A Proposal for a Standard With Innovation Management System

Adina Catana and Lavinia Delcea
the local region; and 4) the achievement of a regional economic structure that is based upon local
initiatives and locally created comparative advantages. The model underlined the roles of the
entrepreneur and human capital in the process of economic growth, and the spatial effects of the
expansion of the firm.
Matei, Anghelescu and Săvulescu (2009) consider that local development refers to the capacity of
local or regional economy to stimulate stable economic and social growth, intended to lead to the
creation of new jobs and the conditions for making the most of opportunities arising from changes in
economic, technical and social fields.
Profiroiu, Racoviţeanu and Ţarălungă (1999) believe that local development can take two forms,
namely: development of enterprises, respectively strengthening the power of communities by
increasing employment and income of its population and possibly reviving the economy. The authors
consider that local development funding is the responsibility of local government, the use of private
financing being performed only when they have exhausted the usual ways of financing public
expenditure (Profiroiu, Racoviţeanu and Ţarălungă, 1999, p.27).
According to Matei and Anghelescu (2009), local development means boost and diversification of
economic activities, stimulation of investment as well as contribution to reducing unemployment and
improving living standards. Also in their opinion, local development is the result of combined efforts
made by representatives from all sectors of government, civil society and business environment in
order to create favorable conditions for economic growth and new jobs. The authors consider that the
meaning given to local development lately is the one linking quantity growth of resources to social
changes involving individuals and groups, in processes that will improve quality of life and
environment, marked by strong social cohesion.
Regarding local economic development objectives, Parlagi (2000, in Matei, Anghelescu and
Săvulescu, 2009) believes that these are represented by the economic prosperity and social welfare
creating a favorable business environment, along with the integration of vulnerable groups in the
community, use of endogenous resources and private sector development.
Townroe (1979) has a different perspective on these objectives, arguing that they refer to the
decreasing local unemployment rate at local level below its national level, reducing fluctuations in
unemployment, as well as social assistance to vulnerable groups. The author believes that achieving
these objectives of local economic development can be achieved by removing barriers to industrial
development and economic efficiency, by active promotion and ongoing search for investors and
investment opportunities, by developing different types of facilities, and also by supporting investment
in industry through loans, grants, etc.
Matei and Anghelescu (2009) think that the main objective of local development is the removal of
barriers to the development and improvement of efficient market mechanisms. Besides this, the
authors also mention the assistance for businesses, encouraging new businesses and attracting local
investments.
A crucial part of the well-functioning of a region’s economy is considered to be small firms since
research has demonstrated the close relationship between entrepreneurship and regional and local
development. This relationship has at its core innovation: innovativeness developed within local interfirm
networks both supports existing firms and presents opportunities for starting new businesses in
order to serve newly identified markets. Networks of firms complement and sometimes substitute for a
firm's own technological capability (Maleki, 2009). Innovation, as Dawkins (2003) says, will attract
investors, which in turn will attract inventors, which in turn will attract innovators. This is the way a
“local innovative environment” (Wysoka, 2009) is born.
The same idea is supported by Gioacchino Garofoli (2002) who considers that local productive
systems, through productive linkages and interaction among local actors, produce external economies
to local firms and also collective efficiency. The author also believes that the creation of dynamic
competitive advantages is therefore the crucial factor for a sustainable local development.
In the past decade, trade and retail grew steadily and peaked in early 2008. The growing trend of
retail activity was interrupted by the economic crisis that caused a decline in its evolution, which
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