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The paper is focused on the method of teaching of logistics by using simulation methods. The aim is to describe a new way of teaching by using simulation software with a practical example. The main part of this article consists of a description of an actual application in education including graphic illustrations of work in the simulation software Witness and Captivate. In conclusion, the authors point out the benefits of learning by using simulation software for students of logistics and possibilities of applying their gained knowledge in business practice.

Many organizations help communities through their initiatives involving corporate social responsibility (CSR) or sponsor their employees to embark on volunteer-work through non-profit organizations. Though not obvious, there are three ‘domains of impact’ when such endeavors are encouraged; (1) the person who is volunteering, (2) the community and (3) the donor organization where the impact is less direct. This paper attempts to make these domains of impact more visible, thereby connecting the three domains in such a way that it becomes beneficial for all, a win-win situation. Underpinning this relationship, is a holistic coaching model that can foster growth in all these spheres. The validation of this coaching model revolves around, how an organization can contribute to the wider community in terms of developing infrastructure and people, whilst also developing its own leaders.

The continuous increase in the level of education in the EU countries is one of the fundamental objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy. Taking into consideration the fact that the economical efficiency is significantly influenced by the quality of the human resource, the level of education of the active population is an important variable in the process of the economic growth. The current different politics applied in the EU28 countries 20 years ago had a big structural diversity as a direct consequence concerning the level of education of the active population. Based on these findings, the paper analyses the evolution of the characteristics of the active population in the EU28 countries on the level of education in the last 10 years, a period which includes the economical crisis. The analyses based on official databases show the tendency of increasing the share of the active population with tertiary education and the relative stability of those with upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education. At the same time the fact that the difference between the countries with high shares of the tertiary education attainment level and those with still low shares is continuously increasing is emphasized, the process still being divergent. The paper also investigates the convergence in terms of the structure of the active population in EU countries.

The population growth and economic development increase the need for mobility. As consequences, we can mention the environmental impact of CO 2 emissions and that the road accidents are among the top 10 causes of death worldwide. As a solution to this problem, the concept of Intelligent Transportation Systems emerged. Part of this concept is smart city approach, consisting in a combination of Internet of Things and Information and Communication Technology to manage city issues. After 2014, a lot of regulations were established by the European Parliament, regarding smart city concept implementation. The purpose of this paper is to present a comparison between the implementation of smart city approach in different locations from Romania.

Microgrids represent a means of improving the conventional electrical grid network, making it more reliable, secure, cooperative, efficient and, especially cleaner. This paper presents the management of a hierarchical DC-coupled microgrid with distributed architecture implemented in a microgrid laboratory containing two renewable sources, namely wind and hydro. Power supply management strategies are applied in order to supply a critical, non-dispatchable load. Due to effective management, the microgrid is robust and capable of handling most of the problems that are associated with renewable energies.

The mergіng оf оrgаnіzаtіоnаl leаrnіng theоry аnd knоwledge mаnаgement іn recent yeаrs hаs gіven rіse tо іmроrtаnt іnsіghts regаrdіng the leаrnіng рrоcess аnd knоwledge trаnsfer thаt stіll requіres much reflectіоn іn оrder tо be іntegrаted іntо рrаctіce. However, few studies could be found in literature which focuse on what and how the influencing factors are related to organizational learning and knowledge sharing taken as a synergistic process. The purpose of this paper is to identify the influencing factors and outcomes of the learning by sharing process within small and medium organizations located in Nord-East region of Romania. The reseаrch tаrget рорulаtіоn cоnsіsts оf emрlоyees frоm рrіvаte sectоr, regаrdless the dіmensіоn оr fіeld оf аctіvіty, with a sample of 280 filed questіоnnаіres. Thus, the article presents a statistical analysis of the relationship between the influencing factor as inputs, learning by sharing as process, and outcomes. The prаctіcаl іmрlіcаtіоn оf thіs study іs tо рrоmоte the understаndіng оf hоw оrgаnіzаtіоnаl knоwledge-bаsed resоurces cаn іs grоwn аnd used by рrоmоtіng оf strаtegіes bаsed оn knоwledge mаnаgement аnd оrgаnіzаtіоnаl leаrnіng іnіtіаtіves.

Higher education institutions are recognized as key agents of creating knowledge society and knowledge-based economy. In this context, the preparation of doctoral students for careers in various sectors of society is a key task. Recently, the role of doctoral studies has changed significantly. Traditionally, they were treated as an entrance ticket for an academic career, but nowadays the importance of doctoral studies is recognized in various spheres of society. Once considered elite, the PhD graduate nowadays faces an increasing competition. Therefore, when deciding whether to enroll in doctoral studies, they should consider their interests and the needs and demands of the labor market. This paper inversigates the career opportunities of doctoral students in Slovenia.

Knowledge management started to be perceived as a scientific discipline relatively recently. Since its beginnings in the 1990s, the interest for this research field has been constantly growing especially in the past two decades. However, it seems that the peak of interest has already passed. In this paper, we provided the review of the most important research documents that are related with this topic, all collected from the Web of Science. The most important scholars and journals in the field are identified via documents and citations among them. In addition, the purpose of this paper is also to analyse the existing linkage between knowledge management and innovation. For this purpose, a network of keywords was constructed with keywords performing as actors in the network and the co-occurrence as a relation. The network obtained of keywords is undirected and weighted by the number of documents in which adjacent keywords which co-occurred on the topic of knowledge management. The content analysis with traditional network analytic techniques was used. In other fields, similar methods were already applied; however, this is the first attempt to construct this kind of research in knowledge management related to the topic of innovation. The results revealed significant linkage between knowledge management and innovation in the documents which were analyzed. We believe that the network analytic procedures used in this paper provide an excellent tool to study such a relevant phenomenon.

In general, Risk-Assessments or discussions about sustainable development of a product have mostly a pure technical focus, in order to secure the factors of time, cost, quality, functionality and market acceptance. This paper will review the significance that at the start of the project life cycle, it is of vital importance to also consider the maintainability or evolution of the initial product-mission in order to secure the success of the product. Planned evolution and maintenance of a product is not restricted to prepare the product to carry potential new functions without being completely hardware- or software-architecture redesigned. Considering the automotive market cost pressure of products, it is usually not possible to allow hardware to be ready for more than the predefined set of functions. This research will consider product architectures and also focus on the review of (multi) company team structures, company capabilities (i.e. skills) and company resources (i.e. infrastructure), which need to be considered and development to be able to react to the new market opportunities.

Innovation is vital for each country's economic growth. This paper comprises an analysis of the main indicators that characterize innovation activity in Romanian firms. Improving our knowledge of firms’ activities in aspects associated with their behavior related to innovation is important for monitoring the strengths and weaknesses of the national innovation systems. Our study on Romanian firms is based entirely on the published data by Eurostat (the Commission Innovation Survey - CIS), which centralizes data every two years, the last have been published at the end of 2016 (CIS 9) covering the period 2012-2014. From building and analyzing three main types of general innovation indicators related to firms’ innovativeness, including innovation inputs and outputs, our results show that the main weaknesses in business innovation persist over time and they consist of the extremely low share of innovative firms, a low level of business innovation expenditures and a high volatility of innovation performance based on creative effort resulted from R&D activities still concentrated in a few industries.

The current economic and social environment suffered major changes in the last years, mainly driven by technological and cultural innovations and trends. One of the most interesting changes is the development of knowledge management (KM) and its increasing diffusions in all economic sectors. There is no activity that can be performed without some type of knowledge transfer, irrespective of whether it is tacit or explicit. At the same time, every organization must implement health and safety objectives in order to achieve business effectiveness and efficiency. Through ergonomics working conditions and occupational health and safety (OHS) objectives can be achieved more efficient. Considering that ergonomics is an interdisciplinary science, KM appears as extremely necessary for superior knowledge transfer among expert groups in the organization. The paper aims to demonstrate the usefulness of KM science in the ergonomics approach by highlighting key focus areas to support efficient implementation within organizations. By analyzing the consulting services offer by six Unites States consulting companies in the filed of ergonomics, we shall underlined the trends and challenges of the KM implications in ergonomics approaches.

Innovation is an important competitive advantage for market success. Faster, cheaper, better are the keywords of the current competitive environment. For this to occur, products and services need to address customer needs in such a way as to fulfil what they expect but in the same time delight them through unexpected and attractive features. The theory of attractive quality uses the Kano methodology, a value components model, when thinking about product features in this way. Unfortunately, the Kano questionnaire mainly analyses customer satisfaction regarding an existing offer, thus a post purchase evaluation. In the case of new and innovative products or services, we do not have prior consumer value or a “standard” to compare it with. Therefore, we must rely on pre-purchase judgment. But what is desired customer value and with what concepts should it be associated with? The present paper aims to delimit customer value pre-purchase perception from post-purchase perception and determine the terms and key words which best represent the customer's perspective in this situation. The ultimate goal is to present a first conceptual step into the development of an alternative to the Kano model for the design stage of innovative products and services.

The Politehnica University of Timisoara integrates information technologies into education. It adapted its teaching and learning processes by introducing a blended learning system. This paper represents an inside-out approach of the Virtual Campus Moodle based platform. Integrating the Virtual Campus into teaching meant: online, constant and continuous academic and communication support, communication tools, tools for supporting / developing / teaching the activity, improving the academic activity as well as the involvement and motivation of the students. The rate of success of students ‘presence on the Virtual Campus (VC) can be discussed and explored after analyzing the correlation between their activity on the VC and the grades obtained. To do so, we have analyzed the grades of the 2 nd year students from all 3 specializations ran by the eLearning Centre: Informatics; Electronics and Telecommunication; and Communication and Public Relations. We have conducted a study case aimed to find correlations between the activity on VC and the final grades of the 2nd year students, by the end of the first semester. This study case raises awareness upon finding more efficient communication tools/ways between students, teachers and administrative staff.

In this paper, we presented how schools perceive the introduction of the free market and market mechanisms through deregulation policies and privatisation schemes. We also discussed the consequences and traps of the free market. The research presents how education personnel see changes in education; and how managers versus other school workers understand the free market and what their attitude is towards public education. There are many different perspectives on the position and role of education in society, in particular whether education is a public good and should be protected at all costs or if education should be subject to monitoring and efficient organisation, as advocated by neoliberals. From this research, it is clear that school system employees believe that public education is a public good and should be protected as such. The results also show that school managers (comparing them with other school workers) are the most favorable to the claim that ‘public education is subject to monitoring and efficiently organized’ and to the claim that ‘public education is a public good and therefore has to be protected at all costs’. Education is a relatively large and important part of the public sector, and one of the key problems of modern society is how to find a way to reform positive common social goals which are not only limited to the optimisation of the education system.

The purpose of this work is to confirm theoretical findings in the field of management of higher education (institutions) and contribute with our own findings on the elements, mechanisms and instruments that affect the quality and effectiveness of managing and organizing higher education at the national and institutional level, and thus contribute to a more efficient and effective higher education. This work will also clarify interdisciplinary connections between various segments of the above mentioned management of higher education (institutions) field, which has not been explained yet. In the introduction of the paper, the impact of higher education on economic development and on knowledge society is explained briefly. Further on, the background of the work is illustrated and the definition of the working problem is explained, which basically refers to the inefficiency of (mostly) publicly-funded higher education and lack of proper managerial solutions and skills at higher education institutions. Furthermore, the role of higher education and major trends in higher education are introduced and discussed. The main contribution of the paper is the matrix of higher education objectives which have to be realized in order to implement a successful higher education and institutions, mainly from managerial and financial perspectives.

Changing technologies, where development time for a new work product must be decreased with each year due to a higher customer competition, also leads to a change in mindset in the way in which product development is currently done. Gamification models are one of this “game-changing” strategies that was considered suitable to also be implemented in the automotive software product development topic, but not only in this area. This paper describes the current situation in adopting on large scale the product development phases as gamified scenario, together with the presentation of the results of several questionnaires applied on automotive project team members. The aim of the paper is to present a procedure for obtaining a gamification application on an automotive project describing in detail each step which needs to be fulfilled in an iterative way. As a starting point for the model, the DMA (Design – Mechanics – Aesthetic) procedure was used, supported with elements from the PC/game console development, but also the existing tools/frameworks were taken into consideration. The obtained method can be applied on each automotive project, but there are the steps/iterations which still need to be performed, while also the positive and negative aspects are presented.

Living in the modern society, where the Internet of Things (IoT) network is constantly evolving and Things belonging to the network are expanding new functions in a fast pace, there is inevitably a need of having a new vision over the software project management that should keep up the pace with these changes. The impact of the new smart devices is major and can be seen at all levels of software project management. By creating a project management solution across the IoT network, we aim to improve the efficiency and to optimize parameters such as: teamwork, analysis of a large amount of data, project managers and stakeholders input, resource planning, project development and feedback speed. A great contribution in achieving optimization and efficiency improvement for the software project management solution have all the smart devices using high computing power, high data transmission speed and efficient data processing. Therefore, this paper proposes an Agile project management solution that adapts to the IoT network, embedding Things with their features correspondingly into the project management process. Putting the project management process across the IoT network, the Agile project management solution slightly changes the steps of software project management as to increase different project parameters as like: team collaboration, team efficiency, project technique level, project technological level, project automation level.

According to International and national accounting bodies such as the IASC or the FASB, purchased goodwill is considered, in the present, an intangible asset that appears as a result of the acquisition of one company by another, for a price premium. It is the amount that makes the balance between the purchase price of the target company and the value of all identifiable acquired assets (tangible and intangible) and liabilities. From an economic point of view, this price premium that is paid in businesses combinations must be justified by the estimated future additional net profits and free cash-flows that can be obtained by the acquiring company as result of investing in the target company. One of the most important sources of these additional earnings are the estimated synergies between the companies implied in combination. These can explain the significant price premiums paid in most acquisitions made by strategic investors. This paper focuses on the Microsoft-LinkedIn transaction, trying to identify the price paid in this acquisition, the size of the purchased goodwill and, the value and types of synergies that have been estimated for this combination of companies.

This paper presents the utility validation of a model for knowledge management. The utility of the model will be validated through business process management (BPM). The model for knowledge management was already proposed in another article. The model was developed based on the real environment of knowledge management of two automotive companies. Specifically, the environment of the companies was in the field of Model Based Design software products. Business process management (BPM) was chosen because it allows the simulation and analysis in detail of the model. In the end this will give a brief overview about the success of using this knowledge management model in real life environments.

Rural population migration in the urban area attracts a high rate of mobility, especially in cities with university centers and renowned companies. The emergence of these transitions also generates some saturation problems, such as socio-economic and social issues. The need for improvement in transport services are mandatory to change the travel behaviour. This paper provides solutions and ways to improve public transport services by using intermodal passenger transport. Transport services for the population need to be met at a higher level, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The paper illustrates the steps of integrating the Theory of Constraints Thinking Process (TOCTP) by diagnosing the problems encountered, designing the solution plan, and integrating the solution plan to resolve constraints. The paper explains how the TOCTP application detects reliable solutions to solve urban population saturation problems by identifying alternatives to public transport mobility benefits using intermodal passenger transport.

This scientific paper conducts a study meant to improve the quality management of the thermosonic welding process of gold wires in the automotive industry. Within the large amount of electronic products manufactured worldwide, the gold wire bonding is the preferred technology for creating the needed interconnections in the microelectronic industry. In this paper, the quality management improving starts with an experimental research in the automotive industry, based on the gold wire thermosonic bonding, in terms of: conformal structuring, robustness and integrity of the electrical contacts. The experimental research is based on the processing parameters and on the independent variables and objective processing functions. In order to highlight the impact which one or more factors have on the quality of the thermosonic bonding, the dispersion analysis method was used. According to this, the importance of each factor, but also each factor's optimization, was underlined. The final goal was to reach a high reliability and quality of the finished goods.

This paper is devoted to a new approach in the research of the efficiency of cooperative forms of agricultural production organization in Russia. Based on the methodology of the cooperation efficiency evaluation developed by the author, the comparative efficiency analysis of the performance of agricultural enterprises in Russia was carried out. A comparison is made between two forms of agricultural production: cooperative (represented by agricultural production cooperatives) and non-cooperative (represented by peasant (farm) households). The calculation and the resulting analysis of efficiency indicators allowed characterizing the position of each form and drawing conclusions regarding the choice of strategy for the development of small-scale production in agriculture. The results of the analysis demonstrate a relatively higher efficiency of non-cooperative forms in agriculture in Russia now. This partly explains the unsuccessful attempts of the state to develop agricultural cooperation during the period from 2005 to 2016.

This paper presents an investigation on the current market conditions in sales based in the automotive industry and a new approache triggered by the digitization in this industry. Various studies prove that the behavior of the customers has changed drastically. By this customer experience, management becomes a central strategy in the digital age to reach long-term customer loyalty and enterprise growth. It is therefore necessary to adapt the function of the car dealers and, in general, innovative sales formats and technologies for communication with the customer. This paper describes how Daimler AG is reacting to these market changes with the concept of “Mercedes Me”.

The division of labor and the growing number of businesses have led to the situation where the superior is no longer able to make all decisions alone and therefore is required to delegate. Delegation has been around for a long time and has become critical to modern businesses. We must differentiate between delegating an assignment, in the sense of delegation work and delegating the responsibility. These aspects are often misunderstood or not differentiated at all. Employees should not only be delegated with the execution of tasks but also with the related power to act and decide. Managing through conventional authoritarian principles is no longer sustainable within the current economic trend. This paper aims to present the behavioral pattern of the wrongly-understood delegation of responsibility, instruments and fear of delegation and how this type of approach, which is currently implemented in so many organizations, is actually a misconceived delegation of responsibility.

As presenting a part of a larger study, the aim of this paper is to present how the change management is considered from the first steps in the implementation of a solar energy generator as a need in the complex change process from totally fossil to a hybrid system (that may reach 100% solar), in the presence of technological and economic change triggering factors (CTF). The need of change management (CM) in the implementation of solar energy generation begins from the very moment and first discussion between the service provider (facilitator, consultant, research team, etc.) and the decisional factors (end-users), due to different approaches, in this new and non-standardized activity, and the capacity to understand the implications on medium and long terms of different decisions made by the involved players.. When solar generation facility is designed it starts with an investigation of the design data identification. Usually the end-user must provide these data but, also usually, it is not capable to do that and therefore the transition process is affected by incoherent, inconsistent or even false data. It is totally different to follow the conformity or to run for process lifecycle management (PLM) applying the benefits of change management theory. Those made more complicate the problem, adding new considerations like changes in safety regulations, adapted cleaning necessities and possibilities, continuous development of new materials, sensors requirements, extra data flows, modifications in the intervention resources, and the appearance of different staff profile or staff training. The global change management activities encompass all the 4 mentioned aspects, reiterating that the staff training and acceptance make no part of the mentioned study. One of the goals of the mentioned research is to identify a proper problem modeling and digitization in order to raise the right funding that may contribute to better results. As simple as it seems, the mathematical models evolve to more complex scenarios but having a better implementation certainty.

Sustainability is a concept adopted and approached in public and private organizations as a guiding principle that contributes to organizational development. However, the greatest challenge for organizations is its real implementation and the steps to be taken in this respect. At the same time, another challenge is how this sustainable development performance can be measured (for products and processes). These concepts are addressed in a competitive business environment, where differentiation and attraction of customers are among the main directions of action. In this context, the present paper presents Life cycle sustainability assessment of products in the context of competitiveness. At the end of the paper, an approach for the interpretation of the results obtained from the Life cycle sustainability assessment is presented.

Eco-innovation has been wildly accepted as a method for improving the environmental performance of enterprises and for supporting them to improve their products; as well as to advance to more sustainable business models, and as a driver of business success and competitive advantage at the firm level. Implementing eco-innovation is a challenging process and will not be suitable for all organizations. Therefore understating barriers and drivers at the national and business level, as well as the main gaps in policy and education, could build a better picture of the necessary framework conditions for eco-innovation to be created in Romania. The paper reflects on existing opportunities in the country and demonstrates that eco-innovation potential needs to be addressed. Our research identified existing premises and drivers for eco-innovation that could boost the application of eco-innovation in companies, entail policy changes, and boost cooperation between stakeholders from R&D, academia, businesses, clusters and policy makers. The success of eco-innovation depends on the awareness that will be created among businesses through dissemination of strong business cases, the adjustment of the policy framework that should stimulate and reward the market for eco-innovative solutions and the capacity of experts to convince the companies’ management of the financial and environmental benefits of eco-innovation, to explain the need for continuous application of eco-innovative strategies and how they can be mainstreamed in the overall enterprise strategy and overall management. Through its objectives, the ECO Partner project contributes to install a model of cooperation between main actors interested din eco-innovation and build cooperation between the main stakeholders by initiating the Romanian Eco-Innovation Network (RE-IN). The role of the RE-IN is to develop and strength the partnership and to become the main partner in Romania for policy makers, businesses, academia and experts with common interests in eco-innovation.

This paper addresses the sensitive subject of residents in marginalized urban areas and proposes solutions in order to improve life quality parameters by accessing multidisciplinary networks of knowledge and information. In the context of contemporary technologies, conclusions resulting from applied practices in strictly contextualized situation become important sources for the implementation of efficient public policies. Access to knowledge proves to be a primary necessity, in conditions when efficiency is imperative and sustainable development bases on a minimum resources input in exchange for a maximum values output. In the context of a mining zone that is in full economic decline, where the local identity is not built yet and the contemporary processes offer a priority to urban centres at the expense of the marginal areas as a development and economic growth engine, the necessity for public policies concentrated on the needs of the first is essential. Studying the ways in which resilient cycles based on production and consumption can offer to communities a raised degree of independence to the external context in trying to define a unitary development pattern, the authors propose the implementation of a public policies program, through which the inhabitants of every Vicinity Unit can access the most relevant information and can participate in multidisciplinary education and formation projects.

This paper aims to bring to the forefront a concept that has put its mark on the manufacturing process development over the past two decades, namely lean manufacturing. The objective of the theoretical part of the article is, by summarizing the information existing in the literature, to present the meanings given to the concept of lean manufacturing and how it can be implemented in organizations (steps to be followed, success factors, barriers), the term evolution and the emergence of a new concept - Lean Six Sigma. The second part is an investigative approach to the interest of Romanian bloggers in studying the lean manufacturing phenomenon, especially a well-known instrument of it, just-in-time production method. The information obtained has shown that although the concept is an intensely studied international literature, in the autochthonous approach is in the early stages.

Crisis management represents a multidisciplinary topic in many sciences. Social sciences, state affairs, medicine, engineering and many others are interested to handle unforeseen major great impact events. The paper presents some differences and common topics of crisis management using two different approaches. The first is Public Relations (PR), as part of the communication sciences; and the second is the Holonic Multi-Agent (HMAS) Concept, which is a research topic belonging to software engineering and computational sciences. We have two different approaches, but one common goal: providing the feasible support for the crisis management team under abnormal working conditions. Dealing with the holonic approach, the paper suggests a centralized distributed crises management, a non-linear approach in which the human factor's intuition, skills and expertise are key elements.

Although research confirms that company mission and organizational values may influence the performance of individual employees as well as the company, it is evident that explicitly or implicitly codified statements of company mission and organizational values are simply not enough. Employees should feel the meaning of the mission and values, they should exercise them passionately and positively. It is therefore not only important for companies to define such statements but spread such ideas among the employees. By focusing on literature review and empirical research, the paper illustrates and verifies the significance of written and communicated company missions and organizational values. The study is based on a sample of Slovenian companies. In the study, we confirm positive connections between the existence of company mission and organizational values and their communication within a company on one hand and some of the non-financial aspects of company performance on the other.

The Internet is an important instrument for small businesses if it is used correctly, otherwise it can be a dangerous problem. Regardless, the Internet has started a process of innovation that is transforming the way people are planning to do business. This essay examines the Internet and its different approaches used within small businesses; it takes into consideration some aspects such as piracy and forgery, social networks, and websites. This paper gives a prospective of this phenomenon in different countries, first in Russia, then in Europe, and finally in the USA. The aim of this essay is to analyze how the Internet can transform the life of small businesses then it examines the possibility of the development of this new market sector. Finally, the essay outlines and considers the benefits of using the Internet in terms of services received, for example with banks or with national institutes rather than only in terms of sales potential and communication with customers.

Academic spin-offs bring researchers together, foster experience, sharing a creative atmosphere with the purpose of creating new products/services in order to commercialize them. University spin-offs are an important vehicle for knowledge diffusion and economic growth. Despite their importance, little research exists in spin-off performance or impact at national level in Romania, especially from the perspective of academic entrepreneur. In order to understand the spin-off concept, the main focus of this article is to provide a better understanding of the spin-off mechanism and also how can it be facilitated in a regional context. The paper analysis the situation of spin-offs opened through the European Program “Increase of Economic Competitiveness” (2007-2013) during all the period from the start and till the last available financial dates. In order for Romania to become more competitive it has to improve the activity of the innovative firms, especially spin-offs and start-ups. During 2007-2013 there have been created 120 innovative companies out of which 19 spin-offs and 101 start-ups. But did the EU funds accessed between 2007-2013 had a real impact on the development of this companies? This article analyses and tries to answer this question .

This paper aims to highlight entrepreneurship's importance in today's world as a paradoxical field. On the one hand, human resources have always worked on the labour market as either employees or employers, but today, the migration between the two specific categories has started to be more intense and people have just been developing the needed skills to run their own business (even if they are at the beginning of their career, in late-career or even retired) and to cope with entrepreneurial risks. On the other hand, business gurus on heels have appeared and feminine entrepreneurship has started to provide more and more good practices of business strategies. Hence, irrespective of the motivation of every entrepreneur, this concept highly developed in theory shall be more supported by real data on specific sub-samples. In this regard, we undertook a quantitative research on the Central Romanian Development Region (CRDR) so as to identify the profile of the future Romanian entrepreneur and to describe its funding needs and the major areas of business activity it would operate a new business according to its knowledge and skills.

The paper discusses the entrepreneurial university as a trend in the development and transformation of higher education institutions (HEI). The debate is about the different possible approaches to entrepreneurship for HEIs, the reason, relevance and the importance of an entrepreneurial university, which are the entrepreneurship components and what are the mission, objectives, strategies needed to become an entrepreneurial university. A case study of a university is considered, with the analysis of a survey results. A proposal for a roadmap is also presented, illustrating the way to become an entrepreneurial university.

Cloud computing is today's edge of ICT, being present in quite all fields of economy, society and human life: education, medicine, industry, communication, etc., offering services and applications that are used daily by everyone connected to the internet. The quality of these services is a cutting subject for all stakeholders. This paper synthesizes some relevant researches focusing on quality management approaches in software services using remote assistance as tool and cloud as support of this service. As first step, the literature review focuses on cloud as being the most emerging and comprehensive subject on the deck, then extends the research on software services supported by cloud, identifying quality interventions in these cases and in the end, is looking for quality related demarches in remote assistance of these services. The research tries to identify how quality could influence cloud products in favor of the customer, targeting better cloud-connected services and applications. Proposing an exploratory research, the paper's intended contribution is placed mainly in clarifying the mentioned concepts and the way they are correlated in the practical world.

The complexity of today's business increases and, correspondingly, the requirements for decision support increase. A traditional supplier of top management decision support is the controlling function. However, when controlling struggles to meet the increased requirements, the influence of controlling on top management decisions can get marginalized and eventually vanishes. This paper analyses this observation based on recent surveys and statistics and suggests solutions to master the “competitive challenge of controlling”.

The paper aims to analyze the need for change management strategy development in case of an organization wishing to replace its existing test equipment (software products) with newer and more advanced products. This has a positive impact both from the financial perspective and in terms of quality improvement of the product if the change situation is analyzed in the context of a related investment project implementation. With the increasing level of product complexity, there is a growing likelihood that these software products contain defects or errors, affecting customer satisfaction. The repairment cost of the product increases exponentially and in direct proportion to their lifecycle, from the development stage to the mass production phase. Therefore, our approach proposes to increase products (hardware and software testing equipment) quality by investing more in their performance which will positively impact the testing processes. The efficiency of the economic indicators calculation associated with the presented methodology will underline these issues.

The current paper contributes to the debate on social economy by highlighting the significance of the legal framework in the correct assessment of the structure and dynamics of the social economy of a country, providing evidence for Romania. The study presents the real dimension of Romanian social economy in the light of the new laws in the field and reveals the social enterprises’ profile. Findings show that, two years after the legal framework of the social enterprise and one year after the regulation of the Romanian Register of Social Enterprises, few operators of the social economy took the necessary steps for the official registration in the category of social enterprises. By analyzing the profile of certified social enterprises, we have shown that they are vulnerable from at least two points of view: viability (only 19% of the certified social enterprises have developed activities on a sustainable bases, having more than three years old) and efficiency (more than a third of the social enterprises go through financial difficulties from/after the first year of function). The analysis of the output indicator that measures the evolution of the average number of employees in the social enterprises showed a modest increase. Lastly, the study draws attention on the need to reconsider the national statistics regarding social economy.

Education is a vital part of any social cohesion agenda because educational outcomes affect all dimensions of the social cohesion triangle (social inclusion – social capital – social mobility). In this paper, we are focusing on the integration of Roma and migrant children in schools and the activation of youth to help as volunteers. Although diversity is an opportunity to make schools more inclusive, creative and open-minded, inequality in education is highest among Roma and migrant children. Europe needs more efficient, but at the same time more inclusive and equitable education systems. In this respect, responsible school management has a key role in adapting learning environment to the specific mix of students and making it more inclusive. In the research part, we provide an evaluation of the seminars delivered in Slovenia (RoMigSc project). Almost three fourths of the respondents reported previous experience with specific methods of integrating Roma and migrant children into the learning environment. Most of the participants were teachers, school counsellors, social workers, public administrators and civil society activists /volunteers. Nearly half of them include volunteers in their activities. For the participants, the most valuable element of the seminars was the exchange of experience. They learned lessons which they liked the most, related to building social network with the inclusion of different levels of society and transfer of experience. As major suggestions for improvements of seminars, the participants listed more case studies and discussions.

The issues of formation of corporate control and management have always been at the center of studies by both theorists and representatives of the real sector of economy, which is due to the importance of the corporate sector for the national economy. But on the other hand, the constant interest in the topic is fueled by the contradictions and dualism in theoretical works. The article is proposed as a review paper devoted to the research problems of the efficiency of the corporation's capital concentration, based on the discussion of these problems, the authors plan to develop a universal system of criterion indicators for a comprehensive assessment of the corporation's development results. Since it is impossible to separate the economic and institutional aspects of concentration, the interests of owners and investors in modern conditions, the formation of a universal evaluation system will make comparable the efficiency assessment of corporations of different scales, form of ownership, ownership structure and will answer one of the most important questions about the existence of an objective limit of expediency of further capital concentration. It is new that as the main result of the criterion for managing the capital concentration, the authors suggest harmonization of relations between investors, and in this connection an attempt is made to identify and analyze the contradictions arising between the interests of minority and majority investors in connection with the use of financial resources of corporations. The authors also hope to develop recommendations for the efficiency assessment of capital concentration from the point of view of the minority investor and use the available methods, as well as suggest a number of measures to smooth out the revealed contradictions. The most significant result of the implementation of this method should be an increase in the investment attractiveness of corporations as a result of the formation of the more comfortable investment environment.

This paper tests the relationship between cash flow and the investment decision of firms from the Romanian agriculture sector. Although the role of cash flow in influencing the investment decision is explained by the financial frictions theory, the investment – cash flow nexus is controversial in empirical investigations. However, only few studies address the bidirectional relationship between the investment decision and the cash flow level. Using a large data set of 739 firms and a panel VAR approach for the period 2006 to 2014, we report a bidirectional causality between investment and cash flow. We find that firm's cash flow positively influences the level of investment in the next period, and we show therefore that the access to liquidity is important for the investment decision. At the same time, investment in fixed assets enhances the cash flow level only for the subsequent period, but it does not generate a series of cash flows as expected. The results are less conclusive if we use investment dynamics instead of investment level in our empirical analysis.

The Central and Eastern European (CEE) wine industry is reduced as compared to that of the largest European Union (EU) producers such as Italy, France or Spain, but it has a high development potential. Countries like Romania and Hungary are nowadays well placed in the EU ranking in terms of wine production. However, after the outburst of the recent economic crisis, the level of wine production has considerably fluctuated in the CEE countries, and the same happened with the investment in this industry. We may think that the poor financial management performances of these firms have triggered these fluctuations. Against this background, the present paper attempts to investigate the impact of companies’ financial performances, assessed through capitalization, liquidity and profitability, on their investment dynamics. Applying a panel data analysis for 106 firms, over the time-span 2007 to 2014, and using AMADEUS statistics for the selected CEE countries, we show that the level of capitalization negatively influences the wine industry investment, although this result lacks in robustness. Moreover, the profitability has a positive influence on investment, while the level of liquidity has no significant influence. Our findings may be explained by the fact that in post-crisis periods, firms are tempted to increase their capitalization ratio in order to prevent the manifestation of financial risks.

As industries mature, the bases and drivers on which company valuation is based evolve. Generally, during the introduction phase, when a new technology emerges, the perceived potential of this technology is what drives the valuation as the company does not yet generate revenues nor profitability. As the company and industry develop, revenues and market position become more important than technology, and at a later point in time, once companies become profitable, profitability becomes the main valuation base and driver. This paper explores the development of the valuation bases and drivers for the online retail industry over time. While there are, several studies tackling the importance of revenues compared to the importance of profitability at a certain point in time, there are no studies looking at this topic over time. The study draws two main conclusions. Firstly, it confirms the conclusion of similar studies showing that the key valuation base in online retails has evolved from being revenue based to being profitability based and secondly, it demonstrates that the key valuation driver in the online retailing industry has evolved from being revenue growth to being profitability margin. The second finding is very surprising as it marks the development of the online retailing industry to a new development phase.

The management of the Reverse Engineering (RE) process for polymeric parts is a relatively complicated one. Composition on this market segment is tough due to the fact that approximately 85% of the machinery and equipment industry has migrated from the steel parts industry to the plastics industry over the last 30 years. This is why not only old mechanical parts and assemblies are subject to the RE process, but also new parts / products that competition is trying to reproduce. Therefore, the goal is to achieve the RE process of superior quality at the lowest cost and in the shortest possible time (if possible in a fully automated system). The RE process management involves selecting the hardware, selecting the RE software, and adopting the proper technique for obtaining surfaces (or solids, as the case may be). All these steps depend on the quality of the product to be achieved and the speed at which the results are obtained. The paper presents a concrete case of RE, solved by a certain process, but also other possible variants, as well as their impact on the quality of the final product (precision / price / effort).

This paper deals with the career paths followed by women descendants of Moroccan immigrants in Belgium, focusing particularly on a study of the situation of women with higher educational qualifications, and showing how these daughters of immigrants perceive higher education as advantageous to their position in the family, for the development of their careers, and for their socialisation. Its objective is to demonstrate how education and paid employment are being adopted as strategies for upward mobility by women of Moroccan descent in Belgium. A qualitative approach and a comprehensive interpretive overview was used to gather information from in-depth interviews with women descendants of immigrants in Belgium. The results show that the category of “higher educational qualifications” goes hand in hand with considerable social prestige and leads to a number of social privileges. This is a generation with greater social and psychological motivation in the academic sphere, the product of an appreciation of studying and higher education as a route to social advancement and independence from patriarchal models. The personal development of these women can be understood as a force with the potential to raise the class status of the family as a whole.

The growth and popularity of the social network is undeniable. There is a growing number of studies focused in this field. These studies include the analysis of the impact social networks on children and their environments. All of this because of, nowadays, children are the main users of Web 2.0. The aim of this paper is to show the relationship between childhood and social networks. In conclusion, it's show the necessity to research the beneficts and risks on social networks in the childhood and their environment. Just it makes easier the understanding of the phenomena an effecting vulnerable sector of the population.

The paper explores the potential of ICT-based visual resources for developing non-language students’ skills in the area of language and culture mediation in domain specific area. The legal administrative settings are taken as an example. The paper integrates the previous research findings regarding the visualization role in education and latest developments in the field under study. The research framework maps the concepts of visualization and cross-cultural mediation within the educational environment that is supposed to meet the multicultural society needs and challenges. The paper highlights qualitative analysis findings regarding the students’ use of visual resources with the view to their academic progress and professional development. The paper argues the ICT-based visualization in training language and culture mediation skills could facilitate information processing and domain specific knowledge acquisition in a foreign language$ the relevant resources use could enhance students’ professional background, their abilities to meet the labor market requirements regarding applied and research-focused task. The paper provides the relevant literature analysis, a detailed description of the research methodology, and commentary students’ pilot training outcomes, including the data of cluster and factor types of analysis and students’ survey results.

The issue of safety has always been one of the strongest of perceived human needs. Feeling safe is second in the hierarchy of basic needs, right after physiological needs. Safety is currently one of the most important determinants affecting quality of life. This is why it is important to pay special attention to this issue. To increase the level of safety for citizens, local governments should be able to assess adequately their current safety status. For the purpose of determining that status, local governments should use research methods that would identify weak points in safety status. A municipality should try to eliminate the weaknesses found. Municipalities should also determine strengths in regard to safety and try to maintain or to improve them. Research methods should thus represent a way for solution to the problem. In this paper we try to highlight the benefits of the research methods used in the process of determining the safety level of municipalities. Every method has both advantages and disadvantages; the contribution focuses on the selection of the most appropriate methods for assessment the current state of safety. Research requires more methods which depend on hypotheses. A correct understanding and assessment of the current state of safety with properly selected research methods will be a guiding factor for increasing safety.

The growth of Internet has led to the development of new systems of teaching and learning, which have gone hand in hand in the field of higher education with the arrival of the new curricula demanding a new view in the university education. In this paper we give some hints of what the personal learning environments are and their relationship with the university education. In order to carry out this, we show the design of a PLE developed by the students of second course of Childhood Education Degree from the University of Cordova, within the dynamics of the degree itself, allowing the link of its contents to the curriculum of the new syllabus.