Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Intellectual Capital

Who paid for
Third parties
Employer
Myself
16%
14,28%
28,20%
Marta-Christina Suciu et al.
68%
71,52%
64,10%
16%
14,20%
7,70%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Type <strong>of</strong> interest
Personal interest Pr<strong>of</strong>essional interest Both
Figure 2: Motivation for attending courses and financial support distribution
For most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> respondents <strong>the</strong> education system played an important role in <strong>the</strong>ir personal and
pr<strong>of</strong>essional development. On a scale <strong>of</strong> 1 to 5, 5 being <strong>the</strong> highest, <strong>the</strong> average result was 4.37 with
a mode <strong>of</strong> 5 and a standard deviation <strong>of</strong> only 0.87.
After a more thorough analysis it was determined that individuals have found a mentor in <strong>the</strong>ir activity,
and this has pushed <strong>the</strong> overall average to 4.08. However, <strong>the</strong> correlation between <strong>the</strong>ir opinion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
importance <strong>of</strong> a mentor and <strong>the</strong> impact <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> education system is only 0.38 whereas <strong>the</strong> correlation
between <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> system and <strong>of</strong> teachers is 0.54. This indicates that while for those that
had a mentor <strong>the</strong>ir education made a difference, <strong>the</strong>re is a lack <strong>of</strong> teachers and specialised
pr<strong>of</strong>essionals in mentoring.
Concerning <strong>the</strong>ir propensity to bringing improvements in <strong>the</strong> organization <strong>the</strong> results reveal a fairly
surprising conclusion. Of all <strong>the</strong> respondents, 90% claim to have brought something new, however,
considering what <strong>the</strong>y claim and <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir job, only about 30% were deemed to have actually
made an improvement. What is unexpected is that, <strong>of</strong> those who innovated something, 40% were <strong>of</strong> a
technical background, 33% <strong>of</strong> and economic background and only 22% <strong>of</strong> a philology specialization.
This is important because one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> initial assumptions was that people with philological educational
background are being more inclined to innovation and change. This has been disproved by <strong>the</strong> data.
It should also be pointed out that even though <strong>the</strong>y had a technical background <strong>the</strong>ir current job is
quite creative.
The relational capital is well managed in terms <strong>of</strong> information collection and management, more than
80% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> respondents appreciating <strong>the</strong> effort <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> organization on a scale from 1 to 5, where 5 is
<strong>the</strong> highest, with an average <strong>of</strong> 3.7.
5. Measurement instrument and conclusions
In <strong>the</strong> Romanian educational system <strong>the</strong>re are frequent transformations, different standards in
different branches <strong>the</strong>refore making difficult its objective evaluation. According to <strong>the</strong> results, technical
specializations certify better trained future employees, ready to bring innovative ideas for <strong>the</strong> benefit
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir employers. Therefore, <strong>the</strong>y already have <strong>the</strong> necessary skills to manage different types <strong>of</strong>
jobs, adapting easier to changes.
Evaluating <strong>the</strong> references from <strong>the</strong> specific literature and <strong>the</strong> empirical study we carried out, <strong>the</strong>
evaluation model for intellectual capital to be applied in reducing uncertainty and increase
competitiveness <strong>of</strong> human capital, considering <strong>the</strong> characteristics <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian education system,
should consider <strong>the</strong> arguments for an educational policy based on rate <strong>of</strong> return analysis.
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