Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Intellectual ...

Constantin Bratianu et al.
cases with a higher degree <strong>of</strong> complexity, and with <strong>the</strong> focus on developing <strong>the</strong> nonlinear thinking. For
instance, for <strong>the</strong> item Efficiency <strong>of</strong> any process increases when <strong>the</strong> outcomes are proportional with <strong>the</strong>
efforts done <strong>the</strong> general value is only 2.13, which reflects a clear dominance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> linear thinking.
Closed value has got <strong>the</strong> item Learning outcomes are proportional with <strong>the</strong> time spent for it, although
learning is a strongly nonlinear process. Managers that have a dominant linear thinking pattern will
not be able to find <strong>the</strong> best solutions for complex problems <strong>the</strong>y are facing. Factorial analysis
performed for <strong>the</strong> complexity dimension reflects <strong>the</strong> following dominant ideas: a) students prefer
mostly simple ways <strong>of</strong> solving problems; b) students prefer to belong to networks.
Figure 4: Diagram for <strong>the</strong> average values <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> students coming from urban/rural areas
For <strong>the</strong> uncertainty dimension <strong>the</strong> general average value is 2.53 which reflects a clear dominance <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> deterministic thinking, and an attitude <strong>of</strong> avoiding uncertainties. There are slight higher values for
male students (2.62) with respect to female students (2.50), and for students coming from urban
areas (2.56) with respect to those coming from rural areas (2.39). Deterministic thinking is strongly
influenced by <strong>the</strong> cultural values <strong>of</strong> society, and unfortunately our society is coming from a socialist
culture where deterministic and linear thinking models were by far <strong>the</strong> most important in our
education. For <strong>the</strong> item I do prefer clear problems, well formulated and with complete data we got <strong>the</strong>
general value <strong>of</strong> 1.87 which demonstrates very clearly <strong>the</strong> dominance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> deterministic thinking
pattern. A similar conclusion we got from <strong>the</strong> item I like events that can be predictable and under
control, that has a general value <strong>of</strong> 2.25. The factorial analysis performed revealed <strong>the</strong> following main
ideas: a) students prefer problems clearly defined and with complete information; b) students
situations associated with small risks. However, business environment and emergent economies
require a probabilistic thinking pattern, and an attitude more favorable for assuming higher risks.
For <strong>the</strong> innovation dimension <strong>the</strong> general average value is 2.86, which reflects a dominance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
intelligent thinking pattern. Relative higher values are for graduate students (2.96) with respect to <strong>the</strong>
undergraduate students (2.82), and for students coming from urban areas (2.89) with respect to those
coming from rural areas (2.72). The item Not everybody in a company can create new solutions got a
value <strong>of</strong> 2.12, which means <strong>the</strong> believe that knowledge creation in a company can be done only by
some special people. Interesting is also <strong>the</strong> item The job description should be very clearly
formulated, such that <strong>the</strong> individual initiative to be reduced that got <strong>the</strong> general value <strong>of</strong> 2.59. The
factorial analysis revealed <strong>the</strong> following main ideas: a) students prefer job descriptions very clearly
detailed, with minimum requirement for creativity; b) in management controlling is more important than
knowledge creation; c) <strong>the</strong>re is a general fear for new problems and change. That means that
business education should develop more <strong>the</strong> creative thinking and <strong>the</strong> entrepreneurial culture. Study
cases should emphasize <strong>the</strong> need for knowledge creation and entrepreneurship than <strong>the</strong> standard or
classical solutions for old problems. In <strong>the</strong> emergent economies <strong>the</strong>re is a clear challenge coming
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