Loredana ORHEI, Joop VINKE
 

Many authors that study the concept of social entrepreneurship have focused their explanations of this concept on the basis of the individual, the social entrepreneur. The American School of Social Innovation, one of the four existing school of thoughts in the area of the topic, focuses on the study of the person behind the (social) entrepreneurship. Seen as „road opener with new strong ideas”,[1] as „change agents in the social sector” [2] or as „pragmatic visionary who achieves change at a large scale” [3]. The social entrepreneur could be considered the modern version of Say’s or Schumpeter’s portrait of entrepreneur. There are also some authors that consider (social) entrepreneurship, related to the individual as a competence and as attitude [4]. The authors of the paper will also explain in this paper the concept of (social) entrepreneurship as a competence, but in another way. The concept of (social) entrepreneurship is many times associated with the adoption of business instruments in the civil society sector that is why a new vision on the role of the business executive will be presented in relation to the „modern” version of the entrepreneur: the social one. According to the authors today’s business needs more improvising professionals, to add up to the extensive number of executive professionals. The authors believe that the “real “social entrepreneur is an embodiment of such a type of professional: an improvising professional, a “player” in the business and social field...

  • Type: Case Study
  • Published on: 1st December, 2012
  • Keywords: Competence, executive, improvising, professional, social entrepreneur.
  • Final revision and acceptance: 15th November, 2012
Daniela HAS
 

The changes within the organizations, the mutations of the employment market have determined the manifestation of a modern organizational phenomenon, namely the intercultural work teams (IWT). The statement that work teams are a microcosm of organization’s high performance, as a whole, induces the idea that the organizations performance, in the present business world context , consists also of the managers capacity to improve the work teams performances. This represents a challenge for the IWT managers, these being the manifestation of the interaction between people with different values and behaviors. In my opinion if the elements of the cultural (national) dimensions are ignored, by no implementing an intercultural management, this could be an obstacle against obtaining the IWT performance. Ensuing from bibliographical research, I have identified up to now various performance and intercultural management models applied to the working teams. Now I will follow how these models could be applied, improved or combined, in the context of intercultural component of working teams.

  • Type: Case Study
  • Published on: 1st December, 2012
  • Keywords: Management, intercultural, team
  • Final revision and acceptance: 15th November, 2012
Mihai Ovidiu CERCEL
 

The present study aims to present two of the most used international models for evaluating the organizational culture at company level. The models – Denison or Human Synergistics – are using a bottom-up approach, which starts from the employee level, in order to determine the organizational culture profiles, as a result of individual overlapping values and behaviours. The research will illustrate how the Human Synergistics cultural styles and the Denison cultural dimensions and traits draw an accurate and detailed image of the organizational culture at company level. The study is proposing a complementary approach, by using both models simultaneously, in order to obtain a more complex representation of the organizational culture, defined by the capacity of the organization to build a collective identity, in order to seize the changes in the external environment and to transform the threats into opportunities. The result could form a foundation to define a future process of modelling the cultural transformation of a Romanian company, for a better adaptation to the Romanian business environment.

  • Type: Case Study
  • Published on: 1st December, 2012
  • Keywords: Organizational Culture, efficient organization, Human Synergistics Model, Denison Model, cultural styles, cultural traits, cultural indices
  • Final revision and acceptance: 15th November, 2012
Maria Irina TROFIN
 

Starting and developing a business is no longer a challenge as booth an adventure. Wold (economic, social, cultural) today differs fundamentally from that of a century ago and half of the United States of America or Europe, when there were first a family business or individual as the predecessor of today’s small and medium enterprises. Reality economic, social and European policy today requires more than ever to create a business environment to highlight the private initiative, entrepreneurship, competitiveness and innovation. Most of the characteristics of small and medium-sized private business in Romania are similar to those in countries where such organizations is encouraged. A small portion of them are influenced by specific factors, however, when presenting a comparative analysis of certain elements of differentiation. The current phase they go through private small and medium enterprises in Romania, which began with ongoing EU accession prospects have the seeds of Romanian entrepreneurship in the coming years. How real economic integration efforts are consistent on both sides, the focus of political attention is warranted and is intended to be a sustainable.

  • Type: Case Study
  • Published on: 1st December, 2012
  • Keywords: Entrepreneurship, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), franchise, entrepreneurship education
  • Final revision and acceptance: 15th November, 2012
Ariana-Lavinia MOS, Ana PADUREAN
 

This paper aims at analyzing the emergence and development of leadership in public administration in Romania, compared to leadership within the public administration in other countries: UK, USA, Norway, New Zealand, etc.It is known that between public administration and government of Romania in other countries there are many differences, related to the way it is perceived by the public sector and the concept of leadership is not entirely new in the public sector. But over time, more attention was paid to it in the private sector. Thus, in Romania, in the public sector leadership development has been addressed only rarely and briefly. Currently, Romania is unable to mobilize a large number of leaders because has started gradual reform so the image or reputation of the organization, organizational culture must be assessed and controlled, should be directed towards achieving goals. And all this, because leadership is based on knowledge and skills essential to help public institutions, providing premises for an efficient administration, which significantly contribute to community welfare. On the other hand, countries such as Australia, Germany, Iceland, New Zealand. Norway, Britain and the U.S. have devoted considerable attention to this subject in recent years, broad context that triggered the renewal of strategic planning processes for civil service leadership, new institutions were established to identify future leaders within the administrative sector and for their professional development, have started programs to supplement current development and management development programs in public leadership.In Romania, the future government leaders must first be identified, so public institutions should consider the leadership skills and recruit future leaders from among university graduates in the field.

  • Type: Case Study
  • Published on: 1st December, 2012
  • Keywords: Leadership, Public administration, Public institutions, Leader
  • Final revision and acceptance: 15th November, 2012
Adriana-Emilia ROBU
 

In the online medium, competition being at one click distance, the success of business web sites comes from their potential to differentiate. It is important for marketers and web designers to know which elements are appealing to users and how these elements influence their behavior. Recent studies suggest that web site failures are due to poor web design and there are various and specific characteristics of web site interactivity and design elements which users may prefer. First, this article aims at identifying and examining the characteristics of web site interactivity and web design, which influence most the users. Second, it finds out how these elements influence the online consumer’s behavior and finally, it gives insights into the methodological aspects used in this area. Overall, these findings provide insight into the interactivity and design characteristics, helping marketers and web designers to enhance the web site interface to attract and persuade users and finally to elicit a loyalty behavior.

  • Type: Case Study
  • Published on: 1st December, 2012
  • Keywords: web interactivity, web design, consumer behavior, online consumer behavior, eye-tracking, eye movement
  • Final revision and acceptance: 15th November, 2012
Andreia ISPAS, Adriana Elena TEBEIAN
 

Servant Leadership (Greenleaf, 1970) and Transformational Leadership (Burns, 1978) are the main subjects in organizational research beginning with the ’70. During this period the ideas where conceptualized, studies where done to observe the effects of applying the styles inside the organizational environment, the impact on individual and group performance. During the same period were also formulated principles, characteristics and conceptual models for their implementation. Among the well-known forms of leadership, transformational and servant leadership are the most desirable forms inside organizations. The purpose of this paper is to make a comparative analysis of the two concepts of leadership through the dynamics of the concepts, the features, characteristics and principles with the main focus on common elements, what is distinctive for each of the two styles, what makes the difference between transformational leadership and servant leadership. The method used is qualitative research based on comparative analysis. By this article we wanted to shape some arguments to sustain the feasibility of the two concepts inside different organizational contexts in Romania (hotel industry and automotive industry).

  • Type: Case Study
  • Published on: 1st June, 2012
  • Keywords: Transformational leadership, servant leadership, performance, hotel industry, automotive industry
  • Final revision and acceptance: 15th May, 2012
Crina Anisoara TRIFAN (LICA)
 

Purpose statement - The purpose of this paper is to examine the media’s influence on public perception of the European entrepreneurial environment, with specific reference to business performances as they are presented on Romanian economic journals, in 2010. Design/Methodology/Approach - The nature of the topic suggests the use of an interdisciplinary set of analysis, interpretation and evaluation of results, as well as the option for a joint research strategy, which is engaged in methods and techniques from many scientific fields, in order to validate the assumptions. Overview - Due to the unstable economic situation in Romania over the last few years, local entrepreneurs are interested to know the features, dynamics, and, above all, opportunities and threats specific to the European business environment to assess the chances of achieving their targets. Likewise, before making any investment decisions, foreign investors and entrepreneurs need to know exactly if and how the new business environment will support the development of their own businesses. Therefore, mass media has a significant role in this system mostly as an opinion maker among target audiences and promoter of economic agents, companies, industries or countries. Limits of Research - There are two main limitations of this study- firstly the selection of economic publications in the field, considered representative of the media in Romania, and secondly the time constraints. Originality/Value - The originality of this paper is given by the issues approach that takes into account the influence factors and the initial assumptions. Its value lies in the usefulness of research outputs, both for media representatives in Romania and for foreign and local entrepreneurs.

  • Type: Case Study
  • Published on: 1st June, 2012
  • Keywords: Mass media, perception, reality, public opinion, entrepreneur, European
  • Final revision and acceptance: 15th May, 2012
Silvia Mihaela PAVE
 

Women’s entrepreneurship is expanding all over the world. The growth of women’s businesses is central to wealth creation, innovation and economic development in all countries. Although in theory, things seem to follow an upward slope, women representing 46% of Europe’s working population, in fact entrepreneurship is still considered an activity reserved for men, and the lack of models emphasizes this perception. Women and wine is an increasingly productive association, a trend that in many countries and regions took the form of a real phenomenon. No business or industry reaches further back in history or is more global in scope than the wine industry. And no other industry has so resolutely excluded women from positions of influence for so long. Despite the overwhelming male dominance of the wine industry, one hears repeatedly about individual unique women who have broken the barriers, who have conquered age-old prejudices in order to become winery owners, vine growers, winemakers, sommeliers, restaurant owners, consumers, and supply chain managers. This article provides a general overview of the wine industry, particularly those aspects most relevant to understanding women’s influence and proposes a research of the future of women in the world of wine and the impact of this trend on Romania’s regional development.

  • Type: Case Study
  • Published on: 1st June, 2012
  • Keywords: Women’s entrepreneurship, wine industry, male dominance, trend, regional development
  • Final revision and acceptance: 15th May, 2012
Daniela BRADUTANU
 

This paper aims to study the comparative patterns of change suggested by Price Waterhouse (1995) in their book “A better change: Best practices for transforming your organization” and John Kotter (1996), in his book “Leading change”. Price Waterhouse’s and Kotter’s change models are nearly identical in many aspects. In his book “Leading change”, Kotter appears to have much of the same perspective as Price Waterhouse when it comes to culture, organizational change in general and vision. However, Price Waterhouse takes an approach that requires nearly every person to be on board with the organization’s change program, whereas Kotter implies that the leader primarily focuses on stakeholders.

  • Type: Case Study
  • Published on: 1st June, 2012
  • Keywords: Organizational change, culture, vision, consensus, stakeholders
  • Final revision and acceptance: 15th May, 2012
Eduard EDELHAUSER
 

The aim of the paper is to study the use of the advanced management methods in Romania, through the evolution of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Business Intelligence (BI) systems. The study set sights on Romanian organizations which implemented a SIVECO ERP and BI software and the methodology used is both quantitative and qualitative. In the past few years I have attempted to point out certain essential elements of integrated information systems, used as decision and management instruments available for managers. Therefore, I have tried to induce the managers of the organizations, with which I have collaborated, the awareness that the ERP and BI systems are most mere accounting applications. The purpose was to demonstrate some hypothesis concerning the relationship between the size of the organization, the implementation of ERP and BI applications in all functions of the organization, the management method used, and the role of IT&C in decision making. The practical value of this study consists in the measurement of the impacts of contingency factors, and in the assessment of the ERP systems success. The results demonstrate that the relationship between the size and the level of implementation and ERP and BI success is moderated by IT assets. The originality of this article consists in the study realized in computer based advanced management methods implementation.

  • Type: Case Study
  • Published on: 1st June, 2012
  • Keywords: Business Intelligence, Enterprise Resource Planning, management methods, decision.
  • Final revision and acceptance: 15th May, 2012