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The process of internationalization has determined many companies to spread their value chain activities around the world based on the competences of the employees in each region and on lower costs in some countries. The internationalization requires a complex coordination of the activities from the management of any company. An advantage for these complex activities, are employees who are able to communicate in a foreign language. For this reason more and more employees are required to know a foreign language. The aim of this paper is to determine the advantages of employees who have language skills regarding easier and faster chances to find a new job and also regarding the better condition at work. The paper focuses on the results of a research about the necessity, success and maturity of German speaking employees in international companies with offices in Romania. Especially in companies offering outsourcing activities it is important to find employees who have both the competences for the field in which they work and also the knowledge of the language. This paper presents the results of a research about the perception of German speaking employees in companies with offices in Romania about their chances and advantages at work. There are analyzed several general aspects about the perceived advantages of knowing a foreign language and the characteristics of the corporate culture in companies where there is a need of speaking a foreign language. Most of the results confirm the necessity of knowing a foreign language and the success of knowing a foreign language, by having higher salaries, better recompensations or even easier possibility of finding a job. There are also analyzed several aspects about the frequency and forms of communication in German language. This aspect influences the strategies of universities, because it is important to know the impact of knowing a foreign language in order to prepare the future students for it and to offer study programs in foreign languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent dynamics of neuroscience is enabling and fostering the interface of this domain with others, such as: biology, sociology and economy. The complexity of market mechanisms in general and of the buying decision in particular increased considerably, demanding thus more sophisticated investigation instruments. During the last decade, neuromarketing has been in search of its own identity on the ambiguous field of market research. Starting from the works of Ale Smidts, the paper aims to position neuromarketing as an independent research field. The author reviews the different opinions articulated by specialists throughout the contemporary literature, emphasizing neuromarketing's capability of addressing the invisible side of neuronal connections that are situated inside the brain. Starting from Salovey and Mayer's definition of emotional intelligence (EI), this paper reviews the anatomical and physiological foundations of the brain activity that generates the EI. We analyze the neuromarketing concepts and instruments that enable specialists to comprehensively study people's unconscious reactions that lead them to buy or reject a product that could satisfy their needs. Thus, the physiological neuronal data acquired enables us to better understand externally triggered emotions and the way they interact in order to generate the buying decision. The whole approach is circumscribed to the relationship marketing framework that relies on creating, developing, maintaining and perpetuating interpersonal ties between all players in the market, in order to improve the image of a service, brand or company. We will look then at the difference between emotions and moods and analyze how they impact our behavior. Emotions are high-intensity but transient manifestations while moods represent rather insidious changes in our state of mind, changes that might or might not be easily identified and traced back to their origins. Neuromarketing research techniques (represented by electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), eye-tracking glasses (ET) and the galvanic-skin response (GSR)) bring valuable insights regarding the neural substrates of EI and allow researchers to seize the ephemeral interaction between different brain structures during the decision making process. We will further discuss the findings of our original research that studied the impact of packaging on consumers' emotional reaction. The research tested the impact of several elements of the packaging layout (color, shape, label and message positioning) for different packaging of competing brands in the honey market. The research was conducted at the Doctoral School of Marketing from the Bucharest University of Economic Studies. The research results where later used in crafting the product-positioning strategy for several products from the company's portfolio. Conclusions and further discussion topics will then be inferred and detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intellectual capital of a company has three components: the human capital, the structural capital and the relational capital. The objective of this article is to determine the role and the actions of the relationship marketing on the development of the intellectual capital of a company, especially on the relational capital. Relationship marketing is the result of a radical transformation of the marketing vision in a company, by moving the focus of its activity in the identification, keeping and development of good relationships with all its stakeholders. The implementation of the relationship marketing at a company level imposes a change of mentality at all decision levels. All these changes lead to the development of the relational capital of a company, which has become in the contemporary economy, one of the most important intangible assets of a company. After the conceptual clarification, based on a wide literature review, there is presented the methodological basis of a qualitative, explorative research, which was done in 12 multinational companies in Romania. The main objective of the research was the relation between the actions of the relationship marketing and the development of the relational capital of a company. With the help of a conversation guide based on a in depth semi-conducted interview, there were tested eight hypotheses regarding the way in which the managers of the Romanian companies understood the role and the position of the relationship marketing in the increase of profitability for a company and for the development of the relational capital of an organization. The results of the research confirm the fact the decision makers understood the role of the actions of the relationship marketing for the profitability of a company, but they see only punctual connections between these and the development of the relational capital. There are no operational instruments for the connection of the relational capital and knowledge management in the questioned companies. Based on the results of the research, in the end of the article there are suggested some directions for action for increasing the value and impact of the relationship marketing for the development of the relational capital of a company. These directions focus on the development of a systemic thinking, based on a medium and long term vision of a company as well as the creation of an appropriate organizational frame which should keep and improve its relational capital (data base of customers or other stakeholders, an efficient customer relationship management and a supplier relationship management, a complaint and reclamation management which should improve the relationship with the customer, a platform which should stimulate and gather new innovative ideas, results of the relation with the stakeholders of the company). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perception is an important aspect of all cognitive and emotional processes which take place in the mind of any person, for all these processes are analyzed and worked out depending on how certain events are perceived. Practically, all the knowledge in the mind of a person is stored in the form it is interpreted by the perception. Seeing it otherwise, the perception is some sort of filter through which all information from the external environment is shaped when it "enters" in the mind of the consumer. Depending on how certain aspects or certain information are perceived, they influence the behavior. One of the fields in which perception is important is consumer behavior. Depending on how certain products are perceived by the consumer, he might buy the product or not. As perception is different from one consumer to another it is interesting to see if there are differences in the perception of the own consumer behavior and the one of a third observer. Of course the differences might appear because of the fact that a third observer doesn't know all the information on which the consumer bases his decision (as for instance: previous experiences, advertising, etc.). But, from a marketing point of view this difference is important, as most of the marketing strategies and decision are based on third observer information and less on the real opinion of the consumer. This article is based on a research about the cognitive and emotional processes in the consumer behavior. It consisted out of an experiment, which had three parts. In the first part the consumer was questioned about the intentions he had in the shopping experience. In the second part the behavior of the consumer was observed, while in the third part the consumer was questioned about his own. The article presents the comparative analysis of the observed and questioned behavior for several product groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facebook has become in the past year the number one of social media networks and almost everybody and everything are present on Facebook. Moreover the development of smart phones and the mobile internet has increased even more this trend. One of the major questions which was asked in the scientific world is the reasons which people have in order to create an Facebook account and then the reasons to come again and again back on Facebook. Many studies have revealed the fact that the main reasons for persons to be on Facebook are on one hand the communication and socialization and on the other hand the creation of an image. Facebook makes communication much easier as people don't necessarily have to meet in order to communicate. Besides this in the global world in which we live, facebook has made communication around the world much easier. In the used communication, people can create a certain image of themselves, which is sometimes much easier to develop in the virtual world than in the real world. People can choose the pictures they post, the statuses they write, or the activities at which they take part. Moreover facebook shows more and more what they are and how they are seen by their circle of friends, acquaintances and colleagues. This article presents the results of a study regarding the reasons of the Romanian population to go on Facebook. It analyzes reasons like the importance of the communication, the importance of creating a certain image, spare time activity as games and so on. Related to the image of the participants, there are analyzed the activities by which the persons create their image as for instance the pictures they post, their performances at work, posted music and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important aspects for the development of the intellectual capital of a university is the quality of its human capital and its capability to build relations. One of these relations is the one between the students and the professors. This relationship is important because only by a good communication between these parties, the students can increase their performances both at university and in their future job and contribute by this to the image of the university. Especially in a time, where competition between universities becomes more intense, it is important to keep a good relation with its students, because they influence the image of the university and also its success. The premise for a good relation with its students is achieving their satisfaction. Satisfied students are the ones, who recommend the university to others. For building a relational capital, especially the satisfaction of the students with their relation to the professors is very important. This article presents the perception of the students regarding their relation and evaluation of the professors of a university and it is based on a satisfaction study done within a university from Romania. Besides this, it presents also the impact and the influence of the quality of the relation on the general image of the university. Within the study there are analyzed aspects like the competences of the professors, the teaching style, pedagogical skills, implication of the professors in the courses and seminars, attitude of professors towards students, communication, availability and their impact on the overall satisfaction of students with the university and their willingness to recommend or to continue their studies at the same university. It is also analyzed the impact of all these elements on the performance of the students. In the end there are presented the conclusions and the recommendations for the university and the measures it should take in order to increase the dynamics of its human and relational capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]