments magnitude we
mean number of investments made, the scale of investments. For example, while some
companies in the sample had considerable investment in functioning and development,
developing actually a series of investments, others companies actually did not need to invest a
lot in the company's technical infrastructure and their assets.
In our opinion, the specificity of the company’s field of activity, explains why, some firms,
during the rapid growth period, needed to undertake a larger investment in tangible or
intangible assets and why the other firms had smaller investments in tangible assets. The
firms that were not marked by large investments in tangible assets appeared to invest in the
company’s human resources: specialization and training. For example, organizing and paying
for periodical coursework where specialists in the field were invited; hiring specialists in
some specific areas of competence such as sales, marketing.
Secondly, we can distinguished several main areas for investment, using investment’s types
made during rapid growth. Analysing the undertaken investments types made by Romanian
fast-growing firms during the rapid growth period, we distinguished between: investment in

24
tangible assets (buildings, land, assets, inventory and so on), investing in know-how, software
technology, management or marketing, and investment in human resources.
Thirdly, good investment prioritization was one of the main concerns of entrepreneur-
managers of Romanian fast-growing firms. The analysis results show that all interviewed
entrepreneur-managers have prioritized investments depending on the goal that chased.
5. CONCLUSIONS
În our opinion, the rapid growth of Romanian fast-growing firms is the result of entrepreneur-
managers decision-making and of strategic choices and / or operational choices of the
entrepreneur-managers. The firms were carried to the rapid growth under the guidance and
with the intention of the entrepreneur-managers.
Analysis results on the strategic choices and / or operational choices of Romanian fast-
growing firm’s managers, presented in this paper, come to explain and highlight the
importance of strategic thinking in relation to the rapid growth of the company.
The results highlighted and helped us to better understand, the decisions and the entrepreneur-
managers’ ways of action during rapid growth.
As regards the decision-making, one of the most important things that can be drawn from this
research is that in decision-making, managers thought about the firm’s development and
analysed every important decision for the firm’s development. So, previsiong of certain
different futures in relation to a decision or another played a significant role in decision-
making of Romanian entrepreneurs-managers.

6. REFERENCES
1. Barringer, B. R., Jones, F. F., Lewis, P. S., A Qualitative Study of The Management
Practices of Rapid-Growth, Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 9, No.2; pg.
21-36, (1997).
2. Branka, S., Boštjan, A., Strategic Planning and Small Firm Growth: An Empirical
Examination, Managing Global Transitions, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 107-122 (2004).
3. Fischer, E., Reuber, A. R,. Support for rapid-growth firms: A comparison of the views of
founders, government policymakers, and private sector resource providers. Journal of
Small Business Management, Vol. 41, Issue 4, pp 346–365, (2003).
4. Mason G., Robinson, C.,şi Bondibene, C. R., Fast-growing firms, product strategies and
skills development. Nesta Working Paper 12/12, (2012)
5. Miozzo, M., DiVito, L., Growing fast or slow?: Understanding the variety of paths and the
speed of early growth of entrepreneurial science-based firms. Research Policy. Volume
45, Issue 5, pp. 964–986 (2016).
6. Nicholls-Nixon, C. L., Rapid growth and high performance: The entrepreneur's
“impossible dream?” The Academy of Management Executive (1993-2005), Vol. 19, No.
1, pp. 77-89 (2005)
7. OECD (2012). High-Growth SMEs and Employment
8. Eurostat & European Commission., 2007. Eurostat − OECD manual on business
demography statistics.
9. Wennberg, K., Managing High-Growth Firms: A literature review. (background paper)
International Workshop on “Management and Leadership Skills in High-Growth Firms”,
Warsaw, 6 May 2013. (OECD, LEED şi POLSKA Ministry of Economy).
10. Zhang, Y.,Yang, X., Ma, F., A quantitative analysis of the characteristics of rapid-growth
firms and their entrepreneurs in China. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise
Development Vol. 15, Issue 4, pp. 675-688 (2008).

25
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

THE CHANGE NEED EVALUATION BASED ON THE

STAKEHOLDERS SATISFACTION IN TECHNICAL HIGHER
EDUCATION

Ana-Maria Bogatu1, Irina Severin2, Gheorghe Solomon3 and Constantin Petriceanu4

1
University Politehnica of Bucharest, bogatu_ana_maria@yahoo.com
2
University Politehnica of Bucharest, irina_severin2003@yahoo.com
3
University Politehnica of Bucharest, ghe.solomon@gmail.com
4
University Politehnica of Bucharest, petricon@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: Considering the technology progress and socio-economical dramatic changes too, Romanian
technical higher education system has looked for reforms and updates in order to perform adequately in East
European region. The current study is based on a set of questionnaires designed to evaluate and cross-check the
teachers and students satisfaction regarding the educational processes. Data from the most important six
Romanian public technical universities have been collected, as follows: Politehnica University of Bucharest,
Politehnica University of Timișoara, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Transilvania University of Brașov
and ”Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iași. An overall conclusion regarding the low satisfaction
degree, as well as several pathways to design change projects have been identified in order to increase the
service quality in higher education
KEYWORDS: Satisfaction; quality; higher education; change; quality in education.

1. INTRODUCTION
Higher education institutions are undergoing a process of transformation [1]. Massive change
is impacting on all facets of society, creating new dimensions and great uncertainty and, the
issues facing us today is how to manage such change [2]. Everybody needs to understand the
power of change and the benefits that can arise from it.
There are various options of stakeholders’ analysis applications in all areas, including
education, higher education in particular, which is under continuous pressure of changes and
demands to follow the global trends of technology innovations. At the same time, it is
expected to promptly respond to demands of market and competition. Universities are,
inherently, learning organizations familiar with the concept of lifelong learning, so they value
the perspective of changes and the adoption of environment observation from the
stakeholders’ point of view [3].
In a knowledge-based society, the university becomes the main supplier of „raw material”,
being an entity that produces information through scientific research and then transferring it to
the society by practical results[4].
”Universities can be very different, not only from one country to the next, but also among
different scientific sectors within the same country” [5]. This statement confirms that in order
to improve quality, it is not enough to define the concept of quality in higher education and
follow general principles. Although it can be a part of the progress, it is also so important to
define the requirements and essential changes according to the field of education [6].
In this context, the higher education’s mission is to meet the individual’s needs for
professional development, so that they have the possibility of labor market insertion straight
away after graduation. At the same time, the university must answer the competences required
by the socio-economic environment. It must be taken into consideration that these needs
change over time; they are under the influence of an accelerated pace due to fast evolution of
technology and management paradigms. This way, with the graduates’ environment
continuously changing, an effort of accommodation and anticipation is required from the
universities [4].

26
In order to increase the quality in higher education we must gather, remember the goals that
bring us together, debate how we perform in achieving them, identify weaknesses and find
remedies, apply remedies and ultimately meet again to debate if the applied remedies
managed to achieve the desired outcome [7].
The problems and challenges that the higher education faces nowadays require innovative and
adaptive solutions that will be applied through an effective change management.
In order to be able to establish some of the changes that need to be done to improve the global
quality of the technical higher education, a diagnosis of the current situation regarding the
stakeholders’ satisfaction was required.
The stakeholders were chosen following the ISO 26000:2010 and ISO 9001:2008 Standards
Guidelines. By adapting the ISO 9001 Standard principles, which help to ensure that
customers get consistent, good quality products and services, followed in turn by many
business benefits, to the higher education environment and combining it with the ISO 26000
Standard that provides guidance on the relationship between an organization, its stakeholders
and society, on recognizing the core subjects and issues of social responsibility and on an
organization's sphere of influence, we have been able to define the stakeholders in technical
higher education and to establish a research method for the study [8] [9].
According to Edward Freeman, in „Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach”, the
stakeholders, meaning every “individual or group that has an interest in any decision or
activity of an organization”, play a vital role to the organization`s performance, in our case, to
the higher education performance and quality [10].
2. MATERIAL AND METHODS
In order to be able to identify in a structured way areas for improvement and to draft change
projects in the technical higher education sector, sets of questionnaires have been developed
following the stakeholders level of satisfaction. Teachers, students and employers were
identified as main stakeholders; a questionnaire has been designed for each category. In the
first step, the teachers and the students were considered and the collected information has
been cross-validated and used to develop, in the second step, the employers dedicated
questionnaire.
Using the guidelines of designing questionnaires [11][12], questions were raised for teachers
and students, and then the questionnaires have been sent to six technical Universities in
Romania. Even if the private educational system has developed in the last two decades, no
private technical universities may be identified.
The teachers and students questions were grouped into four categories, as follows: work
environment, financial resources, professional development, and satisfaction.
The questionnaires structure is presented in the figures below, where abbreviations were used
for the questions within the questionnaire.

Figure 1. Teachers’ questionnaire structure

27
 Figure 2. Students’ questionnaire structure
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
3.1 Teachers’ questionnaire analysis - Answers distribution for the questions related to
working environment
Starting from the answers offered by the teachers (Figure 3), the first category, referring to the
working environment, stands out by the answers received at questions Q9TQ and Q19TQ
where the majority of the teachers consider that the number of students assigned to a group is
too big and the time dedicated to practical activities is not enough. The number of students in
the study groups is linked to financial indicators responsible for public universities financing.
The same link is related to the ratio teaching (courses) versus applications (practical
activities).
An important aspect refers to the teachers’ involvement in the decision-making process;
nearly 60% opinions were related to no-involvement (lack of consultation). By taking into
consideration the teachers’ views and opinions, changes tailored on their needs may be
applied, but in reality no consultation of teachers has been conducted in relation to the
financial indicators. Sometimes adjustments were applied, but neither informing about the
reasons of certain indicators, nor a minimal consultation of the teachers has been effectively
launched.

Figure 3. Teachers’ satisfaction versus the working environment

Q1TQ - Do you find the laboratories and classrooms adequately equipped?
Q3TQ - Does the University involve you in the decision-making process?
Q4TQ - Are you having problems collaborating with your colleagues?
Q5TQ - Are optimal working conditions assured (office supplies, IT etc.)?
Q6TQ - Is support provided for computers and laboratory equipment?
Q8TQ - Are cleaning services provided in laboratories?
Q9TQ - Do you consider that the number of students assigned to a group is optimal?
Q12TQ - Do you consider that the university parking should be free for teachers?
Q19TQ - Do you consider that the time dedicated to practical activities is enough?
28
Cumulating the „very big” and „big” answers received at the question 24TQ, more than 50 %
percent of the teachers find the teaching load too high reported at the schedule. Though the
other half expresses their opinion regarding the teaching load as being moderate, it is not
necessarily positive due to the schedule partially adapted to the teaching load. The Q4TQ
result of nearly 23% of teachers reporting communication problems with the colleagues may
be correlated with Q3TQ result of nearly 60% lack of teachers’ consultation.

Figure 4. Teachers’ teaching load in relation to the schedule

3.2 Teachers’ questionnaire analysis - Answers distribution for the questions related to
financial resources
Analysing the answers received at the questions referring to financial issues, it can be
observed that most of the teachers share the same beliefs. A very important and also worrying
resulting aspect is that more than 86% of the teachers agree that the current funding system is
inappropriate. Teachers would also like to change the way the remuneration is made, they
consider appropriate a funding based on career performance.
The need for changing the present funding system in higher education is strengthened by the
last three questions chosen to be a part of the above graphic, as far as more than 60% of
answers approve potential solutions for funding as identified through teachers perceptions :
recovery of graduate tuition, scholarships linked to students performance allocated directly to
students.

Figure 5. Teachers’ satisfaction versus financial resources

Q17TQ - Do you consider that remuneration should be done based on performance?
Q20TQ - Do you find the current funding system suitable?
Q21TQ - Do you believe that by allocating scholarships directly to the students and not to the Ministry of
Education, their performance will be increased?
Q22TQ - Do you believe that the budget subsidizing for students who leave the country is effective for
Romania?
Q23TQ - Do you believe that a graduate's tuition expenses should be recovered in time?

29
3.3 Teaachers’ quesstionnaire analysis
a - Annswers distrribution for the questioons related to
t
proofessional deevelopmentt
Thoughh every teacher has the ability andd freedom too draw he’s professionnal path, moost of the
surveyeed find the opportunityy for reseaarch and prrojects as too be insuffficient. Con
nsidering
sufficiennt and insuufficient ansswers, one may reach
h nearly hallf of the suurveyed, conncluding
quite a non-motivaating enviroonment for profession nal developm ment. Greater involvemment on
their paart, concernning their professiona
p al growth, would
w makke the perccentage of negative
answerss decrease, but in a noon-motivatinng professioonal enviroonment, the motivated teachers
appear the
t exceptioon (i.e. 4.41% perceivee certain opp
portunities).

Figgure 6. Opporrtunity for reseearch and projjects

Althouggh many off the teacherrs are satisffied with th he mobility and inter-uuniversity exchange
e
opportuunity, an impportant perccentage of 39%
3 state th
he opposite. Considerinng the negaative and
absent answers, more
m than half
h of proofessors finnd the need for channge concern ning the
mobilityy. This mayy be correlaated to the previous item concernning opportuunities for research
and projjects with a similar levvel (about 500%).

Figure 7. Opportunity for

f mobility
3.4 Teaachers’ quesstionnaire analysis
a - Annswers distrribution for the questioons related to
t
oveerall satisfacction
The students’ know wledge backkground is an importan nt factor foor the university’s perfo
formance
and prestige; therefore a high satisfactionn coming frrom teacherrs would bee needed in order to
achieve the aforesaaid. Unfortuunately, resuulting from our study, not even onne teacher canc state
that stuudents comee with a veery good knnowledge baackground, showing bby this the need n for
communnication annd cooperattion between the sch hool units and univerrsities. Thee pupils’
backgroound has beeen discusssed at natioonal level, too, an exxpert workinng group has h been
establishhed at the Ministry
M off Education level and a study is acctually in pprogress loo oking for
solutionns to increase the geeneral backkground witth a benchhmark indiccator the rating r of
Romaniian pupils att PISA testiing.
30
 F
Figure 8. Studdents’ knowled
dge backgrounnd
Questioons regardinng satisfactiion on variious issues confirm thhe clear neeed of chang ge by the
categoriical answerrs received from the teeachers wheen they werre asked aboout their income, the
way of licensing new
n study fields,
f the funding,
f thee promotionn opportuniities etc. Q1
13TQ and
Q22TQ, Q23TQ may m be correelated, nearlly the same level, arounnd 60%, is rreported.

Figure 9. Teeachers’ overaall satisfactionn

Q7TQ - Are
A you satisffied with the conditions andd opportunitiess for promotioon?
Q10TQ - Do you bellieve that thee employers' requests shou uld be taken in considerattion when creeating the
schedule??
Q11TQ - Are you satissfied with youur income?
Q13TQ - Do you consiider that the liicensing of neew study fieldss takes into coonsideration thhe market's neeed?
Q14TQ - Do you belieeve that the funnding provideed for researchh is sufficient to make progrress?
Q15TQ - Is the conceppt of performaance-based payy applied in thhe institution where
w you teaach?
Q18TQ - Do you consiider that studeents come withh a sufficient knowledge baase from seconndary school??

3.5 Stuudents’ quesstionnaire annalysis - Annswers distrribution for the questionns related to
o
worrking enviroonment
A very important aspect draw wn from thhe answers received to the questtions below w is that
studentss strongly believe
b thaat the disaggreements between
b thee members of the dep partment
affect them
t directtly. Apart of
o the geneeral conviction that a working eenvironmen nt where
conflictts are maniffested appeaars as incommpatible witth the educaation itself, the studentss answer
may be linked to thhe teachers’ lack of satiisfaction, paartial mobillity, partial llack of proffessional
opportuunities, all thhese being a source off disagreemments dissem minated outsside the pro ofessors’
communnity and peerceived by the studennts. This item m may be correlated w with Q4T (reported
(
nearly 23%
2 collabooration probblems with colleagues)
c .
In orderr to have ann adequate concentratio
c on and worrking capaciity a studennt should bee offered
the timee to nourishh himself, statement coonfirmed by
y 70 % of thhe studentss. This item
m appears
the sim
mpler to be applied, as for the stuudents’ dailly schedulee the univerrsity is resp
ponsible.
31
Linked to the necessary logistics, that usually
u exist in universities, the lunch breaak is the
easiest change to introduce. The studeents’ lack of o awarenesss (more thhan 50%) ab bout the
guidancce and couunseling facilities
fa apppears as an indicattor of ineeffective un niversity
manageement, as thiis indicator is reported in external assessmentt of universities, too.

Figure 10. Students’

S satissfaction versus the working environment
Q1SQ - DoD you find thhe laboratoriess and classroooms adequately y equipped?
Q7SQ - DoD you believve that the dissagreements between the members
m of thee department hhave any imp
pact on the
students??"
Q8SQ - DoD you find a lunch break necessary?
n
Q11SQ - Do you find the
t library weell equipped?
Q26SQ - Do you have access to infoormation?
Q27SQ - Are you awarre of the existtence of a guiddance and cou unseling centerr at the univerrsity?

Most sttudents findd the teacheers’ involveement to bee moderate, probably ddue to the teachers’
t
high teaaching loadd that resulteed from thee questionnaaires designned for the professors, but due
to the loow level of motivation that may bee perceived from the annswers to Q Q25TQ, Q26 6TQ.

Figure 111. Teachers’ in

nvolvement
3.6 Stuudents’ quesstionnaire annalysis - Annswers distrribution for the questionns related too
finaancial resouurces
More annd more peoople believee that the buudget subsiidizing for students
s whho leave thee country
is not ann effective solution,
s staatement forttunately also confirmedd by studentts themselvves.
Studentts also seem m to have large
l openiing to the idea
i of recovering thee graduate’s tuition
expensees in time, which
w couldd start from the momen nt he is first employed, similar to the
t UK’s
model.
32
 Figure 122. Students’ satisfaction
s versus financial resources
3.7 Stuudents’ quesstionnaire annalysis - Annswers distrribution for the questionns related to o
proofessional deevelopmentt
A big problem
p resuulting from
m the studennts’ point off view and personal
p exxperience is that the
practicaal activities held duringg college arre not enou ugh in findinng a job aftter graduatiion. This
problem m could accrrue from thee high demaands comin ng from the employers oor from the way the
curriculla is organiized. In botth cases, ann imperativ ve change iss needed inn order to raise
r the
visibilitty of the unniversity andd to be ablee to cope wiith social chhallenges thhat wait just around
the cornner after grraduating. Correlating
C with the teeachers’ feeedback, Q113TQ indicaates that
more thhan 55% reespondents perceive thhat new study fields do d not consiider adequaately the
market needs.
n
As far as
a one noticed, employeers ask for experience
e in order to recruit,
r but they do nott involve
effectivvely in sponssoring reseaarch, laboraatory settlem
ment or techhnology upddating in parrtnership
with unniversities, nor
n in real contribution
c n when con nsultation iss launched iin order to improve
the currricula and these
t usuallly happen due
d to a lim mited time devoted byy companiess, but to
quick exxpected tangible results in terms of o “what’s in n it for the company”,
c ttoo.

Figure 13. Students’

S satissfaction versuss professional developmentt
3.8 Stuudents’ quesstionnaire annalysis - Annswers distrribution for the questionns related to o
oveerall satisfacction
Similarlly as in the case of teacchers overaall satisfaction, the resuults appear ffar from sattisfied in
the casee of studentts, too, if we
w look to Q2SQ (60% % not satisffied), Q4SQ Q (71% insufficient
practicee), Q5SQ (440% inappropriate schoolarship graanting), Q18SQ (25% lack of satiisfaction
with thee academic service), Q220 SQ (22% % time used inadequateely in classees).
High prroblematic situation shhould be reeported to the t high peercentage oof „yes” answers at
Q12SQ, students obviously
o nooticed certaiin distinctio
ons made beetween them m that are not
n based
on theirr learning performance
p e. Moreoveer, the enorm mous 40% at Q16SQ indicating fraud in
examinaations shoulld be correllated to Q400SQ (nearly y 40% not dispute
d of exxam evaluattion) and
urgentlyy addressedd by universsity manageement. Thesse items shoould be linkked to Q35S SQ (56%
studentss non-involvvement in decision
d proocess) and reported bacck to teacheers non-invo olvement

33
in consuultation (Q33TQ 60% non-involve
n ement). As well
w as the teachers, sttudents beliieve that
their invvolvement in
i high-makking decisioons is not su ufficient.
Studentts expect too debate on o courses content, th he lack of satisfactionn being sig gnificant
(Q39SQ Q 72%).
An inteeresting facct coming fromf studennts is that more thann 70% agreee with the college
enrollinng based on exam admiission, in which
w case th
he universitty would onnly have to gain, by
prestigee, high rankiing, outstannding studennts etc.

Figure 14. Sttudents’ overaall satisfactionn

Q2SQ - Are
A you satisfified with the cuurricula?
Q4SQ - DoD you considder that the praactice carried out during thee years of studdy is enough?
Q5SQ - DoD you find apppropriate thee way of grantiing scholarshiips?
Q6SQ - Are
A you satisfified with the way
w that seminnars, laboratorries and coursees are held?
Q12SQ - Do you consiider that studeents’ differentiiation is done on other basis than school performance??
Q13SQ - Do you find the t fees reasonnable?
Q16SQ - In your univeersity, are therre specific pennalties on thosse who attemppt to fraud an eexamination?
Q18SQ - Are you satiisfied with thee academic seervice of the teachers you took contact with? (Comm munication
with studdents, appropriiate language,, openness to new)
n
Q19SQ - Is there respoonsiveness andd availability from teacherss for extra helpp to students?
Q20SQ - Do you conssider that the time allotted to classes is used u effectiveely by the teacchers in achieeving their
goals?
Q21SQ - Are you satissfied with the information offered
o on the university's siite?
Q22SQ - Do you consiider that the ennrolling in colllege should beb on basis of admission?
Q25SQ - Are 3 weeks for exam sesssion sufficientt?
Q32SQ - Do you belieeve that the sttudents that reeceive scholarrships should have the obliggation to atten nd at least
80% of thhe classes?
Q35SQ - Do you believve that the invvolvement of students in hig gh-level decissions is sufficiient?
Q39SQ - Are you invitted to debate on o the contentt of certain courses?
Q40SQ - Is there the possibility to dispute
d an examm evaluation??
4. CON
NCLUSIONS
By the answers received
r froom the higgher educattion involvved parties, the presen nt paper
confirm
ms the needd of the chhange requirred through h the lack of satisfacction found at both
studentss and teacheers.
Taking into considderations thhe both parrties point of view reggarding all the aspectts of the
educatioonal processs can lead too better mannagement and
a higher satisfaction.
34
A common problem for students and teachers is the teaching load which is affecting both of
the parties. The students are affected by the fact that the teachers can’ t manage their time in
order to answer all the students’ needs and the teachers have a hard time managing the high
teaching load. The authors link the teachers’ moderate involvement to the high teaching load.
In order to raise the visibility of the university and to be able to cope with social challenges
that wait just around the corner after graduating, a greater accent should be put on the
practical activities held during the years of college.
An important aspect that emerges prominently from the study is that, for both students and
teachers, the satisfaction on various issues (income, the way of licensing new study fields, the
funding, the promotion opportunities etc.) is very poor, strengthening the need of change.
Involving the teachers and students in the leaderships’ decisions is a way to improve the
higher education quality by keeping contact with the real needs and requirements.
For continuous improvement, after taking into account and resolving the teachers’ and
students’ needs for change, a similar questionnaire can be distributed periodically in order to
permanently keep the leadership updated and aware of the satisfaction degree in which the
involved parties find themselves.
Another step taken in this direction would be the development of a research tool designed for
the employers in order to find out their satisfaction on the current state in which the technical
higher education finds itself. Their answers are relevant due to the fact that they are the first
ones who come in contact with the “finished product” offered by universities to society.
5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The work has been funded by the Sectorial Operational Programme Human Resources
Development 2007-2013 of the Ministry of European Funds through the Financial Agreement
POSDRU/159/1.5/S/132395.
6. REFERENCES
1. Mainardes, E., Alves, H. and Raposo, M., An Exploratory Research on the
Stakeholders of University, Journal of Management and Strategy, Vol.1, No.1, pp. 76-
88, (2010).
2. Bowin, R.B., Human resource management: An experiential approach, 2nd edition.
Prentice-Hall eds., New Jersey, United States, (2001).
3. Ivana, M., Stakeholder analysis of higher education institutions. Interdisciplinary
Description of Complex Systems, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 217-226, (2013).
4. Rusu, C., 5th International Seminar on the Quality Management in Higher Education,
Quality Management in Higher Education, Performantica eds., Tulcea, România,
(2008).
5. Muzio M.G., Quality assurance in engineering education on a national and European
scale, European Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 423-430,
(2005).
6. Ahoo S., Continuous Quality Improvement in Higher Education. A case study in
Engineering School of Boras University, University of Boras School of Engineering,
Sweden, (2011).
7. Atanasiu, G., Rusu, C., Oprean,C., Curaj, A., Buzărnescu, Ș., Ghidul calității în
învățământul superior, Editura Universității din București, București, România,
(2004).
8. ISO 26000:2010 – Guidance on social responsibility.
9. ISO 9001:2008 – Quality Management Systems – Requirements.
10. Freeman R.E., Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, Cambridge
University Press eds., Cambridge, England, (2010).
11. Javeau, C., L’enquête par questionnaire. Manuel à l'usage du praticien., Université
de Bruxelles eds., Brussels, Belgium, (1990).
12. Mucchielli R., Le questionnaire dans l’enquete psycho-sociale: connaissance du
problème, 10th edition, ESF eds., Paris, France, (1993).

35
The 2nd Intternational Scienttific Conference SAMRO
S 2016
Romania, October,
O 2016

CONSID
DERATIO
ONS ON ORAGAN
O NIZATIO
ON AGILIITY AND
D
C
CHANGE E MANAG
GEMENT T

Anca Dragghici1,DanieelPaschek2, Adelin Tru

usculescu3 and
a Alexanddru Canda4
1
Politehnnica Universityy of Timisoaraa, anca.draghiici@upt.ro
2
Politehnnica Universitty of Timisoarra, paschi88@
@gmx.net
3
Politehnicaa University of
o Timisoara, adelin.truscule
a escu@upt.ro
4 Coompa SA, Sibbiu, alexandru.canda@comppa.ro

ABSTRA ACT:Agility is consideredd thenew bussiness manag gement paradiigm that is ffocused on continuous
c
improvemment practicess through a hiigh-tech changge managemeent.The paper’sobjective is to describe a proposed
approachh (model of agility evaluatioon and/or diaggnosis, method dology, methoods and tools) called the Tottal Agility
Managem ment House. The
T designed approach
a coulld be considerred a trustful support (also,, integrated an
nd derived
withorgannization’s strategy) for thhe organizatioon alignment to a new buusiness modeel. The modeel and the
associatedd methodologgy have beenn developed, tested and validated in the context of actual org ganization
dynamicss, in order to establish
e a succcessful impleementation of agility in orgaanization.
KEYWO ORDS:organizzation,behavioor, agility, change management,m human ressources man nagement,
competitiiveness.

1. INT
TRODUCT
TION
As the business coompanies constantly develops
d strrategies to dominate
d thhe existing markets
and in the same time are loooking forward for way ys to approoach the em mergent maarkets, it
becomees more andd more clearr that there is a great need for metthods and exxplained paaradigms
that willl offer viabble solutionns to these complex bu usiness situuations [16]. In the last twenty
years more
m and moore compannies looked forward fo or such a paaradigm thaat initially emerged
e
from thhe informaation technoology/softw ware develo opment (prrogrammingg) area: Th he agile
programmminghas been b turned into thee agile bussiness, the agile enteerpriseor th he agile
manufaccturing. In synthesis,
s thhe new orgaanization’s paradigm iss shown in F Figure 1.

•T
Tactical level of
o the
Agile Pracctices
im
mplementationn
•Immplementationn at the
orrganizational culture level
Agile Princciples
•Immplementationn at the strateg
gic
leevel
•Immplementationn at the
orrganizational culture level
Agile Vaalues
•Immplementationn at the strateg
gic
leevel
The need
n for rapidd and frequentt
(constant)) changes (new w paradigm of the
change manaagement)

F
Figure 1. The relationship between
b the aggile values, prrinciples and practices
p (adappted from [15
5])
Organizzations are force to quickly recoggnize the ex xternal envirronment chhanges, in particular
p
their cllose markett changes (e.g. legal regulations changes, competitioon increasin ng, new
entrancees on the market
m etc.), and they haave to react by an adeqquate and quuick reconfiiguration
of their internal environmeent (as aliigning orgaanizational behavior with the external
environnment channges). The change problemp beecome morre complexx in the case of
multinaational comppanies operating in eveer-changing g global political scenees, on globaal market
36
and havving an interrnal environnment charaacterized by
y a high culttural diversiity degree [6]. Even
if suchoorganizationns haveexpeerience on doing
d busin
ness globallyy (because they operatte on the
global market
m from
m a long peeriod of timme), they arre now faciing the emeerging mark kets and
econommies phenom mena [4]. Furthermore
F e, multinatiional or gllobal comppanies of to oday are
facing with a stroong compeetition becaause of thee existing actors behhavior in emerging e
econommies(good exxamples aree, economiees as those of China, Inndia and Brrazil). Furth hermore,
in emerrging econoomies, locaal competitors have not n only poolitical suppport, but allso have
powerfuul resourcess (both in huuman resourrces and fin
nancial capittal) [3, 7].
In ordeer to peneetrate thesee markets and achiev ve profit success
s annd competittiveness,
organizaations havee to be focuus on a fastt responses,, by growinng their agiility and deecreasing
their intternal bureaaucracy. Beyyond this coompetition, social presssures and thhe fragmentation of
mass markets,
m thee firms muust take intto considerration the constantly evolving customer
c
expectaations [9]. This
T new organizationnal behaviorr is briefly described in Figure 2 by the
represenntation of thhe creating (or
( sometim me the co-crreating) of customer
c vaalue [11].
Creatingg Customers Value

Q - High Qualityy
C - Perssonal Choice S - Caring Service
S (off products andd T - Tottal Cost R - Responsiveeness
servies)

F
Figure 2. World-Class Posiitioning (the competitive
c bu
usiness edge and
a customer vvalue creation
n)
(adapted from [8])
[
All this effort to faace the envvironment chhanges of emerging
e ecconomies m
must be assu umed by
the whoole organizaation, so, aggility is not only a strattegy develooped from a new parad digm, but
it also includes
i thee methods and
a tools appplicable for each level of decisioon and actio on inside
the commpany. Thuus, the organnization muust find waays to anticcipate or addapt to unceertain or
changinng environm ments [1] inn order to achieve
a commpetitive advantage annd, furtherm more, to
generatee changes inn the busineess environm ment (by hiigh focus onn innovationn and learniing in all
changess stages annd even inn the channge manageement strattegy adopteed by them m). The
organizaation’s boarrd as well asa all manaagement lev vels must place a higheer focus on areas of
expertisse such as change annd risk maanagement, research and a development, inn novation,
contingeency (incluuding uncerrtainty and complexity y) managem ment and leadership (in ncluding
the impplementing of Agile Orientated
O Culture in
n the organnization) [113].In addittion, the
leadershhip skills and
a spirit of
o the mannagers repreesent imporrtant aspectts for a su uccessful
implem mentation off the new paradigm.
p T
This refers not
n only too the leaderrship of thee project
manageer responsibble with thhe agility principles
p im
mplementattion, but it refers also o to the
leadershhip of all levvels’ managgers in the organization
o n [10, 13].
In the context
c of establishingg and impleementing th he Agile Orientated
O C
Culture, the paper’s
objectivveis to preseent a propoosed approacch developeed for the evaluation
e aand/or the diagnosis
d
of the organization
o n agility. Thhis was based on a mo odel called the
t Total A Agility Management
House. The designned approaach (includiing an evalluation metthodology w with corressponding
methodss and tools)) could be considered a trustful support
s (also, integrateed and derivved with
organizaation’s straategy) for the
t organizzation alignnment to thhe new bussiness management
paradigm m. The pressented modeel and methhodology haave been devvelopedin thhe context of o actual
organizaation dynaamics, in order
o to esstablish a successful
s implementaation of ag gility in
organizaation. Throough two caase studies there will be shown the t feasibiliity of the proposed
p
approacch.
2. THE
E PROPOS
SED APPR
ROACH: TOTAL AG
GILITY MA
ANAGEME
ENT HOUS
SE
There iss no check--list or statee of the art method thaat guaranteees a successsful implem mentation
of the agile
a paradiggm in the case of a com mpany. Eacch organizattion, each aarea of busin ness and
each levvel of impleementation represents a specific situation
s thaat will be trreated relateed to the
specificc conditionss. Thus, wheen a changee or perturbbation in thee business eenvironmentt occurs,
37
organization will respond in a particular way by deploying its own agile characteristics [5,
14].
The first step for such a large-scale project, is dedicated to the constant support and
reinforcement given by the organization’s core management. Employees have to be confident
on the management support, but also, organization’s management must have a constant
review of the change implementation status supervise by the agile champion (the managers
from the executive level, responsible for triggering the implementation of the paradigm) and
by each department leader [5, 12].
2.1 The Proposed Model of Organization Agility
According to our studies and some practical observations done in multinational companies,
there have been proposed the model of the Total Agility Management House (TAMH), by
considering the experiences of the use and exploitation of the House of Quality model. As it is
shown in Figure 3, the proposed TAMH model consists of 2 levels: (a) the strategic level
defined by the organization’s values and principles; (b) the organizational models defined by
the existing practices at the tactical level. The House of Agility is defined by eight pillars.
Each pillar represents a main organizational value that is supported by principles. Each
principle is associated with a number of specific practices.

TOTAL AGILITY MANAGEMENT

Pillar 1 Pillar 2 Pillar 3 Pillar 4 Pillar 5 Pillar 6 Pillar 7 Pillar 8

entrepreneurshi
Integration and

Continue value

Innovation and

Organizational

Sustainability

responsibility
Development
opportunities

development

development
Leaders and
employees
p behavior
excellence
generation
Values

and social
Achieve

delivery

creation
change

culture
and access to information

Promotion and marketing

Continuous improvement

Employees responsibility
Knowledge management

Motivation and retention

Innovation and research

Environment protection
Business global context

Organization as social
Learning organization

of the best employees

Responsible resource
Business strategies
Collaboration with

Collaboration with
Customer oriented
Production level

Teams cohesion
Quick reaction

management
and integrity
shareholders
Adaptability
Principles

Flexibility

suppliers

culture

Trust

actor

Managerial strategies
Organizational models
Organizational practices (tactical / operational level)
Figure 3. The model of the Total Agility Management House (TAMH)
2.2 The Developed Methodology for the Organization’s Agility Evaluation
Based on the TAMH model there have been proposed a methodology for the organization’s
agility audit or evaluation in five steps: (1) the preliminary internal audit (done for each pillar
of the Agility House by the continuous improvement manager together with t5he organization
general manager); (2) the external audit (analysis of the internal audit documentation and
scores review; (3) visit the organization; (4) documenting the final observations and results;
(5) presenting the evaluation conclusions together with the agility footprint (graphical
representation of the actual level of the agility principles implementation).
For each principle there have been defined situations description for the evaluation that were
scored from 0 (not existing situation in the organization) to 10 (existing situation in the
organization). Based on the scores gained on each practice (that belong to each principles of a

38
define organization value) there have been calculated the percentage of definition, coverage
and excellence of agility principles implementation relatively to an ideal situation (100%) that
was described. The percentages were considered as maturity levels of the agility principles
implementation in the organization. Furthermore, a total percent was determined in order to
show the level of the agility principles implementation that show the maturity agility level of
the organization.
In totally, for the evaluation and/or the diagnosis of the organization agility there were defined
105 practices with 105 corresponding indicators, as following: 9 indicators for Pillar I, 18
indicators for Pillar II, 11 indicators for Pillar III, 12 indicators for Pillar IV, 19 indicators for
Pillar V, 16 indicators for Pillar VI, 11 indicators for Pillar VII and 9 indicators for Pillar VIII.
The calculations were operationalized based on a developed Excel application (relational
database) and the graphical representation of the results were done using a color code for
different levels of the agility principles implementation, as: blue (maturity level, 95% <Total
calculated score ≤ 100%), green (develop level, 90% <Total calculated score ≤ 95%), yellow
(growth level, 50% <Total calculated score ≤ 90%) and red (initial level, Total calculated
score ≤ 50%). The agility footprint is represented as a curve on a radar graph with eight radius
corresponding to each pillar.
In the following, the proposed model and associated methodology (TAMH) have been tested
and validated in the case of two multinational companies operating in the automotive
industry.
3. REASEARCH RESULTS ON THE PROPOSED MODEL AND THE
ASSOCIATED METHODOLOGY VALIDATION
The first case study approaches for evaluating company “A”, which is a unit of production in
the automotive industry, with approximately 500 employees in the production area; the
company was established in Romania9 years ago. Company “A” is part of a multinational
corporation, one of the major players in the automotive industry manufacturing parts
worldwide.The research allowed the testing and validation of all aspects and practices
included in the strategic pillars of the House Agility model.Following the results analysis
gained by the application of the proposed methodology, company “A” have obtained a total
score of 57% for the agility principles implementation[2]. The research results are shown in
Figure 4. Analyzing the footprint agility for company “A”, the following observations have
been made [2]:
• The company has an uneven approach on agility, TAMH pillars having various levels of
implementation, which indicates the lack of a systematic approach to the agility
implementation;
• Pillars II, III, V, VII and VIII have very good scores and that reflect the company's
orientation towards continuous development, with a particular focus on achieving profit
through new technologies, but also by developing suitable policies for the current state of the
economic environment;
• Pillars I and IV are poorly developed (shown by the low scores) because change and
innovation are not constant the focus of the company’s management;
• Pillar VI is underdeveloped also, because of the organizational systems lack to promote
accelerated learning, and on the other hand, the lack of constant focus on staff motivation
beyond an adequate remuneration policy;
• Overall, in the case of company “A” there is a high level of practice defined, but the
problem is the coverage and stability in implementing and promoting agility principles.
The second case study deals with the evaluation company “B”, which is a unit of production
in the automotive industry, with approximately 400 employees in the production area, the
company being in business for 10 years in Romania.Company “B” is part of a multinational
corporation (competing with company “A”), being a major player in the market for
automotive parts manufacturing industry worldwide. Similar to the first case study, the
39
researchh allowed the testing and validation of alll aspects and a practicces included
d in the
strategicc pillars of the TAMHH model.Following the results anallysis gainedd by the app plication
of the proposed
p meethodology,, company “B”
“ have ob btained a total score off 72% for th
he agility
principlles implemeentation. Thhe researchh results aree shown in Figure 4, iin parallel with the
researchh results for
fo companny “A” in order to support
s a comparative
c e analysis of both
compannies.Analyziing the footprint agilitty for the company
c “B
B”, the folloowing obseervations
were maade [2]:
• The company has h a uniforrm approachh on agility y, the pillarss defined inn the TAMH H model
having similar levvels of impplementatioon, which indicates a systematiic approach h to the
implem mentation agiility;
• The calculated scores for each e pillarss show that they are alll well develloped in termm of the
agility principles
p immplementattion, the com mpany haviing a well-ddefined andd coherent approach
a
to all prractices defiined for eacch pillar;
• Oveerall, in the case of com mpany “B” there is a high
h level of agility praactice show
wn by the
coveragge and stabiility indicattors of the agility
a princciples impleementation that are ov ver 70%.
These proofs
p that company’s
c managemennt ensure a synergisticc approach ffor agility, focusing
f
particularly on achieving a com mmon visioon and comm mitments.

I I
100 100
VIII 80 II VIII 80 II
60 60
40 40
20 20
VII 0 III VII 0 III

VI IV VI IV

V V

Actuaal level Initial Actuall level I

Initial
Growtth Developmentt Growthh D
Development
Maturrity Maturiity

Company “A
A” C
Company “B””
L
Level of Pillars
impllementation I II IIII IV V V
VI VII VIII Totaal score
Comp pany “A” [%]]
Acctual level 54 68 57 44 59 400 60 75 57
Initial 50 50 50 50 50 500 50 50 50
Growth 90 90 90 90 90 900 90 90 90
Development 95 95 95 95 95 955 95 95 95
M
Maturity 100 100 1000 100 100 1000 100 100 100
D
Definition 90 97 90 90 85 866 99 100 92
C
Coverage 67 66 644 35 71 488 49 79 60
S
Stability 52 74 63 61 70 466 72 70 64
Level off implementatiion Pillars
Comppany “B” [%] I II IIII IV V V
VI VII VIII Totaal score
Acctual level 74 68 76 82 64 644 73 72 72
Initial 50 50 50 50 50 500 50 50 50
Growth 90 90 90 90 90 900 90 90 90
Development 95 95 95 95 95 955 95 95 95
M
Maturity 100 100 1000 100 100 1000 100 100 100
D
Definition 90 97 90 92 85 866 99 100 92
C
Coverage 79 66 81 95 82 777 76 74 79
S
Stability 85 74 88 84 70 722 72 70 77
F
Figure 4. Thee agility footprrint and agilityy evaluation results
r in the case
c of two orgganizations [2
2]

40
4. CONCLUSIONS
The paper emphasized the characteristics of the new business management paradigm that is
focus on agility. The main causes of this new business practice are given by the unpredictable,
rapid and constant change of the business environment conditions, the high level of
competition and the need for organization’s sustainable development (limited available
resources that should support high level of performance, efficiency, effectiveness and profit
but without neglecting organization’s social impact).
In order to operate under the pressures of the new business paradigm there have been
proposed (designed and described) the TAMH model and an associated methodology for the
agility principles implementation in organization. TAMH is a holistic management model that
allow the development of an agility evaluation and/or methodology (operationalized through
an Excel application) with the aim of increasing organization’s adaptability to suggested and
needed undertaking changes of the internal and external environment.
The implementation of the TAMH model and methodology will better valorised the actual
managerial methods and practices by creating synergies between different organization areas
and managerial levels, having in the background the business processes continuous
improvement targets (proofed by the presented case studies).
5. REFERENCES
1. Caldwell, W., Building Agile and Adaptive Leaders, Engineer, Vol. 39, (2009).
2. Canda, A.,Agile Enterprise – Managerial Strategies and Organizational Models, PhD
Thesis, Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania, (2013).
3. Cooke, J.L.,Everything you want to know about Agile: how to get Agile results in a
less-than-Agile organization, IT Governance Ltd., (2012).
4. Cuervo-Cazurra, A., Ramamurti, R. (Eds.),Understanding multinationals from
emerging markets, Cambridge University Press, (2014).
5. Denning, S., How to make the whole organization Agile, Strategy & Leadership,Vol.
43, No. 6, pp. 10-17, (2015).
6. Eichinger, B., Ulrich, D., Are You Future Agile? People and Strategy, Vol. 18,
(1995).
7. Gereffi, G., Sturgeon, T., 14 Global value chain-oriented industrial policy: the role of
emerging economies,Global value chains in a changing world, p. 329, (2013).
8. Haines, S.G., Stead, G.A., McKinlay, J., Enterprise-Wide Change: Superior Results
Through Systems Thinking, San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., (2005).
9. Hoskisson, R.E., Wright, M., Filatotchev, I., Peng, M.W., Emerging multinationals
from Mid‐Range economies: The influence of institutions and factor markets, Journal
of Management Studies,Vol. 50, No. 7, pp. 1295-1321, (2013).
10. Joiner, B., Guide to Agile Leadership, Industrial Management, Vol. 51, (2009).
11. Meyer, K.E., Peng, M.W., Theoretical foundations of emerging economy business
research, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 47, No.1, pp. 3-22, (2015).
12. Moreira, M. E. (2013). Implementing, Coaching, and Honing Activities,Being
Agile,Apress, pp. 209-222, (2013).
13. Pixton, P., Gibson, P., Nickolaisen, N., The Agile Culture: Leading Through Trust and
Ownership, Pearson Education, (2014).
14. Sharifi, H., Zhang, Z., Agile Manufacturing in Practice. Application of a
Methodology, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol.
21 (2001).
15. Smith, G., Sidky, A., Becoming Agile … in an Imperfect World, Greenwich: Manning
Publications Co. (2009).
16. Worley, C. G., Lawler, E. E., Agility and Organization Design: A Diagnostic
Framework, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 194-204 (2010).

41
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

REFORM IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM. THE ROLE OF THE

SCHOOL PRINCIPAL IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CHANGE IN
THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

Horriyah Saab 1
1
West University of Timisoara, horiya@walla.co.il

ABSTRACT: In the recent decades, the academic literature engages more and more with reforms in the
education system. These reforms that are worldwide seek to create change in education. If it's regarding the
position of the school principal as designer leader has significant role in the reforms management, but, moreover
the role of this article is to emphasize the change of the role of the school principal over the years. The functions
of the school principal integrate managerial aspects and leadership aspects and its importance is immense in the
school organization, both in the terms of the organization customers, the pupils, and in the terms of the
organization's staff - teachers. Not less important is the operation and implementation of educational reforms.
We have to see the role of the school principal as the most significant to the implementing the reform in the
education system.
KEYWORDS: reforms, change management, school principal.

1. INTRODUCTION
The declared purpose of educational reform is to improve the achievements of more and more
pupils and to enable them to be better integrated in society. In addition to being of reforms
sometimes as a survival necessity the organizations and also the way of systems to maintain
the issue in the focus of public interest, they are also a level for constant renewal and express
a yearning to change the face of the education [1]. Due to the occurrence of the reform as
processes of change in a democratic society is summoned exit from the routine, undermining
the existing, activities of identifying of needs, an opportunity for public discussion on values,
examining alternatives, construction of consensus on priorities, harnessing the stakeholders,
coping with objections, developing of activity strategies and etc.. On the other hand, there
braking forces such as: explicit and implicit objections of different stakeholders, political
struggles for power and influence, weaknesses of the reform in terms of the requested change
itself and its nature, conflicting interests of interest groups, socio-political mechanisms and
structures, failures in performance and so on [26]
Elmore [12] define educational reform as planned change process that is aimed for achieving
Objectives, which are praiseworthy from the perspective of its initiators. It is impossible to
talk about educational reform without discussing the changes that were applied in the role of
principal of the school in the recent years. This article will present the change in the role of
the principal and how the principal can assist in implementing of the reform and the changes
that are dictated from the top. It can be said that the school principal is a role with a crucial
importance to the success of the school [24]. The success of the schools involved in the
formulation and implementation of educational purposes [20]. From the middle of the
twentieth century, and especially the last three decades, the purpose of the school was focused
in the success of all of the pupils who come within it - their education, their learning and their
achievements [12], hence, the principal of the school has primary responsibility for the
success of the all pupils and it is important to cultivate his/her commitment for this. The study
shows that the principal has an important role in improving the teaching and increasing of
achievements of the pupils [e.g.: 22; 30; 21; 19] The role of the school principal is a busy and

42
complex role, and it includes tasks of diverse nature. One of the main reasons for this is that
the schools and their principals work in changing, uncertain and unstable reality [9; 21].
2. THE BEGINNING OF THE ERA OF THE REFORMS IN EDUCATION AND IN
THE ROLES OF THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
The post modern era and the last decades are characterized by a high frequency of changes. A
lot of information, the global communications, the improved accessibility, the knowledge and
the technological progress, have a significant impact on institutions and organizations in
general, and public organizations and schools in particular. In the recent decades, most of
democratic countries in the West acted in order to promote reforms in the public sector. The
common denominator among all of them is dissatisfaction on the part of the citizens in
relation to the providing of governmental services that are provided by the state.
The professional literature that engages with schools management sees the school as an
organization, which has to conduct in accordance with the theories of management.
Accordingly, the school and the school management engage with the requirements, the needs
and the roles of the school principal as an organization manager, in accordance of the theories
of modern organizational management. This literature engages with the importance of the
systemic view, with reference to the learning organization, which copes with the changing
environment, with contradictions and with complexity [25]. In addition, the emphasis on the
position of the school principal as a leader, including decisions that he/she makes, his/her
daring and his/her resourcefulness in coping with the changing environments and the with
challenge of change leading [20]. The classic literature of management refers to the skills and
the talents that are required form the manager, including technical skills alongside social skills
such as staff leading and interpersonal communication and also conceptual abilities that are
associated with seeing of the vision as a complex of the components of the organization.
However, there is presented an argument that the school principal, compared to owners of
management positions in other organizations, has a central and unique role in leadership and
educational work of the teaching staff. The school principal is perceived as the leader of the
education system, a major leader of pedagogic guidance of the school, who has overall
responsibility for the success of the pupils at the institution that he/she manages, when by all
these he/she has a crucial influence on the improving teaching and increasing achievements of
the pupils [21].
According to these perceptions, we can see the development and the changes that were
applied in the last decades regarding the role of the school principal and the expectations from
him/her: (1) From the perception of the principal as who has professional authority, the
pedagogical leader who uses transformational leadership and who places the vision and the
purposes and recruiting the staff for their fulfillment to the perception of the manager as
participating leader, who develops processes of participation of teachers and the officials in
the professional discourse, in the decision-making and the in dividing of tasks and
responsibilities. (2) From the perception of leadership of the manager as functioning that is
focused on the inputs and on the processes of teaching, through personal guidance for
teachers, attendance in the classroom, follow up of achievements of the pupils and fundraising
to a leader who is focused on the management of culture and the culture of learning of
teachers and pupils, emphasizing the results, the empowering of the group as a community
with unique identity that includes values, symbols , beliefs, and intentions that are common to
all its members, (teachers, parents, pupils) and managing of professional discussion the main
issue of which is the quality of teaching, promotion of learning and mutual commitment
among the all members [2]. Hence the responsibilities of the school principal are anchored in
the leading of processes of teaching, education and learning in the design of the future image
of the school- vision and change management, in the leading of the staff and its professional
training, in focusing in the individual and in managing of the relationships between the school
and the community. In all of these the role of the principal is to create the moral infrastructure
that connects between the organization members and their environment, to activate

43
mechanisms and processes, including enforcement of discipline, which will develop the
capabilities of the school to manage itself, to determine its objectives, and the ways how to
achieve them and to act for their implementation and to promote the individuals as leaders and
skilled professionals [2]. This approach for the role of school principal integrates aspects of
management and leadership. However, conceptually there are two different dimensions: the
management has one significant aspect of preservation and daily operation of the school,
while the focus of leadership indicates fields such as values, ethics, inspiration, purposes
design, renewal and motivating of people towards a common and agreed purpose, on these
aspects there are added balancing leadership management components that are relied on the
theory of "the full range of transformational leadership” that specifies terms such as: the
realization of ideals, inspiration, consideration of the individual and the intellectual
stimulation.
3. THE PERCEPTION OF THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
ACCORDING THE APPROACH OF THE NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
From the late 1980s, there was begun to appear liberalization of the public administration that
is now known as the phenomenon of “new public administration” that relies on the
assumption that collaboration between the two sectors will benefit many individuals of
society. As the essence of this phenomenon the public sector adopted behavior rule,
management methods, codes of culture, norms and values that characterize the business sector
and the private sector [28]. As part of the reforms of new public management we can see
characteristics and different expressions of business organizations infiltrate to the public field.
For example we can see an emphasis on quality of service and the product, as well as striving
for performance management including setting of measureable objectives, developing of
metrics and standards, and repeated measurement for the purposes of comparison and
improvement. At the same time, the organizational structure is flatter, i.e., headquarter has
increased, and there are also complex and multi-channel collaborations and teamwork
compared to the past [12]. Similarly to the private sector, the model of new public
management poses for the managers, challenges and expectations that are larger than in the
past, and in accordance, enables providing of consideration and extensive authorities to the
managers in order to enable them to managerial flexibility and ability to adapt to changing
situations. This approach assumes that perceptual change regarding the values that in the basis
of the activity of public sector: efficiency is perceived as more important than the action,
effectiveness is more important than the process, flexibility and adaptability more important
than the principles of certainty and obedience. These work patterns provide to the managers
greater maneuvering space and enables them to direct the activities of the institution in
accordance with cost-benefit considerations and to examining of inputs versus outputs. The
most important components of the leadership of public management are managerial
responsibility, accountability, transparency. All those motivate organizational processes and
working processes, speed up tasks performing, streamline priorities, reduce costs and
encourage focusing in goals and objectives that are essential and most urgent. In addition,
they encourage teamwork and responsibility of unified staff that shows responsibility and
leads the organization to the desired results [28]. Vigoda [29] creates a distinction between the
administration that is focused in policy implementation and management that is generally
attributed to empowering of individuals and groups and aimed to achieve organizational
effectiveness and efficiency. In order to promote the new public administration reform we
have to develop and encourage appropriate leadership, which is flexible and modern processes
and which will encompass both the processes of administration and the processes of
management. It is proper that this leadership on the one hand will cause the necessary changes
that are derived from the perception of NPM and on the other hand, will continue to act within
the framework of the existing system and relying on it as it extract the best as possible from it.
For the leveraging and promoting of such leadership, it is necessary basic conditions, with
structural and cultural characteristics that are suitable for the new public management.

44
4. THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AS TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER – IN THE
POSTMODERN ERA
Today, there are two prominent educational ideologies in the education systems in the country
and worldwide: the traditional stream and progressive stream. The traditional stream is based
on the culture of traditional teaching with instrumental approach, learning of skills and the
expectation of usefulness. This teaching exists because the cultural and the social contexts
that affect the daily life at school do not stimulate critique or questions. This arrangement is
the result of traditional - conservative approach, according which teachers perceive the
tradition and the culture of the school obvious [27].The progressive stream, reflects new
educational arrangements that focus on professional developing and humanistic teaching and
learning methods of the teachers, on developing of intellectual, emotional and moral resources
of the teachers and the pupils, on the design of their identity and on the guidance for the
design of their perspectives about the life, about themselves and about others. The difference
between the two streams, is in the basic issues in education such as: determining of the
educational purposes, the role and the position of the teachers and the pupils in the process of
teaching [11]. While the progressive pedagogy was primarily focused on position the pupil in
the center of the educational process, there was simultaneously developed in the UK and in
the US the radical educational approach – the critical pedagogy that has challenged the
existing cultural, social and educational arrangements and has emphasized the educational
contexts outside the classroom and outside the school and the complexity of the relations
between education and society.
The educators in the postmodern era should persist in position of the pupil at the center of
education being, to examine their of educational activities constantly, to develop critical
attitudes of them and of their pupils towards the system, to examine the effects of the
education system on the figure adult and to implement accordingly the changes in their
teaching methods [2]. In Israel the National Task Force to Improve the Education (Dovrat
Committee) pointed out the school principal as responsible for providing high quality of
education for the all pupils, the empowering of the educational staff, the constant
improvement of its professional functioning and its success in fulfilling the tasks and
achieving the purposes of the school. (National Program of Education, 2005).
Hence there is growing and strengthening the understanding that it is impossible to improve
efficiently and for the over time the learning of pupils and their achievements without
improving of teachers' teaching and recognition that the responsibility for this is imposed on
the school principals. The demand for transparency and accountability from the Ministry of
Education, the local authority and the school community reinforces the need for assessing
teachers’ performances [2].
5. CHANGING TRENDS IN THE ROLES OF THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Evans [13] argues that the deep significance of the school principal task is inherent in the
pedagogical aspect of his/her role. The key to the success of the principals is changing the
emphasis of their duties: from management of education until the 1980s the research of
leadership was based on the social sciences, and the principal's role was based on scientific,
business, and managerial images [9]. The basis of management was considered as universal
and not dependent in the educational context [23]. The features approach, the situational
approach and the behavioral approach are examples of this general paradigm [16]. In the last
twenty years, in the light of the recognition of the relation between the action of the leader
and the culture of the organization in which he/she acts, have a great interest in the model of
transformational leadership or Transmuting leadership and the model the full range of
leadership. Avolio & Bass [4] emphasize the role of the manager as a designer of the culture.
These models focused on the influence of the leader on people – their tendencies, attitudes
and beliefs, as well as the design of optimal relationships among members of the organization
[23]. The model of transformational leadership specifies terms such as realization of ideals,
staff developing based on inspiration, taking the individual into account and intellectual
45
stimulation [5]. The special importance of transformational leadership is emphasizing the
need to create a healthy school culture. According to Barth [6] the school culture is based on
the system of norms, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, values, ceremonies, traditions and myths
that are ingrained in the core of the institution. A healthy culture is a continuous source of
inspiration for learning of the young and adult alike, hence its great importance. The school
principal has to constantly examine the culture in his/her school and to ensure that it invites
and encourages learning. This conclusion has led many researchers to determine that
pedagogical leadership is one of the characteristics of the principal's role: leadership that
emphasizes the behavior of the teachers and is aimed directly to influence the growth of the
pupils [22]. Leadership that defines the pedagogical purpose of the school, manages of the
teaching and the learning, and creates a school climate that supports learning [17] leadership
that directs and guides the improvement of the teaching and the learning [12], leadership that
designs educational-scholastic vision and implements it by collaboration with the school staff
and the community [21] and leadership that is based on procedures that create sustainable
relationships with the class action [8], in other words, is based on the interrelationship of
teacher-pupil-learning materials [18;19].
6. THE ROLES OF THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL IN THE MODERN ERA – NOW
The roles of the school principal integrate managerial and leadership aspects. Conceptually,
these are two different dimensions [20]. The managerial aspect includes prominent aspect of
preservation, arrangement and daily operation of the school, in contrast, the aspect of
leadership emphasizes the internal things like values, ethics, inspiration, purposes design,
regeneration and especially motivating of people towards a common and agreed purpose [24].
In practical terms, too sharp distinguishing between management and leadership is not
productive [14;15].
The principal's role integrates management and leadership: according to Bennis & Nanus [7]
it is involved is the design of vision and leading of changes alongside with regular and
effective maintenance, and according to Friedman [14] it is based on 'leadership of
transformation’ and ‘routine leadership' respectively and they both are necessary for the
organization. Thus, the effective management of the school is a function of leadership
characteristics that rely on a managerial basis [20]. Transformational leadership is something
necessary, but it alone is not enough to lead to sustained school improvement [19]. The
transformational approach as other general leadership approaches, reflects far too long from
the ‘core technology' of schools means teaching and learning. If the central role of the school
is to grow young people - empowering of their learning and their achievements – it is proper
that the principal will focus on this purpose, will serve as a pedagogical leader and will direct
towards changes in the teaching and learning actions.
Recent studies indicate that the pedagogical leadership is the core task of the school principal
[30], and principal who is a pedagogical leader who influences the improvement of teaching
and the achievements of learners [23;24]. It turns out that pedagogical leadership is not a
common and structured phenomenon in the educational systems. No one time there are
schools in which there is a division of work according which the teachers are responsible for
what goes on behind the closed classroom door closed, while the school principal engages
with action such as budget management, determination and maintenance of the organizational
structure of the school, managing relationships with the school community, handling with
conflicts and crises, enriching of the human capital, design of the school climate as well as
marketing and management of daily routine of school [12]. The principal finds it difficult to
connect these activities and the teaching and learning action, and therefore does not design for
a central role for himself/herself as pedagogical leader. While there is inclusion in this
description, but the argument which must be considered is that there is no systemic
construction that supports systematically the pedagogical leadership. From the 1980s we see
an effort to change the central characterization of the role of the school principal and to bind it
in the educational context of and the in the learning objectives of the organization. If we

46
accept the assumptions that the central role of the school involves in improving of the
education and the learning and that the school principal has a very important role in realizing
of this purpose, the obvious conclusion is that the principal has to dedicate the best efforts to
the fields of teaching and learning.
The central role of school principals is to lead educationally and pedagogically the school in
order to improve the education and the learning of the all pupils. Four other management
fields enable this role and support it: design the future image of the school - Vision and
change management; staff leadership, its management and its professional development;
focusing on the individual; managing of the relationships between the school and the
community. As his/her being a school leader, the principal has to see the school system on a
variety of its dimensions and fields and to create close connections between them for the sake
of the success of the all pupils.
7. THE FIELD OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT TODAY
It is possible to summarize and say that we can divide the role of the school principal to four
fields of management. Figure 1 summary the different in the role of the school principal

Role of principal in the past

Role of principal today

Figure 1. Working Dogs organizational consultant

(1) Education, Teaching and Learning Processes Leading Due to the responsibility of the
School to the Education of the pupil, his/her being a person with a passion to know,
autonomous learner, with self-direction for learning (self-regulated learning) and provides
meaning for it - the constant improvement of the education, the teaching, the learning and the
achievements of the all pupils are a priority for the school. As a pedagogical leader, principal
plans, leads and is involved in major educational tasks of the school, in collaboration with the
school community.
(2) Design of the Future Image of the School - Vision and Change Management in the
schools work in the complex reality and the environmental context of that are affected by the
complex of permanent changes and transformation in their close and distant environment. The
nature, perceptions, goals and ways of life of the schools affected by these changes and
transformation in the present, but will be also subjects of unexpected conditions in the future.
As the school principal will be wise to lead strategic efforts of thinking, based on information
collection, intelligent prediction, systematic learning and planning of the objectives and long-
term and data-guided ways of action, in participation of the school staff and the officials of
the Authority and the Community, will increase the chances that his/her school will succeed
to fulfill the needs of the partners, to adapt itself own flexibly to the future changes flexibly
and to gain recognition and appreciation for his/her efforts and his/her achievements on the
part of entities that act with him/her.
(3) The Staff Leading, its Management and its Professional Development -Teachers are the
leaders of the action of education. Teachers are human capital and the professional asset that
the school relies on it. Nurturing and investing in this major and important and will largely
ensure the fulfillment of the goals and the achievements of the school in the pedagogical,
47
organizational and social aspects. The school principal manages the teaching staff. His/her
role is to plan and to lead the processes of professional learning and professional envelopment
of his/her staff in accordance with the policy of the school, the teacher’s professional needs
and their aspirations and in congruence with the teachers' career steps.
(4) Focusing of the Individual - The school is an organization that engages with education
and cultivation of young and different from each other persons. The focusing on the
individual pupils is an expression of caring and of concern, it strives to respond to the
loneliness of many of the youths in this age, and is anchored in the commitment to the success
of each pupil in the educational, social and emotional fields. Child under mental distress
cannot learn or to be expressed in company of children. The principal designs school that is
designed to serve as a safe and pleasant personal and human environment and to encourage
the growth of the all pupils.
8. CONCLUSIONS
The role of the school principal, as part of the education system has undergone
transformations and changes over the years. In the beginning - from the mid-nineteenth
century we identify processes of secularization, urbanization and industrialization, which led
to the development of new human society, there was a turning point in the teaching and
education methods and in the role of the school principal "The public education" [27;25;26].
The education received additional meaning when the countries have begun to understand that
education is a means to increase the competitive power of the country against other countries.
From the mid-twentieth century, and especially during the last three decades, the purpose of
the school has been focused on the success of the all pupils who are part of it - their
education, their learning and their achievements [12]. The role of the school principal is a
busy and complex role, and it includes tasks of diverse nature [9; 21]. Among the duties of the
school principal we can be specify, for example, organizational developing of school,
management of decision-making processes, systematic and systematic planning, design of
safe climate and environment, managing of the curricula system, design of the schedules,
professional developing of teaching staff, budgeting and financing of the school activities,
formulating of educational vision and its implementation, recruitment of employees and
human resource management, management of relationships between the school and the
community, developing of learning communities, assessment of teachers’ performances, and
finally - improving of the achievements of the all pupils. The role of the school principal
integrate managerial aspects and leadership aspects and its importance is immense to the
operation of the school organization, both in the terms of organization customers who are the
pupils and in the terms of the organization's staff – the teachers. Any reform of education
cannot exist without the involvement of the school principal. Expanded discussion of the issue
should be dedicated to the providing of tools to assist to the school principal to carry out
his/her duties.
9. REFERENCES
1. Adler, H., Introduction. In: Fisher, G. & Michaeli, N. (Eds.), Change and improvement in
the education systems. Collection of Articles, Branco Weiss Institute and Avney Rossha
(Headstones) Institute, Jerusaelm, (2010).
2. Avidov, A., Teachers Empowering – Essence and models, Henrietta Szold Institute, the
National Institute of Research in the Behavioral Sciences, (2011).
3. Aviram, A., The education system in the postmodern society abnormal organization in
chaotic world, In: A. Gur-Zeev (Ed.). Education in the era of postmodern discourse,
Magnes Publishing, Beit-Berl (1999).
4. Avolio, B. J., & Bass B. M., The full range of leadership program: Basic and advanced
manual, Bass, Avolio & Associates. New York, (1990).
5. Avolio, B.J., Waldman, D. A., & Yammarino, F. J., Leading in the 1990s: The four Issues
of transformational leadership, Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 15, No. 4,
pp. 9-16, (1991).
48
6. Barth, R. S., The culture builder. Educational Leadership, Vol. 59, No.8, pp. 6-11, (2002).
7. Bennis, W., & Nanus, B., Leaders: The strategies for taking charge, Harper & Row, New
York, (1985).
8. Coldren, A. F., & Spillane, J. P., Making connections to teaching practice: The role of
boundary practices in instructional leadership. Educational Policy, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp.
369-396, (2007).
9. Cuban, L., The managerial imperative and the practice of leadership in schools. State
University of New York Press, Albany, (1988).
10. Darling, L., & McLaughlin, M.W., Policies that support professional development in an
era of reform, Phi Delta Kappan, 76 (8), (1995).
11. Elbaz, F., The teacher’s practical knowledge: Report of a case study. Curriculum Inquiry,
Vol. 11, pp. 43-71, (1981).
12. Elmore, F. R., School reform from the inside out: Policy, practice and performance,
Harvard Education Press, Cambridge MA, (2004).
13. Evans, R., Administrative insight: Educational administration as pedagogical practice,
Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Research Association, Chicago,
IL. (1991).
14. Friedman, Y., Leadership styles in the changing organizational change: Conversion,
routine and integration. Studies of Education Administration and Organization, Vol. 18,
pp. 5 – 43,(1992).
15. Friedman, Y., Leadership maturity: Model for changes inserting school principals, Studies
of Education Administration and Organization, Vol. 19, pp. 29 – 47, (1993).
16. Gonen, A., & Zackay, A., Leadership and leadership developing, the Ministry of Defense,
Tel Aviv, (2000).
17. Hallinger, P., & Murphy, J., Assessing the instructional management behavior of
principals, Elementary School Journal, Vol. 86, No. 2, 1985, pp. 217-247, (1985).
18. Hargreaves, A., & Fink, D., Sustainable leadership, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA,
(2006).
19. Hopkins, D., School improvement for real, Routledge, London, (2001).
20. Inbar, D., Diversification management – the educational challenge,: Reches, Or Yehuda,
(2000).
21. Leithwood, K., & Riehl, C., What do we already know about successful school
leadership?, Report prepared for AERA, (2003).
22. Leithwood, K., Day, C., Sammons, P., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D., Seven strong claims
about successful school leadership, NCSL, Birmingham, (2007).
23. Murphy, J., Restructuring schools: Capturing and assessing the phenomena, Teachers
College Press, New York, (1991).
24. Murphy, J., Elliott, S., Goldring, E., & Porter, A., Learning-centered leadership: A
conceptual foundation. Report for The Wallace Foundation, (2006).
25. OPLATKA, Y., Teachers and principals in “Ofek Hadash” (New Horizon) from objection
to participation. Echo of Education, December 20, Sheet No 02. Vol. 75, pp. 32, (2010).
26. Oplatka, Y., Investigation of the administration of education and the policy that customary
in it: Examining of the development of the academic discipline in the education sciences,
Studies of Education, Vol. 5, pp. 164 – 182, (2011).
27. Sangren , P., Rhetoric and the authority of ethnography: post-modernism and the social
reproduction of texts, Current Anthropology, Vol. 29, No.3, pp. 405–435. (1988).
28. Talbot, C., &Johnson, Seasonal Cycles in Public Management Disaggregation and Re-
aggregation, Public Money & Management, Vol. 27, pp. 1-53, (2007).
29. Vigoda, E. Managing Collaboration in Public Administration: The promise of Alliance
among Governance, Citizens, and Businesses, Praeger, Westport, Connecticut, (2003).
Wallace Foundation, Annual report, The Wallace Foundation, New York, (2007).

49
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

CHANGES IN THE SCHOOLS – WHO MANAGES

THE CHANGE?

Horriyah Saab 1
1
West University of Timisoara, horiya@walla.co.il

ABSTRACT: Changes in education in general and schools in particular are our part in the last decade. This
article will be reviewed the trend of change in the school and its essence. The school change will be defined as
episodic change, which must occur through change agent who is outside the system – the organizational
consultant. There will be review organizational consultant's work at school.
KEYWORDS: organizational consultant, organizational change, episodic change, change of the education
system.

1. INTRODUCTION
More than five decades there are made in the world and in Israel, intensive and
comprehensive attempts to change the face of the school. The discussion of the nature of the
contents and their purposes are justified, but this will require a different analysis. We can see
that the attempts to change the school include many fields: teaching methods, organizational
structure of the education system, the organizational structure of the school, the self-
management of the school, school autonomy, teaching technologies, training of teachers and
the like these.
The school is affected by the environment and changes in it and therefore in the education
field there is now a confrontation between two forces, one is the world that goes towards a
postmodernism, in the world of globalization in which economic and employment changes
are very quick, and our pupils live in a reality of careers that vary in accordance with the
changes that occur in the global economy.
Even the school as an organization should adapt itself to the rapid changes, pressures of time
and place, a variety of cultures, complex technologies, the lack of national security and the
lack of scientific clarity. And the second modern school with a strict set of rules continues to
follow the unclear purposes that are not adjust to the new world [2], that is under the
revolution of relativism according which there is no one truth, everything is relative and is the
sequence of horizontal values. In the absence of clear limits and agreed criteria, lead to a
sense of chaos and disorientation that pushes the school to try many change processes that are
adjust to the world where we live [1].
2. THE CHANGE IN THE SCHOOL
Schools are organizations that act largely from the power of inertia; the inertia is defined as
the inability of the school to vary as quickly as the environment varies. Power of inertia in
organization has different causes, such as its basic structure (the scope of the management
mechanism) routine behaviour patterns (kind of communication between people), point of
blindness (the perception that “with us all ok and there are no problems "), determinations of
the management (senior manager who is a manager for two decades), necessary to maintain
the school identity ( "our graduation party has a reputation because our pupils prepare
everything themselves") and the like these. All these constitute our thinking framework and
should be taken into account during the episodic change in the organization. Episodic change
means the organization is maintaining of the power of inertia [10].

50
2.1 The Change in the School as Episodic Change
If we will look under overall view of the flow of events in organizations in general and
schools in particular, we will accept a picture of ceaseless repetition of certain activities and
routines that occasionally accept randomly changes. From closely looking at the micro level,
we can see that ongoing actions of adaptation and adjustment to reality take place constantly.
Some believe that also if these actions are seemed small in their scope; they are frequent and
usually persistent, which means they may change structures and strategies at the school. For
example - change of break ringing that were changed in melodies, the addition of a computer
room, the adoption of new teaching programs instead of old, change in the form of pupils
assessment, and the like. These adjustment actions are defined by some researchers as the
essence of organizational change [8]. In contrast, other researchers believe that most of the
small and ongoing actions of adaptation and adjustment are merely different forms of the
same thing, the same beliefs and the same perceptions. "Do more of the same thing". Which
all together are actions that are originated ultimately at the same starting point, and their
impact on the organization based on the strengthening of the interdependence of its parts
without causing a fundamental change in its role [7]. I.e., this is actually regarding to the
episodic changes, and not significant changes of new learning, new understandings or
changing in the patterns of thinking and behavior.
If we analyze the process of episodic change, there is proven that it takes place by replacing
something with something else. I.e. one subject (e.g. new curriculum in literature) takes the
place of another subject or replaces it [10].. It is possible to define the process of change in
such case as a series of events where people (1) decide or tendons what exists now - for
example load of material in literature (2) decide or define what is needed to replace what
exists (e.g. more fiction and less plays) (3) begin to act to remove the existing through the
intensive professional training, guides at the school, published booklets and etc. (4) adopting
the substitute [3]. The meaning of this process is the replacement of something to another
thing. And it does not achieve the purpose of changing because it reduced the thinking for
change to dichotomous thinking - or this or the other - as the only way to change the existence
of something is to put in its place a substitute [5]. Episodic changes happen at the school
rarely. However, the increasing speed of changes in the environment outside of the school
increases the rate of occurrence of episodic changes also within the school. However, the
episodic changes that occur at school and the episodic change in the environment outside the
school are not related to each other. They usually occur by virtue of any need or problem, so
they are a disturbance or deviation from the balanced situation that was prevailed before.
They are not fundamental changes, which are in order to change the entire system and to
connect its parts. Furthermore, it is possible to say that when there is an episodic change
occurs at school, it is generally perceived as evidence of failure in adaptation of the school to
the environment or to the changing demands [3].
According to the theory of Kurt Lewin [6, pp 65] for the purpose that the change will occur, it
is necessary to break the equilibrium of the existing balances and beyond to creation of the
change of the equilibrium and other balances. An example of breaking the equilibrium is
when it turns out from the results of international tests that the achievements of the pupils in
the country are lower than in other countries in the world, or when there is discovered a
significant gap in the results of the tests between the center and the periphery. Usually the
process is related to the change that was planned outside the organization and the organization
and is dictated to the organization members according to a permanent schedule.
The premises that are formulated by Kurt Lewin fifty years ago about the change are seemed
at first are relevant also today [5] and they are the theoretical basis for episodic change. The
assumptions are: a - an advanced change in the linear line change from one step to another
over the time. b - A change is from a given situation to the better situation. c – A change is
aimed at for and ultimate and defined purpose. d - A change requires a violation of existing
balances and e - a change is planned and managed by people outside the system.

51
The emphasis, for which we have to pay attention, is in the fifth assumption of Lewin [6], that
the change is planned and managed by people outside the system. From this is undertaken that
change agents that will enter to the school system from the planners. The role of the change
agent in the case of episodic change is to provide an impetus in activation of the change. Such
a change agent in the field, in industrial and commercial organizations that do not engage in
education is an organizational consultant. Researchers in the field of organizations point out
that what characterizes the change agents in organizations during the last two decades, as
distinct from the period before them, is that they treat with changes in increasing scale, come
into contact with large groups of people, notes as agenda for a long list of actions for mediate
performance, and plan them for short periods of time [10]. Weick & Quinn [10] argue that the
most important tool of a successful change agent is the ability to speak completely different
from that the members of the system accustom to hear, in the terms of basic concepts,
contexts, interpretations, nicknames, the common perceptions and the like. Changing of the
language was become the consumer need in the process of creation of the episodic change in
the organization [5]. The reason for this without the change of language the people do not
identify new ideas that were presented to them. Indeed, as the agents of change of various
reforms and programs, the organizational consultants, show great creativity in invention of a
new vocabulary, which they voice to the ears of the teachers and the principals in order to
minimize the resistance to change [3].

3. THE ORGANIZATIONAL CONSULTANT AS CHANGE AGENT

Organizational consulting, as is clear from the different definitions of organizational
consulting that can be found in the literature can engage in processes of change and
organizational growth and to assist and / or to intervene in crisis situations in the organization,
in order to improve the organization at various levels (http://www.ippa.org.il). According to
French & Bell [4] organizational consulting is "a long series of efforts in order to improve
problems solution in organization and innovation of the processes, especially through
effective and inclusive management of the organizational culture by the agents of change and
the use of theory and technology of behavioral sciences, their implementation includes action
studies [4 pp. 14]. Other researchers [9] argue that this is “planned interventions in the work
system, which is based on behavioral sciences, which are aimed to improve the functioning of
the organization and the developing of individuals in the organization" [9 pp. 721]. The
change agents, the organizational consultants, are a new phenomenon in Israeli schools, from
the nineties year of 20th century. The organizational consulting as a change agent comes to
provide a response to various pressures with which the school principals cope with the desire
purpose of increasing students' motivation and and the experience of the learning process.
The program was to improve teachers' teaching methods in five learning subjects.
The next stage was inducting and instructing teachers for the new program. The results of the
study indicated that teachers worked according to the program. A yearto respond to its
surroundings. For example, following the opening of registration areas there was created a
competition among schools to register pupils. Principals remain with the possibility to choose
one of two strategies: to accept the environmental requirements and to activate the schools in
accordance with these requirements; to affect the environment with the wording "I believe",
"school vision" and to propose the school and its trends to the environment. In order to
perform this it there is a need of organizational vision. During the planning of a change in the
school it is advisable to request the assistance of an organizational consultant in the early step
of planning. Principal who uses organizational consulting service will learn about the
effectiveness and the methods of an effective activation of the staff with maintaining of a
positive climate within the organization.
In a case study that was set in a high school in Israel, included seven hundred students (Shaha,
2007) checked the intervention of an organizational counsellor for the later, a feedback that
was passed among students showed that students reported positive experiences regarding
teaching methods, while their motivation also increased (Shahar, 2007)
52
Organizational consultant role characteristics are:
1. Organizational Consultant is a professional from the field of organizational behavior,
organizational sociology or organizational psychology. The background to his/her work is
from the field of consulting in industrial factories with advanced technologies.
2. The organizational consultant is a person outside the system, who is not subordinate to any
formal "educational" factor except of the entity that funds it. The school principal is
considered to the customer who buys the service.
3. His/her role is limited in the time, usually up to three years.
4. Most of his/her work is carried out with the management staff and with teachers, and has
almost no contact with the pupils.
On the systemic level therefore it should be enabled to all principals and staff of the school to
promote the process on the basis of detection of the self needs, setting goals and construction
of a program to achieve them- every school that will fulfil the parameters of: commitment and
taking a professional and leadership, determined and caring position, we have to allocate
proper budgetary and professional resources.
The work of the organizational consultant, as a change agent should include the following
steps (see Figure 1):
Step A: Detection of needs and systematic diagnosis – The first step is detections of the
needs. To identify "what works" in the school, meaning actions that bring good results and
high level of performance, and what "does not work", i.e., actions that bring low performance
and achievement levels or critical actions that are not carried out because there is "no time",
"no resources" and so on. In this step it is essential to identify according to the theory of
systems "the leading constraint", the same factor that is in low/poor level of functioning, and
limits the possibility of growth. Certainly there can be detected several "leading constraints".
On the base of learning in which participate the all educational staff, relevant factors that
support the educational and managerial staff and for success, and create a "snapshot for right
now". From it is there is cut out the developmental objectives. The results of diagnosis are
delivered to the management of school there is a discussion and approval of findings. Already
at this diagnosis occurs already dynamic process of learning, communication, nurturing of
expectations, hopes and possibility to recruit option to leave out of the stagnation for the
breakthrough through "heat engines".

Figure 1. Working Dogs organizational consultant

53
Step B: marking of developmental achievable objectives under agreed schedule. The
management staff at the school marks to where they want to go as a measure of their
satisfaction. The intention to create a broad consensus in the management staff and in the staff
room regarding to where they want to reach and in what timeframe do reach this. This is done
by marking of the 'milestones' (a specific and measurable result or can be evaluated at a given
time). This step is very significant, because the setting of milestones and goals itself, creates a
clear intent is clear and the will to achieve them. The clarity of objectives enables to the
manager and to the management staff that works at this step as “leading staff or “steering
staff” to educational, pedagogical and managerial breakthrough, to take responsibility for the
preparation of an action plan to achieve them, rationally and systematically. Setting of goals
and releases the management staff and the teachers of educational staff from the stagnation of
the frustrating thoughts for the stagnation and its emotional impact, and enable them to recruit
their mental and emotional ability to the motivation of a breakthrough process. At the end of
this step there is created a professional agreement between the consultant/coach for
management staff. There is created a clear commitment and promise of the leading staff is to
activate integrity, with dignity, with determination and perseverance to task that have to
performed.
Step C: Developing of an action plan to achieve the objectives of the plan of action for
organizational developing, there is required to cope with a very complex issue. The school
acts under a highly structured and rigid plan of action that is so-called jargon "the schedule".
Each teacher works at the school with a structured teaching program, almost inflexible, which
must be done every day, although the absences of teachers, the unexpected needs, the
unexpected changes in the workday program. This condition makes this very difficult to
introduce a new commitment as well as the time of teachers and sometimes of the principals
is often drawn into routine of the current immediate needs. This situation of need of
investment of a long-term developing stands in conflict with the need of the school staff to
respond to the daily needs. So there is required careful meticulous planning working about the
topic of availability and references of the staff to engage with the developing and
implementation of a new model. On the background of previous disappointment from
initiative for the developing of different fields in the school (frustration from experiences:
"Burns of insight and emotion") in which there were invested the effort of thinking and
investing of time and money, appears in "passive resistance", that is expressed in avoidance,
lack of enthusiasm, expressions of distrust and in ability to change, expression of low feeling
of capability, anger on the requirement to spend above and beyond the job and that is not
rewarded properly. A common example of a frustration and anger is "It is too bad that so
many are invested about the something that only blabbers take our time with the family, and
in the end nothing came of it ...., Except the guide who earns a lot of money on us" ... After
the all coping with the human objections, the relevant staffs go into the process of developing
of an action plan for achieving the milestones, with combination of the maximum
professional, financial and organizational resources that are available to the school. Each staff
prepares a plan of action that is based on learning and profound familiarity with the content
and the process. Each staff which was responsible for achieving of the objective puts its plan
to open discussion, for acceptance of feedback and consent for implementation. The
discussion and the approval of the plan are held as part of the stock of tasks of management of
the school routine. The action plan is presented by the staffs themselves for the all teachers -
and considers all inviting of leadership of the parents.
Step D: Implementation of the plan with learning under the approach – the learning
organization - implementation of the plan of organizational developing in the school takes
place according to the agreed schedule, with recruitment of the commitment to creation of
meaningful learning of the teachers and their empowerment in the process. In fact a parallel
process takes place: practical implementation of the plan with control of the results, at the
54
same time a process of learning lessons in managing of the process. This process is called the
language of the organizational behavior: a learning organization. It means learning that is
based on the experience and accumulated experience. The implementation of plan for the
achievement of the objectives that were determined and the rate of progress are made during
the control and formative and continuous evaluation.
Step E: Implementing of the norms and the working methods at the school and assimilation
the new order, the new norms, new work methods, all of this is done during daily action and
progress in the educational staff for its objectives. This process is implemented by creation of
a constant personal commitment of the principal of the school and the management staff that
leads the process. Completion of the organizational and educational developing process is
agreed in advance on the opinion of the Management of the School, the financing entity (the
inventing factor such as the Ministry of Education, local authority, association and etc.) and
the consultant of organizational developing.
The duration of the organizational developing process depends greatly school in the essence
of change. If it comes to episodic change, the consulting process will usually be limited to
three years. It should be remembered that in the early steps there is required intensive effort,
to adjust the conduct of principals and teachers at the school or in the education system to the
new order, and in the second step the effort is largely more extensive for its implementation,
with improvement of performance and learning through the implementation.

4. CONCLUSIONS
The school as an organization need to adapt itself to the rapid changes, pressures of time and
place, a variety of cultures, complex technologies, the lack of national security and the lack of
scientific clarity [2]. The using of the principal or employees of the education system as
change initiators and its leaders will be expected to fail because there is a need for change
agent outside system. As is suggested by the fifth step of the model of Kurt Lewin – the
change is planned and managed by people outside the system. The organizational consulting
began to be integrated in the schools in the last decade, and is an agent of change of
professional outside the education system. Organizational developing process in the education
systems is essential for all school with desire of life, which wants to cope successfully with
the social, moral and educational environment, and to have capacity of competition to grow
and to be developed with the teacher staff, the pupils and the parents.

5. REFERENCES
1. Algbraiih, A., Training of Arab Teachers in Israel in Israel – Equality, Recognition,
Participation. In Kfir Drora (ed.) Fatal Search – The Society in Israel Seeks Good
Teachers. MOFET Institute (School of Research and Developing of Education and
Teaching Staff in Colleges Training Programs – RADP), (2001).
2. Duncan, A., Teacher Preparation: Reforming the Uncertain Profession – Remarks of
Secretary Arne Duncan at Teachers College. Columbia University, (2009).
3. Fisher, G. & Michaeli, N. Change and Improvement in the Education System. Branco
Weiss Institute of Thinking Nurturing, Jerusalem, (2010).
4. French, W. L., & Bell, C. H., Jr., Organization Development: Behavioral Science
Interventions for Organization Improvement, 2nd Ed., Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River,
NJ, (1978).
5. Levy, A., Management and Leadership – Change and Innovation. Ramonim Publishing,
Ramat Gan, (2008).
6. Marshak, J. (1993) Lewin meets Confucius: A review of the OD model of change. Journal
of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 29, pp. 393-415.
7. Nadler, A., Shaw B. & Walton E., Discontinues Change, Jossey- Bass, San Francisco, CA
(1995)
55
8. Orlikowski J., Improvising Organization Transformation over Time. A Situated Change
Perspective. Information System Research, Vol. 7, pp. 63-92, (1996).
9. Porras, J. I., & Robertson, P. J., Organizational Development: Theory, Practice, and
Research. In M. D. Dunnette & L. M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, 3, Rand McNally, Chicago (1992)..
10. Shahr H. School counseling system: Theory, Research and Practice. Ramot at Tel Aviv
University, (2007)
11. Weick, K. & Quinn R., Organizational Change and Development, Annual Review of
Psychology, Vol. 50, pp. 361-387, (1999).

56
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

CHANGE MANAGEMENT – CHALLENGES AND

PERSPECTIVES

Hussein Saris1
1
West University of Timisoara, 249136@tzafonet.org.il

ABSTRACT:School principals work in dynamic reality. They are obliged to perform several diverse tasks. This
paper describes the change in the role and the internal and external relations formed and maintained by school
principal in a setting of a Junior High school of the Arabic sector in Northern Israel. The paper describes the
unique situation of a school servicing an ethnic minority in its primary language, Arabic, in a state where the
majority and official language is Hebrew, the role of education and each educational institution in the
modernization process of the Arab society in Israel, the impact of the accelerated technology on education in
general and on the Arab society in particular, and the central role of the school leadership in the introduction of
change, and the contribution of the school leadership and its various stakeholders to make the school a constantly
improving entity to the benefit of its various stakeholders and the surrounding environment. The article presents
a stakeholders’ management model used in the context of business management and suggests that a version of
this model can be used to introduce changes in educational institutions with the modifications required.

KEYWORDS:School leadership, innovations, reconstruction, stakeholders’ management, budgetary

discrimination, introduction of change.

1. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, there is a growing interest in the issue of pedagogical change leading, and the
adaptation of schools to the 21st century. David Hen, [23] states that there are a need and a
will to change the educational system to reflect several initiatives, reforms, developments,
innovations and systemic reconstructions throughout the world.
This view is supported by several other scholars ([44]; [36]; [16]; and others). These scholars
emphasize that this is a global need due the fact that most “classical”, conventional
educational programs and organizational structures are obsolete and no longer suit the
requirements of the present rapidly changing society.
The Arab society in Israel has unique social, cultural, religious and political characteristics
distinguishing it from the society of the states’ Jewish majority. Arabs in Israel perceive
education as an instrument advancing their struggle to receive social and political rights, and
as a factor improving the individual’s access to economical resources [33].
Official data indicate a considerable gap between achievements of Jewish pupils compared to
achievements of pupils in the Arabic sector regarding matriculation exams. According to
Haled Abu-Asba[2], the gaps between academic achievements among various social groups,
especially between Jews and Arabs derive from differentiation in stating points, reflected by
qualitative and quantitative low level inputs allocations to the Arab society.
Thus, there is a dire need to reconstruct and improve the Israeli Arab educational system.
This article describes the challenges and prospective faced by educational leaders within the
Israeli Arabic educational system engaged in performing these needed changes, and
introduces a new model for reconstruction and the management of the school’s stakeholders.
The education system of the Israeli Arab society:

Schools in the Arab sector are still on the average lagging behind schools in the Jewish
sectors in most educational areas, due to discrimination of inputs, along with traditional social
perceptions. According to several sources, the system endures:
57
Budgetary discrimination; formal and informal hour’s allocation; unsatisfactory participation
of Arab educational leadership in decision making and planning processes and lack of
learning contents reflecting Arabic culture, history and literature in schools of the Arabic
sector.
This apparent inequality of resources allocation, lead to considerable gaps in academic
achievements between various social groups in Israel.

2. WHY CHANGE THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM?

The Arabic educational system in Israel suffers from both the problems plaguing the general
system and those plaguing it specifically; therefore, it has a real need to be reconstructed and
undergo a significant change.
Since the beginning of the millennium, calls of teachers and scholars to change the Israeli
educational system, increased. In a report, titled: “Education for a society of knowledge and
culture changes in the 21st century and their ramification”, composed by scholars in the
Israeli National Science Academy on 2013, stated the following problems faced by the Israeli
educational system: first – changes occurring in structures of family, culture and society in the
perception of the role of the state and the work market; second - the accelerated technological
developments and accessibility of information that compel schools and educational programs
to to enable pupils the acquisition of skills and knowledge required in the 21nd century.
Third - the low academic achievements of the pupils when measured in the ratio of pupils
entitled for matriculation card and the threshold requirements of the Academy.
Fourth - the existing educational programs curriculums and teaching methods do not reflect
the scientific developments and the rapid knowledge revolution characterizing this century.
According to Hen, [23], most teaching materials used do not progress in time, teaching
methods did not adapt to present needs and available new technology.
The above mentioned factors affect educational systems throughout the world in general, and
in Israel in particular. Therefore, the educational system must be renewed and reformed in
order to be relevant to the post modern society

3. REFORMS AND CHANGES IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

According to Nir, [31], solutions and suggestions aimed to deal with the considerable
challenges the educational system is facing require measures in the tactical and strategic
dimensions.
So far, Attempts to implement certain reforms failed to make a significant change in the
system, mostly due to the school’s central dominant, deeply rooted, built in present behavioral
patterns. Other scholars, throughout the world, voice similar impressions [39; 18; 14; and
others.]
Some of the conclusions reached by Duke [14] are:
• Only a comprehensive change will succeed. A rearrangement of certain components in
the way it operates will not yield the results we seek.
• The change must be tailored to the circumstances and take place in all the operational
dimensions of the school.

58
4. SCHOOL LEADERSHIP AND ITS ROLE DURING THE INTRODUCTION OF
CHANGE
Studies conducted by UNESKO emphasized that organizational achievements success reflect
the suitability and dedication of their leadership and management, the factors responsible to
lead and direct the given organization towards their aims and objectives. [5]. Successful
organizations contain the following properties:
1. The ability to adjust and control local needs.
2. Establishment and construction of vision adapted to internal and communal needs,
3. Institutionalizing an organizational core connecting between the organization and the
reality.
Thus, schools in the Israeli Arab sector is in a dire need for a thorough comprehensive
change; it has to set new policy, and is required to train and a professional responsible
leadership.
Until two-three decades ago, principals were perceived as administrators executing the tasks
imposed on them by their superiors: organizing the work and operations, schedule building,
training teachers and supervising their work and teaching level and methodology [39]. In
recent years, principals in Israel were given certain autonomy in which they had been
authorized to use and allocate resources, and the responsibility to assess teachers and develop
faculty. Today, the principal is perceived as a pedagogic leader rather than administrator
[there].
Certain Israeli scholars [5; 33; 19 and others], maintain that educational leadership is a major
challenge in the Arab society; Arar [5] recommends training highly committed educational
leadership that will lead the Arabic educational system to a better place by improving its
conduct and orientation.

5. SCHOOL MANAGEMENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY

The instructions of the ministry of education grants principals complete responsibility to
everything that occurs in the school, [45]. The report of a professional committee appointed
by the ministry of education to consolidate recommendations for policies [7], defines the
principals’ areas of responsibility and the roles of the management, the faculty and other
factors involves in its daily operation.
In several reforms introduced in recent years in other countries, educational leadership
focuses mostly on the work aspects of the principal directed towards the advancement of
teachers teaching and the pupils’ learning [35; 26; 23; 32; 11; 29].

5.1. Management of the school’s environment

“Schools operate within the environmental context and complex reality affected by the entire
changes and constant permutations in their close distant environment.” [7] other scholars
[46; 43] agree that The nature, perception, designations and life modes of the schools are
affected by ball these changes in the present, and they may have to endure unexpected
conditions in the future.
Thus, an extended consideration of organizations is required to several environments:
political, economic, social and technological. The school leadership must create mechanisms
to work with these various environments.
Other scholars point out that budgeting school according to number of pupils lead to
competition among schools [34]. Talias [43], lists a number of advantages of allowing

59
environnmental facctors to parrticipate inn the schoo ol, includinng: involveement, coop peration,
support of legitimaacy base, ennhancement of learning g materials, and reductiion of risks.. He also
says thaat principalss today findd themselvess in compleex reality, soo they deal with the ch hallenges
by formming diversee internal annd external relations to o: receive advisement,
a , locate info
ormation
relating to policy, identify new w trends annd financing g sources. These
T activities are nott directly
related to teachingg or educattion improvvement, butt some of them t can bbe, especiallly if the
communnity is view wed as the social
s culturral contextss in which thhe school ooperates. Thhis paper
will refeer to all facttors involvees, affectingg or affected
d by school activities ass stakeholdeers

Many scholars
s [7; 27] view the
t principaal as the main
m factor responsiblee for formation and
changinng the relatiions betweeen the schoool and the environmen
e nt Thus, thee principal, together
with thee school’s faculty
f andd other factoors in the community,
c has to leadd strategic thinking
efforts based
b on infformation gathered,
g meethodical leearning and data analyssis, in order to make
plans annd set goalss. The schoool as an orgganization must
m adapt itself flexiblly to future changes
in orderr to improvee and progreess.

5.2. Managing
M s
stakehold
ders in thee school

The moost commonn frameworkk to describe a corporaation and annalyze the reelationship between
it and itts social ennvironment is the stakeeholders’ model;
m the teerm describes every grroup that
has inteerests in thhe corporatiion’s operaation. This theory joinns the quesstion regard ding the
identityy of factors the
t corporattion is obligged to be loy
yal to, whetther it is onlly to the ow
wner or o
the entirre society. [17;
[ 15; 37]
Stakehoolders can be
b defined and classiffied accordiing to varioous classificcation meth
hods, for
examplee:
1- Stakeholdeers according to geogrraphical prroximity

Community 
Eduactioon  C
Center Comm
munity
institution
ns Local 
Factoriess Au
uthority
Pareents   Schoo
ol
Fundess no
one profit 
asssociation

2- P
Partners in the schoool’s environnment charracteristics according to their prroximity
t the core of the schoool’s emplooyment
to

60
 3- Stakeholdeers model according
a to Geva

Stakeh
holders

Commun
nity
Cusstomers

Social groups PRINC
CIPAL Suppliers

Governm
ment U
Unions

Worrkers 

Clarksoon [1995] defines

d stakkeholders ass people annd groups affecting
a orr being affeected by
decisionns, policies and the funnctioning off the organizzation. Otheers [10; 28; 37; 10; 15]] suggest
that stakeholders are
a those placed in soome risk reegarding thee results off the organiizations’
actions due to innvestment of o human, assets, orr finance – somethinng valuablee in the
organizaation. This refers to staakeholders that
t withoutt them the organization
o n cannot exiist.
This peerspective pints out rellevant publiic stakehold
der groups including thhe governm ment, the
communnity and thee municipall authority providing
p in
nfrastructurees, markets, laws and rules
r the
organizaation had too abide, whiich determinne to whom
m the organizzation is acccountable.
Thus, we
w deal with
w essentiial issue deriving
d off the relatiionship of the schoo
ol as an
organizaation.
The quuestion: to whom the school is accountable, intriguedd several sscholars wh ho study
organizaational behaavior in reccent years. The
T organizzation and itsi managem ment are reqquired to
insure that
t investors will receeive value in return bu ut the organnization has also obligaations to
other sttakeholders,, and these obligationns can be ab bove and beyond
b thosse required by law.
[Like: parents,
p puppils, other innternal factoors and the community]
c ].
Therefoore, when thhere is a coonflict of innterests amo ong different groups oof stakehold
ders, the
organizaation has too modify or sacrifice some of itss obligationns to the invvestors, in order to
meet othher obligatiions it has toowards otheer groups off stakeholdeers.
There iss a commonn theory statting that inddividuals accting for perrsonal intereests actuallyy benefit
the entiire society.. When wee extend thhis approacch from inddividual to organizations, the
rational is that wheen an organnization actts to maxim mize its ownn profits it bbenefits thee society
since: “High
“ tide elevates
e all ships” [22]], therefore,, managers of organizaations should act to
maximize profit sinnce this is the
t interest of the sharreholders. However,
H inn reality this simple
model “did
“ not work”, since byb neglectinng the needss of other faactors can eaasily “turn the
t tide”
and harrm the orgaanization. Thus,
T if orgganizationss want to suurvive a lonng time, th hey must
adopt moral
m principples that will support all
a factors reelated and/or connectedd to it.

A sam
mple of rellevant vallue concep
pts accord
ding to Harrison & Wicks [21]
• Exchange value:
E v value can be subjjectively esstimated andd it can alsoo be negotiaated.
• U
Usable vallue: based on the suubjective esstimate of the item’ss price to a given
i
individual,

61
 • Work value: based on the amount of work required to create the given item.
• Production value: based on the overall costs of the item’s production.
• Internal value versus external value,
• Objective value versus subjective value.

6. CONCLUSIONS
The above mentioned and other studies in this particular area indicate that school principal
works in dynamic reality and oblige to perform several various tasks. In recent years the role
of the school principal changed both in local and national level [8].
The status and importance of this role underwent several perversions, from perceiving the
principal as a teacher and super educator to administrative manager, social manager, a
professional organizer, system activator, leading teaching and learning processes and up to the
current developing perception of comprehensive educational and professional leadership [24].
In addition, the changes characterizing the post modern society entered the schools, and
brought technological development and enrichment of knowledge. The role of the principal
became highly complex and demanding, including diverse areas that begin with the formation
of the vision, and continues as change agents, building and leading a learning culture that
brings academic achievements. Today, principals are expected to be educational programs and
evaluation experts, and to manage the school’s resources [13; 38]
Thus, “school principals cannot focus only on planning and organizing the activities in the
school; they have to lead teaching/ learning processes that will improve the functioning of the
faculty and the achievements of the pupils….” [8] Personally, I believe that the stakeholders’
model described and presented above, suits business organizations, but with certain changes,
it can be adapted to the educational system. As the Arab educational system in Israel is in a
dire need for improvement and reconstruction, I suggest the adaptation of the stakeholders’
model might contribute to the general goal stated above or at least, provide a direction for
introduction of change and practical reconstruction.

7. REFERENCES

1. Abu Asba H, Issues and dilemmas in value education in the Arabic school in Israel
inside: Ya’acovIram& others, [ed] Tsamtim – Values and education in the Israeli
society, Published by the office of the scientist general the ministry of education,
Jerusalem, p.479-441,(2001).
2. Abu Asba H, The Arab educational system in Israel: development and current situation
picture, inside: A Haidar [ed] The book of the Arab society in Israel, Van lir
institute and the KibutsMeuhad pub.. 201-221, (2005).
3. Amara, M.H. & Mari, Abd Al-Rahman Language Education Policy: The Arab Minority
in Israel. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishing. (2002).
4. Arar,H, The primary school principals in the Arab educational system perceptions of
teachers’ assessment Jama’a [an Arabic quarterly] 12, p. 1-44, (2009).
5. Arar H, The perception of teachers’ assessment and its usage among principals of
primary school in the Arabic sector,(2009).
6. AvneyRosha institute,Results expected of beginner principals, Jerusalem, The
institute,(2010),
7. AvneyRosha institute, Systemic behavior, Jerusalem, the institute,(2010).
8. http//www avneyroshaorg.il/Develop And learn/pages/leadership.aspx.

62
9. Catano, A. &Stronge, J. H. What do we expect of school principals? Congruence
between principal evaluation and performance standards. Leadership in
Education. 10 (4). pg. 379-399,(2007).
10. Chrisman, V'.,How schools sustain success, Educational Leadership,62, 5, 16-20,
(2005).
11. Clarkson, M. B. E.. A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate
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12. Cohen S, Teachers acceptance of change: factors affecting the teachers joining the
“OfekHadash” [New horizon] reform in Israel, the Hebrew University,
Jerusalem,(2011).
13. Crowson, L.R., Goldring, E.B., Haynes, K.T.,Successful schools and community
relationship: Concepts and skills to meet tewenty-first-century
challenges,.Richmond Ca.: McCutchan Publishing Corporation,(2010).
14. Darling-Hammond, L., LaPointe, M., Meyerson, D., Orr. M. T., & Cohen, C.,
Preparing School Leaders for a Changing World: Lessons from Exemplary
Leadership Development Programs, Stanford, CA: Stanford University, Stanford
Educational Leadership Institute,(2007).
15. Duke, D.,The key to preserve successful school turnovers, AvneyRosha Inst.,(2010).
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theory: The state of the art. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press,(2010).
17. Fullan, M'.,The New Meaning of Educational Change (4th edition). New York:Teachers
College Press, (2007).
18. Geva, A, Moral and Business: parallel meet, HakibutsHameuhad pub. Tel Aviv, (2013).
19. Halverson, R., & Smith, A., How new technologies have(and have not) changed
teaching and learning in school, Journal of computing in Teacher Education,
26(2)., 69-7,(2010).
20. HamdAlla R, The influence of the clan in appointment of principals in the Arab
settlements in Israel, Jama’ah, 2/17, p. 125-144,(2013)
21. Harbon, A, T, Abu Asba H & Abu Nasra M, The Arab education in Israel: demand for
material resources, or struggle on ideological resources?, Israeli sociology, a
journal for research of the society in Israel,(2013).
22. Harrison, J. S. & Wicks, A. C., Stakeholder Theory, Value, and Firm Performance.
Business Ethics Quarterly, 23, 97- 124,(2013).
23. Heath, J., & Norman, W., Stakeholder theory, corporate governance and public
management: what can the history of state-run enterprises teach us in the post-
Enron era?,Journal of Business Ethics, 53(3), 247-265,(2004).
24. Hen D, Experimental schools: the forming workshop to educational innovation, Tel-
Aviv University, (2007).
25. Inbar D, Educational leadership in era of contrasts, Hed Ha-Hinukh, 83, 52-54, (2009).
26. Jabarin Y &Ajabaria A, Autonomy to the Arab education in Israel, an opinion, issue No.
5 p. 14-35,(2014).
27. Katz I, “Leadership in the eye of the storm” inside: http://psychology.huji/
upload/articles/Israelkatz.pdf, (2011).
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leadership, in School Leadership and Management, 28(1), 27-42, (2008).
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30. Maskit D, Teachers’ stands towards pedagogic changes and teachers’ perception of
teaching as profession, connections which are entity, Research and study in
teachers’ training, issue 13, p.82-123,(2012).
31. Michaeli G and Fisher G, Change and improvement in the educational system,
BrankoVeis, AvneyRosha(2010),
32. Nir A, How to adapt the Israeli educational system to the needs and demands of
tomorrow? Adapting the Israeli educational system to the needs and demands of
tomorrow, The Hebrew University school of Education, Jerusalem, (2013).
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33. Oplatka Y, The foundations of educational management: leadership and management in
educational organization, Pardes pub.,(2007).
34. Oplatka Y, Teachers and principals in “OfekHadash”, from opposition to participation
Hed Ha-Hinukh, Vol 3, p 28-30, (2010).
35. Oplatka Y, & Hertz Lazarowits R, Female leadership in educational organizations: the
Israeli uniqueness in the international context. Inside,
Iyunimbeminhaluveirgunhahinukh, vol. 32, p 51-73,(2011).
36. Oreg S &Berzon, Pedagogic leadership in Israel – assessment and prediction of pupils’
achievements Jerusalem, AvneyRosha Inst.,(2013).
37. Pijl, S'. J'., What Policymakers Can Do to Make Education Inclusive.,Educational
Management Administration & Leadership, 37(3), 366-377,(2009).
38. Phillips, R',Stakeholder Theory and Organizational Ethics. Berrett-Koehler
Publishers(2003).
39. Pounder, D. G. & Merrill, R. J. Job Desirability of the High School Principalship: A Job
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40. Sergiovanni, T.,Rethinking Leadership. California: Sage Publications, (2007).
41. Sergiovanni T, School management theoretical and practical aspects, the Open
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43. Stauber, S, The most complicated role, Ynet, 5.9.09, (2009).
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45. Vidislavski M, Peled B &Pevzner A, Adaptation of the school to the 21st century and
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64
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT: FROM EXPERIMENTS AND

EXPERIENCES TO EVOLUTION

Paul Marinescu1, Sorin-George Toma2 and Catalin Gradinaru3

1
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Administration and Business, paulmarinescu1@gmail.com
2
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Administration and Business, tomagsorin62@yahoo.com
3
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Administration and Business, gradinarubusiness@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:After the fall of the communist regimes, the spread of globalization produced significant changes
in all industries. In the past decades the global publishing industry has faced the competition of other industries
for a percentage of personal expenditure. Publishers are at the core of the publishing industry. The process of
establishing a publishing house takes initiative, constant investments the drafting of an editorial plan, but also
clear defined objectives.The aim of our article is to highlight some characteristics concerning the Romanian
editorial market and editorial management. The research methodology is based on literature review. The
Romanian editorial management has started to develop since the beginning of the 1990’s based on previous
experience in the field.

KEYWORDS:editorialmanagement, publishing house, publishing industry, book fair,Romania.

1. INTRODUCTION
After the fall of the communist regimes, the spread of globalization produced significant
changes in all industries. In this respect “the transformation of the book business is also
embedded in the wider context of the digitization value chain affecting all the content
industries” [19]. In the past decades the global publishing industry has faced the competition
of other industries for a percentage of personal expenditure. Also, the new digital actors have
entered the book market such as Amazon or Google.
The publishing industry comprises “all the stages necessary to transform the creativework of
authors into a manufactured product available for distribution to the public” [13]. The final
manufactured products encompass books, encyclopaedias, newspapers, magazines, etc.
Publishers are at the core of the publishing industry. Their functions relate to “the
aggregation, presentation (reading, editing, and designing),pricing and marketing of books
and dealing with other parties in the valuechain, including the technical intermediaries
(printers, phototypesetting, binders...) and specialized workforce in-house or outsourced
(proofreading)” [17]. Some of the world’s biggest publishing houses are Pearson,
ThomsonReuters, Wolters Kluwwer, Penguin Random House, Elsevier, Axel Springer,
McGraw-Hill, Hachette etc. In Europe, the publishers were forced to consolidate their
positions after the emergence of the single European market. The European book market has
registered a fluctuating evolution, with downward trends in recent years. In the period 2010-
2014, the publisher’s revenue from sales of books has continuously diminished [6]. In
Romania, the trends were similar, reaching the lowest level in in 2013 after the fall of the
communist regime [4], [5].
The aim of our article is to highlight some characteristics concerning the Romanian editorial
market and editorial management. The research methodology is based on literature review.
The structure of our paper is as follows: the next section deals with an overview on editorial
management in general, and the last one handles the first Romanian book fair, integrating
concepts such as innovation and synergy. The paper ends with conclusions.

65
2. EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT
The process of establishing a publishing house takes initiative, constant investments the
drafting of an editorial plan, but also clear defined objectives. But, before all that, the
publishing house must be registered as a trading company. Having legal personality, it
specializes in valuing the copyright laws by complying to the legislation in force. From the
perspective of economic performance, the name of the publishing house and the publishing
brand are extremely important because they define the form and content. Such form
represents the essential bond with the readers. Protecting the brand is essential because it
defines the uniqueness and credibility of the publishing house. Taking into account that a
book represents both a cultural object and a commodity, a publisher’s quality lies in the dual
role that he needs to play, namely, the cultural factor and genuine businessman. The
recruitment and selection of staff within the editorial field constitutes a difficult process, and
its development requires special costs. People who are employed in a publishing house must
have a particular level of training, given that they will deal with activities that require specific
skills (writing, editing, design, printing, distribution, marketing, etc.). There is a whole
quadrilateral relationship in the process of publishing a book (Figure 1). Should there be
vulnerability in this system of relationships, then the result might lead to the loss of the
identity of the promoted editorial concept.

AUTHOR
PRINTING HOUSE

PUBLISHING READER
HOUSE

Figure 1. From author to market

One can observe that in the offer – demand relation noticeable differences have appeared
between 1990 and the current period. An absorption phenomenon has manifested in the book
market in the early years because the demand was higher than the offer, prices were relatively
low and revenues were somewhat constant. Gradually, this report was unbalanced
dramatically, and we are currently witnessing a pressure phenomenon on the book market,
where most often the offer is higher than the demand. For this reason, there is an increase in
the price of books and a reduction of the circulation of books. We can talk about the trend of
personalization of the product in relation to the beneficiary. In conventional printing houses,
the decreasing of the circulation required the increase of the unitary costs as the labour was
distributed on a smaller number of products. New technologies enable the production of
smaller runs that do not increase significantly the cost per unit.
The high degree of concentration [15], the random sales, the small number of employees and
the process of outsourcing some activities, turn the publishing house into a riskful socio-
economic environment. In order for a publishing house to be efficient, it must operate
continuously and design a minimum number of titles annually, so that it would ensure cash
flow and a balanced break-even point. In countries with tradition, the editorial production is

66
concentrated at the level of several publishing groups. In England, there are three major
influential groups: Hachette, HarperCollins and Penguin Random House; and in France the
same: Lagarde Group (Hachette Livre), Planeta (Editis), Lefebvre Sarrut (Eli M. Noam). Such
concentration tendency can lead in the absence of strong and firm regulations to creating
monopolies. Thus it emerges the risk of control over markets, prices and authors. The
publishers’ tendency to associate by creating specialised similar bodies did not always solve
the problems faced by the publishing houses.
A problem present in the activity of editorial management is the one of choosing the optimal
distribution channels to streamline cash flows, and here we consider as well the issues of
transport, storage and book returns. The shortcomings in the editorial management is noted as
a result of analysing returns book, because the results of such analyses provide us with
reliable information related to: the quality of choosing a title, the selection of resource
suppliers, the process of choosing of printing house, the way in which the market analysis was
made. In the editorial field, production stock can lead to disastrous results, because the speed
of sales is relatively low, with some exceptions. There are situations in which the managers of
publishing houses do not distinguish between the sold production and the sold and cashed
production; here we can observe differences between performance and non-performance,
between whishing and achieving.
The quality of editorial management depends on the consistency of the relations with the
beneficiaries which translates to monitoring sales, analyzing the displaying of books in
bookstores, overseeing the expedition of books, finding alternatives to classic selling
processes (i.e. direct sales), increasing the visibility level through participation in specific
events, marketing studies to provide accurate information to achieve circulation and fixed
pricing, advertising policies and managing the relations with the media and providing real
statistics on sales. Also, a high performance of editorial management is inherently linked to
synergy (seen “as process gain during teamwork compared with a clear baseline” [9] and
promoting team spirit), benchmarking (recognizing it “as a catalyst for improvements and
innovation” [11]), innovation (because in “today’s complex and turbulent environment the
need for innovation” [13] is imperative) and creativity (regarding which “activities contribute
to creative performance” [12]). Benchmarking has become a popular tool in editorial
management in the last decades. Organizational benchmarking emerged as a component of
modern quality management principles in the 1940s [10],[16],[3]. In essence, it relates to the
comparison of efficiency of two or more business organizations with leading practices in one
industry [7]. It helps companies to identify value-gaps and indicates them domains in which
there is a potential for improvement exist [2],[14]. As a managerial tool, benchmarking is
used for „attaining or exceeding the performance goals by learning from best practices and
understanding the processes by which they are achieved” [11], both in „a reactive way to
counter threats and in a proactive way to exploit opportunities” [18].

3. STUDY CASE: THE ROMANIAN EXPERIENCE

Experiments conducted in the 1990’s (i.e. the first book fair in Romania) demonstrated that
editorial management witnessed a gregarious form. As Romania entered in a new type of
society, the first private book fair in Romania represented a surprising attempt and a pioneer
move. The Pool Club in Neptun was the venue in which the first editions were held. There
were a movie theatre, a swimming pool and exhibition halls. Judging from a synergic
perspective, there were several elements that contributed to the success of the event, as the
“Creation House of Writes in Neptun”was situated in the Club’s proximity and that it took
place during summertime. With theparticipation of great writers at the fair together with the
presence of numerous tourists that were spending their vacation, the added value of the event
grew considerably. This event introduced an innovative element as it brought the stakeholders
from the publishing industry together, gathering them into a space destined for book
enthusiasts, creating the concept of a “complete book experience”. This summer book fair
67
offered the opportunity to carry out multimedia experiments due to the possibility of
organizing some live economic and cultural shows on national television. Therefore, we can
speak here of a boosting effect because book sales has increased by the presentation in print
and broadcast media of this event that lasted a week. This experiment lasted six years,
enabling the possibility of building up the first consistent collaboration between authors,
publishers, printers, paper mills, banks, businessmen. It was one of the first experiences of
applied management, because most publishers were engineers, economists, geologists,
computer experts, etc., individuals that came from other fields, having the lack of complex
which is specific to those who do not know at first the field where they will activate, but
individuals who have the great quality of being good observers. Thus the first managers in the
editorial fields arose, individuals working outside the “recipes” but who brought with them
experiences from the fields they came from. We can actually speak of the applied
benchmarking when those who applied it did not even know the concept thereof. It was
actually the real way to discover, experience, before knowing the theory. At this event, the
restrictions demanded by the context led to finding creative solutions in connection with
advertising support. In fact, the lack of financial resources forced organizers to be synergistic
and creative.
Organizing the fair meant permanent innovation because promoters had to solve a multitude
of problems that have emerged: the large number of publishing houses (over 100), the large
number of participants (over 400- problems of accommodation and cultural activities), the
venue and period event. During this fair, participants had the opportunity to experience and to
create domain-specific skills. A period of consistent professionalization of those who came
from outside this area had begun. As a result, a leap emerged in the Romanian publishing
industry from less than 20 publishing houses before 1990 to nearly 10,000 in 1995, but in the
year of 2000 the number dropped to 663 publishing houses. It was obvious that during the
period of “editorial excitement” many new publishing houses had been set up, but some of
them had published only one or two books or no book all.
Another experiment took place in the same years being related to the synergic use of the book
author’s competences. That author was also a known singer. To organize the launch of the
book the sports hall in that city was made available free of costs. The author gave a free
concert, and the book was a form of “entrance ticket”. From the economic point of view the
effect obtained was huge. The costs related to renting the room and holding a concert were
minimal, and selling a few thousand copies of the book represented a success from several
perspectives: organization and planning, the achievement of several quantitative and
qualitative indicators, author’s motivation, the potentiation of some competences and
innovative solutions in terms of the use of space. It has been shown that very often,
experiments provide solutions before searching thereof within the managerial theories and
models. Thus it has been determined that experiments can validate or invalidate these
theories. The comments from these experiments have enabled us the possibility to conclude
that “reality exceeds the fiction”. At the same time, they have very clearly defined the
distance between: scheduled and unscheduled decisions, the risk assumed and unawareness,
prudence and courage, action and inaction, breakdown and reality, estimated price and real
price, failure and success. It was noticed, in real situations, how important the correct
assessment of the performance indicators is (with no under-valuation or over-valuation).
In the early years following 1990, the book market was deregulated, with no coherent applied
intellectual property law, to define the way of publishing of several titles written before 1990.
A distinct characteristic of the editorial domain in Romania after 1990’s is represented by the
fact that many publishers have established and opened publishing houses. The increase in
number of publishing houses has imposed the resizing of the national network of books
circulation. The classic network had bookstores across the country, but the revised contractual
relationship imposed the founding of some dynamic networks and transporters specialised on
books. In those years, there were books whose circulations exceeded 100,000 copies, fact
which proves that, for a big offer, there is an over-demand. Doing a comparative analysis of
68
the relationship between the circulation of some titles published in those years and the
circulation of some titles published nowadays, we discover that today there are titles that
appear in several hundred of copies. The sudden increase and decrease in terms of number of
titles and circulation of books in the 1990’s and the spectacular decrease thereof until present
times required an analysis whose results led to the following observations:
• The emergence of high technology which is offering alternative sources of information.
• The reduction of people’s purchasing power.
• The exodus of the population (the brain drain phenomena perceived as “the departure of
skilled labour” [8]).
• The changes of the priorities of the new generations.
• The repeated and failed reforms within the educational domain.
• A legislation which initially was copied after the European models, but it was not adapted
to the local needs.
• The policies related to the publishing industry field for supporting libraries, institutions,
etc.
On the other hand, there is a normal tendency of society to adapt to new technologies. The
emergence of digital books offers a different perspective on the way in which books are made
from the editorial point of view and the way they are “exploited” by the reader. The virtual
book offers the reader the opportunity to be in direct contact in a network with the author and
publisher. We can probably talk about a future time when the reader will be able to become
co-author or even author, because the change in view will be profound and surprising, there
will not be “there” anymore, but on the contrary, most of times, there will be “here”. This
paradigm shift will lead also to the way in which the information and education through the
network will be made. We can speak of a personalized education, because offer and demand
will be able to synchronize in almost real time. Concepts such as costs, price, transport and
stock will be redesigned and will give new meaning to reality.
Future will demand other ways to creating, processing and using information. The classic
book or the virtual book will remain key milestones in education and knowledge. The plans of
“toknow, to do and to be” can overlap because the networks of the future will create
conditions so that between the moments of information, action and awareness on its aftermath
will not exist a significant time gap. At the same time, by extending the reality with virtuality,
the information of the future will provide the individual with unsuspected possibilities of
knowledge. Due to the new technologies, the editorial management of the future will lead to
the:
• establishment of some virtual organizations which are highly mobile and volatile and
which will require new types of regulations;
• development of some virtual publishing houses which will very shortly provide the
necessary informational support to those who are interested;
• rethinking of the large urban communities, which will adapt to the dynamics of human
groups (exodus of population, declining of the birth rate, aging of population, etc.).

4. CONCLUSIONS
In Romania, alongside the publishing market, the editorial management has started to develop
since the beginning of the 1990’s based on previous experience in the field. As the publishing
industry grew, specific barriers emerged:
• The low level of the purchasing power of the Romanian population;
• The lack of some components of the distribution system (i.e. bookstores);
• The lack of governmental programs and strategies in this domain;
• The deficiencies of the legal environment;
• The failure of the educational system in stimulating lecture;
69
 • The lack of editorial management skills and competencies.
These aresome of the main causes that have contributed to an underdeveloped publishing
market and editorial management in Romania. However, the last years have witnessed signs
of improvement and one may even see a slight shift towards a digital publishing marketplace
and the professionalization of editorial management.

5. REFERENCES
1. Alvarez, J., L., Mazza, C., Mur, J., The management publishing industry in Europe,IESE
Working Paper, No. 99/4, University of Navarra,http://www.fek.uu.se/CEMP/pdf-
files/CEMPReport05.pdf (1999), accessed: 01.06.2016.
2. Camp, R.C., Benchmarking, Hanser, Munich/Vienna, (1994).
3. Deming, W.E., Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Centre for Advanced Engineering Study, Cambridge, MA, (1982).
4. The Association of Romanian Publishers (FER), http://feded.ro/evenimente/info.php,
(2014).
5. The Association of Romanian Publishers: the book industry in Romania reached the
lowest level since 1990, http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-esential-18538089-federatia-
editorilor-din-romania-industria-cartii-ajuns-romania-cel-mai-jos-nivel-dupa-1990.htm,
(2014), accessed: 01.06.2016.
6. Federation of European Publishers, European Book Publishing Statistics, www.fep-fee.eu
(2015).
7. Furey, T.R., Benchmarking: the Key to Developing Competitive Advantage in Mature
Markets, Planning Review, Vol. 15, Iss. 5, pp. 30-32, (1987).
8. Hall, P., Brain drain and brain gains: causes, consequences, policy, International Journal
of Social Economics, Vol. 32, No. 11, pp. 939-950, (2005).
9. Hertel, G., Synergetic effects in working teams, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol.
26, Iss. 3, pp. 176 – 184, (2011).
10. Juran, J. M., The role of statistics as a tool of management, Statistica Neerlandica, Vol. 4,
Iss. 1-2, pp. 69-79, (1950).
11. Kodali, G. A. R., Benchmarking the benchmarking models, Benchmarking: An
International Journal, Vol. 15, Iss. 3, pp. 257 – 291, (2008).
12. Martens, Y., Creative workplace: instrumental and symbolic support for creativity,
Facilities, Vol. 29, Iss. 1-2, pp. 63 – 79, (2011).
13. Massa, S., Testa, S., Innovation or imitation?, Benchmarking: An International Journal,
Vol. 11, Iss. 6, pp. 610 – 620, (2004).
14. Mertins, K., Siebert, G.E., Kempf, S., Benchmarking – Practical Experiences of German
Companies, Springer, Heidelberg/New York, NY, (1995).
15. Miège, B., Society conquered by communication, Iasi, Polirom Publishing House, (2000).
16. Shewhart, W.A., Economic Control of Quality of Manufactured Product, American
Society for Quality Control, Milwaukee, WI, (1980).
17. Simon, J. P., de Prato, G., Statistical, Ecosystems and Competitiveness Analysis of the
Media and Content Industries: The Book Publishing Industry, European Commission,
Joint Research Centre, http://ftp.jrc.es/EURdoc/JRC76642.pdf (2012), accessed:
01.06.2016.
18. Zairi, M., Benchmarking at Shorts, Benchmarking for Quality Management &
Technology, Vol. 5, Iss. 1, pp. 13 – 20, (1998).
19. Wischenbart, R., GlobalTrends in Publishing 2014. An overview of current developments
and driving forces in the transformation of the international publishing industry,
http://www.pik.org.pl/upload/files/Global_Trends_in_Publishing_2014.pdf, (2014),
accessed: 01.06.2016.

70
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

CHALLENGES OF MANAGING CULTURAL PROJECTS IN AN

URBAN SETTING - CASE OF SLATINA CITY

Virgil Nicula1, Simona Spânu2

1
University ”Lucian Blaga” of Sibiu, niculavirgil@yahoo.com
2
University ”Lucian Blaga” of Sibiu, simona_spanu@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT:The rehabilitation of a historical monument in Slatinaand the elaboration of a strategic

development plan for promoting intercultural, interactive events was a great challenge. To achieve such
ambitious target, we realised a socio-cultural analysis at municipal level and we identified a number of strategic
issues. The assessment of the Strategic Plan’s impact on the city of Slatina for the next five years is performed
according to certain indicators proposed in the light of the culture’s role in development and will consider
elements of economy, tourism, society, education, youth and multiculturalism. Also, it has been taken into
account the European Commission's recommendations for the development of local cultural policies formulated
in the Agenda 21 for Culture.
KEYWORDS:heritage, multiculturalist, intercultural, management of challenge, development.

1. INTRODUCTION
The “Victoria” Intercultural Workshop was founded within the project of the same name run
by the Municipality of Slatina in partnership with the “Evris” Foundation in Iceland and
funded from EEA Grants by the PA16/ RO12 programme – “Preservation and revitalisation
of cultural and natural heritage”.[2] In September 2010, the building of “Cinema Victoria”
entered the assetsof the City Council of Slatina, which restored it and suggested setting up an
intercultural workshop where any cultural, artistic or social expression, irrespective of the
culture, ethnicity or the particular features of the one who supports it, may find a place to
manifest itself. The “Victoria” Intercultural Workshop aims at being a cultural institution that
will provide cultural, artistic and recreational services, by following non-discrimination
principles, by ensuring access and participation to education, culture, entertainment and
recreation to all citizens, regardless of race, nationality, age, gender, ethnicity, religion or
culture. [1]
2. THE INTERCULTURAL WORKSHOP’S STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES AND 
RELATED MEASURES
Between 8-20 April 2016 was applied online a questionnaire to identify categories of cultural
consumption in Slatina, cultural activities involving them and the frequency of participation
in events, electronically distributed to the general public via email, networks socializing
websites. Questionnaire answered a number of 50 people.
The analysis of responses to questionnaires showed that 50% of respondents that go "Less" at
the library, while 38% never go to the museum. This is not surprising, because this answer is
in line with national situation. The causes are multiple: on lack of interest in reading the
classic book is often replaced by e-books or audiobooks and museum visits are rare due to the
lack of thematic exhibitions of general interest. We believe that the activities we propose in
the strategic plan of Intercultural Workshop "Victoria" will develop appetite for reading and
increase public interest in museums, especially for occasional exhibitions. Below, we
presented the categories of frequency and type of events they are participating in the
municipality.

71
 30

25

20

15

10

0
Theatre Festival Film Museum Librairy Exhibitions Show

Weekly Monthly Once to 2‐3 month Once to 4‐6 month Rarely At all

Figure 1 Answer of question: How often you go to…?

Based on a socio-cultural analysis at municipal level, a number of strategic issues have been
identified, namely:
• unequal access to culture (centre-periphery, social affiliation) and low interest in cultural
participation;
• precariousness and lack of sustainability of the cultural sector;
• a need to encourage creation and creativity, to maintain and develop cultural diversity and
intercultural collaboration (of content, forms of expression, approaches etc.);
• a low level of international cooperation, limited connection and involvement of the
cultural sector in Slatina on the international stage, lack of competitiveness in Europe;
• limited cooperation within the cultural sector, especially between institutions and
organisations and between the cultural sector and other sectors;
• outdated perception of the cultural sector as a side field of activity, the lack of public
ownership of culture as a development and regeneration factor;
• underdeveloped infrastructure compared to the existing needs;
• culture quality and cultural operators professional abilities vary greatly within the sector,
updating methods and developing work skills are needed;
• lack of a culture of using public space;
• low level of cultural communication professionalism, lack of effective promotion systems.
These issues are likely to be settlement by the measures and actions the “Victoria”
Intercultural Workshop’s activity plan will provide for the next five years.

2.1 Increased access to culture, educating the cultural events consumer audience
Under this priority, we have identified a number of issues, namely:concentration of cultural
offer in premises located within the city centre;reduced cultural participation for
neighbourhood residents, especially for disadvantaged people, for groups of physically
disabled, seeing or hearing impaired people, etc.;poor cultural education which generates
nondiscretionary consumption, decreased ability to filter information;waste of creative
potential due to reduced concern of cultural actors to discover and promote talent;cultural
producers’ reduced concern to generate specific audience programmes dedicated to increasing
public education etc.;the need for a research/ data base on cultural participation in the city,
since it was found that the cultural consumption and expenditure allocated by individuals/
72
families to culture are generally reduced, and the audience for art events belongs most often to
one social class (traditional culture consumers).To solve these problems we recommend the
following actions, some of which may constitute activities that can take place in the
“Victoria” Intercultural Workshop:
• training programs for cultural operators in audience development techniques;
• interinstitutional programmes to encourage public participation in a wide range of cultural
events;
• issuing cultural vouchers for disadvantaged people;
• presence of posters for high profile cultural events which would generate a sense of
normality regarding cultural consumption;
• a system of collecting data and annual surveys on cultural needs and cultural participation
in the city, in order to match the offer with the consumer demand;
• development of arts education programmes to cultivate interest in culture, to stimulate
creativity and participation, which would increase cultural demand, including partnerships
and special programmes in schools;
• applying the adapted model of Sibiu: cultural events for the general public (free of charge)
in order to increase access to culture (street theatre performances, concerts, etc.)
2.2 Sustainability of cultural sector
Under this priority, we have identified a number of issues, namely:scarcity of cultural
operators, given the low number of funding sources and the limited resources in the sector;
the allocation of funds for culture from the local budget does not reflect the needs, the
priorities of the sector, or the quality of the projects but the political vulnerability of the funds
distribution, etc.; lack of assuming culture as a sector with potential in the development of the
city and reduced support from the economic environment for cultural activities; the cultural
act is still centralised/institutionalised; the increased number of interdisciplinary cultural
practices, the intersection with other fields, the change of methods and area of intervention
require a redefinition of culture at a strategic level; cooperation between the Olt County
Department of Culture, the “Eugen Ionescu” Cultural Centre and the “Victoria” Intercultural
Workshop; cultural operators’ reduced capacity to attract European funds, to generate their
own income, to raise funds from the community and to imagine alternative operating systems
(sharing); the need for accountability from cultural operators to ensure the sustainability of
cultural practices; lack of guarantee funds for the contribution to EU funded projects;reduced
availability from the public to pay for cultural activities – reduced rate of cultural
consumption expenditure.To address these problems we recommended a series of
interventions by the local government and the cultural actors active on the local market:
• increase of the local budget allocation for culture and improving the financing of cultural
projects from the local budget;
• establishing clear criteria for cultural productions selection, establishing funding priorities
in line with the cultural objectives proposed by the development strategy of the municipality;
• creating a framework for multiannual financing (applying indicators from the Societal4
manual, which would be gradually taken as indicators of good practice and as added value for
projects financed from the local budget);
• taking responsibility for the role culture plays in the sustainable development of the
community, incorporating culture as a cross-cutting priority in local policies;
• establishing a fund for co-financing projects supported by EU funds (having particularly
NGOs and cultural institutions as beneficiaries);
• introduction of a mechanism of financial support for cultural projects from local
fees/taxes, similar to the “percent for art” system type;
• encouraging the involvement of the private sector in culture through financial support and
partnerships, through tax incentives, etc.;
• attracting foreign investors through international partnerships;

73
• communication campaigns to encourage support for culture (which appeals to local pride)
– by individuals through the 2% mechanism, by crowdfunding platforms, volunteering etc.,
by companies through CSR actions, including the creation of crowdfunding platforms;
• development of cultural incubators funded by the government, supporting
entrepreneurship in culture and creative industries through tax incentives.
2.3 Encouraging creation - production of new cultural forms
The problems and needs identified within this priority are: festival-like transformation of local
culture and support only for certain types of activities and parts of the cultural act;superficial
contacts and cooperation; the need to constantly support creators including their artistic
mobility; lack of recent art research and archiving. To solve them, we proposed a series of
measures such as:
• promoting participatory cultural productions;
• taking new directions and strategic priorities defined in the city by the public institutions;
• development of a programme/research projects on recent art history in Slatina, in the
regional and national context;
• developing a cultural calendar of the city, which would allow for an overview of the
cultural program annually held in spaces of culture, including the “Eugen Ionescu” Cultural
Centre and the new “Victoria” Intercultural Workshop, correlating the activities of various
cultural operators to cover the entire year with specific events;
• public archiving of past events;
• more dynamic promotion of museums, their schedule becoming more attractive through
temporary exhibitions, etc.;
• reducing the city hall’s role of cultural events organiser, increasing its playing a role of
facilitator and financier;
• creation of a fund to support the mobility of artists and cultural products, including
encouraging international co-production practices to strengthen lasting relations with the
international scene and the development of collaborative professional practices (not only the
import of events);
• recognising excellence in the arts/ culture by organising award giving galas;
• the local government and business people’s acknowledgement of the need to support
cultural projects throughout the entire cultural cycle (creation, production, dissemination/
presentation, reception/ consumption, reflection/ education);
• supporting the development of a culturally diverse and balanced agenda that would
encourage creation, education, production, not only dissemination and cultural consumption
as it frequently happens due to the tendency of festivalisation.
2.4 Developing international cooperation and the European dimension of the cultural sector
in Slatina
The problems identified under this priority are concerned with:low level of international
cooperation in the sense that the international dimension is reflected in inviting foreign
artists;low international mobility of artists and their works; low participation in international
networks;import of events. The recommendations to overcome these problems relate to:
• developing the European/ international dimension of the cultural sector by taking it as a
priority for the funding programme, including support/ encouragement of participation in
European networks and encouraging international co-production;
• development of a mobility fund and a co-financing fund to encourage the participation of
local actors in European projects and European cooperation, with a role in increasing the
visibility of the local scene internationally, followed by attracting European funds [3];
• promoting cultural tourism through tourist packages linked to the cultural agenda, with the
possibility of attracting international audiences (cooperation with travel agencies, which
would include thematic cultural products in the tourism offer, collaboration with the Tourist
Information Centre Slatina) [4];

74
• city marketing, focused on the cultural profile (art, lifestyle, hospitality, alternative spaces,
free spirit, etc.)
2.5 Increasing intra and inter-sectorial cooperation
Under this priority, the following issues have been identified: low cooperation between
different types of cultural actors, especially between public institutions and NGOs, hence the
low number of partnerships;inadequate cooperation between the cultural sector and the
business environment; modest European participation/ cooperation of cultural actors in
Slatina; increasing the relevance of culture to other areas: urban regeneration, education and
foreign affairs, social inclusion, etc.The measures and recommendations to overcome the
highlighted problems concern:
• encouragement of partnership, collaboration and interdisciplinary practices for the funding
programme from the local budget;
• facilitating the participation of local institutions/ organisations in European projects
(mobility fund, co-financing European projects fund), including through regional cooperation
with universities in Craiova;
• creating a platform for cooperation between the authorities, the business environment and
the cultural one, including fostering the opening of the public sector to cooperation with the
independent sector and encouraging co-production practices, through the allocation of funds
for the projects of public cultural institutions.
2.6 The need for a new approach to culture as a vector of social transformation
The identified problems are limited to:the understanding and perception of the cultural sector
is still in the old paradigm, as a peripheral area addressed to elites; therefore, in the absence of
a redefinition/ update of the meaning of culture as a social act, the potential of culture for the
development and welfare of the community is wasted;the need to identify a proper and
specific way to approach culture;increased number of interdisciplinary cultural practices,
intersection with other areas, changing methods and the area of intervention require a
redefinition of culture and strategic level;the need for broad support and public acceptance of
the new concept of culture, and the need for cultural operators accountability in order to
achieve the sustainability of cultural practices.The recommendations and supporting measures
aimed at overcoming the problems identified refer to:
• a strategic plan, such as the one for the “Victoria” Intercultural Workshop, to redefine
culture, its role in society, the values it promotes and public commitment to this approach;
• a study on the assimilation potential of this approach by the cultural producers, the
government, the public, etc.;
• addressing culture as a cross-cutting priority in local policies;
• create a platform for cooperation between cultural operators, communication/ awareness
campaigns;
• the existence of a permanent mechanism for cooperation and communication between
cultural operators and the local government.
2.7 Development of cultural infrastructure
The lack of spaces dedicated exclusively to culture is a national problem. [5] For Slatina, we
have identified a number of issues, namely: most independent cultural organisations rent
spaces, while institutions own spaces and facilities without preconditions related to the
cultural program; worrying degradation of heritage buildings;degradation and lack of usage of
the cultural potential of spaces with cultural values, including recent heritage degradation and
neglect;ways to access and programme public spaces as spaces for events, communication
facilities etc.; inadequate cultural communication infrastructure;loss of public access to some
areas with cultural potential, through retrocession.The measures we recommend target:

75
• a system of content-oriented management of spaces: the manner of cultural programming
of the spaces managed by the City Hall based on a coherent software, which would give
cultural direction/ vision to programming;
• creating a mechanism whereby operators/ independent artists be facilitated access to
public resources (e.g. 10 days/ a year, the space/ infrastructure/ technical assistance to be
made available to independent projects or collaborative projects between institutions and
independent organisations such as “The open day”);
• facilitating access to spaces for events/ current activities to cultural operators by
rearranging and equipping public property spaces, creating a mobile infrastructure,
developing an online scheduling system to access these resources;
• a programme of acquisition and redevelopment of a fund built for the cultural needs of the
city;
• reclaiming symbol spaces for the community, as was the case for the “Victoria”
Intercultural Workshop building;
• creation of a cooperation agreement between the government and the main owners of
premises to facilitate the temporary use of some spaces they own for public cultural
programmes;
• researching and valuing recent heritage, preventing its destruction (including by
refurbishments which do not comply with the original project);
• mapping public spaces or those with public use potential which could be suitable for
cultural activities (former industrial spaces, former power/ thermal or electrical plants in the
neighbourhoods etc.); a study on their potential cultural use in the interest of the community;
the implementation of a pilot project to activate spaces of this kind, to develop an urban
regeneration programme including by using European funds;
• evaluation of the current ads display system, development of new spaces for display/
cultural communication and development of an integrated system to plan access to these
spaces for display, including the “Victoria” Intercultural Workshop and other strategic points
in the city.
2.8 Improving cultural communication
Under this priority, we have identified a number of issues, namely: insufficient display
system;deficient cultural communication of operators. To solve these problems we
recommended the following actions, some of which may constitute activities that can take
place in the “Victoria” Intercultural Workshop:
• developing an online platform/ cultural calendar (online system to post cultural events by
cultural operators, system of surveying the public's taste for events, system of programming
spaces and facilities, including the use of public spaces, calendar of events of interest
including their inclusion in tours packages, booking spaces);
• developing a calendar of cultural-educational events in all cultural and artistic centres of
creation in Slatina;
• an intranet system – levels of information about the city (cultural events, cultural spaces,
data on built heritage etc.) accessible on technology that allows for smartphone applications;
• multilingualism (publication of international events programmes in several languages
(Romanian, English, Romani etc.);
• defining and promoting the city's cultural profile within the city and outside of it, through
concerted management of promoting events (online platform, guide, display);
• encouraging alternative modes of publicity for events (virtual environment);
• developing tourist packages based on annual cultural agenda by interested tourism
establishments;
• awareness of specific resources/ identification symbols/ authenticity with ethnic, cultural,
and educational features, included in the profile.[4]
In line with the priorities identified above, the “Victoria” Intercultural Workshop has the
following objectives:
76
• providing cultural products and services to meet the cultural needs of the cultural
community, preservation, transmission, promotion and enhancement of traditional culture and
intangible cultural heritage, especially the cultural heritage of the Roma ethnic group,
continuous education and training, of community interest;
• preservation, valorisation and transmission of moral, artistic and technical values of the
local community as well as of the national and world cultural heritage;
• fostering creativity and talent;
• promoting traditional crafts, development of cultural exchanges locally, nationally and
internationally;
• cultivating the values and authenticity of contemporary folk creation and the performing
arts in all genres.
In order to achieve the above mentioned objectives, the "Victoria" Intercultural Workshop
will organise and carry out activities (measures) such as:cultural events with an educational
and/ or entertainment role: exhibitions, film screenings, fashion shows, competitions,
seminars, evening readings in Romani;preservation and enhancement of the crafts, customs
and traditions by organising festivals, product sales exhibitions, demonstration
workshops;organising continuous education and professional training courses;organising and
participating in national and international events;promoting young talent;organising, in
collaboration with other cultural institutions, cultural/ intercultural exchanges locally,
nationally and internationally;organising workshops, seminars and debates on cultural
issues.[3]
3. CONCLUSIONS
The “Victoria” Intercultural Workshop initiates and conducts intercultural artistic events, and
artistic, formative or social training programmes. Special attention will be given to the
“Victoria” Intercultural Workshop’s programmes and projects targeting the Roma
community. It is known that there is a large discrepancy between the level of school education
for the Roma population and the national average. In Romania, the national average for 12-
year-old children and above who have attended at least 4 years of schooling is of 94.4%,
whereas in the case of the Roma, the percentage is of 46%, which is less than half the national
average. Studies show the gap between the participation of the non-Roma and Roma children
to preschool in Romania; in the 2000-2001 school years only 20% of Roma children attended
kindergarten, compared to 66.1% for the entire population of children of preschool age.
Approximately 27% of the Roma have never attended classes at any school and, while literacy
is said to be almost complete within the entire country, illiteracy was estimated at 44% for
men and 59 % in women among the Roma population. Early school leaving is more common
in traditional Roma communities, where early marriage is practised, which is one of the
causes of dropout for Roma girls. [6]
The “Victoria” Intercultural Workshop will conduct a series of educational activities, aimed at
increasing participation and performance in formal education within Roma communities.
Tracking the effectiveness of the objectives included in the Strategic Plan requires a
continuous monitoring and evaluation of the results of undertaken activities. The people
responsible for implementing, monitoring and evaluating the Strategic Plan will be
determined by the institution that will manage the Workshop, depending on the employees
and departments number. It is recommendable to create a specialised department, responsible
for the Workshop’s activities and programmes.
Basically, there are at least three ways of organising the Workshop to fulfil its roles and
responsibilities in terms of implementing the Strategic Plan activities.

77
4. REFERENCES
1. Mangset, P., Kleppe, B., Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe – Country profile
Norway, Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, Council of
Europe/ERICarts, (2012)
2. Pffeiffer,Kornelia, Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe – Country profile
Liechtenstein, Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe", 15th edition
2014. (2014)
3. ***, Culture Policy 2014-2020, Reykjavik, Department of Culture and Tourism, (2012)
4. ***, Regional Development Plan SW Oltenia 2014-2020, Craiova, 2014
5. ***, Promoting cultural values and traditions as a tourism product of the Olt County, the
Institution of the Prefect, 2014
6. ***, Strategic plan for the socio-economic inclusion of Roma communities from Romania
2012-2022, Centrul Naţional de Cultură a Romilor – Romano Kher (2011)

78
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

REVALUING THE CULTURE OF HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS. A

PATH ANALYSIS APPROACH

Ion Popa1 and Simona Cătălina Ștefan2

1
The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Faculty of Management, Bucharest, Romania,
E-mail: iipopa@yahoo.com
2
The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Faculty of Management, Bucharest, Romania,
E-mail: simonacatalina_2006@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: In spite of the increasing importance granted to organizational culture, particularly the culture of
health organization, and the common belief on its importance in increasing performance, there is still need to
explain the underlying mechanism that enables this link. The results of Path Analysis conducted for 981
employees of Romanian health organizations offered strong support for the proposed theoretical model. We
found that Family, Guided Missile and Incubator cultures have a positive impact on Professional Performance.
Moreover, Work Motivation and Job Satisfaction fully or partially mediate these relationships, thereby,
highlighting their importance in maximizing the effect that organizational culture has on employee performance.
Limitations and future research directions are discussed.
KEYWORDS:health organization, job satisfaction, organizational culture. path analysis, performance, work
motivations

1. INTRODUCTION
It is common belief that the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization depends on the
quality and degree of motivation of employees and managers. But these results also depend on
generally not so evident aspects, such a certain common style or manner to solve the
problems, providing vision, purpose, direction and energy for evolution, and which
sometimes may be stronger than the will of a particular person or a particular group of people.
In attempting to understand such not so obvious aspects of an organization, one must go
beyond the tangible things, in what is known as organizational culture.
While these features are equally important in all types of organizations, the culture of health
organization is not only one of the important aspects of the relationship between the
individual and the organization, but it forms the level of cooperation in healthcare
organizations and the relations between groups of employees, it can influence employee
motivation and job satisfaction, professional performance, and ultimately impacts the quality
of healthcare services and the other patient related outcomes. [1] Consequently, the culture in
health organizations has gained increased consideration as an important factor that influences
the quality of care. [2]
2. APPROACHES TO THE CULTURE–PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIP
Organizational culture was defined as a complex pattern of beliefs and expectations, including
philosophies, values, postulates, attitudes and norms shared by the members of certain
organization. [2] Schein [3] describe it as a set of assumptions discovered, invented or
developed by a group of persons in the learning process of internal integration and external
adaptation, which proved to be valid and worthy to be presented to new members as the right
way fell, perceive and think about those problems. In describing the organizational culture, he
identifies three levels [3]: observable artefacts, values and basic underlying assumptions.
In studying the relationship between organizational culture and performance, Alvesson [4]
identify four distinct points of view:
1. The strong-culture thesis (perhaps the most frequently encountered) assumes that
commitment of an organization’s managers and employees to the same set of values,

79
 beliefs and norms facilitates goals alignment as well as appropriate means for attaining
them and ultimately lead to positive results and increased performance.
2. It could be taken also into consideration a reverse relationship between culture and
performance, when performance may contribute to the creation of a ‘strong’ corporate
culture. Thus, a particular common set of orientations, beliefs, meanings and values of a
successful organization may be adopted thus, ultimately leading to performance.
3. Contingency thinking suggests that a different type of culture is appropriate, even
necessary for each particular conditions, thus, enabling performance.
4. On the contrary, "adaptive culture", characterized by people willing to take risk, trust each
other, work together to identify problems and opportunities, able to respond to changes in
the environment may lead to performance.
For more accurate understanding of the relationship between organizational culture and
performance should not overlook the crucial role of managerial culture, manifested both
through the senior managers' decision-making processes and actions [5] and its influence in
shaping the overall organizational culture.Also, one should not neglect the existence of a
strong professional culture within health organizations, whose core values often differ from
those of managers, and may contribute to the existence of a fragmented, heterogeneous
culture of these organizations. [6]
Alvesson [4]suggest that it is difficult to support any of this theories through empirical
evidences since there are no systematic studies on the culture–performance relationship.
Moreover, Schein [3]is rather sceptic about studying something as abstract as organizational
culture through survey instruments. He raises questions on both the assumed knowledge on
relevant dimensions and items' relevance in capturing the critical cultural themes of each
organization.
Nevertheless, a number of studies have attempted to demonstrate the link between
organizational culture and performance of health organizations. [6] [7][8] [9] Thus, Davies et
all[8]and Jacobs et all [9]in a longitudinal study examined the relationship between senior
management team culture and organizational performance in English acute hospitals over
three time periods (2001/2002, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008). They found that higher
performing organizations are clustered in the Developmental culture with a tendency to shift
to Rational culture over time, in contrast with the low performance which are associated with
Hierarchical culture. They also found evidences to support the hypothesis that performance
aspects which are valued within a certain culture are enhanced in hospitals where that culture
is well represented.
Furthermore, there are authors who, studying the relationship between organizational culture
and performance, take into account other variables such as employees' motivation and job
satisfaction.[11][12][2]In a cross-sectional study carried out in 36 primary care pediatric
practices Brazil et all [10] examined whether organizational culture is related to job
satisfaction and perceived clinical effectiveness. They found that employees of hierarchical
and rational oriented organizations, reported lower job satisfaction and perceived work
effectiveness. In contrast, Group cultures were associated with higher job satisfaction and
perceived work effectiveness, while Developmental culture had no impact on both
phenomena.These relationships were found for both medical and non-medical staff.
Based on the preceding discussion, we expect that the culture of health organizations will
positively impact on employee Work Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Professional
Performance. It is also expected that Work Motivation and Job Satisfaction to act as
moderators on the relationship between organizational culture and Professional Performance.
We thus suggest the following hypotheses:
H1(a-d). The health organizations' culture types are positively associated with
professional performance.

80
 H2(a-d). The health organizations' culture types are positively associated with work
motivation.
H3(a-d). The health organizations' culture types are positively associated with job-
satisfaction.
H4(a-d). Work motivation and job-satisfaction mediates the effect of each culture of
health organizations on professional performance.
Most of the above mentioned studies have sought to examine the organizational culture of
health organizations through the Competing Values Framework.However, for the purpose of
our research, Trompenaars’ classification of corporate culture was considered. In relation with
two dimensions (equality - hierarchy and orientation to persons - orientation to tasks),
Trompenaars’ classification [11] identifies four types of culture, named by means of four
metaphors: Family culture, Eiffel Tower culture, Guided Missile culture, and Incubator
culture. Each of these four types may be considered as ideal type, while in organizational
practice they are mixed or partially overlapped each other, often one of culture being
dominant. This separation may prove to be particularly useful in analysing the basis of each
type in terms of relationships between employees, attitude toward authority, ways of learning
and thinking, attitudes toward people, ways of changing, motivating and rewarding, criticism
and conflicts resolution. [11]
3. DATA AND METHODS
3.1 Research design
A questionnaire based survey was carried out during December 2015 and January 2016 within
18 hospitals and pharmacies, both public and private ones. In the sample were included 981
respondents, among which 77.46% were executants and 22.54% in managerial positions.
Regarding respondents' profession, there were considered both medical and non-medical staff.
Thus, more than a third of respondents (37.24%) were nurses, 23.66% pharmacists, 17.19%
physicians and 1.25% physical therapist. In the sample were also included auxiliary medical
staff (9.84%), non-medical staff with higher education (4.23%) and non-medical staff with
secondary education (6.60%).
3.2 Measurements
A previously developed questionnaire [12] was slightly modified for this purpose. To evaluate
the four cultural types, four aggregate variables were computed as average of eight primary
variables corresponding to six specific characteristics of each type of Trompenaars's corporate
cultures [11]: relationships between employees, attitude toward authority, ways of thinking
and learning, attitudes toward people, ways of changing, ways of motivating and rewarding,
to which were added two more variables assessing the organization's hierarchy level and the
orientation towards tasks/people. For the employees' motivation was defined an aggregate
variable as average of 15 primary variables designed to measure, on a 5-point scale, the extent
to which they are motivated by different factors inspired by Maslow's hierarchy of needs
theory[13]. The overall job satisfaction was measured by only one variable, while the
professional performance was assessed as average of three variables: by comparison with the
objectives set, with colleagues' performance and with own performance from five years ago.
[14]
3.3 Data analysis
The collected data for this study were analyzed in threesteps. (1) First, the path coefficients of
direct effects of Family, Eiffel Tower, Guided Missile and Incubator culture on Work
Motivation were examined by means of IBM AMOS 24 (H2(a-d) hypotheses)(2) Secondly, in
order to validate H3(a-d) and H1(a-d) hypotheses,total effects of each organizational culture
on Job Satisfaction and Job Performance were examined(3) Thirdly, a bootstrapping
procedure was performed in order to examine the significance of the indirect effectsof each

81
organizational culture on Job Performance and determine if there were mediation effects
(H4(a-d) hypotheses).
4. RESULTS
4.1 Descriptive statistics
Examining the correlation coefficients presented in table 1, was found that all the four
independent variables measuring organizational culture types are positively correlated with
professional performance while only three of them with work motivation and job-satisfaction.
Although the impact of Eiffel Tower on two of the dependent variables seems to be
questionable, all of them was included in the final model.
Table 1. Means, standard deviations, and correlations among variables
No. Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 Family culture 3.261 0.537
2 Eiffel Tower 3.263 0.523 0.434**
3 Guided Missile 3.203 0.550 0.240** 0.400**
**
4 Incubator 2.753 0.633 0.335 0.066* 0.302**
5 Work Motivation 3.708 0.738 0.147** 0.026 (ns) 0.471** 0.230**
6 Job Satisfaction 3.993 0.902 0.144** 0.006 (ns) 0.366** 0.183** 0.620**
7 Job Performance 3.862 0.763 0.114** 0.092** 0.220** 0.150** 0.468** 0.444**
Note: ns = “not significant”, *= p < 0.05, **= p < 0.01
Source:made by authors with IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0
4.2 Testing H3 – H5 hypotheses – Path Analysis
Path Analysis was applied in order to determine whether the theoretical relationships
specified in the hypothesized model are supported by the data. Figure 1 presents the full
model, as well as the squared multiple correlations of dependent variables and standardized
path coefficients.Overall, the hypothesized structural model was very useful in explain
variance in Work Motivation (R2 = 27.3%, Job Satisfaction (R2= 39.9%), and Job
Performance (R2 = 26.8%).

Figure 1. Statistical estimates for the conceptual model

Source:made by authors with IBM SPSS Amos 24
In order to validate H1(a-d) hypotheses, the total effects of each organizational culture on job-
performance were examined by means of IBM AMOS 24. Thus, Guided Missile culture
proved to have the highest total effect on Job Performance (0.215, p < 0.001), Family and
Incubator cultures- smaller, but still statistically significant total effects (0.053, p < 0.01

82
respectively 0.081, p < 0.001), while the Eiffel Tower culture – negative and not significant
total effect (- 0.023, ns).Thus, the analyses provided support for hypothesis H1a, H1c and
H1d, predicting that Family, Guided Missile and Incubator culturesare positively associated
with Professional Performance. However, H1b is not supported, which suggests that Eiffel
Tower culture is not positively associated with Professional Performance.
In order to validate H2(a-d) hypotheses, the path coefficients of direct effects of each
organizational culture on Work Motivation were examined. Thus, the highest direct effect on
Work Motivation was found for Guided Missile (0.526, p < 0.001), followed by Family and
Incubator cultures (0.108, p < 0.001 respectively 0.055, p < 0.001), while the Eiffel Tower
culture has a negative direct effect on Job motivation (- 0.252, p < 0.001). Thus, the analyses
provided support for hypothesis H2a, H2c and H2d, predicting that Family, Guided Missile
and Incubator cultures are positively associated with Work Motivation. However, H2b is not
supported, which means that Eiffel Tower culture is not positively associated with Work
Motivation.
To validate H3(a-d) hypotheses, we examined the total effects of each organizational culture
on Job Satisfaction. Thus, Guided Missile culture proved to have the highest total effect on
Job Satisfaction (0.420, p < 0.001), Family and Incubator cultures - smaller, but still
statistically significant total effects (0.132, p < 0.001 respectively 0.033, p < 0.001), while the
Eiffel Tower culture – a negative total effect (- 0.218, p < 0.001). Thus, the analyses provided
support for hypothesis H3a, H3c and H3d, predicting that Family, Guided Missile and
Incubator cultures are positively associated with Job Satisfaction. However, H2b is not
supported, which suggests that Eiffel Tower culture is not positively associated with Job
Satisfaction.
To validate H4(a-d) hypotheses, a bootstrapping procedure was performed to verify the
significance of the indirect effects of each type of culture on Job Performance.The
standardized indirect (mediated) effect of Family culture on Job-Performancewas 0.069,
significantly different from zero at the 0.001 level (p= 0.001 two-tailed). Furthermore, the
direct effect was not statistically significant (0.016, ns). In sum, we confirmed that Work
Motivation and Job Satisfaction fully mediate thepositive effect of Family culture on Job
Performance, giving support for H4a hypothesis. Considering that the total effect of Eiffel Tower
on job Performance was not statistically significant, we may conclude that in this case there is
no mediation and H4B hypothesis was not supported.Considering that he standardized
indirect (mediated) effect of Guided Missile culture on Job-Performance was 0.279,
significantly different from zero at the 0.001 level (p = 0.001 two-tailed) and direct effect was
negative (- 0.063, p < 0.001), we may conclude that Work Motivation and Job Satisfaction
have a partial suppression effect [15]on the relationship between Guided Missile and Job
Performance, thus supporting H3c hypothesis. Examining the standardized indirect (mediated)
effect of Incubator culture on Job-Performance (0.026, significantly different from zero at the
0.001 level, p = 0.001 two-tailed) and the direct effect (0.054, p < 0.001), we may conclude
that Work Motivation and Job Satisfaction partially mediate the effect of Family Incubator on
Job Performance, which support H4d hypothesis.
Table 2. Path Analysis outcomes
No. Hypotheses Relationships Direct Indirect Total Decision
Effects Effects Effects
1 H2a FC→WM 0.108*** - 0.108*** Supported
2 H2b ETC→WM - 0.232*** - - 0.232*** Not Supported
3 H2c GMC→WM 0.526*** - 0.526*** Supported
4 H2d IC→WM 0.055*** - 0.055*** Supported
5 H3a FC→WM→JS 0.073*** 0.059*** 0.132*** Supported
6 H3b ETC→WM→JS - 0.091*** - 0.127*** - 0.218*** Not Supported
7 H3c GMC→WM→JS 0.131*** 0.288*** 0.420*** Supported
8 H3d IC→WM→JS 0.002 (ns) 0.030*** 0.033** Supported

83
 9 H1a FC→WM→JS→JP - 0.016 (ns) 0.069*** 0.053** Supported
10 H4a Supported
11 H1b ETC→WM→JS→JP 0.109*** - 0.132*** - 0.023 (ns) Not Supported
12 H4b Not Supported
13 H1c GMC→WM→JS→JP - 0.063*** 0.279*** 0.215*** Supported
14 H4c Supported
15 H1d IC→WM→JS→JP 0.054*** 0.026*** 0.081*** Supported
16 H4d Supported
Note:FC = Family, ETC = Eiffel Tower, GMC = Guided Missile, IC = Incubator, WM = Work Motivation, JS =
Job Satisfaction, JP = Job Performance,ns = “not significant”, *= p < 0.05, **= p < 0.01, ***= p < 0.001
Source:made by authors with IBM SPSS Amos 24

5. CONCLUSIONS
The aim of this study was to investigate theparticularities of the organizational culture of
health organizations through Trompenaars corporate culture typology as well as the
implications that each of those typeswould have on employees' professional performance.
This study can present both theoretical and managerial implications. One of the theoretical
implications lies in the consideration for the first time, the typology of Trompenaars's
corporate culture in analyzing the culture of health organizations. Furthermore, the existing
models in the literature, explaining the relationships between organizational culture, work
motivation, job satisfaction and job performance has been developed by considering the
contribution of each type of organizational culture, not just the organizational culture as a
whole.
The hypothesized theoretical model was evaluated by means of path analysis, with technical
support of IBM Amos 24 program. The results and findings supported most of our
hypotheses. We found that Guided Missile proved to be the most performant culture type
since it has the highest effects on Work Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Professional
Performance. The effects of Family and Incubator cultures are also positive and statistically
significant. As regards the Eiffel Tower, this type of culture does not seem to be as efficient,
given that its effects on employee Motivation and Satisfaction are negative, and statistically
insignificant when related to Professional Performance.
In addition, results support the hypothesized multiple mediating effect of Work Motivation
and Job Satisfaction between three of the Trompenaars’s organizational culture types (Family,
Guided Missile and Incubator) and employee Professional Performance, thereby, highlighting
their importance in maximizing the effect that organizational culture has on employee
performance.
Although presenting both theoretical and managerial implications, the study is not free of
limitations which future research should address: (1) the sample representativeness, in terms
of territorial distribution, and (2) the constructs assessing the culture types was not previously
validated through Factor Analysis, but only driven by theory.
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Organizational Research Methods 11(2) (2008)

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

REINFORCING CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS

ENVIRONMENT.
A PSYCHOLOGICAL OVERVIEW
Bogdan-Emil Stroe1 and Ionut-Eugen Sandu2
1
National Institute for Research&Development in Informatics – I.C.I. Bucharest, PhD student of ‘Lucian Blaga’
University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, bogdan.stroe87@gmail.com; bogdan.stroe@rotld.ro;
2
National Institute for Research&Development in Informatics – I.C.I. Bucharest, PhD student of ‘Lucian Blaga’
University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, ionut@rotld.ro.

ABSTRACT:this paper aims to reflect the psychological approach and the identification of factors that will
support any business organization to face the challenge of competing worldwide in a constantly changing
environment. The focus moves automatically to the irrational (emotional) side of change management within an
organization and to some conditions or factors that should be required to change the mind-set and behaviour of
employees to improve performance or reach higher goals for a company.
Let’s suppose that a business can reach higher goals if the managers succeed in changing the behaviour of
employees in order for them to be more performance-oriented and in the same time to be aware of the
importance of their role inside the company. Many managers prefer to stimulate employees by offering attractive
bonuses or other kind of material advantages but they tend to neglect the psychological/emotional and non-
material factors that might be equally important. In many cases, the material stimulations will lead only to
temporary performance if the employee does not become more competitive and does not feel like he really
belongs to the company and he does not contribute enough to the company’s success. An employee can become
more competitive by changing the culture of the company from being reactive to proactive, hierarchical to
collegial and/or introspective to externally focused. For this kind of cultural change, managers start to consider
the emotional and psychological aspects when balancing the factors required to implement new strategies or
decisions. Basically, it means changing the way individual in a company work, behave or change their attitudes.

KEYWORDS:change management; psychological factors; human nature; employee; behaviour.

Since nowadays success in any business depends on how persuasive an idea can be in order to
convince groups of individuals to believe in their role within an organization, emotional and
psychological factors have to be taken into consideration as well besides the material
advantages offered to the employees. The business environment worldwide is changing
continuously due to globalization, mobility of people, resources and technology advancement,
so the competitiveness rises accordingly. This being considered, change management is
obviously a top priority on any organizational agenda for coping with the evolution and
development of any business environment worldwide. The key element is without any doubt
“change” understood as hierarchical evolution where no level must be perceived as more
important than another. In this way, “the primary” organizational workers, the skilled ones
that according to the any company’s scheme are at the bottom of it, are the most important
psychologically speaking because their day by day objectives are the main fuel of the good
management of an organization. Competitiveness and remuneration are the main motivational
values a worker will follow. Thus, the “change” in any business or organization should be
considered not only on decisional/managerial level, but on every working hierarchical level.
A good manager or leader should take into consideration the psychological factor when
“changing” strategies, objectives or measures in an organization, a factor with an equal
importance and impact on every working level.
Many of managers or CEOs tend to avoid this kind of change measures because it will most
likely take time. You have to give time to employees to adapt to the changes in the working
environment. The reason behind this could be explained by David Kolb’s 1980s four-phase
adult learning cycle [9]. Kolb reflects the fact that adults can’t learn by listening to

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instructions, they would rather absorb new information, use it, experience it, learn from it and
then mix it with their existing knowledge forming new attitudes and behaviours in the
working environment [9]. Adults need reflection when adapting to something new before
applying new principles.
The purpose of this paper to reflect a new overview for the change management or to
reinforce the change management principles, conditions or factors (with higher importance on
psychological side) comes as an answer to the research in this field. John Kotter found out, in
his research “Leading Change” from 1995 (considered the field of change management) that
only 30% of change programs have succeeded [10]. Later, in 2009, McKinsey found out that
one change program out of three succeeds [2]. In the “Psychology of change management”
publishing of McKinsey& Company, E. Lawson and Collin Price stated that there are four
conditions required before employees would adopt a new attitude or working behaviour [2].
The authors basically created a prescription that managers often misunderstood or failed to
implement entirely, considering that it does not bring good results. In fact, it was not the
prescription that failed, but the implementation of it; managers did not quite take into
consideration the irrational elements of human nature, they sometimes disregarded them.
The four conditions provided by McKinsey, Lawson and C. Price were as follows [2]:
• to create a compelling story in order for the employees to see the reason of change and
agree with it;
• to consider role modelling, because leaders should take actions and switch roles to be able
to change and mobilize a group of people and involve deeper into the organization to all
of its levels;
• to reinforce mechanisms, because systems and processes must be in the same line with the
new behaviour;
• and to build capabilities for employees to have all the necessary skills to follow the
changes.
Therefore, these are the ingredients and conditions for a successful change management
within an organization. As mentioned before, the prescription itself was not enough in order
for managers to successfully apply it. The reason is human nature and the way it gets in the
way of applying these conditions [11].
Furthermore, some insights of how human nature factors influence the success of a change
management [3].
a) Managers who consider that whatever motivates them will motivate the employees, when
actually the truth is far more different. Research on social sciences (Danah Zohar) shows
that the motivation for managers and employees in the same organization has different
orientation: towards society, customer, company and shareholders, working team or
personal impact. For example, in a company, the motivation for a manager might be
customer oriented while the motivation for an employee might have different orientation
(personal, related to pay-check or target bonus or at the working level team) [13].
b) By human nature, when we chose for ourselves, we are more committed to the outcome.
Change management usually underestimates this effect and that is why well-intended
managers and leaders should spend time and invest energy in anther way of
communicating, by listening more than telling more to the employees;
c) We are willing to take risks to avoid losing what we have than to gain more. That is why
managers that use a story focused on what was wrong will create fatigue and resistance,
doing little to engage people’s experience or behavioural change. A story with both wrong
and right would fit more than the deficit-based approach within an organization.

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d) Leaders often think they already represent change. Because of that, leaders approach to
more personal role to desire behaviours when in practice, it will not change much. Many
executives do not consider themselves as being part of the change;
e) As mentioned before and widely applied in many organizations, the motivation of change
is linked to the compensation side. But satisfaction is not entirely linked to the material
impact and the financial compensation is the most expensive way of motivation;
f) Attention must be paid to what fairness and justice means for every employee, because if
these values are not respected it could cause loss of interest for the working activities.
Managers should consider changes that could affect the interaction between employees
with one another and with customers;
g) Not only the employee behaviour matters. Managers often align the performances by
trying to change the behaviour of employees but not taking into considerations their
feelings, thoughts and beliefs, which are, in fact, driving factors of the working behaviour.
Constant communication and interaction with employees would have more benefits;
h) Many managers reflect their good intentions, but they are not enough. Employees learn
better by doing (action) than just listening.
This being analysed is obvious that in particular cases when a company faces change
management, a better solution might be the consideration of new training development based
on the above-mentioned human factors that tend to be neglected. Such a training should be
taken in longer or constant series and not in one single event and fieldwork assignments
should be created to link directly to the jobs and responsibilities of employees. In this way,
they will put in practice and exercise the new mind-sets, skills and develop/change new
behaviour in the working environment [11].
Globalization involves change management, which is linked to the evolution of business
landscape, development of new markets and opening of labour pools, technological
innovation and capital flows. These are all challenges that must be faced in order to remain
competitive and preserve advantages. That is a push-up for companies to start developing
more sophisticated practices for organizational change management and a well-intended
reason to consider other factors in doing so, factors that were considered having lower
importance or impact. It all leads to the role of culture.
Learning from mistakes and taking into consideration human nature factors in organizational
change management lead to the creation of new principles that can help the managers face
transformation in a more systematic way [1]. As a conclusion, I will summarize the most
important ones, subjectively viewed:
1) Culture is critical to the success of change management. Katzenbach Centre Survey states
that 84% of the answers support this statement. That means that managers often fail to
address culture when considering change [8]. Most of managers forget that human beings
have strong emotional connections. Skilled managers always consider the cultural side of
the company, paying attention to what employees think, feel on or how they behave, work
in order to provide a boost for the change initiative.
2) The change initiative/implementation should start at the top at first, not at the bottom. It is
indeed important and vital to engage the employees at every level, but all the successful
change management initiatives started from the top to bottom. Successful managers
understood that they are part of the change and they are actually the initiators. By taking
part of a change as a first one, managers will become good examples and this will
motivate the employees and the other hierarchical levels.
3) Many managers think that the process of change will be more efficient if it does not
involve all the hierarchical levels, meaning it involves fewer people in planning. Even if it

88
 takes a little bit longer, it is more effective to involve all the employees at all levels in
developing a plan for change;
4) Make the employees feel they are part of the action. Take into consideration the emotional
factors along with the rational ones. Objectives such as “our business will grow 30%” or
“we will enter new markets” will hardly touch employees emotionally and foster their full
commitment.
5) Powerful and sustainable change needs constant communication. Managers usually make
the mistake of delivering a strong change message at the starting point of an initiative
considering that people will absorb the message and will action accordingly, then they
start to neglect the communication. On the contrary, the more constant the communication
is, the more efficient it is.
6) Leveraging formal and informal sides of the change. The formal means to persuade
employees to change behaviour by rethinking and redesigning elements such as structure,
rewards, training, development, while informal relates to the culture, attitude, behaviour
and emotional aspects. Both of the sides must be considered together.
The RoTLD Case
This approach helped grow the level of .RO registered domain names of the RoTLD
department in the last five years. After more than 25 years of “Romanian” Internet, the
information society is on a continuous growth path, transforming Romania in a competitive
business environment and contributing to the growth of knowledge-based economy of the EU.
[6]
The management of the RoTLD department had a very important impact regarding the
increase of the level .RO registered domain names and also on the local/regional business
environment [5]. This comes in direct connection with the increase of RoTLD business
performances throughout the last years, based on changes in the management structure and on
the implementation of these changes among the employees.
The RoTLD department – which is the National .RO Internet Domains Registry, part of the
National Institute for Research & Development in Informatics – has been implementing a
restructuration of the organization 3 years ago. These changes had to be reflected and
implemented both at the management level and employees level. The RoTLD department has
a huge national responsibility for the Internet Domain industry at national level. Being the
National Registry, the RoTLD has the responsibility to ensure and maintain a fair and
competitive business environment in this specific field, for every kind of customers –
individuals, companies and entities, both from Romania and abroad. Therefore, the impact of
the RoTLD business is both national and international, contributing to the worldwide image
of Romania as a serious and trustful business environment especially from an IT&C point of
view. That is why the employees of the department are important and have key
responsibilities for the quality of this kind of national service. All the changes taken by
managers and directors are made with the awareness of every employee before
implementation. That is why, three years ago, the entire department has been divided in two
separate sub-departments, by the nature of the activities. RoTLD department needs technical
support and administrative support, so that is why the two sub-departments are focused on
technical skills employees and administrative/economic – call-centre support – employees,
both sub-departments under the management of the Head of the RoTLD department.
When it came to the restructuring, every employee was previously asked for his opinion and
for his exact duties, because the division in 2 sub-departments implied drafting clear
responsibilities for each employee and clear procedures of work and internal regulations
which must be respected and implemented by everyone, depending on the nature of the
problem or of duty. Everyone was aware of the importance of the human nature factors in
taking the changes, because the employee must feel and know that his work is important and
89
it is part of the performance, so that is the reason why every employee was consulting in
making the new work procedures, in drafting the new regulations and make the change
possible and efficient. Each employee was asked to draft and describe the nature of the work
in full detail, providing the opinion on what had to be changed, enhanced and improved. The
result was consisted of a set of documents drafted by employees describing their current
activity and responsibilities, the current procedure of work and their recommendations of
what has to be improved. In drafting the new work procedures and internal regulations, an
audit was also made when employees were individually engaged in interviews with auditors.
The new work procedures and regulations, part of the new structure of the department, were
set respecting everyone recommendations which have helped making the work flow more
clear and efficient in the department. The results were shown in profitability of RoTLD
department services, the raising of the number of customers and .RO Domain transactions, the
increasing of the number of partners, the increasing of the quality of the services and the
development of the infrastructure in this field. The entire administrative personnel was
distributed by responsibilities and nature of activity so that there is a permanent backup in
case one of the employees is absent. Access from distance to the working platforms has been
introduced, to facilitate the urgent solving of client problems. Procedures are more transparent
than before and this had a major impact on the satisfaction of the clients, the number of
problems and issues with regular .RO Domain transactions and operations being reduced.
The technical personnel has to ensure a thorough communication regarding the global ICANN
policy or other issues concerning these subjects, with the partners and final clients so that they
have to be ready to answer to any questions on the spot [5]. The technical personnel is on 24/7
permanent duty on rotation basis because technical problems (such as cyber attack or
maintenance/repair of infrastructure/servers) have high importance for the effectiveness and
quality of this national service.
With regards to the communication aspect, the personnel working at RoTLD need to be very
professional and to respect certain confidentiality agreements. In implementing all of these
changes, the importance of the human factor was the key. By engaging everyone in the
change processes and operations, with all the implications, managers have succeeded in
considering the psychological side. Each employee was aware that his part is important and
contributes efficiently to the sole national service and only by improving the small ‘parts’ you
can reach big performance for the whole ‘part’, which is a public Romanian service for
everyone. Employees are aware that their work is appreciated and it is reflected in every work
procedure, internal regulation and relationship with every kind of customer. Managers are
mainly responsible for the entire coordination of activities and if problems appear, the
consultation of the direct employee involved is imperial. The employee knows every aspect of
their activity in detail and can immediately help the manager in taking the best decision when
solving urgent matters and issues is requested.
Summarizing everything above, change management is more than an A to Z process that a
leader/manager has to coordinate and all the employees have to follow the specified
organizational codes. It is more complex than that because it involves the constantly changing
organizational culture and it has to keep up with the diversity encountered within the
organization and the technological development of procedures and way of thought.
The change management takes place in a dynamic world where human resources are the key
factors in order to provide the implementation and design of any kind of change and
procedures. For an organization to survive and increase its competitiveness, it is essential to
implement successful procedures [12]. Change for the RoTLD department respected a three
vectors approach: competitive environment control, strengthening the human potential and
continuous improvement process. Usually, the organizational change in RoTLD is made ad
hoc, but is based on the consultation of the employees in before implementation so that the
risk of unsustainability is reduced or eliminated.

90
Authors and researchers from the Academy of Economic Studies reflect a list of change
management forms according to the frequency of application and conditions of organizational
sustainability as part of the change management requirements [12]. Based on this research,
RoTLD has considered the importance of the following, in considering the human factor and
the psychological side of the change: ensuring the correspondence between skills, qualities of
employees and job requirements, the consideration of the level of received remuneration in
ration with the activities performed, the creation and ensuring of good working conditions,
existence of pleasant work environment, existence of cooperation and collaboration at work,
obtaining the feedback from employees, normal work-rest ratio (max 40 hours per week with
weekly rotation between employees for 24/7 support if needed). These are the ‘ingredients’
that RoTLD has followed in the implementation of the change processes that are considered
to be based on the human nature factor of each employee and lead to the effective working
environment and therefore to the RoTLD business performance in the end.
The successful implementation of change ensured RoTLD the viability and sustainability as
organizational values in the modern, dynamic and powerful business environment and for the
strengthening this strategic field with major importance for Romanian Society.

REFERENCES
1. Aguirre, DeAnne., Alpern, Micah., 10 Principles of Leading Change Management,
Harvard Business School, U.S.A., (2014).
2. Aiken, Carolyn., Keller,Scott.,The irrational side of change management, McKinsey &
Company, Toronto, Canada, (2009).
3. Ariely, Dan., Predictably Irrational; The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions,
Harper Collins, New York, U.S.A., (2008).
4. Banciu, Doina.From Open Data to Open Government: Romanian Case. Global
eGovernment Forum 2013, 22 octombrie, Seul, Coreea(2013).
5. Banciu, Doina., Stăicuț, Eugenie., Sandu Ionuț-Eugen., Leanca, Cătălin.,
DumitracheMihail., Peța, Bogdan., Stroe, Bogdan., Internetulşidomeniile .ro, Bucharest,
Romania (2012).
6. Banes, A., Petroman, I., Orboi, Manuela-Dora, Petroman, Cornelia, The evolution of
knowledge on IT&C in the west side of Romania, Elsevier Ltd., Procedia – Social and
Behavioral Sciences 82, 248-253, 2nd World Conference on Educational Technology
Researches (2013).
7. Hornstein, Henry, Using a Change Management Approach to Implement IT Programs,
Ivey Business Journal, Canada, (2008).
8. Katzenbach, Jon R., von Post,Rutger.,Thomas, James., The Critical Few: Components of
a Truly Effective Culture, PwC – Strategy & Business - www.strategy-business.com,
(2014).
9. Kolb, David A., Experiential Learning: experience as the source of learning and
development, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall, (1984).
10. Kotter, P. John.,Leading change. Why transformation efforts fail, Harvard Business
Review, Boston, available online at https://hbr.org (1995).
11. Lawson, Emily., Price, Colin., The psychology of change management, McKinsey &
Company, London, U.K., (2013).
12. Popescu, Dan., Ciocarlan-Chituce, Alina.,Steriu, Alexandra., State, Cristina., Change
Management – Condition of Organizational Sustainability in IT&C SMEs”, Amfiteatru
Economic, Vol. XIV, No.32, Bucuresti (2012)
13. Zohar, Danah.,Rewiring the Corporate Brain; Using the New Science to Rethink How We
Structure and Lead Orgaizations,Berrett-Koehler, San Franisco, U.S.A., (1997).

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

PERFORMANCE OF SOME ROMANIAN FACULTIES OF ECONOMIC
SCIENCES

Tiţă Silviu Mihail1, Neştian Andrei Ştefan2

1
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, Romania, nestian@uaic.ro
2
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, Romania, silviu.tita@uaic.ro

ABSTRACT: In this analysis on the evolution of scientific research performance of some Romanian faculties of
economic sciences we identify and compare the results obtained by these entities in the research field by using
bibliometric output indicators (ISI articles, Database indexed articles). The objective of this research is to
determine some the connections between the situation of the research production of these faculties and systemic
changes with impact on this situation, hence offering data to support managerial decisions regarding the research
activity in those faculties and in similar ones. The results show the ascendant evolution and the connections with
the changes in institutional and individual performance management systems in the Romanian higher education.
KEYWORDS: research evaluation, performance, indicators, economic research, change management

1. INTRODUCTION
In Romanian universities, the performance assessment of economic scientific research shows
important evolutions in the last 10 years and the determinants of this change are to be found,
most probably, in the evolution of the entire national higher system.
To the general public, the economic scientific research offers the prospect of a thorough
understanding of the connections between phenomena, processes and actors on the global
economic scene. The results of this field have grown in importance in recent times, due to the
transformations that have embraced different regions: major economic crisis, crisis of national
economies or economic growth of some emergent economies. Despite the fluctuation of the
global economy, the general context shows that impressive amount of money are invested by
major actors in the research activity. „In the USA, the federal funds for R&D increased from
$72.86 billion in 2000 to $114.45 billion in 2009, while in China, in 2000, the number is 89.6
billion Chinese yuan (about $11.2 billion); in contrast, in 2009, the R&D investment reaches
580.2 billion Chinese yuan (about $82.9 billion). With the fast growth of R&D investment,
government funding is playing a more and more important role in scientists’ research and
paper publishing” [1]. The European Union allocate, in the European Horizon 2020, a budget
of €70 billion for 2015-2020 [2].
Regarded with some degree of reluctance for many years, sometimes considered a consumer
of financial resources without notable results, the scientific research in economy reached a
point when many other scientific areas expect theoretical models, concepts and practical ideas
to take away the gloomy economic prospects of the recent years and the uncertainties about
the strength and sustainability of the current economic model.
The field of economic research, although has recorded undeniable progress, continues to show
two major weaknesses: a) include a lack of realism; b) offers little support for developing new
practices [3]. Economy, compared with Physics or other physical or exact science, lacks
precise numerical laws since the human behaviour, a determining factor in many economic
phenomena, can hardly be reduced to an equation or a factor score.
In order for us to understand the value of economic research, one must turn to the general
concept of value of the research. One way of assessing the economic value of the research is
to measure research productivity, as publications. There are two main approaches for
evaluating research productivity, widely applied by various countries or institutions: peer-
review and bibliometric methods. Both have been criticized and both have pros and cons [4].
Still, the use of bibliometrics by several governments, as part of the assessment of research
92
productivity, shows the emerging importance of bibliometrics in shaping the future of
academia [5].
Performance assessment of economic scientific research, as in other scientific fields, is based
on bibliometric indicators too. „Recent developments in bibliometric indicators, particularly
for measurement of publication quality, have leaded many governments to introduce the more
or less extensive use of these indicators in their next research assessments. The use of such
measures is still limited to the natural and formal sciences where publications in international
journals and conference proceedings are the most accepted form for the diffusion of research
outputs, and where the publications therefore represent a trustworthy proxy of research
outputs” [6]. In a counter argument about the usefulness of bibliometric indicators, we find
that “in the arts and humanities and most of the social sciences, bibliometric indicators are
considered not yet sufficiently robust to inform peer review” [7].
Bibliometric indicators used to measure research performance are mainly based on two
central elements: number of publications and citation count. The statistics based on the
number of publications primarily reflect the quantitative output of research activity [8].
The results of economic scientific research are widely disputed because economists do not
have a singular evolutionary direction of their knowledge and, in many cases, they try to
logically or mathematically model certain phenomena or processes in order to eliminate
certain failures or inefficient decisions, brought to light by transient and haphazard situations.
Moreover, both national and international propensity for the use of complex mathematical
models of economic research makes the results difficult to be applied by practitioners as they
tend to be action oriented and not looking-for complicated analyses.
Considering this acknowledged need to focus the economic scientific research towards more
practical applications, the contradiction between the difficulty of modelling the reality and the
difficulty to propose a practical application of theoretical models makes the Economics a field
where bibliometric performance measurement is intensely criticized by scientific researchers.
The alignment to the practices in other scientific areas is leading towards scientific
publications whose practical application possibilities by practitioners are reduced, while the
quest for practical applicability leads towards consultancy and less visible national or
international publications.
Based on this dichotomy, this article is focused towards measuring the scientific performance
with national and international visibility, without an examination of issues related to the
practical applicability of these results of economic research.

2. METHODOLOGY

This research aim is to identify the changes in the research output of the main academic
entities in Romania operating in the field of economic research and to highlight some of the
determinant of this evolution.
For this we chose to make a comparative analysis between the results of scientific research in
the main universities and economic science faculties in Romania. The economic science
faculties chosen can be considered the leading providers of research in the field of economy in
Romania: Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) in Bucharest occupies the 4th place in the
national ranking published by the Ministry of Education, Tourism and Sports in 2011. The
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, the Faculty of Business and the Faculty
of Political, Administrative and Communication (FSEGA, FB, FSPAC-UBB) are members of
Babes-Bolyai University, ranked on the 2nd place amongst the Romanian universities. The
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration from the Alexandru Ioan University of
Iasi (FEAA-UAIC) enjoys the university’s rank as the 3rd one in the national ranking. The
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of the University of West Timisoara
(FEAA-UVT) is the last selected, as the university is ranked in the top 15 universities in
Romania.
Data on the analysed faculties were collected from three different sources: (1) the ranking of
Romanian universities reports, available by university and by domain, (2) the Institute of
93
Scientific Information (ISI Philadelphia USA) - Web of Science (WoS) and (3) the Scopus
database. In terms of period, the selected data were from 2005 to 2015, with some missing
values for some years. These values were missing due to the fact that some faculties have no
articles indexed between 2005-2007 in the international databases WoS and Scopus, and the
fact that ranking reports do not cover the years 2005, 2011 and 2012 -2015. Even if these
years are missing from the evaluation reports, we consider the available data relevant to our
analysis, since we can check and compare the differences between the information reported
on each source. Moreover, we consider the available data significant and reliable for our
research because they came from objective international sources and from an official
Romanian institution. The relevance of the data is high, as the same type of data has been
used in 2011 in the ranking of Romanian faculties. Back then, by a legislative measure, each
university was requested to evaluate and report their performance on a complex list of
performance indicators.
According to data extracted from the above mentioned research publication databases, the
search procedure revealed a problem related to how researchers declare the name of the name
of the institution they are affiliated to. For example, there are articles in which the authors
named the faculty and the university and articles in which the authors named only the
university. In the second case, the articles were retrieved by choosing the „business” domain
in the search procedure. For this reason we present two tables: one with information specific
to each faculty and one specific to each university, in all cases the data on faculty being
included in data about the „business” domain. The above described situation has no
correspondence at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, which is a university. In
this case the search was performed by entity name.
The key indicators used for assessing the scientific research activity are the internationally
relevant ones: the number of articles with ISI impact factor, the number of scientific articles
in ISI, scientific articles indexed in International Scientific Publication Databases.
The first limit of this scientific research is that in the analysis the compared entities are
different as organizational structure: one is a university, comprising several faculties, while
the other entities are faculties. This also comes with a difference in size, the ASE personnel
involved in research being, on a multiannual average, approximatively on a ratio of 4/1
compared to the faculties of UBB with economic research and a ratio of 6/1 compared to
FEAA-UVT and FEAA-UAIC.
Another limitation is that in the reported values, included articles could to be in fields other
than economics (social sciences, mathematics, computer science, engineering etc). This may
occur if the articles are developed by researchers from the given faculties in collaboration
with people from other scientific fields. Web of Science and Scopus, through their domain
indexing, are preventing some search errors, but we cannot state as certain the fact that all the
results of our search procedure are in the field of economic research.
If we add to this limit the differences between the two databases, WoS and Scopus, we agree
with Froghi’s statement when debating about the value of research indexes resulted from each
indexing system [5], ”the fact that each index has prejudicial peculiarities poses a challenge in
deciding which specific one to use.” So, the main errors that can occur in the data series are
related to the search procedure proposed in each database: Scopus and Web of Science. To
illustrate the above, let’s consider the case of Babes Bolyai University in Cluj, where there are
three faculty contributing to the field of economic research: the Faculty of Economics and
Business Administration, the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication and
The Faculty of Business. It should be noted that in the other analysed universities, except The
Academy of Economic Studies from Bucharest, the search provided only one option at faculty
level. Since there is a big chance for some colleagues from 2 faculties to work together, we
wonder if such an article is not listed by the search on both faculties, hence biasing the results.
Other errors may be caused by lack of data in the annual time series, since we can see
important differences between the analysed higher education institutions. However, the data
shows clearly that during the years 2005-2008 the Romanian faculties of economic sciences
were not interested to publish articles in journals indexed in international databases. On the
94
other hand, analysing data resulting from the auto evaluation reports we can state that they
were focused at publishing articles in not indexed conferences or journals.

3. RESULTS

Between 2005-2015, according to the Scopus database, the analysed Romanian faculties of
economic sciences published a total of 1.822 scientific indexed articles, as detailed on each
institution in Table 1. On average they published a number of 165,63 scientific papers, but we
observe significant differences between the examined entities. The highest performance on
this indicator belongs to the Academy of Economic Studies, which published about 61.41% of
the total articles, followed by Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca with approximately
19.86% of the articles, the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration from UAIC
(Iaşi) with 12.62% and UVT (Timisoara) with 6.09%.
Table 1 – Number of indexed articles in the SCOPUS database

All ASE UBB UAIC UVT

Articles/total 1822 1119 362 230 111
2005 2 2 0 0 0
2006 3 3 0 0 0
2007 19 14 3 1 1
2008 75 39 26 5 5
2009 267 213 41 5 8
2010 230 172 36 10 12
2011 340 237 46 47 10
2012 281 151 63 48 19
2013 252 153 43 37 19
2014 172 54 61 39 18
2015 181 81 43 38 19
Mean 165,63 101,72 40,22 25,55 12,33
SD 141,22 86,43 18,04 19,74 6,81
Min 2 2 3 1 1
Max 340 237 63 48 19
Source: Scopus database, accessed in May 2016

In the analysed period, ASE has achieved an average 101.72 articles per year, while the other
faculties have achieved an average of 40.22 - FSEGA-UBB, 12.33 FEAA-UVT, and 25.55 -
FEAA-UAIC. The maximum number of articles has been reached by ASE in 2011 (340
articles) and by the other faculties in 2012. The data in Table 1 shows a significant increase in
the number of articles published in the economic field in 2008 - 2011. This trend is supported
by data from the database Web of Science (WoS). The differences between the two databases
are normal, considering the fact that only about 2/3 of SCOPUS items are found in WoS.
Table 2 presents the results from the database WoS, with a search by the „business” key word
in the domain field, supporting the previous statements, drawn from the data in Table 1. The
average number of articles published by the considered faculty, in the years in which they are
indexed in the WoS database, is 93.8. As mentioned above, a large number of articles are in
the years 2011-2015 when the faculties understood the importance of publication of articles
indexed by ISI. Continuing the analysis of the mentioned faculties, we note that there are
differences on the average number of articles published in the two databases.
In Scopus database, the West University of Timisoara, whit the FEAA-UVT, has an average
of 4.15 articles per year and the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, with the FEAA-
UAIC has an average of 6.81. In the WoS database, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi,
with the FEAA-UAIC has averaged 26.81% out of the total of 2320 articles indexed in this
database by the analysed institutions, Babes Bolyai University of Cluj Napoca 16.5%, West
University of Timisoara 7.84% and the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest 48.83%. For
95
the las tone we can see that in the period 2005-2012 it has only five articles in Web of
Science, as the rest of 1128 were published between the years 2012-2015, compared to other
faculties that have over 20% of their articles published between the years 2005-2012.
Table 2 - Number of indexed article in WoS database (by ”business” domain)

All ASE UBB UAIC UVT

Articole/total 2320 1133 383 622 182
2005 17 0 1 16 0
2006 25 0 6 18 1
2007 23 0 11 9 3
2008 36 1 12 13 10
2009 101 2 48 32 19
2010 75 0 38 24 13
2011 234 2 60 141 31
2012 349 155 56 111 27
2013 330 241 32 32 25
2014 640 384 90 138 28
2015 490 348 29 88 25
Mean 93,8 161,85 41,77 65,33 20,11
SD 84,28 166,97 25,01 54,13 9,50
Min 23 1 11 9 3
Max 234 384 90 141 31
Source: Web of Science database, accessed in May 2016
The analysis of data resulted from the database search made by faculty and institution
name, without using the ”business” domain in the search procedure (E.g.: Search by:
Alexandru Ioan Cuza Univ, Fac Econ & Business Adm) presents a different situation in the
case of Iasi, Cluj and Timisoara faculties, the number indexed of publications being smaller
than the one resulted from the search by the ”business” domain and closer to the results
obtained by the search in Scopus (Table 3). In this case the average number of articles
published by the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University and Babes Bolyai University are relatively
close: 19,27% and 21,55%.
Table 3 - Number of indexed article in WoS database (by institution name)

All ASE UBB UAIC UVT

Articles/total1632 1133 194 212 93
2005 1 0 0 1 0
2006 1 0 0 1 0
2007 7 0 5 2 0
2008 13 1 10 2 0
2009 37 2 20 7 8
2010 36 0 18 10 8
2011 58 2 19 25 12
2012 236 155 27 40 14
2013 308 241 30 27 10
2014 518 384 46 60 28
2015 417 348 19 37 13
Mean 148,36 161,85 21,55 19,27 13,28
SD 194,87 166,97 11,90 19,93 6,89
Min 7 1 5 2 8
Max 518 384 46 60 28
Source: Web of Science database accessed in May 2016
From the analysis of results by document type (Table 4) we emphasize the fact that the
majority of the publications is represented by indexed conference articles (indexed as
”Meetings” in table 4), followed by articles published in peer-review journals, books reviews,
etc. From the difference between the two categories, indexed conference articles being almost
96
double compared to journals articles, we can observe the effect of the change of criteria for
promotion in academic career.
Table 4 – Number of indexed articles in WoS database (by document type), published between 2005-
2015
ASE UBB UAIC UVT
ARTICLE 363 66 113 102
BOOK 12 1 13 10
REVIEW 2 4 7
MEETING 786 119 502 287
EDITORIAL 0 2 5 0
OTHER 0 0 1 0
Source: Web of Science database, accessed in May 2016
After the change in regulation, many the university teachers focused toward publishing
articles in conferences which are indexed in the main databases but less strict on the quality
and value of research criteria. The Ministerial Order no. 5.098, issued in October 2005 [9] by
the Ministry of Education, sets a new standard for the conferral of the title of university
professor. The minimal standard is set to 5-7 articles/studies/patents, at least 4 of them
indexed by ISI or another recognized international scientific publications database. A similar
order (no. 5.099/2005) [10] is issued for the conferral of the title of Associate Professor, with
the minimum standard set to 2-4 articles and at least 2 of them indexed. A few months later, a
new Ministerial Order, no. 3.548, issued in April 2006 by the new Ministry of Education [11],
makes an addendum to the previously mentioned orders by introducing a list of equivalents to
the previous minimal standards. According to this addendum, an article indexed by ISI is to
be considered equivalent to four articles in national scientific reviews listed in B category by
the NCHER. In fact, we see a softening of the minimal standards, but the trend was set and
everybody understood that this softening will be just temporary. At the beginning of the next
year, in February 2007, by the Ministerial Order, no. 356 / 2007 [12], the minimal standards
for the conferral of the title of PhD Coordinator are set at the same level as those set in 2005
for the title of university professor, to at least 4 articles indexed by ISI or another recognized
international scientific publications database.
In 2012 the minimal standards are raised once again. The Ministerial Order, no. 6560/2012
[13], issued in December 2012 introduces a methodology based on a calculated index,
considering several types of contributions and a set of minimal standards to some of the
contributions. For the title of professor the minimal standard is set to 15 articles, at least 4 of
them in scientific journals indexed by ISI and with an impact factor different from zero. For
the title of associate professor, the minimal standard is set to 8 articles indexed in
international scientific publications databases.
At institutional level, the turntable was the Assessment Methodology for the classification of
universities and the ranking of study programs, issued in 2011 by the Government Decision
no. 789/2011. Complementing this decision, the Ministerial Order, no. 4072/2011, issued in
April 2011, specifies at the second criterion – Scientific Research – the ISI Web of
Knowledge indexed articles in the last 5 years [14]. A clear specification is made by pointing
out the separate reporting of articles in impact factor reviews, articles in reviews without
calculated impact factor and ISI indexed conference volumes (ISI Proceedings).
The analysis by document type of the data from Scopus [15] database shows a different
situation because this source is indexing more journals than conferences. This is the most
probable reason for the higher number of journal articles. Compared to the WoS [16] data, the
situation is reversed: more journal articles than indexed conference articles (Table 5).
Table 5 – Number of indexed articles in Scopus database (by document),
between 2005-2015
ASE UBB UAIC UVT
ARTICLE 829 312 115 82
CONFERENCE PAPER 250 43 125 29
REVIEW 13 10 6 1
BOOK CHAPTER 26 8 0 4

97
 ARTICLE IN PRESS 2 6 1 2
Source: Scopus database, accessed in May 2016 [15]
Based on the results published by each university in the process of universities classification
and study program ranking in Romania, for the period 2006-2010, we conducted an analysis
of the number of articles published by academic staff in each faculty / university, highlighted
in Table 6. Compared with the results from the international databases, here the number of ISI
articles declared by the Faculties of Economics and Business Administration from the Al. I.
Cuza University Iasi and West University Timisoara is smaller.
Table 6 – Number of ISI articles from journals published (by institution) between 2006-2010
ASE UBB UAIC UVT
2006 5,92 3,5 5 3
2007 21,16 16,99 0 4
2008 38,4 39,36 1,58 2
2009 195,84 36,1 5,76 4
2010 105,27 27,97 4,5 1
Mean 73,318 24,784 3,368 2,8
SD 78,28 14,70 2,46 1,30
Min 5,92 3,5 0 1
Max 195,84 39,36 5,76 4
Source: Romanian universities ranking reports, 2012, http://chestionar.uefiscdi.ro/ [17]
This difference can be explained only by problems in the internal reporting systems of the
universities, since, at that time, many teachers and researchers had little experience in dealing
with the system of international indexing databases and, in some cases, reporting the articles
correctly was a new challenge.
4. CONCLUSIONS
Comparing the performance of research based on the collected data for the four Romanian
higher education institutions with activity in the field on economic sciences, we can clearly
highlight a number of conclusions.
The evolution of the scientific publications indexed in international databases by all 4
institutions has a big gradient and marks an important transformation and a change of vision.
The evolution was mainly triggered by the changes in regulations impacting at personal level
(standards for the conferral of the title of university professor, associate professor and PhD
coordinator) and at institutional level (classification of universities and ranking of study
programs), by the introduction of performance metrics taking into consideration the articles
indexed in international scientific publication databases.
The analysed faculties of economic sciences have a higher number of articles published in
indexed conference than journal articles. This might be caused by the recognized difficulty of
Romanian researchers in the field of economic sciences to publish in important international
journals. The first regulations requiring indexed articles did not make a clear difference
between the indexed journals and the indexed conferences, and the easier way, the
conferences way a natural choice. Now days, when the regulation clearly states the
differences, we see the endeavour of Romanian universities to improve the quality of their
journals in order to index them in the international scientific publication databases.
The change strategy in each institution was, in the best case scenario, responsive to the
national change in regulation and was missing, in the worst case scenario. The highlighted
evolution shows that most probably 2 of the institutions have developed and implemented a
strategy to increase their performances in scientific research – Academy of Economics
Studies Bucharest and the Faculties of Economics of the Babes-Bolyai University – in
response to the systemic changes imposed by the Ministry of Education, while the other 2
faculties were not clearly oriented to perform in this important area: the faculties of
Economics and Business Administration from the University Al. I. Cuza University Iasi and
Timisoara West University.
The main confirmation for academic managers is that proactive strategies, based of foreseeing
or being involved in conceiving the changes in national regulation, can bring faster internal
98
change and better results than the post-factum adaptive strategies. Also, this shows that, in
these Romanian faculties, the force of external adaptive pressure – a change in national
regulation – has greater and faster impact than the institutional strategies.

5. REFERENCES
1. Wang X, Liu D., Ding K., Wang X, Science funding and research output: a study on 10
countries, Scientometrics, 91, 591–599, (2012);
2. Galsworthy J.M., Mckee M. Europe's, 'Horizon 2020' science funding programme: How is
it shaping up? Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 18(3): 182–185, (2013)
3. Răboacă Gh., Ciucur D., Metodologia cercetării economice, Editura Fundaţiei România
de Mâine, 2004;
4. Abramo, G., D’angelo, C., & Pugini F., The measurement of Italian universities research
productivity by a non parametric-bibliometric methodology, Scientometrics, 76(2), 225–
244, (2008).
5. Froghi S., Ahmed K., Finch A., Fitzpatrick M.J., Shamim Khan M., Dasgupta P.,
Indicators for Research Performance Evaluation: An Overview, BJU International,
Volume 109, Issue 3, pages 321–324, (2012)
6. Moed, H. F., Citation analysis in research evaluation, Dordrecht: Springer, (2005);
7. Abramo G., D’Angelo C.A., Evaluating research: from informed peer review to
bibliometrics, Scientometrics, 87, 499–514, (2011);
8. Diem A., Wolter S. The Use of Bibliometrics to Measure Research Performance in
Education Sciences, Res High Educ DOI 10.1007/s11162-012-9264-5, 201;
9. Ministry of Education, Ministerial Order no. 5.098, October 2005
10. Ministry of Education, Ministerial Order no. 5.099, October 2005
11. Ministry of Education, Ministerial Order, no. 3.548, April 2006
12. Ministry of Education, Ministerial Order, no. 356, February 2007
13. Ministry of Education, Ministerial Order, no. 6560/2012, December 2012
14. Ministry of Education, Ministerial Order, no. 4072/2011, April 2011
15. www. scopus.com
16. www. webofknowledge.com
17. http://chestionar.uefiscdi.ro

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 Topic 2

Processes and quality management

The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

ASPECTS REGARDING QUALITY MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

MACHINING OF ALUMINUM ALLOYS

Alina Bianca Pop1,Mihail AurelȚîțu2

1
SC TechnoCAD SA, VasileAlecsandri no. 72, code 430351, Baia Mare, România,bianca.bontiu@gmail.com
2
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Victoriei Street no. 10, code 550024, Sibiu,România, mihail.titu@ulbsibiu.ro

ABSTRACT:In this paper, the most important aspects of the quality management of end milling processes on
aluminumalloys, are presented. The first part of the paper includes the presentation of the machining activities
such: design, planning, programming and control that transform the inputs (workpiece) into finished products. In
the second part the research problem was defined by setting a fundamental objective and identifying the specific
objectives which contribute to achieve the fundamental objective. In this context an experimental study , was
performed, starting with the organization and conducting the end milling process, in whichthe cutting regime
were established, then the characteristic measured parameters were determined, so that the researchfactors and
parameters will result.
KEYWORDS: quality management, machining process, aluminum alloy, research problem, researchstrategy.

1. INTRODUCTION
In the literature are several definitions of the quality management.
In the vision ofKelada [1] quality management is a set of activities aimed to achievesome
objectives through the resources optimal use. This ensemble includes the planning,
coordination, organization, control and quality assurance activities [2].
Juran [3], defines the quality management functions in terms of a “qualitytrilogy”. In his
opinion, the quality management comprises three main management processes: quality
planning, quality control and quality improvement. In his view, the planning is aimed
primarily to develop the products and processes according to the customers’ requirements.
The quality control means to provide a minimum variation range reported to its relative
prescribedlevel. In this purpose, the values of the measured quality characteristics with the
standards specifications are compared, establishing in this way the necessary corrective
measures on the entire production flow. In the Juran“trilogy” the quality improvement
function is considered the most important. The appropriate processes that this function ensure,
are, in Juran’s view, the problems elimination that cause the“chronic”quality problems. On
the other hand,by improving the quality, the aim is to achieve a higher performance levels
required in standards. Therefore, the challenge to be considered, is to provide a higher quality
level as against the planned level [2].
Other quality management definitions were given by authors like: Nicolescu [4] Opreanand
Țîțu [5].
In this context, in this paper, a quality management methodology of the cutting process will
presented, starting with some general aspects as follows.
The cutting process is one of the most common processing techniques in the industry, with a
multitude studies on itsinvestigation, from both theindustrial, as well as the academic.
In the cutting process, on the workpiece material acts a considerable number of factors,
starting with the material microstructure,the cutting tool geometry parameters, the cutting
regime, the tool wear, etc.
The workpiecequality and itsobtaining costs have a particular importance. In this context,
because the machining process is closely related to the costs, it is desired to raise the machine
tools and machining centers NCperformance, and also the new products continuous
103
development like cutting tools and software development CAD/CAM, which also contributes
to increasethe machined parts precision.
Also, the industrial market requires of more complex parts manufacture, with precise
tolerances, so it is necessary to new machining strategies developmentconcomitant with new
cutting tools types in order to facilitate the machining process .
This paper will present the machining activities such: design, planning, programming and
control that transform the inputs (workpiece) into finished products. This will be done taking
into account the whole range of the technologies and methods used to define how products
must be manufactured.
2. RESEARCH APROACH
The machining process has a considerable age with a continuous evolution. This evolution is
driven by the progresses in the new materials developing to produce the pieces, also by the
cutting tools and machine tools improvement.

Figure 1. Research problem approach

Figure 2. Machining process steps

Given that the human development is inseparable from the working tools production, this
activity leads to the appearance of a technological environment which was interposed between
man and nature. The main problem addressed in this paper is focused on the quality
management of the aluminum alloys machining process. In this sense, the approach is based
on the Figure 1scheme, which starts with the raw materials management. In this figure, is
covered an entire process –starting with the raw material acquisition, than the preparation for
104
the manufacturing process, the heat/chemicals treatments required and the quality inspections
performed after each phase.
In the next phase, it is necessary to ensure a high technological piece construction. To
accomplish this aspect,the constructive functional solutions are developed to satisfy as well as
possible the technical-economic requirements, and the equipment to be achieved with
minimal materialized work and also the requirements of social nature to be accomplished.
In general, the manufacturing processes management advantages are [6]:
• theaccelerate of the new products introduction;
• the time reducing up to the new products introducing on the market by being able to
simultaneously define the product and themanufacturing processes;
• the ability to create and manage the digital plans of the manufacturing processes and
of the associated resources;
• thetemplates processes creation etc.
Regarding this paper,the machining process steps are presented in Figure 2.
In this context, a study of aluminum alloys machining process was carried out, as it is show
below.
3. THE STRATEGY OF THE EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
From the experimental point of view, the study has begun with the end milling process
planning and carrying out.The cutting regime were established and then, the
characteristicsparameters were determined and measured, thus resulting the relation between
the studied factors and research parameters.
Since the design of experiments is aimed to organizing and planning the experimental work,
the researches were focused on:
• in the first phase – to collect the maximum number of information;
• theidentification of the factors that affect the analyzed research process;
• themathematical modeling of experimental data held;
• obtaining the desire regression model established according to the studied factors on
the research direction.
3.1 Research problem definition
For the beginning thefundamentalresearch objective was defined: the study of the arithmetic
mean deviation of the surface profile Ra, resulted from the 7136 aluminum alloys end milling
process, depending on the cutting process parameters.
To fulfill thisfundamental objective, there must identified the specific objectives which
consists in answers to the following research questions [7]:
Question 1: What is the influences percentage of each cutting parameter on the arithmetic
mean deviation of the machined surface profile Ra?
Question 2: How is the arithmetic mean deviation of the surface profile Ra,influenced by the
each cutting process parameter?
Question 3:It is possible to get a valid mathematical model of Ra, depending on the cutting
process parameters?
Question 4:It is possible to make somedetermined settings on the cutting process parameters
in order to obtain a predetermined Ra?
The answers of these questions represent the following specific objectives [7]:
Specific objective 1: Calculation of the percentages influences of the cutting process
parameters to attain the performance on obtaining an arithmetic mean deviation of the

105
machined surface profile Ra, as good as possible and also, to have a minimum sensitivity of
the uncontrollable factors.
Specific objective 2:The Ra experimental determination of the Al7136 end milled surface
profile, and the data analysis and the interpretation of the measuredresults.
Specific objective 3:The establishing of the mathematical model to determine the arithmetic
mean deviation Ra according to the studied cutting parameters in oneestablished
experimentally field.
Specific objective 4:The mathematical model validation and the experimental data
optimization.
3.2 Research design
After the objectives setting it was conducted the research design, which is based on the issues
raised by Figure 3, adapted from [2].

Figure 3. Machining process steps

The effective experiments begun with the study of 7136 aluminum alloy behavior according
to the proposed objectives under the variation of the cutting regime parameters.The
experiment was performed using a standard set of tools for aluminium machining - 16 mm
End milling cutter milling with 100% tool engagement - SECO R217.69-1616.0-09-2AN,
holding two indexable cutting inserts XOEX090308FR-E05, H15 (fig. 2).
The machine used for the milling tests is a HAAS VF2 CNC. The optical microscope Micro-
Vu VERTEX 310 was used to make an optical determination and evaluation of the finished
surface. Also, to analyzethe surface roughness for different machining conditions it was used
the portable surface roughness tester - Mitutoyo SURFTEST SJ-210, with a resolution of
0.002 μm.

106
 Figure 4. Experimental stand [7]
With the experimental stand shown in Figure 4, have been fulfilled the main necessary
requirements to achieve the setsobjectives and also to obtain the experimental data on which
can be analyzed the cutting parameters influence (cutting speed, cutting depth and feed per
tooth) exerted on the roughness of theend milled surface.
After the research design, the next step - the establishing of the research strategy,is outlined
below.
3.3 Research strategy
As research strategy (Fig. 5), the experimental research study was conducted on the defined
problem, starting with an experimental design plan using Taguchi's method. To make a
rational choice of the experimental tests to carry out and also, to obtain the most clear and
precise results it is necessary to use modeling and optimization techniques and methods of the
experimental research.
107
 Figure 5. Research strategy [7]
Another aspect to mention is that the experimental targets base their knowledge on issues
most often addressed on the experimental results obtained by measurement processes. Now it
is accepted that any experimental result is affected by the errors random measurement and
thus, the conclusions and decisions must be made under this error, so it is accepted that the
statements will have a certainly of lower than 100% and the probability that the set event
occurs based on the analysis of experimental results is sub unitary. [7]
Here comes the statistics, which aims is the decision problem in incertitude. The decision
means the adoption or rejection of a hypothesis. The hypothesis isstatistical because it is polls
justified.
It isreferred to the distribution law and to the parameters of a random variable. The
mathematical statistics provides solutions on extracting those interestedvalues of the entire
data range for further processing. Starting with the idea that none of statistical method can
prevent mistakes, false reasoning etc., it is necessary and appropriate that the applier of the
statistical methods to be familiar with the experimental process and its importance and also to
choose the appropriate addressed methods [8].

108
The experimental data processing was performed using the following steps: [8]
• Statistical hypothesis testing;
• The estimation of the true value of a measurement;
• The elimination of the aberrant results from the series of measurements made on the same
conditions;
• Verifying the randomness of the scattering values of the quality characteristic;
• Checking the normality distribution of the experimental data;
• Determination of the range and level of confidence;
• Distribution and reporting of statistics;
• Comparison of averages values;
• Dispersionscomparison.
4. CONCLUSIONS
The machining process is closely related to the costs, it is desired to raise the machine tools
and machining centers NCperformance, and also the new products continuous development
like cutting tools and software development CAD/CAM, which also contributes to increase
the machined parts precision.
The machining activities such: design, planning, programming and control that transform the
inputs (workpiece) into finished products was done taking into account the whole range of the
technologies and methods used to define how products must be manufactured.
With the experimental stand, it have been fulfilled the main necessary requirements to achieve
the sets objectives and also to obtain the experimental data on which can be analyzed the
cutting parameters influence (cutting speed, cutting depth and feed per tooth) exerted on the
roughness of theend milled surface.
The research strategywas established, beginning with a study that was conducted on the
defined research problem, with an experimental design plan using Taguchi's method. For this,
it was used modelling and optimizing methods and techniques for the experimental research.
5. REFERENCES
1. Kedala, J. Qualitetotale et gestion par extraversion, în ,,Gestiom’’, 1991.
2. Ţîţu, M., Oprean, C. &Boroiu, A.
Cercetareaexperimentalăaplicatăîncreştereacalităţiiproduselorşiserviciilor.Bucureşti:
Editura AGIR, (2011).
3. Juran, J.M., Gryna, F.M.jr. CalitateaProduselor, Ed. Tehnică, 1973.
4. Nicolescu, O., Plumb, I., Vasilescu, I., Verboncu, I., (coordonatori)
Abordărimoderneînmanagementulşieconomiaorganizaţiei, EdituraEconomică,
Bucureşti, 2004:
vol.1Managementul general al organizaţiei;
vol.2Managementulpedomenii de activitate;
vol.3Economiaşimanagementuldiferitelortipuri de organizaţii;
vol.4Eficienţaeconomicăşiperformanţamanagementuluiorganizaţiei.
5. Oprean, C., Ţîţu, M.Managementulcalităţiiîneconomiaşiorganizaţiabazatepecunoştinţe,
Editura AGIR, Bucureşti, 2008.
6. Shalvi, Marsha, Manufacturing Process Management. A New Era in Manufacturing,
(2003).
7. Bonțiu Pop, Alina Bianca, Calitateasuprafețelor la așchiereaaliajelor de aluminiu cu
frezecilindro-frontale, Teza de doctorat, Baia Mare, (2015).
8. Năsui, V., Coteţiu, A., Coteţiu, R., Lobonţiu, M. and Ungureanu, N.
Bazelecercetăriiexperimentaleaactuatorilorelectromecanici.EdituraUniversităţii de
Nord, Baia MARE, ISBN 973 – 1729 – 08 – 9, (2007).

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 The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

A POINT OF VIEW ON THE METHODS OF QUALITY EVALUATION

AND IMPROVEMENT SERVICES IN A UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Albu Cristina1, Cristian Adriana2 and Valter Narcisa3

1
Associate Professor PhD, Manager Library, University „Politehnica” of Bucharest, e-mail:
cristina.albu@upb.com
2
PhD Eng., Central Library, University „Politehnica” of Bucharest, e-mail: adriana_elena_cristian@yahoo.com
3
Associate Professor PhD, Department “Engineering Graphics and Industrial Design”
University „Politehnica” of Bucharest, e-mail: narcisa.valter@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: Originality of this paper consists in adapting the quality management techniques and tools in the
university library activities and specific document elaboration. This paper describes the successful
implementation and assessment of tools in order to improve the quality of services. We aim to find answers to
some questions as: which is a “service” definition? (a different approach to the service concept in libraries);
which are the possibilities of improving the quality in service delivering? which are the users’ perception
(feedback) regarding the services? There are also put forth the instruments that may be applied to the design of
innovation strategies, and the analysis of innovative. The paper presents an example of an assessment of the
provided services in an academic library by Ishikava chart.
KEYWORDS: user, university library, service, quality, innovation, innovation management, innovation
capability, Ishikava chart, performance.

1. INTRODUCTION
The services represent a dynamic area in the modern economy being also a research field of
theoretical interest. The quality improvement of university library services should be a
continuous activity aimed at permanently increasing its efficiency. In this respect, a pro-active
attitude means looking for solutions rather than waiting for problems to surface.
After providing the service, the university library must use appropriate methods and tools to
assess the degree of user satisfaction. That is done with an aim at ensuring user loyalty. The
evaluation of user satisfaction, if made periodically, should be a permanent objective of any
the organization, and therefore the university library. The application of the Service Quality
Management in the library related activity means the promotion of high-quality library
services oriented towards the user, the beneficiary of these services.

2. ANOTHER APPROACH TO THE CONCEPT OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

“SERVICE”
Any service provided to users in the university library features three specific elements:
• diversification and quality improvement;
• short-term response to user requests;
• competitive cost.
A suggestive graphical representation of a service is that of a three-dimensional plan of the
variables quality-cost-time limit according to Figure 1: [1]
• OX axis represents the response time to user requests;
• OY axis: cost;
• OZ axis: quality and diversity.
The representative triangle of a service is defined in Figure 1, in three stages:
• the existing stage;
• the improved stage;
• the deteriorated stage (poor management, etc.).
The arrows along the three axes of the coordinates indicate the direction of the action of
improvement measures.

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In the improved stage (university library “Excellence”), the triangle tends to be unbundled
(ideally). In the worsened stage the triangle tends to be levelled.
z
1.Quality
2.Diversity
Improved Stage

Existing Stage

0 Deteriorated
Stage

3.Cost
x y
4.Deadline
Figure 1. Graphical representation of a service

The factors that determine “Excellence” (“E”) in the university library, are represented in
Figure 2 (arrows indicate the direction of action). [1]

2. “Excellence” Factors

1. Quality (OZ-axis) ↑
2. Diversity (OZ-axis) ↑
3. Cost (OY-axis) ↓
4. Terms (OX-axis) ↓
Figure 2. “Excellence” Factors

In order to achieve “Excellence” it is necessary for the entire library staff to participate in
bringing it about. The human factor is of particular importance in achieving “Excellence”.
Consequently, the library staf need continuous development and training.
The result of applying the concept of “Excellence” is shown in Figure 3. [1]

3. The result of applying the “E” concept

1. Operational economy ↑
2. Competitiveness ↑
3. Profit ↑

Figure 3. The result of applying the concept of “Excellence”

3. IMPROVING QUALITY IN SERVICE DELIVERY ACTIVITIES

In assessing service quality one should take into consideration a complex set of objective and
subjective characteristics.
Objective features:
• access to required information;
• interface with operating program;
• charges;
• date limit for loans;
• availability of publications;
• opening hours;
• size and design of reading rooms, etc.
Subjective characteristics:
• librarian experience;
111
• counter waiting time;
• response time to complaints, etc.
The assessment of service quality by users is usually subjective. User behavior is one of the
main factors that has to be known and taken into account when aiming to improve the quality
of user satisfaction. User satisfaction is a concept commonly used in Quality Management and
marketing.
The library staff is responsible for providing high quality services.
The attitude and behavior of employees can increase or decrease the reputation of the library
(Figure 4). [2]

Users satisfaction

Users loyalty QSO*and increased efficiency

Librarians satisfaction

Figure 4. Relation between users and librarians satisfaction

QSO * - Quality of Services Offered

Improving the quality of service provision must be viewed in terms of three groups of factors
(Figure 5):
• professional training of library staff (PT);
• materials and processes mapping out the service (MP);
• staff behavior (SB).
PT

QSO

MP SB
Figure 5. Triangle of QSO factors

3.1. Innovation management (IM) in the university library

The innovation process may be considered as the main factor of improving the quality of
services offered to users in a university library. The need for library innovation is determined
by four main factors:
• change in the information needs of users;
• fast changes in the academic environment;
• emergence of new technologies;
• increasing competition.
”Excellence in Innovation” requires three main steps:
1. Analysis of innovation capacity.
2. Improving innovation capacity.
3. Evaluation and correction.
For a library to be able to innovate, the creative initiatives of its employees should be met
with a suitable framework for development and capitalization: the provision of a system of
innovation management within the library. Otherwise, good ideas remain disparate and
frequently disappear.

112
Innovation Management (IM) may be defined as a cyclic process underpinning the planning,
organizing, directing and controlling of all activities involved in the generation and
implementation of innovations. [3]
With respect to the study undertaken, the innovation based management of service quality is
obtained on the intersection of three main components (Figure 6): [4]
• Quality Management.
• Services Management.
• Innovation.
Quality Service Management
Management

Innovation
Innovation based management of service quality

Figure 6. Representation of Innovation Management

The service management maps out all the activities to be undertaken in order to enhance the
efficiency of efforts targeting progress in the academic community.
The ideal situation (total overlap of the three components), hence library “Excellence in
Innovation” means reaching the target (provision of innovation capability).
Within the library, innovation management should aim at:
• innovation forms;
• generation of ideas;
• setting the innovation related goals;
• strategies that can be adopted;
• methods used in research;
• implementing the innovation goals through the development of innovation strategies;
• planning, organizing, directing and controlling the innovation process;
• creation of an organizational structure an corporate culture likely to promote innovation;
• teamwork;
• attracting users towards the innovation process;
• cost analysis.
The analysis of case studies showed that the factor that contributes most to the success of a
project with an innovative character is qualified library staff (an efficient multidisciplinary
team).

3.2. Library Innovation Capability (IC)

Literature provides quite a number of definitions about the innovation capability (IC) of an
organization.
IC in a university library may be defined as the ability of a library to provide innovative
services that are timely, qualitative and involve affordable costs.
For a library to have innovation capability, a number of requirements must be met (6
requirements: F, W, L, A, I, P):
• To be FORCED to innovate (innovation should answer a need).
• To WANT to innovate (provision of innovation strategy).

113
• To LEARN to innovate (to acquire the internal and external knowledge needed to
innovate).
• To ALLOW innovation (to have a culture that supports innovation).
• To IMPLEMENT innovation (to capitalize on the available resources, to finalize existing
projects).
• To PERSEVERE in innovation (continuously innovate).
Innovation capability decreases when one of the requirements is not met.
It is not enough for the library to have innovation potential (capacity to innovate). Innovation
must be sustainable, in other words conducive to innovation capability. Consequently, the
innovation capability, that ability to innovate on a sustainable basis, is the outcome of
activating and capitalizing on the library existing potential for innovation. The innovation
management is responsible for this activation. It should be oriented towards the organization
and allocation of available human, technical and economic resources in order to acquire fresh
knowledge and generate ideas in order to obtain new services or improve the existing ones.

3.3. SWOT Method in library innovation

The dedicated tool for the situational analysis and the determination of the appropriate
strategy for achieving innovation in the library is the SWOT model (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats). The model allows the identification of generic strategies “Grand
Strategies”. They are obtained by combining internal factors (library strengths and
weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats). [3]
Figure 7 shows the SWOT matrix with the generic strategies associated with the four
quadrants (situations). One obtains the library classification in one of the 4 quadrants and
implicitly one is able to identify the appropriate strategy.
O
Strategies for exploiting
opportunities
Aggresive Strategies

IV I

W S

III II

Strategies of defense/
Defensive Strategies
attack risk conditions
to mitigate threats
through strenghs

Figure 7. Graphic representation of SWOT model for overall strategies (Grand Strategies)

The SWOT analysis method involves two stages: [3], [5], [6], [7]
1. identification of SWOT quadrant;
2. development of appropriate strategy.
1. The first step may be carried out by managers on the basis of the internal and external
factor evaluation matrices.

114
The internal factor evaluation matrix (IFEM) features the following steps (Table 1):
• identification of Fi factors that represent strengths and weaknesses (5-10 factors);
• assigning importance coefficients Yi to i factors with values between 0 and 1, depending
on their importance with respect to organizational success, so that ∑Yi =1;
• each factor is assigned a rate Ni from 1 to 4 that shows whether the factor is a weak point
or a strong one. Thus: Ni = 1 for a very weak factor; Ni = 2 for a weak factor; Ni = 3 for a
strong factor and Ni = 4 for a very important factor;
• for each factor one works out the product of values Yi Ni resulting in a weighted score P
for all the factors across the organization:
P = ∑Yi Ni
If the weighted score P obtained is below 2, the organization will be listed as having a weak
internal potential. If the score is close to the value 4, the organization has a more important
strategic position.

Matrix of external factors evaluation (EFEM) (Table 2):

• one identifies the main external factors (ranging 5-10) that may represent both
opportunities and risks;
• factorial importance coefficients are determined as for IFEM. Higher coefficients are
granted to more important factors, whether or not there are opportunities or threats to the
organization work;
• each factor is assigned a rate from 1 to 4 as follows: 1 factor that represents a serious
threat and 4 if the organization behaves appropriately in relation to that factor; rate 3 is
given for an answer above average; rate 2 indicates an average assessment of that factor;
• one works out product P (weighted score), similar to the IFEM case.
Since the total weighted score may range between 1 and 4, it is considered that value 4
corresponds to the state of an organization that for ponds to the demands of the external
factors, capitalizing on growth opportunities, and avoids dangers. Score 1 indicates fewer
opportunities for the organization for adapting to the environment. The next step is identifying
the SWOT grid quadrant: one marks the position required by the results of matrices IFEM and
EFEM (Figure 8).
2. The determination of the actual strategy is based on the identification of the SWOT
quadrant from the previous stage.

3.4. Illustration

The SWOT method is demonstrated by taking the Central Library of the University
Politehnica of Bucharest as a study case. With this end in view, one has carried out the IFEM
(Table 1), using the data from research conducted in the library.

Table 1. Assessment Matrix of main internal factors

Internal Factors Importance Rate Weighted score
Cr.nr. Fi coefficient Ni P
Yi
1 Quality Management 0,1 3 0,3
2 Development of new applications 0,1 2 0,2
3 Quality control 0,15 3 0,45
4 Staff Training 0,15 3 0,45
5 User Satisfaction Level 0,1 4 0,4
6 Services delivered 0,1 1 0,1
7 Technology used 0,05 2 0,1
8 Library Facilities 0,05 3 0,15
9 Advisability of service taxation 0,05 1 0,05
10 Rector - Library Communication 0,15 2 0,3
1 - 2,5

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From Table 1, one can see that P = 2,5. The library may be considered as featuring an average
internal potential.
The corresponding EFEM is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Assessment Matrix of main external factors

External Factors
Cr. Fi Yi Ni P
nr.
1 Marketing edge of library orientation 0,2 1 0,2
2 Inter-library Cooperation 0,1 2 0,2
3 Dynamics of users’ information 0,2 2 0,4
needs
4 Existing market competition (ex: 0,2 1 0,2
Internet)
5 Continuous diversification of quality 0,15 2 0,3
services on offer
6 Importance of services on offer 0,15 4 0,6
(including software applications)
1 - 1,9

According to Table 2, value P = 1,90 reveals an average capacity of library adaptation to the
demands of the external environment.
From Tables 1 and 2 one obtains the coordinates of the library position: A (2,5; 1,9).
The quadrant identification from the SWOT grid is given in Figure 8.
Figure 8 is highlights the library position according to the results obtained from IFEM and
EFEM.
o

IV I
2 1 (2;2)
W s
1,9
A(2,5; 1,9)

III II

0 1 2 2,5 3
T
Figure 8. SWOT model for identifying the strategic quadrant

This quadrant (II) corresponds to a strategy of defense/attack against risk conditions through
strengths.
The strategy plan will target the development of the strong points and the elimination or
remedial of the weak ones. The development of the strategy plan must take into account the
following elements:
• adaptation of organizational structure to innovation management requirements;
• preparatory organization for developing innovation projects;
• assignment of responsibilities and tasks in the management of innovation;
• ways of library strategy development;

116
• extent of the library strategy refinement;
• measures aimed at achieving competitive advantages through innovation;
• achievement of innovation goals.

4. SERVICE QUALITY ASSESSMENT METHODS

The quality assessment of university library services should be performed:

• from the view point of the recipient (user);
• from the view point of the provider (university library).
As assessment methods, one should use:
1. For the beneficiary (user):
a) Questionnaire for feedback and suggestions.
b) Surveys of user satisfaction.
c) Focus groups.
2. For the provider (university library):
d) Management and analysis of complaints.
e) Causal loop analysis using an Ishikawa diagram.
a) Periodically users are asked to fill in questionnaires. The latter require specification of
service strengths and weaknesses as well as suggestions for improving their quality.
In order to be relevant, questionnaire based surveys should cover a large number of users. The
optimal survey format is tabular form. They should not have too many questions or be too
complex. This is to avoid rejection of questionnaires by users. The total number of distributed
questionnaires should represent at least 50% of the total number of existing users in order to
make the survey representative.
b) The survey addresses, as a rule, a representative sample of users at different time intervals.
These intervals may be shorter if one finds that users are dissatisfied.
c) Separate meetings are held with user groups who were either satisfied or dissatisfied with
the service provided. This is to better understand user requirements and continue to provide
better services in terms of quality.
d) User complaints are placed on record (complaints properly speaking or negative feedback).
They are classified according to their importance in terms of the quality of the service
provided as well as from the view point of its importance in the eyes of the user. The method
allows to monitor trends in the users’ perception of service quality. The weakness of this
method is that users do not express their dissatisfaction if dissatisfied but rather simply turn
down any further service.
When the university library is capable of solving the complaints submitted by its users one
can make an estimate of how “user-oriented” the library is. Addressing the subject matter of
the complaint in an objective and timely manner makes it possible to maintain “user
satisfaction”. Otherwise “losing users” is inevitable.
e) Diagrams are a diagnostic tool used in the field of service quality offered to users. They
allow the analysis of the causes of problems (non-compliance). It also makes it possible to
highlight and rank the (actual and potential) causes of a given effect. An issue arising in
carrying out a library service is broken down into its main causes. Each main cause is broken
down into secondary causes. The problem is noted at the fish head. [8]

4.1. Illustration

One examines the obstacles that arise in arriving at “Quality Excellence Information
Services” offered by the university library (E effect).
The problem is defined in question form: WHY are there so many obstacles in achieving
Excellence in the university library?
In the wake of research carried out in the library, the main causes are broken down into main
categories (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). One identifies the secondary causes corresponding to the main
causes that make up the "main bone" (Figure 9).
117
 3 2 1
2.1
3.1 2.4
2.2 1.2
1.1
3.2
1.3
2.3

5.3
5.5
5.2
5.4
5.1

4 5

Figure 9. Causal Analysis (Ishikava) of barriers to achieving Excellence in university library

In Figure 9 we have:
1. Staff:
1.1 understaffed;
1.2 lack of motivation;
1.3 lack of training
2. Procedures:
2.1 low flexibility to suggestions;
2.2 lack of involvement;
2.3 faulty communication channels;
2.4 insufficient collaboration between the library and the university
3. Policies:
3.1 unclear policy;
3.2 hesitating manager
4. Position (location)
5. Leadership:
5.1 do as I say;
5.2 leader does not listen;
5.3 unilateral decisions;
5.4 fear of criticism;
5.5 impersonal treatment

The use of an Ishikava diagram (Figure 9) allows to highlight the main causes of non-quality
of services and it also represents an important tool in quality planning. The diagram in this
form (Figure 9) does not provide solutions to solving the problem. It only makes it possible to
clearly define the problem under study. It may be used as a visual aid in the brainstorming
session. It also stimulates participants to look for solutions to the problem analyzed. The
proposals are processed according to the well known brainstorming technique and will
ultimately yield solutions.

6. CONCLUSIONS

Research on the quality of service delivery activities in a university library holds a central
position among other service related issues, both in terms of social-economic policy as well as
theoretical outlook.
Every university library should be able to collect information from its users to use them in
order to continuously improve the quality of service.
The final conclusion and the fundamental idea of this paper the could be expressed succinctly
as follows: to know, to understand, to assess, to gauge in order to cope with any kind of
constraints.
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7. REFERENCES

1. Cristian, A., Contributions regarding the improvement of quality and efficiency in the
design, implementation and use of modulated control devices, PhD Thesis, University
Politehnica of Bucharest, (2011).
2. Looy, B., Gemmel, P., Dierdonck, R., Services Management: An Integrated Approach,
Prentice Hall, (2003).
3. Stăncioiu, I., Militaru, Gh., Management. Elemente fundamentale, Editura Teora,
Bucureşti, (1999).
4. Albu, C., Cristian, A., Aspects regarding the application of the quality principles in the
university library, Library Management, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 151 – 158, (2012).
5. Eiglier, P., Langeard, E., Servuction: le marketing des services, Mac Graw Hill, (1987).
6. Guran, M., Managementul cercetării-dezvoltării şi al inovării, Editura Agir, (2010).
7. Hertog, P., Knowledge-intensive business services as co-producers of innovation,
International Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 491-528, (2000).
8. Oprean, C., Kifor, C. V., Suciu, O., Alexe, C., Quality Integrated Management, Editura
Academiei Române, (2012).

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

INDOOR LOCALIZATION APPLICATION

Bălan Matei-Călin 1, Bălan George 2

1
Universitatea Politehnică București, mateibalan16@gmail.com
2
Universitatea Romano-Germană din Sibiu, gbmuscel@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: In this paper the authors have proposed to present the result of research on an indoor localization
application. This experiment started with the idea of losing as little time as possible when you arrive in a large
building and must get to a certain point and cannot find the way. We considered the most common methods in
the field: 3D mapping, location of the Beacons, Wi-Fi location and location by geomagnetic field. After testing
all solutions in different areas of Bucharest we concluded that a hybrid between Wi- Fi and the Beacons would
be easier, combining ease of the method of mapping the building Wi-Fi to the accuracy of implementation by
Beacons
KEYWORDS: indoor localization, mapping, beacons, electromagnetic localization, Wi-Fi localization

1. INTRODUCTION
Providing ,,personalized service to meet the needs of users has been a topic of interest to
academia and the commercial. Using the current location of the user in this respect is not a
new proposal, but location-based services (SBL) know now a new stage of development
fueled by easy access of users to smart devices - devices which provide advanced ways of
interaction man- device equipped with tracking technology but have increasingly faster
Internet connections.
Because of the way of development of smart mobile devices and location-based applications
for their literature does not always differentiate between location-based services and those
based on context - considering them a single category of services that are used more elements
of context, location is the most important of them`` [1].
Among the most used methods in the field, currently meet:
• 3D Video Mapping (M3d): Among the first methods tested for recording an interior space
was 3D mapping with the smartphone camera. The person who wants to use your location in a
mobile applications software uses a scanning camera and the app records all the objects that a
person is filming. When this mapping is used in a mobile application and a user uses it, it will
start to turn the camera, recording things around so that the application will automatically
know which area of indoor location is the user in.The advantages of this solution are that It
can be used by someone without technical knowledge as long as they are explained the
technical parts and does not depend on the location itself.As disadvantages: if the building has
been modified then the user will not be recognized in that location and another mapping is
required; the solution uses a lot of the phone’s resources, the battery is quickly draining.
• Indoor localization through beacons. Beacons are small sensors that communicate with the
phone through Bluetooth signal and their role is just to receive and send signal to the phone to
determine the position in space 3d. To calculate the user's position inside first there is an
outline of the structure made and then loaded into the application. In any place inside the
structure the phone needs to send and receive data from at least 3 Beacons in order to make a
more efficient triangulation. This information is processed by our algorithms on a server. The
processed information is sent then to the phone/tablet. Advantages of this method are: ease of
implementation of these sensors on walls, low costs and more efficient calculation of position.
Disadvantages are: this solution assumes a continuous communication between phone/Tablet
and one or more Beacons meaning high energy consumption of the phone; beacons emits
signal into an spherical perimeter adjustable to a maximum of 50 m and if used in buildings

120
with storeys then implementation cost will increase because they will have installed more to
compensate for this limitation. The accuracy of this method is up to 1 m.
• Localization via Wi-Fi. Location via Wi-Fi uses the physical address of the network card
of the mobile phone, physical address and SSID of the router. Depending on the number of
routers that are in the user zone, the localization is done by "fingerprinting" methods and
comparing the intensity of the signal with that of the database. ‘Fingerprinting ' method is a
method of RSSI (received signal strength indication) and is based on the measuring signal
intensity Wi-Fi at any point inside the building and store it into a database. A major
disadvantage of this method is that the time in which the structure or furniture is moved then
the signal intensity changes and errors will occur. Advantages: ease of implementation and
low energy consumption because 90% of the buildings have a built-in Wi-Fi system. A
disadvantage of this solution is the lack of accuracy. Because the high performance routers are
expensive and the signal is variable, then positioning errors appear. The accuracy of this
method is between 5 and 7 meters.
• Localization by geomagnetic field. By using the Earth's geomagnetic field and magnetic
sensor embedded in your phone, the company IndoorAtlas has managed to develop a method
for indoor location that is based on the detection of anomalies in the Earth's electromagnetic
field, such as a person inside a building. This solution requires no external hardware and can
be used in any building. Existing solution comes with a web interface and a cloud system to
process all the data required for the application's operation. A big drawback of this solution is
that if the building has large metal structures then the app gives positioning errors up to 8
meters.
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND THE RESULTS OBTAINED
This experiment started with the idea of losing as little time at the moment when you get in a
large building and need to get to a certain point and can't find your way, we've faced at the
time that I visited one of the malls in Bucharest and was running late. He became a case study
for about 100 people aged between 20 and 45 years of age and the result was a positive one,
which gave us hope to continue. After this first experiment we started researching more about
case studies from other countries and continents and what is the expected market value of this
domain. A case study made by an American company resulted that the average person is
willing to pay with 15% more on a product if he can save more time. “In a research made by
Markets and Markets they forecasted that the indoor localization market will reach 4.4 Billion
USD by 2019” [2].
We experienced localization through beacons but, following testing in an event in the
Polyvalent Hall in Bucharest, we found that this technology is not feasible because it
consumes a lot of battery. We have installed 18 beacons in the whole building on the main
floor. One issue that we encountered was that if a person would pass the same beacon in a
very short period it would not recognize the mobile phone and it would show you with a bit of
delay. Behind this experiment we decided to continue on the localization of electromagnetic
because it is not dependent on any external hardware. As a result of the implementation of the
solution in the Rector of Bucharest University we found that this solution has trouble locating
nearby metallic structures so it would not be used in new buildings erected. To map out the
entire building it took us almost a day because you have to walk around every wall and
structure that exists so it can make a virtual map. Another issue that we found was that you
have make the whole map in one recording because if you would stop in the middle of the
making of the map you would sometimes get errors if you would want to resume from the
spot where you have stopped. We have experienced several concepts and ideas until we came
to the idea of mobile application because the community is increasingly higher technologized.
In this endeavour we encountered difficulties in making the solutions tested work on all of the
different versions of the Android operating systems. When we tried implementing the solution
on the IPhone operating system, the IOS, we found out that we can’t use the same algorithms
and data. The only beacons that we could use that worked with the IOS system were the
IBeacons, which emitted a specific signal recognizable by the phone.
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Being a new technology it meant that it has problems being implemented for older versions of
the operating systems and this meant that not everyone could use the application. We have
managed to implement it to versions that were released 1 and a half years ago. This was an
issue because a considerable amount of people were using an older version of the Android
operating system and also older phones could not run the application because they were not
performant enough.
After testing all of the solutions in the different areas of Bucharest we arrived at the
conclusion that a joint solution between Wi-Fi and Beacons would be easier and we combine
ease of method building mapping Wi-Fi implementation with accuracy through Beacons in
order to reduce energy consumption through the use of Low Energy Beacons offer Bluetooth
with a refresh rate that is set up between 10 and 20 seconds compared to the milliseconds in
the original method Thus the phone and the app will no longer need to recalculate the position
and surrounding information constantly. Operation of the application is shown in Figure 1.For
the user to have access to the indoor localization of the venue, he should have the mobile
application made for this location. As soon as the user has entered the building, the
application connects the phone and sensors of the Beacon/Wi-Fi. To calculate the exact
location, it takes a minimum of 3 sensors with signal areas interspersed. The distance between
the sensors and the phone is compared to the database and the user is placed on the map.
These calculations are done on a server.
In order for the user to be actively placed on the map, first of all he needs to be connected to
the internet. For these calculations we have created special algorithms that improve the
accuracy of the existing ones. Everything is run through our servers that we owned and
transmitted towards the user and the client through a crypted transmission so that a 3rd party
could not access this information. One of our main concerns was the security of the
information that we collected and stored. Because of the highly sensitive nature of the
personal information of people we decided not to record telephone numbers, identity of the
user, email address. Each user would get a unique and randomized 16 digits ID which was
linked to the physical address of the phone which is unique. This way we could identify each
user and create accurate reports.
The application gives relevant information to the owners of the venues such as hot zones,
preferred areas, preferred shops and the most common paths that the people take. Because
these reports are based on the number of people that are using the application we made an
algorithm that calculates the number of unique devices that connect to the WI-FI network in
the venue or that are in range of the network by sending a small signal that recognizes the
devices that are able to connect. This way we could provide information about the number of
people that enter the location compared to the number of people that use the application.

122
 F
Figure 1. Opeerating schemee of applicatioon

Legend:

> Thhe user’s sm

martphone,

> Beacon/Wi-F
B Fi sensor forr sending annd receiving
g data

3. CON
NCLUSION
NS
The bassic idea fromm which wee started is to waste as little time when you ggo into a maall/super
market, with manyy offices onn several flooors and yo ou need a certain
c prodduct/addresss and do
want to waste timee searching for f them. Inn the preparration of thee applicationn we have relied
r on
a local case
c study done
d on dozzens of peopple aged bettween 20 annd 40 years and on casee studies
made inn America anda Europe. All inform mation is loaaded on a mobile
m appliccation which can be
downloaaded by anny user. Beesides indooor localizaation the usser has acccess to info ormation
relating to the areaas around you,
y such ass: scheduless, stores, prromotions, discounts, and
a they
will be forwarded to your phhone using a server th hat makes all of thesee operation ns in the
databasee. As a ressult of the tests, we propose
p a hybrid
h soluttion betweeen those meentioned
above ini order to increase effficiency annd mitigate the costs of implemeentation. To o reduce
energy consumptioon through the use off Low Eneergy Beaconns offer Blluetooth wiith a set
refresh rate betweeen 10 and 200 seconds inn front of milliseconds
m s in the origginal method, so the
phone and
a the appplication wiill no longeer have to recalculate the positioon and surrrounding
informaation constaantly. Compparing the advantagess and disadvantages off each metthod, we
developped an expeerimental appplication whichw we presented
p it at Innovatiion Labs 20 015- pre
acceleraator for startt-ups, I Like It at ProTV, Mobil Pro 2016.
4. REF
FERENCES
S

1. Akeex Varshavssky, Mike Y. Y Chen, Eyal

E de Larra, Jon Froeehlich, Are GSM phon nes THE
soluution for loccalization?, (2006)
2. Anthhony Tomaasic et. al., Design
D Unceertainty in Crowd-Sour
C ms, (2011)
rcing System
3. Rainner Mautz, Overview
O off Current Inndoor Posittioning Systtems, (2008))
4. Steffan Steinigeer, Moriz Neeun, Alistair Edwardess, Foundatioons of Location Based Services
-Lessson 1, (20006)
5. http://yeti.albasscout.ro/bloog/wp-conteent/uploads//downloads//2011/11/Reeferat-1.pdff
6. httpp://www.maarketsandmaarkets.com//PressReleases/indoor-llocation.aspp

123
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

CHANGES AND CHALLENGES IN MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC

LOCAL ADMINISTRATION

Camelia Dragomir
Spiru Haret University, cameliadragomir1@yahoo.ro

ABSTRACT: The Romanian public administration has undergone, over the last few decades, significant
reforms. The traditional model of public management was replaced with new models of public management
designed in order to increase its efficiency and quality of all public services. The objective of the research paper
is to investigate the significant changes that occurred within the public management, highlighting the factors that
play a important role in development of the modern management in public administration. The empirical part of
the article is underpinned by an analysis conducted at the public administration institutions from Brasov County,
Romania. For this study primary data was collected through questionnaire method. We have investigated a
representative sample of civil servants regarding their perceptions about the significant changes and challenges
in the management of public administration institutions. On the basis of the analysis were drawn the conclusions
on the role of the public management in development of good practice for quality public services.
KEYWORDS: change, challenge, management, public administration institution, public service, Brasov
County

1. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays it seems like the most often used concept is the change, but is very complicated to
say what will be tomorrow. Our society is strongly characterized and influenced by the
concept of „change”, by the constant search of ideas, models and better solutions. In last
years many changes have been implemented in the public sector reform in many countries and
“the challenge of the new era is to discover the moral and political principles that correspond
with the transformations suffered by the public sector” [1]. Consequently, theoretician and
practitioner experts are searching adequate answers for these challenges.
The modification of the labour conditions, the development of communications and new
technologies, the reducing of the hierarchical structures, the rapid disappearance of many
traditional barriers request other form of public administration. The traditional model of public
management is replaced with new models of public management designed in order to increase
its efficiency and quality of all public services. These new models refer to the managerial,
organizational and structural changes, which have an important role in the efficiency,
effectiveness and performances of public institutions. The preoccupation to change is neither
simple nor easy. According to the specialists’ opinions, the changes that must be made in
public administration institutions should take place on different levels: strategic, considering
the state measures, legal framework provided by well-defined laws; organizational,
considering the internal changes and cultural, considering values, mindsets, communities [2].
The change in the public administration must be conceived and made as a creation act
oriented towards the improvement of the organizational structures and of the flexibility of the
managerial acts, by permanently training the managerial team and the public servants. It
implies a huge volume of work, learning the new managerial principles, methods and
practices, taking risks in adapting them at the specific features of every authority, as well as of
every process of change. A competitive public management model has to be focused on the
values of transparency, effectiveness, responsibility and commitment to the public good.
These values are common for efficient European models of government.
Based on the aspects highlighted above, this research provides a broad view on the
characteristics of the management in public administration at the local level. The scope of
research covers the public management at the level of the public administration institutions
from Brasov County. For this reason we investigated the civil servants opinion about the
124
significant changes that occurred within the management of public institutions and about the
challenges ahead. Seen from this perspective, we consider that the study has implications in
the managerial sector of the local public administration institutions and supports the adoption
of good practice for development of the quality public services.
2. THE CHANGES WHICH OCCURRED WITHIN THE MANAGEMENT OF
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
The challenges imposed to the society by the profound, numerous and rapid modifications in
a relatively short period are the challenges which also the public sector must face. In most of
the countries in the world, the systems of public administration are severely criticised, being
reproached especially their immobility and resistance to the change. The organizational
flexibility, manifested in the ability to respond to environment challenges, is an essential
requirement for the public administration institutions. These must to be able to adapt to the
economic and social realities of the community they serve and to promptly meet its needs.
Such situation requires new answers, both theoretically and practically, from the science of
management in general and of the management of public administration in particular.
Radical changes in the management systems specific to the public administration have
appeared in last years. Because the needs of public administration become more and more
complex, the traditional model of organizing and delivering the public services, based on the
principles of the bureaucratic hierarchy, planning, centralization and direct control has been
replaced by a management of the public services based on the market rules and called the new
public management [3]. The new public management is a reform model of the public sector,
which refers to the managerial, organizational and structural changes in order to modernize and
increase its efficiency by the government. The transition of public management forms from
“old” bureaucracy to new models of public management involves changes to of techniques
and methods of management used within public administration imported from the private
sector.
Many researchers have made an important contribution to the development of the concept of
the new public management. From the point of view of C. Pollitt and G.Bouckaert [4], new
public management reform represents “deliberate changes to structures and processes of
public sector organisations with the objective of getting them (in some sense) to run better”.
According to O’Flynn, [5] the new public management is a competitive government type of
public management, focused on ensure economy and responsiveness to costumers through
achieving agreed performance targets. This means that:
• The Government must improve the quality of all their services and to be entrepreneurial;
• The Government must appreciate the performances with measurable results;
• The Government must collaborate with the other key actors in order to reach their
purposes;
• The Government must improve responsibility toward the public interest;
• The Government must give common powers to the citizens and to the public employees.
The system of new public management is based on a set of fundamental characteristics, such
as: efficiency and effectiveness, organizational restructuring, decentralized management
within the public services, interest for performance and client. Christopher Hood [6]
distinguishes more features of new public management: hands-on and entrepreneurial man-
agement; explicit standards and measures of performance; output controls; desegregation and
decentralization; competition in the provision of public services; stress on private-sector styles
of management; and discipline and parsimony in resource allocation. Other characteristics,
such as separating political decision-making from direct management and community
governance, are often added to this list [7]. In opinion of Moore, Stewart and Haddock, “the
main characteristic of the new public management consists in the attempt of introducing
within the public services, which are not yet private, the motivation in accordance with the
125
performances and the disciplines specific to the market”[8]. The specialists consider that a
key characteristic of the New Public Management is decentralization and disaggregating the
public sector into autonomous agencies and competing public. On the whole, it seems like the
most often used characteristics of the new public management are: efficiency and
effectiveness, flexibility and performance, transparency, public prompt services, improved
public value. All this aspects taken into account lead to greater clarity and simplicity in the
public sector.
3. AN OVERVIEW ON THE PUBLIC MANAGEMENT OF ROMANIAN
ADMINISTRATION INSTITUTIONS
In the last decades, the public administration of Romania has undergone profound changes as
regards the public management. The challenges which the public administration institutions
must face nowadays have determined an intense concern for the transformation of public
management. The adopting the new models of the public management has required changes
in the social, economical, political and cultural environment. The disaggregation and
decentralisation processes, the transfer of competencies from central to local level have
played an essential role in these transformations. In Romania, territorial administrative
decentralization is based on a community of “public interests” of the citizens belonging to a
territorial-administrative unit, “recognizing the local community and the right to solve its
problems’ and technical and financial decentralization of the public services, namely
transferring the services from the “center” to the local communities, aimed to meet social
needs” [9].
At the present, Romania makes the transition from bureaucracy to the new models of public
management. The characteristics of public management in Romania must be approached in
their interdependence, starting from the assumption that what determines the content of the
public management is exactly the synergistic effect resulting from their optimal combination
[10]. The fundamental objective of public management within the public administration
structures in Romania is to increase the quality of the public services and the satisfaction of
the interests of the citizens.
At local level, management of the public administration institutions is the element which
supports the community development. The local administration institutions are closer to the
citizen and must be more responsive to his needs for to provide the quality public services.
This involves the use of effective solutions tailored to the realities of local public
administration structures. The interest to the good of the community and the responsibility
towards the citizen are values of a culture developed at institutional level, which should be
deemed valid and accepted as the correct model of organizational conduct. Adopting the
standards of good managerial practices for quality public services requires changes in the
organizational structure, the fund of values, attitudes and behaviours of public servants [11].
For this, developing their competences is necessary, especially the harmonious and consistent
blending of the professional competence with the social one. The civil servants must
understand that the fulfilment of requirements and needs of citizen is the essential element of
their activity. In this context, practicing a professional management is, assuredly, a major
challenge in public administration in the next years. In addition to issues related to human
factor, a key factor within the reforms from the Romanian public sector is represented by the
increasing the quality of public services. There are still many useless bureaucracy that reduces
the efficiency of the public institutions activity. Bringing inf ormation technology into public
administration leads to eliminating bureaucracy and increasing the quality of public services
[12]. Because the needs of public management become more and more complex, the
modernization process of the public sector needs the development of e-governance platform
for public services. In fact, it is necessary a more independence of local authorities that will
raise efficiency and transparency in decision-making and will offer better access to public
services.

126
4. ANALYSIS REGARDING THE CHANGES WITHIN THE MANAGEMENT OF
PUBLIC LOCAL ADMINISTRATION
4.1 The domain of research
The quality of the public services provided to the citizens depends to the quality of the
managerial process in the public institutions. The area of research covers the management of
public administration institutions at local level. The study was designed to explore the
perceptions of the civil servants about the significant changes that occurred within the
management of public institutions and about the major challenges which the public local
administration must face as regards the public management.
4.2 Purpose of the paper
The purpose of the study was to investigate the changes and the challenges within the
management of public administration institutions from Brasov County, Romania. of the major
changes and challenges in the management of public administration institutions.

4.3 Objectives of the study

The main objectives of the study are as follows:

1. To investigate the changes that play a important role in the modernization of public
management.
2. To find which are the qualities of an efficient public manager.
3. To ascertain the values of the competitive public management.
4. To find the challenges which confront the management of public administration
institutions at local level.

4.4. Methodology
This study investigated the changes within the public management in public administration
institutions from Brasov County. The sample for the study was limited to 67 respondents. All
respondents work in the public administration institutions. Of these were 37 male and 30
female. Both primary data and secondary data were used in the study. Primary data was
collected from the field survey by using a questionnaire. The questions were addressed and
formulated online, as not to induce subjective responses.
4.5. Data analysis
Based on above stated objectives the collected data have been analyzed in appropriate
chapters.
4.3.1 Significant changes to the modernization of the public management
The respondents believed that the most significant changes that played a important role in the
modernization of public management relate to:
• territorial administrative decentralization;
• the process of deconcentration of public services;
• improve the quality of public services;
• organizational flexibility.

127
 Im
mprove the
quuality of
publlic services
Organizzational
19%
flexib
bility
16
6%

Deconcenttrati
on of publlic Territorial
services 28
8% admin
nistrative
decen
ntralizat-
ion
n 37%

Figure 1. Oppinion on the significant chhanges to the modernization

m n of the publicc managementt
The resuult of the innvestigationn show that the
t 65% of the responddents believve that the teerritorial
adminisstrative deceentralizationn and the prrocess of deeconcentratiion of publiic services are
a most
significaant changess to the moodernizationn of the pub blic manageement (fig.11). These processes
p
were aim med to trannsfer of commpetencies from
f centraal level to the local leevel to meeet needs
of the community. Another asspect mentiooned is imp prove the quuality of pubblic services (19%).
The orgganizationall flexibility, manifestedd in the abillity to respoond to envirronment chaallenges,
is an esssential channge for 16%
% of responddents.
4.3.2 The
T values of the comppetitive publlic managem
ment

Respoonsability
Traansparency off
for public
pu
ublic activities
weelfare
16%
2
26%

Efficienncy and
qualityy of the
public services
s
58%

Figure 2. Opinnion on the vallues of the com

mpetitive pubblic managemeent
The dattes show thaat 58% of thhe respondeents consideer the efficiiency and qquality of th
he public
servicess is a signifficant value for the com
mpetitive puublic managgement (figg.2). Next came,
c in
the ordeer of their importancee, the segment of those for whom m the respoonsibility fo or public
welfare is an essenntial value (26%). A third
t aspectt mentionedd is the trannsparency of
o public
activitiees (16%).
4.3.3 Qualities
Q off a efficient public mannager

Abilitty to
quickly adapt
a to
changess 14% Profesionaalism
38%
Con
ncern for
commmunity and
emplo
oyees 21%

Corrrectness and
ho
onesty 24%

Figuree 3. Opinion on
o the qualitiess of a public manager
m

128
Within the framew work of the research, 38%
3 of resp pondents coonsidered thhat professiionalism
and commpetence arre the main qualities off a successfuul manager (fig.3). It shhould be no
oted, that
24% off civil servaants believeed that thee correctnesss is an esssential quallity. A thirdd aspect
mentionned is the cooncern for communityy and employees (21%)). On the othher hand, th he ability
to quickkly adapt to changes is a importantt quality forr 14% of resspondents.
4.3.4 Major
M challlenges in puublic administration an
nd managem
ment at the llocal level

Accounttability in
managinng public
foundds 19% Depoliticization of
puublic
manageement 32%
Practiciing a
professiional
managemeent 21%

Contiinuing the
pro
ocess of
decen
ntralization
2
28%

F
Figure 4. Opiinion on the chhallenges in public
p adminisstration and management
m att the local leveel

In this section wee investigated the civiil servants opinion abbout the siggnificant ch hallenges
which the
t public local adminiistration muust face as regards
r the public mannagement. The
T dates
reveals that the depoliticizaation of publicp man nagement iss a major challenge to the
modernnization of thet public managemen
m nt (fig.4). This
T is conffirmed by thhe large nu
umber of
responddents (32%)). Practicinng a professsional man nagement wasw mentionned by 23,11% of
responddents. Conttinuing the process of o decentraalization annd deconceentration off public
servicess is perceiveed as a challlenge by 133,02% of resspondents.
5. CON
NCLUSIONS
This papper providees an overviiew of the major
m changes and chaallenges in the manageement of
public administrati
a ion institutions. The sttudy has im mplications in
i the manaagerial sectoor of the
local puublic admiinistration institutions
i and suppo orts the addoption of good pracctice for
developpment of the t quality public seervices. Thee research reveals thhat the shiift from
bureauccracy to thee new moddels of publlic managem ment in Roomania requuires still time
t and
resourcees. Seen froom this persspective, pubblic manageement has to be able too develop prro-active
strategiees oriented towards immproving organizationaal structuress, enhancingg the efficieency and
effectivveness of government
g acts, acceentuating th
he transpareency in puublic admin nistration
system and increasing responssibility for thhe public go ood.
The resuults of the investigation
i n show thatt the most siignificant changes thatt played a im
mportant
role inn the modernization of public managemeent relate to: territoorial admin nistrative
decentraalization; thhe process of deconceentration off public serrvices; imprrove the qu uality of
public services;
s orgganizational flexibility. A competitive publicc managemeent model has h to be
focusedd on the vallues of trannsparency, effectivenes
e ss, responsiibility and commitmen nt to the
public good.
g Thesee values aree confirmed by the a large numbber of respoondents. WithinW the
public institutions
i the orienntation towaards the modern values of the ppublic management
prevailss in the apppreciation of
o a good manager’s
m qualities. These
T valuues are centtered on
professiionalism, coorrectness and
a honestyy, concern for commuunity and thhe ability to o quickly
adapt too changes. The
T recordeed data indiccate that thee majority ofo respondennts appreciaated this
characteeristics as significant
s q
qualities of a efficient public
p manaager.

129
The challenges which the public sector organization must face nowadays determine an intense
concern for the transformation of public management. The recorded data indicate that the
most important challenges relate to: depoliticization of public management; continuing the
process of decentralization and deconcentration of public services; practicing a professional
management; accountability in managing public founds. It should be noted that most of the
respondents agreed that the depoliticization of public management is a major challenge to the
modernization of the public management.
On the whole, the results of the research have led us to a series of recommendations. These
recommendations are aimed at:
• Enhancing the quality of the public services provided to the citizens;
• Continuing the process of decentralization and deconcentration of public services and
increasing local autonomy,
• Correctly informing citizens and enhancing transparency in decision-making and in public
spending;
• The reduction of bureaucracy;
• Training programs for public managers for to practice a professional management;
With all the aspects taken into account, we conclude that the reform in the Romanian public
administration has provided a series of changes at local institutions level, but there are still
many challenges for next years.
6. REFERENCES
1. Ranson, S., Stewart, J., Management for Public Domain, MacMillan, New York, USA,
(1994).
2. Popara, M., Ciofu, S., The change management in public institutions in Romania within
the knowledge based economy context, Review of General Management, Vol. 18, No.2,
pp. 203-214, (2012).
3. Stewart, J., Walsh, K., Change in the management of public services, Public
administration, Vol. 70, No.4, pp. 499-518, (1992).
4. Pollitt, C., Bouckaert, G., Public Management Reform/ A comparative analysis, new
public management, governance and the neo-weberian state, 3th edition, Oxford
University Press, London, U.K., (2011).
5. Flynn, N., Public Sector Management, 5th edition, SAGE Publications Ltd, London, U.K.,
(2007).
6. Hood, C., A public management for all seasons, Public Administration, No. 69 (1), pp. 3-
19, (1991).
7. McLaughlin, K., Osborne, S.P., Ferlie, E., New Public Management: Current Trends and
Future Prospects, Routledge, London, U.K., (2002).
8. Moore, M., Stewart, S., Haddock, A., Institution Building as a Development Assistance
Method: A Review of Literature and Ideas, Report to the Swedish International
Development Authority, Stockholm, (1994).
9. Matei, L., Romanian Public Management Reform, Ed. Economică, București, Romania,
(2009).
10. Androniceanu, A., Managementul public, Ed. Economică, Romania, Bucureşti, (2003).
11. Dragomir, C., Public administration reform towards the new public management, Review
of General Management, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp.127-137, (2014).
12. Dragomir, C, Pânzaru S., 2012, Modernization and change of the management of public
administration in Romania, 6th International Management Conference “Aproaches in
Organizational Management”, Vol.I, pp. 251-263, Editura ASE, Bucuresti, Romania,
(2012).
130
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

CONTRIBUTIONS ON RECONDITIONING BY ULTRASONIC FIELD

SPRAY COATING METALLIZATION

Gheorghe Amza1, Relu Fenechiu2

1
Polytechnic University of Bucharest, amza@camis.pub.ro
2
S.C. ENGEKO S.A. Iasi, mariana.fenechiu@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: The paper presents a novel reconditioning technology - reconditioning by ultrasonic field spray
coating metallization, using the effects of propagation of ultrasound waves and of the ultra-acoustic field on the
spray coating process and process of application of layers of application material onto worn surfaces. The paper
presents a spray coating metallization gun with oxy-gas flame and wire, with ultrasonic activation of the wire
made from the application material and a series of experimental results obtained on various couples of materials
used in the construction of parts used in the automotive industry (crankshafts, camshafts, variable diameter
shafts, CV shafts, etc.) The results of the measurements show an increase of the hardness of the resulting couple
by 15-22% and of the resistance against corrosion by 18-30%.
KEYWORDS:metallization, spray coating, ultrasonic field.

1. INTRODUCTION
In most cases, repairs in the automotive industry are conducted by replacing worn parts/sub-
assemblies with new ones, although a series of repair technologies is available by
reconditioning the worn surfaces and restoring it to the same functional parameters, the costs
being 40-60% lower as compared to the value of new parts / sub-assemblies. Replacing worn
parts represents the simplest and yet most inefficient solution, considering the need of
materials and energy characterizing mankind, both today and especially in the future.
Repairing certain important parts by reconditioning (crankshafts, camshafts, variable diameter
shafts, cylinder heads, engine blocks, track rod ends, pivots, CV shafts, drive shafts, gears,
etc.) comes with a series of benefits, the most important ones including:[1,2,3].
• significant savings in materials, as the only material used is the one used to load up the
worn surface, following which the surface is processed to be restored to the functional sizes,
which means much lower consumption of material as compared to the manufacture of a new
part;
• significant savings in energy, as energy is only consumed with the operation of loading up
the worn surface and not with all the operations associated with the technological process of
making a new part;
• significant savings in labour, as the only labour put in is for the reconditioning operation,
which is much less than the amount of labour put into obtaining a new part;
• significant savings in equipment and tools, as the equipment and tools required to obtain a
new part are much more expensive than those required for restoring worn surfaces,
• obtaining parts with much better functional characteristics than a new part, as the
possibility is allowed to increase wear resistance by 80-300%, fatigue resistance by 15-40%
and corrosion resistance by 30-60%
• significant reduction in environmental pollution, as the polluting substances resulting from
the reconditioning are much fewer and the quantities much smaller than in the case of
manufacturing new parts.
However, with the reconditioning comes a series of disadvantages, the most notable ones
including:
• the requirement of compatibility between the base material and the applied material in
order to obtain the best possible adhesion of the applied layer onto the worn surface;
131
• the development of thermally processed areas where numerous irregularities may occur
which may affect the lifespan of the reconditioned part;
• the lack of homogeneity of the properties and functional and technological characteristics
of the applied layer and respectively of the whole reconditioned part;
• the necessity of a post-application thermal treatment which entails additional consumption
of energy and additional costs.
Considering the disadvantages of the classic reconditioning procedure, the paper proposes a
novel work technology - reconditioning by ultrasonic field spray coating metallization, a
technology which leads to a reduction or even total removal of the disadvantages stated
above.
A part of the disadvantages of the classic procedure was removed by using the hard-chroming
procedure which leads to an increase of the hardness of the applied layer and respectively to
an increase of the wear resistance by reducing the contact friction index, as shown in paper:
Relu FENECHIU and Cătălina AXINTE, “Increasing engine efficiency by reducing loss of
energy by friction using hard-chroming" published in the Bulletin of the Iaşi Polytechnic
Institute, Tome LXI(LXV), Fasc. 2, 2015.
The most complicated problem that needs solving and on which depends the manner of
influencing the ultrasonic field reconditioning process is the way in which ultrasound is
introduced in the working area, which involves making special ultrasound systems which
need to comply with a series of technological, mechanical and acoustic requirements.
2. THE ULTRASOUND SYSTEM USED IN EXPERIMENTS
For ultrasonic field spray coating metallization reconditioning, a spray coating metallization
gun was built with oxy-gasflame and wire with the ultrasonic activation of the wire used as
application material (Fig. 1). Electrode-wire 1 from the application material is pushed by
rollers 2 and passes through the acoustic reflector 3, piezoceramic discs 4, acoustic radiant 6,
nodal flange 7, coupling element 8, ultrasonic energy focusing piece 9, the active part of the
ultrasound energy focusing piece 10 and reaches in oxy-acetylene flame 11 where it melts in
the form of droplets 12. Through nozzle 14 the projector gas is introduced which projects the
liquid droplets of application material onto the used surface of the parts to be reconditioned
16, forming a layer of application 15. The entire ultrasound system is thus calculated and
designed so that across its length the particles vibrate in ultrasound after a variation given by
diagram 20 and work in a regime of resonance.[11,12].
The ultrasound system is thus designed so as to allow obtaining important advantages owed to
the manner of propagation of the ultrasound field and to the effect of propagating ultrasounds,
the most important such advantages being:
• the acceleration of the diffusion process from the application material towards the base
material and the easier formation of homogeneous binding between the materials of the
couple;
• achieving a very fine spraying effect of the applied material and improving the process
of transfer of the applied material onto the base material;
• avoiding the oxidation of particles of application material and avoiding the
• development of defects of non-metal inclusion type;
• accelerating the process of crystallization and solidification obtaining a fine granular
structure with equiaxed grains in all three important areas of the couple: application material,
demarcation line and support material;
• obtaining certain functional characteristics that are 30-300% better than in the case of a
new part, at a cost of a reconditioned part which is 40-60% lower than in the case of a new
part;
• increasing the durability of the reconditioned part 1.5-3 times as much as compared to that
of a new part;

132
• substantial increase of the rate of application and productivity;
• eliminating the need to treat thermally after loading up;
• significant increase of the efficiency of the reconditioning process by spray coating;
• metallizationreducing the pollution of the work environment.

Figure 1. Theoretical scheme of an ultrasonic field metallization gun with flame and wire model MFS-US01

Legend of figure 1
1 - application material; 2 - drive rollers; 3 - acoustic reflector; 4 - piezoceramic discs; 5 -
contact electrode; 6 - acoustic radiant; 7 - node flange; 8 - acoustic coupling; 9 - acoustic
amplifier; 10 - active part of the sound focusing piece; 11 - oxy-acetylene torch; 12 - liquid
particles of application material; 13 - nozzle for combustible gas; 14 - nozzle for projector
gas; 15 - applied layer; 16 - part to be reconditioned; 17 - acoustic insulator; 18 - protective
housing; 19 - drive butterfly flange; 20 - diagram showing variation in the amplitude of the
particle speed across the length of the ultrasound system; A - degree of amplitude in the melt
area
3. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
In order to establish the optimal technological process of reconditioning by spray coating
metallization of parts typical for the automotive industry, a work method was established, as
well as a set of experiments allowing a comparative analysis between the samples metallized
by spray coating with and without ultrasound activation. The stages of the technological
process were the same, executed in the same conditions, with the same parameters, except for
the stages in which ultrasound was used (the stage of surface cleaning and the stage of actual
metallization). The following work method was established and the following sequence of
activities: [5,7]
• establishing the parameters of the spray coating metallization regime for the analyzed
method (with oxy-gas flame and electrode-wire for the application material);
• the execution of the application in one layer, with various parameters of the regime of
spray coating metallization with and without ultrasonic activation;
• the execution of application of material until obtaining the required thickness of applied
material, as requested by the functional size;

133
• deteermining the functionaal propertiess of the cou uple resultiing pursuannt to the prrocess of
spray cooating metaallization wiith and withhout ultrasou
und activatiion;
• strucctural analyyses in thee distinct areas
a of thee resulting couple: appplication material,
m
around the
t demarcaation line annd support material;[10
m 0].
• evalluating the possibilities
p s of increasiing the prodductivity andd the efficieency of the
• metaallization prrocess.
Table 1. Values of parameters
p off the metallizaation regime with
w oxy-gas flame
fl and wiree, without ultrrasound
a
activation[4,6
6]

pC2H2 - pressure
p of combustiblle gas; pO2 - oxygen preessure; pgp - pressure off compresseed air
used as projecting gas;
g VO2/VC2H2
C - volummetric ratio O2/C2H2; L - spray disttance; α - sp
pray
angle; vAV - speed of advance of applicatiion materiall wire; vdp - gun travel speed; QO2 -
oxygen flow; QC2H2 - acetylenne flow; Qgp - projector gas flow; d - diameterr of electrodde wire.

ble 2. Value off parameters of

Tab o the metallizzation regime with
w oxy-gas flame and wirre, with ultrassound
a
activation of the
t applicationn material wirre

pC2H2 - pressure
p of acetylene; pO2 - oxygeen pressure; pgp - pressuure of projeecting gas; L - spray
distancee; α - spray angle; vAVV - speed off advance off applicationn material w wire; vdp-gu
un travel
speed; QO2 - oxygeen flow; QC2H2C - acetyylene flow; Qgp - projeector gas floow; IU - ulttrasound

134
intensity; f - ultrasound frequency; A - amplitude of longitudinal ultrasound oscillations; pU -
ultrasound pressure; d - diameter of electrode wire
The values of parameters of the spray coating metallization process with oxy-gas flame and
wire without ultrasound activation are presented in table 1, while table 2 shows the values for
the spray coating metallization process with ultrasound activation of the electrode-wire of
application material.
Spray coating metallization was performed on a couple of materials specific to a crankshaft
used in automotive manufacturing: the base (support) material - alloy steel of type
X30NiMoVCr11 the chemical composition of which is presented in table 3 and application
material - STELLITE 12AWS,W, the chemical composition is presented in table 5. [1,2,4]
The application of the application material was performed in layers of 0.5 - 3.0 mm,
depending on the degree of wear that can develop in the automotive parts that can be
reconditioned. During the application was monitored the temperature of the support material
by infrared thermal imaging because when temperatures are reached in the range 473-523K,
the metallization process is interrupted for 2-3 minutes and then it is resumed until reaching
the thickness required by the function of the part.
Table 3. Chemical composition of the support material used in experiments[3]

Content and alloy element [%]

C Ni Cr Mo Si
0,20...0,33 3,75...4,0 1,11...1,13 0,45...0,35 0,25...0,35
Base (support) material Mn V P S Cu
X30NiMoVCr11 0.30...0,45 ≤0,10 ≤0,01 ≤0,005 0,08
Nb Tn Ti B W
0,001 0,001 0,002 0,001 0,02
Cn Ce Al N Fe H[ppm]
0,002 0,006 0,017 0,001 Rest 2,0

Table 4. Chemical composition of the application material STELLITE 12 AWS, W

Components and chemical composition [%]

Application C Cr Si W Fe
material 1,430 24,60 1,520 8,30 2,10
STELLITE Ni Mn mo B P
12AWS1W 1,980 0,270 0,670 0,005 0,004
S O2 Co - -
0,004 0,005 Rest - -
The application of the application material was performed in layers of 0.5 - 3.0 mm,
depending on the degree of wear that can develop in the automotive parts that can be
reconditioned. During the application was monitored the temperature of the support material
by infrared thermal imaging because when temperatures are reached in the range 473-523K,
the metallization process is interrupted for 2-3 minutes and then it is resumed until reaching
the thickness required by the function of the part.
4. CONCLUSIONS
• The experiment results obtained and measurements performed in the case of
reconditioning by spray coating metallization with and without ultrasound activation lead to
some interesting conclusions:
• in the case of spray coating metallization in ultrasonic field was found a higher variation
of the content of W and Fe around the demarcation line as compared to the metallization
without ultrasound activation;
• the adhesion of the layer of application material to the base material is much better in the
case of ultrasound activation than in the case of metallization without ultrasound activation;

135
• in all cases of spray coating metallization in ultrasound field was found an increase of
hardness by 12-18% in the close vicinity of the demarcation line and by 15-22% in the
applied layer;
• the size of the grains of the resulted structure depends on the size of amplitude of
ultrasound oscillations (the size of the grains decreases as frequency increases), with an
optimal value for each couple of materials;
• upon spray coating metallization in ultrasound field we could not see any cracks or
fissures in the base material or around the demarcation line or in the application material;
• upon the development of pores and inclusions, the method is very important of
introducing ultrasound in the spray coating metallization process, as well as the amplitude and
frequency of ultrasound oscillations;
• in all spray coating metallization cases with ultrasound activation of the process, adhesion
to traction forces increases by 15-29%, while adhesion to shear forces by 9-18%.
5. REFERENCES
1. Amza, Gh.,Contribution regarding metal pieces recycling by oxi-gas flame metallization
using ultrasonic activation of the base material – Section Name 18, Recycling of vastes
(metallurgical mechanical, chemical of a power plant after mining and mineral processing
activities food industry), 15 th International SGEM Geoconference, Albena – Bulgaria, 22
– 25 iunie, (2015).
2. Amza, Gh.,Ecotehnologie şi dezvoltare durabilă, Editura Printech, Bucureşti (2009).
3. Amza, Gh.,Tratat de Tehnologia Materialelor, Editura Academiei României,
Bucureşti, (2002).
4. Amza, Gh., Ultrasunetele – aplicaţii active, Editura AGIR, Bucureşti, (2009).
5. Amza, Gh.,ș.a,Theoretical and Experimental Contributions on sprazing metallisation on
ultrasonic field, WSEAS, (EFETE), Bucharest, (2010).
6. Albulescu, R.,Teza de doctorat- Contribuții teoretice și experimentale privind placarea în
câmp ultrasonic a capetelor de erupție folosite în industria petrolieră, (2014).
7. Bansevicius, R.,Ultrasonic Motors, Latvia, (1994).
8. Dumitru, G.M.,Recondiţionarea pieselor, Editura Bren, Bucureşti, (2010).
9. Relu,F.,Axinte, Cătălina,Increasing engine efficiency by reducing loss of energy by
friction using hard-chroming published in the Bulletin of the Iaşi Polytechnic Institute,
Tome LXI(LXV), Fasc. 2, (2015).
10. Jefferson, T.B.,ș.a.,Metals and how to weld them, Second Edition, (2002).
11. Karlssonf, L.,Welding of dissimilar metals, Welding in the world, vol. 36, (1995).
12. Tzan, H.S., Fn, H.Q.,A study of segmentation of distributed piezoelectric sensors and
activators, part. I: theoretical analysis, Journal of Sound Vibration 172, 247 – 57, (1994).
13. Uchida, M.,Advanced Materials Composite, Ed. Kogyo Chosakai Ttd – Tokio, Japan,
(1996).

136
The 2nd Intternational Scienttific Conference SAMRO
S 2016
Romania, October,
O 2016

CON
NTRIBUT
TIONS TO
O THE ST
TRUCTUURAL MOODIFICAATIONS THAT
T
OCCU
UR WHE
EN RECOONDITION
NINGBYY SPRAYIING ON U
ULTRASSONIC
FIELD

Gheorghhe Amza1, Relu

R Fenechhiu2 , Dan Fllorin Niţoi3, , Zoia Apoostolescu4
1
Polytechhnic Universitty of Bucharesst, amza@cammis.pub.ro
2
S.C.ENNGEKO S.A. Iași, mariana..fenechiu@gm mail.com
3
Polytechnnic Universityy of Bucharest, nitoidan@yyahoo.com.
4
Polytecchnic Universiity of Buchareest, zoia@cam
mis.pub.ro

ABSTRA ACT: The papper presents majorm structurral changes occurring

o in thhe filler materrial, heat affeected zone
and base material wheereas if by sprraying recondditioning on ultrasonic
u fieldd compared too structures obtained
o if
reconditiooning withoutt activation ulltrasonic by sppraying. Remmarkable changge substantiallly crystalline grain size
in order to
t reduce it unnder the actionn of ultrasonicc waves, the uniform
u distribbution of preccipitates that can
c appear
tough in the heat affeccted zone andd getting a hom mogeneous sttructure with equiaxed
e grains. As a result of these
structurall changes is functional
fu andd technologicaal change and properties suubstantial imprrovement in theirt sense
under thee action of ultrrasonic wavess
Keyword ds: reconditionning, ultrasouund, structures, spraying, composition, chhemical

1. INT
TRODUCT
TION
Pursuannt to the thermal cycle to which thhe applicatio
on material is exposed (heating - melting
m -
cooling - solidificaation) durinng applicatiion onto th
he base matterial onto which it soolidifies,
slight modification
m ns in chem
mical compoosition may y develop thanks
t to thhe phenommenon of
infusionn and modification of structure. The
T schemee of measurring the cheemical com mposition
around the
t demarcaation line iss shown in figure
f 1.

Figure 1.. Scheme of measuring

m the chemical com
mposition arouund the demarccation line

The anaalysis of thee results obttained usingg the spectrochemical analysis

a by X-ray fluorrescence
(ISO 95556/2002), the
t measureement beingg performed d from the outer
o surfacce of the app
plication
materiall towards thhe inside, yiielded the foollowing ressults:
• the W, W Fe, Cr, Co
C componnents vary very
v little in depth in thhe case of m
metallization
n without
ultrasouund activatiion, as thee bind betw
ween the applied
a layeer and basee material is done
mechannically, the process
p of diffusion
d beiing barely noticeable;[
n 4.10].
• the variation ofo the concentration of W, in thee case of ultrasound
u activation entails
e a
decreasee by 7-9% in the appliied materiall and an inccrease in thee base mateerial by 5-8% % as the
137
process of diffusion is accelerated by the ultrasound waves, around the demarcation line
developing a series of W carbides which will lead to an increase in the hardness of the base
material (fig. 2), unlike the case of ultrasound activation (fig. 3) where these carbides are
fragmented and uniformly spread;
• the variation of the Fe concentration, in the case of ultrasound activation entails an
increase by 5-10% in the applied material thanks to the occurrence and acceleration of the
process of diffusion under the effect of ultrasound waves, leading to a decrease of the
hardness around the demarcation line;
• similar to the variation of the W content is the variation of the Cr and Co content which
diffuse from the applied material towards the base material;
• in the case of metallization without ultrasound activation one can see multiple areas where
adhesion is not good (fig. 4), as well as the development of pores spread unevenly, unlike the
metallization with ultrasound activation where adhesion is much better and pores are not to be
found (fig.5).

Figure 2. Structure of the base material, adjacent to the demarcation line in the metallized sample without
ultrasound activation: treatment: Nital solution 2%; magnification 500X

Figure 3. Structure of the base material adjacent to the demarcation line for the sample obtained by ultrasound
field metallization: treatment: Nital solution 2%; magnification 500X

138
Figure 4. Adhesion of the first layer of application material and of the second layer, in the case of spray coating
metallization without ultrasound activation: Nital; magnification 200X; base material: X30NiMoVCr11;
application material: TP 4000[6].

Figure 5. Adhesion of the first layer of application material and of the second layer, in the case of spray coating
metallization with ultrasound activation: Nital 2%; magnification 200X; base material: X30NiMoVCr11;
application material: TP 4000
2. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The determination of the shear resistance was performed on samples taken from the areas
presented in figure 6 and the shock bend test was performed on samples from areas presented
in figure 7.[5,6].

139
 Figure 6. Place of sampling for traction testing Figure 7. Place of sampling for shock bending
testing

The tests were conducted as per norms ASME WS – 001716 and ISO 15612 – 4, using test
equipment existing in the test and analyses lab of INCERAN S.A.
For determining the hardness were used the schemes from figures 8 and 9, as per ISO 15614 –
7 and ASME WS – 001711.

Figure 8. Scheme for determining the HRA hardness, Figure 9. Scheme for determining the HV10 hardness,
as per ASME WS - oo1711, on a sample taken from as per ISO 15614 - 7, on a sample taken from the
the reconditioned part reconditioned part
The main functional characteristics of the reconditioned part by spray coating metallization
with or without ultrasound activation are shown in table 1.
Table 1. Values of functional characteristics of the part reconditioned by spray coating metallization with and
without ultrasound activation[1,2,3].
Manner of
Spray coating
application of Rp0,2 Rm A Z KV – 46 HB
metallization Test area
application [Mpa] [Mpa] [%] [%] [J] [HB]
procedure
material
without MB 840 950 18 30 176,4 430
ultrasound
With oxy-gas flame activation MA 660 770 23 55 166,0 460
and wire
with ultrasound MB 860 995 22 35 189,3 458
activation MA 690 702 25 58 175,4 420

The measurement of the Vickers hardness in the close proximity of the demarcation
line is presented in figures 10 and 11.

140
 Figure 10. Measurement of the hardness in the close vicinity of the demarcation line in the base material

Figure 11. Measurement of the hardness in the close vicinity of the demarcation line in the application material

It was found that in the case of spray coating metallization without ultrasound activation,
when there is a diffusion phenomenon, in the close vicinity of the demarcation line metal
carbides and large grains develop, unevenly spread, which leads to a non-homogeneous
micro-hardness and lack of homogeneity of functional characteristics (fig. 12), unlike spray
coating metallization in ultrasound field, when the carbides are spread evenly and grains are
smaller and equiaxed (fig. 13)

Figure 12. The development of metallic carbides in the case of spray coating metallization with oxy torch
without ultrasound activation, in the close vicinity of the demarcation line, in the base material: base material:
X30NiMoVCr11- Application material: STELLITE 12 AWS,W; Treatment: Nital 2%, Magnification 100X[6]

141
 Figure 13. The development of metallic carbides in the case of spray coating metallization with oxy torch and
powder with ultrasound activation of the part to be reconditioned, in the close vicinity of the demarcation line, in
the base material: base material: X30NiMoVCr11- Application material: STELLITE 12 AWS,W; Treatment:
Nital 2%, Magnification 100X[6]
3. CONCLUSIONS
The experiment results obtained and measurements performed in the case of reconditioning
by spray coating metallization with and without ultrasound activation lead to some interesting
conclusions:
• in the case of spray coating metallization in ultrasonic field was found a higher variation
of the content of W and Fe around the demarcation line as compared to the metallization
without ultrasound activation;[8,9].
• the adhesion of the layer of application material to the base material is much better in the
case of ultrasound activation than in the case of metallization without ultrasound activation;
• in all cases of spray coating metallization in ultrasound field was found an increase of
hardness by 12-18% in the close vicinity of the demarcation line and by 15-22% in the
applied layer;
• the size of the grains of the resulted structure depends on the size of amplitude of
ultrasound oscillations (the size of the grains decreases as frequency increases), with an
optimal value for each couple of materials;
• upon spray coating metallization in ultrasound field we could not see any cracks or
fissures in the base material or around the demarcation line or in the application material;
• upon the development of pores and inclusions, the method is very important of
introducing ultrasound in the spray coating metallization process, as well as the amplitude and
frequency of ultrasound oscillations;[12,14].
• in all spray coating metallization cases with ultrasound activation of the process, adhesion
to traction forces increases by 15-29%, while adhesion to shear forces by 9-18%.
4. REFERENCES
1. Amza, Gh.,Contribution regarding metal pieces recycling by oxi-gas flame metallization
using ultrasonic activation of the base material – Section Name 18, Recycling of vastes
(metallurgical mechanical, chemical of a power plant after mining and mineral processing
activities food industry), 15 th International SGEM Geoconference, Albena – Bulgaria, 22
– 25 iunie, (2015).
2. Amza, Gh.,Ecotehnologie şi dezvoltare durabilă, Editura Printech, Bucureşti (2009).
3. Amza, Gh.,Tratat de Tehnologia Materialelor, Editura Academiei României,
Bucureşti, (2002).
4. Amza, Gh., Ultrasunetele – aplicaţii active, Editura AGIR, Bucureşti, (2009).

142
5. Amza, Gh.,ș.a,Theoretical and Experimental Contributions on sprazing metallisation on
ultrasonic field, WSEAS, (EFETE), Bucharest, (2010).
6. Albulescu, R.,Teza de doctorat- Contribuții teoretice și experimentale privind placarea în
câmp ultrasonic a capetelor de erupție folosite în industria petrolieră, (2014).
7. Bansevicius, R.,Ultrasonic Motors, Latvia, (1994).
8. Dumitru, G.M.,Recondiţionarea pieselor, Editura Bren, Bucureşti, (2010).
9. Relu,F.,Axinte, Cătălina,Increasing engine efficiency by reducing loss of energy by
friction using hard-chroming published in the Bulletin of the Iaşi Polytechnic Institute,
Tome LXI(LXV), Fasc. 2, (2015).
10. Jefferson, T.B.,ș.a.,Metals and how to weld them, Second Edition, (2002).
11. Karlssonf, L.,Welding of dissimilar metals, Welding in the world, vol. 36(1995).
12. Suzuki, K., Kamo, S.,The eficiency of ultrasonicaly vibratory tapping proces, J.J.S.P.E.,
vol. 55, no. 25, pg. 853 – 859 (2004).
13. Tzan, H.S., Fn, H.Q., A study of segmentation of distributed piezoelectric sensors
andactivators, part. I: theoretical analysis, Journal of Sound Vibration 172, 247 – 57,
(1994).
14. Uchida, M.,Advanced Materials Composite, Ed. Kogyo Chosakai Ttd – Tokio, Japan,
(1996).

143
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

RISK MANAGEMENT.
EVALUATION METHOD OF THE PROFESSIONAL RISKS

Ionescu Victor1, Calea Gheorghe2, Amza Gheorghe3, Niţoi Dan4, Dimitrescu Andrei5
1
Therotorial Inspectorate of Labour, ionescuvictor67@yahoo.com
2
University Politechnica from Bucharest,
3
UniversityPolitechnica from Bucharest, amza@camis.pub.ro
4
University Politechnica from Bucharest, nitoidan@yahoo.com
5
University Politechnica from Bucharest, andrei_dimitrescu@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: Planning control sequences is part of preparation phase. If a technological process that takes place
in a facility with continuous operation it is generally the flow of production from which we must start the
Control. In a facility with discontinuous operation, control is not dictated automatic by flow chart. So multiple
tasks have to be performed at the same time and then maybe you need to represent differently work and the
technical condition of the items of machineries on a time axis. Setting the time and calendar of meetings is
important and it must be well established approach from the beginning. Setting the required time depends on the
depth of analysis, team efficiency and quality of documents provided by the organization.
KEYWORDS: health, security, management, method, risk

1. INTRODUCTION. THE LIMITS OF THE WORK SYSTEM

1.1 Definition of the System Limits – Definition of System
Before starting a health and security analysis, the limits of the system from the analyzed
sector or process has to be studied . Therefore we must define in a precise manner what is part
of the system, meaning what we always must take into account for the identification of
dangerous phenomena, and what is located outside the system. It is advisable to divide
processes or big sectors in smaller items. If a sector of activity or process contains a complex
production line, composed of several installations, then the partial sectors or processes in
which we divided the line must correspond (to the extent possible) to a phase or a process.
The interface of the entire system to the environment and the interface of the different sectors
or processes in which it is divided must be highlighted and defined. It is necessary to specify
the type of analyzed dangerous phenomena, to indicate to who or to what the products refer to
(operators, equipment, environment, etc.). On the other hand it should be also clarified and
highlighted interactions with neighboring installations to be retained, as well as matters that
not require inspection. At the end of the system boundaries determination for installations and
machinery, the following points need to be clarified [1], [2], :
• "stage of life" considered (construction, installation, inspection, use, disposal, etc.)
• considered functioning (normal operation, cleaning, repair, adjustment, installation)
• machine limits considered for normal use (both in use and in proper operation of the
machine, but also in case of malfunction or foreseeable misuse
• full inventory of the predictable patterns of use (industrial, commercial, household)
• preparation (training) of potential users
• surroundings (environment) including: neighboring systems and the interactions between
them, all persons potentially exposed.

2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES
Description of the studied health and security activities can be done according the following
steps:

144
- highlighted hazardous phenomena, to whom and / or what they mean (operators, equipment,
environment, etc.)
- issues to be considered, but don’t need control or require additional inspections
(constructions static, type of chemical processes, etc.)
Given the above, for defining the system, the analyzed exploitation type must be
mentioned: normal, special or maintenance. These three modes of operation are defined
below:
• normal exploitation -the machine fulfills the function for which it was designed.
• special exploitation- refers to the preparation, processing, installation, adjustment,
verification, debug, clean installation.
• maintenance
• controll (measurement, control, recording), determination (comparison) real and set
operating parameters.
• maintenance (cleaning and maintenance), steps to keep the machine at set (designed)
operation parameters.
• restoring the machine operating parameters to those stipulated in its design phase (parts
replacement or subassemblies, improving functioning). Attention to adaptation to
technical progress.

2.1 Man / Machine / Environment

First it should set different processing phases of activity by sector and / or manufacturing
processes. All phases must be documented in chronological order, as well as the operational
ones. The steps required to install a machine, for example their transport from point A to point
B can not be omitted, even if employees or third parties who perform this operation poses no
direct or obvious threat (danger). In certain situations some activities can be regrouped. By
doing this way we can reduce the time it takes to assess risks, but we will also reduce the
accuracy of the assessment. Such grouping is indicated in absence of major risks, or when we
don’t analyze a particular configuration to showcase the sector's main hazardous phenomena,
because we use a branch solution and will highlight only specific enterprise risks. The
activities should be formulated for the three modes of operation:
• normal
• particular
• maintenance.
For descriptions of activities they should be structured, if possible, in the following manner:
• material
• activity
• start and finish.
Activities can be formulated at the team meetings or already in the preparation phase.

2.2 Identification of hazardous phenomena in team

During this phase the dangerous phenomena that can occur in carrying out the activities
described had to be defined. The team leader is the one who leads the debates. A team
member is tasked to write the minutes. The team leader chooses the first partial process and
highlights activities for all team members (may even use a flip chart). The team begins the
analysis with the first activity. Using a structured brainstorming, the team is looking for
hazardous phenomena that can occur in the described activity. In the following there are
presented a repertoire of hazardous phenomena to be taken into account during analysis.
It is important to review even those dangerous phenomena for which, at the moment, it seems
unlikely, or even impossible, for them to cause an event. The team leader must supervise the

145
process or sector concerned are analyzed in a more complete manner. It should also be chosen
a pace of work that does not bore or stress the team. If a discussion between two experts is
prolonged, it is advisable to propose them to write down every point of view in the minutes,
and these should be clarified outside the meeting [3],[4],[5].
• Mechanical hazardous phenomena - unprotected contact with moving elements
• Slip, stumble, crash
• Electrical hazards - contact of persons with live parts, approach to live parts under high
voltage by short-circuit, overload by arcing.
• Contact with harmful substances (chemical or biological) - inhalation or ingestion
• contact with aerosols, gases, vapors, fluids, solids, microorganisms, viruses, etc.
• Fire or explosion hazard - because of flammable solids, fluids, gases explosive
atmospheres, explosives, electrostatic charges.
Thermal hazardous phenomena - by contact of person with surfaces by extreme high or
extreme low temperatures.
• Physical phenomena: noise; ultrasound; vibration; unionized radiation; ionized radiation;
baric regimes.
• Constraints related to work environment: climate, inadequate lighting
• Failure to ergonomic principles: repetitive work, still working, lifting, carrying heavy
loads in an inappropriate posture, improper posture or imposed, work in a kneeling
position, lying, hanging, work with repeated rotations of the torso or the head, working in
a imposed position
• Mental constraints: exhaustion, overload, monotony, work in conditions of isolation,
taking difficult responsibility (important, vital), work under mental tension, disruption of
business due to interruptions or distractions, undertake the task in a damaging climate
(constraints, conflict, fear, etc.)
• Failure of the power supply, providing or interruption of power supply
• Inadequate work organization

2.3 Injury Definition

Each event may involve dangerous phenomenon likely to cause injury (an injury or an attempt
on the physical and health). For each identified dangerous phenomenon we must evaluate
potential harm and record (by notaries in tables or grids) this. This is done by the evaluation
team. The risk is quantified value of a dangerous phenomenon [9], [10]. This value is
comprised of injury severity (G) and the probability (P) production of this injury. P likelihood
of developing injury is defined in the equation (1).

P = as a function of(e,po,L) (1)

It is determined by "e" the frequency and / or duration of exposure to dangerous phenomenon
considered; "po" probability of event considered dangerous; "L" the possibility of avoiding or
limiting injury through appropriate behavior (the organization, the people involved or existing
measures).
Risk is a function R = f(G;P)
probability of injury
Risk Gravity of injury aparition
relative to considered Injury severity caused
frequency and duration of
dangerous by considered
expousure to dangerous
phenomenon dangerous
phenomenon
phenomenon

aparition probablity of
the dangerous
phenomenon

Figure 1. Elements of risk – according to ISO 14121

146
As a general rule, the probability of a hazardous event occurring and the severity of injury
associated correspondent can not always be accurately specified. It is advisable to proceed in
a prudent manner, for example: "We expect a high probability of producing and significant
injury."

2.4 Gravity of injury

Gravity injuries can be subdivided into 5 categories according table 1.

Table 1. Determination of gravity of injury and its consequence

Consequence
Category Gravity of injury
definition
I Very serious death
II serious serious disability
III Less seroius Light invalidity
IV light Invalidity with
working stop
V Very light Invalidity without
working stop

According to elements from this table, the following discussion has to be done:
• serious disability - unable to work for the profession in question or an equivalent
profession, large influence on quality of life
• less disability - reduced work capacity for the profession in question or an equivalent
profession, little influence on quality of life
• Attacks on health - related ergonomic factors or organizing jobs are in growth. In
assessing such risks should be referred to a specialist in safety.
Ergonomics deals adapting working conditions to the capabilities and characteristics of the
human body and its ability to adapt to working tasks. Psychology investigates interatiunile
between man and his work. It examines, first of all, the design of jobs, but also the
qualification, training and human efficiency in performing his work.
Different aids are available to analyze both the ergonomics and work psychology. At this time
there are many publications that present methods of analysis and risk assessment of physical
activity and mental operators.

2.4.1 Probability
Next it will present a qualitative method to estimate the probability. Procedure for a collective
appreciation of risk (for a company or sector which has particular work stations)
To assess the probability of a company or sector which has particular work stations go from
the current state, that we consider the facilities and organizing activities as found when
evaluating them. There are two possibilities:
1. -A qualitative assessment will be conducted. The probability P is subdivided into five
categories, as we have indicated for variant 1. Then we define first category "frequently". This
will be the basis for the definition of the other four categories.
Table 2. Probability "p" estimation
Category Probability definition P
A frequently
B occasional
C rare
D not probably
E Almost imposible

147
2. Definition an index of probability P, which is determined by three elements evaluated
individually. To do this we make the following hypothesis evaluation considering equation
(2).

P = e + 2po + L (2)

It was assigned a double scoring element "po", because the probability of a dangerous event,
under the rules of technical safety and activity has a more important place than the other two
elements. This formula is based on probability presentation in standard EN 1050 "Safety of
machinery - Principles for risk assessment"

Table 3. Index of frequency and expousure to dangerous phenomenon

Nr. Duration of expousure
5 40h/week – complete programme
4 20h/week – programme 50%
3 8h/week – 1day/week
2 4h/week – ½ days/ week
1 2h/week – 1 day/ month

Probability of a dangerous phenomenon apparition is defined and presented in the table 4.

Table 4. The aparition probability of a hazardous event "po"

5 it is evident that this event will
5 occur (there are no preventive
measures)
4 This event is expected to occur
(poor preventive measures)
the event is likely to occur
3 (there are measures, but
obviously they are not enough)
imaginable event, but it is not
2 impossible to produce it (no
steps)
it is difficult to imagine the
event (the measures are taken
1 1 in accordance with technical
progress)

Table 5. Possibility of avoiding or limiting injury L

- threatening Unnoticed
5
- Lack of measures, instructions
5 - insufficiently qualified
personnel, formed, trained
- existence of one or two of the
3 criteria in paragraph 1 (below),
but not enough
3 - hazard identified (before)
- o instructions made (and
regularly updated)
1 - Good skill, training, staff
1 training

The probability P (index) for producing a G injuries resulting from adding the values of its
components according to equation 2 is presented in table 6.
The result of this summation can be evaluated using the table below. The relationship between
the different numerical values and including them in categories from A to E has been verified
in practice.
148
 Table 6. Probability p
Probability
Category definition P = e + 2po + L

A frequently 19, 20
B occazional 17, 18
C rare 14, 15, 16
D improbably 11, 12, 13
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
E Almost impossible
8, 9, 10

2.5 Determining the causes, facts

An undesirable event (accident or occupational disease) occurs based on a dangerous
phenomenon and a trigger event. In addition, various causes and facts (different) train this
event. To find appropriate security measures necessary to conduct a systematic examination
of causal relationships that lead to this undesirable event. Facts or causes that are at the origin
of this event may be, for example, home technical deficiencies in the organization or training.
2.6 Risk assessment
To evaluate the risks, a risk matrix will be used. Table 7 presents a risk matrix subdivided
into three zones. This solution corresponds to the situation in an enterprise, but this does not
mean that it is valid for all businesses. Risks are assessed by estimating the probability and
severity of injury, according to tables 1 to 6. Risk matrix is defined by interdisciplinary
assessment team members in collaboration with the employer (company manager).
Table 7. Risk Matrix
A 3 2 1 1 1
probability

B 3 2 1 1 1
C 3 2 2 1 1
D 3 2 2 2 1
E 3 3 3 2 2
V IV III II I
injury severity

In this case they decided that the risks classified in different areas of the matrix to be framed
(ranked) in three areas:
1. important risks
2. The average risk
3. Low risk

Table 8. Zone definition

zona riscuri importante
1 securitatea nu este asigurata
zone risk environments
2 security is not ensured
zone risks low
3 security is largely insured

Risks in zone 1 are treated with priority, these risks are dealt with in the second and third risk
area are treated last. Defining priorities must be done before you start treating risk (analyzing
them, drawing on components which we act and take measures to prevent). Subdivision
matrix in the three zones is based on personal conception (of the organization, agreed with the
assessment team established by the health and safety policy, ...) and it depends on the security

149
objectives that we have set [6], [7],[8]. It is observed at the same time prioritizing, and
applicable laws, ordinances and directives.
Security objectives must take into account, at the same time the interests of operating the
plant, but also the interests of users, the residents, collaborators, etc. For a company that
exploits the same plants but in another location, security objectives may vary. This may set
higher demands, which will have to allocate adequate resources and or lower (linked to the
economic situation), but they have to comply with at least the minimum health and safety
requirements stipulated in legislation.

2.7 Conclusions
In order to determine areas of risk hierarchy and the allocation matrix for each risk, the
company must define priorities in the action to protect the health and safety of workers.
Should be defined objectives for prevention and protection specific to each identified
hazardous event. In this regard it is established, even for events that seem less likely to occur,
given that they may take place but also prevention and protection measures appropriate to
them.
In the article, a function of probability "P" was defined and different considerations about:
Determination of gravity of injury and its consequence, Probability "p" estimation, Index of
frequency and expousure to dangerous phenomenon, The aparition probability of a hazardous
event "po", Possibility of avoiding or limiting injury L and very important a Risk Matrix.
3. REFERENCES
1. Regulation (ec) no. 1338/2008 of the european parliament and of the council of 16
December 2008 on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work;
2. Commission Regulation (EU) No 349/2011 of 11 April 2011 implementing Regulation
(EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community
statistics on public health and health and safety at work as regards statistics on accidents at
work;
3. Work accidents statistics in the period 2012-2014 Work inspection www.inspectmun.ro
4. Statistical analysis of socio-economic costs of accidents at work in the European Union
European Comission Office for Publications of the European Communities Louxenbourg
2004 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB;
5. Ocupational risk prevention in SMEs in Europe 2009 Thematic report Eurogip;
6. Ocupational Safety and Health and Economic Performance in Small and medium-Sized
Enterprises: a Review, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2009;
7. Prevention World Magazine 2005-2010 Prevention & Safety World SL;
8. Priorities for ocupational safety and health research in the EU-25 2005 European Agency
for Safety and Health at Work, Louxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the
European Communities;
9. Pece, St., Genesis of work accidents, I.N.I.D. Publishing house Bucharest, (1993).
10. Pece St Analisys method for profesional risks, I.N.I.D. Publishing House Bucharest,
(1993)

150
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

THE QUALITY AND THE MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES

QUALITY WITHIN THE KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY AND
ORGANIZATION

Muntean Laura, Titu Mihail Aurel, Oprean Constantin

1 „Lucian Blaga” University from Sibiu, laura.muntean@ulbsibiu.ro
2 „Lucian Blaga” University from Sibiu, mihai.titu@ulbsibiu.ro
3 Lucian Blaga” University from Sibiu, constantin.oprean@ulbsibiu.ro

ABSTRACT: Human capital functions within knowledge based organizations systematically and it represents a
form of transversal capital to them. None of the organizational subsystems can function without human capital
and nor does the quality subsystem. The interaction between the two subsystems manifests into two main
directions that can be expressed as follows:
Total quality can only be achieved by using and highlighting the competences and skills held by the employees.
Achieving and highlighting human capital efficiency can only be done by means of an adequate, permanent and
transparent usage of quality management tools and techniques.
Identifying the means of employing the tools and the techniques specific to the total quality management within
the process pertaining to human capital management is mandatory for modern organizations.
KEYWORDS: human resources management, total quality management, human capital, competences,
efficiency, knowledge.

1. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE SUBSYSTEM REFERRING TO

THE QUALITY OF THE HUMAN CAPITAL FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF THE
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
The elements of the human capital subsystem are perceived within every subsystem of the
organization. The subsystems of the organization cannot function without the competent
human capital that holds the required knowledge and skills and that is motivated to achieve
performance. In knowledge based organizations this represents the most valuable of
resources.
From the perspective of the total quality management, human capital represents a lead
transversal subsystem whose purpose is to sustain all the activities of the organization. As an
acknowledgement of the importance of this subsystem within the standard SR EN ISO
9001:2008 the sub-chapter 6.2 had been allotted to human resources. From the human
resources point of view, in accordance with this standard, the organization must undertake a
series of actions referring to the competences, the training and the awareness of employees
concerning the quality matter so as:
ƒ to determine which are the competences the staff needs so that the activities they
undertake influence favourably and meet the product requirements,
ƒ to provide training opportunities as well as skills development
ƒ to establish and carry out assessment actions,
ƒ to ensure that the entire personnel is aware of the role, the relevancy and the importance of
their activities
ƒ to keep records of the studies, the trainings and the skills and expertise [7].
Within Chapter 6 The management of resources of SR EN ISO 9004:2010 Leading an
organization towards sustainable success- an approach based on quality management, the
personnel of the organization are treated as a highly important resource. In this context it is
underlined that modern organizations bear the obligation to develop a working environment
meant to encourage “individual development, learning, knowledge transfer and team-work”.
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Attributes referring to human resources that need to govern within organizations that aim to
achieve sustainable success, including knowledge based organizations, comprise action
planning, transparency, ethical approaches and social responsibility[8]. The organizations
bear a series of responsibilities towards their employees:
• transposing strategical and operational goals into specific individual objectives according
to the role of each employee
• identifying constraints linked to the performance of each employee
• determining each employee to undertake their obligations and responsibilities that devolve
individually on each and every one of them in meeting their objectives
• undertaking individual performance assessment against objective fulfilment,
• identifying means of improving individual skills,
• ensuring active participation of employees in forming work teams and promoting the
unfolding of team activities,
• sharing information, knowledge and expertise held by employees.
Principles referring to competences enounced under SR EN ISO 9001:2008 on the topic of
human resources had been taken over, developed and completed under SR EN ISO9004:2010
as follows:
¾ The identification of competences must be carried out on two temporal directions namely:
presently by identifying the present competences available within the organization and
required in order to meet the objectives and for the future meaning the identification of
competences required to carry out long and medium-term objectives.
¾ Improving skills as a consequence of professional training undertaken must be assessed
and furthered.
¾ Introducing motivation, acknowledgment and reward related systems based on
performance assessment
¾ Developing career promotion systems based on competencies, performances and
professional training skills
¾ Implementing systems meant to measure the level of satisfaction/dissatisfaction among
employees starting from the total quality principle by which each employee assumes
different status-roles within the production chain, namely that of supplier or client
depending on the position they hold.
The analysis on the quality of the human capital subsystem needs to start from the definition
of the human capitalby which it is understood a sum up of the educational and biological
capital that represents in fact the entirety of experiences, habits, skills, knowledge that may
turn into sustainable capital with an aim to generate income. According to this definition, the
employee-the human resource-is the holder of the educational and biological capital and the
main responsible for the use and highlight of these attributes. The intensity by which each
element of the human capital manifests within the activities undertaken is mirrored as added
value to the final product.
Conventionally the management of human resources represents an assembly of actions
undertaken by the management of the organization so as to ensure the needed human
resource, their training and development and their preservation in order to meet the desired set
objectives. According to the modern vision, the human resources management represents the
process that brings to harmony the environment, the organization, the position and the
employees, so that employees touch on the desired level of satisfaction while organizations
fulfil their objectives [1].Human resources specific processes may be synthesized as follows:
• Job tailoring
• Recruitment and personnel selection
• Personnel assessment
• Reward systems implementing
152
• Motivation and satisfaction
• Training and learning
• Communication systems
These processes gain new interpretations and approaches looked upon from the two
perspectives that of the total quality management and that of the human capital management.
Redefining them draws upon the quality management specific premises that each process
must be documented in compliance with the requirements-standards specific to the field on
one side and on the presumption that the employee represents an individual value-holder
entity. In the table below the contents of the human resources management processes are
depicted from both points of view:
Table 1. Redefining the contents of the specific processes of human resources management
Classic human Redefining specific human resources management processes according to the total
resources quality management of human capital
management
processes
Job tailoring From the total quality management perspective, job tailoring represents the result of
transposing the strategic objectives and process related objectives into individual
objectives and associated plans. The management has the obligation to identify the
characteristics of the human capital (educational capital - competences, skills, aptitudes,
experiences and biologic capital) required to complete and meet individual short and long
term objectives and to highlight the individual responsibilities in harmony with the
collective responsibilities and have them documented into two document categories:
specific HRM job description sheets and operational procedures and specific TQM work
instruction sheets.
Human capital management aims at attracting trained human capital in achieving
performances by inducing the acceptance of the responsibility towards the results among
employees and by guiding them towards a judicious usage of the resources set at their
disposal.
Recruitment and The personnel selection and recruitment process turns from the TQM (total quality
personnel selection management) perspective into the process designed to identify the required present and
future competences, to identify the available competences within the organization as well
as those that need to be further acquired. Such an approach is surely rigid for the
detachment from the assembly that forms the specific human capital of each employee’s
competencies may not be effectively carried out. Thus the approach should be broadened
and should be more complex so as to take into account the employee along with their
entire capital both biological and educational.
Personnel Human capital assessment is a complex process wherein not only individual performances
assessment of the employee are to be followed upon but also their capacity to perform in the future
after their taking part in various forms of training and learning sessions. In this same
context the assessment can only be carried out against the degree of individual objective
fulfilment. In the evaluation of the personnel, attention should be paid not only to the
work-related performance but also to the entire assembly of factors that influenced the
completion of the performance indicators, and respectively all the elements that form the
educational and biologic capital.
The personnel assessment process is an independent process, carried out by means of
some assessment questionnaires drafted in accordance with the individual objectives.
These offer an important volume of information and records. The interpretation of this
information is not relevant unless it is carried out by comparison against elements that
refer to employee reward, motivation and satisfaction measuring systems.
Reward systems Powerful individualisation within the human capital concept lead to the elimination of
application discriminatory perspectives, each person being valued for their own educational and
biologic capital. The reward system aims at maintaining the level of achieving individual
objectives as a consequence of their acknowledgement.
Reward systems fall into two large categories: direct systems of a pecuniary nature and
indirect ones that may take the shape of social protection programs, rewards linked to the
work environment, to the restoring of the labour force, rewards linked to non-worked time
[1].
Motivation and The motivation of the human capital determines the level of the added value brought by
satisfaction the employee to the production process, but this is not a one-on-one relationship since in
obtaining the added value there is a sum of factors that need to be taken into account.

153
 Thus, there are cases, for instance, when there is motivation but there is no competence, or
cases when the employee is not motivated, yet the level of competence and understanding
of the task determines the achievement of performances complying with indicators.
Motivation, satisfaction and involvement are highly inter-laced. These form up a triangle
wherein psychological and physiological passive states as motivation and satisfaction
determine the occurrence of implication as an active state characterised by the exchange
between the employee and the organization. TQM underlines the need for a continuous
analysis of the satisfaction level among employees, considering it a barometer of the level
of the motivation within employees and a means of measuring their commitment to
achieving their individual objectives.
Training and Organizations that have undertaken the human capital concept invest in the development
learning of their employees and expect that this investment be returned to their organization as
added value to their work. In other words, not only is creativity appreciated but it is also
encouraged to unfold plenary.
From the perspective of the TQM the training of employees and the learning process
observes the continuous improvement principle. The results of the training process need to
be quantifiable, to be mirrored as added value in future actions undertaken by the
employees, and to be measured through assessments.
Communication Within TQM communication systems bear a pronounced formal character. The existence
systems of documents comprising the organizational objectives along with individual objectives,
job descriptions and operational procedures, training planning matched against
organizational needs as well as records on the unfolding of specific human capital related
processes are drafted in compliance with highly thorough standards. From the perspective
of the human capital communication systems do not resume to formal communication but
are rather more informal without taking such a documented shape, being less stark and
more approachable. A highly important role in the human capital management is played
by the training of the teams in the sense of uniting employees with complementary skills
so as to meet the organizational objectives.
Approaching human capital from the perspective of the total quality management had often
been criticised by the sociologists, psychologists and HR specialists because of the pressure
that the rigidity of the system puts upon the employee. These critics consider that the
principles that govern the TQM suggest inflexibility and totalitarianism [4]. The negative
effects that may arise are fear of failure [2], loss of self-confidence, decrease in motivation, a
permanent tension felt by the employee, the existence of restrictive measure narrow down the
creativity, the appearance of a tendency to cover up nonconformity [6], professional burn-down.
The subsystem of the human capital quality is represented as follows in figure 1.
Constraints
Job tailoring
Recruiting and selection
Employee assessment
Training and learning
Communication systems

Educational capital Performance

Transformation Satisfaction
Biological capital process from Organizational objectives
human capital
to performance
Individual objectives

Reward
Motivation
Satisfaction
Training and learning
Figure 1. The subsystem of the human capital quality

154
2. TECHNIQUES IN THE FIELD OF QUALITY EMPLOYED IN HUMAN
RESOURCES MANAGEMENT SO AS TO BOOST PERFORMANCE
The development of techniques and tools in the field of quality management had been
initiated by the Japanese scientists that proposed in the second half of the 20th century the
widespreadusage of these techniques so as to solve quality related issues within Japanese
factories. The preoccupation to develop these techniques and tools supposed the involvement
of the human capital in this process from several points of view:
• Training the human capital so as to acquire the habits required for the correct usage of the
quality management specific techniques and tools. Furthermore, it is extremely important that
each employee holds the capacity to identify the opportunity of appropriately using these tools
• The employed personnel’s acquirement of the habit required for the correct use of the
techniques and tools that are specific to quality management but mostly to use correctly the
information that they provide.
• Establishing and promoting an organizational culture oriented towards quality that enables
the employee to adopt a pro-quality attitude and the openness to approach tools and
techniques that are specific to the quality field.
All these aspects create the premises of employing the techniques and the tools pertaining to
the quality management in the field of human capital management. In the 50s K Ishikawa
proposes the usage of statistical techniques so as to maintain the quality grouped depending
on the difficulty of their usage. Under this category fall: The Pareto diagram, the cause-effect
diagram, the check-list, the histogram, the correlation diagram, the control diagram.
Consequently, in the 70s, The Commission pertaining to the Japanese Union of Scientists and
Engineers proposed the usage of 30 tools and creative and management techniques among
which we encounter: the affinity diagram, the relationship diagram, the matrix based
diagram, the tree diagram, the arrow diagram, the decision diagram, and the factorial data
analyses. G Kanji and M Asher had counted up to 100 tools and techniques pertaining to total
quality management [3].
Table 2 presents a synthesis of the most used tools and techniques specific to the total quality
management as well as their usage in the field of human capital.
Table 2. Tools and techniques specific to the total quality management as well as their usage in the field of
human capital.
Total Quality management Definition Usage in the field of human
specific tools and techniques capital
Classic tools and techniques used in quality management
Data registration sheet Drafted for systematic data Individual employee sheet meant to
registration at a certain time as well record the personal data.
as in the follow-up on their The competences, knowledge and
evolution in time aptitudes tracking sheet
The follow-up sheet on the
evolution of the professional
performance of the employee.
Charts (columns, bars, lines, Charts are a means of representing The analysis of all data referring to
circular charts, radial charts) quality related data. the personnel, their knowledge,
Graphical representation enables their skills and competences as well
the comparison of values, the as the analysis of their evolution
highlighting of time variations or of matched against various
averages of certain values in the parameters.
entirety of a process under analysis. Carrying out analysis on the
professional performance
evolution.
Gantt Chart This type of chart implies a Plans concerning the career
graphical representation of a evolution.
sequence of processes in time.
Histograms This tool is used for a graphic The analysis of the professional
representation of the distribution of evolution within the larger
155
 an array of values so as to identify institutional frame and the
critical values. identification of critical points or
This instrument enables measure vulnerable points of the human
taking in view of improving capital and the potential impacts on
quality. the institutional performance.
The correlation diagram This type of tools is used to The analysis of the correlation of
identify the correlations between information on the evolution of
two data categories. The correlation human capital reported to category
may be strong, poor or inexistent variables, numerals or interval
altogether. types.
The Pareto diagram The tool allows the identification of The analysis of the frequency of the
the intensity of the distribution of causes that lead to medium or poor
the causes that engender the effects level performances.
that manifest most frequently. The analysis of attitudes towards
work and the causes that lead to
such manifestations.
The control diagram These types of tools are used in the The analysis of the professional
analysis of the repetitive performances evolution as a
continuous processes. consequence of continuous training
processes.
The cause-effect diagram Represents the tools used to May be used in the analysis of any
identify and establish hierarchies human capital related problem.
on the causes that produce a certain
effect
Process diagram The toolis used to present The analysis of work processes.
graphically a process by using a The analysis of specific human
series of predefined symbols, set in capital management processes.
a specific order
Brainstorming Represents a tool used to gather The establishment of specific tools
ideas on an established theme or an in the analysis of human capital.
identifies problem. Identifying solutions to various
specific problems linked to the
human capital management
process.
Modern Techniques and tools in quality management
The affinity diagram The tool allows the structuring of a May be used in establishing
large number of ideas in the context specific tools for the analysis of the
of complex situations human capital following the
application of the brainstorming
method.
The relationship diagram The tool allows the identification of May be used in order to refine
the successive causes of a problem performance indicators and
and the establishment of specific professional performance
cause-effect pairs. assessment criteria
The tree diagram The tool allows the highlight of the
objectives and the required
associated actions so as to meet
them.
The decision diagram The tool points at the way a process Establishing procedures and actions
unfolds under clearly defined for risk situations so as to cut down
situations, taking into account all on their effects. Used mainly in the
factors that may impact on the health and safety field
process and identifying the
measures required in order to
counter the perturbations.
3. CONCLUSIONS
Human capital is characterised by dynamism and manifests differently depending on the
constraints to which it is subjected during the performance achieving process. Within the
context of the organization, the human capital functions systematically due to its capacity to
grasp knowledge, due to transformation processes that occur within the human capital, due to
the ability to respond to external stimuli such as constraints or motivational factors and to
156
adapt consequently their behaviour and mostly to render performance, to meet objectives-
both personal and collective- and to generate states of satisfaction.
The functioning of this complex system within modern organizations must occur
harmoniously, in sync with the other organizational systems and to respond to constraints
generated by these other systems. Total quality management by its very formal and rigid
nature exerts powerful influences upon the human capital leading thus to a new type of
approach wherein emphasis is laid on aspects like:
• employees undertaking the commitment towards results,
• within the recruitment process the topic of recruiting the right persons is no longer at the
heart of the matter but rather identifying the required present and future competences
available within the organization and those that need to be further acquired. This type of
approach has a depersonalization effect on the recruitment process as it becomes less flexible
yet more objective based
• the identification of the capabilities of the human capital to perform in the future as a
consequence of their having attended trainings and learning sessions. The assessment process
does not aim solely to follow up on the performances but rather the assessment needs to
become a barometer of the human capital capacity to evolve by knowledge grasping and
mostly by turning tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge mirrored into the production
process
• the valuation of each individual for their educational and biological capital. This fact is
determined especially by the individual commitment towards results.
• commitment determined by the level of motivation and satisfaction acquired, is the
milestone set forward for the exchange between employer and employee. The more
committed the employee the more their performance tends to evolve, the higher the chances
of the organization to reach their objectives
• the participation of employees to continuous trainings observes the principle of continuous
improvement but only to the extent to which the knowledge grasped is turned to performance
• training the work teams. This process aims at employing people with complementary
competencies so as to reach organizational objectives.
The total quality management disposes of specific tools and techniques with widespread
applicability. Using them within knowledge based organizations becomes a must in the
context when their decisional process is grounded on real-life information sets, collected
accurately and scientifically. Applying these techniques and tools within the human capital
management becomes mandatory in organizations that look upon knowledge as their main
resource. The rigidity of these tools had often been criticised by sociologists, psychologists
and HR specialists and mainly by the employees because of the pressure that it applies on the
latter in their quality of human capital carriers. Nonetheless, the use of techniques and tools
that are specific to the quality management system should be undertaken and should be
looked upon as a conditioning operational and motivational element. The theory on behaviour
reinforcement developed and sustained by the psychologist BF Skinner relies on the fact that
human action is determined by stimuli to which the individual is subjected, so that to the
extent that the stimuli that trigger directly the human action can be controlled, human
behaviour associated to these stimuli can equally be controlled and directed. Studies have
proved that the application of this motivational theory in the organizational context engenders
rapid effects. The consolidation as process and the use from this point of view of the tools
specific to total quality management may be perceived as positive, negative or neutral,
according to judgments passed on the behaviour of the employee. The employer and the
employee may have simultaneous, yet different, perceptions both on the tools and on the
performances achieved upon applying these tools. Decreasing the effects of the psychological
pressure but also obtaining a positive perception or at least a neutral one on the usage of these
tools and techniques may be obtained by the management by applying some measure linked
to:

157
¾ continuous pro-quality trainings for employees
¾ informing employees on the means and tools used
¾ ensuring confidentiality of personal data after having applied said tools and avoiding all
harm towards the personal interest of the employees
¾ granting transparency in the decision-making process based on information gathered by
applying the said techniques and tools
¾ engaging the employee in the decision-making process concerning the human capital.
4. REFERENCES
1. Deaconu, A., Podgoreanu, S., Rașcă, L., Factorul uman și performanțele organizației,
Editura ASE, București, (2004).
2. Juran, J., M., Quality control handbook, Mc Graw-Hill, New York, (1974).
3. Kanji, G., Asher, M., 100 methods for total quality management, Sage Publications,
London, (1996).
4. Olaru, M. Magementul calității, Editura Economică, (1999).
5. Olaru, M. și alții, Tehnici și instrumente utilizate în managementul calității, Editura
Economică, (2000).
6. Orgonzo, I., LES PARADOXES DE LA QUALITE, Les Editions d`Organization, Paris,
(1987).
7. SR EN ISO 9001:2008Sisteme de management al calității. Cerințe.
8. SR EN ISO 9004:2010 Conducerea unei organizații către un succes durabil. O abordare
bazată pe managementul calității.

158
The 2nd Intternational Scienttific Conference SAMRO
S 2016
Romania, October,
O 2016

KPI APPLICATIONS FOR IT&

&C USED
D IN NAT
TURAL G
GAS SECTOR

Constantinn OPREAN. 1, Mihail Aurel

A TITU,, 2 Dorin-Vaasile DEAC
C-ȘUTEU. 3
1
"Lucian Blagga" Universityy of Sibiu, con
nstantin.opreaan@ulbsibiu.roo
2"Lucian Blaga"
B Univeersity of Sibiu,, mihail.titu@
@ulbsibiu.ro
3
SNTGN N “Transgaz”” SA Medias, fam.deac@gm
f mail.com

ABSTRA ACT: This paaper is an anaalysis of the coomplexity in interpreting innstruments too measure the effects of
implemennting an inforrmation system m in the utilitties industry, specifically inn the natural ggas sector. Sp
pecificities
of the sector imposed reviewing thhe conditions and ownership diversificattion agents opperating in th he system,
without detailing
d the contribution
c o each econom
of mic agent on each floor off the sector: eexploration, prroduction,
gas transm mission, interrnational transsit, supply, diistribution. Th
he impact of implementing
i an informatioon system
of perforrmance indicaators for the relevant activvities for natu ural gas requuire studying a data volum me from a
relativelyy taut period of
o time, notingg that some daata are protecteed by the provvisions of tradde agreements in force.
KEYWO ORDS: Key peerformance inndicator for IT T.

1. INT
TRODUCT
TION
Romaniia was amonng the first countries where
w liberaalization andd free moveement of go
oods and
servicess in the gass sector waas possible in the firstt years after 1989, opeened gradu ually and
applyingg the prinnciple of access to thhe third paarties TPA A (third paarty access)) to the
transmission and distribution of
o natural gas [1].

This principlee has allow wed custom mers to

choose their gaas source (import or domestic
d
prod
duction) andd the point of delivery..

Ammid the evoolution and maturation n of the

marrket were drafted
d new regulationss trading
thatt led to the need to esttablish the regulator
r
in the
t field, initially AN
ANRGN - National
N
Reggulatory Authority
A in Natural Gas
(Jan
nuary. 20000 - approxx. 2007) currently
c
ANNRE - NationalN A
Authority Energy
reguulatory.

"Thhe Authoritty is an aautonomouss public

insttitution, havving as mmain tasks required
ruleemaking officials’
o eelectricity market,
nam
mely naturaal gas, in teerms of eff fficiency,
com
mpetition, transparenccy and co onsumer
prottection, andd the applicaation and foollow up
of regulations issued"
i [2].
Figure 1.. Romanian gaas market

Restructuring gas sector

s has been
b paved increasing
i competition
c n in the secttor and privaatization
process of compannies and elim minate the monopoly hitherto
h by companiess in which the t State
was the majority shhareholder.

159
Currenttly, accordiing to infoormation puublished by y ANRE, the gas m market in Romania
R
registereed the following particcipants:
• 6 manufacturer
m rs: Petrom,RRomgaz,Am mromco,Torreador, Winntershall M Medias, Aureelian Oil
& Gas
G
• 3 unnderground storage opeerators:Rom mgaz,Amgazz, Depomurres
• a Naational Trannsmission System
S Operrator - Tran
nsgaz S.A. Medias
M
• 34 companies
c f distributtion and suppply of natu
for ural gas to captive
c conssumers - thee biggest
Disttrigaz Sud and
a E. ON Gaz G Romania
• 76 providers
p onn wholesale market

Majorityy of capital structure innvolved in the

t gas mark
ket is as follows:

Statte Shareholdiing,  Prrivate Sharehholding
C
Company Major Shareeholder
% privat*, %
%
•OMV P Petrom •20,6
639 •79,361 ••OMV
•Romggaz SA •70,0
01 •29,99 •
•Statul românn
•Amrom mco •‐ •100 •
•Amromco
•Toreaador •‐ •100 •
•Toreador
•Winteershall •‐ •100 •
•Wintershall
•Aureliian Oil&Gas •‐ •100 •
•Aurelian Oil
l&Gas
•Transgaz •58,5
5097 •41,4093 •
•Statul românn
•Amgaz •info
ormatii  •‐ •
•‐
indiisponibile
•Depommures •‐ •100 ••GdF Suez
•Distriggaz Sud •37 •63 •
•GDF Suez
•E.ON GGaz •37 •63 •
•E.ON Gaz ro mânia 
•* end of 2015 Holding

Figurre 2. Capital structure

s of Ro
omanian gas market
m

2. ROM
MANIAN GAS
G MAR
RKET LIBE
ERALIZAT
TION
"From 1 July 20077, the markeet is fully opened
o to alll consumerrs, if they hhave the freeedom to
choose a natural gasg supplieer of the liicensed by the regulattory authorrity and to directly
negotiatte terms andd price for natural
n gas supply"
s [2]

2001
1 20
002 2
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
10% 25
5% 3
30% 40% 50% 65% 100%
%

F
Figure 3. Evollution of the liiberalization of
o the gas marrket in Romannia

In the competitive
c market, priices are form
med freely,, based on supply
s and demand, ass a result
of comppetitive mecchanisms. Inn the regulaated segmennt of the maarket, pricess and tariffs systems
are estabblished by the
t regulatoor based on methodolog gies issued in
i this regarrd.

3. KPIIS

160
Key indicators for performance, KPIs, are the most popular now management instruments.
Using them can be seen in various activities: National Museum of Australia, National Bank of
Nigeria Administration Panama Canal, the Association of American Medicine. KPIs are used
to understand, learn and improve the performance level of industries, departments and teams
[3].KPIs are seen in top 3 in the tools most used by management.

Othe tools
Strategic risk indicators
KPIs
Objectivee
Initiatives portfolio of strategic projects
Dashbord performance
Performance scorecard
Map strategy
State of evolution
Strategic plan
Success factors
Value

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Figure 4. Which tools of performance management is used in your organization, %[4]

Diversifying ownershipof gas company, namely the need to synthesize business results to
ensure transparency of management, and implementation of Community legislation required
the introduction of performance indicators based management with the following objectives:

• Transformation strategies measurable indicators;

• Defining the processes and actions needed to achieve the indicators defined
• Tracking indicators and their trends
• Reporting on indicators
• Identify ways action to maintain the indicators within certain limits, etc.

Natural gas is defined as the strategic economic importance and it is assumed that the
provision of gas supply to consumers, both industrial for continuity of supply ensures proper
conduct of the manufacturing process and for commercial customers and households to
interrupt gas supply can generate a state of danger.

Depending on the model adopted by management may establish basic levels of business
management mode by defining the scope and strategy, targets and indicators.

A suitable model allows the measurement objectives in an appropriate strategy based on

performance indicators, key. You can also opt for setting responsibilities and targets for each
level of activity and tracking progress through a comparison tables - scorecard.

Performance indicators are used for the main areas of impact: financial, customer, internal
processes and personnel. For each zone defines a number of key performance indicators that
determine performance indicators for each level achieved.

Currently the software applications are used at all levels of activity of a company, so its
related indicators directly affect the performance indicators for a certain level.

In previous years’ privatization IT activity was monitored by two performance indicators:

161
1. The availability of the system, representing one of the levels of performance for
information technology services, as determined by the number of hours that the computer
system is available to users, based on the number of hours a year, respectively,
2. The share of investments to modernize the system, representing total expenditures for
upgrading the computer system compared to the total capital expenditure, both indicators
are expressed as a percentage.

In the period 1990-2000 the energy system of benefits for a secured loan guaranteed by
Romanian Government for Restructuration activities in the field, one of the components
represented by introducing specialized systems (SCADA - Conpet SA, Financial Management
- Accounting - RA Romgaz, Transgaz respectively SA or assisted introduction of modern
technologies - welding of polyethylene pipes - Distrigaz SA).

By restructuring the energy sector following the implementation of a new vision of the
economy and the emergence of new knowledge-based management functions [5]

The concept of knowledge-based economy has been defined as the economy based directly on
the production, distribution anduse of knowledge an information. The integration of
information technology in management processes, command, communication, control and
obtaining information is one of the general principle of knowledge management [6]

Under this funding it was possible to equip the different levels of activity with computers,
mainly personal computers that used integrated applications installed on central servers.

This step has changed the assumptions for the use of informatics applications from local client
applications, and enabled the introduction of performance indicators on the components of the
new system: local area network, server, application, remote communication:

Table 1. The most common KPIs

With general purpose With effects on business
Indicators for application development
Enterprise applications used per employee Number of platforms for application
development
Strategic investments in it costs Number platform for running applications
Web applications complying with enterprise Business interruptions caused by lack of
architecture appropriate it capabilities
Electronic financial management processes Frequency independent assessments of
supported compliance in IT
New features per release software Enterprise architecture update frequency
Timely completion of software applications Improving data quality
Compliant software applications Updates to the application software
successfully completed
The rate of resolution of the problems it
applications
Complying estimated budget
Compliance software development schedule
Indicators for infrastructure availability
Availability Data Network The maximum fluctuation way Internet
access
The availability of remote communication The ratio of printers and employees
Availability of applications Servers managed by a system administrator
The duration of interruption hardware /
software

162
With general purpose With effects on business
Indicators for continuity of services
Average response time for an application for The maximum number of users
a Quality of Service Agreement (SLA)
Incidents remedied by the service provider During the installation of the software
Timely implementation of new technology, Penalties for service delay delivery
proper business requirements
IT budget spent on service delivery Resolving a service request using principal
IT support department

The average duration of a service request IT recurring incidents

fulfillment
Indicators for security
It security goals aligned with organizational The frequency of assessments and analyzes
goals of risks in it
Successful backup operations Incidents of violation it policies
Incidents of security breaches or outages Security events affecting business operations
systems
Security events affecting business operations The detection time of the incident

Policy compliance passwords It security budget

Downtime due to security incidents Security awareness
Network attacks detected
Indicators for general aspects
Budget investment in technology Time dedicated IT creative activities
consumption
IT asset efficiency New initiatives generated by IT business

4. CONCLUSIONS
In a market economy system in which the number of competitors is steadily increasing
customer access to information has led to diversification and present them directly to the
consumer. [5].

With the relocation of several activities in the online environment, systems can no longer be
considered the secondary level by managers to perform multiple functions at strategic level: assistance
in making management decisions, contact between the company and the business environment, access
to information allow communication and transfer of documents etc.[7]

There are many variants of defining and many performance indicators related to activities of
natural gas sector, for service quality, both technically and from the economic point of view,
although version many cases the return on investment is difficult quite justified version of the
report on usage of certain services.

But the character of strategic importance can change the hierarchy of indicators versus theory,
so that certain components "vital" information System, economic performance can be
significantly influenced by the nature of security.
Lately site www.elicitatie.ro were identified a series of acquisitions aimed at increasing
security objectives in the field which will certainly affect computer systems or
communications system.

To define performance indicators that will improve services necessary to use objective criteria
for their determination and elimination of subjectivity in interpreting the results.

163
It also requires greater transparency in the publication of indicators in the annual reports of
companies, which would allow the adoption of a common standard for all providers of
services to companies in the gas sector, the model used by community associations, ENTSOG
(European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas), ENTSO- E (European
Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity) or EASEE -gas (European
Association for the Streamlining of Energy Exchange - gas)

Company management cannot become effective without knowledge center location

managerial processes and relations and maintaining communication and information
infrastructure to modern standards. Managers must have the necessary knowledge and
appropriate use of technology to ensure the realization of projects and applications for
performance in the company [6].

To the question "How can will be justified as investments in IT and computer applications,
can be determined contribution to the development of the business?" Is not a simple answer,
and maybe is not enough the calculation of some of the indicators listed above, for the
following reasons:
• Productivity expected after implementation of an IT system can only be determined after
processing a large data set, in terms of quality, customer service, data availability,
individual quantifiable parameters, but difficult to aggregate [8]
• There are many factors affecting business performance and impact it is difficult to identify
given that IT managers do not recognize or currently use tools for data analyze. [8]
• The audit of a computer system generally issued only results regarding limitations on data
and instruments used, but not really the basis for investment decisions.
• Motivation to modernize IT infrastructure must be as introducing new tools for new
business, the wrong approach to produce the same data in larger quantities. Statement to be
adopted (Watts,1986) that " investment in information technology can not only be justified
by reductions in production cost, managers should aim primarily increased flexibility and
adaptability"
• Planning the investment budget is based solely on calculation of financial ratios
determined following formulas established, although today all activities are dependent on
IT systems.

These are only some of the arguments to show how difficult it is to measure the benefits of
information technology in terms of productivity. TI's benefits must be identified in the quality
of services, utility products, namely a qualitative and quantitative analysis of business results
by increasing the variety, quality and efficiency to changes in the economic environment.

5. REFERENCES
1. Simescu, Nicolae, Trifan Cornel, Albulescu Mihai, Chisalita, Activitateagaziera din
Romania in tranzitia la o piatalibera, functionalasiintegrabila in
UniuneaEuropeana,EdituraUniversitatii Petrol-Gaze din Ploiesti, (2008), ISBN978-973-
719-210-3.
2. Regulatory Authority for Energy from Romania, website, www.anre.com, section Natural
Gas, 2016
3. Eab Group, 2011, Top 10 KPIs în 2010, Melbourne, Australia
4. Acumen Integrat, 2012, ManagementulperformanţeiînRomânia 2012 - Raportulstudiului,
Cluj-Napoca, România
5. Oprean, Constantin, coordonator, MetodeșiTehnici ale cunoașteriiștiințifice,
EdituraUniversității „Lucian Blaga” din Sibiu, 2006 ISBN (10) 973-739-284-1, ISBN (13)
978-973-739-284-8
6. Oprean, Constantin, Titu, Mihail, Bucur, Viorel, Managementul global al
organizatțieibazatăpecunoștiințe, Editura AGIR, 2011 ISBN 978-973-720-363-2
164
7. Guran, Marius, SistemeInformatice – infrastructurainformaionalasi de comunicatii in
intreprindereamoderna, Editura AGIR 2008, ISBN978-973-720-203-1
8. RevistaInformaticaEconomica, nr. 11 /1999, Rosca, Ion, Uscatu, Cristian,
Tehnologiainformațeișiproductivitatea

165
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016

Romania, October, 2016

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN

AUTOMOTIVE FIELD

Mihail Aurel Țîțu1, Constantin Oprean2, and Andreea Simina Răulea3

1
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, mihail.titu@ulbsibiu.ro
2
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, constantin.oprean@aulbsibiu.ro
3
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, andreea.raulea@ulbsibiu.ro

ABSTRACT: The quality represents a strategic resource for economic activities of any organization.
Automotive field is one of the most representatives at the level of Romania, by providing a significant number of
jobs and financial resources. The purpose of this article is to highlight the current situation in the field of
automotive stressing the importance of quality and innovation in order to create competitive advantage. The
main conclusion of this study is that organisations in the field of automotive technology that have implemented
quality systems and valorize the intangible assets resources recorded an obvious success.
KEYWORDS: quality, innovation, automotive, quality management.

1. INTRODUCTION
Complex technologies from automotive industry amplify the collaborative efforts on the
knowledge creation. With effort, any organization can mantain a role in the current
competitive environment just relying on its activities of research and development. However,
organizations do not have the ability to master all emerging technologies that may have a
potential impact on the products [1].

Common projects of research and development, strategic alliances and other forms of
collective innovation, make sharing of knowledge and competences possible [2]. Research
and development processes involve common access to critical resources that most are not
available.

Theorists’ followers of neo-schumpeteriene theory emphasize the importance of opportunities

for learning and knowledge transfer within the framework of the cooperation networks [3]. A
positive principle of current neo-schumpeterian competition is that innovation takes place
through price competition and becomes the dominant mechanism of coordination behavior of
economic agents.

Knowledge represents the key resource of inventions and innovation by default. These are
hard to imitate, transferred or substituted. Intensely knowledge-based industries, such as
automotive industry are much more susceptible to innovative collaborations that bring
multiple benefits to all those involved.

166
For a good knowledge of the dynamics of organizations and resources can no longer be
successfully used the concept of "trader representative" because real economic processes are
heterogeneous, with permanent innovations product and process. It is assumed that most
easily harnessed innovations are technological innovation because they allow both the
formulation of new technological processes, the emergence of new products, but also new
knowledge that can accumulate to a technology, for an industry or for the world.

Great economists and researchers of this century have long predicted that the changes in the
economy are both quantitative and qualitative, and the current neo-schumpeterian proposes as
a tool for quantifying the effects of the economic concept of innovation.

Within the industry added value and jobs for the labor force are creted. The passage of time,
causes to the organisations the accumulation of increasing knowledge about technology, while
seeking to exploit through a profit as possible. In a quantitative growth, organisations
gathered a growing stock of traditional production factors as economies of scale, had total
production costs of the average lower in the long term, and the price was a sufficiently
representative indicator for resource allocation in the economy.
In the automotive industry, an example of collaboration is the one in which Audi, BMW and
Daimler have purchased digital maps division “Here” of the Finnish producer of
telecommunications equipment and Nokia. This example shows the potential of innovation
and orientation towards continuous improvement in order to obtain profit.

2. QUALITY IN AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Globally, the automotive industry calls for specific standards and for manufacturers of
original equipment for motor vehicles and their suppliers of components or materials.
Original equipment manufacturers and service providers recognize the importance of
compliance to standards in order to remain competitive. The alignment of the system of
quality management ISO 9001 at minimum requirements is also important to increase
profitability by reducing problems and supply chain risks

Quality system, as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000
series of standards relating to quality management, has been developed in response to the
challenges of globalisation and increased market was unanimously accepted. ISO aims at
facilitating the development and standardization of international goods and services

ISO/TS 16949 supplement the requirements of ISO 9001 for production in the automotive
industry. Emerged from the need to have a harmonised global document for quality
management system ISO/TS 16949, was developed by the International Automotive Task
Force (IATF) and ISO Technical Committee. This technical specification combines all
previous standards of quality, respective QS-9000, VDA 6.1, EAQF and AVSQ 94. Obtaining
certification to ISO/TS 16949 demonstrates that the Organization in question meets the
requirements for the quality management system to implement continuous improvement
processes, with an emphasis on prevention of defects and reducing the generation of wastes
and the variations in the supply chain. Technical requirements implemented are intended for

167
all types of manufacturers and suppliers of products or materials, or services such as thermal
treatments or galvanisation, and other specified products by customers, such as parts of motor
vehicles. Certification of compliance with these requirements is recognised by major auto
manufacturers. Many of the major auto manufacturers work only with companies that have
certification to ISO/TS 16949, and asks that in turn and their suppliers to adhere to strict
technical specifications contained in this standard. So, it is evident the importance of quality
in the automotive field.

3. STATUS QUO IN AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

The auto industry from Romania ran in the previous year, 2015, cumulative business nearly to
90 billion lei from the production of automobiles and auto parts, the biggest players in the
local market being Dacia on the production of cars and Continental on the production of
components.

The top ten companies on the local market have run last year almost 31 billion lei, up 5%
compared to the previous year, the largest increase being dashed by the importers. But nearly
two-thirds of business represents the plant in Mioveni
Although automobile sales continued to be on an increasing trend the market remains far from
sales in the period before the crisis.

Among the viable solutions for the automotive industry to be maintained at a good level
include transforming the program Rabla into a multiannual program, or fiscalization of
second-hand imported cars. Another big problem is infrastructure. Romania needs to recover
the gap in infrastructure (particularly road and rail), health, education, urban and regional
development, energy, the restructuring of government management capacity and
strengthening institutions of the state, and, in addition to the central authorities, an essential
role it will have the initiative of the municipalities in order to promote such improvement
projects through the absorption of Community funds at local and regional level. Must be
viewed in perspective, and that analyzed recent years were not representative in terms of
investment in infrastructure and this is a wake-up call in view of the desire to attract other
potential investors.

The local auto industry relied in recent years on the production of cars, rather than the actual
sale of cars in Romania. Although last year there were almost 120,000 sold vehicles, the
volume remains far from a maximum of about 366,000 units sold in 2007, the year of the
boom of the local car market.

Sales of motor vehicles increased last year by 20% compared to 2014, to 120,591 units,
according to manufacturers and importers Association (APIA), of which almost 80% were
legal persons and individuals customers. Sales of trucks (commercial vehicles of more than
3.5 tons) increased over media market, after an advance of almost 38% to 7,400 units [4].
Dacia automobile manufacturer, the main constructor in the local market, last year recorded a
turnover of over 19 billion lei (4.3 billion euros), up 2% compared to the previous year, when
the company ran 18.8 billion lei, according to the company data [5]. The increase in the
168
turnover of the company comes as car production in Mioveni has stalled last year about
339,000 units. Porsche Romania, the largest auto importer in the local market, took last year
on business of 453 million euros (2 billion $), up 14 percent, compared with 2014, company
data show, surpassing for the first time since the crisis threshold of 450 mil. euro.

The figures for 2015, as reported by importers and traders of machines to the Ministry of
public finance (MFP), show that last year the business had gone much better than in the
previous one. That's without the 2014 has been a very difficult year for the industry. Well, in
the Top 10 of the leading business figures, is Renault Commercial Roumanie, company
responsible in Romania for Dacia brands Nissan and Renault. Division of the Renault group
Romania, it achieved last year business worth 502 million euro, increasing by 19% compared
to 2014.

The 2nd place ranking in Romania is located, a division of the Porsche Porsche Holding
GmbH headquartered in Salzburg, who manages the fate of Audi, Seat, Škoda, Volkswagen
commercial vehicles, and Das WeltAuto (second-hand cars). It has recorded in 2015 a
turnover of 454 million euros, up from 398 million in the previous year. The third place is
occupied by the representation of Mercedes-Benz, which announced an increase of business
with no less than 35% to 330 million euros. Otherwise all other companies in the Top 10 have
reported increases in business figures, worthy of note being the increase of this indicator in
the case of Rădăcini Motors, that has doubled.

Currently, VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda are represented nationally by 101 distributors. On every
brand, VW brand has 22 dealers, Audi has a grid of 13 distributors, distributors network for
Skoda comprises 32 centres, SEAT 12, and Volkswagen commercial vehicles are now 22.

Romania entered in 2015 in the rank of the biggest 10 machine manufacturers in Europe
(table 1), by the number of vehicles manufactured, according to data presented at the
Transportation and Mobility Solutions Experience Forum. It is estimated that by 2021 the
biggest increases in the production of lightweight automobiles will record segments B (low
grade) and C (compact), where fit the cars manufactured in Romania.

Table 1. Global car production

No.crt. Comercial
Country Car number Total % Differnce
cars
1. Total 68,539,516 22,241,067 90,780,583 1.10%
2. China 21,079,427 3,423,899 24,503,326 3.30%
3. Japan 7,830,722 1,447,516 9,278,238 -5.10%
4. Germany 5,707,938 325,226 6,033,164 2.10%
5. USA 4,163,679 7,936,416 12,100,095 3.80%
6. South 4,135,108 420,849 4,555,957 0.70%
Korea
7. India 3,378,063 747,681 4,125,744 7.30%
8. Spain 2,218,980 514,221 2,733,201 13.70%

169
 No.crt. Comercial
Country Car number Total % Differnce
cars
9. Brazil 2,018,954 410,509 2,429,463 -22.80%
10. Mexico 1,968,054 1,597,415 3,565,469 5.90%
11. UK 1,587,677 94,479 1,682,156 5.20%
12. France 1,553,800 416,200 1,970,000 8.20%
13. Czech Rep. 1,298,236 5,367 1,303,603 4.20%
14. Russia 1,214,849 169,550 1,384,399 -26.60%
15. Slovakia 1,000,001 0 1,000,001 3.00%
16. Canada 888,565 1,394,909 2,283,474 -4.60%
17. Iran 884,866 97,471 982,337 -9.90%
18. Indonesia 824,445 274,335 1,098,780 -15.40%
19. Turkey 791,027 567,769 1,358,796 16.10%
20. Thailand 772,250 1,143,170 1,915,420 1.90%
21. Others 693,817 138,866 832,683 19.10%
22. Italy 663,139 351,084 1,014,223 45.30%
23. Malaysia 558,324 56,347 614,671 3.30%
24. Poland 534,700 125,903 660,603 11.30%
25. Hungary 491,720 3,650 495,370 13.20%
26. Romania 387,171 6 387,177 -1.10%
27. Belgium 369,172 40,168 409,340 -20.80%
28. South 341,025 274,633 615,658 8.80%
Africa

Source: The International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers [6]

The value of investments in the manufacture of automotive components is higher compared to

other countries in the area of Central and Eastern Europe, local suppliers are already starting
to invest in innovation and technology products. However, do not allow investments still
capitalizing on the entire potential of the sector in Romania.

Significant technological developments in automotive industry in Romania are the

manufacture of next-generation environmentally friendly engines, manufacturing of high-end
speed for large builders, microelectronics and mechatronics advanced including research and
development, advanced technologies and auto components from plastic masses, rubber,
composites, increasing use of robots on the production lines, as well as the emergence of local
companies involved in the expansion of digitalization in automotive industry.

For Romania, the current competitive advantages in the cost of labor and utilities will
gradually diminish in the future, so that new investments and capacity developments will be
targeted towards new products and technologies globally competitive, with high added value.
The likely trends for local auto industry are: development of digitalizării for the concept of
optimization technologies, products, logistics, lean production, but also for the coinnovation

170
of the components in the chains of suppliers; the emergence of new investment and research
and development activities, private car, driven by improved cooperation between industry and
public research-development and support of real state granted; local links of chains of
suppliers will multiply on the basis of the growth of the workforce innovation of local auto
suppliers, but also easier access to loans; they will record more indigenous capital investment
in the area of SMEs, due to the high degree of accessibility to European funds earmarked for
competitiveness and the development of collaboration between SMEs and technical
universities. All these actions could change the order on top brands with the highest sales in
Europe (table 2).

Table 2. Car producers with highest sell in Europe

No. Sales 2015 Sales 2014 % Difference

Brand
crt. 14,202,024 13,006,885 9.2
1. VOLKSWAGEN 1,727,094 1,621,224 6.5
2. FORD 1,020,875 940,242 8.6
3. RENAULT 975,450 877,091 11.2
4. OPEL/VAUXHALL 942,128 886,450 6.3
5. PEUGEOT 856,091 786,176 8.9
6. AUDI 767,173 726,144 5.7
7. BMW 748,176 676,618 10.6
8. MERCEDES 737,278 652,373 13
9. FIAT 656,669 586,294 12
10. SKODA 617,636 582,241 6.1
11. TOYOTA 565,317 534,232 5.8
12. NISSAN 557,354 479,299 16.3
13. CITROEN 549,684 525,151 4.7
14. HYUNDAI 470,130 424,021 10.9
15. KIA 384,790 353,719 8.8
16. DACIA 382,948 364,219 5.1
17. SEAT 338,383 328,246 3.1
18. MAZDA 211,391 174,628 21.1
19. MINI 187,706 156,908 19.6
20. SUZUKI 181,456 162,335 11.8

Source: The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association [7]

As can be seen in table with number 2, BMW and Mercedes have had strong sales and have
narrowed the gap towards the Audi, which was among the worst increase in sales of the top
10 brands.

In the light of table 2 it should be noted that in terms of brand value ranking is quite another.
The highest value is for the Toyota brand, followed by BMW and Mercedes-Benz (table 3). It
should be sayed that the brand value differs. The rank made by Forbes [8], emphasize that

171
Apple is on the first place and Toyota is placed on 6, followed by BMV on 14 and Mercedes-
Benz on 20.

Table 3. Brand value

BRAND VARIATION ACTIVITY

No.
BRAND VALUE 2015/2016 COUNTRY SECTOR
crt.
(in billions $)
1 Apple/ 231.9/ - SUA Tehnology
Google 229.2
Google/ 229.2/
2 Apple 228.5 - SUA Tehnology

3 Microsoft 121.8 5% SUA Tehnology

4 AT&T 107.4 20% SUA Telecom
5 Facebook 102.5 44% SUA Tehnology
6 Visa 100.8 10% SUA Credit cards
7 Amazon 99 59% SUA Retail
8 Verizon 93.2 8% SUA Telecom
9 McDonald's 88.7 9% SUA Fast Food
10 IBM 86.2 -8% SUA Tehnology
...
28 Toyota 29.5 2% Japonia Auto
33 BMW 26.8 2% Germania Auto
Mercedes-
39 Benz 22.7 4% Germania Auto
74 Honda 13.2 -1% Japonia Auto
75 Ford 13.1 0% SUA Auto
92 Nissan 11.5 1% Japonia Auto

Source: Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands [9]

European automobile industry invests 44.7 billion euros in research and development every
year, about 5% of the total turnover of the industry as a whole.

Vehicle manufacturers are a driving force for innovation in Europe is the leading research and
development vehicles ever safer, and with improved production processes, logistics and
mobility management.

More efficient vehicles are a direct result of previous investments in research and
development. They are also proof of innovation that characterizes a european automotive
sector extremely competitive. The automotive industry is applying for 6000 patents annuly.

Typically, the process of research and development is a long-term strategic process.

Automobile production is based on significant investment and, increasingly more on
partnerships with stakeholders. Therefore, it takes time to realize products capable to undergo
rigorous testing to ensure technologies ready for production. Bringing to market new

172
technologies takes time and repeated tests. Considering the evolution of the number of patents
for invention filed, one can say that the interest in this area is on an upward trend (Figure 1).
As can be seen, in the last years China is the one that show the most interest for innovation in
this field followed by United States of America. But despite this in an economic universe of
such commingled control and freedom, it is extremely difficult to determine how a single
element such as patents has affected competition. The automobile industry itself is a primary
factor in the operation of the industrial system. The demands which it makes upon raw
materials, fabricated products, and corollary goods and services speak of its critical
importance in the industrial structure. The fluctuations in its output, prices, and employment
at any given time are readings of the pulse of the economy and portents of its immediate
future. Obviously such an industry has a very high coefficient of patentability. If it is
considered that more than fifteen thousand items are assembled in an automobile, drawing
upon a large number of mechanical, electrical, and chemical industries, it would seem
inevitable that patent problems would pose continuous difficulty to the industry. In some
phases of its activities the automobile industry is an example par excellence of extreme
integration, both vertical and horizonal. In still other phases it has maintained a competitive
ebb and flow of market relations. It has had trade groupings and associations almost
continuously since its foundation, but it has also had conspicuous and ever-present
challengers to any concert of interests [10].

Figure 1. The evolution of automotive patents

Source: WIPO Statistics [11] http://ipstats.wipo.int/ipstatv2/ipsBarchartval

Transport and mobility are a prerequisite for economic prosperity and social activity, but it
also presents significant challenges for sustainable development. In the decades to come,
research and development in motorization will focus on areas such as rationalization of
transport, improving road safety and focusing on the environmental impact of increased
mobility needs. As can be seen in Figure 2, the organization with the most patent applications
filed and Bosch are Toyota, Hyunday. Making a correlation between the number of patents

173
and brand value (table 3) you can see a direct link in the case of Toyota. Patents for invention
in the field of automotive industries can be subdivided, as can be seen in Figure 2. The largest
number of patents being filed for propulsion, navigation, manipulation, and safety and
security.

Figure 2. Patents number in automotive industry

Source: http://ajelnewsyemen.com/1061527/details [12]

The value of investments in the manufacture of automotive components is higher relative to

other countries in the area of Central and Eastern Europe, local suppliers are already starting
to invest in innovation and upgrading technology. However, do not allow investments still
capitalizing on the potential development of the whole sector in Romania. That's why it
requires the involvement of multinationals in the field of automotive technology in
transferring skills, educational partnerships with universities and student involvement and
academia in the research and development processes [13].

With regard to the significant technological developments in automotive industry from

Romania we can mention: manufacture of organic generation engines, production of
gearboxes for cutting-edge international builders, microelectronics and mechatronics
advanced (including research and development), advanced technology and auto components
from plastic masses, rubber and composite, increasing the number of robots use on production
lines.

For Romania, the current competitive advantages in the cost of labour and utilities will
gradually diminish in the future, so that new investments and capacity developments will be
targeted towards new products and technologies globally competitive, with high added value.

It can be said that those of auto parts companies focused on innovation are more profitable

174
than those specialized in certain technologies. The reasons are listed in figure 3.

Innovation of components allows the use of multiple assemblies.

The emergence of new partnerships with beneficiaries winwin.

Effective use of the intellectual property (assigned, licences).

Innovation offers flexibility to adapt to new manufacture and market inputs.

Allows control over the value chain from upstream and, implicitly, of the costs.

Figure 3. The innovation advantages in automotive field

4. CONCLUSIONS
Creative ideas and innovative solutions are found to be crucial to leave the shadow of the
classification as modest innovatort hat Romania received. The automotive industry is the
solution for attracting new investment leading to maximise the achievements in the field of
research and innovation.

Unconventional thinking is important. Innovation means developing technologies to help

people and to make a living. Innovators must always be prepared to discover unexpected
answers to well-known problems.

Innovation and quality are the key to our future life standards, Romania, therefore, need to be
more inventive, innovate more and react better to market trends. Although the capacity of
innovation depends on a great many factors, harnessing creativity is by far the most
important. Quality-innovation relationship requires smart investments that can bring new and
sustainable solutions and benefits to our societies and economies.

Statistics presented demonstrates that partnerships between various sectors, should be

encouraged in the same way that should permit the development of certification which
consolidated a society directed towards quality.

To become a competitive advantage, innovation and actions directed towards quality must
overcome the isolated actions stages of accidental and personal initiatives, they must become
a mass phenomenon, characterizing the approach of most organizations.

5. REFERENCES
1. Birchall, D.W., Tovstiga, G., Chanaron, J.J., Capabilities in strategic knowledge sourcing
and assimilation: a new look at innovation in the automotive industry, International
Journal of Automobile Technology Management, Vol.1, No.1, pp. 78-91, (2001).
2. David, J. Teece., Competition, cooperation, and innovation: organizational arrangements
for regimes of rapid technological progress, Journal of Economic Behavior &
Organization, Vol.18, No.1, pp. 1-25, (1992).
175
3. Hanusch, H., Pyka, A., Principles of Neo-Schumpeterian Economics, Cambridge Journal
of Economics, Oxford University Press, Vol.31, No.2, pp. 275-289, (2007).
4. ***Buletin statistic Auto APIA, available at http://www.apia.ro/publicatii/buletin-
statistic/.
5. ***Vânzări Dacia în anul 2015, available at
http://www.daciagroup.com/comercial/vanzari-dacia-vanzari-2015.
6. ***The International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers,
http://www.oica.net/category/production-statistics/
7. ***The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, http://www.acea.be/
8. ***Forbes, The World's Most Valuable Brands Of 2016,
http://www.forbes.com/powerful-brands/list/#tab:rank
9. ***Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands,
http://wppbaz.com/admin/uploads/files/BZ_Global_2016_Report.pdf
10. Welsh, C., Patents and Competition in the Automobile Industry, Vol.13, No.2, pp. 261,
(1948),
11. ***WIPO Statistics, http://ipstats.wipo.int/ipstatv2/ipsBarchartval
12. ***Automotive patenting trends, http://ajelnewsyemen.com/1061527/details
13. Kramer, Jan-Philipp., Diez, Javier Revilla., Marinelli, Elisabetta., Iammarino, Simona.,
Intangible assets and MNEs’ locational strategies for innovation or: Why
the regional matters, Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Vol.30, No.2, pp. 129–157,
(2010).

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 Topic 3

Management of knowledge-based organization

The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES FOR SUPPORTING

ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGE PROCESSES

Ruxandra Bejinaru1, Costica Roman2

1
“Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava (Romania), ruxandrabejinaru@yahoo.com
2
“Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava (Romania), corpad03@yahoo.com

Abstract. The main goal of this paper is to present leadership strategies throughout which may be supported and
improved the mechanism of organizational knowledge creation. First, we present perspectives about the role and
influence of leadership for organizational growth. Within this section we bring to light and comment some strategic
leadership tools available to use in order to stimulate organizational knowledge creation. We briefly present the
knowledge dynamics processes and also their characteristics as opportunities for the organization. Further we argue
that organizational knowledge creation is a core competence of the organization and leadership has the role to
develop it as well as possible in order to strengthen the organization in its battle against competitors. Through our
research we acknowledged that organizational knowledge creation is the process of making available and amplifying
knowledge created by individuals as well as crystallizing and connecting it to an organization's knowledge system.
Finally we enlarge our vision about how leadership strategies may better support organizational learning creation.
Keywords: leadership strategies, strategic thinking, organizational integrators, knowledge creation.

1. KNOWLEDGE DYNAMICS PROCESSES

Knowledge has been a favorite topic in philosophical discussions and today fulfills a similar role
in scientific research and a greater role within the business sector. Since the time of ancient Greek
philosophers’ views regarding knowledge and the concept of knowledge were shared. In Plato's
view knowledge that we are convinced that we have about a particular thing is not absolute
knowledge because there is a possibility, however small it may be, to get deceived. [3] In this
paper we consider the following perspective on knowledge: Knowledge is processed information
in order to better understand the phenomena that occur around us. A basic thinking process starts
with analyzing some information and this step will lead to answering the question “WHAT ?”
Thus information tells us what exists around us and what the problem is about. For further
understanding we recur to knowledge. Knowledge is processed information (as already
mentioned) that gives us the explanation of “HOW” things work in our life, or of “HOW” we
shall get to solve a certain problem. Another step forward we appeal to intelligences as these can
answer a critical question – the “WHY”. Intelligences are those that process information and
knowledge and help us understand what happens around us in order to make the best decisions.
In the decision making process, moral values, play an important role because they are existential
and professional landmarks which we actually learn from our cultural, social, economic and
professional environment. Values don’t answer any questions because through their nature they
represent actually the decisions we make. Any decisional process integrates three components:
the rational, the emotional and the values. [4]
Referring to the concept of knowledge dynamics we approached the description of knowledge
conversion phenomenon through every step of conversion. In theory, the dynamics of knowledge
has become a concept that is identified by four conversion processes that occur between tacit and
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explicit knowledge. The first process is socialization. Knowledge is gathered from tacit
knowledge of another person. Learning occurs not by speech or training, but through observation
and imitation. Socialization process is considered, by Nonaka, as the most important type in the
knowledge transfer cycle because it involves the transmission and transformation of key
knowledge generated at individual level. [14] Tacit knowledge is generated by direct experience
of people and is located in the non-rational thinking of individuals. Nonaka and Takeuchi [12]
point out that "Tacit knowledge is highly personal and hard to articulate, which makes it difficult
to communicate and share with others. In this category are included personal ideas, perceptions
and intuition. Knowledge also includes ideals, values and emotions and images or symbols." [12]
Successful leaders use these features of tacit knowledge and are able to inspire and motivate
those they lead. Socialization is an opportunity to participate in and share experiences as well as a
way of learning through sharing of tacit knowledge. By this way, observation and imitation
learning, inexperienced youth persons can acquire real lessons from experts in various fields.
Socialization is a process from which it can benefit the organization or department outside work,
such as during meetings with customers, suppliers or other employees. However, an interesting
aspect is that only people with a high degree of understanding and expertise are able to transfer
tacit knowledge to others. [11]
Considering these ideas, a genuine leader must acknowledge that an organization cannot create
knowledge through itself but through its employees. Experience and knowledge that is enriched
during practicing represent the human capital and it is specific to every employee within the
organization. Leaders should try to create stimulating organizational environments in order to
enhance employees to transfer knowledge among them and this way to valorize it at the
organizational level. [4]
Externalization is transforming tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge through the use of
metaphors and analogies or gestures and body language. As soon as knowledge becomes explicit
it can be shared, disseminated and transferred to others through different means of
communication. "Of the four knowledge conversion processes, externalization is considered the
key to knowledge creation, as it leads to new concepts through the explicit expression of tacit
knowledge". [13] However, externalization is a process of reasoning and efficient conversion
success depends on the ability to use metaphors, analogies and cognitive models. Metaphors play
an important role in creating new concepts and theories based on previously assimilated
knowledge. For example, to appeal to the metaphor of energy transfer of Andriessen & Brătianu
through which they suggest that externalization can be compared to the phenomenon of
conversion of potential energy into kinetic energy. [8] Through this metaphor they mean that the
externalization potential of knowledge may materialize, it may produce effects and this way
knowledge can be codified, disseminated and stored. Efficiency of externalization depends
largely on the level of education and motivation of individuals. Combination is the third process
and is seen as a stage in which knowledge is mixed and new explicit knowledge are structured to
integrate the body of explicit knowledge already present. According to Nonaka, Toyama,
Byosiere [13]"in reality involves combining three processes. First, explicit knowledge is collected
from inside to outside the organization and then mixed. Secondly, new explicit knowledge is

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disseminated to members of the organization. Third, explicit knowledge is edited or processed
within the organization so that it becomes easier to use." [13] Unlike externalization it is a
process that takes place at the individual plan, the combination is a social process that is based on
the transmission of explicit knowledge. ([6] in [11])
The last process is the internalization, the newly perceived explicit knowledge will be
transformed back into tacit knowledge. Internalization closes the cycle of knowledge creation and
is an ongoing process that is based on social interaction. According to Nonaka, Toyama, Byosiere
(2001, p.497), "Internalization is a process of converting explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge.
It has a very close connection with practical learning. By internalization, the generated
knowledge is shared within the organization. Internalization of knowledge is useful for
expanding, extending and rearranging the tacit knowledge belonging to members of the
organization." [13] Knowledge becomes internalized through the process of their integration
among existing knowledge. This process increases the chances of an individual to participate in a
process of socialization and continuous exchange of knowledge leads to the development of
knowledge spiral. Internalization closes the cycle of knowledge creation and is an ongoing
process that is based on social interaction. Socialization and combination of knowledge transfer
are processes that we find in a social context, while externalization and internalization are
knowledge conversion processes on individual level, the organizational knowledge creation is a
continuous process that evolves through knowledge spiral. [11]
Lately discussions about knowledge dynamics bring into focus Brătianu’s model because of its
novelty side. This innovative model presents a series of new concepts (knowledge dyad
cognitive-emotional knowledge, the principle of thermodynamics) that we believe offer an
important added value for understanding this phenomenon. A brief benchmarking (throughout the
literature) shows us that the old dyad: explicit knowledge-tacit knowledge is more and more
replaced by the new dyad of Brătianu, cognitive knowledge-emotional knowledge.

Figure 1. Knowledge Dynamics Spiral [12]

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This theory has combined two distinct cultural beliefs. The occidental perspective of
differentiation between mind and body which derives from Descartes principle “Cogito, ergo
sum!”. In accordance with this cognitive skills include the rational cognitive process, assisted
experience. Knowledge is regarded as a direct result of the cognitive process, and the mind
becomes predominant over the body during learning.
On the other hand there is the emotional component of knowledge that dominated the Japanese
perspective of unity between mind and body. Knowledge involves the whole person, mind and
body, emotions, perceptions, and the physical side of the matter, and all together they create
knowledge. The cognitive process is integrated with the emotional process. Emotional skills have
earned the status of "celebrities" due to the development of the concept of emotional intelligence
by Goleman. [10] The introduction of the concept of emotional intelligence has shifted focus on
emotions, they are gaining more and more ground. Emotions occur before cognitive processes.
Latest research on brain activity show that the emotional side of the human brain is more
developed than the rational and the processes that occur in the human brain are greatly strengthen
based more on emotional than on cognitive. The emotional side of the human brain is
predominantly unconscious. [3]
Emotional knowledge has two dimensions: time existence and intensity of expression. The first
dimension is quantitative and can be easily measured in the laboratory. The second is a
qualitative dimension and measurement can be performed with much difficulty. On the other
hand, the cognitive skills have only one dimension that is closely linked to the quantity. Thus, the
amount of cognitive information has to be measured in a different way in order to quantify the
emotional knowledge. Currently the development of knowledge management is one of successive
approximations without achievable methods and metrics. [7]

Figure 2. Cognitive Knowledge - Emotional Knowledge Dyad [7]

Brătianu’s new paradigm is useful in order to integrate the emotional dimension of knowledge
within organizational knowledge. If the paradigm based on Newtonian dynamics allowed the
approach of transfers between tacit and explicit knowledge, Brătianu’s thermodynamic paradigm
brings a considerable advantage namely it supports the reflection of another dimension of
knowledge, called intensive dimension. For emotional knowledge this intensive dimension allows
to measure the level of knowledge intensity perceived and not the quantity of knowledge. The
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association of explicit knowledge with mechanical energy limits them to one dimension, the
quantitative one. The association of emotional knowledge with heat (energy) attributes
knowledge -as target domain, two dimensions of the source domain, namely the extensive and the
intensive measuring quantity that measures the intensity. [3]
The paradigm superiority based on thermodynamic introduced by Brătianu and Andriessen
(2008) is that it explains the changes that occur in the cognitive and emotional knowledge. [8]
Moreover, the theory of thermodynamics principle consolidated has removed the inconsistencies
regarding the transmission of the source influences upon the target domain, limitations that have
been observed and discussed regarding the theory of Newtonian dynamics.
In essence, there are plenty options for leaders to consider but the new paradigm of
thermodynamics is much stronger and better reflects the knowledge properties and types of
processes that occur between them. Knowledge can be better understood through metaphors that
have as source field the thermodynamics paradigm. The benefits of this new set of metaphors are:
knowledge management can integrate emotional knowledge and emotional intelligence in a new
organizational framework; organizational knowledge dynamics can be explained by a more
appropriate manner and the decision process can be understood both from the rational and the
emotional perspective.[5]

2. LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES FOR SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONAL

KNOWLEDGE PROCESSES
Within this section we shall approach several strategic options that leaders may consider in order
to support knowledge processes in their organization. To understand the way companies can
pursue their business goals, it may be useful to start from a classic view of business strategy and
integrate the use of knowledge as strategic weapon into it. This can also help to improve the
management of organizations: the assumption is that, for the majority of managers, an integration
of knowledge as a component of traditional strategic frameworks can be more understandable and
appropriate than defining completely new models of knowledge management strategic
formulations that may appear disjointed from the general view of the company.[15]
Following we shall approach knowledge from different perspectives of integrating it as a strategic
weapon for the benefit of the organization. First we want to refer to the learning process which in
fact represents a basic process for any other type of organizational knowledge strategy. Thus an
important algorithm that should be implemented by leaders with the purpose of stimulating
knowledge processes (creation, transfer, sharing and combination) is organizational learning at
more than one level. Initially it was studied the learning process and were discovered through
three levels or stages of evolution of learning in an organization: simple loop learning, double
loop learning and triple loop learning. [16]
Synthetically we express the significance of the three levels. Simple loop learning occurs when
individuals improve their current practices and work better. Double loop learning means
reshaping of mental models in order to help employees learn to do new things. Triple loop
learning, is when individuals induce themselves a transformation upon the context or the
perspective they have in order to help them learn, evolve and produce the results they want to

183

 
accomplish. In this sense, the learning organization is one in which learning is a key factor which
turns (transforms) continuously and enables individual and organizational learning processes for
all its members. Within this organization, individual and organizational learning is valued and
valued as the primary means of respect regarding the mission, culture, structure and processes.[2]
We mention that applying strategies for organizational learning shall lead to long-term and
multiple effects like the following. If employees feel they are valued for what they are rewarded
for the work that they do within the organization they become motivated to learn and to improve
not only the technical skills related to their work but also their communication skills and
organizational social nature. Employees learn directly and indirectly through the organizational
culture to become responsible for their work.
An organization that supports learning (a learning organization) encourages employees to
develop and progress in new areas that could build a career and thus can be avoided departure of
employees from the organization. Inside a specific climate of the learning organization, mistakes
are forgiven easily and the focus is on exploration. Training activities of on-the-job type imply
that employees change their locations to successively broaden expertise and discover their own
potential, are practical features of a learning organization.[2]
A general acceptation is that leaders want their organizations to be flexible and responsive, able
to change in accordance with changing circumstances. The ideal organization is characterized as
“self-renewing” or as a “learning organization,” the term popularized by Peter Senge in The Fifth
Discipline. [16] The concept has at least two aspects. Not only are all the members, as individual
persons, continually learning, but the organization itself is highly adaptable. Putting it that way
raises the question of whether an organization can in fact be like a person in its ability to learn: to
continually modify its shared knowledge and practices in accord with experience. [1]
After reviewing the perspectives of various researchers, professors and business leaders we dare
to make our suggestions about what options should be considered in order to adopt a learning
oriented leadership. We shall further mention some of our alternatives not in a hierarchical order
of relevance but neither in a random order. Leaders should always be aware that in a first instance
people learn what is personally meaningful to them. Employees must be carefully motivated and
inspired with enthusiasm because people learn when they accept challenging but achievable
goals. When trying to introduce changes within the operational or strategic programs of the
organization leaders should rely on the principle that learning is developmental and in order to
obtain the consent of the employees they should be very well informed about future actions and
their purpose. It is a very well known idea that individuals learn differently and thus should be
offered many alternatives as for them to feel comfortable to choose whatever suits their
personality and way of learning.
As we previously discussed knowledge dynamics is a phenomenon that should be carefully
supervised and supported inside the organization. People construct new knowledge by building
on their current knowledge – this represents the specific process of knowledge combination – and
maybe it is the most popular (as meaning the most frequent and “handy”). The externalization of
knowledge is a process that consists in the fact that individuals use what they already know in

184

 
order to construct new knowledge. In this sense employees should be motivated and encouraged
to feel free to speak up their opinions and solutions.
However, much learning occurs through social interaction – and this represents the process of
socialization which reveals the most important type of knowledge (tacit knowledge). Because
tacit knowledge can’t be exposed by verbal language for them to be shared it is critical that
employees meet and work together. Sharing of tacit knowledge (that may be acknowledged or
not by the issuer) is possible only through the direct interaction of individuals/ employees.
Socialization is a strongly important process for the organization and leaders should award it the
due attention. The efficiency of the tacit-tacit knowledge transfer greatly depends both on the
availability of the person with greater experience (and knowledge) –the one who shares and the
receptivity of the person who is being delivered to the entire knowledge package. Most relevant
is that leaders should know that the attitudes of the two actors (giver and receiver) depend on the
organizational climate inside the organization and the motivational methods of the leadership.
More benefits of providing the appropriate context for socialization consist in the opportunities
for social interaction and lead to getting helpful feedback. Learning is influenced by the total
environment and a positive emotional climate strengthens learning. In other words, what
individuals come to know in their (work) life benefits their colleagues and eventually the entire
organization. In conclusion successful learning involves use of strategies related to support
organizational knowledge processes.[1], [3]

3. CONCLUDING REMARKS
In a concise formulation we mention as a bottom line of the entire debate that leaders should
consider applying good knowledge strategies and always evaluate the feedback. Just like
individuals, organizations are also able to continuously improve their ability to gather
information and use it to make decisions. Feedback is important as much as knowledge resources
are. Another key aspect is knowledge creation. In the same way that employees built their
personal knowledge out of the complex environment throughout the learning process,
organizations draw upon their knowledge base in order to create new solutions, products and
services. Also in comparison with humans, organizations as systems are formed by subsystems.
Thus the features of a learning organization might be found not only in the organization as a
whole but also in its components. In many occasions individuals learn through social interaction
with others who act and think in different ways. An organization might learn (and improve)
through the exchange of information between subsystems because, even if they have similar
responsibilities, may function quite differently.
Through our research we acknowledged several important issues about which are the appropriate
conditions to support organizational knowledge processes. Organizational knowledge creation
requires a continuous circuit of discovery, dissemination and sharing of various types of
knowledge. Effective leaders know and apply the conditions that promote effective learning.
Talented and enthusiastic leaders encourage their employees through strategic actions, like:
challenging their employees to accept new challenges in order to develop themselves and the
organization; focus the learning on subjects that are personally meaningful for the employees and

185

 
emphasize that what they are going to learn is appropriate for their developmental level. More
insightful strategies of stimulating employees to embrace faster and easier the learning agenda is
to offer them empowerment. Employees are happier and more relaxed if they can learn in their
own way, have choices, and feel in control.
Organizations and individuals resemble as they are considered to be opened systems. Like
individuals, organizations also have an inertial tendency towards knowing, understanding and
learning. The difference is that in order to do this organizations need the employees. An
organization doesn’t learn and evolve by itself but through its employees and their willingness of
providing their capital of knowledge, experience and intelligence towards accomplishing
organizational goals. Leaders who want their employees to continue learning should strive to
create such conditions for the adult learners in their organizations.

REFERENCES
[1] Brandt, R., Powerful learning, ASCD Book, (1998).
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Bucharest, (2014).
[3] Brătianu, C., Bejinaru, R., Evaluation of knowledge processes within learning organization.
In: O.Nicolescu, L. Lloyd-Reason (Eds.). Challenges, performances and tendencies in
organisation management (pp.125-136). Singapore: World Scientific, (2016).
[4] Brătianu, C., Gândirea strategică, ProUniversitaria, București, pp.292, (2015).
[5] Brătianu, C., Bejinaru, R., Iordache, Ş., Knowledge Dynamics in Business Negotiation,
Business & Management Review, (2012).
[6] Brătianu, C., Bejinaru, R., Iordache, S., Knowledge Dynamics in Negotiation, 17th
International Economic Conference, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, Romania, 13-14
May, pg 58, (2010).
[7] Brătianu, C., Orzea, I., Emergence of the cognitive-emotional knowledge dyad, Review of
International Comparative Management, vol.10, no (5), pp. 893-901, (2009).
[8] Brătianu, C. & Andriessen, D., Knowledge as energy: a metaphorical analysis, Proceedings
of the 9th European Conference on Knowledge Management, Southampton Solent
University, 4-5 September 2008, pp.75-82, Academic Publishing, (2008).
[9] Einstein, A., General Theory of Relativity. Annalen der Physik 49(7), pp. 769-822, (1916).
[10] Goleman, D., Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books, (1995).
[11] Hapenciuc, C.V., Brătianu, C., Roman, C., Bejinaru, R., Dynamics of the Learning
Organization Within the Romanian Knowledge Economy, 11th International Conference
on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management and Organisational Learning - ICICKM
Sydney, (2014).
[12] Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H., The Knowledge Creating Company. How Japanese companies
create the dynamics of innovation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.8-10, (1995).
[13] Nonaka, I., Toyama, R., Byosiere, Ph., A theory of organizational knowledge creation:
understanding the dynamic process of creating knowledge, in Dierkes, M., Antal, A.B.,
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 Child, J., Nonaka, I. (eds.), Handbook of organizational learning and knowledge, pp.487-491,
Oxford University Press, Oxford, (2001).
[14] Polanyi, M., The tacit dimension, Peter Smith, Gloucester, (1983).
[15] Scarso, E & Bolisani, E., Knowledge-Based Strategies for Knowledge Intensive Business
Services: a Multiple Case-study of Computer Service Companies, Electronic Journal of
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[16] Senge, P.M., The fifth discipline. The art and practice of the learning organization, Random
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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

THE INFLUENCE OF KNOWLEDGE AS A COMPONENT OF INTELLECTUAL

CAPITAL WITHIN THE GLOBAL BUSINESS CONTEXT

Ruxandra Bejinaru1, Cristian-Valentin Hapenciuc2, Daniela-Mihaela Neamtu3, Costica Roman4

1
“Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania, ruxandrabejinaru@yahoo.com
2
“Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania, expresedinte@gmail.com
3
“Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania, dana_neamtu99@yahoo.com
4
“Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania, corpad03@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: This paper brings knowledge to the research field of measuring and reporting the value of
intellectual capital in various regions of the world. In the center of it we discover knowledge (under multiple
forms), which directly leads to intellectual capital. This study could be used by managers in the process of
managing their intellectual capital in a better way. Throughout this work we undertake a comparative analysis
of main components (pillars) of intellectual capital at organizational level within the member states of the
European Union. We focus mainly upon the role of intellectual capital in Romania. The purpose is to emphasize
the important role that intellectual capital plays as a source of innovation and renewal that it is used to create
competitive advantage for organizations. We show that the value of intellectual capital consists in each
individual’s mental power, which if it is appropriately modeled may create competitive advantage in any
organization and that knowledge, information and creativity become priorities when related to tangible assets.
KEYWORDS: intellectual capital, knowledge, competitive advantage.

1. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL NOWADAYS

The concept of intellectual capital in the business world appeared during 1990. There are two
separate ways of thinking about intellectual capital; however, one can see some connection
between them. One concerned the information, the power of mind by focusing on the creation
and expansion of knowledge within the firm. The other, based on resources was focused on
unique combinations of monetizing intellectual capital and tangible resources.
According to Leif Edvinsson, on enterprise level, a number of significant prototyping project
have been launched, such as [7]:
-RICARDIS. Reporting on Intellectual Capital to Augment Research, Development and
Innovation in SMEs, a European Commission project finished in 2006
-EFFAS. European Federation of Financial Analysts, officially published in March 2008, the
Principles for Effective Communication of Intellectual Capital
-WICI. World Intellectual Capital Initiative, a public/private sector consortium researching
and developing intellectual capital accounting and integrated reporting, with the backing of
leading accounting firms and leading intellectual capital scholars. [12]
The third millennium society has employees that are valuable due to their knowledge.
Intellectual capital is the term assigned to intangible assets that combined enable the company
to operate effectively. Intangible resources are the hidden component of the economy of a
company and therefore they are more difficult to identify, assess and be copied. However, in
the new economy, intangible resources are a priority in comparison with tangible resources
[19].
Starting from the definition of intellectual capital "as that resource native to an organization
which through extraction, processing and successive dissemination is transformed into the
most valuable asset" [3], is emphasized that the development of competitive capacity is based
on innovation, intangible resources of an organization and use of competitive intelligence; as
such innovation is the process by which are built the new products, new services, new
technologies, new processes of management and marketing. The concept of "intellectual
capital", called also the "currency of the new millennium", represents the key to success in the
"Knowledge Age" [11], a way of creating value and a hidden resource of an organization [9].
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Bra tianu [3] focuses on organizational intellectual capital as an organizational integrator. In
this case the growth of intellectual capital depends on components like individual knowledge,
individual intelligence and individual cultural values. [4]

2. THE ROLE OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION

In the new business age, the economic production system and the value creation system have
involved more and more the use of knowledge and thinking. Intellectual capital is now seen
as a relationship between past and future. The intellectual capital that has developed (in the
past) around an organizational architecture based on a given technology must be constantly
adapted to organizational changes to meet (today) aggressions of external factors, thus
preventing the dissemination of information and knowledge between the new levels of the
organization (in future). Under these conditions, intellectual capital becomes the instrument
intended to define clear priorities and differentiate the present ones from those of the past and
from those of the future of the organization. In detail the components of the intellectual
capital refer to the following aspects: -Market assets - are the ones resulting from an
organization beneficial relationship with the market and customers. Examples include:
customers and their degree of loyalty, distribution channels, various contracts and agreements,
etc. -Intellectual property assets - including know-how, trade secrets, copyright, patents or
other rights. -Human centered assets - refers to the ability and creativity, problem-solving, as
well as leadership qualities, entrepreneurial competences and managerial skills that employees
of an organization possess. Infrastructure assets - regard those technologies, methods and
processes that enable an organization to function effectively in the long term. Organizational
culture must therefore embrace creation, innovation, transfer and reuse of information and
knowledge in order to make the most of everything that provides intellectual capital.
The definition that best suits the problem at hand is the definition developed in collaborative
effort. According to Edvinsson, Onge, Sullivan, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
(CIBC) together created the following definition: Intellectual Capital = Human Capital +
Organizational Capital + Customer Capital). [12]
Edvinsson, Sullivan and Onge developed a diagram, which underlines the direct relationship
of the different elements of this definition and the way in which value is created when
knowledge flows between them. The dotted triangle represents the management of intellectual
capital. The idea is to enhance the number of interrelationships resulting in maximizing the
value space.

Figure 1. Visualization of intellectual capital [12]

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These three forms of capital are also known as respectively, human capital, internal structure
and external structure. These building blocks and the issues belonging to each block are
outlined in the framework [12] presented below: (1) Human Capital: employees, education,
training, work-related knowledge, entrepreneurial spirit; (2) Organizational Capital:
intellectual property, management philosophy, corporate culture, management processes,
information/networking systems, financial relations; (3) Customer Capital: brands, customers,
customer satisfaction, company names, distribution channels, business collaboration,
licensing agreements.

3. MEASUREMENT OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL

One of the latest work referring to the methodology of measuring the intellectual capital of
nations is written by Dorota Weziak based on a study since November 2007 which is
symbolically entitled „Measurement of national intellectual capital: applied in EU states”
[24]. The method used by Weziak confirms that there are links between intellectual capital
and GDP per capita of European countries. Intellectual capital indicator was first introduced
by Roos who suggested that measuring a company in this index can be done if known:
company strategy, company characteristics and their daily operations [16]. Annie Brooking
makes a practical contribution to the measurement on IC offering three models [5]. The author
defines IC as the combination of four components: market assets, human resource-based
assets, intellectual property assets and infrastructure assets.Brooking offers three methods of
calculating the value of IC: Cost (based on assessment of asset replacement cost); through the
market: the income (approach which assesses the ability to bring profit to that asset). Starting
from international developments achieved in this area, nations’ IC can be defined as bringing
together all the intangible resources that a country or region dispose of and which gives a
relative competitive advantage and put in combination are able to generate future benefits. In
order to measure intellectual capital especially to be implemented at national level, the
content of intangible asset classesmust be expressed appealing to aggregate variables such as:
Human capital is everything to do with people: knowledge, education and skills capable
individual national targets. Structural capital is "non-human knowledge stocks that are found
in technology, information and communication systems and organizational structures."[2]
Relational capital envisages comparing measurements from different countries or different
periods, giving relevant figures. On the other hand the Lisbon Agenda clearly shows the type
of intellectual capital that the EU wants to create in order to become competitive and
dynamic. If you express the Lisbon Agenda in terms of indicators there are obtained 38
indices for measuring intellectual capital in the EU. We shall reffer to some of these in the
following sections.

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this paper is to perform a comparative analysis of the main pillars of
intellectual capital in companies in EU member countries, following the place that Romania
has in this context. The proposed objectives aim to:
• highlighting the importance of intellectual capital in the knowledge society (as empires of
the future will be true empires of the mind)a world dominated by the power of intangibles
and brain and that this "intellectual capital consists of intellectual material - knowledge,
information, intellectual property, experience that can be used to create wealth"by
analyzing the key variables of human capital dimension of EU countries. [17]
• analysis of firm performance and achieving competitive advantage in EU countries by
using the corresponding variable relational capital dimension such as customer orientation
degree, investment of companies in research-development-innovation.
• analysis of the performance of companies from EU countries on variables such as
structural capital and ethical behavior of companies.
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5. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Intellectual apital is an important resource of the knowledge economy and it is imperative that
all stakeholders to be informed about the use of the intellectual capital of the company. Its
reporting is a process that describes how the company uses its intellectual capital to create
value for its customers. An important facet of an investment in human capital is education
through intensive use of knowledge in research and in particular by increasing the share of
highly educated people in active population. Currently, the average population with higher
education aged 30 to 34, in period 2000-2014 in the EU is 25.9%, while in the US reaching
40% and in Japan exceeds 50%. The data presented highlight the significant differences
between countries. Basically, the maximum percentage of Finland (45,3%) is three times
higher than the minimum percentage of Romania (25%). The maximum percentage of Suedia
(49.9%) is almost two times higher than Romania’s (25%). Lithuania, Cyprus, Denmark,
Luxembourg are the countries with the highest percentages in 2014, respectively 50% in the
population with higher education, aged between 30-34 years.

Figure 2. Population with higher education by country, age 30-34 years, 2000-2014, [25]

Figure 3. Employmenet in intensive knowledge use sectors, [25]

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Comparison with other countries shows that the focus in the national strategy related to higher
education must be done simultaneously, the quality of education while increasing the number
of students in all forms of education. Note that countries with a higher allocation of GDP for
research and development have a higher proportion of people with higher education in the
total active population. It points out that national policy focused on education will be found in
a series of results related to higher employment in basic research, high-tech sector requiring
intensive use of knowledge acquired in the education industry. While 38.5% of the EU
workforce is employed in knowledge intensive services (50.7% Sweden, Belgium 46.1%,
Denmark 49.7%, Netherlands 45.6%) in Romania only 20% (minimum EU) of the workforce
is employed in this area, closest to Romania being Bulgaria with 28.9%, Portugal 30.1% and
Poland with 30.4%. Data indicate interdependence between investment in education and how
this is reflected in research, in high-tech sectors and increased productivity. According to the
data of Fig. 4, it is observed that at European Union level, between the years 2000 to 2012,
most graduates preferred fields of social sciences, business administration and law (32.85%),
follows the production, engineering and construction (15.01 %), the health and welfare
(14.35%), humanities and arts (12.23%), sciences of education and training (8.04%). Romania
is No. 2 as a percentage of total graduates in engineering, manufacturing and construction
(22.78%), number 1 being Finland (24.07%); Romania ranks on 5th place in the social
sciences, business administration and law - 42.95% (representing the largest domestic share,
followed by field engineering), and the last places in science, mathematics and IT between
EU countries (5.84%) - EU average: 9.5%.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Other
Social sciences, business and law
Science, mathematics and computing
Health and Welfare
Agriculture and veterinary
Teacher training and education science
Services
Humanities and arts
Engineering, manufacturing and construction

Figure 4. Graduates of higher education on study domain at EU level, in 2012 [25]

In Romania, only 1.5% of the population aged 25-64 years participated in education and
training activities in 2014. Although it has been registered a growth compared to 2000, the
share of the population participating in training and preparation is very low compared to that
recorded in the European Union (10.7%). The gaps between Romania and the European
Union are increasing, from 6.2% in 2000 to 9.2% in 2014, as shown in Fig. 5.

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 Figure 5. Lifelong Learning –comparison with the EU average (2000-2014) (% population aged 25-64 that
participate in education and training) [25]

Regarding the variable related to human capital, namely staff participation in trainings in
companies from EU countries, as can be seen from the chart above, the percentage of people
aged 25 to 64 participating in education and trainingin Romania is much lower than the EU
average.
Education and research, no matter how noble they may be, are not activities themselves. They
are the means by which we build a kind of society, and knowledge appears as a catalyst that
accelerates promoting technical progress and increase the efficiency of any human activity.
Regarding the important role of research and development in economic & social progress
there tends to be a consensus both in literature and in the economic environment. This
indicator is useful in analyzing the trend of higher education, because it provides information
on the support that the European Union grants to innovative design ideas. Also, our approach
supports component the "R & D" as linked intrinsically to the broader issue of quality
education that is specific to any nation in the world. The stream of reasoning is reiterated in
several studies, suggesting that there are interactive effects between education level of the
workforce and technological activity, such as R & D intensity within a country.

Figure 6. Percentage of R&D services in the GDP of EU states in 2013, [25]

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Field of research and development is supported through financial and human efforts by all
countries, as they are the road to competitiveness, growth and economic prosperity. As shown
in Figure no.6 is particularly remarkable that developed countries, for which this area is a
priority, have benefited from significant financial resources. Beyond the methodological
aspects, the fact is that the development of this strategic sector activity has been declining
compared to 2009, which is likely to compromise our chances to move towards a strong and
innovative production with higher value added. For reference, it is worth to present the
European standings in the year 2013 which is dominated by Nordic countries by reference to
some countries in southern continent. The first place Finland (3.31%), followed by Sweden
(3.30%), Denmark (3.06%), Germany (2.85%) and Austria (2.81%). The peak is the 2009
trend is an upward during 2000-2009 and 2009-2013 is downward.  The support objective, of
general development, implies that the share of total R & D funds to 3% of GDP. This
objective has been implemented and exceeded by the Nordic countries, which maintain a
constant line (target for 2014 being 4% of GDP), while the other five Member States, namely
France, Belgium, Germany, Slovenia and Austria, although not reach the 3% target, have
exceeded the average UE28. The level is less than 1% in most countries in Eastern Europe,
which are part of the 2004 wave of EU accession.  Here, we note the presence of Hungary,
which in terms of gross expenditure stands at more than 2013 (1.41%), together with Estonia
and the Czech Republic, but ranking culminates in Slovenia (2.59%). Romania is in last place
(0.39%), being surpassed by Bulgaria and Croatia. The level of these charges has been
oscillating with downward trend. Even though before 2009, Romania was following the
"trend", a short distance from Poland, then neglected this key area and lost ground. The
maximum level of this indicator was achieved in 2007-2008, when it was close to 0.6% of
GDP. After four years, where he was stationed it seemed just below 0.5% of GDP in 2013,
the amounts allocated for R & D fell below 0.4% of GDP.
The new economy, the new way to create wealth, professions of the future involve the
formation of man who would serve this society, which is why education, training must take
account of these challenges, the role of educational institutions changing into a world
information is accessible via modern information and communication systems.
Thus, countries with high level of education become serious competitors for the other, by
increasing their capacity to better adapt to new technologies, globalization challenges. People
are, in this view, a vital resource of any organization that ensures the survival, development
and success of its competition, ie, becoming more of an organization's competitive advantage
lies in its people. [10]

6. FINAL REMARKS AND CONCLUDING IDEAS

Because intellectual capital is one of the most important resources of knowledge economy, it
is important that all stakeholders are informed about the company's intellectual capital. Its
reporting is a process that describes how the company uses its intellectual capital to create
value for its customers.
An important role in achieving this objective was the article "Brainpower" written by Thomas
A. Stewart, one of the editors of the "Fortune"magazine in June 1991, who used the concept
of "intellectual capital". Basically, it (IC) is the sum of everything each employee knows in a
company and can be used in the development of its competitive capacity. It shows that, unlike
accountants operating elements and assessing the value of a company (land, buildings,
equipment and financial flows), intellectual capital is intangible. It is however very difficult to
identify and evaluate. Intellectual capital is both a contributing factor to increased
organizational performance and the outcome of the ongoing transformation of knowledge.
The main objective of this paper was to highlight the importance of intellectual capital in the
knowledge society, of that "empires of the future will be true empires of the mind", world
dominated by the power of intangibles and brain [20] and that this "intellectual capital
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consisting of intellectual material - knowledge, information, intellectual property, experience
can be used to create wealth." [17]
Knowledge management can be seen as a step that employ specific strategic actions aimed at
motivating the organization towards accumulation and exploitation of new knowledge by
fostering lifelong learning. A cornerstone of knowledge management is to provide support,
management and intellectual capital development to achieve high and sustainable financial
performance.
At the end of our debate we emphasize that an organization oriented towards learning is an
organization able to create, attract, interpret and enhance knowledge dynamics by
purposefully changing the behavior and structure in order to discover other new perspectives
of development. Throughout the paper we stressed the importance of the learning process and
we consider that it plays a critical role especially in filling in the knowledge gaps of
individuals, teams and organizations. Once again we mention that intellectual capital is a
dynamic component that may be modeled continuously with respect to its quantity, quality,
value, usefulness and intensity of use. [1]

REFERENCES
1. Bejinaru, R., Iordache, Ş., Intellectual Capital Dynamics within the Learning
Organization, European Conference on Intellectual Capital, 18-19 April 2011, Cipru –
Nicosia, pg. 70-77, (2011).
2. Bontis, N., Curado, C., Managing intellectual capital: the MIC matrix, Int. J. Knowledge
and Learning, vol.3, No.2/3, (2007).
3. Brătianu, C., An analysis model for the organizational intellectual capital,
Management&Marketing Review No.3 / 2006, pp.17-32, (2006).
4. Brătianu, C. A dynamic structure of the organizational intellectual capital, in: Naaranoja,
M. (ed.). Knowledge management in organizations, pp. 233-243. Vaasa:
VaasanYliopisto, (2008).
5. Brooking, A., Intellectual Capital: Core Asset for thr Third Millennium, Publisher
Cengage Learning EMEA, London, (2010).
6. Burle, Adriana Schiopoiu, Impactul capitalului intellectual asupra performantei
organizaiei, Revista Informatică Economică , nr. 1(25)/2003, p. 120, (2003).
7. Edvinsson, L., IC 21 - Reflections from 21 years of IC Practice and Theory, Journal of
Intellectual Capital, 14 (1), (2012).
8. Guthrie, J., Petty, R., Yongvanich, K., Ricceri, F., Using content analysis as a research
method to inquire into intellectual capital reporting, Journal Intellectual Capital, 5(2),
pp.282-293, (2004).
9. Jianu, I., Brătianu, C., Dinamica semantică a capitalului intelectual,
Management&Marketing Review No.1, (2007).
10. Manolescu, A., Managementul resurselor umane, Bucharest, Ed. Economică, p. 15,
(2003).
11. Moroianu, N., Moroianu, D., Capitalul intelectual în actualiate, Analele Universității din
Oradea, nr. 8, vol. 3., (2006).
12. Nedelcu, A.C., Using the hidden value of intellectual capital as a management tool,
Proceedings of the 6th International Management Conference "Approaches in
Organizational Management" 15-16 November 2012, Bucharest, Romania, pp. 577-
584, (2012).
13. Nicolescu, O., Nicolescu, L., Economia, firma şi management bazate pe cunoştinţe, Ed.
Economică, Bucharest, (2005).
13. Parpandel, D.E., Rolul capitalului intelectual în societatea cunoașterii, Revista Strategii
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14. Petrash, G., Dow’s Journey to a knowledge value management culture, European
Management Journal, 14 (4), 365-373, (1996).
15. Roos, G., Roos J., Measuring your Company’s Intellectual Performance, Published in
Long Range Planing, vol.30. No.3, pp.413-426, (1997).
16. Steward, T., Brainpower, Fortune Review, 3 June (1991).
17. Steward, T., Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations, Bantam Books,
(1998).
18. Stiglitz, J.E., Walsh, C.E., Economie, Ed. Economică, Bucharest, (2005).
19. Suciu, M.C., Activele intangibile si capitalul intelectual – factori cheie ai convergentei,
(2008).
20. Sveiby K.E., The New Organizational Wealth: Managing and Measuring Knowledge
Based Assets, Berrett Koehler, San Francisco, CA, (1997, a).
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&AccountingVol2, Number1, Spring (1997, b).
22. Sveiby, K.E., Lloyd, T., Managing Knowhow, Bloomsbury London, (1987).
23. Weziak, D., Measurement of national intellectual capital: application to EU countries.
IRISS Working Paper Series No.13, INSEAD, November Lifferdange, (2007).
24. *Eurostat, adaptation after http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/themes/28_
tertiary_education.pdf, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1
&plugin=1&language=en&pcode=t2020_41

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

DEVELOPING GENERIC SKILLS IN BUSINESS EDUCATION

Constantin Bratianu1,Elena Madalina Vatamanescu2

1
BucharestUniversity of EconomicStudies, Romania
constantin.bratianu@gmail.com
2
National University of PoliticalStudies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania
3
madalina.vatamanescu@facultateademanagement.ro

ABSTRACT:The purpose of this paper is to present our research concerning the readiness of students in
developing generic skills in business education. Generic skills, also known as core skills, core competences, or
key competences may be the answer to the university education in business for future professionals, when the
business environment becomes turbulent. In such a changeable environment generic skills prove to be more
useful than explicit knowledge since the knowledge lifetime is shortening. When many old jobs disappear and
new jobs are created almost every day generic skills have the feature of being transferable such that employees
can switch more easily from one job to another one. Our research is focused on conceptual skills in the business
domain: 1) searching, collecting and organizing data, information, and knowledge; 2) problem solving; 3)
creative thinking; 4) learning to learn; and 5) learning to learn. We developed a questionnaire containing items
related to these conceptual skills and applied it to 500 students from two Romanian universities to evaluate their
readiness for developing such generic skills.

KEYWORDS: business education, conceptual skills, generic skills, knowledge transfer, learning

1. INTRODUCTION
Generic skills are also called key or basic skills, key or core competences. Generic skills
constitute mental constructs that integrate rational, emotional, and spiritual knowledge, and
the capacity of applying it in different contexts [1], [2], [3]. While knowledge can be
considered as a knowing potential, a generic skill reflects the individual capacity of
transforming the knowledge potential in operational knowledge and to apply it in a given
social and economic context. That means that a skill means much more than a knowledge
potential which can be obtained through university learning. That explains why today, in a
globalization process which generates turbulence in the business environment, developing
generic skills for our students could be more useful for their employability than just
transferring explicit knowledge to them. According to “Recommendation of the European
Parliament and of the Council”, “Education in its dual role, both social and economic, has a
key role to play in ensuring that Europe’s citizens acquire the key competences needed to
enable flexibility to such changes” [4]. That means that traditional education based mostly on
knowledge transfer from professors to students should be changed to an education focused on
developing key competences or generic skills able to equip students for their professional life,
and to form a basis for further learning and working life [5], [6], [7].
Theoretically, our universities have already introduced this new paradigm of teaching students
and developing generic skills since the formal document describing a university course
contains a chapter about basic competences and interdisciplinary competences, but in the real
life very few professors made the effort to switch from the traditional teaching and learning
paradigm to the new one. The explanation comes from the fact that developing such
competences imposes a change in the students’ load and learning style which is not so easy to
do. That means a greater effort from students’ part in searching for information and
knowledge, reflecting upon the new ideas and re-structuring their whole knowledge basis. The
purpose of our research is to evaluate the perception of students on the new paradigm of
developing generic skills. We focus upon the conceptual skills, which are essential in business
education: searching, collecting and organizing data, information, and knowledge; problem
solving; creative thinking; learning to learn; and strategic thinking. These skills are not
197
completely independent entities since they overlap somehow and act interconnected in the
real life. We designed a questionnaire containing items which reflect each of these skills and
stimulate students to assess their readiness concerning developing them. Then, we process all
the valid questionnaires and interpret them trying to understand the awareness and willingness
of students to switch on a new paradigm of teaching and learning focusing on developing
generic skills for business education.
2. WHAT ARE GENERIC SKILLS
Generic skills have the advantage of being transferable to new contexts and thus offering
students better employability chances. According to Curtis [8], “A skill is regarded as generic
if observers see a skill manifested by different people in many different contexts. It is
transferable if an individual who demonstrates the skill in one context is able to apply it in
others”. In the European Recommendation mentioned above, there is a framework composed
of eight key competences or generic skills: communication in the mother tongue;
communication in foreign languages; mathematical competence and basic competences in
science and technology; digital competence; learning to learn; social and civic competences;
sense of initiative and entrepreneurship; and cultural awareness and expression [4]. These
generic skills are all considered equally important, since each of them have a well-definite
role in a successful professional life.
Industrial experience demonstrated that generic skills are important since they contribute to
the increase in efficiency and productivity of work, and they are valuable intangible resources
in achieving a competitive advantage. For graduating students, generic skills increase their
chances for employability, the process by which they can get a job in concordance with their
education, attitude and motivation [9], [10]. Generic skills increase chance for employability,
a characteristic of the new complex turbulent business environment. According to Curtin,
employability skills can be understood as being “skills required not only to gain employment
but also to progress within an enterprise to achieve one’s potential and contribute
successfully to enterprise strategic directions” [11]. These employability skills have been
documented very well in The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills
(SCANS) Report, published in the United States,[8]. The Report considers three fundamental
categories of generic skills:
• Basic skills – literacy, numeracy, and communication.
• Thinking skills – decision making, and problem solving.
• Personal qualities – responsibility – responsibility, self-esteem, and integrity.
The research performed by the SCANS Project has been upgraded by the 21st Century
Workforce Commission established by Al Gore. Similar research has been performed in
Canada by the Conference Board of Canada in several projects: Employability Skills Profile
(ESP), Essential Skills Research Project (ESRP), and the Employability Skills 2000+ Project
[12]. In this last Project, the authors consider the following five fundamental skills: skills
needed as a base for further development; skills for communication; skills for managing
information; skills for using numbers; and skills for thinking and solving problems. This last
category of generic skills constitutes the focus of this present research.
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
We focused in our research on the thinking or conceptual skills since they are fundamental in
any process of decision making. They are the following:
• Searching, collecting and organizing data, information, and knowledge. This skill is
important in creating the necessary data basis for decision making. Usually students are
given all necessary information and knowledge by their professors and they are not able to
search for information and knowledge.

198
• Problem solving. Usually we teach students how to solve problems by using some well-
known formulae or by using some previous successful similar solutions. We consider
mostly well-formulated and well-structured problems. However, when actual students will
face as managers real problems, they will be in a different context and will contain many
new features for which all the old formulae and solutions remain non-applicable.
• Creative thinking. This skill allows each student to find new solutions and new ways of
thinking for the new problems and new business situations.
• Learning to learn. This skill allows any student to have the capacity of learning
throughout life. When the business environment changes rapidly and in an unpredictable
way, one needs to have the capacity of learning by himself.
• Strategic thinking. This is a meta-skill since it integrates all the other skills presented
above and directs them towards the future. Thinking for the future is not so easy since
human beings do not have the ability to predict it. We have to develop it.
We designed a questionnaire such that each of these five skills are characterized by six items,
finally getting 30 assertions. We asked students to evaluate these assertions by using a Likert
scale with five options: 1 (to a very small extent), 2 (to a small extent), 3 (to a moderate
extent), 4 (to a great extent), and 5 (to a very great extent). In addition, there are some general
profile questions to depict the respondent profile. We addressed our questionnaire to students
from the Bucharest University of Economic Studies and the National University of Political
Studies and Public Administration from Bucharest. We got finally 340 valid questionnaires
and we processed them by using specialized statistical software.
4. RESULTS INTERPRETATION
We present in Table 1 the main data concerning all the items used and: Average for
Undergraduate students (Av. UG), Average for Graduate students (Av. G), and Average for
all students (Av. S).
Table 1.Results for statistical averages

No. Questions formulations Av. Av. Av. S

UG G
Q1 I appreciate those professors who give us the most important 3.51 3.53 3.52
ideas without entering into details.
Q2 Solving problems can be learned by solving many problems. 4.20 4.09 4.14
Q3 I like to get out of the standard thinking models which are 4.18 4.41 4.29
around me.
Q4 Learning is a more complex process than just memorizing 4.59 4.70 4.64
some information.
Q5 For business is important to think on a long term. 4.65 4.65 4.65
Q6 I appreciate those professors who request us to read as many 3.06 3.22 3.11
references as we can in order to understand and apply the
delivered ideas during their lectures.
Q7 Learning the methods to solve problems is more important 4.10 4.35 4.22
than learning by heart some formulas or standard schemes.
Q8 New problems request new solutions. 4.11 4.24 4.17
Q9 In school we must learn how to learn. 3.96 4.29 4.12
Q10 For business development it is important to have a vision of it. 4.67 4.84 4.75
Q11 I like to systematize myself all ideas I got from the lectured 4.09 4.37 4.23
materials.
Q12 A problem appears when we identify a difference between the 3.78 3.85 3.81
current state and one which we would like to have.
Q13 The past success may become a brake in approaching some 3.04 3.38 3.21
new situations.
199
Q14 The learning process must continue after graduating the 4.61 4.82 4.71
university.
Q15 Future is not a simple extrapolation of the present. 3.92 4.23 4.07
Q16 I like to make connections between the new ideas found in the 3.44 3.74 3.59
bibliographical references.
Q17 A badly formulated problem has no solutions. 3.21 3.16 3.18
Q18 Each of us can develop a creative mind. 4.14 4.35 4.24
Q19 Learning is efficient when it is based on a good motivation. 4.65 4.59 4.62
Q20 The business outcomes are not proportional with the efforts 2.88 3.26 3.07
invested in it.
Q21 In business it is important to collect and organize by yourself 3.48 3.49 3.48
the information you have about the market and competitors.
Q22 A well-formulated problem may have several solutions. 3.99 4.11 4.05
Q23 Developing a creative mind is more important than learning a 3.99 4.30 4.14
large knowledge volume.
Q24 Learning to learn is more important for your career than 4.12 4.36 4.24
simply learning professional knowledge.
Q25 Future exists in our mind as a set of events which are more or 4.01 4.17 4.09
less probable.
Q26 In university, the emphasis should be on developing the skills 4.04 4.37 4.20
for searching, collecting and systematizing information and
less on the quantity of transferred knowledge.
Q27 In business, problems may have an economic rationality 4.09 4.40 4.24
nature, as well as an emotional one.
Q28 For developing a creative mind it is important to count on both 4.49 4.68 4.58
successes and failures.
Q29 The university is the most adequate place where you learn how 3.15 2.99 3.07
to learn.
Q30 Strategy is the way through which one can achieve an 4.50 4.50 4.50
objective in a long run.

It is interesting to look for evaluations made by students for each item and to interpret them,
even on their statistical averages. However, due to the limitations we have in our paper we
shall look only for some extreme values. The lowest evaluation is given to the items 20 and
29. The low value for Q20 shows the strong tendency of students to think in a linear way,
considering that there is a relation of proportionality between the efforts made and the
outcomes of the business process. In the real life, these variables are related based on
nonlinear phenomena. In the same time, the profit of any business is related to the risk
involved in the investment. The low value for Q29 shows that students are aware of the fact
that universities have been focusing their teaching activities on knowledge transfer and less of
developing generic skills, which leaves a lot of room for learning the necessary skills by
doing. However, the university has got the best potential to teach students generic skills and
students should focus their efforts during the university time to learn them. A very low value
has got also the item Q6 which reflect the students’ attitude of getting as much as possible
from their professors without the personal effort of searching for information and knowledge.
It is interesting the fact that in many curriculum descriptions it is mentioned the intention of
developing the skill of searching for information and knowledge, but in practice that rarely
happens due to the resistant attitude of students. By comparison, in American universities the
load of students is much higher than in the European and especially the Romanian universities
due to a lot of homework given by professors to students. In this way students must search for
information and knowledge developing these necessary skills. Also, a low evaluation is given
to Q17 which implies that students don’t understand the difference between a well-formulated
200
and a badly formulated problem. That means that decision making process can be impaired by
badly formulated problems and lack of the skill to transform a badly-formulated problem into
a well-formulated one. Students agree in great major that for business development it is
important to have a vision. However, with rare exceptions the vision reflects the skill of
strategic thinking, a skill for which students don’t show a significant readiness. A comparison
between the answers given by undergraduate students and graduate students shows that
graduate students demonstrate a better readiness for developing generic skills since they
already have got some working experience and understand the necessity of having good
generic skills to increase their chances for employability. For instance, for graduate students,
both successes and failures are perceived as the basis for developing creative minds, since
both categories yield important tacit and explicit knowledge. That is obvious especially for
the skill of learning to learn. We performed a factor analysis by using SPSS and obtained as
most significant factors the first four generic skills, since the fifth one is actually a meta-skill.
5. CONCLUSIONS
Our research focused on the need of universities to switch from teaching mostly knowledge to
developing generic skills, necessary in a changeable and unpredictable world. However, the
great effort of such a change is not of the faculty staff but of students who should assume
much more homework and responsibility in learning. From the whole spectrum of generic
skills necessary in business we have chosen only the thinking skills, namely: a) searching,
collecting and organizing data, information, and knowledge; b) problem solving; c) creative
thinking; d) learning to learn; and e) strategic thinking. We designed a questionnaire
containing 30 items, such that each skill to be described by six characteristics expressed in
well-defined assertions. The questionnaire has been distributed to the students enrolled in
undergraduate and graduate programs at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, and
National University of Political Studies and Public Administration from Bucharest. Finally we
got 340 valid questionnaires which have been analysed by using specialized statistical
software. Results show that the degree of readiness of students to have a new curriculum
focused on developing generic skills is rather low since they have the perception of a higher
learning load. However, the new business environment stimulates universities to consider
switching from knowledge transfer to developing generic skills.

REFERENCES
1. Bratianu, C., The triple helix of the organizational knowledge, Management Dynamics in
the Knowledge Economy, Vol.1, No.2, pp.207-220, (2013).
2. Bratianu, C., Organizational knowledge dynamics: Managing knowledge creation,
acquisition, sharing, and transformation, IGI Global, Hershey, PA., (2015).
3. Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H., The knowledge-creating company. How Japanese companies
create the dynamics of innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, (1995).
4. European Union, Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on key
competences for lifelong learning, of 18 December 2006, Official Journal of the European
Union, Vol.394, pp.10-18, (2006), p.13.
5. Dawe, S., Focusing on generic skills in training packages, National Center for Vocational
Education Research, Leabrook, Australia, (2002).
6. Gibb, J. (Ed.), Generic skills in vocational education and training. Research readings,
National Center for Vocational Education, Adelaide, Australia, (2004).
7. Singh, H., & Gera, M., Generic skills for sustainable development, Indian Journal of
Rsearch, Vol.4, No. 6, pp. 290-291, (2015).
8. Curtis, D.D., The assessment of generic skills. In J. Gibb (Ed.). Generic skills in
vocational education and training. Research readings (pp.136-156), National Center for
Vocational Education Research, Adelaide (2004), p.141.

201
9. Gibbons-Wood, D., & Lange, T., Developing core skills – lessons learned from Germany
and Sweden, Education + Training, Vol.42, No. 42, pp.24-32, (2000).
10. Vainikainen, M.P., Hautamaki, J., Hotulainen, R., &Kupiainen, S., General and specific
thinking skills and schooling: Preparing the mind to new learning, Thinking Skills and
Creativity, Vol.18, pp.53-64, (2015).
11. Curtin, P., Employability skills for the future. In J. Gibbs (Ed.). Generic skills in
vocational education and training. Research readings, pp.38-68, National Center for
Vocational Education Research, Adelaide, Australia (2004), p.39.
12. 21st Century Workforce Commission (2000). Building America’s 21st century workforce.
Washington D.C.: National Alliance of Business and US Department of Labor.

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

UNDERSTANDING UNIVERSITY INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL

Constantin Bratianu1
1
Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
constantin.bratianu@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:Universities have long life cycles compared with many other social institutions due to their
intellectual capital. Although intellectual capital represents the heart and mind of any university, its essence is
not well understood even today when research in this new field is rather advanced. The purpose of this paper is
to examine critically the research performed so far in the field of intellectual capital and to reveal the sources of
its misunderstandings. In essence, intellectual capital represents the nonmonetary and nonphysical assets of any
organization, fact for which it is not evaluated and not introduced into the financial reports. The intangible nature
of intellectual capital creates serious problems in its evaluation and reporting. The critical analysis performed
shows three majors causes: 1) metaphors used for understanding knowledge and intellectual capital are still very
simple and influenced by the Newtonian logic; 2) intellectual capital is strongly nonlinear and cannot be
evaluated by using linear metrics; and 3) the model used for intellectual capital is flawed. Beyond these
shortcomings there are some specific limitations generated by the higher education legislation.

KEYWORDS: human capital, intellectual capital, knowledge, relational capital, structural capital, university

1. INTRODUCTION
The concept of intellectual capital is a semantic extension of the economic concept of capital,
and it has been developed almost simultaneously by several authors about two decades ago
[1], [2], [3], [4], [5].The first models developed for intellectual capital were “Intangible Asset
Monitor” [5] and “Skandia Intellectual Capital Navigator” [2]. In these pioneering models,
intellectual capital is conceived as a stock based on the metaphor of tangible assets, and
having as a source domain the economic concept of capital. These models reflect a static,
deterministic and linear thinking [6], [7]. A new perspective came with the use of the
metaphor stocks and flows [8]: “The concept of intellectual capital stocks and flows creates
an interesting new perspective on organizations. We can describe organizations as a dynamic
system of financial, tangible, and intangible stocks and flows”. Further developments have
been brought by Andriessen [8] and Viedma [9] with their strategic views. However, the
concept of intellectual capital remained within the Newtonian logic and a very simple model
which is not able to express the complexity of the real academic processes.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse critically the concept of intellectual capital and to
show how it can be applied in the case of universities. There are several studies performed for
the European universities intellectual capital [10], [11], [12], but results demonstrate some
misunderstandings of the essence of this concept and of the way of being used for evaluating
the university performance.
2. THE STANDARD INTELLECTUAL MODEL
The standard or canonical intellectual capital model is one that has got a dominant acceptance
in the research field. It is considered by many authors as an axiomatic model. It is based on
the initial models proposed by Sveiby [5] and Edvinsson & Malone [2], and the general
definition of intellectual capital formulated by Roos et al. [13]: “Intellectual capital can be
defined as all nonmonetary and nonphysical resources that are fully controlled by the
organization and that contributes to the organization’s value creation”. The structure of the
canonical model of the intellectual capital is given by the following three fundamental
entities: human capital, structural capital, and customer or relational capital (figure 1).
203
 Intellectual
capital

Structural
Human capital capital Relational capital

Figure 1. The canonical model of the intellectual capital

Human capital is defined as the knowledge that employees take with them when they leave
the organization. It includes the knowledge, skills, experiences and abilities of people. Some
of this knowledge is unique to the individual, some may be generic. Examples are innovation
capacity, creativity, know-how and previous experience, teamwork capacity, employee
flexibility, motivation, satisfaction and learning capacity [14], [15].
Structural capital is defined as the knowledge that remains within the organization when all
employee leave for home. It comprises the organizational routines, procedures, systems,
cultures, databases and organizational culture [14], [15]. Structural capital reflects the
legislation on which the whole organization functions in the social and economic
environment.
Relational capital is defined as all resources linked to the external relationships of the firm,
with customers, suppliers or R&D partners. Some examples of these resources: image, brands,
customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, commercial power, negotiating power [14], [15].
This canonical model has been accepted by many researchers because is very simple and
intuitive. However, the model has some shortcomings which generated some wrong
interpretation and evaluation of the intellectual capital. Among these shortcomings two are
more important: a) the basic entities of the model (i.e. human capital, structural capital, and
relational capital) are not completely independent ones, fact for which their evaluation leads
to some overlap; b) the model is built on the metaphor of stocks and flows which induces in
evaluation methods the Newtonian logic, with its linear thinking. Also, this model considers
knowledge to be only explicit and tacit, which leads mainly to rational knowledge.
3. THE NEW STRUCTURE OF THE INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL
Bratianu demonstrated that by changing the knowledge metaphor of stocks and flows with the
energy metaphor a new theory can be developed about knowledge and intellectual capital
understanding [16], [17], [18]. The new model has been called the entropic intellectual capital
[19]: “The entropic model is able to describe and explain complex irreversible processes that
are specific to evolving organizations in a synergetic perspective. Their evolution is time
oriented and driven by the leadership vision. Elaborating and implementing strategies leads
to irreversible changes that aim at achieving a sustainable competitive advantage, in a
turbulent business environment”. The main advantage of this new perspective is the multifield
theory of organizational knowledge, according to which we define three fundamental fields of
knowledge: rational knowledge, emotional knowledge and spiritual knowledge. That leads to
the idea that we can define as building blocks three new entities for the organizational
intellectual capital: rational intellectual capital (RIC), emotional intellectual capital (EIC), and
spiritual intellectual capital (SIC). Also, the introduction of the concept of integrator changes
the structure of the organizational intellectual capital. As defined by Bratianu [20], “An
integrator is a powerful field of forces capable of combining two or more elements into a new
entity, based on interdependence and synergy. These elements may have a physical or virtual
nature, and they must possess the capacity of interacting in a controlled way”. An illustration
204
of the new structure of the intellectual capital based on these new ideas is presented in Figure
2.

Intellectual
capital

Structural
Human capital capital Relational capital

Rational IC Emotional IC Spiritual IC

Figure 2. The new structure of the intellectual capital (IC)

Figure 2 shows that initial entities (i.e. human capital, structural capital, and spiritual capital)
are not independent since each of them contains rational knowledge, emotional knowledge
and spiritual knowledge. Thus, we assume that based on these fields of knowledge we may
define as basic building blocks of the intellectual capital: rational intellectual capital,
emotional intellectual capital and spiritual intellectual capital. Having in mind this new
structure, where human capital, structural capital and relational capital represent a meta-level
of the whole structure we can understand more easily that the Gordian knot of the university
intellectual capital is represented by the structural capital [12]. It is made by the most
important nonlinear integrators: management, leadership, and organizational culture.
University management and leadership is by definition a real problem whenever people
involved in the university positions are elected based on the democratic vote. They may be
very good professors in their field of expertise, but they lack in most of cases the knowledge
and skills required by an efficient management [21]. That means that people elected in such a
way are poor integrators and cannot transform efficiently the potential intellectual capital into
operational intellectual capital.
That is one of the many paradoxes of the Romanian universities. They have very good
professors, researchers and students which means a high level of the potential intellectual
capital. Since academic management and leadership are poor integrators, only a small part of
this potential is transformed actually in operational intellectual capital of the university, which
leads finally to a low level of academic performance and no competitive advantage. From
figure 2 we also understand that only by considering all forms of intellectual capital (i.e.
rational, emotional, and spiritual) we can have a successful academic leadership and a high
percentage of the potential intellectual capital transformed into operational intellectual capital.
An illustration of the whole process is presented in figure 3.
The new entropic model shows that integrators have a dynamic role which is beyond the
concept of structural intellectual capital since they: a) provide an integration process of all the
fundamental fields of knowledge, which is a nonlinear process; b) provide a transformation of
205
the potential IC into an operational IC, a process that is entropic; and c) provide stimulation of
organizational learning as a means of renewal the potential IC of the organization. But all
these processes may happen if and only if the academic leadership is supported by an
adequate vision and spirituality.

Rational Emotional Spiritual

Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge

Potential IC

Integrators
Transformation Organizational
Learning

Operational IC

Rational IC Emotional IC Spiritual IC

Figure 3. The new entropic model of the organizational IC

As Niland [22] emphasis, “It is understood that a truly eminent university will excel in
teaching and research. But paralleling and supporting those core activities will be an
excellence in management driving first-rate administrative system”. Analysing the actual
governance in the Romanian universities and having the framework given by the entropic
model shown in figure 3, it results that unfolding the Gordian knot means first of all to create
a full university autonomy, and to change the elective system of voting the university
managers with a more competitive one based on a new governance structure. In Japan, this
ideas has been transformed into legislation, and called the corporatization of national
universities that started on April 1, 2004 [23]. Such a transformation of the university
governance should be done carefully based on the best international practices and in
convergence with the cultural values in our society.

206
4. CONCLUSIONS
Our research focused on understanding university intellectual capital, a challenge of the world
intensive competition and global rankings. Universities have the highest density of knowledge
and intelligence amongst all public institutions and that means a high level of intellectual
capital. However, the standard model used for understanding and evaluating university
intellectual capital reflects only the potential intellectual capital and not that level of it used in
operational decision making. The paper presents the main features of the standard intellectual
capital model and its shortcomings derived from the Newtonian logic and of the fact that its
components are not independent entities. Shifting the paradigm of understanding knowledge
from stocks and flows metaphor to the energy metaphor, we can use the entropic intellectual
capital model. This new model introduces as fundamental building blocks rational capital,
emotional capital and spiritual capital, and as process driver the integrators. They transform
the potential intellectual capital into operational intellectual capital. The entropic model of the
intellectual capital help us understand much better the university intellectual capital, due to its
focus on the academic management, organizational culture and leadership. Universities may
have a high potential of their intellectual capital but a low level of the operational intellectual
capital if their integrators are not efficient. That is the case of the Romanian universities
which have a good potential but a rather low operational level of the intellectual capital. The
challenge is to improve the university governance giving full autonomy and creating a new
legislation able to support the development of academic leadership.

REFERENCES
1. Brooking, A., Intellectual capital: Core assets for the third millennium enterprise,
International Thomson Business Press, London, (1996).
2. Edvinsson, L., & Malone, M., Intellectual capital: Realizing your company’s true value
by finding its brainpower, Harper Business, New York, (1997).
3. Roos, G., Ross, J., Dragonetti, N., & Edvinsson, L., Intellectual capital: Navigating the
new business landscape, New York University Press, New York, (1997).
4. Stewart, T., Intellectual capital: The new wealth of organizations, Doubleday, New York,
(1997).
5. Sveiby, K.E., The new organizational wealth: Managing and measuring knowledge based
assets, Berret-Koehler, San Francisco, (1997).
6. Bratianu, C., Thinking patterns and knowledge dynamics, Proceedings of the 8th
European Conference on Knowledge Management, (vol.1, pp.152-157), Academic
Publishing International, Reading, (2007).
7. Bratianu, C., The frontier of linearity in the intellectual capital metaphor, Electronic
Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol.7, No.4, pp.415-424, (2009).
8. Andriessen, D., Making sense of the intellectual capital: Designing a method for
valuation of intangibles, Elsevier, Amsterdam, (2004), p.68.
9. Viedma, M.J.M., In search of an intellectual capital comprehensive theory, Electronic
Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol.5, No.2, pp.245-256, (2007).
10. Leitner, K.H., Intellectual capital reporting for universities: Conceptual background and
application within the reorganization of Austrian universities, Paper presented at the
conference The transparent enterprise, Madrid, Spain, (2002).
11. Sanchez, P., Elena, S., & Castrillo, R., The ICU Report: An intellectual capital proposal
for university strategic behaviour, Proceedings of IMHE Conference, OECD, (2007).
12. Bratianu, C., & Orzea, I., The Gordian knot of the intellectual capital of universities,
Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge
Management and Organizational Learning (pp.43-52), Academic Publishing
International, Reading, (2012).

207
13. Roos, G., Pike, S., & Fernstrom, L., Managing intellectual capital in practice, Elsevier,
Amsterdam, (2005), p.19.
14. MERITUM, Guidelines for Managing and Reporting of Intangibles, Fundacion Airtel
Movil, Madrid, 2002.
15. Ricceri, F., Intellectual capital and knowledge management. Strategic management of
knowledge resources, Routledge, London, (2008).
16. Bratianu, C., The triple helix of the organizational knowledge, Management Dynamics in
the Knowledge Economy, Vol.1, No.2, pp.207-220, (2013).
17. Bratianu, C., Organizational knowledge dynamics: Managing knowledge creation,
acquisition, sharing, and transformation, IGI Global, Hershey, PA., (2015).
18. Bratianu, C., Nonlinear integrators of the organizational intellectual capital, in M. Fathi
(Ed.), Integration of practice-oriented knowledge technology: trends and perspectives
(pp.3-16), Springer, Heidelberg, (2013).
19. Bratianu, C., & Orzea, I., The entropic intellectual capital model, Knowledge Management
Research & Practice, Vol.11, No.2, pp.133-141, (2013), p.135.
20. Bratianu, C., A dynamic structure of the organizational intellectual capital, in M.
Naaranoja (Ed.), Knowledge management in organizations (pp.233-243), Vaasan
Yliopisto, Vaasa, (2008), p.237.
21. Bratianu, C., Intellectual capital of the European universities, in A.M. Dima (Ed.),
Hanbook of research on trends in European higher education convergence (pp. 24-43),
IGI Global, Hershey, (2014).
22. Ninland, J., The challenge of building world-class universities, in J. Sadlak, & L.N.Cai
(Eds.), The world-class university and ranking: Aiming beyond status, UNESCO-CEPES,
Bucharest, (2007), p.69.
23. Bratianu, C., The new university governance in the Japanese landscape of higher
education, in P. Dobrescu, A. Taranu, & A. Bargaoanu (Eds.), Globalization and policies
of development (pp.229-235), Comunicare.ro, Bucharest, (2007).

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

EMPIRICAL APPROACH TO KNOWLEDGE, KNOWLEDGE

ECONOMY AND KNOWLEDGE BASED ORGANIZATIONS

Marius Daraban1
1
Universitatea Lucian Blaga, marius.daraban@ulbsibiu.ro

ABSTRACT: Since the very early stages of human development knowledge, knowledge management have
made a difference in who is prevailing and who is not. Driven by the information technology revolution of the
20st century knowledge and especially knowledge management within the establishing knowledge society and
knowledge based economies have kicked off a major transformation of classical economical concepts.
Economists started to rethink and transform the classical resource based economic theory towards information
and knowledge based economy.The 21st century is dominated by the most effervescent transformations of
human society. Information and information management through information technology has changed the way
business organizations are developing and act and react to the globalized market and competition. The key to
success is rapid assimilation and management of information and development through proper usage of
accumulated knowledge that is leveraged by increased amounts of new information. There is a decisive
transition from the classical economy of the 20st century based on resources towards the next level of economic
evolution, towards knowledge based economy. In a knowledge based economy the main commodity is
information and knowledge, the classical economy is only a subsequent result of the proper management of
knowledge. The key defining concepts of the 21st century are information and knowledge that have had a major
impact on business organizations all over the world. Business organizations have to redefine their strategies and
their values in order to assure their competitive advantage in the increasing fast moving global market place.

KEYWORDS:knowledge, knowledge management, knowledge based organizations, knowledge economy

1. INTRODUCTION
The 21st century is dominated by the most effervescent transformations of human society.
Information and information management through information technology has changed the
way business organizations are developing and act and react to the globalized market and
competition. The key to success is rapid assimilation and management of information and
development through proper usage of accumulated knowledge that is leveraged by increased
amounts of new information.
Clearly the 21st century economics is ruled by information and knowledge. There is a
decisive transition from the classical economy of the 20st century based on resources towards
the next level of economic evolution, towards knowledge based economy. In a knowledge
based economy the main commodity is information and knowledge, the classical economy is
only a subsequent result of the proper management of knowledge.
The key defining concepts of the 21st century are information and knowledge that have had a
major impact on business organizations all over the world. Business organizations have to
redefine their strategies and their values in order to assure their competitive advantage in the
increasing fast moving global market place.
2. CONCEPT OF KNOWLEDGE
The concept of knowledge has its roots in philosophy and has been a main concern since very
early stages of human history.
Studying knowledge is something philosophers have been doing for as long as philosophy has
been around. It’s one of those perennial topics—like the nature of matter in the hard sciences-
-that philosophy has been refining since before the time of Plato [1].

209
Epistemology, one of the most important areas of philosophy, is the branch that studies the
theory of knowledge. One of the still unanswered questions that epistemology is trying to
answer is “What is knowledge?”.
According to Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary knowledge can be defined and
understood as:
• awareness, understanding, or information that has been obtained by experience or study,
and that is either in a person’s mind or possessed by people generally
• skill in, understanding of, or information about something, which a person gets by
experience or study[2].
The Concept of Knowledge is a multifaceted notion that has its fundamentals in data and
information, the same core driving elements of the 21st century.
3. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Knowledge Management established itself as a discipline in the 1990s driven by information
technology, consulting companies and academic events.
Even though Knowledge Management as a discipline is still young there are some authors and
works that had a considerable contribution and can be considered as the classics of knowledge
management.
The great classical theory of knowledge management appeared in a fruitful period of five
years. At that time, Wiig wrote a great trilogy on knowledge management, Nonaka and
Takeuchi wrote The Knowledge-Creating Company, and Leonard-Barton wrote Wellsprings
of Knowledge in 1995. All of them have become the classics of knowledge management. The
works from this period continue from Allee’s The Knowledge Evolution, Sveiby’s The New
Organizational Wealth, and Stewart’s Intellectual Capital in 1997, to Davenport and Prusak’s
masterful Working Knowledge and Wenger’s Communities of Practice in 1998[3, p. 5].
Knowledge management can be understood as efficient usage of data, information and
knowledge though acquisition, development and sharing of knowledge with the goal to
achieve certain goals. For business organizations knowledge management can be summarized
as a multi-disciplinary approach towards achieving organizational goals by making best use of
knowledge.
Knowledge management, as a discipline, must result in better achieving, or even exceeding,
your objectives. The purpose of knowledge management must not be to just become more
knowledgeable, but to be able to create, transfer and apply knowledge with the purpose of
better achieving objectives [4].
Considering the 21st century realities knowledge management, especially in business
organizations, is and has to transcend beyond the application of a discipline, it has to become
a mind-set of management and works. By transcending towards a mind-set a lot of changes
will be initiated and rolled out in the quest for maintaining, achieving and gaining competitive
advantage as a business organization.
4. KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY
The OECD economies are increasingly based on knowledge and information. Knowledge is
now recognized as the driver of productivity and economic growth, leading to a new focus on
the role of information, technology and learning in economic performance. The term
“knowledge-based economy” stems from this fuller recognition of the place of knowledge and
technology in modern OECD economies. OECD analysis is increasingly directed to
understanding the dynamics of the knowledge-based economy and its relationship to
traditional economics, as reflected in “new growth theory”. The growing codification of
knowledge and its transmission through communications and computer networks has led to
the emerging “information society”. The need for workers to acquire a range of skills and to
continuously adapt these skills underlies the “learning economy”. The importance of
210
knowledge and technology diffusion requires better understanding of knowledge networks
and “national innovation systems”. Most importantly, new issues and questions are being
raised regarding the implications of the knowledge-based economy for employment and the
role of governments in the development and maintenance of the knowledge base[5, p. 3].
The Knowledge Based Economy is based on the 20th century information society as an
extension and normal evolution of the information revolution supported by the massive
development of the IT&C phenomenon. The more the knowledge based aspects of the 21st
century society is assimilated and understood the more the classical concepts will change and
evolve.
The knowledge based economy is an economy where business organizations are based on
production and consumption systems that are primarily built on intellectual capital and
knowledge of organizations that is used as a way of maintaining, gaining and achieving
competitive advantage on the ever increasing speed of information flow on the todays
globalized markets.
It is well-known that in the present the competitive advantage of an economy it is not based
only on products or services, natural resources or geographic particularities. The competitive
advantage it is obtained today through innovation and the extensive utilization of knowledges
[6, p. 1].
Most of the classical economic concepts are already influenced and transformed by the
change in paradigm determined by the knowledge economy. The most relevant aspects that
have started the transformation of the classical economic concepts are:
• Speed. The concept of speed is not only a physics concept that measures the distance
covered in a specific time period. We know it took about 100 years for the industrial
revolution to become global, it took about 70 years for the productivity revolution to have a
global impact. From the 1990s – today we have already ~25 years where the knowledge
revolution has been dominating the planet.
• Method of knowledge usage. Considering the fundamental goal of business
organizations, to create value for its shareholders, knowledge seen know a product is applied
and used to generate the new necessary knowledge.
The knowledge economy is deterministic in itself, the accumulated and used knowledge is
determining new opportunities and challenges to meet to achieve, maintain and increase the
needed sustainable competitive advantage.
In this context one of the most important challenges of the knowledge based economies are
the preservation of the competitive advantage through knowledge transfer and safekeeping
over time of the acquired knowledge and informationmaintain and accelerate the change
process that is driven by the new data, information and knowledge and that is affecting and
influencing the economiesaccommodate and integrate the “old new” knowledge that comes
through obsolescence of new knowledge and is transforming towards common knowledgefind
new economic models to allow the most efficient “commoditization” of knowledge that
allows economies, markets and business organization to follow the fundamental goal of
creation of additional economic value for its stakeholders or shareholders.
The world we live in is marked by the fast evolutions of technology and efficiency, it is the
world in which information means power. Market globalization, technical and technological
revolutions are transforming the contemporary economy into what specialists call knowledge
based economy, in which the business world is characterized by new types of organization,
which requires developing competences and generalizing the advanced technologies,
thorough knowledge and a higher responsibility. Nowadays, in the context of the knowledge
based economy, the competitive edge is obtained through science, through the widespread use
of knowledge, through innovation and qualified workforce[7, p. 9].

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5. KNOWLEDGE BASED ORGANIZATIONS
Even though there is no universally accepted definition of a knowledge based organization it
is commonly understood as being the organization whose products and services are
knowledge intensive.
A knowledge based organization is an organization where workers use processes and
infrastructure to produce, change, manage, use and share knowledge based products and
services to achieve the organizational goal.
The characteristics of a knowledge based organization, go beyond product to include process,
purpose and perspective. Process refers to an organization’s knowledge based activities and
processes. Purpose refers to its mission and strategy. Perspective refers to the worldview and
culture that influences and constrains an organization’s decisions and actions. knowledge
based organization exhibit knowledge-intensive processes, purpose, and perspective,
regardless of their product [8, p. 2].
In a stable economic environment, the change may be slow, and the organization would have
time to react and maintain its competitive advantages. In contrast in a knowledge-based
economy, the economic environment changes rapidly and the response is not the best
alternative; in order to succeed, the organizations must be proactive, to anticipate, to be
directed towards learning and permanently development. The main resource of a knowledge-
based organization is the knowledge [9, p. 1].
Large companies and institutions are still attached of the functional hierarchical organization.
In small private firms and nongovernmental organizations, managerial and professional
practices based on knowledge are already present but still in experimental forms. The
characteristics of the small companies are key assets for reshaping them according to the
knowledge based economy requirements. The shift to knowledge-based economy is an
inevitable process, extremely complex and difficult generating for SMEs simultaneously
numerous opportunities and threats. SMEs are those who assume some of the risks associated
with this process, have the vision and stubbornness to succeed and to find the success
formula. Small and medium enterprises are undoubtedly the "carriers" of knowledge, those
who disseminate knowledge within the society and an engine of innovation [10, p. 1].
Currently SME are the main drivers and adopter of the new economy, the knowledge based
economy. SME have all the main characteristics of the typical knowledge based organization:
• low fixed assets level determined by most efficient usage of funds towards core activities
• low level of non-core activities within the own organization. The non-core activities are
outsourced whereas the important andrelevant activities are insourced
• increase in decentral and remote workforce
• internal organization is more oriented towards knowledge and effects and not towards
very strict hierarchies
• short “chain of command” that are supported by more and more knowledge managers and
not by classical manager roles
SME reacted and acted as the driver towards knowledge based organizations because of their
need to “survive” the globalized markets whereas big companies and corporations are already
on the market and do not need to change at the speed SME are doing it. Big corporations
cannot change very fast their internal organizations and market actions because of their main
characteristic, they are BIG and very complex and have complicated business processes that
cannot react quick without jeopardizing themselves.
All organizations from the 21st century onwards, regardless of their size, will have to face the
challenges and opportunities of the knowledge society and knowledge economy. Business
organizations will compete over the most “valuable” knowledge resources, the knowledge
workers that are represented by highly skilled and trained potential employees.

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Organizations will increasingly be regarded as joint human‐computer knowledge processing
systems. This perspective has significant implications for the design, management, and
success of an organization. A knowledge‐based organization is seen as a society of knowledge
workers who are interconnected by a computerized infrastructure. Their work with various
distinct types of knowledge is supported in a coordinated, cooperative fashion by the
computerized infrastructure[11].
The todays organizations must access also the internal inactive knowledge workers that are
present in the company’s business support services. All companies have an internal inactive
knowledge potential that needs to be identified, assessed and made active. Companies need to
transform the role and the strategies towards the business support services into knowledge
services that drive and support the business.
In this transformation the key role is played by the knowledge workers represented by the
organizations own human resources. Human resources need to change from the classical view
as being only labour force for the business organization towards the requirements of the
knowledge based economy and society.
The knowledge workers possess knowledge and they constantly renew them through
continuous learning in order to maintain their title of knowledge workers. The productivity
and work performance of the knowledge workers lies in the collection, assimilation, creation,
use and exploitation of knowledge. The knowledge workers present high mobility, meaning
that they can change their job to another post or function within the same organization or in a
different organization, they can change their profession, being available to change their home
for their job. Knowledge-based specialists are dedicated people to their job, get high incomes
in the form of salaries, bonuses, shares in companies in which they work, concomitantly with
a special moral treatment, all these rewards reflecting the knowledge and the intellectual
capital they hold. In the knowledge based economy, the specialized workforce is well trained
in handling data, information, knowledge, which will lead to demand for careers such as
scientists, engineers, chemists, biologists, mathematicians, scientific inventors etc. [12, p. 2].
The main attributes of the 21st century high performance knowledge worker can be defined as:
• possess a high intellectual capital
• is highly educated
• is motivated and driven be lifelong learning and acquisition of new knowledge
• is highly mobile with regards to organization and geographical location
• possess team work -, learning - and critical thinking skills
• has high inclinations towards information technology
• speaks more than one foreign language
• has social and communication skills
When looking at the own knowledge capital organizations have a difficult mission, they have
to address an immaterial assets and commoditize it for its own usage and benefits. The
commoditization of knowledge can only be assured by employing the best possible
knowledge workers that are the sole owners of their tacit and implicit knowledge that has
been developed and acquired during the continuous learning process of the individual.
The difficulty lies in the management of tacit knowledge, which are hard to express and
codified. Most often the most valuable knowledge that an organization has is in the minds of
people and stakeholders. Most often, people are in a constant motion of their desire to find
ways to exploit their capabilities and knowledge. To capitalize on the knowledge of its
employees, organizations can act in two ways:
• The conversion of tacit knowledge in more explicit form-in documents, processes,
databases, etc. This approach is often known as the "human capital decantation in
organization structural capital "

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• Enhancing the flow of tacit knowledge through better human interaction. In many
Japanese organizations, different activities of socialization support this flow of knowledge.
[13, p. 6]
The possession of knowledge intensive assets and knowledge pools, in form of employed
knowledge workers, does not imply automatically that the business organization will gain
sustainable competitive advantage. This access to knowledge workers will only guarantee that
there is an opportunity to use and benefit from the intellectual capital of the employed
knowledge workers.
The theory of knowledge is based on a series of assumptions about knowledge characteristics:
knowledge is the most productive resource in terms of contribution to value added, different
categories of knowledge vary according to their portability so that there is a distinction
between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge, employees are key agents for knowledge
creation and in the case of tacit knowledge they are the main holders of it and some
knowledge is the subject to scale economies, being incorporated in technologies[14, p. 6].
The knowledge theory states clearly that a series of fundamental changes are needed in order
to achieve and sustain the ultimate goal of sustainable competitive advantage in the new
knowledge society of the 21st century. The most important change is the re-focus and re-
establishment of the role of the existing knowledge workers of the organization. Each
business organization has already a huge inactive or partially active knowledge capital
represented by the business support services, the indirect staff of the business organization. To
capitalize and commoditize the existing knowledge capital it needs a change of mind-set of
the existing leadership of the organization towards the awareness and usefulness of the
present state of facts. Only through a “tone from the top” given by the management and
leadership of the business organization towards knowledge capital and value generation
through knowledge the “dormant” knowledge capital can be activated and can build the
foundation for future improvements.
6. CONCLUSIONS
The information revolution and the resulting knowledge economies and globalization of the
world has started some irreversible and consistent changes in the global mind-set. The
knowledge worker role establishes itself as an omnipresent role within organizations all over
the world. This presence has determined changes in the classical concepts of management and
economics, meaning that some concepts need an update to the requirements of the knowledge
society and to the subsequent knowledge economies.
Nowadays, in the context of the knowledge based economy, the competitive edge is obtained
through science, through the widespread use of knowledge, through innovation and qualified
workforce. In the future, the differences between rich and less rich countries will not reflect in
the owning and using the classical production factors, but will be represented by the
production, access to and usage of knowledge [7, p. 9].

7. REFERENCES

[1] P. Pardi, “What is Knowledge,” 22 09 2011. [Online]. Available:

http://www.philosophynews.com/post/2011/09/22/What-is-Knowledge.aspx. [Accessed 04 04
2016].

[2] Cambridge University Press, “Meaning of “knowledge” in the English Dictionary,” Cambridge
University Press, 2016. [Online]. Available:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/knowledge#translations. [Accessed 04 04

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[3] M. Terece, “The Knowledge Management Wheel,” 2011. [Online]. Available:

http://www.issbs.si/press/ISBN/978-961-92486-3-8/papers/ML11-15.pdf. [Accessed 12 04
2016].

[4] Knowledge Associates International, “Knowledge Management Online,” 2016. [Online].

Available: http://www.knowledge-management-online.com/the-importance-of-knowledge-
management.html. [Accessed 04 04 2016].

[5] Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, “The Knowledge based Economy,”
1996. [Online]. Available: https://www.oecd.org/sti/sci-tech/1913021.pdf. [Accessed 04 04
2016].

[6] M. C. Tocan, “Knowledge Based Economy In Romania,” 2008. [Online]. Available:

http://oeconomica.uab.ro/upload/lucrari/1020082/28.pdf. [Accessed 05 04 2016].

[7] R. Todericiu and L. Fraticiu, “Changes And Challenges Of The Contemporary Knowledge
Based Economy,” 2012. [Online]. Available:
http://economice.ulbsibiu.ro/revista.economica/archive/RE%204-5-63-2012.pdf. [Accessed 14
04 2016].

[8] M. H. Zack, “What is a Knowledge Based Organization ?,” 2003. [Online]. Available:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/conf/olkc/archive/olk5/papers/paper62.pdf. [Accessed
06 04 2016].

[9] D. Cusu, “Knowledge Based Company – a Theoretical Approach,” May 2011. [Online].
Available: http://stec.univ-ovidius.ro/html/anale/RO/cuprins%20rezumate/volum2011p2.pdf.
[Accessed 15 04 2016].

[10] D. Nancu, “SMEs - The Main Promoters of the Knowledge based Economy,” 2015. [Online].
Available: http://stec.univ-
ovidius.ro/html/anale/RO/2015/ANALE%20vol%2015_issue_1_pt%20site.pdf. [Accessed 05
04 2016].

[11] C. W. Holsapple and A. B. Whinston, “Knowledge‐based organizations,” 2010. [Online].

Available: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/01972243.1987.9960049.
[Accessed 12 04 2016].

[12] E. Muscalu and A. Stanit, “Knowledge Workers : The Modern Workers Prototype In Present
And Future Organization,” 2013. [Online]. Available:
http://anale.steconomiceuoradea.ro/volume/2013/n2/055.pdf. [Accessed 12 04 2016].

[13] M. Tocan, “Management Of Organizations In The Context Of The Knowledge Society,” 2014.
[Online]. Available:
http://www.seap.usv.ro/annals/arhiva/USVAEPA_VOL.14,ISSUE_1%2819%29,2014_fulltext.p
df. [Accessed 12 04 2016].

[14] D. Gioacasi, “A Theoretical Approach To The Transition From A Resource Based To A

Knowledge-Economy,” 2015. [Online]. Available:
http://www.ceswp.uaic.ro/articles/CESWP2015_VII3_GIO.pdf. [Accessed 14 04 2016].

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

TRIPADVISOR: A VIRTUAL COMMUNITY OF PRATICE

Ramona-Diana Leon1, Costin Dămăşaru2

1
Faculty of Management, National University of Political Studies and Administration,
ramona.leon@facultateademanagement.ro
2
Faculty of Management, National University of Political Studies and Administration,
costin.damasaru@facultateademanagement.ro

ABSTRACT: The research concentrates on describing how knowledge is shared within an online community of
practice. The focus is on the type of shared knowledge and on the knowledge flows that cross the TripAdvisor
community of practice. Therefore, 121 posts with 33,592 users liking or commenting 52,963 times are extracted.
The main results prove that TripAdvisor is a fully active community of practice which fosters members’
relationships; none of the members are isolated and all of them are focusing either on acquiring or disseminating
emotional and cognitive knowledge. These findings have both theoretical and practical implication. At the
theoretical level, it extends the theory by emphasizing the nexus between knowledge management and social
media; the last one may serve as an instrument for knowledge sharing and also as a transactive memory system.
At the policy-makers level, it offers a viable tool which can get the managers closer to their customers and can
also improve the communication and collaboration between the firm and its external stakeholders.
KEYWORDS: knowledge sharing; community of practice; social media; organization; tourism.

1. INTRODUCTION
Since the early 1990s, the communities of practice represent a fundamental subject of interest
for both knowledge management practitioners and scholars. Still, during the time, the
perspective from which these are analyzed changed radically; the focus practically switched
from the influence factors [1], [2], [3], [4] to the obtained outcomes [5], [6], [7], from the
internal level [8], [9] to the external one [10], and from the real world [9], [11] to the virtual
one [8], [12], [13].
Despite the valuable findings of the previous studies, there is still little research regarding the
type of knowledge that is shared within a community of practice and how does knowledge
flow among its members. In order to fill this gap, the current paper aims to analyze how and
what type of knowledge is shared within an online community of practice.
The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the concepts of “community of
practice”, “online community of practice”, “emotional knowledge”, “spiritual knowledge”,
and “cognitive knowledge”; Section 3 emphasizes the research methodology while Section 4
highlights how emotional and cognitive knowledge flows within the TripAdvisor community
of practice. The paper closes by drawing several conclusions, and determining the theoretical
and practical implications of the main results.
2. THE COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE: FROM THE REAL WORLD TO THE
VIRTUAL ONE
The concept of “community of practice” has its roots in the psychological theory of activity
developed, in the 1920s, by the Vygotokian school of developmental psychology [14]. Fifty
years later, it captures the interest of the business and organizational practitioners and scholars
[15], [16]. Practically, [16] brought the concept into the business area by presenting the
community of practice as a group of individuals who have a common interest, solve specific
problems and tend to create new knowledge by practicing together. Given the ambiguity of
this definition, a few years later, [11] claims that the cornerstone of a community of practice
is represented by the following three elements:
• a domain of knowledge (the area in which the members have expertise);

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• a coherent group of people who want to share what they know and are open to learn from
the others;
• a shared practice that is constantly developed and enriched.
Starting from these and the fast pace of technological development, the communities of
practice move from the real world to the virtual one and start to be described as “informal and
self-organized networks of peers with diverse skills in an area of practice or a profession” [9].
Just like the ones from the real world, the online communities of practice bring together the
individuals who share a common interest, are willing to foster individuals and groups
learning, and invest effort into discovering what may happened or what may unexpectedly
emerge in a given domain. As [17] sustain, the online communities of practice are based on
five principles, such as:
• knowledge is public – anyone can access individuals and groups memory (the artefacts
that the members have already shared) at anytime and from any place in the world; anyone
can read and comment previous posts which synthesize what individuals have felt, thought or
done in a certain situation;
• the membership is open – anyone can become a member as long as he or she is interested
in the subject and is willing to access others’ ideas, opinions and experiences and to
disseminate what he or she knows or believes within the group;
• the members of the community are volunteers – the members become part of the
community because they desire to and they may leave if they are no longer interested in the
subject; nevertheless, they decide to join a certain community because they believe they can
bring different perspectives and they can facilitate the development of future approaches or
directions;
• knowledge distribution goes beyond the organizational boundaries – each of the members
includes the acquired ideas, thoughts, emotions, beliefs, experiences in his or her mental
models and take them with him or her in the real world, fostering their dissemination
worldwide;
• interaction is mainly virtual and technology-based – the members meet in a virtual space
and communicate with one another without having any type of face-to-face interaction.
As a consequence, it can be argued that the members of an online community of practice are
linked by a private emotion (a desire to discover more and to share what they know), reflexive
engagement and learning, the possibility of having access to individuals or groups memory at
any time, autonomy, personal responsibility and discretion. Each of these elements is related
with what [18], [19], [20] label as emotional, spiritual and cognitive knowledge; the spiritual
knowledge is the one that links the members of an online community of practice while the
emotional and cognitive knowledge are the ones that support and foster the relationships
developed among the members.
Within an online community of practice, the individuals from different parts of the world and
various hierarchical levels of the same or different organization are aware of their role in the
community and help each other to solve problems, by sharing with others data, information,
insights, experiences, ideas, emotions, beliefs, know-how and fellowship. As a result, they
identify new perspectives, from which the problems could be approached, develop new tools.
In other words, they start by disseminating a mix of emotional and cognitive knowledge and
end up creating mainly cognitive knowledge, and secondary emotional knowledge.
Synthesizing, the communities of practice play a critical role in facilitating knowledge to be
created, used, transformed and shared within and among organizations [13], and they also
save time, money, energy and effort [21]. Therefore, it is important to know whether they are
predominantly share emotional or cognitive knowledge. Are they focusing on what they feel

217
or on the facts and processes that took place? And if so, how does each type of knowledge
flow among the members of an online community of practice?
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research concentrates on analyzing how knowledge is shared within an online community
of practice. The focus is on the type of shared knowledge and also on the knowledge flow
direction.
The case study strategy is applied since this is the most appropriate one for answering to the
“how” and “why” questions [22]. The analyzed case is represented by TripAdvisor, world's
largest travel site. This acts as a community of practice due to the fact that it reunites the
individuals who are interested in travelling and encourages knowledge sharing among them.
As [21] states “the principles on which this community is based on include: sharing cognitive
and emotional knowledge directly (each member posts his/her impressions on a given
destination – what he/she saw; what does he/she think about the people, the culture etc.) or by
evaluation (each member may rate a destination, an attraction or an accommodation based on
how he/she felt like – was he/she moved by the architectural style of the city; was he/she
satisfied with hotel’s services etc.) and asking for cognitive and emotional knowledge
(members have the opportunity to ask others what they think a certain location or what places
would they recommend)”.
For data collection the Facebook application – Netvizz – is used. As [23] highlight the
generated results include “all texts of post and comments published by users or by the pages
in a given period of time or most recent posts, subject to the user’s preferences, and the
Facebook engagement measures for each post (i.e., umber of likes, comments, shares,
comment-likes, and a total sum of all the engagement measures)”. Therefore, the activity on
TripAdvisor page is tracked and synthesized from September 31 until November 1, 2015; this
period is selected due to the fact that during this time people review the experiences they lived
in their summer vacation, which is usually described as the busiest time of the year for the
tourism companies. Therefore, 121 posts with 33,592 users liking or commenting 52,963
times are extracted.
4. MAIN RESULTS
On general basis, TripAdvisor is a fully active community of practice which encourages and
fosters members’ relationships. Any individual can become a member if he or she wants to
and if he or she is interested in travelling. So, the membership is open, the members are
volunteers and they interact mainly virtual. Nevertheless, the members are linked through a
set of common spiritual knowledge, and the emotional, spiritual and cognitive knowledge that
is shared within the platform becomes public in just a couple of seconds.
As it may be observed from Figure 1, none of the members are isolated and all of them are
focusing either on acquiring knowledge or on disseminating it. However, some relationships
are more frequent than others; the solid lines emphasize the powerful (frequently) knowledge
sharing processes while the dashed lines bring forward the occasional knowledge sharing
processes that occur among the members of the TripAdvisor community of practice.
Although the processes of knowledge sharing seem to be fostered by at least 10 members who
occupy a central position within the TripAdvisor community of practice, a special attention
should be given to the satellite groups. These are linked with the others by only one member
who acts as a gatekeeper. He or she acts as an interface between the cornerstone of the
community of practice and the members of the satellite group, mediates the relationships
between the two parts and controls the knowledge that goes in and out of the group.

218
 Figure 1. Knowledge sharing within the TripAdvisor community of practice. A general view
According to the overall network statistics (Figure 2), the average degree is 20.042 which
signifies that each member of the TripAdvisor community of practice shares his or her
knowledge with at least 20 other community members. However, the degree dispersion
follows a power law pattern and registers a high level, ranging from 0 to a little more than 65.
Given these aspects, it can be stated that there are a few members in the TripAdvisor
community of practice who have a lot of connections, are very popular and gained the trust of
others. They focus on disseminating what they think, feel or believe on a certain subject
(vacation experiences, accommodation, trips etc.) and are usually labelled as “experts”; their
opinion on the matter weighs a lot, in the eyes of others. As highlighted in Figure 1, 10
members represent the cornerstone of the TripAdvisor community of practice since they
concentrate on both acquiring and sharing knowledge. They are open to receive emotional,
spiritual and cognitive knowledge from others but they are also willing to disseminate what
they valued, felt, thought and experiences in certain circumstances.

219
 Figure 2. Degree distribution
Besides, if data presented in Figure 3 is taken into account, it can be remarked that emotional
knowledge sharing occurs frequently among 17 members of the TripAdvisor community of
practice, and it is controlled by one member. However, at the overall network level, there is
an infusion of emotional knowledge but the process of knowledge sharing occurs mainly
occasionally among the members. The results are justified since sharing emotional knowledge
is highly depending on context, individuals’ disposition, personality and experience.

Figure 3. Emotional knowledge sharing within the TripAdvisor community of practice

Cognitive knowledge sharing occurs within and between the groups that have at least three
regular members (Figure 4). In other words, when it comes to deciding the future destination
220
for their vacation, the members of the TripAdvisor community of practice feel a
psychological need of gathering knowledge from various sources. Therefore, they are either
posting questions which increase the interest of other members or they reply to previous posts
in order to ask for more details. As a result, they obtain more insights regarding what to do
and see in a certain locations.

Figure 4. Cognitive knowledge sharing within the TripAdvisor community of practice

Nevertheless, the inter-group cognitive knowledge sharing occurs on the same basis as the
emotional one; some members act as gatekeepers, linking the individuals who have the same
interests but do not know of one another while others obtain what they need from various
intermediaries. In the first case, knowledge becomes subject to interpretation and
manipulation at three levels: at the transmitter (what he or she means to say when he or she
says what he or she says), at the intermediary (what he or she believes that the transmitter
wanted to say when he or she said what he or she said), at the receiver (what he or she
believes that the intermediary wanted to say when he or she said what he or she said). In the
last case, knowledge becomes subject to interpretation and manipulation at n levels,
depending on the number of intermediaries; the phenomenon from the intermediary level is
multiplied by n times.
When both the emotional and cognitive knowledge are taken into account (Figure 5), two
distinct and disconnected groups can be identified. These are linked by 13 users who act as
gatekeepers. They come from different parts of the world, do not know each other and still
manage to control the emotional and cognitive knowledge that goes in and out from the two
groups.

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 Figure 5. Emotional and cognitive knowledge sharing within the TripAdvisor community of practice
On the other hand, it can be noticed that the western group is highly connected in between,
while the members of the eastern group are more oriented on developing external
relationships. They mainly connect with the 13 gatekeepers and do not share any type of
knowledge with one another. Given the circumstances and the particularities of the
TripAdvisor community of practice, they are either new members or representatives of
tourism companies that are trying to use the main gatekeepers in order to get to the large
amount of potential customers.
5. CONCLUSIONS
TripAdvisor is an active community of practice which fosters cognitive and emotional
knowledge sharing among the members. Individuals share what they know, feel and
experience on certain circumstances while the tourism companies have the possibility to react
to customers opinions without advertising their services. In other words, it is a virtual space
where the offer meets the demand, while reactions, feelings, perceptions and experiences are
disseminated.
As aforementioned, cognitive and emotional knowledge sharing occurs within and between
the group and it is mainly supported by 10 persons who manage to link occasionally with at
least 20 others, depending on the communication subjects. The results are in line with [20]
findings who argues that “TripAdvisor community managed: (1) to overcome the barriers
imposed by cognitive proximity which assumes that is difficult for members with different
cultural and professional background to share knowledge with one another; (2) to create a
resourceful knowledge repository which is available to anyone at any time; (3) to facilitate the
creation and development of shared mental models; (4) to determine each individual to
accept, more or less consciously, other members’ opinions, judgments and assumptions; (5) to
facilitate knowledge sharing inside and outside community’s boundaries”.
These findings have both theoretical and practical implication. At the theoretical level, it
extends the theory by emphasizing the nexus between knowledge management and social
media; the last one may serve as an instrument for knowledge sharing and also as a
transactive memory system. At the policy-makers level, it offers a viable tool which can get
the managers closer to their customers and can also improve the communication and
collaboration between the firm and its external stakeholders.

222
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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

DATA SCIENCE, SPECIFIC INSTRUMENT OF KNOWLEDGE BASED

ORGANIZATIONS

Claudiu Pîrnau1, Mihail Aurel Țîțu2, Liviu Ioan Roșca3 and Mironela Pîrnau4
1
Lumina University of South-East Europe Bucharest, claude.pyr@gmail.com
2
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, mihail.titu@ulbsibiu.ro
3
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, liviu.rosca@ulbsibiu.ro
4
Titu MaiorescuUniversity of Bucharest, mironela.pirnau@utm.ro

ABSTRACT: The latest generation of database systems - the third, which appeared in the late 80s - is based on
object oriented technology and is aimed for applications that store and process mainly multimedia data. In the
current context, changes in the database market, leading to a significant increase in interest in those of Non-SQL
type, are, in particular, due to the adoption of Big Data concept. One of the methods to be used for training the
specialists in Data Science, may be authorization of an educational program in this domain having a deeply
interdisciplinary character.
KEYWORDS: Big Data, Data Mining, Knowledge, Machine Learning

1. INTRODUCTION
„Big Data” term has launched a real revolution of processes, staff and technology in order to
support what appears to be a new field that explodes within some giant companies like
Amazon and Wal-Mart, as well as in certain bodies such as the US government and NASA,
which use Big Data to achieve business tasks and/or strategic objectives. In a word, Big Data
(a concept invented by Doug Laney in 2001) is the information held by a company, obtained
and processed through new techniques in order to produce value in the most efficient way
possible. Big Data term can be defined by the three Vs: „volume, velocity and variety.” In
August 2013, Mark van Rijmenam, in the article entitled „Why the 3 Vs are not enough to
describe Big Data” added to the definition another 4 Vs: „veracity, variability, video and
value” supported by using the following statements: „90% of all data used today have been
created in the last two years. From now on, the amount of data in the world will double every
two years.”

2. QUESTION FORMULATION TECHNIQUE – (QFT)

Integrating Data Mining techniques (also named Called Data or Knowledge Discovery) in the
knowledge based economy, has led to the achievement and development of new business
models and, implicitly, to new products addressed to certain target markets. In organizations
whose dimensions go beyond national borders, there are already staff having tasks within
Data Mining such as Data Mining Team Manager or Data Mining Retail Analyst. Since
knowledge is a combination of experiences, values, contextual information (data endowed
with relevance and purpose) and intuition, the technique of wording question (generating new
knowledge, ideas and questions) is classified into two categories, depending on the following:
„Key components of techniques of wording questions” and respectively “Use in practice of
techniques of wording questions”(for example, the development of specific procedures to
knowledge transfer).Typical questions on data are „who?”, „what”, „where” and „when?”,
while questions specific to knowledge are „how?” and „why?”. Questions asked before
choosing a cloud solution or other analytical solution are: What are the business goals?; What
architectural and management principles will be used?; What is the purpose of their

224
implementation?; What systems current/future we rely on?; What are the performance needs?;
What are the financial implications ?
A procedure needed for the transfer of knowledge can be achieved through a number of two
forms F1 and F2 as follows: F1- Calculating knowledge created and shared at an
organizational level, by extending the After Action Review (AAR) method, whose thinking is
based on the following questions: What should happen? Why? What actually happened?
Why? What is the difference? Why? What went wrong? Why? What could work better?
Why? What lessons can we learn? [1]. F2 - Processing and streamlining results of an idea
using SMART method, implemented based on the following set of questions: Where does this
idea come? When did it occur? What were the conditions that led to its occurrence? What
factors have contributed to its development? How should it be properly capitalized? Why is
relevant at the moment? [2]. Based on responses, suggestions and conclusions from the use of
the above questions, this type of procedure allows calculating the number of pieces of
knowledge (K CT) created and shared at a certain time by an organization (according to
equation (1)) and the number of pieces of knowledge gained and shared from processing an
idea, K I [3].

KCT = 6 * NA * NS * NI = 6 * 4 * 24 * 30 = 17280 [knowledge] (1)

Where: number of questions used in the method AAR=6; number of subtasks analysed = NA;
Number of suggestions/conclusions/results = NS; number of participants =NI.
An important element in this calculation methodology is the applicability rating of an idea
results, RA, shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Applicability rating of an idea results
Level of geographical Rating Applicability
dispersion
Local 1 Restricted
Regional 2 Extended
National 3 Large
International 4 Very large
In this situation, the number of pieces of knowledge accumulated and shared as a result of
processing an idea (KI) can be calculated with the help of equation (2).

KI = RA/6 * (NS + ND + NI + NQ) (2)

Where: RA = Applicability rating; 6 = Number of questions used by SMART method; NS =

Number of suggestions generated by the answers to SMART method; ND = Number of sectors
benefiting from the implementation of the idea; NI = Number of new ideas generated; NQ =
Number of new questions generated.
The main questions Knowledge Manager need to ask himself in the process of knowledge
management (KM) integration in the smart sustainable development of organizations are:
Where do you start in applying KM?; Is KM better implemented bottoms-up or top-down?;
What are the difficulties or challenges of KM?; What will ensure the success of KM in an
organization?; What is the “knowledge cycle”?; Is there any personal benefit from KM? [4].
The main questions related to research design and data analysis, known as „Crotty's model”
are: What knowledge claims are being made by the researcher (including a theoretical
perspective)? What strategies of inquiry will inform the procedures? What methods of data
collection and analysis will be used? [5]. In the process of preparing future professionals in
Data Science, we will also use many answers and ideas obtained after several series of
important questions.

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3. SPECIFIC EDUCATION IN DATA SCIENCE
An education program specific to Data Science could be established based on the following
structure:Research design and data analysis, Exploration and data analysis, Applied Machine
Learning - (AML), Visualization and data communication, Developing team-working
competences. Research design and data analysis, based on the use of different research
methods, technique of wording questions, intelligence management etc., as follows:
• Research design, cantered on using quantitative research methods based on collection and
processing of data through experiments, surveys, observations etc., highlighting certain results
of data processing, namely the use of qualitative research methods (as a branch of empirical
research ), which refer to the attributes of a person or a group of people who can be described
through motivations, aspirations, attitudes, values, culture, lifestyle, behavior that are
rendered as accurately as possible. [6]
• Technique of wording question - can be divided into two chapters, as follows: Key
Components of the Question Formulation Technique & Experiencing the Question
Formulation Technique;[7]
• Data analysis (Management Intelligence) and decision-making processes. Data quality
analysis involves completing of five stages: setting goals of analysis of data quality and
structure of collected data; preliminary data review; selecting statistical test; checking forecast
in statistical test; determination of conclusions. [8] The study of decision-making processes
involve analysis of planning, organizing, training and control functions. An important role
should be also granted to the study of decision making typology (autocratic, consultative
group) and optimization techniques of decision-making process;
• Analysis of cognitive biases, which involves (cold, hot) analysis of various forms of
prejudices and their links with domains such as psychology and behavioral economics;
• Direct and indirect digital influence on actions, opinions and human behavior centered on
the role of influence-providers (Example: social commerce) in the marketing process;
• Integration of Data Mining in the knowledge based economy;
• In knowledge-based organizations, the training in this domain is ensured through a
“Senior Data Visualization Specialist".
3.1 Exploration and data analysis
Process based on research design through mixed methods (quantitative and respectively
qualitative) and statistical analysis (measurements, inferential statistics and causal inference).
Statistical techniques and methods of using the R language (implementation of S language in
the open-source environment). Topics covered in quantitative techniques include: descriptive
and inferential statistics, sampling, experimental design, parametric and non-parametric tests
of difference, regression squares and logistic regression.
Storing and data retrieving, based on analytical applications, Big Data, distributed data
processing, the use of relational databases etc., as follows: Analytical applications (Big
Analytics) and cloud solutions for Big Data. Design of solutions should take into account
mainly of four elements: data sources have different scales (multi-terabyte or arena petabyte);
Speed is a critical element (use of Extract Transform Load- use LTE technology may not be
sufficient, requiring solutions like S4 or STORM); Storing patterns are changing (in order to
store unstructured data we can use the Hadoop Distributed File System or Amazon S3); It is
necessary to support multiple analysis paradigms and calculation methods used, such as
analysis of databases in real-time, interactive queries of data warehousing distributed by
massively using parallel processing and distributed processing engines based on simple
(aggregation) algorithms or complex ones (machine learning); Computational solutions in
the process of storing and retrieving data. The importance of information infrastructure
(US). Hybrid Storage Systems (IBM Smart Cloud Virtual Storage Centre); Distributed data
processing; Using relational database; Using Graph Databases model - the graph is a set

226
of objects (nodes) and relations between them (edges) - in the context of growing hybrid
databases role (SQL + Non SQL) within Big Data; Streaming Data for Big Data, initiated
on the question "What are the data that are not at rest ?" The answer would be, the systems
that manage active operations, and therefore should have persistence. In these cases, the data
will be stored in an operational data warehouse. However, in other situations, these operations
were executed, and it is time to commonly analyze the data in a data warehouse or Data Mart.
This means that information is processed in batches and not in real time. Streaming Data is an
analytic calculation platform focused on speed. This is due to the fact that these applications
require a continuous flow of unstructured data, which need to be processed ("time windows").
Therefore, the data are continuously analyzed and transformed into memory (using cluster
type servers) before being stored on a disc; Cube Technology - development and
implementation of some innovative solutions for websites that manage events (Example:
organizing of modular stands) and buildings, including time management and optimization of
working conditions. A practical application in this regard is the KELIPSE solution based on
terminals for modular stands [9]. Another category of applications can be considered
achieving cloud private solutions, public or hybrid, by Cube Technology Business IT
Solutions London Company [10].
3.2 Applied Machine Learning - AML
AML is a discipline that focuses on developing algorithms. The relationship between data and
predictions/models is taught (using automatic machine learning techniques) by examining a
substantial amount of relevant information. The focus is centered on intuition and practical
examples and less on theoretical results. It is good that participants have minimum skills in
probability, statistics and linear algebra. The main chapters of this discipline, could be
considered the following [11]: Experimental Design - planning an experiment is based on
three elements: an idea, justification (possibly by developing a hypothesis) and prior
documentation in specialized literature. Designing the experiment should start from the
assumption that it is based on commands and methods that can be verified and measured. The
existing variables/outcomes in an experiment can be classified into four categories: variables
(the amount does not have a fixed value); independent variables (defined by researcher),
dependent variables (measured in the experiment) and external variables (resulting from
uncontrollable variations/deviations) that may affect the results of the experiment. Examples:
sensory tests, sensory characteristics, standardized criteria by means of an experimental
protocol; Learning algorithms - the list of the most common learning algorithms, includes:
linear regression, logistic regression, decision trees, algorithms/techniques for reducing the
dimensionality; Engineering elements specific to AML. Designing applications Machine
Learning type requires two components: understanding the properties of the task to be solved
and limitations of the model that will use the application. Typical cycle of a Machine
Learning type application consists of four stages: design a set of characteristics
(pattern/template type or combined), running the experiment and analysis of results (based on
a data set), modify the set of functions used and return to the design stage. Limits of
application, including running speed, are influenced by the amount of input data; The
predictions and interpretations issue. The problem of merger between
explanation/interpretation and empirical prediction is already a common element, but the
distinction (recognized in the philosophy of science) should be understood in view of
scientific progress. The purpose of this chapter is to clarify the distinction between
explanatory and predictive modelling, to discuss about its sources, and to reveal the practical
implications of the step by step distinction process modelling; Network analysis - In general,
network analysis is a structured technique used to analyze mathematically a circuit or a
network of interconnected components. Collaborative filtering. Recommendation systems
with collaborative filtering. Example: We can determine a user's profile based on his
uploaded photos, favorite photos, friends, groups to which he participates (a data set). For a
picture, we can infer its contents using the list of associated tags. A considerable step forward
would be the use of image analysis and object recognition procedures. The next step is to

227
design recommendation mechanisms that can be applied based on these data. There are two
major classes used in recommendation, namely: collaborative filtering and content-based
recommendations. For a visitor (unregistered user), not having a profile, we can only examine
the content of the visualized image and guess what he would like to see further in this way:
recommendations based on content. For a registered user, because we know his profile,
we can apply collaborative filtering to discover users with similar profiles. Starting from these
users, we can get pictures that we may recommend (through techniques such as selection from
their favorite photos sets): recommendations based on profile. For a registered user
viewing an image, we can achieve an hybrid algorithm: on the one hand we seek users
similar to him, on the other hand, we use information related to the contents of the image
viewed to refine recommendations: recommendations based on "context" (user profile &
image content viewed). Subsequently, we can establish a set of functional requirements,
modelled by use cases diagrams, then we set the sequence of actions, modelled by sequences
diagrams [12].
3.3 Visualization and data communication
Visualization and data communication focused on design and implementation of
complementary visual and verbal representations, based on analysis of patterns in order to
convey findings and answer to necessary questions of decision-making process, and to
provide conclusive evidence, supported by data. The minimum necessary elements that can be
used in this educational process includes, among others, exploratory data analysis, the
effective visual presentation of data, etc., as follows:Exploratory data analysis studies the
existence of different types of data, descriptive statistics, graphical representation of a set of
data, examination of variable distributions, production and use of statistical tests, etc. From
the regressive models used in this case, we can mention: correlation coefficient, matrix of
correlations, spreading diagram. Linear regression. Non-linear regression (polynomial and
mixed exponential). Multi-linear regression. Logistic regression. Notions of survival analysis.
Cox's proportional hazards model. Additive models. Temporal series integrate elements such
as: smoothing methods. Prognosis using the trend. Prognosis using the trend and seasonal
component. Dynamic models based on temporary series: explanatory models, adjusting
models, auto-predictive models, ARIMA model. Among clustering algorithms, used for data
mining and identify natural groups, we can mention k-means partition algorithm (supporting
text mining and clustering techniques based on hierarchical methods)and detection algorithm
of anomaly (analyses the characteristics of normal cases to signal unusual cases);Effective
communication in writing follows a number of three stages: Stage of preparation of written
communication (Communication purpose, Audience identification, Setting the main idea,
Setting the format). Drafting stage of written communication (Drawing up the text,
Reviewing, Editing). Questions regarding the improvement of written expression skills
(related to structure, style and content of written communication). Effective visual
presentation of data – the type of stored data has major implications on how they will be
presented. Nominal data are discrete and have no intrinsic order (gender, race, etc.).
Common data have a prescribed order, such as the level of satisfaction (very satisfied,
dissatisfied), size that fits (small, medium, large) or ownership status (owner, tenant). Display
in a different order would not make sense as they are not really numeric. The data range
consists of a series of sequential numerical ranges, which has a distinct order and can be
divided into equal parts or can be sorted in ascending or descending order. In this category
can be assigned data referring on time (months of the year), age, salary and other financial
measures. The main phases of an efficient data view, are: Be open to discovering new
insights; Think big but start small; Design for your user; Prototype to identify needs (see
figure 1.); Obtain feedback early and often [13]. Adapting design on visualization and
communication of data, according to human perception (Design for human perception) -
In this discipline can be studied, from the point of view of computer science, the limits of
human perception based on the following steps [14]:Identifying relationships between
perceptual psychology and the science of image. The studied items will help in getting
effective answers to questions such as: How should colors be used? What graphical entities
228
can be measured accurately? How many distinct entities can be used without creating
confusion? These questions will be integrated in Visualization design. Under Computer
Vision, will be sought answers to questions such as: What primitives people cannot detected
in due time? What level of accuracy is perceived through various primitives? How can we
combine primitives in order to recognize complex phenomena?Information theory and
human perception, in which, for each (visual, acoustic, etc.) primitive can be effectively
measured the number of distinct levels that an individual can identify with a high degree of
accuracy. Each level will be labelled according to "channel capacity" of transferring human
information that will subsequently be measured in bits. Then, will be studied the main
reasons related to one-dimensional stimuli (sound, salinity, vibrations, etc.) and absolute
judgements concerning the multidimensional stimuli, such as salinity and sweetness,
dimension and brightness or multiple parameters related to sound: frequency, intensity,
discontinuation rate, duration and location. These judgements are in accordance with
linguistic theory, which identifies 8 to 10 dimensions, where every distinction can be of
binary or ternary type. Comparisons between the concepts of measurement and detection
will allow measuring the distance through a mathematical calculus of difference type
(absolute value), different from the method of detection (relative value). In practice can be
made the difference between a total of 10 tasks related to graphic perception: angle zone
(area), color, saturation, density (percentage of black color used), length, the position on a
scale, inclination (slope) and volume. The study of persuasive communication in
advertising, based on concentration on the message and final satisfaction expectation by the
receiver, depending on his capabilities, enables analysis of the decisions taken following
absolute judgements (based on the amount of information), the range of perceptual
dimensionality and modalities of reconfiguration of absolute judgements sequences (resulting
in analysis of immediate memory, based on the amount of information, regardless of their
complexity). Human capacity on the distinction between absolute levels of information is
limited to a number of 4-7 values.
Developing team-working competences, necessary to every human individual can be
achieved by means of four chapters: training and groups preparation, groups management,
training sessions for groups and, respectively, case studies. The study of this discipline
implies, among other things, analyze of key dimensions of a team, assessment of main
components of team effectiveness, development of cross management (oriented towards
establishing relationships and less towards defence of domains in functional area, involving
the realization of distinct projects by working teams within a department or a company),
implementing and developing the concept of empowerment (this involves primarily granting
freedom to each employee to contribute in the process of decision-taking, distribute power at
the level of each employee according to his competence and in accordance with the objectives
and culture of the organization), as well as analysis/development of models of virtual teams
[15-18].

Figure 1. Prototyping and evaluating ideas

229
4. SOCIAL COMMERCE IN KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY
Development and promotion of social commerce as influence factor of marketing processes
and objective of knowledge based organizations ("Markets means conversation" - a concept
promoted by "Amazon" and "E-bay"), is a derivative of electronic commerce that involves
using forms of "social Media "and on-line content in order to foster social interaction and
users contribution. This approach should support buying and selling of products/services in
social environment. [19] The merit of this new game of marketing consists in the art of
conversation and the power to persuade the customer through the message sent. The main
player in the social commerce market is "Facebook.com" socialization website with over 600
million global users, representing 10% of world population, its upward trend is still
maintained. Social commerce consists of the following elements [20]: Buyers community
(GDGT); Community of group buyers (Groupon); Share information on purchases (Just
Bought It); Purchasing products (Polyvore, Pinteres); Social advice (Fashism); Co-shopping
(specialized search engines, such as “Shop Together”). Social commerce pillars, six in
number, allow setting of new trends in the knowledge-based economy (see Figure 2),
including within strategic alliances of cluster type: Visibility - social networks are the ideal
environment for the presentation of new sustainable products; Reputation - the existence of a
brand image and sustainable identity; Proximity - allows shortening the distance between
brand/product and potential customers; Contextualization - sustainable products/services must
reach the right place, at the right time and the right people; Recommendation - the existence
of social platforms that can support/promote strategies of the organization. Purchase of
sustainable products/services is based on recommendations/references from the part of
acquaintances; Customer support - existence of a suitable space within which we can
demonstrate customer care.

Digital economy Social commerce components Knowledge-based

economy
• SME sites • Buyers community • Personal
belonging to • Group Buyers community development
a cluster sharing information on • Learning
• A cluster site acquisitions Organizations
• Blogs • Social advice • Knowledge
• Co-shopping managers
• Sharing knowledge

Recommendation Customer
Visibility Reputation Proximity Contextualization
Care

Figure 2. The role of social commerce in knowledge-based organizations

According to statistics, the turnover generated by social commerce has reached over $30
billion in 2015 [21]. Social commerce will become a key lever of the purchase act, based on
sales through social networks and on influencing (adaptation) consumers through advice and
experiences shared among them.

5. CONCLUSION
Development of social commerce is a derivative of electronic commerce that involves using
forms of "Social Media" and on-line content in order to foster social network and users
contribution. Social commerce will become a key lever of the purchase act, based on sales
through social networks and on influencing (adaptation) consumers through advice and
230
experiences shared among them. Fundamentals of effective data visualization and
communication involve understanding visual elements aligned to pre-cognitive thinking, to
the modality of selection of suitable communication channel depending on the target group,
and positioning visualization of data in context, as an effective communication tool.

6. REFERENCES
1. *** The After Action Review, Mission-Cantered Solutions Inc., Colorado, USA, (2008).
2. Kempf, K.G. Keskinocak, P. Uzsoy, R. Planning Production and Inventories in the
Extended Enterprise, Springer International Publisher, (2011).
3. Pîrnău, C. Contributions On Integration Of Knowledge Management In The Sustainable
Development Of Small And Medium - Sized Enterprises, PhD Thesis, Lucian Blaga
University of Sibiu, March (2015).
4. *** Frequently Asked Questions on Knowledge Management - CCLFI. Philippines 2009;
5. Creswell, J.W. Research Design. Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods
Approaches. Second Edition. Sage Publications, International Educational and
Professional Publisher, California, USA, (2003).
6. Bîrsan, M. Research Methodology. Lecture Notes. Centre for European Studies,
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, (2012).
7. Day, J. Experiencing the Question Formulation Technique (QFTTM), The Right Question
Institute. A Catalyst for Micro-democracy, Cambridge, Massachusetts, (2014).
8. Ciora, L. Buligiu, I. Methods and techniques to analysis data quality, Economic
Informatics Magazine, pp. 59-64, No. 1(25)/2003, Romania, (2003).
9. www.cube-technologies.com/fr/.
10. www.cubetechnology.co.uk.
11. Brodley, C.E. Rebbapragada, U. Small, K. Wallace, B.C. Challenges and Opportunities in
Applied Machine Learning, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence,
pp. 11-24, ISSN 0738-4602, USA, (2012).
12. Trausan-Matu, S. Popescu, A.E. Collaborative filtering recommender systems, The
Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Science, Polytechnic University of
Bucharest, (2016).
13. Luu, L. Design thinking & big data analytics. Five principles for Effective Data
Visualizations, Thought Works Inc., USA, (2016).
14. Rosenholtz, R. Dorai, A. Freeman, R. Do Predictions of Visual Perception Aid Design?,
National Science Foundation, Division of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, Grant
0518157, USA, (2005-2009)
15. Lonchamp, J. Collaboration Flow Management: a New Paradigm for Virtual Team
Support, Inria Ecoo Project, France, (2003-2007).
16. Iacob (Ciobanu), N.M.Distributed Transactions in Transnational Companies, Annals of
Ovidius University of Constanţa, Economic Sciences Series, Vol. XI, Issue 1, pp. 963-
966, (2011).
17. Iacob (Ciobanu), N.M. The Distributed Transaction Management in the Modern
Economy, Annals. Economics Science Series, Tibiscus University of Timişoara, Vol.
XVII, pp. 739-744, (2011).
18. Țîțu, M.A. Pîrnău, C. Pîrnău, M. Creativity, Education and Quality for Sustainable
Development, the real Support for the Innovative Cluster’s European Network, 8th
Research/Expert Conference with International Participations, „QUALITY 2013”, Neum,
Bosnia & Herzegovina, June 2013, pp. 19-24, ISSN 1512-9268, (2013).
19. Gay, R. Online marketing, Oxford University Press, (2007).
20. Grossek, G. Internet Marketing Communications, Lumen PH, Iasi, (2006).
21. www.culturecrossmedia.com/social-commerce-est-ce-lavenir-du-e-commerce-2/.

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10
 Topic 4

Leadership and human resources management

The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

THE INFLUENCE OF THE PRINCIPAL’S LEADERSHIP STYLE ON

THE TEACHERS’ SELF-EFFICACY AND EXTENT OF BURNOUT IN
AN ARAB SCHOOLS IN ISRAEL
Osama Arar,
West University of Timisoara, arar.osama@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:The research aimed to investigate whether there was a correlation between the school
principal’s leadership style and the teachers’ sense of self-efficacy for management and the teachers’ level of
burnout in Arab schools in Israel. The research question was: to what extent does the principal’s leadership style
influence the teachers’ sense of self-efficacy for management and level of burnout? Quantitative data-collection
was performed with validated questionnaires from relevant scientific literature. Findings indicate a negative
correlation between four styles of leadership and burnout, but two styles: structural-procedural and human
resources moderated the level of teachers’ burnout and increased teachers’ sense of self-efficacy; also when
teachers’ level of self-efficacy to manage was stronger, burnout decreased. Insights are provided concerning the
influence of principals’ leadership style on teachers’ burnout and sense of self-efficacy with recommendations
for teacher-training.
KEYWORDS:self-efficacy, leadership style, burnout, Israeli Arabic schools
1. INTRODUCTION
The school is an interactive workplace in which different factors act to produce teacher
burnout including the principal’s leadership style. Many studies have investigated this
phenomenon [1],[2], [3] and [4] but little research attention has been turned to the influence of
the principal’s leadership style in the Arab education system in Israel on teachers’ regressive
behavior. The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between the principal’s
leadership style in an Arab school and the teachers’ self-efficacy for management and extent
of burnout.
Characterization of the influence of the principal’s leadership style according to the leadership
model developed by Bolman and Deal [5] can assist education leaders to identify means to
moderate teachers’ regressive behavior and burnout and thus improve teachers’ functioning in
school.
A serious issue encountered in many world education systems is a high rate of teacher dropout
during their initial years of teaching. In Israel, a report by the Israeli Central Bureau of
Statistics [6] indicated that from 1993-2002, 26% of novice teachers in Jewish elementary
schooling dropped out after their first year at work. Approximately 38% of novice teachers
left after three years work and approximately 45% left after five years work. In high schools
the situation was even more severe so that teacher dropout at the end of the first year reached
40-50% and 55% after five years. A similar trend was recorded in Australia where the dropout
among novice teachers reached approximately 30% [7].
In recent years the mental grind and pressure on teachers have become matters of increasing
public and professional interest and teaching has become a very challenging profession [8],
[9].Moreover, culture has been found to be an encompassing factor that influences the level of
teachers’ stress and burnout [10] and a correlation was found between burnout and quality of
life [11]. In Norway, organizational and personal variables were found to influence teacher
burnout, for example, a sense of self-efficacy influenced the level of teacher burnout [12]. It
was also found that when the teacher’s sense of self-efficacy increases then there is a decrease
or moderation of the burnout level [13]. Betoret [14] investigated the correlation between
burnout and a sense of self-efficacy and different stress factors for junior high school teachers
in Spain. He found that when the teacher’s sense of self-efficacy increases and his power
resources are higher than the teacher senses less burnout. Another study on teacher burnout in
Greece was reported by Papastyilanou, Kaila & Polychronpoulos [15].
According to Kinman, Wray and Strange [16] teacher burnout is expressed in reactions of
anger, anxiety, unease, depression, fatigue, boredom, cynicism, a sense of guilt, psychiatric
235
reactions and in extreme cases also nervous breakdown. On the professional level there may
be a significant and evident decrease in performance and teaching, lack of continued
attendance due to illness, strictness towards students, low expectations regarding students’
efforts, mental and physical fatigue and a low level of commitment to teaching work and the
students’ needs.
Researchers define self-efficacy as people’s belief concerning their ability to supervise and
manage events that influence their environment and lives so that they can satisfy their needs
and their ability to enlist the motivation, cognitive resources and actions (skills) necessary to
succeed in tasks that they choose. Self-efficacy can be developed through success in task
performance, observation of behavioural models, verbal persuasion and a positive level of
psychological and physiological arousal. These processes contribute significantly to human
motivation to attain achievements [17]. Professional self-efficacy is defined as a professional
person’s belief in his capability to control events that influence his professional life [18] in
relation to the individual’s specific occupation [19].
Evidence from research indicates that there is a correlation between school leadership and
teachers’ professional self-efficacy. For example, the studies of Leithwood and Mascall [20]
found that leadership style influenced the teaching framework and teachers’ self-efficacy
expressed in the teachers’ motivation. Oplatka [21] saw the principal’s leadership style as an
important factor for teacher performances so that a beneficial setting and reciprocal principal-
teacher relations produce better performances. Teachers who have a high sense of self-
efficacy tend to be more satisfied and motivated to contribute to the organization than
teachers who have a low sense of self-efficacy [22].
2. METHODOLOGY
2.1 Research goal
The research aimed to investigate possible correlations between the principal’s leadership
style and teachers’ sense of self-efficacy and level of burnout.
2.2 Research questions
From all the above-said, it appears that the correlation between regressive behavior including
burnout and a sense of self-efficacy and professional self-efficacy has an influence on the
quality of teachers’ functioning in the school organization. This functioning is shaped against
the background of the organizational culture led by the school principal. On this assumption,
the researcher formulated the research question as follows: To what extent does the school
principal’s leadership style influence the teachers’ sense of self-efficacy to manage and their
sense of burnout?
2.3 Research hypotheses
Five hypotheses were derived from the principle that the principal’s leadership style
influences the teachers’ self-efficacy and level of burnout. Additionally, there is a correlation
between the teacher’s self-efficacy for management and the teacher’s level of burnout.
Thus Hypothesis 1 was: A positive correlation will be found between the principal’s use of a
human resources leadership approach or the structural-procedural leadership style and the
teachers’ sense of self-efficacy.
Hypothesis 2: A negative correlation will be found between the principal’s use of a political
leadership style or a symbolic leadership style and the teachers’ sense of self-efficacy.
Hypothesis 3: A negative correlation will be found between the principal’s the principal’s use
of a human resources leadership approach or the structural-procedural leadership style and the
teachers’ level of burnout.
Hypothesis 4: A positive correlation will be found between the principal’s use of a political or
symbolic leadership style and the teachers’ level of burnout.
Hypothesis 5: A negative correlation will be found between the teachers’ sense of self-
efficacy for management and their level of burnout.

236
2.1 Research method
Research tools: To gather data to respond to the research question, a closed-end quantitative
questionnaire was employed, including a questionnaire to examine the level of teachers’
burnout composed of 14 items and with a reliability value of α=0.90 [23]. Internal reliability
of the entire questionnaire was measured at α=0.908. It also included a questionnaire
examining principal’s leadership style composed of 32 items, according to four leadership
styles: structural-procedural, human resources, political and symbolic [24].

The teachers were asked to grade the principal’s behaviour on a five point Likert scale where
1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree. Internal reliability of the questionnaire was very
high: for structural-procedural items (α=0.949), human resources (α=0.947), political
(α=0.904) and symbolic (α=0.953). A final questionnaire examined self-efficacy for
management. This was developed by Arar (2015) and included 12 items. The teachers were
asked to grade their responses on a five point Likert scale where 1= completely disagree and
5= completely agree. The internal consistency of this questionnaire stood at 0.858.
Research population: 740 Arab teachers participated in the research, with a response rate of
87%; 740 out of 850 teachers in the selected schools consented to participate in the research.
The choice of the sample authentically represented the distribution of the Arab population in
Israel: 50% from the Northern region (370 teachers), 35% from the central region (259
teachers) and 15% from the Southern region (111 teachers) [25]. To choose the sample, each
region was divided into large towns (more than 15,000 inhabitants) and villages (less than
15,000 inhabitants). Eight localities were chosen from the Northern region (4 large towns and
4 villages; four localities from the central region (2 large towns and 2 villages) and two
localities from the Southern region (1 town and 1 village). Three schools were chosen from
each town and village, including senior high, junior high and elementary schools.
Approximately two thirds of the teachers were women (68%) and 68% had a Bachelor’s
degree. The average age of the teachers was 38.85 years, while their average years of teaching
experience were 14.53 years.
3. MAIN FINDINGS
The teachers reported that the principals demonstrated a high level of structural-procedural
leadership (M=3.90), a slightly lower level of human resources leadership (M=3.78), less
political leadership (M=3.72), while symbolic leadership received a mean grade of 3.85.
Moreover the teachers reported a high level of self-realization (M=3.67) yet a medium level
of burnout (M=2.48).

Table 1 provides the matrix of correlations between the variables: leadership style (structural
procedural, human resources, symbolic and political), background variables (gender, age,
education and years of teaching experience), self-realization and burnout. The data in the table
indicate that the range of values of the correlations runs from a zero correlation to a strong
value (0.00-0.95). A negative correlation is evident between burnout and all types of
leadership style: structural-procedural (r=-0.65; p<0.001), human resources (r=-0.67;
p<0.001), symbolic (r=-0.35; p<0.001), and political (r=-0.42; p<0.001).

The data in Table 2 indicate that there was a positive correlation between self-realization and
all types of leadership style: structural-procedural (r=-0.57; p<0.001), human resources (r=-
0.65; p<0.001), symbolic (r=-0.34; p<0.001), political (r=-0.37; p<0.001). A negative
correlation was found between self-realization and burnout.

Table 1. Matrix of Pearson’s correlations for the research variables

Burnout Structural- Human Political Symbolic Self-

procedural resources realization
Structural- -0.65***
procedural

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Human -0.67*** 0.93***
resources
Political -0.42*** 0.91*** 0.91***
Symbolic -0.35*** 0.94*** 0.93*** 0.92***
Self- -0.54*** 0.57*** 0.65*** 0.34*** 0.37***
realization
*p<0.5, ** p<0.1, ***p<0.01
In order to investigate the correlation between the four leadership styles on the one hand and
the extent of influence of the mediating factor (self-realization) on the other hand, analysis
was conducted through regressive linear equations in three stages: (1) regression of the
mediating variable on the independent variable (2) regression of the dependent variable on the
independent variable and (3) regression of the dependent variable on the independent variable
and the mediating variable [26].
Table 2 displays the results for performance of regression of self-realization on the five
leadership styles. The order of entry of the independent variables was performed in two
stages, where at each additional stage another group was added to the equation. At the first
stage the background variables group was entered: gender, age, years of teaching experience
and education. At the second stage the leadership styles variables group was entered:
structural-procedural, human resources, symbolic, and political.

Table 2. Multiple regression for analysis of the influence of background variables and leadership styles on self-
realization

Variable Step 1 Step 2

Gender (0=female) 0.00 0.03
Age -0.70 -0.06
Years of teaching experience 0.19** 0.16*
Education (0=Bachelor’s 0.14*** 0.15***
degree)
Structural-procedural 1.05***
Human resources 0.95***
Political -0.09
Symbolic 0.08
R2 0.043 0.199

*p<0.5; ***p=0.01

As can be seen from the data in Table 4, analysis of the findings at the first stage of regression
equation on self-realization indicated the existence of a positive correlation between self-
realization and years of teaching experience (β= 0.09; p<.05) and education (β= 0.09;
p=<0.05). It was found that older teachers and those who had a Master’s degree had a higher
sense of self-realization than younger teachers who only had a Bachelor’s degree. No
correlation was found between self-realization and the other background variables. Following
the entry of the leadership style variables it was possible to discern a slight weakening of the
correlation between self-realization and years of experience and education. With regard to the
correlation between the leadership style variables and self-realization, it was found that there
was a positive correlation between self-realization and the structural-procedural style (β=
1.05; p<0.001) and between self-realization and the human resources style (β= 0.95;
p<0.001). Teachers who perceived the leadership of the principal as more structural-
procedural or human resources styles, had a higher sense of self-realization. While the level of
explained difference after the first stage amounted to 4.3%, it was found that the second stage

238
contributed an additional 15.6% to the explained difference of the regression model. This
contribution points to a significant predictive ability of the structural-procedural leadership
style and the human resources approach for self-realization.
4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Hypothesis 3 was that a correlation would be found between the principal’s leadership style
and the teachers’ level of burnout. The hypothesis was confirmed with regard to the structural
managerial style. A correlation was found between this style and general burnout, such that
when the principal was seen by the teachers to have a structural management style, then they
felt less burnout. Burnout stems primarily from stress. The structural leadership style reduces
stress since everything is clear and predefined. Thus some of the factors for stress are avoided
such as vagueness of the role and lack of sufficient guidance by the management [27]. This
finding is in line with the bureaucratic organizational dimension categorized by Malach Pines
[28], who argued that effective functioning of an organization and the mechanisms supporting
work allow the employee to achieve his goals and prevent mental and physical fatigue.
Oplatka [29] also noted the importance of these factors.
The hypothesis was also confirmed with regard to influence of the human resources
management style for the level of burnout, so that when the principal was perceived as using
this leadership approach, the teachers had a lower level of burnout, they were less fatigued
and had less sense of a lack of self-realization. This style emphasizes relationships and
emotions and stresses the importance of employees, through guidance of the employee, his
participation, team work and interpersonal relations. Lack of these components is known to be
a factor for burnout. Cherniss [30] noted the lack of support as one of the factors for burnout,
while Evans [31] spoke about teachers’ participation in decision-making as a moderator for
burnout, and in fact many researchers have noted that the human resources approach provides
a response to these factors.
An additional reason for the fact that the human resources approach moderates the sense of
burnout, is that burnout is caused when the teacher feels that the means that he invests are not
productive and that his actions are ineffective. This style of management stresses the
individual’s needs, modifies the organization to the employees and stresses their significance.
When the principal supports the teacher, strengthening him, improving his motivation and
emphasizing good interpersonal relations, the sense that self-realization is lacking is reduced.
With regard to the symbolic leadership style, it was found that Hypothesis 4 was confirmed
for the influence of a principal’s use of symbolic leadership style on burnout. When the
principal was perceived as using the symbolic style, the teachers suffered less burnout and
were less fatigued. This is because the symbolic leader introduces a sense of enthusiasm and
commitment for the employees. He provides them with inspiration and a vision. Symbolic
leadership shapes an educational learning vision, and is advantageous due to the cooperation
created between the principal and the school staff and the community for the sake of the
school staff’s realization [32].
The hypothesis was also confirmed for the political leadership style influence on burnout.
This means that when the principal was perceived to use a political style, the teachers were
less fatigued. Fatigue is caused among other things by onerous demands of the role and stress
[33] (Friedman & Lotan, (1993). A principal that uses a political style is an environmental
leader, he directs his actions more towards the outside and deals less with the daily activities
of the school. According to Addi-Raccach [34], the principal invests in relations with external
entities in order to increase the effectiveness of his management of the school and to establish
the school’s status and prestige [35].
Hypothesis 5 concerning the correlation between self-efficacy and burnout was confirmed.
This means that when the teacher’s level of self-efficacy to manage is higher, then the level of
burnout is reduced.

239
A positive correlation was also found between the human resources management style and
also the structural-procedural style and the teacher’s self-efficacy for management.
Practical recommendations: the research findings indicate the contribution of the leadership
style to the teachers’ level of burnout and sense of self-efficacy in school. Thus, if there is a
desire to reduce teachers’ level of burnout, and to increase their level of self-efficacy, a school
principal’s leadership style can definitely help to attain these goals.
5. REFERENCES
1. D. Etzion., Personal erosion – Theory and research at the crossroads. Tel-Aviv, Tel-Aviv
University, the Faculty of Management, (1983).
2. Y. Oplatka., Burnout and innovation – Life story of school principals in Israel. Beer
Sheva, The Book Publishing of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, (2002).
3. Y. Oplatka., School management from the appointment to the retirement. Israel, Pardes,
(2012).
4. Landsman, 1978 and Reed, 1979 cited in H.Szmerling,,Mental erosion of teachers:
“Dewey lights” Chapter 9, Israel, Orot College,Elkana, (2000).
5. L.G., Bolman, T.E. Deal., Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.(4th
Ed). San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass, (2008).
6. Hasisy, R.,Shortage of teachers – Update document.Jerusalem, Israel, The Knesset –
Information and Research Center,(2013).
7. R.Goddard, P. O’Brien, M. Goddard., Work environment predictors of beginning teacher
burnout, British Educational Research Journal 32(6),pp.857.874(2006).
8. T. L.Milfont, S. Denny, S. Ameratunga, E., Robinson, S. Merry., Burnout and wellbeing:
testing the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory in New Zealand teachers. Social Indicators
Research.Vol. 89, pp.169-177 (2008).
9. Y.Oplatka., School management from the appointment to the retirement. Israel, Pardes
Publishers.(2012).
10. L Pedrabissi,.J. P..Rolland, M. Santinello., Stress and burnout among teachers in Italy and
France. The Journal of Psychology, Vol. 127(5), pp. 529, (1993).
11. T. L Milfont,.S. Denny, S. Ameratunga, E., Robinson, S. Merry, S., Burnout and
Wellbeing: Testing the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory in New Zealand Teachers. Social
Indicators Research,Vol. 89, pp.169-177,(2008).
12. C. Montgomery, A.A. Rupp., A meta-analysis for exploring the diverse causes and effects
of stress in teachers. Canadian Journal of Education,Vol.28(3), pp.458-486 (2005).
13. E.M.Skaalvik, S. Skaalvik., Dimensions of teacher self-efficacy and relations with strain
factors, perceived collective teacher efficacy, and teacher burnout. Journal of Educational
Psychology, Vol. 99(3),pp.611). (2007).
14. D.F. Betoret., Stressors, self-efficacy, coping resources, and burnout among secondary
school teachers in Spain. Educational Psychology, Vol. 26(4), 519-539(2006).
15. A. Papastyilanou, M. Kaila, M. Polychronpoulos Teachers' burnout, Depression, Role
ambiguity and conflict. Social Psychology of Education, Vol. 12(3), pp. 295-314.(2009).
16. G. Kinman, S. Wray, C. Strange.,Emotional labour, burnout and job satisfaction in UK
teachers: The role of workplace social support. Educational Psychology, 31(7), pp.
843.(2011).
17. A. Bandura., Perceived self-efficacy in the exercise of personal agency. Journal of
Applied Sport Psychology,Vol. 2(2), pp. 128-163.(1990).

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18. M. D. A. Kass,, Mechanisms and efficacy of LV pre-excitation for patients with heart
failure and supra-normal systolic function. Heart Failure Review,Vol. 5(4), pp. 357-365.
(2000).
19. K. L. Wahlstrom, K.S. Louis., How teachers experience principal leadership: The roles of
professional community, trust, efficacy, and shared responsibility. Educational
Administration Quarterly, Vol. 44(4), pp. 458-495. (2008).
20. K. Leithwood, B. Mascall., Collective leadership effects on student achievement.
Educational Administration Quarterly, 44(4), pp. 529-561.(2008).
21. Oplatka (2010)Oplatka, Y. (2010). Teachers and Principals of “New Horizon”: of the
Opposition for the Participation, Head of Education, December 2010.
22. B. Karabiyik, M. Korumaz.,Relationship between teacher's self-efficacy perceptions and
job satisfaction level. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol.116, pp. 826-830.
(2014).
23. Y. Friedman.,The teacher burnout: The term and its measurement, Advertising No 746,
Jerusalem, Henrietta Szold Institute.(1999).
24. L.G. Bolman, T.E. Deal.,Reframing organizations: artistry, choice, and leadership(4th
Ed). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.(2008).
25. MJB special analysis of data from the Ministry of Education, Examinations Division and
Data Processing Administration, "Matriculation Exams Data 2014,” Jerusalem 2015.
26. R.M. Baron, D.A. Kenny., The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social
psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, Vol.51(6), p. 1173. (1986).
27. C. Cherniss., Staff burnout: Job stress in the human services.. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage
Publications.(1980).
28. A. Malach-Pines., Mental burnout and ways to cope with it. Tel Aviv: Chirikover
Publishers (1984). [Hebrew]
29. Y. Oplatka., (2012). School management from appointment to retirement.Israel, Pardes
(2012)
30. C. Cherniss., Staff burnout: Job stress in the human services.. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage
Publications.(1980).
31. Evans, L. (1999). Managing to Motivate: A Guide for School Leaders. London: Cassell.
32. K. A., Leithwood, C. Riehl., What we know about successful school leadership.
Nottingham: National College for School Leadership. (2003).
33. Friedman, Y. & Lotan, A. (1993). Pressure and Erosion in Teaching – Causes and
Prevention Ways. Henrietta Szold Institute.
34. A. Addi-Raccah., Accessing internal leadership positions at school: Testing the similarity
- Attraction approach regarding gender in three educational sectors in Israel. Educational
Administration Quarterly, Vol. 42(3), pp. 291-323.(2006).
35. T. Gonen., What domanagement style, academic understanding and school achievements
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and Administration, Tel-Aviv University.(2012).

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

COMPARATIVE EVIDENCES OF CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE

PROFILE
FOR MANAGEMENT AND NON-MANAGEMENT STUDENTS

Laura Brancu1, Valentin Partenie Munteanu2 and Ionuț Golet3

1
West University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, J.H. Pestalozzi street no.16, 300115
Timisoara, Romania, laura.brancu@e-uvt.ro
2
West University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, J.H. Pestalozzi street no.16, 300115
Timisoara, Romania, valentin.munteanu@e-uvt.ro
3
West University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, J.H. Pestalozzi street no.16, 300115
Timisoara, Romania, ionut.golet@e-uvt.ro

ABSTRACT: Cultural intelligence (CQ) is known as individuals’ability to act efficiently in different cultural
contexts. Due to increased globalization over the past 20 years, the number of people who currently get in touch
with other cultures has grown significantly [10]. In this context, it could be considered that to develop cross -
cultural competencies is useful, even necessary, not only for managers but also in other fields. This finding led
us to carry out a comparative analysis between Romanian students from various specializations. For a better
understanding of students' CQ, we classified them into two distinct groups, management and non-management
students, using Earley&Ang’s multidimensional concept as an analysis framework [9]. Given that CQ is a
multidimensional concept, this paper will analyze the answers for each of the four CQ dimensions, in order to
identify which of the four capabilities is more or less developed among studentsand which is the detailed
differences and similarities between the two groups. Whereas the literature highlights the influence of
cross/cultural management academic courses on CQ [10, 21, 22], the final purpose is to understand
differences/similarities between the two groups in order to adapt the university curricula to students' real needs.
KEYWORDS: Cultural intelligence, university students, Romania, higher education, cross-cultural courses.

1. INTRODUCTION
The exponential growth of globalization, business processes and markets internationalization,
economy digitalization, as essential features of XXIst century world, led to fundamental
changes in labor market. These changes determine an intensive international labor mobility
[28], but also a significant growth of Internet-based communication, enabling virtual work
teams, geographically and culturally dispersed [18, 25].
One of the great challenges that generates these changes relate to increased cultural diversity:
for profesionals, it is no longer enough only technical knowledge, but also the ones that
makes them capable and effective in cross-cultural work environment. It could be said that
globalization provides a demand for employees prepared to interacting across cultures [6].
But the ability to interact effectively in multiple cultures is not a skill possessed by all [8].
Some individuals are more successful than others in a cross-cultural business situation.
The concept of cultural intelligence (CQ) was developed just to help understanding why some
individuals are more effective than others in culturally diverse situations. It was created by
Earley and Ang [9] and defined as „a person’s capability for successful adaptation to new
cultural settings; that is, for unfamiliar settings attributable to cultural context”. This
definition for CQ was developed and detailed in subsequent studies [1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 19, 22, 29,
30, 31, 32]. The essential guideline of these studies is that CQ is appropriate to describe the
capability of individuals to use the correct skils and abilities in unfamiliar and
ambiguousenvironments. As a synthesis of the definitions of CQ, it can be said that how
greater the cultural intelligence of an individual is, so much he will be able to handle
efficiently various cultural context [4]. And, the need to have this type of intelligence
increases in a more globalized world, because even if an individual does not get to work

242
outside the country, he still have contact with customers, suppliers or business partners from
other cultures [8].
The origins of this concept are found in the literature on cross- cultural management, but the
best known is the model proposed by Ang et al. [4]. They described CQ as a multidimensional
concept, „targeted at situations involving cross-cultural interactions arising from differences
in race, ethnicity and nationality”. CQ thus comprises four components, distinctive but
interrelated: metacognitive (the individual’s ability to learn about other cultures), cognitive
(the individual’s ability to learn about how to learn about other cultures), motivational (the
individual’s desire to interact across cultures) and behavioural (the individual’s ability to
modify behavior to do so successfully).
Metacognitive CQ refers to the mental processes that individuals use to acquire and
understand cultural knowledge. It is about the individual’s level of conscious cultural
awareness. It includes processes such as planning, monitoring and revising mental models of
cultural norms for different countries or groups of people. It seems that the metacognitive
factor has a positive effect on individual task performance in intercultural settings. The
authors believe that people with high metacognitive CQ are able to question cultural
assumptions, to adjust their mental models in intercultural situations. They are aware of
others’ cultural preferences before and during interactions.
Cognitive CQ refers to the knowledge of the norms, practices and conventions in different
cultures, acquired from education and personal experiences. A person with high cognitive CQ
knows and understands the economic, legal and social contexts of different cultures. They are
also capable to build accurate expectations and interpretations of cultural interactions.
Motivational CQ reflects the capability to direct attention and efforts towards learning about
and functioning in situations characterized by cultural differences; it is an essential
component of CQ, being the source of intercultural adapted actions. This is the variable that
determines in the essential way the expats' success and leadership effectiveness [7].
Behavioral CQ reflects the capability to exhibit appropriate verbal and nonverbal actions
when interacting with people from different cultures. Those with high behavioral CQ exhibit
situationally appropriate behaviors based on their broad range of verbal and nonverbal
capabilities.
In this paper, we will study the intercultural intelligence among management and non-
management students in Romania. This study represents a resuming of our earlier research in
which we analyzed CQ only for students in management [6], but also other professions[1], we
considered useful to extend the analysis on students from other specializations. From this
perspective, the present paper covers a gap in the literature, as far as the most part of the
studies that analyze CQ are focused on national contexts and comparisons of several national
contexts. The previous studies was carried out having as subjects (1) students of some
national universities, without taking into account the specialization[4, 11, 17, 32], (2)
professionals expats [13, 14], (3) managers and management students [15, 17], or (4) a
particular profession, such as the military service [23, 26].
The empirical studies that analyze students' CQ are relatively recent and not very numerous.
These are predominantly focused on the presentation of a single national context [11, 21], the
comparison of two national contexts [4], or the study of international students from
universities [17, 32]. Meanwhile, students who represents the surveyed population are mostly
business students [4, 11, 21]or, the studies didn't specify the specialization [32]or, they
analyze students together with professionals[15, 17]. More than that, we didn’t found in
literature some studies carrying out a comparative analyze the investigated populations in
terms of the professions/specializations. The extensive study conducted by Lin et al. [14]
analyzes the personality factors that influence CQ, based on a sample of 294 international
professionals, with multiple nationalities and from various occupational functions and
positions, but the results do not take into account the occupation.
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Besides the comparison between management and non - management students, through this
paper, we wish to analyze certain variables which might determine a growth in cultural
intelligence.It can be mentioned some important studies that analyze, at theoretical
(modeling) or empirical level, the most important determinants of CQ. Thus, Ang& Van Dyne
introduces the concept of Nomological Network of Cultural Intelligence, which includes
variables related to personality, demographic factors, biographical information, and
ethnocentrism [2]. Shannon & Begley's study highlights the foreign language abilities and
international work experience as predictors for CQ [24], while Crowne's study shows that the
cultural exposure (defining by employment and education abroad) influences the CQ [8]. In
this approach, the depth of exposure is also important: the number of countries an individual
had visited for education and employment purposes has a significant influence on a personal
CQ. Tarique& Takeuchi proved that the number and length of international experiences
undergone by students prior to starting university (even starting from young ages), positively
influence the cultural intelligence [27]. Sahin et al. concluded that the CQ factors are
personality and international assignment, being validated a positive relation between the
international assignment and the CQ, for all four components [26]. Harrison has analyzed the
variables that influence ethnocentrism and CQ, but also the influence of these two variables
upon the cultural interaction [12]. The result shows that both variables are influenced by the
variables related to personality and early life experience, influencing in turns the intercultural
interaction
At the level of groups of students, according to Pless et al. [20], an internship abroad in
analyzed students' expertise led to their CQ's growth. Eisenberg et al. indicate that prior
international experience for studens (measured by the number of countries in which students
lived, worked, or were educated for aat least six months), enhance the CQ [10]. Also, the
study by Erez et al. [11]demonstrated the positive impact of students' involvement (in the
online environment) in multicultural teams or in a short -term project would enhance their
CQ.
After this review of the literature, we can say that the cultural exposure is an important
variable often analyzed as a CQ predictor. For this reason, this paper we will analyze the
impact of personal cultural exposure over the CQ. Other variables such as the demographic
variables (gender), parental occupation (parents working in MNC, with expatriate missions)
are also taken into account.
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND STATISTICAL RESULTS
A questionnaire-based survey was used for data collection among university students
gathering a number of 114 questionnaires for management and 64 for non-management
students. It was used the 20 - item questionnaire of Ang et al. [4]. The questionnaire is
composed of four subscales: Cognitive (6 items, a = 0 .82), Meta-cognitive (4 items, a =
0.80), Behavioral (5 items, a = 0.78) and Motivational (5 items, a = 0.76). Responses were
assessed on a scale of 1 to 5, with higher scores representing a higher level of cultural
intelligence. From a demographic point of view, 64% of management respondents are female,
the median age is 21 years and the modal age is 20 years. As for the non-management student,
79,6% are females, themedian age is 21 years andthe modal age is 19 years.
Regarding direct cultural exposure, several observations can be made.The direct cultural
exposure is significantly low: 93% of management and 98.4% of non-management students
never studied abroad (including Erasmus) and, moreover, 95.6% of management and 96.8%
of non-management students never participated in an internship abroad (including work and
travel). On the other hand, the particular travels are more important, only 20% of management
and 30% of non-management students declaring that never travel abroad. It can be remarked
that the cultural exposure is a little bit higher for management students
In this paper,two variables have been considered to measure the cultural exposure influence
on CQ. The first variable is the total period of travel abroad measured on a five level
scale.The results obtained with ANOVA test show no statistical significance (non-
244
management: p=0.326; management: p=0.988). The second is a score variable composed of
four binary (yes/no) variables: parents working in multinational companies, parents with
expatriate missions, study abroad and internships. The results obtained with the same test
show also non significant results (non-management: p=0.416; management: p=0.648). We
may conclude that cultural exposure is not a statistical significant factor for CQfor the
surveyed population.
In the Figure 1, the mean score obtained by each dimension and the great mean (CQ) are
comparatively presented for both management and non-management students. All four
dimensions (motivation, behavior, strategy and knowledge) are obtained by averaging the
initial questionnaire items measured by 5 points Likert scale. The cultural intelligence (CQ) is
the average of all four dimensions.
In preliminary analysis, the variance homogeneity assumption (Levene test) and the normality
assumption (Skewness and Kurtosis) were verified. According to Levene test, the assumption
of variance equality between management and non-management students cannot be rejected
for any of the cultural intelligence dimensions. Instead the normality assumption fails in
several cases. By consequence, the decision was taken to double the t-test for means equality
with the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test for more general differences in the distributions
of the two students groups. The tests results can be seen in the Table1 and Table 2.

4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5 Management
1.0
0.5 Non‐management
0.0

Figure 1. Meanscores for cultural intelligence (CQ) anditsdimensionsby student groups

As noted above, according to t-test, the hypothesis that the mean score is the same for the two
student groups cannot be rejected for CQ and any of its dimensions. Mann-Whitney test
results reveal that the hypothesis of different distributions cannot be rejected either.
Moreover, the pattern of the mean score is exactly the same across the four dimensions. The
highest scores are obtained for motivation followed by strategy, behavior and knowledge
(table 1) for both management and non-management students. As a general conclusion no
significant difference is found in the scores of cultural intelligence between management and
non-management students.
Table 1. T-test results (the null hypothesis: the mean score for the two students groups are the same)
Mean value p-value
Management Non-management (2-tailed)
Motivation 4.004 4.031 0.818
Behavior 3.468 3.299 0.243
Strategy 3.982 4.008 0.822
Knowledge 2.993 3.174 0.111
CQ 3.612 3.628 0.847

245
Table 2. Mann-Whitney test results (the null hypothesis: the mean score rank for the two students groups are the
same/ the two distributions are the same)
Mean Rank p-value
Management Non-management (2-tailed)
Motivation 89.094 89.728 0.937
Behavior 81.867 93.785 0.137
Strategy 91.367 88.452 0.716
Knowledge 96.938 85.325 0.148
CQ 89.023 89.768 0.926
3. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
In this paper, we analyzed CQ for business and non business students from Romania. The
main goal of this analysis is to discover if there are differences between these two groups of
students and to identify several factors that determine a higher level of CQ.
The first conclusion of the study is the lack of significant differences between the two groups,
for all four dimensions of CQ. It can be stated that this result highlights that the cultural
impact of globalization, new technologies and media has led to a relative homogenization of
CQ profile in a stronger/ more intense way than could differentiate educational profile.
Considering the dimensions of CQ, Motivation and Metacognitive dimensions has the highest
values for both groups (the values are identical). The result is confirmed by the study carried
out by Putranto et al. [21] for the business students from Indonesia, but the study conducted
by Eisenberg et al. [10] only partially confirm our results: in the case of students from a
university in Austria, the authors identified Motivation and Behavior dimensions as most
developed.
The high level for Motivation dimension can be justified by respondents' age and academic
environment, both of them encouraging the appetency and potential for international contacts
(common projects, mobility, visiting professor’s lectures). The high level for Metacognitive
dimension indicates that young students use consciously intercultural interactions, identifying
the personal development potential that these interactions may have. Also, it can be concluded
that the analyzed students aware the possibility of transmission of their own values others.
The results are useful because they can help to understand the extent which analyzed students
will be able to adapt to future intercultural situations. Studies by Ang et al. [3,4] argue that
Strategy and Motivation CQ's influencecultural judgment and decision-making, as well as the
general cultural adjustment. At the same time, high levels for Motivation dimension
determine lower levels of depression and fewer social problems during cross-cultural
transition [32].
But, it can been observed that the other two dimensions, Behaviour and Knowledge, are less
developed for these groups of students. These two dimensions are obviously related, because
a better understanding of intercultural issues generates an appropriate behavior. As far as, the
Knowledge dimension would be more developed, future professionals (regardless of their
profession) may be effective in intercultural teams, being able to understanding and exactly
construing of cultural interactions, this attitude generating "tradeoffs" focused on a win - win
approach. The low level of Knowledge dimension shows that a number of actions are required
(personal and educational) for its development. From the educational point of view, the
results indicate that university curricula should be oriented towards the inclusion of Cross
Cultural Management (CMM) topics, which will result in Knowledge dimension
development. These recommendations are supported by findings of studies conducted by
Eisenberg et al. and Putranto et al. [10, 21]. In these studies, students were tested before and
after the Cross Cultural Management course, and the results, in both cases, indicate an
improvement in Knowledge dimension. In particular, the study by Eisenberg et al. [10]
indicates that by the Cross Cultural Management courses, Knowledge dimension recorded
substantial improvements, compared to Motivation and Behavior. Also, the study of Putranto

246
et al. [21] clearly indicates that, from all components of CQ, the largest increase after the
Cross Cultural Management course was registered in dimension Knowledge.
Given the average score obtained for overall CQ, it can be considered that all sizes require
development measures for Romanian students (business and non - business), this approach
being supported by tested benefits from other studies (10, 11, 16, 21, 22]. Universities'
curricula development by introducing some courses generating transversal skills, which are
CQ components, can contribute to the success of such an approach. The findings of the 2016
AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) Report support these
conclusions and the need for paradigm shifts [33]: „The school fosters sensitivity toward and
greater understanding of cultural differences and global perspectives. Graduates should be
prepared to pursue business or management careers in a global context. Students should be
exposed to cultural practices different than their own”.Although, this report refers to business
students, we consider that its recommendations can be extended to all fields, including
technical, because the work in intercultural teams, international projects It is not only reserved
for business graduates.
An important limitation of this study refers to the studied sample (students), being obviously
that the findings cannot be generalized to the population of a country. The study used a
convenience - sampling approach, but which can give us useful information about the target
group studied.
Regarding the factors that cause a higher level of CQ, study's results are inconclusive. For
analyzed students groups, the cultural exposure is very low, 90% of them never studied
abroad and didn't participate in any internship. From the statistical point of view, in both
cultural variables that measure exposure, and were analyzed as determinants of CQ, the
obtained correlations are not significant. This prevents us to draw clearly conclusions about
the role of international exposure the development of analyzed students' CQ. But, at the same
time, also, it shows that the educational process must to intervene. This is because according
to recent studies [11, 16, 21] education for CQ development is not achieved solely through
courses, but, also, through field trips, international study tour or participation in virtual
international projects
Regarding future researches, they can be grouped into three major categories. First of them
will be a study that includes the effect of education (teaching a course in Cross Cultural
Management) on students' CQ. We will try to conduct studies before and after this kind of
course for business and non -business students and to test its impact on CQ. The second
approach for future research will be focused on comparisons between students from different
cultures. Romanian students profile will be compared with that of students of other
nationalities, to identify the differences and similarities between them
Also, the questionnaire used to assess CQ, although it has been used until now in most
studies, is subjected to criticism for errors in the conceptualization of the construct [29]. It is
an approach that evaluates, in fact, a self-perception about the ability of individuals to behave
effectively in different cultural environments. To overcome these criticisms, the third
direction of future research will use another tool, namely the Cultural Business Intelligence
Quotient (BCIQ ) model, proposed by Alon et al. [1].
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249
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

THE INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP STYLES ON ACCEPTANCE

LEVEL OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN COMPANIES

Marius Constantin GULUȚĂ 1, Costache RUSU 2

1
Technical University of Iași, mguluta@yahoo.com
2
Technical University of Iași, rusucostache@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: This paper aims to investigate the influence of leadership styles on employees’ acceptance level
of new technologies in companies. The research is based on the questionnaire method, where 250 managers and
employees from Romanian industrial companies were questioned. The collected data have been analyzed using
specific statistical methods in order to take into consideration 6 perceive dimensions which affects directly the
employees’ level of acceptance of new technologies. Additionally, it presented the interaction between
leadership styles and employees’ gender, pointing a different impact on certain perceive dimensions when
acceptance level is considered. The results showed that managers should involve employees more in decision
making process and use an assertive approach on problems solving, in order to get higher levels of acceptance of
new technologies in companies.
KEYWORDS: technology, use, acceptance, perception, leadership style, implementation

1. INTRODUCTION

The article continues two previous studies: one applied for identifying the general level of
acceptance of new technologies implemented in Romanian companies [8]. The results aimed
at 2 aspects:
a. the employees’ perception assessment on new implemented technologies, namely:
- the low scores (within the disagreement – strong disagreement scale) obtained by the
employees, especially for the perceptive dimensions compatibility with work and ease of use,
indicate a low level of acceptance as far as the personal comfort and adequacy to the specific
of their work are concerned;
- older employees score a lower level of new technologies acceptance compared to the
younger ones, especially on the dimensions ease of use and control;
- the employees that interacted directly with the new technologies within longer periods of
time hold a higher degree of acceptance on five perceptive dimensions, except for attitude
(what suggests that the changes in perception do not necessarily lead to a more favourable
personal assessment of these new technologies).
b. the managers’ assessment of the new technologies acceptance level by the employees,
namely:
- taking into account the group, the managers tend to overestimate the acceptance degree of
the new technologies by employees;
- taking into account each manager, the assessment of only 2 out of the 6 employees’
perceptive dimensions is erroneous: the dimension ease of use and compatibility with work.
The second study investigated decisional and resolutive leadership styles used by managers
for implementing new technologies in the same companies [9]. The results highlighted the
following:
- the usage of a simulated dictatorial decisional style within a decisional implicative style,
against the consultative or even negociator participatory styles;
250
- the usage of the weak or aggressive resolutive styles, namely the compromise, respectively
the active-aggressive, against the assertive styles – problem solving and passive-aggressive (a
conclusion backed up too, by the strong correlation between the compromise and the active-
aggressive styles);
- the existence of a significant positive and high level correlation between the frequency of
using the dictatorial decisional style and that of the resolutive style of the compromise type.

2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

The acceptance behavior of using the new technologies has been operationalized by prior
research in a variety of different ways, including the theory of reasoned action [7], the theory
of innovation diffusion [18], the theory of planned behavior [2] and the technology
acceptance model [5].
Despite divergences in the hypothesized relationships, a common theme underlying the
various streams of research in technology adoption was the inclusion of perceptions of an
innovation as key independent variables. Therefore, individuals’ perceptions about using an
innovation are posited to be significant influences on users’ acceptance [16].
Understanding what perceptions are relevant from the employees’ point of view upon new
technologies, might allow management to focus its attention on decision taking and
resolution, in order to improve each damaged perceived dimension.
Ideally, managers should be able to predict if a new technology will be accepted by the
employees users, in order to enhance the chances regarding the time and money investments
[5]. In reality, “implementing a new technology into an organization is one of the issues
caused by the management inability to prepare the employees for the future changes, being
most of the time focused on purchasing and introducing technology to staff, ignoring the
communication process and debates within the working team. The so called beneficiaries are
forced to accept tacitly and use the new technologies mandatorily.” [8]
In order to be successful, the manager must harmonize the perspective with what happens and
get acceptance from the employees. If a manager does not do such a thing, practically, “gives
off” the influence under the “retrospective definition of reality”. Therefore, the management
can be included in a larger sphere of social influence.
McGregor [15] considers the management as being a “dynamic form of behavior” that
involves the coming into action of four chief variables: the leader’s characteristics, attitudes,
needs and other subordinates’ personal characteristics; the type of the organization, the social,
economic, and political environment. Therefore, the management is, in his opinion, not only a
simple leader’s individual behavior but a complex of relationships between variables that are
different as nature and structure (objective and subjective, both psycho-individual and
psycho-organizational).
According to Tannenbaum, Weschler and Massarik [20], the leadership is “the interpersonal
influence carried out in the frame of a certain and guided circumstance, due to communication
processes in order to accomplish an aim or specific aims”. The definition places clearly the
concept of leadership within the area of social influence, but it also indicates the means used
to carry out the influence, namely the communication process.
The research relies on the classical model of approaching the leadership styles, as follows:
1. the decisional leadership style (how the managers communicate the decision – in this
instance, of introducing the new technologies in organizations), suggested for the first time by
Lewin, Lippit and White in 1939 [13], then, later developed by Tannenbaum and Schmidt
[19], that blends the two major directions of the management behaviour – focused on the
leader’s authority versus leadership focused on the employees’ freedom of decision and
251
action. These imagine a continuum with two extremes (the authoritative leadership; the
democratic leadership) with seven behaviours and four styles of leadership available for a
leader:

Table 1. The managers’ behaviour according to the decisional leadership style [19]
Leadership Items of questionnaire
style Associated behaviors
Dictatorial I make the decision on my own and I communicate it to employees.
Negotiator I make the decision and then I try to convince the employees to accept it.
I share with employees the basic reasons of my decision and I answer every question they
Consultative ask.
I suggest to employees a variety of decisions that can be adjusted to their needs.
I share the issue with employees, I am open to any suggestion they have and then I make the
final decision.
Implication I set the limits for my decision and then I ask the employees to take the final decision.
(cooperative I allow my group of employees to decide freely.

2. the resolutive leadership style (how the managers interfere in solving the conflicts with
employees caused by implementing the new technologies), suggested by Koza and Dant [11],
who describe four resolutive styles that the managers often use in settling conflicts with
employees:

Table 2. The managers’ behavior according to the resolutive leadership style [11]
Leadership Items of questionnaire
style Associated behaviors
I am inclined to have a straight discussion of the issue with employees.
Problem I try to demonstrate the logic and benefits of my position.
solving I make myself clear regarding the priorities of the case, the way I see them.
I try to share my reasons and arguments of my position as frankly as possible.
I try to find the middle way between my position and theirs.
Compromise I try to spare their feelings and to protect the relationship with them by finding a middle way
of resolution.
I try to find a fair combination of costs and benefits, for me and for them.
I satisfy certain requirements if there is an opportunity to me to impose my demands, this
way.
I build up arguments, as convincing as possible, in order to achieve my objectives.
Passive- I stick to my initial position along the conflict.
aggressive I try to dissemble that they have no chance to convince me of the reasonableness of their
position.
I insist that my position is the best of all I heard.
I threaten them that our relationship will go from bad to worse if they refuse to accept my
Active- position.
I make elusive threats of bad effects if they decline to accept my position.
aggressive I clearly express my negative feelings concerning their resistance behavior.
I try to make them accept my position by all means.

The low level of acceptance of the new technologies does not represent the employees’ refuse
to use them, but rather their constrained use. According to the studies carried out in this field,
if the employees felt the management pressure then the results of implementing the new
informational technology would lead to a weak performance [5]. In this context, the weaker
individual performances caused by the constrained use of the new technologies affects
directly the performance/productivity of the organization.
The implementation model of the new technologies in organizations, suggested in the current
work, is made up of four stages:
- The introduction of a new technology – communicating the decision to adopt a new
technology within the organization;
252
- The adoption of a new technology by the organization – taking over the technology by the
relevant adopting organization and making it available for the employees to assimilate and
use;
- The assimilation of the new technology by the organization – accepting the adopted
technology individually by voluntary use of the technology (the actual behavior of use);
- The integration of the new technology within the organization – the technology adopted by
the organization and assimilated (accepted) individually by the employees, became an
essential part leading to the anticipated productivity benefits;
The conflicting situation generated by the communication of the decision to introduce the new
technologies (the introduction stage) starts from the very stage of disagreement and is felt as
an internal conflict (interpersonal), because they perceive it as a restriction of the freedom to
act (turning into the psychological reactance phenomenon, described by Brehm in 1963 [3].
The emergence of the troublesome situation caused as a result of making the new
technologies available by the management (the adoption stage) identifies with a task conflict
(it is also called cognitive conflict in Priem and Price’s sense, [17], being perceived by the
employees as an intra-psychic tension expressed under the umbrella of the cognitive
dissonance [6], these being determined to achieve a task contrary to their beliefs.
The constrained use of the technology by the employees (based on the fear of losing their jobs
or of the received threats), against a voluntary use based on an intrinsic motivation (that,
ideally, describes the assimilation stage) leads the objection phenomenon to the stage of
interpersonal conflict – that develops by means of the causality assignment [10], where the
individual assigns the causes of an event or of a behavior to some people or situations, with
harmful consequences as far as the individual, the group or the organization are concerned. In
other words, “the conflict starts form the other participants’ perception as being the cause of
the rejection, assigning them, therefore, negative intentions.” [14]. These affect their
performance and the company’s productivity.
The management’s intervention in settling down the conflicts caused by the constrained use of
the new technologies by the employees adjusts and ends the implementation process, the
technology adopted by the organization and assimilated (accepted) by the employees,
becoming an integrant (the integration stage), carrying out the anticipated productivity
earnings.
To schematize, we reproduce in the table below the dynamic of the conflicts among the
employees, users of the new technologies, according to the implementation stage carried out
by the management:

Table 3. The dynamic of the conflicts among the employees users of the new technologies, according to the
implementation stage
Implementation Operationalizing Conflict stage Cognitive process Personal reaction
stage
Technology Decision Unease » Psychological Internal conflict
introduction communication disagreement reactance
Technology Making Problem » Cognitive Task conflict
adoption available tension dissonance
Technology Acceptance/ Dispute » Causality Interpersonal
assimilation rejection conflict assignment conflict
Technology Productivity/ Resolution » Cognitive Individual
integration intervention extinction consonance performance

The necessity to use the new technologies voluntarily by the employees is essential to avoid a
false assimilation of the technology, as well as to reduce the resultant costs, within
organizations.
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3. THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The quantitative research was grounded on a sociological investigation based on a

questionnaire (filled in by 1 manager and 4 employees under his command). The
questionnaires were applied to a representative of 50 managers and 200 employees from small
and medium-sized industrial enterprises belonging to North-Eastern Romania.
In order to assess the influence that the managerial decisional and resolutive styles have on
each of the six perceptive dimensions regarding the use of the new implemented technologies
by the employees (that pictures the general level of acceptance of the new technologies by the
employees), there were corroborated the data offered by the 3 instruments described below, as
follows:
1. The questionnaire – Acceptance level of the new technologies – aimed at the employees’
answers so as to operationalize 6 dimensions with conflictive potential, as follows:
- the first four dimensions – the perception of the new technologies use, perceived ease of use,
compatibility with work and current use – were investigated by means of the scales designed
by Agarval and Prasad [1], in their study regarding accepting the internet (information
technology) by the students in managing business.
- the dimension of the perceived control was investigated by means of the scale designed by
Kowitlawakul [12], in his study over accepting the new information technologies within the
banking environment;
- the attitudinal dimension, of personal assessment of the new technologies, was investigated
by means of a scale designed by Brown and collaborators [4], in their study on accepting the
new tele-medicine technologies by nurses.
2. The questionnaire – Decision communication managerial style – inquiries into the decision
communication managerial ways and was designed based on Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s
typology [19], operationalizing the four decisional styles (dictatorial, negotiator, consultative,
implicative) from this classification by means of relevant behaviors, the way they are
described by these authors.
3. The questionnaire – conflicts resolution managerial style – brings about the conflicts
resolution styles generated by the implementation of the new technologies, being adjusted
according to the instrument designed by Koza and Dant [11] and aiming at one resolutive
style of the four ones: problem solving, compromise, passive-aggressive and active-
aggressive.
The precision analysis of these instruments over the answers given by the subjects from the
investigated lot through the alpha Cronbach internal consistency factor indicated satisfactory
levels of precision of over 0,70.

4. THE OBTAINED RESULTS

For the analysis of the influence of the decision communication style over the perceptive
dimensions that indicate the level of the new implemented technologies, there were compared
the employees from the four groups defined by the decisional style specific to their managers,
regarding each of the six perceptive dimensions with conflictive potential. The comparisons
of the groups were carried out by means of the ANOVA One Way test, followed by
comparisons in pair between groups through the post-hoc Tukey test:
a. the perceived usability – the results indicate the existence of significant differences among
the four groups: F(3,196) = 11,79; p < 0,01. The comparisons among the groups indicated that
the average of the employees’ group with managers possessing the implicative decision
254
communication style (3,63), at the assessment subscale of the new technology usability
perception is significantly higher than that of the employees’ from the other three groups (p ≤
0,05). As well, the difference between the dictatorial style and the consultative one draws
nearer, it too, to the significance threshold (p = 0,06), the ones from the first category
(average = 2,94) perceiving a lower usability of the new technologies than the employees
whose manager practices a consultative style (average = 3,27).
b. ease of use – the results indicate significant differences among the four groups: F(3,196) =
9,59; p < 0,01. The comparisons among the groups indicated that the average of the
employees group with managers characterized by the implicative decision communication
style (3,15) and of those with managers characterized by the consultative style (average =
3,13) at the assessment subscale of the new technologies ease of use is significantly higher
than that of the employees belonging to the dictatorial style group (average = 2,57),
respectively, of those belonging to the negotiator style group (average = 2,58).
c. compatibility with work: the results indicate the existence of significant differences among
the four groups F(3,196) = 8,11; p < 0,01. The comparisons among the groups indicated that
the average of the employees group with managers characterized by implicative decision
communication style (3,23) and that of the managers characterized by the consultative style
(average = 3,07) at the assessment subscale of compatibility with work of the new
technologies is significantly higher than that of the employees belonging to the dictatorial
style (average = 2,64), respectively of those from the negotiator groups style (average = 2,65)
the difference between the consultative style and the negotiator one being marginally
significant, statistically (p = 0,06).
d. current use – the results indicate the existence of significant differences among the four
groups: F(3,196) = 10,27; p < 0,01. The comparisons among the groups revealed that the
average of the employees group with managers characterized by the implicative decision
communication style (3,55) at the current use of the new technologies assessment subscale is
significantly higher than that of the employees belonging to the dictatorial style group
(average = 2,88), respectively of those from the negotiator style group (average = 3,13). As
well, the average of the employees with managers characterized by the consultative style
(average = 3,43) is significantly higher than that of the employees belonging to the dictatorial
style group.
e. perceived control - the results indicate the existence of significant differences among the
four groups: F(3,196) = 6,62; p < 0,01. The comparisons among the groups revealed that the
average of the employees group with managers characterized by the implicative decision
communication style (3,25) and of those with managers characterized by the consultative style
(average = 3,28) at the assessment scale of perceived control over the new technology is
significantly higher than that of the employees belonging to the dictatorial style group
(average = 2,82), respectively of those from the negotiator style group (average = 2,75).
f. attitude - the results indicate the existence of significant differences among the four groups:
F(3,196) = 8,57; p < 0,01. The comparisons among the groups revealed that the average of the
employees group with managers characterized by the implicative style (3,41) at the
assessment subscale of attitude to the new technologies is significantly higher than that of the
employees belonging to the dictatorial style group (average = 2,88) respectively of those from
the negotiator style group (average = 2,97). As well, the average of the employees with
managers characterized by the consultative style (average = 3,28) is significantly higher than
that of the employees belonging to the dictatorial style group.
g. total score - the results indicate the existence of significant differences among the four
groups: F(3,196) = 12,19; p < 0,01. The comparisons among the groups revealed that the
average of the employees group with managers characterized by the implicative style (3,37)
and of those with managers characterized by the consultative style (average = 3,24) at the
total score of the instrument is significantly higher than that of the employees belonging to the

255
dictatorial style group (average = 2,79), respectively of those from the negotiator style group
(average = 2,87).
The analysis between the decision communication style and gender revealed the existence of
two significant differences between feminine gender employees and the masculine ones,
namely:
- within the group with a manager characterized by the negotiator decision communication
style, the ease of use of the new technologies is perceived as being significantly higher as far
as the men are concerned (average = 2,88) than as far as the women are concerned (average =
2,32; p = 0,03 < 0,05).
- as well, within the group of employees with a manager characterized by the negotiator style,
the control over the new technologies is perceived as being significantly higher as far as the
men are concerned (average = 3,03) than as far as the women are concerned (average = 2,51;
p = 0,05).
In order to analyze the influence of the conflict resolution style over the perceptive
dimensions that indicate the acceptance level of the new implemented technologies, there
were compared the employees from the four groups defined by the resolutive style practiced
by their manager, regarding each of the six perceptive dimensions with conflictive potential.
The comparisons among the groups were carried out by means of the ANOVA One Way test
followed by comparisons in pair among the groups by means of the post-hoc Tukey test:
a. perceived usability - the results indicate the existence of significant differences among the
four groups: F(3,196) = 3,14; p < 0,05. The comparisons among the groups indicated that the
only significant difference was that the average of the employees group with managers
characterized by the problem solving style (3,49) at the assessment subscale of the new
technologies perceived usability is significantly higher than of those with managers
characterized by the compromise style (average = 3,10).
b. ease of use - the results indicate the existence of significant differences among the four
groups F(3,196) = 7,53; p < 0,01. The comparisons among the groups indicated that the
average of the employees group with managers characterized by the problem solving style
(3,28) at the assessment subscale of the new technologies ease of use is significantly higher
than of the employees from the other three groups (p ≤ 0,05).
c. compatibility with work - the results indicate the existence of significant differences
among the four groups: F(3,196) = 5,91; p < 0,05. The comparisons among the groups
indicated that the average of the employees group with managers characterized by the
problem solving style (3,24) at the assessment subscale of the compatibility with work of the
new technologies is significantly higher than of those with managers characterized by the
compromise style (average = 2,73) and than those with managers characterized by the
passive-aggressive style (average = 2,62).
d. current use - the results indicate the existence of significant differences among the four
groups: F(3,196) = 3,05; p < 0,05. The comparisons among the groups indicated that the
average of the employees group with managers characterized by the problem solving style
(3,49) at the assessment subscale of current use of the new technologies is significantly
higher than of those with managers characterized by the compromise style (average = 3,08)
and than those with managers characterized by the passive-aggressive style (average = 3,10),
the difference between the two groups being marginally significant (p= 0,07).
e. perceived control - the results indicate the existence of significant differences among the
four groups: F(3,196) = 7,25; p < 0,01. The comparisons among the groups indicated that the
average of the employees group with managers characterized by the problem solving style
(3,43) at the assessment subscale of perceived control over the new technologies is
significantly higher than of the employees from the other three groups (p ≤ 0,05).

256
f. attitude - the results indicate the existence of significant differences among the four groups:
F(3,196) = 4,63; p < 0,01. The comparisons among the groups indicated that the average of
the employees group with managers characterized by the problem solving style (3,43) at the
assessment subscale of attitude to the new technologies is significantly higher than of the
employees from the other three groups (p ≤ 0,05).
g. total score - the results indicate the existence of significant differences among the four
groups: F(3,196) = 6,81; p < 0,01. The comparisons among the groups indicated that the
average of the employees group with managers characterized by the problem solving style
(3,40) at the total score of the instrument is significantly higher than of the employees from
the other three groups (p ≤ 0,05) (see the following chart):
The analysis of the interactions between the conflicts resolution styles and the gender
indicated the existence of a significant difference between the feminine gender employees and
the masculine ones., namely: within the group of the employees with a manager characterized
by the problem solving style, the current use of the new technologies is significantly higher as
far as the women are concerned (average = 3,62) than as far as the men are concerned
(average = 3,35; p = 0,04 < 0,05).

5. FINAL CONCLUSIONS

The research of the management styles influence – decisional and resolutive – over the level
of acceptance by employees of the new technologies implemented within organizations,
brought forward the following: the implicative decision communication style regarding the
introducing of new technologies within organizations is the one that leads to the highest
acceptance level of the new technologies by employees, together with the consultative one –
whose efficiency diminishes on certain dimensions, drawing closer to that of a style that is
less advantageous, all in all – the negotiator. At the antipole, there is the dictatorial style that
predisposes, to the utmost extent to a low acceptance level of the new technologies. It is
surprising the fact that the negotiator style does not have a significant efficiency because the
Romanians, or, better said, the Romanian managers do not possess a culture of negotiation.
The employees belonging to managers that communicate the decision in a dictatorial style
will “score” a lower acceptance level of the new technologies, thus, “forcing” the managers to
communicate such kind of decisions in a “more” implicative way.
- the problem solving style is the one that leads to the highest acceptance levels of the new
technologies by employees. On almost all the dimensions, but, (less on the perceived control)
the active-aggressive style has similar consequences regarding this acceptance. In the same
time, it is interesting the fact that, at most dimensions (the perceived usability, ease of use,
compatibility with work, current use and attitude) the active-aggressive style has similar
consequences regarding the acceptance level. At the antipole, there are the compromise and
passive-aggressive styles that bring about, to the utmost extent, a low acceptance level of the
new technologies by employees. This aspect can be explained in that, an authoritative
manager, being master of the situation, asserts more easily his point of view in the
professional environment because, in the Romanian cultural specific, the employees obey
automatically the authority, they are obedient, less reactive and give greater importance to
appearances when assessing workmates and bosses. It seems that the resolutive styles, the
compromise and the passive-aggressive ones, (that is an assertive-manipulative style) do not
have effects upon achieving a minimum acceptance level of the new technologies by
employees.
- there are significant differences between the feminine gender employees and the masculine
ones regarding the perceptive dimensions over the new technologies, when we take into
account the managerial decision communication styles to introduce new technologies,
namely:
257
a. within the group of employees with managers characterized by the negotiator style, the
ease of use of the new technologies is perceived as being significantly higher by men than by
women;
b. as well, within the group of employees with managers characterized by the negotiator style,
the control over the new technologies is perceived as being significantly higher by men than
by women;
It seems that the men are more sensitive and feel overwhelmed when the management tries to
persuade them on the decisions and enterprises regarding the adopting of new technologies by
the company.
- there are significant differences between the feminine gender employees and the masculine
ones regarding the perceptive dimensions over the new technologies, when we take into
account the managerial styles of solving conflicts generated by the constrained use of the new
technologies: within the group of employees with managers characterized by problem solving
style, the current use of the new technologies is significantly higher as far as women are
concerned than as far as the men are concerned. Therefore, the women employees whose
managers use the “problem solving” resolutive style used the new technologies subjected to
implementation on every occasion than the men employees.
The research highlighted the fact that, within the process of implementing the new
technologies in companies, the participatory decisional styles (involving the employees in the
decision to introduce a new technology) can prevent scoring a employees’ low level of
acceptance, and the tensions caused by a low level of acceptance by employees can be
overcome by means of using the assertive resolutive styles, that reflect the managerial manner
of intervention in managing the conflictive situations with employees.
Although all the prior researches (that revealed the existence of a general low acceptance
level of using the new technologies by employees, corroborated with the identification of a
managers’ simulated behaviour in exercising the resolutive and decisional management styles
in the process of the new technologies implementation in their own companies) the managers
were initially reluctant when they were asked to fill in the questionnaires, they were interested
in finding out the results of the research, information that will subsequently be disseminated
in the industrial business environment from the North-East of Moldavia.
The process of dissemination of the results (especially the simulated managerial behaviour)
among the companies’ managers – respondents of the questionnaires that were applied –
represents itself a delicate aspect but a challenging one that can result in a future research.

6. REFERENCES

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Perceived Behavioural Control, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol.22, pp. 453-
474, (1986)
3. Brehm, J.W., A Theory of Psychological Reactance, New York, Academic Press, (1966)
4. Brown, S.A. et al., European Journal of Information Systems, vol. 11, pp.283-295,
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5. Davis, F.D., Bagozzi, R.P., Warshaw, P.R., User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A
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6. Festinger, L., A Theory of Cognitive Disonance, Evanston, III., Row Peterson, (1957)
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Economişti din România, Editura Todesco, Cluj-Napoca, vol. 15, nr. 1, pp. 52-64, (2016)
9. Guluţă, M.C., Rusu, C., Leadership Styles and Managerial Behavior in Romanian
Companies, Polish Journal of Management Studies, vol. 13, no.2, June, pp. 69-80, (2016)
10. Heider, F., The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, New York, Wiley, (1958)
11. Koza, K.L., Dant, R.P., Effects of Relationship Climate, Control Mechanism, and
Communications on Conflict Resolution Behavior and Performance Outcomes, Journal of
Retailing, vol. 83, no. 3, pp. 279-296, (2007)
12. Kowitlawakul, Y., Technology Acceptance Model: Predicting Nurses’ Acceptance of
Telemedicine Technology (eICU)., George Mason University Dissertation, (2008)
13. Lewin K., Lippitt, R., White, R.K., Patterns of Aggressive Behavior in Experimentally
Created "Social Climates", Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 10, (1939)
14. McCafferty, J., Labor-Management Dispute Resolution & the Media, Dispute Resolution
Journal, August-October, (2001)
15. McGregor, D., Human Side of Entreprise, McGraw-Hill, New York, (1960)
16. Moore, G.C., Benbasat, I., Development of an Instrument to Measure the Perceptions of
Adopting an Information Technology Innovation. Information Systems Research, vol. 2, no. 3,
pp.192-222, (1991)
17. Priem, R., Price, K., Process and Outcome Expectations for the Dialectical Inquiry,
Devil's Advocacy, and Consensus Techniques of Strategic Decision Making, Group and
Organization Studies, vol. 16, pp. 206-225, (1991)
18. Rogers, E, Diffusion of Innovations, The Free Press, New York, (1983)
19. Tannenbaum, R., Schmidt, W.H., How to Choose a Leadership Pattern, Harvard Business
Review, vol. 36, (1958)
20. Tannenbaum R., Weschler I.R, Massarik F., Leadership and Organization: A Behavioral
Science Approach, McGraw-Hill, New York, (1961)

259
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

CONTRIBUTION OF HUMAN RESOURCES TO THE

SUSTAINABILITY OF THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATIONS

Muntean Laura, Oprean Constantin, Titu Mihail Aurel

1
“Lucian Blaga” University from Sibiu, laura.muntean@ulbsibiu.ro
2
“Lucian Blaga” University from Sibiu, constantin.oprean@ulbsibiu.ro
3
“Lucian Blaga” University from Sibiu, mihail.titu@ulbsibiu.ro

ABSTRACT:Sustainability is a new concept, developed during the second half of the 20th century, which
started out from scientists’ and politicians’ awareness regarding the vulnerability of the resources necessary in
order to survive as well as the need to ensure the resources for the survival of the present and future generations.
The development of this concept became particularly widespread, being tackled, studied and developed by all
scientific fields; thereby no scientific process can be conceived today without taking into account the
characteristics of sustainable development. Identifying the paths to ensure sustainability for all types of capital is
no longer a challenge, but a necessity. Human capital represents the most important form of capital of the
modern organizations. Identifying this form of capital at the level of the organization and harnessing it are the
preliminary stages in the process of identifying how this type of capital can be preserved, regenerated, or totally
or partially replaced.
KEYWORDS:human capital, sustainability, sustainable development, knowledge, knowledge-based
organization,

1. INTRODUCTION
Sustainability represents a modern concept of the 20th and 21st centuries, defined by
scientists and politicians in their common steps to identify and develop feasible solutions with
the declared purpose of diminishing irrational consumption of Earth’s vital resources and
preserve them in order to ensure future generations’ existence. The primordial need to ensure
the perpetuation of the human species has determined the rapid development of the concept of
sustainability, its approach being carried out from various standpoints: economical,
ecological, cultural, social or political. Multidisciplinary approach of this concept was
determined by the fact that developing solutions mandatorily implied researchers’
participation as well as specialists from all main fields of the society.
In this context of multi-disciplinarity, the concept of sustainability receives a new
interpretation, namely that sustainability represents the sum of all the processes through
which total or partial replacement as well as the reduction of the consumption for all types of
non-renewable resources (capitals) can be ensured in parallel with the processes of
regeneration for the renewable resources (capitals).
The concept of sustainability came out strongly during the second half of the 20th century
following the scientists’ efforts in order to raise awareness at the level of the human society
regarding the severe nature of the environment issues born as a consequence of strong
economic development, exponential growth of the World’s population, but especially
uncontrolled use of its resources. Although this concept was introduced in the scientific
literature at the end of the 70’s by Wes Jackson in his work “Building a Sustainable Society”
and by Lester Brown in his paper “World Conservation Strategy”, the most used definition for
sustainability was phrased by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development
in 1987, led by Norwegian prime-minister Gro Harlem Bruntdland. In its report, titled “Our
Common Future”, sustainable development was defined as follows: “sustainable development
is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs” [2].

260
2. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The concept of sustainability has become one of the most dynamic at the end of the
millennium in particular due to efforts undertaken by scientists, politicians, and all those who
felt responsible in this field to give answers to a series of questions regarding how mankind,
through its decisions and actions, can secure the perpetuation in good conditions of all species
on Earth:
¾ What direction must follow the development of mankind from an ecological perspective?
¾ What is the optimum level of consumption for Earth’s natural resources to provide their
protection and regeneration?
¾ What measures must be taken at a global level in order to stop the degradation of the
environment?
¾ How can access of all people to a minimum of resources be ensured in order to provide a
decent standard of living?
¾ What are the limits up to which economic development must take place in order to secure
the development of future generations?
¾ …and for the present generation?
Searching for answers to these questions has taken on different roles and interpretations
according to the fields involved in the endeavour, sustainability thereby becoming an ecologic
concept when analysed from the perspective of environmental science, economic if the
answers are determined by an assessment from the perspective of the economic sciences,
cultural when the approach implies accepting multi-culturality and ethnic and religious
diversity, social when answers follow the influences of the processes over the development of
human society, but especially political when they refer to decisions, norms and regulations
which determine the long term development of the human society. Sustainable society
represents a society where the undertaken decisions regarding economic and social
development have determined the existence of a state of ecological, economical, cultural,
social, and political balance (figure no. 1).

Economic
Wellbeing

Social Equity Renewable

Environment

Cultural Diversity Multinational

Bodies

Sustainable Society

Figure 1. Sustainable Society

(adaptation after Deneș, C., Radu, S., Managementul resurselor și al sustenabilității, “Lucian Blaga” University
from Sibiu, 2011)
261
The concept of sustainability tries to bring answers to a series of issues such as:
ƒ Identifying planet’s potential of natural resources depending on whether they are
renewable or not. Contemporary society must identify and especially optimize the ratio
between consumption of natural resources and its consumption needs but also measures
through which regeneration of renewable resources is ensured and non-renewable
resources are being replaced. Planetary resources are limited consequently their
consumption must be correlated with mankind’s need to survive, in particular with their
regeneration speed starting from the idea that the consumption speed of the resources must
not surpass the regeneration or their replacement speed. When talking about non-
renewable resources, the task gets even more difficult because replacing such a type of
resources involves supporting an innovative industrial development by allocation of
funding for research and creation of a regulated framework for the production, use, and
access to a new type of resources. A new type of world power is thus being developed
determined by the monopole of holding the new resources hence a new issue:
ƒ Creating the premises for ensuring equitable access to resources for all members of the
human community. This can only be achieved to the extent that the new society is built
democratically, respecting citizen’s right, being able to ensure the just distribution of
wealth between generations and within the same generation [2]. Sustainable development
can only be considered through the principles of democracy, based on ensuring all
members of the society equal opportunities for a decent life, the solidarity which must
manifest at the level of social relations and especially on respecting fundamental human
rights. In this context, the transition towards a sustainable development means developing
some new approaches in education.
ƒ Education plays an essential role in forming and modelling the new society and the
transition towards a sustainable development implies educating all the generations
(children, young and adults) about three huge topics: education about how the existing
resources are being managed, education referring to the principles that govern a
democratic society and last, but not least, education regarding the production and use of
new resources. All social factors are morally obliged to undertake getting involved in the
education and forming of a new culture based on supporting sustainable development.
What should first take place is a new re-orientation of the entire educational system at all
levels through which the new generations would be prepared to cope with a rational
consumption of the resources, to acknowledge that the resources are not a personal
commodity, but a global one therefore protecting and using them shall be done by
respecting all people’s rights to access them, but also education in acknowledging and
developing new solutions that would protect Earth’s riches. Secondly we need to have the
social media involved in educating the population regarding what is meant to be a
sustainable development in the purpose of forming a new culture. Finally education is
being performed by drafting political and legal constraints which create the governance
framework of a society but only with respect for the democratic principles of human
rights.
ƒ Innovation and the development of new technologies is also a complex issue taking many
forms: societal, political, economic or technic. The prerequisite for solving it represents
supporting and implementing the creative processes for research and learning. This means
the members of the society must know and interpret their role in the society, identify and
accept the constraints that guide its development and integrate them in their actions [2].
Consequently, the processes of learning and accepting innovative solutions and
technologies are particularly important. The knowledge-based organization represents the
organization which supports the learning process as a whole but also at an individual
level, it is open in tackling new technologies through its policies for economic
development and investments and has the most chances in approaching sustainable
development.

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3. SUSTAINABILITY OF KNOWLEDGE-BASED CAPITALS
From the economic perspective, organizational wealth creating future benefits for its owner
can be grouped into 4 capital categories as follows:
Produced capital comprises all tangible assets such as buildings, machinery, equipment,
goods, including material infrastructure. This type of capital is extremely easily quantifiable
and consequently offers the most relevant information regarding the development of the
analysis on future benefits and sustainable development.
Natural capital is made up of the actives that generate flows of useful renewable or non-
renewable goods, namely soil, forests, water, mineral, etc. This type of capital does not
directly produce future benefits, but indirectly contributes to their production. However, they
are assessed and benefits are easily quantifiable, which allows their use in in the economic
analyses. It should also be mentioned that the use of natural capital is subject to some
restrictions imposed by the principles of sustainable development and the vulnerability of this
kind of capital.
Human capital defined as a complex made up of qualifications, skills and talents,
competences and capabilities, education and level of health specific foe every individual. At
the level of the organization, the investment in human capital, materialized in the investment
in education, staff training and health, is part of its development strategy. Although the
specialists consider it to be the most profitable investment, there are many difficulties in
assessing it.
Knowledge capital represents the total amount of information existing at the level of an
organization. Identifying, classifying and managing information from the capitals theory
perspective represents a genuine challenge as solutions for two types of problems need to be
found:
1. Defining explicit knowledge categories but especially implicit ones, ways of identifying
and codifying it in order to ensure its transferability.
2. In order to be considered as a capital, knowledge must be assessed from the monetary
perspective.
Social capital, also called relational, represents the totality of rules, habits, communication
networks allowing the establishment of social, economic and organizational order. Social
capital has a profoundly subjective character through its wanting to quantify how individuals
manifest the sense of belonging to the organizational society from the perspectives of
inclusion, of participation to the increase of economic productivity and stimulating creativity.
Problems that arise in the case of social capital are similar to those mentioned in the case of
human capital to which adds the problem of creating the reference system, especially through
the development of strong organizational culture [1].
Organizations’ sustainable development takes place by involving all types of capital alike, in
different proportions, at different moments, in the process of medium and long term
organizational change which can only occur by development of knowledge, creativity,
innovations in the purpose of ensuring the improvement of life quality. Thus each type of
capital has its undeniable importance in this process.
In the process of sustainable development the individual occupies the central position, a
multi-facetted fact worth pondering about:
ƒ The sustainable development process itself is destined to improve human existence by
ensuring the survival of future generations and by ensuring some life conditions that are at
least acceptable for the current generations.
ƒ The sustainable development process occurs through individual involvement as a bearer of
knowledge, spring of creativity and promoter of innovative solutions.

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ƒ The individual represents the basic element of human capital, the value bearer core with
its capacity to regenerate biologically and intellectually, to permanently upgrade and adapt
to societal changes.
ƒ The individual is by nature a profoundly social being therefore manifesting in the process
of sustainable development within the limits established by the normative framework
meant to guide their behaviours.
We observe that in the process of sustainable development the individual represents
simultaneously the purpose and the tool. The actions the individual undergoes are meant to
change the society, the organization and oneself determined by the primordial instinct to
survive. Consequently, the individual builds through his capabilities to change and change
himself, the society of knowledge.
We can therefore state that the role of human capital is to drive the other types of capital in
the process of sustainable development in a balanced way, to find variants of development,
regeneration and/or replacing these and regenerating oneself.
4. HUMAN CAPITAL FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE SUSTAINABILITY
CONCEPT
The process of searching for viable solutions to allow sustainable development for human
society has imposed the change of vision referring to the concept of sustainable development
which cannot remain only at the level of a simplistic interpretation from an ecological
perspective. Thus, from the economic perspective, sustainable development takes on new
interpretations, namely it requires maintaining for future generations the volume and structure
of all types of capital. Economic perspective of the concept of sustainable development starts
from monetary balance which must be secured in reference to the total capital. Following this,
depreciation of one type of capital can be compensated by substitution with another type of
capital in order to ensure this balance. Thus the problem arises regarding the ratio between the
types of capital and to which extent they are complementary or sustainable. That is why,
“thecondition for a sustainable development in an economy is that investments in the capital
produces by people be equal with the economic depreciation of the ressources” [4].
In as far as the human capital is concerned, we note that specialized literature makes a
distinction between knowledge capital and social capital, the first one having, among others,
the quality of bearer for the following two without which their manifestation (maybe even
existence) is open to question. We can therefore discern a series of axioms:
™ The existence of human capital is a necessary however insufficient premise for the
existence of the knowledge capital and social capital.
™ Lack of human capital is a sufficient premise for the lack of existence of knowledge
capital and social capital.
™ When lacking an appropriate human capital the existence of knowledge capital and social
capital do not have a manifest character.
™ So long as the human, knowledge and social capitals do not have a manifest character,
their monetary value will never be a correct one. The manifestation level of the types of
capital readjusts their monetary value.
From this perspective the substitution process of these types of capital can be interpreted as
follows:
¾ Human capital cannot be integrally substituted by the two types of capital, knowledge and
social.
¾ Human capital can be partially substituted by the two types of capital, knowledge and
social. The problem arises to which extent can this substitution be carried out and what is
the individual contribution of the substituent capitals.
¾ Knowledge capital can be integrally substituted by the human capital.
¾ Social capital can be integrally substituted by the human capital.
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The substitution process of these types of capital is a short-term process mainly determined by
the type of organization and manifested all the more acutely given the fact that society as a
whole and organization as an individual tend to turn into a knowledge-based society,
respectively organization, where these types of capital are appraised.
Regarding the process of sustainable development from the perspective of all types of capital,
the issue of capitals substitution becomes an extremely complex one, which finds its solution
only inside knowledge-based organizations. It is the reason why we consider that the premise
for a sustainable development of any organization is represented by taking all necessary
measures in order to transform it into a knowledge-based organization, able to make
acceptable substitutions between the types of capital, to use recycling technologies that would
allow regeneration of renewable resources but also processing technologies which would
make more efficient the consumption of non-renewable resources with the purpose of
prolonging their life. The process of sustainable development shall be a successful one to the
extent that the resources consumption speed is compensated with the capacity to find
substitution solutions.
5. CONCLUSIONS
In his work Organizația și Managementul Bazate pe Cunoștințe professor Ovidiu Nicolescu
states that the sustainability of the knowledge-based organization represents “its capacity to –
economically, socially and ecologically – function in an effective and efficient manner by
maintaining and amplifying the dimensions and performances, following the systematic
practice of adaptation processes and innovative change, corresponding to endogenous and
contextual developments” [4].
Effective and efficient functioning on a long term of the modern organizations implies they
unfold a series of processes aiming:
• a clear identification of the development directions on a medium and long term,
• identification of the types of capital necessary in order to ensure e organizational
evolution in the established directions and inventorying the types of capital existing within the
organization,
• harnessing all types of capital the organization possesses, mostly the ones specific for
knowledge-based organizations, respectively human capital, knowledge capital, social and
relational capitals,
• identifying the adaptation processes of the capitals and their innovative transformation in
the purpose of amplifying organizational performance.
The issue of the substitution of the human capital within the organizational framework is a
complex one with strong social implications. Let’s not forget the main purpose of sustainable
development and sustainability is ensuring the best conditions for the survival of the human
being by maintaining earth’s vital resources. Therefore, any step regarding sustainable
development where the human capital should be totally substituted seems to be nonsense as in
the modern world the man’s main role is to ensure the means of his and his dependents’
existence by unfolding gainful activities. Total substitution of the human capital within the
organizational framework, perfectly possible in modern organizations considering
computerized production technologies risks starting out deep social and psychological
problems especially related to ensuring the sense of human usefulness, regardless of the
efficiency level the social protection system work on. From this perspective it is preferable to
have this type of substitution only in production fields which can affect human safety. Even in
these fields there’s a migration of human capital towards other areas of the organizational
activity such as research areas, IT, marketing and research for the markets, etc.
Consequently human capital cannot be totally substituted, but only partially by capitals such
as knowledge capital, social capital or technologic capital. The extent to which organizations
decide to make the substitution of the human capital represents an internal decision, social
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implications of these decisions being profound at the level of communities to which they
belong.
6. REFERENCES
1. Dachin, A., Tarhoaca, C., Goschin, Z., Huidumac, C., Marinescu, C., Rogojanu, C.,
Evaluări ale dezvoltării durabile în România, http://www.biblioteca-
digitala.ase.ro/biblioteca/carte2.asp?id=215&idb=[7/1/2011 2:42:33 PM]
2. Deneș, C., Radu, S., Managementul resurselor și al sustenabilității, Universitatea ”Lucian
Blaga” din Sibiu, (2011).
3. Hamel, G., Prahalad, C., K., Competing for the future, Harvard Business Review Press,
(1996).
4. Nicolescu, O., Nicolescu, C., Organizația și managementul bazate pe cunoștințe, Editura
Prouniversitaria, București, (2011).
5. Olaru, Marieta, Managementul calității, Editura Economica, București, (1999).
6. Oprean, C., Kifor, Cl., V., Managementul calității, Editura Universității ”Lucian Blaga”,
Sibiu, (2002).
7. Oprean, C., Țîțu, M. Managementul calității în economia și organizația bazate pe
cunoștințe, Editura AGIR, București, (2008).

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

DESTINATION MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS’ (DMOS’) ROLES

AND PERFORMANCE – LITERATURE REVIEW

Adina Letiția Negrușa1 and Monica Maria Coroș2

1
Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Business, adina.negrusa@tbs.ubbcluj.ro
2
Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Business, monica.coros@tbs.ubbcluj.ro

ABSTRACT:Destination success is a combination of tangible (product, location, and accessibility) and less
tangible attributes (service and community experience). All these factors determine the visitor experience. While
some of these are beyond the control of DMOs, for a large part organizations can assure their managerial
process. Thus, DMOs’managers can have a strong influence upon destination success. The aim of this paper is to
investigate how DMOs’ activity can contribute to tourist destinations’ competitiveness and success. In an
attempt to provide a holistic view of the DMO concept, the paper examines and reviews DMO roles and
specificactivities, and the relationship between DMO’s success and destination’s success. Through DMO’s
performance evaluation,there can be identified areas for economic improvement, efficiency, capacity and
effectiveness of achieving strategic and operational results, which can further increase the destination’s
competitiveness.
KEYWORDS:Destination Management Organization (DMO), performance, sustainability, tourism destination.

1. INTRODUCTION
Today, more than ever, destinations compete fiercely against each other to attract both tourists
and investors. This puts significant pressure upon states and regional/local authorities from
the perspective of destination management. As data provided in Table 1 reveal, Romania does
not perform well in terms of tourism competitiveness. One of the most pertinent explanations
for this situation derives from the inconsequent organization of tourism promotion at
governmental, regional and local levels. Decisional centralization, as well as political
implications in the management of tourism have led to the country’s poor performance and
competitiveness. In this context, a discussion of destination management organizing and
strategies is needed and more than welcome.
Table 1. Romania’s Competitiveness on the Global and European Tourism Markets
2015 2013 2011 2009 2008 2007
Romania’s Travel & Tourism global competitiveness 66 68 63 66 69 76
Government prioritization of the T&T industry 117 129 116 121 119 107
Effectiveness of marketing and branding 120 123 118 119 118 111
Total number of countries 141 140 139 133 130 124
Romania’s T&T competitiveness at European level 32 35 34 34 32 36
Total number of European countries 37 42 42 42 41 41
Source: [29].
Cooper and Hall [1] bring up the impossibility of governments to continue to coordinate and
control all activities, including those related to hospitality and tourism, and the substantial
shift from government to governance. This transformation has at its core the change of the
relative role of governmental and public institutions related to: governmental agencies,
welfare and public economic support systems, including sponsoring and subsidies,
environmental, social and cultural projects, etc. Today, states tend to pull back and direct
interventions tend to be replaced in this respect by the cooperation with the private sector
enterprises and/or non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Such cooperation can imply the
government or its departments and offices, state/public agencies and institutions,
entirely/partially state-owned enterprises, the private sector, and NGOs. The role of the state
is that of encouraging the development of networks and partnerships and of steering them in
the desired direction.Rhodes [8;25], asquoted by Cooper and Hall [1],presents the

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characteristics of governance: organizations are interdependent; governance, as a concept, is
wider than government, implying roles for non-state actors (such as: the private sector, NGOs,
and stakeholders); consequently, the delimiting between the public sectors and all the other
ones is rather unclear; network members interact continuously, needing to exchange resources
and to negotiate shared purposes; network relations are based on mutual trust and preserved
by the established interaction rules; many networksare self-organised and are significantly
autonomous in relation with the government; governments can steer networks imperfectly and
indirectly, although they do not occupy privileged positions within them. Given the
complexity of the networks and their heterogeneous structures, Jessop [13], ascitied by
Cooper and Hall [1], refers to meta-governance;thisimplies “the steering of multiple agencies
and organizations, which although operating autonomously of one another, remain linked
together through their involvement in common policy issues and associated funding and
benefits”.Obviously, DMOs fit perfectly in such a context, as:
• DMOs are very often partially or fully funded by the states;
• DMOs can even belong to the formal governmental structure (as state agencies);
• DMOs play a key role in bringing together other public agencies, tourism producers and
even destination communities for purposes closely related to tourist destination development
and/or marketing;
• of course, DMOs do not own the tourist products they develop, promote and sell [1].
Moreover, as Shkira and Qirici [28] point out, over the past nearly 15 years, at
destination/local level “tourism stakeholders have gradually shifted focus from the traditional
marketing and promotional functions to the more coordinated strategic approach of
destination management.”
2. DESTINATION MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION – A CONCEPTUAL
FRAMEWORK
A first step of this approach is to determine the development of specialized literature in the
field of tourist destination management. In this respect, the analysis conducted by Morrison
[22] has been updated, as observed in Table 2. It is impossible not to notice the dynamics of
the literature dedicated to this subject. Thus, nearly 98 % of the papers covering destination
management have been written during the past fifteen and a half years, with some 69 % of the
literature dedicated to this subject being produced beginning with 2010. Further, concerning
destination marketing, almost97 % of the literature was generated since 2000, while
around67 % of the papers result since 2010.Destination branding is a somewhat newer
subject, thus enjoying a lower representation; a significant percentage of the literature on this
topic (99.6 %) has been produced between 2000 and 2016, with nearly 77 % in the time-span
of 2010 and 2016. Even newer is the subject of Destination Management
Organisation/Organization(DMO) – both spellings have been considered for accuracy
reasons. Obviously, the specialized literature has developed especially beginning with the
year of 2000, with about 99.5 % of the papers being produced in this time span. Like in all
other cases, most of the contributions were elaborated between 2010 and 2016 (around 77 %).
Table 2. Literature on Destination Management, Destination Marketing, Destination Branding, and Destination
Management Organisation/Organization: 1970-2016
Time Period Destination Destination Destination Destination Management
Management Marketing Branding Organisation/Organization
1970-1979 0 12 1 0
1980-1989 12 60 6 1
1990-1999 285 491 18 3+6
2000-2009 3,970 5,140 1,480 156 + 290
2010-2016* 9,260 11,700 5,000 478 + 1,080
Total 13,527 17,403 6,505 2,014
2000-2016 (%) 98 % 97 % 99.6 % 99.5 %
2010-2016 (%) 69 % 67 % 77 % 77 %
* To the 30th of May 2016
Source: based on[22] and on Google Scholar (excluding citations and patents).
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Citing Goeldner and Ritchie [3], Minguzzi [6] explains that “destination management consists
of the integrated management of those processes necessary in establishing an exchange
between a destination and its visiting tourists. Therefore, on one hand, it involves the
management of services offered and tourist attraction factors, while, on the other hand,
managing demand, dependent on tourist flow and customer satisfaction”. Further, given that
more and more researchers argue the importance of the relationships between the different
actors of the tourism destination, quoting Gunn [4], Minguzzi [6] shows that “the
implementation and success of a tourism development plan is often based on the support of
the stakeholders in the community, which include the citizens, entrepreneurs and community,
leaders, guests”.
Building on Leiper’s model [21], Pike [7] explains the need for DMOs “in seeking to promote
the destination, to connect better the supply and demand aspects of tourism, to maximize the
use of destination resources”.In the Encyclopedia of Tourism,Anderson [5] considers that the
term destination management organization (DMO) refers “to either a convention and visitor
bureau, a state/provincial/regional tourism office or a national tourist
organization/administration. These organizations are the entities mandated to undertake the
process of tourism destination management. DMOs have become the principal organizations
responsible for leading, co-ordinating, stimulating and monitoring tourism development and
marketing for a destination area”. The same specialist, Anderson [5] defines destination
management as “the integrated process of managing any of the three tourism types (urban,
resort and rural). It covers four key elements: the destination offering (visitor experience,
destination image and attractiveness); the visitor mix (market research); marketing
communications (awareness and promotion); and organisational responsibility (leadership and
partnership)”. Morrison [22] defines destination management as: “the coordination and
integration of all of the elements of the destination mix in a particular geographic area based
upon a defined tourism strategy and plan”.
The destination mix elements are the attractions and events, facilities (hotels, restaurants,
etc.), transportation, infrastructure, and hospitality resources. In addition, destination
management encompasses the image-making, branding, and marketing and communications
of all that the place has to offer to tourists.” Although DMOs began to be theorized only
during the past 15 years, Morrison [22] explains that they have in fact existed all-over the
globe, in various forms for more than a century (either as governmental departments, or as
quasi-departmental structures). Basically, DMOs can function at any of the following levels:
• at national level, as NTAs (National Tourism Authorities) or as NTOs (National Tourism
Organizations), having responsibilities related to the management and marketing of national
tourism; in fact, such structures can even develop at transnational level/beyond national
borders (for example, the European Travel Commission is a non-profit organization that
cooperates with 32 European NTAs and NTOs for the development and promotionof
European tourist destinations, via Visit Europe [33]);
• at regional/provincial/state/county level, as DMOs or RTOs, being in charge of the
management and marketing of tourism in specific geographic/historic areas, defined for that
purpose; the area may, not must, be an administrative/local government region (e.g. county,
state/land or province;
• atlocal level, contributing to the development and promotion of tourism in areas limited to
a city/town[31].
The UNWTO [31]synthetizes the main purpose of a DMO: “to lead and coordinate activities
under a coherent strategy”; DMOs are not supposed to control their partners’ activities but
they are expected to “bring together resources and expertise and a degree of independence and
objectivity to lead the way forward”. Consequently, they “must develop a high level of skill in
developing and managing partnerships” [31], as they have the overall responsibility for the
coordination and integration of the destination mix elements (physical products: attractions,
facilities, transportation, and general infrastructure; people: guests and hosts; packages:

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organised by tour-operators, travel agencies and others; and programs: events, festivals,
activities, etc.), and, of course, for destination marketing. Obviously, the latter is an important
part of the destination management process. DMOs are complex structure, as they re-join
numerous public and private sector stakeholders [31]: national/regional/local
government/public authorities; agencies established for economic development; town centre
management organizations; national park management; providers of transport services; tourist
attractions, events and cultural organizations; providers of hospitality services
(accommodation, restoration, leisure and retail operations); intermediaries (tour operators,
travel agencies, organisers of events, cultural organizations, etc.); agencies representing the
destination; media; local/regional tourism consortia and partnerships; agencies encouraging
and supporting business development; organizations focusing on developing skills.
According to a survey conducted by the UNWTO [31], worldwide, DMOs are organised as:
National Tourist Authorities (NTAs), National Tourism Organisations (NTOs), Regional/
provincial/state/county Tourist Organizations (RTOs), Local/city tourism organisations,
Resort organizations (in coastal resorts; ski/other sports resorts), Product based (dedicated to a
specific tourist product, such as: bird-watching, adventure tourism, etc.), other organisations
(convention bureaus or regional/small area DMOs, etc.). Most commonly, DMOs get
involved in: tourism product development activities, providing services related to the
development of physical resources (e.g. signage of visitor centres); human resource
development and vocational training;assistance and advice for hospitality and tourism
businesses; classification and/or licensing of tourism businesses; regulating of the tourism
industry [31, p.15]. Depending on the level where they appear, DMOs fulfil certain of the
roles listed below.
Indeed, DMOs have undertaken many marketing activities but their role is, in fact, much
larger: to become strategic leaders in destination development [31]. In fact, Minguzzi [6]
states “the critical role played by the DMO is recognized like fundamentally for enhancing of
the tourism on all different levels or type of destination: without the effective leadership and
coordination of an efficacy DMO, a destination is ill-equipped to be either competitive or
sustainable”.
The specialists from UNWTO [31] describe how destination governance can take place:
• within a department of a single public authority;
• as a public authorities’ partnership, serviced by partners;
• as a public authorities’ partnership, serviced by a joint management team;
• public authority/authorities’ outsourcing delivery to private companies;
• public-private partnership (often as) a non-profit organization; or
• association/company established by a private-public partnership and/or trading, exactly
for specific purposes.
Starting from the destination’s heritage (attractions, amenities, accessibility, human resources,
image and price), the DMO – as leader and coordinator – fulfils three key roles [31] in its
attempt of providing leadership for the management of a tourist destination as revealed by
Enright and Newton[16]quoted by Țigu [10]. The first one consists of the creation of a
suitable environment for tourism development: policy-making, legislation, regulations and
taxation (e.g. planning and infrastructure; human resources development; product
development; technology and systems development; related industries and procurement). The
second includesmarketing, with the clear role of getting people to visit the destination (e.g.
destination promotion (including branding and image); campaigns to drive business
(especially micro, small and medium enterprises); unbiased information services; operation
and facilitation of (online) bookings; customer relationship management). The last one
implies quality issues regarding the delivery on the ground (quality of services and of the
experience itself), respectively exceeding expectations (e.g. destination coordination and
management for visitor “quality of experience”; product “start-ups”; development and

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management of events; development and management of attractions; training and education;
business counselling/advice; strategy, research and development).
Today, the roles of DMOs can be synthetized as it follows:
• a critical and vital role in efforts to ensure that the expectations of stakeholders (both
internal and external) are satisfied to the greatest extent possible [6];
• DMOs’ role is not just limited to contributing todeveloping new tourism initiatives but
italso implies the management of resources (human and internal) in all stages of destination
development;
• to involve in the establishment of relationships among regional infrastructures and the
existing market;
• to make use of legislative and management tools during destination planning and
management aiming to make sure that stakeholders’ benefits from tourist activities are shared
on a fair basis among them, relying onsustainable practices and ensuring the regeneration of
the resources involved in the production of hospitality and tourist services[6, 13];
• being part of the national/regional/local administrative power, DMOs have politicaland
legislative powers, respectively financial means needed for imposing a rational management
of the natural and built resources; moreover, DMOs can grant long-term and long-lasting
benefits for all stakeholders;
• to capitalize on long-term strategies and to harvest on their results in cooperation with
other national/regional/localorganizations;
• to be representative for local/regional interests at regional/national levels;
• to maximize profitability of local/regional/national enterprises and to maximize the
multiplier effects of tourism;
• to contribute to the development of destination brands and of homogenous and coherent
destination images;
• to optimize hospitality and tourism impacts by ensuring sustainability in the balance of
economic and socio-cultural benefits with the environmental costs [6];
• to provide leadership in the management of tourism within destinations [10, 12];
• to enhance the well-being of destination residents;
• to give their best in ensuring that visitors are provided experiences that are at least highly
satisfactory, and highly memorable;
• to provide effective destination management and stewardship [12];
• to take care of the management and maintenance of tourist attractions and to ensure their
preservation.
Sheehan, Presenza and Minguzzi [27] bring up the historic disputes concerning the shift of
DMOs more towards management or marketing. In their attempt of delimiting the marketing
and management roles of DMOs, the three authors split their roles into three categories,
explaining their specific activities, as listed in Table 3, below:
Table 3. The Roles and Specific Activities of DMOs
Role Specific Activities
External Destination DMOs manage the selling of destinations and of their tourist products, carrying
Marketing (EDM) out activities such as:
- web-marketing;
- advertising, both classic and based on new media;
- familiarisation tours;
- sales blitzes;
- direct sales;
- direct mail;
- cooperative programs;
- events, festivals, conferences, fairs, etc.
Internal Development DMOs undertake all other types of activities for the maintenance and
Role (IDD) development of the destination, except for marketing:
- visitor services, including visitor management;
- measuring and evaluating visitor satisfaction;
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 Role Specific Activities
- information and market research, with the purpose of helping stakeholders
better understand: market demands, industry supply, and the existing gaps
between the two parts;
- ensure high-quality development of human resources;
- resource stewardship for sustainable destination management and
development;
- contribute to the attraction and raising of financial resources, including
venture capital;
Overall Destination - coordination of stakeholders;
Management (ODM) - management of crises.
Source: [27].
Successful destinations result from successful and sustainable destination management, and,
obviously, depend on the success of DMOs. Wray et al [11] quoted by Klimek[20]
characterize effective DMOs; these should have:a long-term vision of destination
development;the capacity to clearly designate responsibilities to stakeholders and to develop
appropriate operational structures; and a transparent and responsible decision-making process,
which involves all stakeholders.
3. DMOS’ PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Playing different roles [24] like: coordinator of many elements from the tourist sector, leader
for tourism development in the local community, adviser of visitors and assistant for visitor
services, etc., DMOs grant destinations the construction of tourism success. So, before
starting talking about DMOs’ performance, it is important to firstly discuss what constitutes
success and performance in tourism.
In the process of evaluating the success of a tourist destination, Ritchie et al[26] considered
the visitors’ perspective as the most important factor. Besides this, the economic success
measured through economic indicators (How many tourists arrived in a destination?,How
much did they spend?, How many people are employed in tourism?,How many business
activities were developed in tourism?, etc.) represents a common and visible attribute in a
destination’s evaluation. In fact, many studies take into consideration for the measurement of
a destination’s success just a single aspect from among the following ones:the effectiveness of
marketing activities [13], the product offerings [17;23], the pricing [14], and the quality [18].
For a holistic perspective of the destination’s success, Ritchie and Crouch [26] argued to add
output variables and to measure success from the stakeholders’ perspective involved in the
tourism system. According to them, a destination’s competitiveness is related to its ability to
create added value and, thus, increase the local wealth, the attractiveness in a sustainable
manner. The study also points out five key determinants for destination’s competitiveness,
like: destination policy, planning and development, destination management, core resources
and supporting factors. To sum up, a new perspective regarding the DMO is defined. Ritchie
and Crouch [9;26] present the DMO as a management organization, which includes marketing
as a key function:If the DMO does not provide leadership and direction for tourism
development in the destination, who will?.
While efforts to explore the success criteria for a destination’s competitiveness have gained
considerable attention, few studies have investigated the effect(s) of the DMO upon a
destination’s overall success. Dwyer and Kim [15] pointed out the importance of the internal
managerial function for destination competitiveness. Bornhorst, Ritchie, and Sheehan [12]
argue that managers of DMOs must be aware that their success will be determined by how
well these are run and managed as organizations. The quality of the managerial processes will
attract and retain good employees, who are professional, accountable and respected by other
tourism stakeholders in the destination. This is how the ability of the DMO to attract more
funds, partners and resourceswill be constructed. Spyriadis[34] suggests that in order for a
DMO to perform its business planning successfully, appropriate tangible and intangible
resources need to be attained and used efficiently and effectively. According to him, the

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business objectives and priorities of a DMO need to be aligned to its rationale for existence
and strategic impetus; therefore, the DMO is expected to contribute to external value creation.
In conclusion, the performance of a DMO’s management activity influences the success of the
destination, and, in this light, it is important to be able to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of the organization.
Morrison [22] suggests that for DMOs “efficiency usually means doing things at the lowest
cost, while effectiveness measures the degree of success in attaining goals and objectives. Part
of the task in ensuring efficiency is through day-to-day management of the DMO and through
the application of an internal control system”. A DMO’s effectiveness reflects the degree to
which the actual and desired outputs coincide for both its official (strategic) and operative
(operational) goals. This match can influencethe DMO’s accountability and legitimacy within
the destination and amongwider stakeholders [22].Overall, there are few studies with a close
focus on the DMO’s performance variables and models [9, 15,34]. Bornhorst et al. [12]
presented the variables associated to both DMO and destination success; Frechtling[2]
conceptually examined the application of BSC to DMOs; while Spyriadis [34] suggests a
systematic and robust performance evaluations of DMOs by combining both outward-looking
and internal perspectives of DMO effectiveness. However, there remained several gaps in
theliterature with regard to DMO performance evaluation.
4. REFERENCES
1. Cooper, C., Hall, C.-M., Contemporary Tourism: An International Approach,
Butterworth-Heinemann Elsevier, (2008).
2. Fletcher, J., Fyall, A., Gilbert, D., and Wanhill, S., Tourism Principles and Practice.
5thed.Harlow: Pearson, (2013).
3. Goelder, C.-R., and Ritchie, J.-R.-B., Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies, New
York, Wiley, (2003).
4. Gunn, C.-A., Tourism Planning, 3rd edition, New York, Taylor and Francis, (1994).
5. Jafari, J. (chief editor), Encyclopedia of Tourism, Routledge, (2000).
6. Minguzzi, A., Destination Competitiveness and the Role of Destination Management
Organization (DMO): An Italian Experience, Tourism Local Systems and Networking,
editors Lazzeretti, L., Petrillo, C.-S., Elsevier – Advances in Tourism Research, pp. 197-
208, (2006).
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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

PHILOSOPHICAL AND MANAGERIAL VALUES OF MARY PARKER

FOLLETT’S CONTRIBUTION

Adina Letiția Negrușa1 and Gheorghe Gh. Ionescu2

1
Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Business, adina.negrusa@tbs.ubbcluj.ro
West University of Timisoara, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, ghghionescu@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT:In contrast with many of her contemporaries, Mary Parker Follett offered a different view, an
innovative one, of business management and administration, providing relevant messages for today management
problems. Her approach was more philosophical and idealistic, focused on the integration of the individual and
the organization. Obviously the complexity of her ideas and interdisciplinary approach, made a contribution
extremely difficult to understand and follow in order to achieve a harmonious life organization. The purpose of
this paper is to see Follett's contribution to today's managerial context. In our article, are investigated her main
ideas expressed in her work and how they can be connected with current concepts. This article concludes that,
rather than to believe naively that we are reinventing now management practices, it may be better to recognize
the historical roots of many modern ideas, and admit that we are still striving to improve them.
KEYWORDS:management philosophy, integrative unity, power with, low of situation.

1. INTRODUCTION
Chronologically, Mary Parker Follett belonged to the scientific management era, but
philosophically and intellectually she was a member of the social relations ideology. She had
a foot in each world and served as a link between the two eras by generalizing Taylor’s
concepts and anticipating many conclusions of the Hawthorne research.
At the beginning she was a political philosopher. As political philosopher, following the
group principle, she concluded that a person’s “true self is the group self” and that “man can
have no rights apart from society or independent of society or against society” [1]. In
opposing the notion that the purpose of government is to protect individual rights, she
proposed a new concept of democracy: “Democracy then is a great spiritual force evolving
itself from men, utilizing each, completing his incompleteness by weaving together all in the
many – membered community life which is the true theophany (“Teophany is the visible
manifestation of God”) [1]. Mary Parker Follett is a fascinating example of a person who
transferred disciplines from political science to management studies and was able through the
insights of the former to illuminate the later. In order to understand her contribution to the
development of organization coordination must be examine her philosophical predilections.
She was an ardent admirer of Johann Fichte, the German philosopher considered one of the
father of nationalism. Fichte is often perceived as a figure whose philosophy forms a bridge
between the ideas of Kant and those of the German idealist Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
Recently, philosophers and scholars have begun to appreciate Fichte as an important
philosopher in his own right due to his original insights into the nature of self-consciousness
or self-awareness. He exposed the idea that freedom of the individual had to be subordinated
to the group. The group principle gave the idea that people could live and work as a single
unit, not separately and independently.
Follett was both, the political philosopher and business/management philosopher. Although
writing in a different day and age, her ideas are rich with foresight. She advocated cooperation
and better horizontal relationships in organizations, taught respect for the experience and
knowledge of workers, warned against the dangers of too much hierarchy, and called for
visionary leadership. These ideas remain at the forefront of progressive management today
and remind us that Follett was a true 21st – century thinker, even if the current environment is
more dynamic and uncertain than the early of 1900s.“The greatest need of today is a keen,

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analytical, objective study of human relations. We preach “compromise” as the apex of the
ethical life, we laud the “balance of power” as our political and international faith, we give
our substance and ourselves to establish an “equilibrium” of nations”[2]
Marry Parker Follett provides relevant principles and messages ....contributing to the
development, welfare and culture of modern society. Using phrases as “togetherness”, “group
thinking” and the “collective will”, she sought a new society which would be based upon a
group principle and not upon individualism. This idea did not implied to destroy the
individual, but was based upon her premise that only through the group could the individual
find his “true self”.
2. RESEARCH METHOD
For a deeper analysis of Mary Parker Follett’s administrative and psychological contribution,
we have used a qualitative research method, analysing her representative biography. In this
endeavour we took into consideration main moments of her life, her experiences and human
relations with different members from society [3], her main writings, scientific papers and
lectures. In accordance we analysed publications like: Creative Experience (1930), Dynamic
Administration. The Collected Papers of Mary Parker Follett (1940) and The New State:
Group Organization, the Solution of Popular Government (1998/1918). Also we have
reviewed the literature regarding her influences and criticisms, transferred concepts and
adopted theories. Due to her visionary ideas, the complexity of which she had addressed
issues, discussed and presented in her writings, Mary P. Follett has received an increasing
interest from the followers in many research areas. Her interdisciplinary character, of
philosopher, political scientist, social ideologist and writer, determined a wide spread of her
messages in: organization theory, education, philosophy, public administration. Based on a
citation analysis of her work, Fry and Thomas [10] observed that the Follett’s contributions,
outside the areas of psychology and interdisciplinary social sciences, have been the most cited
in area of organization theory. Due to the fact that many topics presented by Follett became
more relevant at the present, we focus in our study on 3 main topical issues for modern
management:
• Leaders and leadership;
• Empowerment and authority as coordination philosophy;
• Integrative unity.
In her book, Creative Experience, she developed the idea of the interrelatedness of all
psychological phenomena involved in human relations. Through her eyes, power, leadership
and authority became dynamic concepts, not heavy tools which only burdened administrators.
3. VISION ABOUT THE LEADER’S ACTIVITY
To be effective Follett felt that leadership must not be autocratic. In her vision the leader is a
person who can explain that his/her orders resulted from the situation. The manager must not
think solely of what effect he or she will have on the group, but also what influence the group
will have on him, her. Agreeing with Fayol and Sheldon, she stressed the role of education
and the fact that leaders were not born only, but could be made through understanding group
dynamics and human behaviour. What is important in this context according to Follett is the
interaction between people, because this could create spiritual values. The primary leadership
task was defining the purpose of the organization; the leader should “... make his co-workers
see that it is not his purpose which is to be achieved, but a common purpose, born of desires
and the activities of the group. The best leader has not followers, but men and women
working with him” [7].
Follett applied this constructive approach which reveals a deep understanding of the
importance of leaders and managers’ activity:
“we are loyal to the soul of our work. To that which is both in our work and which transcends
our work. This seems to me the highest romance as it is the deepest religion, namely, that by
being loyal to our work we are loyal to that which transcends our work” [7].
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Mary P. Follett reported herself to the new society based on the group principle, instead of
individualism. This modern approach has roots in the puritan ideology. This served as a
catalyst in developing the modern civilization and represented the fundament of capitalism.
As a group from Protestant Church, Puritan philosophy strengthened the Christianity attitude
toward work activity, work is necessary not only for surviving but also to share the fortune
and good luck of faith with those which are in suffering. In accordance with this ideology,
which implied also a simplification of the religious ceremonies, faith is not a doctrine,
“faith cannot even be identified or located without good works. Doing one’s work requires the
transforming quality of faith. To work at a calling is to be a person of faith and to work
diligently at a calling is to be a person of great faith” [5].
Mary Parker Follett was concerned about the meaning of the activity and inhumanity of what
she called the mechanical age. In this way she referred on one hand to the scientific
management principles, which brought the idea of calculability, measurability and efficiency
as a result of engineering transferred to human life in organization. So, for the first time, she
drew attention that management or leadership activity doesn’t mean just to control and
measure the results, but also to understand the human nature, with emotions, desires and
motives. A single action stemmed from many motives and she accepted that profit, personal
motives and desire for innovation were also present with the desire for service. She hoped that
service would become the dominant motive in management.
“We all want the richness of life in terms of our deepest desire. We can purify and elevate our
desires, we can add to them, but there is no individual or social progress in curtailment of
desires” [7].
She seems to make a straight distinction between two types of desires, one connected with
immediate utility and another one, at a superior level, which give a meaning of life and have
to prevail. Mele [11] considered that Follett’s concept - richness of life - can be understood as
being personal improvement, resulting from ethical behaviour. Also, considered Follett’s
approach an Aristotelian one, in which human excellence is a crucial reference for good
behaviour. Likewise in the Aristotelian philosophy, where true and elevate goal guiding
people to achieve well-being and happiness, in her vision “only when the spirit of art rises
from the roots ... will it redeem our civilization” [2].
She stressed the idea of evolving purposes when factors and situations are changed and due to
human relations evolution. “Activity, she said, does more than embody purpose, it evolves
purpose.”
4. A NEW ATTITUDE REGARDING AUTHORITY
One of the Follett forward-looking ideas for the organization psychology was the replacement
of the current principle of “power over” people with the new one of “power with”. Also she
considered necessary to replace coercion and consent with co-action. Follett pointed out that
when the uses of physical force pass beyond a certain point, energies are lessen and self
respect is lost: thus, no community could stand long unless it was founded upon the consent
governed.
“The moral right to power which has not been psychologically developed is an empty ethics;
it is an ethics, alas, which we have to combat daily in politics and industry” [2].
Follett thought that “final authority” was an illusion based on a false premise of power. So,
she concluded that the central problem of social relations is power and authority. In her
philosophy authority results from a function rather than a position and power was the ability
to influence others, to achieve objectives and bring changes. Follett identify that authority
accrued the situation, not the person or his, her position.
Likewise “final responsibility „ was an illusion. She explained how responsibility should be
reinterpreted: at the individual level a person should be responsible for his/her work, not to
someone. At the departmental level the responsibility of work should be shared jointly by all
277
those who contributed to it. Finally, the head of organization also has cumulative
responsibility for interweaving interdepartmentally.
Follett is a fine psychologist of human behaviour. She affirms that no one likes to receive
orders from a boss. People feel a fundamental need to self-assert, so no one likes to be under
the will of another. This implies lack of self-respect, frustration and determined wrong
behaviour for employees. The roles of boss and subordinate have created barriers in
recognizing the commonality of interests. That’s why Follett proposed to depersonalize orders
and to shift obedience to the “law of the situation”.
"One person should not give orders to another person, but instead managers should
concentrate on how to devise methods by which we can best discover the order integral to a
particular situation. The manager's authority should be an exercise of the "authority of the
situation." [7].
The issuing of order from one person to another will often give possibility to raise a conflict.
The conflict may be a direct between the two parties or it may be a Freudian conflict within
the self of one or both parties. Both of each party will find expression in a partial or reluctant
execution of an order. In the essay "The Giving of Orders" published in 1926, Mary Parker
Follett argues that both manager and employee should study the situation and discover the
“law of the situation”. This law holds that when both, managers and employees, see the logic
of a situation and try to gain a total understanding of all factors being on that situation, the
conflict must dissolve in the face of the facts. The law of the situation will obviously work
imperfectly, so long as the facts are not available. Through finding the law of the situation,
Follett has felt as an important contribution made to the psychology of corporation and
ultimately scientific management. Situations can be changed by orders, the implementation of
orders and the dynamics of any situation itself.
Most situations were too complex for the top management of organization in order to function
effectively; therefore controls were being gathered in many points in the organization. So, she
summed up her idea of organizational control as a self-adjusting process under four
principles:
a) Co-ordination is best achieved when the people responsible for making a decision are in
direct contact;
b) Co-ordination during the early stages of planning and project implementation is essential;
c) Co-ordination should address all the factors in a situation;
d) Co-ordination must be worked at continuously.
5. INTEGRATIVE UNITY
Mary P. Follett realized that the basic problem of any organization, business or otherwise,
was the harmonizing and coordinating group efforts to achieve most efficient the goals. The
research for integrative unity, for commonality of will, and for human cooperation earned
Mary Follett an international reputation as a political philosopher, also as a
business/management philosopher. Relying heavily upon Gestalt psychology, which held that
every psychological situation has a specific character apart from the “absolute” nature of the
component parts, that is, the “whole” is a configuration greater than the sum of the parts, she
felt that through group experiences, individuals could reach a greater release of their own
creative powers [1]. She defined the notion of integrative unity in order to understand the
connection between different approaches. Integration involved finding a solution which
satisfied both sides, without compromise and domination. A very simple illustration of this
theory was presented by Mary Parker: “...A Dairymen’s Co-operative League almost went to
pieces last year on the question of precedence in unloading cans at a creamery platform. The
men who came down the hill (the creamery was on a down grade) thought they should have
precedence; the men who came up the hill though they should unload first.

278
The thinking of both sides in the controversy was thus confined within the walls of these two
possibilities, and this prevented their even trying to find a way of settling the dispute which
would avoid these alternatives. The solution was obviously to change the position of the
platform so that both up-hillers and down-hillers could unload at the same time. But this
solution was not found until they had asked the advice of a more or less professional
integrator. When, however, it was pointed out to them, they were quite ready to accept it.” [7].
Once the content of the conflict has been identified, Follett considered that it must be broken
into its constituent parts. The goal of group effort was an integrative unity which transcended
the parts. In essence, she began to answer the questions of group conflict which she failed to
examine in The New State: group Organization the Solution of popular Government.
She hypothesized that any conflict of interests could be resolved in any one of four ways:
“(1) voluntary submission of one side;
(2) struggle and the victory of one side over the other;
(3) compromise; or
(4) integration”.
Both one and two were clearly unacceptable because they involved the use of force or power
to dominate. Compromise was likewise futile because it postponed the issue and because the
“truth does not lie “between” the two sides” [1]. This implied from managers to analyse the
psychological implications of the demands, put forward by each side to see which must be
specifically met and which was merely symbolic of a desire and could be satisfies in another
way, to the mutual argument of both parties.
In conclusion, Follett argued that managers have to understand how different sides contribute
to a new perspective, mutually fair and identify the commonalities between the approaches.
She defined integrative unity as the process through which individuals integrate their common
interest by focusing on their interdependence, as well as their joint responsibilities. She also
argued that sometimes this integration is not possible, due to the nature of situation or to the
specific period of time, but is important to be open minding and not afraid of differences.
Integration involves creativity, innovation and a way of thinking beyond the limits.
It is very important that she acted as a promoter of the tolerance concept, which becomes a
key element for today modern society. Today, we define tolerance as an open and
understanding attitude towards the differences between people and respect others for what
they are. Some sociologists believe that the idea of orientation to the concept of tolerance
today came after losing the central idea, one truth and one common way of life for all of us
[9]. In general, globalization’s emphasising has underlined diversity and freedom values in
shaping people's lives.
Within this context of justice and fairness, Follett suggested that managers and employees
should mutually construct their perceptions of justice and understand the nature of justice. She
also has identified the substantial obstacles to achieving integration as being the perceptive
powers and sheer inventiveness of the individual. Language, leadership and management
theory can be misused and fade path of integration.
Follett emphasized that integrative unity would lead to a better understanding of the needs,
perspectives and responsibilities of others. The benefits resulted for all three sides:
employees, managers and organization.
The benefits associated with fostering integrative unity are noted in the following quote:
„We find, however, that when there is some feeling in a plant, more or less developed, that the
business is a working unit, we find then that the workman is more careful of material, that he
saves time in lost motions, in talking over annoyances, that he helps the new hand by
explaining things to him, that he helps the fellow working at his side by calling attention to
the end of a roll on the machine, etc. This is the Golden Rule taken behaviouristically” [2].
279
The novelty brought by integrative unity is that it suggests that managers are extremely
important to define fairness together with employees. Mary P. Follett believes that it is not
enough if managers understand the perceptions of employees and then decide on how to
repair the violations of fairness. Thus, she deemed it appropriate to develop within the
organization mechanisms, respectively she had tried to instrument the concept, one-on-one
meetings, workshops, feedback sessions, through which managers and employees can jointly
develop definitions of fairness and equity.
In summary, through the concept of integrative unity, Follett offers a possibility for
generating the spirit of cooperation. Thus, she puts forward another innovative idea of
participation of workers in organization management. Mary P. Follett was convinced that
workers inevitably took part in management when they made their own decisions how to
execute the orders [9].
6. CONCLUSIONS
Peter Drucker called Mary P. Follett “the prophet of management” and considered her one of
the most insightful of the early management scholars. She believed in managing for increased
yield and that increased yield could be achieved through better understanding among
employees. Follett was a true management philosopher, a pioneer who preached the use of
conflict to create understanding. Follett was closer to reality about society, people and
management than were the theorists and practitioners from her time [4]. Follett's philosophy
of management is understood from her innovative ideas of empowerment, cross-functional
teamwork, horizontal communication, adaptive behaviour, and the role of conflict in
organizations in the development of entrepreneurial spirit.
It is very important to say that, Mary P. Follett had referred to carefully analyse all factors that
might influence a given situation. Like Fayol, she argued that principles and management
techniques must be applied differently in each situation in accordance with its unique
requirements – referring to this as the law of the situation. But in time this general concept
came to be known as the “contingency theory”[6].
She believed that making every employee an owner in the business would create feelings of
collective responsibility. Today we address the same issues under such labels as “employee
ownership”, “profit sharing” and “gain – sharing plans”. Follett believed that business
problems involve a wide variety of factors that must be considered in relationship to one
another. Today we talk about “systems” when describing the same phenomenon. As we see,
her ideas anticipated the systems viewpoint of management. One recent reviewer of her work
has argued that its overall significance, “rivals the long – standing influence of such giants as
Taylor and Fayol”[13].
She gave us a theory of human interaction that shows how the same factors that cause change
also provide the means for solving the problems presented by change, a theory that tells us
that the possibilities for the healthy resolution of conflict is part of the natural process of
human intercourse [3].
Follett believed that business were services and that private profits should always be
considered vis – a – vis the public good. Today we pursue the same issues under the labels of
“managerial ethics”, “business ethics” and “corporate social responsibility”. In order to get
employees to work harder she felt that managers had to recognize the motivating desires of
the individual. Accordingly, Follett urged managers to motivate performance rather than
simply to demand it.
She also argued that managers could use super ordinate goals – goals workers in all areas of
an organization could hold in common – to reduce conflict and increase coordination between
units Follett’s contributions were valuable and still hold true today, but were given little credit
by scholars in her time.

280
Cooperation, a spirit of unity, and coordination of effort were seen by Follett as the keys to
both productivity and a democratic way of life. Follett became convinced that the greatest
potential for individual performance existed when an individual functioned in a group. She
believed that organization should “nourish” the employee to improve performance and that
managers should coordinate this productivity
Follett placed great importance on achieving what she called “integrative unity”, whereby the
organization would operate as a functional whole, with the various interrelated parts working
together effectively to achieve organizational goals. Yet she saw the process of working
together as a dynamic process because environmental factors would necessitate change.
7. REFERENCES
1. Follett, M.P., The New State: Group Organization the Solution of Popular Government,
Longmans Green & Co, London, pp.137-161, (1998/1918).
2. Follett, M.P., Creative Experience, Longmans Green & Co, London, pp.2,82,192, (1930).
3. Gabor, A., The Capitalist Philosophers. The Geniuses of Modern Business- Their lives,
Times and Ideas, Crown Business, New York, pp. 45-65, (2000).
4. Graham, P., Mary Parker Follett - Prophet of Management: A Celebration of Writings
from the 1920s. Introduction by Peter Drucker, Harvard Business School Press, Boston,
pp.1-21,(1995).
5. Ionescu, Gh.Gh., Cultura afacerilor. Modelul american, Ed. Economica, Bucuresti, pp.99,
(1997).
6. Luthans, F., The Contingency Theory of Management: A Path Out of the Jungle, Business
Horizons, pp. 67 – 72, (1973).
7. Metcalf, H.C. and Urwick, L., Dynamic Administration. The Collected Papers of Mary
Parker Follett, Harper&Brothers, New York, pp. 9-29, (1940).
8. Fox, Elliot M., Mary Parker Follet: The Enduring Contribution, Public Administrative
Review, vol.26, November – December, pp.528, (1968).
9. Frasin, I., Identifity and cultural diversity challenges arising from globalization,
European Journal of Science and Theology, vol.8, no.3, pp. 37-45, (2012).
10. Fry, B.R. and Thomas, L.L., Mary Parker Follett: Assessing the contribution and impact
of her writings, Journal of Management History, vol.2. (1996), pp.11-19.
11. Kuznetsova, N.V., Mary Parker Follett – the prophet of management, Middle-East
Journal of Scientific Research no.17 (11), pp. 1555-1559, (2013).
12. Mele, D. and Rosanas, J.M., Power, freedom and authority in management: Mary Parker
Follett’s power-with, Philosophy of Management, vol.3, no.2, pp. 35-46, (2003).
13. Parker, L.D., Control in organizational life: The contribution of Mary Parker Follett,
Academy of Management Review, vol.9, pp. 736-745, (1984).

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

CHALLLEGES IN ROMANIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

Cristina Oprea1 Delia Mioara Popescu2, Adrian Bunea3 and Irina Barbu4
1
Valahia University of Târgoviște, oprea_cris2005@yahoo.com
2
Valahia University of Târgoviște, depopescu@yahoo.com
3
Valahia University of Târgoviște, a.bunea@yahoo.com
4
Valahia University of Târgoviște, iribar28@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT:Romanian higher education has suffered significant changes during the period 1990-2014,
increasing the number of students and higher education reforms on the one hand, underfunding and changes in
earnings, on the other hand. Reforms in higher education system failed in increasing human resource
performances and in society vitalizing, also most government interventions decreased the level of funding. The
paper analysis the time evolution of public higher education in Romania in terms of academic staff number and
monthly average real net wage, using linear regression and the correlation coefficient. Also, areanalysed
structural changes of academic staff on academics ranksduring the period 1990-2014.
KEYWORDS:higher education, academic staff, correlation, regression, monthly average real net wage

1. INTRODUCTION
Current global trends characterized by emphasizing the importance of knowledge production
and information flow, perception of knowledge as vital resource to contemporary societies,
the accelerated growth of expectations from society, significantly changed the traditional role
of higher education.
Distancing from the objectives of traditional academy, create fundamental knowledge, the
emergence of the knowledge society, which tends to focus on results, had a direct impact on
the nature of academic activity.
In Romania last decades, political and socio-economic circumstances have played an
important role in shaping academic life.[2]Higher education reforms, expected to initiate
changes and progress in society but they failed an increase in human resource standards and
revitalizing the company.
Higher education fulfils both a function conservative, reproduce and influences social
relations, and innovative function that requires reform and social progress.Through a
compromise between traditional and the new pressures imposed by efficiency,expanding the
role of universities and the academics, it was affected both the environment and also their
work. Assessing academic productivity means assess research, teaching and "services"
provided. The research results should contribute to social development and academic
community,teaching process focus the energy of teachers on learning and the excellence
development, so as to produce high-quality human resources.The pressure on them has
become increasingly strong, being determined by society's expectations, by growth the
external control over performance, meaning a gradual loss of university autonomy.
Universities endorse the activities of education and research, bureaucratic and centralized
management mode of university institution, and the states imposes rules functioning, allocate
human and material resources, establishes criteria for prestige and legitimacy. As a result of
these specific standards, the academic community incumbent some formal administrative
powers, respond to internal and external quality standards, is subject to the moral norms,
specific attitudinal and behavioral.
Structural changes in the romanian socio-economic system have determined and a change in
mentalities and social representations of the actors are in the academic field,taking these
"traditions, stereotypes, fear and movements of the social field"[3].
282
2. DYN
NAMICS OF
O ACADE
EMIC STA
AFF DURIN
NG 1990-20014
Higher education inn Romania has known major chan nges during the study pperiod, from m 1990 to
2014. Currently,
C inn Romania operates 499 public uniiversities (state) in whiich there arre a total
of 405 faculties
f finnanced from
m the state buudget.
Regardiing the evoolution of thhe number of academiic staff avaailable in thhe system, statistics
s
publisheed show thaat there werre 27 089 academic
a staaff in 2008,, registeringg a decreasiing trend
with a relative
r stabbilization inn 2013,reachhing a totall of 24.467 in 2014. Thus, academ mic staff
fluctuattion from puublic educattion is showwn in figure 1.
30000
0 26881 27044 2675
57
26400
2
25174
238
809 24372 24
4342
25000
0 21633 26790 27089
26029 26
6464
19994 25618
19130 24686 24467
23805
5
20000
0 22955
17315
20452
19897
15000
0 18
8123

13927
10000
0

5000
0

0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
N
Number of accademic stafff in public edu
ucation

Figure 1. Evvolution of acaademic staffnumber betweeen 1990-2014

It can be
b observedd that channges in nummber of teacchers are part
p of the R Romanian society's
general economic trend, regiistering a decrease
d off 9.68% in 2014 com mpared to 2008.The
2
decreasiing trend was
w maintainned in the 2011/2012 academic year.The
y deecreasing trrend was
maintainned in the 2011/2012 academic year, due to t the application of E Education LawL no.
1/2011, regarding the
t retiremeent of teacheers and also
o, due blockking jobs in education.
Tablee 1. Structure of
o academic sttaff on academ
mic ranks in thhe period 2009-2014
Anuul Asssistant Assistant Lectu
urer Associate Proffessor
Lecturer professor
2009-22010 2085 7760 87773 5609 57
767
2010-22011 1914 7496 84555 5461 53
312
2011-22012 1315 7588 92223 5319 45
571
2012-22013 1025 7109 84555 5475 42
209
2013-22014 705 6671 87773 5988 44
425
S
Source: Staatistical dataa on higher education
e IN
NSSE
The elim mination off restrictionns has led too slow these negative developmennts in the academic
a
year 2012/2013. Thhis is observved in the analysis
a of the
t academ mic staff on aacademics ranks,
r of
their deepending evvolution, of career advaancement. (ttable 1) Beccause of vaarious laws imposed
for occuupying teacching positiions, these data can bee interpreteed as a meaasure of thee quality
developpment of huuman resourrces under the t system, and of the academic ssystem's cap pacity to
attract young
y people interestedd in academ mic work.In n the 2013/22014 academ mic year theere is an
increasee in the num mber of peeople emplooyed in ran nk of lecturrer with 5944 people, with
w 513
people associate professor
p annd full proffessor with 216 peoplee and a deccreasing nu umber of
assistannts. The larrgest increase is in the t case of
o associatee professors, with 9% % of all
employm ments from
m public unniversities. Following
F this
t analysis we can say that uniiversities

283
have preferred to promote existing employees, fact supported by decrease in overall
employment for the assistant rank, point of entry into an academic career.
3. DETERMINATION, VALIDATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE CORRELATION
BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF TACADEMIC STAFF AND THE WAGE
Developments in recent years of the Romanian education and international comparisons
indicate the aggravation chronic underfunding of higher education system in Romania. This
underfunding, which was maintained even in years when budgetary allocations were higher
(including 2007/2008), has adversely affected not only the quality of higher education, but
also medium and long-term competitiveness of universities in Romania and the Romanian
economy whole.
Analysing the number of academic staff and net monthly wages in education during 2005-
2014 there was a decrease in the number of academics in 2010-2011, clear consequence of
reducing wages by 25% and blocking jobs didactic.
Number of employees at universities recorded a slight increase over the period 2013-2014,
due to the opening, after a long period, the employment opportunities and promoting higher
education.
30000 26881 27044 27089 28089
25618 24372 24342 24467
23805
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000 829 1175 1538 1596 1380 1316 1371 1533 1492
0
2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Number of academics staff Monthly average nominal net wage 

Figure 2. Evolution of the number academic staff and monthly average nominal net wage in education between
1990-2014
Measuring the impact of the wage changes on the number of academic staff can be revealed
by analysing the correlation betweenacademic staff number index(ICDU) and monthly
average real net wage index in education (ICRI) (adjusted with inflation rate), based on the
following statistical assumptions:
H0 (null hypothesis): Modifying monthly average real net wage in education has negligible
influence on the evolution of academic staff number.
H1 (alternative hypothesis): Modifying monthly average real net wage in education has a
strong influence onthe evolution of academic staff number.
For better accuracy of the model we introduced in the data series the 1990-2005 period, and
we adjusted wages with inflation rate.
Analysing the results of ANOVA table (table 2), we notice that multiple R has a value of
0,895 which corresponds to a strong direct links between the variables analysed.
Furthermore, the calculated value of Fisher test F = 88,851 is greater than proper tabulated
value F0,05, k, n-k-1=4,96, so we can say that the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative
hypothesis is accepted.
In conclusion, since 1990 the number of academic staff is affected by changes of monthly
average real net wage in education. That fact is emphasized by the value of Significance F
=3,499E-09, value that is lower than materiality used (α = 0.05).
284
 Table 2. Testing the hypothesis H0by ANOVA method
SUMMARY
OUTPUT

Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0,895
R Square 0,802
Adjusted R Square 0,793
Standard Error 0,039
Observations 24

ANOVA
df SS MS F Significance F
Regression 1 0,137 0,137 88,851 3,49926E-09
Residual 22 0,034 0,002
Total 23 0,171
Lower Upper
Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value 95% 95%
Intercept 0,812 0,026 31,610 0,000 0,759 0,865
Real wage index in
education 0,155 0,016 9,426 0,000 0,121 0,190
Graphical representation of the evolution indexes of academic staff number and monthly
average real net wage in education (figure 3), certify the existence of a direct linear link
between the two variables and allows the application of simple linear regression model by the
method of least squares for the study of the dependency between academic staff number and
monthly average real net wage in education.
001

001

001

001
ICDU

001

000

000

000
001 002 002
ICRI

Figure 3. Trend of number academicstaffduring 1990-2014

Linear regression equation of the trend of academic staff number evolution is
0,812 0,155 ·
Real net wage in education is a significant regression coefficient (t=9,426 andPvalue=0,00
lower than 0,05) whose positive value, show us that an increase of real wage in education

285
with one unit, records an increase the academic staff number with a value between 0,121 și
0,190, the most probable value is 0,155. (table 2).
Free coefficient of the regression equation, Intercept, can take values between 0,759
and0,865,the most probable value is 0,812.
The value of determination coefficient R2=0,802 indicates that 80,2% is allocated to the
influence of real wage in education onacademic staff numberfrom high education, the
remaining 19,8% being other factors random dispensable.
Result of using Fisher test: F = 88,851(Significance F=3,49926E-09 < 0,05), shows that the
model used expresses very well the correlation established between the evolution indexes of
academic staff number and monthly average real net wage in education in Romania in 1990-
2014 period.
4. CONCLUSIONS
During 1990-2014 period, the number of academic staff has fluctuated, registering an
increasing trend until 2008, with a relative stabilization in 2013, followed by a decreasing
trend with a relative stabilization in 2013. The decreasing trend was a consequence of the
application of Education Law no. 1/2011, regarding the retirement of teachers, reducing
wages by 25% and blocking jobs in education.
Analysing the structure of academic staff on academics ranks, result that universities have
preferred to promote existing employees, fact supported by decrease in overall employment
for the assistant rank, point of entry into an academic career.
Regarding the correlation between academic staff number index and monthly average real net
wage index in education (adjusted with inflation rate), should be noted that since 1990 changes
of monthly average real net wage in education have a significant influence on the number of academic
staff.
The public sector of the economy and thus the public university education is affected by the
dynamics of the economy or by its structural modifications. Among others the overwhelming
high level of demands of the system is highly influenced also by: The dependency on the
demographic dynamics of population, the high level of knowledge demanded by the practiced
activity, the role model of teachers that they must have on various groups of persons. During
the last years there was a significant conjectural evolution of the structure of the national
economy that implied the regression of economic or social performances.
The combined effect of descendent evolution of public spending allocated to superior
education with the decrease of number of students, amplifies the insufficient finance of
Romanian superior education. The salary level is very low in Romania, compared to the
European Union, being constantly at a low level compared to the average salary in other
sectors. The financial pressure on the superior education institution will continue to grow due
to the decreasing number of students, combined with the decreasing of the capacity and
availability of public authorities for financing the public superior education, this financial
structural pressure being on an increasing trend.
Most of the countries in the UE understood the importance of preparing human resources,
especially superior preparation. Consequently many times, regardless of economic issues,
public resources have been allocated to this sector. Of course that along with assuring
financial resources a material and human base was settled that enhances a rich research
activity used for self-financing.
Developing countries try to adapt through different reform measures plating old and new
model of organization in superior education.
Contradictions and tensions in the education framework are very big and they influence both
teachers and students but also economic and social environment.

286
In order to continue the academic activities at the highest level, in the actual competitive
environment, teachers are forced to assume supplementary roles that imply more didactic and
administrative responsibility imposed by constant reduction of resources (both material and
human). Constant competition demands obtaining external finance for research, demands
showing its importance for society, publishing researched results in the most important
magazines in the world, the participation at research contracts, a higher place in the top of the
universities but also maintaining excellence in teaching. These expectations are enormous, in
a moment that rewards for such efforts are decreasing, having as result an increase of stress
incidence of teachers and lack of enthusiasm in performing teaching and research activity.
Frequent law changes and periods of organizational restructuration tend to bring a heavy load
on academic teachers, not only regarding the frequency of modification, but also regarding the
security of the job. Budget constraints have continuously affected the academic level and on
the salary scale they were constantly under the level of other professions, this having a great
impact on how they perceive the appreciation and reward of their work.
5. REFERENCES
1. Dolca, I., Nicolov, M., Analysis of Relationship between Net Wage and Consumer Price
Index, International Economic Conference of Sibiu 2013 Post Crisis Economy:
Challenges and Opportunities, IECS 2013, Procedia Economics and Finance 6(2013)738
– 747, (2013)
2. Matei, M., Responsabilitateasocială a corporațiilorșiinstituțiilorșidezvoltareadurabilă a
României, Expert Publishing House, Bucharest, (2013)
3. Neculau, A., Memoriapierdută, EdituraPolirom, Iaşi, (1999)
4. Popescu, C., Vasilescu, L., Popescu, D., The management of educational conflict- a
continuous process, Proceedings 4: 236-238. Cluj-Napoca: Babes Bolyai University,
(2012)
5. Zaharia M, Gogonea R.M, Econometrie. Elementefundamentale, EdituraUniversitară,
Bucharest, (2009)
6. Zaharia, M., Dușmănescu, D., Gogonea, R-M, Oprea, C.,Statistical Measurement of
Communication Impact on Population Consumption in Romania, The 12th IBIMA
Conference "Creating Global Economies through Innovation and Knowledge
Management Theory & Practice", 2009
7. Gogonea R-M, Zaharia M, Ionescu S.A, Econometric Models Applied in Study of
Unemployment Rate Evolution in Romania, in Recent Advances in Fuzzy Systems,
Proceedings of the 10th WSEAS Int.Conf. on Fuzzy Systems (FS’09), p.116-121, Prague,
Czech Republic, 2009
8. http://www.insse.ro

287
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

MANAGEMENT OF DYSFUNCTIONS AND CONFLICTS IN PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION

Stelian Pânzaru
“Spiru Haret” University, Braşov, Romania
Liliana Constantinescu
“Dimitrie Cantemir” University, Bucharest, Romania
Camelia Dragomir
“Spiru Haret” University, Braşov, Romania

Abstract: In the public administration institutions there take place numerous and complex activities mainly
aiming the achieving objectives in the optimum conditions. In public administration institutions there are formed
relations between employees and working groups who consist of individuals with different personalities,
mentalities, educations, value systems and behaviours. At work are many dysfunctions which can transform into
conflicts, with numerous and complicated consequences. In this respect, there appears the need that the public
manager to understand the place and role of dysfunctions and conflicts in the management of public
administration, their nature and form of manifestation, the causes, the consequences and the effective means to
combat them. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of dysfunctions and conflicts at work on the
performance of public administrations institutions. On the basis of the analysis were drawn the conclusions on
the role of the public management in managing dysfunctions and conflicts in this organizations.
Key words: management, dysfunctions, conflicts, public administration, institutions.

1. INTRODUCTION
While the functions are intended or recognized, and may have a positive effect on public
administrations, the dysfunctions are unintended or unrecognized and have a negative effect
on institutions generating conflicts. In specialty literature, the conflicts and the dysfunctions ,
and especially their role, were treated differently. The conflict represents an incident
provoked by the existing divergences between the attitudes, means and methods of action
regarding a situation or a phenomenon which represent the object of the analysis [1]. The
conflict represents an incident provoked by the existing divergences between the attitudes,
means and methods of action regarding a situation or a phenomenon which represent the
object of the analysis. The organizational conflict can be regarded as a dispute that occurs
when interests, goals or values of different individuals or groups are incompatible with each
other [2]. Conflict is a part of organizational in public adminstrations life and can occur
between individuals, between the individual and the group, and between groups of
employes[3] [4]. Though conflict is often viewed as negative, it is capable of increasing
organizational innovativeness and productivity, thereby improving organizational
performance. In addition, conflicts build the spirit of teamwork and cooperation among the
employees of an organization [5]. Pawlak suggests that conflict analysis and its resolutions
has an important role in private, public and political organizations, as well as in judicial and
work disputes, in military operations and many other institutions [6]. The presence and the
action of the interpersonal conflicts at the job proves the necessity of their acknowledgement
for the continuous improvement of the public management.

288

 
 2. WHY ARISE THE DYSFUNCTIONS IN THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
INSTITUTIONS ?
The dysfunction is accompanied by an atmosphere of tension and the consequences of the
dysfunctions consists of animosity, resentments, fear, aggressiveness, discontent, frustration,
absenteeism, stress, low yield and often the abandonment of the working place. Med Yoneis
[7] show that to build and sustain high-performance teams, the leadership and human
resources managers should keep an eye open for the symptoms emergence of the
dysfunctions in organizations and treat the root causes before it becomes too late. Yoneis
stresses that the symptoms emergence of the dysfunctions in organizations are:
• Dictatorial Leadership: Management that does not allow disagreements out of insecurity or
arrogance;
• There is limited or no leadership performance feedback;
• Personal Agendas: Recruitments, selections and promotions are based on internal political
agenda, for example hiring friends to guarantee personal loyalty at the expense of other highly
performing and more-qualified employees;
• Political Compensation: Stock options, bonuses and perks are not fairly linked to
performance;
• Inefficient Use of Resources: Budgets are allocated between business units or departments
based on favoritism and power centers rather than actual business needs;
• Empire-building Practices: Managers believe that the more people they manage and the
bigger the budget, the higher the chance that they will be promoted. This results in raging
battles around budgets, strategies and operations;
• Unequal Workload Distribution: Some departments are underutilized while other
departments are overloaded;
• Too Much Management: There are many management layers in the organization, thus,
hindering communication and resulting in slower execution;
• Fragmented Organization Efforts: Interdepartmental competition and turf wars between rival
managers lead to the emergence of silos, which results in communication gaps. Management
silos almost always result in fragmented and duplicated budgets and projects, thus wasting
valuable company investments;
• Too Much Talk: Plans are heavy on talk but light on action. In a political corporate culture,
image management becomes far more important than actions;
• Ineffective Meetings: Argumentative and heated cross-divisions meetings with discussion
and language focusing on point scoring and buck-passing rather than sharing responsibility
and collaborating to solve the problem;
• Lack of Collaboration: Every person for himself/herself. Low sense of unity or camaraderie
on the team. The key criterion for decision-making is What is in it for me?
• Low Productivity: Management wastes more time and energy on internal attack and defense
strategies instead of executing the work, innovating and overcoming challenges. Critical
projects fall behind on deadlines, budgets and performance targets (e.g. sales, market share,
quality and other operational targets);
• Constant Crisis Mode: Management team spends most of their time on fire fighting instead
of proactive planning for next-generation products and services;
• Morale Deterioration: Muted level of commitment and enthusiasm by other teams. Even
successful results cannot be shared and celebrated due to animosity and internal negative
competition;
• The defamation among the executives and managers becomes common and public;
• Highly Stressful Workplace: There is a high rate of absenteeism and a high employee
turnover rate.
There are certain causes in all the specific conflicts of the public servant. The most significant
causes are the followings:
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- The distribution of the resources which, irrespective of the institution’s dimensions, are
limited. We are referring mainly to the fact the public manager is obliged to distribute the
human and financial resources among different departments for the achievement of the
purposes of the institution. With respect to its meaning and difficulty in the managerial
reality, this process constantly generates different types of dysfunctions [8];
- The interdependence of the tasks, acknowledged as a possibility of a conflictual state
appearance, is present in all the situations in which the personnel depends on the
accomplishment of the task by another persons. The consequences of this cause – factor of
dysfunction states - becomes complicated when connected to the systematic characteristic
from a horizontal and functional point of view of the institution. As the entire organizational
constitutive parts represent the constitutive parts of that specific system, in the case of an
inappropriate activity of one of the subunits the independence to which we refer can be
constituted as a dysfunctions state generating factor [9];
- The different content of the means can represent a cause of the dysfunctions, during the
development of the institution’s specialization and divides in departments which carry
different means and objectives. In practice, referring to the quality of the means, the
departments can grant more attention to the accomplishment of their own objectives then to
those of the institution;
- The different appreciations regarding certain situations or states of the managerial process or
of an action conceived by the manager, usually subjective, generated by an analysis of the
superficial situation discussed, can lead to the overappreciation of certain alternative points of
view and aspects which can be favourable for the micro-group, but unfavourable for the
institution;
- The differences in the individual behaviour can increase the possibilities of the
dysfunctions’ appearance, especially when the manifestations of aggressiveness and malice
interfere in the relationship system;
- The communication insufficiency, especially the defective transmission of the information,
can be considered both the cause and the consequence of the dysfunctions[10];
- The differences encountered in the professional training, the capacity of effort, the stress
endurance, present in every institution of public administration. As a consequence, there
appears a feeling of injustice and revolt which, in the majority of the cases, generates
dysfunctions;
- The differences from the point of view of the character and of the work style influence the
compatibility of the employee with his job and his group, a phenomena which gives birth to
states of irritation and dysfunctions during the work period;
- The difficult behaviors of certain public servants generate conflicts;
- The ambiguous definition of the individual and derived objectives;
- The ambiguity in the decisions’ transmissions;
- The existence of certain parallelisms between departments and jobs;
- The imprecision in the establishment of the tasks, authorities or responsibilities of certain
jobs or of the activities and attributions can generate dysfunctions;
- The discontent regarding the social status which grants greater and more honourable chances
to certain groups;
- The environment differences which impose certain work hours, special work conditions,
attract privations or privileges capable of leading in the end to dysfunctions;
- The incomplete description of the job or of the position;
- The unbalanced load of tasks;
- The lack of concordance between the official authority and requested responsibility;
- The discordance between the material and moral rewards and the level of the work results;
- The lack of cohesion inside the informal group;
- The motivation differences between the members of the informal collective.

290

 
3. THE PRACTICE OF A PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT TO PREVENT
DYSFUNCTIONS AND CONFLICTS
In general and especially inside the public institutions, the dysfunctions and conflicts do not
appear suddenly. They develop over time, and has the steps of:
- The tensional state, characterized by the existence of all the conditions that lead to the
activation of the dysfunction, but they are not yet observed;
- The recognition of the dysfunction;
- The accentuation of the dysfunction;
- The end of the dysfunction, a stage characterized through the modification of the causes that
generated dysfunctions.
The practice of a performance management to prevent dysfunctions and conflicts aims at
using certain guiding principles for to prevent dysfunctions and conflicts. Surely, some of the
principles are known by the managers, but they are not applied in the day to day work that
they develop. This principles reunite, in a logical order, all the main aspects of the problem,
on the whole [11].
It is underlines the importance of the psychological – social aspects of the work with persons
for the combat and prevention of the conflictual states, showing not only their practical utility,
but also the theoretical founding.
What characterizes the effort of the manager in the practice of a performance management is
that it is influenced by certain actions that we present as follows:
Every manager obtains the task and consequently the right and the duty of forcing the
persons who are subordinated to him, with the precise purpose of determine them, through
different means (dispositions, orders, regulations, etc.) to accomplish the duties expected of
them, meaning to develop their job in the conditions of an increased efficiency;
An often neglected matter in the domain of the hierarchic relations is that of the
collaboration between the public manager and its subordinates. Through his professional
position a subordinate must replace the manager at every needful moment. He must identify
as much as possible with the manager’s optics and collaborate with him to ensure an
additional efficiency;
In order to prevent the dysfunctions, the public manager must establish precisely the
purpose of the tasks, to underline them and to mention their importance to the institution, to
underline correctly each person’s competence and responsibility, to coordinate the drawn task
with other tasks and to control the stages of realization of the drawn task.
4. CONCLUSIONS
With all the aspects presented, we conclude that it is necessary for the manager of public
administration, in order to collaborate efficiently with his subordinates and this way to
prevent the dysfunctions and conflicts, to to apply the following recommendations:
- To grant the collaborators sufficiently large competences in order for them not to feel
obliged to demonstrate continuously their need of amplification, but not too large because, in
this case, they would often have to justify the unfulfilling of certain tasks;
- To underline with skill the competences of all the subordinated, in order to make a
simultaneous and equivoque appreciation of the qualities;
- The responsibility degree of the collaborators must be in accordance with the level of their
authority, verifying that the attributed tasks are real;
- To grant the department managers the liberty of dividing the tasks to the people, as they
know better the possibilities of each one;
- The establishment of real tasks for every department and the taking into consideration of the
entire events on the market and on the institution, given the fact that the smallest modification
can influence the accomplishment of the tasks handed over to every manager;
- Not to exaggerate in the adoption of his solutions as being optimized;
291

 
- To know exactly the performances as well as the tasks and the capacities of the
collaborators;
- In order to avoid the dysfunctions it is recommended as the manager to reduces the number
of claims demanded from his collaborators, makes fewer promises, clearly expresses his
expectations, reviews and actualizes his expectations and uses them as the basis of a
periodical retrospective analysis;
- The persistence over the detailed knowledge of people, which can be obtained in various
manners: with the help of certain observations and systematical verifications, accomplished
mainly during the concrete activities and, finally, through impression and intuition;
- Every manager must analyse establishing if the organization of the effort corresponds to the
aim so that in the end, to be able to combat the dysfunctions and ensure the institution’s
development.
The results of an public institution mostly depend on the modality to practice a performance
management. This paper sustains that the exercise of a performance management to prevent
the dysfunctions and the conflicts is recommendable and efficient in every public institution.
1. REFERENCES
1. Petrescu, I., Managementul crizelor, Editura EXPERT, p.566, (2006).
2. Henry, O., Organizational Conflict and its effects on Organizational Performance. Research
Journal of Business Management, 2 (1): 16-24, (2009).
3. Weihrich, H., Management: A global perspective, 11th edition, Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, (1992).
4. Ikeda, A.A, Veludo-de-Oliveira, Campomar MC,. Organizational conflicts perceived by
marketing executives. Electronic Journal of Business and Organization Studies, 10 (1): 22-28
(2005).
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Journal of Business Management, 2 (1): 16-24, (2009).
6. Pawlak, Z, O investigație în anatomie a conflictelor. Journal of Information Sciences, 109:
65-78, (1998).
7. Yones, M., Dysfunctional Leadership & Dysfunctional Organizations. Available at:
http://www.mtpinnacle.com/pdfs/DysfunctionalLeadershipDysfunctionalOrganizations.pdf
[Accesat 24.05.2016].
8. Petrescu, I., Tratat de management public, Editura Universităţii „Lucian Blaga“, Sibiu, ,
pp.191-192, (2002).
9. Pânzaru, S., Managementul structurilor activităților şi acţiunilor, Ed. Academia Forţelor
Aeriene „Henri Coandă”, Braşov, p.67, (2007).
10. Dragomir, C., Comunicare şi negociere în afaceri, Editura Fundaţiei „România de
Mâine”, p.98, (2013).
11. Hotepo, O. M., Asokere, A.S.S., Abdul-Azeez, I. A., Ajemunigbohun, S.S.A., Empirical
Study of the Effect of Conflict on Organizational Performance in Nigeria. Available at:
http://astonjournals.com/manuscripts/Vol2010/BEJ-15_Vol2010.pdf [Accesat 24.05.2016].

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

STUDY ON MANAGEMENT TRAINING TO EMPLOYEES OF

ORGANIZATIONS IN ROMANIA

Stelian Pânzaru
“Spiru Haret” University, panzarus@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: The managerial education is regarded as one of the most important sources of competitive
advantage, for both individuals and countries. In the global competition of the economy, the managerial
education is the main factor that makes the essential differences among countries. The most economic developed
countries are those that pay special attention to managerial education and are more interested in the
development of the training programs in management.
Managerial education highlights the importance of participating in the real issues of society, contributing thus to
the economic and social progress, to a better quality of life.
Keywords: management, education, management traning, organization.
JEL classification: I25,J53, M53, M54, O15

1. INTRODUCTION
The rapid pace of the occurrence of new information leads to the need of the professional
adaptation to new knowledge and competencies that support obtaining and increasing
economic performance. In this context, the management training is regarded as one of the
most important sources of competitive advantage, for both individuals and countries. [1]
The paper describes and analysis recent developments in the field of the management,
emphasizing the features and its principles. The empirical part of the article is underpinned by
an analysis conducted at the organizations of Romania. For this we have investigated a
representative sample employees from organizations of Romania regarding their perceptions
about the managerial training.
The study is based on the theoretical and applied research that we have done on role of the
managerial education.
The research was conducted using a variety of bibliographic sources such as statistics,
surveys, reports, professional articles. Information basis for this study consisted in processing
and interpreting survey results conducted with isondaje.ro. On the basis of the analysis were
drawn the conclusions on the role of the managerial education in development of
organisations in Romania.
The purpose of our approach was to come up with feasible managerial solutions regarding
the possibility of stimulating the management trining, in such a mananer that it could
significantly influence the actions and decisions aimed at increasing performance in the
sphere of activities of the organization.
2. THE EDUCATION IN MANAGEMENT - THE CURRENT AND FUTURE
PROBLEM
The management concept defined as "... a generic term which describes all the component
management science, scientific management and empirical management" [2] is found as a
science and art while in all levels and spheres Romanian society as a necessity of its
development. Also, the managerial science from nowadays sustains, based on research and
detailed experimentations, that the exercise of a performance management is recommendable
and efficient in every organization.

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In this context, the entrepreneurial and managerial domains are not mutually exclusive but
overlap to a certain extent.[3] The former is more opportunity-driven, and the latter is more
resource - and "conversation"- driven.[4]
Vital lifelines can be provided by support services that know their markets and thus
significantly increase the success rate of new enterprises. Effective support consists of
holistic programmes that integrate the essential elements like management training, R&D
coaching, and networking with peers, potential suppliers and clients. Entrepreneurs
increasingly need advice and support in dealing with resource constraints and supply
insecurity through strategic investment and product development. Many smaller enterprises
are also under increasing pressure from the companies they supply to meet new standards and
design requirements linked to improved resource efficiency and recyclability.[5]
All business development support should include signposting information and providing links
to support services, advice and counselling, and business coaching and mentorship. Such
assistance may also extend to the provision of particular skills (e.g. opportunity recognition,
business planning, financial management, sales and marketing), delivered either informally
(e.g. mentoring scheme) or more formally by attending a course.[6]
The education system is important for delivering the continuing education programs in order
to develop the employees‘ new skills and knowledge, required by a very dynamic society. [7]
In Romania, the educational system must be oriented to satisfy the real demands present on
the labor market.
Taking into consideration the human resources that Romania has and the fact that those
resources are underused, the private and public allocations oriented in human investments
must become a priority for the economic policies. To be able to develop and aspire to a
sustainable growth you need a well-trained and developed human capital.[8]
In the last 26 years, management education in Romania was developed into a brisk at various
levels of training organized by some companies to programs BSc, Masters, postgraduate and
doctoral programs.
3. CONCERNING THE STRUCTURE AND CONDUCT OF RESEARCH
Purpose of the paper: this study refers to the overall implementation of research findings on
managerial training in organizations of Romania. The study was conducted through a
questionnaire applied to a total of 192 representatives belonging to organizations from
Romania, in an equal number of women and men. The questionnaire contains 10 questions
covering the aspects of managerial training in organizations of Romania. Anonymous
questionnaires were used in order to get honest answers and to conduct impartial
investigation.
Research objectives:
a) identifying the role of managerial training of the personnel of the organizations;
c) analysis of managers' attitude to managerial training of the personnel;
d) identifying the directions of the development of the managerial training in Romania.
The research methodology: the research methodology involved the use of scientific methods
and tools: investigation, questionnaires, surveys, analyses and syntheses.
Were targeted more several aspects. Of these, our analysis focuses on the indicators that
explain the extent to which managerial education stimulates the initiative and the developed
of organizations: the participation in managerial courses; the role of managerial education in
development of the organizations; the role of managerial training in understanding the place
of manager in society.
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The questions in the survey had a closed character, with several variants of answers. This type
of survey was used for the ease of the recording of the answers, as well as for the subsequent
operative manner of analysis and processing of the collected data. For the same reasons, the
questionnaire was conceived in a concentrated form that would allow gathering the relevant
information for the issue that interested us. The survey was pre-tested on 10 subjects. After
the pre-testing, three questions were reformulated.
Originality of the research: The analysis of the management training of members of
organizations in Romania, in order to propose feasible solutions regarding the need to change
the mentality of managers and their subordinates on participation in training courses in
management.
Practical character of the research: the research has the following practical applications:
- improving the quality of management in organizations;
- development of competence and skills in management;
- creating a climate of trust and openness in relations between staff and their managers;
- contribute to the development strategy of modern management.
4. THE RESULTS OF RESEARCH
4.1. The general level in management training of employees
At the question "What management training have you?" Respondents showed that 2% are
Dh.D in Management, 8% are graduates of Masters in Management, 5% have completed a
postgraduate course Management, 9% are graduates of Faculty of Management, 15% have
completed a training course in Management and 62% have not completed any form of
management training.

PhD in Management
1% 8%
5% Master in Management
9%
Postgraduate Management

Faculty of Management
62% 15%
They have completed a training course in
management
They have not traveled any form of
management training
Figure 1. The level of competence in management of the interviewees

4.2. The need of trainig in management of the employees

It was found in a pleasant way that all those who attended the interview agreed that it is
necessary the management trainig.
4.3. Socio-demographic data
The Socio-Demographic data registered shows that: men (56%) are somewhat more likely
than women (44%) to have taken part in an management course.

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 56%

44%
MEN
WOMEN

Figure 2. The desire to prepare in management

4.4. The role of managerial training in development of the spirit of the entrepreneur
Statistic data stress the fact that in Romania 82 % of respondents agree that their managerial
education helped them to develop a sense of initiative and a sort of entrepreneurial attitude.
Most of Romanians see the management as one of the solutions that can provide economic
and social development. The high percentage obtained, confirms the preferences of
Romanians for the entrepreneurial education.

18%

82%
YES NO

Figure 3. Option for role of managerial education for in development entrepreneurship spirit

4.5. Managerial skills and know-how

Also, the success in business involves a managerial skills development. According to the
survey, 91% of respondents agree that their managerial trainig gave them the skills and know-
how to enable them to run a business, while 9% disagree with this.
9%

YES NO

91%

Figure 4. The management give skills and know-how to run a business

4.6. The trainig in management of heads of organizational structures

When asked if their the bosses have managerial training, responses showed that only 45.5%
have managerial
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 45%

55%

THEY HAVE THE MANAGEMENT TRAINING THEY DO NOT HAVE MANAGEMENT TRAINING

Figure 5. The managemerial training of the heads of the respondents training

4.7. Voluntary participation in management training courses

To the question: "Are you consulted when you are sent to classes in management, if you want
this?" The answers were: yes 63.6%, not 36.4%

36,4%

Yes
NOT

63,6%

Figure 6. How are the employees of the firms sent to management courses

4.8. Institutions are concerned with the management training of its employees
At the question "Are you satisfied how your institution is preoccupied for the training in
management of the employees?", 36% they the responsers "Yes" and 64 % responser „NO”.

36%

DA
NU

64%

Figure 7. Interest of managers to trainig in management on empliyees.

4.9. The question asked if the "objectives of management courses

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At the question asked if the "objectives of management courses corresponded your training
needs?". The answers were different, as follows: "Yes" - 54.5%; "Largely" - 27.3%; Small
"and 9.1%"; No "- 9.1%.
9%

9% 55%
YES
LARGELY
TO A SMALL EXTENT
27% NO

Figure 8. The correlation between the objectives of management courses and the training needs of employees

4.10. Appreciation of the trainers by learners

Participants in a training course in management appreciates the readiness of trainers with the
following ratings: very good - 72.7%, good -21.2% and satisfactorily - 6.1%.

6,1%
21,2%

72,7%
VERY GOOD GOOD SATISFACTORILY

Figure 9. Appreciation of the trainers by learners

5. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS OF SURVEY

The ignorance the managerial principles by the new manager without managerial studies has
adverse effect on work organization. This situation will decrease their level of pay, some
employees (especially the specialists) being determined even to leave the organization. The
effects of such a situation are also unfavourable to organization because:
- employees who leave the current structure will commit to competing organizations;
- it will decrease the performance of the organization until hiring other specialists;
- there are additional expenses for the recruitment, the selection and the adaptation of new
employees to the specific organization;
- are additional expenses, because the organization to shorten the hiring of new employees is
easier forced to accept their wage demands;

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- appear grievances of the members of the organistion because some time theyl mast meet
and the prerogatives of those who that left etc.
Lack of management training will create difficulties the manager in prioritizing of the
objectives and tasks of the organization. He will send chaotic tasks to the subordinates, but he
will have then to return to those submitted to alter the sequence of activities set out above,
with adverse effects such as:
- the delay the completion of planned actions;
- Increased costs;
- the loss of customers by not respecting the deadlines of the projects, products, services with
they;
- generating discomfort and dissatisfaction among employees;
- the dissipation the energy of the employees;
-loss of authority to subordinates;
- the dissatisfaction of the top managers etc.
The management training necessarily involves communication skills and to motivate the
subordinate staff. Lack of these skills and familiarity with subordinates will generate
excessive demobilization of the employees in the execution of operational decisions
received.[9]
Practice shows that work experience in a field on a certain function is not sufficient to ensure
success of the new manager. He needs a thorough management training previously received
appointment as leadership, because, as a manager, he must:
- to adopt decisions affecting progress or the regress of the organization he leads;
- to communicate permanent with of members of organization, to provide information,
clarifications to how to executed the decisions;
- to provide motivation of staff;
- to come up with solutions to remedy failures identified;
- to train their staff for new tasks ;
- to use modern opetational management methods based of: plans, projects, budgets, system,
objectives, results, innovation, motivation etc;
- to ensure synchronization the activitis of they collective that leads him with other
departments for timely fulfillment of the overall objective set at the organization level etc.
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS
The research results have led us to a series of recommendations that will give managers a
realistic perception on issues raised by their manageerial training and a organization
members. These recommendations aim:
1. encouraging continuous education in management;
2. improving the skills of managers;
3. correctly informing members of the organization about actions regarding the managerial
trainig;
4. improving the continuous training processes intended for the members of the organizations
and adopting efficient models of management.
5. granting the department managers the freedom to share the load of people, because they
know better possibilities of each one.
The results of the survey indicate that the managers of organizations have acted to increase
their training and managerial subordinates. Also, showed that managers of organizations
should put more emphasis on development managemerial skills as an important factor to
improve performance in activities.

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The data presented in this study show the interest of Romanians in the development of
managerial training. However, in Romania the managerial education is still insufficiency in
the sense that Romania reduced the percentage of funding for the education, research and
development.[9]
Also, the partnership between universities and the business environment is not sufficiently
developed. Managerial education needs important human and financial resources for
developing courses and trainig programs. The education in managent can be successfully
developed by the involvement of the education system in partnership with business
environment and promoting a culture of management. Promoting the managementen requires
a closer cooperation between universities, business and professional associations. The trainig
in managememnt needs to permanently adapt to the demands of the labour market and to
develop the competencies required by a very dynamic business environment.
6. REFERENCES
1. Dragomir, C., Pânzaru, S., Constantinescu.C., Role of education in development of
entrepreneurship. Aspects specific in Romania compared with the eu member states
Performances and Tendencies in the Organisation Management, Lambert Academic
Publishing, vol.1, p.186, (2014).
2. Nicolescu, O., Dictionary management, Ed. Pro Universitaria, p.337, (2011).
3. Donald, F., K., The Emergence of Entrepreneurship Education: Development, Trends, and
Challenges [on-line] Disponibil http://wwwi.mcpherson.edu/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/
11/ Emergence-of-Entrepreneurship-Edu.pdf [Accesat 21.04.2016].
4. Ireland, R.D., Hitt. M.A., & Sirmon, D.G, A model of strategic entrepreneurship: The
construct and its dimensions. Journal of Management. 29(6), 963-989, (2003).
5. Communication from the commission to the European Parliament, the council, the
european economic and social Committee and the committee of the regions
Entrepreneurship 2020 action plan [on-line] Disponibil la: https://ec.europa.eu/
transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2012/EN/1-2012-795-EN-F1-1.Pdf [Accesat 27.04.2016].
6 Antreprenoriatul 2020 Plan de acțiune-reigniting spiritul antreprenorial în Europa [on-line]
Disponibil la: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0795:
FIN:EN:PDF. [Accesat 22.04.2016].
7 Dragomir, C., Role of lifelong learning in development of the of the organizations based
on knowledge, Review of General Management, vol.17, issue 1, Expert Publishing House.
Bucharest, p. 78 (2013).
8 Neamţu, D., M., Education, the economic development pillar [on-line] Disponibil
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S18770428150148460 [Accesat
23.04.2016].
9 Dragomir, C., Pânzaru, S., The relationship between education and entrepreneurship in EU
member states, Review of General Management, 17 issue 2 (2015).

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

MANAGEMENT OF STRESSFUL JOBS IN KNOWLEDGE BASED

ORGANIZATIONS

Irina Rotariu1, Emanoil Muscalu2 and Mihail Aurel Țîțu3

1
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, irirotariu@yahoo.com
2
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, emanoil.muscalu@ulbsibiu.ro
3
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, mihail.titu@ulbsibiu.ro

ABSTRACT: The issue of stress in organizations has been attached great importance in many debates and
studies, being a theme often invoked by managers, employees and HR consultants given the fact that one quarter
of workers in Europe report feeling stressed at work all or most of the time, and a similar proportion say that
work affects their health negatively. Psychosocial risks for example, monotonous tasks, high work intensity,
tight deadlines, work-life unbalance, contribute to work-related stress in workplaces in all EU Member
States. So, stress is well present in our lives. The aim of this article is to emphasize the role of stress in
employees work, the influence that stress plays in quality of life and to propose some stress prevention measures.
KEYWORDS: employees’ health, stress prevention, organization, human capital, occupational stress.

1. INTRODUCTION
Employees in a knowledge based organization are increasingly affected by occupational
stress, a phenomenon that generates lack of productivity and significant costs.
Technological development, scientific organization of production, development of the means
of communication and transportation and the tightening of the competitive environment
creates stress, which affects the ability of employees and managers to work efficiently, while
also generating high costs for the organization as a whole.
Numerous studies have highlighted the positive effects of work on health: through work, we
become better organized; it increases our sense of self-esteem, as well as our efficiency and
allows us to develop a social network. At the same time, nevertheless, work can have negative
effects on our health. The most rigorous researches have focused on the effects of stress at the
workplace and especially on employees’ performance. Stress due to the lack of autonomy,
role conflict, tense interpersonal relationship among colleagues, employees and superiors, the
lack of formal/informal unfair organizational policy have dramatic consequences on the health
of employees. In relation to sustainable employment performance, employees’ health is seen
as a complex state of physical, emotional and social normality. Organizational health is about
adapting to the present and shaping the future faster and better than the competition. Healthy
organizations don’t merely learn to adjust themselves to their current context or to challenges
that lie ahead of them; they create a capacity to learn and keep changing over time. Health
starts with the right understanding of how it relates to performance. Performance is what an
enterprise delivers to shareholders in financial and operational terms. It is evaluated through
such indices as net operating profit, return on capital employed, total returns to shareholders,
net operating costs and stock turns. Health is the ability of an organization to align, execute
and renew itself faster than the competition to sustain exceptional performance over time. It
comprises core organizational skills and capabilities, such as leadership, coordination and
external orientation, that traditional metrics don’t capture [1].
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Stress was defined as a stimulus and a response or as a result of stimulus-response interaction,
which expresses a certain imbalance of the person's relationship with his or her environment.
As the knowledge of the relationship between the person and the environment has increased,

301
researchers have focused on the nature of this interaction and, still more important, on the
mental processes through which these interactions occur. Stress is a term that refers to a sum
of physical, mental and emotional strains or tensions on a person or feelings of stress which
result from interactions between people and their environment that are perceived as straining
or exceeding their adaptive capacities and threatening their well-being [2]. Managers in all
industries have made employee engagement a hot button issue because of growing evidence
that engagement has a positive correlation with individual, group and organizational
performance in areas such as productivity, retention, turnover, customer service and loyalty
[3].
Any knowledge management strategy are designed to increase business performance and shall
address three components: the work processes or activities that create and leverage
organizational knowledge, a technology infrastructure to support knowledge capture, transfer
and use, and, a behavioural norms and practices- organizational culture, that are essential to
effective knowledge use. (4). In this circumstances, is important to recognise the appearance
of stress at work and the methods to deal with it.
Empirical research has shown a negative relationship between empowerment and job stress,
suggesting that, as employees are more empowered, their job stress decreases [4]. In addition
to stress, increased employee satisfaction helps reduce employee turnover, leaves of absence,
and lower work-related disability and violence claims [5]. Morrison [6] have outlined several
ways in which the lack of engagement and high turnover rates impact health care
organizations. Some of these factors include turnover costs, which, according to Waldman &
Kelly [7], range between 3.4% and 5.8% of their operating budget. The most commonly
mentioned benefits of investing in employee well-being would be: increased productivity;
reduced number of sickness absences; reduced staff turnover and increased retention of skills;
and improved staff morale. Also cited are: reduced recruitment and training costs; improved
company reputation as a good employer; and improved financial performance and
competitiveness. Employees who believe that their organization is supporting them to achieve
their goals, allows them to work in decent jobs and has their well-being at heart are most
likely to reciprocate with positive discretionary behavior. In what is often referred to as the
‘psychological contract’, the employment and human resource policies of an employer
organization are considered to help shape workers’ attitudes and behavior, their satisfaction
and well-being [8].
3. WORK STRESS AND ITS EFFECTS ON EMPLOYEES
Prof. Cary Cooper and Prof. Les Worrall identified by studies that managers in UK business
have experienced substantial change both in organisational structures and organisational lives,
due to the rapid changes in operating environments. Globalization has had a major impact on
many business organisation. In UK , around 90% of managers from utilities sector report
organisational change in every each year. The incidence of organisational change was found
to be very persistently even in manufacturing sector and in public as well. All this changes
effect managers and employees in the same times, and have caused a deterioration in quality
of their working lives, and can be manifested by stress.
Psychosocial risks and stress at work are among the biggest challenges for safety and health at
work. They have a significant impact on the health of people, organizations and national
economies. About half of the European workers consider that stress is a common factor at the
workplace and that it is the cause of almost half of the total working days lost. As well as
other issues affecting mental health, stress is often misunderstood or stigmatized. However,
when they are viewed from organizational level and not as an individual problem,
psychosocial risks and stress can be managed to the same extent as any other hazard to health
and safety at work. Psychosocial risks are rooted in unprofessional conceiving, poor
organization and management of the activity, as well as in the inappropriate social context at
work and they can have negative effects on the physical, psychological and social health, such

302
as stress at work, exhaustion or depression. Some common conditions that generate
psychosocial risks are:
• excessive volume of work;
• conflicting requirements and lack of clarity regarding the role that has been assigned to
the worker;
• lack of involvement in decision-making that affects the worker and the lack of influence
on the way of business;
• organizational changes improperly managed, the uncertainty of the workplace;
• Ineffective communication, lack of support from management or colleagues;
psychological harassment and sexual violence on the part of third parties.
Overload and under-load at work are potential sources of stress in the workplace. The optional
performance is reached if at the workplace we feel creative, calm and highly motivated to do
the job well. When the level of stress is overload, the employees fell the burnout syndrome,
exhaustion, can fell tense, sleeplessness, irritable, can do mistakes or accidents.
When the level of stress is under load, employees can experience feelings of apathy, boredom,
poor or low morale and lack of self-worth, absence.
Quantitative overload occurs when the employee is given too many tasks to complete in a
specified period of time. Quantitative overload occurs when the individual does not fell
capable of doing the prescribed tasks. Similarly quantitative under-load means long periods
without being occupied; and quantitative under-load means the task does not utilize the skills,
ability or potential of the worker.
Lack of control over the place of work is manifested in same occupations, such as fire
fighters, air traffic controllers, the ambulance service, pilots and anesthetists. All of them deal
with periods of inactivity followed by periods of maximum concentrations. Occupational
stress is above average and continuously for certain categories of jobs as doctors, nurses,
drivers, salespeople and police officers.
When considering the requirements of the work, it is important not to confuse the
psychosocial risks, such as excessive workload, with the conditions under which the work
environment, although particularly stimulating and sometimes a challenge, is favorable, the
employees are well trained and motivated to pursue better service tasks. Favorable psycho-
social environment can enhance performance and personal development, as well as mental
and physical well-being of workers. When the requirements of the work exceed the ability of
workers to lead them to fruition, the latter are affected by stress. In addition to mental health
issues, workers experiencing prolonged stress may subsequently develop serious physical
health problems, for example, cardiovascular or musculoskeletal disorders. At the level of the
organization, the negative effects include poor general economic performance, increased
absenteeism and the increase of injuries and accidents. Absences tend to be longer than those
based on other causes and stress in the workplace can contribute to a higher rate of early
retirement. Estimates of the costs incurred by enterprises and society due to work stress are
considerable, amounting to billions of Euros at a national level.
So in order to deal with psychosocial risk must be taken measures like:
• Provision of training;
• Changes to the way work is organized;
• Confidential counseling for the employees;
• Redesigning the working area;
• Changing to working time management;
• Set-up of conflict resolution procedure.
There is growing recognition of the importance of a holistic approach in the promotion and
cultivation of a healthy work environment [8]. A holistic approach aims to address all aspects
of the work environment, including both physical and social determinants. This holistic
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approach should be part of any comprehensive management approach that aims to protect
workers’ health and safety through prevention and management initiatives, and to promote
resilience, engagement and well-being though health promotion activities.
The evidence indicates that interventions have a better chance of having an impact upon
psychosocial working conditions and the health and well-being of employees if they follow a
structured process that involves the active involvement and participation of employees and
social dialogue [9] [10] [11]. All the models used are based on the first models developed,
such as Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model developed in the 1950s [12]. The basic
principle of the PDCA model is that a strategy is made (Plan) and implemented (Do) before it
is evaluated (Check) and then improved (Act). The PDCA model will not be developed in this
paper but it is important to be emphasized the importance of the evaluation phase that should
take place after every cycle of the PDCA model.
The evaluation stage aims to critically assess the short-term and long-term outcomes of an
intervention, as well as the process of implementation and the changes that have taken place
(for example, in working conditions and procedures, in the health and well-being of
employees, and in turnover and absenteeism) [11]. Evaluation will allow organisations to
determine how well and in what respect the intervention worked. Therefore, the aim of the
evaluation process is to show what is, and what is not, working; and it seeks to identify
factors inherent to the content and context of the intervention that are important for success
[13] [14] [11].
4. QUALITY OF LIFE AND STRESS PREVENTION
"Quality of life" is a multidimensional concept that deals with issues related to the context in
which a person lives, the life conditions, the subjective well-being, up to perceptions
regarding society at large. Thus, the quality of life is a subjective perception of the amount of
an individual in connection with his or her position in society, involving personal standards
and expectations of an economic (financial), cultural, physical (absence of pain, mobility),
social (interpersonal relationships, communication, social roles) and political nature [15].
With a view to protecting the employees’ health, the importance attached to human resources
for the effective fulfillment of the objectives and for augmented strength in a market in
continuous development and competition has been increasing throughout the years. Under the
process of globalization, rapid changes have been taking place at the technological, legal,
professional and communication levels, with significant and beneficial effects. However, such
changes in the conditions of work cause the pressure to get higher, the quantity and
complexity of information to grow, demanding higher efficiency and speed in carrying out the
tasks [16]. Work becomes more complex, if we take into account such aspects as the more
comprehensive working environment, rewards, positive feedback, communication, employee
well-being, aspects that influence the status of the organization in terms of performance and
productivity. At the same time, the lack of health staff has been bringing the companies the
burden of ever higher costs due to medical expenses (paid holidays, treatments, severance
wages); in developed countries these expenses have reached even 12-15% of GDP according
to World Health Organization.
Incidentally, "the State of physical and mental health of a community is the most relevant
indicator of the degree of culture and civilization: it is the measure or potential for survival
and development" [17]. This outlook can be applied to the organizational framework, in
which the relationships and processes follow up the dynamics of a company. Firstly, there is
the excessive bureaucratization of the institutions, which has the effect of rendering the main
generators of anxiety, stress and physical and mental exhaustion. Then, disorganization and
lack of coherence, together with the existence of a management style with the organization,
leading to a high degree of insecurity and lack of motivation among employees, known by the
name of “the entropy factor” in organizational psychology. Motivation and performance, on
the one hand, and inter-personal conflicts affecting staff morale, on the other, make up the
climate in which individuals carry out their activities. In a poorly structured organization, the
304
control and morale are affected, the distrust in the future, the feeling of insecurity and social
alienation arise.
There are three different approaches to the problem of occupational stress, each addressing
different issues (figure 1).

Primary intervention
Prevention at the
source

Secondary intervention
Bolstering individual
coping capacity and
resilience

Tertiary
intervention
Remedial
support

Figure 1. Comprehensive interventions for the management of psychosocial risks

The most common approach is to offer medical services to people with such problems, most
often in the form of employee assistance programs. This is a reactive approach, when the
problem already exists, and major efforts focus on the consequences of the treatment. This
approach typically involves efforts to identify and reduce the factors that cause stress. In
contrast, primary prevention seeks to identify and reduce sources of stress, which may be
linked to factors that may or may not work. This approach can be reactive (namely, dealing
with existing problems that produce stress) or proactive (prevent provocative stress conditions
from becoming a problem), but it deals directly with the source(s) of stress at work, and not
just with the results of exposure to stress factors. At an intermediate level between primary
and tertiary approach there is secondary prevention, which aims to reduce symptoms of stress
before they have striking consequences. Commonly called “management of stress”, these
programs are geared towards individuals and, in the usual way, try to educate employees
regarding the nature of stress and teach them specific techniques for reducing the symptoms
of physiological and psychological stress by offering them relaxation.
A qualitative meth analysis of several studies about occupational stress management reveals
till now the superiority and the higher efficiency of the individual oriented management
strategies in different organizations, although in the future it is recommendable a larger
interest and application for organizational management strategies – despite higher costs, but
better effects after a longer period of time [18].
The most common types of stress management strategies are progressive relaxation of
muscles, biofeedback, meditation and cognitive-behavioral skills.
5. CONCLUSIONS
In order for employees to be able to develop in an optimal way, both in terms of their own
needs, talents and values and in terms of organizational goals, the organization tries to meet
the individual needs of training and to develop individual talents in a mutually beneficial way.
Organizational interest lies in keeping high-performance, optimizing personnel motivation
and results, and developing employees from the professional point of view so that they can

305
deal with the key positions in the organization in the near future. This involves the possibility
for employees to be able to prepare themselves in time and in due course for their future steps
in their career.
Health promotion at work is not only a compliance with the legal requirements in the field of
health and safety, but also a way of actively supporting employees by employers in order to
improve the general state of health and comfort. In this process, it is important to involve
employees and to take account of their needs and opinions regarding the organization. By
improving the health and well-being of workers, health promotion at the workplace has many
positive effects, such as reducing staff turnover and absenteeism, increasing motivation and
productivity, and improving the image of the employer as an organization with a positive and
responsible attitude.
6. REFERENCES
1. Price K, Price, C., Organizational health: The ultimate competitive advantage, McKinsey,
(2011).
2. Ghaleb, Thuria, Physicians Suffer from Higher Levels of Stress, (2008).
3. Ketter, P., What’s the big deal about employee engagement. T + D Training +
Development, 62(1), pp. 44-49, (2008).
4. Joiner, T., Bartram, T., The role of social support and empowerment in managing nurse
stress, Australian Health Review, 27(3), pp. 163-178. (ERA C), (2004).
5. Fisher, W. A., Fisher, J. D. and Harman, J., The Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills
Model: A General Social-Psychological Approach to Understanding and Promoting
Health Behavior, in Social Psychological Foundations of Health and Illness eds, (2003).
6. Morrison, J. Q., Social validity of the critical incident stress management model for
school-based crisis intervention. Psychol. Schs., 44, pp. 765–777, (2007).
7. Waldman JD1, Kelly F, Arora S, Smith HL., The shocking cost of turnover in health care,
Health Care Management Rev. 2004 Jan-Mar; 29(1), pp. 2-7, (2004).
8. Chu, C., Breucker, G., Harris, N., Stitzel, A., Gan, X., Gu, X. And Dwyer, S., Health
promoting workplaces – International settings development, Health Promotion
International, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 155–167, (2000).
9. Guest, D. Human Resource Management: Towards a new psychological contract. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, (2007).
10. EU-OSHA, European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks: Managing
safety and health at work, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg,
(2010a).
11. Leka, S. and Cox, T., PRIMA-EF: Guidance on the European Framework for
Psychosocial Risk Management: A resource for employers and worker representatives,
World Health Organization, Geneva, (2008).
12. Nielsen, K., Randall, R., Holten, A., Rial Gonzalez, E., Conducting organisational-level
occupational health interventions: What works?, Work and Stress, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp.
234–259, (2010).
13. Imai, M., Kaizen: The key to Japan’s competitive success, Random House Publishing,
New York, (1986).
14. Biron, C., Gatrell, C. and Cooper, C. L., Autopsy of failure: Evaluating process and
contextual issues in an organisational-level work stress intervention, International Journal
of Stress Management, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 135–158, (2010).
15. Cox, T., Stress research and stress management: Putting theory to work, HSE Contract
Research Report No. 61/1993, HSE Books, Sudbury, UK, (1993).
16. Dame, Carol, Working for a healthier tomorrow: work and health in Britain,Department
for Work and Pensions, 2013.
17. Guest, P., Conway, N., Communicating the Psychological Contract: an employee
perspective. Human Resource management journal. 12(2), pp. 22-39, (2002).
18. Cristea, D., Tratat de psihologie sociala, Editura ProTransilvania, Bucuresti, 2001, pp.
90-12, (2001).
306
19. Brate, A., Direction of Reseach and Management Strategies in Occupational Stress, Jurnal
of Sociology, (2005).
20. Cooper, C., Worrall, L., Contemporary issues in UK business organizations : The
implications for employee wellbeing, Psychology of Human Resources Journal, (2004)

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

THE PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP STYLE IN BEDOUIN

SECONDARY SCHOOL IN THE NEGEV

Salih Alasad 1
1
West University of Timisoara, salhasad@Gmail.com

ABSTRACT: The aim of the research is to explore the leadership styles applied by the principals of the
secondary schools in Negev, as viewed by the teachers. It also aimed to find out whether factors such as
settlement, school location, and gender of the teacher may change in his/her report about the applicable
leadership style by the school principals in Negev. The research relies on the theory of full range leadership
model [1]. Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaires assessing the variables of interest were completed by
30 teachers in three Bedouin secondary schools in Negev. As results of our research, we find that the teachers
reported that the applicable leadership style by the school principals is the "Transformational Leadership"; and
that factors such as the place of settlement, the school location and the teacher's gender changed their report
about the applicable leadership style by the school principals in Negev.
KEYWORDS: Bedouin, leadership style, transformational leadership.

1. INTRODUCTION
The leadership styles applied by the principals of the secondary schools in Negev, as viewed
by the teachers, and whether factors such as settlement, school location, gender of the teacher
may change in his/her report about the applicable leadership style by the school principals in
Negev.
Leadership is perhaps one of the most important aspects of management [2]. This is because
leadership is a major factor which contributes immensely to the general wellbeing of
organizations and nations [3]. Great nations like the United State of America, Britain, France
and India are some of the most prominent nations in the world today on the wings of effective
leadership [4]. This is because leaders in organizations and nations make things happen. This
paper deal with the school principal has important roles to play. Among this roles include the
principal leadership style in secondary schools.
Successful, effective leaders have conquered achievement goals for their schools because they
took care of the people accountable for learning--the teachers--and all involved in the school
performed at higher levels. The goal has been to have successful schools encompass the
leader and the individuals involved. The principal must also be honest about personal
strengths and weaknesses and possess willingness to compromise when necessary. The
effective principal should combine strategies to improve teaching and learning while
compassionately nurturing those employed in the school[5], [6], [7] ,[8]. [9].

2. LEADERSHIP STYLES
2.1 Transformational Leadership
A transformational leader is a person who stimulates and inspires (transform) followers to
achieve extraordinary outcomes [3]. He/she pay attention to the concern and developmental
needs of individual followers; they change followers’ awareness of issues by helping them to
look at old problems in a new way ; and they are able to arouse, excite and inspire followers
to put out extra effort to achieve group goals. Transformational leadership theory is all about
leadership that creates positive change in the followers whereby they take care of each other's
interests and act in the interests of the group as a whole [10], [11].

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2.2 Transactional Leadership
Also known as managerial leadership, transactional leadership focuses on the role of
supervision, organization, and group performance; transactional leadership is a style of
leadership in which the leader promotes compliance of his followers through both rewards
and punishments. Unlike Transformational leadership, leaders using the transactional
approach are not looking to change the future; they are looking to merely keep things the
same. These leaders pay attention to followers' work in order to find faults and deviations.
This type of leadership is effective in crisis and emergency situations, as well as when
projects need to be carried out in a specific fashion. Transactional leaders are effective in
getting specific tasks completed by managing each portion individually [11].
Transactional leaders are concerned with processes rather than forward-thinking ideas. These
types of leaders focus on contingent reward (also known as contingent positive reinforcement)
or contingent penalization (also known as contingent negative reinforcement [12].
2.3 "Sit and Wait" Leadership Style
The most prominent characteristic of this leader's behavior is avoidance from taking a stand,
from decisions making and actually from any action. This not active leadership reflects each
attempt not to affect. The subordinates of this leader don’t receive guidance or support, and
typically show indifference and carelessness and will tend to focus on achieving their personal
goals, even if they are in conflict with the objectives of the organization or the group [13].

3. THE PRINCIPAL IN BEDOUIN EDUCATION SYSTEM

The school is considered by the society as the property of a particular family in the village,
especially when the principal or most of the teachers are from one tribe. Hierarchical the
relationships between employees of the school system is rigid and it limits the initiative of the
principal, who is supposed to be a leading figure in the school education process is vulnerable
and unable to withstand external pressures, tensions in society that penetrate it easily and
affect its atmosphere. The competition between the clans for a local power system finds its
way to schools and affects the relationships between the teachers and the management, the
concentration of the clans created division of teachers based on clans in a same school;
therefore a conflict between clans outside the school penetrates the walls and increases the
tensions between the different groups. And since further found that the main factor that
influences the organizational climate in Bedouin schools of Israel is the principal's leadership
style. Bedouin principals usually demonstrate the power and illustrate discipline of work,
innovation and involvement [14], [15].

4. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TEACHING FORCE IN THE BEDOUIN SECTOR

IN THE NEGEV
The teaching workforce in the Bedouin educational system in Negev has its unique
characteristics, as the Bedouin community is a traditional one. In the recent years, the
Bedouin community passed through many changes in the workforce in teaching, such as:
1. Women in the Bedouin Education System in Negev: An increase occurred in the percentage
of the Bedouin female teachers, as well as the percentage of the educated Bedouin females,
because the youth are now more and more tending to get married to the educated girls. As a
result, the status of the educated woman promoted, even within the families living according
to the traditional lifestyle.
Numbers of the girls who complete their secondary education is noticeably high. Nowadays,
we find that most of the girls complete their secondary education. Thereby the rate of the
teachers is rapidly increasing among the total teaching workforce in the Bedouin milieu in
Negev [15],[16].
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2. North and Local Teachers: There are large numbers of teachers in the Bedouin education
system in Negev, both male and female teachers coming from the north and center of the
country. This is in spite of the wide increase in the rate of the local teachers, because there is a
need for the teachers of the north, especially in the major subjects, such as English language,
mathematics and science. The rate of the teachers coming from the north is three doubles as
much those coming from the local milieus. On the other hand, the rate of the female teachers
coming from the north milieus overweighs the numbers of female teachers from the local
workforce. Those female teachers have their influence in the local community in terms of
upgrading the status of the woman in the Bedouin education system.
In this concern, certain researchers claim that there are struggles among the teachers of the
north and those of the local community, because of the differences in culture, habits and
traditions [15],[16].
3. Teachers in Both Section of the Education System (with permanent and temporary
settlement): The established phenomenon in the country, and outside the country, is that the
area with good and developed settlement facility will obtain good education conditions, and
attract teachers with good academic levels. On the other hand, areas with poor settlement
conditions will have less experienced teachers who are changeable even within short intervals.
Even in the Bedouin milieu, we find two types of settlement areas, with different settlement
conditions. In this regard, two thirds of the Bedouin residents in Negev moved to live in
permanent settlements, where the public institutions and schools are built according to
advanced and high standards, which include good infrastructures, such as electricity, public
parks and streets.
More than one third of the population lives in temporary settlements lacking infrastructures
such as water, streets and electricity. People here are still living in houses made of zinc and in
tents. In addition, the educational institutions and schools are also in temporary buildings.
However, in the recent years, many villages were recognized and school and public
institutions were built in these areas according to the modern styles [15], [16].
To sum, many changes took place in the workforce in the Bedouin milieu. First, the steady
increase in the numbers of the female teachers, second, the Bedouin education is still linked to
the teaching forces coming from outside Negev, but the rate of the local teachers is rapidly
increasing. Third, more than one third of the Bedouin population is still living in settlements
lacking the infrastructures. In the recent years, however, a number of the unrecognized
villages had been recognized, and modern schools were built there.

5. RESULTS
Results of the research conducted on an exploratory sample included 30 teachers from three
schools (10 teachers per school), one from Rahat City, one from a permanent town and one
from a temporary town. The aim was to explore the leadership styles with the secondary
school principals in Negev. This was carried out within an expanded research that includes all
the secondary schools in the Bedouin milieu in Negev. In this research, the amended short
form of the questionnaire (MLQ-X5, Multi-Factor Leadership) was employed, as it most fits
to the research sample, and was applied in Israel, in the northern part of the country, on both
Arab and Israeli elementary schools [17].
5.1 Background variables:
Thirty male and female teaches participated in this research. The background variables of the
participation in the research are: official local status of the town: Permanent settlement (
66.7%)Temporary settlement(33.3) Gender male (56.6%) female(43.4%)) Academic
Degree,(Ba (73.3%), MA(25%), other (16.6%)), Original Domicile Place:(South of the
Country (56.6%) North of the Country (43.3%)) Age, (less than 30 (30%), 30-39( 53.3%), 40-

310
49 (13.3%),more than 50 years(3.3%) Seniority in Education(less than 10 years (36.3%), 10-
20(30%) more than 30 years (6.6%).
This exploratory research showed important orientations, mainly, the applicable leadership
style with the principals of the Bedouin schools in Negev is the transformational leadership.
5.2 Distribution of the Leadership over the Three Schools
Table 1 shows that teachers reported that the transformational leadership style is the one that
characterizes the school principals in Negev at a high level (average 3.7). The lowest degree
was given to the laissez faire leadership style (2.3), and the transformational leadership style
came with a medium degree (3.15).
Table 1. Distribution of the leadership styles
Leadership style M SD
Transformational 1.0
3.7
Leadership
Transactional 0.9
3.15
Leadership
Laissez faire 1.1
2.3
Leadership

Based on the standard deviation (SD), we find a difference in the reports of the teachers on
the leadership styles. Thus, the teachers' reports were checked about the leadership styles
according to the school location, place of settlement, and gender, to find out whether there are
differences in the teachers' reports about the leadership style and the difference degree among
them as per the standard deviation.
5.3 Distribution of the Leadership by the type of the town (settlement where the school is
located):
Table 2 shows that the teachers reported that the transformational leadership style is the one
that characterizes the principals in the three schools by three grades.
Table 2. Distribution of the leadership styles by location
Leadership style City Temporary Permanent
settlement settlement
SD M SD M SD M
Transformational 0.42 3.5 0.37 3.7
0.4 4
Leadership
Transactional 0.36 2.83 0.43 3.15
0.38 3.4
Leadership
Llaissez faire 0.41 2.4 0.52 2.3
0.37 2.0
leadership

The highest (4) was for the city, followed by (3.7) for the permanent settlement (town), and
the lowest (3.5) was for the temporary settlement (town). However, there are differences in
the teachers' reports in the three schools. For example, the transformational leadership styles
is characteristic to the principal of the city at a higher degree, followed by the principal of the
permanent town, and the temporary town school principal came third and last. It further
shows that the laissez faire leadership style characterizes all of them at a very low degree as
follows, City (2.0), permanent town (2.3) and temporary town settlement (2.4). As for the
transformational and transactional leadership styles, they both characterize the school
principals at medium degrees. As reported by the teachers, the highest degree was for the city
school principal (3.4), followed by the permanent town settlement school principal (3.15), and
the temporary town settlement school principal came last with (2.83) degrees.

311
5.4 Leadership Style by the Teacher Settlement Area (North/Local):
Table 3 shows that the local and nonlocal teachers reported that the transformational
leadership is the one that characterizes the school principals in the three schools at a higher
degree as follows, Local teachers (3.7) and nonlocal teachers (3.5).
Table 3. Leadership styles by teacher settlement area
Leadership style Unlocal Teacher Local
(North) teachers
SD M SD M
Transformational
0.35 3.5 0.42 3.7
Leadership
Transactional
0.41 3.2 0.35 3.1
Leadership
Laissez faire
0.45 2.5 0.38 2.2
leadership

However, there are differences in the local and nonlocal teachers' reports. In this concern, the
results showed that the transformational leadership style characterizes the principal (as per the
local schoolteachers) at a higher grade than the nonlocal schoolteachers; and the laissez faire
leadership characterizes them at very low degree, as per the local schoolteachers (city
schoolteachers at the rate of 2.2). On the other hand, as per the nonlocal schoolteachers, this
style characterizes them at a higher degree than the reports of the local schoolteachers
(nonlocal 2.5). However, the transformational leadership style characterizes them at medium
degree, meaning that there is almost a coincidence between the local and nonlocal schools
(3.1 and 3.2, respectively). This indicates, to some extent, to the close relations between the
local teachers and the principal, because the local teachers and the principal hold the same
habits and traditions.
5.5 Leadership Style, by the Report of Teachers (Males/Females):
In the traditional, masculine, Bedouin community, the male is the dominant, a trait that
governs his actions and relations with the female, as per the Bedouin habits and traditions.
The above table shows that the teachers reported that the transformational leadership style is
the one that characterizes the principals in the three schools at higher degrees/means: (male
teachers, 3.7 and female teachers 3.3).
Table 4. Leadership styles by gender
Leadership style Female Male
SD M SD M
Transformational
0.39 3.3 0.37 3.7
Leadership
Transactional
0.32 3.4 0.39 3.0
Leadership
Laissez faire
0.47 2.2 0.42 2.2
leadership

Meanwhile, the female teachers reported that the transactional leadership is the one that
characterizes the principals of the three schools at higher degrees (female teachers, 3.4 and
male teachers 3.0). There is a complete coincidence between the male and female teachers
that the laissez faire leadership style characterizes them at low degree (male teachers, 2.2 and
female teachers, 2.2). This is indicative of the strong influence of the Bedouin traditions on
the actions of the principal with the female teachers, taking into account that the habits and
traditions do not allow "mixing" (coeducation) between men and women.
In general, the teachers reported that the leadership style followed by the school principal is
the transformational leadership style.

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6. CONCLUSIONS
A transformational leader is a person who stimulates and inspires (transform) followers to
achieve extraordinary outcomes. He/she pay attention to the concern and developmental needs
of individual followers; they change followers’ awareness of issues by helping them to look at
old problems in a new way ; and they are able to arouse, excite and inspire followers to put
out extra effort to achieve group goals. Transformational leadership theory is all about
leadership that creates positive change in the followers whereby they take care of each other's
interests and act in the interests of the group as a whole [12].
As far the school location is concerned, we find differences in the teachers' reports in the three
schools. In this concern we see that the transformational leadership style is the one that
characterizes the city school principal at a higher degree, followed by the principal of the
permanent settlement town school; meanwhile, the temporary town school principal came last
in the third position. This clearly interprets the influence of the well-known phenomenon,
both inside and outside the country, that the principal in good and developed settlement area
obtains good education conditions, and attracts to him teachers of higher academic degrees.
On the other hand, areas with poor settlement conditions attract less experienced teachers,
who are changed at close intervals.
There is a strong link in the Bedouin education system in Negev with the male and female
teachers coming from the center and north parts of the country, in spite of the large increase in
the numbers of the local teachers. This clear in the rates of the academics of the teachers
coming from the northern parts, which is more than three doubles as much of the academics in
the local teachers. The same is true for the rates of the female teachers from the north, which
overweighs those of the numbers of the local female teachers. Nonetheless, there is an
influence on the local community in raising the status of the woman in the education system
in the Bedouin milieu. Still, there are differences between the teachers of the north and the
local community because of the differences in the culture, habits and traditions. However, the
local and nonlocal teachers reported that the transformational leadership style characterizes
the principal, as per the local teachers' report, more than the report of the nonlocal teachers,
which seems to be attributed to the differences in the habits and traditions.
Moreover, the gender of the teacher changes his/her view to a wide extent about the
leadership style. The male teachers reported the transformational leadership as the one that
characterizes the school principals in the three schools to a higher degree than the reports of
the female teachers. Meanwhile, the female teachers report that the transactional leadership
style is the one that characterizes the principals of the three schools, to a higher degree. Once
again, it seems that the reason is the habits and traditions in the Bedouin community.
Bedouin women also experience gender discrimination perpetuated by two cultural codes that
govern Bedouin life: the sexual code and the collective code. The Bedouin sexual code affects
every aspect of a girl’s upbringing, from childhood to marriage. Under the sexual code,
perceptions of honor and shame dictate behavior. This sexuality also makes the woman
important; she is highly protected by Bedouin traditional law and any offense against a
woman may lead to revenge by her male kin [18]. These codes, probably affects the principal
behavior towards female teachers.

7. REFERENCES
1. Bass, B. M., & Avolio B. J., Improving organizational effectiveness through the trans-
formational leadership, NY; Sage, (1994).
2. Weihrich, H., Cannice, M.V. and Koontz, H. Management (12th ed.). New Delhi: Mc
Graw Hill, (2008).
3. Robbins, S. P. and Coulter, M. Management (9th ed.). London: Prentice- Hall (2007).

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4. Nordin, Y., G., Wan, H. S., Principal Leadership Styles in High-Academic Performance
of Selected Secondary Schools in Kelantan Darulnaim, International Journal of
Independent Research, Vol. 1, No.2 (April, 2012)
5. Barnea D., Teachers in Bedouin education in the Negev, The symposium on Bedouin
memory of Yitzhak Netzer, Booklet 22 (1991).
6. Abwalla, J.O., The Principals’ leadership styles and teachers’ performance general
secondary schools of Gambella in regional state, Jimma university,(2014).
7. Kipkemboi , J., K., Henry K., Jemiryott S., Relationship between Principals’ Leadership
Styles and Secondary School Teachers’ Job Satisfaction in Nandi South District, Kenya,
Journal of Education and Human Development (June 2014), Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 493-509.
8. Drake, T.L., & Roe, W.H., The Principalship (Third Edition). New York: Macmillan
Publishing Company, (1986).
9. Littleford, A. R. Principal Leadership and Its Perceived Influence on Teacher Morale in
Elementary Schools, doctoral degree, East Tennessee state university, U.S.A,(2007).
10. Warrilow, S, Transformational Leadership Theory - The 4 Key Components in Leading
Change & Managing Change. [Retrieved 15/03/2013]. http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=
Stephen_Warrilow
11. Odumeru, J., Ifeanyi G.O., Transformational vs. Transactional Leadership Theories:
Evidence in Literature, International Review of Management and Business Research, Vol.
2 Issue.2. Pp. 355-361, (2013).
12. Hargis, M. B., Wyatt, J.D., and Piotrowski, C., Developing Leaders: Examining the Role
of Transactional and Transformational Leadership across Contexts Business. Organization
Development Journal, 29 (3): 51–66 (. (2001).
13. Bass, B. M., Model of transformational leadership. In T.F. Mech & G.B. McCabe (Eds.),
Leader-ship and academic librarians (pp. 66–82). Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998,
(1985).
14. Alkshaala, B., Nature of the relationship between teacher and student in the Bedouin
sector, The Ministry of Education, ( 2008).
15. Abu-saad, I., Arabs of the Naqab: past, present and future challenges, Center for regional
development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-sheva, (2010).
16. Barnea D., Teachers Bedouin education Negev, The symposium on Bedouin memory of
Yitzhak Netzer, Booklet 22, (1991).
17. Kurland H., Organizational learning as a result of the leadership and vision, and its
contribution to the investment of effort, satisfaction from teachers and obtain educational
elementary schools, University of Haifa, Israel, ( 2006).
18. Abu-Rabia-Queder S., The activism of Bedouin women: Social and political resistance
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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY IN EDUCATIONAL MANAGERIAL

PROCESS

Amalia Venera Todorut1, Vassilis Tselentis2

1
”Constantin Brâncuși„ University of Târgu-Jiu, e-mail: amalia_venera@yahoo.com
2
University of Piraeus, e-mail:tselenti@unipi.gr

ABSTRACT:This paper approaches issues related to the need of creativity and innovation in education, in all
its forms, as a vector generating sustainable development. In the knowledge-based society creativity and
innovation play a key role, being a major strategic element that contributes to the long term economic growth.
Education is key to the global integrated framework of sustainable development goals. Education is at the heart
of the efforts both to adapt to change and to transform the world within which we live. Throughout the paper,
following the scientific investigations in the specialty literature I realized an analysis of the educational
innovation process in Europe and Romania. I highlighted an innovative management in the educational
establishments with deep effects on the personal development of pupils and students. The case study emphasizes
the extent of the capacity of the educational establishments' management to innovatively ensure the
infrastructure, resources, effective leadership in order to achieve and improve the learning outcomes and the
student well-being
KEYWORDS:innovation, creativity, knowledge, transformation.

1. INTRODUCTION
Creativity and innovation are getting more and more important for the development of the
knowledge-based society, contributing both to the economic prosperity and to the
improvement of life quality, of individual and social welfare. They are also essential factors
for a more competitive and dynamic Europe. In this context, education plays a crucial role in
promoting creative and innovative skills, requiring a rethinking of the management processes
in this sphere of activity.
Thus, it is required to encourage the creative potential of pupils and students since [1]:
• The development of new information technologies that students use in everyday life
can be exploited in creative and innovative ways of working to help improve formal
and informal learning;
• Immersion in this information environment influences the way of learning and
understanding and therefore, teachers should develop creative approaches and find
new methods, solutions, techniques and practices for greater involvement of students
in their own learning approach;
• Creativity is a form of creating knowledge and therefore, the stimulation of creativity
has a positive contagious action on learning, supporting and strengthening the self-
learning processes, on developing competences and specific skills for the lifelong
learning.
Creativity is conceptualized as a skill for all that can be developed, but at the same time can
be inhibited, too. Therefore, the stakeholders in education have the power to unlock the
innovative and creative potential of young people, addressing creative learning and innovative
teaching. Thus, creativity is defined both as a product and as a process that expresses the
balance between originality and value. It is the ability to make unexpected and original
connections, and generate new and relevant ideas. Creative learning is, therefore, any learning
that involves understanding, awareness, logical and critical thinking, thus allowing students to
focus on the thinking skills. [1]
Creative learning is based on an innovative teaching, which is regarded more as a process that
involves implementing new methods, content and tools that would be benefits forstudents

315
and, implicitly, for their creative potential. Educational stakeholders must have a clear vision,
awareness and proper understanding of the role of creativity, which lead to the identification
of the ways to stimulate it and improve it.
Innovation and creativity in the educational area can take several different approaches,
hypostases, shapes and from this perspective we can talk about creative learning, innovative
teaching, innovative management, creative potential, etc.
The increase of the creative potential of educational organizations refers not only to their
ability to be innovative regarding products or provided educational services, to always
generate new ones, more or less apart from the existing ones, but also to the opportunity to be
innovative in management, too, identifying practical ways and solutions for the problem
solving that leave the usual track of the existing ones. "Managerial innovation distinguishes
universities, in a sensitive manner, in what regards the performances achieved in similar
conditions and at levels close to the consumption of resources." [2]

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The conducted research is based on documents and reform strategies and is founded on an
analysis of numerous studies performed by European institutions in analysingthe innovative-
creative process in the current educational environment. The method of investigation used
was the documentary analysis which included: works in specialty literature on the role of
innovation and the increase of the creative potential; articles, studies, reports, dedicated to the
educational policies in the country and the EU.Several questionnaires were applied to students
(300), teachers (150), parents (130)and local community representatives (80), as well as
interviews with the stakeholders in rural schools in Gorj County.
A comparative analysis was also realized in several schools regarding themanagement
capacity of the educational institutions to innovatively provide the infrastructure, resources,
effective leadership to obtain and improve learning outcomes and student welfare.

3. THE EUROPEAN APPROACH ON THE NEED OF INNOVATION IN

EDUCATION

A brief overview on the innovation capacity of Romania, according to the European

Innovative Scoreboard 2016 [5] reveals that Romania is a modest innovator. Innovative
performances increased until 2010, and after thatthey suffered a significant decline. The
innovative performance in 2015 is at a substantially lower level than in 2008. The relative
performance worsened from nearly 50% in 2008 to 34.4% in 2015. Figure1, is relevant.

60
50
40
30 innovation index Ro
20 innovation index UE
10
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Figure 1. Innovation index [5]

In what regards innovation in the European Union, deep involvement in the development of
the innovative capacity in educational organizations stands out, as a key factor ofintelligent

316
and sustainable development of the society.European cooperation in education and training
for the period up to 2020 should be established in the context of a strategic framework, which
includes education and training systems as a whole, in the perspective of lifelong learning.
Thus, one of the objectives of the strategic framework at the EU level is to stimulate creativity
and innovation, including entrepreneurship at all levels of education and training [4]. Europe
seeks to be a dynamic and innovative knowledge-based economy [3].
Besides inducing personal fulfilment, creativity constitutes a prime source for innovation,
which, in its turn, is recognized as one of the key-vectors of the sustainable economic
development. Creativity and innovation are essential for the development of organizations and
for Europe's ability to compete internationally. A first challenge is to promote the acquisition
by all citizens of fundamental transversal competences, such as competences in the digital
environment, "learning to learn", the spirit of initiative and the entrepreneurship spirit, as well
as cultural knowledge.
A second challenge is to ensure a fully functioning of the knowledge triangle: education-
research-innovation. Partnerships between the business community and different levels and
sectors of education, training and research can contribute to ensuring a better focus on the
skills and competences required in the labour market and on encouraging innovation and
entrepreneurship spirit in all forms of education. Wider communities of learners, involving
representatives of the civil society and other stakeholders, should be promoted in order to
create a favourable climate for creativity and a better reconciliation of professional and social
needs, as well as the welfare of individuals [4].
Thus, it is necessary to develop cooperation regarding the creation of some institutions
favourable for innovation, promoting creativity and innovation by developing specific
teaching and learning methods (including the use of new ICT tools and teacher training).
Cooperation also means partnerships and, especially, the development of partnerships
between education and training providers and businesses, research institutions, cultural actors
and creative industries, and the promotion of a functional knowledge triangle.We live in the
time when open and innovative education and training are needed, focusing on adapting to the
digital age. To support this priority related to open and innovative education and training,as
they are described at European level, a direction of approach could be the development
ofparticipatory governance by stimulating the involvement of learners, teachers, parents and
the local community - civic groups,social partners and the private environment.
The success of innovation in education is to create and implement processes, services,
methods and techniques that have resulted in significant improvements in what concerns
efficiency, effectiveness and the quality of teaching, materialized in the creation and
development of the man's profile, able to embrace the moral and ethical values, to use
knowledge in their own lives and to continue learning throughout life, to participate
responsibly in the community and to become involved in social issues, to develop leadership
skills and teamwork, to take care of themselves and manage responsiblytheir emotional and
physical needs, as a guarantee for a high quality of life.

4. ANALYSIS OF THE INNOVATION CAPACITY IN SCHOOLS MANAGEMENT.

CASE STUDY

The ability of innovation in school management is a development factor and at the

same time it provides the necessary conditions for stimulating creativity and innovation in all
its forms in schools. In the case study we analysed, based on a sample of 12 rural schools in
GorjCounty, the management capacity of schools to provide innovativelythe infrastructure,
resources, effective leadership in order to achieve and improve the learning outcomes and the
student welfare. I also watched how school management is able to improve itsown
management capacity to ensure the improvement of learning outcomes, student welfare, the
professional capacity of teachers and institutional capacity.

317
Referring to the aspectsthat concern the management capacity of schools to provide
innovatively the infrastructure, resources and effective leadership to support the teachers
inobtaining and improving learning outcomes and the student welfare, it is found to have been
fulfilled in average by five schools (41.66%) and to a lesser extent by seven schools
(58.34%).
Strategic planning documents developed by the school management team partly meet the
needs because they are not a real support to sustain teachers in order to achieve and improve
the learning outcomes and the student welfare. Thus, 58.33% of schools were evaluated as
satisfactory, which expresses the fact that the Institutional Development Plan does not
harmonize effectively the goals with the strategic options, resources in order to accomplish
the school's mission. It is required that the objectives and targets resulting from the European
strategies and policies (e.g. The Europe 2020 Strategy, The Strategic Framework for
European Cooperation in Education and Training "ET 2020") be included in PDI and aim at
reducing the school dropout, the formation of key skills, etc.
Due to an external environment, which is more and more unpredictable and with major and
fast changes, it is better for the management team to have a prospective and projective
thinking, to think in the future and develop a strategy for schoolswell-articulated, taking into
account the requirements of all direct and indirect beneficiaries.Regarding the internal and
external communication system, a percentage of 58.33% of schools were evaluated as well
and very well, which shows the managerial capacity to use the information resources to
communicate effectively with all the beneficiaries in order to improve the educational
achievements. Most schools have an updated web page, which is an effective tool in
communication.
The existence and use of school areas, regarded as a major educational resource does not
contribute to improving the educational achievement, as laboratories and offices are not
equipped accordingly, and in some schools they do not exist. The school management does
not ensure, therefore,an overwhelming infrastructure which is necessary for an efficient use of
offices and laboratories in order to modernize the teaching approach. A percentage of 66.67%
of the assessed schools got the score satisfactory. The promotion of a leadership in schools
could facilitate the involvement of all teachers and stakeholders in developing European
projects that could help schools acquire modern equipment for an effective European
education.
All the assessed schools got the score satisfactory with regard to the indicator "Existence,
characteristics and functionality of auxiliary areas", which shows the fact that school
management does not provide the necessary infrastructure for developing the guidance and
counselling services, medical services and in what concerns the activity at the library.
Management teams should be more involved and formulate clear objectives to modernize the
library, both through equipping with a new book fund, and also through providing
information and audio-video material, so necessary for a more attractive learning. Schools are
not generally susceptible to digital learning and newspecific pedagogies.Schools do not attract
accordingly the necessary computing resources to achieve strategic goals set in the IDP and,
especially, in improving the educational achievements. Thus 75% of schools were evaluated
as satisfactory on this indicator.
At 61.66% of schools, there is not a major and very deep attention on the most important
resource within the organization, namely the human resource. The strategies of human
resources, as well asthe policies are not harmonized and, the activitiesspecific for the
functioning of human resources within schools do not contribute to staff development, to its
motivation,to a greater satisfaction, to career development with beneficial effects throughout
the whole organization regarding all its performance indicators.
The positioning of schools regarding the fact that the school management is able to provide
the infrastructure, resources, effective leadership to support teachers to achieve and improve
the learning outcomes and the student welfare in Gorj County, is illustrated in the figure 2.

318
 60

50

40

30

20

10

Figure 2. Positioning of schools

It can be noticed that at this question, schools are differentiated on a range between 23 and 52
points which shows that the management team provides resources, leadership and
infrastructure differently, and promotes a specific management to support teachers
inachieving and improving learning outcomes and student welfare.It is, therefore,noticed a
poor concern for practisinga good management based on innovation, on the desire to use new
management methods and techniques.
Therefore, a better strategic planning is required, in consonance with spectacular and fast
developments within the educational environment by setting the goals and objectives of the
school organization so that to cope with major changes in education and society as a whole.
The operational plans should be more detailed and provide solutions that capitalizes the
potential of all stakeholders. Schools' aims and objectives are not fully met because there is a
decrease of the exam passing rate to 66.67% of the analysed schools. I have notsurprised
qualitative indicators which have a positive development.
The management team of the schools should promote a stronger participatory management by
involving all stakeholders in decision making and in their differentiated implementation
according to the local specific. For some schools, the use of modern communication
technologies is required, as a relatively small percentage of schools (25%) have awebsite or it
is updated.Most schools (66.67%) have not designed in their strategic documents operational
targets referring to the development of an organizational culture oriented towards stimulating
innovation and creative learning of innovation in teaching. In the current context, the
stakeholders' involvement is essential to the most schools assessed and this would lead to a
better design of the curriculum that responds to the educational needs of students and to the
development of some skills and abilities to make new connections and generate new ideas.
Concerningschool infrastructure, this does not allow the development of specific and
transversal skills, it does not favour learning through experiments, play and it does not
develop creative learning because in most of the schools assessed there are no laboratories
and offices specific for the teaching process. Libraries should be adapted to the new
conditions specific for learning by equipping with computers and other computing devices
through rearranging them to allow teamwork in developing certain projects that encourage the
generation of new ideas and solutions by using appropriate information technologies.
A more intense communication and collaboration with all the school stakeholders in
developing and implementing some school projects or in the approach of using more

319
efficiently the financial resources should constitute prerequisites for a real progress in this
area.
A significant percentage of 91,66% of schools have not shown any concern for the
procurementof curricular resources and the purchase of new teaching aids regarded as a
resource, but also as tools to promote the development of a modern educational process,
student-centred, flexible, oriented towards the facilitation of learning and that contributes to
the improvement of students' performances.Schools are generally not susceptible to digital
learning and to the new specific pedagogies. Digital learning is not a major concern for all
teachers, and expanding computer use and other curricular areas outside the curricular area
"technologies" would be absolutely necessary to increase the attractiveness of the teaching
process. Schools do not attract the appropriate computer resources needed to achieve the
strategic goals set in the IDP and, especially, in the improvement of the educational
achievements. Thus, 75% of schools were evaluated as satisfactory on this indicator.
A percentage of 83.33% of schools got the score satisfactory regarding the staff management.
The management policies in the field of employment should be clearly defined in the
managerial documents andsystematically followed because the quality of the human resource
regarded as an enormous creative potential, capable of generating a transformational thinking
at students, adaptive to new challenges of the present and future society.
The educational offer expresses very well the image of the school, the desire for change and
innovation and it is a development vector for any school. Therefore, the management team
must integrate into the educational offer all the requirements of the stakeholders regarding the
school. The educational offer does not capture the educational needs as a whole. Thus, at most
schools, besides the computer science optional, other options were not designed, that, if
promotedthrough the school offer, would have a positive impact on all the beneficiaries of
education. Not all schools develop a marketing plan which is a useful tool for promoting the
educational offer, so as to provide the necessary means and techniques for the impact of the
offer to be an optimal one for all stakeholders.
The curriculum viewed as a strategic resource is not always adapted to new requirements of
the knowledge-based society starting from the identified needs and the national, county and
local policies, so that to find again,besides the items related to local,cultural, historical and
geographical specific, also elements determined by major changes in society. Students will be,
thus, better prepared to adapt to the dynamic of changes, to find new solutions and to integrate
better into theactive life.Also, through the operational plans, the management may develop
short-term measures applied to develop the applicative, practical side of competences. The
design of some actions to work in team within departments, but also of some curricular areas
to develop the inter and intra-disciplinary side would lead to achieving new value-added and,
implicitly, high educational effectiveness. It is requiredthat the teaching-learning-assessment
strategies be subjected periodically to the analysis ofthe methodical commissions members,
the students council and the representative council of parents.
For a professional development of the staff, the management teams should substantiatethe
managerial documents regarding the human resource on the feed-back received from relevant
beneficiaries and the school staff. Drawing up a plan of development of career for each
employee that is based on a clear analysis of possibilities and development opportunities of
each teacher, is a way to increase the performances of the entire organization and proof of the
measure that the management has the ability to effectively manage the human resource as a
basic resource.The evaluation of the teaching staff should be a priority for the school
management, because only through a proper assessment it can be led to a further professional
development of each teacher. An assessment is required from the perspective of all
stakeholders (e.g. feed-back method360*).
The school management is able to improve their own management capacity (of planning,
organizing, monitoring and assessment) to ensure the improvement of the learning outcomes,
student welfare, the professional capacity of teachers and the institutional capacity to an
average extent at eight schools (66.67% ) and to a small extent at four schools
(33.33%).Nevertheless, school management at most schools has no clear evidence in
320
exercising the managerial functions. Although there is planning in schools, though, the
assessment and the improvement activity is not highlighted. The PECA cycle (plan-execute-
check-act) does not apply fully and we have no clear evidence of the activity improvement
and, implicitly, of school learning outcomes (most schools do not prove academic progress
66.67%). There has not been, at all schools, a procedure regarding the organizational culture,
and therefore, values, norms, behaviours, mentalities, attitudes that characterize the
organizational culture in school is not the support to enable institutional development and
represent a driving force in its efforts towards results and, especially, to createthe emotional,
psychological support of the student. The fundamental values are not shared by all the
members of the organization and are not vectors of development. It is recommended to
develop and implement some procedures for systematic assessment of satisfaction.
Thestakeholder’s involvement should generate a kind of relationships to substantially improve
the activity and students achievements.
Generally, some knowledge of the management techniques, of the benchmarks for various
indicators is not found and it does not compare the results of each school with the best in the
field, which would be both an incentive element, and a way to find solutions to review the
educational offer and the development project.Concerning the indicator on optimizing the
learning outcomes, the review of the assessment procedures of learning outcomes is noticed,
based on the analysis of the progress in school and making remedial plans. However, not all
schools show real progress. Also most schools do not use assessment procedures and records
of the learning outcomes for students with special educational needs, through planning and
conducting programs for remedial education and of plans of personalized intervention to
improve school performance and contribute to ensuring the student welfare. Also for the
students capable of education, it is recommended the development and use of some
assessment and guidanceprocedures to boost more and more the school results.In most
assessed schools (83.33%) students do not have access to current educational resources, and
the management team do not plan, organize, coordinate and appropriately assess the process
of ensuring with necessary resources to improve the educational achievements.

5. CONCLUSIONS

The need for creativity and innovation in education in the knowledge-based society is a
necessity and should develop into a lifestyle, in an approach which favours a healthy
development, both of each and every individual, and at the level of the entire society. The
challenges of the contemporary world materialized in unprecedented developments of
information and communication technologies, in the role of knowledge in the current context
generator of development, leads us to rethink the management processes in education, giving
them a deep innovative accent, which in turn, favours the increase of creativity and innovation
in learning and teaching, so that our students have the skills and abilities that are necessary for
a fast and efficient integration into active life, with effects on the quality of life. The study
case reflects a low potential for innovation of the management processes at schools in rural
areas and hence, the need for change, innovation so that we can talk about an effective
leadership that generates new value from the perspective of the student welfare inall aspects
that this concept offers. Creativity and innovation are certainly characterized by a culture
of risk-taking rather than an avoidance of error. The main challenge is in the values that
characterize creativity and innovation (taking risks, exploring beyond the rules, non-
compliance), which are in sharp contrast with values (standardization, obedience, significance
and fairness).
Creativity, enhanced in all stages and forms of education, activates the innovation-based
entrepreneurship. The examples of entrepreneurial success generate credible models that
support the formation of a culture of innovation and, ultimately, the development of a society

321
where innovation is the main factor of increasing competitiveness, transforming into a
lifestyle.

6. REFERENCES
1. Ferrarix, A., Cachia, R., Punie,Y., Innovation and Creativity in Education and Training in
the EU Member States: Fostering Creative Learning and Supporting Innovative, Teaching,
European, Commission Joint Research, Centre Institute for Prospective Technological
Studies, available,http://ipts.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ (2009)
2.Nicolescu, O., (coordonator), Strategia Universității, Metodologii și studii de caz, Editura
Economică, București, (2007)
3.Thenint H., Innovation in the public sector,Global Review of Innovation Intelligence and
Policy Studies, available http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/13403/attachments/ ,
(2010)
4.Xxx Jurnalul Oficial al UE. INFORMĂRI PROVENIND DE LA INSTITUŢIILE ȘI
ORGANELE UNIUNII EUROPENE,available http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/RO/
TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52009XG0528%2801%29&from=LT,(2009)
5.xxx European Innovation Scoreboard 2016, available
http://ec. europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/13183/ attachments/3/ translations,( 2016)

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 Topic 5

SMEs, entrepreneurship, innovation,

social enterprise and clusters
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A ROMANIAN CONSTRUCTION

INDUSTRY BUSINESS: THE CASE OF UNIMAT

Mihai Balaban1, Dănuţ Dumitru Dumitraşcu 2

1
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, info@mihaibalaban.ro
2
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, dan.dumitrascu@ulbsibiu.ro

ABSTRACT: The aim of this presentation is to provide a successful business paradigm in nowadays
competitive construction market of Romania. The descriptive analysis addresses the business portrait of SC
UNIMAT SRL, a company founded seventeen years ago, in central Romania (Șelimbăr, Sibiu), as part of CON-
A Group. The particularity of this organisation resides not only from its notoriety, but from also its focused and
specialised solutions designed to fulfil client’s needs and wishes. Also, its singularity arises from its rich product
portfolio, which is always up-to-date with the customer’s requisite and with the current market demand, allowing
thus the creation of a serious and long-lasting liaison with its partners. The diachronic history of the company
along with its specific customer’s solutions for clients is addressed.
KEYWORDS: client focused solutions, consultancy, construction industry, showroom.

1. INTRODUCTION
Within this paper we aim to provide a descriptive analysis of a successful business case
activating in the construction industry in central Romania. It goes beyond the aim of the study
to provide a theoretic and methodological interpretation of the situation concerning
construction industry market locally and globally, but we intend to dress a business portrait of
a particular organisation, with entire Romanian capital, that succeeded during the years in
providing high quality management solutions oriented to its clients ‘expectations. Therefore,
the case study is based on a descriptive analysis run within UNIMAT organisation.
2. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Who and what is UNIMAT business? [8]. The story of UNIMAT business started as a
prerequisite to meet clients’ need. There are plenty of studies in the field about how and under
which circumstances construction industry evolved [2, 5, 7]. The majority of these studies
insist on the imperatives of creating a construction partner organisation able to approach and
answers to the problems and questions of the actual market. Initially, in the situation of our
case study company, the selling of construction material was very rudimentary in most of the
cases, and the point of sale was just from where the clients could pick-up their products. Thus,
UNIMAT came as an obvious answer to this underdeveloped and poor service provider
solution. Once UNIMAT focused on clientele’s demands, it became the place where, besides
providing construction materials, the client can also find out exactly what the product does,
and which is the best solution for his issue. Gradually, the company developed and
strengthened the position of one of the best-selling construction material companies in the
area.

325
 Figure 1. Figure representing UNIMAT Headquarters
Nowadays, the company is represented in two cities from central Romania, with showrooms
and logistic warehouses (Sibiu and Alba) and only with a warehouse in Mureș, but it is also
already underway to build an elegant and modern showroom also in this location. The
experience has taught them, that a show-room is a mandatory element when talking about
specialised and professional selling. In this way, the client can express his problems in a
friendly environment, whereas specialised trained consultants can show him the best solutions
for the problems.
Hence, one of the key moments in the company’s development was marked by the year 2015,
when one of the most modern and innovative showroom was launched. Lately, the showroom
offers extensive solutions for the construction and interior finishing markets, where
professionals in the field are offering high standard practical consultancy to the clients.
Concerning the human capital, the company now has a total of 187 employees, most of them
hilly qualified young personnel (46 of them under 30 years old). The ownership of the
company is held by Bulboacă Mircea Vasile – Romanian citizen (90%) and Balaban Ilie
Mihai – Romanian citizen (10%).
When comes about the customer profile of UNIMAT organisation, 43% of them are in the 31-
40 years range (74% - men, 26% - women), 24% are in the 41-50 years category and 19% of
its customers are between 20-30 years. From their total number of its clientele, 26% are legal
entities (construction companies) and the rest is represented by individuals or legal entities
that do not activate in the construction field. .
When the topic of the bestselling products was called into question, it was revealed that this is
represented by the products used in building the structure of a house (e.g. bricks, tiles,
mortars), and also for the finishing details of a house (e.g. wood flooring, ceramic tiles,
varnishes and coatings etc.). Beside this, in their product portfolio, the company provides a
good variety of gardening tools, drapes and curtains, wallpaper, gas and water installations.
Furthermore, the customer can also find inside the UNIMAT showrooms, Meister Hermann,
which is an own brand of adhesives.
One of the main objectives of the UNIMAT business is to offer to its customers solutions that
they cannot find anywhere. In this matter, they have established partnerships with the best-
selling products in Europe. Thus, the company became the sole distributors for the number
one fireplaces in Germany: HARK. The brand is well-known for its quality and it is one of
their flagship brands. The fireplaces from HARK [9] turn to be exactly what they needed in
this aspect, offering thus their customers the best solutions. In addition to this, the company
also offers a complete system for the clients, from selling the best products and also offering
installation possibilities. One of the most interesting websites from its portfolio is
www.harkseminee.ro, where the visitors can see a large variety of fireplaces.

326
 Figure 2. Hark headquarters from Germany
Also, because the philosophy behind this organisation has determined them to offer only the
best and complete solutions for its clients, they are one of the best partners of ROTO [8], one
of the top producers of solutions for roof-windows. The managers have created a separate
department inside their sales department that deals only with the requests that are coming
regarding this issue. They are offering to their clients a complete and wide range of products
regarding dimensions or special products. Again, within this department it is offered the
optimal solution for installation of the products, once customer purchases it. Therefore, a
specialised sales idea in all aspects developed within UNIMAT organisation.

Figure 3. Roto roof-windows

Besides the specialised selling process to its customers, the company understood that a major
component regarding this specialised way of selling is related, not only to purchasing and
supply chain management, but also to a proper marketing process. Therefore, they designed
PR products that would help informing the market about the smart choices people have to
make when building a house. In this way, a new free printed newsletter available to the large
public arises. Meister Hermann is a monthly newspaper that is printed in 76.000 copies and is
delivered for the citizens of Sibiu, through mailboxes. In the newspaper it is shown to future
clients what can be done when using their services and solutions. Every issue contains a
reportage regarding a house that was built, providing useful tips and solution, by professionals
in the field. Furthermore, the company does neglect the cultural part and heritage that a
newspaper needs, providing useful information and pleasant lecture to its reader.
327
 Figure 4. Meister Hermann newspaper

Also, along with one of the best suppliers in the international business (Ytong, Wienerberger,
Hark, Bramac, Knauf , Tondach and many more) the organisation created three magazines
that are wrapped around the main points when building a house – Structure // Heating
Systems // Finishing details. The magazines are printed in over 30.000 copies for each number
and are distributed in Sibiu, Mures, Alba, Brasov and Cluj country. The concept behind the
magazines was mainly to offer to their customers the most updated available solutions in the
field of construction. Another very important aspect regarding UNIMAT business is the
corporate social responsibility aspect. For this company, it was very important from its very
beginning to be an active part in the community. Hence, the top management staff had
understood that through education and values we can succeed in our efforts of having a better
society. So, it was very important to understand why and how they got involved in many
educational and developmental events. Among wide variety of events of social responsibility
they were actively involved, UNIMAT became trusted partner in events like Sibiu Sands (the
first events from Romania that brought beach volleyball in the historical centre of Sibiu and
promoted sports as a way of education), The Christmas Market from Sibiu (they have
managed to build Santa Clause house, where children of all ages can participate at a wide
variety of workshops), Sibiu Guitar Meeting (a festival aiming to educate children and show
them how to express themselves through music) along with many other events with same
message and purposes.

Figure 5. Sibiu Guitar Meeting

328
3. INSTEAD OF CONCLUSIONS
In a nutshell, all hereby activities mentioned, makes UNIMAT business to be much more that
selling construction materials company. As it was revealed, UNIMAT is a paradigm in its
field, is the place where you can go when you are in need of a professional advice and
product, and where you can receive all the information and solutions you need when you want
to build something. Moreover, UNIMAT is the place where you know that the specialised
consultants will solve your problems that may arise. Last but not least, UNIMAT is the place
where you can find a partner that will treat you with respect no matter how you look, or how
much money you have in the bank account. In this direction, even the company slogan is
relevant: If you want to build strong, choose quality!

4. REFERENCES

1. Bruhn, M. Orientarea spre clienti, Editura Economica, Bucuresti, Romania, (2001)

2. Delgado-Hernandez, D., J, Aspinwall, E., Quality management case studies in the UK
construction industry, Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, Vol.19 , No.9,
pp. 919-938, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14783360802224545 , (2008)
3. Dumitrescu L., Mihăescu L., Mihăescu D., Managing Economic Solutions for a Global
Sustainable Development, The 5th Iasme / Wseas International Conference On Energy &
Environment (EE,10), Cambridge, UK, pp. 23-25, (2009)
4. Holland CP, Light B, Kawalek P., Beyond enterprise resource planning projects:
innovative strategies for competitive advantage, Proceedings of the seventh European
conference on information systems, Copenhagen, pp. 288–301, (1999)
5. Hoonakker, P., Carayon, P., Loushine, T., Barriers and benefits of quality management
in the construction industry: An empirical study, Total Quality Management & Business
Excellence, Vol. 21 , No. 9, pp. 953-969,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2010.487673, (2010)
6. Todericiu R., Șerban A., Dumitrașcu O., Particularities of knowledge workers' motivation
strategies in Romanian organizations, Procedia Economics and Finance, Vol. 6, pp. 405–
413, (2013);
7. Zhipeng Z.,Yang M.,G., Qiming L., Overview and analysis of safety management studies
in the construction industry, Safety Science, 72, pp. 337-350, (2015)
8. www.unimat.ro
9. www.fereastrademansarda.ro
10. www.harkseminee.ro

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

WHO PROVIDES MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS IN

ROMANIA? A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT PRODUCER ORGANISATIONS

Mihai Ilie Balaban 1, Dănuţ Dumitru Dumitraşcu 2

1
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, info@mihaibalaban.ro
2
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, dan.dumitrascu@ulbsibiu.ro

ABSTRACT: The aim of the present research was to offer a general overview of the organisations producing
client software solutions in Romania. More specifically, starting from data provided by The Ministry of Public
Finance of Romania, following the classification of economic activities in the European Community, tax and
balance sheet criteria, we attempt to outline the profile of the registered companies providing order software
packages all over Romania. Also, data analysis provide a detailed map of software solutions organisations
figuring on the Romanian market, in terms of employee capital staffing, turnover, net profit, and national or
foreign capital. The major findings of the study confirm our initial assumption that, despite the hilly skilled
resources, the country is still facing a handicap concerning software solutions knowledge and implementation as
far as top management and decisive personnel is concerned. Implications of the study for enhancing organisation
processes and profit, by means of business management software solutions are been discussed.

KEYWORDS: information management, client software solutions, Enterprise Resource Planning, secondary
data, Romania.

1. INTRODUCTION
The dynamics and the complexity of integrated software packages derive not only from the
benefits brought to the company itself, but also from its actuality and its coverage all over the
world spread in a wide variety of disciplines. Even though, at international level there are
plenty of researches debating how to integrate information within organisation [9, 7, 12, 2, 1],
concerning the Romanian area, even empirically and practically, such topics still remain
underdeveloped [5]. It is commonly accepted among scholars [9, 3] that an organizational
performance is influenced mainly by its capacity to integrate itself in the environment, by the
efficacy of its actions towards exploiting numerous opportunities, by its capacity to cope with
undesired situations and risks that might occur. Therefore, information management in our
case is vital, as beforehand collected data are analyzed and used by its managers, in order to
take the best decisions. This is one of the reasons why information in management is of vital
importance, as it is understood in terms of information needed in decisional management
process. Hence, the imperative of studying and understanding information in managerial
process is generated by the decisional act, aiming firstly to enhance the procedures and
facilities of the organization and afterwards, helping a proper planning, implementation,
monitoring and participative evaluation of each organization, even at local or international
level. All these are completed if further attention is paid to the cultural and axiological
background of each organization [8,7], which was empirically proved to be inherited, rather
than educated [10]. An exhaustive presentation of the conceptual and theoretical background
that is behind the present analysis does not make the objective of the present study. We
consider more useful, in this emerging phase to provide a statistical analysis of public
available data.
Therefore, the operational aim of this paper was to raise up the portrait of national software
solution providers, using data available from the National Agency for Fiscal Administration
of Romania [11]. In fact, the aim of our study was to offer a preliminary reinterpretation of
public data as regards the current situation of software market in Romania, selecting several

330
 independent variables, such as: employee capital staffing, turnover, net profit, and national or
foreign capital. In order to achieve such aim a research question was addressed.

Research question: Which is the profile of client softwaree solutions providers in Romania?

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

In order to give an answer to our research question we made use of secondary data analysis.
More precisely, the source of our empirical study was The Ministry of Public Finance of
Romania. The selection of data was done using the classification of economic activities in the
European Community, tax and balance sheet criteria [11]. Once centralised, data were
analysed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS), through which
descriptive statistical analysis (e.g. frequencies, means, sums), independent samples t-tests
and correlations were achieved.

3. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

The operational aim of the present study was to measure and analyse the following
dimensions: employee capital staffing, turnover, net profit and national or foreign capital, in
order to depict the profile of the oriented client software providers in Romania. Thus, from the
total number of registered companies with balance sheet submitted for the year 2014,
estimated at 636,847 businesses, we made afterwards the selection of only those companies
having as main activity the creation of client oriented software, registered under the
Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE code) no. 6201
(N=5361). In accordance with the selection of capital type criteria, the following distribution
of organisations was obtained. (Table 1).

Table 1 Total number of target organisations

Profile No %
Organisations with Romanian capital 4.654 87%
Organisations with foreign capital 707 13%
total 5.361

Therefore, the number of organizations with Romanian capital operating in the field of
software production is prevalent (n=4654).

Table 2. General distribution of target organizations following selected indicators

Financial indicators
Type No. % No. % Turnover % Net Profit % profita profit/ c.a./no
Org. Org. Emplo (RON) (RON) bility employ employe
yees profit / ees es
c.a.
Romania 4.654 87 14.019 34,7 2.827.067.61 35,5 366.348.9 58 13% 26.132 201.660
n capital % % 7 % 46 %
foreign 707 13 26.349 65,3 5.147.180.64 64,5 267.182.6 42 5% 10.140 195.346
capital % % 4 % 91 %
total 5.361 40.368 7.974.248.26 633.531.6
1 37

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From the table above it can be seen that 13% of companies achieved 65% of turnover and
employ 65% personnel in this area. Regarding their profit, things are exactly the opposite,
namely: Romanian companies have profitability at a level of 13% compared to 5% obtained
by the companies with foreign capital. Here become very transparent the lack of interest of
the Romanian state, which is not sufficiently responsive to these indicators and does not
support the Romanian capital organizations.
If we state recent data provided by the Romanian journal ”Ziarul Național” [6], when
analyzing the total number of companies and their declared profit versus turnover, we find
that companies with foreign capital companies externalize their profits. Also related to the
non-involvement of the Romanian state, we subscribe to the findings of recent article
published by Ziarul Financiar on 3rd of April 2016, and written Mr Cristian Hostiuc. The
author states the following: "We are discriminated against at home, by the Romanian state.
Foreign companies are stretching carpet, while we, the Romanian entrepreneurs, we are
"thrown to the dogs". We make profit for years, and multinationals only reported losses, but
nobody asks them anything" [6].

Table 3. Overview of organisations using data published by the Romanian journal

”Ziarul Național”(personal analysis)
Type No. % No. turnover profit
organisations employees
Private Romanian 423.000 92% 2.400.000 509.000.000.000 14.000.000.000
organisations
Foreign capital 38.000 8% 1.180.000 536.000.000.000 -2.000.000.000
organisations
total 461.000 3.580.000 1.045.000.000.000

In accordance with the data analysis presented above, we can observe that at the same
turnover, foreign companies declare losses, in order to avoid paying income tax to the
Romanian state. The reference to the article published the Romanian journal ”Ziarul Național”
was carried out in accordance the total number of private companies from Romania who
deposited the balance sheet for the financial year 2014. Inside the same cited article [6], we
find a reference to the American state, which supporting US companies in all their major
industries, of importance for them, especially in the case of the armaments industry, where all
suppliers have American capital. Moreover, in case a non-US company provides products or
services in this area, it is considered, by the author to be "a national drama in Congress".
In the following step of analysis we will try to map the profile of Romanian organizations
focused on custom software development. Therefore, from the total number of registered
companied producing software in Romania, with NACE code no. 6201, we selected only
those businesses which registered turnover greater than zero. These were 4508 (N = 4508), of
which 86.8% had Romanian capital (figure 1).

332
 Figure 1. Distribution of organizations producing software in accordance with their capital

Our data analysis reveals that the position of soft producer companies is mainly around the
major Romanian university centres, which in fact activate as a dynamic attraction pole for
human resources hiring. In other words universities are training highly qualified human
capital, essential for such corporations.
Where and when the software companies figure?
The geographic positing of software producer organisations is mainly in Bucharest and Ilfov
(35.8%), followed by Cluj (12.7%,), by Timisoara, Brasov and Iasi (5%), less by Sibiu (3%) ,
Targu Mures, Craiova, Oradea, Ploiesti (2%). The remaining districts are slightly represented
(1% and less).
Moreover, for our analysis it was also relevant that, the geopolitical features played a
significant role in the investment in software market. For example, in 2004, the year of
Romania's entry into NATO there were set up only 22.1% of the total number of existing
profile companies, while after 2007, when Romania became a new member state, the interest
of foreign software companies in the field significantly increased (59%).
Additionally, if we examine the profile of software companies with foreign capital,
accordingly to their human capital, we can see that 50% of employees activate in small
enterprises. The related graphic representation is presented in the next figure below.

Figure 2. No of employees in foreign capital companies activating in Romania

333
From the total companies we analysed, it was noted that the majority is owned by
Microenterprises (83.7%), of which 2270 with Romanian capital.
Table 4. Distribution of companies following their capital and employees
No of employees /category
1-10 11-100 101-250 251-1000 >1001 Total
Foreign no Count 2270 231 5 3 1 2510
capital % of Total 75,3% 7,7% 0,2% 0,1% 0,0% 83,3%
yes Count 253 195 37 16 4 505
% of Total 8,4% 6,5% 1,2% 0,5% 0,1% 16,7%
Total Count 2523 426 42 19 5 3015
% of Total 83,7% 14,1% 1,4% 0,6% 0,2% 100,0%

Once we read the data summarized in the table below (table 5), we can conclude the
following: the turnover of software producer micro-enterprises in Romania is 1.301.229.120,
and the profit generated by them is 181 133 416, which actually represents approximately
20% of the total turnover achieved by the 4508 key companies of profile. The data relating to
companies with 101-250 (small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are set in the next
table. In the case of SMEs, their turnover is 2,349,574,634 and their net profit is 178 136 273.
As for data available from organisations with more than 1000 employees, it was revealed that
that there are only 5, 4 being with foreign capital and one with Romanian capital, achieving a
turnover of 1,142,902,562.

Table 5. The profile of soft producer companies with 11-100 employees

N Minimum Maximum Sum Mean Std. Deviation
turnover of the 187.076.08
426 68.574 2.349.574.634 5.515.433,41 11.505.127,370
company RON) 5
net profit (RON) -
426 9.090.735 178.136.273 418.160,27 1.003.508,591
4.706.978
year of starting 426 1991 2014 854.099 2004,93 5,733
no of employees 426 11 99 12.458 29,24 19,429

Table 6. The profile of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

N Minimum Maximum Sum Mean Std. Deviation

turnover of the
42 6.381.325 338.077.465 1.427.485.162 33.987.741,95 50.813.329,426
company RON)
net profit (RON) 42 -3.835.957 14.239.870 91.792.924 2.185.545,81 2.910.912,606
year of starting 42 1991 2014 84172 2004,10 5,750
no of employees 42 102 250 6977 166,12 45,487

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Without any doubt, the present preliminary analysis provided new insights concerning the
actual statement of software producer organisations activation on market.
In few words, we can conclude that the overall profile of such organisations is geographically
located around the major Romanian university centres, being thus an important pole of
attraction of hilly qualified human resource; the Romanian capital companies declare much
more profitability, than foreign capital, which externalize their profit; the majority of
companies declares to employ between 1 to 10 persons, most of them being registered as
Microenterprises with Romanian capital.
Despite its limitations, due its methodology based on secondaryy data analysis and not own
collected data, the present still remains an useful tool not only for further deeper personal
analysis, but also for economic decisional actors or for interested soft suppliers, users and
academia, aiming to improve their organisation processes and profit, by means of better
business management and understanding.

4. REFERENCES

1. Al-Mashari, M., Constructs of Process Change Management in ERP Context: A Focus on

SAP R/3, American Conference on Information Systems, Long Beach, USA (2000)
2. Balaban, M., Dadarlat, A., Dumitrascu, D., The Advantages Of The Crm – Type Systems
For Resources Planning And Management In Companies, Proceedings of the 8th
International management Conference, pp.117-127,Bucharest, Romania, (2014)
3. Davenport, T., H De Long, David, W., C Beers, M., (1998). Successful knowledge
management projects, MIT Sloan Management Review, 39, 2, pp.43-57, (2010)
4. Dumitrescu L., Mihăescu L., Mihăescu D., Managing Economic Solutions for a Global
Sustainable Development, The 5th Iasme / Wseas International Conference On Energy &
Environment (EE,10), Cambridge, UK, pp. 23-25, (2009)
5. Fotache, D., Hurubean, L., Pavaloaia, V., Dospinescu O., Platforme integrate pentru
afaceri – ERP, Editura Economica, București, Romani, (2013)
6. Hostiuc, C.”Suntem discriminaţi la noi acasă de către statul român. Companiilor străine li
se întinde covorul, în timp ce noi, antreprenorii români, suntem «aruncaţi la câini». Noi de
ani de zile facem profit, iar multinaţionalele raportează numai pierderi şi nimeni nu le
întreabă nimic"., article available at http://www.zf.ro/eveniment/discriminati-acasa-catre-
statul-roman-companiilor-straine-intinde-covorul-timp-antreprenorii-romani-aruncati-
caini-ani-zile-facem-profit-iar-multinationalele-raporteaza-numai-pierderi-nimeni-le-
15195142 (2016)
7. Krumbholz, M., Galliers, J., Coullianos, N., Maiden, N., Implementing enterprise resource
planning packages in different corporate and national cultures, Journal of Information
Technology, 15, pp. 267-279, (2000)
8. Moon, Y.B., Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): a review of the literature, International
Journal Management and Enterprise Development, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp.235–264, (2007)
9. Somers, T., Nelson, K., Karimi, J., Confirmatory factor analysis of the end-user
computing satisfaction instrument: replication within an ERP domain, Decision Sciences,
Vol. 34, No. 3, pp.595-621, (2003)
10. Ștefenel, D. How much culture is in conflict communication? A cross-cultural approach in
two European countries, in Jesus Garcia Laborda, Fezile Ozdamli, Yasar Maasoglu (Eds),
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, pp. 2691–2696, (2014)
11. The Ministry of Public Finance of Romania,
http://www.mfinante.gov.ro/pjuridice.html?pagina=domenii,
12. Weli W., Manager satisfaction in using the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and
the managerial performance, Australasian Journal of Information Systems, Vol. 18, No. 3,
pp.119-135, (2014)

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE ECONOMIC ENTITY USING

ALTERNATIVE DECISIONS

Berechet (Dragnea) Mihaela Cornelia1, Scarlat (Lazăr) Maraina Laura2

1
Valahia University, Tirgoviste, Romania, berechetmihaela@yahoo.com
2
Valahia University, Tirgoviste, Romania, laura.lazar76@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: Financial management is reflected in the financial decisions through which the executive
management has achieved the objectives of the economic entity, while significantly contributing to the
achievement of performance indicators included in the warrant targeting managerial activity, requiring the entity
to operate in compliance with the rigors of law in the economic, fiscal and even social domain. In order to
achieve a performant economic entity, the most appropriate decision is required, whose application should
generate the expected results by the management, shareholders, employees or contributors, should help identify
sources of capital and finding the most appropriate ways to use them. The creation of the necessary
circumstances to select the most efficient managerial decisions in the financial area prompted the need to
identify and build new managerial tools that allow the possibility of simulating alternative decisions that are
assigned default effects, instruments based on scientific reasons and empirically applicable, according to the
financial policies of the economic entity. It has also been taken into account the overall objective and of major
importance of any economic entity, namely to add value both to net patrimony and income of shareholders.
KEYWORDS: managerial act, alternative decisions, financial decision, economic entity, financial information.

1. INTRODUCTION
Financial management is an activity of major importance in the life of any economic entity
that makes it absolutely necessary to know „all instruments, financial assets, variables and
financial adjustment processes" which guide executive management to coordination and
improvement of financial decisions, and to controlling the relations with „financial partners
and the markets involved in the activity”.
Fast growing economic flows in Europe and economic globalization, engages economic
entities from Romania to reconsider both economic behaviour and theoretical and practical
approaches in the management activity, so national economy should meet the global
economic expectations by harmonizing and integrating into it.
In the present economic context we consider that the financial management of entities can
directly contribute to the economic integration of Romania into the European economic
environment through its role, to „ensure the quality and performance levels on the long term,
to maintain solvency and to master the risks” to which the entity is exposed.
The current state of knowledge regarding financial management as the main activity carried
out within an economic entity, but also in terms of financial decision has as reference the
classical approach to information of economic-financial nature whose attributes describe them
as useful elements in substantiation of managerial decisions in the economic field. According
to this approach, we identified in literature three main categories of economic and financial
information useful in substantiating and improving decision, as follows:
• „general information on the economic, fiscal and monetary policy;
• information regarding the sector the enterprise belongs to;
• economic and legal information on the company.”
Financial management is structured on three complex directions, as follows:
• financial analysis, that represents all concepts, techniques, tools and methods by which
the financial accounting information is collected, analysed, handled and processed so that
management may benefit from a realistic knowledge of economic and financial situation
of the economic entity, of the vulnerabilities affecting it and of the opportunities it can
harness;

336
• financial planning, defined as the process by which the economic entity establishes the
elements and the synergy of actions necessary to achieve the targets and financial policies
carried out on the short, medium and long term. Depending on the period covered by the
financial planning, we find that its purposes are distinct as follows:
• short-term financial planning is usually carried out for a year, focusing on maximizing
revenues and minimizing costs or at least controlling them;
• medium-term financial planning is carried out for a period between one and three
years focusing on changeover and application of the concept of „asset management”
which brings together financial management activities and tangible assets;
• long-term planning is usually carried out for a period between three and five years and
aims to strengthen the economic entity by increasing its capital and entering
competitive markets. In this context, financial planning can be done both on
forecasting the situation of the economic entity, and by building a system of multi-
annual budgets that ensure available resources prediction and also control their use.
• financial strategy is defined as „all long-term decisions (investment decisions, financing,
distribution of net profit) which outlines possible paths to ensure a lasting and dominant
position in the competitive economic enterprise”.
The present study focuses on increasing the quality of financial management carried out
within the economic entity by identifying the easiest possible use as a system of alternative
decisions.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1 Study Methodology
The present work was accomplished by combining sustained process of study, collection and
analysis of theoretic information, with expertise in the field owned by us, obtaining
thoroughgoing phenomena generated by the decision-making process in the financial
management activity of economic entities.
The methodological approach in compiling this study was based on completing a series of
steps as follows:
• „problem identification;
• submission of hypothesis;
• decision over procedure (deductive reasoning);
• data collection and analysis;
• drawing conclusions”;
• presentation of results.
Through this study, as a segment of an extensive research covering the identification of new
facets of the information financial accounting system in performing managerial act by
alternative decisions, we aim to highlight the need to create a management tool that generates
decision - making variations easy to carry out with impact on their application on the
economic entity as a whole.
Under the circumstances, during the study, we used techniques as: basic research and research
development. However, during the analysis we carried out within the limits of the principles
of scientific research, respectively: complementarity, observation and correspondence.
2.2 General concepts and occurrence environment of the financial management
Generic, „Management is a process involving a mixture of rational elaboration of logic
decision-making and problem-solving activities with the activities of intuitive judgment” [1].
Extrapolating from the general definition of management, we consider that financial
management is one of the possibilities for practical manifestation of the managerial financial
process this implying mainly maximization of the economic entity value and ensuring the
necessary resources to conduct its business. The schematic presentation of the influence of
external and internal factors on the activity of the economic entity in the light of the financial
management act, respectively financial policies and scientific reasons, not least its practical
applicability is described in Figure 1.
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 External factors: political,
economic, banking, Financial
financial markets, management act
competition, economic Achieving financial goals
environment, legal and
normative framework

Constitution, distribution, use of

financial resources and cash flow
assigning.
Financial policies:
Scientific reasons:
- of investment;
- basic concepts;
- of financing; Financial decisions - financial instruments;
- of dividends. (tactical and strategic) - adjustment principles

Internal factors:
Organizational structure and culture,
short, medium and long term Applicability
strategies. Technologies, products, - financial analysis;
services, policies of the economic - FINANCIAL
entity, etc. MANAGEMENT;
- financial diagnosis.

Figure 1. Interaction and action of external and internal factors on the financial decision
From the above representation is noted that financial decisions are taken in terms of three
main directions, namely: the theoretical and rational concepts, adjustment tools and
principles; financial investment policies, financing or dividends achieving; and not least the
practical applicability through tools, methods and techniques such as financial analysis,
financial management and financial diagnosis. Also, it can be observed that financial
decisions are influenced both by internal factors of the economic entity and external. Thus,
the internal factors are those of organizational structure nature, of functional and hierarchical
relations, organizational culture, policies and development strategies and not least of the used
technological degree. Among the external factors, the most relevant from our point of view
are the political, economic, competitive environment and the legislative framework.
Personal assessments:
The accomplishment of general and specific objectives of any economic entity requires a
multitude of activities of a complex variable - small, medium, large, interconnected activities
that form a functional system whose modelling, on a particular segment, determine influences
on other constituent segments, that is why the shaping of the system is recommended to be
carried out on the whole.
From literature, we deducted, regarding the above described context that: “The things an
effective manager must achieve, namely the elements he should be formed upon, are defined
through a careful analysis of the specific nature and the circumstances of its work [...]” [2].
2.3 Improving financial decision within the economic entities
The decision is defined as a „ A resolution taken after examining a problem, a situation, etc.,
adopted solution (of several possible); resolution.”

338
From the individual study of literature and online resources, we identified that financial
decision decomposes in three segments as follows:
„a) Decision on the financing sources of the company's activity on different terms (short,
medium and long term). This refers both to identifying sources and to determine the amount of
funds that can be provided from these sources.
b) Decision on the use of financial funds for investments, called investment decision, both in
theory and in practice firm decisions.
c) Relative decision at the time of funds usage of the company, namely their allocation for
present or future consumption”.
Robert J. Marzano, although a researcher dedicated to environmental education considers, in
the studies he conducted and published in his various works, that in order to opt for a good
decision you need to follow the following steps:
• „Think about as many alternatives as possible.
• Think about the good and bad points of each alternative.
• Think about the likelihood of success of the best alternatives.
• Choose the best alternative based on its value and likelihood of success.”
2.4 Results
Thus, the financial decision must be based on concrete knowledge base which offer as many
variants as possible so that the manager may choose the right decision based on the purpose
and objectives of the economic entity.
From the above mentioned in this paper, we consider that in order to exercise managerial act
effectively in the financial area, it is necessary that the decision maker, the manager to dispose
of a proper substantiation and approval instrument of financial decision, easily adaptable to
short-term response.
The study of literature, online resources (conferences, workshops, digital libraries) revealed
that the most used tool in business management is „The dashboard”.
Compared to the concern of this paper, we consider that the financial decision can be
substantiated and adopted with the help of a „Dashboard” specialized on financial activity,
built on the basis of some indicators or financial – economic rates whose calculation formula
should use common elements to the indicators used in management in assessing performance
in activity.
The increased efficiency of using a „Dashboard” specialized in financial activity can be
registered if it allows the simulation of certain decisions legitimization results and the
designation, by alerting the decision-maker of the consequences of financial decisions on other
sectors, but also on the entire public entity.
To summarize, we consider that „The Dashboard” specialized on the financial management
activity should strengthen elements - rates and indicators in all sectors and allow the sizing of
possible consequences of financial decisions, thus creating an alternative system of financial
decisions.
2.5 Conclusions
The performance of an economic entity through financial decisions require meeting the
following conditions:
• Substantiation of the financial decision should be based on financial and accounting
information available to decision-makers through coherent and comprehensive financial
accounting information.
• Legitimization of the financial decision in time, which obliges the inclusion in the database
of the accounting – financial information system of the economic entity of the management
accounting. Management accounting can provide information in a quick manner, which is
an advantage, but the accuracy of the data can sometimes be affected, this being a
disadvantage. Within the economic entities, financial accounting offsets this disadvantage
of management accounting.

339
• Consistency between financial decisions and management decisions on the whole. Hereby,
the adoption of the financial decisions is done knowingly placing the economic entity in a
comfortable position in the external environment in which it operates.
• The accurate communication of the financial decision, so that decision-makers have a solid
base of information that would provide a clear understanding of it and an implementation
with maximum beneficial effect to the economic entity.
The complexity of the financial management act, carried out within the economic entity
requires the need for a fluent, coherent financial accounting information system, which should
provide qualitative, timely and useful information. The impact of the financial managerial act
on the economic entity should materialize in results such as:
• Ensuring sustentation of the economic entity in the financial balance.
• Managing expenses and therefore using in terms of efficiency and economy the resources
of the economic entity.
• Maintaining a performant economic entity by maximizing profit, and as for public interest
entities maintaining financial balance while increasing investment and financing in relation
to financial risks which the entity can assume.
• Ensuring and optimization of cash flows created within the economic entity.
• Ensuring financial, economic capitalization and of the consumed resources etc..
• Strengthening and economic development of the economic entity.
3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Considering that this paper is part of an extensive scientific work we would like to thank our
coordinator teacher as well as our teachers from the doctoral school of Valahia University in
Tîrgoviște with which help we managed to obtain the desired results.
4. REFERENCES
1. Sadler, Philip, Lock, Dennis, (Coordinator) The Management Gower CODECS Printing
House, The Power of Knowledge, Bucharest, Romania, (2001).
2. Munford A., Lock, Dennis, (Coordinator) The Management Gower CODECS Printing
House, The Power of Knowledge, Bucharest, Romania, pp 703, (2001).
3. Petrescu S., Financial – accounting analysis and diagnosis – theoretical practical guide,
IIIrd Edition, revised and updated CECCAR Printing house, Bucharest, Romania, (2010).
4. Nicolescu, Ovidiu, The organization's management information, Economic Printing
house, Bucharest, Romania, (2001).
5. Rentrop&Straton, Specialized information, Green Card Accounting, Bucharest, Romania,
(2015).
6. Rentrop&Straton, Counsellor, Financial Management, Bucharest, Romania, (2009).

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

THE ROLE OF EUROPEAN PROJECTS IN LEVERAGING

ENTREPRENEURIAL INITIATIVES OF STUDENTS FROM
ROMANIAN BUSINESS SCHOOLS
Capatina Alexandru1, Micu Adrian2, Nicolescu Ciprian3, Cristache Nicoleta4 and Micu
Angela-Eliza5
1
Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania, alexandru.capatana@ugal.ro
2
Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania, adrian.micu@ugal.ro
3
Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania, ciprian.nicolescu@gmail.com
4
Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania, cristache.nicoleta@yahoo.de
Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania, angelaelizamicu@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: Tracking the experiences acquired in a European project called “SIMPRACT - Transition from
school to active life through internships and the creation of simulated enterprises”, this articles aims at exploring
students’ perception regarding the advantages of active learning in a virtual business environment, respectively
on the benefits related to the engagement in the virtual companies, in order to discover the added-value of this
project to entrepreneurship education in Romania. The students’ feedback on SIMPRACT activities
demonstrated that they gained expertise on dealing with specific issues, enabling their reactivity on the future
real business complexity. The managerial implications of this project are obvious, as an important contribution to
entrepreneurship education through active learning in Romanian business schools.
KEYWORDS: entrepreneurship, virtual enterprise, active learning, simulation

1. INTRODUCTION
According to EUROPEN-PEN International (PEN), a practice enterprise (also known as a
virtual enterprise) is a virtual company that runs like a real business tailored to a real firm's
business procedures, products and services. It provides students or trainees with hands-on
business skills and enhances their knowledge and experiential learning of most common
business practices (http://www.penworldwide.org/practiceenterprise.html).
Recalling the conclusions of a research conducted by European Foundation for
Entrepreneurship Research (EFER), European business schools should formalize
entrepreneurship as an important part of the curriculum, by integrating entrepreneurship
topics into other courses, developing partnerships with business and entrepreneurs, supporting
projects and training programs for entrepreneurship experiential learning and encouraging the
sharing of good practices, across their own institution, as well as with other business schools
[1].
Business schools from worldwide are constantly facing challenges to develop entrepreneurial
initiatives, able to support student’s active learning about the entrepreneurial process,
opportunity recognition, entry strategies, financial projections, external assistance for start-
ups and small business [2].
Given the considerable attention and resources allocated by business schools in
entrepreneurial projects, students who have learned to plan their wishful business idea prove
increased mastery, knowledge, and comprehension that would assist them in the process of
creating a start-up [3].
Empirical analyses demonstrated that university spin-offs/start-ups tends to remain local
initiatives; thus, business schools’ deans should devote an increasing attention to find out
opportunities to finance projects for entrepreneurial education [4].
In this context, the goal of the current research is to reveal the benefits of entrepreneurship
active learning in a virtual business environment, provided by a European project called

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SIMPRACT - Transition from school to active life through internships and the creation of
simulated enterprises (April 2014 - December 2015), co-financed through European Social
Fund through the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resource Development 2007-2013
– project promoter and coordinator: National Council of Private SMEs in Romania
(CNIPMMR).

2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND: ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACTIVE LEARNING

WITHIN VIRTUAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS
The majority of business schools from worldwide confronts with the following paradigm:
current methods of assessing learning outcomes and guiding students have not kept pace with
the necessity of active learning, or with the transformed technological infrastructure of the
modern business school [5]. Excellence in teaching business disciplines is a competitive
imperative at most business schools; the professors are facing the challenge of creating
learning environments, such as virtual enterprise (VE) that engage, inspire, and motivate
students to develop the skills they need for the real business world [6].
The active teaching framework aims to provide a bridge between education in business
schools and the field of entrepreneurship and seeks to stress the scientific legitimacy of
entrepreneurship education [7].
Virtual Business Learning (VBL) concept has been designed on competence based learning,
communities of practice, the learning organization, authentic situated learning, learning by
doing, to meet the changing learning needs of Business Schools’ students – the future
working professionals [8].
Real collaborative activities among companies involved in a virtual environment cannot be
done before a partnership is developed among virtual companies; thus, virtual enterprises may
use the business model to determine its future partnership strategy with other companies [9].
Typical features of VEs include customer-orientation, dynamic integration, professional
division of duty, distributed cooperation and communications, knowledge sharing within the
virtual business environment [10].
The success of a dynamic VE depends largely on the strategy deployed by its management
team, able to interrelate the skills, knowledge, core competences and core resources of its
members to offer value-added benefits. The virtual networks support VEs, as virtual business
activities are usually conducted automatically by online applications [11].
The main advantages active learning within virtual business environments are represented by
more immersive learning experiences for the learner and include the potential to provide
better simulations of real-life contexts (for training) or to enhance deeper conceptual thinking
(for learning) [12].
A previous research, based on the academic virtual enterprise framework, has been confirmed
to be a solution for opening the conventional educational institutions, as the experiences of
participants were relevant in gaining knowledge about distributed product development in
virtual enterprises [13].
A highly interesting research project Fairs Net offers innovative on-line services to support
trade fair activities, as well as the activities organized in Web-based virtual fairs, in order to
improve the efficiency of establishing business contacts by virtual organizations [14].
Entrepreneurship education has advanced as a means to educate the new generation of
entrepreneurs, by endowing students with the skills to take any area of study or discipline and
be creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial [15].
One of the primary purposes of entrepreneurship education resides on the development of
skills of prospective entrepreneurs to meet the challenges they will face as they plan and
launch a start-up. Entrepreneurship education involves creativity skill development, in view to
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help students to conduct the opportunity recognition process to bring new ideas to market,
along with knowledge of how to support a culture for creativity within teams and
organizations [16].
The Student Entrepreneurship Encouragement Model provides a complete overview of
offerings that academic institutions can select and implement to further create a university's
entrepreneurial ecosystem. Three stages could be identified in which entrepreneurs
significantly benefit from certain entrepreneurial courses provided by business schools. The
stages over which a business school can coordinate its offerings are the stimulation stage, the
education stage, and the incubation stage [17].
The issue of how students learn from simulations has received very little attention, even if
simulations were embedded in entrepreneurial education. The simulation-based assessment
shows that students have achieved what they were meant to achieve in terms of knowledge,
skill development and other learning outcomes [18].
In the context of entrepreneur hip education, virtual enterprises play a vital role; their goal is
to exploit fast-changing market opportunities; sharing of risks, costs and competencies is the
main partnership objective, within a dynamic and flexible network [19].

3. THE GAIN IN VALUABLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP EXPERTISE THROUGH

ACTIVE LEARNING IN A VIRTUAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
During the implementation of SIMPRACT project, we were fully aware of the necessity to
analyze the feedback of the students involved in this project, in order to assess their
perceptions on how their training in virtual companies contribute to the development of their
entrepreneurial skills.
In this way, we designed a questionnaire, which was administrated on a sample of 120
students from three Romanian business schools („Dunărea de Jos” University of Galați,
Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest and Ovidius University of Constanta), who
attended the national fairs dedicated to virtual enterprises created within this project.
The research conceptual framework involves two hypothesis (H1 and H2), which aims at
revealing the relationships between the levels of study (Bachelor/Master), considered as
independent variable, and students’ perception regarding the advantages of active learning in
a virtual business environment, respectively on the benefits related to the engagement in the
virtual companies, considered as dependent variables. The students’ answers were integrated
in a SPSS database in view to proceed to statistical analyses, by means of Pearson's R and
Spearman correlation coefficient.
The correlation coefficient Pearson's R reveals the degree of linear association between the
independent and dependent variables included in a hypothesis, having two key properties
reflecting the magnitude and the direction. When its value is near zero, there is no or a weak
correlation, but when it approaches to the limits (-1 or +1), it outlines a strong negative,
respectively positive relationship between the variables. Spearman correlation indicates the
direction of association between the independent variable and the dependent variable; thus, if
the dependent variable tends to increase when the independent variable increases, the
Spearman correlation coefficient is positive; otherwise, the Spearman correlation coefficient
is negative. A Spearman correlation near zero highlights that there is no tendency for the
dependent variable to either increase or decrease when the independent variable increases.

H1: The level of study (Bachelor/Master) influences students’ perception regarding the
advantages of active learning in a virtual business environment

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 Table 1. Cross tabulation between the variables embedded into H1
Students’ perception regarding the advantages of active learning in a Total
virtual business environment
The lack of Opportunities Learning Knowledge Creativity
financial to test through sharing development
risks alternative mistakes between
business ideas students
Level of Bachelor 18 25 7 11 13 74
study Master 23 2 1 18 2 46
TOTAL 41 27 8 29 15 120

We remark significant gaps between the perceptions of Bachelor and Master students in what
concern their perceptions on the advantages of active learning in a virtual business
environment; the Bachelor students, who has less practical expertise, are eager to capture the
opportunities to test alternative business ideas, while the Master students pay more attention
on entrepreneurial training in an environment with no financial risks and appreciate the
knowledge sharing of best practices in virtual enterprises educational framework.

Table 2. Symmetric measures related to the test of H1

Value Asymp. Std. Approx. T
Approx. Sig
Error
Interval by
Pearson’s R -0,080 0,091 -0,868 0,387
Interval
Ordinal by Spearman
-0,130 0,095 -1,423 0,157
Ordinal Correlation
Number of
120
valid cases

The results of the first hypothesis testing process are validated by Pearson’s R and Spearman
correlation coefficients, because their values (-0,080, respectively -0,130) are negative, but
situated near zero, emphasizing a weak correlation between the independent variable (level of
study) and dependent variable (students’ perception regarding the advantages of active
learning in a virtual business environment).

H2: The level of study (Bachelor/Master) influences students’ perception regarding the
benefits of their engagement in virtual enterprises’ activities

Table 3. Cross tabulation between the variables embedded into H2

Students’ perception of benefits related to the engagement in the Total
virtual companies
Increase of Relationships Opportunities Acquiring Networking
chances to with to be knowledge with students
be hired businessmen recruited by to create a from abroad
by real mentor start-up
firms companies
Level of Bachelor 22 14 30 7 1 74
study Master 17 5 18 2 4 46
TOTAL 39 19 48 9 5 120
Analyzing the contingency table shown in Table 3, we observe that both Bachelor and Master
students perceive the opportunities to be recruited by mentor companies as the most important
benefit related to the engagement in the virtual companies.

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 Table 4. Symmetric measures related to the test of H2
Value Asymp. Std.
Approx. T Approx. Sig
Error
Interval by
Pearson’s R 0,014 0,095 0,148 0,882
Interval
Ordinal by Spearman
-0,010 0,094 -0,108 0,914
Ordinal Correlation
Number of
120
valid cases

The results of the second hypothesis testing process are validated by Pearson’s R and
Spearman correlation coefficients, because their values (0,014, respectively -0,010) are
situated near zero, emphasizing a weak correlation between the independent variable (level of
study) and dependent variable (students’ perception of benefits related to the engagement in
the virtual companies).

4. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH AGENDA

Entrepreneurship education considers virtual environments as perfect departing points for the
students from business schools, who are looking to improve their entrepreneurial skills in a
free risk environment. The active learning approach, carefully applied in the particular case of
virtual enterprises managed by all the universities involved in SIMPRACT project, has
multiple advantages: the students proved initiatives to take full responsibility in their
decisions, but also excellent skills to manage business transactions with other practice
enterprises from Romania and abroad.
Being one of the most relevant projects for developing entrepreneurial spirit among business
schools students, SIMPRACT created synergies between students from the most
representative Romanian universities, as a result of active learning of practical ways to create
a start-up and manage virtual transactions, to enhance creativity and knowledge sharing.
The success stories of the Romanian virtual enterprises which attended two international
virtual trade fairs (Italy and Germany) and won significant prizes are the precursors for other
European projects focused on the support of entrepreneurial spirit among Romanian business
schools students.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: We thank to Mr. Professor Ovidiu Nicolescu, the manager of

the project “SIMPRACT - Transition from school to active life through internships and the
creation of simulated enterprises” - POSDRU/160/2.1/S/138113, for his kind invitation to be
part of the consortium which implemented this project with excellent results.

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2. Kirby, D. A., Entrepreneurship education: can business schools meet the
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schools. The Journal of Technology Transfer,34(6), 560-587, (2009)
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6. Auster, E. R., & Wylie, K. K., Creating active learning in the classroom: A systematic
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16. Gundry, L. K., Ofstein, L. F., & Kickul, J. R., Seeing around corners: How creativity
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stimulation, and incubation encourage student entrepreneurship: Observations from MIT,
IIIT, and Utrecht University. The International Journal of Management Education, 13(2),
170-181, (2015)
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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

CHALLENGES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE SOCIETY OF

KNOWLEDGE

Gabriel Croitoru1,Valentina-Ofelia Robescu2 and Sorin Paun3

1
Valahia University of Targoviste, croitoru.gabriel2005@yahoo.com
2
Valahia University of Targoviste, robescu_ofelia@yahoo.com
3
Valahia University of Targoviste, paunsorin2014@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT:For enterprises, success can come from a united structure that favours family values, teamwork,
tenacity and continuity. The present research is the subject of a study carried by the Centre for Students of
Entrepreneurship and Management of Businesses in order to identify the main entrepreneurial challenges of
young entrepreneurs in Dambovita County in the society of knowledge as well as the importance it can have on
economy through providing a simple instrument to measure competitiveness of entrepreneurial environment. To
achieve this thing it has been done, for a start, a research regarding the attitudes and perceptions about
entrepreneurship. The analysis was designed taking into account several fundamental factors in entrepreneurship:
entrepreneurial culture - education and opportunities in the society of knowledge. The results can be a reference
for young entrepreneurs (students of the Faculty of Economic Sciences) as for the decisional authorities in order
to support as much as they can the establishment of start-ups these being a factor of progress of the
contemporary economy and even a solution to exit from crisis.
KEYWORDS:entrepreneurship, opportunities, performance, start-up.

1. INTRODUCTION
The definition of entrepreneurship was debated for a long time between researchers, teachers,
but also practitioners obliged to take the best decisions. The concept of entrepreneurship is not
a new one. We find it since the 18th century when the French economist Richard Cantillona
associated taking risks in economy with entrepreneurship. Louis the XIVth used to say
“bourgeois and craftsmen will become the artisans of rich”. The term “entrepreneurship”
comes from the French verb “Entreprendre” and the German word “Unternehmen”, both
meaning “enterprise”. Bygrave and Hofer in 1991 defined the entrepreneurial process as
“involving all the functions, activities and actions associated with the perception of
opportunities and creation of organizations to pursue them” [1]. Joseph Schumpeter
introduced the modern definition of “entrepreneurial spirit” in 1934 [2].According to
Schumpeter, “the carrying out of new combinations we call ‘enterprise’ and “the individuals
whose function is to carry them out we call ‘entrepreneurs’. Schumpeter connected
entrepreneurship of five basic elements ”new combinations” namely: introduction of a new
product, introduction of a new method of production, opening a new market, the conquest of a
new source of supply and the carrying out of a new industrial organization. Peter Drucker said
that “entrepreneurial spirit” is a practice [3]. What this means is that entrepreneurial spirit is
not a state of being, nor is it characterized to make airplanes that are not used.
Entrepreneurship starts with action, creation of new organizations. This organization may or
may not become independent and, actually, it cannot earn significant revenues. But, when
individuals create a new organization, they entered in the paradigm of entrepreneurship.
British economists, such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo and John Stuart Mill achieved
briefly, the concept of entrepreneurship, although they referred to it under the broader sense
of the term in English “business management”. Since the writings of Smith and Ricardo
suggest that they have underestimated the importance of entrepreneurship, but Mill is the one
that highlighted the importance of entrepreneurship for the economic growth. In his writings,
Mill argues that the entrepreneurial spirit needs “a specialist”, and he regrets the fact that
there is no good equivalent word in English to encompass the specific meaning of the term in
French “entrepreneur”.
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The necessity of entrepreneurship for production was the first officially recognized by Alfred
Marshall in 1890. In his famous work “Principles of Political Economy”, Marshall says that
there are the four factors of production: field, work, capital and organization. The
organization is the coordinating factor, which brings together the other factors, and Marshall
thinks that the entrepreneurial spirit of management is the element behind any organization.
Through creative organization, the entrepreneurs can create new goods or improve the “plan
to produce an older good”. In addition, Marshall’s entrepreneurs must be able to have the
capacity to foresee the changes of demand and supply and to be willing to act in such risky
forecasts in the absence of some complete information.
Marshall, also, suggests that the neofactor the abilities of the associated entrepreneur with the
entrepreneurial spirit are rare and limited in the activity of supply. He argues that the abilities
of entrepreneur are “so big and so numerous that very few people can present all in a high
degree.” Marshall, however, explains the fact that people can be taught to acquire abilities that
are necessary to be a good entrepreneur. Unfortunately, the opportunities for entrepreneurs are
often limited by the economic environment, by what surrounds them. In addition, although the
entrepreneurs share a few common abilities, all the entrepreneurs are different, and their
success depends on the economic situation in which they try their efforts in start-ups.
We can suggest that the role of an entrepreneur is that he is a carrier of risk in the face of
uncertainty and imperfect information. F. Knight [4] claims that an entrepreneur will be able
to bear the risk of a new adventure in case he considers that there is an important chance to
make profit. Although many current theories regarding entrepreneurship agree that there is an
inherent component of risk, the theory of risk, we cannot explain though why some people
become entrepreneurs while others do not. Thus, in order to build a model of development of
entrepreneurship, it is necessary to look at some of those characteristics that help, explain why
some people are entrepreneurs; risk may be a factor, but this is not the only one.
Modern school tries to explain that the role of an entrepreneur is an innovating one; although,
the definition of innovation is still broadly questionable. I. Kirzner [5] suggests that the
process of innovation is, actually, a spontaneous behaviour “intentional learning”. Thus, the
necessary characteristics of the entrepreneurs is vigilance, not the skills, other than intrinsic to
recognize opportunities which are necessary. Other schools of economists argue that the
entrepreneurs have special skills that enable them to participate in the process of innovation.
H. Leibensteinargues that the dominant characteristics, necessary for the entrepreneurs is that
they are gap-fillers, ie they have the capacity to perceive in case on a market are developed
new goods or processes according to market requirements, but which are not currently
provided [6]. Thus, entrepreneurs have the ability to connect different markets and failures
and deficiencies of markets are completed.
Although the idea that the entrepreneurs are innovators is broadly acceptable, it may though
be difficult to apply this theory of entrepreneurship in the developing countries. Many times
in these countries, the entrepreneurs are not really innovators in the traditional meaning of the
word. Entrepreneurs rarely produce new products, of brand. They prefer to imitate products
and processes of production which were invented elsewhere in the world (usually in the
developed countries). This process, we can call “creative imitation”. Creative Imitation occurs
when imitators understand better how an innovation can be applied, used or sold in the niche
of market specially created in this respect. Thus, the process of innovation is often in imitate
and its adapting, instead of the traditional notion of new product or process of discovery and
development.
Today’s economy based on knowledge is a fertile ground for entrepreneurs, in any country. It
is rightly believed that there are many talents with practical unlimited potential to become
entrepreneurs. Therefore, it is important to get the commitment of creating a favourable
environment to develop successfully entrepreneurs. To achieve this, it is necessary to focus
on four areas, in our opinion.

348
 • creating an enabling environment to have success: Entrepreneurs should find an easy
environment to start a business. To do this, most Romanians could start with capital
borrowed from the 3Ps (parents, friends and other fools), CEO plays the role of sales
agent but strategist also. A major challenge for Romania is to create a series of “areas
of excellence” –fertile ground in which the ideas to grow through businesses (we
compare this thing with a start-up from Silicon Valley). One way to strengthen these
areas is to reconsider the role of universities, places where excellence usually
flourishes.
• Ensuring that the Entrepreneurs have access to qualifications: after a survey conducted
by the Centre for Students of Entrepreneurship and Management of Businesses it was
shown that most of the companies of start-up in Dambovita face two gaps in
communication: entrepreneurial (the way of managing the business risks, of building
team, identifying financing source) and functional (product of development of know-
how, marketing abilities, etc.). We have to make sure that the university curriculum is
modified to address the changing of the businesses landscape today, particularly on
emerging markets, as well as to build “centres of entrepreneurial excellence” in the
institutions which will actively assist in the training of entrepreneurs.
• Ensuring that The Entrepreneurs have access to “Smart Capital”: For a long period of
time, Romanian entrepreneurs had limited access to capital. It is true that, in recent
years, many hedge funds entered on the market in the region South Muntenia. And,
while the sector is still at the beginning, the investors are the main source of supplying
of capital, as well as the access to potential partners, suppliers, and clients. However,
the challenge for the region Muntenia to eliminate the gap regarding the creation of
the start-up relative to other regions is the creation of a new network of support of
business angels (investing angels) who support the idea and the young businessmen.
• The access to social networks: The entrepreneurs must learn from their own
experience but from the others as well. The rapid rhythm of globalization and the rapid
growth of economies resent extraordinary opportunities and challenges for Romania.
By planning and concentration, Romania can aspire to create a group of entrepreneurs
who will be world’s leaders of tomorrow in the region.
Both at central level and at local level the state has to pay a great interest in promoting the
growth of entrepreneurship. People are encouraged to form new businesses and may be the
benefiters of a government support, such as tax incentives, buildings (industrial parks,
businesses incubators), roads, and a communication system that will facilitate this creation
process. Encouraging by the governments should continue in the future, as we realize that the
new enterprises can create new jobs and increase the economic production of the region. Each
county should develop its own innovative industrial strategies to promote the activity of
entrepreneurship.

2. THE ROLE OF THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY IN THE SOCIETY OF

KNOWLEDGE
In the last decades, the phenomenon of entrepreneurship won an importance without
precedent at worldwide scale, being considered an important source of new jobs, innovation
and economic growth [7].
After reviewing the main concepts, researchers discovered clear evidences of the connection
between the concepts or entrepreneurship, economic development and production activities
[8]. Much of these results leave from a general perception that the enterprises, under the
management of an entrepreneur, are a major contribution to creating jobs and economic
growth. Such views, shared by economists, politicians and a significant part of society is,
actually, the reason why in many countries are lately trying to promote the entrepreneurship
activity [9].
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So far, there are evidences that show that the establishing of the importance of start-ups, the
development and implementation of public policies may influence the level of the
entrepreneurial activity at the level of country or region [9].
From past until now, the entrepreneurs have greatly affected our societies, economies and
industries. According to the concept of entrepreneurship, the mission of entrepreneur is to
create wealth and growth of business. There are various examples of successful entrepreneurs
(Henry Ford, Bill Gates and others) who created both personal fortunes and public prosperity
of their innovating products and who affected our society a lot having as a result the
advancement of an entire civilisation.
Achieving this mission leads to additional benefits to members of a society. This should be
the mission of any organization, and this has to manifests though social responsibility. For
example, the benefits obtained by clients because they, the entrepreneurs, are able to satisfy a
need, by acquiring a product or a service. In addition, the risk of capital, the creditors, and
shareholders will benefit from achieving the yield of profitable investments in the profitable
businesses of the entrepreneur. Moreover, the employees benefit from getting some revenues
from the growth of the activity and business’s development. As a result, the employees
become later the clients who, by the power of buying thus obtained, will buy goods and
services from the entrepreneurs that produce.
Improving society became a priority direction in promoting the entrepreneurial spirit. This is
the organization’s mission [10]. It is important to note that the entrepreneurial spirit and the
society are tightly linked. Because entrepreneurial spirit, as part of our society, functions in
social environment, the entrepreneurship and society are complementary between themselves.
Consequently, both concepts of society and entrepreneurial spirit are dynamic through their
nature, and not surprisingly, the society evolves in time; through the role played by the
entrepreneur, who, also, changes.

3. METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH

3.1. Hypotheses
As mentioned earlier, the definition of entrepreneurship has different meanings for different
people. Even if the definition of entrepreneurship was contested among researchers, teachers
and decisional factors for a long period of time, there isn’t a complete consensus for it yet.
Based on the definition of I. Kizner (1973) regarding entrepreneurship, it includes two
essential components, innovation and opportunity, which can be considered as the main
challenges and the vital ingredients for the concept of entrepreneurship which lead young
entrepreneurs to the development of new ideas. Therefore, the main hypotheses of this study
are:
H1: entrepreneurial challenges inspire the entrepreneurs to explore more opportunities, by
identifying critical items, with values lower than the average of the index of performance. To
realize methodologically this thing, the index of performance will be calculated according to
the method proposed by Cezar Mereuță (2004), thus:
, where: (1)

Vi – the value of the criterion pi. For our situation this is the value of the score per
item;
Vi min – represents the minimum value of the criterion “i”. For our situation this is the
minimum value of the score per items:
Vi max – represents the maximum value of the criterion “i”. For our situation this is
the maximum value of the score per items;

350
 H2: developing a matrix of results formed, on one hand, from critical items (those
that register values smaller than the average of the index of performance) and, on the other
hand, the specific weight of the dimensions of assessment resulted from the hierarchy of
importance of dimensions of evaluation formulated by the target group.
To test these hypotheses, we must show how the chosen entrepreneurial challenges affect
young entrepreneurs and lead them to new opportunities and development of new ideas.
Regarding the first challenge, in the last decades, innovation became globalised; therefore, the
importance of innovation as engine of competitive advantage in economies grew more and
more. Innovation for entrepreneurs counts because it can deliver better products and services,
new and more efficient processes of production, which will lead to an improved performance
of businesses. For consumers, innovation means superior quality and better value goods
more, efficient services and higher standards of living [11]. In this work, innovation, is
defined as a successful exploitation of new ideas. Innovation involves creation of new models,
concepts and ways of doing things, their commercial exploitation, as well as further
dissemination for the rest of economy and society [12].
Regarding the second challenge, opportunities, in a dynamic world, says that success of a
company is based to a large extent on its capacity to follow them. Recognizing the importance
of entrepreneurial opportunities, the research attention on the phenomenon of entrepreneurial
opportunities assumes critical significance [13]. Eckhardt and Shane define entrepreneurial
opportunities through the situations in which the goods, services and raw materials, markets
and the methods of organization may be introduced by forming new ways or the means that
end these relations [13]. According to Schumpeter, these, the opportunities, arise in the
economy as a result of a process of self- transformation, in which, the guide element is an
innovative “entrepreneur-hero”. In other words, he gives aware of the importance of personal
features and motivation of entrepreneur. Schumpeter suggests that entrepreneurs are the
people intrinsically motivated to use the benefits of technological, demographical, social
changes and of creating upheavals in the current state of balance and introduce new products
and services or new ways of working [13].
The following model is built in order to analyse the established hypotheses. This offer the
visual representation of the “challenging-entrepreneur” process. To test this model, more
factors are involved, such as, creativity, intelligence, good communication qualities, energy
and durability, excess of imagination, inability, lack of training in the field of financial
planning of the business and insufficient delegation of responsibilities of the company toward
the team.
In this context, the aim of our research is, that on scientific basis, to elaborate a methodology
that could be used in assessing the impact of entrepreneurship on organizational performance.

3.2. The sampling of evidence and data selection

To test the hypotheses were used the collected data, based on questionnaire within a group of
63 young entrepreneurs in Dambovita county. The quantitative research is both deductive and
inductive. It is deductive because it will be taken into account hypotheses and theories
previously expressed, whose validity and implementation, even in particular cases, will be
highlighted during the research itself. The research is inductive as the aim is to obtain new
knowledge starting from empirical situations.

3.3. Research method

Obtaining the information was performed through the method of survey. The respondents
were asked to evaluate, on a value scale from 0-minimum to 10-maximum, the items of
entrepreneurial challenge: are involved factors such as creativity (Cr), intelligence (In), good
communication qualities (Ccb), energy and durability (Edi), excess of imagination (Ei),
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inability (I), lack of training in the area of financial planning of the business (Lpdf) and
insufficient delegation of responsibilities of the company toward the team (Dirc). Also, to
identify the weight specific to the dimensions of evaluation, the respondents were asked to
rank them, on a value scale, according to the rank of importance. The items that have got
critical values, smaller than the average, as well as their specific weight, were transposed in
the matrix of results to identify the axes of priority intervention [14].
For conducting the research, from all the methods of collection and systematization of the
information, it was chosen a quantitative method with positivist orientation-explicative, thus,
direct, selective research, based on a questionnaire. For statistical processing of the data
collected it was used the computer software EXCEL. We present, in table 1, for the
entrepreneurial challenges, the results of the scores per challenge of evaluation, as they
resulted from the processing of questionnaires, the results of the medium scores per item, the
specific weight for each entrepreneurial challenge (Pa) as well as the resulting values of the
performance index (Ipi).
Table 1. Results of evaluation of entrepreneurial challenges
Entrepreneurial challenges Pa Score per Items Ipi
Cr VIII 7,10 0,76
In III 5,63 0,58
Ccb II 5,17 0,50
Edi V 4,79 0,66
Ei VI 4,08 0,31
I IV 5,58 0,21
Lpdf I 5,13 0,36
Dirc VII 6,67 0,45
Global score 4,94
Vimin 4,08
Vimax 7,10
Media Ipi 0,46

The analysis of the results of evaluation of dimension of the types of entrepreneurial

challenges allows the highlight of the following important conclusions:
• Globally, the score got, respectively 4,94, lays creativity (6,67) as being the most
favourable in terms of entrepreneurial challenges, explainable for Romania.
• The share specific to dimensions of evaluation, obtained from ranking in order of
importance of dimensions of evaluation of entrepreneurial challenges, lays on the first
place “the lack of training in the field of financial planning of the business” (Lpdf), on
the last place being positioned “creativity” (Cr).
• The dimensions with the most scores lower than the average of the index of
performance are: Ei (excess of imagination)-m0,31; I (inability) – 0,21; Lpdf (lack of
training in the field of financial planning of business)- 0,36 and Dirc ( insufficient
delegation of responsibilities of the company toward the team) -0,45 while the
challenges creativity (Cr), intelligence (In), good qualities of communication (Ccb),
energy and durability (Edi) do not have any item with a lower score than the index of
performance.
• The minimum value of the score per item, of 4,08 was registered by the item Ei
(excess of imagination) which shows us the direction the entrepreneurs in Dambovita
wish to act.
• The maximum value of the score per items, 7,10, is registered at the item creativity
(Cr).
To identify the priority axes of intervention, we present, in table 2, the matrix of the results of
the main types of entrepreneurial challenges. The matrix of results includes the items with
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critical scores, ie with smaller values than the average of the index of performance, as well as
the weight specific to the dimension of challenges. The algorithm of axes prioritization,
according to the methodology that we support, is the following: the intervention will be made
according to the weight specific to dimensions, starting with the most important dimension,
continuing with the others, in the descending order of importance. For the dimensions where
there are more items with critical scores, the intervention will debut from the item with the
lowest score, continuing to increase in the order of scores.

Table 2. Matrix of results of evaluation of entrepreneurial challenges

Items Cr In Ccb Edi Ei I Lpdf Dirc
Scores 0,31 0,21 0,36 0,45
critics
Pa VIII III II V VI IV I VII

So, the axes of intervention at the level of entrepreneurial challenges, for the sample studied,
in order of prioritization, are:
• Excess of imagination (Ei): many times, excessive creativity that is not supported by a
feasible plan works in the detriment of the entrepreneurs who are subject of the
analysis, as many ideas which sound good at a first glance, appear to be impossible to
implement in a profitable business;
• Inability to take decisions quickly (I): most entrepreneurs always want to take the best
decision, which often delays a lot the decisional process in their organizations; our
opinion in this area stays that that a less good decision taken immediately is better
than a better decision taken later, often too late;
• Lack of training in the field of financial planning of the business (Lpdf): much of the
Dambovita entrepreneurs rely exclusively on their entrepreneurial intuition regarding
the planning of cash-flow of the organization and other elements of financial planning
absolutely necessary to a harmonious development of the business;
• Insufficient delegation of responsibilities of organization toward the team (Dirc):
Dambovita entrepreneurs, even more than those in other regions or even other
countries, strive excessively to keep everything under their control, for reasons of
caution connected to the trust they have in the employees, or, more often, for the
syndrome “I know better”, which many entrepreneurs manifest, even in areas in which
they do not have the necessary training.
The entrepreneurial challenges predispose young entrepreneurs to build strong enterprises that
use innate talents, knowledge and special skills adapted to stimulate revenue growth,
profitability and prosperity. This inspiration gives them the possibility to move their
entrepreneurial activities to the most advanced levels, on a next step. Thus, after the analysis
illustrated, the given hypotheses are confirmed.

4. CONCLUSION
The concept of entrepreneurship is multilateral and has a variety of definitions due to the
various interpretations and different perceptions of it.
The research community allocates a lot of energy to define the concept of entrepreneurship.
This thing proves to us the complexity of the area, as well as the fact that this thing could and
should be exploited from many different frameworks of understanding [15].
Today, with the rapid development of our society, the entrepreneurial spirit became a
determining factor of production in the economic growth. This thing make entrepreneurial
spirit to be very important in macro-economic terms. It became a broader economic
phenomenon which has a major impact on economy.
353
The areas of implementation and the implications of entrepreneurship, will continue to change
and develop because the environment the entrepreneur carries on his activity, is in a
continuous change and evolution. Therefore, the companies must learn to think and act in this
dynamic equilibrium.
The declared and tested hypotheses determine us to say that the challenges of the society of
knowledge inspire the entrepreneurs to achieve their goals and values. Thus, we can conclude
that for the development of the entrepreneurial spirit is required a person with abilities, skills
and competences of pursuing the objectives and learn from failures. Thus, it is confirmed and
proven that the challenges inspired the entrepreneurs to achieve their objectives by promoting
and encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit, as this offers an essential and vital environment
where the entrepreneurs operate today.

5. REFERENCES

1. Bygrave, W., Hofer C., Theorizing about Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship: Theory and
Practice, 16, no.2: pp. 13-22, (1991).
2. Schumpeter, J., A., The Theory of Economic Development: An Inquiry into Profits,
Capital, Credit, Interest, and the Business Cycle. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University
Press, summarizing pp. 129-135, (1934.)
3. Drucker P. F., Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles,
HarperBusiness, 1985, https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1975163-innovation-
and-entrepreneurship [accessed in the date of 21.02.2016 ].
4. Knight, F., H., (1885-1972) American economist who spent most of his career at the
University in Chicago, where he became one of the founders of the school from Chicago.
5. Kirzner, I., M., (born 13 February 1930) is an American economist tightly identified with
the Austrian School.
6. Leibenstein, H., “Entrepreneurship and Development”, The American Economic Review,
vol. 58, No. 2, Papers and Proceedings of the Eightieth Annual Meeting of the American
Economic Association, pp. 72-83, May, 1968.
7. Morales-Gualdron, S., T.,Roig, S., The New Venture Decision: An Analysis based on the
GEM Project Data Base,International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 1, pp.
479-499, (2005).
8. Baumol, W.J., Entrepreneurship: Productive, Unproductive and Destructive,The Journal
of Political Economy,Vol. 1. 98, No. 5. Part 1, pp. 893-921 (1990).
9. Mamede, R.R., Davidsson, P. n.d., Entrepreneurship and Economic Development - How
Can Entrepreneurial Activity Contribute to Wealth Distribution, Working paper,
http://www.kimep.kz/files/BCB/V._3._The_Challenges_of_Entrepreneurship_in_Dynami
c_Society.pdf [accessed in the date of 20.02.2016 ].
10. Svilokos, A., Carraher, S.M., A Comparison of Social with Traditional
Entrepreneurship,Proceedings of Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Conference, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA, (2006), http://www.usasbe.org/events/
EventDetails.aspx?id=236682 [accessed in the date of 22.02.2016 ].
11. DTI, Competing in the Global Economy: the Innovation Challenge, (2003) Retrieved from
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file9666.pdf [accessed in the date of 20.02.2016 ].
12. Wickham, P.A.,Strategic Entrepreneurship, 4th ed. London: Pearson Education Limited,
p. 8, (2006).
13. Dutta, D.K., The nature of entrepreneurial opportunities: understanding the process using
the 4I organizational learning framework, (2005). Retrieved from
http://www.allbusiness.com/management/462151-10.html [accessed in the date of
22.02.2016].
14. Şerbănică, C., Etic Behaviour, pylon of the corporative reputation, The Magazine
Amfiteatru Economic, 23, pp.119-124, (2008).

354
15. Blenker, P., Dreisler, P., Kjeldsen, J., Entrepreneurship Education - the New Challenge
Facing the Universities: A Framework or Understanding and Development of
Entrepreneurial University Communities, Working paper2 (2006), online English
http://pure.au.dk/portal/files/32345606/2006%E2%80%9302_ENG.pdf, [accessed in the
date of 26.02.2016].

355
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

CHALLENGES AND KEY ISSUES IN BUILDING

AND THE MANAGEMENT OF A KNOWLEDGE BASED
ORGANISATION IN ROMANIA

Ph. D. Ioan Enoiu

Naturevo, john.enoiu@naturevo.ro

ABSTRACT:A general Naturevo presentation is delivered by the beginning of the paper.On the main subject, it
is presented the personal views regarding the main challenges and key issues in building and the management of
a knowledge based organisation in Romania.After counting few of the global challenges to keep the earth
balance but social and economic balance as well, the author counts some main tools to access / use the
knowledge and political, social and economic balance of the country.The author mentions the key issue for an
organisation in Romania is „the understanding” of both global and organisational understanding. Finally, the
author identifies 10 main needs / musts for a knowledge based organisation in Romania.

1. INTRODUCTION
Founded: 1999
Founder: Ioan Enoiu
• Horticultural engineer since 1979;
• Researcher (main job) starting 1979 and expert in court starting 1985;
• Worked for Du Pont de Nemours (employed by Aectra), between 1991-1998.
Vision: Evocation, Evolution and Revolution with Nature!
People should adapt to nature and protect nature.
Mission: Find flexible solutions for agriculture complying with all aspects for a sustainable
agriculture.
How to build the company?
• Identify the main needs of The Romanian agriculture
• Minimum technology? - NO!
• Up dated technologies - YES!
• High technologies - YES, YES, YES!!!
• Which suppliers?
• Professional, with good/modern portfolio, financially strong, with long term view;
• SMEs with dynamic view and able to cooperate into creating new products/innovation.
What personnel?
• Good characters;
• Intelligent and open minded;
• Prepared for continuous learning and effort towards performance.
How to start and develop?
• Business plan - main road and alternatives;
• Optimistic/realistic approach - grow steadily and changes towards differentiation;
• Find the farmers prepared to accept innovation/new technologies.
How to overcome difficulties?
• Keep working hard;
356
• Upddate knowleedge and prroducts;
• Innoovation.
How to evolve? Leearning from
m the best.
"Be a yardstick
y off quality. Soome peoplee aren't used to an envvironment w
where excelllence is
expected."
"Innovaation distingguished betw
ween a leadder and follo
ower." Stevee Jobs
"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes
m to ruuin it. If yoou think about that,
you'll doo things diffferently."
"Honestty is a very expensive gift;
g don't exxpected it from
fr cheap people."
p Warren Buffeett
"Life is not fair - get used to itt!"
"Don't compare
c yoourself with anyone in this world. If you do so,
s you are insulting yo
ourself."
Bill Gattes
2. EXA
AMPLES
2.1 Natturevo Sales

Figurre 1. Naturevo
o sales
Instead of a motto:
" Use of informaation intelligently is the
t most powerful
p e
evolution". Alvin To
offler -
Powershhift
SELECTED DEFIN
NITION
Prof. Ovvidiu Nicoleescu gave one
o of the most
m approprriate definittion:
"The management
m based on knowledge represent the studies of processses and maanagerial
relationnship based on knowleddge towardss finding thee laws goveerning them
m and conceeiving of
new sysstems, methhods and tecchniques foor the perforrmance andd functionality growth into the
organisaation, valorising the knnowledge biig values."
2.2 GL
LOBAL MA
AIN CHALL
LENGES - KEEP
K THE
E EARTH BALANCE
B
Main quuestion: How
w to keep thhe natural balance
b with
h the strong climate chaanges.
• Whaat is the inflluence of thhe universal factors - we
w need at leeast a little iimagination
n.
See:
• Solaar radiation and changees on the earrth;

357
• Gamma radiations and their potential real influence;
• Interference of the experimental radiations with the global radiations;
• Possibilities to adapt fast and actions.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC BALANCE WITH SHORT AND LONG TERM EFFECTS
• Globalisation, theoretically offers opportunities for all people around the world;
• More than 2/3 of the population on the globe is under poverty and poor people have not
access to the main tools for information;
• Education is the most important aspect for people to have access to knowledge and
understanding;
• The management of a knowledge based organisation require educated people.
Poor countries - more population, less education.
MAIN TOOLS TO ACCESS/ USE KNOWLEDGE
• Use of the computers and all the information channels.
• It is not enough to have the tools; how to use and what kind of information we gather in
the education process is very important. See: use of the internet, of the mobile and other
gadgets, particularly to "spend time" inefficiently.
• Knowledge in the computers is arranged "one by one" and it is difficult for the
correlations, combinations, multiple analysis etc.
As results: more simple combinations - with less correlations.
POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC BALANCEOF THE COUNTRY
ENVIRONMENT
• Politics might create the environment for performance, competition, changes;
• Social policies might encourage the hard work towards performance.
See: China, where everyone is encouraged to produce more and better, despite the
centralisation and see Romania, where a lot of people able to work receive social assistance,
early pensions, shorter and sorter working days on a week etc.
• Economic balance is a big strategic issue and is strongly influenced by the globalisation,
particularly in badly managed countries;
Corruption is linked directly to the incompetence and influence negatively the performance.
The while environment is important for the knowledge based organisations.
KEY ISSUES IN ORGANISATION IN ROMANIAUNDERSTANDING!!!
1. Even belief means "understanding"!
Do we believe in anything and what is the level of understanding?
2. We are in the middle of crises! Romania is under a continuous crisis, at different levels,
segments.
Need global understanding:
- Who we are?
Make an assessment! SWOT analysis!
- Where we are?
Be aware of the market! SWOT analysis!
- Why we are at these stages?
Market analysis; Opportunities; Needed actions.
- Should/have to/ must be correct (if we really understand)!

358
ORGANISATIONAL UNDERSTANDING
- Why to do? - we are pioneers (%) or followers ();
- Dream realistically!!!
- What to do - make strategies, alternatives, plans, SWOT analysis; team required etc;
- Where to do - place your activity in a relative definite environment;
- When to do - plan in actions, calendars;
- How to do - Choose the competent personnel, hiring personnel, training;
- Organisational culture - very important.
People are looking for more money from the beginning irrespective performances, abilities.
Constantin Rădulescu Motru emphasized two main characteristics of the Romanian people:
traditionalism and conservatism; after 50 years of "communism", we should add: dualism.
NEEDS/MUSTS FOR A KNOWLEDGE BASED ORGANISATION IN ROMANIA
1. CONTINOUS AWARNESS OF THE POLITICAL AND THE ECONOMICAL
ENVIRONMENT
• Be aware that Romania is not the best political and economical environment to develop a
knowledge based company;
• Be aware of continuous changes in legislation both internal and EU and keep informed;
• The stronger strategy is built, the less surprises will come.
2. CLEAR VISION
• A knowledge based organisation is based on a long term vision, strong/proved principles;
• Vision should be reliable under very different environment;
• Vision should be optimistic.
3. LEADERS FINDING AND DEVELOPMENT
• Make the difference between leaders and managers (leaders know why, managers know
how, leaders find the vision, managers understand the missions);
• Find as much as possible leaders, able to work as a team;
• Develop leaders based on the potential of the existing people.
4. APPROPRIATE PEOPLE - CONTINUOUS SEARCHING
• Finding the appropriate people in Romania is very big challenge - education is at lower
and lower level;
• Be prepared to spent time /money for the internal training programs.
5. CONTINUOUS LEARNING
• Find the most relevant/useful information, transfer it into most comprehensive mode
towards people inside organisation;
• Develop programs for the useful information transfer and periodic check of the
understanding/use of the received knowledge;
• Encourage people to search directly for more information and valuable one.
6. INNOVATION - BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE RESAERCH AROUND THE
WORLD
• Search for the last results of the research/production on your segment;
• Simulate the use of the results in your activity;
• Simulate/test check combined results on the segment;
• Create new variants/solutions/approaches with the novelties in order to differentiate vs.
competition.
359
7. MANAGEMENT COMPETENCE CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT/ADAPTABILITY
• Find the appropriate managers for the type of activity (research, production, sales etc);
• Improve the managers competencies through training, encourage internal competition etc;
• Develop the adaptable managers for the different environment conditions, competition,
limits, new assumptions.
8. INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS - ADAPT AND
INNOVATE
• Develop the communication style between the managers, vertically and horizontally;
• Improve the tools for the rapid and efficient communications;
• Clear the obsolete information to avoid reloading it;
• Check periodically the way of the communications inside and outside organisation
(Romanian companies have problems even to send a letter- at least for part of the employees);
9. PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT - CLUSTERS AND NETWORKS
STRUCTURES
• Find the partners who cover as much as possible your needs - should be also based on
knowledge organisations;
• Try to find well developed companies fitting your vision with strong position on the
market and big development potential
• Find the most convenient partners, up and down of your segment in order to form a
cluster/network structure.
CONTINUOUS ADAPTABILITY ON THE TARGETED SEGMENT
• Adaptability/changes are key words for a based on knowledge organisation;
• Be proactive by searching the future and placing your company among those which will
understand solve the needs;
• Search the possibility to open/develop new segments related to you company basic
activity;
• Do not sleep anytime during the day! You must be competitive!
3. REFERENCES
1. Buffet, W., Best Quotes, (2012 – 2016).
2. Covey, S., Eficiența în 7 trepte, Editura Allfa, (2010).
3. Gates, B., Conferences About Success, (2002 – 2015).
4. Levinson, J. C., Guerilla Marketing, Editura Business Tech International Press, (2005).
5. Levinson, J. C., Negocierea de gherilă, Editura Business Tech International Press, (2004).
6. Nicolescu, O., Întreprenoriatul și managementul întreprinderilor mici și mijlocii, Editura
Economica, (2008).
7. Osho, Colecţie, Editura Litera, (2014 – 2016).
8. Sinek, S., Întreabă-te de ce, Editura Amaltea, (2012).
9. Sinek, S., Liderii mănâncă ultimii, Editura Publica, (2014).
10. Toffler, A., Al treilea val, Editura Politică, (1983).
11. Toffler, A., Puterea în mișcare, Editura Antet, (1995).

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

CLUSTERS AS INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIPS FOR ECONOMIC

GROWTH AND NEW JOBS IN ROMANIA
Senior Advisor CLUSTERO – Romanian Clusters Association and Associate Researcher at Romanian Academy,
christinaleu@yahoo.com, christina.leucuta@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Clusters play an important role in driving competitiveness, innovation and jobs creation in the
EU. All clusters are unique, differing in scope, number of SMEs, composition, size, trajectories of development
and adjustment to external circumstances. The cluster policy in Romania was launched in 2009 as component of
the industrial policy.Clusters have emerged naturally and “bottom-up” from the regional level being mainly
industry driven ones. Today, in Romania there are 92 regional clusters and poles of competitiveness. Romania
has 8 clusters with silver label and 26 clusters with bronze label based on a benchmarking exercise lead by the
European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis. Cooperation, innovation and internationalization are the main
challenges for the Romanian clusters. The paper is focused on clusters as triple helix partnerships for the smart
specialization of the Romanian regions and on the cooperation between clusters in the South East Europe macro
region.
Keywords: triple helix; innovation; smart specialization; clusters

1. INTRODUCTION
Triple Helix Partnerships can support countries in boosting innovation by facilitating
cooperation between academia, business and local administration. The main challenge in
implementing Triple Helix Partnerships is to ensure effective communication between the
three stakeholders, in light of their different priorities, environment and mindsets. European
countries and regions have launched a wide range of cluster initiatives, Europe being now
among the most active regions in the world economy. The European Cluster Observatory
identified around 2500 clusters with up to 40% of the European workforce employed by
companies in such clusters. Employees in strong clusters earn on average 11 % higher wages
than their colleagues in the same industries but located outside of clusters. This reflects the
higher productivity that companies can achieve in clusters [1]. Clusters should be open,
flexible and attractive to the best talent and expertise available worldwide.
An innovation cluster is a system of close links between firms and their suppliers and clients,
and knowledge institutions, resulting in the generation of innovation. The cluster includes
companies that both cooperate and compete among themselves. The links between firms are
both vertical, through buying and selling chains, and horizontal, through having
complementary products and services, and use similar specialized inputs, technologies or
institutions and other linkages. Clusters are based on relationships among firms. The
relationships can be built on common or complementary products, production processes, core
technologies, natural resource requirements, skill requirements and/or distribution channels.
Clusters become even more visible and attractive if they have strong linkages with related
clusters in other regions and countries. According to Michael E. Porter “clusters are
geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, often SMEs and research institutions
in a particular field” in view to increase the growth and competitiveness within a region,
involving also public administration, banks and catalyst institutions. Successful cluster
initiatives develop roadmaps to help understand where they are, where they want to be and
how they plan to get there.
As Romanian cluster policy initiator I present in this paper the history of the clustering
process in Romania and the main challenges for clusters and networks as sources of
competitiveness and new jobs locally, regionally and nationally.I hope that this research
paper will contribute to the knowledge of how cluster concept has evolved in recent years in
Romania and help identify areas for cooperation within European regional networks.

361 
2. INNOVATION ACTORS IN THE ROMANIAN CLUSTERS
Innovation means “the implementation of a new or significantly improved product-good or
service-or process, a new marketing method, or a new organizational method in business
practices, workplace organization or external relations” [2]. Innovation is the driver of
clusters, these dynamic public-private partnerships. In the cluster model, the roles of the three
actors can overlap (i.e. universities can become more entrepreneurial through creation of
spin-offs, companies, mainly SMEs can become more involved in research and evolve closer
to academia, and the local administration can intervene in knowledge creation (through
research programs and knowledge absorption).
The effectiveness of the innovation process is influenced by the main four factors: framework
conditions, science and technology institutions, transfer mechanisms and SME-specific
innovative drives. General framework conditions such as the macroeconomic environment,
the fiscal system and access to finance shape the activities of SMEs and their ability to
conduct innovative activities. The efficiency of science and technology institutions drives the
accumulation of knowledge. Transfer mechanisms enhance flows of information and skills
between the various stakeholders in the innovation system and are crucial to ensuring that
innovation ideas are actually brought to the market and contribute to economic growth.
Finally, SMEs themselves need to seek, identify and exploit the potential for innovations to
reinforce the innovation process. These four factors correspond to specific areas of policy
interventions. Governments need to design measures to address potential barriers in each of
these four domains and to decide on the priorities that need to be set. Linkages between the
innovation actors are very important for the innovation system. The modern cluster
policies aim to put in place a favorable business ecosystem for innovation and
entrepreneurship in which new winners can emerge and thus support the development of new
industrial value chains and ‘emerging industries’. Modern cluster policies follow a systemic
approach that combines different policies, programs and instruments.
The traditional innovation policy was primarily oriented towards research and development,
that is the supply side of innovation. A current mainstream is the second generation of
innovation policy which is oriented towards systems and clusters. The emerging third
generation of innovation policy assumes that there is a potential for innovation which
embedded in other sectors or policy domains. The potential can be realized by ensuring cross-
sectoral optimization of the components of various sectors’ innovation policy through
coordination and integration. Clusters are an important part of innovation eco-systems.
Innovation eco-systems are similar to clusters, but do not have the same focus on specific sets
of related industries. They tend to encompass all activities in a given location that are
connected to innovation.
Romania lags significantly behind other EU Member States, in terms of the level of resources
it invests in research and development (R&D). Businesses’ expenditure on R&D was
equivalent to 0.38 % of GDP in 2014 (R&D expenditure in the EU stable at slightly over 2%
of GDP in 2014). Romania is a ‘modest innovator’, ranking it 25th out of the 28 Member
States [3]. Romania is the worst performing EU country in terms of the proportion of SMEs
introducing product or process innovations (almost 65 % less than the EU average). The
government has introduced a number of policy measures to increase the economy’s capacity
for research and innovation. Some of these are, however, not yet in place or rarely used.
Further action is therefore needed in this area. Possible measures for developing firms’
research and innovation capacity include providing SMEs with tailored high-quality services
to facilitate innovation, supporting knowledge-based start-ups, funding the development and
launch of new products, and developing incentives for collaboration between large firms,
innovative SMEs and universities.
The Ministry of Education and Scientific Research is in charge of issues such as education,
science, technology, research, development, innovation and financing of innovative clusters
while the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Relations with Business Environment is
362 
responsible for the areas of SME development, industrial and cluster policies and foreign
direct investments.
There are numerous bodies responsible for implementation of innovation policy in the broader
sense of the word: universities, R&D institutes, Science and Technology Parks etc. In
Romania there are 93 public and private universities, out of which 18 universities are
members of clusters. Universities are encouraged to adapt management and education
structures to sustain links with the business sector, but also to take an active role in
developing their communities and local business. R&D Institutes, centers for technology
transfer and formation centers are also members of clusters (i.e. Institute for Economic
Forecasting that is part of the Romanian Academy is member in 3 clusters). The Romanian
State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (OSIM) is the body in charge of acquiring and
protecting intellectual property rights.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the weakest part of the national innovation
system as demonstrated by a very small share of innovative SME’s. In 2015, 48,64% of the
Romanian SMEs have allocated no resources for innovation activities, while 51,36% of the
enterprises have directed at least 1% of the total investments towards innovation. In 2015, the
main financing sources for R&D&I within SMEs were their own sources (71,35%), loans and
credits (21,09%), European funds (2,04%) and public and local funds (0, 59%) [4]. Romanian
SMEs access to finance and to markets are affected by a number of non-cost factors,
including product quality and design, after-sales service and the distribution network. They
often struggle to perform well on these criteria due to their low profitability and lack of
business sophistication. Romania is ranked 101st out of 148 countries for business
sophistication in the Global Competitiveness Report [5]. Romania has introduced a number of
measures to improve its export performance. In May 2014, it adopted a national export
strategy for 2014-2020. Effective implementation of the strategy will require an action plan
with clear priorities and an implementation timeline. The SMEs export development program
was introduced to facilitate access to international markets. It provides services for trade
missions, part-finances participation in international trade fairs, operates a trade portal and
commissions market studies. There continue to be significant difficulties, however, in the
implementation of these measures, and no evaluations have been carried out to assess their
effectiveness. There is a low level of collaboration between SMEs and research entities
demonstrated by only 1198 SMEs that are members in clusters. In today’s economy it is
necessary for all SMEs to connect knowledge to the market successfully in order to remain
competitive and clusters could be an opportunity for the Romanian SMEs.
Innovation is a complex process, which results from the interaction of many entities, public
and private, over an extended period. It is critical that the public sector provides the
leadership and vision to coordinate these efforts and to promote a culture of enthusiasm for
innovation. In particular, public initiatives can create innovation platforms that bring together
policy, enterprises, research perspectives and resources to generate innovative solutions to
existing challenges.
Overall, the Romanian government needs to do more to coordinate its policies in the areas
of export, industry, innovation, clusters and access to finance, human resources development.
Integrated policy measures are essential in order to allow SMEs to increase their value
creation and competitiveness. There was no public funding to support clusters till now, only
European Funds were used for cluster management excellence, investments, R&D projects
etc. Foreign companies and multinationals are investing comparatively more in R&D and
innovation than domestic firms.
Many Member States have national/ regional policies and programs in support of clusters.
Romania is currently developing a new industrial policy document with a main component of
cluster policy and an action plan that will stipulate concrete measures for financing innovation
in clusters, attracting foreign direct investments, cluster management excellence, facilitating
the access of SMEs in global value chains, promotion of skills development, protection of
363 
intellectual property, promotion of technological upgrading etc. Romanian regions are on the
way of smart specialization that needs to exploit regional diversity, stimulate cooperation
between all stakeholders and open up new opportunities for regional innovation.
3. CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT IN ROMANIA
Clusters play an important role as drivers of economic growth and innovation locally,
regionally and nationally. Clusters are today an important part of Europe’s economic reality.
Clustering is a team activity, not a solo effort and its successful start requires a core of
motivated enthusiasts who would also inspire others to join in.
The first cluster policy document and the Romanian cluster mapping were launched in
2009 to identify potential clusters in the eight development Romanian regions and to focus the
re-industrialization process on clusters. In 2010, the Ministry of Economy-Directorate for
Industrial Policies launched the Research Program for Industry- INOVCLUSTER projects to
disseminate the cluster concept with all stakeholders (industry, mainly SMEs, R&D entities,
public administration and catalyst institutions) and to elaborate a Guide for implementation
the innovative cluster concept in Romania.This program had the aim of developing a
systematic approach to cluster development in the eight regions of Romania, to promote and
strengthen the cluster policy and to gain experience by exchanging best practices with other
countries in the region. The specific objectives were to establish a platform to bring together
partners from public research institutions, private sector and public administration in
economic sectors as well as to establish concrete partnerships between research, business and
public administration around partnership projects. The mobilisation of the stakeholders and
ultimately the success of the cluster strongly depend on clear objectives and benefits that are
attractive to all participants. Building trust takes time. Clusters in Romania do not always
have the necessary critical mass of enterprises and innovation capacity to sustainably face
competition and to be world-class. SMEs can and need to work with partners in many
locations to access the technologies and supplies they need from the best possible sources.
Romania adapted the triple helix paradigm (industry-R&D- public authorities) to a so called
„Four Clover Model”, the fourth actor being represented by catalyst institutions such as
technology transfer centres, chambers of commerce, consultancy companies etc. Today, there
are also clusters that adapted the quadruple model with banks as an important entity.
Identifying the relevant stakeholders in a cluster is a challenge in Romania. 60% of
Romanian clusters have only fifteen active members out of which ten are productive SMEs
but offer increased opportunities to attract external investment, including FDI. Large firms
mainly multinationals (Renault; Ford; Continental etc) within Romanian clusters play a
catalytic role because they create a critical mass of experienced managers, they provide ideal
conditions for high technology firms to grow and develop and they have multiplier effects in
terms of a region’s local economy for materials and services. Clusters reflect today the cross-
sectoral nature of value chains and innovation systems.
Today, in Romania there are 92 regional clusters and poles of competitiveness (networks
of minimum 3 regional clusters), majority being in embryonic and established stages and few
of them are mature. 8 of these mature clusters gained silver label (Rosenc Timisoara, IND
AGRO POL Bucharest, Green energy Sf. Gheorghe, Romanian Textile Concept Bucharest,
ELINCLUS Bucharest, Agro Transylvania Cluj, iTechSylvania Cluj and Transylvania
Furniture Cluj) and 26 bronze label based on a benchmarking exercise lead by the European
Secretariat for Cluster Analysis.3 regional consortia and 3 national networks (automotive,
ICT and textiles) are also active in cluster development and promotion. Romanian clusters are
members of various European networks (South East Europe Network; Cluster House-Balkan
and Black Sea Network; European Cluster Collaboration Platform, TCI network etc).

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In Romania, clusters have emerged naturally and “bottom-up” from the regional level being
mainly industry driven ones, out of which the most important examples are those of the
automotive sector (Dacia Renault Pole of Competitiveness, AUTOMOTIVEST Timisoara,
Ford Automotive Sud Vest Oltenia, ETREC Sacele Brasov; PREL MET Cugir), aerospace
(Transylvania Aerospace Cluster Brasov, Romanian Aerospace Bucharest), agro-food (IND
AGRO Pol Bucharest, Agro-Food Sf.Gheorghe, IND AGRO Vest Arad; Agro Transilvania
ClujNapoca; Agro-food Tara Barsei Brasov, Agro Pro Oltenia; ALIMENT Transylvania Alba
Iulia; Gusturi Transilvane Cluj), energy and constructions (ROSENC Timisoara, Green
Energy Sf.Gheorghe, REN ERG Brasov, TREC Cluj, CONSTRUCT Oltenia; Breasla
Constructorilor Ieseni; Green Solutions Lower Danube Galati; CERMAND Constanta),
creative sectors (ASTRICO Savinesti, TMW Sud Est Focsani, Romanian Textile Concept
Bucharest, Transylvania Textile & Fashion Sf.Gheorghe, Printing & Packaging Design
Timisoara; ICONIC Iasi, Life Style Cluj), wood and furniture (Pro Wood Sf.Gheorghe;
REGIOFA Odorheiul Secuiesc; Transylvania Furniture Cluj), ICT( iTechSylvania Cluj; IT
Plus Miercurea Ciuc; EURONEST Iasi; Different Angle Bucharest; ICT Cluster Craiova,
Smart Cluster Alliance Bucharest, Danube Cyber Security Alliance DACSA Galati), tourism
(Transylvania Lands Alba Iulia; Bucovina Tourism Cluster; Balneo-touristic Cluster
Transylvania Sf. Gheorghe; Tracialand network of clusters Bucharest); health and medical
sciences (Regional Cluster Health Lower Danube Galati; Health Romania Cluster; BIO
TECH Valea Prahovei Cluster).
Furthermore, advanced are also clusters driven by universities and R&D institutes (Cluj IT
Cluster, ELINCLUS Cluster Bucharest, IMAGO MOL Iasi, BioROne Cluster Iasi, ELI-NP
Magurele Bucharest; MECHATREC Cluster Bucharest; MED GREEN Pole Constanta,
Cluster for Innovation and Technology Brasov; Romanian River Transport Cluster Galati;
Dorothy Urban Logistics Cluster Craiova);
The capacity of the Romanian regions to innovate depends on many factors such as: the
business culture, the skills of the workforce, the existence of effective education and training
institutions, innovation support services, technology transfer mechanisms, R&D&I and ICT
infrastructure, the mobility of researchers, business incubators, new sources of finance and
local creative potential. Good governance is also crucial. Performance in innovation and
clusters varies markedly across Romania (North West, West, Center, Bucharest-Ilfov regions
are in the top).
Smart specialization strategies help regions to concentrate resources on a few key priorities
(i.e. North West Region-development of Cluj Innovation city and clusters in ICT, agro-food,
renewable energies and furniture). Clusters are used by regions as platforms bringing together
and mobilizing local actors to design and successfully implement smart specialization
strategies, attracting innovative companies and creating more jobs at local level. Clusters
facilitate business opportunities and internationalization for SMEs that activate in the region.
[6].
Good practices transfer motivates the participants in clusters as it demonstrates that the
concept can give results in similar settings. In Romania, good practices from Hungary,
Germany, France, Wallonia, Italy, Austria and Spain were implemented and experience of
Norway, Denmark and Poland by seminars organized in Romania was a benefit for Romanian
clusters. Once good practice from foreign countries is transferred, the Romanian participants
should be ready to generate clusters and participate in European projects like Adriatic
Danubian Clustering-ADCwww.adcproject.eu(South East Europe Program 2007-2013) with
the aim to enhance the knowledge on the potential for cross-border cooperation and to
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promote it, granting greater visibility of the SMEs in the region, to facilitate networking in
four sectors like agro-food, modern housing, mechatronics and logistics and to promote the
Adriatic-Danube area as an integrated productive system for international investors;
ClusteriX-Clusters for European Innovation Cross-Linking-a project co-financed by the
European Regional Development Fund and made possible by INTERREG IVC
www.clusterix.info  and www.ecoplus.at  with the aim to enable regional authorities to
identify, analyze and explore the potential of strategic future cluster development through the
exchange of experience and best practices between nine partners from eight EU different
countries; the overall objective of ClusteriX was to help increase the competitiveness of
European regions and their innovation potential through the improvement and strategic
reorientation of cluster policies by using smart specialization strategies; SEENECO-South
East European Network of Excellence of Cluster Organizations-a project co-funded by
the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Program (CIP) under the DG Enterprise and
Industry for the European Commission www.cluster-excellence.eu with the aim to promote
the cluster management excellence by elaborating a set of “training tools” for trainers, a
“benchmarking tool” of clusters performances based on a set of indicators and creation of a
collaboration platform for clusters; Cluster PoliSEE-Smarter Cluster Policies for South
East Europe-a project funded under the 3rd strategic call of the South East Europe Program
www.clusterpolisee.eu. The overall objective of this project was to increase the
competitiveness of European regions and their innovation potential through the improvement
and strategic re-orientation of cluster policies by using smart specialization strategies. A
specific Cluster Policy Learning Platform has been put in place with the aim of creating a
competence centre for cluster stakeholders in South-Eastern Europe and a catalogue to
promote South East Europe networks of clusters in the global value chain were the main
outputs of this project.
Each Romanian cluster has an agreement/protocol of collaboration and a development
strategy focused on research, development, innovation and technology; entrepreneurship;
development of new business models; development of new production processes and
conservation; education, training and qualification; marketing, branding and
internationalization; management and leadership; protection of intellectual property; value
chains development; sustainable cooperation etc.
Cluster management organizations are the legal entities of clusters that support the
strengthening of collaboration, networking and learning in innovation clusters and act as
innovation support providers by supplying or channeling specialized and customized business
support services to stimulate innovation activities, especially in SMEs. They are usually the
actors that facilitate strategic partnerships across clusters. In Romania majority of clusters
have not a legal form but the cluster management organization that could be an NGO
(non-profit organization) or a business organization/consultancy company has a legal
form.
Efficient, professional cluster management organizations are critical for raising the quality
of business support services and driving cluster initiatives towards self-sustainability. EU
COSME Program encourages the Excellence of Clusters management through training and
exchanges of best practices as well as the benchmarking exercise in view to obtain the basic
bronze label. Romanian cluster management organizations are invited to improve their
support services and better integrate innovative SMEs into clusters. Romanian clusters
consider access to finance very important for their development. There was no public funding
to support clusters and the European programs are very useful but insufficient for the cluster
development and internationalization.
CLUSTERO - the Romanian Cluster Association www.clustero.eu  is created in July 2011
and brings together 35clusters and individuals with the purpose to coordinate the sustainable
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development of clusters in the eight Romanian development regions. CLUSTERO exists to
create a competent and long-term platform for the development of cluster organizations in
Romania and an active interface for their internationalization. The role and activities of
CLUSTERO are focused on: information, communication and knowledge transfer and
networking; facilitator of the cross-cluster cooperation and internationalization; partner for the
national, regional, European and international consortia in various projects; advisory point for
new cluster initiatives formation and awareness building, training on cluster management and
clusters promotion, helps clusters to develop a visible profile, lobbying etc. CLUSTERO is
member in various European platforms (Balkan and Black Sea Cluster House Network;
European Cluster Collaboration Platform; South East Europe Network, Danube Network
etc).Annually. CLUSTERO organizes the Romanian Clusters Conference and it is co-
organizer of several clusters events.
The internationalization of the Romanian clusters through networks covers a wide range of
activities that influence both South East Europe region and country in which the cluster is
located: access to knowledge, access to new markets, access to key infrastructures, access to
new products and forms of collaboration. The exchange of best practices between networks of
clusters created in various sectors contributes to identify specific issues for the region and
specific measures for challenges. Transnational cooperation is more challenging than working
on a national basis. Using cluster networks, Romania and the 8 regions prepare a knowledge
base for cluster funding and developing a common understanding of the important role of
clusters for the development of EU regions.
Cluster development is a market driven phenomenon where an entrepreneurial mindset is a
key ingredient. Clusters offer a vibrant environment for SMEs (cooperation, infrastructure,
skills). Enterprises, mainly SMEs, participate actively in cluster collaboration and innovative
networks because this gives them access to new knowledge, new business partners and other
advantages that can strengthen their innovation, sales and export. This is why the Romanian
enterprises (especially the small and medium-sized) and their growth and development
potentials are the focal point of the Romanian cluster policy.
Many Romanian clusters are already focusing on areas with significant social challenges, for
instance within energy, environment, welfare, health, transport, tourism, agro-food and
modern housing. Romania is strongly in favor of a broad concept of innovation that includes
not only technological innovation but also non-technological, social, institutional,
organizational and behavioral innovation. Clusters could promote and support innovation as
products and services.
Design is also used as a term to describe particular approaches to innovation. Design is also
meant to empower cluster members to invent together solutions to economic and social
problems. Innovation within clusters go through four stages, from ideas, prototypes,
implementation to a final stage that is to scale up so that the new approach makes a real
impact and becomes part of the cluster strategy and work.
The key objectives of the Romanian cluster policy are focused on assisting Romania
developing more world-class clusters in strategic economic sectors for the benefit of SME and
promoting cluster cooperation at national and EU levels to facilitate SME promotion and
internationalization and support the development of new world-leading competences.
4. CONCLUSIONS
Clusters and cluster policies do not offer an instant solution that will work in all
circumstances. Good cluster policy requires strategic, consistent and concentrated efforts that
are evidence-based and not constrained by various interests. But when these conditions are

367 
met and the cluster policy focuses on promoting cross-sectoral collaboration and value-chain
linkages, it can help industrial transformation processes and be an important tool for
designing and implementing smart specialization strategies [7]. Cluster programs at different
levels (EU, macro-regional, national, regional, and local) are often uncoordinated and pursued
in parallel. In Romania, clusters are essential, but to be effective they need the right
framework of funding, commitment, and support for smart specialization and creating an open
space for cross-fertilization. Building trust is critical for cooperation and involves focusing on
strengths, adding value and connecting the right people in certain expertise domains.
Smart specialization needs to be broken down into concrete opportunities, as is reflected in
the emphasis on niche and value-chain development. This involves a region identifying its
own advantages, and becoming the starting point for internationalization and strategic
partnering efforts. Clusters in priority sectors are an important component of the smart
specialization strategies in the Romanian regions. Clusters determine the landscape of the
territory economic evolution. Local policy makers have to intercept the evolution of the
territory to create and consolidate regional branding strategies connected to the clusters’ ones.
Cluster marketing and branding can be a powerful communication tool if it is in line with the
regional innovation strategy for smart specialization [8].
High quality cluster management is a key element of successful world-class clusters. Strong
management is crucial for cluster organizations for providing professional services to cluster
SMEs, for assisting them to access global markets successfully, and for raising the innovation
capacity and competitiveness of cluster firms. More than 50 Romanian cluster managers
followed the training courses in Barcelona, Linz, Lyon or Copenhagen.
Exchange of best practices and cooperation between clusters improve their activities, strategy
and services, internationalization and communication, marketing and branding, promotion in
EU networks and partnerships for EU projects (Horizon 2020, KICs calls 2016, COSME,
INTERREG, Creative Europe etc),in particular trans-national cooperation raises the profile of
clusters and makes them internationally more attractive.
In conclusion, this paper demonstrates the importance of clusters and cluster policy for
economic growth and creating new jobs in Romania as well as the need of cooperation within
European regional networks.
5. REFERENCES
1. European Commission, Smart Guide to Cluster Policy, (2016)
2. OECD, Clusters, Innovation and Entrepreneurship,(2009)
3. European Commission, The Innovation Union Scoreboard, (2016)
4. Nicolescu Ovidiu and others, White Charter of Romanian SMEs, (2015)
5. World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Report (2014-2015)
6. European Commission, Guide to Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart
Specialisations-RIS3, (2012)
7. ARUP, Analysis and Evidence Base of the R&D&I Market in Romania Bucharest,(2013)
8. Zu Kocker Gerd Meier, Gamp Lammer Thomas, Christensen Alslev, Clusters are
individuals-Creating economic growth through cluster policies for cluster management
excellence, (2011)

368 
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY STRATEGIES IN SUPPORT OF

ROMANIAN EDUCATION

Maria Tatarusanu and Angelica Neculaesei

1«
Alexandru Ioan Cuza » University of Iasi, Romania ; e-mail : tmari@uaic.ro
21 «
Alexandru Ioan Cuza » University of Iasi, Romania ; e-mail : anonea@uaic.ro

ABSTRACT: Corporate social responsibility is becoming an increasingly important concern for Romanian
companies, both domestic and especially those from abroad. Whatever the motivation is (low or social pressures,
one good marketing idea, an answer to the economic, social or environmental needs felts etc.), it can be observed
the firms involvement in various files of their activity (education, health, culture, environment, human rights,
sport etc.). This availability may be valued by the educational institutions, including universities, by appropriate
partnerships. The reason for this present paper is to investigate the social responsibility strategies in education,
by inventorying/classification/description of CSR strategies undertaken in the educational field in Romania, in
order to provide best practices and recommendations for developing these strategies by various partnership
proposals.

KEYWORDS: Corporate social responsibility, Romanian companies, education, partnerships, strategies.

1. INTRODUCTION
Currently, corporate social responsibility is maybe the most frequently addressed theme in the
literature. Following the challenges of the warning signs regarding the effects of global
warming on the environment and the social problems associated with the current economic
development model and globalization (social inequality, unemployment, corruption, etc.),
companies are interested in finding maintaining and development models, including these
concerns in how to act in markets where they operate in. In their efforts to search for new
sources of competitiveness in globalized markets, large corporations that have expanded their
business outside their countries of origin, but also local companies, are currently required to
integrate the principles of social responsibility in their strategies (initially voluntarily). This
situation is due to the intense regulatory framework in this area, outlined in the European
business environment and adopted by more countries. European Commission shows that
responsible companies may benefit “in terms of risk management, cost savings, access to
capital, customer relationships, human resource management, and innovation capacity” [7],
and can anticipate changes in terms of customer expectations, staff, conditions in the markets.
They are better placed in an environment that allows innovation and growth, based on the
confidence expressed by stakeholders.
2. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND EDUCATION – AN
AMBIVALENT CONNECTION
The concept of social responsibility of companies, known in economic literature as corporate
social responsibility, corporate social responsibility or sustainability of companies /
corporations, durability, sustainable development, targets the behavior of firms in markets, the
philosophy, the vision and a certain way of doing business. Thus, both companies,
associations and shareholders, and the community which they operate in, employees,
customers, suppliers and other involved parties named stakeholders, benefit from the created
value. It is a concept formulated since the 1920s, when Clark said that companies had a
certain responsibility towards the environment they operate in - to return a part of profits to
the community. Afterwards, it is developed and approached depending on the orientation to
different schools thinking of authors and on the source-theories that underpin it [1]. A key
moment in the revival of the role of the corporate social responsibility was the Brundtland
369
report, in 1987, entitled "Our Common Future", given the impact it has had in promoting the
idea of sustainable development. It is appreciated as a development model that considers the
use of resources without affecting the development needs of future generations [5].
Among the variety of terms regarding companies’ obligations towards the society in which
they take resources and achieve profits, the distinction between social responsibility and
sustainable / durable development occurs. The first group of terms refers to actions at micro
level, given the short and medium term, while the second indicates the need to undertake
activities at macro level and to identify ways to use resources that companies have at their
disposal, in a manner that allow the possibility of perpetuating long-term business [6]. In this
paper, the term of corporate social responsibility (CSR) will be used, defined in accordance
with the European Commission's approach. Companies must assume the effects their actions
have on the environment, and social responsibility materializes in legislation compliance and
integration of social, environmental, ethical, respect for human rights and consumer concerns
into their business strategy and operations [3]. A similar approach is provided by the National
Strategy to promote social responsibility developed by the General Secretariat of the
Government of Romania, through which organizations are encouraged to voluntarily,
“integrate the environmental and society issues in their daily activities” [4]. This requires
compliance with a set of principles: responsibility, ethical behavior, transparency, respect for
the co-interested parties and state, cooperation and coherence, performing management,
predictability, respect for human rights and other norms and international standards. Therefore
it includes issues related to the effects of companies’ operations on the natural and social
environment, issues that target human rights, consumers and ethical behavior.
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a reporting system recommended by the Commission for
companies to release reports on the impact of their actions on the involved stakeholders,
groups the matters covered by social responsibility in several categories [3]: the economic
environment (economic performance, presence on market, indirect economic effects,
procurement procedures), the natural environment (materials, energy, water, biodiversity,
carbon emissions, waste, products and services, consumers), the social environment, with
the following subcategories: policies on employment (number of employees, labor relations
management, health and safety, education and training, diversity and equal opportunities,
equal pay for men and women), human rights (non-discrimination, freedom of association,
investment, forced labor, etc.), society (local community, anti-corruption, etc.), product
liability (consumer safety, marketing communication, customer complaints, etc.).
In the stated definitions, local community is an integrant part of social environment. The
concerns in this area are connected with the need for companies to contribute to its
development through education’s supportive actions, both of young people, unemployed,
children and their own employees, to support innovation based on knowledge, to have a good
image among the local population, and to help in creating a more equitable society, where the
youth and other people achieve their potential. Therefore education is a component of the
social / societal environment, that can be seen in the context of this paper as a system that
includes a set of institutions which aim to achieve some learning objectives / improving skills
and competencies of participants (pupils, students, other stakeholders), but also as a process
through which stakeholders are involved in learning activities, using different methods
(formal, informal and non-formal ones).
Between corporate social responsibility and education there is a relationship that can be seen
as a bi-directional one (figure 1): education plays a key role in promoting the concept of CSR
at individual and corporate level, in order to create the prerequisites for their sustainable
development. Thus, it contributes to the objectives formulated by the Brundtland report that
aims at the sustainable development of society, improvement of some indicators regarding the
natural environment and those that consider inter- and intra-generational equity, as well as
resource allocation. Thus, the limitation of the negative effects on future development and
abatement of inequalities among countries are possible today. Education is also the foundation
370
where values, associated with responsibility for the natural, social and economic environment,
may be developed and shared, because through education can be rethought the way in which
people and companies behave towards those who are affected by their actions. Similarly, the
adoption and implementation of CSR principles involve awareness actions of employees,
suppliers, customers, other parties on the need for a responsible behavior towards
stakeholders, both as a firm and as an individual actor on the market, or in society as a whole.

CSR: EDUCATION:
Support of Support of CSR
education

Effects Effects
Employees loyalty Appropiate values for
Inovation graduates/employees
Positive image Adjustment to
Responsible behaviour companies’ requirements
Costs reduction Increase the insertion rate
Quality of products on labour market
Sense of contribution Improvement of life
to the community quality
benefit Participation in
Participation in sustainable development
sustainable
development
Figure 1: Relationship CSR - education

Universities, as providers of educational and research services, have a key role in the equation
that models the corporate social responsibility - sustainable development relationship, acting
as vectors for releasing and improving the intensity and implementation speed of CSR
principles and achieving the objectives targeted by sustainability, in present and future
development of society. Prospective graduates are bearers of knowledge and values that
support social responsibility, on the one hand, but also employees, customers, suppliers or
representatives of other companies’ stakeholders, participating in choosing the behavioral way
of the firms / organizations they integrate in. On the other hand, the intensity and the direction
of their participation in shaping behaviors are a consequence of how universities and
companies proceed in present. In a simplified manner, the positive effects of CSR - education
relationship are focused on creating appropriate values among graduates, adjusting the
curriculum to companies’ requirements, improving graduates' insertion and life quality, and
for companies increasing employees loyalty and their qualification level. Thus, there are
supported innovation, cost reduction, improvement of product quality and the human sense of
company’s contribution to the benefit of the community.

3. ROMANIA: CSR STRATEGIES IN EDUCATION

In recent years, a growing interest of companies to carry out CSR programs in education can
be noticed in Romania. Their content varies from covering the needs of knowledge on certain
topics, to those of forming professional competencies and increasing insertion in the labor
market. Projects promotion is made both on companies' websites and professional websites;
these are also our documentary sources, in order to make an inventory of projects / activities
(see Table 1) that can be considered as best practices and that may underlie the development
of new ideas. This inventory is presented in a structured form, on different types of programs.
The initiatives are generally owned or financed by international companies with branches /
371
offices in Romania, absolutely normal if we consider their financial capacity and experience
in this field.
.
Table 1. Romania – CSR activities in education
Types of Projects / Activities
programs
Programs for - Improving digital skills;
pupils - Study of programming languages;
- Setting up professional classes;
- Mentoring and career guidance programs;
- Financial education projects (how a bank
works, how to spend money responsibly);
- Environmental education projects (rational
use of energy resources, environmental
protection);
- Projects to develop critical thinking,
creativity and citizenship;
- Financial assistance and counseling of
gifted children;
- Musical educational projects;
- Supporting the Olympics and their
participants;
- Supporting national competitions in various
fields, quizzes, art competitions, eco-civic
contests etc .;
- Buying books for school libraries;
- Support for children from disadvantaged
groups;
- Projects for the reintegration of dropout
children in the school system;
- Support for completion of high school
studies;
- Educate against violence in schools;
- Education in personal and home hygiene;
Programs for - Specialized courses;
students – - Scholarships;
development of - Training centers;
practical skills for - Professional integration projects;
integration into the - Business simulators (e-learning platforms);
labor market - Courses for students with disabilities;
372
Examples
Preparing today for the Jobs of Tomorrow
- Samsung Electronics;
SuperCoders – Orange & Golin;
Clase de mecanica / Mechanics Classes–
Dacia;
Trends of Tomorrow - Samsung
Electronics;
Junior Orange First Step – Orange;
Summer Job – BCR;
One World Romania la scoala / One
World Romania at School - Asociatia One
World & CEZ;
Banca Copiilor Responsabili / Bank of
Responsible Children – BCR;
Bani de buzunar 2.0 / Pocket Money 2.0 -
Scoala de Valori & ING Bank;
Întalnire cu energia / Meet the Energy -
GDF SUEZ Energy Romania
Harta scolilor verzi / Map of Green
Schools – Henkel;
Spatii verzi / Green Spaces – MOL;
BCR Speranţe / BCR Hopes– BCR;
Pot ajuta?/ Can I help? – MOL;
Scoala lui Andrei / Andrew’s School–
OMV Petrom;
Clubul Sportiv / Sports Club - Dim Soft;
A doua şansă / Second Chance – BCR;
Clasic e fantastic! / Classic is Fantastic –
Filarmonica George Enescu, Teatrul
Odeon, Asociatia Clasic e Fantastic;
Hai la Olimpiada! / Come to the
Olympics! – eMAG &BCR;
The Best – Federal - Mogul Motorparts;
Hai la Scoala! / Come to School! -
UNICEF & ING
Cărţile copilăriei / Childhood Books –
Curtea Veche & ING
Ai Parte De Carte / Access to Education–
Dim Soft;
METRO Kid – Investim in educatie! /
METRO Kid – We Invest in Education! -
METRO Cash&Carry;
Vreau în clasa a noua / I in Ninth Grade -
KFC & Pizza Hut;
Campania Respectului / Respect
Campaign – Avon;
Henkel in Scoli / Henkel in Schools–
Henkel;
Orange Educational Project;
Bursele cofinantate / Orange Educational
Project; Co-financed scholarships –
Renault;
Summer Job – BCR;
IT is Business – Maguay;
Cursuri accesibile pentru studenţii
nevăzători / Courses accessible to blind
students – Fundatia Cartea Calatoare si
 Fundatia Orange;

Vocational - Education in IT; Geeks Together - Maguay;

training / - Promotion of vocational education;
professional - Providing qualifications / certifications for
development certain professions;
- Financial Education (directly);
- Training of Trainers: financial education -
training workshops for teachers; classroom
management for developing high-level
cognitive skills;
- Develop and strengthen professional skills;
- Internship programs;
- Distance learning activities (e-learning);
Academia profesionistilor in finisaje /
Academy of Professionals in Finishing -
Henkel;
Scoala Zidarilor / School of Builders -
Holcim;
Educaţie Financiară pentru ONG-uri /
Financial Education for NGOs -
TechSoup & ING Bank;
Zone de educatie prioritara / Priority
Education Areas - UNICEF Romania,
Institutul de Stiinte ale Educatiei, ING;
Teachers in action – HP;
International Baccalaureate –
ArcelorMittal;
Nestlé needs YOUth – Nestlé;
Maguay - Maguay;

Entrepreneurial - Banking-financial education; YouthBank - Asociaţia pentru Relaţii

education - Education and social entrepreneurship; Comunitare;
programs / - Personal development programs (for START! Business – BCR & Junior
Support acquiring leadership, communicational, Achievement;
entrepreneurship financial management skills, etc.); Incubatorul de afaceri / Business
programs - Grants for the development of business Incubator – ING & CROS;
ideas; JA Compania - Junior Achievement,
Ministerul Educatiei Nationale, Amway;
Cred in Romania / I Believe in Romania -
Star Storage;
Other programs of - Support for the development of large-scale Bursele Superscrieri / Superscrieri
education / journalistic projects on domestic violence; Scholarships - Fundatia Friends For
awareness on key - Education in health domain; Friends & Avon Cosmetics;
issues - Promoting responsible behavior in terms of Zâmbeste România / Smile Romania -
alcohol consumption; GSK Consumer Healthcare ;
- Education to prevent trafficking; Impreuna crestem copii puternici / We
- Use of new technologies by people with Grow Powerful Children Together –
disabilities; Nestlé;
Si eu traiesc sanatos! / I also Live in Good
Health! – Prais & Nestlé;
Afla-ti echilibrul / Find your Balance -
Ursus Breweries;
FreedomTour - ADPARE, eLiberare,
MATTOO, Ambasada Statelor Unite la
Bucuresti, Agentia Nationala Impotriva
Traficului de Persoane, Bancpost, AVIS;
Biblioteca de energie / Power Library–
CEZ;
Source: systematization apud other web sources from [1] to [54]

Analyzing the systematized information we notice the abundance of ideas and ways of
implementation, but also the intimation of some real needs in education, especially on the
practical aspects. It is important that these programs support various categories of public,
targeting both individuals attending a cycle of formal education and jobless people or who
face different problems in their daily day. Especially the programs addressed to students and
alumni are of interest to us because we think that universities may play a more active role and
a substantial involvement in these projects, through various forms of partnership. Activities
such as those inventoried within special programs for students, but also the entrepreneurial
education and support programs through grants for best business ideas can be solutions to
"social responsibility" for higher education.

373
The collected data allow us to extract, by deductive reasoning, the strategic meaning of
programs and actions, based on the fact that "a strategy is something more intuitive, being
visible often only post factum, as a pattern noticed behind events" (Armstrong, 2009).
Therefore, we can classify the CSR strategies in education, according to several criteria, as
follows:
a. According to the targeted temporary horizon: strategies on short, medium and long term
The analyzed CSR educational programs had either a precise aspect, targeting certain needs
considered at one time, either a repetitive character on medium term (2 – 3 - 4 years), or they
have become a tradition.
b. According to addressability: pupils, students, unemployed people wanting to change their
jobs, employees interested in personal / professional development, disabled / disadvantaged
groups etc.
CSR programs in education cover all categories of people, demonstrating in this way their
importance.
c. According to the content: raising awareness strategies, strategies for the development of
knowledge, strategies for training / development of skills / competencies, resourcing
strategies, strategies for career guidance etc.
The analyzed programs target, by their content, both raising awareness on society’s problems
and its education for a better adaptation to the market needs and a better life, but also a more
responsible one (by considering the needs of others - from the present and future generations).
d. According to the educational phase: pupils, students, people who have completed the
formal educational cycle
It can intervene in any phase of education. Companies feel better the labor market pulse,
know best the training needs, therefore their programs are highly focused on these needs.
They also appreciate the level of adequate training to "delivery" the educational support.
e. According to the educational sub-domain: IT, health, management, entrepreneurship, sport,
art, teaching, finance, environment, etc.
A special interest to IT can be observed, absolutely normal in terms of technological progress.
In present, there are also of interest other topical fields or areas that require high performance.

4. CONCLUSIONS
Corporate Social Responsibility involves the strategic integration of concerns in this field, to
ensure coherence of activities and specific activities, to meet the objectives for company’s
performance improvement, along with its contribution to the community development where
it operates in. In this context, education, that involves participation of employees, of future
graduates of schools and universities or other community members in programs that aim to
improve skills, personal and professional competencies, is a source of increasing companies'
competitiveness on long term. Similarly, education is the primary way for raising living
standards and improving some indicators regarding the quality of community life, as main
objectives of the economic development.
In Romania, CSR projects in education were developed and are developing, some of them
with institutional support. Various projects offer a wide addressability, many of them being
designed to youth / graduates and meeting their needs of insertion in the labor market. Public-
private partnerships succeed to solve problems regarding a better adaptation to the labor
market, by developing the required competencies / skills and funding problems. In this
context we consider that universities may involve more by generating CSR projects and
developing partnerships with a real impact on the community, providing appropriate training
programs, career guidance and involvement in finding concrete solutions related to
employment.

374
REFERENCES

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educatie-cultura-si-sport/
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3. http://csrleaders.ro/
4. http://csrleaders.ro/sabina-stirb-samsung-romania/
5. http://ffff.ro/bursele-superscrieri/
6. https://www.gdfsuez.ro/corporate/responsabilitate-sociala/programe-in-curs/intalnire-cu-
energia/;
7. http://www.forbes.ro/golin-romania-obtine-trei-premii-la-csr-awards-2015-35466
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mol-program-de-promovare-a-talentelor
12.http://news.amway.ro/programul-%E2%80%9Eja-compania-sprijinit-de-amway-si-
dezvoltat-de-junior-achievement-a-fost-premiat-in-cadrul-competitiei-csr-awards/
13. http://rnews.ro/freedomtour-o-calatorie-in-jurul-romaniei-pentru-victimele-traficului-de-
persoane_139790.html
14. http://samstudia.ro/despre-youthbank/
15. http://scoala.oneworld.ro/ro/
16. http://scoaladevalori.ro/proiecte/bani-de-buzunar-2-0/
17. http://www.actionamresponsabil.ro/proiect-rsc/bcr-sperante
18. http://www.asociatiacurteaveche.ro/ro/campaigns/cartile-copilariei/
19. http://www.avoncampaniisociale.ro/campaniarespectului/
20. https://www.bcr.ro/ro/csr/proiecte/educatie-pentru-dezvoltarea-competentelor-
practice/banca-copiilor-responsabili
21. https://www.bcr.ro/ro/csr/proiecte/educatie-pentru-dezvoltarea-competentelor-
practice/summer-job-in-bcr
22. https://www.bcr.ro/ro/csr/proiecte/educatie-pentru-dezvoltarea-competentelor-
practice/summer-job-in-bcr
375
23. https://www.bcr.ro/ro/csr/proiecte/educatie-pentru-dezvoltarea-competentelor-
practice/start-business
24. http://www.clasicefantastic.ro/
25. http://www.csrmedia.ro/bcr-a-dat-copiilor-o-%E2%80%9Ca-doua-sansa%E2%80%9D/
26. http://www.csrmedia.ro/interviu-in-federal-mogul-mp-educatia-reprezinta-unul-dintre-
pilonii-importanti-in-strategia-de-business/
27. http://www.csrmedia.ro/tag/metro-kid-investim-in-educatie/
28. http://www.csrmedia.ro/interviu-henkel-sarbatoreste-20-de-activitate-in-romania-prin-
promovarea-valorilor-autentice/
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celor-de-educatie/
30. http://www.daciagroup.com/responsabilitate-sociala/educatie
31. http://www.desprealcool.ro/campanii/lansare-campanie-afla-ti-echilibrul/
32. http://www.fcc.ro/index.php/fccinpresa/144-fundatia-cartea-calatoare-lanseaza-proiectul-
cursuri-accesibile-pentru-studentii-nevazatori
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grupurile-dezavantajate/hai-la-scoala.html
35.https://www.ing.ro/ingb/ing-in-romania/responsabilitate-sociala/educatie-financiara-si-
antreprenoriat/incubatorul-de-afaceri.html
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ja-investeste-in-educatie-2017
37. http://www.kfc.ro/world-hunger-relief/articol/kfc-si-pizza-hut-sprijina-organizatia-world-
vision-pentru-cea-de-a-saptea-editie-a-campaniei-vreau-in-clasa-a-noua
38. http://www.nestle.ro/Media/Noutati/Nestl%C3%A9-Needs-YOUth
39. https://www.orange.ro/about/noutati-ro.html
40. https://www.orange.ro/first-step/
41. https://www.orange.ro/programul-educational/politehnica/
42. http://www.responsabilitatesociala.ro/stiri-csr/campanii-de-csr-premiate-la-romanian-pr-
award-2014.html
43. http://www.responsabilitatesociala.ro/stiri-csr/dacia-va-infiinta-doua-clase-profesionale-
de-mecanica-la-un-liceu-din-mioveni.html
44. http://www.responsabilitatesociala.ro/stiri-csr/henkel-a-lansat-competitia-harta-scolilor-
verzi-din-romania.html
45. http://www.retail-fmcg.ro/fmcg/nestle-lanseaza-campania-de-informare-impreuna-
crestem-copii-puternici.html
46. http://www.spatiiverzi.org.ro/
47. http://www.taraluiandrei.ro/scoala-lui-andrei
48. http://www8.hp.com/us/en/solutions/education/teachers.html
49. http://www.sets.ro/ro/
50. http://www.star-storage.ro/despre-star-storage/noutati/company-news/star-storage-
lanseaza-programul-%E2%80%9Ecred-in-romania%E2%80%9D.aspx
51. https://www.techsoup.ro/educatie-financiara-ong
52. http://www.unicef.ro/publicatii/zone-prioritare-de-educatie/
53. http://www.yoda.ro/mobile/samsung-da-startul-caravanei-trends-of-tomorrow-2015-prin-
aplicac-ia-vocationala-tomorrowme.html
54. http://zambesteromania.ro/

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

CEPROCS THE SYSTEM OF SUCCESS – A CASE STUDY ABOUT AN

OUTSOURCING COMPANY

Dan MIRICESCU1, Daniela CURMU2 and Virginia GROZA3

1
“Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, dan.miricescu@ulbsibiu.ro
2
Ceprocs Romania SRL, Marketing, daniela.curmu@ceprocs.com
3
Ceprocs Romania SRL, Manager Strategic Sourcing, virginia.groza@ceprocs.com

ABSTRACT: This paper is case study about a successful story about a company that started in 2010 to play on
the outsourcing market. The company is located in Sibiu area and is in a continues growing process. CEPROCS
offer worldwide services in the buying processes founded analysis, competent and multilingual consulting,
adapting to the client’s needs. The procurement processes are usually expensive and complex within large firms.
Storage, as cost-intensive factor, and high processing times represent an unnecessary load for the companies.
Intern cost structures can and must be optimized. CEPROCS™ applies the optimization of the purchasing and
purchasing processes of our customers is our core business.
KEYWORDS: outsourcing, flexibility, competitive advantage, professionalism, customised solutions.

1. INTRODUCTION
CEPROCS™ offers you high quality services and makes sure that your business objectives
are accomplished. We offer worldwide Sourcing, funded analysis, competent and multilingual
consulting and we adapt our model according to client needs. We let our clients focus on their
core business. Our know-how enables us to design and adjust successful procurement
strategies and enable opportunities for growth in our customers’ best advantage.

Figure 1 CEPROCS logo

In 2010 CEPROCS™ was founded by an Austrian purchasing expert Matthias Trittinger,
who united a team of experts in the two locations, Sibiu and Vienna. He managed to build up
an extensive network in purchasing due to his over 20 years of experience in purchasing,
being also chief purchasing officer within the automobile industry.
CEPROCS is a privately held company and an independent private business, with over 100
employees and over 10.000 network partners
Our motivated employees do business in nearly all European languages and counting. We
speak English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, and Spanish.

377
The ongoing advanced training of the employees with regard to languages and the most
different specialists within own CEPROCS™- Academy are therefore extremely important.
This knowledge benefit guarantees a vital strategic advantage on the market.
On today´s global markets the external management of purchasing and process optimization
become increasingly important. So, our firm can provide enormous competitive advantages to
our customers due to process optimization and flexible adjustment on modified conditions of
the market. The procurement processes are usually expensive and complex within large firms.
Storage, as cost-intensive factor, and high processing times represent an unnecessary load for
the companies. Intern cost structures can and must be optimized. CEPROCS™ applies the
optimization of the purchasing and purchasing processes of our customers is our core
business!
Being close to and always at our customers’ disposal makes us a reliable partner. We
ascertain, evaluate, and define goals and priorities within the personal dialogue. On the basis
of this analysis, we develop individual business models, which are professionally processed in
our know-how centers due to an efficient process management. We have a distinctive and
highly developed expert know-how, disposing of a global network of partners from various
fields due to over 20 years of experience in specialized purchasing. Our field of interest is
service sector, and special market knowledge, with regard to industry, rounds off our profile.
Currently, we meet our demands through a purchasing volume amounting to 300 million Euro
and we process more than 140,000 of orders per annum for our customers.
Together with our global network providers, we grant key benefits to our customers within
personal dialogues. We do not conduct anonymous supplier correspondence. So we say
previous, our employees speak all European languages, so that they constantly connect
individually with both customers and providers. Our company unites customer-overarching
demands due to modern tools (process management, analysis/ reporting), conclude worldwide
tenders, and evaluate offers. In this way, our advisors can find the best global offers for the
appropriate customer needs within personal contact.
We offer comprehensive services to our customers. We also provide further premium-services
besides our purchasing services:
• Accounts receivable management including arrears billings and invoicing
• Accounts payable management, materials accounting in order to determine the stock
of inventory and the stock value
• Corporate reporting, accounting under IFRS and GAAP
• Human resource management: attendance and holiday management, payroll and salary
accounting
• High-output IT department: interface-based programming, system integration, and
individual applications
2. CEPROCS™ MODEL MADE TO IMPROVE YOUR BUSINESS
It is not just a story line for us to deploy our strategic team in the client’s business so that we
can develop the most suitable solutions for the projects we handle.
We focus on sourcing, pricing and acquisition of the right things at the right price and at the
right time in order to deliver efficiency. We are always measuring the possible risks by the
likelihood of an unwanted event that can occur and the consequences resulting from the event.
The impact of risk could be the same for both small damages resulting from a highly probable
recurring event and very large damage resulting from rare events. The strategy includes in the
planning stage, the identification of the origin, probability and magnitude of the risks.
It is important in each stage of the procurement process that the risks are kept low. Besides
the risk management and the high quality materials and services we have supported our
projects to reduce costs by offering a new concept and a longer life solution.
378
2.1 Long lasting results by efficient solutions
All businesses need input in order to be able to function. This might be materials, such as raw
materials, like engine components for car manufacturer. It is vital that inputs not only meet
the required quality and reliability standards, but also that they are competitively priced.
Procurement has a highly strategic role, whether the organization is manufacturing or service-
oriented and it covers the full supply chain, from contracts (negotiating), procurement
(purchasing) and logistics (storage/ distribution).
One of our main objectives is to help our clients to save in spend. This fast-real results that
improve the bottom line and create competitive advantage is possible due to our experienced
sourcing team. Guided by the best analytical and sourcing tools, talented and the best IT
infrastructure we fight to deliver best solutions from the project start.
Bellow there are presented two cases of strategic sourcing.
2.2 Packaging materials- sample sourcing case
Overview of the case:
• 18 packaging materials were enclosed in sourcing.
• These 18 materials are used to pack different parts by after sales division, parts that
need to be shipped to dealers in Europe.
• This strategic sourcing case is covering German and Spanish site.

•
• Figure 2 Packaging materials
Main requirements for the suppliers that quoted for this case were to:
• Be able to provide entire package solution together with the related services included
in the material prices.
• Maintain the service level, quality (zero damages during the shipping) and just in time
deliveries.
• Reduce costs
• Consolidate materials
• Offer stock management
The sourcing strategy involved purchasing, stakeholder and supplier (in different percentages)
and special key value drivers that challenged the users to provide detailed information
regarding their needs and to fully understand the spend category. Also technical data
information and all necessary requirements helped in the case by looking high profit in
strategic (high supply risk) and leverage products (low supply risk) and low profit in
bottleneck (high supply risk) and routine products (low supply risk).
The factors which could change the cost of the case and in which the sourcing team paid
attention were:
• Design changes
• EUWID (Europäischer Wirtschaftsdienst GmbH) clause
• HPE (Holzpackmittel – Paletten – Exportverpackung) index
• Raw materials
• Logistics
379
 • Other costs
The acquisition price was influenced by:
• Cost allocation of raw material (cardboard and wood)
• % of corrugated board per packaging
• % of wood per packaging
• Quantity of material
• Percentage of material
• Percentage of the whole packaging

Figure 3 HPE index

Figure 4 Oriented Strand Board Playwood – Wood Panels

The techniques and tools we used went beyond unit price reduction and created the
opportunity for savings. We configure solutions to suit specific goals, programs to achieve
specific savings targets, to shorten term, category-specific engagements.
Therefore:
• 3 suppliers were able to quote and deliver the entire package together with the related
services included in the materials` prices.
• The Contractor is responsible for the whole transport, including the corresponding
costs.
• Orders received by the contractor until 12:00 shall be delivered latest within 24 hours
(normal order).
• The contractor shall deliver qualitative high-class packaging material.
• Achieved 22% savings.
2.3 Leasing of Work ware- sample sourcing case
Overview of the case:
• Tradition in using the same service for over 20 years, contractual agreements applied
starting with 1993.
• Plant related contracts have been created in order to cover all services and needs for 7
pants in 4 countries.
Main requirements for the suppliers that quoted for this case were to:
• Consolidate contracts currently covering 7 plants/4 countries
• Continue improvements provided via rental services
• Maintain the same service level and improve reporting along with information flow
• Implement new key performance indicators
380
The sourcing strategy included several key value indicators such as: supplier market
assessment and supplier survey, helped users identify alternatives and developed a preferred
pool of providers for global requirements.

Figure 5 Warehousing
The factors that could influence the price and the pricing structure were:
• Procurement and warehousing
• Labelling
• Supply of garments
• Delivery points
• Lockers and distribution
• Washing and maintenance
• Disposal of old garments
• Spare garments
• Fluctuations in HR
• Number of users
• types of garments
• pieces in one set
• garments washed per week
• Dirty garment collection rate (days per week)
• Frequency of change
• Models and features
A well prepared strategy and documentation increases efficiency and effectiveness, jumps in
productivity, builds stronger and more strategic relationships with suppliers, and of course,
substantial savings.
Therefore:
• The general conditions were applied and the standard contract updated and contract
signed for the next 3 years
• Clear service description based on each plant demand (individual annexes) and
complete overview of the leasing process
• New design changes of garments for different departments
• Implementation of KPI’s (client’s responsibility & purchasing support)
• Work wear service managing
• Health and Safety requirements
• Cleanliness and sanitation
• Quality standards for customer service
• Financial settlement
• Achieved of 17% savings
Our team has worked with the client, shared data and discussed goals and objectives for
these projects. The professional skills and resources supported them in taking the best
decisions in offering premium services.

381
3. REFERENCES
1. Bălan, Carmen, Logistică, ed. a 3-a, Editura Uranus, Bucureşti, (2006)
2. Ballou , Ronald H. – Business Logistics/Supply Chain management, Fifth Edition, Pearson
Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, (2004)
3. Johnson L., Fearon F., Purchasing and Supply Management: with 50 supply chain cases,
13th ed.: The McGraw-Hill Companies, (2006)
4. Miricescu, D., Study Regarding the Customer Satisfaction Evaluation Considering the
Logistics Service Level, The 2013 SCM 4 ECR Conference: Customer Experience
Management through Sustainable SupplyChain, Târgovişte, 31 May – 1 June 2013,
Valahian Journal of Economic Studies, Volume 4(18) Issue 3, 2013, Valahia University
Press, Târgovişte
5. Ţuţurea M., Miricescu D., Compendiu de management strategic, Editura Universităţii
“Lucian Blaga” din Sibiu, Sibiu, (2011)
6. Documents belonging to Ceprocs Romania SRL
7. www.ceprocs.com

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND

TRAINING IN ROMANIAN SMES

Dan MIRICESCU1, Wiegand Helmut FLEISCHER 2

1
“Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, dan.miricescu@ulbsibiu.ro
2
“Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, wiegand.fleischer@ulbsibiu.ro

ABSTRACT: In this research I would like to stress that not only the society and the government has to support
the vocational Education. Romanian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) benefit from vocational
training and thereby increase considerably their competitiveness in the global economy, so the Romanian
economy must partially finance the vocational education. To improve education in Europe and especially in
Romania and to increase the number of internships for future employees in the economy, the benefits of practice-
oriented trained skilled workers in industry need to be more discussed. The message to the economy of the future
should be: Romanian SMEs benefit from vocational training and thereby increase considerably their
competitiveness in the global economy. Therefore, in addition to the vocational schools, SMEs and the trades are
also responsible for the training of technicians and skilled workers.
KEYWORDS: SMEs, vocational learning, practice-oriented education, skilled workers.

1. INTRODUCTION
Due to demographic changes in almost all European countries (the reduction of the European
population and an increase of the world population), the work of all young people will be
needed in the future. Therefore it is necessary to remedy weaknesses of the European and
Romanian educational system. The aim to reduce the unemployment of skilled workers,
lifelong learning should be complemented by practical and theoretical training opportunities.
Only through these advanced measures can Europe maintain and improve its prosperity and
competitiveness in the global economy.
2. CONTENT
As in several European countries, in Romania the training is conducted in vocational schools.
Because of the independent school-based training, the risk of divergence between the
objectives of learning at school and the expectations of industry and commerce exists in these
countries. The transition between the school system and the labour market is thus more
difficult. This social problem has been recognized in recent years and has been supplemented
in some professional fields through new qualification requirements. Despite these changes, a
direct transition for a skilled worker from the school into the work environment is possible
only with difficulty.
After attending secondary education I and passing the national examination, the pupils can
attend an art and vocational school, the supplementary year and the technical secondary
education II (Licee Tehnologice). "The end is here, too, the baccalaureate, in parallel, the
graduate acquires the vocational completion of level 3 of the Romanian professional
qualifications framework. The general educational content of the technical secondary
education are broadly in line with those of the academic branch. The technical training is
divided into three areas: natural resources, services, and technical occupations. In each of
these three areas, different professional qualifying degrees are acquired" [4]. After the last
school reform, Romanian young people could complete a two-year training at an arts and
vocational school (Școli de arte și meserii). The graduates can acquire the skills of level 1.
This is followed by the "Supplementary year" with the completion of the qualifying stage 2.
These two training phases take over three years. With this basic vocational training, the
graduates can attend the technical secondary education II level (two-year course) and get a
dual qualification - a professional qualification and a university entrance qualification, and the
383
qualification level 3 [4]. The number of vocational qualifications changed very often in recent
years, because of the great dissatisfaction of the labour market, new learning content and
learning objectives for new careers are being developed in the vocational school.
Improving the transition from school to vocational training. Already 500 years BC, Confucius
realized: "Tell me, and I will forget, Show me, and I may remember, involve me and I will
understand." The pedagogue Georg Kerschensteiner determined, approximately 2400 years
later, that: education is what is left, when everything learned is forgotten. In the knowledge-
based society of the 21 Century, where the educational content and professional requirements
consistently convert and flexible "just-in-time" learning is becoming more and more a
requirement for a successful career, application of specific integration and learning techniques
such as self-directed learning are of greater and greater importance in educational concepts.
That is why our children and young people need more guidance to self-directed learning, from
kindergarten to university. If children at a young age already become "small researchers",
then it is more likely that they will later include and practice self-directed learning more easily
and more successfully. For teaching in schools that means that the learning process based on
field trips, exploration, and action in practice, but especially on longer guided internship is
required. Excursions and exploration in practice can be carried out by means of school or
university events. A longer guided internship must be prepared and coordinated with the help
of industrial and business enterprises. The content of the internship work can be prepared at
school. The pupils will then recognize more clearly the relationship between educational
content and the competencies required in industry. A considerable number of representatives
of industry, schools and the public sector mention in the survey: Longer-term internships or
even vocational training promote and improve the transition from school to the professional
field. These interesting and important considerations for vocational training are realized in
only a few communities in Germany.
The process of career guidance can be performed in several steps: In the first stage the pupil
should recognize his/her weaknesses, but above all recognize his skills through diagnosis and
the vocational aptitude test. In the directly adjoining one-to-one counselling, the importance
of the profession in one’s life should be shown also to the less motivated pupils. In individual
counselling both the low and the well-developed skills will be discussed and after these
results the pupil with get proposals for various internships or apprenticeships. The teachers
should not advice, but experts from vocational schools, industry and the community could
perform individual counselling. It is likely that the pupils will be more motivated by external
diagnosis and individual counselling and through internships they will identify the link
between theory and practice. Part of this consultation process would also be advisable for
Romanian students. It may be argued that the costs of such an additional external consulting
team are too high. Against this objection one must consider, however, those only well-trained
and highly motivated employees have in the future a chance on the labour market.
Unemployment among young people in Europe is in each country three times higher than the
overall unemployment rate. This abuse can be, at least partly, solved by means of an
improved consultation process and a closer integration between theory and practice. This
raises the question: How can the vocational training in Germany and in Romania are
improved? It is of course important to educate through dual training also educational material,
which is useful in other neighboring professions (e.g., industrial mechanics and
mechatronics). That is why changing essential parts of the dual vocational training encounters
incomprehension. Past experiences show clearly that knowledge in a globalized world is not
only constantly increasing; it is also an ongoing process of field specialization. In this context
we refer to the key concept of "lifelong learning", by which is understood in principle the
need for continuous training. Lifelong learning is important firstly because it is the basis of
innovation, on which the economic performance of many European countries depends.
Secondly, demographic changes increase the qualification pressure on the older generations
and industry. In the coming decades the relationship between generations, both working and
unemployed, will change. The majority of the workers will be on average older than today

384
and the reduced number of workers must be better trained to be able to successfully face these
shifts, including global changes in the world of work. Thus, acquired knowledge does not
suffice for a whole working life. After a course of studies knowledge must be continuously
renewed, depending on professional requirements. The increased qualification pressure leads
to the situation in which one needs to enhance knowledge directly after the dual training,
either independently or through further education. That means, students nowadays must not
only learn fundamental and technical knowledge, but also deal with methods of self-directed
and individual learning. Especially in the current post-industrial phase the sector of
professional training has a special significance. Lifelong learning in adult education and
training takes place at various learning venues and has become in many areas a natural part of
the knowledge society. Lifelong learning and thus the acquisition of specialist skills is
becoming more and more necessary. Decreasing knowledge - the creeping de-skilling of the
graduates of the dual system - can be stopped in the long-term only by continuous learning,
thus bringing indispensable knowledge resources to the labour market, particularly for skilled
experts.
3. CONCLUSION
The proposals to change the teaching and the inclusion of occupational learning content can
only be achieved through close cooperation and coordination arrangements between
vocational education and industry. Therefore, in future, the contacts between vocational
school teachers and managers of industry in Germany, but mainly in Romania, have to be
strengthened. Only a few Romanian companies feel responsible for vocational education.
There is no dual vocational education as in Germany and professional qualification enjoys
little or no recognition. The total numbers of students in Germany and Romania show very
clearly the trend that an increasing number of young people in Romania want to complete
their education at universities. On the other hand young people in Germany choose both
university study and dual vocational education. In 2008 in Romania, 4.78% of the total
population studied at university (907.353 out of 19 million Romanians), but in Germany only
2.34% (1.941.763 out of 82 million Germans) [3]. For some societies in Europe it is important
to change the wrong attitude that "Only the looser works in handicraft business or industry
production". The typical Romanian "apprentice" (vocational students) spends almost 90% of
the training period in vocational schools. Work placements for vocational students are
scarcely offered by industry, trades or crafts. "The trainees often lack the opportunity to gain
practical experience during their training in small and medium businesses. As an alternative to
experience in enterprises some schools have "founded training firms where trainees learn" [1].
A strong link between vocational teaching and professional practice is necessary and an
introduction of practical modules is deemed essential. Consequently it seems advisable the
vocational schools in Romania should plan more practice shares in companies, in industry or
trades and should create correspondingly more space for such events in the curriculum. There
are several ways to promote the relevance of practice. In some countries such as Germany and
Austria young people can complete internships over weeks or three to four years of dual
professional education or a bachelor's degree with dual vocational education in the economy.
Long-term increased integration of these models of education for skilled workers within the
training program in vocational schools and in the workplace would be a promising key to
improving vocational education. During the Romanian training period companies could offer
interesting practice-oriented work projects to the "trainees" in various types of production. At
this point the companies in Romania could gradually extend the internship periods of one
month to one year and work closely with the vocational school. The teenager would be
familiar then with the latest technological equipment and modern working practices in
industry and develop important professional skills and then be able to perfect with the
teachers at the vocational school theoretical knowledge and general education learning goals.
The young person would best prepare himself by this method for his future professional life
and the companies in industry and the trades could employ highly skilled workers in
production and administration. It is necessary to discuss the benefits of practice-oriented

385
trained employees for industry, for trade and for the craft intensively. The appeal to the young
people of Europe must be: "You will need for your future life a qualified and practical
education and our European society needs your work." Therefore it is necessary to eliminate
two potential weaknesses of the European VET (vocational training system) system. To
reduce the unemployment of skilled workers, on the one hand, the transition between
education and work must be improved through professional consultation and guided
internships and on the other hand lifelong learning must be supplemented through continuing
education courses. Only by closely linking the operational practice and theoretical training
can Europe maintain and improve prosperity and competitiveness in the global economy.
“The initiative for the establishment and implementation of vocational (dual) education is a
feasible solution, whose first models should be extended more widely to achieve national
coverage” in Romania [2]. The message to the economy of the future should be: Romanian
SMEs benefit from vocational training and thereby increase considerably their
competitiveness in the global economy, so the Romanian economy must partially finance the
vocational education. The significant aspect that I would like to stress is that not only the
society and the government has to support the vocational Education. Therefore, in addition to
the vocational schools, SMEs and the trades are also responsible for the training of
technicians and skilled workers.
4. REFERENCES
1. Bundesanstalt für Arbeit, Zentrale Auslands- und Fachvermittlung,
www.baauslandsvermittlung.de/nn_7350/DE/LaenderEU, (2012).
2. Fleischer, W.H., Implementarea învățământului bivocațional – O șansă pentru România,
în Antropologia și munca, Kozma, A., Glavce, C., Szombatfalvi-Török, F., (toți
coordonatori), Colecția Zilele Rainer, Editura Astra Museum, p. 76, (2014).
3. OECD Bildungsvergleich, Education by level of education, www.insse.ro/cmsfiles/pdf.ro,
(2008).
4. West, J., Serban, M., Für den Zweck geeignet? Das rumänische Berufsbildungssystem,
Europäische Zeitschrift für Berufsbildung Nr.41, (2), ISSN 1977 – 0243, Ausgabe: 8,
(2007).

386
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF INNOVATION IN ROMANIAN SMES -

BASED ON 1375 ENTREPRENEURS AND MANAGERS INTERVIEWS

Ovidiu Nicolescu1
Ciprian Nicolescu2
1
Romanian Scientific Management Society, inst.manager@gmail.com
2
The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, ciprian.nicolescu@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: The paper aims to analyze the innovation activities within Romanian SMEs, taking into
consideration their major role in ensuring competitiveness of this very important sector of companies and
implicitly, increasing national economy performances. The analysis was based on results of an empirical
research conducted by questioning entrepreneurs and managers from 1375 firms - micro, small and medium
sized - from all fields of activity and development regions, sample considered representative for the situation of
Romanian SMEs sector. There were approached innovation intensity and nature in the small and medium
enterprises from Romania, main ways of innovation within Romanian SMEs and major barriers faced by
innovation and R&D activities, which impact decisively national economy competitiveness. The work ends with
general conclusions and recommendations regarding economic, information and managerial & organizational
elements of the SMEs' innovative activities, that are formulated mainly for entrepreneurs, managers and national
political deciders.
KEYWORDS: innovation, SMEs, empirical research, research & development, barriers, recommendations

1. INTRODUCTION
One of the main features of the present times is the high intensity of the innovation in almost
all mankind fields. Transition to the knowledge based economy has as primordial component
the comprehensive, creative and innovative activities. The new knowledge, today's driver
force of the human progress and performance is generated by research and development
processes, by intense innovative activities in all society components [3].
Without any doubt, in the economy are achieved the most part of innovative activities.
Millions of the new products, services, technologies and methods developed in the last
decades represent the best expression of this evolution. All types of companies are producing
innovations which are very diversified. The best known are the innovations made by large and
very large enterprises, especially international corporations. New products, services,
management methods, marketing tools, human resources approaches, a.s.o. fulfilled by large
corporations like Microsoft, Apple, Toyota, Mercedes, Airbus or Sandoz are very popular.
The marketing capacity and financial potential of these companies make their innovations
rapidly well known.
The number of large enterprises is small and they represent only a low percentage of the total
companies, usually in every country. For example, in Romania we have about 1350 large
companies, while in EU there are almost 50.000 big firms. The number of SMEs is more than
20,5 millions in EU and about 600.000 in Romania. Small and medium enterprises are
producing a huge amount of innovations in all branches, but many of the best SMEs
innovations are taken and marketed by large companies. SMEs innovations are not enough
known, however their contribution to the economic and social development is major.
Innovations in SMEs are partially different comparative with the large enterprises, because of
the differences in size, resources, types of activities, management and marketing approaches.
It is necessary to analyze them in order to be increased and to better developed performant
small business.

387
The Romanian 600.000 SMEs are very diversified and they contribute significantly to the
country development. In order to analyze them, we have achieved an extensive empirical
research, whose results have been published in 2015 [4].
In our paper we focused on the innovation within Romanian SMEs in 2015, using the results
of this empirical research and trying to reveal the essential characteristics of this phenomenon,
useful for proposing ways and methods to increase the Romanian economy performance. Such
an approach is necessary because of the very modest position of innovation in Romania,
comparative with other countries, as we can see in figure 1.

Figure 1. Innovation performances in European Union [5]

2. SMES SAMPLE PARAMETERS

The background of our paper is represented by the empirical research achieved in 2015
through interviewing entrepreneurs and managers from 1375 SMEs. This sample is
representative for Romanian SMEs.
From methodological point of view we want to specify that the investigation was not designed
in proportional variant, which involves copying in the sample the proportions of typologies
from the reference population. Thus, for example, if there has been used the method of
proportionate shares would have been selected and sampled about 90% of micro-enterprises,
of which about 40% act in the services sector. Such an investigation structure would have had
a low degree of relevance, because the behavior of micro-enterprises that operate in services is
relatively similar in terms of management, investment and human resources and, instead, there
would have been reduced information from NACE activity areas, in which operate fewer
companies. For this reason it was preferred the option of stratified - optimal survey type, in
which was reduced within the sample the weight of homogeneous layers (for example the
enterprises which have as object of activity services) and in exchange was increased the share
of heterogeneous layers (for example was supplemented in compensation the layer of
companies with industrial activity). This construction method of the sample ensures a better
quality of the information and a superior level of knowledge of the realities investigated. The
sample constructed using this methodological approach is presented in next figures.
Taking into account the age of SMEs (figure 2), the most of the enterprises which made up the
object of the investigation have the age between 5-10 years (31,78%), being followed by the
firms whose existence is over 15 years (26,62%) and those companies with less than 5 years
old (25,24%), on the last position being the enterprises with 10 to 15 years old (16,36%).

388
 26.62% 25.24%

Below 5 yeears

5-10 years

10-15 yearrs

16.36% 31.78% Over 15 yeears

Figure 2. Thee structure of the

t sample acccording to thee age of the coompanies

The distribution off the SMEs by dimenssion is showwn in figuree 3: microenterprises represent
r
85,96% of the totaal of SMEs investigateed, small co
ompanies acccounted 122,36% and medium
sized onnes hold a percentage
p o 1,67%.
of

1.67%
12.36%

85.96%

M
Microenterpri
ises Small enterprises Medium
m sized enterprrises

Figuree 3. The structture of the sam

mple by the size of the SME
Es

Concernning the com mpanies byy the fields of

o activity, the sample of SMEs sshows the fo ollowing
structure: 42,18% of companiies act in trrade field, 28,80% of the compannies are in services
field, 199,13% are industrial
i companies, 4,00%
4 of thhe economiic units connduct their business
activity in construcction field, 3,20%
3 operrate in transsportations field
f and 2,69% act in tourism.
Many ofo the compaanies cover several fiellds of activity, becausee they focuss on identify fying and
capitalizzing business opportunnities, whichh represent a basic featture of SME Es both in Romania
R
as in othher countriees. We menntion that foor each enteerprise was consideredd the NACE E code of
the mainn activity arrea. The graaphical reprresentation of the distrribution of eenterprises by
b fields
of activiity is displaayed in figurre 4

3.20% 2.69%
42.18
8% Trade
28.80%
Constructiion
Industry
Services
Transportaations
Tourism
19.13%
% 4.00%

ure 4. The struucture of the saample by the activity fieldss

Figu

389
3. INNOVATION INTENSITY AND NATURE IN THE ROMANIAN SMES

The first striking element resulting from the empirical research is the high percentage of
SMEs which are not reporting innovations. As we can see in figure 5, almost half of the
Romanian SMEs (44,95%) did not mention any concrete innovation in their organizations
during last year. This figure is - surprisingly - much more higher than in 2014 with 18,56%.
The fact that such high proportions of SMEs are not making innovations represents negative
feature of Romanian business environment. This explains to a large extent the low level of
productivity in Romanian economy and the modest degree of its competitiveness.

60% 55.05%
44.95%
40%

20%

0%
SMEs reporting innovation SMEs not reporting innovation

Figure 5. Intensity of innovation in Romanian SMEs

In Romanian SMEs are fulfilled mainly 5 types of innovations.

60% 51.27%
40% 26.37% 22.26%
20% 9.55% 8.50%
0%
New products New New approaches New New human
technologies to management information resources
and marketing system elements approaches

Figure 6. The nature of innovation activities in innovative enterprises

Taking into consideration SMEs which report innovation (figure 6), we could observe that the
most frequent type of innovation is represented by new products. More than half of SMEs
reporting innovations are making new products. On the second position is the generation of
the new technologies made in a quarter of SMEs. New approaches in management and
marketing activities are used in average by one out of 5 SMEs. The last two types of
innovations - much less made in Romanian SMEs - have as object information systems and
human resources approaches, each of them with almost 10%.
Also, if we examine nature of innovation, we notice that the most frequent are technical
innovations - new products and new technologies - in almost 80% from SMEs reporting
innovations. This is similar with the innovative practice in all countries. The innovation in
management and marketing, human resources and information systems is less intensive - all
together - 40,31%, representing half of technical innovations. In reality, the difference is not
such high, but some of managers and entrepreneurs do not take into consideration the "small"
new elements introduced by them in management, marketing, human resources or informatics
activities. They do not consider them as being innovations.
The last remark regards the diversification of the innovation in SMEs. According to our
figures, almost 18% of SMEs fulfill 2 or 3 types of innovation. Such a situation is normal,
390
because quite often major innovations in technical activities need innovations in management,
marketing, informatics or human resources approaches.
Considering the impact of the SMEs size related to the innovation efforts (table 1), we
identify the following significant aspects:
• there is a positive correlation between the size of SMEs and the frequency with which they
indicate new products, new technologies and an improvement in human resources;
• there is a negative relationship between the size of enterprises and their tendency to aim
innovation efforts toward new approaches in management and marketing, a frequency of
4,35% being registered for medium-sized organizations – 2,29 times smaller (-5,56 p.p.) than
the level corresponding to small entities and 3,01 times smaller (-8,76 p.p.) than the level for
micro-enterprises;
• the percentage of SMEs indicating an absence in innovation approaches is negatively
correlated with the size of SMEs: 46,28% of micro-enterprises do not take innovative actions
– a percentage 1,24 times larger (+9,22 p.p.) than the level corresponding to small enterprises
and 1,33 times larger (+11,5 p.p.) than that of medium enterprises.

Table 1. Differentiation of innovation activities according to the SMEs size

No. SMEs size
Innovation types Micro-enterprises Small enterprises Medium enterprises
1. New products 27,07% 30,00% 43,48%
2. New technologies 12,61% 21,76% 43,48%
3. New approaches to management and marketing 13,11% 10,00% 4,35%
4. New information system elements 4,40% 10,59% 4,35%
5. New human resources approaches 4,15% 7,06% 8,70%
6. Not the case 46,28% 37,06% 34,78%

Examination of innovational activities in SMEs taking into consideration their activity (table
2), indicates the following main elements:
• The most frequent innovation activities are - normally - in industry, where two thirds of
SMEs are innovating, mainly in technical activities. The lowest innovation activities are in the
tourism and transportation where 6 out of 10 SMEs do not report any innovative activities.
• The creation of new products is most frequent in commerce and industry, in about 1/3 of
SMEs from these branches. The smallest intensity of new products is in tourism and transport.
Percentage of new products for tourism SMEs is the lowest (13,51%) and this explains - to a
large extend - why Romanian tourism is not competitive at international level.
• The highest intensity of new technologies is - normally - in industrial SMEs, used in more
than one quarter of them. Absence of new technologies is in tourism SMEs (see also the
previous remark). A very small frequency of new technologies is in commerce SMEs, less
than 8%.
• The innovations in management and marketing approaches, IT systems and human
resources approaches are relatively more frequent in tourism and services.

Table 2. Differentiation of innovation activities according to the SMEs field of activity

No. SMEs size

Innovation types Industry Construction Commerce Transport Tourism Services
1. New products 32,70% 18,18% 33,10% 15,91% 13,51% 20,45%
2. New technologies 25,48% 23,64% 7,76% 15,91% 0,00% 16,16%
3. New approaches to management and marketing 8,37% 3,64% 11,90% 11,36% 21,62% 16,92%
4. New information system elements 3,42% 7,27% 4,31% 4,55% 10,81% 6,82%
5. New human resources approaches 2,66% 7,27% 2,41% 6,82% 8,11% 8,08%
6. Not the case 36,88% 52,73% 45,52% 59,09% 59,46% 45,45%

4. MAIN WAYS OF INNOVATION WITHIN SMES

In figure 7 are presented the main ways to innovate in the Romanian SMEs according to
empirical research done in 2015.
391
As we could expect, the most frequent way to innovate in SMEs is by starting from a
successful innovation made in other organizations - quite often in the same branch. The
original innovation is adapted to the specific context of enterprise, making changes in order to
be performant within the new organizational environment, which from human, commercial,
technical, financial, management, marketing, a.s.o. point of view is different. We could call
this process, innovative adaptation because every time there is necessary to implement new
elements comparative with originally innovations. This way to innovate is used in almost half
of SMEs.
Producing innovation by own research and development activities is done by almost one
quarter of SMEs. This is a very good percentage which shows that relatively numerous SMEs
are interested and able to make themselves research and development processes.
The third way to innovate is by buying the patent or license developed in other organization -
R&D center, university, company so on - and implementing without any significant changes
in the enterprise. This way usually refers to the technical innovation, especially for new
products or new technologies. Almost one fifth of SMEs used this innovative way. The
generation of innovation by R&D activities developed together by two or more organizations
is much more less used (6,72%) because of its superior complexity and special resource
needed. Comparative with previous year this way increase almost with 50%, which is very
positive.
60% 48.46%
50%
40%
30% 24.93%
19.89%
20%
6.72%
10%
0%
The adaptation and The innovations The full takeover of The innovations
modification elements generated by own the innovations generated by research
of novelty originally enterprise research and originally developed and development
developed by other development activities by other organizations activities fulfilled in
organizations (patents, licenses) cooperation with other
organizations

Figure 7. Ways of innovation within SMEs

Regarding the impact of the companies' sizes over the frequency in implementing certain
innovation ways (table 3) we have observed the following elements:
• the frequency of innovation is increasing with the size of enterprise. This is valuable in 3
from 4 ways of innovation
• the only exception is represented by the innovation generated by own enterprise R&D
which is less frequent in medium enterprises (14,29%) and more frequent in small enterprises
(23,29%) and micro enterprises (25,44%)

Table 3. Differentiation of innovation ways according to the SMEs size

No. SMEs size
Ways of innovation Micro-enterprises Small enterprises Medium enterprises
The adaptation and modification elements of novelty originally
1. 48,12% 50,00% 52,38%
developed by other organizations
The innovations generated by own enterprise research and
2. 6,53% 7,53% 9,52%
development activities
The full takeover of the innovations originally developed by
3. 25,44% 23,29% 14,29%
other organizations (patents, licenses)
The innovations generated by research and development
4. 19,91% 19,18% 23,81%
activities fulfilled in cooperation with other organizations

392
The analysis of main innovation ways taking into consideration the SMEs field of activity
reveals the following important aspects (table 4):
Table 4. Ways of innovation in SMEs according to the field of activity

No. SMEs size

Ways of innovation Industry Construction Commerce Transport Tourism Services
The adaptation and modification elements of novelty
1. 43,00% 42,86% 48,83% 42,42% 65,52% 51,38%
originally developed by other organizations
The innovations generated by own enterprise research and
2. 6,76% 10,20% 6,34% 9,09% 0,00% 7,03%
development activities
The full takeover of the innovations originally developed by
3. 25,12% 24,49% 24,88% 21,21% 13,79% 26,30%
other organizations (patents, licenses)
The innovations generated by research and development
4. 25,12% 22,45% 19,95% 27,27% 20,69% 15,29%
activities fulfilled in cooperation with other organizations

• There are very big differences regarding ways of innovation among the companies in
different branches. The most equilibrated innovation approach is reported in industry and
construction and the less equilibrated in tourism where, for example, the innovation way of
generating innovation by joint R&D activities is not used, while adaptation of innovation
developed in other companies is very high (65,52%);
• The firms from industry and services registered the highest frequency of innovation
generated by full takeover of the innovation originally developed by other organizations -
more than one quarter; the lowest percentage is in tourism - only 13,79%. This could be
explained by very keen competition among tourism enterprises in Romania;
• The companies that prefer the adaptation and modification of new elements initially
developed by other organizations are more frequent in the field of tourism (65,52%) and
services (51,31%) and less frequent in transport (42,42%);
• The enterprises indicating the full takeover of innovation initially developed by other
companies are more frequent in the case of SMEs from the field of transport (27,27%) and
industry (25,12%) and less frequent in the case of services enterprises (15,29%);
• The SMEs reporting innovation generated by joint research and development activities
achieved together with other organizations, hold high percentages in the field of construction
(10,20%) and transport (19,09%), while none of the enterprises activating in tourism have
used this option.

5. MAIN BARRIERS FACED BY INNOVATION AND R&D ACTIVITIES

The empirical research has identified 9 main barriers to the innovation and R&D activities in
Romanian SMEs (figure 8). The greatest barriers are economic: the high cost of R&D
activities and the absence of enterprise necessary funds to this type of activities. The first
barrier was faced in 2015 by more than half of SMEs, recording even a huge increase - by
18,5% - comparative with previous year. The second barrier - the absence of necessary
enterprise funds registered almost the same level - 40% - in 2015 and 2014

393
 The high coost of R&D and innnovation activities 57.677%
48.63%
The insufficienncy of own funds 399.71%
4
40.09%
The incertitude regarding
r the demannd for innovative 34.844%
products 35.377%
The absence of pubblic schemes for R&
&D finance or co- 26.91%
finance 28.11%
Th
he difficult access to
t the relevant inforrmation regarding 25.89%
the markets (marrketing researches, statistics,
s etc) 28.04% 2015
The difficulty to find
f partners in ordeer to cooperate in
R&D activities
17.75%
14.5
53% 2014
The hard access to the relevant inform
mation on the new 166.87%
technologies 19.69%
The lack of the adequate
a human ressources for R&D 14.9
98%
acttivities and innovatiion 11.03%
%
The absence of loong and medium terrm previsions 12.15%
%
co
oncerning the futuree evolution of the inndustrial branches 11.47%
%

0
0% 10% 20%
% 30% 40%
% 50% 60% 7
70%

F
Figure 8. The main barrierss faced by inno
ovation and R&D
R activitiess in SMEs

The nexxt two barriers - reporrted by a siignificant percentage

p o SMEs - regard the markets
of
from tw
wo points off view: the size
s of dem mand for thee enterprise innovative products (oone third
of comppanies) and,, respectivelly, the absence of the relevant
r infoormation cooncerning en
nterprise
marketss (more than one quarrter of invesstigated SM MEs). Both barriers haave registereed small
decreasees in 2015 comparative
c e with previious year.
One ouut of 6 enteerprises indiicated two other barriiers: the diffficulty to iidentify thee partner
enterpriise in orderr to cooperaate in the innnovationall activities and the diffficult accesss to the
relevantt informatioon regardinng new technologies. The lowest frequent barrier reg gards the
previsioons on the evolution
e o the enterrprise busin
of ness sector ata national, regional and
a local
level. One
O out of eiight SMEs reported
r such a difficu
ulty. From teemporal poiint of view we have
recordedd a slight im
mprovementt tendency because:
b
• in 4 out of 9 barriers the t frequenncy of theiir manifesttation has decreased in 2015
comparaative with 2014
2
• withh one excepption - the high cost of o R&D an nd innovatioon activitiees - the deccrease of
barriers has been too the most frequent
f barrriers
The anaalysis of diff
fferentiationn of the SMEEs barriers according
a too the fields of activity (table 5)
reveals the followinng significaant characterristics:
Table 5. The main barriers
b faced by innovationn and R&D acctivities accordding to the SM
MEs fields of activity

No. The main

m barriers faceed by innovation and R&D activitiies SMEs size
Industry
y Construction Commerce T Transport Tourism
m Services
1. The high
h cost of R&D D and innovation activities
a 51,33%% 61,82% 56,55% 59,09% 75,68%% 61,11%
2. The incertitude regardding the demand for f innovative prooducts 29,28%% 30,91% 36,21% 38,64% 43,24%% 35,86%
3. The insufficiency of owno funds 33,84%% 36,36% 41,38% 36,36% 35,14%% 42,42%
4. The absence
a of public schemes for R& &D finance or co-ffinance 26,62%% 16,36% 26,03% 31,82% 21,62%% 29,80%
The difficult
d access too the relevant infformation regardiing the
5. 24,33%
% 18,18% 25,86% 38,64% 29,73%
% 26,26%
markets (marketing reesearches, statisticcs, etc)
The hard access to the relevant infformation on thhe new
6. 15,97%
% 10,91% 17,93% 6,82% 13,51%
% 18,18%
technnologies
The difficulty
d to find partners in ordeer to cooperate inn R&D
7. 15,21%
% 12,73% 17,93% 11,36% 16,22%
% 20,71%
activiities
The lack
l of the adequuate human resouurces for R&D acctivities
8. 14,07%
% 14,55% 15,17% 13,64% 18,92%
% 15,15%
and innnovation
The absence
a of long and
a medium term m previsions conccerning
9. 11,03%
% 9,09% 12,41% 15,91% 8,11%
% 12,88%
the fuuture evolution off the industrial brranches

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• The differences among different branches are quite big. For example, in the case of the
high cost of innovation and R&D activities, the frequency in the tourism branch - which is the
highest among all 6 fields (75,68%) - is with 47,4% greater comparative with industry, which
registered the lowest frequency (51,68%). Similar differences are recorded in all other
barriers;
• The main significances of the barriers characteristics revealed by the general analyses at
the level of the whole sample are maintained to the level of fields of activities. For example,
the high cost of innovation and research activities is on the first position as frequency in all
fields of activity and the absence of the long and medium previsions on the evolution of
enterprise branch is on the last position (ninth) in 5 of 6 fields of activity. The exception is
transport branch;
• The highest level of barriers frequency is concentrated on three branches - services (4
barriers), tourism (3 barriers) and transport (2 barriers) - in which the intensity of innovation
and R&D activities is lower comparative with other branches;
• The lowest level of barriers frequency is concentrated also on three branches - industry (3
barriers), transport (3 barriers) and construction (2 barriers). Industry - where we have
registered the lowest level of the first 3 barriers - is a field with relatively better innovation
and R&D activities.

6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The information contained in the previous parts of the paper reveals the high diversity of the
innovation and R&D activities in Romanian enterprises both from size and field of activity.
Innovational differences among the SMEs there are very large even in the same category by
size and/ or by branches. Despite of this heterogeneity, we could formulate certain
conclusions:
a) The majority of Romanian SME is fulfilling innovation and is reporting certain
innovational activities and results. Without any doubt these have contributed to the
general positive evolution of Romanian economy in the last years, to the GDP relatively
fast growth, among the highest in Europe;
b) Comparative with other UE SMEs countries, activities and performance of Romanian
SMEs are still low, especially if we refer to the countries from Western Europe - like
France, Great Britain, Italy, Germany so on. [2] [6]. The gap between Romania and EU
countries indicated the necessity of the amplification of innovation and R&D activities
and performances in Romania. The analysis of R&D and innovational activities in
Romanian SMEs provides many useful elements for the development of the better
legislation, financial approach, management, marketing and human resources measures,
in order to increase the innovation performances. The approach should be systemic,
correlating different actions and measures and focusing them on a few realistic and
ambitious national objectives. In the same time, the approach should be differentiated to a
large extent, taking into consideration the large variation of characteristics and contextual
conditions of different types of SMEs as field of activity, size, location in Romania and
so on;
c) The innovation and R&D activities in Romanian SMEs registered significant differences
according to their size. The increasing in the size of the companies is reflected to a
certain measure in the amplification of the innovational activities and performances,
especially in technical and human resources areas. From management, marketing and IT
areas we could discover the same tendency. Also, the medium enterprises have the
highest percentage of the adaptation of innovations initially developed in other
companies. Small and microenterprises are buying patents for new products and
technologies and they cooperate more frequently in joint R&D activities with other
organizations;

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d) The innovation and R&D activities are very diverse from branches point of view and
within each branch from size of the enterprise, ways of innovations, innovational barriers
and so on [1].
Industry is the branch in which innovative activities and R&D are more intensive - 2/3 of
industrial SMEs reported innovative activities. Within industrial SMEs technical innovation -
new products and new technologies - are most frequent than in other branches. Comparative
with other fields like tourism and transport, frequencies of technical innovation are several
times bigger. The less intensive innovative are tourism and transport where SMEs have
reported the lowest frequency in innovative activities. 6 out of 10 enterprises from these fields
have not made any type of innovational activities. Thus could explain their low degree of
competitiveness at national and international level.
The analysis presented, the conclusions formulated and the barriers faced by innovational
activities in Romanian SMEs provide the "raw material" for the elaboration of the
recommendations set in order to amplify and increase the performances of innovative and
R&D activities. We divided the recommendations taking into consideration their nature in 3
areas - information, economic and management & organization.
a) Recommendations regarding economic elements of the SMEs' innovative activities:
• Improving the legal framework on stimulating investments and state aid schemes, with
reducing the awarding criteria to make them more accessible to SMEs, especially to
innovative enterprises.
• Supplementing the budget of the "entrepreneurial skills, development program for youth
and facilitating their access to funding (START)", which in the previous years have created
many innovative companies.
• Diversifying and amplifying the guarantee and the counter guarantee services, valuing the
best practices from EU.
• Improving the innovation and the credit policies of the state-owned banks (CEC Bank and
EXIM Bank) by implementing strategies that are friendly and stimulative for innovative
SMEs.
• Providing seed capital by creating new innovative enterprises through a special fund that
is totally or partially funded from European funds, according to the best EU practices.
• Assuring micro-grants and micro-credits for the development of entrepreneurial spirit,
innovative approaches and introduction of new technologies in small and medium enterprises,
through a special fund that is totally or partially funded from European resources.
• Providing venture capital to finance innovative SMEs and projects in cutting-edge
industries through a special fund using funded European resources allocated to Romania.
b) Recommendations concerning the information elements of the SMEs innovative
activities:
• Designing and implementing of a national information and knowledge bank, in which to
record all contracts of scientific research financed from public resources (state budget, local
budget and/or European funds), the results of performed scientific research and their use by
companies. Access to all R&D activities financed from state and public funds should be free
for all Romanian enterprises. It is the national interest to take advantage in business of all
R&D results research.
• Developing in Romania - at national, sectorial and regional level - of the specific
information systems providing the technical, marketing, ecological a.s.o. information
necessary to different categories of SMEs, in order to initiate and implement performant
innovative activities. These systems should help to overcome the three main information
barriers faced by SMEs in innovative activities. Necessary resources could be provided by EU
funds for Romania - more than 3 billions € being allocated for SMEs for 2014-2020.
• Developing the networks and advisory and information centers for SMEs, business
support services, portals of solutions for SMEs, supporting networks of SMEs cooperation,

396
research centers and universities, vocational training organization and financial institutions
and consultancy, with especially focus on the innovative activities.
c) Recommendations regarding the managerial and organizational elements aiming to
increase Romanian SMEs innovative activities:
• Elaborating and implementing the special programs of entrepreneurial training, mentoring,
tutoring and coaching for entrepreneurs - financed by European funds - in order to increase
innovative abilities and SMEs entrepreneurial and managerial competitiveness.
• Supporting the business advisory services markets in areas of technological transfer,
foresight, innovation, and custom-oriented, according to the EU recommendations [6].
• Elaborating and implementing programs to facilitate the adoption of European and
international standards in SMEs (technological, of the product, organizational, so on) funded
totally or partially from European funds.
• Carrying out and implementing programs for organizing innovative clusters in each region
of a country, with focus on products for export, financed from European funds.
• Designing and implementing research programs, development and management
consulting, marketing, networking, investments in small and medium enterprises, in order to
provide pragmatic solutions to increase functionality and innovative performance of
enterprises on internal and external market, using the European funds allocated to Romania.
• Facilitating direct contacts of entrepreneurs and SME organizations with business partners
and SMEs organizations from EU and other countries, focused on the innovative activities.
• Achieving the assessment of intellectual property patrimony held by public authorities and
setting out of a strategy for the better use and valorification in Romanian enterprises.
• Providing support for creation and development of networks among SMEs, research
centers and universities, vocational training organizations and continuous professional
training, financial institutions and entrepreneurial consultants, in order to develop innovative
activities and to increase SMEs competitivity.
Conclusions and recommendations regarding SMEs activities based on the extensive
empirical research are important and useful both from scientific and pragmatic point of view.

7. REFERENCES
1. Antonia, Madrid-Guijarro., Domingo, Garcia., Howard, Van Auken., Barriers to
Innovation among Spanish Manufacturing SMEs, Journal of Small Business Management,
Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 465-488, (2009).
2. Bronwyn, H. Hall., Francesca, Lotti., Jacques, Mairesse., Innovation and Productivity in
SMEs: Empirical Evidence for Italy, Small Business Economics, Springer, Vol. 33, No. 1,
pp. 13-33, (2009).
3. Ovidiu, Nicolescu., Ciprian, Nicolescu., Organization and management based on
knowledge, Pro Universitaria Publishing House, Bucharest, (2011).
4. Ovidiu, Nicolescu., Ciprian, Nicolescu., Alina, Truică., Daniel, Urîtu., Ștefan, Corcodel.,
White Charter of Romanian SMEs 2015, Sigma Publishing House, Bucharest, (2015).
5. xxx European Commission, Innovation Union Scoreboard 2015.
6. xxx European Commission, An Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era
Putting Competitiveness and Sustainability at Centre Stage, EU Communication, 2010.

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN MUSEUMS AS A SOURCE OF

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Izabela Luiza Pop1 and Anca Borza2

1
Babes-Bolyai University, Romania, pop.izabela.luiza@gmail.com
2
Babes-Bolyai University, Romania, email: anca.borza@econ.ubbcluj.ro

ABSTRACT: In an economic environment characterised by permanent and rapid technological evolution,

successful organisations are the ones that are able to adapt their processes and activities to change. This article
starts from the assumption that museums can use various modern technologies in order to raise their market
competitiveness. Technological innovation allows museums to become more attractive and fulfil their functions
better while also using their resources more efficiently. The first part of this paper presents a series of
technological innovations specific to museums and the way in which these innovations can lead to an increased
museum performance. The study case in the second part of the paper presents the results of an analysis of the
technologies used by the museums in Baia Mare in comparison with other Romanian museums. The
improvement solutions proposed based on this analysis can prove useful not just for the museums studied, but
also for other museums in similar situations. Another, indirect, purpose of this research is to help raise the tourist
attractiveness of Baia Mare by bettering the competitiveness of its museums.

KEYWORDS: innovation, technology, museums, competitive advantage, strategy, development

1. INTRODUCTION
The impact of new technologies on museums is high and can be studied from a number of
standpoints. The research carried out so far has proved that technological as well as
organisational innovations play an important part in achieving performance in cultural
organisations [1]. Through technology, museums can manage their collections better, offer
unforgettable experiences to their visitors and exceed their physical limits by using online
distribution and communication channels [2]. Also, through technological innovations
museums achieve a competitive advantage by providing better visiting experiences. This
results into a higher number of visitors that are attracted and an increase in museums’ own
income. Therefore, one of the important reasons for which museums innovate is that they are
trying to increase the income they attract directly from their beneficiaries to compensate for
the decline of public funding allocations [3].
Although in both the private and the public sectors innovation strategies aim at increasing the
number of clients/beneficiaries, the effects of the application of such strategies in the two
sectors are slightly different. Whereas trading companies innovate in order to acquire an
advantage over their competitors, in the museum sector the same strategies have in view to
increase the attractiveness of a museum, but it is little probable that they can result in a
decrease of visitors in another museum. Given that most museums are considered not
interesting enough by a large number of people, a museum which uses technological
innovations to differentiate itself from other museums will attract a larger number of visitors,
without this leading to smaller numbers of visitors to other museums. This happens as a result
of the fact that Romanian museums have quite low competitiveness and do not succeed,
through the services they offer, to cover the entire potential market. More exactly, in Romania
there is a large number of museum non-visitors. For example, in the year 2014, 70% of the
Romanians did not visit one single heritage site outside their home towns [4].
On the other hand, technology can represent a threat to more conservative museums which
resist change. Due to technology, the Internet and the higher access to information and
products from afar, many museum experts are concerned that in the future the public might
prefer digital images and virtual experiences to static works of art [5].
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This duality of technology, which can give rise to both advantages and disadvantages, can
lead to many museums not taking any action towards technological innovation. Marchetti &
Valente [6] assert that museums do not adopt new technology on a larger scale because they
do not understand clearly its role in the innovation process. According to these authors, many
museums prefer to keep their old low-tech settings which are perceived to be (nearly) as
captivating/engaging, but less disturbing, cheaper and easier to maintain.
Taking into account these considerations, the first part of our study presents a synthesis of the
technological innovations which can be used by museums. The research in the second part
analyses the degree to which new technologies are used by the museums in Baia Mare in
comparison with the international trends and offers a series of recommendations for the future
technological development of these museums with a view to increasing their competitiveness.
2. THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY BY MUSEUMS
The expression “business innovativity” refers to the extent to which a company is able to
create new products and services by using knowledge gathered from its consumers,
competitors and technology [3]. Museum innovation was defined by Eid [7] as the creation of
novel or improved products, processes or business models through which museums can fulfil
their social and cultural mission efficiently. Vicente et al. [8] group museum innovation into
three categories: technological innovation in management, technological innovation in visitor
experience and organisational innovation.
The technological innovation consists of adopting new technologies to be applied to products,
services or production processes [3]. According to Black & Skinner [9] the technological
innovation is the means through which museums can offer people an active visiting
experience. People who visit museums are in search of a pleasant social outing, but also wish
to discover new things and broaden their horizons [9]. For this reason, learning must be
embedded in a social activity which combines relaxation, conversation, social interaction,
participation and collaboration. Innovating approaches and the development of a participating
content with the help of modern technology are ways through which museums can rise to this
standard. Below are presented the chief fields in which museums can use modern
technologies successfully so as to become more competitive.
2.1 Technological innovations in collection management
Since the function of museums is the record keeping and preservation of heritage, any
software which helps organise and manage a digital data base including all the items held by a
museum is particularly useful. Electronic data bases facilitate the management, collection and
storing of information and based on them can be generated reports on the movement of items
within and outside the museum, the number of exhibitions for each item and the restoration
procedures to which each item was subjected. They also help systematise and display the
information about the museum’s visitors, income and exhibited collections. Such information,
in its turn, simplifies the experts’ task of conducting research on the museum’s collections
[10].
In Romania the National Heritage Institute puts at the disposal of museums a programme
entitled DOCPAT. After the digitalisation of their patrimonies, museums can use the Internet
in order to facilitate the access of the public to images and information about their collections.
However, many museums are reluctant to offer the public access to their collections for two
reasons: the access is unlimited and free, and the museum is unable to control the way in
which the images of the items in its patrimony will be used subsequently. A possible solution
to this problem might be for museums to offer access to their data base based on online
registration and subscription. In other words, by using modern technological solutions,
museums could create data bases, which could be individual for each museum or centralised
on a national scale. The advantages of the creation of a national data base are many: (1) the
data base could include all the museums, even the ones that do not have the necessary
resources (human, material, etc.) for the creation and management of a data base; (2) from the
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users’ point of view, the value they are offered is much higher (this is an important factor
towards the market success of the project); (3) the museums will not have to manage their
incomes individually, since these will be managed by the data base administrators, after
which, on an annual basis, each museum will receive a share of the amounts collected,
depending on how many times the items in their respective collection were accessed/viewed.
2.2 Technological innovations aiming at improving the visiting experience
From the point of view of the visiting experience offered to the public, the main media used
within exhibitions are the following [11]:
• Audio-visual media used attractively as part of passive presentations. This generally
means video presentations on simple screens or projected on a wall.
• Guided presentation with the help of audio guides, video projections and other means
which accompany the visitors throughout their visit and are offered as an alternative to the
guide tours made by museum experts.
• Interactive navigation stations including information about the museum’s collections and
educational programmes (usually “push the button” stalls and easy to learn interfaces).
• Media that offer opportunities for direct creation or production, take-away experiences,
interactive and innovative experiences.
The multimedia elements within the exhibitions fulfil a number of functions, such as: offering
explanation; showing exhibits that the museum is unable to put on display directly, due to
insufficient space, fragility of such items or the fact that they need special handling; making
the visitors feel a certain emotion and facilitating visitors’ involvement and interaction with
the museum exhibits [10].
In recent years museum technological innovations have involved the implementation of such
solutions which would allow the visitors to act as active participants. Thus, the emphasis lays
on interactive exhibitions where visitors can interact in various ways with the content of the
exhibition rather than just receive information passively. In this respect, the latest museum
technologies include hands-on interactive exhibits, which allow visitors to learn various
things while interacting with the exhibits, as well as simulation media, interactive films, 3D
graphics and, last but not least, virtual reality through which visitors can travel in space and
time, without actually having to leave the museum buildings [11].
New technologies can be used by museums in order to develop their edutainment (education
through entertainment) content and improve the quality of the services offered to their
visitors. In this respect, Lepouras & Vassilakis [12] propose the use of 3D game-playing
technologies with the purpose of developing accessible virtual media that are easy and
pleasant to handle. As the authors state, the advantage of virtual reality technologies is that
they provide museum visitors with a vivid, pleasant and realistic experience. Virtual reality
technologies are also very useful for visualisation and simulation of environments, buildings
or objects which no longer exist or are not accessible for visitation [12].
The application of modern technologies is a must, firstly for science and technology museums
as part of the process of informal education provided by these museums to visitors. For
example, the Museum of Science in Boston uses interactive technologies which offer not only
the possibility of conveying to visitors information about nanotechnology, but also a way of
getting the visitors involved and stimulate them to express their own ideas and opinions about
the subject under discussion [13]. In another case a museum showcases an immersive virtual
medium which enables students to live in a gorilla habitat, assume the personality of a teenage
gorilla and interact, as a member, with a gorilla family [12]. Although these technologies were
used for the first time by science museums, Gül & Akmehmet [14] state that there are more
and more museums of art worldwide which have interactive spaces/objects. This proves that,
whatever their types, museums can use modern technologies so as to offer their visitors an
unforgettable experience.

400
2.3 Technological innovations aiming at process and activity automation
The process of ticket purchase has started to change under the influence of technological
innovations. Although the greatest majority of museums, through their employees, are still
selling tickets for cash, there are now museums where tickets can be purchased from an
electronic machine. The advantages of the latter are that visitors can pay by card in a number
of different currencies and the fact that the machine has a 4-language interface. An even
higher level of innovation can be found in the museums which offer their visitors the
possibility of buying tickets online. This is an important advantage for the tourists who are
planning their trips themselves. It also proves to be very convenient from the museums’ point
of view, since in this way any possible queues growing in front of ticket desks is eliminated.
By combining these technological solutions with the co-operation strategies, museums can
offer an even higher value to their visitors. This is the case of 11 museums in Venice which
sell online a unique common entry pass for all the 11 museums.
2.4 Web-based technological innovations
Museums can use the Internet as a product and service distribution channel [15] or as a
communication and promotion means. In Romanian museums online distribution is generally
free; museums offer virtual visitation and provide access to various educational and
informational resources. In other countries museums also offer, besides the things above,
electronic shops where various products are sold. An example is the Hermitage Museum
which sells online souvenirs worldwide [16].
The Internet is also a means of promoting a museum’s mission and events and encourages the
attendance and involvement of the public in the activities provided by the museum. All these,
in their turn, generate higher public awareness on cultural values, the community’s support
through volunteering, donations and grant earning [17]. The most important social media
instruments which must be taken into consideration include the following: image distribution
(i.e., via Instagram), podcasts (i.e., via soundcloud, iTunes or TuneIn), microblogs (Twitter),
blogs, social networks (Facebook, Google Plus etc.), virtual worlds, online interactive exhibits
and video distribution (Youtube) [17].
2.5 Technological innovations used for resource and operation management
The introduction of modern technologies in order to minimise the consumption of non-
regenerating resources requires in the first place important investments which few museums
are able to make. Things are simpler when new museum buildings are erected or structure
extensions are built. The new structures can be designed to be highly energy-efficient. The
advantage comes from the fact that in the long run the museum’s operating expenses will be
smaller. Also, in this way museums will apply to a larger extent the principles of sustainable
development, improve their image on the market and become an example of good practice for
other organisations.
Modern technologies can also be used for an easier and more efficient management of the
operations carried out within museums. In this category can be included anything from stock
management systems to the software used for carrying out certain functions, such as
accounting, purchase and human resources.

3. METHODS
The purpose of this research is to analyse the extent to which new technologies are used by
the museums in Baia Mare and identify ways of increasing the competitiveness of these
museums through technological innovation. This research was carried out in the context of
Baia Mare being shortlisted for the title of European Capital of Culture in 2021. The
usefulness of our research results from the fact that the city’s cultural development is closely
linked to the development of its cultural institutions. It is well known that museums are
among the main cultural tourist attractions. Thus, the existence of attractive museums in a city
401
can contribute to its tourist development. In the current competitive context, any effort
towards bettering the landscape and organising cultural events in order to attract tourists is not
enough. One single weak point in comparison with other cities (such as unattractive
museums) can make the difference between a developed tourist community and one which
has failed to arouse tourists’ interest. Therefore, we believe that this research can prove useful
not only for the studied museums, but for the entire city of Baia Mare, its inhabitants and its
neighbouring regions.
In order to attain our purpose, in the period 22-23 May 2016 we visited the following
museums: “The Artistic Centre Baia Mare” County Museum of Art, the Maramureş County
Museum of History and Archaeology, the County Museum of Ethnography and Folk Art, the
Museum of Mineralogy and the Astronomical Complex Baia Mare. We analysed the visual
identities of these museums on the Internet (sites, blogs, and Facebook, Youtube and Twitter
accounts). The collected data were correlated with the conclusions presented in the literature,
the authors’ experiences visiting other museums and the information collected online about
other Romanian museums. Below are synthesised the most important results of our research.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Following the analysis that we carried out, we found that all the museums in Baia Mare
organise video projections using various learning aids on a regular basis. Besides these video
projections some museums use other technologies as well with a view to improving the
visiting experience they offer. Although the exhibitions of the museums in Baia Mare include
to a certain extent modern technologies, these are unidirectional, i.e. they do not allow the
visitors to take part and get involved actively.
The Astronomical Complex in Baia Mare has a hall equipped with LCD screens where
educative materials about the Universe and our solar system are shown. Visitors can listen to
the explanations provided on headphones connected to these screens. On one of the walls of
the same hall, children can watch learning video films adapted for young audience. In another
room there is a SKYMASTER ZKP4 LED planetarium projector. This is a “modern optical-
mechanical stellar projector using optic fibre, the LED technology and industrial computers in
order to simulate a sky studded with over 7,000 stars, installed in the 6-metre dome, renovated
and provided with comfortable armchairs, a sound system and a ventilation system”
(https://planetariubm.ro/prezentare/). The complex also has a number of telescopes visitors
can use to explore the sky.
At the Museum of Mineralogy, inside the exhibition hall, there is a screen on which
documentaries about the museum, its exhibits and mining are shown. In front of it there are
chairs so visitors feel welcome to watch these materials.
The strong point of the Museum of Art is the sound system through which instrumental and
classical music is played in the exhibition halls, which improves the quality of the visiting
experience. The same museum has also a number of LCD screens inside its permanent
exhibition halls, but these are used only at times. On the occasion of the Night of Museums a
functional screen was placed at the entry and projections of video documentaries took place
upstairs. A shortcoming was that no chairs were put in front of these screens so visitors could
sit and watch the video materials.
At the central premises of the Museum of History and Archaeology there are no modern
technological solutions used in order to improve the visiting experience. However, at the
Butchers’ Bastion, a site belonging to this museum, there is a documentary projecting system
which is used regularly. At the County Museum of Ethnography and Folk Art they also play
from time to time films on ethnographic subjects.
As for the technologies used on the web, we found that only four out of the five analysed
museums have their own websites, but none of the four sells things through online shops.
However, the museums which do have websites post the items they offer for sale and the
interested visitors can order these items via email. At the date of our research two museums
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were offering virtual visitation. Also two of the museums in Baia Mare own Youtube
channels and Twitter accounts. All the four museums which have their own sites have
Facebook official accounts as well, and the Museum of Ethnography and Folk Art also has an
unofficial Facebook page. The information we collected in connection with the use of online
communication and distribution instruments by the five museums in Baia Mare are presented
in Table 1.
Table 1. The use of online communication and distribution instruments by the museums in Baia Mare

Museums Sites / Blogs Virtual Facebook Youtube channel Twitter

tours likes followers
The www.planetariubm.ro N/A 5920 https://www.youtube.c 323
Astronomical om/user/planetariubm
*1737
Complex

The Museum of www.muzeuminbm.ro Yes 2818 N/A N/A

Mineralogy
The Museum of www.muzartbm.ro Yes 2899 https://www.youtube.c 279
Art http://muzeuldeartabaiama om/user/MuzeulDeArt
*5761
re.wordpress.com aBM

The Museum of www.maramuresmuzeu.ro N/A 5101 N/A N/A

History and
Archaeology

The Museum of N/A N/A 132 N/A N/A

Ethnography and
Folk Art
* The Astronomical Complex has two Facebook pages, one with 5920 and the other with 1737 likes. The Art
Museum has two Facebook pages, one with 2899 and the other with 5761 likes.
Unlike the museums in Baia Mare, there are museums in Romania which are more
advanced from the point of view of the technologies they use. Among these, the “Grigore
Antipa” National Museum of Natural History is the leader from the point of view of the
innovation strategies used. Starting from the exhibition design and finishing with the related
services offered to its visitors, this museum distinguishes itself from among the other
Romanian museums. The first different feature can be noticed from the very entry. Whereas
in other museums visitors buy the tickets from a museum employee, at “Grigore Antipa”
Museum tickets can be bought from two ticket machines, very similar to the ones used in
some banks where utility invoices are paid. Also, at “Antipa” visitors can pay for their tickets
by card. This is particularly useful for foreign visitors, who are used from other countries to
pay in various currencies (euro, dollars, forints, etc.) and generally don’t have Romanian lei
upon them when they come to visit museums in Romania. The other Romanian museums only
accept payment in the national currency. Thus, from the very entry, some museum visitors can
be unhappy with the services offered by a particular museum. Payment by card can solve a
problem and at the same time signal the museum’s desire to keep pace with current
technological developments.
Once inside the exhibition, visitors to “Grigore Antipa” Museum encounter more surprises
which contribute to higher visitor satisfaction. In some Romanian museums the only way
visitors can find out information about the exhibits is by buying, besides the visiting ticket,
guiding services. In other museums, in each exhibition hall there are posters and panels
describing the most important items on display. At “Antipa” each exhibition window display
has a touchscreen digital information panel. The starting page of the screen presents the
exhibited items on a map, so the interested visitors can select a certain item about which they
want to find out more information.
Following the model offered by “Antipa”, in recent years more and more Romanian museums
have introducing technological solutions in order to increase their attractiveness for the
403
public. An example in this respect is the “Mihail Kogălniceanu” Memorial Museum in Iaşi,
which is part of the “Moldova” National Museum Complex in Iaşi. In order to distinguish
itself from other museums and attract a larger number of visitors, this museum uses modern
technologies in its permanent exhibition. More exactly, since 2012, when the museum was re-
opened, visitors can, in one of the exhibition halls, interact with a natural-size hologram of
Mihail Kogălniceanu. Due to a 3D software specially designed in the U.K., this hologram can
greet visitors and tell, in the language of Kogălniceanu’s time, about the house where the
politician lived and about 19th century events.
If we compare the situation encountered in the museums in Baia Mare with the best practices
in other Romanian museums and the technological innovations used internationally, we can
note that the museum sector displays a large range of reactions to modern technological
solutions. Some museums in Baia Mare do not use any modern technology almost at all,
whereas others use information-transmission technologies without focusing on interactivity
and interaction with their visitors. On the other hand, on the national level some museums
have started to adapt the products and services they offer to international museum trends.
However, even in the top Romanian museums there is much room for improvement, from
opening of online shops to implementing virtual reality systems. Complimentary to the
technological innovations aiming at visiting experience improvement, Romanian museums
face yet another problem – the digitalisation of their patrimony. Whereas state-of-the-art
technologies require big investments, which is the chief cause for the fact that these
technologies are absent from museum exhibitions, digital data bases cannot be created
because there are few experts specialised in digitalisation and the number of items which have
not yet been registered and/or re-evaluated is huge.
5. CONCLUSION
The introduction of technological innovations combined with a good collaboration between
museums can lead to unique experiences offered to museum visitors. For example, by visiting
a number of museums consecutively, in a certain order, visitors can re-live various periods in
the past, present and future, all in one single day. Also, by correlating their exhibitions,
different museums in the same city can help tourists understand better the culture, values and
features of the region than they could if they only visited certain sites. Thus, smaller
communities such as Baia Mare can apply innovation strategies in correlation with their
collaboration strategies so as to offer the tourists a different experience from the one they can
have in large cities. To this end, the museums’ experts should collaborate towards creating
connections between their respective exhibitions and draw up tours for their visitors. Also, we
believe that Baia Mare would get a competitive advantage from the presentation of this
project on the Internet and selling the tourists unique visitation passes online.
Therefore, it is easy to notice that technological innovation strategies impact positively upon a
museum’s sustainability. Economically, the implementation of such strategies requires certain
investments, which translated into higher costs, but leads to obtaining higher own income as a
result of attracting a higher number of visitors. On the other hand, socially and culturally the
effect is 100% positive. Scientific information, if presented in an attractive, interesting way,
can be assimilated easier. Moreover, new technologies are likely to contribute to a higher
desire of the community to get involved into a museum’s activities. As technological
innovation is used as a rule for the transmission of educative contents in a “friendly” way, this
strategy can contribute to improving a museum’s ecological sustainability, as long as there are
also materials/contents which lay and emphasis on environmental protection.
However, we must note that not any museum can use any type of technology. The science
museums are the ones which can use modern technological solutions easiest. Conversely, in
village museums the same technologies can ruin the time reversal experience the visitors seek
there. For this reason, museum experts must use their innovativity and find the best solutions
for implementing the best technologies so as to better the visiting experience and not for the
sake of technology itself.
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6. REFERENCES
1. Camarero, C., Garrido, M.J., The role of technological and organizational innovation in
the relation between market orientation and performance in cultural
organizations, European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol.11, No.3, pp. 413-434,
(2008).
2. Parry, R. (Ed.) Museums in a digital age. Routledge, (2013).
3. Camarero, C., & Garrido, M.J., Fostering innovation in cultural contexts: market
orientation, service orientation, and innovations in museums, Journal of Service Research,
Vol. 15, No.1, pp. 39-58, (2012).
4. Croitoru, C., Becuţ, A., (coord.), Barometrul de Consum Cultural 2014. Cultura între
global şi local, Bucureşti: Pro Universitaria, (2015).
5. Anderson, M. L. Museums of the future: The impact of technology on museum
practices. Daedalus, Vol. 128, No. 3, pp. 129-162, (1999).
6. Marchetti, E., & Valente, A., Diachronic Perspective and Interaction: New Directions for
Innovation in Historical Museums, International Journal of Technology, Knowledge &
Society, Vol. 8, No.6, pp. 131-143, (2012).
7. Eid, H. A., The museum innovation model: a museum perspective on open innovation,
social enterprise and social innovation, Doctoral dissertation, School of Museum Studies,
(2016).
8. Vicente, E., Camarero, C., & Garrido, M. J., Insights into Innovation in European
Museums: The impact of cultural policy and museum characteristics, Public Management
Review, Vol. 14, No. 5, pp. 649-679, (2012).
9. Black, G., & Skinner, D., The innovation in museum displays project, (2016). Retrieved
from
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vation_in_museum_displays.pdf
10. Mamrayeva, D. G., & Aikambetova, A. E., Information technology in
museums, Education and Science without Borders, Vol.5, No.10, pp. 33-35, (2014).
11. Roussou, M., & Efraimoglou, D., High-end interactive media in the museum,
International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques: ACM
SIGGRAPH 99 Conference abstracts and applications, Vol.8, No.13, pp. 59-62, (1999).
12. Lepouras, G., & Vassilakis, C., Virtual museums for all: Employing game technology for
edutainment. Virtual Reality, Vol.8, No.2, pp. 96-106, (2004).
13. Bell, L., Engaging the Public in Technology Policy A New Role for Science
Museums. Science Communication, Vol.29, No.3, pp. 386-398, (2008).
14. Gül, S. N., & Akmehmet, K. T., Interactive spaces in art museums: A landscape of
exhibition Strategies, Solsko Polje, Vol.26, No.5, pp. 141-155, (2015).
15. Lagrosen, S., Online service marketing and delivery: The case of swedish
museums. Information Technology & People, Vol.16, No.2, p. 132, (2003).
16. Pop, I.L., Borza, A., Increasing the sustainability of museums through international
strategy, Economia. Seria Management, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 248-264, (2014).
17. Lewis, K. E., Navigating social media challenges with small museums be proactive, not
reactive. Scitech Lawyer, Vol.8, No.4, pp. 8-11, (2012).

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FAMILY BUSINESSES: A GLOBAL PRESENCE

Sorin-George Toma1, Paul Marinescu2 and Catalin Gradinaru3

1
Faculty of Administration and Business, University of Bucharest, tomagsorin62@yahoo.com
2
Faculty of Administration and Business, University of Bucharest, paulmarinescu1@gmail.com
3
Faculty of Administration and Business, University of Bucharest, gradinarubusiness@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Today numerous businesses worldwide are owned or controlled by families. In spite of their
enormous variety (e.g. micro enterprises, small businesses, corporations) these businesses share a common
characteristic: all are connected to a family. As one of the oldest historical form of commercial organization
family businesses create wealth, and highly contribute to economic growth and employment all over the world.
Therefore, family businesses have become a highly debated topic in the business literature. The aims of our
paper are to define the concept of family business and to highlight its expansion at a global level. Our
research is based on a literature review. Our paper shows that the global expansion of family businesses has been
the result of various factors (e.g. economic, managerial).
KEYWORDS: family business, business, family, ownership, company

1. INTRODUCTION
Today numerous businesses worldwide are owned or controlled by families. In spite of their
enormous variety (e.g. micro enterprises, small businesses, corporations) these businesses
share a common characteristic: all are connected to a family. As one of the oldest historical
form of commercial organization family businesses create wealth, and highly contribute to
economic growth and employment all over the world. In this respect, they are “widely seen as
the backbone of the economy” [21], a major component of an economy [14].
Many family businesses have proved to do “extremely well in the modern reality, and often
even better than their non-family peers” [13]. This explains their huge geographical diffusion,
especially in America, Europe and Asia. Family businesses represent the majority of
companies and account for more than a half of the total employment throughout the world
[15; 16; 10].
Therefore, family businesses have become a highly debated topic in the business literature.
Over the past two decades significant researches related to family businesses have been
carried out [23]. The aims of our paper are to define the concept of family business and to
highlight its expansion at a global level. Our research is based on a literature review.

2. DEFINING FAMILY BUSINESS

Since the end of the 1990s there has been a growing body of family business literature.
Consequently, the field of family businesses has gained prominence among scholars and
researchers. In spite of the fact that there is not a single and a clear definition of the concept of
family business there is a general agreement on three key components: the family, the
business, and the ownership [6]. A family business is defined as:
• a business in which the family has to control more than 50 % of the voting rights in
the case of privately held business, or a business in which the family has to control at
least 32 % of the voting rights in the case of a publicly listed business [8].
• “one in which family members dominate the ownership and management of a firm,
and perceive their business as a “family business”” [14].
• “a business where: 1. The majority of votes are held by the person who established or
acquired the firm (or their spouses, parents, child, or child’s direct heirs); 2. At least
406
 one representative of the family is involved in the management or administration of
the firm; 3. In the case of a listed company, the persons who established or acquired
the firm (or their families) possess 25% of the right to vote through their share capital
and there is at least one family member on the board of the company.” [20].
• “a company where the voting majority is in the hands of the controlling family;
including the founder(s) who intend to pass the business to their descendants” [12]
• a firm in which:
“1) The majority of decision-making rights is in the possession of the natural person(s)
who established the firm, or in the possession of the natural person(s) who has/have
acquired the share capital of the firm, or in the possession of their spouses, parents,
child or children’s direct heirs.
2) The majority of decision-making rights are indirect or direct.
3) At least one representative of the family or kin is formally involved in the
governance of the firm.
4) Listed companies meet the definition of family enterprise if the person who
established or acquired the firm (share capital) or their families or descendants possess
25 per cent of the decision-making rights mandated by their share capital.” [6]
• a firm “where a family owns enough of the equity to be able o exert control over
strategy and is involved in top management positions” [18].
• a firm in which:
“1. Ownership control (15 percent or higher) by two or more members of a family or a
partnership of families.…
2. Strategic influence by family members on the management of the firm, whether by
being active in management, by serving as advisors or board members, or by being
active shareholders.
3. Concern for family relationships.
4. The dream (or possibility) of continuity across generations.” [19]
The above mentioned definitions show that the concept of family business have different
meanings for different people. They allow us to identify three of the main characteristics of
family businesses. First, the presence of the family is decisive within a family business [3] as
it is placed at the centre of the business [15]. Second, the family owns a significant share of
the voting rights. Third, family members are directly or indirectly involved in the
management of the business.

3. FAMILY BUSINESSES IN THE WORLD

As the most prevalent form of business in the world family business has proved to play a
significant role in economic growth and social development [1; 7]. Many family businesses
are multigenerational enterprises that have demonstrated their secular longevity and economic
prosperity (Table 1). Taking into account that the majority of new ventures fail within 20
years of inception, a family business that has been in business for such a long period of time
is impressive [2].

Table 1. The top oldest 10 family business in the world

Rank Company Sector Revenue Founding
(US$b) year
1. Takenaka Corporation (Japan) Real estate and 9.7 1610
construction
2. Merck K GaA (Germany) Life sciences 14.2 1668
3. Wendel SA (France) Diversified industrial 8.5 1704
products
4. Wadia Group of Companies (India) Diversified industrial 2.8 1736
products
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5. Franz Haniel & Cie. Gmbh (Germany) Diversified industrial 4.8 1756
products
6. Molson Coors Brewing Co. (USA) Consumer products 4.2 1786
7. Jeronimo Martins SGPS SA (Portugal) Retail and wholesale 15.7 1792
8. Thomson Reuters Corp. (USA) Media and entertainment 12.7 1799
9. Schroders plc (UK) Asset management 2.8 1804
10. Dleteren SA (Belgium) Automotive 7.3 1805
Source: [8]

There is a broad consensus that family businesses constitute a central pillar of the global
economy, accounting for more than 80% of companies worldwide [9; 19]. Famous and
wealthy families, such as the Walton family or the Porsche-Piëch family, own some of the
largest companies in the world (Table 2). There are several key factors that explain the
expansion of family businesses at a global level as follows:
• A focus on the firm’s long-term sustainability [15], the succession process [4], and
the interrelationship between family, business and ownership [22].
• An active transfer of knowledge from predecessor to successor [11].
• An emphasis on preserving the ownership and maintaining the strong governance
[5].
• An intense accent on a family business culture based on a value system that
encompasses trust, honesty, confidence, respect, stewardship, responsibility or
continuity [17].

Table 2. The top 20 family business by revenue

Rank Company Sector Revenue Founding
(US$b) year
1. Wal-Mart (USA) Retail and wholesale 476.3 1962
2. Volkswagen AG (Germany) Automotive 261.6 1937
3. Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.(USA) Asset management 182.2 1955
4. EXOR Spa (Italy) Asset management 151.1 1927
5. Ford Motor Company (USA) Automotive 146.9 1903
6. Cargill, Inc. (USA) Retail and wholesale 136.7 1865
7. Koch Industries Inc. (USA) Diversified industrial 115.0 1940
products
8. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG Automotive 101.0 1916
(Germany)
9. Schwarz Group (Germany) Retail and wholesale 89.4 1930
10. Groupe Auchan (France) Asset management 85.5 1961
11. Arcelor Mittal (Luxembourg) Diversified industrial 79.4 1989
products
12. LOUIS DREYFUS HOLDING B.V. Asset management 74.3 1851
(Netherlands)
13. Reliance Industries Limited (India) Oil and gas 72.0 1966
14. PEUGEOT SA (France) Automotive 71.8 1810
15. Comcast Corp. (USA) Media and entertainment 64.7 1963
16. CASINO GUICHARD-PERRACHON Retail and wholesale 64.6 1898
(France)
17. America Movil SA de CV (Mexico) Telecommunications 61.6 2000
18. Itau Unibanco Banco Multiplo SA Banking and capital 57.0 2008
(Brazil) markets
19. The Long & Foster Companies, Inc. Real estate and 56.0 1968
(USA) construction
20. Roche Holding AG (Switzerland) Life sciences 50.5 1896
Source: [8, p. 186]

4. CONCLUSIONS
Family businesses represent an old and traditional way of running a business. A large share of
companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, is owned by families. They are

408
active in all economic sectors, highly contribute to the economic well-being and provide the
majority of jobs in diverse domains.
The last decades have witnessed the multiplication of family businesses all over the world.
Our paper shows that the global expansion of family businesses has been the result of various
factors (e.g. economic, managerial). Further research may identify other relevant factors
related to this expansion.

5. REFERENCES
1. Al-Dajani, H., Bika, Z., Collins, L., Swail, J., Gender and family business: new theoretical
directions, International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 218-
230, (2014).
2. Alderson, K. J., Understanding the Family Business, Business Expert Press, New York,
NY, (2011).
3. Bertrand, M., Schoar, A., The Role of Family in Family Firms, Journal of Economic
Perspectives, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 73-96, (2006).
4. Bizri, R., Succession in the family business: drivers and pathways, International Journal
of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 133-154, (2016).
5. Caspar, C., Dias, A. K., Elstrodt, H.-P., The five attributes of enduring family businesses,
McKinsey & Company, (2010). Available from: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-
functions/organization/our-insights/the-five-attributes-of-enduring-family-businesses.
6. European Commission (EC), Overview of family-business-relevant issues: research,
networks, policy measures and existing studies, Final Report of the Expert Group,
Enterprise and Industry Directorate General, (2009). Available from:
ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/10388/attachments/1/.../native.
7. European Parliament (EP), Report on family businesses in Europe, Committee on
Industry, Research and Energy, A8-0223/2015, (2015). Available from:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//
NONSGML+REPORT+A8-2015-0223+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN.
8. Ernst & Young (EY), EY Family Business Yearbook 2015, (2015). Available from:
https://familybusiness.ey-vx.com/pdfs/182-187.pdf.
9. Fournier, P., Katsoras, A., The Family Advantage: The Sustainable Outperformance of
Canadian Family-Controlled Public Companies, National Bank of Canada, (2015).
Available from: https://www.bnc.ca/content/dam/bnc/en/about-us/news/news-room/press-
releases/study-the-family-advantage-national-bank.pdf.
10. Goffee, R., Understanding family businesses: issues for further research, International
Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 36-48, (1996).
11. Hatak, I. R., Roessl, D., Relational Competence-Based Knowledge Transfer Within
Intrafamily Succession: An Experimental Study, Family Business Review, Vol. 28, No. 1,
pp. 10-25, (2015).
12. International Finance Corporation (IFC), IFC Family Business Governance Handbook,
(2008). Available from:
http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/159c9c0048582f6883f9ebfc046daa89/FB_English_f
inal_2008.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.
13. KPMG, European Family Business Trends- Modern Times?, (2015). Available from:
https://www.kpmg.com/BE/en/topics/Family-Business/Documents/European-Family-
Business-Trends-November-2015.pdf.

409
14. Lussier, R. N., Sonfield, M. C., „Micro“ versus „small“ family businesses: a multinational
analysis, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 380-
396, (2015).
15. Mandl, I., Overview of Family Business Relevant Issues, Final Report, Austrian Institute
for SME Research, Vienna, (2008). Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/
entrepreneurship/craft/family_business/family_business_en.htm.
16. Nordqvist, M., Melin, L., Entrepreneurial families and family firms, Entrepreneurship
and Regional Development, Vol. 22, No. 3/4, pp. 211-239, (2010).
17. Patel, V. K., Pieper, T. M., Hair Jr., J. F., The global family business: Challenges and
drivers for cross-border growth, Business Horizons, Vol. 55, No. 3, pp. 231-239, (2012).
18. Pounder, P., Family business insights: an overview of the literature, Journal of Family
Business Management, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 116-127, (2015).
19. Poza, E. J., Daugherty, M. S., Family Business, 4th edition, South-Western Cengage
Learning, Mason, OH, (2014).
20. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Up close and professional: the family factor, (2014).
Available from: http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/pwc-family-business-survey/assets/family-
business-survey-2014.pdf.
21. Schwass, J., Family Businesses: Successes and Failures, IMD Global Family Business
Center, (2013). Available from:
https://www.imd.org/uupload/IMD.WebSite/MicroSites/family-
business/pdfs/Family%20Businesses%20%20Successes%20and%20Failures.pdf.
22. Siakas, K., Naaranoja, M., Vlachakis, S., Siakas, E., Family Businesses in the New
Economy: How to Survive and Develop in Times of Financial Crisis, Procedia Economics
and Finance 9, pp. 331-341, (2014).
23. Smyrnios, K. X., Poutziouris, P. Z., Goel, S. (editors), Handbook of Research on Family
Business, 2nd edition, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham, (2013).

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

THE LINK BETWEEN INNOVATION AND PERFORMANCE:

A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN ROMANIAN AND GERMAN
SMES

Zenovia Cristiana Pop1, Ovidiu-Niculae Bordean2 and Anca Borza3

1
Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, zenovia.pop@econ.ubbcluj.ro
2
Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, ovidiu.bordean@econ.ubbcluj.ro
3
Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, anca.borza@econ.ubbcluj.ro

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is threefold. The first aim is to identify if there is any difference regarding
the innovation capacity of manufacturing companies in comparison to retail companies. Second aim is to
establish if the innovation process is pursued differently by companies from different countries. The third aim is
to investigate the impact that innovation has over the competitiveness of companies. The research undertaken
focused on two samples of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from two regions pertaining to Romania
and Germany, respectively. The study uses a quantitative approach with data gathered from 208 SMEs from
these two countries. The data were analyzed using inferential statistics, like independent t-test and regression
analysis. According to the results of the study, the innovation capacity does not differ significantly due to the
type of industry the companies act, or due to country context. At the same time, findings show that innovation
capacity proves to be a powerful predictor of performance, which enables higher competitive position for
companies. These results offer substantial information for both manufacturing and retail companies which could
be used in a manner that would allow them to better compete within their markets.
KEYWORDS: innovation, performance, manufacturing, retail, small and medium sized enterprises,
competitiveness.

1. INTRODUCTION
Innovation of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) offers significant challenges for
researchers interested of this field. Thus, this article aims to clarify several aspects related to
innovation within SMEs in two business environments: a developed economy, like the one of
Germany and a developing economy, like the one of Romania.
The present study tries to fill in these gaps as it addresses the issue of innovation and it
envisions answering the following research questions:
(1) Is there any difference between innovation of manufacturing companies and retail
companies?
(2) Does innovation differ for companies in a developed country and companies in a
developing country?
(3) Does innovation have an impact on the performance of the companies?
The paper starts with a thorough review of the literature of innovation and performance in
SMEs and continues with a description of the research methodology used within the empirical
study. Next the results are presented and an interpretation of the main findings is provided.
The paper concludes with remarks on the practical implications of this study and future areas
of research.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Due to the economic crisis the meaning of competitiveness and the ways of its achieving
becomes of utter importance in countries like Romania with lowest rate of investments in
innovation. Innovation persistently attracts the attention of both economists and politicians as
a driver of competitiveness and firm performance. Apart from being important in its own
right, the link between the innovative capacities of SMEs in developing economies remains
not fully researched revealing knowledge gaps and theoretical inconsistencies in comparison
with the various findings from developed countries.
411
As it was emphasized in a research performed on Romanian SMEs, the tendency is to focus
on creation of new products rather than on other types of innovation. The link between the
performance achieved and the development of new products was emphasized by the large
portion of the SMEs (47.50%) that have achieved higher performance in comparison with
other SMEs that have chosen not to innovate [1].
Some scholars identified fourteen essential factors that influence the innovation process [2].
The most important factor from the ones mentioned by these authors would be the unique
advantages of the product (quality, function, quality-price ratio, design). The investment in
quality by increasing the client-orientation, by developing technical and marketing
knowledge, developing competences, ongoing training, all under the umbrella of human
resources management, is essential for the innovation process. Marketing activities play also
an important role because the small enterprise as the large one, need appropriate ways to enter
certain markets, where a previous testing of the prototypes, are being needed, and the
strengthening of the distribution channels or advertising approach is also crucial for their
success. To succeed in, the innovation process needs a clear definition of the target aims, like
a target customer group, a proper position of the product and the proper choice of the target
market [2].
The reactions of the small and medium-sized enterprises to the decisive changes within the
environmental frame described in the literature were: development of new products, product-
innovation, innovation at the level of production process, innovation of development of some
markets, marketing innovation, administrative innovation, these being the most relevant kinds
of innovation within SMEs [3]. The product innovation is regarded as an important strategy
for the survival of the SMEs, especially in dynamic environments [4]. Previous researches
have showed that the strategy of differentiation by innovation and quality can create a
competitive advantage. Unfortunately, not all the small and medium-sized enterprises are
innovative, especially because they have conservative managers [3].
The following classification of small and medium-sized enterprises can be made considering
innovation as an important characteristic of them: small and medium-sized enterprises led by
innovation, small and medium-sized enterprises that follow the innovation and small and
medium-sized enterprises that are indifferent to innovation. All these kinds of small and
medium sized enterprises reflect either, an incremental innovation, which follows the
achievement of some small modifications at the commercialized products being rather an
evolutionary and linear process, or a radical innovation, which is revolutionary, the process
being non-linear [5]. Thus, innovation influences the competitiveness, but because innovation
is different from one sector to another, one can assert that the sector influences the
competiveness at its turn [6]. The most used type of innovation within the small and medium-
sized enterprises from Romania that act in the service industry, between the years 2004-2006
is the product and process innovation [1].
Sometimes enterprises have no clear established strategies or a suitable project management
to develop new products, due to the need to achieve competitiveness through innovation. In
this case the enterprise does not evaluate its resources, launching more products without a
thorough analysis of the market. Also the preparation cycles, are too long and therefore
leading to high rates of failure [7]. Most of the new ideas about a product will not be realized.
A new product is not always successful on the market, it depends on the understanding the
dynamics of innovation, a well-based innovation strategy and well defined implementation
processes of the innovation strategy.
One may conclude there is an acute necessity in the past few decades in, defining and
explaining the concept of performance because it is a basic fact of human existence but also
as it applies, to a new challenging business environment due to progressive globalization,
increased competition, and ever shorter innovation cycles. The literature review on the subject
usually refers to the efficiency, between how the scarce resources of the enterprise are
allocated and the achievement of objectives, measured with monetary and non-monetary
indicators.
412
It is important to distinguish between performance measurement and performance
management. While performance measurement includes only the measurement of
performance, the second concept is much broader since it includes also planning, management
and control of the performance [8]. The performance measurement must be implemented in
accordance with the characteristics of the enterprise [9]. According to some past studies, one
of the most popular techniques for measuring organizational performance is the Balanced
Scorecard [10]. This measurement technique, which is very easy to use was developed by
Kaplan and Norton and allows the transformation of organizations mission and strategy into a
set of indicators in order to facilitate the measurement of performance regularly, in order to
assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of the enterprises processes [11].
Some of the criteria used for performance evaluation in quantitative terms are the production
capacity and quantity sold. On the other hand criteria for determining performance in terms of
value are turnover and added value [12]. Other authors [13] have measured the impact of the
strategic orientation of SMEs upon performance by a variety of indicators monitored for a
period of five years as the profit, return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA). The
challenge in measuring the performance of SMEs would be the fact that most managers use in
their analysis mainly historical data. Key performance indicators are sometimes not relevant
or easily measurable; sometimes the qualitative data is questionable which determines the top-
management not use them in decision making.
In most studies that were performed in developed economies, various authors [14] [15] [16]
[17] underlined that SME’s innovative capacity has a positive influence on its performance in
both manufacturing and service, linking performance, with productivity. Competitiveness is
interconnected with innovation, fact emphasized also by Grant [18].
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The proposed research framework highlights the relationship between the industry type and
the impact of the SMEs characteristics to foster SMEs innovative capacity. Based on the
research purposes, literature review, and generalized outcomes, the research framework is as
shown in Figure 1.

SMEs innovative capacity

SMEs performance
Control variables
Company age
Company size
Type of industry

Figure 1. Proposed research framework

The questionnaire based survey is important for the desired analysis being a proper instrument
for collecting information. To ensure a high rate of responses the method of direct contact
with the managers was used. However, because of geographic limitations questionnaires were
also sent by e-mail. The study is intended to compare also the difference in terms of
innovation capacity of manufacturing and retail companies. The type of industry is another
variable that was introduced within the current study.
The innovation capacity was measured through three statements for which the respondents
had to express their level of agreement using a 5 point Likert scale (1 – total disagreement, 5 –
total agreement). The performance of the enterprise was measured in the form of perceptual
measures: respondents were asked to rate their performances (return on assets - ROA) relative
to their main competitors on a 5 point Likert scale (1 - much worse, 5 - much better). This is a
highly used method within the performance literature [19] [20]. ROA was used as it offers a
clear, holistic image on how effective a company captures market opportunities in a highly
uncertain environment, both in manufacturing and retail sector [21] [22].

413
The research sample includes a number of 208 small and medium enterprises, 102 from
Romania and 106 from Germany, selected, from the most dynamic regions of the two
countries: the north-western development region of Romania (Bihor, Bistriţa-Năsăud, Cluj,
Maramureş, Satu-Mare and Sălaj county) and the German Land of Baden-Württemberg that
has four regions (Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart and Tübingen), underlying the differences
between the SMEs from a developed country and from a developing country. In order to
process the data from the sample, statistical software SPSS 17 and Microsoft Excel were used.
The following hypotheses concerning the linkage between innovation and performance are
then proposed by comparing the effects of critical factors of innovation on the SME
performance in two different countries:
H1: Innovation is pursued in a different manner by the retail companies and manufacturing
companies.
H2: Innovation is different for the Romanian companies and for German companies.
H3: Innovation capacity leads to better performance of the companies.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
This study analyzes the results of a survey that included 208 SMEs from Germany and
Romania acting in the manufacturing and retail sector. Table 1 shows the demographic
information of the sample.
Table 1. Demographic information of the two samples
Romania Germany
Demographic characteristics
N % N %
Type of industry
Manufacturing 37 36.27 26 24.53
Retail 65 63.73 80 75.47
Size of the companies
Micro (<10 employees) 42 41.18 62 58.49
Small (<50 employees) 36 35.29 20 18.87
Medium-size (<250 employees) 24 23.53 24 22.64
Year of establishment
Before 1989 11 10.78 43 40.57
Between 1990-1995 26 25.49 10 9.43
Between 1996-2000 20 19.61 15 14.15
Between 2001-2005 18 17.65 16 15.09
After 2006 27 26.47 22 20.76
Source: Authors’ own calculations
A first analysis was meant to measure the internal reliability of the three items that defined the
innovation capacity of the companies within the two samples. Hence, the Cronbach’s alpha
reliability coefficient was used. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for both the Romanian and
German samples was higher than 0.70, adding accuracy to the interpretation of the data.
In order to test the first and second hypotheses the independent t-test was used. This test
allows comparing the means of two groups on the same variable. Table 2 presents the results
of the independent t-test for the groups of manufacturers and retailers according to their
implication in the innovation processes. The findings show that manufacturers put a higher
emphasis on the innovative practices (M = 3.95, SD = .75) than retailers (M = 3.89, SD =
.69). However, the results show that the innovation capacity does not differ significantly
between manufacturing companies and retail companies (t(206) = .53 ; p = .59).
These results state the fact that both types of companies have reacted quickly to a changing
environment. In the recent years the manufacturing sector has undergone some changes, and
as the retail sector it begun realizing the importance of the involvement of customers in all
decisions concerning innovation [23] and also the establishment of a network of good
business partners, both as mentioned in a study conducted on 151 German manufacturing
SMEs [24] and demonstrated in retailer–supplier relationship (up-stream behavior) and
retailer–consumer relationship [25].
414
 Table 2. Results of independent t-test for the innovation capacity according to the type of industry
Type of N M SD t p
Innovation industry
capacity Manufacturing 63 3.95 .75
.534 .59
Retail 145 3.89 .69
Source: The data was processed using SPSS software
Table 3 shows the results of the independent t-test for the samples of SMEs from Romania
and Germany in accordance to the innovation process. As expected, German SMEs are more
innovative (M = 3.96, SD = .69) than Romanian SMEs (M = 3.85, SD = .73). Business
services in Germany are creating bridges for innovation through knowledge, creativity and
market and management skills. In Romania, on the other hand, the retail market rates are
lower and lower as the sector is characterized by the tendency of concentration; the number of
companies diminishes, but the size of the surfaces increases. Still, there was no significant
difference found between the innovation processes of the Romanian companies and German
companies (t(206) = -1.12; p = .26). Although at first glance it is a surprising result, this
situation could be explained by the fact that the majority of the German companies belonged
to the logistics sector. Evidence from a recent study that compared the logistics sector to other
sectors of the German economy suggested that companies from the logistics perform little
innovation especially in the optimization of logistics processes. Further research has referred
to the lack of innovative capacity of retailers, who only adopt innovations [23].
Table 3. Results of independent t-test for the innovation capacity according to the country of origin (Romania
vs. Germany)
Country of N M SD t p
Innovation origin
capacity Romania 102 3.85 .73
-1.129 .26
Germany 106 3.96 .69
Source: The data was processed using SPSS software
Tables 4 and 5 highlight the results of the Spearman correlation for the companies within the
two samples (Romania and Germany). Within the Romanian sample, there had been found
positive correlations between the innovation capacity of the companies and the performance
(p = .000), but also between the age of the company and the type of industry (p = .013). At
the same time, there had been found negative correlations between the company age and
company size (p = .011), and also between company size and the type of industry (p = .003).
Table 4. Correlations results for the Romanian SMEs
Variables N 1 2 3 4 5
1. Company age 102 1
2. Company size 102 -.22* 1
3. Type of industry 102 .22* -.27** 1
4. Innovation capacity 102 .01 .12 -.06 1
5. Performance 102 .08 .05 -.11 .71*** 1
* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.
Source: The data was processed using SPSS software
Large, financially well-established companies succeed usually much faster in innovating.
Such companies have special departments that deal with the establishment of new products
and implementing changes in processes within the company. Even the display and
implementation of these innovations succeed in larger companies better, due to attention in
the media and in the eyes of the customers, confirmed by empirical findings that show that
larger retail groups are more efficient than the smaller retailers [22].
Within the German sample of SMEs there were found positive associations between the
performance and innovation variables (p = .000), whereas company size negatively associates
with company age (p = .000) and type of industry (p = .001).

415
 Table 5. Correlations results for the German SMEs
Variables N 1 2 3 4 5
1. Company age 106 1
2. Company size 106 -.39** 1
3. Type of industry 106 .23* -.30* 1
4. Innovation capacity 106 -.01 .02 -.02 1
5. Performance 106 .00 .12 .01 .51** 1
* p < 0.01; ** p < 0.001.
Source: The data was processed using SPSS software
In order to test the third hypothesis two regressions models had been developed, each for both
samples (Romanian SMEs and German SMEs). Thus, in both models, the performance
variable was regressed against innovation capacity and the other three control variables. The
first model accounts for 52.1% of the variation and the second model accounts for only 28.5%
of the variation. The results in Table 6 show that innovation capacity of both Romanian SMEs
(β = 1.03, p = .000) and German SMEs (β = .73, p = .000) are significantly and positively
related to the performance of these companies.
Table 6. Results of the regression analysis (Dependent variable: Performance)
Model 1 Model 2
Independent
Romanian sample German sample
variables
β t value β t value
Company age .06 1.16 .03 .57
Company size -.05 -.58 .17 1.61
Type of industry -.21 -1.32 .13 .68
Innovation capacity 1.03* 10.00 .73* 6.12

R2 .521 .285
Adjusted R2 .502 .257
F value 26.42* 10.07*
N 102 106
* p < 0.001.
Source: The data was processed using SPSS software
These results suggest that companies from both samples independent from their country of
origin have increased their performance with the help of the innovation processes. In general
the performance generates again funds. By the instrumentality of these funds the manager can
handle and execute innovative strategies and also the practical implementation of
technological developments, important for both manufacturing and retail companies.
5. CONCLUSIONS
This study addressed the issue of innovation within the retail sector through a comparative
approach that allowed for generating valuable insights for both manufacturing and retail
managers. At the same time, the research was undertaken over SMEs which are seen as the
lifeblood of economic growth. The issue of innovation had been addressed in previous studies
within the Romanian context, but not from the point of retail industry [26] [27]. The paper
makes a thorough contribution to the existing literature of innovation within the retail sector
and has both theoretical and practical implications.
In terms of theoretical implications, the paper’s main strength relies on its ability to
conceptualize the notion of innovation within the retail industry. The capacity of innovation
within the retail sector is comparable with the capacity of innovation within the
manufacturing sector. This is an argument that sustains the previous theoretical findings that
addressed the retail industry based on the generalization made from manufacturing
companies.
Managerial implications that result from the study are also important to be taken into
consideration. In Germany in order to gain innovation the management puts great emphasis
on technology. The owner or manager of German SMEs is trying to create a system that is so
416
good that the middle and low managers and employees within small enterprises can operate
and be able to develop new ideas without the daily presence of the owner or top manager. In
Romania due to a reminiscent of the communist system, the businesses are still focused on a
centralized business management, so the middle managers and employees have no or limited
access to companies’ top management, which affects the level of innovation and culture of the
enterprise. Hence, the management of the Romanian SMEs should be more open to innovative
ideas coming from the employees as this practice could foster further innovations within their
companies.
The results of the study suggest that innovation capacity is a predictor of higher performance.
Managers of retail firms should try to do their best in order to take advantage of the
innovation processes. Some suggestions for them would be to: create networks with other
SMEs in order to work together towards the attainment of a common goal (increase the
innovation ability); allocate financial resources for sustain innovation activities; and develop
an organizational culture that enables innovation advances.
The results of this paper are subject to some limitations that should be taken into
consideration when trying to generalize the results. Firstly, it must acknowledge those
samples included within the research framework are drawn from only two regions pertaining
to Romania and Germany, respectively. In order to be able to generalize the findings at a
country level, the study should be elaborated further on and more SMEs from other regions
should be included in the survey.
Secondly, a restricted number of variables related to SMEs were addressed in the study.
Future researches could also consider the role of the entrepreneur of the retail companies on
the achievement of performance. In addition, one could also take into consideration the
influence of the extern factors on SMEs from the retail industry performance.
Overall, the results suggest that the innovation processes in place at the Romanian SMEs are
comparable with the ones of the German SMEs, suggesting that Romanian entrepreneurs are
aware of the importance of these practices as their survival on the market depends on the
ability to implement innovation strategies.
6. REFERENCES
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4. Leitner, K.H. and Güldenberg, S., Generic strategies and firm performance in SMEs: A
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5. Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R.D. and Hoskinsson, E.R., Strategic Management. Concept & Cases
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Que Futuro?, Universidade da Beira Interior, October, Covilhã, Portugal, (1998).
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17. Marques, C., Monteiro-Barata, J., Determinants of the innovation process: An empirical
test for the Portuguese manufacturing industry, Management Research, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp.
113-126, (2006).
18. Grant, M. R., Contemporary Strategy Analysis and Cases: Text and Cases, John Wiley
and Sons, (2010).
19. Allen, R.S. and Helms, M.M., Linking strategic practices and organizational performance
to Porter’s generic strategies, Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 433-
454, (2006).
20. Bordean, O. N., Borza, A., Nistor, R. L., Mitra, C. S., The use of Michael Porter’s generic
strategies in the Romanian hotel industry, International Journal of Trade, Economics and
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Responsabile Leadership and Organizational Change for Corporate Sustainability. Amfiteatru
Economic, XIV(32), pp. 404-419.
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22. Yu, W., Ramanathan, R., An assessment of operational efficiencies in the UK retail
sector, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 36, No. 11, pp. 861-
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Technologisches Wissen: Entstehung, Methoden, Strukturen, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, (2010).
25. Praharsi, Y, Wee, H-.M., Sukwadi, R., Padilan, M. V., Small-independent retailers vs.
organized retailers: an empirical study in Indonesian economics of service industries, Journal
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27. Maier, V., Bordean, O.N., Borza, A., Study regarding the innovation within the North-
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 Topic 6

Management of sustainable development

The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

BENCHMARKING IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES - BETWEEN

THEORY AND PRACTICE

Albu Cristina1, Cristian Adriana2 and Valter Narcisa3

1
Associate Professor PhD, Manager Library, University „Politehnica” of Bucharest, e-mail:
cristina.albu@upb.com
2
PhD Eng., Central Library, University „Politehnica” of Bucharest, e-mail: adriana_elena_cristian@yahoo.com
3
Associate Professor PhD, Department "Engineering Graphics and Industrial Design"
University „Politehnica” of Bucharest, e-mail: narcisa.valter@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: The paper is in line with the concerns (nationally) expressed by both specialists and organizations
that address issues regarding benchmarking tools and techniques specific to the university library. At the same
time, it provides a (useful, clear, concise) theoretical basis for conducting a benchmarking project in the
university library. For a better understanding of the case study, the beginning of the paper overviews some topic
related issues. Namely: the concept of benchmarking, principles in a benchmarking project, the usefulness of
applying benchmarking, benchmarking techniques and tools, the possibility of extending the use of
benchmarking in the university library.

KEYWORDS: benchmarking, university library, user, assessment, performance.

Motto: “When the wind of change blows, some people build walls, others build
windmills”-Chinese proverb

1. INTRODUCTION
In Romania, benchmarking is still little known as it is in its infancy. There is no experience in
applying benchmarking techniques. Literature provides theoretical explanations on the
concept of benchmarking, working principles and the usefulness of its techniques and tools.
The concept of benchmarking can be used by any organization open to change that promotes
flexibility as a management tool. The aim is to obtain performance.
It can be also applied to user centred library services, thereby improving service quality and
consequently meeting the users‘information needs. The practice of benchmarking in a
university library is tantamount to adopting the best existing methods to reach the “target”.
Philip Kotler noted that “benchmarking remains one of the most powerful tools for improving
quality and performance”.

2. THE CONCEPT OF BENCHMARKING IN THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Rank Xerox has defined benchmarking as: “the continuous process of measuring products,
services, and practices against the toughest competitors or those companies recognized as
powerful”.
When applied to a university library, benchmarking may be defined as: a continuous process
of assessing its services as compared to other competitors (libraries recognized as leaders in
the field) or:
a powerful tool likely to assist libraries in improving the quality of user centred services and
its performance.
The option for a particular type of benchmarking out of the existing ones (internal, external,
competitive, functional (generic), international, etc.) available for library use, when properly

421
applied, can contribute to success and increased efficiency. Benchmarking, if correctly
chosen, designed and implemented, can also provide important advantages to the library.
At the same time, benchmarking can also provide unlimited opportunities for implementation
whether as part of the quality management system and/or as a tool for continuous
improvement.
The concept of benchmarking (BM) involves four phases: planning, data collection
(research), analysis and adaptation (implementation). Figure 1 shows the steps involved in
conducting a benchmarking project. [1], [2]

PLANNING

COLLECTION (RESEARCH)

ANALYSIS

ADAPTATION
(IMPLEMENTATION)

BM PROJECT

Figure 1. Phases covered in a benchmarking project

There is a wide range of models for dealing with benchmarking. Nevertheless, its application
in the university library makes it imperative to observe certain action rules:
1. understanding in-house processes with respect to service provision;
2. analysis of successful services delivered by other library services;
3. comparison of in-house services to services delivered by the libraries taken as a point
of reference;
4. implementation of measures to eliminate disparities;
5. feed-back.
When conducting a BM project, one should not overlook a series of principles that might be
useful in achieving our goal. The European Organization for Quality (EOQ) has put forth four
principles:
• Reciprocity (good service deserves a worthy response).
• Analogy (services of library partners must be compatible).
• Measuring systems (which measurement system should be used?).
• Fairness (information subject to exchange be guaranteed).

The “target” questions to be answered in a benchmarking project may be summarized as

follows:
• What do we want to measure?
• What is the partner of choice?
• What is the service performance resulting from the adoption of a BM project?
• How good is the performance of the library whose experience we want to assimilate?
The implementation of a BM project (phases and sub-phases of a BM process) is shown in an
appropriate, clear and concise way in Figure 2. [1], [2], [3]
422
 PHASES

1. Planning 2. Collection 3. Analysis 4. Implementation

1.
Research
regarding data
1. collection for
Forming the
partner selection
benchmarking team
2.
Assessment of
2. Documenting the results and
analysis process 1. 1.
identification of Comparison of in- Plan
potential partner house performance implementation
3. libraries to partner library performance
Establishing the performance
goal of 3.
benchmarking Developing tools
analysis for data collection 2. 2.
Identification of Monitoring and
4. 4. “best practice” progress report
Drawing up a In-house activities
written statement assessment of
for the selected analytical
benchmarking goal instruments 3.
3. Proposal of future
5. 5. Design of projects based on
Setting criteria for Contacting “best implementation acquired
choosing ”target” practice” partners strategy experience
benchmarking and inviting
partner libraries participation in
benchmarking
6. 4. 4.
Identifying and 6. Development of Planning for
choosing “target” Assessment of implementation continuous
benchmarking partner libraries strategy improvement:
partner libraries identifying novel
7. benchmarking
Development of opportunities
7. in-depth
Establishing the questionnaires
data collection plan
8.
Management of
in-depth
investigations

B e n c h m a r k i n g p r o c e s s

Figure 2. Flow-chart of a BM project

423
The objective of any BM process is to induce changes. Nevertheless, one often finds that
project outcomes yield only recommendations. That happens because the actual study has
been disregarded.

3. TECHINIQUES AND TOOLS REQUIRED

In conducting the benchmarking process one can make use of techniques and tools specific to
quality management.
Benchmarking techniques cover all working methods and procedures by which we can go
through the working phases and sub-phases (those shown in Figure 2). The benchmarking
tools cover the means employed in the benchmarking process.
Table 1 exemplifies the most frequently used techniques and tools (in all the four
benchmarking phases of). [3] [4]

Table 1. Benchmarking techniques and tools

Phase Techniques Tools
Planning Brainstorming Cause–effect diagrama
Objective weighting method (Ishikawa)
Matrix chart
Pareto chart
Collection Surveys Data collection file
Statistical-mathematical methods Questionnaires
Reference guide
Analysis Critical road map method Cost analysis
P.E.R.T. method Graph represenations
Decision making tree
Adaptation Management by obiectives Histograms
Statistical research techniques

4. PROPOSAL FOR CASE STUDY

This chapter focuses on a proposal for implementing external benchmarking at the Central
Library of the Bucharest “Politehnica” University involving reputed leaders in the field of
librarianship. The aim is improved service for loan users. The steps to be followed in
conducting the BM process are the steps referred to in chapter 2 (Figure 2).
All phases and sub-phases shown in Figure 2 have to be covered.
As the process is extremely meticulous, the present study will only illustrate a choice lot of
techniques and tools used in the development of sub-phases in the planning and collection
phases (code: 1.5, 1.6, 2.1 according to Figure 2, chapter 2).

4.1. Setting criteria for choosing “target” benchmarking partner libraries (code 1.5)

One has used the “method of weighting objectives” where objectives have been replaced by
criteria (A, B, C, D): A-size of BM partners; B-notoriety of BM partners; C-closeness to UPB
Central Library field of activity; D-enrollment of readership/academic year.
A matrix of these criteria is made up as follows: one compares systematically pairs of criteria
so that the resulting sum be “1”. In Table 2: “1” is assigned if the first criterion in the pair
under comparison is considered more important, while “0” is assigned if the first criterion in
the pair under comparison is considered less important.

Table 2. Matrix of criteria

Criterion A B C D Total
row
A - 0 0 0 0
B 1 - 0 0 1
C 1 1 - 0 2
D 1 1 1 - 3

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According to Table 2 the criteria ranking is D-C-B-A.
The criteria are then placed on a scale of values from 1 to 10 in order to identify and choose
benchmarking “target” partners according to Figure 3.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

D C B A

Figura 3. Scale of values

4.2. Identifying and choosing “target” benchmarking partner libraries (code 1.6)

4.2.1 Identifying potential partners

One has to draw up an initial list of possible partners as in Table 3.

Table 3. Potential partners

Reference Potential partners
1. Central University Library „Mihai Eminescu”, Iaşi
2. Central University Library „Lucian Blaga”, Cluj
Central University 3. Library of „Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University, Iaşi
Library 4. Central Library of „Politehnica” University ,Timişoara
„Carol I” 5. Central Library of the Craiova University
Bucureşti 6. Library of „Dunărea de Jos” University, Galaţi
7. Library of „Transilvania” University, Braşov

4.2.2. Choice of “target” partners based on weighted criteria

The choice of “target” partners is based on the criteria of choosing partner libraries (Section
4.1). This early survey of potential partners is preliminary, given the limited amount of
information. One chooses a three tier rating scale. Table 4 provides a ranking of potential BM
partners based on assessment points awarded and the scale of value in Figure 3. One can
choose in this way the top partners.
Table 4. Identification and choice of BM target partners
Crt. BM Potential Partners Criterion Weighted
Nr A B C D Total %

1 Central University Library „Mihai Eminescu”, Iaşi 3 2 3 2 60 17,5

2 Central University Library „Lucian Blaga”, Cluj 3 3 3 3 75 21,9
3 Library of „Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University, Iaşi 2 3 2 1 45 13,1
4 Central Library of „Politehnica” University ,Timişoara 2 2 3 1 48 14
5 Central Library of the Craiova University 2 2 2 1 40 11,7
6 Library of „Dunărea de Jos” University, Galaţi 1 1 2 1 33 9,6
7 Library of „Transilvania” University, Braşov 3 2 2 1 42 12,2
Criterion weighting 2 5 8 10 - -
Total 343 100

According to Table 4, the five four libraries selected have been:

Central University Library ”Lucian Blaga”, Cluj; Central University Library „Mihai
Eminescu”, Iaşi; Central Library of „Politehnica” University, Timişoara; Library of
„Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University, Iaşi; Library of „Transilvania” University, Braşov.

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4.3. Research on data collection regarding partner selection (code 2.1)

BM researchers must select sources of information for documenting processes in partner libraries
and use appropriate data collection methods. The collection of data about partner selection can be
done according to the reference guide for identifying information sources (Table 5).

Table 5. Reference guide of resources

Market Research
Experts
Managers
Internal information Meetings of benchmarking specialists
Information from benchmarking network of
In-house library studies
Specialism Books
Public infomation Articles in Periodicals
Documents available electronically
Association of professional studies
Previous research on topic
Private research Questionnaires
Visits
Meetings of benchmarking partners

Table 5 lists the most significant sources. The sources are diverse: some can lead to data and
information directly, others can lead to alternative sources of information.

5. CONCLUSIONS

The acquisition and application of the concept of benchmarking can benefit the library if
adopted and implemented correctly and if supported by flexible management.
In conducting a benchmarking process, the people involved must have relevant expertise,
extensive experience and be creative. Experience is necessary but not sufficient. It should be
complemented by a well-organized methodological basis and adapted to the library
particulars.
The questions that we must ask ourselves, in a benchmarking project are:
• What do we want to find out?
• Why?
• What do we intend to do with the results?
The factors with an impact upon “best practices” are:
• computerization;
• staff training;
• inter-library cooperation agreements.
The present paper is meant to provide a limited contribution to implementing the concept of
benchmarking in the university library.

6. REFERENCES

1. Balm, G., Evaluer et ameliorer ses performances: le benchmarking, AFNOR, (1994).

2. Anand, G., Kodali, R., Benchmarking the benchmarking models, Benchmarking: An
International Journal, Vol 15, No. 3, pp. 257-291, (2008).
3. Mitu, Ş., Neagu, M., Frumuşanu, G., Benchmarking, Editura Fundaţiei Universitare
Dunărea de Jos, Galaţi, (2000).
4. Michaels, J., Wood, P. W., Design to Cost, Editors John Wiley and Sons, New York,
(1989).
5. www.benchmarking-in europe.com

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

CONTRIBUTIONS ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF

SECTIONS OF THE FOUNDRY AN ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY
EQUIPMENT

Gheorghe Amza1, Dan Valentin Petrescu2, Dan Florin Niţoi3, Zoia Apostolescu4, Oana
Roxana Chivu5
1
Polytechnic University of Bucharest, amza@camis.pub.ro
2
Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu valentin.petrescu@ulbsibiu.ro
3
Polytechnic University of Bucharest, nitoidan@yahoo.com.
4
Polytechnic University of Bucharest, virlan_oana@yahoo.co.uk
5
Polytechnic University of Bucharest, zoia@camis.pub.ro

ABSTRACT: The paper presents a method for determining the key pollutants that occur in a polling foundry
substances and emissions of polluting substances, pollution coefficient calculation, calculation of indicators of
environmental quality and pollution cumulative synergy. It presents and analyzes experimental results obtained
from measurements for main sources of pollution in a foundry department: making furnace, heat treatment
furnace and cabin sablare. Se make determinations for the main pollutants: particulate matter, the amount of CO,
the amount of SO2 and NO2 quantity and compared with the maximum permissible concentration, in accordance
with Order 756/97
Keywords: impact, environment, foundry, coefficient, pollution,

1. INTRODUCTION
Interest and priority industrial organization analyzed in the current period and in the future is
the high quality of its products and services, care for the environment and working
environment, caring for the reduction of pollution is determined both by improving processes
and by making products that pollute as little.
The organization analyzed industrial engineering enterprise is an extremely complex, which
manufactures equipment for nuclear power plants using highly developed production
processes and complicated. Production processes are a sum of complex technological
processes, after which processed metals and alloys from development to the finished part and
during which manifests almost all physical phenomena, chemical, mechanical and electrical
known. In time for the process they are issued in the working environment and the natural
environment a number of pollutants affecting all environmental factors: air, water, soil,
subsoil, flora, fauna, living beings and their relationships.[2].
The main objective of this work is to establish and determine the impact environmental
impacts of industrial organization analyzed taking into account both the work environment
and the natural environment. Space is considered the working environment in which they
operate all operators participating in technological processes and enterprise space around the
natural environment within a radius of 500 m.
Specific objectives imposed by the overall objective were:
• establish a method for determining and assessing the environmental impact of work
appropriate to each process equipment production important in terms of existence as a source
of pollution (making metals and alloys, blasting, heat treatment, casting itself);
• realization an experimental stand universal, allowing the concentration of pollutants
resulting from technological process and nature of pollutants affecting environmental factors;
• the establishment of methods and technology for determining and assessing the
environmental impact of industrial organization naturally produced.

427
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
To achieve the objectives, research began making a detailed analysis of the current status on
physical-geographic geographical area in which there is industrial organization with
geomorphology, morphology and lithology appropriate environmental.[1,14].
Methodical research and experimental program were prepared by: the nature of technological
equipment that make up the production process of casting; nature of physical phenomena,
chemical, mechanical and electrical changes accompanying materials during the casting
process nature of pollutants emitted during the technological process and the method of
determining and assessing the environmental impact on the natural environment and work
product of industrial organization.
The generally, research methodology involved the following steps:
• analysis of the technological process of casting different pieces of equipment for
technological achievement;
• establishing the main stages of the technological occur pollutants;
• determining the nature of pollutants and environmental factors affected by pollution from
them;
• realization of a technology for determining the concentration of each pollutant and an
experimental stand universal enabling accurate determination of these substances in different
locations of the technological process;
• developing an experimental program determinations in both the work environment and the
natural environment, according to each polluting source and synergist;
• definition of pollution coefficients for calculating the coefficient of partial and total
pollution;
Experimental research program and methodology were designed so the resulting solutions can
be easily extended and applied in any engineering enterprise, without requiring additional
expenses from potential beneficiaries.
3. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Determination and environmental impact analysis of a technological process or a
technological process through which the component / assembly of a nuclear equipment are
very difficult to achieve because:
• the impact is different depending on where the determination is made, however, with
many factors contributing to a very different distribution of substanţerlor polluting the
environment;
• there are many elements of impact (dust, micropowders, dusts, fumes, gases, volatile
organic compounds, ozone, hydrocarbons, persistent organic pollutants, suspensions minerals,
etc.) that occur during the course of a technological process, which are more difficult to
determine whether they are in small quantities, whether it requires special sensors;
• there are many factors that influence the process, which differs from process to process,
from process equipment to equipment, the technological method to technological method,
from the nature of materials to be processed and ending with testing conditions, testing and
commissioning in function;
• is difficult to establish with precision the equation of mass balance to compute the index
of environmental quality because it can not to realize a universal stand complex for
determining the impact of all factors at once and concentration that contains them during the
course of the technological process and after the technological process;
3.1 The equipment used for measurements in the experimental program
The measurements were performed according to a methodology established experimentally
and in accordance with Order No. MAPPM. 462/93 in normal operating conditions in terms

428
of technology. Schematic diagram of the experimental stand designed and conducted
experiments presented in figure 1.

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the experimental stand for measurement:

1- senzors; 2 - pomp taken; 3 - oven; 4 – aspiration pump; 5 – actuating- handle;
6 - filter elements; 7 - protection elements; 8 - condensate reservoir; 9 - microcontroller;
10 – tehe display information
For the determination of combustion of gas (O2, CO, NO2, SO2, CO2) was used
MEGALYZER 9600 type analyzer with standard equipment that has been added to a number
of specific sensors determining the certain pollutants.
3.2 Experimental determinations zonal
Measurements were made at the workplace for the main technological equipment in existing
foundry department, considered to be the main sources of pollution.[1.13]
Determining the environmental impact produced by sandblasting cabin.Sandblasting cabin
has a volume of 5000 m3 and is intended for surface cleaning operation castings being
provided with the following equipment, sandblasting facility consisting of: - sandblasting
vessel, which is a reservoir of corundum are putting pressure; - mixing chamber air -
conrindon; - resistant hose sandblasting cap finished in the body composed port nozzle and
nozzle; corundum recovery equipment necessary; capture facility and retaining fine dust of
corundum.
În operation after cleaning different surfaces results in a wide range of powders fine
corundum. Corundum is crystallized alumina Al2O3 (mineral) containing 95 ... 99% alumina
with minor amounts of iron oxide, magnesia, silica and others. Cabina sandblasting is
equipped with an exhaust system consisting of a loaded machine which comprises a chimney
dust forced draft.
The car is equipped with dust evacuation system fitted with exhaust openings, piping,
cyclones retaining powders (2 pieces), evacutaion fans and chimneys (2 pieces). [1,9,10].
Determinations were made in the normal course of the technological process and where a
hidroclon is in operation but is not supplied with water (there is a danger of frost) realizing
extraction and dust from sandblasting cabin but not detention their water film. A hidroclon
not been put into operation because the rotor was damaged.Experimental determinations made
under the conditions above have led to the results shown in table 1 and table 2. car loading,
for hidroclon.

429
 Table 1. Level of particulate emissions from equipment charged
Concentration Average concentration The average mass flow
Pollutant
[mg/mc] +10% error [mg/mc] [kg/h]
116,4
129,3
121,0
Corundum powder 132,85 0,43 kg/h
112,6
118,8
126,5

From the results shown in Table 1. Experimental that corundum powder with average
concentration of 132.85 mg / m exceeding over 2.6 times VLE according to Order 462/93, but
it falls within the mass flow ( 0.5 kg / h).
Table 2. Level of particulate emissions from hidroclon
Concentration Average concentration The average mass flow
Pollutant
[mg/mc] +10% error [mg/mc] [kg/h]
78,3
83,6
101,8
Corundum powder 94,16 2,34
94,5
75,0
80,4

From the results shown in table 2 that the emission of dust to fall within the VLE
hidroclon.[12].
3.2.1 Determine the impacts on the natural environment produced by furnace thermal
treatment.
The furnace has a maximum load of 550 t and is used 1-2 times / year; for tempering, heat
treatment lasting up to 48 hours.
The main features of the oven are used fuel: natural gas consumption 1760 NMC / h; the
number of burners: 8 pieces.
The main pollutants that have been found are: particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur
dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.
For evacuation Evacuation system is used (the oven is equipped with 3 chimneys exhaust
flue) with identical characteristics.
The measurements were made during the normal operation (pimples).
The oven operates with excess air technology to ensure the necessary required heat
treatment.[1,7,8].
The determined values for the concentrations of polluting substances (dust, CO, SO2 and
NO2) are given in table 3.
Table 3. The emission of pollutants from furnace thermal treatment
The measured Concentration converted The average The average
The
Source concentration to 3% vol. O2 in flue concentration + mass flow
Pollutant
[mg/mc] [mg/Nsmc] Error [mg/Nmc] [g/h]
1 2 3 4 5 6
1,18 1,34
1,14 1,30
Basketful 0,95 1,08
PST 1,47 19,53
nr. 1 1,40 1,60
1,25 1,42
1,13 1,29

430
 The measured Concentration converted The average The average
The
Source concentration to 3% vol. O2 in flue concentration + mass flow
Pollutant
[mg/mc] [mg/Nsmc] Error [mg/Nmc] [g/h]
1 2 3 4 5 6
21,3 24,28
23,6 26,90
24,0 27,36
CO 27,95 371,32
25,2 28,73
22,8 25,99
23,2 26,45
0,80 0,91
SLD -
SLD -
SO2 0,83 11,03
1,20 1,37
1,14 1,30
1,00 1,14
78 88,92
75 85,50
80 91,20
NO2 91,17 1211,19
69 78,66
83 94,62
72 22,08
0,98 1,08
1,22 1,34
Basketful 1,18 1,30
PST 1,52 20,55
nr. 2 2,00 2,20
1,16 1,28
1,00 1,10
18,5 20,35
21,3 23,43
20,0 22,00
CO 23,25 314,34
19,6 21,56
19,0 20,90
22,4 24,64
1,12 1,23
0,68 0,75
0,35 0,38
SO2 0,90 12,17
1,20 1,32
0,85 0,93
0,50 0,55
112 123,2
108 118,8
125 137,5
NO2 131,09 1772,33
98 107,8
120 132,0
118 129,8
1,65 1,95
1,38 1,63
1,44 1,70
PST 1,98 25,66
1,21 1,43
1,30 1,53
2,18 2,57
26,2 30,91
24,4 28,79
Basketful 25,8 30,44
CO 31,84 412,65
nr. 3 25,0 29,50
24,6 29,03
28,2 33,28
0,65 0,77
SLD -
0,93 1,10
SO2 0,66 8,55
0,48 0,57
SLD -
1,14 1,35

431
 The measured Concentration converted The average The average
The
Source concentration to 3% vol. O2 in flue concentration + mass flow
Pollutant
[mg/mc] [mg/Nsmc] Error [mg/Nmc] [g/h]
1 2 3 4 5 6
73 86,14
66 77,88
68 80,24
NO2 86,32 1118,71
70 82,60
75 88,50
66 77,88

Note:Error ± 10% for powder, Error ± 5% - CO, SO2, NO2

3.2.2 Determining the environmental impact produced by casting proper
Steel and iron foundry receives developed under electric steelworks in the medium frequency
induction furnace and enables parts with gross weight of up to 250 t.Casting department has:
an automated preparation station forming mixture Minimix type -1 piece; mill and
regenerated mixture formation - one piece; cooling furnace with a capacity of 6 t - 2 pieces;
plant Sandblasting - 2 pieces; heat treatment furnaces - seven pieces; modeling for making
models; workshop reshuffle; dry cleaning shop.To determine the impact on the work
environment and the health effects of pollutants on human operators have made numerous
measurements even in working areas of the operators using the experimental stand
presented.[3,5]. Using material balance equation (input-output) have established the main
pollutant emissions and by-products that result from technological process of molding a piece
in soil foundry, presented in table 4.
Table 4. Polluting emissions and by-products resulting from the realization of a piece molded from a mixture of
the usual training ground foundry, expressed in kg / t molded piece
Nr. crt. Emission or polluting by-products U.M. The maximum amount
1 Dust in the air Kg/t 64,8
2 CO Kg/t 306,2
3 CO2 Kg/t 8522,0
4 SO2 Kg/t 160,1
5 SO4 Kg/t 201,7
6 NOx Kg/t 7,3
7 NH3 Kg/t 8,1
8 H2S Kg/t 16,7
9 Flue gas(more) Kg/t 12799,4
10 Heavy metal particles Kg/t 12,4
11 Slag Kg/t 157,3
12 Splash Kg/t 18,9
13 Scrap metal Kg/t 278,2
14 Volatile organic compounds (COV) Kg/t 64,2
15 Powders volatile Kg/t 30,6
16 The vapor Kg/t 42,3
17 Steam Kg/t 256,2
18 Refractory waste Kg/t 7,8
19 Powders Kg/t 42,6
20 Aromatic hydrocarbons Kg/t 37,9
21 Dioxins and furans Kg/t 33,0
22 Hexaclorbenzenw Kg/t 7,2
23 Oils Kg/t 6,8
24 The reusable mix Kg/t 10337,0
25 Wood wastes Kg/t 48,2
26 Used water Kg/t 550,5
Total Kg/t 34019,0

The impact on the work environment was assessed using a coefficient of pollution pouring
Cpt calculated with a formula deduced from mass balance equation of the form:[1,2,9]

432
 Cpt,= Qtp ·Qe [kg emisii] (1)
where: Qtps total emissions and substances emitted in the environment, emissions in kg / 1 ton
molded piece;Qe,- mount of material castings, cast material in tonnes.
The total amountQtpbe calculated with:
Qtp= Qtpa+ Qtpl+ Qtps [kg emisii] (2)
where: Qtpais the amount of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere, emissions in kg / 1 ton
molded piece; Qtpl – the amount of water pollutant, emissions in kg / 1 ton molded piece;Qtps
– the amount of pollutant soil emissions in kg / 1 ton molded piece.From measurements made
during a single work shift, where the process takes place normally, the average samples taken
from the work areas were found the following: inhalable particulate.
• concentrations containing SiO2, aerosol and fumes from various metals exceeds the CMA
Order no. 1957/1995 in all investigated areas and in different proportions;
• concentrations of formaldehyde exceed the CMA Order no. 1957/1995, in the
MINIMIX;NOx concentrations exceed the value of the CMA Order no. 1957/1995 in all
investigated areas and in different proportions;
• CO concentrations exceed the value of the CMA Order no. 1957/1995 in all investigated
areas and in different proportions;[1,8]
• white spirit concentrations exceed both the value of the CMA Order no. 1957/1995 in all
investigated areas and the average amount admitted;;
• xylene concentrations exceed both the value of the CMA Order no. 1957/1995, in all the
investigated areas of 100%, and the average value permitted;
• iron oxide concentrations exceed both the value of the CMA Order no. 1957/1995 in all
investigated areas and in different proportions;
4. CONCLUSIONS
The environmental impact is different depending on where the determination is made because
many intervening factors that contribute to a very different distribution of environmental
pollutants.
There are many elements of impact (dust, micropowders, dusts, fumes, gases, volatile organic
compounds, ozone, hydrocarbons, persistent organic pollutants, suspensions minerals, etc.)
occurring during the course of a technological process, which are most often difficult to
determine, whether in small quantities or that require special sensors.
Our analysis and evaluation of experimental results obtained are as close to reality was a stand
designed for universities, logistics experimental determinations in which the most important is
the type analyzer MEGALYZER 9600.
To determine the impact on the natural environment in an industrial organization
determinations were made after different directions in different areas and under certain
atmospheric conditions for major pollution sources: sandblasting cabin, thermal treatment
furnace and pouring proper
The analysis of experimental results showed that corundum powder machine-loaded with a
concentration of 132.85 mg / m3 VLE exceed more than 2.6 times under Order 462/93, but it
falls within the mass flow (≥ 0.5 kg / h) and the hidroclon the emission of dust falling into the
VLE.
The determinations for thermal treatment furnace main pollutants (dust, CO, SO2, and NO2)
found that concentrations of four pollutants fall in VLE, according to Order 462/93, which is
below the alert praguirile date Order 756/97.

433
5. REFERENCES
1. Amza, Gh.,Ecotehnologie şi dezvoltare durabilă, Editura Printech, Bucureşti (2009).
2. Amza, Gh.,Tratat de Tehnologia Materialelor, Editura Academiei României,
Bucureşti, (2002).
3. Amza, Gh., Ultrasunetele – aplicaţii active, Editura AGIR, Bucureşti, (2009).
4. Amza, Gh.,ș.a,Theoretical and Experimental Contributions on sprazing metallisation on
ultrasonic field, WSEAS, (EFETE), Bucharest, (2010).
5. Albulescu, R.,Teza de doctorat- Contribuții teoretice și experimentale privind placarea în
câmp ultrasonic a capetelor de erupție folosite în industria petrolieră, (2014).
6. Bansevicius, R.,Ultrasonic Motors, Latvia, (1994).
7. Dumitru, G.M.,Recondiţionarea pieselor, Editura Bren, Bucureşti, (2010).
8. Duduianu, V.I.,Protecţia mediului înconjurător, Cide, Bucureşti, (1994).
9. Jefferson, T.B.,ș.a.,Metals and how to weld them, Second Edition, (2002).
10. Holloman, J.H., Jaffe, L.D.,Time temperature relations in tempering steel, Tran. Am. Inst.
Min. met. eng. 162, (2005).
11. Karlssonf L. – Welding of dissimilar metals, Welding in the world, vol 36,(1995).
12. Micloşi, V.,Tratamente termice conexe sudării, Vol. II, Ed. Sudura,(2004).
13. Tzan, H.S., Fn, H.Q., A study of segmentation of distributed piezoelectric sensors
andactivators, part. I: theoretical analysis, Journal of Sound Vibration 172, 247 – 57,
(1994).
14. Uchida, M.,Advanced Materials Composite, Ed. Kogyo Chosakai Ttd – Tokio, Japan,
(1996).

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM A MANAGER'S POINT OF VIEW IN THE

INDUSTRIAL FIELD

Cristina Feniser1 and Marian Mocan2

1
TechnicalUniversity of Cluj-Napoca, cristina.feniser@mis.utcluj.ro
2
PolitehnicaUniversity of Timisoara, marian.mocan@upt.ro

ABSTRACT: Sustainable development is a challenge for social and economical policies when trying to provide
continuous growth for the present and the future. A certain level of sustainable development means future
growth that brings income to all commercial partners without any economical costs or, it means providing big
scale savings by increasing productivity and revenue. Thus, sustainable development can help in evaluating the
level of risk when there is an efficient management and, determine future innovation opportunities. It also
provides a differentiation in the growth of reputation, and thus establishes a base for long-time business success.
This study aims to find out how managers understand the concept of sustainable development, namely if it is a
marketing strategy for a quick profit, or if it is seen as a strategy for growth in the short and long run and part of
the general vision of the business. We will now present the results of a survey-based questionnaire on the vision
of managers on the sustainable development of the companies they lead.
KEYWORDS:sustainable development, eco-capacity, corporate social responsibility

1. CONCEPTUAL DELIMITATION
According to specialised literature, sustainable development is considered as a new concept
that has its origins in Worldwide Conservation Strategy, elaborated in 1980 by the
International Union for Conservation of Natural Resources. The authors of this strategy
consider that sustainable development is a strategic concept that involves the sustainable use
of natural resources, the preservation of genetic diversity and the maintenance of ecosystems.
The Brundtland report, the official document of the Worldwide Commission for Environment
and Development, defined in 1987 sustainable development as “Sustainable development is
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs ”[1].
Sustainable development analysis implies a systematic approach to the
environmental/social/economical triad. A number of specialists add another variable, namely,
technological system, both from the perspective of growth efficiency in using the resources,
and producing depolluting and environment-protecting technology and equipment. Within the
triad mentioned, there is no explicit hierarchical or priority order of the subsystems. The three
categories of system are equally important, solving the problem of one is done to the
disadvantage of another, or more precisely, altering the chances of the future generations. For
sustainable development to function, it implies a profound change at the level of the social
system by recognising the interdependency in between the three systems and considering the
necessity of a scientific understanding of the way the ecosystems work,.
As previously mentioned, although we cannot talk about a hierarchy of the three systems, a
vast majority of specialists consider that the ecological subsystem is the most complex one, at
least from the following considerations [2]:
• the ecological subsystem has a global/planetary dimension – especially in contrast to the
economical subsystem – it can generate negative effects in totally different spaces than the
one in which it acts, thus, it does not respect the conventional borders;
• through its biotic component, the ecological subsystem includes the existence of mankind.
From this perspective, mankind has to be aware that many of its actions target the destruction
of its own habitat, of the environment in which it appeared and has developed;

435
• the economical processes happen in the ecological subsystem and unfolds within the
framework of its own resources. It is obvious that no economical process can unfold without
using natural resources, whether in smaller or bigger quantities, directly or indirectly, and
efficiently or not;
• being placed at the end of the resources-production-consumation chain, the existence of
mankind and its evolution is ultimately dependable on the resources found in the ecological
subsystem;
• the ecological subsystem takes over, without it wanting to, the inefficiencies of the other
two subsystems, under the polluted products and the irrational exploitation of resources.
The main problem which arises is the one of reconciling the desires of continuous sustainable
development with the necessity of protecting the environment. For this reason, new models of
industrial development that preserves the endurance capacity of the environment have to be
identified.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation defines industrial sustainable
development as “a new approach which allows the industry to ensure economical and social
benefits for the present generation without compromising the capacity of future generations to
meet their own needs and without harming the fundamental ecological processes” [2]. In
order to achieve the sustainable industrial development three criteria must be fulfilled:
• protection of the eco-capacity;
• efficient use of human, material and energetic resources;
• ensuring a fair distribution in between nations of both the goods provided by industrial
development and the hardships caused by environmental degradation,.
The concept of eco-capacity refers to maintaining the capacity of ecosystems to function
despite the existence of pollution, and it presents two aspects: elasticity of the system, and its
capacity to remain stable. Elasticity or the resilience of the system assumes maintaining
behaviours against external disturbances; and the capacity to remain stable implies
maintaining a balance as a response to the fluctuations of the environment.
Equity consists in the justice with which the income is distributed or the prosperity within
society. As a fundamental principle of sustainable development, equity includes three
essential aspects:
1. An equitable distribution of goods supplied by industrial development and of hardships
caused by environmental degradation. The solution for this problem may have important
repercussions for the environment. If the necessary costs to meet environmental standards
are considered to be too high, significant segments of the population (the majority of the
ones already poor) will suffer due to the decision taken, meaning that they will have to
support the degradation of the environment, something that will cause them to be even
poorer.
2. Tackling the problem on a global scale. On a global scale, the problem of equity is
different. An aspect that needs to be discussed is the one that is related to the fact that
developed countries, the very ones that benefited the most from the exploitation of natural
resources and from the capacity of assimilation of the biosphere, now have a moral
obligation to allow developing countries to follow the same growth. This argument
implies the fact that developed countries should pay the extra costs incurred by developing
countries to protect the environment. However, this moral argument is not necessarily
accepted by the ones that have to pay for this extra cost. A more efficient argument can be
based on mutual commitment for common interests.
3. Fairness between generations. The present generation supports the natural resources
degradation caused by past generations. The future generation will not only support the
cost of present environment degradation, but also the cost of atmospheric gases
accumulation and of heavy metals, of the loss of tropical forests and of biodiversity. It is
therefore necessary to understand that the requirement of future generations should be
436
 considered now, although this imposes an additional burden to the political institutions,
which are, generally, involved in achieving short-term goals and not satisfying future
generations.
2. RESULTS
Some authors consider that sustainable development creates additional costs for the finished
product, like organic products or fair trade. These type of products are successful only if the
client is willing to pay for the added cost, and whether they consider sustainable development,
its quality and additional cost, something they wish to have.
This study aims to find out how managers understand the concept of sustainable development,
namely, whether sustainable development is perceived as a strategy for survival and
adaptation to global changes which guarantees profit for the future by reducing the
dependency on unsustainable sources, or whether it is just a marketing strategy.
In order to collect the data, we made a survey-based questionnaire, which focused on the
vision managers have on sustainable development for the company they run. 51 executive
managers were surveyed across different industries.
A specific behaviour that supports sustainable development is corporate social responsibility
(CSR). CSR has as its goal to pay close supervision on the work delivered by companies and
the consequences of the business environment in order for it not to terminate the chances of
future generations to develop and live in harmony. This concept has been the subject of
research in industrial SMEs in the county of Alba. This has led us to the following
conclusions:
a) Although managers know the term CSR and it is practised in SMEs, there is no clear
image of its meaning and the benefits that it can bring to the company. Managers of SMEs
generally see CSR as a set of activities or policies of which results cannot be measured
accurately. The term CSR is defined differently by entrepreneurs, but the majority
understand it as an assembly of activities done for the benefit of the local community,
30,6% of responders chose this answer. Then it is understood as a form of promotion, as a
request of competitiveness on the market and directly related to environmental protection.
The frequency of the answers for “form of promotion” shows that managers are aware of
the economical value that social responsibility has besides its ethical nature. CSR
represents an essential component of reputation of risks and reputation of management for
several SMEs, and it becomes and increasing factor for the growth of competitiveness and
the position of the business in the market.
b) In SMEs, the implementation of these types of activities depends mainly on the owner, on
their knowledge, skills, abilities, experience and value system.
c) The main problems faced by managers of SMEs in CSR implementation are the lack of
time and financial resources for this type of activities and the lack of knowledge and skills
in this domain.
This study shows that 88.2% of managers consider that sustainable development can be
achieved without profit diminishing, and 90.2% believe that this would give them advantages,
although 43% of them say that the practices associated with this concept represent a constraint
for the company.
The answers show that managers do not have a clear picture of the vision of their company on
sustainable development, in the sense that they do not know exactly what is required of them
concerning this. 65% say that the company has a systematic concern for such a strategy.

437
 For creatin
ng a new pro
oduct 75%

In response to
o customer needs 71%

yees
For a long‐‐term investm
ment 82%
%

For short‐tterm profitab
bility 38%

0% 20% 40
0% 60% 80% 1
100%

Figure 1. Which criterria do you usee when workin

ng towards susstainable deveelopment?

it is yet to be in
ntegrated or decided 
32%
upon

it is parrt of the organ
nization 67
7%
yes
y

it is centraal to the organ
nization 17%
%

0% 10% 20% 30%

3 40% 50
0% 60% 70%
% 80%

ure 2. What place

Figu p does susttainable devellopment have in your comppany?
Only 177% of manaagers statedd that sustainable devellopment is central to thheir compan nies, the
majorityy say it is part of the company. Still, thosee that consiider it a connstraint reppresent a
significaant percentaage (37%), which is duue to a needd for changge towards aan ecologicaal vision
which our
o current economicaal environm ment requiress. The vast majority oof managerss are not
evaluateed based ono sustainabble developpment, morre exactly 78.3%.
7 Thiis result caan be an
explanaation as to why
w 63% off managers believe thaat sustainable practicess are an opp portunity
and nott a constrainnt. The connstraints cann also be peerceived ass so becausee of the cossts these
practicees imply whhen compareed to traditioonal approaaches.
Traditioonally, busiiness seekss precision and pragm matism wheen planningg its efforts, while
sustainaable developpment doess not have a concise deefinition, it changes ovver time in response
r
to increasing inform
mation and the evolutioon of the priorities of society.
The conntribution made
m by businesses to sustainablee developmeent is undettermined. While
W all
businesses can brinng some contribution to
t reaching this goal, thheir capacitty varies deepending
on the activity
a and size of the company.
Some managers
m coonsider thatt the main objective iss making prrofit. Otherrs also belieeve they
have a social
s missiion. There isi no consensus among g business leaders
l concerning the balance
betweenn personal interest and the actions taken for th he commonn good. Mannagers conssider that
they haave to comppromise whhen they deecide to follow sustainnable practiices. They perceive
certain areas
a of susstainable development as ambiguo ous from a teechnical pooint of view,, making
it difficult for an efficient
e plaanning of thheir activitiees. For exammple, the fo
forest industtry faces
difficultties in defiining what constitutess as sustain nable forestt managem ment. Clearlly, more
researchh is needed in order to solve this tyype of techn nical probleems.
From a larger perrspective it is clearly in the inteerest of commpanies to work in a healthy
environnment and a sustainablee economy. It is equally clear thatt, at a globaal level, the growing
438
economies in developing countries have opportunities for expanding the market through
integrating this concept in their general strategy [3].
3. CONCLUSIONS
Business has an important role in a national and international environment, and it is the main
link with the consumer. With the advance of technology, enterprises have the responsibility to
be an institutional element in promoting sustainable development. Sustainable development
bring competitiveness through the advancement of new technologies which protects the
environment and contributes to its development. Its main benefits are the capacity to reduce
costs, optimise resources to minimise losses and thereby protecting the environment.
Sustainable development creates opportunities for international trade and for accessing new
markets, a very relevant aspect for developing countries. CSR, together with sustainable
development represent processes and actions that are considered important in the strategy of
the management of companies.
Unsustainable strategies involve technological wear and inefficient management practices,
which in the terms of sustainable development increase pollution through big quantities of
waste and inefficient allocation of resources. Thus, the practice of sustainable development
reduces pollution through better technologies which compensates costs, but they are
inevitable and, on the short term, they can affect competitiveness [4].
Among the specific objectives set out by the managers interviewed for sustainable
development, we can find “integrating measures for protecting the environment in their
business plan and in the decision-taking process, identifying and managing risks of the
environment resulting from the activities of the company, integrating quality standards to
protect the local community, involvement in partnerships with interested stakeholders for
protecting the environment”.
Managers believe that sustainable development is a solution for improving the image of the
company in the mind of consumers, which is why their behaviours have become more
responsible in this regard. The decisions concerning the environment and human rights
involve certain costs which are added to the expenditures of the company, but on the long-
term, risks are reduced, the image of the company is improved, both in the mind of the
consumer and the employees.
Although scientific literature dedicated to sustainable development is very vast, its practice in
industrial enterprises is not as widespread. Therefore there is a mismatch between theory and
practice concerning this subject.
The data collected shows that sustainable development is poorly understood by managers,
even if they have remarkable results in obtaining profit. Although they have a general picture
of the concept, the specific practices and actions are most likely from desire rather than
reality. The main conclusion of the study derives precisely from this observation – that
managers and companies need support and counselling towards sustainable development.
There is a need for information so that doors can be openedwhen implementing these type of
practices. Sustainable development needs to be included in the mission statement of
companies in order that managers may integrate them in their current activities, that they be
part of all projects of development and not just isolated activities which areonly designed to
give them a good image for the short-term.
Environmental organisations and scientists have to direct such change by increasing the
visibility of projects of sustainable development, the regulations in this area andthat of good
practices. Thus the transition towards sustainable development will be perceived as a positive
one and not that of a constraint. Governmental organisations have to draw clear guidelines
and give some benefits to successful projects, because the initial costs of sustainable
development are an aspect that discourages managers.

439
4. REFERENCES
1. WCED (The World Commission on Environment and Development), Our Common
Future, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 197.
2. Popescu, I. A., Bondrea, A., Constantinescu M. I., 2005, Dezvoltarea durabilă. O
perspectivă românească, Editura Economică.
3. Deloitte, &Touche. (1992). Business Strategy for Sustainable Development: Leadership
and Accountability for the 90s. Published by International Institute for Sustainable
Development in conjunction with the World Business Council for Sustainable
Development. Retrieved April 2011, http://www.bsdglobal.com/pdf/business_strategy.pdf
4. Porter, Michael, and Claas van der Linde (1995), "Towards a new Conception of the
environment Competitiveness relationships", The Journal of Economics Perspectives, Vol.
9, No. 4, pp.119- 132.

440
The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

THE CLIMATE OF RESORT PĂLTINIȘ SIBIU, A FACTOR IN

MANAGEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Virgil Nicula1, Simona Spânu2

1
University ”Lucian Blaga”of Sibiu, niculavirgil@yahoo.com
2
University ”Lucian Blaga”of Sibiu, simona_spanu@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT:In terms of climate change, adaptation is of great importance to the tourism product at the
weather conditions offered by vulnerable areas, as is the case of mountain areas. In terms of bioclimatic, the
characterization by bioclimatic indexes (index of equivalent temperature, temperature-humidity index and
temperature-wind and bioclimatic stress index) Păltiniș resort and surrounding areas highlights that there is a
very favourable bio-climate for tourism. So far, Păltiniș was shaped primarily for recreation, for tourism, except
the early period, when the resort had balneary purpose. The strong sunlight, the small amounts of cloudiness and
air pressure, moderate values of bioclimatic indices can be valued for treatment and prophylactic treatment of
sunbathing and aero therapy. With a high bioclimatic potential, Păltiniș and adjacent area may become not only
places of interest, but the interest of the SPA, regaining their place in the national tourism circuit.
KEYWORDS:Păltiniș, climate index, bioclimatic potential, mountain tourism, sustainable development.

1. INTRODUCTION
Tourism is, by its nature, an activity that takes place in connection with rhinestone
surrounding natural and social environments. Analyzing the relationship between them, it is
observed that most often priorities are economic benefits and the negative consequences on
the environment and society are forgotten. Sustainable development management is the
process through which it is anticipated and coordinated, are lead and planed, assessed and
controlled the activities of change in which the exploitation of resources, coordination of
investments and development orientation of technical and institutional changes are compatible
and allow the needs and aspirations of the present generation without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet them in turn [3].
Management of sustainable development aims at a new balance between the issues of
environmental conservation, economic growth and social equity. The management of
sustainable development in tourism is focused on objectives that highlight the need to take
account of cost-benefit analysis not only in a microeconomic dimension, but also in
macroeconomic stability.In sustainable development, tourism plays a key role contributing to
a high rate of economic recovery to boost and Romania. Raising the tourism product from the
values enshrined in the corresponding standards and preferences of Romanian and foreign
tourists involves initiating and promoting actions that include, on the one hand, workflows
education and training of a mentality appropriate current type of development, and on the
other hand, emphasis on sustainable development in regions of tourist reception.
Regarding the sustainable development of tourism in Romania, one of the most important
strategies of sustainable development refers to the Romanian Carpathians. Strategy for
sustainable development of the Carpathians aims at developing a continuous process of
awareness, increase of institutional capacity for sustainable tourism education and training at
all levels. It aims to reduce the imbalance between favored mountainous regions and
disadvantaged, marked by permanent natural constraints, targeting the whole issue of
economic, social, cultural and environmental.The need for sustainable development according
to the 2013 National Strategy for Sustainable Development 2020-2030 starts from the
observation that at the end of the first decade of the XXI century, after a long, traumatic
transition to pluralistic democracy and market economy, Romania still has to overcome
significant gaps to other member states of the European Union, while seeking to absorb and
441
put into practice the principles and practices of sustainable development in the globalized
context.
2. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE MANAGEMENT OF
ROMANIAN MOUNTAIN TOURISM
Tourism is, by its nature, an activity that takes place in connection with rhinestone
surrounding natural and social environments. Analyzing the relationship between them, it is
observed that most often priorities are economic benefits and the negative consequences on
the environment and society are forgotten. Sustainable development management is the
process through which it is anticipated and coordinated, are lead and planed, assessed and
controlled the activities of change in which the exploitation of resources, coordination of
investments and development orientation of technical and institutional changes are compatible
and allow the needs and aspirations of the present generation without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet them in turn.[3]
Management of sustainable development aims at a new balance between the issues of
environmental conservation, economic growth and social equity. The management of
sustainable development in tourism is focused on objectives that highlight the need to take
account of cost-benefit analysis not only in a microeconomic dimension, but also in
macroeconomic stability.In sustainable development, tourism plays a key role contributing to
a high rate of economic recovery to boost and Romania. Raising the tourism product from the
values enshrined in the corresponding standards and preferences of Romanian and foreign
tourists involves initiating and promoting actions that include, on the one hand, workflows
education and training of a mentality appropriate current type of development, and on the
other hand, emphasis on sustainable development in regions of tourist reception.
Regarding the sustainable development of tourism in Romania, one of the most important
strategies of sustainable development refers to the Romanian Carpathians. Strategy for
sustainable development of the Carpathians aims at developing a continuous process of
awareness, increase of institutional capacity for sustainable tourism education and training at
all levels. It aims to reduce the imbalance between favored mountainous regions and
disadvantaged, marked by permanent natural constraints, targeting the whole issue of
economic, social, cultural and environmental.[1]
The need for sustainable development according to the 2013 National Strategy for Sustainable
Development 2020-2030 starts from the observation that at the end of the first decade of the
XXI century, after a long, traumatic transition to pluralistic democracy and market economy,
Romania still has to overcome significant gaps to other member states of the European Union,
while seeking to absorb and put into practice the principles and practices of sustainable
development in the globalized context.Despite all the progress in recent years, it is a fact that
Romania's economy still relies on intensive consumption of resources, a society and
administration that is still seeking for a shared vision and a natural capital affected by the risk
of damage that may become irreversible. The concrete objectives allow passing, in a
reasonable time and realistic, to the model of development generated by added value,
propelled by interest in knowledge and innovation, oriented to continuous improvement of the
quality of people's lives and their relationships, in harmony with the natural environment.
Mountain tourist destinations are perceived by tourists as a functional and unitary system,
which must be efficient. An efficient tourism management must be based on a solid concept
to promote a tourism destination economically viable, able to impress and satisfy customers,
contribute to the controlled development of the territory. At the regional level, it must be
taken into account the complementarity of the mountain adjacent areas. Thus, the strategy of
development of mountain tourism in any area should include approaches such as [2]:
• management and conservation of the natural environment;
• arranging and equipment of natural space according to customer expectations;
• ensuring security for tourists;
442
• attracting customers, by balance between what offers the travel services provider and
customer expectations.
The fundamental principle underlying the sustainable development of mountain tourism is
keeping the balance between protecting the mountain and the natural setting. Tourism activity
development brings a series of economic and social benefits [4]:
• generates jobs locally (directly in the tourism sector or related sectors);
• stabilizes the local population and contributes to improving the rural demography and in
the mountainous area;
• stimulates the local economy through the development of infrastructure and tourism
services (accommodation, food, transport, recreational facilities, handicraft, crafts;
• stimulates the rural economy by creating or increasing demand for agricultural products
that are necessary to ensure tourist services;
• boosts the development of infrastructure, which brings benefits to the local population;
• stimulates the development of peripheral areas through capital inserts;
• on the conditions of normal growth, tourism can lead to self-financing mechanisms of
development from which can benefit the administrators of protected areas as a tool for
conservation;
• supports the activities of natural and cultural heritage conservation, by convincing
authorities and the public on the importance of protecting the natural areas and recovery of
traditions, customs, crafts and costumes.
Romanian tourist flow in the mountainous recorded variations in the last five years, as seen
from the data presented in Table 1. It should be noted that the mountain tourist traffic
manifests a continued growth in the three years analysed (2013-2015).
Table 1. Tourist accommodation capacity existing at the national level and resorts located in the mountainous
area, per types of tourism structures (beds)
Types of tourism structures Years
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Hotels
- total 174748 180714 182284 185172 188607
- resorts from the mountain area 13608 16173 15654 16586 17546
Chalets
- total 5928 5150 5183 5128 5876
- resorts from the mountain area 3796 3497 3753 3982 4108
Touristic pensions
- total 20499 25019 27325 27295 32051
- resorts from the mountain area 5034 5962 7004 7085 8065
Agrotouristic pensions
- total 20683 27453 28775 30480 35188
- resorts from the mountain area 7840 10232 11625 13026 14807
Source: data insse.ro
Tourism can be considered a priority for regional development programs, taking into account
both existing resources and the need for achievement of economic and social cohesion at the
national level by expanding the number of areas and resources that may be valued higher,
through an approach based on integration and sustainability. The strategy for tourism
development is represented by the concept of sustainable development, a principle that
underpins the entire economic and social growth. This concept implies that a balance between
economic growth and conservation / reconstruction of the natural designed to ensure a
harmonious, able to satisfy both current demands and those of perspective, with the ultimate
aim of harmonization of short-term benefits of environment business and long-term benefits
to the community and social indicators.[3]
The mission of a strategy for tourism development on a regional level is represented by
transforming each region into a competitive destination in terms of tourism internationally, in
the value of tourism resources at its disposal, but also those that may be created further and
443
impose them as tourist areas in national tourism system by identifying areas with tourist
activities.The Central Region is the first region of the country in terms of mountain tourism
potential. In this region have been inventoried in 2015, 277 units of accommodation hotel
type of which 43 in Sibiu, 138 villas including 17 in Sibiu, 76 chalets including 14 in Sibiu,
613 guesthouses in which 90 are located in Sibiu, 813 of which 118 rural locations in Sibiu.
Central region is ranked 2 in the country by number of beds. In 2015, 2,340,984 tourists frequented the
region, of which 430 476 were foreign tourists. [2]
The evolution of this indicator in the last five years (2011-2015) shows a continuous increase regional
and in Sibiu County, except for the hotel structures which recorded a slight fluctuation.
Table 2. Capacity of tourist accommodation in the Central Region and Sibiu, the types of tourist structures of
tourist reception (beds-days)
Types of structures of tourist Years
accommodation 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Hotels
- Centre Region 6653253 7592803 8203555 8488952 8773297
- Sibiu county 1227527 1275755 1263962 1299402 1276290
Chalets
- Centre Region 438539 486360 571546 565412 650732
- Sibiu county 55627 66248 61306 77238 87910
Touristic pensions
- Centre Region 1975079 2539493 3052217 3110295 3558629
- Sibiu county 68601 112325 113626 113120 342404
Agrotouristic pensions
- Centre Region 1843037 2596629 3257979 3502009 3840642
- Sibiu county 101602 158961 228627 261359 406822
Source: data insse.ro
Average length of stay in the Central Region was 2.2 days (2.5 days girl nationally). The
number of tourist arrivals registered a continuous growth both at a regional level and county
(Sibiu), trends in both the arrivals of Romanian tourists, as well as foreigners. This
demonstrates a general increase of the interest for the tourist offer in this geographical area.
3. CHARACTERIZATION OF MOUNTAIN TOURIST AREA PĂLTINIȘ -
CINDREL (SIBIU COUNTY)
Tourist Area Păltiniș - Cindrel is located in the southern county of Sibiu and overlaps
administrative units Sibiu, Poplaca and Răşinari, revolving around a major urban center, Sibiu
municipality, to which Păltiniș resort is located 30 km direction SV. Păltiniș resort of national
interest was set at 1400-1452 m altitude, and the natural conditions present significant
potential of international approval as a receiving area for tourists.Among the geographical
factors, the relief has a determinant role in the rainfall regime, establishing itself by altitude,
slope orientation, slope and configuration of its forms. The altitude causes vertical change of
all climatic elements. Rainfall grows, as the altitude increases, up to a certain height called
pluviometrical optimum beyond which begin to decrease. The slopes print differences
between the southern slopes that receive lower amounts of precipitation, compared to the
north, where rainfall is higher. The slopes safe from the general circulation of the atmosphere
(eastern slopes) receiving smaller amounts of rainfall, compared to Westerners. Tilting the
slopes has a role in the differential heating surfaces with different slopes, hence resulting in
the role in rainfall distribution. Climate change causes relief configuration elements. The
forms concave (depression, colour valley) temperature inversions occur frequently, persistent
frost, wind is less and less rainfall. The convex shapes (ridges, peaks), the wind speed
increases and orographic convection, with significant implications in enhancing rainfall. The
mountainous area has a specific climate with average annual temperatures lower in this case
are typical rainfall and cool summers with cold winter with heavy snowfall and snow longer.
The hilly summers are hot, relatively frequent rainfall, as warmer intervals.

444
General circulation of the atmosphere is characterized by high frequency of intake air
temperate oceanic in the West, especially in warm weather and low frequency of continental
temperate air from the northeast and east. The air temperature is influenced much relief
altitude. Meteorological data collected by the weather station Păltiniș (1453m) indicates an
average annual temperature oscillating around 5°C. The average temperature in July is 13.4°C
in Păltiniș and 7-8° in the ridge area. Highs exceeded 30°C and 22°C in Păltiniș on the highest
peaks. Average number of days of frost is 155.2 in Păltiniș and over 200 in the ridge of the
mountains. Rainfall is generally higher as the altitude is higher. Average annual Păltiniș is
906,1mm and 1200 mm on the highest peaks; monthly average amounts biggest fall in June
and are 153mm to 150mm Păltiniș and around 2,000m.Cantităţile the lowest average monthly
fall in February, 41.5 mm in Păltiniș and 50 mm in high mountain area. The highest amounts
of rainfall in summer are frequently accompanied by thunder. Maximum levels have fallen in
24 hours cumulative 98.3 mm in Păltiniș resort. Winds are influenced much relief. Păltiniș
prevailing winds from the W, SW and E, and the highest peaks of V and NV winds dominate.
The average annual frequency of calm is small in mountainous sector, 18.3% to the resort.
Annual average speeds range between 1.5 - 6.5 m/s. In late winter and early spring from the
mountain beat "Big Wind" warmer, causing heating sharp and sudden melting of snow.
Considering the specific agro-pastoral area of the territory Păltiniș - Cindrel, environmental
quality improvement component depends on encouraging environmentally friendly practices.
4. BRIEF HISTORY OF MOUNTAIN TOURISM IN PĂLTINIȘ
The appearance of the Păltinişresort was due to the desire manifested in the 80s and 90s of the
nineteenth century by a series of important personalities of the Saxon community to establish
a health resort in the mountains near Sibiu, as a natural consequence of touristic pioneering
activities conducted by the Transylvanian Carpathian Association – SKV. By the nature of his
job, the lawyer Gustav Conrad was a connoisseur of an extensive complex of Cindrel
mountains so as to he was able to identify the area a place and suggested placing the resort in
a mountainous area of woodland that belonged to Cristian, namely in a ravine located on the
south-western saddle between the peaks and Onceşti and Păltiniș, at an altitude of 1400
meters. In addition to the proposed crossing, a cart road connected the mountain area of
Cristian and Rășinari of Sadu Valley, snaking over Șteflești peak toward the Beautiful Valley.
Near glen chosen by Gustav Conrad, resurfaces a beautiful stream with clear water and cold
whose name gave the inhabitants of German ethnicity of Cristian was HoheRinne (chute up in
height), hence the name in German of resort and then Păltiniș peak (1470 m attitude) in close
proximity (having originally sycamores which grew in the area) Romanian gave the name of
the resort.The chalets results thus represented a unique combination between the beautiful
architecture of the villas Alpine region of Tyrol woodworking craft proved particularly
Romanian builders. Many of the joints beams and wooden beams used in the buildings were
made without nails, resulting in a particularly resistant structure.

Figure 1. First building project in 1940 embedded today in HoheRinnePăltiniș Hotel & SPA (left) and Tourists
House Ensemble in the 1960s (right)Source: Personal archive of Dr.DragoteanuMircea, Cluj-Napoca
The resort was frequented until 1926 only in summer and in winter 1912-1913 and made an
appearance at Păltiniș skiers, foretelling the future success of winter sports. Access is on foot,
horseback, wagons or resort omnibuses, horse-drawn.In 1962 the hotel was built (called
445
nearly half a century) Tourists House, in memory of beautiful wooden buildings built in 1895
and demolished in 1960.
At the beginning of 70s, after the reestablishment of Sibiu County, under the jurisdiction of
leadership with a larger opening for tourism in Sibiu, Păltiniș had a prosperous period for
modern landscaping. In addition to some municipal works and infrastructure, needed for
normal operation was successful arrangement slopes Onceşti 1 (high slope) and Onceşti 2
(pit); construction of the first facilities cableway (chairlift to Onceşti, the pit lift and baby-lift
in Plat - now abolished); link the resort to the forest roads of the Valley Dane (Cibin Gorge),
Sadu Valley, Valley Ştezii (by Şanta) and the link between Sadu Valley and Valley of the
Beautiful - Saddle Șteflești that provides Păltiniş connection to DN 67C, in Sebeș Valley
(route old King's Road - Transalpine) contributing to the removal of the resort in a position to
be a bottomed place.As a result of these measures, Păltiniș began to show their true meanings
modern, falling gradually into his role normally important tourist centre of the Massif Cindrel
and mountains between Olt and Jiu, the number of visitors and skiers from all over the
country increasing substantial. This demonstrates that through relevant measures, the skilful
use of local conditions and possibilities of urban suitable merged with the tourism and sports
Păltiniș presents a number of conditions latent development, fulfilling current requirements
for a resort versatile, of big future. Leaving from this period, it began to be ever more clearly
that enlargement made are far from sufficient, that Păltiniș can become a more attractive
destination for many tourists, and the openings to areas of the ski, free from the Glade
Găujoara, Old Peak and Peak Surdu should enter into function as soon as possible.
This is when they appeared in Romania, in the urbanism projects of the mountain resorts,
modern systems for calculating the optimal capacity of these settlements, experience from the
Alps, the figures hovering on average approx. 50% of the total number of skiers possible in
case of Păltiniş studies drawn setting optimal number of seats for the first stage at about 5,000
tourists accommodated.In 1975, taking advantage of a favourable moment when the Ministry
of Tourism of the time fund such works, it starts the construction of the lift cable for tourists,
Păltiniș (Chalet No. I) - Valley Dăneasa -Bătrâna, with length of approximately 2,5 km
starting from the peak. Unfortunately, due to organizational inconsistencies facility has not
been realized, leaving only executed deforestation ski slope, still visible today.
In 1972, construction works will begin at the Hotel Cindrel which lasts until 1976. After
2000, the resort flourish bipolar with the construction of holiday homes in the Hermitage
Păltiniș, because in 2010 with the construction of the Arena Platoș achieve a number of
hostels around it, making it possible to preserve what's left of the old resort, House of Cure
and House Monaco.Hotel Cindrel in 2005 enters a process of modernization and extension of
government funding, work place opening in May 2009.Home of Tourists passed during 2008
- 2012 through a process of expansion and modernization funded in part with European funds
obtained from the company SC Păltiniș S.A. ROP of MDRT, and in 2013 became
HoheRinnePăltiniș Hotel & SPA.
5. THE ROLE OF CLIMATE IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
RESORT PĂLTINIȘ
21st century’s challenge is climate change. This has three distinctive traits: cumulative
character, irreversible effects and global manifestation.Romanian mountain tourism is directly
affected by these changes, given that the ski area directly depends on the length and thickness
of snow and tourist activities are subject, throughout the year, of the manifestations of violent
risky weather events (storms, excess rainfall, windy, blizzard and altered humidity-
temperature comfort index values). Tourism management must be adapted to climate’s
excessive non-routine events, by reducing its effects in order to ensure normal functioning of
tourism activities and tourism consumers’ safety.
In analysing the bioclimatic characteristics of Păltiniș resort several indicators were selected
(resulting from combining several climatic factors), relevant to stress the level of favourable
climate of the area studied: thermal comfort index or TEE, temperature-humidity index (THI)
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and bioclimatic stress index of skin, lung and global. From the analysis of climate data string
of Păltiniș weather station situated at an altitude of 1443 m, between 2005-2014, for June,
July, August and September at 13 hours (when tourism activity is particularly intense), the
conclusions are the following: thermal comfort (even at lunch hours) is reached with low
frequency in all summer months. Thus, in July thermal comfort is recorded at Păltiniș with a
frequency of 2%; heat discomfort is not reached as a monthly average in Păltiniș (rather as a
daily average) yet discomfort by coolingreaches high values: 29% in July. The temperature-
humidity index for Păltiniș was calculated at 13 hours (June, July, August and September
between 2005 and 2014) and only the feeling of comfort was recorded.
Temperature-wind index was calculated at 13 hours(in all the months of the year, although the
negative effects exist only in the winter) in the period 2005-2014 for Păltiniș weather station.
It was found that the monthly mean values had only recorded the feeling of comfort and light
discomfort, but there were days when the index had negative values. Thus, in February
2009the lowest average was registered (-3,5º C, increaseddiscomfort) and on the 12th and
13thcalorie stress had been observed.Bioclimatic Stress Indices highlights the main
meteorological factors influence on the human body and how it reacts to maintain steady heat
(warm-blooded), i.e. constant temperature of the human body. Bioclimatic stress has three
components: coetaneous stress, lung stress and global stress. To calculate these indices it is
used the average daily values for the following climatic parameters: temperature (°C),
atmospheric water vapor pressure (hPa) and wind speed (m/s). For Păltiniș, were obtained
monthly average of skin stress that reveals bioclimatic with hypertonic stress in January,
February and December, and the rest of the year balanced. In 2005 in June, July, August and
September were recorded hypotonic stress. Five months (April-June and September-October)
are relaxing with a tonic effect, stimulant, training and the opportunity to spend time outdoors
through specific tourist activities (hiking, cycling). In terms of lung stress index (which has
value 20) is also reduced, it varies with altitude less than index stess skin. The balanced
months of the year are May-June and September-October. The interval from November to
April index recorded a desiccant, positive, stimulating action, drive and conducive to winter
sports.
6. WAYS TO DEVELOP SUSTAINABLE PĂLTINIȘ RESORT
The landmarks with sports facilities and leisure along with the ones for accommodation and
entertainment and events play a critical role in the development of the resort. The most
important long-term goal in this area is the development of activities of winter sports, along
with those that can take place all year round.Access areas on the slopes, containing specific
facilities for winter sports are special components in the spatial organization of the
resort.Tourist reception facilities are a category of prime importance in the resort and in the
surrounding area, their distribution and typology being essential for the successful
development of Păltiniş to overcome the/a weekend tourism level/destination.Stimulating an
economy of tourism, sustainable and balanced based on local resources, the cooperation in the
area of administrative units and training local economies will determine the improvement of
living standards of the communities in the area by creating jobs in local economies. It is also
necessary to upgrade the tourist infrastructure, consistent with environmental improvement
and complying with the protection and preservation of the natural and built environment.
The mountainous area of Sibiu falls into the category of non-conventional destinations, being
frequented by relatively young people who opt for hiking or sports, as well as those who
prefer rest and recreation in the natural environment.A special category of foreign/non-local
tourists represent those who combine many types of tourism (leisure, cultural, business, visits
to relatives and friends, events) and who change in the course of a holiday, more/various
destinations and accommodations.The priority on the development of Păltiniș - Cindrel resort
and surroundings is the development of the ski area. Păltiniș is a settlement with
predominantly tourist functions, the importance of which will be amplified in the future.

447
The majority of Păltiniș resort’s accommodations are in hotels, while approx. 20% are in
pensions and the reaming ones (vs ‘the rest are rest houses’) rest houses. This is relatively
unfavourable for a mountain resort frequented largely by young people (44% of tourists
throughout the county are between 26 and 45 years), whose incomes and interests are not
consistent with the offer of accommodation and food in the resort.
The offer of hotel accommodation and meal at the restaurants is more appropriate to/for
foreign tourists, which however account for only 30% of the visitors to the county, which is
offering few activities, thus foreign tourists have an average duration of stay of less than the
domestic ones (2.67 days vs 3.28 days for foreign and Romanians respectively).The
administrative territory of Păltiniș resort has an area of 296 ha, which offers potential for
development for at least 3000 people (calculated with an average population density of 20
person / ha for the actually built area, which is specific to other/some settlements in the area
and taking into account that it is 1/2 of the total area of the resort), that is, approx. 6 times its
current capacity of receipt/accommodation.The maximum occupancy of the accommodation
units is of the order of 5,000 seats, estimated relative to the ski area, valued at a total capacity
of approx. 7000 skiers.Assuming the resort accommodates 50% of the area’s total capacity
(10,000 people) and rate of occupancy in the resort is at maximum 70%, the other half is
supposed to be made up of tourists staying in nearby localities/settlements and of one-day
tourists.Creating and expanding ski resorts integrated in local ecotourism networks provides
numerous jobs and business opportunities for local communities which weakens this kind of
pressure on the environment and, most importantly, motivates communities to conserve the
landscape and to preserve the attractiveness of the tourist area in question.
7. CONCLUSIONS
A special problem in the case of Păltinișresort is the big coverage of the
landscape/perspective by boreal forests of spruce and as we know, one of the most important
points of tourist attractiveness of a mountain ski resorts is the landscape it offers.From this
exact consideration, the resort has much to suffer, the actual ski area having very little to
offer. It is why making a small study of skiing among the skiers from different counties of
Transylvania, other than Sibiu, we found that less than 3% of subjects know the resort and
only 1% would prefer to go to Păltiniș for winter sports. The resort is known for its lack of
wide, refreshing or spectacular landscapes, unlike what tourists can find in the mountain
locations on the outskirts of Transylvania (Poiana Brașov, Băișoara, Topliţa, Cavnic etc.).
Thus, Păltiniş has become largely a local ski resort which strongly limits its future prospects
from this point of view.The development of tourism strategies involves a complex process
that requires a mature ecologic, economic and social spirit from/of all public and private
actors that are involved in decision-making stages of initiation, adoption and implementation
of action programs. Reflecting management on a sustainable basis, natural and anthropic
tourism potential can gain in the manner of preservation and development of an
environmentally sound way, sustainable.
8. REFERENCES
1. Glăvan, V., Româniaturistică, EdituraProUniversitaria, București, (2015)
2. Nicula, V., Spânu, Simona, Neagu, Roxana, Elena, Regional TourismDevelopment in
Romania - ConsistencywithPoliciesandStrategiesDeveloped at EU Level,ELSEVIER-
ProcediaEconomicsand Finance-00(2013)000-000, pp. 530-541 (2013)
3. Petrescu, I. (coordonator), Contribuții la conturarea unui model românesc de
management, Cap. 30. Cernat, E., Dumitrescu, L., Nicula V., Spânu, Simona,
Managementul turismului în România, pp. 298-358, Editura Expert, Brașov, (2014)
4. Țigu, Gabriela, Turismulmontan, Editura Uranus, București, (2001)

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

OPTIMIZATION METHOD FOR THE DECISION TO INVEST IN

HOUSING CONSTRUCTION

Ovidiu Gavris Pascu1, Sorina Anamaria Ciplea2, Horea Stelian Dan3

1
Technical University of Cluj Napoca, ovidiugavrilg@yahoo.com
2
Technical University of Cluj Napoca, sorina.ciplea@ccm.utcluj.ro
3
Technical University of Cluj Napoca , horea.s.dan@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a method of analysis for investment efficiency at the early start of an
investment in housing construction, method that is based on multi-criteria analysis. The method proposed in the
paper takes into account a number of factors that can help a buyer in taking the decision when buying a
residential space or real estate investors if they make the decision to invest in housing construction. The criteria
considered for making the calculations are the investment cost, the distance from the city-center, the attractivness
of the investment for potential users (renters, tenant) and the degree of comfort in terms of the environment.

KEYWORDS: costs, constructions, distance, environmental impact, multi-criteria analysis.

1. INTRODUCTION
A number of Romanian authors consider in their work that „managing companies consists in
studying the processes and the management relations within them, in order to discover
legalities and principles that govern them, the design of new systems, methods, techniques of
management, that ensure the obtaining and increase of competitiveness“[1].
Management plays an important role in any firm, with any field of activity, but especially
within the construction companies. The manager using his past practical experience and help
of knowledge management that he/she has acquired, can lead and manage a unit to be
profitable, with a well planned and organized activity, using adequate methods and
management techniques based on a reliable software information system and taking the
relevant decisions.
Organization of construction companies is generally performed by the top company
managers, but since the organization function is an integral part of the management process,
its achievement is made possible also by the help of experts in this field. Therefore through
the organization it is actually sought to achieve the company's objectives [2].
This paper aims to study the return of investment not only from the managers’ perspective and
the companies they run, but also from the beneficiaries’ perspective. However the method
proposed and studied in the paper is not at hand for everybody, but the results are beneficial
for both sides.
Buying a home is a dream for many families right now. But the price of apartments and
houses determines the most buyers to make their calculations and put a series of questions
about whether the investment is worthwhile if it is cheaper to buy a house in the center of the
city or at the periphery, what are the true/full costs of acquisition (credit, cost of credit, etc.) ,
which will be further implications: travel expenses at work, children's schools, shopping
centers, administrative units etc.
Investors have the same problems and the question is: how to find the location for the
construction such the sale of apartments to be quick and with maximum profit. Construction
of an apartment building in a central area involves higher costs than one from a peripheral
area, not only for the building itself, but strictly speaking for the on-site organization, heavy
construction equipment access, access to building materials, protection of the neighbourhood
449
buildings (buildings being possible of historical heritage), the existence of utility networks on
the site to be diverted and/or modernized to accommodate the new building. In peripheral
areas of a city, the construction site is easy to be organized, issues like access to resources
(materials and equipment) are easier to solve, but may occur additional expenses related to
land development bringing the utilities (power, gas, water etc) in the zone of the roads.
The actuality of this article and methods of this proposal is given by the report of Cluj-Napoca
City Hall from September 2014 which shows [3] as:
• the city's population growth during 1977- 1992 was over 25 %;
• in the period 1992 - 2011 the population was reduced by approximately 6% (in 2011
compared to 1992) leading to a stable population of 309 000 people;
• the university population adds a number of 80,000-100,000 students yearly who have
a major influence on housing.
The graph of population evolution in Cluj-Napoca is presented in figure 1 as submitted by the
town hall (source www.primariaclujnapoca.ro)

Figure 1. Evolution of fixed population per year in Cluj-Napoca, Romania [3]

Housing stock increases during 1977 - 1992 by 74 %, driven by population growth stable over
65,000 people. In the period 1992-2011, although the population has diminished due to
migration and a declining birthrate, the housing stock increased by 2.8 milion m2, recording a
growth rate of 72%. Consequently, the living area of Cluj-Napoca municipality has grown to
2.25 milions m2 in 1977 to nearly 6.8 millions m2 in 2011.

Figure 2. Evolution of housing fund per year in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania [3]

450
Average living area related to a person in the Cluj-Napoca municipality reached 21.8 m2 per
person in 2011, while the same indicator record level of 8.6 m2 per person in 1977,
respectively 11.9 m2 per person in 1992 .

Figure 3. Evolution of housing bedrooms per year in the city of Cluj-Napoca [3]
From the statistics above it results the importance of finding a methodology for quantifying
the advantages and disadvantages of easing the decision of starting such an investment in
construction.

2. WORKING METHODOLOGY
At the basis of the calculations of the costs stands a series of functions that require a pre-set
level and structure of the costs, of recording in each period of current production expenses,
establishing the required indicators and control, monitor with analysis of the level and cost
structure.
Costs appear everywhere in the management of an enterprise, this proves the importance of
the cost calculation, which is the only one who can give the answers about the effectiveness of
the economic activity of that company and the information it provides is used by management
for all its cost centres. Responsibility of costs levels is shared among the different hierarchical
management lines, each department manager is responsible for the costs of the department
he/she leads.
In periods of high inflation it is difficult to calculate the real cost. Some of the companies
have employed contractors for specific construction activities. R.F. Fellows, a professor at the
University of Bath, UK, has analyzed the implications of the inflation phenomenon in
construction projects. Fellows conducted its study from a Lewis Parry's allegation claiming
that in 1965 the key of construction were the population, loans and inflation. Until 1965 the
execution of construction contracts were subject of fixed price projects. Later studies have
concluded that construction companies are subject of continuously changing of materials
prices, fuel, transportation costs, etc. In 1964 it was considered that a construction contract
with fixed price should not be exceeding two years[4].
In the 70s it was found that a fixed price cost of construction may generate a loss of over 25%
due to increased fuel prices and also due to increasing bank interests with direct influence on
the cost of materials used. Although in the 80s inflation was stabilized at 5% per year, there

451
were many construction companies that were bankrupt due to losses and impossibility of
payment obligations[4].
Studies in the field have revealed that associations of entrepreneurs have attempted to realise
mathematical models to assist them in calculating the cost influenced by these inflation
elements. These models give results in a relatively stable economy.
However, to participate in the auctions or to biddings, construction companies need to
determine the estimated costs of the construction works where they have to add a reasonable
share, to cover the risk of inflation. A price reduction could be a reduction of the profit to the
minimum, following that during the execution of work they will try to correct the variable
expenditures [5],[6].
As a result of the importance of a company's costs in the activity of company, the criteria
considered in this methodology are: the investment cost, the distance from the city-centre, the
degree of comfort in terms of the environment [7].
The criteria are not limited to this and any potential users can take into account any other
external influences that could influence the decision. As some of the criteria, for some
investors, may be more important than others we can enter weighting coefficients. Each
location will be reviewed and scored by the proposed criteria.
Each criterion will be scored from 0 to 100 points and will correct weighting coefficients
depending on its importance.
The locations will be analysed and marked through the proposed criteria, after that the final
score will be ranked and then the first position will be the chosen one.

2.1 The cost

This criterion was proposed because it reflects the investment effort for each solution chosen
[8]. The cost can be expressed in EURO per square meter or RON per square meter. In the
case when buying an apartment is discussed then is the price asked by the seller. In the case of
building the apartments, then the price is calculated by dividing the total cost of execution
(given by general work estimate) plus profit margin to the usable area. Score for this criterion
is obtained by the formula:
Cost min
× 100 (1)
Cost optioni

Where we consider the minimum cost and the cost for the chosen option.

2.2 The distance to the city center

The distance to the city centre can be an important criterion in the decision making since
travelling down-town where the main public institutions (schools, hospitals, city hall, work)
involves also the day-to-day costs and discomfort caused by unnecessary use of time wasted
in the traffic. The reason why institutions open their branches in the districts of the city is to
reduce this discomfort. In this article the distance to the city centre is an adverse effect.
The score is calculated using the relation:
Dmin
× 100 (2)
Doptioni

Where we consider the minimum distance and the distance for the chosen option.

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2.3. The environmental impact
The environment includes several subsystems, such as the economic, technical, political,
sociological and ecological one. The importance of specific subsystems differs from one
activity to another. The relationships that construction companies have with the environment
are diverse, but mainly they are exchanges of goods and services. Lack of this exchange of
products reflects that the company can not adapt to the environment, which requires urgent
action [7], [8].
Economic factors are the ones that include all elements of the economic environment, with
direct action on microeconomic activity. An important starting point is to study the market,
providing information on the level and structure of demand, the price competition. On this
basis the management of the company can make decisions related to sourcing/supply,
production and sales. Knowing these details involves conducting comprehensive marketing
studies that can provide all the information necessary to adapt the unit to the market demands.
Natural factors - affecting more agricultural companies but also constructions, in that sense
that these companies have to adapt to the natural environment. In construction companies
case, these factors influence is felt in every general object of the production process, since
most of the activity takes place outdoors.
Most of the works performed, regardless of the domain of activity, have an impact on the
environment.
Quality of the air
The criterion takes into account dust emissions depending on the technology of execution.
The factor has to be considered because some road sections are crossing urban areas. Some
other pollution sources are the hazards of hot asphalt. However their effect on the quality of
air is a minor because the emission are of short duration.
Noise Level
This item quantifies noise pollution of execution technologies. Besides the noise of the
machinery this point should also include the vibrations that are produced during the road
rehabilitation and their effect on surrounding buildings.
Accessibility (street structure modernized)
Refers to the existence of a modernized access (streets, side-walks), rainwater retrieval
systems, safety systems possibly access etc.
The quantification of the environmental impact was made using a notation scale, from “-3” to
“+3”, for each criterion as follows:
• “-3” - important negative impact which requires redesigning or giving up the
project;
• “-2” - important negative impact which can be minimized by taking adequate
measures;
• “-1” - less important negative impact;
• “0” - no impact whatsoever;
• “+1” - reduced positive impact;
• “+2” - important positive impact;
• “+3” - very important positive impact.
In the end, the marks for all criteria will be counted and the option’s mark will be obtained.
The score for each option will be calculated as follows:

453
 • 0 when the sum of the marks is less than “-10”, (the sum of the marks +10) x5
when the sum of the marks is between “-10” and “10” and 100 for the marks
summing more or equal to 10.

3. RESULTS
As a case study and numerical example the following comparative analysis is proposed for the
execution of two apartment buildings, one located 0.5 km from the city centre and the second
at 5.0 km from the centre.
The scores calculated and awarded for each criterion are presented in the accompanying
tables. The score for the first criterion, which is the cost, is presented in Table 1 [7], [8].

Table 1. Score for cost

Score Percentage %
Option Option % Option Option
Criterion A B A B
Cost 460 320 33.33 23,18 33.33

The score for the second criteria, which is the distance from the center, is presented in Table
2.
Table 2. Score for the distance from the center
Score Percentage %
Option Option % Option Option
Criterion A B A B
Distance 0.5 5 33.34 16,67 3.34
from the
center

The score for the third criteria, which is the environmental impact quantification, is presented
in Table 3
Table 3. Score for the environment impact
Criterion Option A Option B
1. quality of the air -1 2
2. noise level -3 1
3. accessibility 3 -1
TOTAL -1 2
TOTAL SCORE 45 60

And the final score for the two situations taken into account is comparatively presented in the
Table 4.
Table 4. Final score
Score Percentage %
Option Option % Option A Option B
Criterion A B
Cost 460 320 33.33 23.18 33.33
Environmental 45 60 33.33 15.03 19.98
impact
Distance from 0.5 50 33.34 16,67 3.34
the center
Total 152.7 185.98 100 54.88 56.65

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Data presented in this last table proves that Option B despite the fact that the area is a little
more distant from the city-center, still wins by environmental factors and by the cost, which is
slightly lower because access within the city-centre with construction materials is severely
taxed by the municipality which raises the cost of construction in case of Option A. This
shortcoming may be overcome by the profit earned from the sale of apartments given the fact
that the amounts charged (according to data from real estate websites) are 1550 EUR/m2 in
case A and 1250 EUR/m2 in case B.

4. CONCLUSIONS
Decision making in the investment process, proves to be very difficult, especially when an
important sum of money is in the middle. Having a methodology of analysis that takes into
account as many factors that influence the outcome of the investment is necessary and
beneficial.
This method proposes an algorithm based on multi-criteria analysis and the authors consider
that it can help investors both for private and public investment cases.
Careful analysis of the criteria and the estabilishment of the weightening for those criteria in
order to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the investment, leads to the right
decision in promoting or not promoting it.

5. REFERENCES
1. O., Nicolescu, I., Verboncu, Management, Ed Economică, Bucureşti, Romania, (1999).
2. Sorina Anamaria, Ciplea, Nicolae, Lungu, Management Of Prices Fluctuation, Proceedings
of the 7 International Conference on Management of Technological Changes, Vol 1, 121- 123,
1-3 September, Alexandroupolis, Greece, (2011).
3. www.primariaclujnapoca.ro/.../Brosura_Imobiliara_Cluj-Napoca_%202014(1).pdf
4. Richard F. Fellows, David Langford, Robert Newcombe, Sydney Urry, Construction
Management in Practice, ISBN: 978-1-4443-1430-4, 392 pages, Dunfermline, United
Kingdom, (2002).
5. L., Blaga, L., Lupsa, Cercetare operaţională, Editura Mega, Cluj-Napoca, Romania,
(2006).
6. Sorina Anamaria, Ciplea, Costs Reduction in Civil Engineering Through Optimization
Methods, Proceedings of the 2 Review of Management and Economic Engineering
Management Conference, Management of Crisis or Crisis of Management, Technical
University of Cluj-Napoca, Vol.1, pg.71-76, (2011).
7. Ovidiu, Gavris, The Settlement of the Optimum Intervention Solution Based on the Multi-
Criteria Analysis Regarding a Road, International Conference Constructions 2008/C55, Acta
Technica Napocensis, Section: Civil Engineering-Architecture nr. 51, Vol. IV, – May 2008,
Cluj-Napoca, Romania(2008)
8. Ovidiu, Gavris, Methods for determining the optimal solution for the rehabilitation of
cement concrete road pavements, 5-th Symposium Durability and Reliability of Mechanical
System, Tg –Jiu, May 18-19, (2012).

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The 2nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016
Romania, October, 2016

SUSTAINABILITY – KEY FACTOR FOR INTEGRATED SUPPLY

CHAINS

Teodora Roman 1, Adriana Manolica 2 and Maria Madela Abrudan 3

1
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi, teodoraroman@gmail.com
2
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi, manolicaa@yahoo.com
3
University of Oradea, madelaabrudan@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: The main goal of this research is to determine the advantage of the companies which are using
reverse logistics in recycling used household appliances in order to protect the environment, compared with
other companies that do not deal with the recycling of old products, over a segment of population in Romania,
between the ages of 25 and 44. Based on existing studies regarding the impact of reverse logistics on the
consumer and the environment, we intended to ascertain: the spontaneous notoriety of retailers of household
appliances who recycle the used products, the impact that sales offered by retailers of house appliances in case
people bring the used products when they want to purchase new ones, the impact of specialized stores which
recycle used house appliances on the purchasing decision, and also the degree of the intention of purchasing
house appliances from retailers that recycle used products, over a segment of population in Romania, aged 25 to
44.
KEYWORDS: sustainability, house appliances, used products, reverse logistics

1. INTRODUCTION
Due to an increase in business competitiveness on a market where the real differences
between products are increasingly smaller, companies were obliged to develop consumer-
friendly services: “if you are not satisfied, we’ll give you a refund”, “guaranteed satisfaction”,
“use it, and you won’t get the desired results in 60 days, we’ll receive it with no questions
asked”. From the client’s perspective, these are privileges and rights that allow him to enjoy a
higher quality of service. But what do all these entail for the company [11]? Reverse logistics
handles the influx of goods from consumer to the place of origin in order to recover a part of
the initial value or to give it a more appropriate use [12].
Inside the supply chain, returning the goods is of great importance due to the fact that this
entails not only returning the product to the company, but also resending it to the customer. In
most of these cases there is a considerable logistics cost added on top of client dissatisfaction
that are at the same time damaging the company’s image [14].
Nowadays the society and market demand increasingly eco-friendly attitudes and actions from
the companies, which is evident through such specific legislation [4]. There are regulations in
Europe, the United States of America, and Japan regarding the prevention of wastes and also
the promotion of waste recovery by refurbishing, recycling, and remanufacturing goods,
including materials, electronics, batteries, chemical products, glass, paper, plastic, and heavy
metals [8].
Another consequence of the development of backward flow is due to recycling and waste
disposal [6]. The company has to adapt its actions to the environmental regulations while also
taking into consideration the increasing competition [11]. The responsibility over the goods
that fell into disuse falls upon the producer. According to the concept of “extended producer
responsibility” defined as “an environmental protection strategy to reach an environmental
objective of a decreased total environmental impact from a product, by making the
manufacturer of the product responsible for the entire life-cycle of the product and especially
for the take-back, recycling and final disposal of the product” [10].
Normally the company’s main concern would be delivering goods from the producer to
consumer. Later, aspects such as after-sales service and building consumer relationships have
been taken into account. The best-known form of after-sales service is product returns: goods
that consumers believed were not worth their money. This growing concern for the
456
environment engendered a reputable process of recycling. Insufficient attention towards the
welfare and preservation of natural resources seems to stir up dissatisfaction amongst
consumers [18]. Backward flows existed since time immemorial but they were never given
much importance until today. If we were to refer to industries such as the automotive industry
or the home appliance industry, these have always been returned to handlers or producers for
repair or replacement. Nevertheless, the importance of this type of service has increased
considerably in the past decades [6].
In marketing, influencing users to desire products and green supply chain services is a
challenge, but it is also a trend the consumer and investor have adopted [9]. What matters is
that reverse logistics is a new form of fulfilling consumer needs [6]. Stimulating the purchase
of recyclable materials by companies is as essential as retrieving them. Moreover, increasing
consumer demand for these goods is important. Using recyclable materials will contribute to
waste minimization and also to raw material salvaging [14].
Sustainability has transformed into a key factor for the supply chain management of
distribution and assets. This new integrated supply chain has to take a few parameters into
consideration such as: eco-efficiency that entails reduced energy usage and reduced CO2
emissions. Moreover, reducing costs for handling and transportation, delivery time, and
increasing stock availability in stores [14].
Nowadays, the modern environmental management stipulates certain durable production
strategies which focus on preventing wastes and on responsible tending towards the earth’s
natural resources. There’s a challenge in the electronics industry to be successful from both
ecological and economic standpoints. Electronics manufacturing processes are designed to
make products from scratch. Producers could make a profit by including recyclable materials
in the manufacturing process. Recycling home appliances is similar to recycling automobiles
due to the metals of their composition [9].
The most significant aspects in which companies employ reverse logistics focused on social
responsibility are environmental protection, benefiting the community, and productivity [5].
2. STUDIES REGARDING THE IMPACT OF REVERSE LOGISTICS ON
CONSUMERS AND ENVIRONMENT
Most studies carried out in recent years regarding reverse logistics highlight its importance in
reducing the manufacturing cost owing to the recycling of used materials that couldn’t be
salvaged.
On the other hand, the advent of reverse logistics has two other great causes: benefiting
consumers and protecting the environment. The literature offers a few studies pertaining to
the impact of reverse logistics on consumers and the environment.

Table 1. Literature review concerning the impact of reverse logistics on consumers and the environment
No. Authors Year Results

1. Agrawal S., 2015 The implementation of legislation, company image, environmental

Singh R., protection, and the economic benefits force companies to not only
Murtaza Q. adopt reverse logistics, but also be efficacious.
2. Kinobe J. R., 2015 Reverse logistics can be beneficial to the environment if
Gebresenbet G., implemented in a sustainable manner.
Niwagaba C. B.,
Vinneras B.
3. Shaik M., 2012 There has been an increase in consumer awareness regarding the
Kader W. importance of recycling.

4. Skinner L. R., 2008 Consumers nowadays are increasingly preoccupied with

Bryant P. T., environmental matters. Therefore, a good policy regarding return
Richey R. G. logistics is indispensable for the retailer’s success.
5. Ballesteros D. P., 2007 Through the medium of reverse logistics we can salvage and keep
Ballesteros P. P. what’s left of the environment.

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 6. Mihi A. 2007 The main international trend in reverse logistics entails
environmental protection, reducing the number of returned goods,
and the increasing interest in capturing value invested in
manufacturing.
The company will be able to generate competitive differences
through promoting images displaying responsibility towards the
environment, by producing recyclable goods made of salvaged
materials, which diminishes the production of wastes and the usage
of nonrenewable raw materials.
7. Fernández I., 2006 Eco-Management and Audit Scheme Certification seems to prejudice
García N. companies against major compromises such as adopting a system of
reverse logistics.
8. Srivastava S. K., 2006 Returns on a global scale have three main causes: reducing costs,
Srivastava R. K. laws, and consumer pressure. Reverse logistics improves customer
service, leading to an increase in the number of customers.

9. Vellojín L. C., 2006 The client is a key factor in reverse logistics. The manner in which a
Meza J. C., consumer views dealers and the added value they offer are important
Mier R. A. factors in decision-making.

10. González J., 2001 Protecting the environment more and more and the necessity of
González O. offering a competitive after-sales service generate important fluxes
of materials and goods in the opposite direction from the traditional
way of distribution, i.e. from consumer to producer.

Due to the rising population and higher consumption rates, recovering natural resources from
an industrialized society has become vital for a long life. As the natural resources are
dwindling, the value of used products is rising. To overcome this problem, reverse logistics,
which simply represents the process of recovery of used goods, comes to its help. The
economic crisis distressing most communities in emerging countries represents another reason
for recycling, which is now see as a method of making profit [8].
In the future all companies will have to take care of the manner in which their products affect
the environment. At the moment they abide by the rules regarding used home appliances from
the countries in which they are selling their products. Logistics is the key to performance on a
daily basis and reverse logistics is crucial for companies to survive, considering that their
prestige is at stake [13].
We have analyzed in this research the advantage companies that use reverse logistics in
recycling home appliances have, the attitude that the Romanian population aged 25-44 has
regarding retailer companies of home appliances pertaining to the recycling of used products
in order to protect the environment, but also the influence these have on decision-making.

3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Main objective: establishing the advantage companies that use reverse logistics for the
recycling of used home appliances in order to protect the environment have compared with
the rest of the companies that do not recycle old products among the population of Romania
aged 25-44.
These are the secondary objectives as following:
A. To establish the spontaneous notoriety of retailers of home appliances who recycle
used products, in the case of the Romanian population aged 25-44.
B. To ascertain the impact of sales offered by retailers of home appliances in the case of
the Romanian population aged 25-44 provided they bring their used products when
they want to buy new one.
C. To ascertain the impact of recycling used home appliances by specialized stores it has
on consumer’s buying decision, in the case of the Romanian population aged 25-44.
D. To determine the degree of the purchase intention of home appliances from retailers
who recycle used products, in the case of the Romanian population aged 25-44.

458
Hypotheses
We have summarized the following conclusions from literature review:
The company will be able to generate competitive
differences through the medium of promoting an image
of responsibility regarding the environment, by
manufacturing recyclable goods from salvaged
materials, which decreases the waste generation and
the use of nonrenewable raw materials [11].
The implementation of legislation, the company image,
environmental protection, and the economic benefits H1: Retailers of home appliances who recycle used
force the companies not only to adopt reverse logistics, products have a higher notoriety than other
but also be efficacious [1]. retailers.
Through the medium of reverse logistics we can
salvage and keep what’s left of the environment [2].

We have summarized the following conclusions from literature review:

Reverse logistics can have benefits on the environment

if implemented in a sustainable manner [8].
Consumers nowadays are increasingly preoccupied H2: Home appliance retailers who recycle used
with environmental concerns [16]. products have an increase in sales than those who
The form in which consumers perceive their dealers don’t recycle.
and the value added are factors in purchase decision
[18].

We have summarized the following conclusions from literature review:

Reverse logistics improves customer service, leading

to an increase in the number of customers [17].
The form in which consumers perceive their dealers
and the value added are factors in purchase decision
[18].
H3: The existence of campaigns regarding old home
appliances makes consumers invest the money in
new ones.

4. METHODOLOGY
4.1 Research design

The research is a conclusive one, since it is a descriptive research employing the survey
method. Therefore, there has been a survey through which we have analyzed the advantage
companies which use reverse logistics for recycling home appliances, the attitude the
Romanian population aged 25-44 has towards home appliances retailers’ campaigns regarding
the recycling of used products in order to protect the environment, but also the influence these
have on the purchasing decision-making.

4.2. Reference population

The target population is the population in Romania aged 25-44. This has been structured by
gender.

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 Table 2. Romanian population aged 25-44

Age/Gender Female Male

25-29 y.o 1391208 721897

30-34 y.o 1389833 712599

35-39 y.o 1590162 812587

40-44 y.o 1554235 796843

Total 5925438 3043926

Source: http://media.hotnews.ro/media_server1/document-2014-09-8-18060280-0-populatia-stabila-romaniei-1-
ianuarie-2014.pdf

4.3. Type of survey

In order to be objective in choosing the participants, this research employed quota sampling.
This method is frequently used due to the facility and representativeness of the sample across
the entire targeted population.
4.4. Sampling: volume and structure
The chosen variables are gender and age. We have chose age because it can influence
behavior regarding recycling home appliances, and gender because it can be important in the
case of campaigns regarding used home appliances.
5. DISCUSSION
Testing hypotheses has been done as a correlative of the proposed objectives.
Therefore, in order to test the first hypothesis related to the first objective, the respondents had
to name the home appliances stores they know recycle products. Therefore, the frequency of
answers (88%) was oriented towards the store which constantly has campaigns regarding
recycling old products, thus confirming hypothesis H1.
By correlating the second objective to hypothesis H3 leads to the fact that when they see
discounts given by such stores, 36% of the respondents wish to bring old home appliances,
and they prefer to use the ticket received to buy a new product. A percent of 28% were
prudent people who wish to find out more information regarding the sale. 20% of the
respondents prefer bringing old home appliances they no longer use, but at the same time they
keep the ticket with the discount in order to use it later when they truly need new home
appliances. A percentage of 16% of those surveyed think nothing of this type of campaign.

Table 3. People’s reactions concerning the discounts offered by home appliances store in case they bring an old
product in exchange
Reactions Percentage
You bring old home appliances and buy new ones 36
You bring old home appliances, but you don’t buy new ones 20
You find out more information regarding the sale 28
You think nothing of it 16
Since the highest percentage, 36%, refers to people who wish to bring their old home
appliances in order to use the discount received to buy new ones, our hypothesis H3 is
confirmed.
Objective C – Determining the impact of recycling used home appliances by specialized
stores on purchasing decision among citizens of Romania aged 25-44 – has been correlated
with hypotheses H2 and H3. Of the three elements respondents had on hand, when they buy a
460
home appliance they wish a longer defect liability period, garnering 68 points. The runner up
with 60 points in people’s preferences is the home appliances that have recyclable materials in
their composition. The least score was attributed to the possibility of returning the product
without stating the reason of return, garnering only 36 points.

Figure 1. Recyclable materials constituting a home appliances

The sentence “Home appliances stores that employ recycling old products protect the
environment” received the highest score – 4.2. This shows that respondents tend to
completely agree that home appliances stores that recycle the old products protect the
environment.
The sentence “I buy home appliances from stores that recycle old products because this way I
contribute to protecting the nature” received a score of 4.02. This shows that respondents
tend to completely agree, namely they desire to contribute to protecting the environment, and
one way would be buying home appliances from stores that recycle the used ones.
A score of 4 was received by the sentence “I buy home appliances from stores that recycle
old products because the new products are made of recyclable materials”, aspect which
people tend to agree on, namely that home appliances from stores that recycle old products
seem to be made of recyclable materials.
The last sentence “I buy home appliances only from stores that recycle old products” got the
lowest score – 2.98. This shows that people tend to me more indifferent to this statement.
Considering that the first three sentences registered scores over 4, which means that people
agree or completely agree that home appliances stores which recycle old products protect the
environment, but also that they purchase home appliances from stores that recycle old
products due to the fact that they contribute to protecting the nature or that the new products
are composed of recyclable products. The sentence that got the least score, 2.98, shows that
respondents are indifferent to the fact that they purchase home appliances only from stores
which recycle old products.
Considering that people are interested in their products to have recyclable materials – this
obtained 60 points – and since there is a small difference between the first element people
take into consideration when purchasing home appliances, this results is the confirmation of
hypothesis H2. An average number of people agreed that people tend to buy home appliances
– 6.28. Since it is very close to the maximum value, 7, this shows that in case the same
product cost the same in a store that recycles old products and another one that doesn’t,
people prefer to buy products from the store that recycles.
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Considering the fact that the product has the same price in the two stores, people prefer to buy
from the one that recycles; this results that hypothesis H2 is confirmed.
The objective To determine the degree of the purchase intention of home appliances
from retailers who recycle used products, in the case of the Romanian population aged
25-44. Of the existent options, buyers are most interested in sales offered by shops in which
they exchange their products; this received the highest average – 2.19. The next average from
a descending order is 2.13 and refers to the importance of home appliances stores recycling
used products. Of the three options, it seem that the possibility of returning old home
appliances that people no longer use to such stores obtained the lowest average of only 1.76.
Due to the fact that between the three elements mentioned above, the importance of sales
offered by shops in which they bring old home appliances garnered the highest average, 2.19,
leading to the confirmation of hypothesis H3.
Table 4. Average values of the degree of purchase intention of home appliances from stores that recycle these
Answers Total Average

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

They don’t make you want to buy their 4 3 5 17 22 28 21 100 5.18

products/ they make you want to buy
their products
They don’t make use intend to buy their 7 2 4 8 30 24 25 100 5.24
products/ they make you intend to buy
their products

The average of 5.18 from Table 4 shows that people tend to desire to buy home appliances from stores that
recycle used products, and the average of 5.24, which is quite close to the maximum of 7, shows that these stores
make people intend to buy their products.

Table 5. Average values of degree of purchase intention as compared with the importance of feelings given to
home appliances found in stores that recycle used products
Attribute Average Rang Rang Average Attribute
They don’t make you want to 5.18 2 2 4.97 The importance of
buy their products/ They make making them want to buy
you want to buy their products their products
They don’t make you intend to 5.24 1 1 5.27 The importance of
buy their products/ They make making them intend to
you intend to buy their products buy their products
We infer from table 5 that firstly, home appliances stores that recycle used products make the
consumers intend to buy their products – its importance is on the first place with an average of
5.27. Secondly, this type of stores make people want to buy their products, which we infer
from the average of 5.18, and also the importance of such aspect is found on second place
with an average of 4.97.
Considering that the intentional dimension of attitude registered averages of 5.18, and 5.24
respectively, quite close to the maximum value of 7, we infer that home appliances shops
make people want to buy and intend to buy their products, thus confirming the hypothesis H2.

6. CONCLUSIONS
On a market where all products have the same quality and approximately the same price, it’s
important that retailers brought something new to set themselves apart from other companies,
making the customers choose them instead of other retailers.
The increasing concern towards environmental protection could form the basis of a new
source of profit for retailers of home appliances.
At first glance, there is no connection between the environment and home appliances stores.
But if we think about the fact that people nowadays focus their attention towards the attempt
to protect what’s left of the environment, we can say that companies showing their interest for
the nature, setting themselves apart from the competition, have a competitive advantage. This
462
occurs mostly in the case of home appliances stores which deal with recycling used products,
covering one of the people’s need: to protect nature.
Most buyers of home appliances are aged 25-44 because people from this category have an
income and also need these products, and they prefer to invest money in them. Taking this
into account, we have applied our research to a sample of 1000 people, of which 51% are
women and 49 % are men, aged 25-44.
In order to answer the survey, people had to pass through two filter questions. The first one
referred to the age of the respondents for them to match the abovementioned sample, and the
second one was to select only people who have bought at least one home appliance in the past
six months.
Due to the fact that we desired to create a survey as precise as possible that we could apply in
the most appropriate places, we have created a focus group through which we learned that
people prefer to shop at Flanco, Altex, and Domo stores on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
between 4 pm – 6 pm. At the same time, we have established the emotions associated with the
home appliances retailers’ campaigns for recycling used products, in the case of Romanian
population aged 25-44. Therefore, we have applied our survey in the proximity of these three
stores, Flanco, Altex, and Domo, from Thursday to Saturday, in the abovementioned time
interval, in order to meet as many respondents in a short period of time.
According to the results of the research, it seems that home appliances retailers that recycle
used products have a spontaneous notoriety greater than those who do not recycle these.
Therefore, in the top of the list is Flanco: it is the only store that has constant campaigns
regarding the recycling of old home appliances. After that there is Altex and Domo, two
stores that offer a few times a year discounts on new products provided that people bring big
home appliances that they no longer use.
It seems that the existence of discounts, which people encounter in home appliances stores
provided they bring appliances they no longer use, make most of them bring old appliances to
buy new ones, using the discount they received. Many other are interested in the offer and
prefer to find out more information on it, and the fewest people either bring the old appliances
to get the discount ticket they might use later, or they think nothing of the campaign.
When making the purchase decision, people who wish to purchase home appliances are
increasingly choosing products that are comprised of recyclable materials, owing to their
concern for the future of the environment.
Another important element people take into consideration when choosing the store from
which they buy home appliances would be the discounts offered by the retailers provided they
bring in used home appliances, but also that these stores not only commercialize products, but
also recycle them when people no longer need them, be it that these products are too old, that
they no longer function, or that they no longer cater to their needs.
Results show that people also believe that stores which recycle old products do it in order to
protect the environment. Therefore, there is a category of people who prefers purchasing
home appliances only from stores that deal with their subsequent recycling. As a
consequence, it is said that home appliances retailers can profit from the people’s concern for
nature by fulfilling their need in this respect, but at the same time bringing benefits to the
producers who will be reusing the recycled materials.
At the same time, it seems that people who buy home appliances from stores that deal with
the recycling of old products because they believe they contribute to protecting the nature, or
because they believe such products are made of recyclable materials that can be later reused.
As for the purchase intention of home appliances from stores that deal with not only the sale
but the recycling of used products, research shows that these stores make most people intend
to buy, and make others desire to buy them.
When people were made to decide between buying a home appliance that has the same price
in a shop that deals with the recycling of used products and another one interested solely in
sales and not about what will happen to such appliances when they no longer use them, most
people said they would absolutely buy from the retailer that deals with their subsequent
recycling.
463
This means that home appliances stores that recycle used products have a greater notoriety
than other retailers from the same domain, and also that the existence of old home appliances
campaigns makes consumers invest their money in new ones, and also that home appliances
retailers dealing with the recycling of used products have higher sales than those who do not
recycle.
In conclusion, reverse logistics can be seen as a new way of bringing competitive advantage
to stores that commercialize recyclable products. Considering that this type of logistics allows
setting retailers who recycle old home appliances apart from those who don’t, it is said that
they fulfill a new need of the consumers that is increasingly present in their mind: the need to
protect the environment. Therefore, people prefer to purchase products from such stores due
to the discounts they receive provided they bring in the old home appliances that they no
longer us or due to the fact that they prefer stores that deal with recycling products and not
just selling them; both cases bring higher sales to retailers.

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10
 Authors Index

Abrudan Maria Madela – 456

Alasad Salih – 308
Alb Maria – 20
Albu Cristina – 110, 421
Amza Gheorghe – 131, 137, 144, 427
Apostolescu Zoia – 137, 427
Arar Osama – 235
Balaban Mihai Ilie – 325, 330
Bălan George – 120
Bălan Matei-Călin – 120
Banciu Doina – 13
Barbu Irina – 282
Bejinaru Ruxandra – 179, 188
Berechet (Dragnea) Mihaela Cornelia – 336
Bibu Nicolae – 20
Bogatu Ana Maria – 26
Bordean Ovidiu-Niculae – 411
Borza Anca – 398, 411
Brancu Laura – 242
Brătianu Constantin – 197, 203
Bunea Adrian – 282
Calea Gheorghe – 144
Canda Alexandru – 36
Capatina Alexandru – 341
Chivu Oana Roxana – 427
Christina Leu – 361
Ciplea Sorina Anamaria – 449
Constantinescu Liliana – 288
Coroş Monica Maria – 267
Cristache Nicoleta – 341
Cristian Adriana – 110, 421
Croitoru Gabriel – 347
Curmu Daniela – 377
Dămăşaru Costin – 216
Dan Horea Stelian – 449
Daraban Marius – 209
Deac-Şuteu Dorin-Vasile – 159
Dimitrescu Andrei – 144
Drăghici Anca – 36
Dragomir Camelia – 124, 288
Dumitrache Mihail – 13
Dumitraşcu Dănuţ Dumitru – 325, 330
Enoiu Ioan (ph. d.) – 356
Fenechiu Relu – 131, 137
Feniser Cristina – 435
Fleischer Wiegand Helmut – 383
Golet Ionuţ – 242
Grădinaru Cătălin – 65, 406
Groza Virginia – 377
Guluţă Marius Constantin – 250
Hapenciuc Cristian-Valentin – 188
Ionescu Gh. Gheorghe – 275
Ionescu Victor – 144
Leon Ramona-Diana – 216
Manolică Adriana – 456

467
Marinescu Paul – 65, 406
Micu Adrian – 341
Micu Angela-Eliza – 341
Miricescu Dan – 377, 383
Mocan Marian – 435
Muntean Laura – 151, 260
Muscalu Emanoil – 301
Neamţu Daniela-Mihaela – 188
Neculaesei Angelica – 369
Negruşa Adina Letiţia – 267, 275
Neştian Andrei Ştefan – 92
Nicolescu Ciprian – 341, 387
Nicolescu Ovidiu – 387
Nicula Virgil – 71, 433
Niţoi Dan Florin – 137, 144, 427
Oprea Cristina – 282
Oprean Constantin – 151, 159, 166, 260
Pânzaru Stelian – 288, 293
Partenie Munteanu Valentin – 242
Paschek Daniel – 36
Pascu Ovidiu Gavris – 449
Păun Sorin – 347
Petrescu Dan Valentin – 427
Petriceanu Constantin – 26
Pîrnău Claudiu – 224
Pîrnău Mironela – 224
Pop Alina Bianca – 103
Pop Izabela Luiza – 398
Pop Zenovia Cristiana – 411
Popa Ion – 79
Popescu Delia Mioara – 282
Răulea Andreea Simina – 166
Robescu Valentina-Ofelia – 347
Roman Costică – 179, 188
Roman Teodora – 456
Roşca Liviu Ioan – 224
Rotariu Irina – 301
Rusu Costache – 250
Saab Horriyah – 42, 50
Sala C. Diana – 20
Sandu Ionuţ-Eugen – 86
Saris Husein – 57
Scarlat (Lazăr) Maraina Laura – 336
Severin Irina – 26
Solomon Gheorghe – 26
Spânu Simona – 71, 433
Ştefan Simona Cătălina – 79
Stroe Bogdan-Emil – 86
Tătăruşanu Maria – 369
Tiţă Silviu Mihail – 92
Ţîţu Mihail Aurel – 103, 151, 159, 166, 224, 260, 301
Todoruţ Amalia Venera – 315
Toma Sorin-George – 65, 406
Trusculescu Adelin – 36
Tselentis Vassilis – 315
Valter Narcisa – 110, 421
Vătămănescu Elena Mădălina – 197

468
  
 
  
 

Su
upporrting Partnerrs 
 

 
– Ministry
y of Nationaal Education and Scien ntific Reseaarch; 
– Romaniaan Associattion on Alteernative Teechnology S Sibiu, ARTA
A; 
– General Association n of Romannian Professsors and Educators;
– SC Top TTech SRL Siibiu; 
– BCR Sibiiu; 
– Technicaal Publishin
ng House; 
– DigiLibM
Muscel Asso ociation; 
– SC Phoen nix & CO SR
RL Sibiu; 
– Financiaal Investmeent Compan ny Transilv
vania; 
– Financiaal Investmeent Compan ny Oltenia;
– Continenntal Autommotive Systeems SRL Sib biu; 
– MARQUA ARDT SCHA ALTSYSTEM ME SCS SIBBIU; 
– HOLDING ATLASSIIB; 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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