Search

Cultural intelligence (CQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ) represent key competencies of multicultural leadership in the new normal global business environment. This paper aims to present a comparative quantitative study concerning emotional and cultural intelligences in USA and Romania, backed by a brief geo-linked bibliometric literature review. The bibliometric analysis is performed with VOSviewer for the works focusing on these two variables published in USA and, respectively, in Romania. Inspired by the findings of this comparative analysis, it is performed a quantitative research based on 604 questionnaires distributed to managers in USA and in Romania, and on statistical processing using SPSS software. The statistical results show that both CQ and EQ constitute significant vectors in developing multicultural leadership and organizational performance in a multicultural business environment for both USA and Romania. The comparative study reveals a higher level of CQ and EQ in the Romanian business environment than in USA. The difference could be explained by the focus on rationality and profit maximization in the American business education. The contribution of the paper comes from these findings and they can help researchers and practitioners to stimulate their efforts in improving CQ and EQ competences.

The purpose of this paper is to present a knowledge management approach to complex crises, having as a reference the multiple crises generated by COVID-19, crises we are living with, and for which we cannot anticipate a specific end due to the knowledge absence concerning this complexity. A complex crisis is a system crisis that induces new crises in connected systems. The knowledge management approach shows that understanding complex crises and managing them needs an excellent understanding of these crises’ knowledge gaps and the knowledge dynamics phenomena able to describe their manifestation and evolution. There is no a priori knowledge or model to give us the key to coping with these crises and designing the best solutions for all the problems generated by them. The present research is based on qualitative research of the significant literature by using the Grounded Theory. The findings show that a knowledge management approach offers new insights into the complexity of these phenomena, which can be symbolized by the Black Swan metaphor defined by Nassim Taleb in his seminal book The Black Swan. The impact of the highly improbable.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the complexity of the COVID-19 crisis by using the grounded theory approach. It is a new approach based on a data set constituted from published papers, reports delivered by official organizations or research institutes, working papers, and public information in media. Each of these documents presents data, information, knowledge, and ideas, usually from a single perspective. The present research uses the method of grounded theory and constructs an integrated model of analysis that explores the complexity of the global crisis induced by COVID-19. For the present research, the data were extracted from published papers focused on different aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic induced economic crisis. That means a meta-analysis of the initial quantitative data but performed from a semantic perspective. The findings show that COVID-19 induced economic crisis is a complex phenomenon that is influenced directly and indirectly by the health system crisis, governmental policies, and behavior of people. The integrated model we got can be used as a tool in a further investigation for a deeper understanding of the complexity of COVID-19. The originality of this paper comes from creating a meta-analysis with the grounded theory of different aspects investigated in a series of papers and constructing a dynamic model capable of approaching the complexity of this Black Swan phenomenon.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the challenges universities have during crazy times and to show how to design knowledge strategies to navigate successfully through the changing economic landscape. Crazy times mean times of rapid and unpredictable changes in the economic environment, times of crises, and disruptive phenomena. For such kind of new realities, the deliberate strategies designed for a predictable future cannot help anymore. They should be replaced by emergent strategies, which consider a moving time coming from the future towards us. Universities are knowledge-intensive organizations, and knowledge is a strategic resource. Designing knowledge strategies and integrating them into the university business strategies becomes a new necessity. Our research is based on a conceptual analysis of time perception and strategy design for strengthening the university competitiveness in a changing environment. We make use of the known-unknown matrix and search for those generic strategies which contribute to the renewal of intellectual capital and achieving a competitive advantage in the new global market of higher education. The quest for becoming a world-class university and the pressure of the ranking systems require a special focus on designing and implementing knowledge strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the latent variables which support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in becoming learning organizations. These latent variables represent abstract ideas that cannot be measured directly in practice, and they need to be explored by using different sets of other variables or indicators defined specifically for certain research of the business environment. The concept of “the learning organization” has been introduced into knowledge management literature about 30 years ago, but due to its complexity and high level of abstractness, its implementation in real life or organizations produced insufficient results for developing a well-defined model and a convincing managerial approach. However, the attractiveness of the learning organization is so appealing that researchers continue to investigate the complex mechanisms and processes supporting it. Our research is such an effort in exploring the latent variables for the small and medium-sized enterprises from the North-Easter region of Romania in their drive of becoming learning organizations. Our research is based on a comprehensive literature search and a quantitative approach supported by a survey and statistical processing of the collected data. We processed 950 valid questionnaires obtained from 147 small and medium-sized enterprises from the North-Eastern region of Romania. Statistical processing was done by using specialized software. We perform a Factor Analysis with IBM SPSS v.19, and then a Confirmatory Factor Analysis with AMOS v.18. Finally, we obtained six latent variables that support the transformation of SMEs into learning organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the knowledge entropy processes within organizations and how they are reflected in the knowledge management and organizational intellectual capital. Entropy is a very powerful concept, which can be found today in almost any branch of science and technology. It was introduced by Rudolf Clausius in 1865 in Thermodynamics, then used in the communication theory by Claude Shannon, and expanded by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen in economics. However, dues to its extensive use in so many different research domains, the concept of entropy became fuzzy and sometimes misleading in applications. Also, its statistical formulations based on the Boltzmann theory made the entropy understanding rather difficult and its interpretations on the edge of coherence. Knowledge entropy is an extension of information entropy and used within the framework of knowledge management. Our conceptual analysis aims to shed light on the appropriate use of knowledge entropy and its potential in knowledge management research and practice. Since knowledge entropy is associated to all transformational processes in knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, knowledge acquisition, and knowledge loss, we may say that knowledge management can be interpreted as the process of managing knowledge entropy within organizations.

The primary purpose of this research is to present the evolution and current state of knowledge regarding the dematerialization of banking products and services in the digital age. The paper discusses the central issues regarding the dematerialization of money, the dematerialization of securities and the dematerialization of the contract, trends with direct impact on the possibility of dematerializing the products and services offered by banking institutions, by means of an investigative discourse and viewpoint into and over the shift from tangible to intangible monetary assets. It mainly explores the impact of dematerialization on certain processes performed by banks (customer enrollment and management) and on certain products and services offered by banks (payment services, lending services, etc.) from the perspective of the latest technological innovations and the influence exerted by fintech companies. The chapter clearly establishes the synergy link between environmental factors (increased competition, technological advance, legislative changes) and the ability of banking institutions to adapt to new conditions by changing the business model. The research ends with a series of conclusions regarding the way in which the tendencies towards dematerialization affect the activity and the business model adopted by the banking institutions. The content of the research report is useful both to the managers in the financial field and to the authorities that legislate this field, especially to those in Romania, who can use the conclusions of the report to elaborate policies in order to advance the degree of digitization of the Romanian banking system.

The intellectual capital research and practice entered in the last years into a visible decline due to some barriers in understanding its intangible nature and designing Newtonian metrics for its measurement and reporting. Inertial thinking is very powerful in promoting new approaches for the need of a new perspective in working with intellectual capital. Unfortunately, even some top journals in the domain of intellectual capital remained trapped into this Newtonian logic and standard statistical analysis, as a result of the mind-set of their editorial staff and reviewers. The purpose of this paper is to present a critical analysis of the intellectual capital research and practice today and to reveal some of the most important barriers in understanding the complexity and nature of the intellectual capital. These barriers manifest like myths in approaching the research into intellectual capital, myths that create a false reality and false research questions, which enter into collision with the real life of companies and their business. The paper identifies seven myths which created a Newtonian version of the non-Newtonian reality, and a golden rule for further research into the intellectual capital of organizations. The conclusion of the present critical analysis is that we need a new approach to understand the complexity of the intellectual capital and new metrics to measure it.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how managers should design the company's knowledge strategies. That is a new dimension of knowledge management and it can be performed by using design thinking and the theory of knowledge fields and knowledge dynamics. The analysis is based on a critical literature review and on the known-unknowm matrix developed at the individual level and then extended at the company's level. Knowledge strategies deals with the intangible resources of any organization and becomes more important in the knowledge intensive business services (KIBS). Designing knowledge strategies follows a different approach than that known for business strategies. Their purpose is to design a thinking framework in the absence of knowledge that generates uncertainty and psychological difficulties in making decisions. Knowledge strategies do not follow the Porter's principle of competitive advantage, but they are designed following the known-unknown dynamics within an organization. From designing thinking perspective, they adopt abductive thinking instead of induction or deduction. The main categories of knowledge strategies resulting from the known-unknown dynamics are knowledge exploitation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing and knowledge exploration. Knowledge exploitation aims to use efficiently all the available knowledge within an organization; knowledge sharing implies a process of increasing the knowledge entropy of a given team or organization that leads towards increasing innovation; knowledge exploration aims at reducing the absence of knowledge by creating new knowledge. Knowledge exploration reduces the uncertainty and increases chances for better decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural intelligence (CQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ) represent key competencies of multicultural leadership in the new normal global business environment. This paper aims to present a comparative quantitative study concerning emotional and cultural intelligences in USA and Romania, backed by a brief geo-linked bibliometric literature review. The bibliometric analysis is performed with VOSviewer for the works focusing on these two variables published in USA and, respectively, in Romania. Inspired by the findings of this comparative analysis, it is performed a quantitative research based on 604 questionnaires distributed to managers in USA and in Romania, and on statistical processing using SPSS software. The statistical results show that both CQ and EQ constitute significant vectors in developing multicultural leadership and organizational performance in a multicultural business environment for both USA and Romania. The comparative study reveals a higher level of CQ and EQ in the Romanian business environment than in USA. The difference could be explained by the focus on rationality and profit maximization in the American business education. The contribution of the paper comes from these findings and they can help researchers and practitioners to stimulate their efforts in improving CQ and EQ competences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the literature there are many and different interpretations of the concept knowledge dynamics that creates a real difficulty in working with it. There is no comprehensive study of all these meanings and interpretations attributed to knowledge dynamics. The purpose of this paper is to explore the semantic spectrum of the concept of knowledge dynamics and to reveal the most relevant meanings and interpretations researchers in the domain of knowledge management attribute to it. The multitude of meanings and interpretations can be explained as a result of using different metaphors for expressing the concept of knowledge. Also, many researchers come from different domains of science and have different practical experiences in working with knowledge and knowledge management. The research question is how can be found a common framework to explain the most significant meanings and interpretations of the knowledge dynamics concept. Understanding this concept is necessary for all researchers, academics, and practitioners working in the domain of knowledge management and intellectual capital. The research method is based on a critical literature review, on using metaphorical thinking and on a comparative semantic analysis. It is a conceptual paper and therefore its structure will follow the logic of analysis and not that used for empirical research papers. The findings are integrated into a complex but coherent semantic framework based on both Newtonian and Thermodynamics principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to perform a semantic analysis of wisdom management that constitutes the driving force for a wise company. That is a company whose goal goes beyond the economic paradigm based on profit maximization. It is a company where managers apply practical wisdom in their decision making processes. Aristotle used to call this practical wisdom phronesis and to consider a higher-order knowledge in his knowledge ontology. Although in the literature there are many papers and books focusing on phronesis, there is no critical analysis from a semantic point of view that is necessary to understand what it is and how it can be applied in wisdom management. Also, for a deeper investigation of the semantic clusters associated with wisdom management, we perform a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer, a specialized software for such kinds of studies. Our findings show that wisdom management represents a kind of idealistic process because it is based on o set of values that are not converging toward profit maximization but toward a sustainable company focusing on the well-being of all employees and of the community where the company operates. Wisdom management deeds wise leaders and a wise education for them, which are still far from the present reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study is to examine knowledge management's function as a mediator between academic management and business education. Knowledge management evolved in the last decades as an important component of the organizational management that focuses on intangible resources. In the knowledge economy, knowledge became a strategic resource and it needs a different type of management because it has different economic characteristics by comparison with tangible resources which are represented by physical objects. Knowledge management becomes dominant in the knowledge-intensive organizations, like universities, research centers, consulting companies, and those organizations where knowledge density and knowledge processes intensity determine the organizational performance. From this perspective, it is interesting to analyze the role played by knowledge management in mediating the complex correlation between academic management and business education. Academic management is considered an independent variable and business education the outcome of the whole management of the teaching and learning processes. Knowledge management is the mediator of the whole process. The present research is based on qualitative and quantitative analyses. Qualitative investigation consist in a critical analysis of the literature, and quantitative research is a survey based on a questionnaire addressed to students and professors involved in business education from two Romanian universities. Statistical processing was done with SPSS version 26.0 and the macro PROCESS version 3.5. The findings back up the basic hypothesis and support the research model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the complexity of the COVID-19 crisis by using the grounded theory approach. It is a new approach based on a data set constituted from published papers, reports delivered by official organizations or research institutes, working papers, and public information in media. Each of these documents presents data, information, knowledge, and ideas, usually from a single perspective. The present research uses the method of grounded theory and constructs an integrated model of analysis that explores the complexity of the global crisis induced by COVID-19. For the present research, the data were extracted from published papers focused on different aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic induced economic crisis. That means a meta-analysis of the initial quantitative data but performed from a semantic perspective. The findings show that COVID-19 induced economic crisis is a complex phenomenon that is influenced directly and indirectly by the health system crisis, governmental policies, and behavior of people. The integrated model we got can be used as a tool in a further investigation for a deeper understanding of the complexity of COVID-19. The originality of this paper comes from creating a meta-analysis with the grounded theory of different aspects investigated in a series of papers and constructing a dynamic model capable of approaching the complexity of this Black Swan phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to explore the latent variables which support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in becoming learning organizations. These latent variables represent abstract ideas that cannot be measured directly in practice, and they need to be explored by using different sets of other variables or indicators defined specifically for certain research of the business environment. The concept of "the learning organization" has been introduced into knowledge management literature about 30 years ago, but due to its complexity and high level of abstractness, its implementation in real life or organizations produced insufficient results for developing a well-defined model and a convincing managerial approach. However, the attractiveness of the learning organization is so appealing that researchers continue to investigate the complex mechanisms and processes supporting it. Our research is such an effort in exploring the latent variables for the small and medium-sized enterprises from the North-Easter region of Romania in their drive of becoming learning organizations. Our research is based on a comprehensive literature search and a quantitative approach supported by a survey and statistical processing of the collected data. We processed 950 valid questionnaires obtained from 147 small and medium-sized enterprises from the North-Eastern region of Romania. Statistical processing was done by using specialized software. We perform a Factor Analysis with IBM SPSS v.19, and then a Confirmatory Factor Analysis with AMOS v.18. Finally, we obtained six latent variables that support the transformation of SMEs into learning organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary purpose of this research is to present the evolution and current state of knowledge regarding the dematerialization of banking products and services in the digital age. The paper discusses the central issues regarding the dematerialization of money, the dematerialization of securities and the dematerialization of the contract, trends with direct impact on the possibility of dematerializing the products and services offered by banking institutions, by means of an investigative discourse and viewpoint into and over the shift from tangible to intangible monetary assets. It mainly explores the impact of dematerialization on certain processes performed by banks (customer enrollment and management) and on certain products and services offered by banks (payment services, lending services, etc.) from the perspective of the latest technological innovations and the influence exerted by fintech companies. The chapter clearly establishes the synergy link between environmental factors (increased competition, technological advance, legislative changes) and the ability of banking institutions to adapt to new conditions by changing the business model. The research ends with a series of conclusions regarding the way in which the tendencies towards dematerialization affect the activity and the business model adopted by the banking institutions. The content of the research report is useful both to the managers in the financial field and to the authorities that legislate this field, especially to those in Romania, who can use the conclusions of the report to elaborate policies in order to advance the degree of digitization of the Romanian banking system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the knowledge economy, knowledge becomes a strategic resource for any company contributing significantly to achieving its competitive advantage. Knowledge risk is associated with any knowledge activity which is done under the pressure of uncertainty. Researchers focus their attention especially on the following types of knowledge risks: knowledge loss, knowledge leakage, knowledge spillover, knowledge outsourcing, knowledge gaps, and improper use of knowledge. All the researchers analyze knowledge risk by using for knowledge the metaphor of stock-and-flow, which implies that knowledge is considered in its explicit form as being rational. According to the theory of knowledge fields, which is based on the metaphor of knowledge as energy, we consider a holistic approach comprising the rational knowledge field, emotional knowledge field, and spiritual knowledge field. In this perspective, the risk is associated with each knowledge field such that the whole phenomenon of knowledge risk becomes more complex. The purpose of this paper is to present a holistic approach to the knowledge risk based on this theory of knowledge fields and the energy metaphor for knowledge. It is a conceptual analysis based on metaphorical thinking and literature background. Our findings lead to a larger perspective in understanding and using the concept of knowledge risk in knowledge management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intellectual capital research and practice entered in the last years into a visible decline due to some barriers in understanding its intangible nature and designing Newtonian metrics for its measurement and reporting. Inertial thinking is very powerful in promoting new approaches for the need of a new perspective in working with intellectual capital. Unfortunately, even some top journals in the domain of intellectual capital remained trapped into this Newtonian logic and standard statistical analysis, as a result of the mind-set of their editorial staff and reviewers. The purpose of this paper is to present a critical analysis of the intellectual capital research and practice today and to reveal some of the most important barriers in understanding the complexity and nature of the intellectual capital. These barriers manifest like myths in approaching the research into intellectual capital, myths that create a false reality and false research questions, which enter into collision with the real life of companies and their business. The paper identifies seven myths which created a Newtonian version of the non- Newtonian reality, and a golden rule for further research into the intellectual capital of organizations. The conclusion of the present critical analysis is that we need a new approach to understand the complexity of the intellectual capital and new metrics to measure it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present a holistic view of the organizational knowledge dynamics, as an alternative to the current research focusing on different aspects of this complex and nonlinear phenomenon. Organizational knowledge is a semantic construct which has been developed as a result of growing importance of knowledge as a strategic resource, and it constitutes an integration of all forms of knowledge co-existing within an organization. Organizational knowledge varies in time and its dynamics is vital for organizational growth and for achieving a competitive advantage. Our approach is based on metaphorical thinking and on critical analysis of the present research concerning organizational knowledge and organizational intellectual dynamics. Going beyond the iceberg and stocks-and-flows metaphors, our research is based on the energy metaphor and the entropy law. The conceptual approach used and the final results obtained demonstrate the importance and utility of the holistic view in understanding more profoundly the complexity of the organizational knowledge dynamics.

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the state-of-the-art in organizational knowledge creation, a field of research that is expanding almost exponentially. Knowledge creation is a dynamic capability that enables firms to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage on the market. Our purpose is to critically analyze the most significant ideas published in this field, and especially to present the most important models elaborated for organizational knowledge creation: Nonaka's model, Nissen's model, Boisot's model, and the EO_SECI model. Also, we would like to identify the main determinants of the knowledge creation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present main ideas, concepts, theories and practices related to entrepreneurial university. Since the concept of the entrepreneurial university is rather fuzzy we performed a literature research in order to clarify its semantic and operational dimensions. The concept is cultural dependent, and understanding it means to consider its social and economic external environment. Also, it is important to consider a multidimensional analysis, and not to reduce the main idea of entrepreneurship to its financial metric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present a new perspective of the linear-nonlinear thinking style and its critical role in knowledge management education. Previous works in this field identified linear thinking as being rational, logic and analytic, and nonlinear thinking as being based on intuition, insight and creativity. In this perspective, linear thinking is related mostly with cognitive intelligence, while nonlinear thinking is related mostly with emotional intelligence. These interpretations have a slight connection with the generic concepts of linearity and linear spaces developed in science. Our research changed the cognitive-emotional perspective into a new one based on the fundamental properties of linear spaces, as they are defined in Mathematics. Basically, a linear model is characterized from operational point of view by a linear equation. That means that outputs of this model should be proportional with inputs. For instance, the temperature level indicated by a familiar thermometer is proportional with the mercury dilation. If the operational model is based on a nonlinear equation, then the model is nonlinear. Thus, cognitive thinking can be linear or nonlinear, while emotional thinking is by its nature nonlinear. Based on this new theoretical construct we developed an investigation instrument to measure the linear-nonlinear thinking style, and applied it to our students in master programs of business administration where there is an important module of knowledge management and learning organizations. The initial sample consisted of 500 graduate students in attending courses in master programs at the Faculty of Business Administration, Academy of Economic Studies from Bucharest, the most important and best considered university for economics and business in Romania. The questionnaire contains 50 items, with answers evaluated on a Likert-type scale. Using the STATA program we performed various analyses, and interpreted the final results in connection with the educational curricula at the Bachelor and Master levels. Conclusions show a dominant role of the linear thinking style, which might constitute o severe limitation in knowledge management and business decision making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present some results of our empirical research on the messages transmitted by the universities mottos. In a global market for higher education, universities must compete for students re-thinking their offer, and their attractors. One of these attractors is the motto of the university, which suggests an inspiring message. Not all universities have chosen a motto, but many of them have done it. We considered 365 such mottos and we performed a frequency analysis of their components. That means, we analysed the most frequent words used and the key meanings associated with them. These meanings are found also in the vision and mission statements of the chosen universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]