Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Adriana Schiopoiu Burlea
The data found on <strong>the</strong> websites <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> universities, consulting companies and associations proved us
that <strong>the</strong> rumours were true.
Because <strong>the</strong> MASOPHRD did not answer to our repeated emails, we cannot check <strong>the</strong> aspect
concerning <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> independent evaluator and member in monitoring teams in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
projects funded by ESF.
Consequently, <strong>the</strong> accuracy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se assumptions was confirmed by <strong>the</strong> informal discussions with
o<strong>the</strong>r beneficiaries and stakeholders that were monitored by <strong>the</strong>se persons.
Who guarantees that <strong>the</strong>se persons did not take advantage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir position <strong>of</strong> evaluators and
monitors to get hold <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r people’s projects and, subsequently, to be funded for <strong>the</strong>m?
The copy-paste type <strong>of</strong> submitting projects and <strong>the</strong>ir allocation to o<strong>the</strong>r users who are unable to carry
out KM activities in <strong>the</strong> project and who have not <strong>the</strong> vision and strategy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> initial authors <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
project can be an explanation <strong>of</strong> how poorly <strong>the</strong> acquisition <strong>of</strong> tacit and explicit knowledge is
conducted, as a result <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> KM process generated by ESF (see Figure 4).
Figure 4: The output <strong>of</strong> KM process in Romanian organizations
The informal discussions with <strong>the</strong> human resources that attend some courses in <strong>the</strong> framework <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
projects funded by ESF proved us <strong>the</strong> failure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> KM process and a very weak output. The subjects
told us that <strong>the</strong> explicit and tacit knowledge acquired during <strong>the</strong> learning process were insignificant
and <strong>the</strong>y perceived <strong>the</strong> courses as a waste <strong>of</strong> time. This negative output is not due to <strong>the</strong> content <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> courses, but to <strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> trainers. Therefore, <strong>the</strong> trainers’ certificate in not a real instrument
for guaranteeing <strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> KM process due to trainers.
Our study confirmed <strong>the</strong> rumours market that lack <strong>of</strong> transparency combined with corruption suspicion
negatively affects <strong>the</strong> output <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> knowledge management process. Traditional economic <strong>the</strong>ory -
Granovetter (1985) - endorses that knowledge management process is based on systems <strong>of</strong> norms
and values that have <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> improving <strong>the</strong> human relations in knowledge management actions.
We tried to demonstrate how our model <strong>of</strong> knowledge management process explains <strong>the</strong> importance
<strong>of</strong> human resources strategy at <strong>the</strong> national level and how unethical decision-making generated
unethical behaviour both in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> beneficiaries <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> knowledge management process and
in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> beneficiaries <strong>of</strong> ESF.
Hence, <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> a HR strategy can lead to corruption and it is also reflected in <strong>the</strong> existing conflicts
<strong>of</strong> interests, which proves that <strong>the</strong> elaboration <strong>of</strong> a strategy for HR is an activity requiring a detailoriented
analysis <strong>of</strong> human resource aspects, not a routinised one (Burlea Schiopoiu et al., 2010,
Levy et al., 2010).
Our analysis highlights <strong>the</strong> fact that, in <strong>the</strong> absence <strong>of</strong> a national and/or regional HR strategy, <strong>the</strong>
knowledge management process is inefficient and ESF cannot be used.
To sum up, <strong>the</strong> ESF role in Romania can be seen as a set <strong>of</strong> tools for human resources development
and, implicitly, for <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> human capital.
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