ASPECTS OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT APPLIED IN ...

Annals of the University “Constantin Brâncuşi”of Tg-Jiu, No. 1/2008, Volume 2, 

ISSN: 1842-4856 

ASPECTS OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT APPLIED IN MEDIUM 

AND SMALL ENTERPRISES 

Cîrnu Doru-prof.univ.dr. « Constantin Brâncuşi » University Tg-Jiu 

Todoruţ Amalia Venera –Lector univ.dr. “Constantin Brâncuşi” University Tg- 

Jiu 

Abstract 

The quality management system represents an organising structure of responsibilities, activities, resources and 

events that altogether provide procedures and methods of implementation that can ensure an organisation’s ability to 

meet the quality requirements. 

Applying Total Quality Management (TQM) to the realities of the Romanian economy of the past few years, 

we can notice the existence of an important number of small and medium enterprises, which have various problems in 

the field of production and especially in the field of sales. A great part of these problems come from the doubtful quality 

of the products or services they offer to consumers. The application of TQM at this level is even easier and on the other 

hand results can be easier to emphasise. 

From the beginning we must assert that almost nothing exists nowadays without 

communication and response to it. The answer that we receive after one or another of our actions 

confirms or infirms, the truth of our point of view. Nevertheless, this aspect is considered by 

producers of all types, when they prepare to offer a product to the market. 

The last years of the past underlined the fact that, both regarding goods and services, 

customers became better and better informed and thus they became more and more demanding. 

When not provided with goods or services to meet their expectations, the customers head for other 

firms. The producers are in turn better and better informed and demanding. In conclusion, as they 

constantly try to improve their own quality, the producers are in turn became exacting with their 

suppliers, from whom they obviously expect improved performances. 

In theory, this is quite easy to obtain by applying the requirements of the Total Quality 

Management (TQM). TQM raises the satisfaction of the customers by improving quality. This is 

achieved by motivating the labour force and by improving the firm’s style of work [2]. 

In practice, in order to apply the opinions of W. Edwards Deming on how to obtain 

excellence in the production process, it is necessary to achieve a system of quality management. 

The quality management system represents an organising structure of responsibilities, activities, 

resources and events that altogether provide procedures and methods of implementation that can 

ensure an organisation’s ability to meet the quality requirements. 

After the achievement of such a system, the entire organisation must be changed according 

to the proposed measures. It is easily understood that the implementation of a total quality 

management is harder to carry out according to the size of the organisation. 

Applying this to the realities of the Romanian economy of the past few years, we can notice 

the existence of an important number of small and medium enterprises, which have various 

problems in the field of production and especially in the field of sales. A great part of these 

problems come from the doubtful quality of the products or services they offer to consumers. The 

application of TQM at this level is even easier and on the other hand results can be easier to 

emphasise. 

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As we have shown at the beginning of these lines, the implementation of TQM imposes the 

transformation of the organisation beginning with its external environment, which under one form 

or the other is reflected in the necessity of economic stability, profitability and development of 

every commercial society. While the economic stability, profitability and growth/development of 

the business represent main objectives of every small and medium enterprise, they cannot be 

reached but by an efficient capitalisation of the opportunities of improving the activity of the 

organisation according to the firm’s peculiarities and to the information from the environment, by a 

variability as small as possible of the technological process, by the improvement of designing / 

redesigning of the product. This implies for sure a change of the organisation’s culture. And all 

these factors will lead to the continual growth of the value seen and received by the customer. 

Obviously, a small firm will select the opportunity according to its vision regarding quality, 

environmental conditions as well as peculiarities. With Romanian firms, this process will be also 

influenced by the social and economic realities of the transition period that we are passing through, 

as well as by the “cultural heritage” of the period prior to 1990. 

By particularising the implementation of TQM in the small and medium enterprises we can 

see a series of their obstacles and of which we will remind only the most important ones: 

• lack of professional and / or managerial knowledge and abilities of the entrepreneurs; 

• lack of the capital; 

• interests and restrictive criteria practiced by banks in crediting; 

• lack of production spaces, equipment and transport means. 

The direct continuation of the items presented, the implementation of TQM in the Romanian 

small and medium enterprises is influenced by a series of factors: 

• the general economic status and income of the population; 

• the government’s policy towards small and medium enterprises; 

• the level of development of the private economic sector; 

• the specific level of development of the economic sector in which the firm carries on its 

activity; 

• the willingness of the small and medium enterprises to invest in quality from the point of 

view of technological, financial and human resources that are to be allocated; 

• the actual level of training and skill of the employees of the small and medium 

enterprises; 

• the ethical values existing in the firm; 

• the individual characteristics of the entrepreneur and his attitude towards quality. 

Besides the high complexity of each one of the presented factors, between these there are 

also multiple interdependencies. 

During the implementation of TQM at the level of the small and medium enterprises the 

main role is obviously that of the manager, because he runs the business on his own and will 

imprint his own personality on the entire process of the activity. This aspect will also reflect at the 

level of the employees, depending on: 

• what their specialisation is; 

• what their incentives are; 

• the manner in which the reward is granted; 

• now the training process is achieved and improved; 

• the degree of delegation of authority; 

• the treatment applied during the production process; 

• the assumption of responsibility by the decision maker regarding the improvement of the 

quality of the process which he controls. 

The vision developed concerning private business will influence decisively the target market 

and also the capacity of the firm to design and launch successfully products at high quality 

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standards. From the same point of view the choice of the suppliers, technology and resources have 

other major roles at the moment of the implementation of TQM. 

A further argument is that the firm’s main objectives (economic stability, profitability, 

development) depend on its customers, but especially on their loyalty. The condition of loyalty is 

determined by a level of satisfaction higher than the one offered by the competition, being 

determined by the value given by the customer in terms of quality, cost, time of delivery and 

associated services. 

REFERENCES 

1. Rusu Bogdan – Managementul calităţii totale în firmele mici şi mijlocii, Editura Economică, 

Bucureşti, 2001, pag.130-131 

2. Sadgrove Kit – Managementul calităţii totale în acţiune, Editura Rentrop&Straton, Bucureşti, 

1999, pag.11 

3. * * * Referinţe bibliografice, pct. 1 ISO 9000 

4. * * * Raport al Guvernului României, 1997 

5. *** Colecţia “Tribuna Calităţii”(Revistă lunară editată de Tribuna Economică), nr.4/2000, 

5/2001, 7-8/2001 

6. Paraschivescu Andrei-Managementul caltatii –Editura Tehnopress, 2006 

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ASPECTS REGARDING ENTRY BARRIERS TO MARKET FOR 

THE OIL COMPANIES 

Violeta Sima 

Lector drd. ing.ec. UPG Ploieşti, Catedra de Management-Marketing 

ABSTRACT 

This paper studies entry barriers to market acting upon the Oil Companies. Beyond cost advantages and 

capital requirements considered to be the classical main barriers, as a particular aspect can be taken into consideration 

the outdated technology, natural resources and a high degree of vertical integration. 

In addition, this paper try to investigate the underlying dimensions of above mentioned barriers to entry. 

Foreword 

Barriers to market entry include a number of different factors that restrict the ability of new 

competitors to enter and begin operating in a given industry. They limit competition by preventing 

market entry of new firms and often increase the profits of incumbent firms in the marketplace. 

They are installed (by the monopolies, duopolies or oligopolies) on many national and international 

markets, being presented in a big diversity of shapes such as: licenses and brevets, raw materials 

sources and distribution channels’ limitation, impossibilities for an enterprise’s or product’s images 

assessment as good as of those already on the market existing, impossibility to product with costs as 

little as competitors etc. All these generate dispiritedness of the markets’ penetration by the 

potential competitors [7]. 

The ease of entry into an industry in just one aspect of an industry analysis; the others 

include the power held by suppliers and buyers, the existing competitors and the nature of 

competition, and the degree to which similar products or services can act as substitutes for those 

provided by the industry. The ease of entry into an industry is important because it determines the 

likelihood that a company will face new competitors. In industries that are easy to enter, sources of 

competitive advantage tend to wane quickly. 

On the other hand, in industries that are difficult to enter, sources of competitive advantage 

last longer, and firms also tend to develop greater operational efficiencies because of the 

competition’s pressure. The ease of entry into an industry depends upon two factors: the reaction of 

existing competitors to new entrants; and the barriers to market entry that prevail in the industry. 

Existing competitors are most likely to react strongly against new entrants when there is a history of 

such behavior, when the competitors have invested substantial resources in the industry, and when 

the industry is characterized by slow growth. 

In his book Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, 

Michael E. Porter identified six major sources of barriers to market entry: 

1. Economies of scale 

2. Product differentiation 

3. Capital requirements 

4. Switching cost 

5. Access to channels of distribution 

6. Government policy and regulations. 

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Michael Porter classifies the markets into four general cases: 

1. High barrier to entry and high exit barrier 

2. High barrier to entry and low exit barrier 

3. Low Barrier to entry and high exit barrier 

4. Low barrier to entry and low exit barrier. 

The Oil Industry represents an exemple for the case of the high barrier to entry. These 

markets with high entry barriers have few players and thus high profit margins. 

It is important to note that barriers to market entry can change over time, as an industry 

matures, or as a result of strategic decisions made by existing competitors. 

Barriers to entry in Oil Industry 

Firms in this industry explore for, develop and operate oil and gas fields, which may be 

located either onshore or offshore. Oil and gas production involves a range of activities such as 

exploration, drilling and completing wells, operating extraction facilities (including offshore 

platforms of various types), operating field gathering lines (including subsea lines), and desilting 

works. 

This industry includes the production of crude petroleum, the mining and extraction of oil 

from oil shale and oil sands, and the production of natural gas, sulfur recovery from natural gas, and 

recovery of hydrocarbon liquids. 

It is important to consider the following important points of view: 

• Entry in itself is not important. It is important only if it contributes to increased competition, 

because competition increases economic efficiency; 

• High margins do not always indicate excessive profitability: high margins may be required 

to cover high costs of supply; 

• The social cost associated with entry barriers will depend on the elasticity of supply and 

demand; and 

• Government actions to reduce entry barriers which have small social costs may themselves 

impose costs which exceed the cost of the entry barriers. 

The access to input restricted through natural distribution and government licenses, very 

specific/proprietary exploration knowledge, big investment in machinery. 

In the 1960s, 85% of known reserves worldwide were fully open to the international oil 

companies. Now that number is 16%. The rest of the world's oil and gas is either restricted or 

entirely cordoned off [2]. 

National champions such as Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Petroleum, and Mexico's Pemex 

outweigh publicly traded oil companies in the production contest. Their main interest is in 

efficiently extracting and selling oil and gas. Even when they struggle, as Royal Dutch Shell PLC 

has in Sakhalin in Siberia, the Western oil majors are usually best equipped to tackle the hardest 

projects. 

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National oil companies, though, often have a different agenda. "More and more production 

and reserves are controlled by governments or institutions that have more of a political than a 

commercial motive," says Gerald Kepes [10], a managing director at PFC Energy. "That has a huge 

impact on pricing." The track record of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the Venezuelan national 

oil company, is a striking example. 

There is a concern that high petrol prices and gross margins in the downstream oil marketing 

chain may reflect a lack of competition in the Oil market. Prices and margins may be a reflection of 

high costs of supplying petrol, both by the oil companies currently operating in a country 

(incumbents) and potential new entrants. 

High costs could be due to the costs of obtaining crude oil supplies and high refining costs, 

but more likely are due to high distribution (storage and transport) and retail costs. The latter may 

reflect high land values, prevalence of full service, low throughput, limited non-petrol sales 

revenue, particularly in rural areas, and a range of other factors. It may be that the downstream oil 

industry is not making excessive profits and that high retail prices and margins are required to cover 

these high costs (high gross margins tell us nothing about net profits). Moreover, these costs 

would be incurred both by incumbents and potential new entrants, including those using imported 

supplies. 

The most important barriers to entry for the Oil industry market are: 

• Government policy and regulations 

• Scale Economies. 

In addition thera are more two aspects that must be considered: 

• Absolute Cost Advantages 

• The Cost of Exiting the Downstream Oil Market. 

Government policy and regulations 

Regulatory and institutional factors can influence the costs facing new entrants and therefore 

the decision to enter an industry. 

Regulations influencing the ease of entry could, generally, include: 

• Import taxes and quotas, 

• Coastalshipping regulations, 

• Product standards, 

• Environmental regulations, 

• Industry policies, 

• Licensing schemes, 

• Divestment regulations, 

• Safety regulations 

• Land use regulations (local government zoning laws). 

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The effect of regulations on entry decisions can range from outright prohibition of new entry 

or substantially reducing the attractiveness of entry by raising the cost of entry. These costs can 

include: 

Costs in terms of time and resources devoted to obtaining necessary approvals; 

Additional capital costs, through design and performance requirements applying to site 

works, plant and equipment; 

Additional operating costs. 

While regulations may raise the capital and operating costs of a new entrant, not all of 

their effects would constitute barriers to entry. A barrier to entry arises from a particular regulation 

only if it raises the costs of the prospective entrant relative to that of the incumbent. 

The introduction of new regulations and modifications to existing regulations may mean 

that the entrant faces additional costs which were not faced by past entrants to the industry. For 

example, a regulation may involve costs which apply specifically to new entrants but not to 

incumbents or it may be less costly for incumbents to comply with the regulation than new 

entrants. Alternatively, regulations imposing costs on incumbents may impose no costs on a new 

entrant – and such instances are not uncommon, for example in relation to 

environmental policies relating to emissions standards for plant. 

A regulation which applies specifically to, and involves costs for, a new entrant and 

not incumbents would constitute a barrier to entry, with the height of the barrier involved 

depending on the additional costs imposed. 

Prior to deregulation of the downstream oil industry there are regulations specific to the 

downstream oil market relating to licensing, ownership and pricing which deterred entry into the 

retail market. 

Apart from regulations specific to the industry, the ease of entering the downstream 

oil industry will also be influenced by more general policies that influence the overall investment 

climate and the risk of establishing and operating a business. 

In relation to general or economy wide regulations and policies, entrants may face lower 

entry costs than those which were faced by incumbents when they entered the industry. 

Another specific issue is represented by the Petroleum Products Specifications. The 

important issue from the perspective of barriers to entry is whether the specifications impose 

additional costs on a new entrant compared to an incumbent. 

The Resource Management enacts a comprehensive review of aspects related to land use 

and environmental effects. It represents an “enabling” approach which delegates management 

responsibility for most environmental matters to local government at regional level. 

Scale Economies 

Economies of scale are often listed as a barrier to entry in a situation where the 

minimum efficient size of the firm is large relative to the size of the market, so that only a few or 

even one firm is able to operate profitably. This can occur when the production technology is 

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such that unit costs continue to fall until very high levels of production are reached. A 

variant of the economies of scale argument is that the large amount of capital required to 

construct a plant of minimum efficient scale is a deterrent to entry. 

Some authors [8] examined economies of scale in petroleum refining, which occur both in 

construction and in operation of refineries. Capital costs rise less than proportionately with capacity as 

plants of increasing capacity are built. For refineries, the minimum efficient scale (MES) of 

plants is usually governed by the size of the least cost distillation tower which may now be as high 

as 200,000 barrels of crude oil processing per day. There are also significant economies of scale 

associated with processing costs. For example, energy requirements usually rise less than 

proportionately with the size of the processing vessels. 

Transportation costs constrain the sizes at which refineries are built and operated. There is 

a trade off in deciding on the scale of a refinery. A larger refinery will involve lower unit costs, but 

to sell the output will require transporting product over longer distances to reach sufficient 

customers, at greater cost. If not for the substantial difference between the cost of transporting 

refined petroleum products versus crude oil and other refinery feed stocks, there would be 

nothing to stop building a MES refinery or more than one such refinery, even though 

domestic demand was substantially below this capacity, and exporting surplus production. 

Singapore, for example, has domestic refining capacity well in excess of its domestic 

requirements and exports a large proportion of its refined products. This trade off has led to firms 

building and maintaining refineries which are much smaller than the 200,000 barrels per day 

minimum efficient scale. 

Economies of scale are also present in storage terminals. In any case, the presence of 

economies of scale in storage does not mean that incumbents have an advantage over new entrants. 

There are economies of scale associated with retail outlets. Generally, costs decline with 

throughput both because capital costs are spread over larger sales volumes and because of 

economies of scale in operating costs. Because of this, high volume sites are viable at much lower 

retail margins than low volume sites. 

Absolute Cost Advantages 

The term absolute cost advantage is used to describe a number of potential cost 

advantages that incumbents may have over new entrants, other than economies of scale. Such 

cost advantages, which could apply to the downstream petrol market, are: 

Better information; 

Better access to product supplies; 

Higher transport costs facing entrants from outside the region or country; 

Technology possessed by incumbents who may confer a cost advantage over entrants who 

need to employ an alternative higher cost technology; 

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Access to facilities; 

Incumbents may have access to scarce natural or other productive resources, or access to 

lower cost resources; 

Differential taxation imposts or regulations which impose higher costs on entrants than on 

incumbents; 

Incumbent advantages arising from brand recognition which may force entrants to engage in 

higher promotional expenses over a period of time than incumbents whose brands are well 

known to consumers. 

The Cost of Exiting the Downstream Oil Market 

An important consideration in deciding whether or not to enter an industry is the cost 

of exiting the industry. Exit costs include closure costs, such as the cost of cleaning up or 

restoring a site to comply with environmental or safety regulations. Sunk costs are also part of the 

cost of exit. It is costly to exit an industry if there are sunk costs that cannot be recovered. 

Exit is aided by the fact that sunk costs are not particularly high in the downstream 

market. Land can be readily sold. 

In the downstream oil market incumbents are likely to experience higher exit costs than 

a new entrant (at least for some years). The costs of clearing up past pollution will be much 

higher than for those entering with a ‘clean slate’. 

Conclusions 

There is a possibility that the costs and speed of entry of independents into the downstream 

oil industry may be influenced by the actual or anticipated response of the incumbent oil 

companies. 

Barriers to entry may arise due to the anticipated strategic behaviour of incumbents. 

Strategic behaviour may be either cooperative or non-cooperative. 

It may seek to influence the price that a potential entrant can expect to receive after entry or 

it may influence the costs of the new entrant. 

References 

1. Cook, K. J., The AMA Complete Guide to Strategic Planning for Small Business. Chicago: 

American Marketing Association, 1995; 

2. Dingel, J., Trade Diversion, Commentary on Development, Globalization and Trade, May 

05, 2006, http://www.tradediversion.net/archives/2006/05/barriers_to_ent.html; 

3. Fahry K., Barriers to entry in industrial markets, The Journal of Business & Industrial 

Marketing, ABI/INFORM Global, 2002, pg. 379 

4. Geroski, P. A., Keeping Out the Competition, Financial Times. February 23, 1996; 

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5. Harris, L., Barriers to Market Orientation: The View from the Shopfloor, Marketing 

Intelligence and Planning, March-April 1998; 

6. Porter, M. E., Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, 

New York: Free Press, 1980; 

7. Porter, M. E., The Competitive Advantage of Nations, The Free Press, A Division of 

Macmillan, Inc, NY, 1990, p.258 

8. Scherer, F.M., Industry Structure, Strategy and Public Policy, Harper Collins College 

Publishers, New York, 1996; 

9. Urban, Glen L., and Steven H. Star. Advanced Marketing Strategy, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: 

Prentice Hall, 1991; 

10. http://www.pfcenergy.com. 

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AUDITUL INTERN, ELEMENT CHEIE AL STANDARDULUI ISO 9000 

Prof. univ. dr. Popescu Daniela, 

Universitatea din Craiova 

După ce politicile, procedurile şi instrucţiunile de muncă au fost concepute şi implementate, se vor efectua 

verificări pentru a ne asigura că sistemul funcţionează normal şi sunt obţinute rezultatele aşteptate. Acest lucru se 

realizează cu ajutorul auditului intern, care este unul din elementele-cheie ale standardului ISO 9000. Toate elementele 

sistemului calităţii vor fi auditate cel puţin o dată pe an, iar unele chiar de mai multe ori, în funcţie de necesităţi. 

Obiectivele auditului 

Există cinci obiective ale auditului intern. 

• Să stabilească dacă nivelul calitativ existent este la nivelul celui prevăzut de sistemul 

documentat al calităţii. 

• Să iniţieze măsuri corective ca răspuns la manifestarea unor deficienţe. 

• Să continue urmărirea eliminării deficienţelor semnalate de auditurile anterioare. 

• Să contribuie la îmbunătăţirea sistemului, oferind informaţii managerilor prin feedback. 

• Să îl facă pe cel auditat să se concentreze asupra procesului pe care îl desfăşoară astfel încât 

acesta să propună eventuale măsuri de îmbunătăţire a activităţii. 

Auditorul 

Auditurile trebuie să fie efectuate de persoane calificate, care au făcut cursuri de pregătire 

referitoare la principiile şi procedurile auditului. Pentru a fi capabil să desfăşoare un audit eficient, 

un individ trebuie să posede aptitudini de comunicare orală şi scrisă, să fie un bun ascultător şi să 

ştie să-şi noteze ce este esenţial. De asemenea, mai trebuie să aibă capacitate de concentrare asupra 

sarcinii de realizat, atenţia să nu-i fie distrasă de alte activităţi care au loc în acelaşi timp, să fie un 

fin observator, să ştie să pună întrebări şi să poată separa faptele relevante de cele irelevante. 

Auditorul trebuie să fie obiectiv, sincer şi imparţial. Desigur, el trebuie să dispună şi de o 

bună cunoaştere a standardelor. 

Tehnicile 

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Pe parcursul procesului de auditare există câteva tehnici pe care auditorul le are la dispoziţie. 

Obiectivul acestuia este de a colecta informaţii, existând trei metode în acest sens: examinarea 

documentelor, observarea activităţilor în desfăşurare şi interviurile. 

Cea mai uşoară metodă este aceea de a examina documentele. De exemplu, auditorul va 

verifica ordinele de achiziţie pentru a determina dacă ele sunt corect întocmite şi respectă 

procedurile; dacă există toate anexele menţionate; dacă ordinele de achiziţie sunt numerotate, 

semnate şi datate; dacă aprovizionarea s-a făcut numai de la furnizorii desemnaţi ş.a. Auditorul 

trebuie să fie meticulos, să aibă o înclinaţie către detalii. 

Observarea activităţilor este şi ea o metodă care necesită meticulozitate. Spre exemplu, 

pentru a evalua activitatea de control al procesului de producţie din punctul de vedere al condiţiilor 

potrivite de muncă, auditorul trebuie să observe gradul de protecţie a muncii, curăţenia secţiilor de 

producţie etc. 

Cea mai dificilă metodă de culegere a informaţiilor este intervievarea angajatului sau a celui 

auditat. Există, totuşi, câteva modalităţi de a facilita acest proces. În primul rând, intervievatul 

trebuie să fie pus într-o postură confortabilă, trebuie să se schimbe câteva vorbe introductive şi să i 

se prezinte scopul auditului. Această introducere poate fi urmată de câteva întrebări uşoare, cum ar 

fi "De cât timp lucraţi în această organizaţie?". Umorul ajută şi el la destinderea atmosferei. În plus, 

se recomandă adoptarea unei atitudini prietenoase, faceţi complimente persoanei intervievate, 

spuneţi-i pe numele mic, daţi-i sugestii încurajatoare etc. 

În al doilea rând, petreceţi cât mai mult timp ascultând pe cel intervievat şi vorbiţi cât mai 

puţin posibil. Încurajaţi angajaţii să vorbească despre activităţile lor. Prezentaţi-le apoi concluziile 

pe care le-aţi tras din cele spuse de ei pentru a fi siguri că nu există interpretări greşite. 

În al treilea rând, atunci când găsiţi deficienţe ale activităţilor sau sistemelor analizate, 

reţineţi esenţialul. Păstraţi pentru raport principalele observaţii, pe celelalte transmiteţi-le 

angajatului auditat. Concentraţi-vă asupra sistemului şi nu asupra persoanei auditate. 

În al patrulea rând, discutaţi principalele probleme cu auditatul, într-un cadru informal. 

Scopul auditorului este de a identifica problemele şi de a permite organizaţiei să găsească soluţiile. 

Auditorul trebuie să se asigure că organizaţia a înţeles problema, a conştientizat-o şi este de acord 

că se impune luarea unor măsuri corective. Altfel, cooperarea va fi îngreunată, dacă nu chiar 

imposibilă. Uneori, auditorul, o persoană cu experienţă, poate avea o idee de rezolvare a problemei 

identificate. În acest caz, el trebuie să-l facă pe cel auditat să creadă că ideea îi aparţine. 

În al cincilea rând, folosiţi tipul potrivit de întrebare. Există întrebări deschise, întrebări 

închise, întrebări de clarificare, întrebări orientative şi întrebări agresive. Fiecare dintre acestea va fi 

analizată în paragrafele următoare. 

Iată câteva exemple de întrebări deschise: 

"Când are loc revizuirea furnizorilor?" 

"Unde este precizat statutul inspecţiei acestui produs?" 

"De unde provine acest document?" 

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Acest tip de întrebări urmăreşte să obţină o paletă largă de răspunsuri, nu prin da sau nu. Ele sunt 

folosite pentru a afla o opinie, o explicaţie a unui proces, atitudinea unei persoane sau motivele care 

au stat la baza acţiunii sale. Dezavantajul întrebărilor deschise este că auditorul poate primi mai 

multă informaţie decât este necesar. 

Următoarele sunt exemple de întrebări închise: 

"Aveţi prevăzută o instrucţiune de muncă pentru această operaţie?" 

"Acest instrument necesită calibrare?" 

"Această matriţă provine de la furnizor?" 

Acestor întrebări li se poate răspunde prin da sau nu şi furnizează rapid informaţia dorită. 

Ele se folosesc pentru a obţine informaţii precise şi pentru a îndepărta posibilele confuzii. 

Dezavantajul întrebărilor închise este că pot face ca interviul să pară un interogatoriu. 

Iată câteva exemple de întrebări de clarificare: 

"Spuneţi-mi mai multe despre această operaţie." 

"Daţi-mi, vă rog, câteva exemple." 

"Ce înţelegeţi prin segmentarea greşită a procesului de producţie?" 

Acest tip de întrebări se foloseşte atunci când se doreşte obţinerea unor informaţii 

suplimentare. Ele previn apariţia neînţelegerilor şi încurajează pe cel intervievat să fie mai relaxat şi 

mai deschis. Dezavantajul ar fi că se poate crea impresia că auditorul nu acordă atenţie interviului 

sau că acesta nu este competent. De asemenea, atunci când sunt folosite prea frecvent consumă 

foarte mult timp. 

Întrebarea următoare este o întrebare orientativă: 

"Nu sunteţi de acord că această neconformitate a fost cauzată de înţelegerea greşită a 

ordinului de achiziţie?" 

Acest tip de întrebare ar trebui evitat, pe cât posibil, pentru că sugerează, într-un fel, 

răspunsul şi influenţează rezultatele auditului. 

Întrebările agresive pot suna în felul următor: 

"Doar nu vrei să spui că aceasta este singura verificare pe care o faci?" 

Acest tip de întrebare trebuie să fie evitat pentru că este ofensivă şi generează controverse. 

Se recomandă ca auditorul să folosească, în principal, întrebări deschise, iar ocazional 

câteva întrebări închise şi de clarificare, după cum necesită interviul. 

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Tabelul desfăşurării auditului 

Luna 

Departamentul 1 2 3 ... 10 11 12 

Vânzări ... 

Aprovizionare ... 

Producţie ... 

Montaj ... 

Calitate 

4 

1 

3 

2 

Legendă 

1. Notificarea auditului 3. Măsuri corective propuse 

2. Efectuarea auditului 4. Definitivarea auditului 

Figura 1.1 Tabelul desfăşurării auditului 

Procedura 

Înainte de desfăşurarea auditului, conducătorul echipei de auditare va pregăti un plan şi un borderou 

de verificare. Planul auditului va preciza activitatea sau sectorul care va fi auditat; lista de 

proceduri, documente şi alte reglementări care vor fi consultate; persoanele care vor face parte din 

echipa de auditare; cui îi vor fi aduse la cunoştinţă rezultatele şi i se vor înmâna rapoartele. Planul 

va include, de asemenea, şi un tabel ca acela prezentat în Figura 10-7. Acest tabel va cuprinde date 

referitoare la cei care vor fi notificaţi de desfăşurarea auditului, cei care vor efectua auditul, 

măsurile corective şi efectele auditului, dacă este cazul. 

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Matricea auditului 

Elementul Politica Procedura Vânzări Aproviz. Producţie Montaj Calitate 

4.1 Qpol 1 X X X X X 

4.2 Qpol 2 

4.3 Qpol 3 Qprcd 3 X X X 

4.4 N/A N/A 

4.5 Qpol 5 Qprcd 5 X X X X X 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

4.18 X X X X X 

4.19 X X 

420 X 

Figura 1.2. Matricea auditului 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

Se poate dovedi utilă şi întocmirea unei matrici a auditului, cum este cea din Figura 1.1. Ea 

prezintă compartimentele şi elementele cel mai mult influenţate de desfăşurarea auditului. 

Borderourile de verificare ajută la stabilirea eficienţei auditului şi permit auditorului să 

controleze acest proces. Ele pot conţine întrebările care vor fi puse, momentul la care vor fi adresate 

şi o coloană pentru răspunsuri. Întrebările cuprinse în borderou vor avea la bază procedurile, 

instrucţiunile de muncă şi înregistrările care vor face obiectul auditului. 

Procesul de auditare are trei părţi: şedinţa de deschidere, auditul propriu-zis şi şedinţa finală. 

În timpul şedinţei de deschidere se va discuta planul de desfăşurare a auditului şi se vor analiza 

rezultatele inspecţiilor anterioare. Se vor înregistra câteva minute din timpul acestei întâlniri, care 

vor fi considerate drept parte a documentaţiei întocmite. Aici va fi inclusă şi o listă a persoanelor 

prezente la întâlnire. 

Obiectivul auditului este de a stabili cât de bine a fost implementat şi menţinut sistemul 

calităţii. În cazul întreprinderilor mari se va desemna şi o persoană care va însoţi echipa de auditare. 

Aceasta va avea un rol de martor în cazul în care, mai târziu, unele rezultate ale auditului vor fi 

contestate. Însoţitorul este, de obicei, un supervizor sau o persoană cu funcţie de conducere din 

cadrul sectorului auditat. În timpul auditului vor fi intervievaţi angajaţii sectorului respectiv şi vor fi 

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consultate fişele pe baza cărora se vor desfăşura interviurile. Adesea se poate întâmpla ca 

informaţiile aflate în cadrul unui compartiment să conducă la întrebări care vor fi adresate 

angajaţilor unui alt compartiment. Toate răspunsurile obţinute vor fi consemnate în scris. Auditul nu 

este doar o măsură a gradului în care activitatea respectă prevederile sistemului calităţii, ci chiar o 

măsură a sistemului însuşi. El trebuie să stabilească dacă procedurile folosite sunt cele potrivite sau 

dacă este timpul pentru o schimbare. Obiectivul procesului de auditare este de a asigura 

îmbunătăţirea continuă a activităţii şi creşterea gradului de satisfacere a nevoilor clientului. 

Concluziile la care se va ajunge vor avea la bază însemnările făcute de auditori şi vor include atât 

parametrii conformi, cât şi pe cei neconformi. Pentru elementele neconforme cu standardul se vor 

întocmi rapoarte speciale care vor conţine: 

1. Un titlu şi un număr unic de identificare, cum ar fi NC-4.3.2.2.1, unde NC vine de la 

"neconform", iar cifrele reprezintă numărul elementului auditat. 

2. Locul unde a fost identificată neconformanţa. 

3. Informaţia pe baza căreia s-a stabilit abaterea de la standard. 

4. Enunţarea cât mai precisă a neconformanţei identificate, prin comparaţie cu prevederea 

standardului. 

În cadrul şedinţei finale, conducătorul echipei de auditare va prezenta un sumar al 

constatărilor efectuate, împreună cu informaţiile care au stat la baza acestora. Se va preciza un 

termen până la care se va prezenta raportul final şi persoanele cărora le va fi distribuit. Şi în acest 

caz se vor înregistra câteva minute din cadrul şedinţei, menţionându-se persoanele care au 

participat la ea. În legătură cu raportul final, trei lucruri sunt de menţionat: 

1. El va avea menţionat pe copertă data la care s-a efectuat auditul, numele celor din echipa de 

auditare, compartimentele auditate, lista celor care vor intra în posesia raportului, un număr 

de ordine unic şi menţiunea că auditul este doar un model de urmat. Raportul va fi semnat de 

conducătorul echipei. 

2. Va cuprinde o listă a neconformităţilor, împreună cu cópii ale tuturor rapoartelor individuale 

ale fiecărei abateri identificate. 

3. Va propune câteva metode de luare a unor măsuri corective şi de urmărire a efectelor 

acestora. 

Bibliografie 

1. Juran, Joseph M., Editor, Quality Control Handbook, 4 th ed. New York: McGraw Hill Book 

Company, 1980 

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2. Knouse, Stephen B., Editor, Human Resources Management Perspectives on TQM Concepts 

and Practices, Milwaukee WI: ASQ Quality Press, 1996 

3. Olaru, Marieta, Managementul calităţii, Ediţia a II-a, Editura Economică, Bucureşti, 1999 

4. Peace, Robert W., Editor, The ISO 9000 Handbook, Fairfax, VA: CEEM Information Service, 

1992 

5. Popescu, Daniela, Managementul calităţii, Editura SITECH, Craiova, 2004 

6. Popescu, Daniela, Principii şi tehnici utilizate în managementul calităţii, Editura SITECH, 

Craiova, 2007 

BUSINESS MARKETING AND THE ETHICS OF GIFT GIVING 

Rus Felicia - assistant - “Constantin Brancusi” University of Targu Jiu, Romania 

Giorgi Isabela – teacher – “Virgil Madgearu” National College of Targu Jiu, Gorj 

Abstract: This paper focuses on the common though ethically problematic practice of suppliers providing gifts and 

other benefits to buyers in a business-to-business context. It is argued that contrary to the claim that the boundary 

between acceptable and unacceptable practices is blurred when there is a focus on developing mutually beneficial, longterm 

relationships between suppliers and their business customers, there is a straightforward decision making procedure 

that can be applied. Central to this decision making procedure is the concept of a conflict of interest. While all 

organisations have very good reasons to address the issue of gifts and benefits, in a relationship marketing context there 

is even more reason to do so. 

Keywords: Business marketing; Conflict of interest; Ethics; Gift giving; Relationship marketing 

While gifts and benefits provided to buyers could take many forms they include promotional 

items such as diaries, pens, key rings, coffee mugs and items of clothing through to bottles of wine 

or spirits, meals, entertainment, tickets to sporting or cultural events, discounts, services, trips and 

money. The purpose of this paper is not to identify a list of ‘ethical’ and ‘unethical’ gifts and 

benefits, rather, the purpose is to identify a way to evaluate specific instances of providing a gift or 

a benefit in order to decide whether, in that particular situation, the gift or benefit gives rise to a 

conflict of interest for the recipient. If it does, then it is unethical for the buyer to accept it and 

unethical for the salesperson to give it. 

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Providing gifts, meals and entertainment is widespread and is one of the most widely cited ethical 

issues in purchasing. The Principles and Standards of Ethical Supply Management Conduct of the 

US's Institute for Supply Management contains two relevant standards: 

1. Avoid any personal, business or professional activity that would create a conflict between 

personal interests and the interests of the employer. 

2. Avoid soliciting or accepting money, loans, credits, or preferential discounts, and the acceptance 

of gifts, entertainment, favors, or services from present or potential suppliers that might influence, 

or appear to influence, supply management decisions. 

The Guidelines accompanying these principles and standards state that a perceived impropriety can 

have the same consequences as an actual impropriety and any action that either diminishes, or 

appears to diminish, open and fair treatment of suppliers should be avoided. Further, actions that 

compromise, or could be seen to compromise, the best interests of employers are prohibited. In 

relation to conflicts of interest, the advice is even when a conflict may not technically exist, the 

appearance of conflict must be avoided. 

Giving and receiving gifts and benefits ‘can be important and respectable ways of building and 

maintaining legitimate business relationships’, however, it has been claimed that a marketing 

approach aimed at promoting long-term cooperation and mutual benefit can blur the boundary 

between acceptable and unacceptable practices. 

It is argued that this claim is unfounded. Its plausibility comes, first, from conflating two 

propositions: (1) that behaviours, attitudes and actions aimed at enhancing the relationship between 

the supplying and buying organisations are acceptable and, (2) that behaviours, attitudes and actions 

aimed at enhancing the relationship between individual salespeople and buyers are acceptable. 

When this distinction is made, any perceived blurring disappears. A second problem is an appeal to 

industry practice to justify providing gifts and benefits to buyers. Just because something is industry 

practice, however, does not make it right. 

Central to the evaluation of particular instances of providing gifts and benefits is the concept of a 

conflict of interest. A conflict of interest exists if a gift or benefit could lead the recipient to 

sacrifice the interests of his or her employer for personal gain. A marketing approach that aims to 

promote a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship between a supplier and its business customers 

adds another dimension to the problem of conflicts of interest. A marketing approach with a focus 

on building relationships is characterized by trust, commitment, collaboration, a long-term 

perspective and mutual benefit. If giving and receiving a gift or benefit results in a conflict of 

interest, then the relationship that has developed between the two businesses is undermined. When a 

conflict of interest exists the basis for the relationship is harmed. 

It is concluded that an approach to marketing based on developing and maintaining a mutually 

beneficial relationship between a supplier and its business customers is inconsistent with giving and 

receiving gifts and benefits that create a conflict of interest for the recipient. It is wrong for the 

buyer to accept such a gift or benefit and it is wrong for the salesperson to give it, irrespective of 

industry practice. All organisations have very good reasons to make their expectations of employees 

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explicit. When the firms are concerned to maintain long-term, mutually beneficial relationships, 

there is even more at stake. 

Characteristics of relationships 

Organisations are involved in networks of relationships (see, for example, however, the focus of 

this paper is the relationship between suppliers and buyers in a business-to-business context. While 

the nature of the relationships that develop between buyers and sellers varies in complexity, 

closeness and longevity the differences will be a matter of degree rather than fundamental 

differences in characteristics. These relationships are typically characterized as being cooperative, 

based on trust, with a long-term perspective resulting in mutual benefit. In considering which 

characteristics are most important, Gummessen identifies collaboration, commitment and trust. He 

points out, however, that they ‘are fuzzy entities which overlap in several respects’ (2002, p. 27). In 

the following sections these properties identified as being important in developing relationships in 

marketing are outlined. It is beyond the scope of this paper to provide more than a brief overview of 

these. My conclusion about the ethical evaluation of particular instances of providing gifts or 

benefits to buyers does not require a detailed analysis of these characteristics, nor does it depend on 

there being a single correct conception of them. Provided this overview captures at least some of 

important aspects of the relationship between buyer and seller, my conclusion concerning gifts and 

benefits is supported. 

Trust 

Trust in a business context ‘reduces costs, makes life more pleasant, and improves efficiency’. In 

considering the basis for trust in a business relationship, Fritzsche identifies three fundamental 

elements: predictability, dependability and faith. Positive experiences over time increase trust and 

the perceived risks involved in dealing with the other party decline. 

As trust between the two businesses increases, efficiency is improved. From the perspective of the 

buyer, trust is built when the seller is a dependable source of supply, goods are of consistent quality 

and deliveries are made on time. One advantage for buyers who have formed a trusting relationship 

with their suppliers is that if shortages occur, they may receive preferential treatment. Other benefits 

include a saving of time and resources previously spent on checking quality and deliveries. From 

the perspective of the supplier, trust is built when the buyer is loyal and meets their financial and 

other commitments to the supplier. It is more efficient for a supplier to maintain long-term customer 

relationships than to attract new customers. 

Collaboration, long-term perspective and mutual benefit 

An emphasis on long-term collaboration and the creation of mutual value (win–win situations) is 

fundamental to relationship marketing.goes so far as to claim that collaboration is the fundamental 

property of relationships. In contrast to transaction marketing, with its focus on one-off deals, a 

long-term perspective is central to relationship marketing. Additionally, relationship marketing 

involves an interactive relationship between supplier and buyer. For example, the customer may 

initiate innovation and cause suppliers to alter their products and services. If the relationship is 

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successful in providing benefits to both parties, it is likely to continue. From the perspective of 

suppliers, the importance of retaining customers is being increasingly recognised, and ‘extending 

the duration of the relationship is a major marketing goal’. From the perspective of the buyer, a 

mutually beneficial, long-term relationship with a supplier reduces costs and is efficient. 

Business marketing relationships 

The characteristics of long-term, mutually beneficial relationships that are commonly identified 

include trust, commitment, collaboration, a long-term perspective and mutual benefit. In order for a 

relationship to be maintained over time, both parties must value the relationship and the benefits it 

brings. 

An immediate complication is that organisations per se do not form relationships. A firm may 

decide to adopt a business marketing approach focusing on building the relationship between the 

firms, but it will be individuals acting on behalf of their employers (suppliers) who will have 

dealings with individuals from other firms (buyers) who are also acting as agents for their 

employers. Over time it might correctly be claimed that the two organisations have developed a 

certain kind of relationship, but the success of the relationship between the organisations will 

depend, in large part, on the success of the relationship between the individuals concerned. 

Unsurprisingly, a social relationship may develop between a buyer and salesperson as a result of the 

business relationship. 

It will be argued that one problem with existing literature dealing with gift giving in a relationship 

marketing context is that it conflates the relationship between the organisations and the relationship 

between individuals representing the organisations. When there is a close personal relationship 

between a buyer and a salesperson, the potential for inappropriate behaviour is increased. 

Gifts, bribes and conflicts of interest 

It is uncontroversial to claim that the practice of giving gifts and benefits to buyers can, in some 

instances, be ethically problematic. We now turn to a consideration of why this is so. Much of the 

literature focuses on bribery and there are two common approaches. Some authors define bribery in 

such a way that if something is described as bribery it is necessarily unethical, for example, claims 

that if a gift is given with the intention to influence, then it is a bribe and bribery is an unethical 

practice. Similarly, claims that ‘since bribery cannot be justified, the challenge is to determine 

precisely when a particular payment constitutes a bribe and when it does not’ (2002, p. 200). Other 

authors provide a scale of bribery with low value gifts at one end through to holidays, cars, and 

payments of large sums of money at the other. These authors then go on to discuss which forms of 

bribery are acceptable (see, for example, Shaw and Barry point out that a bribe can be in the form of 

‘money, gifts, entertainment, or preferential treatment’. They also claim that while business gifts 

and entertainment are familiar in the world of business, both practices can ‘border on bribery, but 

knowing where to draw the line is not always easy’. 

Rather than becoming bogged down in definitions or scales of bribery in order to make a distinction 

between acceptable and unacceptable examples of gifts and benefits it is more helpful to focus 

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directly on what it is that distinguishes the unethical from the unproblematic examples. One guide is 

to refer to an organization's policies. If there is a code of conduct or policy that explicitly states the 

circumstances under which gifts and benefits can be accepted, then a violation of these guidelines 

would, prima facie, constitute unethical behaviour. However, the main reason for judging particular 

instances of accepting gifts and benefits unethical, and the underpinning justification for policies 

relating to gifts and benefits, is that it results in, or could reasonably be expected to result in, a 

conflict of interest for the recipient. 

A conflict of interest has been defined as arising when private interests lead, or may lead, an 

employee to make decisions detrimental to the interests of his or her employer, or when an 

employee's objectivity is compromised. A conflict of interest exists when there is a real or potential 

conflict between the private interests of employees and the interests of their employers. 

This is unethical because it is inconsistent with the duties and responsibilities implicit, if not 

explicit, in the employment contract. A potential conflict of interest occurs when an employee's 

decision may be affected by self-interest, or an employee's decision appears to be affected by selfinterest. 

Whether or not a potential conflict of interest is unethical depends on the circumstances 

including the intentions and psychology of the person involved, his or her position and role within 

the organisation, how much he or she stands to gain and the possible consequences for those 

affected. 

This discussion of actual and potential conflicts of interest is muddled. The claim is that a conflict 

of interest is actual or potential depending on whether the employer's interests were, in fact, 

harmed. Consider a situation in which a buyer allowed his or her interests to influence a purchasing 

decision but, coincidentally, the decision was not contrary to his or her employer's interests. This 

surely is an actual not a potential conflict of interest situation. It is more plausible to claim that a 

conflict of interest exists whenever an employee has interests that would, or could plausibly, lead 

him or her to make decisions that are not in the best interests of his or her employer. When a 

conflict of interest is understood in this way it explains why many organisations have developed 

procedures for reporting potential conflicts of interest, together with strategies for addressing them. 

Such procedures are in place to deal with situations in which it would be reasonable for someone 

who is objective to think that a conflict exists. One implication of accepting this view is that it is not 

necessary for a particular gift or benefit to be linked to a particular buying decision in order to judge 

accepting it wrong. Thus, accepting a Christmas gift or attending a sporting event with a 

salesperson (for example), could, depending on the circumstances, have the potential to 

compromise the buyer's judgment even if there are no purchasing decisions about to be made. If 

accepting the gift or benefit could reasonably be thought by an objective third party to have the 

potential to influence the buyer's judgment at any time in the future, then it would be wrong for the 

buyer to accept. 

Conflicts of interest and business relationships 

It is now possible to answer the question: ‘When is it unethical for a buyer to accept a gift or benefit 

from a salesperson?’. When accepting the gift or benefit could be seen by an objective third party to 

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compromise the decision making of the buyer, it is wrong to accept it. This is because accepting the 

gift or benefit creates conflict of interest situation. When buyers accept gifts or benefits that create a 

conflict of interest, their judgment is compromised and they may not be acting solely in the best 

interests of their employers when they make purchasing decisions (in violation of their employment 

duties). This is a general conclusion that is relevant to all examples of receiving gifts and benefits in 

a business context. 

In a relationship marketing context, however, there is a further step in the analysis. If accepting a 

gift or benefit does result in a conflict of interest, then the relationship between the two businesses 

is also compromised. In order to appreciate this point recall that relationship marketing is 

characterized by trust, commitment, collaboration, a long-term perspective and mutual benefit. 

When a buyer's decision making is compromised, the trust and commitment built up over time 

between the two firms is broken and the relationship is threatened. It was noted above that the depth 

of the relationship that develops between firms varies. The stronger the relationship between the 

firms, the more damage a conflict of interest can cause. 

Business marketing and gifts and benefits 

Let us now return to the claim that a marketing approach that focuses on building relationships 

makes it difficult to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable practices. This is because 

relationship marketing regards giving and receiving preferential treatment as not only acceptable 

but also desirable behaviour yet, at the same time, the most commonly identified ethical problem in 

purchasing and sales relates to activities aimed at influencing buying decisions. The problem is to 

distinguish between acceptable practices that are aimed at enhancing the relationship between the 

organisations and unacceptable ones that put pressure on buyers to show partiality in their decision 

making. The plausibility of the claim that relationship marketing blurs the boundary between 

acceptable and unacceptable practices, however, results from a confusion. The argument conflates 

two very different propositions. First, that relationship marketing condones practices that strengthen 

the relationship between the buying and supplying organisations and, second, relationship 

marketing condones practices that strengthen the relationship between buyer and salesperson. Part 

of the reason this may have occurred is the terminology used. When the terms ‘buyer’ and 

‘seller/supplier’ are used they are ambiguous. Do they refer to individuals (acting as agents for 

organisations) or do they refer to organisations? When this distinction is made clear, the claimed 

blurring of acceptable and unacceptable practices disappears. 

It will be argued that suppliers providing benefits or services to buying organisations as part of their 

normal business transactions is unproblematic. These benefits and services are contrasted to the 

gifts and benefits that are commonly offered to individual buyers for their use or consumption (and 

are the subject of company codes of ethics or conduct). It is the claim that this latter practice builds 

the relationship between the buying and selling organisations that is challenged. 

As part of their relationship-building strategy, a supplier may provide services or benefits to their 

business customers such as computer software to facilitate direct ordering, training for buyers, 

storage systems for stock provided by them or other benefits. It might be claimed that these ‘gifts 

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and benefits’ are ethically problematic since they are clearly intended to influence the business 

customer's buying decisions. This is not a plausible claim. The provision of these benefits needs to 

be viewed in a broader context. Their purpose is to enhance the relationship between the two firms 

and create mutual benefit. 

It is true that a relationship marketing approach supports preferential treatment. Preference will be 

given to the supplier with whom there is an established relationship or, in the case of special offers, 

for example, the supplier will give preference to the business customer with whom there is an ongoing 

relationship. However, the justification for the partiality is mutual benefit. Through 

experience over time, the buying organisation has found the supplier to be dependable and 

cooperative, offering competitive prices, good service and so on. The supplier has, through 

experience over time, found the customer to be loyal, cooperative, paying accounts on time and so 

on. From the buyer's perspective it is more efficient to deal with trusted suppliers rather than 

negotiate every order with multiple potential suppliers. From the seller's perspective, the old adage 

that it is better to keep an existing customer than to have to attract a new one holds. Mutually 

beneficial transactions that occur over time strengthen the relationship between the buying and 

selling organisations, and the interests of both organisations are served. When preferential treatment 

is given both businesses benefit, there is no conflict of interest—a win–win situation. There is no 

blurring of the boundary between acceptable and unacceptable practices. 

Conclusion 

The claim that a relationship marketing context blurs the boundary between acceptable and 

unacceptable practices has been shown to be false. The plausibility of this claim results from the 

failure to distinguish two different propositions: (1) That practices aimed at enhancing the 

relationship between the buying and selling organisations are acceptable, and (2) that providing 

gifts and benefits in order to enhance the relationship between representatives of the two businesses 

are acceptable. 

When a distinction between organisations and individuals is made, it becomes much easier to 

distinguish acceptable from unethical practices. Those benefits and services provided by a supplier 

to a buying organisation as part of a genuine relationship marketing strategy are unproblematic. 

Token gifts and low-cost entertainment provided by salespeople to buyers are also unproblematic 

provided accepting them does not violate the policies of either firm. Unethical practices are those 

that result in a conflict of interest for the recipient. Whether or not a conflict of interest exists in a 

particular situation depends on how an objective third party would view particular examples, but 

this does not mean the boundary between right and wrong is blurred. 

The responsibility for avoiding conflict of interest situations has been demonstrated to rest not only 

with buyers. Sellers also have a responsibility not to offer anything that could be seen to 

compromise the objectivity of the recipient. It is wrong for a buyer to have a conflict of interest, and 

it is wrong for a salesperson to entice someone to have a conflict of interest. Additionally, in a 

relationship marketing context, when a conflict of interest is created by a gift or benefit the 

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behaviour of both the buyer and the salesperson undermines the trust and commitment upon which 

a mutually beneficial relationship is built. 

Another claim that might support the blurring of boundaries was also shown to be unsubstantiated. 

Just because there is an industry practice to provide gifts and benefits to buyers, this does not make 

it acceptable. On the contrary, gifts and benefits are identified as posing one of the most 

problematic ethical issues in purchasing and sales despite common practice. 

All organisations have very good reasons to develop, implement and enforce company codes of 

conduct and policies that make explicit what can be accepted and given. When the organisations are 

in a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship that depends on trust and commitment there is even 

more reason to review their current policies and practices. 

References 

Fritzsche D.J, Business ethics: A global managerial perspective, McGraw Hill Irwin, New York, 

2005. 

Leek S, Turnbull P.W., Naude P., A comparison of manufacturers and financial services suppliers' 

and buyers' use of relationship management methods, Industrial Marketing Management, 2004. 

Mellahi K., Wood G., The ethical business: Challenges and controversies, Palgrave Macmillan, 

Houndmills, 2003. 

Shaw W.H., Barry V, Moral issues in business (9th edition), Thomson Wadsworth, Belmont, 

2004.. 

Varley R.J., Relationship marketing: Dialogue and networks in the e-commerce era, Wiley, London, 

2002. 

Velasquez M.G., Business ethics: Concepts and cases (5th edition), Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle 

River, 2002. 

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CERTIFICAREA UNUI SISTEM DE MANAGEMENT AL CALITĂŢII, 

EXPRESIE A EVALUĂRII ŞI AUDITĂRII ACESTUI SISTEM 

Prof. univ. dr. Popescu Daniela, 

Universitatea din Craiova 

dr. Popescu Cristinel 

S.C. Voltinvest Craiova 

Într-un sistem bipartit, furnizorul unui bun sau serviciu îşi va construi un sistem al calităţii care este în 

conformitate cu standardele. Apoi, clienţii acestuia vor audita sistemul din punctul de vedere al acceptabilităţii. Însă 

acest sistem bipartit presupune ca atât furnizorul, cât şi cumpărătorul să participe la numeroase activităţi de audit, ceea 

ce este un lucru foarte costisitor. De aceea, s-a apelat la certificarea de către o a treia parte. 

Certificarea unui sistem al calităţii presupune evaluarea şi supravegherea periodică de către un organism terţ a 

conformităţii sistemului calităţii furnizorului. Această a treia parte se numeşte organism de certificare. Atunci când un 

sistem al calităţii este conform cu interpretarea dată standardelor de către organismul de certificare, acesta din urmă 

emite furnizorului un certificat de conformitate. Acest certificat asigură clienţii sau potenţialii clienţi că furnizorul are 

un sistem al calităţii şi că acesta este monitorizat, nemaifiind astfel nevoie de alte audituri. 

Cu alte cuvinte certificarea unui sistem al calităţii reprezintă evaluarea şi auditarea acestuia de către un terţ, 

care se numeşte organism de certificare. Acest proces cuprinde două etape: alegerea unui organism de certificare şi 

certificarea propriu-zisă. 

Alegerea unui organism de certificare 

În anul 1989, în Statele Unite a fost înfiinţată Comisia de Acreditare a Organismelor de Certificare 

(Registrar Accreditation Board - RAB), organism afiliat la Societatea Americană a Calităţii 

(American Society of Quality - ASQ), având drept obiectiv dezvoltarea unui program de evaluare a 

calităţii serviciilor oferite de organismele de certificare. RAB menţine o listă a organismelor 

acreditate. Alegerea unui organism de certificare se bazează pe patru criterii generale: 

1. COMPETENŢA ŞI EXPERIENŢA 

O mare importanţă o are numărul companiilor care au fost certificate de organismul respectiv, 

experienţa acestuia în diferite sectoare industriale şi structura portofoliului de clienţi din punctul de 

vedere al mărimii şi locaţiei acestora. La fel de importantă este competenţa auditorilor şi pregătirea 

continuă a acestora. 

2. RECUNOAŞTEREA CERTIFICĂRII 

Organismul de certificare trebuie să fie acreditat de o agenţie specializată, cum ar fi RAB. El trebuie 

să fie recunoscut de clienţii prezenţi şi cei potenţiali ai organizaţiei. De exemplu, să presupunem că 

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o întreprindere vinde produse în străinătate sau că activează într-o anumită ramură industrială, cum 

ar fi industria medicală. Se pune întrebarea: Există acorduri de cooperare internaţională? 

Organismul de certificare trebuie să furnizeze detalii în acest sens. 

3. PROCESUL DE CERTIFICARE 

Organismul ales trebuie să dispună de o procedură de certificare a cărei structură să fie conformă cu 

nevoile organizaţiei dumneavoastră. Evaluatorii trebuie să fie foarte deschişi la solicitările pe care le 

faceţi. Un factor foarte important în cadrul procesului de certificare îl reprezintă obiectivul 

ameliorării calităţii şi productivităţii. Organismul de certificare nu trebuie să se limiteze doar la 

evaluarea sistemului calităţii, ci trebuie, de asemenea, să identifice modalităţi de creştere a eficienţei 

activităţilor desfăşurate. O importanţă tot mai mare în viitor va avea capacitatea organismului de 

certificare de a efectua operaţii combinate de auditare: auditul respectării prevederilor referitoare la 

mediu, auditul calităţii şi cel al protecţiei muncii. 

4. CONSTRÂNGERILE DE TIMP ŞI COST 

Alegerea unui organism de certificare trebuie să ţină cont şi de timpul total necesar înainte de 

desfăşurarea auditului propriu-zis. De asemenea, va trebui să aflaţi timpul şi costurile pe care le 

presupun auditul iniţial şi cele de supraveghere. 1 

Procesul de certificare 

Procesul de certificare se desfăşoară în şase etape principale: depunerea cererii de certificare, 

trecerea în revistă a documentelor necesare, pregătirea evaluării, evaluarea propriu-zisă, certificarea 

şi monitorizarea organizaţiei certificate. Organismele de certificare solicită o cerere expresă pentru 

a demara procesul de certificare. Această cerere cuprinde drepturile şi obligaţiile ambelor părţi, 

precizează pentru ce standard de calitate doreşte aplicantul să obţină certificarea şi conduce la 

încheierea contractului de prestare de servicii. 

După ce a acceptat cererea şi a stabilit un calendar al procesului de certificare, organismul 

de evaluare va studia întreaga documentaţie a sistemului calităţii. Unii solicită doar manualul 

politicii calităţii, în timp ce alţii solicită şi manualul procedurilor în domeniul calităţii. Apoi, 

organismul de certificare compară documentaţia organizaţiei cu standardul pentru a hotărî dacă 

prevederile acestuia sunt îndeplinite. 

Nu toate organismele de certificare consideră necesară o etapă premergătoare evaluării. Se 

recomandă, totuşi, să se parcurgă şi această etapă, care reprezintă o trecere în revistă a operaţiilor 

desfăşurate în cadrul organizaţiei în vederea strângerii informaţiilor necesare evaluării complete sau 

auditării. În această etapă se poate identifica o deficienţă majoră sau o carenţă a documentaţiei, care 

poate fi corectată înainte de demararea auditului propriu-zis, mărind astfel şansele depăşirii din 

prima încercare a rigorilor acestuia. Parcurgerea acestei etape rămâne la latitudinea organizaţiei 

auditate. 

1 Stefan Heinloth, "Alegerea unui organism de certificare", Quality Digest (septembrie 1996): 33-38. 

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După ce s-a constatat că documentaţia organizaţiei este conformă cu prevederile 

standardului, se trece la auditarea sau evaluarea propriu-zisă. De regulă, un audit durează douăpatru 

zile şi necesită deplasarea a cel puţin două persoane la sediul unităţii auditate. Se va urma 

aceeaşi procedură ca în cazul auditului intern şi se vor acoperi toate sectoarele şi toate procedurile 

organizaţiei. 

Conducătorul echipei de auditare va prezida o şedinţă finală în care se va prezenta verbal un 

rezumat al constatărilor efectuate şi se va face o recomandare în ce priveşte certificarea. În cazul în 

care s-au depistat doar abateri minore, se va recomanda acordarea certificării. Dacă s-au identificat 

una sau mai multe abateri majore dar ele pot fi corectate foarte uşor, se va recomanda o aprobare 

condiţionată de luarea măsurilor corective. Nu se va acorda certificarea dacă se ajunge la concluzia 

că procedurile nu au fost implementate sau cel puţin un element al standardului nu a fost respectat. 

După aprobarea certificării, organismul de certificare va desfăşura audituri de supraveghere 

la intervale de 6 luni-1 an. Acestea nu vor parcurge toate etapele amintite mai sus, ci vor fi mai 

degrabă verificări aleatorii ale unor elemente, pentru a obţine confirmarea că sistemul continuă să 

funcţioneze. Certificatul de conformitate obţinut este valabil timp de trei ani, după care organizaţia 

trebuie să parcurgă din nou un proces de certificare. 

CERTIFICAREA ISO 9001:2000 

Certificarile Sistemului de Management al Calitatii în IQ Management presupune: 

Certificarea Sistemului de Management al Calitatii cu Organismul de certificare AEROQ, in 

conformitate cu cerintele standardului ISO 9002:1994. 

Re-certificarea Sistemului de Management al Calitatii cu Organismul de certificare AEROQ, 

in conformitate cu cerintele standardului ISO 9001:2000 pentru 2003. 

Re-certificarea Sistemului de Management al Calitatii cu Organismul de certificare AEROQ, 

in conformitate cu cerintele standardului ISO 9001:2000 pentru 2005. 

O confirmare a competentei si competitivitatii actului managerial din organizatia noastra o 

reprezinta implementarea si mentinerea unui sistem de management al calitatii in conformitate cu 

cerintele standardului ISO 9001:2000. IQ Management a obtinut recunoasterea calitatii serviciilor 

de management de proiect, management informatic si managementul afacerilor, prin re-certificarea 

sistemului de management al calitatii in conformitate cu cerintele standardului ISO 9001:2000. 

Prin intermediul politicii sale de calitate, IQ Management isi asuma angajamentul de a 

intelege cerintele curente si viitoare ale clientilor, si de a duce la indeplinire solicitarile acestora. 

Fundamentele politici de calitate se bazeaza pe patru elemente care genereaza succes: 

o grija fata de clienti 

o grija fata de calitatea serviciilor 

o grija fata de angajati 

o indeplinirea obiectivelor financiare ale companiei, necesare pentru a realiza toate 

celelalte obiective 

Conducerea IQ Management acorda o atentie deosebita implementarii propriei politici 

referitoare la calitate care este parte integranta a politicii generale a organizatiei. Avand in vedere 

concurenta tot mai acerba in domeniul serviciilor, in general si in special al serviciilor IT&C, 

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suntem constienti ca in perioada care urmeaza, cea mai importanta caracteristica a serviciilor 

noastre trebuie sa fie calitatea. Prin urmare, misiunea organizatiei noastre este: realizarea serviciilor 

de management de proiect, management informatic, managementul gestiunii, consultanta si 

managementul afacerilor, astfel incat sa se obtina un inalt grad de satisfactie a clientilor nostri 

precum si asigurarea dezvoltarii si profitabilitatii organizatiei noastre. 

Aceasta misiune dorim sa o indeplinim prin satisfacerea cerintelor, mentinerea si 

imbunatatirea continua a eficacitatii Sistemului de Management al Calitatii, in conformitate cu SR 

EN ISO 9001:2001. 

Procesele derulate in cadrul organizatiei noastre, prevazute de cerintele standardului 

ISO9001:2000, confirma existenta unui sistem de management al calitatii consolidat si sunt grupate 

in trei mari categorii, fiecare fiind documentat in una sau mai multe proceduri ale sistemului 

calitatii: 

• Procese care generează valoare adăugata, aflate la interfaţa: 

o cu piaţa - marketing pentru identificarea cerinţelor pieţei de soluţii integrate IT&C 

o cu clientul final - procese de management corporativ al afacerii, ce conţine procesele de 

dezvoltare si implementare a proiectului, având la baza subprocesele de suport tehnic 

• Procese de management, care definesc activităţile de baza referitoare la managementul 

implementării proiectului 

o managementul resurselor 

o managementul proiectului 

o managementul contractelor/ofertelor 

o managementul sistemului calităţii 

• Procese suport, care sprijină execuţia proceselor care generează valoarea adăugata, cum ar fi 

de exemplu procesul de achiziţie. 

Pentru a obţine performanta in afaceri, managementul la vârf al organizaţiei noastre se 

ghidează după cele opt principii de management care fac parte din cerinţele Standardului ISO 

9001:2000 si anume: 

• Orientarea către client 

o IQ Management se implica in identificarea problemelor clienţilor săi, actuale si 

viitoare si îndeplinirea cerinţelor specificate, nespecificate, legale si de reglementare si 

orice alte cerinţe suplimentare determinate de organizaţia noastră, definite si 

negociate. 

• Leadership 

o Managementul la vârf stabileşte viziunea, unitatea obiectivelor şi direcţia de 

dezvoltare a proiectului, in aşa fel încât angajaţii sa se implice complet in atingerea 

obiectivelor organizaţiei. 

• Implicarea angajaţilor 

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Managementul de vârf este convins de faptul ca angajaţii săi formează principalul 

factor de succes al organizaţiei si implicarea lor totala generează beneficii pentru 

companie. 

• Abordarea bazata pe proces 

o Este cunoscut faptul ca un rezultat dorit este atins mult mai eficient când activităţile si 

resursele aferente sunt gestionate ca procese. Prin abordarea bazata pe proces IQ 

Management si-a consolidat sistemul de management al calităţii. 

• Abordarea bazata pe management 

o Eficacitatea si eficienta atingerii obiectivelor este realizata printr-o corelare justa a 

proceselor care au fost identificate şi cu interese de personalul implicat. 

• Îmbunătăţirea continua 

o îmbunătăţirea permanenta a performantelor organizatiei prin imbunatatirea continua 

a eficacitatii Sistemului de Management al Calitatii, este unul dintre obiectivele 

principale. 

• Abordarea bazata pe fapte in luarea deciziilor 

o Procesul de luare a deciziilor se bazeaza pe analiza datelor şi informatiilor existente 

in sistem. 

• Relaţii reciproc avantajoase cu furnizorii 

o IQ Management a creat si mentine un adevarat parteneriat cu furnizorii sai, 

parteneriat care genereaza beneficii si valoare adaugata. 

Comentarii finale 

Reţineţi, auditarea şi certificarea de către un organism terţ nu reprezintă prevederi ale seriei 

de standarde ISO 9000. Standardele sunt prevăzute pentru acele situaţii contractuale care implică un 

client şi un furnizor. Certificarea reprezintă o modalitate de a demonstra respectarea unui standard. 

Prevederile acestuia au scopul de a preveni apariţia neconformităţilor în cadrul tuturor funcţiunilor 

unei întreprinderi. Înainte de a se angaja într-un proces de certificare, managerii unităţii trebuie să 

aibă capacitatea de a motiva costurile prin prisma câştigurilor care se vor obţine prin primirea 

certificării. 

Mai trebuie adăugat că nici un alt standard nu a avut o mai mare răspândire internaţională şi mai 

multe rezultate în direcţia promovării calităţii ca seria ISO 9000. Trebuie să nu uităm, totuşi, că 

sistemul calităţii este numai unul dintre elementele care se găsesc la dispoziţia managementului 

calităţii totale. Multe organizaţii au considerat certificarea ca un scop în sine, iar managerii acestora 

nu au conştientizat responsabilităţile şi rolul care le revenea în direcţia promovării managementului 

calităţii totale. Sistemul calităţii ISO 9000 constituie un excelent prim pas în direcţia implementării 

managementului calităţii totale. 

Bibliografie 

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7. Juran, Joseph M., Editor, Quality Control Handbook, 4 th ed. New York: McGraw Hill Book 

Company, 1980 

8. Knouse, Stephen B., Editor, Human Resources Management Perspectives on TQM Concepts 

and Practices, Milwaukee WI: ASQ Quality Press, 1996 

9. Olaru, Marieta, Managementul calităţii, Ediţia a II-a, Editura Economică, Bucureşti, 1999 

10. Peace, Robert W., Editor, The ISO 9000 Handbook, Fairfax, VA: CEEM Information 

Service, 1992 

11. Popescu, Daniela, Managementul calităţii, Editura SITECH, Craiova, 2004 

12. Popescu, Daniela, Principii şi tehnici utilizate în managementul calităţii, Editura SITECH, 

Craiova, 2007 

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LES QUALITES DU MANAGER ET LES FACTEURS INFLUENÇABLES DE 

SON TRAVAIL 

JOE CLAUDIA - étudiante 

Professeur universitaire Dr. Căruntu Constantin – coordonnateur 

LÙniversité „Constantin Brâncuşi” Faculté de Sciences Economiques 

ABSTRACT: Le texte de cet ouvrage a été écrit pour offrir une source éducationnelle et formative de grande 

qualité. En étudiant le contenu de ces connaissances essentielles vous réaliserez quèlles vous aideront a projeter et 

administrer gérer mieux la vie, la carrière professionnelle et les talents personnels, ensuite comme managers en cours de 

transformation on leurs conseillers, vous devez apprendre diriger dàutres hommes. 

Un premier but de cet ouvrage est de vous éveiller lìntérêt et làttention sur la qualité dùn manager et quant 

an deuxième brut, il se rapporte a lìnfluence des facteurs sur le travail managériale, ces concepts sont essentiellement 

utilises dans la pratique du management. 

Je commence cet ouvrage par la démonstration de la signification que le terme de 

management a tant dans les ouvrages de spécialité que dans la pratique et le discours usuel. 

Le management a une triple signification: làctivité pratique (processus), facteur de décision 

(équipe on individu) et science. 

Les origines du mot manager sont encore disputées. Un orchestre des individus brillants, ne 

peuvent pas fonctionner harmonieusement si chacune dèlles ne se soumet a la bouette de chef 

dòrchestre, aux indications du scénographe, on aux directives de lèntraîneur. 

Une entreprise, une administration, une institution dènseignement, une bibliothèque, 

peuvent se développer, en obtenant une excellente réputation seulement grâce a quelques 

collaborateurs créatifs, compétents, disponibles qui sont mis en valeur de làctivité de leurs chefs. 

On peut devenir manager international on par hasard. Dans les fonctions publiques surtout, 

quelques promotions résultent souvent des impulsions extérieures (politiques en non) et pas de la 

certitude et la volonté de la personne visée. 

Quelques uns peuvent avoir des réticences dans làcceptation dùn poste de direction 

détermines par: la crainte de prendre une décision, d`évaluer ses collègues, dàrrêter les conflits, la 

crainte de changements, le absence de la disponibilité de sacrifier la famille et le passe-temps, des 

doutes concernant sa compétence; lìnsoumission a une examen public de sa compétence. Ces 

réticences freinent l`élan on peuvent même provoquer le refus de la promotion. 

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Dàutre cote, il y a aussi des motivations qui déterminent làcceptation dùn poste de 

direction comme: le besoin de pouvoir, le besoin du travail en équipe, le désir de répandre les idées, 

de les concrétiser, éviter la monotonie, la recherche de la considération sociale; làmélioration de la 

situation matérielle de la famille; l`élargissement de l`horizon professionnel et personnel. 

Beaucoup d`hommes commencent leur carrière professionnelle sans attendre a être 

impliques dans le processus managérial 2 . 

De tonte façon, le long du temps, beaucoup dèux accumulent graduellement des 

compétences managériales, en réalisent quùne parte significative de plus en plus grande de leur 

temps est consacrée a la direction les autres en dàutres cas ils peuvent être avance graduel par un 

poste de spécialité, en recevant le titre de manager. 

La différence entre les deux groupes de personnes est que le premier sàdaptera 

graduellement et le deuxième fera un passage brusque, bien que la structure réelle de leurs 

attributions puissent être la même (partiellement de direction et partiellement de spécialité). 

Les modalités dans lesquelles on peut arriver a un poste de manager diffère en formation de 

la nature de lèntreprise, des usages, des réglementation des niveaux hiérarchiques. 

La pratique a démontre que la profession de manager peut être enseigne comme toute autre 

profession. 

Les qualités de caractère dùn manager ne s`héritent pas, l`heredite, le zodiac pouvant offrir 

en outre quelques aptitudes pour conduire qui doivent être cultivées attentivement chemin faisant. 

En analysant les situations avec lesquelles se confrontent un chef, on a la possibilité 

dìdentifier les connaissances quìl doit avoir, en tout cas, même si dans le passe le manager en 

cours de transformation est un spécialiste répute, il devra, pour sa nouvelle profession élargir 

considérablement làire de ses connaissances pour pouvoir avec suces aux nouvelles provocations. 

A un manager sont nécessaires des connaissances dans de divers domaines, que pourraient 

être corrélées et synthétisées avec les cinq types de qualités managériales des quùn manager doit 

posséder respectivement. 

- La qualité technique est une certaine dextérité nécessaire pour réaliser ne activité 

spécialisée. Par exemple, les qualités dont les ingénieurs, les avocats et les mécaniciens ont besoin 

pour faire leur métier sont des qualités techniques. 

- La qualité abstraite este l`habileté dépenser dans les termes abstraits. La qualité abstraite 

fait le manager avoir une image dènsemble et comprendre comment les parties dùne organisation 

ou dùne idée fonctionnent conjointement. 

- La qualité interpersonnelle este l`habilite de travailler effectivement avec dàutres hommes 

de lìntérieur on de lèxtérieur de lòrganisation. 

On peut donner de exemples de qualités interpersonnelle, comme: l`habilite d`être lies 

dàttaches avec les hommes, de comprendre leurs nécessites et justifications, de montrer une réelle 

compassion pour les souffrances des collaborateurs, sans ternir compte de leur rang dans une 

hiérarchie. 

2 David W. Rees, LÀrt de management, Bucuresti, D` édition Tehnica, 1996 

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- La qualité analytique est utilisée pour identifier les problèmes importants (on variables) 

dans une situation pour voir comment se lien et pour apprécier leur importance relative. 

La formation et la perfectionnement pour la fonction de ‘manager’ peuvent être réalises par 

des programmes de training, mais aussi par une continuelle auto perfectionnement mais, pour que le 

perfectionnement soit possible, il este nécessaire que, dans le processus de sélection soit suivi de 

près lèxistence dàutres qualités qui se trouvent a la base du développement et de lèxploitation 

des cinqanalysees antérieurement comme: la santé physique et mentale (sollicitée surtout par la 

nécessite dùn pouvoir de travail et de résistance au stress); personnalité et caractère (l`honnêteté, 

courage, intégrité, impartialité, fermeté, sociabilité, perseverence, initiative, créativité etc.); 

expérience, attitudes, éducation et habilites (culture générale, compétence professionnelle, capacité 

de travailler avec les hommes, de communiquer, de négocier de prendre des décisions, dàssumer 

des risques, la capacité de donner des pronostics a long terme, dànalyse et synthèse, la vision 

dènsemble, de differents habilites nécessaires); motivation. 

Les qualités exigées pour un bon manager différent en fonction de la culture du pays et de 

lòrganisation respective, du niveau hiérarchique, de la spécification de làctivité, des règlements 

existants. 

Un manager qui possède toutes les qualités présentées est un ‘robot’ théorique, mais, en 

réalité il nèxiste pas. 

Il est important quìl existe au candidat les qualites-cles demandées par le poste de direction 

quìl occupe pour quìl devienne ‘manager’. 

On a identifie trois catégories de leaders: 

- autoritaires qui détient toute làutorité et responsabilité, la communication se réalise du 

haut en bas, les engages sont charges de divers problèmes et on attend dèus des résultats corrects et 

précis; 

- des partisans de la libre initiative (‘laissez faire’) qui ‘cèdent’ la responsabilité et 

permettent aux subalternes de travailler comment ils désirent, sont les partisans dùne minime 

communication avec les collaborateurs, celle-ci se réalisent surtout horizontalement entre les 

membres de l`équipe dirigée; 

- des démocratiques qu détiennent làutorité finale, mais ils délèguent làutorité a dàutres 

qui participent a la détermination des responsabilités de travail, la communication se réalisant dans 

les deux sens. 

Dùne manière concrète, làctivité des managers, leur réussite sont dépendantes dùne 

multitude des facteurs qui se trouvent on non sous la surveillance de ceux-ci: 

a) Le changement et la résistance au changement est un premier facteur qui influence leur 

travail 3 . 

Pour le chef dùne organisation il n`y a pas deux jours semblables: il ne sait quel coup de fil 

recevra dans les minutes suivantes, quelle voiture se détraquera, quel client déposera une 

réclamation, quel chef donnera une nouvelle recommandation on quel projet échouera. 

3 Adaptation après J. Massie, J. Douglas, op. cit. 

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Une partie de ceux qui lèntoure pourrait désirer de certains changements et dàutres 

sòpposeraient on il doit avoir des obstacles pour réaliser ces changements, comme celui dòrdre 

financière (les changements peuvent être très coûteux et les dépenses préconisées ne peuvent pas 

être contrôles). 

Les changements conduisent quelque fois a lìnconnu et quelques uns ont peur. Le manager 

peut se confronter simultanément et continuellement avec des situations qui demandent des 

changements et avec les forces qui sòpposent a ceux-ci. 

b) Le connu et lìnconnu, font aussi part du monde du manager, Le chef doit anticiper 

làvenir, mais en même temps il este convaincu quìls existent des choses que personne ne prissent 

les prévoir (de diverses crises inattendues). 

Le chef peut, plusieurs fois ne pas se connaître soi même ses raisons, ses plans; il ne connaît 

jamais tout des hommes qui lèntourent, il ne peut toujours savoir certainement si une décision est 

meilleure quùne autre. 

Il y aussi beaucoup de choses connues dans la profession dùn manager: il sait quelle est sa 

responsabilité et autorité et quelle autorité lui reconnaissent les autres, il sait quoi attendre de la 

direction supérieure, il peut connaître les revenus réels apportes et les dépenses revendiquées par 

ses actions, il peut apprendre de certaines sources dìnformation si les décisions prises ont ou non 

de succès. Le diminuer lìnfluence des éléments inconnus. 

c) les éléments contrôles et noncontrôles font aussi part de la vie du manager. Un chef peut 

souvent influencer un seul collaborateur, mais très peu un groupe de collaborateurs, grand un intérêt 

commun des collaborateurs est affecte; il peut être capable dìnfluencer les décision de son chef 

supérieur, mais, pas celles des chefs situes sur la même échelle hiérarchique: il peut être mis en 

situation difficiles, par exemple, quand il nà pas de grande autorité et responsabilité etc. Le chef 

peut être en état de contrôler le payement des hommes qui travaillent pour lui, mais, pourtant il ne 

peut pas contrôler leurs aspirations concernant le travail et la promotion dans la compagnie. 

Le chef peut avoir le contrôle sur les methades du travail, les procèdes utilises, mais très peu 

sur (lèffort) ce quìls se donnent de la peine les hommes concernant les methades de travail. 

Un chef ne pourra toujours savoir qui sera làccomplissement plein de succès qui lui assure 

la promotion. ‘Etre au lieu opportun en temps opportun’ peut être aussi au-dessus de son contrôle et 

pourtant, cela le conduit vers la promotion. 

Un chef peut être capable de contrôler les conditions dans lesquelles ses engages travaillent, 

mais il este incapable de contrôler les liens que ceux-ce ont entre eux. 

Donc, celui qui croit avoir in contrôle vaste, este perdu, déçu et inutile dans tonte sa vie de 

chef. 

d) Les limites et la liberté. Bien que la vie dùn chef soit pleine de contraintes, il y a pourtant 

la possibilité réelle de làffirmation de la liberté individuelle. 

Le concept économique du bénéfice a un sens unique pour tous les chefs, pour quùne 

organisation survire, il est nécessaire que les effets soient plus grands que les efforts, les bénéfices 

doivent être plus grandes que les dépenses. 

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Dans les organisations orientées vers le bénéfice, les chefs sont premièrement directs 

responsables des secteurs productifs qui le produisent directement. En principe, aucune organisation 

ne peut pas survivre longuement si l`énergie qui soutient làctivité este plus grandes que les 

bénéfices obtenus. 

Dans les limites imposes par le bénéfice, la grande partie des chefs ont trouve une grande 

liberté dàction. 

Excepte le cas ou le travail des collaborateurs et du chef est toujours dirige par les machines, 

les chefs sont libres a créer des plans et methades de travail, a diriger et surveiller les actions dans 

une manière qui soit profitable pour lòrganisation. 

e) Situations favorables et situations dangereuses monde du chef est plein de situation 

favorables, mais aussi dìnnombrables risques. 

La majorité des dirigeants me font partie dàucun syndicat. Ils ne négocient pas en commun 

de travail le salaire et ils nònt garanti aucun droit, en comparaison avec les engages de 

lòrganisation. 

Les relations individu organisation dans le monde du chef sont très differents en 

comparaison avec celles qui existent entre les engages et lòrganisation. 

Les chefs très pleins de promesses dans une première étape peuvent être étiquetés comme 

incapables a être avances, parce quìls ont en de mauvais résultats làn dernier. 

Une fois étiquetés comme incapables a être avances, ils peuvent être seulement tolères dans 

lòrganisation. 

Le chef vit ainsi dans un climat dìnsécurité et de crainte, parce quìl a peu de droits légaux 

et de protection et il droit agir continuellement pour lòrganisation voie en lui un élément de grande 

valeur. Le maintient de cette étiquette nèst pas du tout facile. 

Le chef se trouve lui aussi dans un processus de développement, de maturité ainsi que, 

quelques unes de qualités qui lònt fait utile pour lòrganisation pourraient diminuer. 

Il peut ne pas avoir la même énergie, la même liberté de critiquer, ne pas être dispose de se 

déplacer dùne ville a làutre, a cause de la famille on de la fatigue. 

Pour nìmporte quel motif, sa valeur pour lòrganisation, varie continuellement, 

comme lòrganisation aussi. 

f) La vie cycle de lòrganisation. Il y a encore, a cote des facteurs communs des fonctions de 

direction, mentionnes en haut, un facteur très important: làge de lòrganisation. 

On peut dire enfin, que la vie de lòrganisation connaît trois grandes étapes, comme: l`étape 

de stabilisation et du développement de làctivité (si existe un management réel et pas seulement 

déclare); l`étape de recommencement on de mort lente (a cause des facteurs et problèmes dont le 

management nà pas correspondu, nà pas réussi sàdapter et survivre dans un monde très compétitif 

et un permanent changement). 

La connaissance de la position de lòrganisation dans son étape de vie peut aider le chef a 

prendre les décisions, a raccorder ses propres intérêts a ceux de la compagnie. Par exemple, si les 

principales qualités dùn chef sont le talent dìnnovateur, la multitude de nouvelles idées, une 

compagnie qui se trouve dans l`étape de stabilisation, peut voir ces qualités destructrices pour elle. 

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De làutre cote, un chef qui nèst pas dàccord spécialement avec les changements constants 

serait intéresse dùne autre compagnie société qui se trouve dans la deuxième étape de sa vie. 

Il résulte de ces situations que, les principales qualités dùn manager doivent s`harmoniser 

aux besoins de la compagnie. 

La connaissance de l`étape de vie de la société peut aider le chef a diriger correctement ses 

efforts. Apres la connaissance de ces aspects, on peut mettre en évidence le fait que les managers 

sont des personnes qui sont capables de conduire, en sacrifiant en même temps leur temps, leur vie 

personnelle et pourquoi par leurs santé. 

Omar K. en R. affirmait dans le variante du texte de P.R. : ‘Ecoute la voix de la sagesse qui 

dit des le début: la vie est courte. Jamais l`homme ne ressemble a une plante qui puisse grandir plus 

haut, après que la faux passe’. 

Donc, on peut ajouter le fait que cet (travail) ouvrage fait partie des essais de comprendre 

les changements produits dans le domaine si fascinant du management et présente dùne manière 

structure, les fondements de la qualité du manager et les facteurs qui influencent son travail dans un 

abordage méthodique. 

Bibliographie 

- Heyne P. Le mode économique de penser, D` édition Didactică şi Pedagogică, Bucureşti, 

1991 

- Johns G., Le comportement de lòrganisation, D` édition Economică, Bucureşti, 1998 

- Maynard H.B., La direction de làctivité economique, Volumul I-IV, D` edition Tehnică, 

Bucureşti, 1975-1977 

- Russu C., Le cadre d lòrganisationnel de lèntreprise, D` édition Ştiinţifică şi 

enciclopedică, - Bucureşti, 1983 

- Ursachi I., Burdus E., La direction et lòrganisation des unités économiques, ASE, 

Bucureşti, 1986 

- Ursachi I., Naftanaila I., Deac V., Deaconu A., Management, ASE, Bucureşti, 1993 

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AN CONCEPTUAL INTELLIGENT MODEL FOR PUBLIC 

MANANGEMENT 

Ioan RADU, prof.univ.dr., Academia de Studii Economice Bucureşti 

Minodora URSĂCESCU, conf.univ.dr., Academia de Studii Economic Bucureşti 

Cleopatra ŞENDROIU, conf.univ.dr., Academia de Studii Economice Bucureşti 

Florin IONIŢĂ, lector univ.dr., Academia de Studii Economice Bucureşti 

Mihai CIOC, asist.univ.drd., Academia de Studii Economice Bucureşti 

Sorin BURLACU, asist.univ.drd., Academia de Studii Economice Bucureşti 

ABSTRACT 

The purpose of this paper is to define the principal characteristics of an conceptual intelligent model of public 

management, in conformity with the realities of the romanian public administration system. The base of this research 

was a comparative analyse of the international practices in the field, in order to identify the most important tendencies 

in public services management. Considering the results of this research, there were iddentified the foundamental 

principles of an intelligent management model for public management (subsidiarity, public value and deliberative 

governance). Starting from this point, we proposed a new intelligent management model applicable in romanian public 

sector, which can be structured into three major components: top management component (executive and deliberative), 

operational management component (back office) and communication component (front level). As a case study, we 

focused in particullary on the water supply public service and we developed a methodology for projecting the frontoffice 

component starting from the necessity of optimising stakeholder satisfaction. 

1. International theories and practices concerning the implementation of management models 

in public administration 

In the theory of management, a definition of management models can be related with the 

concept of “model” which can be defined, in the vision of Karl Deutsch, as a representation of a 

real system in order to reveal the actual characteristics of the analised situation, the selective 

operations by which these characteristics can be experienced, and the system of symbols by which 

this data can be presented. Applying this definition at the level of public administration system, we 

can consider that a public management model must integrate functions for organising, explaining, 

understanding and predicting the behaviors of the public administration system, which can be 

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identified as administrative and political practices. The public administration system must be 

approached as a depended field, strongly conditioned by the influence and implication of 

stakeholders. In the evolution of public administration we have identified practices specific to 

different management models. The most important are the following one 

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1. The “public realm” management model, which is a creation of the nineteenth century and was 

developed because private markets were either bad at fulfilling social purposes or produced effects that 

were socially unacceptable. 

1. The “orthodox” management model, which has some critical elements like: careers open to 

talents, consistency and predictability delivered through a rules based framework and limited scope for 

innovation below the highest levels of management. While successful for a long period, the “orthodox” 

model failed to adapt successfully to growing affluence. It was argued that public services had fallen 

behind the differentiation of tastes that was taking place in private markets. Bureaucracy was seen as an 

impediment to successful service delivery and “one size fits all” solutions were said to be incompatible 

with rising citizen expectations. 

2. The “public choice” management model that offered a ready made philosophical foundation 

for scepticism about the role of the public sector. It suggested that self-interest motivates public 

managers just as much as it motivates entrepreneurs in the private sector. The correct policy response 

must be to privatise where possible and open services up to competition. 

3. The „new public management (NPM)” management model which is characterised by 

markets, competition, and targets. This type of model was adopted with enthusiasm in New Zealand 

and United Kingdom. However, this management model was criticised because it is considered to give 

more attention to outputs rather than outcomes and it doesn’t support the traditional values of public 

service, personal responsibility and professionalism. 

4. The “third way (reinventing government)” management model, which is an evoluated form 

of NPM. It still has a focus on markets and competition above all else and gives a very weak account of 

citizenship – suggesting that users of public services should be defined as customers. 

5. The “public value” management model is the most recent approach that correlates the 

shareholders value in the private sector by implementing corporative governance principles in the 

public services. The principal advantages of this management model are: improving efficiency, 

effectiveness or fairness in service delivery, introducing new programmes to respond to meet a new 

political aspiration or a new challenge facing the organisation, Recasting the mission of the 

organisation so that its old capabilities can be used more effectively and responsively, reducing the 

claims that government organisations make on taxpayers and reclaiming these resources for private 

uses. 

Modern intelligent management models for public administration, has the quality to capture 

the notion of deliberative governance – the idea that citizens are more than consumers and ought to be 

able to influence the design and delivery of services. Public managers have to develop a continuous 

dialogue with their “authorising environment”, which helps to create pressure for continuous 

improvement. Furthermore, the involvement of citizens can allow managers to develop targets that 

relate to outcomes that the public genuinely value. It is also possible to use the management techniques 

to develop metrics and assess the quality of engagement with citizens. 

2. A conceptual approach of an intelligent management model for romanian public 

administration 

The starting point for developing an intelligent model for public management, applicable for 

romanian public administration system, is a diagnostic analyse of the operating mode for the public 

services, including modes of reforming, and also the relationship between the public services and the 

most significant stakeholders in its environment: central and local public administration authorities, 

citizens, public services operations, NGOs, international boards etc. There is necessary for this analyse 

to took place at a macro level. but the study must capture also the varieties of micro-level practices. 

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The diagnostic of the romanian public administration system has revelead some major 

disfunctions regarding the managerial practices, that were reflected in a low degree of citizen 

satisfaction, generated by: 

a. birocracy; 

b. big costs and low productivity; 

c. a great level of politisation of public management; 

d. low transparency; 

e. the lack of qualification of human resources; 

f. unflexible and unstable structural organisation; 

g. deficiencies regarding the organisational culture and leadership; 

h. lack of efficience and efficacity; 

i. inexistence of an integrated information system for local public administration. 

The conclusions of the diagnostic were that the public system needs a new type of leaders and a 

new kind of management practices, which are oriented for delivering quality public services to citizens 

and economic agents. Practically, the foundamental objectives of such a model can be resumed as: 

increasing the satisfaction level for the public administration stakeholders (citizens, businesses etc.), 

increasing managerial performances in local public administration by transforming the classical public 

management system in an intelligent one, based on electronic administration principles. The principal 

characteristics of the proposed intelligent model are the following ones: 

a. The system is developed on a WEB platform with interoperable applications, and the interface 

with the beneficiaries is principally based on an complex set of e-services and mobile services 

solutions. 

b. The interface of the system has a great level of interactivity with the users and also flexibility, 

because his applicability must be both at central and local public administration levels. 

c. The systems is structured on three components: top management component (executive and 

deliberative), operational management component (back office) and communication 

component (front level) (Figure no. 1). 

d. A big level a subisdiarity ehich means that the decisional system of public management must 

be reprojected in order to increase the participation of citizens at decision processes. This also 

means promoting the concepts of e-Democracy and e-Participation. 

e. The armonization of public services with the necessities and requests of the different 

stakeholders (citizens, businesses, public institutions and NGOs). 

f. A big rate of reaction to different internals and externals stimuls. 

g. Maximum transparency. 

h. Informations rationality. 

i. Efficience and efficacity regarding the usage of management functions. 

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Figure no. 1 The levels of an conceptual intelligent model for public manangement 

As it is shown in Table no. 1, the three components of the proposed management model 

corresponds to the three decision levels in public administration. Considering the subsidiarity which is 

the basic principle of the model, the most important decision level is the third one. Actually, the front 

office is the one that delivers “public value” to citizens and businesses and has a major influence on the 

quality of public services. Also, this component is in charge of obtaining feedback from the 

stakeholders, in refining public preferences and transmitting them to strategical and tactical levels. This 

is a model of deliberative governance, which creates pressure for countinuous improvement and 

innovation, based on the market reaction. 

Table no. 1 Intelligent model components 

Level Componen Structure Area of 

t 

responsibility 

1 Top Executive and Strategical and 

deliberative tactical decisions 

2 Operational Organisational 

structures from 

inside the public 

institutions 

3 Front office Components 

specialized in PR 

Operationalisation of 

tactical decisions; 

current decisions; 

integrating, analysing 

and transmitting 

decisions 

Communication 

between public 

institution and 

external medium 

Methods 

Management by objectives, 

previsional management, 

management by exceptions, 

change management 

Project management, 

management by budgets, 

management by costs 

Case management, 

electronic information of 

citizens, research 

techniques, customer 

relationship management, 

workflow management 

Instruments 

Group and 

individual decision 

support systems, IT 

dedicated solutions 

Workflow 

management, digital 

signature, ERP, 

distributed 

information 

systems, internal 

networks (Intranet, 

LAN etc.) 

Information and 

communication 

technologies 

integrated on 

Internet platforms 

3. Case Study: Front-office component optimisation: a stakeholder-oriented management model 

for romanian water supply public services 

The performances of water supply public service are influenced by a large number of 

organisations from public or private sector, of different importances and sizes. The actions of those 

“actors”, defined in the context of this paper as “stakeholders”, have a great impact on the key 

performance indicators related to the water supply market. This impact can be splitted in three 

categories: 

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1. Technical impact: 

• the quality of the service; 

• the rehabilitasion of the supply network; 

• restructuring and reorganisation process; 

• the usage of modern technologies for water treatment, its distribution monitoring, and 

for the losses reduction; 

• the setting-up of purifying stations. 

2. Economical impact: 

• the correct determination of the investments efficiency within external financing 

programs; 

• the promovation the economical analysis, according to the European standards; 

• a scientific base for the determination of the two-part tariff structure for water supply 

public services; 

• establishing the organisational and functional structure necessary for the external 

payment of public services taxes and the introduction of the unique bill; 

• setting-up possibilities for the implementation of specific management methods and 

techniques regarding the competition conditions or the natural monopoly; 

• introduction of unique indicators of benchmarking in order to monitor the operators 

activity efficiency. 

3. Social impact: 

• the correlation of the population affordability level for these public services with their 

economic costs; 

• the reorientation of the operators activities in order to satisfy the needs of the 

consumers/beneficiaries; 

• conditions for economical water consumes, environment and limitated natural resources 

protection. 

Considering the fact that the public water system is used by most of the inhabitants and private 

companies, the water supply service must fulfill certain standards and quality criteria. For this reason, 

when we reffer to the stakeholder problem, we must consider that in this category can be included 

many other organisations, not just water supply operators, which play different roles in planning, 

controlling, informing the consumers, and taking decisions in the areas covered by operators. 

Generally, we can identify seven stakeholders categories: operators, consumers, public administration 

authorities, guvernamental agencies and authorities, professional associations, research and 

developement organizations and financing institutions. 

We consider that the principal management technique that can be used in the analyse of the 

stakeholder sector for water supply services is the stakeholder matrix. In order to define the 

importance and influence of each stakeholder, we can consider the following criterias: 

a. The capacity of the stakeholder to influence positively or negatively the performances of the 

service, that can be cuantified by using an international benchmarking system such like the benchmarks 

developed by IWA (International Water Association) and IBNET (International Benchmarking 

Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities) or the ones promoted by World Bank. The capacity of the 

stakeholder is determined by the power to promote and sustain his interests on the market, by 

controlling important resources or key informations. 

b. The influence area of the stakeholder, which is determined by the number of inhabitants that are 

affected by his decisions, and by the covered geographical area of the service. 

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c. The economic power of the stakeholder, described by the principal techniques and financial 

indicators of his activity, by the quantity and quality of the controlled resources, and by his capacity to 

attract financing institutions. 

d. The interest manifested by the stakeholder regarding the achievement of a high efficiency and 

efficacity level for the management and quality of the service. 

e. The social position of the stakeholder, which is gived by his visibility and credibility at local, 

regional, national or international level. 

Considering this criterias, we can promote a classifying system for the stakeholders of water 

supply public service that groups them in 4 categories (A,B,C,D) and 16 subgroups (Figure no. 1). 

Figure no. 2 Water supply service stakeholder matrix 

The first area (A) includes the most powerfull stakeholders from the water supply market, who 

have the greatest influence on the service performances. This means that any strategic action 

(legislative modifications, operators regionalisation, implementation of the binom tariff etc.) must 

satisfy their interests. In the A category we can identify the following „actors”: 

a. The most important water supply operators in the region, that covers a large geographical area 

and many beneficiaries. Generally, those stakeholders operates in big cities and has operating licences 

(from class I to III) from the National Regulatory Authority for Municipal Services). Also, they have a 

much greater financial capability then the other operators in the region. 

b. Regional Council, that administrate the public and private domain and is responsable to develop 

strategies, forecasts and economical development programs. This stakeholder can influence decisively 

the management of the service at tactical and strategical level, by increasing the cooperation between 

the local councils of the region, especially the small ones. 

c. A serie of operatos with moderate influence and importance, that operates in medium towns 

with more than 30.000 inhabitants. Their influence is limited to the covered area. Ussualy about 15- 

20% of the region’s population is supplied by operators from this category. 

d. Local Councils, whith moderate influence which is gived by their lack of capability to attract 

external financial resources. This is why European Union recomends their association in order to obtain 

finances to sustain regional development projects. Presently, in most of Romania’s small towns, local 

councils are also water supply service providers. 

e. The Ministry of Administration and Interior, with moderate influence because of his 

responsability to analyse the legal situations of the water supply public services. 

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f. Other ministeries, authorities and governamntal agencies (ANRSC- National Regulatory 

Authority for Municipal Services, Ministry of Environment and Water). ANRSC has a direct influence 

on the service performace by licensing the operators from the market, and the Ministry of Environment 

and Water is one of the principal organizations that can accelerate the process of infrastructure and 

service quality development by promoting european financing programs like FEDR (European Fond 

for Regional Development). 

g. Representative international financial institutions (European Bank of Reconstruction and 

Development, European Investment Bank, World Bank, Council of Europe Development Bank etc.), 

with medium influence on the market considering the fact they control a large ammount of financial 

resources, but their influence does not affect direcly the quality of the service. In this context, a priority 

that operators must consider in order to increase the interest of these stakeholders is the use of some 

specific techniques such as: masterplans, cost reduction programs, post-fesability studies, mathematical 

models for forecasting evolution of the tariff etc. 

The second area (B) includes the stakeholders that are very important for the continuity of the 

service, but with small influence on the service performance. Although, considering their significative 

importance, there is a strong need to protect their interests. In this category we can identify the 

following stakeholders: 

a. Consumers (population and companies), which represents the beneficiaries of the service. These 

stakeholders are affected first of all because of the monopolistic character of the service. Also, their 

actions are limited because of the lack of visibility and preocupation of the organisations responsable 

for promoting the interests of the consumers, such as the Office for Consumer Protection, the Regional 

Directions of Public Health, some research&development organisations and the representants of civil 

society. 

b. National Administration of Romanian Water, represented by regional departments, who has the 

quality of unique operator for the surface and subsurface water resources. This stakeholder has a direct 

influence because of his responsability to approve the regional water management strategic plan. 

c. Federations and professional associations (Romanian Water Association and Romanian Local 

Authorities Federation). The influence of this stakeholders is insignificant and hard to be cuantified, but 

their importance is high because they can accelerate the transfer of knowhow, disseminate best 

practices and increase the operators visibility. Those are premises for an intensification of investments 

in research and development and training of operators personell. 

The third area (C) includes stakeholders with moderate influence on the market. Also, these 

stakeholders doesn’t have a direct interest to increase the managerial performance and the quality of the 

service. For this reason, they can be considered a significant source of risk. Zone C includes: 

a. A group of medium sized operators with small importance and influence because they cover a 

small part of ther market (cities between 10.000 and 30.000 inhabitants). 

b. The Prefecture of the region, that cannot be considered a stakeholder with significant 

importance, but that strongly influence the performance of the service. This stakeholder monitorise the 

implementation of projects which are financed by international institutions and verify the legality of the 

local public authorities decisions in the field of water supply service. 

c. National Authority for Consumer Protection, represented by her regional offices, who 

monitorise the way operators respects the rights of the water supply service consumers. 

Finally, the fourth area (D) includes the stakeholders with limited or unknown influence and 

importance. Even so, their interests must be considered in the regional development strategy. The 

stakeholders includes the rest of the water supply operators, who operates in small sized villages, with 

less than 10.000 inhabitants. Even their influence and importance is very limited, if they are grouped in 

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associations, they can become a powefull decision unit. Generally, about 30-40% of the region’s 

population are supplied by this type of stakeholders. 

By identifying the connections between the importance and influence of the key stakeholders, 

on the one part, and the management performance and service quality, on the other part, we can 

evaluate the efficiency and the potential risks of the current organisational and functional framework of 

the supply system. This analysis can be used to identify way of action in order to implement european 

directives regarding the operators regionalisation and the promovation of local council associations in 

order to access the financial resources needed to sustain regional development projects. 

Bibliography: 

1. Andrei D. – „Finanţarea infrastructurii serviciilor publice de gospodărie comunală”, Ed. 

Ministerului Administraţiei şi Internelor, Bucureşti, România, 2004. 

2. Aucoin – „Beyond the New in Public Management Reform in Canada”, The Handbook of 

Canadian Public Administration, 2004. 

3. Bozeman B. – „Theory, Wisdom and Character of Knowledge in Public Management: A Critical 

Review in Theory-Practice Linkage”, Public Management: The State of the Art, SanFrancisco, 

1993. 

4. Coats D. – „Introducing Public Value”, New Zealand Work Foundation, 2005. 

5. Deutsch K. – „The nervs of government”, New York Free Press, 1996. 

6. Gaster L., Squires A. - “Providing Quality in the Public Sector: A Practical Approach to 

Improving Public Services”, Ed. Open University Press, New York, S.U.A., 2003. 

7. Manning E. – „The New Public Management and Its Legacy”, 2000. 

8. Morley E., Scott P., Harry P.H. - “Comparative Performance Measurement”, Ed. Urban Institute 

Press, Washington, S.U.A, 2002. 

9. Pritchard D. – „Understainding Government Output and Productivity”, Economic Trends, TSO, 

2003. 

10. Radu I., Vlădeanu D. – „Analiza diagnostic şi strategia de dezvoltare a serviciilor publice de 

gospodărie comunală”, Ed. Tribuna Economică, Bucureşti, România, 2004. 

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CUSTOMER SATISFYING – ESSENTIAL ELEMENT 

FOR THE GROUNDS OF AN OFFER 

Ioana ZAHEU, Assist. Doctor Degree Candidate, 

The Romanian American University in Bucharest 

RESUME: 

Les aspects les plus importants concernant la satisfaction des clients font référence à : la durée de l’exécution de la 

commande, la régularité et la sécurité de la livraison, la disponibilité des stocks, des restrictions liées à la taille de la 

commande, la facilité de passer la commande, le temps de livraison et la flexibilité, les procédures de facturation et son 

exactitude, les procédures de réclamation, les visites faites par les agents de ventes, les informations concernant les 

commandes. 

Le processus de servir les clients se déroule en trois étapes : des éléments ayant précédé la transaction, des 

éléments de la transaction en soi, des éléments après transaction. Les éléments de la première catégorie font référence aux 

stratégies et aux programmes des sociétés concernant le processus de servir les clients, en vue de la constitution des 

structures organisationnelles adéquates et flexibles. Les éléments de la transaction même sont les variables impliquées 

directement dans la réalisation des fonctions physiques de la distribution (par exemple la certitude de la livraison, la 

disponibilité des produits, la durée de l’exécution de la commande, etc). Les éléments qui apparaissent après le déroulement 

de la transaction sont destinés à soutenir son utilisation, plus précisément, sa garantie, l’organisation du service après-vente 

pour les pièces de rechange et pour les réparations, les procédures mises en place pour gérer les réclamations des clients et 

pour remplacer les produits non-conformes. 

Une perspective pareille sur la satisfaction des clients met l’accent sur l’importance de celle-ci, ayant comme point 

de départ l’intérêt initial manifesté par le client pour les produits et les services de la société, jusqu’à une nouvelle 

acquisition à la fin du cycle de vie de ces produits. 

Les études effectuées par les spécialistes montrent le fait qu’un client satisfait va parler bien de cette société juste 

aux trois connaissances, alors qu’un client insatisfait fera part de son mécontentement à au moins 11 personnes. 

Customer Satisfying and Complete Quality 

All along the past years an enhancement was noticed related to the interest for making things 

well, which led to paying a greater attention to offering services to clients and customers, being well 

known that this would possibly be an essential source for a certain advantage within the competition 

field. Although this only represents one of the elements involved in fighting for total quality, its 

importance and impact to the customer might be demonstrated by describing the way the Italian 

company Benetton, specialized in producing clothing items, managed to reduce its costs in parallel with 

offering new high quality services. Starting as a small family business, at present Benetton has become 

a worldwide very well known company. 

The System adopted by Benetton for satisfying clients and customers in based on “just in time” 

production, which means that the manufacturing activity starts only in the very moment of receiving 

the orders. Another key element is that of painting the clothing items only after accomplishing the 

manufacturing process. This way the colors are selected at the end of the production cycle, when the 

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season’s colors have already been chosen within the market. In the beginning of each calendar season, 

the companies within the ready-made clothes field should take into account 10 color options, of which 

only three are going to reach a significant demand, while, by postponing the clothing items painting, 

Benetton would possibly directly answer to the demand within the market. En detail sales system offers 

the company data and information that are useful for the manufacturing planning and scheduling, by 

means of the daily orders received from the customers. The colors and designs desired for the clothing 

articles are established on basis of such orders. The “time” factor has got a particularly important part, 

as most popular colors get sold better during the first 10 days of the new season. The prompt reaction 

of the system allows the company’s retail dealers to obtain a certain advantage comparing to the other 

competitors who have got a certain slower reaction. In order to appraise the demands in the shortest 

time possible, the Company uses computer designing for conceiving and creating new models. All 

these action of Benetton are supported by an intense publicity campaign. 

The example presented above illustrates the contribution of the action itself of serving clients 

within a certain total high quality offer. A certain good attending to the customers and clients could by 

no means suffice in guarantying the success. That is only a certain pat of the company’s strategy in this 

respect. A certain un-pleasing product, even if supported by good services to the clients, has got little 

chances to succeed, in the same way that a good product, of good quality but supported by bad 

services, could survive but in fact would never have a market share comparable to Benetton’s. Benetton 

does not only offer suitable services to its clients and customers, represented by the product availability 

and the reaction speed in relation with the demand, but it also offers products appropriate for the 

chosen market share, from various viewpoints like fashion, price, design; products sold by stores 

having a good image among the buyers and supporting the company’s products. 

Both the client’s satisfying and the company’s profitability are related to the quality of both the 

product and the service granted. A certain high quality level offers the customer a higher satisfaction, at 

the same time allowing the company to practice higher prices and even to often reduce its costs. Thus 

the programs for quality development would usually lead to an increase of profitability. 

The task related to developing the quality of both the products and services should be a priority, 

as the customers become more and more demanding related to the quality of the products they buy. 

Therefore the companies have got no other chance than to adopt the system of total quality, this being 

the key to value and to client satisfying. 

Serving the Clients and the Distribution Strategy 

An important influence upon client serving comes from the distribution politics. Traditionally 

various experts have looked upon distribution as upon an expenses source, though a necessary one. 

This point of view led to the need for improving the functional efficiency of the company and to the 

need for reducing costs and expenses. We have in view the improvement in using vehicles, storehouses 

and warehouses, in the methods and means of maneuvering and manipulating the goods, which 

represent current problems of those dealing with the distribution. Although we do not mean to diminish 

the importance of reducing the costs, we should however not neglect the essential task of distribution, 

namely of the efficiency of the distribution strategy, and the companies holding a leading position in 

the market do admit that they owe this firstly to the strategy they adopted and only secondly to the 

efficiency of developing their operations. 

The producer does not always obtain the competitive advantage by having the lowest costs, as, 

for example, within the automobile industry; Jaguar Company achieved a significant success not by 

reducing its costs, but by adding value. It is very interesting to consider the way that Jaguar approaches 

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the problem of quality, as well as the effects this approach has got over the final product, but, however, 

the clients serving has proved to be just as important, especially in the USA, where the dealer-network 

was radically improved and the tress was focused on ensuring spare parts, which significantly changed 

its position within the market. 

At present, in order to become competitive in the market one should adopt a certain approach 

starting with identifying the consumers’ requirements and demands within the various market shares. 

Such an approach is imperatively required by the actual changes that have appeared within the 

economic environment: the transition towards the goods-type markets, as on such markets the trend is 

to diminish the power the trade mark exercises, while the production technologies converge, the 

differences between goods becoming less and less significant. 

In such circumstances the client might be influenced by the price or by the way he can perceive 

the product’s image, but the product’s availability may also have a certain critical influence; 

‣ The increasing of the buyers’ exigencies, who use a complex system for evaluating the 

suppliers; 

‣ The tendency to shorten the life-cycle of the products, due to the technical progress and to 

the clients’ demand. 

Developing the Strategies for Serving the Clients 

Identifying the needs for serving the clients: 

The marketing department should realize what are the clients’ opinions related to the 

characteristics of the products and services, as this represents an important source for the success in the 

market. The way a company comes along, starting from the moment of colleting data and up to the 

conceiving of a new competitive package for serving the customers, includes four stages: 

1. the identifying of the key elements in serving the clients; 

2. the establishing of the relative importance of the elements for serving the clients; 

3. the evaluation of the way the clients perceive the servicing performance; 

4. the market sharing according to the supplying/serving requirements. 

Making of a competitive service package: 

In elaborating the package for serving the clients certain aspect have to be taken into account, 

related to: getting to know the schedules and politics for serving the clients that have been adopted by 

the competitors for each product and distribution channel, the identifying and evaluating of the key 

elements that are going to turn the company into the perfect supplier, the evaluation of the impact of 

each and every of the serving/supplying activity over both the market share and the company’s 

profitability, the evaluation of the company’s performance for each serving element, a re-defining of 

the services package in view to avoiding supplementary expenses. 

Organizing the serving activity management, which has to be merged with the company’s global 

strategic objectives. 

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Personalizing the Client Serving Strategy 

The importance of human contacts in serving the customers 

The serving/supplying activity involves a certain direct contact with the people and no matter 

how good the strategy is, the customers’ perception related to the offered services leads to either its 

succeeding or its failing. An important condition for strategy’s efficiency is that all the employees 

involved in applying that strategy have to know it, to relate to it ea and to fully understand it. 

The companies who succeed in providing high quality services base their own activity on the 

belief that their relations with their employees are directly reflected within the relations with their 

clients and customers. Such company’s leading boards apply a certain marketing (strategy) oriented 

towards within the company, offering their employees the necessary support for accordingly 

developing their activity and rewarding the good results obtained in providing the service had in view. 

Implementing the serving strategy: 

The serving strategy should mainly offer regularity of the service and it includes four 

components: the system itself, the control over the system, the control over the cost and over the 

quality of the services. Personalizing the strategy for serving the client would mean to find that 

converging point that might join all the employees, namely the fact that the clients pays for the service 

received. 

That converging point would be the answer to the question: “What are we offering to our 

client?” – the answer to this question should preoccupy all the company’s employees 

The strategy for serving the clients should have a certain starting point, which would define the 

value that the company had in view might offer to its clients. Transforming the strategy according to 

what the company can offer to its clients would result in personalizing the company’s serving strategy. 

Such personalizing would constitute an important motivating force for all the personnel. By 

personalizing the strategy, employees’ cooperation is obtained for enforcing the said strategy. The 

employees have to start with analyzing the results not the activities. The employees should be informed 

regarding to what they have to do in order accomplish the best results, the leadership’s role being to 

explain in details what the strategy for serving the clients would mean. 

A good example in this respect could be that of Scandinavia Airlines System – SAS Company, 

in the beginning of the '80s. Hit by the oil crisis and the amplifying of the competition, the abovementioned 

company had losses amounting to 30 million in the years 1979 and 1980. Following that 

crisis, the new president of the company tried to turn toward the market and to turn the company firma 

into the best air company for the segment of business people often traveling by plane. The president 

realized that, in order to obtain such results, the key elements he ought to have in view would be the 

services, offered by both the company and its staff, who offered the said services. Thus he moved the 

stress from the airplanes to the people and the service rendered by them for the clients. The aimed 

segment, namely the business people were asked about to their expectations regarding the services 

offered by the company and then their requirements were enforced. Among their most important 

requirements where: punctuality, the proper maneuvering of luggage, the suitable serving, while those 

which got little attention were the low costs and the late hour technology. Thus the company defined as 

its new strategy the impulsion and motivation of the employees, encouraging the low levels personnel 

to take responsibilities and to also have initiative. Following those actions the company became again 

profitable. 

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The ethics of the service towards the consumer should be guiding a certain business even from 

the very beginning, even if this would mean to also lose some money. While the business grows, the 

most important thing would be to maintain the quality of the granted services. A certain client’s 

motivation in choosing a certain product or service is determined by that cleint’s expectations and 

requirements, which are mainly based on feelings, which are directly related to the person the client 

actually contacts. From two identical products a client would choose the one offering the more 

beneficial service. The difference to a certain client is made by the care that client is granted by the 

company’s personnel. To take care of the client means to serve the client as well as possible, the client 

being deemed as an entity outside the company but strongly connected with the company and thus fully 

deserving the efforts. The client’s trust in the company and its staff is vital. No sale could be 

accomplished between the seller and the buyer if there is no trustful climate, if you do not have certain 

complicity there. In our country especially, the seller is regarded by the buyer with suspicion, the buyer 

being sure that that one’s only goal would be to take away his money. 

The client tries to find out whether he can trust the seller and the company the seller represents. 

Generally speaking the client would put more trust in a professional. 

The most important moment is that of concluding a contract, accomplished either face to face, 

or by the telephone, between the offerer and the beneficiary of the service. There could be no 

successful contract, unless you get a complete focusing and preoccupying from the offerer related to 

the client’s requirements and feelings. 

When the staff is pleased with what they have to do in accomplishing their mission to convince 

the client, then the staff’s mission becomes easier. 

The assistance granted to the employees directly involved in setting the contracts with the 

clients require a certain involvement and attachment of the leadership. The greatest challenge for the 

company’s leading board is to personalize the strategy for serving the clients and to have the employees 

rally to the said, proving adherence and empathy for that strategy. 

Personal serving represents the capacity to build a certain relation. When the employees have 

fully understood the strategy for serving the clients, they will be better in implementing it. 

An “experienced” director would find it easier to understand and to accept the company’s 

strategy for serving the clients, the challenge consisting in obtaining the involving of the persons who 

have daily contracts with the clients. The basic personnel are those that have to use their whole 

potential and all their skills and qualities to establish those advantages that the clients cannot 

individually take. 

There are situations when problem may arise related to sickness or accidents of the employees, 

which would require supplementary efforts for being able to satisfy and to offer the clients high quality 

services. The leadership’s part is to stand beside their employees to treat them well and have a good 

word, thanks or praises for them (even offering them pensions and rewards). 

The leadership also has to be accessible, flexible and to directly assist the employees in 

accomplishing their activities. Each and every employee has to be treated as a volunteer, a partner in 

developing the company’s activity; the employee should be made feel useful. 

Certain companies ask of their employees a too high identifying with their work place. An 

employee good within the field of services to clients and customers should be free enough to do his or 

her best to convince an unsatisfied client to improve relations with the company. 

When each employee senses the ownership responsibility, this will be positively reflected on 

the relations with the clients. The Clients do not require exaggerated obligingness from the company’s 

employees, but responsibility from that person they contacted. Nobody should have to go “higher” in 

order to get the approval for being nicer or for giving up in front of a certain client. The company’s 

politics should be as follows: to offer its employees’ the possibility to act according to their own 

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principles and to let them take certain responsibilities (also included within their position of shareholders, 

which should impulse them when providing services to the customers). 

The personalizing of the strategy for serving the clients is very much based on continually 

educating the work forces for acting with responsibility under stress circumstances, in order to satisfy 

the clients’ requirements. 

Within the air transport industry the moments of truth for a certain company are represented by 

the contact(s) between the company’s clients and employees, having an average duration of 15-20 sec. 

This short time interval is enough for the failure of a strategy for serving the clients. This is the reason 

why, when the clients directly contacting the clients are better trained, they would better face the 

situation created. In order to become a model company, a certain company has to first prepare and train 

its employees in a suitable manner. They should deeply understand everything related to serving the 

clients in relation with the company’s products and services. The companies having the best practices 

within the field had in view, like: Walt Disney Company, East Jefferson General Hospital or Hyatt 

Hotels, start training their employees at the very moment of employing them. They search for highly 

motivated persons to provide very good service to their clients, having very good communication skills 

and enthusiastically answering to the company’s main values. Such companies offer continuous 

training by their own institutions, very much like real universities, numerous training courses and 

seminars being offered to the employees. 

Big companies and their orientation towards serving the client have learnt that solving problems 

and keeping loyal clients has got its own “University”, where the employees are given advice related to 

the way they should behave and communicate with the clients and they are trained within the hotel 

management field and related to the management of the fundamental rules in human interactions – like 

establishing visual contact and greeting the customers smiling. Such courses of the company, as well as 

the one named “Service Plus”, deal with certain special problems raised by the clients and with the 

methods for subsequently avoiding them. To make such courses more efficient, the company 

systematically gathers opinions, complaints, requests and demands coming from the guests. Whether 

these are received by phone, by the Web Site or by individual inquiries they will always be taken into 

account. In the year 1995, the people from Hyatt initiated an inquiry involving 800 clients of each of 

the 98 hotels and the company has built a data base including almost 140,000 opinions related to 

certain problems of the services granted by its hotels ever since and to make sure that such complaints 

would not be repeated they are sent by fax to each hotel’s manager. Every month an interdepartmental 

team led by one of the vice-presidents discusses one of the problems raised by the guests and tries to 

offer the best solutions for solving such problems. Each of the company’s hotels receives a copy after 

such solutions established by the above-mentioned team and gives copies of it to the employees. 

The clients must feel that their complaints and suggestions are heard and that measures are 

taken in this respect, and their opinions are not going to be thrown away. 

The companies with the most practices also take into account the way of shortening the time 

between the moment they receive a complaint and the moment it is solved. Hyatt Company is 

conspicuous for the very short period of time it leaves between the two moments mentioned before. For 

example, a certain client traveling with business reached the Hyatt Hotel in Denver, but, being hurried, 

he forgot to make reservation for the room he would have liked. 

Going into the room he had been given, on the television screen a message from the company 

welcomed him, inviting him to express his opinion related to the company’s services or to acknowledge 

any problem. Using the remote, he fulfilled all the instructions and to his great surprise and delight, in 

less than five minutes the hotel’s manager called him by the phone to tell him that although all the 

rooms were taken and his room could not be changed, he could offer him a present on behalf of the 

hotel, so that he could more easily take that inconvenience. The client was pleased with his present, but 

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he was even more pleased by the way he had been treated and the very short time in which he got the 

answer to his demands. By all means he would have liked his own employees to be just as prompt. In 

its quality of a company minutely training its employees for better answering to its clients’ 

requirements and demands, Hyatt learnt of the true value of a timely solving the customers’ problems 

and complaints. As other companies monitor the legal costs related to setting a machine into 

functioning, or the manufacturing costs, in the same way the people from Hyatt believe that they should 

monitor their clients’ opinions upon the services offered by a hotel. 

Conclusions 

As serving the clients is the secret weapon of the company’s long-term efficiency, a new 

approaching is required for shaping people as an integral part of the process for implementing the 

strategy for serving the client. This approach requires that the manager should be truly interested in the 

people, in the wish to show the employees what the strategy for serving the clients represents for the 

company. 

Serving the clients should be a pleasant activity to those rendering it and It should bring them 

extremely simulative rewards recompense. This is not only about the material payment, but also about 

creating new conditions that would make the employees feel not so tired in the end of their work 

program. 

Creating an excellent sate of mind for the serving employees is a personalized strategy for 

serving the clients. After a relaxing weekend, the employees will be able to start the new workweek 

more enthusiastically and they are going to work better and more efficient. That is why the employee’s 

satisfaction that he/she has achieved something leads to a certain satisfaction that is much higher than 

the material one. 

BIBLIOGRAFIE 

1 ANDERSEN, A. - Cele mai bune practici – Cum să reuşeşti în afaceri prin strategii al căror element 

central este clientul, Bucureşti, Editura IMAGE, 1998 

2 GATTORNA, J.L. Managementul logisticii şi distribuţiei, Bucureşti, Editura Teora, 2001 

3 GONZALES, B.A., CĂMĂNĂU, N., DIMA O., GURĂU, Gh. Sisteme de asigurare a calităţii, 

Bucureşti, Editura Junimea, 1998 

4 HAWKEN, P. Cum să dezvolţi o afacere, Bucureşti, Editura Ştiinţă & Tehnică, 1995 

5 KOTLER, P. (coord) Managementul Marketingului, Bucureşti, Editura Teora, 1999 

6 KOTLER, P., SAUNDERS, J., ARMSTRONG, G., WONG, V. Principiile Marketingului, Bucureşti, 

Editura Teora, 1998 

7 *** Business Intelligence Agency –Tehnici de vânzare, Bucureşti, Editura ALL Educaţional, 1995 

8 *** Revista de Comerţ, nr.3, anul II, martie 2001 

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DEALING WITH CUSTOMERS COMPLAINTS – A KEY ISSUE IN A MORE 

AND MORE COMPETITIVE MARKET 

Catrinel Dridea Asist. Univ. Drd. Universitatea Româno-Americană 

Abstact 

The tourism represents nowadays the fastest growing industry in the world and its main goal consists in the 

satisfaction of the clients. The improvement of tourism services is considered to be a key factor in order to obtain a 

competitive position and satisfy the variety of needs and demands of the customers. But from the consumer’s experience not 

all the tourism services are satisfactory. The service failure can frequently occur due to the large amount of services offered 

and to the constant connection between the clients and employees, specific to the tourism sector. The organizations must 

create coherent strategies for responding to service failure and minimize their impact. 

This paper shows the importance of tourism services, the relation between tourism organizations and their 

customers, and more than that, the proper methods to avoid or diminish their complaints. 

1. Customer’s complaints 

In the tourism industry the most important principle of the organizations represents the 

satisfactions of the customers. But in practice, not all customers will be satisfied, and not all 

organizations can guarantee to deliver quality service every time. 

Particularly in tourism, can appear service failures and customer dissatisfaction, from different 

sources, controllable or not. 

In most cases, delivery of the tourism service represents the contribution of a number of 

different parties (airline, hotel, tour operator) which must be co-coordinated to obtain a successful 

impact. This involvement of a number of different organizations can grow the potential for failure. 

On the other hand, the tourism services represent a permanently contact of customers and 

employees and this heavy dependence on people to deliver service can also increase the potential for 

service failure. 

As a third regard, the tourism experience can be influenced by individual factors outside an 

organization’s control – for example, the weather or access to visitor attractions. 

As a result, the service failure will determine the dissatisfaction expressed by complaining, 

negative word-of-mouth and decisions not to repurchase. 

So, if it is impossible to avoid service failures and dissatisfaction, then the organizations must 

understand how to manage such occurrences and minimize their adverse effects. Dealing with 

customers complaints represents a key element in service recovery. However, in order to understand 

how to deal with service failure and complaints, it is necessary to understand the way 

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in which consumers react to service failure and how they respond to different approaches to service 

recovery. 

The specialists concluded that there are a number of different types of service failure: 

failures of service delivery, failures in responding to customer’s requests and inappropriate 

employee’s behavior. 

2. Failures of service delivery 

This type of failure can be represented by unavailable service, slow service, and other 

service failures. 

Unavailable service refers to the lack of services, which are normally available, such as a 

cancelled flight or a hotel that is overbooked. The slow service consists in the perception of the 

service delivery as being extraordinarily slow in fulfilling their function and might include delays in 

serving a meal in a restaurant or lengthy queues at a visitor attraction. Other service failures can 

include all other aspects of the service’s delivery offered by different industries as food service, 

cleanliness of the aircraft, baggage handling etc. 

2.1Failures in responding to customer’s requests 

This type of service failure regards at the employees attitude and behavior towards the 

customers needs and special request. Customer needs can be explicit or implicit. 

Implicit needs are not requested, for example an airline that modifies a flight schedule 

without noticing its customers, so that alternative connection flights can be arranged. 

The explicit needs are the one specially requested and relate to special needs, customer 

preferences, customer problems, and others. 

The special needs represent customer’s special medical, dietary, psychological, language, or 

social circumstances. For example: preparing a meal for a vegetarian would count as a special 

request. 

As for the customer preferences, the employees are requested to deliver the service in some 

way that meets the preferred needs of the customer. A typical example is the customer’s desire to 

substitute a menu at a restaurant in order to meet his/her preference. 

Responding to costumers problems refers to how employees deal with the mistakes of 

customers (as lost airplane tickets, lost hotel key, etc.). 

Finally, responding to other needs or request represents the actions taken by employees to 

settle disputes between customers, such as requesting that smoking customers not smoke in the nonsmoking 

section of restaurants. 

2.2 Inappropriate employee’s behavior 

The third type of service failure appears from the unexpected employee behaviors and 

presents a negative impact on the customers. In this category it can be included: the level of 

attention, unusual behavior, equity treatment, and adverse conditions. 

The employees who have a poor attitude, who ignore the customers or indifferent behavior 

are an example of a negative level of attention. 

The unusual behavior includes employee actions such as rudeness, abusiveness, and 

inappropriate touching. 

The equity treatment refers to actions such as equality, fairness, and honesty. Disregarding 

this would include discriminatory behavior, acts of dishonesty such as lying, stealing, and cheating, 

and other activities considered unfair by customers.


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Finally, the adverse conditions subcategory covers employee actions under stressful 

situations. This relies on the employee’s attitude to remain calm and conscious in dealing with 

stressful problems. For example a pilot how a positive attitude toward the customers has in the 

unfortunate situation of airplane control loses. Otherwise it can be remembered as a negative action 

under adverse conditions. 

It is then a must to understand the type of service failure that can occur for using the 

appropriate recovery strategy and, more importantly, for developing future strategies to diminish 

the occurrence of service failures. 

2.3 Acknowledging the customers complaints 

Usually many customers do not complain about a service failure, but they tent to take 

actions like negative word-of-mouth and brand switching As a result many organizations don’t 

know that a failure has occurred and don’t have the opportunity to deal with existing problems and 

recovery. 

Generally, customers respond to a service failure by taken or not taken action regarding to 

the public (legal actions toward organizations, complaining to public, or tourism agencies, etc.) or 

private response (negative word-of-mouth, or brand switching). For example complaining to a 

hotel about poor service constitutes public action; deciding not to use the hotel service would 

represent private action. 

Specialists have identified different types of customer’s response under influence of market 

factors, services factors and consumer’s factors. 

Market Factors 

Customers respond to the service failures differently, if there is a competitive market or a 

monopoly market. In the first situation, complaining doesn’t usually take place because the 

customers simply change the brand without expressing their dissatisfaction. In case of monopoly 

markets the complaining may increase because customers are captive (no another supplier exist), 

complaining being the only chance for improvement. 

Organizational and services factors 

Dissatisfied customers tend to complain to companies who are opened to complaint dealing 

and take measures for the improvement of services. 

Also customers are more likely to complain if a service is complex, expensive, or considered 

important, or if the service failure is serious. 

Consumer Factors 

The characteristics of customers separate them in their response to service failures. The 

level of education, social environment, and financial position has a great impact on their decision. 

The ones with higher income, education, and social involvement give them the knowledge, 

confidence, and motivation to speak about their problems. 

In contrast, customers with lower socio-economic level (usually poor or emigrants) do not speak up 

when they are dissatisfied. 

Consumers’ beliefs and attitudes determine them to complain if they consider that the 

problems are not caused by themselves. If buyers attribute the problem to themselves, they are less 

likely to speak up. 

Personality factors may also be involved in consumer complaining. In general, assertive 

people are more likely to complain, in contrast with the submissive persons.


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Regarding at the attitude towards dissatisfaction, consumers may feel different negative 

emotions and generally act accordantly. The specific feelings are based on their attributions about 

who is to blame for the problem. 

Those who blame another party, typically the company or employee, generally feel anger, or 

contempt. These negative emotions are the ones most likely to determine complaining, and 

probably lead to negative word-of-mouth communication to family and friends. 

Consumers who concluded that there is nobody specific to blame tend to feel distress or 

fear. These emotions probably do not result in as much complaining because consumers feel 

powerless compared to the company, perhaps because of its size or its market position. On the other 

hand, some customers may not complain because they empathize with, or feel with compassion for, 

the employee who causes the problem. 

Customers that blame themselves usually experience shame or guilt. These negative 

emotions will almost never influence them to speak up their disappointment. 

In conclusion, there are a variety of responses available to consumers who experience 

service failure, only one of which is complaining. However, without customer complaints, 

organizations may only have limited information on the extent and nature of service failure and may 

not have the opportunity to engage in service recovery. 

3. Dealing with costumer complaints – the recovery 

Service recovery can be analyzed as being concerned with the appropriate handling of 

complaints and includes all actions taken by a service provider in order to try to resolve the problem 

a customer has with their organization. Without complaints, a firm may be unaware that problems 

exist and be unable to resolve the existing problems. 

Studies made in this aspects show five actions for recovery: 

- Apology: A first person apology rather than a corporate apology, and one which also 

acknowledges that a failure has occurred. 

- Urgent handling: Actions taken in order to put things right even if it is not possible to correct the 

situation. 

- Empathy: A sincere expression of feeling for the customer's problem. 

- Symbolic compensation: A form of compensation that might include not charging for the service 

or offering future services free or discounted. 

- Analyzing the recovery: An after-recovery call to ascertain that the consumer is satisfied with the 

recovery process. 

Other specialists suggested that for a successful recovery an organization's response should include 

the following four key elements: 

- Acknowledgement of the problem 

- Explanation of the reason for the failure 

- Apology where appropriate 

- Compensation such as a free ticket, meal or drink. 

The process of recovery must be analyzed from two points a view: the recovery from a 

service failure and the recovery from a negative response to service failure. 

It was found that one set of actions can restore the customer to a satisfied state whereas an 

enhanced set of action will delight the customer. Fast response and correction are fundamental to all 

strategies, but an apology needs to be appropriate to the situation. 

A modest apology probably would not be satisfactory in the situation of the inappropriate response 

to problems, but a written apology would delight in the simple case of service failure. 

The confirmation and assurance that it will not happen again can be verbal for the second 

situations and written for the first one. Also the compensation must be accordingly.


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The recent research on service recovery has focused on the level of justice perceived by the 

customers in realizing the service recovery strategies. 

Perceived justice is seen as the fairness of the resolution procedures, the interpersonal 

communications and behaviors, and the positive outcomes. 

The fairness of the resolution procedures regards aspects like the delay in processing the 

complaint, process control, accessibility, timing, and flexibility to adapt to the customer's recovery 

needs. 

The interpersonal communicational and behavior focus on the manner in which people are 

treated during the complaint handling process including elements such as courtesy exhibited by 

personnel, empathy, effort observed in resolving the situation, and the firm's willingness to provide 

an explanation as to why the failure occurred. 

The positive results focus on the level and nature of apologies and compensations obtained 

by the unsatisfied customers. 

Acknowledging that, the organizations can find proper methods to determine satisfactory 

response to service failures. 

Service failure has the potential to have a significant negative impact on organizations. 

In tourism, negative word-of-mouth may be a particular cause for concern because of the 

importance of personal recommendations. 

The excellent service recovery can lead to levels of cumulative satisfaction that are higher 

than those existing prior to the service failure. Effective service recovery has also been 

demonstrated to have a positive impact on post recovery word-of-mouth. 

In conclusion, the beneficial effects of effective service recovery have determined to 

customers to express their complaints; these complaints are the only responses that provide the 

organization with an opportunity to recover effectively from the service failure. 

Although it may seem paradoxical, it could be in the best interest of organizations to 

encourage consumer to complain, and then to react appropriately to the complaint behavior. 

Conclusions 

In my opinion, the services offered in the tourism industry are unlikely to be zero-defect 

services. If some service failure is inevitable, then the process of responding to those failures has an 

extreme significance in relation to consumers’ future evaluations of an organization. 

Service failure takes place when a service fails to live up to what was promised or what the 

consumer expected. Because the quality relies in the customers satisfactions, the customer 

complaints represent the main indicator of service failure. Unfortunately, not all customers 

complain (many may simply decide not to purchase again or may engage in negative word-ofmouth). 

An increasing number of organizations encourage customers to complain, because 

complaints provide an organization with the opportunity to recover from service failure and, most 

of all, to prevent and diminish negative behaviors of the customers. 

When an organization is aware of a service failure, a specific service recovery strategy is 

essential in order to minimize the negative effects of the initial failure and maximize the positive 

results from the recovery process. 

Bibliography 

1. Olaru, M. (coord.)” Tehnici şi instrumente utilizate in managementul calităţii”, Ed. Economică, 

Bucuresti, 2000


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2. Revista, Calitatea acces la succes, nr.10, octombrie 2007, Societatea Romana pentru Asigurarea 

Calitatii – SRAC 

3. Maxham III, J G and Netmeyer, R G,”Firms reap what they sow: the Effects of Shared Values 

and perceived Organizational Justice on Customers Evaluations of Complaint Handling”, Journal 

of Marketing, vol I, 2005 

4. Tax, S. S. and Brown, S. W. "Service recovery, research insights and practices", in T. A. Swartz 

and D. Iacobucci (eds.), Handbook of Services Marketing and Management, Thousand Oaks, CA: 

Sage Publications, 2004 

.


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MANAGEMENT IN TOURISM OF RECREATION 

Drd Ing.Ec. BRÎNDUŞA Andreea - C.T.A.M.”C-tin Brancusi”, Craiova 

Dir.Prof.Ec.MÎNDRULEANU Nirvana - C.T.A.M.”C-tin Brancusi”,Craiova 

ABSTRACT : The recreation is one of the base components of the touristic products. As part of the recreation service 

the element that arouse the interest of the customers is the animation. The paper presents the recreation tourism through 

the point of view of the service recreation typology which lead to the formation of the specific experience.. 

1. INTRODUCTION 

One of the main concerns of the vacation oferrors is to enjoy the sojourn in the best way 

possible at the established destination. The development of some activities/services that correspond 

to these demands is determined, on one hand, by the way the vacations develop, which nowadays 

are not only concerned with offering tourists just conditions for accommodation and serving meals, 

and on the other hand, it is determined by the reevaluation of the notion of free time. 

Having this objective, the activities come in a wide typological range in accordance with 

the various ways and places of spending the vacations. They are defined by the general term of 

animation/recreation and they constitute themselves in a distinct and important component of the 

touristic product. 

2. THE CONTENT AND FUNCTIONS OF RECREATION 

From the etymological point of view touristic recreation can be defined through the 

ensemble of means, equipments and forms given by the units, resorts or touristic places able to 

assure the individual or social groups a state of well being, of pleasure, to create the sensation of 

satisfaction, of fulfillment, to provide a good impression and beautiful memories. 

Recreation is primarily concerned with satisfying his/her physical needs to rest, to relax, to 

move and even develop his/her abilities. Its second aspect is concerned with the psychological 

revigoration of the tourist by relaxation, amusement, creating a proper atmosphere for 

communication, a state of well being and even through the enrichment of ones knowledges. 

From the point of view of touristic organizers, recreation manifests itself, first of all, as a 

factor of competition between resorts or units, as a factor of raising their activities by the 

diversification of offers. At the same time, it constitutes itself as a means of individualizing 

products and personalizing destinations, having effects on the touristic movement.


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3. THE TYPOLOGY OF THE SERVICES OF RECREATION 

The typology of the services of recreation is based on a series of defined functions. A 

classification of these functions can be made according to the criterias made on the EU level, 

according to the typological schema below: 

CRITERIAS AT THE 

TYPOLOGICAL 

SERVICES OF 

RECREATION 

General criteria of 

touristic services 

The criteria of 

the modalities 

of participation 

The criteria of the 

level of organization 

A classification of the touristic services of recreation can be made according to the 

typological schema below: 

ACTIVITIES OF 

RECREATION 

Animation for 

pure relaxation 

Recreative 

animation 

Commercial 

animation 

Physical 

animation 

Cultural 

animation 

- animation for pure relaxation, of disconnection with the daily activities, (e.g.: taking sun 

baths, walkings – tracking, visiting different objectives); 

- recreative animation, mainly constituted by loisir parks; general (e.g.: amusement places), 

thematic (e.g.: nautical, planetarium, zoological), reservations, casinos; 

- commercial animation generated by the fact that usual or specific shoppings (e.g.: gifts, 

souvenirs, workmanship articles); 

- the animation orientated towards the achievement of a complete physical condition refers 

to the wide typology of networks, from the bathing places to those of losing weight, cosmetics, 

fitness; 

- the cultural animation having as objective the knowledge, the formation and education of 

the tourist, emphasizing the moral aspect of his/her personality; 

The recreation services can be also grouped according the tourists’ ways of participation 

and so we get the typological schema:


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RECREATION 

Services 

actives 

Services 

passives 

- actives, characterized by the effective implication of the tourist in the development of the 

recreative-entertaining programs: sports, competitions, games, lessons, creative activities; 

- passives, characterized by the fact that the tourist is a mere spectator: being present on 

different cultural, sport events. 

The recreation activities classify themselves according to the level of organization and we 

have the schema: 

ACTIVITATI DE 

AGREMENT 

Services organized 

by the 

accommodation units 


at the level of health 

resort 


by third persons 

- organized by the accommodation units. This modality is specific to hotels and restaurants 

of high class and the activities are, in general, simple and don’t imply particular efforts of 

personnel. According to this category we have: practicing some sports like swimming, skiing, 

skating; music and dance bands; housing some events – expositions, festivals. 

- organized at the level of health resort. These are organized according to the partnership 

between touristic commercial societies and local councils. These activities have a higher level of 

complexity, for example vacation clubs, recreation harbors, etc.; 

- organized by third persons. These are of great complexity and require the implication of 

specialized organizations, others than the touristic ones, as for example amusement parks, theatrical 

tours, dance tours, musical tours, etc.. 

3. CONCLUSIONS 

The development and diversification of the services that form tourism, the improvement of 

their quality are the primary objectives of the touristic organizations and constitute the expression


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of the adaptation of these activities to the increasing and varying needs of the customers, 

determined by the quantitative and structural change of the touristic movement. 

From this point of view we can state that the development of recreation services leads to 

the improvement and creation of attractive touristic products that create positive effects on the 

human organism from the physical condition point of view as well as from the psychological 

aspect. 

REFERENCES 

[1] Bran Florina., Istrate Ion.,Anca Gabriela Rosu., Economia turismului si mediului inconjurator, 

Editura Economica, 1996. 

[2] Mincu R, Economia turismului, Editura URANUS, Bucuresti, 2000.


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ERP ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN 

ROMANIAN HEALTH SYSTEM 

Violeta Sima 1 , Ileana Gheorghe 2 

1 

Lector drd. ing.ec. UPG Ploieşti, Catedra de Management-Marketing 

2 

Lector drd. ec. UPG Ploieşti, Catedra de Management-Marketing 

ABSTRACT 

Change management should not be viewed as a solution in and of itself, but rather as one of many tools to be 

used as part of a broader business improvement, ERP, or IT solution. Although change management services are often 

considered being as a stand-alone solution, we consider that it is simply one of many powerful tools at manager’s 

disposal. 

The low penetration rate of ICT in the health sector creates an important potential for the development of e- 

health applications. There are also some notable success stories of ICT implementations in hospitals. Developments of 

specialized ERP exist in 60 out of 446 hospitals in Romania. In the past, the Ministry of Health had the initiative to start 

ICT projects for the health sector. Currently, there are a high number of ERP solutions for hospitals available on the 

market. The negative feature as regards the e-health development is, besides a somehow chaotic development, the lack 

of a real market and the use of all kinds of software product. What is missing is a coherent strategy between all 

stakeholders responsible for the development of e-health services in Romania. 

1. Foreword 

Change management should not be viewed as a solution in and of it self, but rather as one of 

many tools to be used as part of a broader business improvement, ERP, or IT solution. Although 

change management services are often considered being as a stand-alone solution, we consider that 

it is simply one of many powerful tools at manager’s disposal. 

In addition, when helping clients deploy change management solutions, we consider 

encouraging a more analytical approach that focuses on achieving measurable business results. In 

other words, we consider recommendable only those organizational change management activities 

that will result in optimising measurable business results as part of a large ERP project. 

2. Overview 

The national Health System must adopt modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems 

to make better use of its capacity and resources if it is to cope with steadily rising levels of demand, 

leading IT vendors have warned. 

A very important percent of the resources are wasted due to poor utilization. The problem of 

waste and poor resource planning was endemic to European healthcare systems. Our country does 

not have sufficient surplus capacity, to offset the high degree of waste inherent in the current 

system. We have very inefficient systems in Europe, but have enough capacity to cope with this 

inefficiency, you don't. Many industries, from retail, manufacturing and financial services have 

implemented ERP systems over the past 15 years.


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ERP systems, supplied by vendors such as SAP, are designed to ensure that an enterprise’ 

human and physical resources are allocated and utilized to maximum efficiency. Effective 

implementations of ERP systems involve major organisational change.


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We must acknowledge that systems designed for other industries sometimes don’t work well, but it is 

important to examine the potential of ERP in health. Health is complex, and it will be introducing ERP 

will be difficult. 

The reform in the medical system is lagging much behind. The health budgetary allocations 

that place Romania on the last rank among the candidate countries to the EU [3] have a strong impact 

on the ICT penetration in the health sector. Due to insufficient financing and lack of strategic policies 

between the main actors (MCIT, MER and the Ministry of Health), ICT plays a minor role to the 

quality of health care and of people’s access to these services. However, 43% of hospitals and 33% of 

health clinics [5] have Internet access. In 2004, MCIT launched a project to deliver a health portal as a 

unique access point to the information regarding services in the health sector. In the first phase the 

portal will be used to supply medical information by electronic means and to assure on-line 

presence of the institutions from the sanitary field [6]. 

The low penetration rate of ICT in the health sector creates an important potential for the 

development of e-health applications. There are also some notable success stories of ICT 

implementations in hospitals. The ambulance management system put into service in Bucharest in 

1996 has been extended later on in other seven cities. The system is covering a wide range of 

ambulance activities from call centre activities to cost calculation [7]. Developments of specialized 

ERP system - for the management of patients, observation sheets, medical investigations and 

treatments, management of drug consumption, human resources, admin activities and accounting 

etc. - exists in 60 out of 446 hospitals in Romania [7]. In the past, the Ministry of Health had the 

initiative to start ICT projects for the health sector. Currently, there are a high number of ERP 

solutions for hospitals available on the market. 

The negative feature as regards the e-health development is, besides a somehow chaotic 

development, the lack of a real market and the use of all kinds of software products (some 

obtained through donations and not customized). In spite of the fact that many researchers are 

partners in EU R&D projects, the developed products are not adopted by industry. 

Even projects financed from EU funds “are forgetting” their existence. What is missing is a 

coherent strategy between all stakeholders responsible for the development of e-health services in 

Romania (the opinion of the author of the report on Romania in the “Telemedicine Glossary” IST EC) 

[4]. 

3. ERP Organizational Design and Change Management in Romanian health system 

3.1 Pharmaceutical field 

A fully integrated system should be used by Healthcare at Home to streamline business 

processes particularly in the supply of pharmaceutical products, and nursing services. 

Patient details should be held into the ERP system, providing data about insurance, prescription and 

treatments details and include attached documents such as medical reports. The expert system should 

also be used to schedule activities for patients such as a visit by a nurse or despatch of medical supplies 

from Healthcare at Home's national distribution centre. 

Additional benefits of this new kind of enterprise-wide relationship management system should 

include more efficient invoicing of patients, by drawing patient details and amount of homecare 

received directly from a data base, and pricing and service codes from the expert system. 

Such expert system should consolidate all patient information to which permitted staff will have 

access, maintaining patient confidentiality.


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In addition, an expert system provides solutions to developing and marketing specific 

applications for customer relationship management/relationship management, workflow and people 

management. 

3.2. Integrated Hospital Information Management System 

The most important benefit of an Integrated Information Management System is represented by 

the efficiency improvement obtained by innovation and process optimisation. 

Fig. 1 Efficiency Improvement 

Main Strategies should be focused on: 

• Less diagnosis and treatment costs 

• Less leakage 

• Faster and higher quality service 

• Minimum redundancy and error rate 

• Less operating costs 

• Long term planning and resource management 

• All processes of each units realized in computer environment 

• Decision Support functions to guide Hospital strategies 

• Statistical research and training opportunities to practitioner 

• On-line tracking of the enterprise 

• Improving medical quality 

All above are possible via an appropriate, measurable information gathered at the right time. 

Strategies of the Hospitals have to be based on standards. An Integrated Hospital Information 

Management System should: 

• Organizes all workflows throughout the hospital 

• Covers all medical and financial data of the patients 

• Records all goods and services produced and provided 

• Constitutes a reliable information base 

• Has an infrastructure to create Electronic Patient Record 

• Supports National and International Standards 

• Allows users to reach the right patient and material information at the right time in the scope of 

the institutional strategies 

A Hospital Information Management System should not represent only a: 

• Billing System 

• Stock Control and Inventory System 

• Registration System 

• Archiving System 

• System that prevents goods and services leakages


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• A Hospital Information Management System Project is a long term partnership of Healthcare 

Enterprise and Healthcare IT Solution Provider. It is an “Continuing Project” which can only be 

accomplished: 

– When the Healthcare Enterprise is Ready to Work for the Project rather than expecting 

from others 

– When the Healthcare Enterprise has the Full Commitment at all Levels for the overall 

project duration 

– When the Healthcare Enterprise Accepts to Change and Ready for Resistance 

3.3 Workflow: A Different View for Healthcare Environment 

MAINFRAME 

APPLICATIONS 

BASED 

NON - MAINFRAME BASED 

APPLICATIONS 

PATIENT REGISTRATION 

EDUCATION TRACKING 

SYSTEM 

CHART DEFICIENCIES 

SYSTEM 

OUTPATIENT MANAGEMENT 

EMPLOYEE VEHICLE 

INSURANCE 

NURSING LICENSES 

MONITOR 

INPATIENT MANAGEMENT 

SYMPOSIUM 

REGISTRATION 

OPHTALMIC 

PHOTOGRAPHY 

PREHOSPITALIZATION APPOINTMENTS 

- INHOUSE DEVELOPED 

TRACKING SYSTEM 

EMPLOYEE HEALTH 

SYSTEM 

OPERATING ROOM IS- INHOUSE 

DEVELOPED 

MEDICAL RECORDS SYSTEM 

BUSINESS OFFICE / PATIENT BILLING 

SYSTEM – INHOUSE DEVELOPED 

Inte 

grati 

on? 

Con 

siste 

ncy 

? 

DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING 

SYSTEM 

ELIGIBILITY TRACKING 

SYSTEM 

EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE 

DATABASE SYSTEM 

EYE BANK SYSTEM 

WORK ORDER 

SYSTEM 

SECURITY 

SYSTEM 

BUDGET SYSTEM – INHOUSE DEVELOPED 

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE 

Microsoft Access 

FoxPro -DOS 

GENERAL LEDGER 

MATERIALS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 

CENTRAL DICTATION & VOICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 

PAYROLL/PERSONNEL SYSTEM 

PHARMACY SYSTEM 

Fig.2 A classic example for an existing HMIS solution architecture 

Firstly we need to establish Workflow Based Systems: 

• Healthcare environments are really tough: 

– Demanding users (in fact they need to be) 

– Many systems from many suppliers have to coexist (and to be integrated)


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– Substantial changes in GUIs, business processes almost every day 

• Need for a platform “naturally” fits to and really “lives” with the healthcare environment 

• Need for a visible, measurable manageable, scaleable platform 

• Need for a modelling and rapid-prototyping platform 

• Need for a platform that “applies” standards and quality measures. 

Workflow Benefits 

Workflow provides: 

• Enterprise and process integrity 

• Flexible and effective management of the systems 

• Structures and mechanisms suits natural work style 

• Modifications without any interference to source code 

• A standard and measurable process 

• Quality model in the system 

• Effective communication with inner and outer systems for an enterprise 

• Teamwork 

• Adjustment with a short-time training 

• Instant monitoring of processes 

• Processes, following predefined flow in the system 

• Partial and gradual commissioning of the system 

3.4 Objectives for ERP and Change Management in Romanian health system 

• A real paradigm shift: conducted vs. isolated 

– To create state of the art Medical IT Solutions that “collaborate” HIS, LIS, RIS, PACS 

and Clinical Information Systems within a hospital and between hospitals, in a robust 

and reliable way through flexible, scalable and extensible to enterprise wide solutions 

• No time, place and technology limit 

– To provide users “context sensitive” computer aided information management platform 

in order to provide high quality healthcare in a continuous, just-in-time manner and 

regardless of place of study. 

Scope of Application: 

• Developing an intelligent healthcare monitoring and decision support system on a platform 

integrating the wireless medical sensor data with hospital information systems to help 

overloaded medical practitioners because of increasingly aging population. 

• Recording by electronic means 

• Central control and on-line provision 

• Claims processing and reimbursement 

of 

• Medication 

• Inpatient/outpatient healthcare services 

• Laboratory Tests 

• Medical Imaging 

• Eye Glasses 

• Orthesis/prosthesis, 

provided by different suppliers.


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4. Conclusion 

Large IT and ERP projects for the Health System are difficult and can be disruptive to any 

organization. If they are not planned and executed properly, such an initiative can actually increase 

costs, decrease morale, increase frustration, and show limited business benefits. Implementing a 

successful IT system is half the challenge. The rest of the battle surrounds a company's ability to 

realize the full benefit potential of that system, which most companies fail to do. An appropriate 

consultant must be able to help organizations at identifying, measuring, and maximizing the business 

benefits and ROI of ERP implementations in order to ensure ERP benefits and success. 

Change management must be viewed not as a solution in and of it self, but rather as one of 

many tools to be used as part of a broader business improvement, ERP, or IT solution. It is simply one 

of many powerful tools at Management disposal. 

In addition, when organizations deploy change management solutions, a more analytical 

approach that focuses on achieving measurable business results should be encouraged. In other words, 

it is recommended only those organizational change management activities that will result in 

optimizing measurable business results as part of a large ERP project. 

Today's supply chains more globally than ever. Emerging economies provide greater marketing 

opportunity and an ability to move operations to more cost-effective job markets. However, these 

global opportunities are often met with global challenges. Fragmented supply chains, inconsistent 

operations, conflicting priorities, and lack of visibility to global performance are all common symptoms 

of many global operations. 

An ERP project implementation can help in the following ways: 

• Develop and implement a common standard set of operational strategies and business processes 

across the global supply chain; 

• Design the most effective organizational structure for a global presence and unique situation; 

• Capture business intelligence, performance measures, and benchmarks for a global supply chain 

and operations; 

• Identify and measure opportunities to increase operational efficiencies and global sales; 

• Implement change management programs, including training and global communications, that 

enable more effective performance from employees throughout the global supply chain; 

• Implement ERP Benefits Realization programs for a global ERP and supply chain projects. 

References 

1. Davison, R., Decision Support System Implementation, Ed. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 

NJ, 2000; 

2. Forgionne, G. A., Kohl, R., Integrated MSS Effects: An Empirical Health Care Investigation, 

Information Health Care and Management, Vol. 31, Nr. 6, 1995; 

3. Romanian Government program 2005 -2008 

4. Moisil, I. Personal Communication 

5. e-Europe+ Benchmarking Report 

6. MCIT, Activity Report 2001-2004 

7. MCIT, eReadiness Assessment of Romania


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GLOBALIZATION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR ROMANIAN 

ECONOMY AND ENTERPRISES 

DINA MARIA LUŢ – lector univ. drd. 

UNIVERSITATEA CREŞTINĂ DIMITRIE CANTEMIR, FACULTATEA DE 

MANAGEMENT TURISTIC ŞI COMERCIAL TIMIŞOARA 

RESUMÉ 

De nos jours il est de plus en plus évident que le developement de chaque économie est fortement sous l'influence des 

conditions économiques internationales. Ces conditions sont grandement synthétisées par le processus de globalisation et 

d'intégration régionale. 

Il est connu que dans les quatre décades dernières il y a eu un changement mondial significatif qui est le mieux décrit par 

le terme "la globalisation". Ou l'effet ou la cause de la victoire du système capitaliste sur le système socialiste, la 

globalisation est un évident et un processus en même temps controversé. Ce processus a réveillé un grand intérêt tant 

parmi les spécialistes que parmi les non-spécialistes. 

Pour définir le présent et l'avenir de l'économie roumaine et des entreprises roumaines, j'estime qu'il est important de 

correctement comprendre le concept, le developement et les implications du processus de globalisation. Ceux-ci sont les 

aspects synthétiquement présentés dans ce papier. 

1. Considerations over the Concept of Globalization 

Whether it is considered to be an effect or cause of the victory of the capitalist system over the 

socialist one, the globalization represents an obvious and yet disputed process, that presented and 

still presents a great interest among specialists and not only. 

Searching for a definition of the term “globalization”, it was found that this term is more often 

affirmed and described than defined. For example, here are some ways of defining (or better said 

describing) the globalization process, as found in the specialized literature. 

In the Anglo-Saxon economic literature, the globalization is described to be “the tendency of firms 

to establish production units all around the globe, wherever the market is developed enough to 

allow scale economies. This drives to a growth in the number and size of multinational 

corporations. The main feature of the globalization process consists in the fact that goods, services, 

capital, labor and ideas are transferred throw out firms at an international scale.” (4) 

As we can see, in this case the globalization is referred to as the firm’s tendency to expand on the 

market of production factors, the firm being the center of attention.


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Another English dictionary, „Financial Times A-Z of Management and Finance”, attributes three 

main meanings to the term of globalization: 1. The process throw out which the global taste and the 

product supply converge and are more and more satisfied by global goods than local ones; 2. The 

globalization is a reality for most of the large companies of the world, meaning that


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they think and act keeping in mind a global view of their clients, technologies, costs, 

provision,strategic alliances and competition; 3. The capacity of closing financial deals all over the 

world, 24/7. (11) In this case, another prospect over globalization emerges, that of global goods and 

global financial transaction. 

Another dictionary, published in Italy, considers globalization to be “a recent process that consists 

in achieving a world-sized market. This is possible thanks to the leveled needs of consumers and 

standard goods, and also to the great boom in communication and mass-media.” (1). Globalization 

is also looked upon other coordinates, spatial:”globalization is a process in which geographic 

distances stopped being an issue in establishing economic, politic and social relations.” (5) 

In the economic literature of our country, Niţă Dobrotă expresses another point of view regarding 

globalization, considering it:”way or system of approaching on a long term basis the great 

contemporary problems determined by the interaction of multiple economic, technical, politic, 

social, cultural and ecological processes and phenomenal.” (2) 

A comprehensive definition that in fact is a characteristic of the globalization process is observed by 

the English specialist John H. Dumming, who was very interested in this process:”globalization 

refers to the multiplication of the relations and interconexions among states and societies that are 

presently part of the world system. It describes the process during which the events, decisions and 

activities that take place in one part of the world have significant consequences for the individuals 

of communities situated far away from one-other. Globalization has two distinct features: extent 

sphere and intensity. On one hand, it defines a set of processes that include almost the whole globe 

or operates all over the world, fact that gives this process a spatial characteristic. On the other 

hand, it requires an intensification in levels of interaction, interconnecting or interdependent 

between states and societies that form the world community. So, together with the expansion of 

connections takes place a depth in global processes.” (3) 

As well it was found out that there are specialists who observe “the vague and inconsequent way in 

which the concept of globalization is used” (6), bringing two reasons for this: on one hand the 

notions of globalization and internationalization are frequently used as being the same even if these 

two concepts do not always refer to the same reality (it is true that global and international relation 

can coexist and the contemporary world is an internationalized one and one in the globalization 

process but this does not imply that the two term can be used as one) and on the other hand the use 

of the term ”globalization” with predilection for the economic problems. Although the concept of 

globalization covers a vast palette of economic phenomenon (the accelerate growth in world 

commerce and direct foreign investments, the world integration of money and capital markets etc), 

this concept refers to or includes other social, cultural processes: the assertion of social values or 

ways of life, other than the ones known till now, being aware of the limits the global ecosystem has. 

Giving all this, globalization it is more than just an economic process, it regards other domains of 

human life, thus cultural or social globalization can be considered together with the economic 

globalization tendencies or development of the contemporary world. 

2. Stages in the Evolution of Globalization and Regional Integration 

Regarding the outline of the globalization process specialists have different opinions: some see 

globalization as a myth, a process that never took place, other consider it to still be at its beginnings, 

which gives a new state to globalization, one that is far from being fully known.


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A. Rugman falls in the first category of specialists thinking that globalization never even happened 

because production activities and service performance of multinational corporations are organized 

on a regional scale not a global one. (8) The author considers multinational corporations to be the 

engine of international business but thinking regional and acting local. This is the reason why 

Rugman reduces globalization to a process between USA – EU – Japan. 

In the second category we have M. B. Steger who sees in globalization an Anglo-Saxon doctrine of 

free market based on neoliberal standards and values, globalism being the dominant ideology of our 

era. (9) 

Regardless of the way the globalization process is understood it is more and more obvious the fact 

that globalization is the implacable destiny humanity points to, all states being affected more or less 

by its irreversible proceed. 

The complex and highly dynamic process of world economy evolution from the post-war period is 

determined in the opinion of some specialists by two main things: the creation of most states in the 

second half of the 20 th century as a result of the destruction of colonial empires; with the appearance 

of these new states the political configuration of world economy was substantially changed, 

necessary premise for forming and developing new national economies in the frame of world 

economy; the increase and diversification of international economic relations, based on the growth 

in labor division on a world-wide plan, throw out the good use of the discoveries in science and 

technology. (7) In such a context, the most developed capitalist states accomplished a great 

economic expansion mostly throw out the spreading all over the world of trans-national 

corporations. The economic expansion of the most evolved capitalist states having the trans-national 

corporations defending their interests, contributed to the amplification and diversification of 

international economic relations, emphasizing the interdependency among national economies, 

driving to the globalization of the markets for most of the products and services, as well as the 

capital market, making national borders count less in the world economic trades. 

Based on the spreading of the net formed by trans-national corporation and the expansion 

accomplished by them in the hole world, each great center with economic power has created for 

itself a certain influence zone in which it accomplishes a significant part of its external economic 

relations. In this zone preferential relations between partner countries are promoted. Gradually, these 

zones were institutionalized (European Economic Community that became the European Union in 

1995, National American Free Trade Association – NAFTA, Association of South Eastern Asia 

Nation – ASEAN, Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation – APEC). 

Simultaneously with the institutionalization of the main influence zones of the grand economic 

powers of the world a series of regional organizations belonging to countries in development 

progress were founded, especially in Latin America (Common Southern Market - MERCOSUR) and 

in Western Africa (The Arab Maghreb Union - Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, 

Western African Community, African Development Community) which target the expansion and 

diversification of mutual economic relations, mainly by freedom of commercial trades, with the 

purpose of diminishing the under development that affects them. 

Thus, the regionalization of world economy represents the main form of the economic integration 

and globalization. Regional integration and globalization are considered two objective processes of 

the development of the world that are based on technological phenomenal (the boom in the 

infrastructure of transport and telecommunications) and on economic phenomenal (the reduction or 

removal of national barriers in international flows of goods, services, capital, technology). At


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present time, in world economy a series of trends support and supply the globalization process, 

transforming it into a real frenzy. These are those trends: the growing number of countries that have 

adopted the ideology that is market economy; technology progress that led to a constant 

development of communications; the intensification of international competitively due to the 

removal of commercial flows borders, foreign investments and technology transfers, which creates 

new opportunities for corporations in business abroad. (6) 

3. Features and Implications of Globalization over Romanian Economy and Enterprises 

Globalization has determined profound structural changes in the world economy and in the lives of 

people. 

All industrial sectors encounter important structural changes, but they are even more obvious in 

those sectors that incorporate in a high proportion advanced technologies (like car industry, 

pharmaceutical industry etc). Globalization also requires a fundamental transformation of structure, 

organization and nature of international commerce. 

In its present stage, globalization is characterized by a space-temporal compression materialized in 

the intensification of economic, social, political and cultural inter-conexions and inter-dependency. 

The globalization is favored by technological, builder, financial and institutional elements. 

Concomitantly, international financial markets, through its volume and liquidity, fuel the 

globalization by allowing multiple fusions and over-borders acquisition. 

One of the main aspects of globalization is the growth in the importance of manufacture services 

and recently the appearance of a new net economy, based on the Internet. The development of the 

information-based society plays an important role through the digital global nets that unify a 

multitude of actors (movies, institutions, Governments, people etc). It contributes to a new global 

economy based on intangible nets and assets. A trend like this also exists in our country, for instance 

in the form of public acquisition arranged with electronic auctions. The main problem consists in the 

low number of people that own a computer and therefore the limited access to this kind of 

information. 

Therefore, with the help of globalization a graduate and complete netting of the hole economic 

world activities takes place, the net being the one that assures, in this complex world, the 

connections between micro, macro and world-economy levels. 

As shown above, in the after war period the world economy knew a complex and dynamic 

evolution, reflected in major changes in all domains. Many specialists consider globalization to be a 

trend break compared to the former evolution, it being “the new change” and not one of the 

common changes that naturally take place in the lives of people. 

In reasoning for this idea the definitive features of globalization are used and their main element is 

the process of eliminating borders. The main feature of globalization consists in the fact that 

existing frontiers become vaguer and vaguer, they alter and disappear in many domains: culture, 

business, politics etc. The implications of this process are many and they consist in: a growth in the 

mobility of production factors (capital, knowledge, technology), together with the mobility of goods 

and services, fact that determines a growth in competition pressure; the generalization of change in 

a swift tempo in all domains, from developing a new product to the disappearance of political 

opinions or practicing bad management; the necessity of “flexibility” in all domains, as an adequate 

type of behavior for fighting ambiguity, uncertainties, change. (6)


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The effects of globalization reflect not only in national economies but also in the activity of any 

enterprise. The nature of the enterprise has changed. The existence and development of our-days 

enterprise sit under the impact of information technology and telecommunication. 

The globalization era means a boom in virtual economy. The Internet contributes to the growth of 

enterprises. The enterprise benefits from increase in the productivity of out-turn factors and lower 

out-turn costs, especially due to a drop in the acquisition price of equipment. For this reason, the 

enterprise has the opportunity to make higher investments, giving a high rhythm of economy 

growth. Specialists consider that successful enterprises in today business world can only be those 

that will achieve to create the most efficient global nets. 

To assure their competitiveness the enterprises integrated in their organizational structure and 

strategy the international dimension by relocated their production and by promoting the distribution 

of their products on many markets. This is emphasized in the segmentation of activities in separate 

operations made in different places and countries through important deals, like fusions, strategic 

acquisitions and alliances that take place today. In this context, Romania only appears in the out-turn 

and distribution part of such enterprises, not having the necessary force to play an active role on 

international markets. 

New forms of international collaboration appear between firms especially in commerce and those 

industries that need intensive technology, giving birth to license business. 

In the globalization era, specialists talk about such an enterprise, “the digital enterprise”, “the virtual 

enterprise” or “the third millennium enterprise”, which present distinctive features that difference it 

from “the old enterprise”. This “new enterprise” is a consequence of the frontier wash-out process, a 

form of organizing business in which highly specialized professionals work together for a period of 

time. 

From what was shown above it can be noticed that globalization presumes a profound and complete 

change not only in the economy as a hole, but also at the level of enterprises and their management. 

This change represents the capitalist domination based on market tools and the fast progress of 

information-based technology and telecommunication. 

On an economic level, today’s business is helped by the expansion of global markets. So, 

international economy smoothly becomes a global one, in which national economies are 

independent elements of a unique system in which the markets become autonomous. 

The understanding of the profound changes that take place in the world economy now-days imposes 

taking in consideration the next variable elements on a global scale and which also affect the 

Romanian economy: valuing information, which means that the differences between companies are 

determined by their capacity to use information; the rising pressure of novelty, better use of 

information leads to a growing invention potential; the appearance of new markets, in an economy 

that has a plus in information and knowledge, the number of potential markets is growing; free flow 

of capital; development in net services, the change in competition contact is also based on the 

development of classic services like: transport, distribution, telecommunication etc; better teamwork 

between firms, more and more the competitiveness of a firm depends on their business 

partners; the growth of information-based competition and on consumer exigency, which determines 

firms to act in those domains in which they have maximum competence. 

All these will impose a new dynamic for the globalization process. The present state of this process 

is characterized by a globalization of information and an opening without precedent of world


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markets, which represents a challenge for all the economies, regardless of their development rate. 

This evolution at a world-level determines changes in the structure of competitively factors of the 

firm. All these will impose a new dynamic for the globalization process. In a hierarchy of 

importance, the cost factor comes after factors like: quality, utility and convenience, being able to 

adapt to the exigency and needs of customers etc. 

4. Conclusions 

The globalization is a chance, in the extent in which it offers countries and enterprises the possibility 

to focus more in those domains of activity they are most strong in. The globalization presents some 

risks especially when there are inadequate frame conditions, which are sanctioned faster than ever 

before. In this sense, the authorities have an important role in the domain of political economy. They 

have to create a frame that will give enterprises the best conditions to develop. Some specialists 

from developed capitalist states admit that the globalization took place with contradictory effects in 

world economy, a fact that generates tension and crises situations in international economic 

relations. 

According to the statistics presented by the World Bank, while the income of some countries in 

Africa, situated bellow Sahara wave dropped in the last 20 years with approximately 0.7% per year, 

the average income for industrialized countries have increased with 25% per year. More and more 

families live in fear of hunger and malnutrition because of the lack of a working place or low 

salaries, while the fortune of great magnates grows in a geometrical progression. In the year 1960, 

the difference in income between 20% of the richest countries and 20% of the poorest countries of 

the world was of 30 to 1; in the year 1990 the gap grew to 60 to 1 and at the end of the 20th century 

it was of 75 to 1. (10) 

The mission of globalization is not to misconstrue the truth, but of finding viable solutions for 

creating a modern society in which the fundamental rights are to be respected. Regardless of the way 

it is considered, one thing is for sure: the globalization is a process with an objective feature, 

imposed by the evolution of techno-science progress, which can be neither contested nor eliminated. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

1. De Luca, G., Minieri, S., Verrilli, A., - Nuovo dizionario di economia, Napoli, 1998, p. 315. 

2. Dobrotă, N. – Dicţionar de economie, Editura Economică, Bucureşti, 1999, p. 228. 

3. Dumming, J. – The Advent of Alliance Capitalism, în The New Globalism and Developing 

Countries, United Nations University Press, NY, 1997, p. 12. 

4. Livesey, Frank – Dictionary of Economics, Pitman Publishing, London, 1993, p. 99. 

5. Lubbers, R., Koorevaar, Jolanda – The Dynamic of Globalization, 1998, p. 3. 

6. Moldoveanu, M., Munteanu, C. – Noile dimensiuni ale procesului de globalizare şi 

integrare regională, în Probleme economice, nr. 135-136/2004, Academia Română, 

Institutul Naţional de cerecetări economice, Bucureşti, p. 8. 

7. Niculescu, N.G., Adumitrăcesei, I.D. – România pe calea integrării economice europene, 

Editura Economică, Bucureşti, 2001. 

8. Rugman, A. – The End of Globalization, Random House, London, 2001. 

9. Steger, M. B. – Globalism-The New Market Ideology, Bowman&Littlefield Publ., 

Maryland, 2002. 

10. World Bank – Globalization, Growth and Poverty, Washington, D.C., 2002.


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11. *** - Financial Times, Dicţionar de management şi finanţe, Editura Teora, Bucureşti, 2001. 

HOW TO BUILD A STRATEGIC SYSTEM BASED ON LEVELS OF ACTION 

Liviu Neamţu –senior lecturer 

“Constantin Brâncuşi” University, Tg-Jiu, Romania 

Adina Claudia Neamţu –profesor 


ABSTRACT : Le system stratégique il doit être défini comme en ensemble complète et complexe avec des niveau d’action 

sur la structure par des stratégies, du décision par des politiques, coordination par des plans d’affaires et sur 

l’opérationnalisation par des programmes et tactiques avec des étapes nécessaires pour l’implémentation des ces niveaux 

dans l’activité de l’entreprise. 

On peut considérer comme le system stratégique représente la base du management stratégique dévolu par des niveaux 

intégrés d’action au niveau de l’entreprise. Ces niveaux d’action ont développé sur quatre directions de décision. Un fois 

que la direction est établi elle doit être réitérer identique dans toutes les niveaux du system stratégique. 

1. Strategy or strategic system? New directions to conceptualize. 

The strategic system of the firm represents a structured assembly which holds many action plans which 

superpose themselves requiring actions at hierarchical and different functional levels. 

Although the strategy represents a much discussed subject, it hasn’t been yet completely 

conceptualized and even more it hasn’t benefited by an integral pattern making. The studies done so far 

bring into discussion the strategy as a homogeneous assembly of actions without debating the idea of 

an integral strategic system developed on more levels of action. This is the reason for which the studies 

have often focused on one or two levels of action which were considered, by the authors, as some 

success factors in the business of the firm and, at the same time, key elements of the strategy to follow. 

From this reason, a clear differentiation should be realized between strategy and the strategic system of 

the firm. 

In the literature of speciality the term widely used for all the levels of action of the strategic 

management is that of strategy. In a modern acceptation of management – marketing, developed in 

time, the strategy designates the assembly of major activities of the organization on long-term, the main 

modalities of organization, together with the allocated resources, concerning the getting of a 

competitive advantage in accordance with the firm’s mission. 

During the time the approach of the strategy knew a lot of modifications which showed the 

uncompleted character of definitions: 

1. In 1954, Peter Druker pointed out in The Practice of Management that the strategy of an 

organization reveals generally its approach : what does this business consist in ?, which should be the 

activity object of the firm ?[1] ;


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2. In 1962, Alfred D. Chandler in his work, Strategy and Structure, shows how a strategy 

coordinated on long term offers the company a structure, direction and orientation. He said 

“structure follows strategy”[2]; 

3. Igor Ansoff treats for the first time the strategy, in his classical study Corporate Strategy 

appeared in 1965, as being the common pin of the activity of an organization in the 

products/markets domain to which it is being directed, defining the increasing vector, the 

competitive advantage and synergy[3]. In the 70s, the theory of business portfolio strongly 

developed and it was demonstrated how small firms can obtain great and competitive advantages 

with high returns. This phase of conceptualizing the strategy was summarized at the highest level in 

the 80s, by the studies of Michael Porter through his book Competitive advantage[4,5]; 

4. Henry Minzberg represents the strongest exponent of the theory of business planning. According 

to Henry Minzberg, the strategy is at the same time: (1) a plan through which a course of action for 

solving a problem is established; (2) a scheme designed to assure the overtaking against a 

competitor and obtaining an advantage over this one; (3) a behavior model, which establishes some 

actions adapted to a certain context.; (4) a firm positioning, a way of locating on the coordinates of 

the environment; (5) a perspective which reflects the perception of the members of an organization 

over its future activities. His main book, The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, criticizes some of 

the strategic planning practices. This book is necessarily considered to be read by any specialist 

who takes into consideration having a serious role in the strategic management practice of an 

organization[6]; 

5. After the 80s, a tendency of study based on the development of methods and managerial 

techniques in the strategic management has also developed. This process was more influenced and 

promoted by the Japanese expansion on the world market, because of efficiency, productivity and 

superior effective power of Japanese investments. This generated the apparition of numerous 

studies in the operational planning segment, of programming and of activities’ projection: 

Schonberger, R. – Japanese Manufacturing Techniques (1982); Pascale, R.; Athos, A. – The Art of 

Japanese Management (1981); Ohmae, K. – The Mind of the Strategist (1982); Peters, T.; 

Waterman, R. – In Search of Excellence (1982); Rehfeld, J.E. – Alchemy of a Leader: Combining 

Western and Japanese Management skills to transform your company (1994)[,7,8,9,10,11]. 

The main problem is represented by the study of the formulating levels of the strategic management 

which was not integrated: top-management, middle-management (functional management) and 

lower-management (operational management). 

Therefore it’s high time we passed to a new model of integrated analysis in the strategic 

management extending the notion strategic system. Thus, at the moment we can consider that the 

strategic management is defined as a complete and complex set of levels of action over the 

organization through strategies, of decision through politics, of coordination through business plans 

and of training through programs and tactics together with the necessary stages for the 

implementation of these levels in the firm activity. 

2. The classification of the strategic levels 

Strategic management is firm’ management based on strategy; therefore strategy constitutes the 

foundation of strategic management, outline it shapes his priorities, becoming the basic factor in the 

elaboration plans and programs of operational and in the process scroll. 

Is caned spoken such a strategic system what underlain strategic management and which applied on 

the many levels. The connection among strategic system and strategic management is and this time 

all such as part to all (the figure nr. 1)[12]. 

In shoppy literature the large used-up term for all levels of act in strategic management is strategy. 

For this reason he is the necessity to achieve a differentiation between firm’s strategies (typical 

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strategy), business strategies (politics), functional strategies (strategic business plans) and the 

operational strategies (operational plans, programs and projects). 

Strategic system 

Strategic option levels 

Strategies 

Strategic phases 

Politics 

Plans 

Programs 

Implementation 

Mission 

Objectives 

Options 

Resources 

Actions and deadlines 

Competitive advantage 

Projects 

Figure nr. 1. Strategic system in strategic management 

2.1. The firm’s strategy 

The firm’s strategy represents “the game plan” of superior management used for orientating and 

leading the great firm as an integer. This strategy crosses all the activities from the great firm, 

meaning its varied domains of business, products, services, and works, its different big subunits and 

different lines of production and technologies. 

Elaborating a strategy for a great firm supposes passing over more stages and performing more 

works. 

First of all, the elaboration of the necessary plans for leading the big firm to its goals, to its mission 

and for combining the different activities concerning the improvement of the global performance. 

The leading of this combination of activities is also named the leading of business portfolio. The 

leading of the business portfolio imposes decisions and actions which refer to: the moment and the 

way in which the big firm should enter into a new business, which of the existing business should 

be liquidated and if this thing is done quickly or gradually, which of the opportunities that are 

offered to the existing business should be developed and which side of the management should 

contribute to the improvement of the performance of the society global portfolio. 

Secondly, the coordination among different business in the portfolio should be assured. The 

coordination of the strategic plans of the firm’s subunits is an important task of the top management 

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and it is realized through the coordination of the independent activities which are developed in the 

different subunits. 

Thirdly, the possibilities of investment and the allocation of resources of the big firm among the 

different activities should be established. The decisions concerning the way of investment and how 

much will receive each subunit from the investment budget, as well as the control actions of the 

allocation scheme of resources, determines the big firm to follow some opportunities aggressively 

and to give up the others. These decisions and actions serve to channel the resources to domains in 

which the income potential is higher, by withdrawing from the domains in which the income 

potential is more reduced. 

In the case of the limited resources there is a sense to channel the investments of capital and so the 

strategic maneuvers which presents the highest level of success are sustained and the consumption 

of the internal available resources are kept in a tight correlation with the success requests of each 

business domain inside the big firm. 

The specific responsibilities correlated with the strategic level of big firm refer to: 

-the analysis of the business portfolio and its reorganization as many times as the circumstances 

impose it; 

-the establishment of the strategic objectives and of the financial performance indicators at big firm 

level; 

-taking a decision concerning “the general strategic theme” or a unifying concept which will be 

used to give the big firm a distinct character or an own connotation to the business mission; 

-the establishment of the role that each business unit will play in the general portfolio and the 

approving of the general strategic orientation for each business unit; 

-trying to get a competitive advantage at the big firm level by coordinating and correlating the 

strategies and the activities of the business units from the structure; 

-maintaining an intervention capacity imposed when a business unit diminishes its performance; 

-revising and approving the recommendations and major strategic actions of the subordinated 

managers; 

-controlling the way of allocating the resources to the big firm. 

2.2. Politics at business level 

Politics at business level represents the managerial plan of action necessary to guide and lead a 

certain subunit of activity in a big firm. At this level politics treats the following aspects: 

-the way in which the big firm intends to compete in the specific business domain of the considered 

subunit; 

-what role will have each and every functional domain in edifying the competing advantage (which 

will be the own contribution of each functional domain to the business success); 

-elaborating some request solutions to the branch changes; 

-elaborating some request solutions to the changes of the competing way of the rival firms; 

-controlling the way of allocating resources in the subunit. 

Choosing a politics at a subunit level (or business) is tightly connected by the competences and the 

resources of the big firm in which the adopted politics takes part and it should be fitted to what the 

firm is capable to do with the available limited resources. 

For the firms which have a single business domain, the global strategy of firm and the politics of the 

business domain have a more accentuated level of concentration. The difference between the firm’s 

strategy and the business politics becomes evident for the firms which are varied enough and thus 

they reach to be formed of divisional subunits which compete in two or more branches. 

During the process of formulating the business politics, the role of the manager who leads a 

business supposes the following: 

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-to make sure that the strategic plan proposed for the business that he leads sustains adequately 

reaching the strategic objectives of the big firm and it is in accordance to the strategic “themes” of 

the firm; 

-to assume his “quality” as a chief strategist and leader of the process in the evaluation of the 

strategic situation of his business, evaluating the strategic alternatives and adopting the strategic 

decisions; 

-to find out if the different domains of functional activity sustain the strategy and are coordinated in 

a way that assures getting and maintaining a decisive competing advantage; 

-to control the scheme of the resources allocation in a business that he leads thus these should 

uphold the chosen strategy; 

-to inform the management from the superior level over the market changes, over the deviation 

from the plan and over the potential and necessary reviewing of the business strategy for the subunit 

he leads. 

2.3. Planning the product (business plan) 

The business plan represents a logical scheme of action in an organization domain or activity which 

supposes a perspective thinking over a business, beginning with some strategic objectives and 

preliminary established tactics at the level of the whole organization. Through this modality, the 

creation of a general image over the entire business, which an organization of economic type wants 

to develop, can be reached. Actually, all the stages and resources that a firm needs, in one of its 

domains of activity, are included, to reach the proposed objectives in a predetermined period of 

time. 

Concerning this idea, it is necessary that we should reach all the elements which can be anticipated 

for the well developing of the established activity and for eliminating the situations of subjective 

analysis characterized by not taking into consideration the global aspects of the business. 

These requests of describing the business have, first of all, an effect of pointing out some critic 

factors, over which it can be interfered efficiently from the very beginning of a business, either by 

realizing some elements of correction and prevention of the critical points effects, or by the 

existence of the action alternatives which will be anticipated in the business plan. 

From these reasons it is obvious that any business plan is characterized by the necessity of its 

existence in two compulsory forms: 

-the pretended business plan, developed by the intelligence, the experience, a present or a future 

need of a businessman or of a group belonging to an organization. This is actually a sort of virtual 

or written scheme of the business idea that, many times, takes into account only the business idea 

without entering the details of its developing, or, better said, the business details. 

-the physic business plan, represented by the transposition of the pretended business plan on a 

presentation background (file, informatics background, multimedia background, etc.) after 

analyzing all the processes involved in the proceeding of the business, analyses which finally reach 

the smallest details for the internal business plans or the details requested by the person who 

finances, for the requested business plans of the sponsorship. 

It is obvious that the first form of a business plan existence will not be discussed because it is totally 

typical to the issuer way of thinking and reacting being impossible to reach a determination of a 

specificity which can be included in a presentation. 

The physic business plan is almost totally realized in the base of some general or specifically 

requested criteria, this one being the case of the sponsorship plans which will be sent to the 

institutions or to the sponsorship factors; because of this, there will be some specificity requests 

from their part, as it should contain a minimum of information and action lines to induce the 

justification of its existence, as well as the further actions that will be proceeded on its base. It can 

be said that the business plan is constituted as a fundamental document for each and every business 

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of the organization, and concerning the investments it looks like a magnet which is able to lure 

sponsorships in a mark firm, in the business developed by this. 

The existence reasoning of a business plan derives from another two considerations: 

-a business manager, no matter how organized he would be, even then, when his employees are 

qualitatively speaking exceptional, can find in a business plan the optimum instrument to crystallize 

the objectives and the necessary steps to reach these by offering a place for the management 

activities development, as a work guide. The identifying and the quantifying of the activity 

objectives of the firm are constituted as a compulsory succession of establishing and reaching the 

objectives, determining the necessity of allocating terms and levels of realization for these ones, 

allowing each manager or managerial group to establish the performances of the activity more 

efficiently than through the simple interpretation of the balance sheet data. There is also important 

the fact that a careful planning of an activity allows and distinguishes its efficiency by reporting the 

performance and by evaluating the results and the performances contrary to the established efforts 

through the business plan in front of the shareholders, especially if they approved the business plan. 

In addition to this, if we place instead of a shareholder it’s obvious that this has the possibility to see 

for sure the results of the management and to estimate its future actions concerning the form of 

business or the form of management, especially in the present conditions of management when 

almost any employed person in managerial functions tends to use each mean to reach the proposed 

objectives. 

-the second existence reasoning is bound by the possibility of promoting that business anytime to a 

potential investor using a descriptive instrument, the business plan. 

It is well to underline the fact that luring the capital can be done through more methods. Thus, in the 

case of the stock societies the luring is made through the stock exchange and by maintaining a 

favorable market stock, generally with efficiency over the patrimonial and financial elements of the 

enterprise as well as the dividends distributed for the maintaining of an investment luring by 

sending shares or promissory notes. 

In the case of other types of societies this luring is reduced only to the promissory notes emitting. 

There would also be the business partnership, sponsorships, the simple and association sharing, 

without taking into consideration the merging or other forms which change the juridical or 

operational statute of an organization. 

When these possibilities don’t exist or don’t allow the obtaining of some necessary effective power 

from an investment perspective, there will be only the variant of classical finances as credits, 

coordinated finances, etc. All these oblige to guarantee the investment action for the person or the 

institution requested to credit or finance, etc. This way of action requires the succession of some 

compulsory steps established by that one who gives the finance and, many times, in addition to a 

finance or lending request there is also the request of realizing a business plan, this one being the 

most efficient way of luring the capital. 

So, generally speaking, a business plan for luring the capital has the following objectives: 

-proposals of finance by participating at the capital, developed by the shareholders, associations, 

owners of some firms with or without quick increase and who need the development of the capital 

background to finance the increasing; 

-proposals of finance for the proceeding or acquisition of a business or firm by the current managers 

(management buy-out – MBO) or by another managerial team (management buy-in –MBI); 

-proposals of finance in different conditions started by certain organisms having different interests 

(governmental irredeemable finances, Banks, Societies of investments, etc.). 

2.4. The strategic options at the level of the functional domains (operational plan and 

programs) 

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The programs of the functional domains are action plans for leading the main subordinated 

activities in a business subunit. There is a program for each functional domain. The programs of the 

functional domains are major consequences which derive from the business strategy of the subunit. 

The role of these programs of functional domain is that of giving life to the business plan of the 

subunit, assuring it more substance, completion and concrete signification. 

The programs of the functional domains are important because they indicate specifically the 

contribution of each major activity from the business domain to the global strategy of the subunit. 

Then when all the main activities from only one business domain are integrated and present a 

consistent correlation or a high accordance, the whole strategy of the subunit receives an increased 

force. 

The task of elaborating strategic details for the functional domains is authorized by the manager of 

the business domain to the chief of the functional domain. The managers from the level of 

functional domains have the role of establishing the performance objectives and to formulate the 

programs for the functional domain they lead, thus to assure reaching the objectives and 

implementing the strategy of the immediate superior hierarchic level. 

The objectives and the programs at the level of the functional domains are approved by the chief of 

the business subunit, as the objectives and the politics from the level of the business domain are 

approved by the general manager of the firm. 

2.5. Operational projects 

The projects at operational level refer to the way in which the managers of the compartments 

(offices, services, workshops, and sections) intend to accomplish the fine details of the programs 

formulated by the functional domain in which they take part. 

It is obvious that the projects of operational level result directly from the strategic requests from the 

immediate superior hierarchic level and that they are established by the managers who have the task 

of accomplishing the every day details specific to the functional activities. 

Ideally, the strategic options from the five levels – big firm, business subunit, product subunit, 

functional domain (support) and operational level – are elaborated with enough details for each 

manager from the organization should have a sufficient understanding of the way in which he will 

lead his responsibility domain, in compliance with the global plan of action of the firm in its 

assembly. Therefore, more of them who formulate the strategies recommend that as going down 

from one level to another one, the formulation should be progressively more restricted and to 

concentrate more explicitly over the actions to realize and over the programs to start. 


The objectives of strategic performance are established in a certain hierarchy, beginning from an 

established direction and recrossing the firm from top to bottom. In the same way, there is an 

elaborating reasoning of some strategic options of action for each management level which 

concerns in reaching the objectives at that level. 

Thus, the objectives at the level of a great firm generates the formulation of the great firm’s 

strategy, the objectives at the level of an economic activity subunit (or a business unit) are at the 

origin of the business strategy formulation (business politics) and the objectives established at the 

level of a product are at the base of the action plans (planning) and the objectives established at the 

level of the function (production, marketing, financial) generates the formulation of the support 

programs for the respective functional domain (activity programming). 

A strategic level is in forerank characterizes through a selection strategic options on the strength of 

are unfurled the total amount acts from the future activity firms. On the strength of chosen strategic 

option its delimited subsequently further components of strategic levels scilicet: the development 

of resources ensuring distinctive competences at firm; the acts and necessary term to achieve 

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strategic orientation; the competitive advantage that can offer option which firms apply it; synergy, 

as relation and intrinsic connection between different components in strategic option. 

References 

1. Drucker, Peter - The Practice of Management, Harper and Row, New York, 1954. 

2. Chandler, Alfred - Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the history of industrial enterprise, 

Doubleday, New York, 1962. 

3. Ansoff, Igor - Corporate Strategy McGraw Hill, New York, 1965. 

4. Porter Michael - Competitive Advantage. Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, The 

Free Press, New York, 1985 

5. Glueck Wiliam - Business policy and strategic management, McGraw-Hill Company, New-York, 

1980. 

6. Henry Mintzberg – The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, Harper & Row Publishers, New 

York, 1990. 

7. Schonberger, R. - Japanese Manufacturing Techniques, The Free Press, New York ,1982. 

8. Pascale, R. and Athos, A. - The Art of Japanese Management, Penguin, London, 1981. 

9. Ohmae, K. - The Mind of the Strategist McGraw Hill, New York, 1982. 

10. Peters, T. and Waterman, R. In Search of Excellence, Harper Colllins, New york, 1982. 

11. Rehfeld, J.E. - Alchemy of a Leader: Combining Western and Japanese Management skills to 

transform your company, John Whily & Sons, New York, 1994, 

12. Neamţu, L - Strategic management, Universitaria, Craiova, 2006 

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IMPLEMENTATION OF A MANAGERIAL STRATEGY AT THE LEVEL 

OF AN ENTERPRISE WITH PRODUCTION AND SALE 

Ec. CLAUDIA MUNGIU-PUPAZAN 

ASISTENT 

UNIVERSITATEA « CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI » 

FACULTATEA DE STIINTE ECONOMICE 

CHAPTER.1 THE STRATEGY FUNDAMENTATIONS 

1.1. The strategy premise 

The practice and the managerial theory demonstrated that for to conceive strategies and 

rational politics generates effect economics and to know them better it’s necessary to take into 

account many premises as they fallow.{1,2} 

*Differentiation of the strategy, depending on the edge of the enterprise 

As everybody knows, any enterprise has four parts open, growth, maturity and decadence, the 

problems are very different and decisional ways are on the long, medium and short way must be 

also different. In each part the commercial society is looking for a place which can permit to obtain 

profit. Taking into account of these particularities of these steps, generated different presentations, 

ways of different strategies. 

*Taking into account of the endogenous and exogenous factors of the enterprise which 

interests are major affected by the way of conceive and deployment of his activities. The strategy 

influences the enterprise future, which appear like an essential identification of the main factors. 

{3} 

The managers follow that the commercial society to have more profit from which they take 

their profit. 

The employers of the enterprise want from the management more profit, more qualification 

and to assure social protection in some cases. 

The syndicates want to solve some social problems, to assure social protection of the 

employers and to have an important roll in the enterprise. 

The managers treat the enterprise to obtain bigger salaries and to manifest their managerial 

professional and competence. 

The clients of the commercial society want qualities products. More they want the enterprise 

to protect them as the consumers. 

The providers are interested in consolidation and economical growth of the enterprise, like a 

premise to accept bigger quantities of prime materials. 

The state sees in which enterprise o way of new jobs, a condition of economical development, 

eventually foreign money. 

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The local authorities consider that the commercial society should offer more jobs, good and 

sure, to protect environment and to sponsor many social actions, cultural, sports. 

These are interested specially by the profit obtained on the firms which is a sure way to 

finance local budget. 

The banks on the long term are interested in economical financial consolidation of the 

partners firms like a premise to give credits. 

*Assurance of elaboration and application of the strategies and politics microeconomics. 

The complex process of elaboration and application of the strategies and firms politics 

shouldn’t be one isolated action and it should be generated by more major elements like: 

- the firm is in a continually movement, at the level of his dimensional characters and functional, 

generated by the internal or external factors. 

- the modification on the environment, national and international are extreme complex and 

dynamics, determined considerably the managerial behavior, economics, commercial of the firms. 

The adaptations on the changes at the environment, constructive exchange of his impact it’s 

wants to be the characters of the commercial society. 

*The multidimensional of the global strategy 

This premise wants the society strategies basement commercial to take into account some 

aspects of economical, technical, managerial, human-social. {4} 

Like social-economical, the enterprise wants groups of employers who work economical 

products and the market is satisfied. His roll in economical activity of a country is the necessity of 

obeying this economical dimension of global strategy. 

Like material-technical system the enterprise is characterized on technology more or less 

intense, between their structural components. 

Like management system is structured in four parts informal-decisional, methodological and 

organizational between them there are relations of interconnection, the enterprise presents many 

particularities which finds in it’s strategically projects. 

*The systematical presentation of the elaboration and implementation of the strategy. 

The strategically process is deployed by some distinct steps of fundamental, elaboration and 

implementation of strategy. First time the enterprise is like an open system, this is like a component 

on the many other contextual system which there are in continuous relations on many plans. In 

concrete way this dimension is expressed by the materials, fuel, energy, cars, information. 

Second time, we assist on the connexion amplification between the enterprise and the 

environment or ambient, national, and international which is made of a variety of economical parts, 

managerial technical and technological, cultural, ecologies, politics, the action of these parts 

condition ate the construction and the economics behavior, commercial and managerial of the 

enterprise on the one hand, the enterprise is like a system which determines the environment with 

it’s particularities. 

*The strategy flexibility 

The strategy shouldn’t be treat like a distinct part of the firm future and should be like a 

concept flexible elaborated by modification, determined by modification which appear in 

dimensional and functional parameters of the firm. 

The time between the elaborations until the amplification of the strategy is often big enough, 

may appear some partial modification of its content. Its necessary the elaboration of flexible 

strategies, which have the mutations of stakeholders and the economics especially in transition 

politics. 

*The internationality of economics activities 

It is a complex process which affects all the enterprise small, middle and big. 

The connexion multiplication with the national environment, but also the international 

sustained by the amplification of his open character, determines the elaboration of some complex 

strategies which are efficient. {5} 

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The internationality is obvious in all the economies, the amplification of economies changes, 

commercials are on the base of growth process encouraged, principal, by diminution or elimination 

of barriers determined integration of some countries (European Union, North-American Treat). 

*The international transfer of managerial know-how 

Romania s anchor together with his firms to the demands and exigencies of international 

environment requires an endless informational exchange with firms and other organizations, 

throughout it is assure the managerial know-how necessary to competivity and efficiency. 

From this point of view, we indicate, as more important, these issues {6, 7}: 

- The set up of firm s strategies and politics based on evolutions of international market, to 

whom are assigned a part of economic goods ; 

- The capitalization of theoretical and practical achievements from other countries into 

enterprise management areas , based on the management instrumental ; 

- The development of informatics systems conceived into international vision especially 

under the frame of data banks specialized on international areas, to whom supply information’s and 

appeals units from foreign countries ; 

- The creasing of firm numbers, to whom management and function take part, on various 

modalities, economic partnerships from many countries. 

The know-how managerial transfer is the main mission of compared management. Thus 

results also the necessity to mark deeply the international side of firm management, as important 

prerequisites for professional basement of their strategies. 

1.2. The foundation modalities of strategy 

The prerequisites capitalization allows the accounting of main instruments for the foundation 

phase of firm strategy. 

*The identify and taking into account of scientific, technical, trade, financial, 

management forecasts related to the firm environment. 

It can’t be conceived a real strategy , without entirely capitalization of all information’s 

depicted from worldwide and economic high scale forecasts, evolve for all and on areas, regarding 

to national and international medium in which exists and function the firm/society. 

The lack or insufficiency of these issues conducts to a low degree for foundation firm 

strategies and, in time, conduct to a decrease of performances and competivity. 

The forecasts/prognosis represents long term predictments of tendencies from different areas, 

of tendencies from pattern and pressure mechanism of values from outside the enterprise/plant and 

always “supply” the strategic projects, no matter the type and areas. {8} 

The forecasts /prognosis –as instruments of knowledge and investigate in time, for future 

tendencies of economical, technological, processes- constitute the logistic support in order to 

discover the needs, possibilities, future evolution of the firm. 

*The achievement of approfondate diagnosis studies 

Throughout them, it is distinguish marked, for each case, the strong and faible points of firm 

activities and/or the medium into this ones sue and evolve strategic-tactic recommendations, with 

capitalization into foundation of it s strategy and politics. 

If he forecasts/prognosis take into account the future , the diagnosis focus mainly on present 

and past , putting to the management disposal the strong and faible points of the enterprise/firm, 

also of environmental medium, which follow to be capitalized or eliminate by strategically 

projections. When these issues are achieved on methodically straight bases, the diagnosis studies 

represent the sympathology of economic agents for some period of time, also the etymology of 

these symptoms. The therapy is found ate on these bases and it is place into the shaded 

recommendations, which constitute the support for decisional steps and various actions. 

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*The achievement of approfondate marketing studies 

The market researches offer un answer to plenty of questions that comes to firm management, 

related to {9}: 

- the markets or market branches/splits with the best prospects for enterprise; 

- the constructive and function prospects of demanded/required product ; 

- the price level agreed by market ; 

- The promote actions which will be initiate and develop. 

The informations depicted from these researches- recovered into market studies- follow to 

foundate the strategic projection of firm, both regarding the objectives and the modalities of 

achievement, also regarding the type and the volume of resources imply into their operational 

procedures. 

*The achievement of ecological studies 

Un other major feature of foundation phase content is illustrate by achievement of ecological 

studies. {10} 

This importance is conditional by activity profile, the firm size and location, but, for all these 

cases, the studies illustrate/ show the firm development in concordance with environmental medium 

requests/demands. 

The economic growth imply un extra-cost , a burden for environmental medium , with the 

dimensions, even wrong evaluate and consider , make uncertain on long term the process himself. 

The inside approach of medium problems and assure of a long term economic development 

represent basic issues, which , in transition frame of economic reform , supply new 

dimensions/sizes of tactic and strategic processes to firm level. 

The ecological studies answer to demands one thus processes, underling the difficult areas, 

such as pollution activities, the pollution quantity free into atmosphere , the strike above medium 

and human health, the pollution costs, also adding the main modalities to decrease or eliminate the 

pollution character of some small economic scale activities. 

Chapter. 2. The strategy evolving 

2.1. Firm missions wording 

The role of missions wording for a firm consist in: {11} 

- Assure the unanimity points of view inside the organization regarding the follow targets; 

- To supply a base in order to motivate resources use , in a peculiar mode; 

- To establish a mood, a general harmony of organization 

- To serve as a focus point to those who can identify with purposes and action roads of the 

firm and to stop those who are unable ; 

- To lighten objectives illustrate into organizational mechanism of the firm ; 

- To word the general aims/goals of organization and to lighten their move/translate into 

objectives related to costs, periods and results , which can be evaluate and check.{12} 

2.2. The statement of basic objectives 

The first operative part of firm strategy is illustrate by strategic objectives , the quantity and 

valuable wording for purpose to which this one was create and function . 

The basic objectives must to cumulate some main features, such as: 

- Must be real, in sense to take into account the capacities and real possibilities for 

achievement that firm dispose , into the present and future environmental medium condition; 

- Must to mobilize , thus mean to involve efforts for improving performances for all firm s 

employees; 

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- Must be understandable , thus mean the wording and their exhibition in a sense which 

allow to understand their content by managers, execution man and stakeholders; 

- At least, the strategic objectives must be stimulated, that mean to take into account the 

interests and expectations of stakeholders. 

2.3. The modalities evolving/sizing 

The dimension and nature of basic objectives creates, forward and indirect, some modalities 

and achievement options .Into these chapter, we signal/describe the privatization, reconstruct, 

redesign of management system, the production specialize, also the informatics activities. These 

strategic options condition in a big manner the content and function of firm strategy thus result the 

necessity to strictly foundate them. 

2.4. The sizing of necessary resources 

In order to establish the dimension and sort of resources that follow to be expense, a major 

importance is sizing the investment funds and consumed assets, using specific indicators, on 

quantity and quality parameters. Same time are specified the finance sources and raw materials, 

materials suppliers, the conditions to assure it quantity and timely. 

2.5. The establishment of competitive advantage 

The first type of competitive advantage is the lowest cost, under the average costs of 

respective branch .In order to obtain it, must be action all elements that constitute the respective 

price. In order to decrease to maximum the cost of final products, often the firm action for 

maximum production , in order to obtain savings for ordinary production or big scale production are 

taking into account other modalities, such as the preferable access to raw materials , major technical 

innovations. 

The second type of competition advantage is about the make and offer one product different 

by the one offered by the majority of competitors, preferred mainly, by consumers. 

2.6. The establishment of global strategy 

Coupling the elements above allows specifying the global frame of global strategy related to 

firm, seen as a unit. The global strategy is able to assure the joint of structure and processes 

components of firm in one coherent unit and to give it the elements of one intricately, open, organic, 

adapt system. 

CHAPTER.3 .THE STRATEGY IMPLEMENT 

3.1. Prepare of strategy implement 

This type of program is recommended to be developing on two major coordinates: 

- The prepare of atmosphere inside the firm, in order to decrease the resistance to changes 

from employees and obtain the maximum involving from their part. In that sense is recommend to 

organize meetings with employees starting from the management level, situation into will be 

present the objectives follow, expected advantages for firm and employees. 

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- An other major element in order to step to strategy operational is to assure the technicalmaterial 

, human, financial and informational premises required( equipments for experts, 

informational situations, know-how). 

3.2. The operate of foreseen strategically changes 

The ending and translate into operative phase the prepare and design again program, entirely 

or by part, of firm management allow to apply effective the foreseen strategy changes. It is 

preferable to apply those entirely, in order to illustrate the whole efficiency of strategy. The operate 

of major strategic options imply basic changes into the area of process and structure elements of the 

firm. 

The most important of these regard technical, economical, human, managerial issues. So, the 

implement of strategic changes is an intricately process, often difficult, to who come various 

variables, their knowledge and master representing the key of firm strategy success. 

3.3. The evaluate of strategy results 

Basic, in this phase are achieved a permanent compare between the results achieved from 

operate the strategic solutions to realize firm missions and the achievement of basic objectives, with 

consequences generate by this process 

The strategy evaluation is necessary to surprise both the computable elements, consisting into 

quantity creasing of some economic indicators, also consisting into effects non computable. 

Those from behind , even hard to measure , are, often , more important then the measurement 

ones, due to the fact that relies in basic improvement of functioning the process and structure 

elements of firm , in creasing the quality and competivity of their management. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. J.Pierce, R. Robinson, Competitive Strategy, Irwin, Boston, 1991, pag.3 

2. P. King, Bussiness Strateggy, BPP, Management Education, Aldine House, London,1991,pag.41 

3. *** Economie politica, Editura Economica,Bucuresti,1995 

4. O. Nicolescu, I. Verboncu - Management, Editura Economica, Bucuresti, 1995 

5. N. Aubert-Management. Aspects humains et organisationnels, Edition Presse Universitaires de 

France, Paris, 1992, pag. 596-597 

6.O. Nicolescu – Noutati in managementul international, Editura Tehnica, Bucuresti, 1993, pag. 37- 

40 ; 150-153 

7. O. Nicolescu, I. Verboncu – Management si eficienta, Editura Nora,Bucuresti, 1994, pag.207-208 

8.V. Cornescu, M. Serb, Strategia dezvoltarii intreprinderii,Ed.Politica,Bucuresti,1989,pag. 66 

9.P.Stefanescu, Bazele marketingului, Bucuresti,1995,pag102 

10.G. Georgescu (coord.) Reforma economica si dezvoltarea durabila, Editura Economica , 

Bucuresti,1995, pag.11 

11.O. Nicolescu, Noutati in managementul international, Editura Tehnica, Bucuresti, 1993, pag. 107 

12. W.R. King, D.I. Cleland, Strategic Planning and Policy, Van Nostrani, Rein-Hold, New 

York,1978, pag.124 

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INNOVATION – ROMANIA’S ONLY OPPORTUNITY FOR RETREIVING 

THE GAP TO THE DEVELOPPING COUNTRIES 

Alexandrina Maria Păuceanu, Trainer for Doctor’s Degree, Academy of Economic 

Studies Bucharest 

C’est evident que le passage de l’economie classique a l’economie basee au savoir-faire a ete deja fait. Grace a 

cela, il y a des nouveaux defis pour les agents economiques au marche, en contexte d’une competition acerbe et des 

defis de plus en plus dures. L’effet de la globalisation est visible en ce qui concerne le developpement de la competition 

et les differences de plus en plus petites de point de vue de la qualite des produits de meme type, mais produites par de 

entreprises differentes. Les grandes entreprises qui possedent des quotites importantes du marche „font les regles” de la 

competition – elles etablissent les prix des produits suite aux pactes conclus derierre des portes fermees. Le plus 

important facteur pour la production est L’INFORMATION, au detriment des facteurs traditionnels – la terre, le 

travail, le capital. 

Aux Etats Unis et au Japon, ils accentuent le secteur de la recherche-developpement et le savoir-faire. La 

liaison tres forte entre le secteur de l’economie et le milieu universitaire (MIT, University of Tokyo, etc.) est decissive 

pour le developpement de la technique, du technologie, de l’economie, etc. C’est dommage que c’est ne pas possible 

faire le meme dans l’UE. Il y a un decalage enorme entre les Etats Unis-Japon et l’UE en ce qui concerne l’utilisation 

du savoir-faire, du progres technique, de la cooperation entre le secteur economique - milieu universitaire, etc. En ce qui 

concerne cela, pour reduire ces obstacles d’entre l’UE on, doit stimuler l’innovation, le secteur recherchedeveloppement, 

les parteneries entre le milieu economique et celui universitaire. C’est pour toutes ces raisones que je 

pense bien fortement que l’innovation est la chance de mon pays, la Roumanie, pour reduire le decalage face aux pays 

developpes. A partir de ces considerations, dans mon article, je vais faire reference a l’innovation, au management de 

l’innovation, aux indicateurs de la quantification de l’innovation et a la perspective de L’Agende de Lisbon. 

1. Innovation – the biggest need for Romanian companies (1) 

Any company who cannot use all its intellectual features in the most appropriate way cannot 

face up competition, as long as competition relies on knowledge and tends to dominate nowadays 

economy. There are two main types of knowledge who are important for the success of any 

company: already-existing knowledge and new knowldge, also called innovation. 

Each organization relies on a large variety of knowledge (the individual experience of each 

employee, economical policy, methods, documentation, etc.) who enables the success of a 

company, if are used in the most efficient way. For instance, it is very important that an 

organization should identify the so-called knowledge “nodes”. The so-called „nides” refer to those 

persons who know any information about people who have the knowledge. Of course, there are 

many other organization elements that any company could use. 

Once knowledge has been coded, it is very important for each person within the company to 

reach the information easily, because everybody needs information. The solution might be a 

knowledge-electronic data base that could be posted on the Intranet of the company. All those tools 

and methods should be correctly used since they are able to increase the productivity of the 

company itself. 

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Surviving within the economic market depends mainly on the ability of innovation of any 

company, especially referring to all products and services that the company provides, and to the 

marketing and internal process. These could provide the increasing of the income and the reducing 

of the costs. 

But what happens in case the organization innovates and considers that it is enough to 

imitate other companies within the market? Almost inevitably, the market quotation of the company 

would lower and the competition could easily take advantage of that. The competition would 

instantly look up for solutions in order to satisfy their more and more sophisticated clients, and they 

would find ways to reduce the costs and come up with new marketing approach; and finally, they 

would succeed in eliminating the organization off the market. 

Innovation could be stimulated through innovation management programmes and 

implementation of creative methods and techniques. Thus, any company should come up with its 

own policy for stimulating organization innovation, and encouraging new valuable ideas and 

improving their implementation until they turn into trading “goods”. 

2. Innovation and Creativity Management (2) 

The transition from the market based on “supplier market” towards the economy based on 

“the customer market” has enabled the competitiveness become the key for success. No matter the 

size of the company, no matter the strategy for enabling the competitiveness, innovation must be a 

number-one concern of the executive management. Although, research is the engine of innovation, 

we have lately seen that it gets different shapes, starting with technological innovation up to 

management techniques and organization structures, finding new sources for supply or creating new 

marketing strategies. Step by step, specialists have become aware that the market is the inspiring 

source and the determining element for research-development. In order to make advantage of that 

“source of inspiration”, companies should come up with their own business solutions that could 

ensure a permanent interaction with the market. Capturing, distributing, securing and to re-using 

information, methods, and procedures involved within the innovation and creation process, it is an 

important step towards performance. 

3. Knowledge for innovation 

In order to come up with the best features which would refer to the need for company 

development, each company needs at least a number of conditions: dedicated stuff, the decisionmaking 

for enabling the process of learning and the appropriate tool – the technology – who should 

be used according to company strategies (established goals and objectives). 

Therefore, I find interesting a short story about a Caucasian teacher who has decided to be 

“paid” by the parents of his pupils: he should receive a bottle of brandy at the end of each month. At 

the end of the month, he has been surprised to see that the cask was filled with water instead of 

brandy. Each parent has thought that no one would see that he had filled the cask with water instead 

of brandy, since it would have been one bottle of water mixed up with brandy, but everyone else 

had tried to do the same thing. They all had wanted to win but, instead they had lost. 

The same is valid in case of information because very few people seem to be interested in 

revealing their professional “secrets” or methods/resources who allow any company to win a 

“competition” against other companies – to receive more public acknowledgement. Metaphorically 

speaking, no company desires to “provide” some other company with intellectual features without 

being secure that such actions would finally turn negative and harm the financial interest of the 

company itself. 

4. European innovation scoreboard, used by Eurostat (3,4) 

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Competitiveness within the European Union is strictly related to its position within the 

domain of innovation and new technologies. In order to understand all factors that enable the 

success of innovation within the EU better, it is important to use the benchmarking as a tool for 

identifying the best methods. This allows specialists to appreciate the performance of any country 

or company compared to its competition. 

The answer to the challenge has been stated by the European Council in Lisbon. We refer to 

the benchmarking – as performance marks who could inform those who decide on the economic 

performance of each country, referring to innovation, business development or using new 

technologies. Information about innovation within any company within the EU is provided by 

special statistics - Community Innovation Survey (CIS). 

Data and information provided by such statistics help to the evaluation of part and synthetic 

indicators of innovation. The difficult character of the process of innovation cannot be caught 

unprepared by a small number of indicators, although they are indeed synthetic. For instance, the 

position of the member states within the EU, referring to the main statistical innovation indicators, 

reveal a vast number of situations; certain indicators prove that some European countries are 

worldwide leaders, meanwhile other countries are undeveloped. 

Such situations could be improved with the help of a complex system of indicators who refer 

to different aspects of the innovation process. The innovation potential of SMSE's is not an 

exogenous fact, but it is caused by a great number of social-economical, technical, and political 

conditions. 

Besides the ability of enabling innovation and resource input meant for enabling innovation, 

the innovation potential includes money, equipments, and human resources. In order to obtain 

measurable values for all factors involved within, the innovation process is based on appropriate 

indicators who could refer to basic features of the innovation potential. 

Innovation indicators are important elements of the system of indicators calculated by the 

EUROSTAT system for all members and potential-members countries. Such indicators (Innovation 

Scoreboard) are structured within groups and organized according to subject areas: human 

resources, enabling new knowledge, transmitting and using information and financing innovation, 

output, and market. 

The European Innovation Scoreboard used in the EU countries and candidate countries is 

the main statistical tool used by the European Trendchart on Innovation, and it has been established 

in order to back up the initiative in Lisbon, in March 2000. It has been implemented since 2001, and 

it has been continuously improved ever since. It has become an important reference point for any 

decision-making referring to the innovation policy and for economy analysts. 

The number of indicators has increased gradually, from 20 to 26, and specialists have tried 

to establish different features of the innovation process. These indicators are used in different ways: 

individually - 5 synthetic indicators who refer to the key-dimensions of innovation; and a composite 

indicator who gathers all part indicators in order to establish a standard, and also provide a synthetic 

evaluation who allows specialists to compare amongst the regions and globally. 

In order to establish a complex system of innovation, indicators have represented a long 

process (several stages). The first step has been the identification of indicators – potentially 

relevant for the investment process that could enable any economical-political decision-making, 

according to the Lisbon-goal. The first list of 52 innovation indicators has been made up. Such 

indicators have been selected according to their relevance and data availability. Those indicators 

have been grouped into 5 sets: human resources, enabling information, innovation and 

entrepreneurship - they all describe the innovation process-input, meanwhile establishment and 

intellectual property referred to output. 

The second step is selecting final indicators so that redundancy and strong related 

indicators could be avoided. This stage refers to a statistical analysis of the 5 sets of indicators, and 

of the indicators for each set in a row. The matrix of relation for each set of indicators has allowed 

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specialists to identify all indicators who had established a strong relation, meanwhile the statistic 

analysis of the main component has been used for identifying the key-indicators for each set. 

After the first two stages have been established, there have been 26 indicators left. Their 

selection has been based on the following principles: 

- The redundancy: if there are several indicators who offer similar information, only one 

should be selected; 

- The political impact: when two indicators are strongly related and offer a political 

message, the two indicators should be selected; 

- The available “assets”: only valid indicators for a big number of countries and who could 

be obtained within the already-existing data base; 

- When two indicators are redundant, keep the one that is already included within the lists. 

Finally, using regression techniques, the data base should be filled in with all missing 

information. 

In order to provide the best global view for the evolution of each country referring to 

innovation, specialists should make up a synthesis for all part indicators and gather them into a 

general index of innovation. It is easier to analyse the variation of a synthetic indicator that to look 

up for any common tendency of part indicators evolution. The synthetic indicator is useful when 

establishing a hierarchy containing all countries, in order to highlight all gaps; that is also a useful 

instrument for decision-making. Nevertheless, it is not easy to establish a synthetic indicator. 

Methodology problems may Also occur, and they have to be solved out the best way possible, in 

order to avoid any mistake referring to interpretation or result-use. The list of part indicators we 

should use is checked out very often. For instance, the list of part indicators included within the EIS 

2005 refers to the indicator called “penetration ratio of simultaneous telecommunication” and it 

replaces “Internet access”; the indicator “the weight of innovative companies publicly financed” 

replaces “the costs referring to CD of companies financed from public resources’; and the indicator 

“national patents for each million inhabitants” is no longer used. 

All part indicators should be grouped into a synthetic index of innovation and in sub-indexes 

corresponding to thematic groups. That refers to mathematic algorism referring to primary data 

standards. Primary indicators are referred to in different measures (for instance %,%o, for 1 million 

inhabitants), and that does not allow us to calculate the sum. First of all, you should turn the part 

indicators into a common measure, according to standard method minimum-maximum, as 

following: 

1. establish the standard value (between 0 and 1) for each primary indicator, according to 

the relation: 

y 

ij 

x 

= 

max 

ij 

− min( x 

j 

) 

( x ) − min( x ) 

j 

Where: yij 

- standard value of the indicator j for country i; 

x ij – value of indicator j for country i; 

j 

2. calculate the synthetic index as arithmetical average (moderate or simple) of standard 

values of component indicators: 

I 

i 

m 

∑ 

j= 

1 

= m 

q 

∑ 

j= 

1 

j 

q 

y 

j 

ij 

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Where: Ii 

- synthetic innovation index for country i; 

q 

j 

- the weight of indicator j. 

In order to make it simpler, in most of the cases part indicators – who compound the 

synthetic index – receive equal weights. In case of additional indicators (for instance, when there 

are available data for innovating companies and for non-innovating companies), one should use a 

(sum) 1-weight. 

5. Lisbon Agenda – priority goals for encouraging an European efficient innovative system (5) 

As far as innovation is concerned, Lisbon Agenda refers to: 

• the primordial character of knowledge referring to any field of economics, due to its 

impact on functioning and performance. Referring to production process, information is very 

important, more important than land, money or work. 

• any economical activity should be meant for enabling information, receiving more 

information, and producing goods-information, and not for producing goods. 

• the basis for any economical activity should refer mainly to resources (land, buildings, 

equipments), to resources such as information and qualified personnel. 

• information and knowledge are very important, they are special, intangible, and 

exchanging. No one could make use of such thing exclusively, but these “assets” should be assumed 

and used again. 

• advertising equipments and symbolic products, as well as a relative decreased number of 

real products; symbolical products are based on information whose value is independent from all 

physical features of such goods: cards, e-trade, e-banking, IT software represent symbolic products 

that are soon going to dominate knowledge-based economy; 

• disabling the need for gathering huge quantities of physical and human resources within a 

company in order to have economic performance. The first step has been the so-called “just in time” 

systems, referring to computer use; 

• gradually avoid the limitation amongst the activities within a company and within 

companies referring to a sector, regional, national, and global level; to organize according to the 

division of labour and hierarchies and replace that with a type based on team-work and dutyinterchange 

or inter-department working. Gradually, any difference or boundaries amongst different 

fields of activity should be avoided (referring to global activities). 


A new approach of innovation management would refer to: 

- Only people could produce value – provided by their activity, people create both products 

and competitive value, as well as partnership and information/knowledge; 

- Complex activities, such as innovation, are very difficult to identify and measure referring 

to the value of contribution of all parties involved. A technological solution is required in order to 

allow any identification, measurement, and “integration” of value change involved in such process, 

in order to measure the performance of any activity. 

I believe there is a need for establishing a set of strategic actions which could enable a more 

efficient evaluation of innovation and creativeness management, referring to: 

- identifying all centres of value and the type of intellectual production it refers to (internal, 

traded, external). 

- organizing centres of value and monitor their inter-change. 

- defining a pre-configured pattern who should include the best methods for enabling the 

best internal production or the advantages of competition. 

- developing all knowledge during the entire process of receiving and formal-making, in 

order to establish a certain basis for competence features. 

- monitor and measuring all valuable contributions within the co-operation environment. 

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- identifying and measuring all contribution enabled with the help of centres of valueinnovation 

in order to accomplish all company goals. 

The only opportunity for Romanian companies to penetrate the European unique market (the 

competition is huge) is innovation. Therefore, officials must sustain and finance the researchdevelopment 

departments within any company. Both Romanian Government and local authorities 

must support all such actions through active social and financial measures. Innovation is needed 

within all fields. Innovation management is a real challenge and it must be carefully surveyed. 

Bibliography 

1. Munteanu, I., Ioniţă V., - Management of knowledge, Cartier Publishing House, 2006 

2. *** www.europe–innova.org, supporting innitiative for innovation within The General 

Directory for Enterprises and Industry of the European Comission. 

3. Sandu, Steliana; Ioan-Franc, Valeriu; Creativity and Innovation – European experience – 

Economical Studies and Research – vol. 44-45, Academy of Romania, National School for 

Economic Research, Centre of Economical Information and Documentation, Bucharest, 

collection 2007, 

4. *** www.eurostat.org , official site of The European Institute of Statistics, The European 

Innovation Scoreboard Indicators, CIS3 

5. Miron Dumitru (co-ordinator) – European Union Economy, Luceafărul Publishing House, 

Bucharest, 2003 

FIG. 1. - Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Japan, Denmark, USA, Germany, Austria, Belgium, The 

Netherlands, Great Britain, UE, France, Norway, Iceland, Luxemburg, Ireland, Italy, Estonia, 

Slovenia, Hungary, Spain, Cyprus, Portugal, Lithuania, Check Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, 

Slovakia, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Romania, Turkey. 

100

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 


ISSN: 1842-4856 

Suedia 

Elveţia 

Finlanda 

Japonia 

Danemarca 

SUA 

Germania 

Austria 

Belgia 

Olanda 

Marea Britanie 

UE-15 

Franţa 

Norvegia 

Islanda 

Luxemburg 

UE-25 

Irlanda 

Italia 

Estonia 

Slovenia 

Ungaria 

Spania 

Cipru 

Portugalia 

Lituania 

Cehia 

Bulgaria 

Polonia 

Slovacia 

Grecia 

Letonia 

Malta 

România 

turcia 

ţări membre ale UE-25 

ţară candidată în 2007 

ţări membre din 2007 

media UE-15 şi UE-25 

ţări membre AELS, 

respectiv SEE 

ţări nemembre şi 

necandidate 

Figure 1. Synthetic index of innovation, in 2005 – EU member-countries (4) and candidatecountries 

Note: AELS – European Association for Free Trade; 

SEE – European Economic Market. 

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Table 1. Main Characteristics of a company based on knowledge 

No. CHARACTERISTICS 

Diminishing the company capital, referring to physical assets, activity and employees, as 

1 well as the developement of the internal knowledge-base and the extension of client-net, 

suppliers, and external labour force 

Enabling all activities who are not essential for the company to be performed by external 

2 staff; also enabling all those who belong to or are additional to the company’s essential 

knowledge (information) come from outside the company 

Changing the relationships with the external labour, referring to the fact that any 

company should ask for external labour force for performing less important bureaucratic 

3 

labour as well as for company maintenance; in order to do that, any company should 

resort to small enterprises and individuals (freelancers) 

The strategic company development should resort to the increasing and the development 

4 of company knowledge; that is to say any company should be able to develop its own 

knowledge and see opportunities for synergetic co-operation referring to knowledge 

The pattern of internal organization of a knowledge-based company is similar to the 

5 human-cognitive pattern, and it is characterized by less structured nets, semi-automatic 

teams (both informed people, organization and individual availability for learning, etc.) 

Increasing efficiency and effectiveness is based on team-structure, and the “gathering” 

6 

should be decreased, while the cohesion should be increased 

Decreasing the number and the role of medium- and low- management, and gradually 

externalizing the number of people who perform additional labour within any company – 

7 

“knowledge management”, who often start as change-agents or consultants within any 

company 

Reshaping all management and economic features of any company in order to use 

8 

knowledge, with the help of options, decision making, activity 

Using all funds for training external labour force, in order to replace internal staff in case 

9 

of low performance 

Reducing the financial resources for training and enabling limited opportunities for 

10 promotion to additional staff – the company does not get involved into their professional 

training 

Reshaping the motivation system, referring to: 

• increasing the system of rewarding!, according to performance and results for the 

entire company staff; 

• increasing the system of rewarding, referring to the performance of additional 

11 

staff, according to their individual performance; 

• increasing the use of global stimulation, referring to the basic staff within any 

company; 

• staff promotion within and outside the company. 

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INOVATIONS AND COMPETITIVENESS 

ON THE GLOBAL MARKET OF TOURISM 

Conf. Univ. Dr. Daniela Firoiu Universitatea Româno Americană 

Facultatea de Economia Turismului Intern si International 

e-mail: danafiroiu@yahoo.com 

Conf . Univ. Dr. Cezar Mihălcescu Universitatea Româno Americană 

e-mail: cezar_mihalcescu@hotmail.com 


ABSTRACT 

In a global economy, inovation is becoming a key factor of competitiveness. The content changes in tourism 

offers, a result of the industryâ€s globalisation process, has brought about new developpement challenges for the 

involved companies. Short and medium term developpement policies wll have to be re-thought around a new frame. A 

real inovation policy requires a change in the companies policies as well as their corresponding strategies. This change 

would impact managerial engagement in transnational strategies, information technology skill developpement and the 

procedures sustaining transnational operations such as: knowledge and information transfers and awareness of national 

socio â€“ economical copmetitiveness policies. 

L’intégration de la Roumanie dans l’Union Européenne mais aussi l’intensification du 

processus de la globalisation a généré la nécessité d’analyser et de formuler un certain nombre de 

stratégies au niveau national, stratégies qui ont comme but celui d’accroître la compétitivité du 

produit touristique roumain. 

En complément a ceux antérieurement mentionné, on retrouve aussi le besoin de s’adapter 

en permanence au rythme des changements qui apparaissent de manière régulière dans la réalité du 

marché global des produits et services. 

Certainement, les motivations pour créer et implémenter un set de stratégies compétitives au 

niveau global du tourisme roumain sont nombreuses et aisément identifiables, étant donné le fait 

que les indices de la compétitivité du produit touristique roumain reposent essentiellement sur la 

contribution du tourisme au PIB, le dégrée d’occupation de la ressource humaine dans le domaine, 

le volume des exports, le solde de la balance des payements etc. 

Dans ce contexte, on peut sortir en évidence le Master Plan, pour le développement du 

tourisme roumain, qui représente, sans doute, le résultat d’un long processus d’analyse et de 

recherche, et le fait qu’au final la Roumanie puisse s’appuyer sur un plan cohérent et performant 

d’action c’est un fait remarquable. 

Néanmoins, la stratégie générale dans n’importe quel domaine repose sur l’implication de 

l’agent économique, dans la plupart des cas de dimensions réduites, qui doit dans un premier temps, 

être informé, après stimulé et ensuite évalué. Celle-ci est la raison pour laquelle tout plan a besoin 

d’une communication et d’une réelle collaboration entre toutes les parties impliquées. En plus, la 

compétitivité est le résultat des innovations permanentes et celles-ci doivent être évidentes tant au 

niveau des compagnies multinationales, que parmi les petites entreprises. 

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Davis & Foray suggèrent que « le besoin d’innover est de plus en plus accentué au fur et à 

mesure que celui-ci devient le seul moyen de survivre et prospérer dans les économies globalisées 

et extrêmement compétitives » 4 . Baumol (2002) relève à son tour que, dans la majorité des cas, la 

concurrence oblige les compagnies soit à investir dans l’innovation, soit s’assumer le risque de 

perdre face à leur principaux compétiteurs. En plus, cet étude réalisé sur 46 innovations majeures 

dans le domaine des produits (relevantes pour tous les secteurs de l’économie) démontre que la 

durée dans laquelle les innovations offrent un avantage concurrentiel avait descendu de 33 à 3 ans, 

entre le fin du siècle XIX et le début du siècle XXI. 

En pratique, il est évident le fait que les innovation sont en liaison avec l’incertitude, le 

risque et l’instabilité. Par conséquent, à présent la clé du succès des entrepreneurs sur le marché 

s’appuie sur leurs habileté d’innover et de s’assumer des risques. 

En conséquence, les entreprises de l’industrie du tourisme roumain doivent conscientiser et 

anticiper les changements du marché global du tourisme, parfois même en se prenant le risque de 

perdre leur position sur le marché ou le capital. Pour s’augmenter le taux de marché ou la 

production, il leur faut aussi des innovations soutenues par des stratégies réelles pour gagner ainsi 

des avantages compétitives. 

Ensuite, il résulte nécessaire de présenter les principaux types d’innovation qui puissent 

susciter l’intérêt des entrepreneurs du tourisme roumain 5 . 

- Incrémentales – qui ne nécessitent pas des innovations extraordinaires sur le 

marché ou en ce qui concerne la technologie utilisée. Par exemple, augmenter la 

vitesse avec laquelle les touristes sont tournus par une machine dans un parc 

d’attractions ou moderniser les meubles dans une chambre d’hôtel. 

- Distinctives – celles-ci nécessitent d’habitude s’adapter au comportement du 

consommateur. Par exemple, un équipement vidéo qui est installé dans une 

chambre d’hôtel, ou des structures descentralise de management qui gèrent des 

restaurants thématiques, appartenant d’une chaîne de profil. 

- Epatantes – celles-ci implique un nouveau traitement, une nouvelle optique 

du/dans le comportement du consommateur. parmi les exemples, on peut noter la 

vente directe à travers les services internet, des billets d’avion, ou la première 

course à 360 degrés dans un montagne rousse. Les innovations épatantes 

promettent d’habitude des profits significatives pour l’entreprise, mais impliquent 

aussi des risques associés plus élevés. 

Les innovations des produits 

Les stratégies des compagnies touristiques, telle qu’il soit leur périmètre d’action, se 

ressemblent à celles des autres secteurs d’activité. dans ce contexte, on peut choisir une des 

suivantes stratégies : 

1. Eteindre la dimension du marché 

2. Augmenter le taux de marché local 

3. Diminuer les coûts 

4. Ajuster le mixe des ventes 

4 Knowles T., Diamantis D., El Mourhabi J.B., The Globalization of Tourism&Hospitality, Tomson, Printed in Croatia 

by Zrinski, 2004, pag. 78 

5 adaptation après Murphy, J., Forest, E.J., Wotring, C.E., Hotel Management and Marketing on the Internet, 1996 

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Comme on peut observer, les stratégies sont en plein liaison avec les innovations des 

produits. Par exemple, le premier tour-opérateur américain qui avait offrit des vacances en Asie 

s’est étendu son taux de marché en attirant des nouveaux clients qui n’avaient pensés avant à une 

telle option. la compagnie avait augmenté son taux de marché, avait diminué dans le même temps 

les coûts de voyage (en comparaison avec le tourisme indépendant) et s’est diversifié son offre en 

ajoutant une nouvelle destination touristique. 

Les innovations des produits impliques en effet à savoir différentier les produits en 

comparaison avec les compagnies rivales. L’essence de la différentiation des produits consiste dans 

le fait que l’entreprise offre des variantes inédites par rapport à ses compétiteurs, à un prix 

similaire ou peu différentié, en gagnant par cette stratégie des importants poids de marché et des 

bénéfices sur mesure. 

Il faut mentionner par contre que l’ouverture du marché des produits vers le tourisme de 

masse, a été influencé de manière signifiante par le marketing et la publicité qui ont joués leur rôle, 

mai aussi par les investissements réalisées dans les nouveaux produits et dans la partie 

technologique. Par exemple, le développement des paquets de vacance depuis le nord de l’Europe 

vers le sur, a dépendu en grande mesure des changements technologiques faites aux moteurs des 

avions et du déploiement des circuits de transport aérien, ainsi que des investissements fait dans les 

nouveaux produits : hôtels, villages de vacance, l’organisation des événements, le développement 

de l’offre de type « parcours de divertissement », ou celui thématique. 

Les exemples ci-dessus viennent souligner l’importance de redécouvrir les produits 

touristiques autochtones dans l’optique d’exploiter les tendances internationales et les adapter au 

spécifique du marché roumain. Comme exemple, la crise de la qualité des stations estivales du 

littoral roumain peut avoir comme direction stratégique, en défit de celle formalisée par le master 

plan, la restructuration et la redéfinition des stations, la spécialisation de ceux-ci par catégories de 

clientèle (segment de marché). Plus concrètement, il s’agit de créer des stations-noyau, définies par 

un certain dégrée de confort, qui va re-établir l’équilibre entre les offres de qualité élevée, qui 

s’adressent à une catégorie de clientèle plus sélecte et le tourisme de masse, avec des services d’une 

qualité moyenne, adressées à un segment de clientèle ayant des revenus moyens, caractérisées par 

un dégrée de confort plus bas (exemple – 2-3 étoiles pour le logement). 

Les innovations des processus 

En ce qui concerne le système de production, dans la durée, des innovations des processus 

ont été enregistrées. Comme suite, à présent nous assistons à des manières très différentes de 

combiner les innovations des processus de travail, aspects qui conduisent à la fin vers une 

croissance de la compétitivité des entreprises sur le marché. Comme exemple, on peut opter pour 

une jonction entre des innovations de marketing (ventes directes, y compris des ventes on-line), les 

changements des processus de travail (ex : allouer les places en avion au moment d’embarcation, 

croissance d’ergonomie pendant le vol) et la réduction de prix. 

Les innovations des processus peuvent se réaliser 6 : 

1. par des changements de nature exclusivement technologique, qui sont liées, par 

exemple, à la révolution de la technologie informationnelle ou sont spécifiques à un 

certain secteur/domaine comme, par exemple, l’introduction du moteur à réaction. 

2. en adaptant les technologies du commerce électronique aux processus de vente des 

agences de tourisme 

6 adaptation après Riley, M., Managing People. A guide for managers in the hotel and catering industri, Butterworth 

Heinemann Oxford, 2000 

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3. les innovations du domaine IT qu ont le plus grand impacte au niveau du tourisme. 

Les services d’IT changent le cadre de la compétition et impacte la plupart des compagnies, 

n’importe quel serait le domaine d’activité, la location ou la dimension. Cette technologie a de 

l’impacte spécialement sur les avantages concurrentielles, parce qu’elle établie la position des coûts 

ou la manière de différentiation entre les entités. Les services IT offrent aux entreprises un certain 

nombre d’avantages sur le marché. parmi lesquelles on peut compter : les barrières d’accès sur un 

marché (à cause du coût généré par le hardware/software ou des embauchés ayant des 

connaissances d’IT), la différentiation des produits/services, les limites d’accès aux canaux de 

distribution, la politique des prix, la diminution des coûts de livraison et l’augmentation de 

l’efficience. La technologie IT peut devenir un produit en soi-même, comme dans le cas du 

tourisme virtuel. Même si les coûts générés par ce service ont présentés un trend descendent dans la 

durée, les innovations nécessitent toujours des investissements substantiels de capital, soit en ce qui 

concerne le capital, soit la formation de la force de travail. Résulte que certains risques peuvent être 

associés aux innovations du domaine IT, malgré les évolutions techonologiques. 

La technologie informationnelle change non seulement le volume de transfert des 

informations, mais elle modifie aussi les relations à long terme de la chaîne de distribution et donne 

naissance à des nouvelles formes de concurrence. Cet aspect avait contribué à la transformation du 

tourisme, caractérisé comme un phénomène de masse, standardisé et rigide, dans une industrie plus 

flexible, orientée vers le client, ses attentes et ses besoins, une industrie durable et intégrée. Ainsi, à 

présent on retrouve des nouvelle modalités de coordonner la production et de créer des nouvelles 

méthodes de travail pour que les entreprises puissent gagner des avantages concurrentielles, suite à 

l’implémentation des produits et des processus de plus en plus flexibles. Certainement, la 

technologie informationnelle est souvent considérée comme étant un des facteurs qui facilitent le 

changement. En même temps, celle-ci génère des changements dans l’organisation traditionnelle de 

la production et peut réduire le dégrée de dépendance pour les agences de tourisme, puisque les 

compagnies peuvent vendre directement leur produits aux clients par internet. Autrement dit, la 

technologie avancée a conduit, dans certains cas, à la disparition des relations avec les prescripteurs. 

Du point de vue de l’utilisation de la technologie informationnelle, il existe des 

différentiations entre les fournisseurs des services touristiques. Ainsi, pas nécessairement tous les 

acteurs du marché ont des droits égales concernant l’accès aux systèmes GDS. Par exemple, les 

entreprises de petite taille sont désavantagées, parce que les commissions qu’elles payent peuvent 

représenter 20-30% des revenus totaux obtenus suite aux ventes. En plus, il est tout à fait possible 

que les petites entreprises aient des difficultés aussi dans l’implémentation des formes d’IT, en 

manque d’aptitudes techniques et managériales requises. 

Le problème des relation d’intermédiation et, spécialement, en ce qui concerne leurs futures 

implications pour les organisateurs des voyages, ont fait l’objet des nombreuses débats. Morrell 

(1998) 7 avait analysé l’impacte des trois types d’implications technologiques : les GDS, les voyages 

aériennes sans émission de billet et l’Internet. Son thèse arrive à la conclusion que les tendances de 

renoncer aux intermédiaires seront marquées par les suivantes facteurs : 

- l’ignorance des clients et la manque de confiance ; 

- le pouvoir d’achat individuel faible en comparaison avec les agences de voyage ; 

- l’immobilité des clients (réticence vis-à-vis du déplacement personnel afin de 

chercher l’information et d’acheter diverses produits/services). 

La capacité concurrentielle dépend non seulement du développement et de 

l’implémentation des nouvelles technologies, mais aussi de la capacité de l’entreprise d’apprendre 


by Zrinski, 2004 

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et s’adapter aux changements. Ce problème, à son coté, soulève un autre : la concurrence ne signifie 

que la manière dont les entreprises se positionnent et évoluent sur le marché, mais aussi de la 

manière dont elles coopèrent pour accroître le niveau de la concurrence. 

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT 

Minică Mirela, University lecturer dr. 

University “Eftimie Murgu” Reşiţa, Romania 

Abstract : Knowledge management allows an organization to make the most of the intellectual capital that resides in it. 

Industrial engineers are trained in optimization, transportation, maintenance, and human factors, making them a natural 

choice to systematize a corporate knowledge management program. 

What does knowledge management have to do with industrial management? At first 

glance, many people would dismiss an association and claim the ideas are on opposite ends of the 

spectrum. Industrial management is a well-defined science to a great degree, while knowledge 

management is still an undefined art and an emerging science. I assert, however, that industrial 

engineers are the optimal group to enable systematization of knowledge management efforts in 

organizations. The know-how and experiences of industrial engineers can be brought to bear on 

solving the difficult problem of managing knowledge in organizations. 

Knowledge management can be defined as the sum total of all activities that enable the 

creation, storage, distribution, and application of knowledge in organizations. Unless an 

organization is able to tap into the knowledge in its midst, it will not be able to compete 

successfully in the marketplace. Similar to the problems faced by industrial engineers, the 

knowledge management problem in organizations is one of managing a complex system. 

Industrial engineers are involved with the design, construction, installation, and 

advancement of complex systems. The central tenet is to design operational and reliable complex 

systems while being efficient through minimization of resource consumption. Complex systems can 

be broadly defined as entities in which two or more components interact in non-linear and highly 

dynamic 

ways. 

The knowledge IEs possess is varied, ranging from the highly quantitative (such as 

mathematics and physics) to the qualitative (such as the social sciences and management). The 

focus areas in which an IE needs to possess skills are manufacturing or material engineering, 

production engineering, system engineering, and safety engineering. Each of these areas has 

bearings on how knowledge management problems can be addressed. 

Knowledge--as a product--can be thought of as any piece of insight, know-how, idea, or 

invention an organization needs to use to attain an objective. Knowledge is either tacit (which 

resides in the minds of personnel) or explicit (which can be captured in some physical and 

communicable form). 

Knowledge management -as a process- is a series of steps that includes the creation, 

acquisition, storage, transfer, distribution, and application of knowledge. The application of 

knowledge will call for new knowledge to be generated, which is then channeled back into the 

cycle. 

Certain knowledge management issues trouble virtually all managers to some degree: 

- How to organize a knowledge repository (a layout problem) 

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- The best mechanism for knowledge transfer from employee to employee and from 

system to employee (a transportation problem) 

- Maintaining a knowledge management system (a maintenance problem) 

- Making a knowledge management system user-friendly (a human factors problem). 

The key to having a robust knowledge management system is to tackle all of these issues 

systematically Industrial engineers are well positioned to do just that. 

Knowledge layout 

Before we can manage, we must organize. It is difficult but not impossible to manage things 

that are in a constant state of unpredictable flux. Take a macroscopic view of an organization and 

you will find that some sectors generate a lot of knowledge, others consume and apply such 

knowledge, and still others take in knowledge without generating appropriate actions. It is rare to 

find an organization that thoroughly and systematically lays out knowledge; however, some have 

come very close. 

Let's first consider a system for explicit knowledge--the intranet portal. Today, these portals 

are passive, simply displaying knowledge. They could be compared to factories with piles of raw 

materials in one room, tools in another, and a manual on how to use them in yet another. An 

employee would have to expend a lot of effort to consume knowledge found in the manual. If 

intranet portals were redesigned using the principles of workflow and layout design, employees 

would be able to consume the knowledge in raw form and build a finished product. 

Advancements in virtual reality-based engineering can also be imported to help manage and 

consume explicit knowledge. Some organizations have complex intranet portals that use a workflow 

model. The portal has won coveted industry awards and is a standard in terms of knowledge layout. 

This is the single and most authoritative source for all knowledge that Army personnel would ever 

need. 

Now let's consider tacit knowledge, which gets transferred mostly through people. How 

cumbersome is it for you to contact a domain expert in your organization? Do you know how to 

make contact? Do you even know who the expert is on every issue? These are difficult issues faced 

by many organizations. 

Organizational re-engineering is pervasive. When there is downsizing, people leave an 

organization, and their expertise goes with them. With the advent of distributed and virtual work, 

there is no telling when a person will be at the office, available on the phone, or online with access 

e-mail. Hence, tacit knowledge is in a constant state of flux in the organization. This is not a bad 

thing in itself. However, when an organization does not have protocols to manage the dynamic 

tacit knowledge, things get troublesome. 

Let's examine how things are managed on a traditional factory floor. In most cases, senior 

personnel make the rounds, supervising personnel and machines on a timely basis. Because the 

layout of the factory is adequately mapped, people know where any given item will be at any point 

in time. Therefore, people who seek knowledge from personnel or machines on the factory floor can 

locate information easily 

Similarly, efforts must be undertaken to map tacit knowledge in an organization. This is 

akin to taking an inventory of who knows what, which prevents an organization from losing 

knowledge through downsizing. 

Moreover, it will enable the organization to plan for redundancy and failures. IEs can help 

by devising formulations that detail the fragility of an organization's knowledge base. This can 

ensure that appropriate backups are in place and tacit insights are captured. Many organizations 

realize the knowledge drain only after downsizing, sometimes having to hire back old employees at 

inflated salaries to fill gaps. 

When mapping is complete, the next item should be to detail the communication 

mechanisms people have access to. This will enable the organization to devise primary, secondary, 

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and tertiary communication protocols and will ease knowledge transportation. The ultimate goal of 

laying out knowledge is to avoid gaps that force groups in the organization to operate in a vacuum 

that doesn't allow them to consider information that exists in their midst. This leads to costly 

duplication of efforts. 

Knowledge transportation 

Knowledge is abundant in almost all organizations. The main issue is how to get it from 

producer to consumer. 

Consider the issues when there is a lack of connection between people in an organization. It is not 

uncommon to find the situation in which a U.S.-based marketing agent pitches a product that cannot 

be feasibly built by the production staff in Asia. Why? Simply because the knowledge about system 

design and development was not transported effectively and efficiently to the marketing agent. 

Because global outsourcing is widespread, such blunders are common in information system 

designs and maintenance engagements. 

Another transportation problem exists in organizations when there is no clear protocol about 

which medium should be used to transfer knowledge. Ad hoc and inconsistent approaches are 

pervasive in organizations. Some knowledge gets transferred using computerized systems, some is 

transferred via formal personal mechanisms such as training and job rotation, and some gets across 

through informal personal mechanisms such as the grapevine. Most people are at a loss when it 

comes to deciding which path to request knowledge from and which path should be used for 

transmitting their own knowledge. The cost of confusion makes knowledge management inefficient 

and highly unsuccessful in organizations. 

An additional issue is that of timing. Should knowledge be pushed to individuals or should 

they pull it from central sources? Disagreements or lack of clear protocols will result in either 

famine or abundance, neither of which is optimal. In every organization, some knowledge is 

ignored because there is no agreement on the path, medium, and timing of transfer. 

IEs have training in logistics and scheduling problems; much of it is applied to movement of 

digital goods and the scheduling of jobs on factory floors. These insights can be brought to bear on 

the knowledge transportation problem. IEs can aid an organization by studying the routing and 

movement of knowledge to determine the efficient mechanisms for connecting people. 

While striving for efficiency, we can't forget effectiveness, which is critical in designing for 

redundancy What happens if a knowledge communication path breaks? What will be the alternative 

route? Knowledge about scheduling will also be salient. The IE literature is abundant in scheduling 

algorithms based on the characteristics of goods and the environment, it is unwise to transport 

perishable goods by land or sea unless the source of such produce is in close proximity. Similarly, 

certain types of knowledge need to be transported quickly, while others can wait. The study of these 

dynamics will uncover useful suggestions about how to design appropriate mediums and timing 

schemes for knowledge transfer. 

Knowledge maintenance 

Most often, a knowledge management system is developed and then left alone. This leads 

to the system going astray and eventually becoming unusable. When a corporate intranet portal is 

commissioned, for example, knowledge nuggets are properly classified, efficient search 

mechanisms are put in place, and the system is usable. As time passes, the system degrades into a 

state of disorganization. Knowledge nuggets get thrown into the wrong places and are classified 

improperly. Several versions of the same knowledge object reside in the repository. If the material 

captured is factually sound and relevant, no rigorous checking takes place on information posted to 

the system. As a result, there is continuous error correcting and knowledge updating. 

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Take the case of software engineers who publish code in repositories. They do so without 

checking for many of the bugs. As a result, they have to update an old version (Version 1) with a 

newer one (Version 1.1). When executing a search for the code, a knowledge seeker is bound to 

receive matches, many of them small incremental versions over the original code. This is inefficient 

and makes the act of consuming knowledge difficult. Little if any effort is undertaken to purge and 

delete outdated knowledge, making it difficult to incorporate change in work processes and 

procedures. All these issues result in a large repository, which many people think symbolizes more 

knowledge. In reality, there is often more junk than knowledge in large repositories. 

Like explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge needs maintenance. Consider a start-up 

organization. Few individuals run the organization, so everyone knows who has knowledge in a 

given domain. Over time, the organization grows, and things become less clear. 

IEs can help resolve such problems in multiple ways. Their knowledge in the design of 

adaptive and self-repairing systems is pivotal. Consider the design of a printer: Well before the 

printer stops working, there are signs that, if measured properly, can call attention to the problem. 

These signs can be used as gauges for proactive repair, which would eliminate the downtime and 

expense of reactive maintenance. 

IEs can also aid an organization in the difficult task of tacit knowledge maintenance. As 

discussed earlier, the knowledge map of the organization will be crucial. Before an organization 

contemplates downsizing or mergers it should check how the new organization fits into the existing 

knowledge map. If it cannot be placed adequately on the map, are there avenues to expand the map? 

Which knowledge sectors will be lost? Which will be gained? These are important questions to 

consider in order for knowledge, processes, and people to be aligned for optimal functioning of the 

organization. 

In addition, IEs can aid in the design of flexible systems that will enable growth and 

evolution. Knowledge management systems in organizations should accommodate modifications 

and updates that account for changes in an organization. For instance, if more people need to use 

the system, it should allow for multiple points of access. It should be flexible enough to allow for 

varying read and write privileges on various knowledge bases. It should be customizable for 

additions and deletions of knowledge without disruption to the core architecture. 

Knowledge human factors 

A knowledge management system is useful only if it is accepted throughout an organization. 

Most knowledge management systems are designed adequately in the aesthetic sense, but they have 

not been designed appropriately to account for human work factors. To use a knowledge 

management system, people usually have to leave what they are doing, consult a remote system, 

and then return to the work. This is inefficient and makes it less of a user-friendly approach. 

Moreover, it results in lower usage of the system. Individuals would rather rely on heuristics and 

hunches for calibrating decisions rather than consult an unwieldy knowledge management system. 

One large software company I'm familiar with has a sophisticated knowledge management 

system that houses details on projects, software code bases, contact information for key personnel, 

and research and development plans. Over the course of my investigation into the usage of the 

system, I uncovered a simple human factor that had not been accounted for: Personnel who worked 

off-site and from home seldom used the system. The reason was that the system had an unbearable 

response rate to queries when executed over a dial-up connection. None of the designers had picked 

up on this because much of the testing for the system was done in-house, where a T1 plus 

connection was available. This small detail was a significant human factor that deterred almost 20 

percent of the organization from using the system. 

IEs have been working on human factors and safety engineering issues for decades. This 

knowledge can be used to aid knowledge system design. The goal should be to make knowledge 

management part of the work processes. Assimilating it into daily work will lead to a true 

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knowledge-based organization. Without this, knowledge management will still be viewed as an 

ancillary task. IEs have been working on problems that are closely related, such as efforts to 

industrialize work environments. It will be beneficial to apply the same thinking to make 

knowledge management ubiquitous and pervasive in organizations. 

IEs can aid in the design and development of real-time knowledge gadgets--devices that 

can be used by members of the organization to receive real-time knowledge about products and 

processes without having to be bogged down by either carrying a laptop or going to a desktop. 

These are already in circulation through the use of PDAs and cell phones. Much work still needs to 

be done to optimize their designs. One of the key areas of research is how to make heterogeneous 

forms of knowledge transferable adequately among disparate devices. The aim will be to make 

knowledge management a seamless part of tasks for every individual in the organization. 

Conclusion 

The skills of IEs are valuable and salient for making knowledge management a reality in 

organizations. In fact, this may well be the new agenda for IEs. For decades, IEs have optimized, 

industrialized, and engineered physical components of organizations. Use the talents of industrial 

engineers to apply the same skills to the non-physical components of your organization. 

Putting KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT into practice "Knowledge management within an 

organization is a conundrum," says Thomas H. Brush, an associate professor of strategic 

management at Purdue's Krannert School of Management. "The more you're sure you know a 

process in a company, the more likely that your competitors know it. So you have to make your 

processes simple enough for employees to understand and complex enough so it's hard for your 

competitors to steal them." 

Brush and his former student, an assistant professor at the State University of New York at 

Buffalo, studied a Fortune 250 industrial company's efforts to introduce flow manufacturing into 

four different plants in four states. The corporate office mandated the switch to flow manufacturing, 

but each plant operated with its own profit and loss responsibility. Because of the variety of 

products made, each plant had different goals in instituting flow manufacturing. 

For Brush, flow manufacturing emerged as an appropriate case study in understanding how 

an organization goes about communicating and putting into effect a different method -and 

philosophy- of manufacturing products. 

Key to the ultimate successful transfer of knowledge was the team concept. The company 

initially used an in-house consulting team to study and implement flow manufacturing throughout 

the organization. The corporate team established a consistent companywide definition and form of 

flow manufacturing. At this point, the company had the knowledge it needed to transfer, and the 

knowledge management transfer began. 

However, initial attempts to complete the knowledge transfer were exercises in Murphy's 

law, as problems surfaced both in the production processes and among those who ran them. The 

Ohio management team, for example, was so embedded in its established way of doing things that 

management could not grasp that it was possible to change its processes. 

"What we began to realize was that even when a firm knows how to do something, that's not 

enough," Brush says. "It was as difficult to diffuse knowledge throughout the company as it was to 

develop it in the first place because each plant had different staffs, different goals, and there were 

tensions between the individual plants and the corporate office and between staff and line people." 

A number of managers from the Indiana plant received formal training from an outside 

consulting firm. The Indiana plant moved ahead of the other plants in the flow manufacturing 

implementation -though it was a one-step forward, two-steps back process, Brush says. The signs of 

improvement at the Indiana plant encouraged employing a corporate staff team to diffuse the 

knowledge and capabilities developed at that plant to the other facilities. 

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While the corporate team usually had a staff expert at the plants, the challenges were 

sometimes too great for an individual staff member or team to overcome. A "not-invented-here 

syndrome" often overcame the initiatives put in place by the staff team. Instead, the company 

moved toward a model that used a team from the Indiana plant as a template. 

When the next flow initiative ran into trouble, a team of 10 Indiana plant employees--who, 

at this point, knew both the theory and practice of applying flow manufacturing--was sent to the 

problem plant. Brush describes the Indiana group as "a shock team" that worked face-to-face with 

the personnel at problem plants to communicate abstract, essential, and practical knowledge and 

apply it in the new production environments. That satisfied the need for internal simplicity in 

Brush's knowledge-management conundrum. 

The external complexity side of the conundrum was satisfied because the exchange was 

team-based, specific, and dynamic, meaning the competition would have a difficult time replicating 

the knowledge management model the company had created. 

References 

1. Khalil, T. (2000) Management of Technology, New York: McGraw-Hill. 

2. Kruglianskas, I. and Thamhain, H. J. (2000) “Managing technology-based projects in 

multinational environments,” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 47, No. 

1 

3. Oakey, R. (2003) “Technical entrepreneurship in high technology small firms: some 

observations on the implications for management,” Technovation, Vol. 23, No. 8. 

4. Singh, J. (2000) “Making business sense of environmental compliance,” Sloan Management 

Review, Vol. 41 

5. Thamhain, H. J. (2002) “Criteria for effective leadership in technology-oriented project 

teams,” Chapter 16 in The Frontiers of Project Management Research , Newton Square, 

PA: Project Management Institute 

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LÒFFRE TOURISTIQUE ROUMAINE DANS LA PERSPECTIVE 

DE L’INTÉGRATION EUROPÉENNE 

Maître de Conférences Mirela Mazilu 

Assist.univ.drd.Roxana Marinescu 

Université de Craiova, Faculté de Sciences Economiques 

Centre Universitaire de Drobeta Turnu Severin 

ABSTRACT : The Romanian tourism’s European integration is a process in practice, in “stages” through 

which the organizational way and functional relations become similar to the ones that already exist in the European 

Union. 

Meant to be an economic process with great positive effects, the European integration of the Romanian 

touristic offer demands an institutional and legislative environment to permit putting it in practice and to reengage it 

into the world, inclusively, European circuit. 

L’objectif principal duquel on doit tenir compte pour dérouler ce procès c’est la création du 

cadre de compatibilité autant sur le plan institutionnel – culturel que sur le plan législatif, ainsi du 

point de vue des principes et mécanismes de fonctionnement du tourisme. 

Grâce à l’existence de plusieurs éléments et aspects qui influencent l’activité du tourisme, ce 

procès d’intégration est multi-secteurs et en même temps dynamique. 

Dans ce contexte, le tourisme roumain doit devenir une composante active et dynamisante dans 

le système économique actuel, trouvé dans un procès continuel, profond et complexe de 

restructuration. 

L’intégration européenne du tourisme roumain est conçue comme un procès ayant des grands 

effets positifs comme: 

- le transfert géographique de ressources; 

- l’équilibre de la balance des paiements; 

- la réalisation de nouveaux emplois; 

- l’aménagement du térritoire; 

- la réabilitation en plan européen de l’image de Roumanie. 

L’idée d’un relancement rapide du tourisme roumain a pour base de développement la mise en 

considération de quelques avantages comparatifs concernant les composantes de l’offre 

touristique naturelle et anthropique, qui constitue les éléments d’attraction, le clou de l’offre du 

tourisme roumain, offrant en même temps les conditions propices, pour l’apprentissage de toutes 

les formes du tourisme : de week-end, de chasse et pêche, tourisme itinérant, professionnel etc. 

L’offre touristique roumaine se remarque par son caractère unique et originel et les prix et les 

tarifs pratiqués dans le cadre du tourisme roumain sont plus réduits en comparaison à ceux des 

pays avec une offre similaire. 

Pons mener à bien et pour réaliser le raccord du tourisme roumain au circuit touristique 

international, celui-ci doit satisfaire une demande étrangère avec des grandes exigences en ce qui 

concerne le confort, la sécurité et la qualité des équipements et services. 

L’intégration de la Roumanie dans les structures touristiques européennes suppose aussi une 

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série de conditions légales et des mesures générales spécifiques, ainsi l’appui ferme et effectif 

d’autres organismes internationaux pour la réorganisation du tourisme roumain, par: 

la promulgation de la Loi du Tourisme; 

la clarification des conditions de coopération avec les firmes étrangères, 

encourageant les investissements de capital; 

la réalisation, par des zones, d’organismes de management pour la modernisation de 

l’infrastructure et la coordination intégrée d’investissements; 

le renforcement et l’extension d’activités des comissions régionales: La Comission 

Européenne du Tourisme La Comission du Tourisme Danubien, La Comission de la 

Mer Noir etc. 

L’intégration du tourisme roumain dans les structures européennes pourra se réaliser seulement 

par la résolution à plus de problèmes avec les quels se confronte en présent l’activité touristique 

parmi lesquels : structures de réception (d’accueil), le facteur humain, l’infrastructure, la 

pollution, le système informationnel statistique, la sécurité et la sûreté des touristes, le système 

de paiement, les politiques promotionnelles etc. 

Les structures de réception sont inconformes tant que volume que qualité. On y pense aux 

équipements de logement détériorés, le manque de confort et d’hygiène de la plupart de ceux-ci, 

l’insuffisance et la variété réduite des dotations destinées au divertissement, des aménagements 

non-propices pour la pratique des sports d’hiver, la faible diversité des programmes de 

distraction. 

La qualité du facteur humain, une composante essentielle dans la matérialisation du produit 

touristique, pose aussi des problèmes assez importants tant comme insuffisance numérique qui 

manque de formation professionnelle, de solicitude et amabilité. 

La situation non-conforme d’autres composantes du secteur tertiaire, beaucoup d’entre celles-ci 

constituant des conditions propices et des facteurs de développement du tourisme. 

En fait, s’impose la modernisation de l’infrastructure, qui est essentielle, par l’intermède de 

laquelle on facilite l’acces du touriste à l’offre: la situation actuelle des routes, des autoroutes, 

des voies ferrés, des moyens de transport n’enchante personne! 

C’est pour ça, qu’on impose la réalisation des autoroutes à un niveau occidental, avec 

signalisation visuele conforme au système sollicité, dotées avec des moyens de communication 

en cas de necessité. 

La modernisation de l’infrastructure doit commencer dès les points de frontière d’entrée dans le 

pays, qui sont en même temps ceux qui donnent et font la première impression aux touristes 

étrangers qui visitent la Roumanie. Notre pays doit aussi faire un effort particulier pour 

s’approcher du niveau de l’offre et d’exigences actuelles, parce-que leur image se situe à la suite 

d’autres pays: 

la densité des routes publiques rapportées à 100 km/territoire indique une situation, 

du tout, calmante. Celle-ci évolue de 26,8 en 1985 à 30,5 en 1995 et 30,6 en 2006 en 

comparaison à 37,7 pour Yugoslavie et 57,8 pour Tchécoslovaquie dès 1995; 

les 113 km d’autoroutes réalisés en Roumanie jusqu’à présent ne situe à un niveau 

de 9,5 fois plus petit que Tchécoslovaquie, de 8 fois que Hongrie et presque 8 fois 

que Yugoslavie dès l’année 2006 en fonction de l’indicateur ”densité à 100 

km 2 /territoire”. 

la longueur des routes nationales roumaines modernisées avec des recouvrements 

lègers de 14683 km, reste la même dans la période 1995-2005. 

Pour l’étape suivante, on prévoit le développement étapisé d’une réseau d’autoroutes et routesexpresses 

sur les principales directions de trafique, en corrélation aux nécessités imposées par la 

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croissance du trafique routier qui dans l’année 2006 sera de 4 fois plus grande que dans l’année 

1980 pour le total d’autovehicules et avec le programme TEM. 

Ayant en considération le fait qu’en Occident on met de plus en plus l’accent sur ce problème 

qui produit des déséquilibres même à la santé de la population, surtout dans les conditions quand 

le manque des préoccupations d’ordre écologique dans le paysage des pays communistes a été 

maintenu le longue durée. 

La rélation tourisme – environnement a été mise en évidence de mille fois dans le cadre des 

plusieurs conférences internationales consacrées à ce problème. 

Le développement du tourisme sur des bases écologiques est compris, inclus dans la stratégie de 

développement du tourisme durable. 

Les réglementations élaborées par le Marché Commun et CEE (Conseil Economique Européen) 

concernant la protection de l’environnement ont resté à la base du protocole conclu entre le 

Ministère du Tourisme et le Ministère de l’Environnement. 

Aussi, la Roumanie va se conformer aux mésures établies dans la „Carte Verte” de CEE 

concernant la stratégie de plannification du tourisme urbain et utilisera des instruments 

économiques et fiscaux dans le domaine de l’environnement, pour la protection des ressources 

touristiques. 

Roumanie par l’institut de Recherche pour le Tourisme, a élaboré le Programme des Nations 

Unies pour l’Environnement un "Etude – pilote concernant l’environnement naturel et humain et 

sa mise en valeur pour le tourisme dans les zones Curtea de Argeş et Neamţ", études qui auront 

une extension et dans d’autres zones. 

L’intégration de la Roumanie en l’UE puisse se faire aussi par l’intermède du tourisme culturel, 

celui-ci supposant l’aménagement et la préservation des sites culturels-touristiques, la mise en 

valeur des nouveaux itinéraires et circuits, l’encouragement de toute initiative culturelle, le 

développement du tourisme rural, l’agrondissement du tourisme dans les zones protégées, la 

mise en valeur des anciens centres historiques. Cette promotion doit être soutenue par les 

autorités locales, régionales, nationales, ainsi par l’Autorité Nationale pour le Tourisme en 

colaboration avec le Ministère de la Culture. 

L’impact du tourisme culturel sur l’image externe de Roumanie se manifeste aussi sur le plan 

économique que sur le social, et politique, et met en relief toute une série d’aspects positifs. 

L’intégration en Europe prévoit aussi l’élaboration d’un code du comportement des touristes 

pour déterminer les lignes écologiques et éthiques, l’élaboration d’un guide pratique pour l’usage 

d’agents économiques en tourisme, contenant des recommandations qui feront plus facile 

l’évaluation des facteurs naturels de l’environnement, la distribution des produits touristiques et 

d’autres facilités. On considère aussi comme valables des actions pour la réalisation et la 

promotion des nouveaux produits touristiques dans le milieu rural, facilitant la rélation entre les 

touropérateurs locaux, régionaux et européens. 

L’Amortissement du système statistique de notre pays avec celui des pays européens, cette 

mèsure étant nécessaire pour assurer une comparaison des données, l’évaluation de tous les 

indicateurs et la constitution des statistiques dans lesquelles notre pays sera incluse 

L’intensification du change d’information qui vise le secteur touristique, des informations qui 

peuvent aider le tourisme roumain à connaître en tout moment le marché européen, la situation 

de la demande et de l’offre, et l’un des moyens de ce réaliser, c’est la connexion au réseau 

internet du Ministère du Tourisme et de l’Institut de Recherche pour le Tourisme. 

L’intégration européenne du tourisme roumain suppose l’assurance d’un climat de sécurité et 

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sûreté pour les touristes étrangers, même éliminer les états d’incertitude. 

Il y a beaucoup d’exemples de pays comme: Egypte on Turquie qui à cause de l’insécurité, la 

manifestation des attentats terroristes tout près des sites renommés pour le grand nombre de 

touristes, ont enregistré cette-année un récul. 

Ce problème doit être à la portée de la main et dans l’attention du Ministère d’Internes dont 

l’activité peut influencer dans une grande mèsure l’activté touristique. 

L’introduction des systèmes de paiement style American Express, Eurocard, Master Card, 

Dinners-Club, J.C.B. Internaţional, un système très pratique dans tous les pays européens et qui 

sera implementé dans le réseau des magasins de l’intérieur ou de l’extérieur des objectifs 

touristiques. En ce sens, on doit généraliser le système "rent-à-car" qui puisse offrir une mobilité 

plus grande aux touristes étrangers arrivés avec un autre moyen de transport comme l’avion, le 

train. 

L’elimination d’obstacles existants dans le mouvement libre des citoyens roumains qui désirent 

voyager au dehors des frontières du pays ainsi pour les citoyens étrangers qui désirent visiter la 

Roumanie. 

Le problème de l’accord des visas pour les citoyens roumains a été amplement mise en 

discussion le dernier temps, mais le fait que Roumanie n’a pas encore éte admise en L’U.E. 

aggravant de plus ce procès. 

Roumanie s’est impliquée dans l’organisation chaque année à Bucarest, du Foire International de 

Tourisme et dans l’automne de 1998 a soutenu déjà la troisième édition qui s’est adréssée aux 

touropérateurs, aux agences de tourisme, aux autorités nationales et régionales de Tourisme, aux 

réseaux d’hôtels et alimentation publique, aux companies de transport et "rent à car" etc. Dans 

l’automne de 1997 a eu lieu la Session du Groupe de Travail de la Coopération Èconomique 

dans la zone du Mer Noire sur des problèmes de coopération dans le domaine du tourisme. 

Dans la même période s’est déroulée la Conférence Internationale des Unités Touristiques et 

du Forum d’Investissements en Tourisme (la première édition). 

Celles-ci sont quelques unes des actions destinées à la promotion du tourisme qui par la 

valorification du potentiel disponible on peut le transformer dans une importante branche 

productrice des grands revenus en dévises. 

L’initiateur de ces manifestations a été World Trade Center Bucarest qui s’est associé avec le 

Ministère du Tourisme et le Fond de la Propriété d’Etat. 

Les participants au Forum d’Investissements en Tourisme ont été les investisseurs roumains et 

étrangers, les chaînes d’hôtels Accov, Lea International, Hyatt Romania, les sociétés de 

constructions, les institutions internationales d’investissements, les banques (BERD) FMI et des 

hommes d’affaires de France, D’Spagne, d’Israel, d’Hongrie et de Roumanie. 

L’objectif du Forum l’a constitué l’attraction d’investissements, premièrement étrangers par la 

présentation des projets élaborés conformément aux modèles qui sont acceptés par les sociétés 

internationales d’investissements et qui ont surpris une évaluation du potentiel existant et des 

performances atteintes. 

Pour atteindre les objectifs de ce Forum on a crée un Bureau de Promotion du Tourisme 

Roumain à World Trade Center Bucarest qui aura pour pbjectif l’appui des efforts concernant la 

promotion de notre tourisme au niveau national et international. 

À présent ONT Carpaţi S.A. a des Succursales à Athène, Cairo, Dusseldorf et pour la Roumanie 

existe des succursales qui peuvent offrir des informations et des réservations dans les pays 

suivantes : Autriche (Vienne), Belge (Bruxelles), Danemarque (Benhaven), France (Paris), 

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l’Allemagne (Frankfurt-Main), Grèce (Athène), Grande Bretagne (Londre), Israel (Tel Aviv), 

Italie (Rome), Moldavie (Chişinău), Ollande (Amsterdam), Russie (Moscou), Espagne (Madrid), 

Suède (Stockholm), Suisse (Zürich), Etats-Unis (New-York). 

La réalisation des points d’information touristique dans le pays et à l’étranger on doit faire 

concomitante la modernisation de ceux existants, l’impression du matériel de publicité, la 

réalisation des firmes promotionnelles avec lesquelles Roumanie puisse se présenter, y compris 

l’Internet, avec une offre complète, en ce but en allouant du boudget (en 2002) 

approximativement 10 milliards. 

L’accroissement du rôle de l’état roumain dans le développement du tourisme, comme 

promoteur soutenant la promotion et la réclame du tourisme international et de l’offre 

roumaine; stimulateur par la réalisation d’une infrastructure adequée; interventionniste par la 

protection des consommateurs, l’augmentation de la qualité des services, l’institution des taxes, 

des politiques nationales à l’égard du développement et la conservation des parcs nationaux, des 

monuments historiques et culturels; bon coordonateur, par la réalisation des organismes de 

tourisme, l’expansion de l’offre touristique, l’accélération de l’automatisation et de l’intégration 

des systèmes d’information et réservation au niveau national. 

L’appui des principaux objectifs stratégiques de la réforme et de la restructuration du 

tourisme par l’O.M.T, C.E., et d’autres, pour : 

la modernisation de l’infrastructure générale et celle touristique; 

la finalisation des objectifs touristiques commencés et suspendus; 

la consolidation et la modernisation de la base téchnique-matérielle existante; 

Le programme d’intégration européen déroulé au niveau de l’Autorité Nationale pour le 

Tourisme vise quatre coordonées fondamentales: 

1) La restructuration institutionnelle a pour objectif la rédifinition du rôle et de la place de 

l’Autorité Nationale pour le Tourisme dans les conditions du milieu économique du marchée 

libre, du transfert des compétences vers les structures descentralisées. 

Cette démarche a été concretisée par le décret du Gouverne 58/10.03.1997 quant à l’organisation 

et au fonctionnement du Ministère du Tourisme. 

2) Le perfectionnement du cadre législatif ayant pour but la corrélation de la législation 

roumaine aux mèsures communautaires du domaine du tourisme (ainsi comme sont-elles 

présentées dans le Rapport de la Comission Européenne de 1996). 

3) La promotion d’initiatives locales qui suppose une implication totale de la communauté, 

autorités locales qui doivent implémenter les programmes de développement régionale. 

4) La stimulation du management performant – cette abordation suppose des changements 

importants dans la mentalité et le comportement tant pour les managers que pour les autres 

ressources humaines impliquées dans l’activité touristique. 

La mise en pratique du programme d’intégration européenne pour le tourisme roumain conduira 

au raccord de notre pays aux tendances et aux évolutions qui se déroulent dans le domaine du 

tourisme spécifique aux pays de l’UE et l’augmentation du degré de competitivité des produits 

touristiques par rapport à ceux communautaires. 

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Bibliografie 

1. Aberico, Di Meo, Marketing per il turismo, Colona Marketing, Sarin, S.P.A., Roma, 

1987. 

2. Ashworth G., Goodal B., Marketing Tourism Places, London, Routledge, 1990. 

3. Berbecaru I., Marketing touristique, ASSP, Bucarest, 1978. 

4. Catoiu, C., Bălan C., Onete B., Popescu I., Veghes C., Recherches de marketing, Ed. 

Uranus, Bucarest, 1997. 

5. Mazilu M., Eco-développement durable, Revue «Tribuna Economică», Bucarest, 2001. 

6. Mazilu M., Eco-tourisme et aménagements touristiques, Ed. «Scrisul Românesc», 

Craiova, 2004. 

7. Mazilu M, Géographie Touristique,Ed.Didactica-pedagogica, Bucarest,2007. 

8. Mazilu M, Le Tourisme roumain dans le contexte du tourisme 

européen,Ed.Universitaria 2007 

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L’INFORMATIQUE DANS LE SYSTỀME DE MANAGEMENT DE 

L’ENTREPRISE 

Ioan RADU, prof.univ.dr., Academia de Studii Economice Bucureşti 

Minodora URSĂCESCU, conf.univ.dr., Academia de Studii Economic Bucureşti 

Cleopatra ŞENDROIU, conf.univ.dr., Academia de Studii Economice Bucureşti 

Florin IONIŢĂ, lector univ.dr., Academia de Studii Economice Bucureşti 

Mihai CIOC, asist.univ.drd., Academia de Studii Economice Bucureşti 

Sorin BURLACU, asist.univ.drd., Academia de Studii Economice Bucureşti 

ABSTRACT 

The rapid growth in the adoption and diffusion of information technologies has important implications for practitioners, 

academics and policy-makers. The widespread use of information technologies is challenging traditional business 

models and reshaping socio-economic paradigms, as well as promoting new social relations, jobs and working 

structures. The integration of business performance with information technology is of major importance. How is 

information technology being used, and how well is it being used is the focus of this paper. 

1. Introduction 

Il est maintenant impossible d’imaginer la vie d’entreprise sans informatique. Quel que soit 

le besoin ou l’usage, l’ordinateur a trouvé sa place pour gérer, fidéliser, informer, s’informer, 

vendre et acheter. Le manager d’entreprise se voit obligé d’instaurer au sein de son entreprise, 

quelle que soit sa taille et son secteur d’activité, un système d’information fiable et sécurisé lui 

permettant de communiquer avec son environnement économique pour une bonne gestion 

accompagnée d’une innovation durable. 

L'informatique d'entreprise est sur le point de vivre sa deuxième révolution en moins de dix 

ans. L'informatique à la demande a marqué l'avènement des solutions très bon marché, performantes 

et particulièrement disponibles, distribuées via Internet. Les entreprises savent maintenant qu'elles 

peuvent et doivent attendre plus de leurs investissements. La mise à disposition de logiciels à la 

demande s'est en partie révélée comme étant un nouveau système. Aujourd'hui, grâce aux solutions 

qui voient le jour, la réalisation d'opérations fiables, bon marché et rapidement déployables 

concerne également le développement d'applications. 

Les systèmes d'information ont une dimension multidisciplinaire qui est claire, où le facteur 

humain a autant d'importance que le facteur technologique. Le management procède d'une vision 

globale à plusieurs dimensions où le facteur humain est prépondérant au même titre que les facteurs 

économiques , financiers et stratégiques. 

Les systèmes d'information ont une légitimité reconnue aujourd'hui en terme d'utilité 

économique et sociale tenant lieu de facteurs de transformation dans les entreprises et des modes de 

vie. Leur conceptualisation reste cependant plus délicate que dans les autres disciplines et domaines 

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: analyse financière et des marchés, gestion budgétaire, gestion des ressources humaines, droit et 

fiscalité. L'exigence à leur égard est cependant d'autant plus 

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grande car ils sont de plus en plus assimilés à une réalisation industrielle ou relevant de ce que 

l'on qualifie d'intelligence artificielle d'utilité pratique. 

Historiquement, les premières activités informatisées furent la comptabilité, la gestion des 

stocks, la facturation. La démarche de conception était simple, classique, séquentielle et n'impliquait 

aucun changement dans les habitudes de travail ou d'activité ; c'était seulement le moyen de réalisation 

qui était différent. Au fur et à mesure, les institutions informatisaient leurs activités opérationnelles de 

base en les programmant sur des ordinateurs. C'était l'entreprise mono-produit, mono-fonction, monousine, 

ce sont les années 60, où l'entreprise est alors vue comme un système cybernétique. 

Le résultat au terme des années 60 nous amène à constater que l'on a le plus souvent abouti à 

des îlots d'automatisation autonomes. Le management paraît là peu concerné, peu sollicité. 

Dans les années 70 un premier effort de consolidation et d'intégration est entrepris. Ceci a 

permis de regrouper des activités de base au niveau que nous avons qualifié d'opérationnel. Avec le 

concept de comptabilité budgétaire apparu à cette période, les flux d'information concernant les 

prévisions, les commandes, la production, les consommations et les dépenses sont regroupées à des fins 

de suivi d'écarts hiérarchisés. Les premiers systèmes de gestion de base de données et de réseaux font 

leur apparition au niveau du management. Des informations structurées remontent de ce fait aux sièges 

des institutions en provenance de différentes origines. Une première centralisation des ressources 

informatiques est mise en place; ce sont les années 70, où l'entreprise est vue comme dotée d'une 

mémoire et capable d'organiser un processus de décision (H.Simon aux U.S.A.- Apparaît le modèle IPS 

("Information Processus System"); il repose sur la conviction que les raisonnements humains et les 

décisions subséquentes sont structurables, puis normalisables et programmables suivant un certain 

processus modélisable sur un ordinateur.). 

Pour J.L Le Moigne qui a elaboré le modèle Opération-Information-Décision, le système 

d'information est à l'articulation des systèmes de pilotage et opérant: 

• Système de pilotage 

• Système d'information 

• Système opérant 

Ces modèles se veulent des schémas ou des situations des entreprises telles qu'elles fonctionnent 

en prenant en priorité toutes les informations formelles, en présentant des tableaux de bord avec de 

l'information transformée à des fins de management, de pilotage. Au flux de matière et d'argent se 

superpose les flux d'information. Les moyens sont encore là plus sophistiqués pour faire remonter des 

informations des niveaux opérants aux niveaux tactiques et stratégiques à des fins d'analyse. L'intérêt 

de tableaux de bords clairs et concis, à des fins de pilotage se précise . 

Dans les années 80, la richesse et la multiplicité des données et informations contenues dans les 

fichiers et les bases de données et circulant au travers de réseaux, incite de nombreuses institutions à 

avoir une vue plus systémique, c'est-à-dire plus globale du rôle des technologies de l'information au 

niveau managérial. Les concepts de management des systèmes d'information, de systèmes interactifs 

d'aide à la décision, l'utilisation de systèmes experts et de l 'heuristique se divulguent sous forme de 

progiciels ou sont réalisés clés en main. Ils offrent des alternatives en terme de choix et de solutions 

aux raisonnements algorithmiques ou analytiques (un chemin qui aboutit à une solution unique le plus 

souvent considérée comme la solution optimale). 

La diversité des outils s'élargit encore qu'ils soient matériels, logiciels et progiciels : 

optimisation des communications via des réseaux et des satellites, PAO (production assistée par 

ordinateur), CAO (conception assistée par ordinateur), robots, graphismes, vidéos, lasers, EDI (échange 

de données informatiques). Les demandes se multiplient auprès des directions informatiques, la 

maintenance et la documentation des systèmes deviennent de plus en plus délicates dues à leur besoin 

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de flexibilité d'évolution marqué de l'environnement industriel, commercial, régional et international. 

Ce sont les années 80 avec les travaux comme ceux de Porter (1982), Wieseman (1988) aux U.S.A. où 

l'entreprise est désormais vue comme devant tirer partie d'opportunités stratégiques qui s'offrent à elles 

et donc concernée par la compréhension de son environnement, en particulier au niveau concurrentiel. 

La dimension stratégique des systèmes d'information se manifeste . 

On se rend bien compte cependant que les implications stratégiques et organisationnelles 

nouvelles des systèmes d'information et de communication montrent qu'ils ne doivent plus être traités 

comme une fonction isolée, mais comme partie intégrante de la vie des entreprises. 

2. L’informatique et le management 

À sa origine, l’informatisation des entreprises pouvait être vue comme un problème simple 

d’automatisation des tâches administratives. Mais, aujourd’hui la question de l’utilisation efficace et 

efficiente des technologies de l’information est devenue stratégique et concerne, a des degrés divers, 

toutes les organisation quels que soient leur taille et leur domaine d’activité. Voilà les trois axes de 

l’informatique actuelle en entreprise: 

Ques’qu’elle étudie : L’utilisation des technologies informatiques et de communication dans le cadre 

des processus d’exécution et de management d’une entreprise – la dimension théorique. 

Pourquoi ? Pour découvrir des instruments IT susceptibles de rendre le système de management de 

l’entreprise de plus en plus efficace – la dimension méthodologique. 

A quelle fin ? Pour assurer le fonctionnement de l’entreprise dans des conditions d’efficacité maximale 

– la dimension pragmatique. 

Face au société informationnel et des connaissances, la suivante question s’impose: 

l’informatique est une science ou un art ? Plutôt, disons que l’informatique rétablit l’unité : 

• Des mathématiques pures et appliquées. 

• Des techniques concrètes et des mathématiques abstraites. 

• Des sciences de la nature, de l’homme et de la société. 

• Dans le même temps, elle réhabilite les concepts d’abstrait et de formel et elle réconcilie art et 

science (Idées empruntées à Gr. C. Moisil (1906-1973), académicien, professeur à la Faculté de 

Mathématiques de Bucarest – le fondateur de l’école de logique et d’informatique). 

Selon l’acception de l’école roumaine de management, la fonctionnalité d’une entreprise est 

assurée par le biais de deux catégories de processus de travail : 

• Des processus d’exécution qui sont déterminants du point de vue quantitatif et qui se 

concrétisent par l’action du facteur humain, à l’aide de facteurs matériels de production, sur 

d’autres facteurs matériels, en vue d’obtenir des biens économiques. 

• Des processus de management qui sont déterminants du point de vue quantitatifs et dans 

lesquels une partie du facteur humain agit sur l’autre partie en ce qui concerne l’exécution des 

fonctions de prévision, organisation, coordination, entraînement et contrôle-évaluation de l’acte 

de diriger. L’exécution des processus de management implique un type particulier de relations 

entre les gens, ce qu’on appelle des relations de management. 

Ces aspects nous conduisent à définir le management comme: La science qui étudie les 

processus de management et les relations qu’ils génèrent en vue de découvrir des principes et des 

lois qui les gouvernent et de concevoir des instruments permettant la réalisation des objectifs de 

l’entreprise dans des conditions d’efficacité. 

Le management est « la science la plus récente et l’art le plus ancien ». 

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• Une science parce que les processus et les systèmes de management ne peuvent plus être 

projetés, exercés ou entretenus sans l’existence de certains principes, lois, instruments 

managériaux, etc. 

• Un art parce que l’opérationnalisation des éléments scientifiques n’est plus possible sans 

m’existence de qualités et d’aptitudes spécifiques : le flair, l’intuition, le talent, la capacité de 

travailler en équipe, l’habileté de diriger des personnes, le caractère, l’intelligence, etc. 

3. Utiliser l’informatique pour mieux exercer les situations managériales 

Le véritable enjeu pour un manager est sans doute d’être à meme de déceler les oportunités liées 

à l’utilisation des technologies de l’information pour son activité dans l’entreprise, voire à travers la 

multitude des situation mangériales. 

Pour illustrer de façon concrète l’utilisation de l’informatique et des technologies de 

l’information et de communication dans l’entreprise, nous en avons retenue cinq point de vue: 

a) Des solutions IT pour déterminer des décisions dans des conditions multicritérielles de 

certitude 

Des situations managériales: 

• Sélectionner la firme gagnante après une vente aux enchères organisée par une entreprise. 

• Etablir les priorités pour satisfaire les commandes des clients d’une entreprise prestataire de 

services publics. 

• Choisir le segment de marché le plus favorable pour une firme privée 

• Sélectionner le personnel d’une entreprise. 

• Choisir le paquet de solutions globales pour introduire la stratégie d’informatisation d’une 

entreprise. 

• Assurer le management du prix d’un produit ou d’un service. 

La composante managériale visée : 

• Les fonctions de prévision, d’organisation et de coordination du processus de management. 

b) Des solutions IT servant à anticiper l’évolution d’un processus économique dont dépend la 

réalisation des objectifs d’une entreprise 

Des situations managériales : 

• Assurer les ressources financières nécessaires au déroulement complet d’un processus 

d’investissement. 

• Déterminer la durée de vie d’un produit ou d’un service qui n’est pas fourni dans des conditions 

de monopole. 

• Déterminer correctement le budget de l’entreprise et planifier stratégiquement ses ressources 

financières. 

• Elaborer le modèle financier pour soutenir un projet destiné à rendre efficace une entreprise 

prestataire de services d’utilités publiques. 

• Toute autre situation qui suppose la prévision de l’évolution d’un phénomène spécifique à 

l’activité de l’entreprise. 

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• La fonction de prévision du processus de management. 

c) Des solutions IT pour allouer et répartir les ressources de l’entreprise 


• Dimensionner les coûts précalculés nécessaires à la réorganisation des composantes du système 

de management. 

• Déterminer les composantes de la stratégie et des politiques de l’entreprise en établissant des 

horizons de temps optimaux et la mise à niveau des ressources. 

• Configurer les composantes de la plateforme de fonctionnement d’un système de type e- 

learning destiné au processus d’entraînement. 

• Conduire les processus d’investissement selon les principes du management basé sur un projet. 

• Etablir les routes optimales d’approvisionnement avec des restrictions cumulées, de certains 

centres de livraison. 

• Optimiser la répartition du personnel d’une organisation sur des postes, en fonction de leurs 

habiletés professionnelles et managériales. 

Les composantes managériales visées : 

• Les fonctions de prévision et d’organisation du processus de management. 

d) Redéfinir le processus managérial grâce aux résultats des technologies de l’informatique 

et de la communication 


• Gérer les processus traditionnel de communication en les intégrant dans des plateformes 

Internet (e-commerce, e-business, e-procurement, e-administration, etc). 

• Perfectionner les activités dans une entreprise (le secteur financier-comptable, le marketing, 

recherche et développement, commerce, politiques de prix, etc.), en employant des bases de 

données distribuées. 

• Déterminer des décisions stratégiques et tactiques en utilisant des informations en temps réel, 

structurées en dépôts de données pour déterminer le management des stratégies et des politiques 

de l’entreprise. 

• Réaliser des analyses économiques et financières à partir des informations à représentation 

multidimensionnelle (hypercube). 


• La totalité des fonctions du processus de management (P, O, C, C-E, A). 

e) Des technologies ICT pour la reconfiguration de la relation entreprise – milieu ambiant 


• Assurer la transparence de l’activité de l’entreprise grâce à la page Web, le portail, l’info-kiosk, 

call-center, contact center, etc. 

• Promouvoir le management de la chaîne de distribution d’une compagnie par l’échange 

informatisé de données en utilisant des méthodologies de type Supply Chain Management. 

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• Assurer la planification intégrée des ressources de l’entreprise par l’introduction des solutions 

software de gestion intégrée en utilisant des méthodologies de type Customer Relationship 

Management et Enterprise Resource Planning. 

• Perfectionner le management de l’organisation économique par l’introduction de méthodes et 

techniques de management concurrentiel (des objectifs, des budgets, des projets, l’exception, 

les coûts, les tableaux de bord, etc.). 

Les composantes managériales visées : 

• La totalité des fonctions du processus de management. 

4. Renforcer l’informatique pour apporter de la valeur en entreprise 

Aujourd'hui, les entreprises et les managers sont dépendantes de la qualité de leur informatique 

pour gérer leurs activités stratégiques. Au cours de dernière dix années l’informatique décisionnelle a 

émergé comme une axe de développement qui peut perfectionner le procès de prise de décision. 

L’informatique décisionnelle (en anglais: DSS pour Decision Support System ou encore BI 

pour Business Intelligence) désigne les moyens, les outils et les méthodes qui permettent de collecter, 

consolider, modéliser et restituer les données d’une entreprise en vue d’offrir une aide à la décision et 

de permettre aux responsables de la stratégie d’une entreprise d’avoir une vue d’ensemble de l’activité 

traitée. 

Ce type d’application utilise en règle générale un datawarehouse (ou entrepôt de données) pour 

stocker des données transverses provenant de plusieurs sources hétérogènes et fait appel à des 

traitements lourds de type batch pour la collecte de ces informations. 

L’informatique décisionnelle s’insère dans l’architecture plus large d’un système d’information. 

Les applications classiques « d’entreprise industrielle » permettent de stocker, restituer, modifier les 

données des différents services 

opérationnels de l’entreprise industrielle (production, marketing, facturation comptabilité, etc.). Ces 

différents services possèdent chacun une ou plusieurs applications propres, et les données y sont 

rarement structurées ou codifiées de la même manière que dans les autres services. Chaque service 

dispose le plus souvent de ses propres tableaux de bord et il est rare que les indicateurs (par exemple : 

le chiffre d’affaires sur un segment de clientèle donné) soient mesurés partout de la même manière, 

selon les mêmes règles et sur le même périmètre. 

Pour pouvoir obtenir une vision synthétique de chaque service ou de l’ensemble de l’entreprise 

industrielle, il convient donc que ces données soient filtrées, croisées et reclassées dans un entrepôt de 

données central. Cet entrepôt de données va permettre aux responsables de l’entreprise industrielle et 

aux analystes de prendre connaissance des données à un niveau global et ainsi prendre des décisions 

plus pertinentes, d’où le nom d’informatique décisionnelle. 

Il est aujourd’hui reconnu que l’informatique décisionnelle, par les nouvelles technologies, en 

particulier l'accès à Internet, tendent à modifier la communication entre les différents acteurs du monde 

professionnel, notamment : 

• les relations entre l'entreprise et ses clients; 

• le fonctionnement interne de l'entreprise, y compris la relation entreprise-employés; 

• la relation de l'entreprise avec ses différents partenaires et fournisseurs. 

Une de solution de l’informatique décisionnelle, qui peut augmenté les performances 

manageriales du décideur est „ e-Business”. On appelle ainsi « e-Business » l'intégration au sein de 

l'entreprise d'outils basés sur les technologies de l'information et de la communication (on parle 

généralement de progiciel), pour en améliorer le fonctionnement afin de créer de la valeur pour elle- 

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même, pour ses clients et pour ses partenaires. L'objectif de tout projet e-Business est de créer de la 

valeur, qui peut intervenir de différents façons : 

• Grâce à une augmentation des marges, c'est-à-dire une baisse de coûts de production ou une 

augmentation de bénéfices. Le e-Business permet d'y parvenir par les moyens suivants : 

o 

Positionnement sur de nouveaux marchés. 

o 

Amélioration de la qualité de ses produits ou services. 

o 

Prospection de nouveaux clients. 

o 

Fidélisation de la clientèle. 

o 

Rationnalisation de son fonctionnement interne. 

• Grâce à la motivation du personnel. Le passage d'une activité traditionnelle à une activité e- 

Business permet idéalement de motiver les collaborateur dans la mesure où: 

o 

La stratégie globale est mieux visible des employés et favorise une culture commune. 

o 

Le mode de fonctionnement implique une responsabilisation des acteurs. 

o 

Le travail en commun est propice à l'amélioration des compétences. 

• Grâce à la satisfaction des clients. Le e-Business favorise en effet : 

o 

Une baisse de prix liée à l'augmentation de la productivité. 

o 

Une meilleure écoute des clients. 

o 

Des produits et services adaptés aux besoins des clients. 

o Un mode de fonctionnement transparent pour l'utilisateur . 

• Grâce aux relations privilégiées avec les partenaires. La mise en place de canaux de 

communication avec les fournisseurs permet : 

o 

Une meilleure connaissance mutuelle. 

o 

Une réactivité accrue. 

o Des capacités d'anticipation améliorées . 

o 

Une partage de ressources avantageux pour les deux parties. 

La mise en place d'une démarche e-Business implique nécessairement le déploiement d'un 

réseau d'entreprise à travers lesquels des services spécifiques à l'entreprise seront accessible en mode 

client-serveur, généralement via une interface web, consultable avec un simple navigateur. Néanmoins, 

la mise en place d'outils informatique n'est pas suffisante. On considère ainsi qu'une entreprise 

commence réellement un projet e-Business lorsqu'elle met en oeuvre une nouvelle organisation tirant 

partie des nouvelles technologies. La notion de e-Business est néanmoins très souple et englobe toute 

les utilisations possibles des technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) pour tout ou 

partie des activités suivantes : 

• Rendre plus efficaces les relations de l'entreprise avec ses clients et différents partenaires 

(fournisseurs, administrations, etc.) 

• Développer de nouvelles opportunités d'affaires. 

• Fluidifier la circulation de l'information en interne. 

• Mettre sous contrôle les différents processus de l'entreprise (production, stocks, achats, vente, 

ressources humaines, etc.) 

Il s'agit donc de mettre en œuvre des canaux de communication privilégiés entre l'entreprise et 

son environnement et de les articuler avec ses processus internes afin de maîtriser au mieux les coûts 

internes et externes. 

5. Conclusion 

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On pourrait présenter d'autres points de repères et d'autres démarches. On se rend bien compte 

cependant que les implications stratégiques et organisationnelles nouvelles des systèmes d'information 

et de communication montrent qu'ils ne doivent plus être traités comme une fonction isolée mais 

comme partie intégrante de la vie des entreprises. 

Le domaine des systèmes d'information et de communication est relativement récent pris dans 

sa globalité et dans un environnement en évolution croissante . Il y a cependant un historique assez 

important, qui nous convaincre de la nécessite d'un engagement encore plus soutenu et plus permanent. 

La compréhension mutuelle des enjeux et des contraintes de l'organisation, et l'intégration des systèmes 

d'information et de communication comme service à vocation décisionnelle et opérationnelle en 

interaction avec les autres, doit assurer le rapprochement et la synergie requise entre le monde de 

l'information et de l'informatique d'une part, du management des entreprises d'autre part. 

Bibliographie: 

1.Courbon J.C – Système d’information: conception, modélisation, communication. Inter-édition, 

1993. 

2. Le Moigne J.L – Vers un système d’information organisationnel. Revue française de gestion, 1986. 

3.Le Moigne J.L – La modelisation des systèmes complexes. Dunod, 1990. 

4.J.L Le Moigne – Les systèmes d’information dans les organisation, PUF, 1973. 

Lesca H. – Gestion de l’information, qualité de l’information et performance d’entreprise. Litec, 1995. 

5.Porter M.E – Choix stratégiques et concurrence. Economica, 1982. 

6.Radu I, Ursacescu M, Cioc M, Burlacu S. – Informatica si management. Ed. Universitara, 2005. 

7.Raymond L – L’impact des systèmes d’information sur la performance de l’entreprise. Vuibert, 2002. 

8. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informatique_decisionnelle 

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CUSTOMER SATISFYING – ESSENTIAL ELEMENT 

FOR THE GROUNDS OF AN OFFER 

Ioana ZAHEU, Assist. Doctor Degree Candidate, 

The Romanian American University in Bucharest 

RESUME: 

Les aspects les plus importants concernant la satisfaction des clients font référence à : la durée de l’exécution de la 

commande, la régularité et la sécurité de la livraison, la disponibilité des stocks, des restrictions liées à la taille de la 

commande, la facilité de passer la commande, le temps de livraison et la flexibilité, les procédures de facturation et son 

exactitude, les procédures de réclamation, les visites faites par les agents de ventes, les informations concernant les 

commandes. 

Le processus de servir les clients se déroule en trois étapes : des éléments ayant précédé la transaction, des 

éléments de la transaction en soi, des éléments après transaction. Les éléments de la première catégorie font référence aux 

stratégies et aux programmes des sociétés concernant le processus de servir les clients, en vue de la constitution des 

structures organisationnelles adéquates et flexibles. Les éléments de la transaction même sont les variables impliquées 

directement dans la réalisation des fonctions physiques de la distribution (par exemple la certitude de la livraison, la 

disponibilité des produits, la durée de l’exécution de la commande, etc). Les éléments qui apparaissent après le déroulement 

de la transaction sont destinés à soutenir son utilisation, plus précisément, sa garantie, l’organisation du service après-vente 

pour les pièces de rechange et pour les réparations, les procédures mises en place pour gérer les réclamations des clients et 

pour remplacer les produits non-conformes. 

Une perspective pareille sur la satisfaction des clients met l’accent sur l’importance de celle-ci, ayant comme point 

de départ l’intérêt initial manifesté par le client pour les produits et les services de la société, jusqu’à une nouvelle 

acquisition à la fin du cycle de vie de ces produits. 

Les études effectuées par les spécialistes montrent le fait qu’un client satisfait va parler bien de cette société juste 

aux trois connaissances, alors qu’un client insatisfait fera part de son mécontentement à au moins 11 personnes. 

Customer Satisfying and Complete Quality 

All along the past years an enhancement was noticed related to the interest for making things 

well, which led to paying a greater attention to offering services to clients and customers, being well 

known that this would possibly be an essential source for a certain advantage within the competition 

field. Although this only represents one of the elements involved in fighting for total quality, its 

importance and impact to the customer might be demonstrated by describing the way the Italian 

company Benetton, specialized in producing clothing items, managed to reduce its costs in parallel with 

offering new high quality services. Starting as a small family business, at present Benetton has become 

a worldwide very well known company. 

The System adopted by Benetton for satisfying clients and customers in based on “just in time” 

production, which means that the manufacturing activity starts only in the very moment of receiving 

the orders. Another key element is that of painting the clothing items only after accomplishing the 

manufacturing process. This way the colors are selected at the end of the production cycle, when the 

season’s colors have already been chosen within the market. In the beginning of each calendar season, 

the companies within the ready-made clothes field should take into account 10 color options, of which 

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only three are going to reach a significant demand, while, by postponing the clothing items painting, 

Benetton would possibly directly answer to the demand within the market. En detail sales system offers 

the company data and information that are useful for the manufacturing planning and scheduling, by 

means of the daily orders received from the customers. The colors and designs desired for the clothing 

articles are established on basis of such orders. The “time” factor has got a particularly important part, 

as most popular colors get sold better during the first 10 days of the new season. The prompt reaction 

of the system allows the company’s retail dealers to obtain a certain advantage comparing to the other 

competitors who have got a certain slower reaction. In order to appraise the demands in the shortest 

time possible, the Company uses computer designing for conceiving and creating new models. All 

these action of Benetton are supported by an intense publicity campaign. 

The example presented above illustrates the contribution of the action itself of serving clients 

within a certain total high quality offer. A certain good attending to the customers and clients could by 

no means suffice in guarantying the success. That is only a certain pat of the company’s strategy in this 

respect. A certain un-pleasing product, even if supported by good services to the clients, has got little 

chances to succeed, in the same way that a good product, of good quality but supported by bad 

services, could survive but in fact would never have a market share comparable to Benetton’s. Benetton 

does not only offer suitable services to its clients and customers, represented by the product availability 

and the reaction speed in relation with the demand, but it also offers products appropriate for the 

chosen market share, from various viewpoints like fashion, price, design; products sold by stores 

having a good image among the buyers and supporting the company’s products. 

Both the client’s satisfying and the company’s profitability are related to the quality of both the 

product and the service granted. A certain high quality level offers the customer a higher satisfaction, at 

the same time allowing the company to practice higher prices and even to often reduce its costs. Thus 

the programs for quality development would usually lead to an increase of profitability. 

The task related to developing the quality of both the products and services should be a priority, 

as the customers become more and more demanding related to the quality of the products they buy. 

Therefore the companies have got no other chance than to adopt the system of total quality, this being 

the key to value and to client satisfying. 

Serving the Clients and the Distribution Strategy 

An important influence upon client serving comes from the distribution politics. Traditionally 

various experts have looked upon distribution as upon an expenses source, though a necessary one. 

This point of view led to the need for improving the functional efficiency of the company and to the 

need for reducing costs and expenses. We have in view the improvement in using vehicles, storehouses 

and warehouses, in the methods and means of maneuvering and manipulating the goods, which 

represent current problems of those dealing with the distribution. Although we do not mean to diminish 

the importance of reducing the costs, we should however not neglect the essential task of distribution, 

namely of the efficiency of the distribution strategy, and the companies holding a leading position in 

the market do admit that they owe this firstly to the strategy they adopted and only secondly to the 

efficiency of developing their operations. 

The producer does not always obtain the competitive advantage by having the lowest costs, as, 

for example, within the automobile industry; Jaguar Company achieved a significant success not by 

reducing its costs, but by adding value. It is very interesting to consider the way that Jaguar approaches 

the problem of quality, as well as the effects this approach has got over the final product, but, however, 

the clients serving has proved to be just as important, especially in the USA, where the dealer-network 

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was radically improved and the tress was focused on ensuring spare parts, which significantly changed 

its position within the market. 

At present, in order to become competitive in the market one should adopt a certain approach 

starting with identifying the consumers’ requirements and demands within the various market shares. 

Such an approach is imperatively required by the actual changes that have appeared within the 

economic environment: the transition towards the goods-type markets, as on such markets the trend is 

to diminish the power the trade mark exercises, while the production technologies converge, the 

differences between goods becoming less and less significant. 

In such circumstances the client might be influenced by the price or by the way he can perceive 

the product’s image, but the product’s availability may also have a certain critical influence; 

‣ The increasing of the buyers’ exigencies, who use a complex system for evaluating the 

suppliers; 

‣ The tendency to shorten the life-cycle of the products, due to the technical progress and to 

the clients’ demand. 

Developing the Strategies for Serving the Clients 

Identifying the needs for serving the clients: 

The marketing department should realize what are the clients’ opinions related to the 

characteristics of the products and services, as this represents an important source for the success in the 

market. The way a company comes along, starting from the moment of colleting data and up to the 

conceiving of a new competitive package for serving the customers, includes four stages: 

1. the identifying of the key elements in serving the clients; 

2. the establishing of the relative importance of the elements for serving the clients; 

3. the evaluation of the way the clients perceive the servicing performance; 

4. the market sharing according to the supplying/serving requirements. 

Making of a competitive service package: 

In elaborating the package for serving the clients certain aspect have to be taken into account, 

related to: getting to know the schedules and politics for serving the clients that have been adopted by 

the competitors for each product and distribution channel, the identifying and evaluating of the key 

elements that are going to turn the company into the perfect supplier, the evaluation of the impact of 

each and every of the serving/supplying activity over both the market share and the company’s 

profitability, the evaluation of the company’s performance for each serving element, a re-defining of 

the services package in view to avoiding supplementary expenses. 

Organizing the serving activity management, which has to be merged with the company’s global 

strategic objectives. 

Personalizing the Client Serving Strategy 

The importance of human contacts in serving the customers 

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The serving/supplying activity involves a certain direct contact with the people and no matter 

how good the strategy is, the customers’ perception related to the offered services leads to either its 

succeeding or its failing. An important condition for strategy’s efficiency is that all the employees 

involved in applying that strategy have to know it, to relate to it ea and to fully understand it. 

The companies who succeed in providing high quality services base their own activity on the 

belief that their relations with their employees are directly reflected within the relations with their 

clients and customers. Such company’s leading boards apply a certain marketing (strategy) oriented 

towards within the company, offering their employees the necessary support for accordingly 

developing their activity and rewarding the good results obtained in providing the service had in view. 

Implementing the serving strategy: 

The serving strategy should mainly offer regularity of the service and it includes four 

components: the system itself, the control over the system, the control over the cost and over the 

quality of the services. Personalizing the strategy for serving the client would mean to find that 

converging point that might join all the employees, namely the fact that the clients pays for the service 

received. 

That converging point would be the answer to the question: “What are we offering to our 

client?” – the answer to this question should preoccupy all the company’s employees 

The strategy for serving the clients should have a certain starting point, which would define the 

value that the company had in view might offer to its clients. Transforming the strategy according to 

what the company can offer to its clients would result in personalizing the company’s serving strategy. 

Such personalizing would constitute an important motivating force for all the personnel. By 

personalizing the strategy, employees’ cooperation is obtained for enforcing the said strategy. The 

employees have to start with analyzing the results not the activities. The employees should be informed 

regarding to what they have to do in order accomplish the best results, the leadership’s role being to 

explain in details what the strategy for serving the clients would mean. 

A good example in this respect could be that of Scandinavia Airlines System – SAS Company, 

in the beginning of the '80s. Hit by the oil crisis and the amplifying of the competition, the abovementioned 

company had losses amounting to 30 million in the years 1979 and 1980. Following that 

crisis, the new president of the company tried to turn toward the market and to turn the company firma 

into the best air company for the segment of business people often traveling by plane. The president 

realized that, in order to obtain such results, the key elements he ought to have in view would be the 

services, offered by both the company and its staff, who offered the said services. Thus he moved the 

stress from the airplanes to the people and the service rendered by them for the clients. The aimed 

segment, namely the business people were asked about to their expectations regarding the services 

offered by the company and then their requirements were enforced. Among their most important 

requirements where: punctuality, the proper maneuvering of luggage, the suitable serving, while those 

which got little attention were the low costs and the late hour technology. Thus the company defined as 

its new strategy the impulsion and motivation of the employees, encouraging the low levels personnel 

to take responsibilities and to also have initiative. Following those actions the company became again 

profitable. 

The ethics of the service towards the consumer should be guiding a certain business even from 

the very beginning, even if this would mean to also lose some money. While the business grows, the 

most important thing would be to maintain the quality of the granted services. A certain client’s 

motivation in choosing a certain product or service is determined by that cleint’s expectations and 

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requirements, which are mainly based on feelings, which are directly related to the person the client 

actually contacts. From two identical products a client would choose the one offering the more 

beneficial service. The difference to a certain client is made by the care that client is granted by the 

company’s personnel. To take care of the client means to serve the client as well as possible, the client 

being deemed as an entity outside the company but strongly connected with the company and thus fully 

deserving the efforts. The client’s trust in the company and its staff is vital. No sale could be 

accomplished between the seller and the buyer if there is no trustful climate, if you do not have certain 

complicity there. In our country especially, the seller is regarded by the buyer with suspicion, the buyer 

being sure that that one’s only goal would be to take away his money. 

The client tries to find out whether he can trust the seller and the company the seller represents. 

Generally speaking the client would put more trust in a professional. 

The most important moment is that of concluding a contract, accomplished either face to face, 

or by the telephone, between the offerer and the beneficiary of the service. There could be no 

successful contract, unless you get a complete focusing and preoccupying from the offerer related to 

the client’s requirements and feelings. 

When the staff is pleased with what they have to do in accomplishing their mission to convince 

the client, then the staff’s mission becomes easier. 

The assistance granted to the employees directly involved in setting the contracts with the 

clients require a certain involvement and attachment of the leadership. The greatest challenge for the 

company’s leading board is to personalize the strategy for serving the clients and to have the employees 

rally to the said, proving adherence and empathy for that strategy. 

Personal serving represents the capacity to build a certain relation. When the employees have 

fully understood the strategy for serving the clients, they will be better in implementing it. 

An “experienced” director would find it easier to understand and to accept the company’s 

strategy for serving the clients, the challenge consisting in obtaining the involving of the persons who 

have daily contracts with the clients. The basic personnel are those that have to use their whole 

potential and all their skills and qualities to establish those advantages that the clients cannot 

individually take. 

There are situations when problem may arise related to sickness or accidents of the employees, 

which would require supplementary efforts for being able to satisfy and to offer the clients high quality 

services. The leadership’s part is to stand beside their employees to treat them well and have a good 

word, thanks or praises for them (even offering them pensions and rewards). 

The leadership also has to be accessible, flexible and to directly assist the employees in 

accomplishing their activities. Each and every employee has to be treated as a volunteer, a partner in 

developing the company’s activity; the employee should be made feel useful. 

Certain companies ask of their employees a too high identifying with their work place. An 

employee good within the field of services to clients and customers should be free enough to do his or 

her best to convince an unsatisfied client to improve relations with the company. 

When each employee senses the ownership responsibility, this will be positively reflected on 

the relations with the clients. The Clients do not require exaggerated obligingness from the company’s 

employees, but responsibility from that person they contacted. Nobody should have to go “higher” in 

order to get the approval for being nicer or for giving up in front of a certain client. The company’s 

politics should be as follows: to offer its employees’ the possibility to act according to their own 

principles and to let them take certain responsibilities (also included within their position of shareholders, 

which should impulse them when providing services to the customers). 

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The personalizing of the strategy for serving the clients is very much based on continually 

educating the work forces for acting with responsibility under stress circumstances, in order to satisfy 

the clients’ requirements. 

Within the air transport industry the moments of truth for a certain company are represented by 

the contact(s) between the company’s clients and employees, having an average duration of 15-20 sec. 

This short time interval is enough for the failure of a strategy for serving the clients. This is the reason 

why, when the clients directly contacting the clients are better trained, they would better face the 

situation created. In order to become a model company, a certain company has to first prepare and train 

its employees in a suitable manner. They should deeply understand everything related to serving the 

clients in relation with the company’s products and services. The companies having the best practices 

within the field had in view, like: Walt Disney Company, East Jefferson General Hospital or Hyatt 

Hotels, start training their employees at the very moment of employing them. They search for highly 

motivated persons to provide very good service to their clients, having very good communication skills 

and enthusiastically answering to the company’s main values. Such companies offer continuous 

training by their own institutions, very much like real universities, numerous training courses and 

seminars being offered to the employees. 

Big companies and their orientation towards serving the client have learnt that solving problems 

and keeping loyal clients has got its own “University”, where the employees are given advice related to 

the way they should behave and communicate with the clients and they are trained within the hotel 

management field and related to the management of the fundamental rules in human interactions – like 

establishing visual contact and greeting the customers smiling. Such courses of the company, as well as 

the one named “Service Plus”, deal with certain special problems raised by the clients and with the 

methods for subsequently avoiding them. To make such courses more efficient, the company 

systematically gathers opinions, complaints, requests and demands coming from the guests. Whether 

these are received by phone, by the Web Site or by individual inquiries they will always be taken into 

account. In the year 1995, the people from Hyatt initiated an inquiry involving 800 clients of each of 

the 98 hotels and the company has built a data base including almost 140,000 opinions related to 

certain problems of the services granted by its hotels ever since and to make sure that such complaints 

would not be repeated they are sent by fax to each hotel’s manager. Every month an interdepartmental 

team led by one of the vice-presidents discusses one of the problems raised by the guests and tries to 

offer the best solutions for solving such problems. Each of the company’s hotels receives a copy after 

such solutions established by the above-mentioned team and gives copies of it to the employees. 

The clients must feel that their complaints and suggestions are heard and that measures are 

taken in this respect, and their opinions are not going to be thrown away. 

The companies with the most practices also take into account the way of shortening the time 

between the moment they receive a complaint and the moment it is solved. Hyatt Company is 

conspicuous for the very short period of time it leaves between the two moments mentioned before. For 

example, a certain client traveling with business reached the Hyatt Hotel in Denver, but, being hurried, 

he forgot to make reservation for the room he would have liked. 

Going into the room he had been given, on the television screen a message from the company 

welcomed him, inviting him to express his opinion related to the company’s services or to acknowledge 

any problem. Using the remote, he fulfilled all the instructions and to his great surprise and delight, in 

less than five minutes the hotel’s manager called him by the phone to tell him that although all the 

rooms were taken and his room could not be changed, he could offer him a present on behalf of the 

hotel, so that he could more easily take that inconvenience. The client was pleased with his present, but 

he was even more pleased by the way he had been treated and the very short time in which he got the 

answer to his demands. By all means he would have liked his own employees to be just as prompt. In 

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its quality of a company minutely training its employees for better answering to its clients’ 

requirements and demands, Hyatt learnt of the true value of a timely solving the customers’ problems 

and complaints. As other companies monitor the legal costs related to setting a machine into 

functioning, or the manufacturing costs, in the same way the people from Hyatt believe that they should 

monitor their clients’ opinions upon the services offered by a hotel. 

Conclusions 

As serving the clients is the secret weapon of the company’s long-term efficiency, a new 

approaching is required for shaping people as an integral part of the process for implementing the 

strategy for serving the client. This approach requires that the manager should be truly interested in the 

people, in the wish to show the employees what the strategy for serving the clients represents for the 

company. 

Serving the clients should be a pleasant activity to those rendering it and It should bring them 

extremely simulative rewards recompense. This is not only about the material payment, but also about 

creating new conditions that would make the employees feel not so tired in the end of their work 

program. 

Creating an excellent sate of mind for the serving employees is a personalized strategy for 

serving the clients. After a relaxing weekend, the employees will be able to start the new workweek 

more enthusiastically and they are going to work better and more efficient. That is why the employee’s 

satisfaction that he/she has achieved something leads to a certain satisfaction that is much higher than 

the material one. 

BIBLIOGRAFIE 

1 ANDERSEN, A. - Cele mai bune practici – Cum să reuşeşti în afaceri prin strategii al căror element 

central este clientul, Bucureşti, Editura IMAGE, 1998 

2 GATTORNA, J.L. Managementul logisticii şi distribuţiei, Bucureşti, Editura Teora, 2001 

3 GONZALES, B.A., CĂMĂNĂU, N., DIMA O., GURĂU, Gh. Sisteme de asigurare a calităţii, 

Bucureşti, Editura Junimea, 1998 

4 HAWKEN, P. Cum să dezvolţi o afacere, Bucureşti, Editura Ştiinţă & Tehnică, 1995 

5 KOTLER, P. (coord) Managementul Marketingului, Bucureşti, Editura Teora, 1999 

6 KOTLER, P., SAUNDERS, J., ARMSTRONG, G., WONG, V. Principiile Marketingului, Bucureşti, 

Editura Teora, 1998 

7 *** Business Intelligence Agency –Tehnici de vânzare, Bucureşti, Editura ALL Educaţional, 1995 

8 *** Revista de Comerţ, nr.3, anul II, martie 2001 

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TECHNOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF PRODUCTION SYSTEMS 

Doruleţ Grădinaru, PhD.Reader,The Faculty of Economic Sciences,University of 

Piteşti 

Puiu Grădinaru, PhD.Reader,The Faculty of Economic Sciences,University of Piteşti 

1. Technological potencial determining of the PS 

The technological potential represents the value of technological resources governed by a PS 

within a global strategy and in a given concurential system. 

The analysis of the economic potential is done in several sequences. In teh first one the inventory 

of the existing technologies within the PS, the future analysis depending on this. A listing of 

technologies, competences, knowhows, owned by the PS, starting from the concept of products made 

and continuing with their fabrication until merchandizing, and services. 

Picture. 1.1. Positioning of technologies according to the concurential position and level of development. 

The technologies are being mentioned in the inventory according to their part in the concurential 

positioning of the PS and development level. An ideal, equilibrated structure should look like in Picture 

1.1.a., and an unwanted, but common kind of structure looks like the one in Picture 1.1.b. The areas 

marked in the abscissa axis represent the phases in the evolution of a technology : I. Emergent ; II. 

Emerging ; III Mature ; IV anticlimax ; V. Obsolete. The correct appreciation of existing technologies 

must also be based on answers to the following questions. 

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• In connection to the needs of the serviceable surfice, where is situated PS in point of : 

number of buildings, total occupied surface ; used surface. 

• What is the level of machinery under the performances aspect ; degree of usage ; setting 

on the technological flux, implicitly the volume of internal transport ; of the maintenace regime, either 

to cure or to prevent. 

• How storage is being performed: for raw materials, intermediary products, finite 

products, coproducts and cull, what is their destination; 

• What is the position of technologies related to environmental protection: are they 

polluting; are the emissions under control; can the change of emissions be done by changing the work 

regime of the machines or or through special depolluting installations. 

During the second step we analyze the competitiveness of the products in relation to the 

production technologies; in most cases, in making a product there are several technologies used, and 

each technology of the PS contributes in making several products. 

For every operation used in making a product using a certain kind of technology, we make a 

matrix of analysis of the technology- product competitiveness its columns containing the performances 

of the product, and the lines, values of the way of appreciation of the product on the market. (picture 

1.2). 

These values are: 0-for insuficient; 1-good enough to be accepted on the market; 2-well- received 

by the market; 3-very well, obviously a better product than that of the competition. 

The product’s performance, aprreciated by the performance criteria: functional characteristics, 

cost, easiness of use, exploitation costs, fiability, maintenance, adaptability possibilities, are being 

evaluated in relation to: market demand, the image (prestige) of the PS, the competitors’ offer, and the 

elasticity coeficient, the latter being defined by the influence of a modification of the performances 

analyzed on the market demand of the respective product. Thus, a mark for each performance criteria 

and product is being obtained, and this is written in the right-side columns of the matrix. We determine 

an average of these columns for each product, which represent the competitiveness of the technology 

T i -product P j . 

Criteria 

no. 

T i Technology 

Performance criteria 

PS Positioning 

Elasticity Mark 

Demands Image(prestige) Competitors 

coeficient 

P 1 P 2 … P 1 P 2 … P 1 P 2 … P 1 P 2 … 

1 Functional criteria 

2 Cost 

3 Easiness of use 

4 Exploitation costs 

5 Fiability 

6 Maintenance 

7 Adaptability 

Competitiveness T i -P j n i1 n i2 … 

Picture. 1.2 The matrix of analysis of competitiveness technology- product 

The marks obtaioned for technological competitiveness are used in making a matrix of PS 

technology characterization (picture 1.3), on its lines having the technologies T 1 …T k , and on the lines 

the products P 1 …P m . 

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Technology 

Product 

P P 2 P 3 … P m Average 

T n 11 n 12 n 13 … n 1m M 

T 2 n 21 n 22 n 23 … n 2m M 2m 

… … … … … … … 

T i n i1 n i2 n i3 … n im M im 

… … … … … … … 

T k n k1 n k2 n k3 … n km M km 

Picture. 1.3 The matrix of characterization of PS technologies 

In each space of the matrix we introduce the marks obtained with the preceeding matrix, and the 

average of the line will give us the mark for technology T i at PS level. This average is corrected 

according to the extent to which: 

• PS is capable to emphasize the respective technology; 

• The exploitation of the technology depends or not on a single expert, on a single raw 

material or service supplier; 

• PS is capable of improving the respective technology; 

• The technology is being protected by solid license or a technical level inaccessible for 

the competitors. 

Finally, PS disposes of four types of technologies put into a square matrix 2x2 for evaluating the 

technological potential (picture 1.4). 

• (-) Zone: PS does not use technologies in an efficient way, and the technologies 

themselves are not so competitive. The solution is that of abandoning the technologies, and replacing 

them with new ones 

• (0) Zone: The technologies represent powerful elements of attraction, but PS value 

points are weak. The causes for which the PS does not use to their maximum capacity these 

technologies must be analyzed, decisions like the following needing to be made: technologies are being 

given up, and the resources will be redirected, or CD resources will be found, experts will be attracted 

into the project, license acquisitions in order to better use the respective technologies. 

• (+) Zone: PS uses correctly the techonlogies, but these are mediocre, or even weak. If 

these technologies are able to produce substantial benefits, they are kept. The resources directed 

towards them for development will be directed towards other technologies (emeging, evolving) that 

will eventually replace them. 

• (++) Zone: PS strong points are great, and the perspectives are good, even though in 

some cases the respective technologies haven’t fully affirmed themselves. These are technologies that 

sustain the PS, being intesively used. They will be given resources in the future as well in order to 

maintain, consolidade and strenghten the PS position. 

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Degree of interest of technologies 

(their capacity of satisfying the 

market demand) 

(0) Problems/ Dilemmas 

Development? Personnel 

formation? Personnel 

recruitment? 

(-) Abandonment/ Problems 

No resources are allocated 

(++) Race horses/ “Stars” 

To be sustained and adapted 

(+) Efficiency/ “Milking cows” 

Resources reallocation 

Weak 

Strong 

Degree of owning the technology (PS’s strong points) 

Picture. 1.4 The final matrix (2x2)of technologies owned by aPS 

Along with the evaluation of the technological potential, both advantages and weak points of 

existing products are being emphasized ; then a research plan for improving the products can be made. 

The priority order is established on the criteria of elasticity of the demand under technological aspect, 

which represents the influence of modifying each characteristic and performance on the demand of the 

product on the market and the technological possibility of realizing the respective performance. 

Another important element of competitiveness of the product is that of the cost- performance relation 

for different distinct technological solutions of a given problem. The principles that form the basis of 

PS technological competitiveness are : 

The making of a product implies the concurence of several distint and identifiable technologies ; 

• The implicated technologies have different contributions in relation to their current 

positioning; 

• Each technology has a cycle of life that can be shortened by the emergence of more 

efficient technologies, or lenghtened by successive improvements of the technological progress. PS 

technological position will depend on the extent to which it masters the key technologies of the field, 

but also the emergent ones; 

• The competitors master differently the implicated technologies, and the control of a 

single new and efficient technology can bring an important advantage over the competitors; 

• Strategic orientation is established taking into consideration both the position on the 

market of the product, but also the technologies implicated in its realization. 

In order to apply these principles, the following rules need to be observed: 

• Key technologies must be treated with a maximum of attention; 

• There must exist the preoccupation of introducing an emergent technology; 

• Emerging technologies that imply very long time to be set up, high risks, and an 

uncertain potential are to be avoided. 

After PS has analyzed the technologies, it can be characterized as an ensemble, from two points 

of view: financial- accounting, and technico- economic. The two aspects complete each other, being 

able to give a correct diagnosis. 

The main technico- economic indicators that are taken into consideration when characterizing the 

PS, are: Principalii indicatori tehnico-economici, care sunt luaţi în considerare pentru caracterizarea SP, 

sunt următorii: 

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1. The degree of valorification of the raw material 

ŋ vmp = VA/A, (1.1) 

where VA represents the added value; A-the volume of activity. 

2. Global efficiency E g , obtained with the relation: 

E g = VA/PA, (1.2) 

where PA is the medium number of contracted personell; wages costs can be used instead of PA 

3. Extensive usage indicator I ue ,determined with the relation: 

I ue = P/C, (1.3) 

Where P represents production, and C – the capacity of production. This indicator can be also defined 

by the ratio between the effective functioning time of the machine and the time it has been allocated. 

4. The degree of renewal of equipment ŋ ie ,given by the relation: 

ŋ ie = I/A, (1.4) 

where I is the average annual investment. This investment can take up the form of physical, material 

elements, but also immaterial results, such as CD activity, buying licenses and certificates, knowhows, 

market studies, program products, office supplies, experts’ formation. 

A certain technological process or product (or parts of it) can be also optimized by using „value 

engineering” through maximizing the ratio. [13]: 

v i /c p →max, (1.5) 

where v i represents the use value of the technology or product, and c p , their costs. 

1.2.Variation of technological potential of the PS 

A technology appears when the scientific and technical knowledge allow for this to happen, it 

develops to the extent that its product answers a social need, and disappears when a new, more efficient 

technology emerges. The evolution of a technology, like that of a product, follows a trajectory that can 

be mathematically described by a logistic function. The evolution curve is presented in picture 1.5. 

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Picture. 1.5 Evolution curve of a technology 

It is described by the equation: y = p/(1+ae -bt ), where p is the superior limit, the maximum value 

for z, when t tends to the infinite; a = (p/y 0 -1) a-parameter dependent on the innitial y 0 - coordinate; b - 

parameter dependent on the ascendent inclination of the curve. On the evolution curve there are several 

areas that correspond to certain periods of time: OA – innitial period, the technology is emergent, new, 

not well set up, and hasn’t imposed; AB – development period, the technology is evoluating, and 

imposing itself; BC –standstill period, the technology is mature, and has reached its limits; CD – 

extinction period, the technology is on its downfall, and is eliminated (the CD portion of the curve does 

not respect the logistics equation). 

Technology evolution can be appreciated also by the evolution of the dependent product. If on the 

same graphic we have the logistics corresponding to the successive technologies 

Picture. 1.6 Evolution of technologies through the evolution of their respective products 

That replace one another, we can obtain the tendency of the entire technological domain under the form 

of straight lines, or winding curves tangential to all successive logistics. If we follow the two winding 

straight lines, a. The evolution of product P1, and b. The evolution of product P2, through 

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corresponding technologies, traced in picture 1.6, it can be noticed that b. Has a more rapid growth 

because the logistics are at shorter intervals of time, the new technology starting even when the old one 

is still developing. 

Bibliografie: 

1. Abrudan, I., Sisteme flexibile de fabricaţie. Concepte de proiectare şi management (Flexible 

fabrication systems. Project and management concepts), Dacia Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca, 1996 

2. Băloiu, M. L., Managementul inovaţiei (Innovation management), Eficient Publishing House, 

Bucureşti,1997 

3. Boncoi, Gh. ş.a., Sisteme de producţie, vol. I (Production Systems, volume I), Ed. Universităţii 

Transilvania din Braşov, 2000 

4. Neagu, C., Modele de programare şi conducere a proceselor economice (Programming and 

management models for economic processes), Ed. Didactică şi Pedagogică, Bucureşti,1997 

5. North, K., Environmental Business Management, Ed. International Labour Office, Geneva, 

1992 

6. Thiusen, G., Fabrycky, W., Engeneering Economy, Nineth Ed., Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 

2001 

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EQUILIBRATION OF FLUX PRODUCTION LINES 

Doruleţ Grădinaru, PhD.Reader,The Faculty of Economic Sciences,University of 

Piteşti 

Puiu Grădinaru, PhD.Reader,The Faculty of Economic Sciences,University of Piteşti 

ABSTRACT 

Par l’équilibrage des lignes en flux on accomplit un groupement des phases par postes de travail selon certain 

critères, groupement qui décide à la fin la manière de déplacement du produit au long du processus de fabrication 

(l’ordonnancement de la fabrication). La tendence est d’obtenir une ligne parfaitemet équilibrée, c’est – à – dire que la 

somme des temps des phases (de la phase) d’un poste de travail soit égale au rythme de la ligne ou à un multiple de celuici. 

Dans la stratégie d’équilibrage de la ligne on va essayer de minimiser les temps morts totaux de la ligne ; afin d’atteindre 

ce but on peut utiliser la technique de la programmation mathématique, comme par exemple les modèles de programmation 

binaire, ceux de programmation dinamique, le modelage sous la forme d’un problème des écoulements en réseaux, les 

méthodes de recherche dans les arborescences ou les méhodes euristiques. 

1. Definition 

Detailed mass production programming is implicitly determined by the way of organizing of the 

line. By grouping the phases in operations and then materializing each operation as a working post, it is 

actually being decided upon the displacement means of the product along the fabrication process, 

which means that the respective line’s fabrication is being put into order. Thus, mass production 

programming is inseparably connected to the problem of bringing equilibrium to the flux lines. 

The discussion regarding the equilibrium of the flux lines will be conducted starting from an 

example. We will admit the fact that we have a technological process that has been decomposed in 12 

phases. In picture 1.1 the duration of each phase and the relations of precedence- succession between 

phases are being presented, such as they result out of technological considerations. The net after the 

activities’ system in the nods has got mentioned the duration of each phase above the nod representing 

it. 

Phase 

Immediate 

F i predecessor 

F1 - 6 

F2 - 9 

F3 F1 4 

F4 F1 5 

F5 F2 4 

F6 F3 2 

F7 F3, F4 3 

F8 F6 7 

F9 F7 3 

Duration 

t i 

142

F10 F5, F9 1 

F11 F8, F10 10 

F12 F11 1 

Total duration 55 


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Picture 1.1. Technological process of 12 phases 

The following procedure has been adopted in the design of the net: 

Step 1: in column 1, on the left of the diagram, all phases without predecessors are represented. 

Step m (we start at m=2; this step is repeated until all phases appear in the net; for each execution 

of the step, m is being increased by 1). 

a – in column m, on the right in relation to column m-1, all phases that are not yet in the net and 

that they have no predecessor that has already been presented are represented. 

b – arches from m-1 column phases up to the following phases in column m. This operation is 

being continued, successively considering columns m-2…. instead of column m-1. In order to avoid 

redundant arches, no arches from one phase to another will be traced, if from the first to the second 

phase can be reached through already existing arches within the network. 

What we are looking for is to organize a flux line on which the technological process used as 

example can take place. For all the already- mentioned reasons, we wish for the line to be as equal as 

possible, which means assuring a minimum value to the N-r product, thus also for the d % . 

Before tackling the equilibration problem, we will present a summary of the annotations: 

r = line rhythm; 

N = number of working posts; 

j = phase- indicating parameter; 

F j = j number phase; 

J = total phase number; 

t j = j phase duration; 

i = parameter showing the operation taking place in the i- th working post; 

p i = i operation duration; 

d =flux line idle time; 

d % = total idle time, expressed as percentage out of the N ⋅ r . 

For unitary syncronization, : r ≥ max pi 

For a better understanding of the problem, it is useful to consider the relation between rhythm and 

the number of posts. The following hyperbole family is used: 

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⎛ 

J 

⎞ ⎛ d% 

⎞ 

Nr = ⎜ ⎟ 

∑t 

j / ⎜1 

− ⎟; 

(1.1) 

⎝ j= 

1 ⎠ ⎝ 100 ⎠ 

The equation of this algebraic curve has got d % as parameter. Let us remark the fact that, because 

of the discussion being held only at unitary synchronization level, we have r ≥ max p i 

≥ maxt 

. Since 

max t j = 10, it is sufficient to consider r values above 10. 

Also, when N=1 all phases are executed by the only existing working post, the rhythm of the line 

being r=55; thus, we will only consider values up to 55 for r. Being interested in the shortening of the 

idle time d % we will tend to choose N and r so that we are permanently on the d % =0 curve. This is not 

always possible because of the fact that the N number of working posts must be a whole number. After 

a rhythm given to r, the posts’ minimum number on the line, N min, is: 

J 

⎛ ⎞ 

⎜ ∑t 

j ⎟ 

⎜ j= 

1 ⎟ 

N 

min 

= min 

⎜ 

N ≥ 

r ⎟ 

, N whole number. (1.2) 

⎜ 

⎟ 

⎝ ⎠ 

For example, if r=22 at least 3 working posts are necessary in which case d % =16,67%. Obviously, 

because of the request that n be a whole number, with r=22 there can be no perfect equilibration. 

In order to reach that grouping of phases in working posts, grouping that could lead to minimum 

of the value of product N-r, there are two ways we can act: 

a – we either set the value of the rhythm and search for the minimum posts group. 

b – we predetermine the post number and group the phases so that the line rhythm is minimum. 

Generally, alternative a is more frequently used, because almost always the rhythm of the line is 

imposed by the production task (plan) of the unit. For example, if there need to be produced 960 units a 

day, and the line works on a single shift, a rhythm of r=30 seconds is necessary. Let us notice that there 

is certain flexibility in establishing the rhythm. Thus, the same 960 units/ day production can be 

realized with a line working in two shifts, rhythm r=1 minute; or two identical lines can be set up, 

working in parallel one shift each, each one of them having a 1-minute rhythm. Either way, the goal is 

that of establishing a rhythm such that we are as close as possible to one of the minimum points on the 

idle time curve. 

Nonetheless, alternative b must be sometimes used, for example when bringing into equilibrium 

an already existing line, for the fabrication of a redesigned product. Let us consider that the old flux 

line is equipped with a series of machines fixed on foundations, which makes their change or redesign 

uneconomic. In this case, the number of working posts is taken over from the old line, the phases on the 

new technological process being grouped so that a minimum rhythm is obtained or, when in the 

functioning of a line there appear technological perturbations like the absence of a worker from the 

working place or the falling of a machine, the line must be brought into equilibrium in the sense of 

readjusting the phases of the given posts number. 

In te following presentation, we will concentrate in the first alternative of the equilibrium 

problem. 

j 

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2. Solving the problem using mathematical programming 

Since there exists a very large number of ways in which J phases can be grouped in N working 

posts, the equilibration of flux lines is obviously a matter of combination, fact that indicates from the 

very beginning that the solving will be difficult. Specialized literature presents a wide range of models 

and ways of optimizing the problem of bringing the lines into equilibrium; we want to remind that 

binary programming models, those of dynamic programming, modeling as a problem of net flowing, 

methods of searching within the arborescence, heuristic methods. 

In order to understand the nature of the problem, its dimensions and the difficulties related to 

solving it, we will present here the modeling of the equilibration problem in the form of a mathematical 

program of binary variables (0-1 variables). We make reference to the very example presented above, 

and a r=12 rhythm will be imposed. The equilibration problem that we need to solve is: given the 

technological process in picture 1.1 and an equilibration rhythm, we need to group the phases of the 

process in the smalles possible number of posts. 

The following binary variables are used: 

X 

ji 

= 1 if phase j is exercised at post i; 

0 if phase j is not exercised at post i; 

δ 

i 

= 1 if the line contains the post number i; 

0 if the line does not contain the post number i. 

Based on the previous relation, we calculate that the minimum number of posts necessary is 

N min =5. We don’t know as yet whether, in the conditions of the given example, a 5-post line and 

rhythm equal to 12 can be obtained. It is easy to group the 12 phases in 6 posts, so that in our 

formulation we need not consider more; thus, j=1,2,...,6. 

We will now give the programming model with binary variables, first in its general form, then we 

will give explanations and particularize for the given example 

MinZ 

= 

L 

∑ 

i= 

1 

δ (1.3) 

i 

L 

∑ 

s.c. X = 1 

j=1,...,J (1.4) 

J 

∑ 

j=1 

t 

i= 

1 

j 

⋅ X 

ij 

ij 

≤ r 

i=1,...,L (1.5) 

⎧X 

k1 

− X 

j1 

≥ 0 

⎪ 

⎪X 

k1 

+ X 

k 2 

− X 

j 2 

≥ 0 

⎨ 

⎪................................... 

⎪ 

⎩X 

k1 

+ X 

k 2 

+ ... + X 

k , L 

− X 

≥ 

−1 

j, 

L−1 

0 

k∈{set of parameters of the predecessors immediate to phase j} 

(1.6) 

145

J 

∑ 

j= 

1 


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X ji 

≤ J ⋅δ i=1,...,L (1.7) 

i 

X ji 

= 0or1 

j=1,...,J; i=1,...,L (1.8) 

δ 

i 

= 0or1 

i=1,...,L (1.9) 

Since variables δ can only be 0 and 1, the object’s function shall be equal to the number of 

variables δ whose value is 1, which represents the very number of posts on the line; this number needs 

to me minimized. The superior limit L of the sum described in relation (1.3) shows our knowledge of 

the fact that in the final optimum configuration the line will not have more than L working posts. We 

were mentioning, in the case of our example, that we can easily find a group of 6 working posts, 

configuration for which the optimum solution could even have less posts, but by no means more; thus 

the objective function is: 

Z= δ 

1 

+ δ 

2 

+ δ 

3 

+ δ 

4 

+ δ 

5 

+ δ 

6 

Relations (1.4) show that each basis must be included in only one working post. Thus, referring to 

phase F1, we can write: 

X 11 +X 12 +X 13 +X 14 +X 15 +X 16 =1 

Since any X ij can only be 0 or 1, from the written condition it results that only one X of the 6 can 

take the value of 1, more precisely the one corresponding to the post where phase F1 is set. 

The left member of (1.5) relation sums the durations of all phases grouped in post i; if a certain 

X ji is 0, the duration of the respective j phase is excluded from the sum. Relation (1.5) shows that no 

working place can reach for phases whose summed durations surpass the r rhythm of the line. 

Particularly, over post 1 we will write: 

6X 11 +9X 21 +4X 31 +5X 41 +4X 51 +2X 61 +3X 71 +7X 81 +3X 91 +1X 101 +10X 111 +1X 121 ≤ 12 

Conditions (1.6) model the precedence relations- succession between the phases. Let us aleatorily 

take phase j=7 and we identify the set of its anterior predecessors as being {3, 4}. 

If phase 7 is executed under step 1, for example, then the predecessors F3 and F4 must also be 

part of the same post, which is equivalent to imposing X 31 =1 and X 41 =1. If phase 7 is not included 

under post 1, then we no longer need to contrain X 31 şi X 41 . This can be concisely expressed as 

followes: 

X 

31 

≥ X 71 

and X 

41 

≥ X 

71 

If phase 7 is executed under post 2, then the predecessors F3 and F4 must be part either of post 1, 

or post 2, which means X 31 +X 32 =1 and X 41 +X 42 =1. But if F7 is under a different post, the two 

restrictions do not need to be imposed any more. Again, this can be written in short as follows: 

X 31 +X 32 ≥ X 72 and X 41 +X 42 ≥ X 72 

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We proceed similarly, admitting the possible placement of phase 7 under step 3, then in 4 and 

finally under step 5. Let us observe that if phase 7 is included under the last post, the sixth, no 

condition is to be imposed on predecessors F3 and F4 because, anyway, all phases are execute until, or 

to the last working post 

The general form of these restrictions, considering the line posts from 1 to L-1, and after 

rearranging the terms, appears under the form of the relations’ group (1.6). 

L has been admitted as superior limit of the number of posts on the line. It is nevertheless possible 

that, eventually, the optimum combination has less than L posts; that’s why we must make sure that no 

phase appears included in any of the hypothetical that do not remain in the final configuration of the 

line. For example, in order to avoid that post 1 does not exist (i.e. δ = 0 ), whereas some of the phases 

would be allocated to it, we write: 

X 11 +X 21 +X 31 +X 41 +X 51 +X 61 +X 71 +X 81 +X 91 +X 101 +X 111 +X 121 ≤ 12δ 

1 

If δ = 0 , it is obvious that all X that have 1 as their second subscript must be 0; if post 1 is 

operational, then the abovementioned inequality imposes that there are no more than 12 phases 

included, which does not actually constitute a restriction since the total number of phases is 12. 

This kind of conditions formulated for the general case of L working posts are presented in 

relations (1.6). 

Once the model has been formulated, its solving will give us the optimum values for the decision 

variables. For the problem we have taken as example there are several optimum solutions (multiple 

optimum), which groups the 12 phases in 5 working posts; idle time d % =8,3%. One of these solutions 

is: 

* * * * * * 

δ = 1, δ = 1, δ = 1, δ = 1, δ = 1, δ 0 ; 

1 2 3 4 5 6 

= 

X 11 * =1, X 22 * =1, X 33 * =1, X 41 * =1, X 53 * =1, X 64 * =1; 

X 73 * =1, X 84 * =1, X 94 * =1, X 105 * =1, X 115 * =1, X 125 * =1. 

All the other X ij being equal to 0. 

Bibliography: 

1. Abrudan, I., Sisteme flexibile de fabricaţie. Concepte de proiectare şi management (Flexible 

fabrication systems. Project and management concepts), Dacia Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca, 1996 

2. Bărbulescu, C., Managementul producţiei industriale, vol.I-III, (Management of industrial 

production, volumes I- III), Sylvi Publishing House, Bucureşti, 2000 

3. Bibu, A.N., Mangementul sistemelor flexibile de montaj (Flexible mounting systems’ 

management), Sedona Publishing House, Timişoara, 1998 

4. Chary, S.N., Theory and problems in production and operations management – New Delhi: 

Tata McGraw – Hill, 1995 

5. Evans, J.R., Applied production and operations management, 3 rd ed – St. Paul: West Pub, 1990 

6. Everett E.A., Jr, Ronald, J.E., Managementul producţiei şi al operaţiilor (Production and 

operations’ management), Teora, Bucureşti, 2001 

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ISSN: 1842-4856 

7. Maynard, H.B.,(editor), Manualul de inginerie industrială, vol II, (Industrial engineering 

manual, volume II) Ed. Tehnică Publishing House, Bucureşti, 1976 

8. Wild, R., Essentials of production and operations management – London: Holt, Rinehart and 

Wiston, 1980 

STUDY CONCERNING THE STIMULATION OF THE EMPLOYEES FROM 

ROMANIAN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES 

Grădinaru Puiu, Ph.D. Reader, Faculty of Economic Sciences, 

University of Piteşti 

ABSTRACT 

Suite à l’investigation de 112 compagnies, l’étude se propose d’évaluer les aspects suivants: 

- la hiérarchisation des principales catégories de stakeholders en fonction de l’impact a l’egard des résultats des 

firmes; 

- la relation management – employées; 

- la motivation du personnel; 

- la manière dont on perçoit les ressources humaines; 

- la hiérarchisations des valeurs dans une compagnie. 

The number of companies examined during the survey was 112, the sample being made up 

in approximately equal proportions of microenterprises (35%), small enterprises (31,67%) and medium 

enterprises (33,33%), these SMEs (small and medium enterprises originating from all the 8 

development areas and operating in all the economic fields (pictures 1, 2 and 3). 

The survey carried out by CNIPMMR aimed at, among others, elaborating an hierarchical 

system, using a 1 to 10 scale (1-minimum, 10–maximum) for the main categories of stakeholders 

according to the impact on the companies’ results. Managers ranged the first (with an average of 

5,92), being considered the most important category of stakeholders. This result can be explained 

through the sample structure that includes in an overwhelming proportion high level and average level 

managers. On the second place as importance, according to the survey results, there are the employees 

(average of 5,67), a result that corresponds to the concepts internationally transmitted, according to 

which the companies succes relies to a continuously increasing extent on the quality of human 

resources. Next to the employees there are the customers (with an average of 5,38), a fact which 

reveals the continuously marked orientation of the Romanian companies towards the market, towards 

providing services and products that correspond to the clients’ requirements. On the following positions 

there are the owners, the competitors, the suppliers and the banks. The last positions are held by 

local authorities, local community and unions (picture 4). 

33,33% 35,00% 

Microenterprises 

Small companies 

148 

Medium companies


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31,67% 

Picture 1 The sample structure acording to the companies size 

12,90% 8,06% 

8,06% 

17,74% Nord Est 

Sud Est 

6,45% 

Sud 

Sud Vest 

8,06% 

Vest 

North West 

Center 

25,81% 

12,90% 

Bucharest 

Picture 2 The sample structure according to development areas 

3,13% 

26,56% 

3,13% 

3,13% 

6,25% 

28,13% 

29,69% 

Industry 

Commerce 

Constructions 

Transports 

Tourism 

Services 

Agriculture 

Picture 3 The sample structure according to the fields of activity 

Unions 

Local community 

Local authorities 

2,17 

2,30 

2,67 

Banks 

Suppliers 

Competitors 

3,78 

3,92 

4,15 

Owners 

4,95 

Customers 

Employees 

Managers 

5,38 

5,67 

5,92 

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

Fig. 4. The stakeholders importance within the Romanian SMEs 

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The sampling aimed at evaluating the relation management-employees within the Romanian 

SMEs. The sampling results point out that in 40% of the SMEs examined the managers’ authority 

is very high, the decisions being exlusively taken by them. In 36,67% of the SMEs, managers show 

great respect for the employees performaces as well as for their social problems, which represents 

a balances approach. On the last position there is the possibility that the entire personnel 

participates in the decision making process (only in 1,67% of the examined companies this thing 

happens, fact which reveals a well-marked centralism. In SMEs, an explanation for this situation could 

be the desire of the manager-owner to have full control over the activities carried out in the company 

that he created (picture 5). 

The entire personnel participates in the decision making process 

1,67% 

The persons that have enough information can take 

decisions on their own in spite of their hierarchic level 

10,00% 

Employees are permanently consulted before taking a 

decision that has a major impact on them 

28,33% 

Managers are interested in the results obtained by the 

employees, but also in their social problems 

36,67% 

The managers authority is significant, the decisions being 

taken exclusively by them 

40,00% 

0% 20% 40% 60% 

Picture 5 The relation management-employees in the small and medium enterprises in Romania 

Another investigated aspect refers to the manner in which we succeed in motivating the 

personnel in the SMEs in our country. The survey results reveal the fact that 41,67% of the 

respondents consider that material and moral stimuli have the same significance. In 28,33% of 

the companies there are significant differences in point of rewards, based on the employees 

performace assesment. We should notice the fact that 23,33% of the respondents consider that people 

constantly need stimuli. Thus we admit the importance of the motivational system within a company 

when it comes to shaping the employees’ attitudes and conduct. Only 1,67% of the respondents 

consider that rewards should be granted equally to all the employees since each of them has his/ her 

own contribution to the company activities (picture 6). 

Rewards should be granted equally to all the employees 

since each of them has a particular contribution 

1,67% 

Material stimuli are the most important for the company 

20,00% 

People constantly need stimuli 

23,33% 

Within a company there are significant differences in 

granting the rewards based on the performance 

150 

28,33% 

0% 20% 40% 60%


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Material and moral stimuli have the same significance 41,67 

Picture 6 Motivating the personnel in small and medium enterprises in Romania 

Another investigated element reffered to the way in which human resources are perceived in SMEs 

in our country. The survey results reveal the accrued significance granted to team work within the 

examined (63,33% of the companies). In 36,67% of the companies, human resources are 

considered to have a strategic significance. This is a positive aspect which demonstrates that 

Romanian managers have understood the fact that it is necessary that human resources be treated as one 

of the company’s highly significant resource in which they should invest in various ways, so that they 

could also provide a high efficiency. However, the percentage of those who considered human 

resources as having a strategic significance for the company is quite low, especially in the context of 

the passage towards the economy based on knowledge. An aspect that should be pointed out refers to 

the extremely low percentage (only 3,33% of the companies) obtained by the statement according to 

which personal objectives are more important than the team objectives. Thus we stress the 

significance of the employees collaboration within the company (picture 7). 

A good manager is the one that takes of their subordinates 

in spite of their results 

Individual objectives are more important than the team 

objectives 

1,67 

3,33% 

Managers focus on the employees’ potential development 

and use 

Human resources are considered to have a strategic 

significance 

28,33% 

36,67% 

Activity within the company means first of all team work 

63,33% 

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 

Picture 7 The human resources importance in SMEs in Romania 

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 

As a final point, the survey aimed at creating a hierarchy, on a scale of 1 to 11 (1-minimum, 11- 

maximum) for the values within a company. In the hierarchy of the values that have been taken into 

account, quality holds the first position, with an average of 6,52, fact which reveals the respondents 

concern for providing products and services that may correspond to well-defined quality standards. On 

the second position there is professionalism, with an average of 6,25, followed by the attention paid 

to customers (an average of 5,78). Without any doubt, the present circumstances impose to companies 

a better knowledge not only of the customers’ actual requirements, but also of the way in which these 

requirements may develop. The value ranked on the following position, with an average of 5,70, is 

obtaining performances. Certainly, it is normal that the respondents consider that obtaining results 

that are as good as possible is one of the vital organizational elements. The subjects that have been 

investigated placed on the last positions in point of significance creating a vision and strategic 

thinking (3,33) as well as supporting personal creativity and innovation (with an average of 3,08). 

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The relatively low significance granted to personal innovation and creativity is a negative aspect since 

innovation is one of the major sources of competitive advantage (picture 8). 

Supporting personal creativity 

3,08 

Creating strategic vision and thinking 

3,33 

Open and frank communication 

4,22 

Management based on ethics and 


Loialty towards the company 

Team work 

4,42 

4,73 

5,07 

People represent the most important resource 

5,17 

Obtaining performances 

5,70 

Great attention paid to the customers 

5,78 

Professionalis 

Quality 

6,25 

6,52 

Picture 8 Creating a hierarchy of the values within a company 

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 

Taking into acount the organisational culture elements represints a pressing necessity for the 

modern organisations’ managers since organisational culture is only a decisive facture of the company 

functionality and performances. This is the reason why managers should take into account the 

following recommendations: 

1. More attention should be paid by the managers as well as by other categories of personnel to 

the organisational culture role in a company functionality and development; 

2. Managers should consider the organisational culture components as an important method for 

influencing the personnel attitudes and conduct; 

3. Amplifying the personnel motivation through a better use by the managers of the 

organisational culture elements; 

4. Amplifying the cohesion between employees and the company functionality by means of 

promoting common values within the respective company; 

5. Organising refresher courses that include distinct training modules in the field of 

organisational culture; 

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6. Referring to specialised consultants for auditing and reshaping organisational culture. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Nicolescu, O. – Small and medium enterprises management, Economic Publishing House, 2004 

2. Russu, C. – Small and medium enterprises management, Expert Publishing House, 1996 

3. Grădinaru, P. (coordinator) – Study concerning the obstacles that may occur when setting up and 

developping small and medium enterprises, University Publishing House of Piteşti, 2004 

4. xxx In which manner the employees of SMEs are stimulated? National survey, CNIPMMR, 

2007 

153


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STUDY CONCERNING THE STIMULATION OF THE EMPLOYEES FROM 

ROMANIAN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES 

Grădinaru Puiu, Ph.D. Reader, Faculty of Economic Sciences, 

University of Piteşti 

ABSTRACT 

Suite à l’investigation de 112 compagnies, l’étude se propose d’évaluer les aspects suivants: 

- la hiérarchisation des principales catégories de stakeholders en fonction de l’impact a l’egard des résultats des 

firmes; 

- la relation management – employées; 

- la motivation du personnel; 

- la manière dont on perçoit les ressources humaines; 

- la hiérarchisations des valeurs dans une compagnie. 

The number of companies examined during the survey was 112, the sample being made up 

in approximately equal proportions of microenterprises (35%), small enterprises (31,67%) and medium 

enterprises (33,33%), these SMEs (small and medium enterprises originating from all the 8 

development areas and operating in all the economic fields (pictures 1, 2 and 3). 

The survey carried out by CNIPMMR aimed at, among others, elaborating an hierarchical 

system, using a 1 to 10 scale (1-minimum, 10–maximum) for the main categories of stakeholders 

according to the impact on the companies’ results. Managers ranged the first (with an average of 

5,92), being considered the most important category of stakeholders. This result can be explained 

through the sample structure that includes in an overwhelming proportion high level and average level 

managers. On the second place as importance, according to the survey results, there are the employees 

(average of 5,67), a result that corresponds to the concepts internationally transmitted, according to 

which the companies succes relies to a continuously increasing extent on the quality of human 

resources. Next to the employees there are the customers (with an average of 5,38), a fact which 

reveals the continuously marked orientation of the Romanian companies towards the market, towards 

providing services and products that correspond to the clients’ requirements. On the following positions 

there are the owners, the competitors, the suppliers and the banks. The last positions are held by 

local authorities, local community and unions (picture 4). 

33,33% 35,00% 

Microenterprises 

Small companies 

Medium companies 

31,67% 

Picture 1 The sample structure acording to the companies size 

154


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12,90% 8,06% 

8,06% 

17,74% Nord Est 

Sud Est 

6,45% 

Sud 

Sud Vest 

8,06% 

Vest 

North West 

Center 

25,81% 

12,90% 

Bucharest 

Picture 2 The sample structure according to development areas 

3,13% 

26,56% 

3,13% 

3,13% 

6,25% 

28,13% 

29,69% 

Industry 

Commerce 

Constructions 

Transports 

Tourism 

Services 

Agriculture 

Picture 3 The sample structure according to the fields of activity 

Unions 

Local community 

Local authorities 

2,17 

2,30 

2,67 

Banks 

Suppliers 

Competitors 

3,78 

3,92 

4,15 

Owners 

4,95 

Customers 

Employees 

Managers 

5,38 

5,67 

5,92 

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

Fig. 4. The stakeholders importance within the Romanian SMEs 

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The sampling aimed at evaluating the relation management-employees within the Romanian 

SMEs. The sampling results point out that in 40% of the SMEs examined the managers’ authority 

is very high, the decisions being exlusively taken by them. In 36,67% of the SMEs, managers show 

great respect for the employees performaces as well as for their social problems, which represents 

a balances approach. On the last position there is the possibility that the entire personnel 

participates in the decision making process (only in 1,67% of the examined companies this thing 

happens, fact which reveals a well-marked centralism. In SMEs, an explanation for this situation could 

be the desire of the manager-owner to have full control over the activities carried out in the company 

that he created (picture 5). 

The entire personnel participates in the decision making process 

1,67% 

The persons that have enough information can take 

decisions on their own in spite of their hierarchic level 

10,00% 

Employees are permanently consulted before taking a 

decision that has a major impact on them 

28,33% 

Managers are interested in the results obtained by the 

employees, but also in their social problems 

36,67% 

The managers authority is significant, the decisions being 

taken exclusively by them 

40,00% 

0% 20% 40% 60% 

Picture 5 The relation management-employees in the small and medium enterprises in Romania 

Another investigated aspect refers to the manner in which we succeed in motivating the 

personnel in the SMEs in our country. The survey results reveal the fact that 41,67% of the 

respondents consider that material and moral stimuli have the same significance. In 28,33% of 

the companies there are significant differences in point of rewards, based on the employees 

performace assesment. We should notice the fact that 23,33% of the respondents consider that people 

constantly need stimuli. Thus we admit the importance of the motivational system within a company 

when it comes to shaping the employees’ attitudes and conduct. Only 1,67% of the respondents 

consider that rewards should be granted equally to all the employees since each of them has his/ her 

own contribution to the company activities (picture 6). 

Rewards should be granted equally to all the employees 

since each of them has a particular contribution 

1,67% 

Material stimuli are the most important for the company 

20,00% 

People constantly need stimuli 

23,33% 

Within a company there are significant differences in 

granting the rewards based on the performance 

28,33% 

Material and moral stimuli have the same significance 

41,67 

0% 20% 40% 60% 

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Picture 6 Motivating the personnel in small and medium enterprises in Romania 

Another investigated element reffered to the way in which human resources are perceived in SMEs 

in our country. The survey results reveal the accrued significance granted to team work within the 

examined (63,33% of the companies). In 36,67% of the companies, human resources are 

considered to have a strategic significance. This is a positive aspect which demonstrates that 

Romanian managers have understood the fact that it is necessary that human resources be treated as one 

of the company’s highly significant resource in which they should invest in various ways, so that they 

could also provide a high efficiency. However, the percentage of those who considered human 

resources as having a strategic significance for the company is quite low, especially in the context of 

the passage towards the economy based on knowledge. An aspect that should be pointed out refers to 

the extremely low percentage (only 3,33% of the companies) obtained by the statement according to 

which personal objectives are more important than the team objectives. Thus we stress the 

significance of the employees collaboration within the company (picture 7). 

A good manager is the one that takes of their subordinates 

in spite of their results 

Individual objectives are more important than the team 

objectives 

1,67 

3,33% 

Managers focus on the employees’ potential development 

and use 

Human resources are considered to have a strategic 

significance 

28,33% 

36,67% 

Activity within the company means first of all team work 

63,33% 

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 

Picture 7 The human resources importance in SMEs in Romania 

As a final point, the survey aimed at creating a hierarchy, on a scale of 1 to 11 (1-minimum, 11- 

maximum) for the values within a company. In the hierarchy of the values that have been taken into 

account, quality holds the first position, with an average of 6,52, fact which reveals the respondents 

concern for providing products and services that may correspond to well-defined quality standards. On 

the second position there is professionalism, with an average of 6,25, followed by the attention paid 

to customers (an average of 5,78). Without any doubt, the present circumstances impose to companies 

a better knowledge not only of the customers’ actual requirements, but also of the way in which these 

requirements may develop. The value ranked on the following position, with an average of 5,70, is 

obtaining performances. Certainly, it is normal that the respondents consider that obtaining results 

that are as good as possible is one of the vital organizational elements. The subjects that have been 

investigated placed on the last positions in point of significance creating a vision and strategic 

thinking (3,33) as well as supporting personal creativity and innovation (with an average of 3,08). 

The relatively low significance granted to personal innovation and creativity is a negative aspect since 

innovation is one of the major sources of competitive advantage (picture 8). 

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Supporting personal creativity 

3,08 

Creating strategic vision and thinking 

3,33 

Open and frank communication 

4,22 

Management based on ethics and 


Loialty towards the company 

Team work 

4,42 

4,73 

5,07 

People represent the most important resource 

5,17 

Obtaining performances 

5,70 

Great attention paid to the customers 

5,78 

Professionalis 

Quality 

6,25 

6,52 

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 

Picture 8 Creating a hierarchy of the values within a company 

Taking into acount the organisational culture elements represints a pressing necessity for the 

modern organisations’ managers since organisational culture is only a decisive facture of the company 

functionality and performances. This is the reason why managers should take into account the 

following recommendations: 

7. More attention should be paid by the managers as well as by other categories of personnel to 

the organisational culture role in a company functionality and development; 

8. Managers should consider the organisational culture components as an important method for 

influencing the personnel attitudes and conduct; 

9. Amplifying the personnel motivation through a better use by the managers of the 

organisational culture elements; 

10. Amplifying the cohesion between employees and the company functionality by means of 

promoting common values within the respective company; 

11. Organising refresher courses that include distinct training modules in the field of 

organisational culture; 

12. Referring to specialised consultants for auditing and reshaping organisational culture. 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 

5. Nicolescu, O. – Small and medium enterprises management, Economic Publishing House, 2004 

6. Russu, C. – Small and medium enterprises management, Expert Publishing House, 1996 

7. Grădinaru, P. (coordinator) – Study concerning the obstacles that may occur when setting up and 

developping small and medium enterprises, University Publishing House of Piteşti, 2004 

8. xxx In which manner the employees of SMEs are stimulated? National survey, CNIPMMR, 

2007 

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THE INVOLVEMENT OF EUROPEAN UNION ON TOURISM INDUSTRY 

Petan Ioana Cristiana, 

lector.univ.drd., Universitatea Romano Americana 

Abstract. Le tourisme est l’un des secteurs les plus prometteurs de l’économie européenne. En effet, l’Europe est la 

région touristique la plus visitée au monde, avec les attractions touristiques les plus diverses dans un même périmètre 

géographique. Le tourisme dans l’Union étant essentiellement interne: 13 % de l’activité enregistrée est lié à des visiteurs en 

provenance de pays tiers, dont les dépenses, comptabilisées comme des exportations, représentent 30 % du commerce 

international des services de l’Union. 

Le tourisme a été introduit dans les « domaines d’appui, de coordination et de complément » de 

l’article I - 17 du Traité Constitutionnel et fait l’objet d’un article III - 281. Selon cet article, «l’Union 

complète l’action des Etats membres, notamment en promouvant la compétitivité des entreprises de ce 

secteur ». Son action vise à «encourager la création d’un environnement favorable au développement 

des entreprises dans ce secteur » et à «favoriser la coopération entre Etats membres, notamment par 

l’échange de bonnes pratiques ». 

Apres le rejet du Traite par la France et les Pays-Bas en mai 2005, le Conseil européen pris la 

décision de « geler » ce Traité et de laisser aux Etats membres le temps de la réflexion. En fin, 

l’échéance fixée pour l’achèvement du processus de ratification, à savoir le 1er novembre 2006, ne 

pouvant plus être respectée. 

Maintenant, , le Traité instituant la Communauté européenne (Traité CE) en vigueur mentionne le 

tourisme à l’article 3-1-u parmi les domaines en faveur desquels la Communauté peut prendre des « 

mesures » afin de réaliser les objectifs de convergence qu’elle s’est fixés, comme la croissance 

économique et l’emploi, la cohésion économique et sociale, l’amélioration de la qualité de la vie et le 

développement durable. 

It is clear for everybody, that tourism, as a phenomena, was born in Europe. Its earliest origins 

may be traced back to those classical civilisations whose influence has so shaped the history and 

culture of europe, and whose enduring architectural wonders are now themselves the focus of 

considerable tourist interest (Davidson, 1998). 

With only 7 per cent of planet`s land mass, Europe is more intensively visited by the world`s 

tourists than all other continents taken together (17 million tourists in 2006 - 47 %). In terms of 

international arrivals alone, almost half of the world`s top twenty destinations are European countries. 

The great diversity of natural and cultural resources with which Europe is so abundantly endowed 

comprises the „raw material” of this continent`s tourism product. Man-made attractions ranging from 

casinos to theme parks have added to the appeal of coastal, urban and rural destinations, while purposebuilt 

conference and exibition centres have provided the motive for the arrival of vast numbers of high 

spending business tourists in many towns and cities throughout the continent. 

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Wherever they come from, tourists have now become simply part of the landscape in every 

European country and an inseparable element in the lives of most europeans (Davidson, 1998). The 

history of the european tourism is as old as the beginnings of civilisation itself in this continent. Its 

origins may be traced back to those classical civilisations whose influence has so shaped the history 

and culture of Europe, and whose enduring architectural wonders are now themselves the focus of 

considerable tourist interest. 

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Even if the tourism is the most important industry in Europe, EU legislators and policymakers 

have been slow to direct their attention toward this sector, and so, there wasn`t a specific 

EU policy for tourism or any long-term tourism programme of direct funding. Lickorish (1991) has 

underlined very good the reason „the Commission has never accepted a policy for tourism, 

maintaining in its principle of „subsidiarity” that tourism is a matter for each member state, and that 

the Commisssion`s intervention followed from other aspects of EU policy was limited to a number 

of specific measures”. 

It is generally recognised that the Community makes its greatest impact on tourism passively, 

through its general legislation and measure which although not particularly designed with tourism 

in mind, nonetheless affect this sector substantially. Also, the greatest portion of the EU`s 

expenditure on tourism arises indirectly through its general funds and programmes rather than from 

its actions aimed specifically at tourism. 

In 1992 the European Commission has adopted the “Action Plan to Assist Tourism”, and the 

main goal of this plan was to improve knowledge in the field of tourism, to disseminate of best 

practice in fields such as environment and tourism and to promote Europe as tourism destination. 

This plan ran for only three years, from 1993 to 1995 (Ratz, 2004). 

On February 2005, the Commission proposed a new start for the Lisbon Strategy focusing the 

European Union’s efforts on two principal tasks – delivering stronger, lasting growth and more and 

better jobs. Since 1997, the potential of tourism to generate employment and growth has been 

recognised at EU level on several occasions. Globalisation, demographic changes and the evolution 

in transport are decisive factors in driving the rapid growth of this industry. Tourism is therefore an 

activity which can play an important role in the attainment of the Growth and Jobs Strategy goals. 

The recent enlargement of the European Union has increased the diversity of European tourist 

destinations and products, opening up numerous natural and cultural attractions often unknown to 

many European citizens. The development of tourism in the new Member States and the candidate 

countries will contribute to the generation of growth and jobs by the European tourism industry. 

The job creation rate in tourism is above average compared to the European economy as a 

whole. In the last decade, the annual growth rate of people employed in the HORECA (Hotels, 

Restaurants, and Cafes) sector has been almost always above the growth rate of total employment. 

An important reason for the contribution of the tourism industry to job creation, in particular with 

regard to the employment of women, young and less skilled persons, is the high degree of part-time 

employment and flexible working conditions. The flexibility of this workforce should be matched 

by appropriate measures for job security and skills development. 

So, there are more indirect than direct EU measures having a significant impact on how 

tourism is shaped and developed within Member States, and this reflects the disperate and 

heterogenous nature of tourism itself, crossing into many different areas of policy. We can divide 

these measures into three main areas (Davidson, 1998): 

- measures affecting the tourist as a person living and travelling in a geographical space 

without physical or fiscal barriers. In this case, the tourist is protected by specific 

consumer legislation on health and safety, but also on economic and legal aspects; 

- measures related to the economic and social environment which aim to provide 

common structures for economic and social activities, such as tourism, to develop 

within the Union; 

- measures in the field of culture and environment (sustainable development). 

All this are very important and there is a strong implication from the European Union in order 

to elaborate and apply some of these measures. 

The European Union's support for tourism 

The last decade has been an important period in the progressive involvement of tourism in 

programmes supported by the European Community. While the absence of a specific tourism 

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budget for direct tourism activities means that DG Enterprise's Tourism Unit is unable to provide 

any funding for individual projects, numerous tourism initiatives have received support from other 

EU programmes. 

There are many different schemes which provide funding for suitable proposals. Sources of 

possible funding for tourism projects are as follows (Ratz, 2004): 

• The major funds for promoting regional, economic and social development in the Union (the 

Structural Funds). 

• Programmes and actions in various policy fields (e.g. environment, training, research and 

development, promotion of cultural heritage). These often require co-operative efforts between 

organisations in two or more Member States. 

• Loans from the European Investment Bank. 

The only largest source of European Union funding for tourism, in particular in the less 

prosperous regions, are the Structural Funds. The support available through the Structural Funds is 

essentially aimed at economic development goals. Therefore, economic and social criteria are 

crucial in deciding where and how resources are allocated. In general, the Funds are targeted locally 

and the operational programmes are managed by the Member States. 

The Structural Funds are used in three main ways to enable the underdevelopment regions to 

advance through their tourism industries: 

- direct investement in tourism facilities: co-financing projects such as marinas, 

conferences centres, SPAs, hotels, restaurants etc. 

- investment in infrastructure directly linked to the tourism sector: co-financing 

transport, communications and environmental projects which may improve the 

accessibility of undeveloped regions; 

- investement in projects to upgrade the cultural and historical resources of less 

developed regions, making them more attreactive to potential tourists. 

There are individual projects selected by regional and national bodies in each Member State 

under the supervision of a joint monitoring committee in which the European Commission is 

represented. The financial aid provided by the Structural Funds therefore usually reaches the user 

through national or regional schemes managed by the national authorities. 

Usually, this support is provided for activities that contribute to furthering the cooperation 

between organisations in different Member States as well as dealing with particular issues. This 

means that a tourism project could be eligible for support under a particular programme if it 

involves partners from other Member States and contributes to the specific objectives of a particular 

programme. In practical terms, this usually means working in international partnerships involving 

participants from two or more Member States. 

Besides the Structural Funds, there are others 60 EU programmes and actions which may 

provide financial support to the tourism sector. One of this programmes is PHARE, establish in 

1989, for the process of economic and social reform in Central and Eastern Europe. It works as nonreimbursable 

grants for programmes in different fields, such as privatisation, agriculture, education 

and training. 

Potential applications to tourism include the financing of tourism-related studies, tourism 

action plans, policy advice, technical aexpertise and training. Even if the PHARE programme was 

originally set up for Polond and Hungary, it was extended in other countries, like: Bulgaria, 

Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Baltic States, Albania Macedonia, FYR etc. 

A renewed European tourism policy 

The challenges European tourism is faced with require a cohesive policy response at EU level. 

This policy must be focused on clear and realistic goals, commonly shared by decision-makers, 

employers and employees, as well as by local populations. It should make the best use of available 

resources and take advantage of all possible synergies. It must build on the whole range of actions 

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already carried out and must clearly offer added value to the national and regional policies and 

measures. 

This policy was elaborated on 17.03.2006, under the name of “A renewed tourism EU policy: 

towards a stronger partnership for European Tourism” (COM(2006) 134 final). The main aim of 

this policy is to improve the competitiveness of the European tourism industry and create more and 

better jobs through the sustainable growth of tourism in Europe and globally. 

In implementing this policy, the Commission will develop a close partnership with Member 

States’ authorities and the stakeholders in the tourism industry. 

The main areas on which the policy will focus are: 

A. Mainstreaming measures affecting tourism 

- better tourism regultaion; 

- policy-coordonation. To make sure that policy initiatives affecting tourism do not 

hamper the competitiveness of the sector. Member States and tourism stakeholders will be 

regularly consulted, as for example, on the forthcoming Green Paper on Maritime Affairs 

covering coastal and marine tourism. 

- improved use of available European financial instruments. Tourism will continue 

to benefit greatly from the financial support offered by the variousEuropean financial 

instruments. 

B. Promoting tourism sustainability 

- an European Agenda 21 for tourism. The Commission should present a proposal 

for an Agenda 21, by the end of 2007, based on input from the Tourism Sustainability 

Group, composed of the tourism stakeholders. 

- specific supporting actions for the sustainability of European tourism; 

C. Enhancing the understanding and the visibility of tourism 

- Improving the understanding of European tourism by providing all decision makers 

with high quality data. 

- Supporting the promotion of European destinations. Globalisation has opened up 

new opportunities to attract tourists from new markets (such as China, Russia and India) 

able to afford high value vacations. ”Visit Europe” - A new European Tourist Destinations 

web portal. 

- Improving the visibility of tourism: a common goal. The Commission will continue 

to work in close partnership with all involved actors to promote the visibility of this 

important industry through events organised by the EU Presidencies and the Annual 

European Tourism Forum. 

- In order to achive all this aims, the Commission has created a specialized body – Tourism 

Unit. The aim of the Tourism Unit is to further develop dialogue and partnership with 

industry stakeholders for the benefit of the sector, and to promote a wider understanding of 

the role tourism plays in European life and economy. 

European tourism and Euro 

The most recent advances in the European integration process - the creation of the internal 

market, the Schengen agreement, and the development of the European Monetary Union and its 

currency, the euro - are considered to contribute to the development of European tourism by 

providing competitive advantages to the area (Ratz, 2004). One of the greatest challenges in 

European history was the introduction of the euro as a single European monetary policy. 

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The development of the European Monetary Union certainly has significant impacts of 

various scope and range on European tourism. Expert expectations have showed that the euro would 

become a strong international currency to be used in foreign trade, currency reserves, investment 

and, last but not least, tourism. 

The single currency is not only just another means of payment, but an instrument of the 

European identity, a contributor to the positioning of "Destination Europe" in global tourism. In 

addition, however, the elimination of currency conversion costs, bank commissions and other 

international financial obstacles will most probably stimulate the mobility of persons, goods and 

capital within the EMU, thus serving as well as an incentive for tourism development. 

Among the first to use and disseminate the euro and experience the direct advantages of the 

single European currency are tourists, with the disappearance of commission charges and of the 

discrepancy between buying and selling rates (this is quite a significant benefit, considering that a 

tourist's cash can now lose up to two-thirds of its value while travelling all around Europe simply 

through currency exchange transactions, without making one single purchase) (Torres Marques 

1998). Savings made on transaction costs lead to higher travel budgets, which, at least partly, will 

hopefully be spent in the tourism sector. 

Conclusions 

European Union represents an important inter-governamental body concerned with most 

aspects of life in Europe. Policy and legislation developed at the European level are playing a 

increasingly important part in many aspects of everyday lives of those living in EU Member States 

and are having a fundamental impact on the environment in which businesses operate. 

Tourism in Europe has changed considerably over the past decade and will continue to change 

and develop in the future. More than a matter of habit or heterogeneous set of economic activities, 

tourism has become a determining factor in the life of millions of people; tourism is the best 

medium for direct encounters and discovery: it is becoming the ideal ground for bringing people 

closer together. It is a prominent instrument for enhancing the meaning of European citizenship. 

The European Commission, recognising the important role of tourism in the European 

economy, has been increasingly involved in tourism since the early 1980's, in co-operation with the 

Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the 

Regions. 

Even if tourism wasn`t a priority for the European Union, there were a lot of direct and 

indirect community measures affecting this industry as we tried to present them above. 

References 

Davidson R., “Travel and Tourism in Europe”, edit. Longman, England, 1998. 

Forbes, A.H., “Tourism and Transport policy in the European Union”, in A.V. Seaton et all., 

1994. 

Leidner Rüdiger, “The european tourism industry. A multi-sector with dynamic markets”, 

Edit. for European Commission, March 2004. 

Leidner Rüdiger, “The european Tourism industry in the enlarged Community - Gaps are 

potentials and opportunities”, Edit. for European Commission, January 2007. 

Lickorish, L.J., “Developing Tourism Destinations: policies and perspectives”, Edit. 

Longman, London, 1994. 

Rátz Tamara, “European Tourism”, Kodolányi János University College Székesfehérvár, 

Regia Rex Printing House Ltd., Hungary 2004. 

***, Commission tables new strategy to boost tourism in EU, Bruselles, 2006. 

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MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN CZECH REPUBLIC 

Alena Kopfová, Ing. 

Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic 

ABSTRACT 

The paper deals with a management and public administration in Czech Republic. 

Several years ago there have initiated many reforms in public administration, which are running nowadays too. A 

tendency of the reforms is an increase of its transparency, comparability and especially credibility not only for citizen of 

Czech Republic, important representatives of European Union and eventual foreign partners. Knowing and using of 

management in public administration is getting permanent more important. 

The paper is based on evaluation of a research, which has been carried out using a questionnaire contained in the course 

Basics of management. This course is designed for students in bachelor combined degree in fields of Public 

Administration and Legal Relations to Real Estates at the Masaryk University in Brno, College of Law. The research 

was aimed at the strategy and strategic management in an occupational organization and marginally at the basic 

knowledge of sustainable development. The presented article comes out from the filled-out questionnaire and 

determines thus existence of a strategy and strategic management in organizations and at the same time of their level. 

Focus is laid on organizations within the public sector. 


The public administration is a management of human society organized in a state with its own 

system. It is realized by a government or self-government by way of the governing or selfgoverning 

institutions. Nowadays is still more and more necessity of quality management in public 

administration discussed. That seems to be at insufficient level. The management in the public 

administration is more difficult than in private sector. The main barrier of establishing the 

management into public administration seems to be confused by a system of measuring a 

productivity and by different law surroundings. 

The research using questionnaire between the students of combined form of study at The Collage of 

Law at Masaryk University has been carried out during the summer semesters of years 2006 and 

2007. According to the form of study there was supposed, that the most of the students have been 

also already employed. And according to their field of study (Public Administration and Legal 

Relations to Real Estates) we expected interesting results from public administration sector. The 

questionnaire was aimed at the strategy and strategic management in employer‘s organization and 

marginally at the basic knowledge of sustainable development. 

The goal of this paper is a summary and a comparison of the questionnaire answers regarding the 

strategic management. Because not all respondents were employed in the organizations of public 

administration, we got also some information from the private sector, and thus we could afford also 

the small comparison of these two sectors. The basic hypothesis concerning results of the 

questionnaire is: no more than half of the respondents are fully aware of an existence of some 

strategy in employer’s organization. We assume that if the respondent doesn’t know about the 

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strategy in his organization, then the strategy either doesn’t exist at all or it’s only at formal level, 

not respected, because the employees are not familiar with it. We also assume, that the ration of the 

positive answers on the existence of strategy in public administration organizations is less than from 

the total number. 

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2. The basic information about the file 

The questionnaire had 23 questions. The total number of correctly filled forms was 167. The all 

questionnaires were divided into two groups according to the sector of organization – the public 

group and the private group. Our first assumption was really fulfilled, the public group of answers 

was larger. 

private group – 68 

public group - 102 

Graph no. 1: Two groups of questionnaires according to the type of sector 

From the point of view of social-demographic indicators there were 56 % of women and 44 % of 

men in the total number of questionnaires. Taking into account the public group only, the difference 

decreased and men got a moderate superiority over women. 

men (44 %) 

women (56 %) 

men (51 %) 

women (49 %) 

Graph no. 2: The ratio of men and women in the total number (left) and in the public group (right) 

of questionnaires 

3. The strategy in the organizations 

It could be said, that the fundamental question of our questionnaire was: “Do you know about the 

strategy of the management in your organization?” If the respondent chose the answer “yes”, a few 

questions concerning the strategy and the strategic management followed. The ratios of answers on 

the above mentioned question are depicted in the graph no. 3, where on the left hand-side are the 

results in the total number of questionnaire and on the right the results of public group. 

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yes (52 %) 

no (48 %) 

yes (47 %) 

no (53 %) 

Graph no. 3: The strategy in the organization (public group on the right) 

Comparing these results with our hypothesis pronounced at the beginning, we have to disprove our 

assumption. About the strategy in the organization the 52 % of respondents were informed, what is 

a little bit more than a half. The second part of the hypothesis is correct. Taking into account only 

the public group of questionnaires, the number of respondents with a awareness of the strategy was 

only 47 %, what is in the relative number really less. Once more just a notice that the answer “no” 

doesn’t necessarily mean the fact, that the strategy in the organization doesn’t exist. The strategy 

could exist, but not all employees know about it. And that isn’t good, because the running of the 

organization should be subordinated to the strategy and that’s not possible without employees’ 

awareness of the strategy. 

The respondents with a positive answer to the fundamental question were asked for another set of 

questions, which concerned the details about the strategy. With that condition we got only 87 

questionnaires (respective 48 for the public group), which is insufficient in compliance with the 

sociological textbooks. Despite of this, the answers could give us at least the primary information. 

3.1. In-writing or verbally form? 

One of the questions was: if the strategy is declared verbally, in-writing or both forms are used. 

Also the answer “don’t know” was offered. The results are interesting with that there is a big 

difference between the total number and the public group – that’s obvious from following graphs. 

verbal declaration 

in writing form 

verbal declaration and in 

writing form 

don´t know 

Graph no. 4: The form of strategy declaration (total number on the left, public group only on the 

right) 

In the public group organizations the in-writing form of strategy is dominating. Both forms of 

strategy declaration are used in 45 % of organizations and the only in-writing form of declaration is 

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applied at 41 % of organizations. Using of only verbal declaration of strategy respond only 7 %, 

which means the total number of 3 people from the public group. 

The verbal declaration in the total number occupies quite important position, this answer was 

chosen by 30 % of people, what is about 2 % more than the people who ticked the in-writing form. 

3.2. Lower management and the staff in relation to the strategy 

The next two questions regard the strategy from the point of view of lower management (if they 

participate at the strategy formulation) and the rest of staff (if they are informed about the strategy). 

Each respondent could chose from the range of answers: “definitely yes”, rather yes”, “rather no”, 

“definitely no” and “don’t know, cannot consider”. 

In the question regarding lower management the “hesitating” types of answers predominate 

(particularly “rather yes” and “rather no”). Both positive and negative resolute types of answers 

were almost equal, and that both in the total number and also in public group of questionnaires. 

The number of answers in both groups was again almost equal also for the next question, which 

was: “Are all employees informed about the strategy?” The most of the answers was positive, the 

choices “definitely yes” together with “rather yes” make 73 % in total number and 72 % in public 

group. 

3.3. The implementation and the control of strategy 

It often happens, that the strategy exists in some way (e.g. is verbally declared), but isn’t practically 

used. The subject of the next questions was the implementation. The fact, that neither an effort of 

implementation exists think only 2 % of respondents. The practical realization of strategy confirmed 

56 % of all respondents, but only 48 % of those working in public administration organizations. The 

last possible answer was “an effort of implementation exists, but full realization doesn’t get on 

well”. This answer was chosen by 42 % (50 % from public sector) of people. 

But only to implement the strategy is not sufficient. It is necessary to regularly evaluate the reached 

results (compare them with the aims determined in strategy and also monitor the fulfillment of 

particular tasks arising from the strategy) during the realization of strategy. The answers for the 

question, if the strategy is controlled, were “yes”, “yes, but only irregularly or partly”, “no” and 

“don’t know”. The positive answers dominated. The negative answer were ticked only by 9 %, resp. 

4 % (public group) of respondents. Unconditional “yes” formed more than a half of all answers, 

54 % in total number and even 61 % in public group. 

3.4. An external consultant helping with strategy preparation 

According to the theory of strategy the external consultant (an expert in strategy) helping with a 

preparation and formulation of strategy is very helpful. “Did (or Does) any external consultant help 

with the preparation of strategy?“ That was the question with many “don’t know“ answers, 37 % in 

total number and 48 % in public group. The positive answer was chosen by 23 % of respondents, in 

public group a little bit more, 26 %. 

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3.5. The methods of strategic analysis 

The last question concerns an usage of the methods of strategic analysis. The respondents with 

positive answer were onward asked for a name of method. Graph no. 5 depicts the results. 

yes 

no 

don´t know 

yes 

no 

don´t know 

Graph no. 5: The usage of the methods of strategic analysis (public group on left) 

From the last graph we can see, that in the total number the negative answer rule (42 %) and in 

public sector organizations the positive answer was the most common (37 %). 

In the whole set there was only 24 positive answers, from which 22 indicated the SWOT analysis in 

particular. The second most often used analysis was the 7S analysis with 6 votes and then PEST 

with 5 votes. Once appeared also Porter’s analysis. It was possible to write more than one analysis, 

thus the total number of answers doesn’t equal to 24. However, the SWOT analysis is the most 

common one, inspite of the fact, that the SWOT is recently still more and more critiqued. It’s said 

that the most common reproofs are: it’s static and subjective and it finds opportunities, threats, 

strong and weak points of today, is conservative (it primarily doesn’t look for a new solution, it 

only improves and gains extant). For the first position of SWOT speaks its simplicity, the user of 

this method doesn’t need neither any special education nor many experiences. 

4. Conclusion 

This paper presented some of the interesting conclusions, which arised from the questionnaire 

completed by the students of bachelor’s combined study program at Collage of Law at Masaryk 

University in Brno. From the total 167 properly filled questionnaires 102 belonged to the public 

administration and the rest (65) to private sector. 52 % of total number of respondents (167 people) 

knows about the strategy that is used by the company’s management. That disproves the hypothesis 

assumed at the begining, which assumed no more than 50 %. Next assumption supposed that 

positive answers of the respondents from the public group will be less than from the total number. 

This assumption was confirmed, from the public group we got only 47 % of positive answers. 

Also other results regarding the strategy, e.g. participation of the lower management at the strategy 

formulation, awareness of strategy among all employees, the implementation and control of 

strategy, attendence of external consultant, were showed. The interesting fact was emerged by the 

question of type of strategy declaration. In-writing form of declaration is very popular (sometimes 

also in combination with verbal form). The mere verbal declaration in public group is almost 

negligible (however in the total number it had more votes than the mere in-writing form). 

The most popular method of strategic analysis is the SWOT, inspite of the known drawbacks. 

From the total number of respondents belonging to the public administration sector only 48 of them 

positively answered to the question of knowledge of particular strategy of company’s management. 

This number is too small to make relevant conclusions. One way or the another, the results are 

thought-provoking and gives interesting primary informations. 

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Bibliography: 

“Veřejná správa – Wikipedie”, open encyklopedy [cit. 1. 6. 2007] Reached at 

http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ve%C5%99ejn%C3%A1_spr%C3%A1va 

JIRÁSEK, J. A. Strategie. Umění podnikatelských vítězství. Praha: Professional Publishing, 2003. 

ISBN 80-86419-46-2 

WRIGHT, G.; NEMEC, J. Management veřejné správy: Teorie a praxe. Praha: Ekopress, 2003. 

ISBN: 80-86119-70-X 

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MULTI-CHANNEL STRATEGY IN BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS MARKETS 

Tataru Doina – manager– Perfect Co. Ltd, Bucuresti, Romania 

Jinaru Aron – researcher – PISC, Bucuresti, Romania 

Abstract: Multi-channel marketing strategy has become a major force in business-to-business distribution channels, 

especially since the option of Internet-based online channels emerged less than a decade ago. Making products and 

services available to business markets via a wide array of different channels can provide increased levels of customer 

choice and service. But the task of coordinating and integrating multiple channels that operate at high levels of 

efficiency has forced managers responsible for channel management to deal with a variety of challenging issues. These 

include the role of e-commerce in the multi-channel structure, finding an optimal channel mix, creating synergies across 

channels, building strategic alliances, creating sustainable competitive advantages, managing more complex supply 

chains, dealing with conflict, and providing the leadership necessary to attain well integrated multiple channels. 

Keywords: Channel management; Multi-channel strategy; Integrated multiple channels; Multiple 

channels; Channel coordination 

Businesses all over the world now have many more choices in the channels they can use to 

reach their customers. In fact, numerous companies in the business-to-business sector already use 

multiple channels to go to market with their products and services. The company's own field sales 

force channel, the distributor channel, the sales rep channel, the catalog/mail order channel, the 

online channel, the call center channel, and several other may all be needed by the same company to 

serve its customers effectively and efficiently. 

But such a wide range of channel choice and combination potential means that businesses 

also face the challenge of formulating strategies to achieve an optimal channel mix while avoiding 

conflict among the different channels being used. So, the overriding question becomes: How do 

firms utilize multiple channels, including new high-tech E-commerce channels, to foster channel 

confluence and synergy rather than conflict? Other important and related questions include: Will 

virtually all firms regardless of size and products sold face the challenge of developing wellintegrated 

multiple channels? Or will a multi-channel strategy need to be pursued only by those 

firms that deal with diverse customer segments that seek maximum choice in how, when, and where 

they purchase products and services? The multi-channel challenge may also involve cost/benefit 

tradeoffs. Does offering customers maximum convenience via a wide variety of channel choices 

necessarily raise the cost of distribution? Or, is it feasible to design multiple channel structures that 

actually reduce the overall cost of distribution by segmenting the firm's customer base in such a 

way that each customer segment is served by the most cost effective channel? Thus, large volume 

customers get called on regularly by the field sales force channel while small customers have access 

only to call center channels. Customers in the intermediate range are served mainly by the 

independent distributor channel. Numerous firms selling in business-to-business markets already 

operate essentially according to this channel strategy. But are more sophisticated multi-channel 

strategies feasible that allow customers more flexibility in channel choice and that move beyond the 

perhaps overly simplistic and static model based virtually entirely on size and on cost? Instead, can 

more dynamic multi-channel strategies be developed that enable even small customers to have 

access to premium, more people-intensive channels on the assumption that some of today's small 

customers could become giant ones in the future if the “expensive” channel offered them a superior 

level of service that exceeded their expectations? 

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E-commerce and multi-channel strategy 

Unquestionably the greatest force to impact marketing channel strategy in at least the last half 

century has been Internet-based e-commerce. The availability of the online channel option means 

that now virtually every firm whether large or small must include the Internet as a channel for 

reaching its customers. Further, all of these firms are faced with the task of blending online 

channels with conventional channels. So, “bricks and clicks” is no longer just a cute expression but 

a very real marketing channel strategy issue. 

Integrating online channels with conventional channels to create a “seamless” experience for 

customer is, if course, the ideal situation — in theory at least. In practice, however, such seamless 

integration is still more the exception than the rule because substantial obstacles exist. Although the 

technological barriers seem to be falling rapidly, channel strategy issues are still very much in play. 

Such key issues as the following still need to be addressed more fully: Should a firm offer all of its 

products online? If not, what is the proper balance between conventional and online channels? Can 

online channels lower the cost of distribution? Are certain products more “Internetable” (amenable 

to the Internet) than others? Do online channels provide access to new customers? To what degree 

do online channels take sales away from the firm's conventional channels? Can online channels 

enhance customer service even as they replace humans in conventional channels? 

Reaching more customers via multi-channel strategy 

Does having more channels automatically mean that the firm will gain access to more customers? 

Much of the literature on multi-channel marketing suggests that it does because additional channels 

provide more points of contact for customers to gain access to the firm's products. While this 

proposition seems self evident, it may not hold up to closer scrutiny. Additional channels may not 

reach the intended customer segments, or the customer segments that patronize the new channels 

may be comprised largely of customers who simply switched from the firm's prior channels 

resulting in “channel cannibalization” rather than new customers. Moreover, poorly integrated 

multiple-channels may engender in customer dissatisfaction with the firm's multi-channel strategy 

resulting in loss of customers to competitors. So, it might be that it is not the number of channels 

but the channel mix and how well the mix is coordinated and integrated that determine how the 

customer base is affected by multi-channel strategy. 

Future analysis and research on multi-channel strategy will need to deal with these questions to see 

whether any evidence can be found for the proposition that simply adding channels attracts more 

customers. 

Finding the optimal channel mix 

If as alluded to in the previous section, it is the quality of the channel mix rather than the quantity of 

channels that has the most influence on the size of a firm's customer base, future research on multichannel 

strategy should focus on the channel mix or what has been referred to as the channel 

portfolio. In the context of multi-channel strategy, the channel portfolio can be viewed as analogous 

to financial instruments in a conventional portfolio. So, just as a well-designed financial portfolio 

provides coverage across a range of investment opportunities to achieve diversification, the well 

designed channel portfolio may need to offer the firm access to a range of customer segments while 

achieving channel diversification. Of course the particular channel mix in terms of number of 

different channels and the composition of the channel mix or portfolio will vary widely for different 

industries and firms. But the emphasis on obtaining an optimal channel mix or portfolio may prove 

to be the core concept of multi-channel strategy. 

Synergy and multi-channel strategy 

Synergy has become an overused term in business, particularly when it comes to mergers and 

acquisitions. But in the context of multi-channel strategy, synergy meaning one channel reinforcing 

the effectiveness and efficiency of other channels might be a very real outcome. Using online 

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channels to obtain information before purchasing via conventional “brick and mortar” channels is 

perhaps the most common example of multi-channel synergy. But the potential for other kinds of 

synergy across channels may be much broader. Through well-designed multi-channel strategies, it 

might be possible, for example, to have more channels available to customers while at the same 

time actually lowering the costs of distribution. This would be possible if multi-channel strategy 

were to result in a more efficient allocation of distribution tasks across the various channels. The 

result would be that each channel would focus on those distribution tasks which it is best suited to 

perform and in the process complement the performance of other channels in the mix. 

Multi-channel strategy synergies might also emerge when different channels in the mix “help each 

other out” and in doing so create synergies that result in better customer service. This would occur, 

for example, when a customer confronted with a stockout from his usual channel is automatically 

served by another channel from the mix. If this channel shift were done smoothly and seamlessly 

through a well-conceived multi-channel strategy, the firm instead of having a dissatisfied or even 

disgruntled customer facing a stockout, could have a pleasantly surprised or even delighted 

customer. Such possible synergies from multi-channel strategy could be a fertile area for future 

research on multi-channel strategy in business-to-business markets. 

Strategic alliances and multi-channel strategy 

Securing the cooperation of channel members to work together as a team is certainly not a new idea 

but it takes on added importance in a multi-channel environment. Because there are more channel 

options for reaching customers, channel members may fear being bypassed under certain conditions 

or left out of the channel structures completely - replaced by the Internet or some other channel 

configuration. Consequently, the success of multi-channel strategy may depend heavily on whether 

distribution tasks are allocated within and across multiple channels in a manner that enhances 

cooperation among channel members while avoiding conflict. 

Strategic alliances have emerged in recent years as a means of securing enhanced channel member 

cooperation. Strategic alliances require channel members to share similar long term goals and often 

require a significant level of capital and management input. Even though a written agreement may 

be signed by each channel member, strategic alliances are usually not legally defined entities, 

governed by state, national or international laws. Instead, the real core of the relationship is based 

on trust, commitment, and cooperation between the parties. To work together effectively, channel 

members have to believe each other (trust), be willing to assist each other on a regular rather than 

ad hoc fashion (commitment) and work together to achieve this goal (cooperate). 

The emerging emphasis or multi-channel strategy raises several important questions about the 

nature and viability of strategic alliances with respect to multi-channel strategy: Are strategic 

alliances more difficult to develop in the more fluid structure of a multi-channel environment? Does 

multi-channel strategy undermine the viability of existing strategic alliances as customers expect 

more channel flexibility? Might the use of strategic alliances be more important than ever when 

employing multi-channel strategy to help engender trust and commitment among channel members 

in what may appear to be a much less stable channel environment? Future research on multichannel 

strategy will need to examine these very basic but crucial questions about the future role of 

strategic alliances in marketing channels. 

Sustainable competitive advantage and multi-channel strategy 

Today's global competitive environment has made it more difficult than ever for a company to build 

a sustainable competitive advantage by focusing on product differentiation or lower price. Product 

differences whether based on technological superiority, design innovation, quality, or brand 

identity, can be copied, matched or even improved upon by competitors from all over the world in a 

relatively short period of time. Similarly, a sustainable competitive advantage focusing on lower 

price is an even less viable strategy today because there is almost always some part of the world 

where the product can be made more cheaply and then priced lower by a competitor. 

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As a result of these developments, channel strategy and particularly multi-channel strategy has, and 

is likely to continue to enjoy increased attention as a means for gaining a sustainable competitive 

advantage. Probably the main reason for this is that well formulated channel strategies are more 

difficult for competitors to quickly copy. Developing multi-channel strategies often requires a longterm 

commitment and significant investment in infrastructure involving capital and human skills. 

Caterpillar's world wide dealer network, for example, is not something that a competitor could copy 

and implement in a short period of time. 

This new focus on multi-channel strategy can provide a fertile area for analysis and research in 

competitive strategy. By examining various channel configurations and mixes in the context of how 

such channel strategy and structure might be utilized for competitive advantage, a new research 

perspective may emerge in the area of competitive strategy. Moreover, from the standpoint of the 

practitioner, the increased emphasis on multi-channel strategy could provide a significant new range 

of options for competing in a intense global competitive environment. 

Conflict and multi-channel strategy 

Perhaps the most significant obstacle to building successful multi-channel strategies is the 

emergence of conflict between the different channels used for reaching customers. For some 

channel participants, multi-channel strategy may be viewed as a zero sum game: If one channel 

gains customers then another channel must have lost customers. 

Researchers examining multi-channel strategy in business-to-business markets will need to 

determine just how prevalent this zero sum perception is among channel participants when multichannel 

strategy is employed and whether it is a major cause of conflict. Further, researchers should 

also examine whether this perception reflects the reality of multi-channel strategy. It may well turn 

out that well-designed multi-channel strategies can avoid the zero sum model and instead provide 

for greater potential returns for all channels in the mix. If indeed this were the case, very interesting 

and important research could focus on how and why erroneous perceptions develop in multiple 

channel systems. 

Practitioners will also be very interested in conflict associated with multi-channel strategy. Perhaps 

the most emphasis should be placed on avoiding dysfunctional conflict in the first place during the 

process of designing multi-channel strategies. Can conflict between channels be “designed out” by 

anticipating potential conflicts and then formulating strategies and policies that prevent conflict or 

at least significantly ameliorate them? For example, if a manufacturer sells via its online channel 

directly to the same customers that are served by its field sales force and/or independent distributors 

can sales commissions be configured so as to create a win–win–win channel strategy? This type of 

positive outcome would occur if the multi-channel strategy results in customers having additional 

channel choices, field sales representatives or independent distributors get credit for direct from 

manufacturer sales (and receive commissions on them), and the manufacturer gains incremental 

sales because of the wider channel net cast before customers? 

If it is not possible to completely or virtually eliminate channel conflict via the original design of 

multi-channel strategy, both practitioners and researchers will need to examine ways of resolving or 

at least mitigating cross channel conflicts associated with multi-channel strategies. Some of the 

tools managers use to deal with conflict may involve traditional behavioral approaches that seek to 

enhance relational exchanges between channel members as well as arbitration and legal means. But 

technology may also play a larger role in the future. Under the banner of distribution relationship 

management (DRM), some firms have developed and one has patented software that can help 

channel managers deal with conflict by providing automated systems to assure that all channel 

members receive their fair share of the margins when products are sold via multiple channels that 

appear to compete with each other. 

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Channel leadership and multi-channel strategy 

Multi-strategy does not appear to be some fleeting new marketing concept or fad. Rather, it is more 

likely to become a core marketing challenge for the foreseeable future simply because customers 

are demanding more channel options and technology has made multiple channel options possible 

and economically feasible. Thus, multi-channel strategy has become, for many firms, a strategic 

issue that deserves the attention of top management. But in addition to top management focus, 

multi-channel strategy also requires management attention at the tactical or “nuts and bolts” level to 

oversee how various channels should be developed, managed and coordinated to create a seamless 

customer experience. If such highly coordinated or integrated multiple channels are to be realized, 

organizational changes that focus management attention on developing well-integrated multiple 

channels will need to become more of a priority. The position of “channel manager” that has been 

discussed in the marketing channels literature for several decades and actually established at some 

firms could become more prevalent. 

The increased concentration and focus under one executive position responsible for managing 

multiple channels would, at least in theory, enhance multi-channel integration. 

Conclusion 

Multi-channel strategy is fast becoming the norm for going to market in the business-to-business 

sector. Customers all over the globe are demanding more channel options for gaining access to 

products and services while technology has made it possible and economically feasible for firms to 

offer a wider array of channels, especially Internet-based online channels. But the growth of 

multiple channel structures while providing firms with more opportunities to reach more customers 

has also put a premium on well-conceived multi-channel strategy. Managers responsible for 

designing and managing channels of distributions must now deal with a range of challenging issues 

affecting multi-channel strategy. Some of the most important of these involve the integration of 

high-tech online channels with conventional channels, finding optimal channel mixes, creating 

synergies across channels, building strategic alliances in a multi-channel environment, using multichannel 

strategy to gain a sustainable competitive advantage, coordinating more complex supply 

chains to serve multiple channels efficiently, dealing with multi-channel conflict, and providing 

effective leadership to drive multi-channel strategy. 

It is hoped that the articles presented in this special section of Industrial Marketing Management 

will provide some direction for future research on these issues as well as some preliminary insights 

and management implications for practitioners. 

References 

1. Fites D.V., Make your dealers your partners, Harvard Business Review 1996. 

2. L.G. Friedman L.G., Furey T.R. The channel advantage, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston 1999. 

3. Johnson M.D.. Selnes F, Customer portfolio management: Toward a dynamic theory of exhange 

relationships, Journal of Marketing, 2004. 

4. R. Mehta R., T. Larsen T., B. Rosenbloom B., Ganitsky J, The impact of cultural differences in 

U.S. business-to-business marketing channel strategic alliances, Industrial Marketing Management 

2006. 

5. Montoya-Weiss M., Voss G.B., Grewal D., Determinants of online channel use and overall 

satisfaction with a relational, multichannel service providers, Journal of the Academy of Marketing 

Science, 2003. 

6. Payne A. Frow P., The role of multichannel integration in customer relationship management, 

Industrial Marketing Management 2004. 

7. Rangaswamy A., Bruggen G.H., Opportunities and challenges in multichannel marketing: An 

introduction to the special issue, Journal of Interactive Marketing, 2005. 

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ROLE OF AND RECENT TRENDS IN THE MEETINGS, INCENTIVES, 

CONVENTIONS AND EXHIBITIONS (MICE) INDUSTRY 

DODU SILVIA PATRICIA, LECTOR UNIV. DRD., UNIVERSITATEA 

ROMÂNO-AMERICANĂ 

ABSTRACT: Le tourisme a fait un nouveau pas en répondant à des demandes de plus en plus exigentes du marché: un 

produit complexe, sophistiqué (bien fait ou bien organisé) et à coût raisonnable. Aujourd’hui le MICE est considéré 

comme une formule contemporaine du tourisme, quelque chose de “à la mode” permettant de diversifier les produits 

touristiques d’un pays ou d’une région. MICE est l’abréviation internationale utilisée pour Meetings, Incentives, 

Conventions, Exhibitions. Cette industrie internationale est l’une des plus importantes dans l’organisation de foires et de 

congrès internationaux, mais également un segment touristique du futur en pleine évolution. MICE est le secteur qui se 

développe le plus rapidement dans l’industrie des voyages. Il est estimé à 300 billions d’Euros. 

MICE represents meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions and represents one of 

the fastest growing segments within the tourism industry generating millions in revenues for cities 

and countries. Europe and United States still remain the major markets worldwide in respect of the 

number of meetings, conferences and exhibitions. MICE tourism is fundamentally different from 

general business tourism as it has everything to do with tourism industry infrastructure, marketing 

and perception and several crucial levers that exist within the City's ability to expand demand in this 

sub-sector. Tourism is a staple industry for many country's economy. It is a service industry 

providing a generous distribution of income to all sectors of the economy, including those directly 

related to tourism such as resorts, restaurants, transport and activity providers and souvenir shops as 

well as those that are indirectly involved such as communications, advertising, public relations, and 

produce suppliers. In addition to revenue, the tourism industry, and more specifically the MICE 

industry, creates jobs and the potential for knowledge exchange between people of the same 

professions leading to national human resource development. 

Within the tourism industry, the MICE sector is singled out as an alternative component, a 

must for numerous destinations, especially due to the significant advantages involved by the 

development of this type of tourism. The key characteristic of the MICE tourism is the fact that it 

can be incorporated into any type of offering, no matter the resources available at the destination, as 

long as a wide range of services targeted at the business customers is available. 

Within the development strategies of certain regions, MICE is listed as a top priority, not 

only because it leads to the creation of important social-economic benefits, but also because it might 

prove to be the most appropriate solution for reducing the seasonality faced by those destinations. 

For example, numerous resorts in areas with high seasonality consider the development of the 

MICE sector as a key objective, investing significantly in the infrastructure required for such 

events, in order to be able to yield economic benefits during the off-peak season, when the demand 

for tourism services is limited. Among the benefits of organizing such events we can list the boost 

in the demand for tourism services during the peak season from clients who otherwise would have 

opted for a different destination, as well as the extension in the length of their stay by clients 

attending events (such as fairs, expos, sport events) not initially part of their travel plans. In other 

respects, this kind of tourism also plays a major part in generating a positive image of the 

destination, having the potential of becoming a key factor in the marketing of a specific destination 

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WHAT MICE MEANS 

The Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions sector consist, at the beginning, of 

activities including conventions, trade shows, seminars, events, exhibitions and incentive travel, 

then extends the number of activities included in the MICE sector to include workshops, 

symposiums, forums, panels, lectures, and colloquiums. 

A meeting is defined as an event designed to bring people together for the purpose of 

exchanging information, either from within one company or organization or from a broader 

spectrum of people: cocktail functions, product launches, lunch dinner and breakfast meetings, as 

well as special occasions such as weddings would constitute a meeting as defined by the WTO. 

Incentives are the second category of this market segment and include travel to a foreign country or 

domestically as part of a motivational incentive scheme to increase or reward employee effort. The 

definition of conferences is highly contentious but is generally accepted as being a multi day event 

having at least 100 delegates attending the event for the purpose of exchanging information. 

Exhibitions involve the bringing together of people for the purposes of viewing products and 

services. 

Meetings 

Incentives 

MICE 

Exhibitions 

Conferences 

Figure no. 1- MICE components 

The Meetings and Events Industry encompasses all facets related to the planning, staging and 

evaluation of meetings and events, including: customer, in-house organiser, Professional 

Conference Organiser (PCO) now commonly termed “Meetings Manager”, venues including 

convention centres, hotels and attractions, airlines, tour companies, special events organisers, 

suppliers (everything from satchels to names badges), audio-visual production houses, staging, 

themeing. Although the MICE features have a lot in common with the services sector in general and 

with the hospitality and travel industry, the main characteristic of these consist in the uniqueness of 

a certain event. Each event differs from another taking into consideration variables such as: the 

number of participants, service environment , audience, etc. 

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uniqueness 

interaction 

perishability 

Rituals and 

ceremonies 

MICE 

service 

environment 

intangibility 

deadline 

volume of effort 

Figure No. 2-MICE characteristics 

Perishability derives from the first feature mentioned and is caused by the customization of 

the services for every individual event. At the same time, services offered cannot be stored and are 

consumed only if the event is taking place. 

Service environment–of all characteristics of an event, the service offering and environment 

play a major role both for the organizer and for the client. An event placed in an appropriate 

environment can be hugely successful, while an unsuitable environment can lead to the failure of an 

otherwise well-organized one. Besides the environment, the role of the organizer is to decide the 

number and the type of the services needed to guarantee the success of the event, based on the 

requests made and the available budget. 

The more complex an event, the higher the volume of effort required from the organizers, 

and the higher the number of personnel required. Organizing issues, the huge number of processes 

required to set-up and run an event, the need of permanent communication with the beneficiaries, 

all these require intense human efforts, as well as significant time and material resources. 

At the same time, events are organized based on specific deadlines that must be met to 

guarantee the success of an event. 

Intangibility, a typical feature of the services, means that it is impossible for somebody to 

actually “touch” an event. The only tangible aspect is the overall experience: being part of the 

event, the enjoyment of the experience and one’s later memories about the event. 

Rituals and ceremonies, such as staging traditional ceremonials or remembrances of 

significant historical events can be parts of an event. Numerous events are inherently based on 

people’s desire to celebrate dates, historic events and other important moments in the life of their 

communities. 

The success of the event becomes also a function of the participants’ involvement and 

reaction to the event itself (for example, the reaction of the individuals in the attendance of a rock 

concert). 

THE IMPACT OF MICE OVER THE TOURISM AND TRAVEL INDUSTRIES 

The MICE sector is an important generator of tourism expenditure, investment, foreign 

exchange earnings and employment. The meetings incentives conferences and exhibitions sector of 

the tourism industry has experienced tremendous growth throughout the world, with many cities 

having already invested in major MICE facilities. The first conference cited was held in 1896 in 

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Detroit, Michigan when a group of businessmen first realised the economic value of hosting 

meetings (Gartell, 1991). However the growth of the MICE industry throughout the world did not 

occur until much later. Growth in the MICE industry has occurred on a global scale. In 1998 the 

were identified over 184 countries, which have held MICE events. The most rapid growth has 

occurred in Asia. Africa and Eastern Europe have recently entered the MICE market, the USA has 

the maturest MICE market. The USA has lost part of its market to newly developing MICE 

destinations such as Asia. Statistically it was demonstrated upon many marketing studies, being an 

important source of incomes for the local economy and for the community, the MICE Industry is 

nowadays sustained in all developed countries by the resort organisms who seek the strategic 

development, creating a suitable ambit at a legislative level and investments in order to achieve 

dinamic opportunities of growth in this sector. 

The MICE domain was internationally assessed for 300 billion EURO, while at a city level, 

Geneve for example, has 70% of hotel overnights for the MICE participants. In 2004, Statistics 

show 3,14 mil participants at reunions and conferences worldwide from which 31% in European 

destinations. The most important international MICE markets are USA and Europe, while a 

continental rank shows Europe as a leader in the top preferences of the MICE clientele, Western 

Europe holding 60% of the total events of this kind. As a prezent tendency, new East European 

competitors like Russia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania appear on the market having as advantage 

the possibility of cheaper offers than the traditional European destinations, upon the development of 

the turistic infrastructure with an orientation on this sector. 

Table 1 Country and city ranking measured by number of meetings organized in 2006 

Ranking Country #Meetings Ranking City #Meetings 

1 U.S.A. 414 1 Vienna 147 

2 Germany 334 2 Paris 130 

3 United Kingdom 279 3 Singapore 127 

4 France 269 4 Barcelona 103 

5 Spain 266 5 Berlin 91 

6 Italy 209 6 Budapest 86 

7 Brazil 207 7 Seoul 85 

8 Austria 204 8 Prague 82 

9 Australia 190 9 Copenhagen 69 

10 The Netherlands 187 Lisbon 69 

Source: ICCA, 2006 

The whole range of the MICE components have a great impact on the tourism industry, 

being extremely benefic taking into consideration the advantages that result from their organization: 

the sales growth of the transportation services, the increase of the hotel occupation range, aditional 

incomings obtained through the commercialization of the service offers, real profits obtained by the 

economic agents who sustain the operations(hotel, catering service, travel agency, etc), incomings 

for the connective industries(from technic and equipment dealers, alimentary dealers and even the 

companies specialized in floral decorations, taxes and fees from the state budget, creating new jobs, 

the development of the general and specific infrastructure) represent certain advantages for the 

event organi organizers and for the community. 

TRENDS IN THE MEETINGS, INCENTIVES, CONVENTIONS AND EXHIBITIONS 

INDUSTRY 

The Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events market is a rapidly expanding market for 

destinations offering the key components important to these segments of the tourism industry. In an 

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increasing competitive global marketplace, the conference and meetings industry will have to adapt 

to change and respond to external influences for survival. In order to remain competitive, this sector 

needs to respond to a number of challenges that will face the industry in the near future. These 

responses are: 

-to upgrade conference venue infrastructure and to develop new products. 

-to invest in human resource development for the industry in order to become an attractive career 

option, and to improve employee motivation. 

-to implement and utilise new technologies that facilitate the successful organisation and delivery of 

conferences and meetings. 

-to continue to invest in marketing strategies in order to stimulate the growt . 

-to lobby government for support in terms of funding and investments. 

MPI (Meetings Professional International) considers that the number of meetings, 

suggestions for activities, as well as the number of participants and level of spending per 

event/meeting will increase in 2008. At the same time, clients interested in such events expect to 

receive a higher slice of their organizations’ budgets to support this anticipated increase in their 

needs. However, everybody is suspicious about the accuracy of such predictions, especially because 

of the state of the worldwide economies and the boost of oil prices that will result in higher travel 

costs. 

In a world in which terror attacks and economic crises are a current occurrence, more and 

companies use e-conferences as a solution that saves them both money and time. Small and 

medium-sized companies in the US and Europe use phone conferences and virtual meeting more 

and more often, resulting in significant savings in their travel budgets. Virtual meetings become 

more and more widespread as companies’ top and middle management tend to keep themselves 

updated on the latest development in this area. While this trend is obvious to all observers, lack of 

available statistical data makes the efforts of quantifying it ineffective. 

On the other hand though, the technological developments play a vital role in the MICE 

sector not as a replacement for the face-to-face interactions, but as a tool that facilitates the efforts 

of the organizers of meetings, incentives, conferences and events. New technological tools on 

display at MICE fairs all across the world show ways for organizers and buyers of such 

technologies to improve the efficiency of their work. 

Climate changes (and carbon emissions in particular) are a top priority on the agenda of 

MICE associations. Most of these associations work together from a desire to educate their 

members on adopting “green” policies. This new tendency is becoming more and more visible in 

the policies of the organizations that promote conference centers, hotels, and airlines that adopt 

environmental-friendly practices as part of their daily business practices. Statistics show that 

companies adopting “green” policies wind up with cost savings, while also reducing the carbon 

emissions. 

Even though at this moment Europe and the US hold the supremacy in the MICE sector, 

Middle East and Asia are quickly closing the gap. Due to consistent and significant investments in 

infrastructure, the endorsement of the respective governments, and the involvement of powerful 

organizations that support the development of this sector as a way to attract new clients and, 

implicitly, create new sources of revenue for organizers and the countries involved, the aforementioned 

areas witness a considerable increase in the number of events. 

Bibliography 

Dimanche, F., (2002), The Contribution of Special Events to Destination Brand Equity, 

CERAM Sophia Antipolis, France. 

Davidson, R., (2003), Business Travel, Education Limited. 

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Dwyer, L., and Forsyth, P., 1997. Impacts and Benefits of MICE Tourism: A framework for 

Analysis. Tourism Economics, Vol.3, No. 1 

Gartrell, R. B., 1991. Strategies Partnerships For Convention Planning; The Role Of 

Convention And Visitor Bureau's In Convention Management, International Journal of Hospitality 

Management. Vol. 10 (2). 

Shone, A., Parry, Bryn, (2004), Successful event management, a practical handbook, Second 

Edition, Edit. Thomson. 

Watt, D., (1998), Event management in leisure and tourism, Addison Wesley Longman 

Limited, England. 

Verikios, M. ,( 2006), MICE Industry Trends & Markets , published în Travel Daily News. 

http://www.iccaworld.com 

www.tourismarket.com/mice.htm 

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STARTING AND SUSTAINING DECISION MANAGEMENT 

IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS 

Liviu Neamţu – senior lecturer“ 

Constantin Brâncuşi” University, Tg-Jiu, Romania 

Adina Claudia Neamţu - professor 


ABSTRACT: La décision stratégique dépend de nombreux facteurs qui on peut absolument déterminé la qualité de 

cette décision, avec des influences sur les actions déployées au niveau d’organisation. Ces facteurs on peut devenir des 

facteurs négatifs où positifs au long du procès de la formulation du décision et plu tard en procès de l’intégration de 

cette décision par des actions concrètes. Ça c’est la motivation pour qu’ils faut connais les principaux catégories des 

facteurs qu’ils doit gestionnés dans ce procès. La collaboration et la formalisation de la décision on représente les plus 

efficients voies d’optimiser la décision a partir des nombreux restrictions qu’on peut exister qu parcours de cet procès. 

Decision in life’s companies 

The improuvement of decision process is replayed thousands of times every week, in every context 

where people learn a new set of insights or methods and then seek to apply them in their everyday 

situations. Whether the concern is corporate strategy or aerobic exercise, it seems to be the rule 

rather than the exception that vows to follow through come to naught. 

We explain in this study how well or poorly a company fares in the marketplace rests squarely on 

how well the people in the company decide. The quality of decision making in a company is not an 

accident; it is a direct consequence of the leaders' decision management actions, whether deliberate 

or inadvertent. Success decision is based on anticipation of all situations that will erode and 

backsliding decision making. This study gives some ideas for how to keep that from happening. 

Contributors to backsliding 

There are five major culprits: 

1. Urgency. Often new efforts get lost in the urgency of every 

day events, crises that simply have to be dealt with right then and there: "There was just never a 

convenient time to try out the ideas. Everybody-me, especially, it seems was overworked as it was, 

dealing with all the budget cuts and reorganizations that seem to be a way of life around here." 

2. Forgetting. The forgetting culprit is especially powerful because it rules out even the possibility 

of new ideas being used, once they are lost from memory, it is as if they never existed: "For the first 

couple of weeks, I thought about decision management stuff all the time. Eventually, after being 

away from them for so long, it rarely occurred to me to apply the new techniques, and when it did, I 

couldn't remember how things were supposed to go." 

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3. Hassle. The heart of the hassle factor is that the desired change program fails because it demands 

out-of-the-ordinary efforts that are unsustainable over the long run: "To apply these concepts, I had to 

go out of my way, doing extra things that were on top of all the other things I was obliged to do and 

was in the habit of doing. I just didn't have the energy and willpower to keep that up." 

4. Isolation. The isolation factor reflects the powerful influence of social forces in virtually every 

aspect of our lives: "I was out there all by myself, a Lone Ranger. Most of the folks in my unit, and, 

even worse, my boss, thought I was nuts. They didn't understand what I was trying to do. And although 

they didn't actively fight it, they sure didn't try to help me out, either. I couldn't continue trying to 

march against the tide." 

5. Incentives. Any change effort is easily undermined by the apparent absence of immediate rewards 

for success: "After a couple of weeks, I couldn't honestly say that even my own decisions were making 

a dramatic difference in how well things were going in my work. And I certainly don't think that my 

boss was dazzled by spectacularly better decisions in our office. So I said, 'What's the point?'" 

To avoid it adding decision management experiences, it must somehow defeat every one of these 

errors. Doing so requires that it personally devises, adhere to, and continuously refine a plan that will 

ensure that it follows through, a plan that directly addresses each of the main contributors to 

backsliding. 

Elements of a Successful Action Plan 

If the manager develops a plan himself, it will have the sense of personal ownership success demands. 

Moreover, the plan will be tailored to the unique circumstances of personal situation and the situation 

inside company. Nevertheless, experience has demonstrated the wisdom of weaving a limited set of 

elements into a decision management action plan, elements that fall into just two broad categories: 

partnership and institutions. 

1. Partnership 

It needs partners-allies in decision management mission. Acquiring partners helps most directly with 

isolation and incentives. With partners, a manager will no longer be the sole voice for change. And 

when manager and his partners achieves even subtle successes, at minimum it will be rewarded by 

mutual congratulations. Just as important, though, the manager and his partners will be able to work 

collaboratively to put into place and sustain measures that combat all the remaining contributors to 

backsliding. 

What kinds of partners should it seeks to recruit? Although it should never turn away anyone in the 

company, it makes sense to start by seeking partnerships with a few close peers, managers at its own 

rank. It probably already knows these folks well, including how they think. And managers cans 

empathize with the kinds of problems that occupy their attention day in and day out. Thus it haves a 

natural bond on which you can build. Collectively, all of these should be motivated to craft measures 

that speak directly to the decision management ills that make jobs harder than they ought to be and that 

are impeding advancement. After getting things going, manager and his peer collaborators would be 

wise to seek partners in the ranks above manager, starting with his own bosses. After all, those are the 

people who control the richer resources and authority required for broad change. 

How should it approach the recruiting task? The same principles that guide effective sales practices 

apply here, too. A prospective partner's self-perceived needs have special importance. Start by asking, 

"What keeps this person up at night? What company problems cause the biggest worries? What does 

this person see as obstacles to personal advancement?" Using the kinds of ideas, figure out how and to 

what extent those problems arguably are caused or aggravated by weak decision management. Then 

manager makes those arguments to his prospective partner as convincingly as it cans. Experience has 

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shown that managers must illustrate its arguments with concrete, easy to understand horror stories from 

real-life business situations, such as those that are recounted in the news every day or, better still, that it 

cans cite from the everyday life of own company. To close the sale, it cans offer a way out: improved 

decision management practices. 

2. Institutions 

The first order of business for manager and his partners should be working to see that, gradually, new 

institutions are put into place, starting with theirs work groups. By institutions it means simply the 

customs, routines, and even tools that people in the company must apply in the everyday, run-of-themill 

conduct of their duties, what is considered normal. Making a decision management measure into 

an institution prevents backsliding because then people do not have to do anything extra or unusual. In 

fact, going against an institution is what is burdensome and therefore unlikely to occur. Here are five 

specific institutions to ponder. 

a) Commitment. The company (or unit), in the persons of the official and unofficial influence leaders, 

makes a public commitment to the ideal of constantly improving decision management practices. It 

goes a long way for a supervisory committee to publicly say something like: "Our goal is to 

continuously and measurably improve how we make decisions in this division, top to bottom." 

The only way, such a commitment will ever occur, is through the advocacy of high-level managers 

have it previously recruited as collaborators in decision management efforts. They must make the same 

kinds of sales efforts it useds to recruit them. Simply put, they must persuade the company's leadership 

that better decision management will significantly improve the company's performance, and hence the 

leadership's performance. 

b) Coordinator. The leadership should appoint and publicly announce a point person or czar for 

monitoring and sustaining decision management improvement efforts. Moreover, the decision 

management czar must have the resources, in terms of both money and personnel, required for doing 

the job. It is important that the role of czar be only part of the portfolio of responsibilities for the person 

so appointed. Otherwise, it is unlikely that the role will ever be realized. Moreover, in isolation, the role 

could easily be marginalized. Thus czar duties should be one of several acknowledged responsibilities 

of a high-level manager (such as a production manager or controller) who is already respected for other 

reasons. Critically, the company's improvements in decision management must have direct and 

significant impact on the czar's compensation. 

c) Decision Management Brownbags. Long ago, the DuPont Company transformed itself into a 

company with an outstanding safety culture. Every single person in this chemical giant, it seems, 

naturally views any situation that arises in terms of its safety implications. In their heads, questions like 

these just pop up spontaneously: "Is this dangerous? How can we make it safe?" 

A key element of DuPont's remarkable ability to sustain this culture for decades is simple: every small 

work group in the company (even accounting and personnel selection research groups) devotes perhaps 

fifteen to thirty minutes of a weekly brownbag lunch meeting to a conversation about safety. One 

member of the group is responsible for having done research or other preparation on some safetysignificant 

topic. That member then presents the resulting findings and ideas and leads a lively 

discussion about them. Every member of the group, with no exceptions, is part of a regularly scheduled 

rotation of safety discussion leaders. 

The DuPont cultural transformation and maintenance strategy is directly generalizable to decision 

management. With the requisite leadership support, manager and his partners would initiate a tradition 

of periodic brief decision management brownbag discussions in company work groups modeled on the 

DuPont tradition, just as safety consciousness has become second nature for everyone at DuPont, 

decision consciousness will become second nature at your company. This cultural makeover probably 

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would have greater impact than any other single thing managers could do to advance the cause of better 

decision making in the company. 

d) Decision Audits. It is useful to view a company's decision making as analogous to public health. The 

typical company decision is OK, if not great. Cumulatively, though, the minor shortcomings of thousands 

of little decisions, their discrepancies from greatnes, add up and even compound one another's 

effects, gradually sapping the company's ability to compete. Further, if fundamental flaws in the 

company's decision practices remain hidden beneath the surface of everyday decisions, then the 

company is prey to occasional decision disasters whose catastrophic consequences cascade throughout 

the company. Decision management institutions are a company's decision-making health system, its 

means for preventing disasters and for assuring that even the average decision is an effective, healthy 

one. 

The decision auditing idea is completely analogous to the notion of financial auditing. Accountants 

randomly sample and appraise transactions for indications of problems with a company's financial 

controls. Similarly, decision auditing entails periodically sampling company decisions in particular 

classes, for instance, supplier choices, major hires, or investment selections. The audit procedure would 

require an analysis and appraisal of the process by which each sampled decision was made. ("How was 

the possibilities issue dealt with here? Was that good enough, considering the circumstances? What 

would have worked better?") The results might reveal weaknesses that, in due course, would spell 

serious trouble for the company. Clearly, in instances like that, the company's managers must act. 

Decision audits serve another vital purpose, too. All the decision audits that have been performed in a 

given period, say, a year or half year, should be summarized. The resulting summaries provide visible 

yardsticks of the company's decision-making health. 

e) Performance Appraisals and Compensation. The final suggested institution is actually a requirement 

for long-term success. Managers and their decision management partners should work hard to see that a 

regular element of the system by which managers' performance is appraised and, in turn, the managers 

are compensated, is how well they have carried out their decision management duties: directly 

influencing key decisions, supervising decision-making routines, shaping decision-making practices, 

and providing required decision-making resources. If the recognition and compensation that managers 

command is tied directly to these activities, they will do whatever it takes to do them well. 

Conclusions 

Change efforts are notoriously subject to backsliding, and efforts to improve decision making in 

company are no exception. A plan to ensure that efforts are sustained needs to be personal and creative 

and it must address the main contributors to backsliding. Two types of elements that should go into the 

plan are partnerships and new institutions. Five key institutions are commitment, a coordinator, 

decision management brownbags, regular decision audits, and appropriate use of performance 

appraisals and compensation. 

References 

1. Winston R. Sieck, J. Frank Yates - "Exposition Effects on Decision Making: Choice and 

Confidence in Choice," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1997. 

2. Steven Thomma – “"Battered Women Denied Insurance”, Detroit Free 

Press, 1994. 

3. Liviu Neamtu - “ Strategic Management”, Universitaria, Craiova, 2007. 

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STUDY AND PRACTICE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN TOURISM 

Professor George Niculescu – Constantin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu 

Abstract: Tourism has been slow in adopting this approach due to not only a lack of gearing between researchers and 

tourism, but also to a “hostile” knowledge adoption environment. Its acquisition would close the gap and also provide both 

insights and potential applications for tourism. Research in Romania supports the assertion that this field is a late adopter of 

knowledge management. In response, this paper provides a model for tourism. 

Résumé: L’industrie du tourisme a été lente à adopter une approche de gestion de savoir, non 

seulement du fait d’un manque de collaboration entre les chercheurs et l’industrie du tourisme, mais 

aussi à cause d’un environnement ‘hostile’ à l’adoption du savoir. L’adoption de cette approche 

permettrait de fermer l’écart entre les recherches en tourisme et l’industrie du tourisme et fournirait de 

nouvelles perspectives et des applications potentielles au tourisme. Les recherches en Roumanie 

renforcent l’affirmation que le tourisme a adopté tardivement la gestion du savoir. En réponse, cet 

article offre un modèle pour la gestion du savoir pour le tourisme. 

This paper argues that for this approach to be applied to tourism, and particularly destinations, 

the traditional knowledge management focus on the single organization will need to be changed. The 

term tourism in this context applies to both public and private sector organizations, and to their macrolevel 

articulation at destinations. 

While the pivotal role of knowledge as a competitive tool has long been recognized, the emergence of 

knowledge management as an academic field is much more recent, dating from the 80s. Since then, the 

literature has grown rapidly, as have its applications in many economic sectors, with the exception of 

tourism. Throughout this growth, the philosophy has remained a simple one that is also relevant to 

tourism, that of gaining competitive advantage. Leading authors are testament to this view. 

As a competitive tool, the essentials of the process involve identifying relevant knowledge and 

capturing it, transferring and sharing it, and ensuring that organizations are engineered to optimize 

flows and to manage them effectively. This demands an open decentralized environment where 

individuals are empowered to view knowledge as a resource to be shared and not hoarded 

preconditions often not present in the tourism industry. 

Knowledge management addresses the critical issue of organizational adaptation, survival, and 

competitiveness in the face of increasingly discontinuous environmental change.. For tourism, this 

environmental change is evident in both the supply environment and the changing nature of consumer 

behavior. Destinations are constantly adapting to changing situations by creating and using knowledge 

in order to respond to, for example, the safety and security measures necessary following the 

September 11 attacks on the United States. Yet, although a number of authors have reviewed the 

tourism literature there are to date few examples of the application of knowledge management. 

If knowledge management is to be utilized at the destination level, then the micro-level focus on the 

organization, which dominates its thinking, needs to be expanded to embrace knowledge stocks and 

flows within networks of organizations at the destination. This is a similar micro/macro issue to that 

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faced by network and innovation researchers. On this topic, provide a solution by arguing that 

knowledge articulation occurs in networks of organizations attempting to innovate. 

Concepts and Definitions 

Despite the fact that the literature is relatively recent, it demonstrates three clear phases of development 

beginning with the dominance of information technologies and developing into the recognition of a 

knowledge economy. The relative immaturity of the field is also reflected in the ongoing debate as to 

definitions of knowledge management, as shown below. 

The development of the literature can be categorized into three phases. The first phase was based on the 

role of information technologies in enhancing productivity by managing the rapid growth and 

availability of information. This was a product of computing developments from the mid-60s onwards 

and led commentators such as to develop the concepts of knowledge work and worker. The second 

phase in the mid- to late-80s saw a shift to a knowledge-based society that was beginning to be driven 

by markets rather than production. This was also reflected in the literature with call for a knowledgebased 

platform for tourism literature. This phase was customer-focused with knowledge leveraged to 

increase awareness of markets and enhance service quality. Much of this thinking was led by 

publication on learning organizations, called “the fifth discipline” and strongly influenced by 

developments in Japan was in this second phase that leading organizations were able to boost 

competitiveness by using knowledge management initiatives to release previously untapped pools of 

know-how and practices. In tourism, these organizations included Singapore Airlines and British 

Airways. The third phase began in the mid- to late-1990s, continued into the 21st century, and has the 

most to offer the tourism industry. In this phase, knowledge became a resource as the information age 

evolved into the knowledge economy directly based upon the production, distribution, and use of 

information. This economy is characterized by structural change as the new products and innovations 

are brought about by technology development. This has led to the employment of highly skilled labor 

as a means of competitive advantage; an important issue for tourism where many of the human 

resource practices mitigate against employment and retention of highly skilled employees. It is in this 

phase that policy initiatives have begun to focus on the removal of barriers to transfer and adoption, 

targeting enterprises by sector or size. 

The next phase of knowledge management will face a number of challenges and developments as 

identified by Delphi survey of its practitioners. They note that the future of the field will be influenced 

by the ability to articulate and demonstrate its strategic benefits, gain senior management support, 

evaluate and identify organizations’ core knowledge, capture the tacit, and demonstrate the long-term 

stability of knowledge requirements and security. 

The above three phases were driven by a number of key influences. Phase one was the realization of 

the importance of leveraging the intellectual assets of an organization to enhance competitiveness. As 

technology has speeded up business processes, so tourism organizations have to be in a position to 

respond quickly to the changing demands of customers and suppliers, and to new opportunities and 

environmental needs 

As a result, learning curves have shortened, product development cycles have accelerated, and 

innovation has increased across all areas of tourism. Second, there is no doubt that technology has been 

a key driver, initially through the processing capability of computers and rapid transmission ability of 

networks. The Internet in particular has accelerated the capabilities of knowledge management and 

reduced the price of transfer. Because all organizations have access to technology, it acts as a capability 

leveler with the differentiating factor in competitiveness being knowledge and how it is managed. 

Third, organizations have re-engineered their structures to facilitate the development and sharing of 

knowledge across an entity; this demands that it is well networked and has an atmosphere of trust. This 

also has led learning organizations to decentralize their decisionmaking structures and create cross- 

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functional teams. In the past, downsizing and re-engineering efforts have meant that much 

organizational knowledge has been lost. Realization of this has prompted strategies to reduce attrition. 

Organizations have also looked beyond their own structures as globalization created opportunities for 

sharing, partnerships, and alliances with others in terms of knowledge-intensive products and transfer. 

In contrast, practitioners use knowledge management to leverage within an organization in order to 

better achieve its objectives; and so they define it as the art of creating value from intangible assets. 

Practitioners create value through a “process of capturing and making use of a firm’s collective 

expertise anywhere in the business”. This is done through “the coming together of organizational 

processes, information processing technologies, organizational strategies, and culture for the enhanced 

management and leverage of human knowledge and learning for the benefit of the company. 

A Model for Tourism 

Any model should align with, and contribute to, the management goals of the tourism organization so 

that knowledge management projects match business objectives. This demands a clear identification of 

what knowledge is important to support these goals. The literature offers a number of possible models 

but their root is a stocks and flows approach. Here, stocks are the things that are known and flows are 

the means by which the knowledge is communicated to those who need it. This model works well for 

tourism and offers insights and practical techniques to facilitate the transfer of tourism knowledge from 

researchers to the industry. 

Knowledge Stocks and Mapping. 

Stocks in an organization, or destination, comprise both explicit and tacit knowledge. Here, its 

management has much to contribute to tourism by demonstrating how it can be mapped, captured, and 

codified to ensure that it is legible, relevant and useable by the tourism industry. 

The first stage of a knowledge management process is to understand the current environment of an 

organization through a mapping exercise. This is effectively an audit which maps existing knowledge 

against that required and so identifies the gaps which need to be filled. Typically, the audit of stocks 

will include assets, programs, activities, and practices, relating these to competing organizations. The 

focus of the mapping exercise is knowledge rather than simply data or information. Therefore, it is 

important for a tourism organization to understand the nature of knowledge as a resource. For example, 

knowledge is difficult to own and control; the more it is used the more benefits it delivers; investment 

in it is heavily front-ended; and it tends to be created in communities of practice such as researchers. 

The literature also provides useful ways of thinking about and defining knowledge. Broadly, it can be 

thought of as the use of skills and experience, to add intelligence to information in order to make 

decisions or provide reliable grounds for action. More specifically, it is “understanding gained through 

experience or study”, classified according to its ability to be codified and communicated. For tourism, 

this distinction is fundamental and goes a long way to explaining the failure of the industry to 

adequately capitalize on knowledge provides possibly the most useful classification, distinguishing 

between two types. 

Tacit knowledge is difficult to codify and includes that passed from master to apprentice. Tourism 

organizations and the entrepreneurial community are rich in tacit sources, yet these are often ignored 

due to a number of challenges. For example, the fact that individuals hold tacit knowledge as the basis 

of their competitive advantage explains their reluctance to share or communicate it. Moreover, by 

definition, it cannot be questioned or discussed because it has not been communicated to the rest of the 

organization. Arguably, as a result, tacit knowledge and its owners are difficult to manage. However, 

this is not strictly true as it does have objective and tangible consequences, such as profitability or 

customer satisfaction. As such, its outputs can be tested for quality; indeed it needs to be understood 

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and managed because, while it is held by employees and entrepreneurs, it forms the fragile basis for the 

competitiveness and operation of enterprises and destinations. In contrast to tacit knowledge, explicit 

knowledge is transferable and easy to codify. Thus, it is usually the focus of an organization’s interest, 

and is found in such forms as documents, databases, files, and customer directories. Although estimates 

suggest that only 10% is explicit it represents the knowledge capital that is appropriated by the 

organization, independent of who works there. Effectively then, the explicit form provides the 

infrastructure that people work for and within. This classification adds a second important dimension to 

the application of knowledge management in tourism, the need to identify, capture and convert tacit to 

explicit in order to transform it into capabilities for the industry. 

For tourism, the model of absorptive capability is the most relevant.. It refers to the fact that 

organizations have to respond to inputs and that their ability to do so will depend in part on their 

existing knowledge; effectively the greater the stocks, the more effective will be the assimilation of 

new knowledge. It will also depend upon the size, internal structure, division of labor, leadership, and 

competency profile of the receiving organization. This is a serious issue in tourism where many of the 

users of research lack experience in the field. 

This absorptive capability model includes user-acceptance testing involving selecting respondents, 

designing user-acceptance test criteria, and developing test cases. The criteria used for the knowledge 

to be transferred can include accuracy, adaptability, adequacy, appeal, availability, ease of use, 

performance, and reliability. Testing often involves the notion of face validation where the knowledge 

management system is evaluated at face value, in terms of ease of use and appeal, while another 

approach is to run test cases using codification to judge the effectiveness in solving real problems or 

situations, the so-called ground truth approach. 

The absorptive capacity of small and medium sized enterprises is important for transfer in tourism, as 

they are critical to destination competitiveness. For such firms, successful transfer depends upon a high 

degree of relevance to their operation. In studies of transfer among them, peer networks are seen to be 

more valuable than consultants and other change agents, as they prefer to have contact with other 

people who are working in the same field and of whom they can ask questions freely. Clearly, smalland 

mediumsized enterprises can benefit from entering into alliances, clusters, or franchises to achieve 

mutually beneficial objectives; or work through intermediaries such as tourist boards; increasingly, 

cooperation in adoption is possible in both destination and industry cluster networks. 

Codifying Knowledge. 

Codification organizes stocks for leveraging, ease of use, and effective transfer, so that the right 

knowledge gets to the right people at the right time. In tourism, the codification of research results 

before transfer to the industry is a process that has been largely ignored. Yet, the process of 

codification is relatively well defined and follows three set stages, each designed to reduce redundant 

or obsolete sources. One, strategic objectives of the knowledge management project are identified; two, 

the sources that address these objectives are identified; and, three, the knowledge is assessed and 

codified using appropriate techniques. These techniques in tourism include data mining to allow 

prediction and solutions to future events. Knowledge maps or storyboards are also commonly used and 

act as visual directories pointing a person in the right direction to access sources, such as a tourism 

human resources skills planner. The more rule-based the knowledge, the easier it is to build into 

computer-based systems, such as decision tables or spreadsheets where a list of conditions can be 

identified with appropriate responses (a yield management system is an obvious example here). 

Production rules tend to be similar using a modular approach to tacit knowledge with if/then type 

statements. Other approaches include case-based reasoning which works from previous experience, and 

tends to be recipe based, with ingredients and actions. 

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Despite the obvious importance of codification, and its central relevance to transfer in tourism, it is a 

difficult process. It can be hindered by organizational politics and fragmentation of sources, with 

knowledge not always present in the proper form to be hoarded. 

Knowledge Flows. 

The ultimate goal is the effective transfer and use of knowledge to contribute to competitiveness. For 

the tourism industry, while there have been significant advances in developing stocks, it is in the area 

of flows and transfer where the real challenge lies. As the number of researchers and publications has 

grown, this has had the effect of creating a community of practice for tourism, although some liken this 

to an academic community with common publications and language. Its mentality may also be partly to 

blame for the lack of gearing between the research community and the tourism industry itself. Here, 

identifies two different sources. That created in higher education institutions based upon disciplines and 

fields is mode one knowledge, while mode two is more contextual and generated outside these by 

organizations such as industry, government, and consultants. While this goes some way to explaining 

the poor record of transfer, other authors state that many of the prior conditions necessary for 

successful transfer and adoption are not present in tourism. 

Barriers to Knowledge Management Application 

Cost can be a major barrier to the implementation of a knowledge management system, particularly if 

the results are disappointing for the user. Some have not recognized that this process involves the 

management of change, and so needs time. As a result, a number of early initiatives have failed, 

sometimes at great expense. There are a range of other barriers to the effective implementation of 

knowledge management, some generic and some specific to tourism. 

First, the technology gap is caused by an overdependence on information technology, delivering 

imperfect systems and tending to manage data rather than knowledge. Some tourism data warehousing 

projects exemplify this point. Complex operations were developed in the 90s, but as they had poorly 

designed user interfaces they remained largely unused by the industry, their intended audience. 

Second, the implementation gap is caused by organizations failing to link actions and decisions to what 

they know, partly through structures that militate against the creation of true learning environments. 

This is a common problem due to the trait of tacit knowledge hoarding in the industry. Third, a lack of 

strategic fit between knowledge management and the rest of the organization causes the integration 

gap. 

Finally, the gap is a failure to transfer research and best practice to the end user. Sometimes this is also 

caused by poor absorptive capability on the part of the user, but it is also caused by carelessly designed 

research projects where the transfer process is not understood, as already noted in the Cooperative 

Research Center for Sustainable Tourism example. This is a serious issue in tourism where knowledge 

creation, transmission, and use are often unstructured and informal, with decisions commonly made 

without the awareness of what is available. Because tourism is a service industry, its knowledge 

management is also handicapped by the fact that statistical reporting is still based upon the old 

economies of physical resources, while metrics for the knowledge economy are still being developed. 

For tourism, barriers to transfer are related to its very nature. It is dominated by small enterprises, 

fragmented across a variety of activities, and has vocational reinforcers such as poor human resource 

practices militating against the continuity of absorption. As a result, there is a lack of trust between the 

knowledge creators and those who might use it, due to the different cultures and vocabularies of 

differing communities of practice. 

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Conclusion 

This paper has shown the potential of applying the theoretical perspectives of knowledge management 

to address issues facing tourism researchers. These include the recognition of the important role played 

by tacit knowledge in organizations; the impasse between consultancy and academic research; the 

difficulty in transfer between the differing cultures of researchers and practitioners; the past failure of 

researchers to engage in codification; the real barriers to transferring research to operational adopters; 

and the contemporary challenge of developing an industry that has the ability to apply available 

knowledge to respond to future shocks and an increasingly turbulent operating environment. As 

tourism becomes more comfortable with the concepts discussed in the paper, there will be significant 

applications in both destination management and also in policy as it comes to grips with the nature of 

the knowledge economy and the characteristics of tourism knowledge as a public good. There are 

challenges to be faced, however, when adapting such frameworks to tourism. Not the least of these are 

the two issues of translating an approach that is focused upon the single organization to the 

multiorganization destination level; and the hostile-adoption environment of tourism characterized by 

fragmentation, small businesses, and vocational reinforcers. 

References: 

1. Ahmed P. Lim K. Loh A. Learning Through Knowledge Management, Butterworth Heinemann, 

Oxford, 2002. 

2. Awad E. Ghaziri H. Knowledge Management, Pearson Education, New Jersey, 2004. 

3. Bahra, N. Competitive Knowledge Management, Palgrave, Basingstoke, 2001. 

4. Buhalis D. eTourism. Information Technology for Strategic Tourism Management, Pearson, 

London (2003). 

5. Cooper C. Ruhanen L., Best Practice in Intellectual Property Commercialization, CRCST, Brisbane 

(2002). 

6. Denning S. The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge Era Organizations, 

Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 2000.. 

7. Larsen T. The Phenomenon of Diffusion. In: M. Ardis and B. Marcolin, Editors, Diffusing Software 

Product and Process Innovations, Kluwer, Boston, 2001. 

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THE ANALYSIS OF A SWOT STRATEGY AT THE LEVEL OF SOCIETY 

CARINA-ELENA TOADER, Lector univ. dr., 

Facultatea de Ştiinţe Economice, Universitatea „C-tin Brâncuşi” Tg-Jiu 

Abstract 

Environmental opportunities are only potential opportunities unless the organization can utilize resources to take 

advantage of them and until the strategic leader decides that it is appropriate to pursue the opportunity. It is therefore 

important to evaluate environment opportunities in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s resources 

and in relation to the its culture. Real opportunities exist when there is a close fit between environment, values and 

resources. An evaluation of strengths and weaknesses in relation to environmental opportunities and threats is generally 

referred to as a SWOT analysis. SWOT is the acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. SWOT 

analysis has been a framework of choice among many managers for along time because of its simplicity and its portrayal of 

the essence of sound strategy formulation - matching opportunities and threats with strengths and weaknesses. 

Understanding the social world in which we live in is an important step in order to ensure 

equitable and sustainable development. By examining the social opportunities, constraints and likely 

impacts, one can plot social development plans and identify potential social risks. One particular 

analysis which has proven to be of great use is the SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis is a simple 

framework for generating strategic alternatives from a situation analysis. It has been applied 

successfully to either the corporate level or the business unit level and frequently appears in marketing 

plans. SWOT (sometimes referred to as TOWS) stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and 

Threats. The SWOT framework was described in the late 1960's by Edmund P. Learned, C. Roland 

Christiansen, Kenneth Andrews, and William D. Guth in Business Policy, Text and Cases (Homewood, 

IL: Irwin, 1969). 

Because it concentrates on the issues that potentially have the most impact, the SWOT analysis 

is useful when a very limited amount of time is available to address a complex strategic situation. 

SWOT can be used, for example: 

• As an initial analysis of the situation of a National Society: to identify the main strengths and 

weaknesses of the organization, as well as the most important outside opportunities and threats 

emanating from its working environment; 

• To go into more depth concerning a specific activity or program (e.g. health programs, youth, 

etc); 

• To analyze a problem area in more detail (e.g. poverty, unemployment, social insurance etc); 

• For doing a quick analysis, or "reality check" before proceeding with a project or program - 

especially if the planned activity involves some risk and/or investment of time and money. 

SWOT is very effective when applied to a specific objective or project. A SWOT analysis can 

reveal hidden obstacles to a planned project, especially when participants come from different 

departments or geographical areas. In the same way, SWOT can identify positive elements that may not 

be readily evident. Used properly, SWOT can generate valuable data quickly and be an example of 

"strength in numbers". 

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The following diagram shows how a SWOT analysis fits into a strategic situation analysis. 

Situation Analysis 

/ \ 

Internal Analysis 

External Analysis 

/ \ / \ 

Strengths Weaknesses 

Opportunities Threats 

| 

SWOT Profile 

The internal and external situation analysis can produce a large amount of information, much of 

which may not be highly relevant. The internal analysis is a comprehensive evaluation of the internal 

environment's potential strengths and weaknesses, while an external analysis identifies changes that 

occur in the external environment and that could possibly be related to market trends, social changes, 

economic environment, political and regulatory environment and so on. 

The SWOT analysis can serve as an interpretative filter to reduce the information to a 

manageable quantity of key issues. The SWOT analysis classifies the internal aspects as strengths or 

weaknesses and the external situational factors as opportunities or threats. Strengths can serve as a 

foundation for building a competitive advantage, and weaknesses may hinder it. The wizardry of 

SWOT is the matching of specific internal and external factors, which creates a strategic matrix and 

which makes sense. It is essential to note that the internal factors relate to areas such as operations, 

finance, marketing, and so on. On the contrary, the external factors are out of the immediate control, 

relating to areas such as political and economic factors, technology, competition etc. 

When the analysis has been completed, a SWOT profile can be generated and used as the basis 

of goal setting, strategy formulation, and implementation. When formulating strategy the strengths can 

be leveraged to pursue opportunities and to avoid threats, and one can be alerted to weaknesses that 

might need to be overcome in order to successfully pursue opportunities. 

Used for an initial brainstorming concerning the overall situation of a society SWOT can 

produce large amounts of information, some of which can be contradictory. Not everything that comes 

out can be considered as "hard data", as it may reflect lack of knowledge, or it may be affected by 

emotions or personal experiences. However, such data can be quite valuable for identifying further 

areas of attention. If SWOT is used as a starting point for an institutional development program, the 

results can help set ID-objectives and to define a time-frame. SWOT can also be applied to 

complement the "snapshot analysis" done by using CAPI (Customized Assessment and Performance 

Indicators) as a planning tool. 

There is however an amount of criticism related to the SWOT analysis.While useful for 

reducing a large quantity of situational factors into a more manageable profile, the SWOT framework 

has a tendency to oversimplify the situation by classifying the environmental factors into categories in 

which they may not always fit. The classification of some factors as strengths or weaknesses, or as 

opportunities or threats is somewhat arbitrary. For example, a particular cultural or social aspect can be 

either a strength or a weakness. A technological change can be a either a threat or an opportunity. 

Perhaps what is more important than the superficial classification of these factors is the social 

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awareness and its development of a strategic plan to use them to its advantage. Another problem is that 

SWOT, having been conceived in simpler times, does not cope very well with some of the subtler 

aspects of modern strategic theory. Nevertheless, SWOT analysis has been a framework of choice 

among many managers for along time because of its simplicity and its portrayal of the essence of sound 

strategy formulation - matching opportunities and threats with strengths and weaknesses. 

In conclusion, one can only say that environmental opportunities are only potential 

opportunities unless the organization can utilize resources to take advantage of them and until the 

strategic leader decides that it is appropriate to pursue the opportunity. It is therefore important to 

evaluate environment opportunities in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s 

resources and in relation to its culture. Real opportunities exist when there is a close fit between 

environment, values and resources. More so, a social development strategy would thus help to increase 

benefits and reduce social and political risks that could undermine the gains of development thereby 

increasing the sustainability of projects. 

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MARKETING'S PECULIARITIES IN HEALTH SERVICES 

LECT.UNIV.DR.RABONTU CECILIA IRINA 

CONF.UNIV.DR.BONCEA AMELIA 

CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI UNIVERSITY,TARGU-JIU 

ECONOMIC SCIENCES FACULTY 

SUMMARY: The present paper has as its purpose to bring in evidence some of the peculiarities of the application 

of marketing in the domain of health services, emphasizing the intercessions of the specific organizations initiated at the 

microeconomic level, and only tangentially those developed at the macroeconomic level. 

For a better understanding of the way in which marketing is applied at the level of those organizations, a 

clarification of the health services’ content and of the specific elements that favour or limit the application of some 

concepts, methods and marketing techniques is necessary. 

The economic-social dynamism determined a continuous extension of the field of action of 

marketing, especially beginning with the second half of the XX th century, in all domains and at 

different levels of the economic activity and even non-economic, that was accompanied by a 

specializing process, namely one of delimitation and adaptation of the concepts, methods and its 

techniques. 

Among these domains we can also enroll, and successfully, the marketing of services, a 

specialization that took place as a result of the outstanding dynamism taking place in the last decades 

on the market of services, as well as of the specific characteristics of the services when compared to the 

goods. The characteristics of the services determined important changes in the problematic and the 

instrumentation of marketing, adapting them to the circumstances in which the carrier out and the 

consumer interact during the process of creation and delivery of the service. As a result of the 

heterogeneousness of the services, the specializing process of marketing in this domain deepened, 

generating new delimitations, so that in the present the touristic marketing, the financial-banking 

marketing, the cultural marketing and marketing in the domain of health elicit a great interest. 

Meanwhile, beginning with the 70’s, an explosive extension of marketing and the noneconomic 

domains took place, an incorporation of its methods and techniques within the framework of 

social-natured organizations, the new domain being named SOCIAL MARKETING. The process, in 

full progress, of validation and consolidation, is marked by a tendency of specialization, its concrete 

application being known by different names : political marketing, electoral marketing, educational 

marketing, public health marketing, religious marketing and so on. 

No matter the domain in which it finds its applicability, marketing can be defined as: ” a social 

and managerial process through which individuals and groups of individuals obtain whatever is 

necessary to them and they wish through the manufacturing, offering and change of products having a 

certain value." 8 The extensive development of marketing, through the penetration of more and more 

domains of activity, was also accompanied by an intensive development, an improvement of the 

8 Kotler, Ph. – MARKETING MANAGEMENT, Teora Publishing House, Bucharest, 1998, page 35. 

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methods and techniques with which it operates and the introduction of some new ones, adapted to 

every domain’s specific ( took separately ). 

The 80’s mark the passing to a new stage in the evolution of marketing, that of societal 

marketing, oriented towards the environment with all its components 9 , and characterized the assuming 

of some human and societal responsibilities by the organization. This new direction advocates that an 

organization’s duty is to determine the needs, the demands and the interests of the target-markets and to 

offer the expected satisfaction in a more efficient way than its competitors, so that it maintains and it 

increases the welfare of the consumers and of society. 

As a response to the changes of the environment in which it takes action, the 90’s bring a new 

direction in the development of marketing, namely the passing from ”traditional marketing” to 

”relational marketing”, which is seen : ” as a sum of relations, networks and interactions”. Relational 

marketing represents a philosophy of businesses, a strategic orientation that consists in the 

establishment, the preservation and the strengthening of the relations with the consumers and any other 

partners ( contractors, public organisms, mediators, communication media ) considering a profit, in 

such a manner that the sides’ objectives can be realized for long terms. 10 Relational marketing’s 

nucleus is represented by the leading of the relationships with the clients, that constitutes itself in an 

upright component of the organization’s marketing policy, and is mainly concerned with the processes 

of distribution and promotion. 

The health services’ specific, the way in which they are carried out, and especially the complex 

relationship that is established between the medical personal and client/patient enforces the 

employment on a large scale of relational marketing, mostly in the case of primary assistance services, 

offered by the family doctor. 

The leadership of the relationships with clients imposes that, in the process of getting to know 

the demand’s carriers some stages are to be examined: 

► The analysis of the essential characteristics of the relationships with the clients; 

► The elaboration of a system of analysis of the defining elements of the relationships with the 

clients; 

► The constitution of a system of indicators for the evaluation of the orientation towards client of the 

organization. 

The implementation at the organization’s level of a program of relationships with the clients’ 

management, doesn’t reduce itself only to the employment of the instruments that can turn them into 

devoted partners, but also supposes the existence of a strategic vision, an adequate organizational 

structure and a suitable training of the personnel. Furthermore, both sides, the organization and the 

client, must respect some principles, namely 11 : 

• The relationship between the organization and the consumer must be characterized by an 

orientation on a long term, meant to ensure a mutual confidence between the two 

parts; 

• Behavioral reciprocity meant to ensure a equally-balanced relationship; 

9 Bruhn, M. – MARKETING – basic notions for study and practice, Economic Publishing House, Bucharest, 1999, page 

143, 

Balaure, V. ( coordinator ) – MARKETING ( a revised and enlarged edition ), Uranus Publishing House, Bucharest, 2002, 

page 444, 

Adascalitei, V. – “RELATIONAL MARKETING – A PARADIGM OF MARKETING AT THE DAWN OF THE 

MILLENIUM”, Marketing Magazine. 

10 Gronroos, Ch. –The relationship marketing process; communication, interaction, dialogue, value, JOURNAL OF 

BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIAL MARKETING, Vol. 1 (85), 2005. 

11 Ivens, B., Mairhoher, U.- ILS FACTEURS DE REUSSITE DU MARKETING RELATIONAL," Decision Marketing 

",no. 31, jul-sept., 2003. 

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• Relational reliability masked by the organization’s availability to serve the consumer 

on a long term; 

• Flexibility in the relationship with the clients manifested in the organization’s 

capacity of adapting its offer to the consumer’s needs; 

• Solidarity between the organization and consumers when it comes to difficult 

situations, without endangering the parts involved; 

• The resolution of complicatedly situations in an amiable way; 

• The moderate use of the authority in the relationship with the consumer, in order to 

impose the interests as against that one. 

The expansion of the sphere of the services constitutes the reason for the accession of the 

preoccupations, on the one hand, in order to outline and clarify the content of the phenomena and 

processes typical for this sphere of activity, and on the other hand, in order to get deeply into the 

mechanisms and the analysis and action instrument’s conception that characterize the practical 

demarche of the profile organizations. The vast majority of the economists define the services as a 

system of utilities in which the beneficiary buys or uses not a product, but a certain utility, that confers 

him certain advantages or satisfactions, left without a concrete expression most of the times in a good 

material and meant to satisfy some personal or social needs. 

Thus, in Ph. Kotler’s opinion, the service is " any action or execution that a subject can perform 

for another one, that is signally intangible and that doesn’t have as a consequence the transfer of 

property to a material good." 12 

The respective definition emphasizes the main characteristic of the services – the intangibility, 

as well as the fact that through the act of change the transfer of property to a material good is not 

achieved. 

For a better understanding of the concept and the content of health services, besides the 

explanation of the concept of service in general and of its peculiarities, the illustration of the concepts 

of health and health system is also necessary. 

The individual health, according to World’s Board of Health, is " being in good condition 

from a physical, mental and social point of view and not only the absence of an illness or infirmity". 

The public health can be defined as the health condition of the population as compared to the 

determinants of the health condition : socio-economical, biological, environmental, lifestyle, the 

insurance with the health services, the quality and the accessibility of the health services. From another 

point of view, the public or human group’s health can be defined as being a synthesis between the 

individual health rated in a systemic, global (ecosystemic) vision. 13 

The health system, constituted from the totality of the institutions, organizations, specific 

unities and services, has the competence to ensure for the individuals, by means of its material and 

human resources, conditions of protection against the effect of diseases, and allows the development of 

some social actions of prevention, treatment and recovery. This system is constituted, in its turn, from 

numerous subsystems and component structures, among which functional connections and relations are 

established, that ensure the accomplishment and the resolution of medical assistance problems of the 

population. 

Even though we can’t find such thing as an unique definition of the concept of health, some 

criteria can be of great help when it comes to defining the notion. Among those the most frequently 

used are : 

a. functional welfare; 

12 Kotler, Ph. – THE MANAGEMENT OF MARKETING, Teora Publishing House, Bucharest, 1997, page 583. 

13 Enachescu, D. – PUBLIC HEALTH AND SANITARY MANAGEMENT, All Publishing House, 1994, page 5. 

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b. the organism’s capacity to adapt itself to the various conditions of life and work; 

c. the human condition that makes the individual creative. 

Synthetizing the above quoted definitions, we can conclude that, the health service can be 

defined as the utility obtained by the consumer as result of some interconditioned activities based 

on the relationship carrier out – client and that is materialized in a good physical, psychical and 

social shape. 

Intending to ensure a physical and emotional equilibrium on the level of the individual, the 

health services carry out the following functions : 

► the function of promotion of health – the intercessions initiated at the macroeconomic or 

microeconomic level intend first and foremost to permanently give information about the means of 

preserving health, of reduction and avoidance of the causes of illnesses; 

► the function of prevention of falling ill is realized with the financing of the various prevention 

services and the precocious tracking down of the diseases. For instance, according to the social laws of 

health from Romania, the children benefit of free consultations in order to prevent the various physical 

and psychical affections, and the insured are in their right to go for a free consultation every year in 

order to prevent the diseases with major consequences in morbidity and mortality; 

► the curative function – the health services offered by different organizations and medical 

personnel have as their purpose the treatment of the various affections, the prevention of complications, 

the recovery or at least amelioration of the patient’s sufferings, depending on the case; 

► the function of rehabilitation of health has as its purpose the recovery of the individual after 

being affected by a disease by putting at his disposition some specific services (physiotherapeutic 

treatment, recuperative massages, medical gymnastic, and some other). 

As a result of the health system’s restructurings in all European countries, but also of the 

increase of the consumer’s exactingnesses, beginning with the 80’s, an increase of the heft of the 

private institutions in what concerns the insurance of the health services is developed. 

The universality of marketing represents a characteristic unanimously accepted by the 

specialists. It reflects an objective reality expressed through the great diffusion of marketing, 

practically in all the domains of the human activity. The pursuits in the direction of adaptating the 

optics and the methods of marketing to the specific of the different domains, have generated a process 

of generalization, characterized through the detachment and the construction of several branches and 

subbranches – if not autonomous, at least with enough distinctive notes. 14 

The marketing of services contoured itself not only theoretically, but also practically, as a 

specialized domain of marketing. This one has as its basis a particular content, determined by a series 

of common elements of the goods, the services in general and each category of services in part. 

The process of specialization continued and as a consequence, today, can be mentioned as 

distinct domains of the marketing of services : the marketing of the touristical services, the marketing 

of the financial-banking services, the marketing of the transport services, the marketing of the culturalsporting 

services, the marketing of the health services, the marketing of the educational services and so 

on. 

The individualization of these specializations was realized through the adoption and the 

incorporation of a specific instrumentary, depending on the peculiarities of the realized and carried out 

service. Among these domains we can successfully inscribe, even though in our country is barely 

coming up, the domain of the health services, so that the terms of medical marketing or health services’ 

marketing are more and more used. Even though both labels are used, the notion of health services’ 

marketing is used more, especially because of its large sphere of coverage – including not only the 

14 Florescu, C. ( coordinator ) – MARKETING, Marketer Publishing House, Bucharest, 1992, page 40. 

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public health services, but also those included in the domain of the medicine of the individual, as 

opposed to the medical marketing, which as the specialists think emphasizes only the services 

addressed to the individual, taken into consideration as a separate entity. 

Thus, through its specific, the marketing in the domain of health is an interdisciplinary domain, 

because, not only at the conceptual level, but also at the operational one uses a series of concepts, 

methods and marketing techniques, specific both for the marketing of services and for the social 

marketing, aiming on the one hand, at the selling of a service from a carrier-out to a beneficiary, and on 

the other hand, the increase of the adhesion to an idea, cause, social behavior of an individual or of a 

community. Furthermore, the need that the health service satisfies, situates this domain at the limit 

between economic and social, between the orientation towards profit and the one towards nonprofit, 

fact that has profound implications on the intercessions of marketing at the macro and microeconomic 

level. 

The institution of marketing in the health domain, like a distinct through and through domain of 

services’ marketing, has as its basis a certain specific, determined by the content and the characteristics 

of the respective services, by its object, by the concepts, the techniques and the methods used, by the 

complex rapports in which the consumer, and the carrier-out appear and by the system of making and 

delivering of the services. 

1. The characteristics of the services enunciated by Ph. Kotler, and then adopted by all the 

specialists, describe the health services too. 

2. Another aspect that has a large applicability in the marketing in health is given by the three 

components of the object of services’ marketing – the external, internal and interactive 

marketing. 

The external marketing of the organization comprises the totality of strategies and marketing 

techniques through which the organization’s offer is presented to the consumer ( the promised product 

sustained by the other elements of the mix of marketing – price, distribution, promotion ), in his first 

meeting with the carrier-out. The immaterial character of the health service and especially, the 

emotional aspects that this one implies, impose the necessity of presenting the necessary steps from the 

very beginning in order to carry out the service, but also of the elements that ensure its tangibilization. 

The application of the concept supposes the correlation with the other processes unreeled in their 

continuation, specific for the interactive marketing. 

The interactive marketing has as its object the created and delivered services and the 

interaction carrier-out-consumer. In the framework of this relationship, the consumer appreciates the 

quality of the service not only in terms of the technical qualities of the personnel ( the success of the 

operation ), but also of the functional qualities ( courtesy, availability etc.). The vision of marketing 

imposes acquaintance with the mode of manifestation of the demand all the way through the course of 

activities and their adequate evolution correlated with the other components of the marketing mix : 

price, promotion, distribution. 

The internal marketing refers to the approach in a personnel marketing optic, having as a 

purpose the realization of the concordance between the processes and the services promised and the 

ones that are actually created and delivered. As a consequence of the deficiencies that appear in the 

framework of the communication processes inside the organization, both because of the personnel and 

because of the communication process, the marketing includes in the framework of the concept of 

internal marketing on the one hand the strategies regarding the personnel, and on the other hands the 

ones regarding the system of communication. The carrying out of the health services, maybe more than 

in any other domains, implies a permanent cooperation and communication between the different 

compartments of the organization ( for example a chirurgical intervention imposes a close 

communication between the laboratory – the chirurgical section – intensive therapy – recovery ). 

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3. The inclusion of marketing in health in the services’ marketing sphere, is determined also by 

the concepts, the methods, and the techniques at which it appeals. Thus are used : 

• Concepts, methods and techniques common for goods and services : the marketing 

research, the marketing strategies, the mix of marketing – product, price, distribution 

and promotion, techniques specific to relational marketing; 

• Concepts, techniques and instruments specific to the services in general : the external 

marketing, interactive, internal, the concept of global product and partial products, the 

standardization and the personalization, the sizing of the offer and the ordering of the 

demand, fixed price, internal communications etc.; 

• Concepts, techniques and specific instruments : individual health and public health, 

primary, ambulatory ( of specialty ) and hospitalizing assistance services, the 

relationship medic-client/patient etc.; 

4. The consideration of the marketing in the health sphere as a domain of the marketing of services 

is imposed by the mode of realizing and carrying out of the treatments in health, determined by 

a series of components that interact and a rigorous succession of activities, that constitute the 

system of creation and delivery. 

The main components of this system are : the elements subjected to processing, the processual 

components and the relationships that are established between these components. 

The elements subjected to procession in the services are determined by the content and the 

characteristics of these ones. The activities developed can directly appeal to people in the case of 

health, touristical, transport etc. services, can appeal to the goods, in the case of the repairing, 

depositing and good transport etc. services and the information, in the case of the financial-banking, of 

consultant services. 

The processual components are considered the fundamental elements of the system of creation 

and delivery, from their interaction resulting the utility perceived and received by the client. When it 

comes to the services, the processual components are : the client, the physical support of the labor 

conscription, the contact personnel, the service created and delivered, the management of services, the 

“other clients” components. The client represents, like it was already mentioned, a specific element of 

the carrying out system in the framework of which he appears both as consumer and as participant at 

the realization of the service, situation in which he can contribute to and control the level of satisfaction 

and the quality of the service that he receives. The consumers of services have been called by some 

authors “ potential employees of the company-human resources that contribute to the increase of the 

production capacity of the organization…” 15 

There are some services – education, health and so on – whose final result depends in a decisive 

way on the implication of the consumer. The researchers evidenced that in the health services, for 

instance, the active participation of the client/patient in the administration of the treatment, the change 

of the diet or of other habits contributes to the obtaining of the expected service. Besides the influence 

that they have upon the quality of the service, some of the consumers are motivated by their 

participation to the carrying out process, through the tenure of the control on the activity. In some 

situations they take the responsibility for the situations in which disfunctionalities appear in the 

carrying out of the service, case in which they are not as unsatisfied, assuming part of the quilt. 

• The physical support of the labor conscription is represented by a series of elements 

like the geographical position ( setting, surroundings ), buildings, equipments etc. 

15 17 Bowen David E. – Managing Customers as Human Resources in Service Organization, HUMAN RESOURCES 

MANAGEMENT, no. 3, 1986 quoted by Cetina, I., Brandabur, R., Constantinescu, M. – THE MARKETING OF 

SERVICES, Uranus Publishing House, Bucharest, 2006, page 189. 

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Through its content the physical support of the labor conscription constitutes the object 

of the product politic and of the distribution, representing at the same time a fact of the 

tangibilization of the service. 

• The personnel together with the client represent the central components of the 

marketing and management processes, having a decisive role in the framework of the 

personnel-based services. Thus in the health services the personnel ( and especially the 

medic ) constitutes itself in the decisive element of the service’s quality. 

• The created and delivered service is represented by the utility perceived by the client, 

resulted from the interaction of the presented elements. The service is presented through 

the degree of satisfaction of the need ( of prevention, of treatment and recovery ) being 

strongly connected to its quality. 

• The management of services appears as a component of the system of creation and 

delivery because, on the way in which the processes and the relationships are organized 

depends the quality of the service received by the consumer. The specific of the 

processes and the relationships afferent to the services and mostly the separation and 

their distinct tackling, as partial processes, is reflected in the delimitation of some 

subsystems, of management adequately called : the management of the products offered, 

the carrying out management, the human resources’ management. 

• The component “other clients” constitutes itself as a component of the system of 

creation and delivery because of its contribution to the quality, promotion and the image 

of the service. Is specific to the situation in which a service is simultaneously offered to 

more consumers that can have different perceptions on the way in which the services are 

carried out. The role of the other clients in the services is also evident in the situations in 

which, among the clients of that respective unity they can find personalities, who, 

through the prestige that they carry can give credibility, image and mostly “guarantee” 

of the quality. Furthermore, the role of these components is also extremely important in 

what concerns the promotion of the services, by way of the orally transmitted 

opinions, as a result of the experience or of the information from personal sources. 

Through the differentials of the other components of the tertiary sector, but also through the 

resemblance between them, the health services constitute themselves in a distinct domain of the 

marketing of services. The modern concept of marketing has as a starting point the premise that, any 

economic or social activity should be directed towards the satisfaction of the demands, effective and 

potential, of the consumers with the maximum efficiency. 16 

16 Catoiu, I., Teodorescu, N. – THE CONSUMER”S BEHAVIOUR. THEORY AND PRACTICE, The Economic 

Publishing House, Bucharest, 1997, page 12. 

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THE EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF TOURISM CRISES 

Camelia Monica Gheorghe 

Asist. Univ. Drd. Universitatea Româno-Americană, Bucureşti, România 

ABSTRACT: 

Effective crisis management requires information about the ways in which tourists of different nationalities respond to 

different types of crisis. This paper provides a model which can be used to quantify such effects. The model is applied to the 

case of US, French and German tourism demand in Scotland. The results show that French tourists were particularly 

affected by the foot and mouth disease crisis. Germans were most severely affected by the September 11 events. Although 

arrivals from the USA decreased after both crises, receipts were hardly affected. 

Effective management of tourism crises requires considerable information about the nature of 

the different types of crises that can occur and the extent and range of their effects. Much of the 

research that has provided information about tourism crises has concentrated on providing typologies 

of crises, examining popular perceptions of major events and studying the effects on particular sectors 

and destinations. The effects of terrorist incidents and political instability have been a particular focus 

of attention. Research has also been undertaken on the process of crisis management via improved 

communication strategies and changes in management structures and operations. However, few studies 

have provided quantitative measures of the impact of crises or forecasts of their impact. The need for 

more information about tourism crises has been highlighted by Prideaux (2003), who showed that 

investigation of the nature of crises is complex, as multiple events occur concurrently. Thus, for 

example, a terrorist incident may occur within a period of financial crisis or political upheaval. In 

practice it is difficult to separate the effects of the terrorist incident from those that stem from 

contemporaneous events. Thus, the magnitude of the terrorist incident may be over- or under-estimated. 

This paper will illustrate the ways in which quantitative techniques can provide more information about 

tourism crises by examining the effects of two types of crisis, one internal to a country and one 

stemming from an external incident. The first case is that of foot and mouth disease which affected the 

UK from the spring of 2001, and the second is the September 11 terrorist events. Each case will be 

examined in the context of its effects on US, French and German demand for tourism in Scotland. 

Analysis of the impact of these events on tourism demand is complicated by ongoing changes in 

relative prices and exchange rates for sterling, the dollar and the euro and incomes in the USA, France 

and Germany. As all of these events affected tourist arrivals and receipts in Scotland, the magnitudes of 

the effects of foot and mouth disease and of September 11, in isolation from those of other events, are 

not evident. The absence of this information is problematic for policy makers who need to know the 

extent to which the changes in tourism demand from different origins were due to the crises rather than 

to other economic events. In the absence of such information, policy makers are unable to pursue an 

effective strategy of tailoring crisis management strategies towards individual origin markets. 

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Key Themes in the Literature 

The literature on tourism crises has grown considerably in recent years, particularly in the 

light of the impacts on destinations of the September 11 events, as well as the impacts of other political 

events, natural disasters, disease, crime or war. However, the need for more research on the nature of 

the crises was recognised well before the occurrence of such events. One strand of research was geared 

towards providing a set of typologies of tourism crises. For example, Meyers (1986) categorised crises 

into major effects on public perceptions, product failures, sudden changes in the market and changes in 

top management. Meyers also argued that crises can be caused by problems with financing, industrial 

relations, take-overs, international events and changes in regulations. Booth (1993) classified crises 

into those that are gradual, periodic or sudden, where gradual crises threaten parts of the organisation, 

periodic crises threaten part or all of the organisation and sudden crises threaten the entire organisation. 

Seymour and Moore (2000) classified crises according to the process by which they occur, terming a 

crisis that occurs gradually a ‘python’, in contrast to a ‘cobra’ which strikes suddenly. 

Crises have also been classified according to their causes. Coombes’ (1995) classification was 

based on stakeholders’ perceptions of the crisis as internal or external, resulting from unintentional or 

intentional decisions. For example, an unexpected crisis within the organisation is both internal and 

unintentional, whereas terrorism is external and intentional. Other studies that have focussed on the 

causes of crises include Slatter’s (1984) crisis susceptibility model. Some researchers have categorised 

crises according to their severity. Some studies have concentrated on the role that the mass media plays 

in affecting people’s perceptions of crises (Hall, 2002: Glaesser, 2004). Both crises and the media's 

portrayals of them cause changes in perceptions that affect people’s intentions to travel with 

consequent effects on destinations. Such effects have been examined for destinations ranging from 

South West England (Coles, 2003), to Malaysia (Sausmarez, 2004), Nepal (Thapa, 2004) and Bali 

(HItchcock, 2001; Henderson, 2003), the Gili Islands (Soemodinoto et al., 2001) and Lombok (Fallon, 

2004) in Indonesia. 

Recognition of the magnitude of the effects that crises can inflict on destinations has 

stimulated research on different approaches that can be used to manage crises. Early contributions 

include those of Cassedy who focussed on the strategies that destinations can implement to respond to 

crises, and Drabek (1995) who examined the operational moves required for crisis response. Young and 

Montgomery (1998) subsequently emphasized the importance of designing and implementing an 

effective communications strategy as an integral part of crisis management. A positive communications 

strategy may enhance the organisation’s reputation above its pre-crisis level (Fearn-Banks, 1996). In 

contrast, an absence of effective communications is likely to instigate belief that the organisation is 

incompetent or uncaring. In this respect, effective communications channels support the credibility of 

the organisation (Seymour and Moore, 2000). A well organised team is required for implementation of 

the communications system (Barton, 1993; Heath, 1994, 1998), as is an integrated management 

approach (Heath, 1994). Within this system, top management is expected to play an important role in 

the organisation and dissemination of information (Sonnenfeld, 1994; Hill and Wetlaufer, 1998). 

Communications strategies should form part of a wider crisis management model, as Smith 

(1990) and Smith and Spipika (1993) pointed out. They identify three states that crisis management 

must confront, namely crisis of management, operational crisis and crisis of legitimation. As crisis 

management is concerned with damage limitation in as short a period and by as much as possible, 

effective management involves regaining control over events (Green, 1992), efficient use of resources 

and time (Regester and Larkin, 2002) and processes aimed at crisis prevention, mitigation, response 

and recovery (Rosenthal and Pijnenburg, 1991). These include cultural and religious strategies 

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implemented at the local level (Hitchcock and Darma Putra, forthcoming). Crisis communication 

management must also ensure that the messages that are communicated at the national and local levels 

are consistent (Ritchie et al., 2004). 

Faulkner (2001) developed a wider crisis management framework, designed for managing 

tourism disasters. Within the framework, crisis management occurs during six phases: precursors, 

mobilisation, action, recovery, reconstruction and reassessment and review. The ways in which the 

framework can be used to assist tourism disaster management and identify appropriate policies were 

examined by Prideaux (2004) for the case of Australia. He found that the use of an appropriate tourism 

disaster management framework would provide considerably improved responses to different types of 

crises. In practice, some government tourism organisations are introducing contingency planning 

methods relating to different types of crises. For example, VisitScotland, which formulates tourism 

policy for Scotland, has introduced a range of initiatives covering such issues as communications 

including short, medium and long term marketing strategies, access, and support for industry recovery, 

within the context of consultation between representatives from the public and private sectors and 

relevant experts in the field, (Yeoman et al., forthcoming). One of the key problems confronting the 

implementation of crisis management frameworks by public or private sector organisations is a lack of 

accurate information (Ritchie et al., 2004). Information is required not only for fact finding and 

analysis of the crisis, but should also be a key part of information dissemination and communications 

strategies designed to mitigate and control the crisis, as well as to assist a process of recovery (Mitroff 

and Pearson, 1993). As Barton (1993) pointed out, a shortage of such information precludes effective 

decision-making and a related communications strategy, resulting in real or perceived loss of control of 

the situation. This, in turn, generates uncertainty among consumers, whose travel demand does not 

increase until confidence in tourism organisations is re-established. 

The information that government and private sector organisations need in order to plan and 

implement strategies more effectively relates not only to tourism crises but also to other events such as 

economic changes, that occur simultaneously. McKercher and Hui (2004), for example, found that the 

confidence of consumers in Hong Kong was affected not only by terrorism but also by economic 

concerns which can be of a long term nature. As tourism crises are accompanied by other events 

(Prideaux et al., 2003), it is necessary to disentangle the effects of crises from those of the other events 

if tourism crisis management and planning are to be undertaken effectively. Some evidence has been 

obtained about the responses to tourism crises by firms which undertake specific types of tourism 

activities. These include restaurants (Green et al., 2003), travel agents (Lovelock, 2003), small and 

micro tourism businesses (Cushnahan, 2004), hotels (Israeli and Reichal, 2003) and airlines (Ray, 

1999; Gillen and Lall, 2003; Alderighi and Cento, 2004). However, little research has been undertaken 

to quantify the magnitude of the effects of tourism crises with few exceptions, for example, Blake and 

Sinclair (2003), Blake et al. (2003, forthcoming). These approaches used a computable general 

equilibrium model to estimate the effects of crises on macroeconomic variables and on different sectors 

of the destination economy. 

A complementary approach that can be used to quantify the effects of crises, in isolation from 

those of other economic events, involves forecasting and prediction techniques. Forecasting models 

have a tradition in tourism analysis and can be based on statistical or econometric methods (Witt and 

Martin, 1989). The more recent research related to tourism modelling has tended to use econometric 

methods (Lim, 1997: Song and Witt, 2000; Song et al., 2003), among which structural time series 

modelling is well accepted (Papatheodorou and Song, 2003). 

A Study Case – FMD and 11 September 

Tourism is an increasingly important activity within the Scottish economy. In 2002, tourism 

GDP accounted for 4.7% of Scottish GDP, with a value of around £3,198 million. The average level of 

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employment was 96,500, accounting for 5.3% of total employment in Scotland. Tourism is very 

seasonal and many resorts rely on the summer season to be profitable. For instance, in 2002, the 

summer quarter provided 6.4% of GDP and 142,000 people were employed, whereas the winter figures 

were about half these values, with 3.3% of GDP and an employment level of 66,000. The high level of 

arrivals in the summer, relative to those in other quarters is relevant to crisis analysis because events 

such as FMD or September 11 can have particularly significant effects on the profitability of the sector 

during this period. 

The first case of foot and mouth disease (FMD) occurred in the north of England in February 

2001 and tourism demand in Scotland was mainly affected from the spring onwards. Recovery was 

subsequently forestalled by the events of September 11. The analysis of the effects of the two crises on 

tourism demand focuses on three of the most significant international tourism markets of Scotland, the 

USA, Germany and France, which accounted for 24.4%, 8.6% and 7.9% of international tourist 

arrivals, respectively, in 2002. 

At first sight, it might appear that FMD and the September 11 events resulted in considerable 

downturns in US, French and German tourism demand in Scotland. FMD occurred in the first quarter 

of 2001, followed by the US events in the third quarter. As the main effects of FMD were felt in the 

second and third quarters of the year, it is useful to compare tourist demand in the second and third 

quarters of 2001 with demand in the same quarters of preceding years. For instance, the numbers of 

arrivals from France experienced a 65% downturn in the second quarter and a 53% downturn in the 

third quarter of 2001, compared with the same quarters of the preceding five years, and receipts 

experienced decreases of 78% and 39% over the same periods. Comparison of total international 

arrivals in the fourth quarter of 2001, following the events of September 11, with arrivals in the fourth 

quarter of 2000 showed a fall of 22%, while receipts decreased by 16%. Since tourism demand had 

previously been showing an upward trend over time, the decreases were even greater than these figures 

indicate. 

Conclusions 

Past research on tourism crises has highlighted the need for crisis management frameworks 

and, as an integral part of them, effective communications strategies directed towards both potential 

tourists and the mass media. However, the issue that has challenged policy makers is the content of the 

messages that should be communicated. Tourists from different countries respond differently to 

tourism crises and the messages that should be communicated to them should differ accordingly. More 

information about their responses to different types of crisis is required if crisis communications are to 

be formulated and targeted effectively. It is in this context that quantitative approaches can complement 

past contributions to the literature and provide additional guidance for effective policy making. 

The information about the different degrees of responses by the different nationalities to the 

crises is particularly useful for communications and marketing policy. In Scotland, this is mainly the 

responsibility of the national tourism organisation, VisitScotland. In the case of France, tourists 

responded particularly adversely to the FMD crisis that affected rural areas and activities, both in terms 

of the numbers who arrived and the associated receipts. Policy makers could, as an immediate response 

to crises that affect rural areas, place even greater emphasis on providing information about the rural 

areas and activities that are unaffected. A longer term strategy could aim to attract more tourists from 

France to urban areas, emphasizing the range of activities and attractions within them. German tourists 

were also affected significantly by both the FMD and the September 11 crises but differ from French 

tourists in that many travel longer distances to arrive and may place greater reliance on air travel. In 

this respect, VisitScotland's policy of publicising the availability of cheap airfares is appropriate and 

could be targeted more strongly towards the German market. In addition to communicating the 

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message that many rural areas and activities are unaffected by the crisis, over the long run greater 

attempts could be made to decrease the sensitivity of German tourists to adverse events by 

strengthening their friendship and business ties with Scotland. 

The results for the USA indicate that VisitScotland's strategies of emphasizing the culturalties 

between Scotland and the USA were successful in maintaining the values of receipts from the USA 

during the crises. Such strategies included not only the obvious ones of increasing the level of 

advertising of Scotland within the USA but also the less obvious one of contacting clan societies in the 

USA and encouraging their members to visit Scotland. Hence, although the numbers of tourist arrivals 

fell, many of those who did arrive stayed for a significant period of time and engaged in a relatively 

high level of expenditure. Clearly, both the US visits to friends and relatives and business tourism 

markets are important for Scotland in times of crises and should be maintained. Strategies for 

strengthening these markets in France and Germany could be considered. Other strategies that have 

been put in place include those of planning for multiple events by means of scenario planning and 

forecasting. 

REFERENCES 

• Alderighi, M. and Cento, A. (2004). European airlines conduct after September 11. Journal of 

Air Transport Management, 10, 97-107. 

• Argenti, P. (2002). Crisis communication - lesson from 9/11. Harvard Business Review, 12. 

• Beirman, D. (2003) Restoring Tourism Destinations in Crisis: A Strategic Marketing Approach. 

Wallingford: CAB International. 

• Blake, A. and Sinclair, M.T. (2003). Tourism crisis management: response to September 11. 

Annals of Tourism Research, 30(4), 813-832. 

• Blake, A., Sinclair, M.T. and Sugiyarto, G. (2003). Quantifying the impact of foot and mouth 

disease on tourism and the UK economy. Tourism Economics, 9(4), 449-465. 

• Fallon, F. (2004). After the Lombok riots, is sustainable tourism achievable? Journal of Travel 

and Tourism Marketing, 15(2/3), 139-158. 

• Floyd, M.F., Gibson, H., Pennington-Gray, L. and Thapa, B. (2004). The effect of risk 

perceptions on intentions to travel in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Journal of Travel 

and Tourism Marketing, 15(2/3), 19-38. 

• Glaesser, D. (2004). Crisis Management in the Tourism Industry. Oxford: Butterworth- 

Heinemann. 

• Goodrich, J.N. (2002). September 11, 2001 attack on America: a record of the immediate 

impacts and reactions in the USA travel and tourism industry. Tourism Management, 23, 573- 

580. 

• Henderson, J.C. (2003). Terrorism and tourism: Managing the consequences of the Bali 

bombings. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 15(1), 41-58. 

• Hitchcock, M. (2001). Tourism and total crisis in Indonesia: the case of Bali. Asia Pacific 

Business Review, 8(2), 101-120. 

• Israeli, A.A. and Reichal, A. (2003). Hospitality crisis management practices: the Israeli case. 

International Journal of Hospitality Management, 22, 353-372. 

• Lovelock, B. (2003). New Zealand travel agent practice in the provision of advice for travel to 

risky destinations. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 15(4), 259-280. 

• McKercher, B. and Hui, E.L.L. (2004). Terrorism, economic uncertainty and outbound travel 

from Hong Kong. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 15(2/3), 99-116. 

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• Papatheodorou, A. and Song, H. (2005). International tourism forecasts: Time series analysis of 

world and regional data. Tourism Economics, forthcoming. 

• Pender, L. and Sharpley, R. (2004). International tourism: the management of crisis. In Pender, 

L. and Sharpley, R. (Eds.) The Management of Tourism. London: Sage. 

• Prideaux, B. (2004). The need to use disaster planning frameworks to respond to major tourism 

disasters: Analysis of Australia's response to tourism disasters in 2001. Journal of Travel and 

Tourism Marketing, 15(4), 281-298. 

• Prideaux, B., Laws, E. and Faulkner, B. (2003). Events in Indonesia: exploring the limits to 

formal tourism trends forecasting methods in complex crisis situations. Tourism Management, 

24, 475-487. 

• Ritchie, B.W., Dorrell, H., Miller, D. and Miller, G.A. (2004). Crisis communication and 

recovery for the tourism industry: Lessons from the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in 

the United Kingdom. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 15(4), 199- 216. 

• de Sausmarez, N. (2004). Implications for tourism and sectoral crisis management. Journal of 

Travel and Tourism Marketing, 15(4), 217-232. 

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THE FLEXIBILITY OF ORGANIZATION AND THE FLEXIBILITY OF 

PRODUCT – PREMISES OF ORGANIZATIONAL SUCCESS 

Todorut Amalia Venera – Lecturer PhD 

“Constantin Brancusi” University, Targu-Jiu 

ABSTRACT: Flexibility represents the ability of a manufactural system to adapt to some diversified tasks of production, 

thus to assure an economic efficiency – the rapport time/cost should be optimum, with insignificant structure changes within 

a long period of time. The central role of flexibility is to permit the survival and the success of the organizations in a 

turbulent circumstance, which is characteristic to the new world tendencies. The more flexible the organization becomes, 

the better it responds to the change. Firms, which are flexible, facilitate creativity, innovations and speed, all these being 

included into the organizational and coordination processes. In quick change conditions, flexibility is a competitive 

advantage. An organization should face both threats and inherent opportunities in an uncertain future and in an instable 

circumstance. Flexibility and promptitude are the qualities of the organizational success and the need to be flexible is an 

imperative of competition. 

The world market of consumer goods has known deep changes lately. In the last years, the 

production of big series has been confronting with numerous difficulties, because of the strong mobility 

of the market, of its requests from the viewpoint of both quantity and quality, which impose to the 

producers the growth of the capacity of accommodation and of quick change of fabrication. The growth 

of the production diversity has an impact over the fabrication process from an organizational and 

technological point of view, taking into account that a more frequent transition from the realization of a 

product to another one is requested. This leads to the necessity of the achievement of a great flexibility 

of product from a projective and technological point of view. These aspects appear especially at the 

production of unique things, small and medium series, production which otherwise has the biggest 

weight within the engineering works, reaching up to 80% of the amount of total production. That what 

constituted the virtue of the fabrication systems allocated to the big series, as, for example, type design, 

standardization, big lots of products of the same type manufactured in big series, have become their 

main deficiency. This led to intense preoccupations for the development of a new quality of fabrication 

– flexibility, which implies radical modifications both in the domain of technologies and management. 

The change of the organizational typology has in the context of up-to-date averages an 

extremely increased dynamics. 

Thus, a strong division of the production is found, especially at the level of some components of 

a command launched by a customer, or of the components of the complexity products. 

In this context, the reality of a global competence with more and more cases is identified, the 

organizations interact. Some strong industrialized countries export to others, and the last export to the 

first ones. From exports, the organizations have become about 50% or more over. Reciprocal exports 

don’t aim only at the finite products, but also at components, materials, services. It results that the 

organizations are in equal measure both importers and exporters. 

It is also demonstrated the conception of the production division (Peter Drucker). In keeping 

with this, a product is conceived and financed in a country, the materials can be produced in many 

countries and sent to an organization from a country which assembles them and at last, sold to other 

countries. But the position on a certain phase of the process is changing. This position pursues to obtain 

the efficiency, in a competing system, and this means the success. 

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The constant of the entire process is the atrocious competition which contains the majority of 

the world and internal markets, because the borders don’t offer protection anymore. 

In the same time, the organizational strategies have an accentuated dynamics which follows the 

abatement of the dependency of the traditional markets, classical, and the identification of a new 

market etc., thus the profitability should be raised and constant at this level. 

At the processed elements the turbulence of the processing averages is added, which in many 

organizations is of type four and five, and therefore permanent changes in the companies’ offer are 

necessary from the viewpoint of the finite products and of their components. 

All the states shown are supplied by the customers’ aggressiveness, which in the up-to-date 

economy constitute the initial point in any productive process. 

The flexibility of product consists in the easiness with which new marks can be added or 

substituted to the existing ones, or the ability of replacing rapidly and with no extra costs marks from 

the current production with other ones. This thing stands out the flexibility of product from the 

flexibility of products (or production) and from that of the process. The flexibility of product 

corresponds to the flexibility of the answer on demand, while the flexibility of product (or production) 

corresponds to the flexibility in the range of products. The flexibility of products (or production) 

comparatively with the flexibility of products, requires considerable reorganizations, but not 

necessarily supplementary investments of capital. From one point of view, the flexibility of products 

(or production) allows the firm to compete on a market in which, frequently, new products are being 

requested, because they minimize the time for implementation of the new products, or the necessary 

time for bringing some major changes to the existing products, at an operational level allows the 

diversity of the firm. 

We can also say that the flexibility of product represents the system’s ability of limiting the 

introduction cost in manufacturing of a product, using the resources already had, or, in other words, it 

offers to the system of manufacturing the possibility to realize diversified parts with the same 

equipments. On short term, this means that the system has the possibility of using small size lots to 

adapt to the requests of diversified products. On long term, this means that the system can be used for 

more life cycles of the product, thus, increasing the efficiency of investment. 

Therefore, a product is requested to be flexible, that the reorganization should not imply 

increases of time and costs. The flexibility of product allows the organization to harmonize with the 

market requests allowing it to bring rapidly new marks on the market. 

Some organizations adopt a competing strategy based on the flexibility of product which 

consists in the capacity of operating difficult commands which are not standardized and to introduce 

them in a new product. The flexibility of product is more important in the developing phase rather than 

in its mature phase. Therefore on the quick change markets, because of the incertitude in the life cycle 

of the product, the flexibility of the product obtained through the capacity of projection assisted by the 

computer, assures the company an extraordinary competing weapon. The flexibility of product also 

includes the flexibility of modifications or it can be found in the literature of speciality as the flexibility 

of new products. 

The flexibility of product can be reached by having: 

• an efficient and automatic planning of the production and a performance control system; 

• the flexibility of the transfer system; 

• the operational flexibility; 

• an efficient interference CAD/CAM and CAPP. 

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By evaluating the flexibility of the product, it can be taken into consideration the time and costs 

necessary for the passing from producing a different marks system to another system, not necessarily of 

the same type. 

The growth of flexibility of product can be measured on the base of new products introduction 

costs, for example: the cost of equipment and tools, the costs of the numeric command programs 

necessary for the manufacturing of the new product. 

A generic measurement of flexibility is based on the premise that the flexibility of a system is 

determined by its sensibility to changes. The more decreased the sensibility is, the more increased is the 

flexibility. The increased flexibility brings to the system of fabrication three main advantages. It is 

considered that these advantages come from the different types of flexibility, which can be divided in 

three main categories: 

• the flexibility of product; 

• the flexibility of operation 

• the flexibility of volume. 

As the flexibility is inversely proportional with the sensibility of change, a measure of 

flexibility must, also, quantize the penalties due to the change (PC). 

If the change can be implemented without penalties, than the system has a maximum of 

flexibility, and PC = 0. But, if the results of changes bring great wastages, than the system is very 

inflexible, and “PC” is very increased. 

An important question in what concerns flexibility is: “How flexible should a system be now to 

encounter changes for the future?” This question refers to the future changes of the request, which 

cannot be anticipated exactly. To prevent the incertitude of prognosis, the indicator “PC” and the 

request for change probably settled should be taken into consideration. A system which cannot 

accommodate to the changes which will appear is not useful and should not be considered flexible. 

The indicator “PC” represents the product between penalty and probability: 

PC = Penalty × Probability 

The more decreased the indicator “PC” is, the more increased is the flexibility. If the penalty for 

change is small, than the indicator “PC” will be decreased, indicating a big flexibility. If the probability 

to change is small, PC will be small, too, even if the penalty for change is relatively big. This reflects 

the fact that the system should not be considered inflexible when it has a big penalty for change and a 

small probability for the change to appear. Thus, a system should not be considered more flexible than 

another one when there is a minimal penalty of change and a small probability for the change to appear. 

The value of “PC” indicator is based on two components: the penalty to the potential change 

and the probability of the potential change, where the change represents the transition from a state to 

another. 

The nature of this state depends on the considered type of flexibility: for the flexibility of the 

produce, a state can be the type of the produce manufactured by the system; for the operational 

flexibility, it can be the operational state of the system; for the flexibility of volume, it can be the rate 

of the production request. 

Penalty and probability could be seen as functions of a discrete variable “X” which represents 

the potential change. A value of “X” is noted with “X i ”. For example, if we have three states A, B, C 

than the possible values of X will be: X 1 (A 0 ; A), X 2 (A 0 ; B), X 3 (A 0 ; C), X 4 (B 0 ; A), X 5 (B 0 ; B), X 6 

(B 0 ; C), X 7 (C 0 ; A), X 8 (C 0 ; B) and X 9 (C 0 ; C), where (A 0 ; A) – signifies the fact that the system 

remains in the same state A, (A 0 ; B) – the system passes from state A to state B etc. 

The penalty to change (PC) can be defined: 

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PC = ∑P n (X i ) × P r (X i ) i= (1 … D) [u.m.] 

where: D = number of the potential change; 

X i = a- “i” – a, potential change; 

P n (X i ) – penalty for a i – a, potential change; 

P r (X i ) – probability for a i – a, potential change. 

The calculation of “PC” indicator can be seen as an application of a decision taken with 

incertitude, where X i represents a future possible circumstance, P n (X i ) – the values attributed for each 

of these circumstances, and P r (X i ) – the probability for these circumstances to take place. 

As it was seen, “PC” can be used to evaluate the flexibility of product, of volume and the 

operational flexibility. To understand how to use the indicator “PC”, the following example is 

presented: 

The flexibility of product is evaluated for two systems of fabrication A and B. The flexibility of 

product reflects the possibility of the system to make a variety of produces with the same equipment. It 

is assumed that there is a 70% probability that the following product which will be fabricated is the 

product 1, and a 30% probability for it, to be product 2. Also, it is assumed that product 1 is likewise 

with the product which is being fabricated at the moment and thus it can be processed in system A with 

changes which costs only 20 mil. u.m. beside product 2 which would cost 50 mil. u.m. System B is a 

system whose implementation would cost 80 mil. u.m. Evaluating flexibility as the product between 

penalty and probability we obtain: 

→ PC A = 20mil. u.m. × 70% + 50 mil. u.m. × 30% = 29 mil. u.m. 

for system A; 

→ PC B = 80 mil. u.m. × 70% + 80 mil. u.m. × 30% = 80 mil. u.m. 

for system B; 

“PC” is more decreased for system A than for system B, which means that system A is more 

flexible than system B. 

FP = -∑ 

The flexibility of product is measured using the presented indicator (PC), and the formula: 

C 

( xi). 

P 

n 

pi pi 

a 

i= 1 (1 + e) 

( x ) 

i 

[ u. m] 

where: a = 1, …, N – the number of years; 

C pi – the cost of the potential change, in year “a”, of product “i” [u.m.]; 

P pi – the probability for potential change of the product “i” in year “a” [u.m.]; 

e – the actualization coefficient. 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Abrudan, I., Flexible manufacturing systems – projection concepts and management, Cluj- 

Napoca, Dacia, 1996 

2. Andreica, M., Stoica, M., Luban, F., Quantitative Methods in Management, Bucharest, 

Economica, 1998 

3. Ansoff, H.I., Strategic Management, London Mac Millan, 1989 

4. Constantin, B., Flexible systems of manufacture through cutting, Bucharest, Tehnica, 1993 

5. Grewin, D., Kolodny, H., Management of Advances Manufacturing Technology, Strategy, 

Organizations & Sons Inc., 1992 

6. Moldoveanu, G., Organizational Analysis, Bucharest, Economica, 2000 

7. Moldoveanu, G., The Operational Management of Production, Bucharest, Economica, 1999 

8. Platon, V., Advanced Systems of Production, Bucharest, Tehnica, 1990 

9. Porter, M.E., Competitive strategy – Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors, New 

York, The Free Press, 1980 

10. Preda, A.M., Zorletan, T., MANSTRAT, The decisional stimulation concerning the strategic 

management of the firm, Bucharest, Lito ASE, 1998 

11. Zorletan, T., Burdus, E., Caprarescu, Gh., Organization Management, Bucharest, Holding 

Reporter, 1995 

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THE INVOLVEMENT OF EUROPEAN UNION ON TOURISM INDUSTRY 

Petan Ioana Cristiana, 

lector.univ.drd., Universitatea Romano Americana 

Le tourisme a été introduit dans les « domaines d’appui, de coordination et de complément » de l’article I - 17 du 

Abstract. Le tourisme est l’un des secteurs les plus prometteurs de l’économie européenne. En effet, l’Europe est la 

région touristique la plus visitée au monde, avec les attractions touristiques les plus diverses dans un même périmètre 

géographique. Le tourisme dans l’Union étant essentiellement interne: 13 % de l’activité enregistrée est lié à des visiteurs en 

provenance de pays tiers, dont les dépenses, comptabilisées comme des exportations, représentent 30 % du commerce 

international des services de l’Union. 

Traité Constitutionnel et fait l’objet d’un article III - 281. Selon cet article, «l’Union complète l’action des Etats 

membres, notamment en promouvant la compétitivité des entreprises de ce secteur ». Son action vise à «encourager la 

création d’un environnement favorable au développement des entreprises dans ce secteur » et à «favoriser la coopération 

entre Etats membres, notamment par l’échange de bonnes pratiques ». 

Apres le rejet du Traite par la France et les Pays-Bas en mai 2005, le Conseil européen pris la décision de « geler » ce 

Traité et de laisser aux Etats membres le temps de la réflexion. En fin, l’échéance fixée pour l’achèvement du processus de 

ratification, à savoir le 1er novembre 2006, ne pouvant plus être respectée. 

Maintenant, , le Traité instituant la Communauté européenne (Traité CE) en vigueur mentionne le tourisme à l’article 

3-1-u parmi les domaines en faveur desquels la Communauté peut prendre des « mesures » afin de réaliser les objectifs de 

convergence qu’elle s’est fixés, comme la croissance économique et l’emploi, la cohésion économique et sociale, 

l’amélioration de la qualité de la vie et le développement durable. 

It is clear for everybody, that tourism, as a phenomena, was born in Europe. Its earliest origins 

may be traced back to those classical civilisations whose influence has so shaped the history and 

culture of europe, and whose enduring architectural wonders are now themselves the focus of 

considerable tourist interest (Davidson, 1998). 

With only 7 per cent of planet`s land mass, Europe is more intensively visited by the world`s 

tourists than all other continents taken together (17 million tourists in 2006 - 47 %). In terms of 

international arrivals alone, almost half of the world`s top twenty destinations are European countries. 

The great diversity of natural and cultural resources with which Europe is so abundantly endowed 

comprises the „raw material” of this continent`s tourism product. Man-made attractions ranging from 

casinos to theme parks have added to the appeal of coastal, urban and rural destinations, while purposebuilt 

conference and exibition centres have provided the motive for the arrival of vast numbers of high 

spending business tourists in many towns and cities throughout the continent. 

Wherever they come from, tourists have now become simply part of the landscape in every 

European country and an inseparable element in the lives of most europeans (Davidson, 1998). The 

history of the european tourism is as old as the beginnings of civilisation itself in this continent. Its 

origins may be traced back to those classical civilisations whose influence has so shaped the history 

and culture of Europe, and whose enduring architectural wonders are now themselves the focus of 

considerable tourist interest. 

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Even if the tourism is the most important industry in Europe, EU legislators and policymakers 

have been slow to direct their attention toward this sector, and so, there wasn`t a specific 

EU policy for tourism or any long-term tourism programme of direct funding. Lickorish (1991) has 

underlined very good the reason „the Commission has never accepted a policy for tourism, 

maintaining in its principle of „subsidiarity” that tourism is a matter for each member state, and that 

the Commisssion`s intervention followed from other aspects of EU policy was limited to a number 

of specific measures”. 

It is generally recognised that the Community makes its greatest impact on tourism passively, 

through its general legislation and measure which although not particularly designed with tourism 

in mind, nonetheless affect this sector substantially. Also, the greatest portion of the EU`s 

expenditure on tourism arises indirectly through its general funds and programmes rather than from 

its actions aimed specifically at tourism. 

In 1992 the European Commission has adopted the “Action Plan to Assist Tourism”, and the 

main goal of this plan was to improve knowledge in the field of tourism, to disseminate of best 

practice in fields such as environment and tourism and to promote Europe as tourism destination. 

This plan ran for only three years, from 1993 to 1995 (Ratz, 2004). 

On February 2005, the Commission proposed a new start for the Lisbon Strategy focusing the 

European Union’s efforts on two principal tasks – delivering stronger, lasting growth and more and 

better jobs. Since 1997, the potential of tourism to generate employment and growth has been 

recognised at EU level on several occasions. Globalisation, demographic changes and the evolution 

in transport are decisive factors in driving the rapid growth of this industry. Tourism is therefore an 

activity which can play an important role in the attainment of the Growth and Jobs Strategy goals. 

The recent enlargement of the European Union has increased the diversity of European tourist 

destinations and products, opening up numerous natural and cultural attractions often unknown to 

many European citizens. The development of tourism in the new Member States and the candidate 

countries will contribute to the generation of growth and jobs by the European tourism industry. 

The job creation rate in tourism is above average compared to the European economy as a 

whole. In the last decade, the annual growth rate of people employed in the HORECA (Hotels, 

Restaurants, and Cafes) sector has been almost always above the growth rate of total employment. 

An important reason for the contribution of the tourism industry to job creation, in particular with 

regard to the employment of women, young and less skilled persons, is the high degree of part-time 

employment and flexible working conditions. The flexibility of this workforce should be matched 

by appropriate measures for job security and skills development. 

So, there are more indirect than direct EU measures having a significant impact on how 

tourism is shaped and developed within Member States, and this reflects the disperate and 

heterogenous nature of tourism itself, crossing into many different areas of policy. We can divide 

these measures into three main areas (Davidson, 1998): 

- measures affecting the tourist as a person living and travelling in a geographical space 

without physical or fiscal barriers. In this case, the tourist is protected by specific 

consumer legislation on health and safety, but also on economic and legal aspects; 

- measures related to the economic and social environment which aim to provide 

common structures for economic and social activities, such as tourism, to develop 

within the Union; 

- measures in the field of culture and environment (sustainable development). 

All this are very important and there is a strong implication from the European Union in order 

to elaborate and apply some of these measures. 

The European Union's support for tourism 

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The last decade has been an important period in the progressive involvement of tourism in 

programmes supported by the European Community. While the absence of a specific tourism 

budget for direct tourism activities means that DG Enterprise's Tourism Unit is unable to provide 

any funding for individual projects, numerous tourism initiatives have received support from other 

EU programmes. 

There are many different schemes which provide funding for suitable proposals. Sources of 

possible funding for tourism projects are as follows (Ratz, 2004): 

• The major funds for promoting regional, economic and social development in the Union (the 

Structural Funds). 

• Programmes and actions in various policy fields (e.g. environment, training, research and 

development, promotion of cultural heritage). These often require co-operative efforts between 

organisations in two or more Member States. 

• Loans from the European Investment Bank. 

The only largest source of European Union funding for tourism, in particular in the less 

prosperous regions, are the Structural Funds. The support available through the Structural Funds is 

essentially aimed at economic development goals. Therefore, economic and social criteria are 

crucial in deciding where and how resources are allocated. In general, the Funds are targeted locally 

and the operational programmes are managed by the Member States. 

The Structural Funds are used in three main ways to enable the underdevelopment regions to 

advance through their tourism industries: 

- direct investement in tourism facilities: co-financing projects such as marinas, 

conferences centres, SPAs, hotels, restaurants etc. 

- investment in infrastructure directly linked to the tourism sector: co-financing 

transport, communications and environmental projects which may improve the 

accessibility of undeveloped regions; 

- investement in projects to upgrade the cultural and historical resources of less 

developed regions, making them more attreactive to potential tourists. 

There are individual projects selected by regional and national bodies in each Member State 

under the supervision of a joint monitoring committee in which the European Commission is 

represented. The financial aid provided by the Structural Funds therefore usually reaches the user 

through national or regional schemes managed by the national authorities. 

Usually, this support is provided for activities that contribute to furthering the cooperation 

between organisations in different Member States as well as dealing with particular issues. This 

means that a tourism project could be eligible for support under a particular programme if it 

involves partners from other Member States and contributes to the specific objectives of a particular 

programme. In practical terms, this usually means working in international partnerships involving 

participants from two or more Member States. 

Besides the Structural Funds, there are others 60 EU programmes and actions which may 

provide financial support to the tourism sector. One of this programmes is PHARE, establish in 

1989, for the process of economic and social reform in Central and Eastern Europe. It works as nonreimbursable 

grants for programmes in different fields, such as privatisation, agriculture, education 

and training. 

Potential applications to tourism include the financing of tourism-related studies, tourism 

action plans, policy advice, technical aexpertise and training. Even if the PHARE programme was 

originally set up for Polond and Hungary, it was extended in other countries, like: Bulgaria, 

Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Baltic States, Albania Macedonia, FYR etc. 

A renewed European tourism policy 

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The challenges European tourism is faced with require a cohesive policy response at EU level. 

This policy must be focused on clear and realistic goals, commonly shared by decision-makers, 

employers and employees, as well as by local populations. It should make the best use of available 

resources and take advantage of all possible synergies. It must build on the whole range of actions 

already carried out and must clearly offer added value to the national and regional policies and 

measures. 

This policy was elaborated on 17.03.2006, under the name of “A renewed tourism EU policy: 

towards a stronger partnership for European Tourism” (COM(2006) 134 final). The main aim of 

this policy is to improve the competitiveness of the European tourism industry and create more and 

better jobs through the sustainable growth of tourism in Europe and globally. 

In implementing this policy, the Commission will develop a close partnership with Member 

States’ authorities and the stakeholders in the tourism industry. 

The main areas on which the policy will focus are: 

A. Mainstreaming measures affecting tourism 

- better tourism regultaion; 

- policy-coordonation. To make sure that policy initiatives affecting tourism do not 

hamper the competitiveness of the sector. Member States and tourism stakeholders will be 

regularly consulted, as for example, on the forthcoming Green Paper on Maritime Affairs 

covering coastal and marine tourism. 

- improved use of available European financial instruments. Tourism will continue 

to benefit greatly from the financial support offered by the variousEuropean financial 

instruments. 

B. Promoting tourism sustainability 

- an European Agenda 21 for tourism. The Commission should present a 

proposal for an Agenda 21, by the end of 2007, based on input from the Tourism 

Sustainability Group, composed of the tourism stakeholders. 

- specific supporting actions for the sustainability of European tourism; 

C. Enhancing the understanding and the visibility of tourism 

- Improving the understanding of European tourism by providing all decision 

makers with high quality data. 

- Supporting the promotion of European destinations. Globalisation has opened 

up new opportunities to attract tourists from new markets (such as China, Russia and India) 

able to afford high value vacations. ”Visit Europe” - A new European Tourist Destinations 

web portal. 

- Improving the visibility of tourism: a common goal. The Commission will 

continue to work in close partnership with all involved actors to promote the visibility of 

this important industry through events organised by the EU Presidencies and the Annual 

European Tourism Forum. 

- In order to achive all this aims, the Commission has created a specialized body – Tourism 

Unit. The aim of the Tourism Unit is to further develop dialogue and partnership with 

industry stakeholders for the benefit of the sector, and to promote a wider understanding of 

the role tourism plays in European life and economy. 

European tourism and Euro 

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The most recent advances in the European integration process - the creation of the internal 

market, the Schengen agreement, and the development of the European Monetary Union and its 

currency, the euro - are considered to contribute to the development of European tourism by 

providing competitive advantages to the area (Ratz, 2004). One of the greatest challenges in 

European history was the introduction of the euro as a single European monetary policy. 

The development of the European Monetary Union certainly has significant impacts of 

various scope and range on European tourism. Expert expectations have showed that the euro would 

become a strong international currency to be used in foreign trade, currency reserves, investment 

and, last but not least, tourism. 

The single currency is not only just another means of payment, but an instrument of the 

European identity, a contributor to the positioning of "Destination Europe" in global tourism. In 

addition, however, the elimination of currency conversion costs, bank commissions and other 

international financial obstacles will most probably stimulate the mobility of persons, goods and 

capital within the EMU, thus serving as well as an incentive for tourism development. 

Among the first to use and disseminate the euro and experience the direct advantages of the 

single European currency are tourists, with the disappearance of commission charges and of the 

discrepancy between buying and selling rates (this is quite a significant benefit, considering that a 

tourist's cash can now lose up to two-thirds of its value while travelling all around Europe simply 

through currency exchange transactions, without making one single purchase) (Torres Marques 

1998). Savings made on transaction costs lead to higher travel budgets, which, at least partly, will 

hopefully be spent in the tourism sector. 

Conclusions 

European Union represents an important inter-governamental body concerned with most 

aspects of life in Europe. Policy and legislation developed at the European level are playing a 

increasingly important part in many aspects of everyday lives of those living in EU Member States 

and are having a fundamental impact on the environment in which businesses operate. 

Tourism in Europe has changed considerably over the past decade and will continue to change 

and develop in the future. More than a matter of habit or heterogeneous set of economic activities, 

tourism has become a determining factor in the life of millions of people; tourism is the best 

medium for direct encounters and discovery: it is becoming the ideal ground for bringing people 

closer together. It is a prominent instrument for enhancing the meaning of European citizenship. 

The European Commission, recognising the important role of tourism in the European 

economy, has been increasingly involved in tourism since the early 1980's, in co-operation with the 

Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the 

Regions. 

Even if tourism wasn`t a priority for the European Union, there were a lot of direct and 

indirect community measures affecting this industry as we tried to present them above. 

References 

Davidson R., “Travel and Tourism in Europe”, edit. Longman, England, 1998. 

Forbes, A.H., “Tourism and Transport policy in the European Union”, in A.V. Seaton et all., 

1994. 

Leidner Rüdiger, “The european tourism industry. A multi-sector with dynamic markets”, 

Edit. for European Commission, March 2004. 

Leidner Rüdiger, “The european Tourism industry in the enlarged Community - Gaps are 

potentials and opportunities”, Edit. for European Commission, January 2007. 

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Lickorish, L.J., “Developing Tourism Destinations: policies and perspectives”, Edit. 

Longman, London, 1994. 

Rátz Tamara, “European Tourism”, Kodolányi János University College Székesfehérvár, 

Regia Rex Printing House Ltd., Hungary 2004. 

***, Commission tables new strategy to boost tourism in EU, Bruselles, 2006. 

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THE MANAGEMENT OF PORTFOLIO RISK 

ON THE ROMANIAN CAPITAL MARKET 

Dalia SIMION, lect. dr. 

Daniel TOBA, lect. dr. 

University of Craiova 

ABSTRACT: In a society strongly dependent and intensively industrialized such like the one we live in, risk 

cannot be an isolated event, but the consequence of some facts that determine its transfer from one point of the planet to 

another. As a result to the general tendency of increasing the volatility of the financial markets but also to the increasing 

complexity of the global financial system there was registered a continuous interest in the domain of risk management. 

Within the article there are being presented methods of reducing risk for financial titles portfolio, coming to 

support the investors that want a greater security when making the portfolio. We will further present the way in which 

diversity can reduce risk, but at the same time in order to better understand the complete effect of diversity we will 

show the way in which a portfolio risk depends on an individual risk of each component title, exemplifying some titles 

quoted at Bucharest Stock Exchange. 

In the context of the last years, in which the financial markets are being integrated and affected 

by globalization in an accelerated rhythm, there appear new possibilities of placing the available 

resources and at the same time new opportunities of accessing the financing markets. The new 

global order in the finances’ domain increases the circulation of financial flows in parallel with 

facilitating the access to the financing sources and thus leads to the diversification of the 

international strategies concerning the structure of portfolios. 

The globalization of financial markets readdresses to an efficient system of economic levers, by 

increasing the financing capacity and through the fast transformation of economies in investment 

but simultaneously with the appearance of new risks. 

After increasing the complexity of the global financial system as well as the general tendency 

of developing the volatility of the financial markets there appears an increasing interest for the 

management of risk domain. 

The management of risk does not analyze what went wrong after things had been achieved as 

well as it is not an ex-post analysis but a process in which risk becomes transparent. It requires 

seeking for new risks, measuring and administrating them. We don’t have to have in view a unique 

answer concerning risk. The management of risk is a cyclic process from which one can learn. 

The conceptual definition of risk as well as its analysis is made in the context of establishing 

criteria that are at the bases of the investment in financial titles and of the indicators that surprise in 

a complex frame the situation of risk. 

Risk stands for a complex phenomenon that should be defined in a close correlation to human 

subjects that divide it into two categories: the persons with appetite for risk that take any risk for an 

adequate remuneration and the ones who fear risk trying to minimize it in almost all the situations. 

As a consequence to this, the management of portfolio takes into consideration the individual 

investors’ needs and preferences. Minimizing risk is a fundamental purpose in the administration of 

the portfolio of titles and allows the capital investment to be allocated 

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according to the investor’s attitude against risk. Nevertheless there can be made a possible 

estimation of the predicted gains for certain values without making reference to individual investors 

and without taking into account his needs or preferences. The results of the financial analyst on the 

capital market are determinant for the management of portfolio, but managers use the financial 

analyst’s calculations only in correlation to the preferences and financial situation of individual 

investors. 

The theory of portfolio is formed around the following central ideas: 

- the relevant characteristics of a portfolio are the predicted gain and its risk; 

- rational investors will prefer to own efficient portfolios that maximize the predicted gains at 

a certain level of risk or in an alternative equivalent way minimize risk at a given level of 

the predicted gain 

The relation between the gain (profitability) of a portfolio and the rate of profit of each 

movable value that compose the portfolio is thus expressed as a balanced sum: 

p 

= ∑ x ⋅ R 

R (1) 

i 

i 

i 

The weight of each movable value (x i ) is the percentage of the total value of the portfolio that is 

invested in the respective title. 

In case the profitability of certain movable values is known with precision then the portfolio’s 

profitableness can be accurately predicted. Taking into account that future is not secure the 

managers of portfolio must fundament their selections on the gains’ prognoses. 

If we think of a portfolio made up of 4 titles whose expected weights and rates of profitability 

are presented in the following chart: 

Tabel 1 

Title Weight (x i ) Predicted gain (R i ) 

1 0,4 0,10 

2 0,2 0,20 

3 0,3 0,15 

4 0,1 0,05 

then the portfolio’s profitability is: 

R p 

= 0, 4× 

0, 

10 + 0, 

2× 

0, 

20 + 0, 

3× 

0, 

15 + 0, 

1× 

0, 

05 = 0, 

130 sau 13% 

(2) 

The analyst predicts the following gains: 

Gains 

Probability 

9% Very probable 

6% Possible, but improbable 

11% Possible, but improbable 

Tabel 2 

The 9% prognosis is the analyst’s best estimation, but this cannot be sure. For a deeper and 

more efficient prognosis there are being made supplementary calculations with the help of a 

histogram in the following picture: 

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Probability 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Expected Gain (%) 

Picture 1. Analyst’s prognosis concerning the possible gains 

On the horizontal axis there are being represented the middles of the intervals, that is number 6 

stands for the interval (5.5; 6.5) whereas on the vertical axis there are being represented the 

probabilities of appearance of the expected rates of profitableness. 

This distribution reflects the probabilities through which the title can offer certain gains in a 

certain period of time. With a probability of 0.05, the expected income will be of 6% or 11% 

whereas with a probability of 0.25 the expected income will be of 9%. The predicted gain or the 

sense of distribution is equal to the balanced sum of the possible gains, the weights being 

represented by probabilities. In this case the average or expected gain is of 8.66%. 

Thus the expected gain of a portfolio can be defined as the balanced sum of the expected gains 

of the individual movable values. 

Nevertheless one can stress the problem of estimating the risk of each movable value and the 

estimations of a portfolio risk. For this there are being used two statistic values: standard variance 

and deviation. 

The two measures of estimating risk are relevant only if the expected results describe the 

normal law of probability (are normally distributed). 

The risk of an asset is being defined by the probable variability of the asset’s future 

profitability. If for instance an investor buys government titles with an anticipated rate of 

profitability of 6%, then the investment’s profitability is of 6% and it can be predicted with 

precision because this type of investment is without risk. But if the investor buys shares from a 

recently appeared company, the investment’s profitability cannot be estimated with precision. 

Studying the company’s results, an analyst can estimate an expected rate of profitability of around 

20%. The investor can also expect to fluctuations of the rates of profitability from for example 

+100% to -100%. 

As a result to this one can say that risk is connected to the probability of having a reduced 

profitability than the expected one. The more frequent the opportunity of a reduced profitability 

appears, the more risky the investment is. 

In case of a normal distribution (Gauss’ bell) this is ascendant and the probabilities that a gain 

should be placed in the interval of expected value (E) plus or minus the standard deviation (s) are 

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approximately 2 out of 3. The probabilities that a gain appears in the interval E+2s – E-2s are of 

around 95 out of 100. 

The question that is often asked is how we get to these probabilities. The special publications 

offer indications, advice but not the appearance probabilities. Most analysts start with studying the 

previous variability and it is supposed that portfolios having a history with increased variability 

have the least predictable results. 

The modern financial theory shows that the previous evolution of the course of a financial title 

is not sufficient in order to predict the future behavior of the respective title but depends on the 

following factors: 

- the offer and request for the respective title, existing on the market at that moment (a title for 

which the request is greater than the offer can determine the price to grow or vice versa); 

- the market’s liquidity on which the title is being operated (a title operated daily shows the 

high interest of the investors and its course will be sensitive to the events connected to the 

market or issuer; a title occasionally operated is less attractive, its course modifies 

occasionally and changes are usually greater than in the case of a title currently operated); 

- the general evolution of the market on which the respective title is being operated (the price 

of a title operated on a market with an ascendant evolution will generally register an 

increasing trend. The ascendant evolution of the market is given by the value increase of the 

stock exchange indices, the ascendant tendency of the total volume and of the total value of 

daily transactions as well as of the number of investors on market); 

- the general status and the registered performances of the issuing society of a title (a real 

increase of the issuer’s economic activity will determine a great level of security for the 

issued titles investment); 

- future certain events that will affect the issuing company (fusions, future acquisitions, 

payments of dividends and so on); 

- the title’s previous evolution (if there is being registered an increasing trend of a title’s 

course one can predict with the help of a graphic analysis that the market price can grow 

continuously); 

- unpredicted events that affect the stock exchange market (the economic events – 

government’s decisions, then those of monetary authority; juridical events – the adoption of 

new laws, the change of the functioning, operating and discounting rules and stipulations; 

other events such like natural catastrophes, wars, terrorist attacks, etc.). 

The standard deviation is a useful synthetic indicator in appreciating the level of spreading as 

compared to the expected value. Within the estimations, the variable’s dispersion is more used as 

compared to the standard deviation. While the standard deviation on each invested monetary unit 

does not change together with the invested sum, the dispersion on each invested monetary unit 

increases together with the invested sum. 

The standard deviation is marked withσ , whereas variance is market withσ 2 . If the rates of 

profitability are calculated according to some alternative scripts then the standard deviation can be 

obtained through the formula: 

∑ 

( R − R) 

σ = 

⋅ 

(3) 

s 

2 

s 

p s 

in which R stands for the balanced average of the real values of the rates of profitability R s , and p s 

stands for the balanced average probability of deviation from the expected value that indicates how 

much greater or smaller the real value is as compared to the expected one. 

If the only available data are the values of profitability in a past period then the standard 

deviation of profitability is being estimated using this formula: 

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N 

∑ 

( R − R) 

i 

2 

i= 

1 

σ = 

(4) 

N −1 

N being the number of observations, and N-1 is the level of availability. 

The portfolios that are efficient from the variable’s dispersion point of view are efficient as well 

from the standard dispersion’s and vice versa. 

Though the net gain of a portfolio is the balanced sum of the expected gains of the component 

values, the portfolio’s dispersion is not calculated as a balanced sum of the component movable 

values dispersion. 

The portfolio’s dispersion is calculated with the formula: 

n 

n 

∑∑ 

2 

σ = x ⋅ x ⋅ cov 

(5) 

p 

i= 1 j= 

1 

i 

j 

ij 

in which cov ij is the covariance between the predicted gains of the movable values i and j. 

Analyzing the Romanian capital market, one can observe that some of the operated titles have a 

greater variability than others, but for all of them the standard deviation is greater than the one 

corresponding to the market. 

As the standard deviation of the market (measured through the standard deviation of the stock 

exchange indices) is a composition of standard deviations corresponding to each title that makes up 

the portfolio, there can be concluded that diversity spreads the risk. Even a short diversity produces 

a substantial reduction of risk. 

When two titles are combined and the covariance is smaller than 1, the risk of the portfolio will 

be smaller than the balanced average of the risks belonging to the two titles. 

In order to exemplify we consider a portfolio of shares issued by the Romanian Bank of 

Development and Transilvania Bank. The dates of the shares’ analysis in 2007 are presented in the 

following chart: 

TITLE 

Tabel 3 

Average 

Profitability 

Average deviation of 

profitability 

(dispersion) 

BRD 0,2054%/day 24.1656% 24.2278% 

TLV -0,0223%/day 1,7196% 2,7267% 

• Source: Dates from BVB, www.bvb.ro 

Average deviation of the 

estimated profitability 

(estimated dispersion) 

Investing sums in the two categories of shares, we will get a portfolio’s rate of 

profitability of 0,0916 (9,16%) and the risk σ 

p 

= 0, 127 that is 12,6953%. 

Calculating the balanced average of the risks of the two titles we get: 

M 

12 

= x1σ 

1 

+ x2σ 

2 

= 0,5 ⋅ 24,1656 + 0,5 ⋅ 2,7196 = 0,13443 that is 13,44%. 

The covariance between the two titles is σ = 0, 12 

3794153 

One can observe that the portfolio’s risk is smaller than the balanced average of the risk of the 

two categories of shares as a consequence to the fact that there were combined two kinds of shares 

for which covariance is smaller than 1, fact that permitted a risk reduction. 

Comparing the standard deviation for portfolios formed of a title, 2 titles, 3 titles and so on, one 

can notice that the size of the standard deviation is being reduced as the number of titles within the 

portfolio increases. But the reduction is smaller and smaller if the number of titles within the 

portfolio exceeds 20 or 30 (picture no. 2). 

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Standard Deviation 

20-30 titles 

No. of titles 

Picture 2: Risk reduction through diversification 

From the picture no.2 one can notice that a part of risk cannot be eliminated through 

diversification (the potion graphically situated and abscissa) and this is the market risk (systematic, 

undiversified) that refers to those articles that threatens all the business inside the market. 

The Romanian capital market amplifies the risks that the investors take and offers a few 

variants for investment diversification. Bucharest Stock Exchange wasn’t a very attractive market. 

But though generally speaking, the emergent markets are characterized by increased volatility and 

performance, Bucharest Stock Exchange rather offered a large volume of uncertainty without 

satisfying the investors. 

Most risks are connected to the stage of development of the Romanian capital market as 

compared to other countries. 

The liquidity of Bucharest Stock Exchange is quite reduced, the average value of daily 

transactions not exceeding 10 million euros. 

The high volatility of the operations from the Romanian capital market is another risky factor 

and is due to the investors’ behavior, present on the market (rather speculators than investors). 

Within the category of risky factors there is also included the lack of instruments with a fixed 

income, including here corporatist or mortgage obligations, of derived instruments for certain assets 

and reduced possibilities of hedging on the derivatives market. 

In order to minimize risks on the Romanian capital market there is not being imposed the 

formation of portfolios combining investment in listed shares on the Romanian stock exchange 

market and the ones on the international markets with a greater liquidity. 

Taking into consideration the economic increase in our country, in the last period of time, with 

much more over the average of the countries with a mature economy, one can see that Romania 

tends to become the preferred destination of foreign capitals. 

The Romanian companies listed at the stock exchange have a great potential of development of 

a short and long term and that’s why local investors especially the foreign ones will be interested to 

have investment in these companies. 

A capital market that tends towards maturity, such like the Romanian capital market, needs 

three main categories of factors: 

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- portfolio investors of small and middle size that invest on middle and long term according to the 

expectations of the companies’ economic evolution; 

- speculators moving on the spot and giving liquidity to the market; 

- great local investors such like local investment funds, pension funds, assurance societies, etc. 

An equilibrated development of all these investors contributes to the increase of the market’s 

stability and to the reduction of vulnerability that otherwise they might have in the actions, 

sometimes completely unpredictable and unjustified of the foreign capitals. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

1. Bank, P., Baum, D.- Hedging and portofolio optimization in illiquid financial markets with 

a large trader, Mathematics Financial, 2004 

2. Blackwell, W. David, Griffiths, D. Mark,- Modern Financial Markets: Prices, Yields and 

Risk Analysis, Wiley and Sons Lmtd. Publishing House, 2007 

3. Chance, Don M.; Brooks, Robert – An Introduction to Derivatives and Risk Management, 

Seventh Edition, Irwin Publishing, 2007 

4. Reilly, Frank K., Brown, Keith C – Investment Analysis and Portofolio Management, 

South-Western College Pub; 7 th edition, 2002 

5. www.bvb.ro 

6. www.kmarket.ro 

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MANAGEMENTUL ORGANIZAŢIILOR ÎN CONDIŢIILE GLOBALIZĂRII 

Drăgan Emilian Florin 

Doctor, Director Dezvoltare S.C. SEVERNAV S.A. Drobeta Turnu Severin 

ABSTRACT 

Lucrarea este structurată pe trei capitole: 1. Diagnoza managementului corporaţiilor multinaţionale; 2. 

Opţiuni ale corporaţiilor multinaţionale faţă de tipul de structură organizatorică; 3.Concluzii şi opinii. 

În primul capitol am prezentat consideraţii privind diagnoza managementului corporaţiilor multinaţionale cu 

referire la problemele ce apar în cazul realizării unui model de management general, la variabilele prin intermediul 

cărora se poate realiza analiza în baza căruia se face diagnosticarea managementului corporaţiilor multinaţionale, 

considerente care sunt însoţite de o analiză a comportamentului asupra corporaţiilor japoneze şi europene ce derulează 

activităţi economice pe piaţa europeană (cu referiri la lucrarea Globalizare, protecţionism şi strategia firmei a lui Pricop 

Mihai şi Tanţău Adrian). 

În capitolul 2, structurat pe trei subcapitole sunt prezentate: cadrul general al construirii structurii 

organizatorice, factorii care influenţează opţiunea pentru o anumită structură managerială şi două cazuri privind evoluţia 

structurii organizatorice la unele companii naţionale (cu referire la lucrarea lui Pricop Mihai şi Tanţău Adrian) . 

Concluziile şi opiniile noastre subliniază importanţa studierii managementului în condiţiile globalizării şi 

constituie o încercare modestă de a contribui activ la transformarea firmei unde îmi desfăşor activitatea în firmă 

modernă bazată pe cunoaştere. 

1. Diagnoza managementului corporaţiilor multinaţionale 1 

Economia în curs de globalizare reuneşte atât economiile naţionale ca entităţi de bază, cât şi 

activitatea corporaţiilor multinaţionale. Ambele elemente evoluează în sensul globalizării. 

Economiile naţionale sunt din ce în ce mai independente şi dau naştere uniunilor economice 

regionale. Corporaţiile multinaţionale îşi dezvoltă o reţea proprie de relaţii care, depăşind cu mult 

graniţele naţionale, are în compunere alianţe între companii, bănci internaţionale şi cercuri 

financiare internaţionale ce reprezintă interese comune de lungă durată sau numai temporare. 

Problemele care apar în cazul realizării unui model de management global se referă la 

modalitatea de analiză, la modul de organizare a acesteia, la datele necesare şi la rezultatele 

aşteptate. 

Diagnosticarea corporaţiilor multinaţionale în vederea identificării modelului de management 

poate fi realizată în baza analizei produselor şi a furnizorilor acestora prin intermediul următoarelor 

variabile: 

- talia corporaţiei multinaţionale exprimată în funcţie de volumul anual al vânzărilor; 

- naţionalitatea originală a corporaţiei multinaţionale; 

- performanţele pe piaţă ale produselor corporaţiei determinate cu ajutorul cotei de piaţă 

deţinute şi a profitului realizat; 

- ciclul de viaţă al produsului; 

- gradul de adaptabilitate al produsului la cererea existentă; 

- destinaţia producţiei, care poate fi pentru consum productiv sau pentru consum individual. 

De exemplu, produsele destinate consumului productiv deţin o pondere de 75% în Europa şi de 33% 

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în Japonia. În acelaşi timp, europenii deţin avantaje competiţionale în cazul realizării de 

echipamente industriale, în timp ce japonezii deţin puncte forte în cazul producerii de echipamente 

electronice; 

- gradul de asigurare cu resurse din interiorul corporaţiei, calculat în funcţie de valoarea pe 

piaţă a componentelor importante procurate din cadrul propriei reţele; 

- asamblarea componentelor în cadrul corporaţiei, care reprezintă de exemplu un factor cheie 

de acces al strategiilor de aprovizionare al corporaţiilor americane; 

- locul de asamblare, care poate fi în ţara de origine a corporaţiei sau în alte ţări-gazdă ale 

acesteia. 

Asupra managementului corporaţiilor multinaţionale, dar şi asupra calităţii produselor 

acestora cât şi asupra încrederii consumatorilor în produsele existente pe piaţă se exercită anumite 

presiuni negative care au legătură nemijlocită cu existenţa la nivel mondial a unor pieţe imperfecte, 

ce se caracterizează prin: 

- costuri tranzacţionale ridicate; 

- bariere în calea transferului de tehnologie; 

- bariere tarifare şi netarifare; 

- risc ridicat generat de cursurile de schimb valutar; 

- distorsiuni care perturbă sistemul informaţional. 

Corporaţiile multinaţionale caută să ocolească aceste pieţe prin promovarea unor modele 

proprii cu privire la proprietate şi la controlul asupra activităţilor întreprinderilor în relaţia cu alte 

organizaţii. 

O analiză comparativă efectuată asupra corporaţiilor japoneze şi europene care derulează 

activităţi economice pe piaţa americană ajunge la următoarele concluzii principale: 

1. Corporaţiile europene pun mai mult accent pe profitabilitatea pe termen scurt, iar cele 

japoneze pun mai mult accent pe volumul vânzărilor şi pe cota de piaţă deţinută de produsele 

întreprinderii. 

2. Companiile japoneze prezintă o coordonare mai bună a activităţilor organizaţiei la scară 

mondială având drept obiectiv obţinerea de economii în cadrul procesului de producţie şi a mixului 

de marketing, dar produsele lor sunt mai puţin adaptate cererii existente pe piaţa americană în 

comparaţie cu produsele europene. 

3. Corporaţiile europene caută să satisfacă cu precădere noi nevoi ale clienţilor prin 

intermediul unor noi produse, în timp ce corporaţiile japoneze caută să satisfacă mai bine nevoile 

existente prin îmbunătăţirea caracteristicilor produselor. Europenii, ca şi americanii de altfel, pun 

accentul pe cercetarea intensă orientată spre descoperirea de noi produse, în timp ce japonezii pun 

accent pe calitatea procesului de producţie şi pe calitatea produsului, având drept rezultat un produs 

care să corespundă cât mai bine cerinţelor exprimate de clienţii organizaţiei. 

4. Organizaţiile japoneze caută să dezvolte aceleaşi produse pentru toate marile regiuni ale 

lumii - în special pentru ţările din cadrul „triadei”, pentru a beneficia de avantajele reducerii 

nivelului curbei de experienţă. Aceste corporaţii acţionează conform modelului Ohmae, la care am 

făcut o referire mai pe larg în paragraful 4.8 din capitolul I al prezentei lucrări. 

5. Corporaţiile japoneze analizează cu foarte mare atenţie oportunităţile existente la nivelul 

pieţei, utilizând cu precădere studii de fezabilitate înainte de a intra pe o nouă piaţă. 

6. Organizaţiile din vestul Europei adoptă strategii de valorificare cu precădere a avantajelor 

competitive legate de tehnologia produsului şi se concentrează asupra reducerii costurilor 

procesului tehnologic în situaţia în care tehnologia nu mai poate fi îmbunătăţită sau acest lucru este 

foarte greu de realizat. Corporaţiile japoneze parcurg un traseu în sens opus: mai întâi caută să 

obţină avantaje legate de cost pentru o tehnologie existentă şi numai în măsura în care acest lucru 

nu mai este posibil îşi concentrează forţele asupra dezvoltării procesului de producţie. 

7. Evoluţia întreprinderilor europene spre piaţa globală cunoaşte cel puţin două stadii: 

pătrunderea pe piaţa comunitară şi atacarea pieţei globale. Economia japoneză, intrată deja într-o 

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fază de maturizare, a trecut la desfiinţarea barierelor aflate în calea investitorilor străini şi totodată, 

îşi sporeşte veniturile prin pătrunderea pe pieţele externe. 

8. Tot mai multe întreprinderi japoneze realizează în special bunuri de tip”capital intensive” 

pe care le exportă (produse electrice şi electronice, automobile) şi reduc ponderea bunurilor de tip 

„muncă intensive” (bunuri casnice, radiouri, televizoare, casetofoane), pe care le importă. 

2. Opţiuni ale corporaţiilor multinaţionale faţă de tipul de structură organizatorică 1 

2.1. Cadrul general al construirii structurii organizatorice 

Astăzi, în condiţiile unui ritm tot mai dinamic al vieţii şi al societăţii în general, când procesul 

de globalizare imprimă o creştere fără precedent a ritmului schimbărilor, întreprinderile îşi modifică 

tot mai mult şi mai des structura organizatorică, iar restructurările sunt la ordinea zilei. Companiile 

globale, adevărate ”corporaţii dinozaur” cum le-a denumit sugestiv Alvin Toffler, uriaşe unităţi 

centralizate, au intrat într-un amplu proces de descentralizare, trecând la organizarea unei mulţimi 

de „centre de profit”. Implementarea acestui proces în practica managerială are numeroase exemple 

ale căror efecte benefice nu au întârziat să-şi arate roadele. Ele se regăsesc atât în rândul marilor 

companii petroliere (de exemplu firma Exxon cheltuie sume considerabile în încercarea de a 

pătrunde în lumea informaţiei - un centru de profit diferit de obiectul de bază al activităţii sale, iar 

firma Arco investeşte în noi centre de profit din cercetarea genetică şi din producerea seminţelor), în 

rândul marilor companii multinaţionale din sectorul productiv (de exemplu firma ABB care are în 

structura sa 1000 de centre de profit), cât şi în multe alte companii din diverse domenii de activitate. 

În condiţiile globalizării economice, când competiţia se intensifică pe toate pieţele lumii, 

corporaţiile caută să se axeze pe „capacităţile vitale” de care dispun, asigurând doar acele produse şi 

servicii care nu pot fi furnizate de alte companii la niveluri echivalente de calitate şi cost. De aceea, 

succesul unei companii se bazează pe înţelegere profundă a mediului în care aceasta îşi desfăşoară 

activitatea şi pe implementarea cu succes a acelor structuri organizatorice care corespund cel mai 

bine unui anume context dat. 

Structura care stă la baza ”construcţiei” unei afaceri internaţionale, indiferent de forma 

concretă pe care o îmbracă, trebuie să găsească cele mai adecvate răspunsuri la următoarele 

întrebări legate de conţinutul problemelor care îşi aşteaptă rezolvarea: 

• Care este structura de conducere care corespunde cel mai bine implementării strategiei 

organizaţiei în spaţiul geografic ales? 

• Unde trebuie delegată răspunderea managerială pentru un anumit proces strategic? 

• Ce nivel erarhic din cadrul organizaţiei trebuie să fie activ şi să aibă în acelaşi timp 

capacitatea şi puterea de a sprijini implementarea rapidă a strategiei? 

• Care sunt avantajele sau dezavantajele centralizării sau ale descentralizării responsabilităţii 

manageriale? 

2.2. Factorii care influenţează opţiunea pentru o anumită structură managerială 

Configurarea concretă a structurii organizatorice a unei corporaţii internaţionale se bazează pe 

analiza factorilor care influenţează acest proces şi anume: 

- dinamica mediului internaţional în care îşi organizează afacerea; 

- gradul de diversificare a afacerilor organizaţiei; 

- nivelul de globalizare al diferitelor domenii de afacere; 

- volumul afacerilor organizaţiei în alte ţări; 

- numărul filialelor deţinute în străinătate; 

- cota de participare a filialelor la activitatea corporaţiei; 

- posibilitatea de comunicare şi de coordonare a activităţilor întreprinderii în contextul 

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condiţiilor existente în fiecare ţară. 

Decizia de alegere a formei de organizare a unei corporaţii internaţionale trebuie să ţină seama 

de trei grupe de factori: socio-culturali, tehnico-economici şi politico-legislativi. 

• Grupa factorilor de influenţă socio-culturali cuprinde: 

- filozofia corporaţiei; 

- stilul de conducere; 

- cultura managerială şi naţionalitatea organizaţiei mamă; 

- structura demografică a angajaţilor şi aparenţa confesională a acestuia; 

- nivelul de pregătire a personalului; 

- mentalitatea, creativitatea şi sistemul de motivare a personalului; 

- responsabilitatea personală şi gradul de delegare a responsabilităţilor în cadrul organizaţiei; 

- istoria organizaţiei. 

Influenţa factorilor culturali asupra structurii organizatorice este analizată prin prisma a două 

teorii contradictorii: teoria independenţei de cultură şi teoria dependenţei de cultură. 

Teoria independenţei de cultură presupune că majoritatea factorilor de mediu prezintă aceleaşi 

caracteristici, iar pe termen lung influenţa lor este aceeaşi pentru diferite culturi, ceea ce determină 

apariţia şi dezvoltarea unor structuri organizatorice asemănătoare. 

Teoria dependenţei de cultură exprimă existenţa unei legături importante între structura 

organizatorică şi cultură. Organizaţiile de succes îşi orientează cu precădere activităţile asupra 

dorinţelor clienţilor şi reacţionează flexibil la modificări apărute în structura acestora. Aceasta 

înseamnă că nu există o cale optimă de urmat, întrucât în funcţie de fiecare situaţie în parte există 

câte o cale specifică. 

Cu cât este mai mare diferenţa dintre cultura locală şi cultura din ţara de origine a organizaţiei 

mamă, cu atât se reduce spaţiul de manevră al conducerii de tip centralizat şi dominaţia stilului de 

conducere al acesteia. În acest caz se manifestă o creştere a puterii decizionale şi de stabilire a 

problemelor majore de către filialele din străinătate precum şi mărirea libertăţii de acţiune în cazul 

închiderii şi derulării contractelor. 

Este de remarcat faptul că organizaţiile care operează într-un mediu complex prezintă tendinţa 

de descentralizare organizatorică, iar tendinţa contrară de centralizare a structurii organizatorice se 

manifestă cu precădere în mediile cu complexitate redusă. Fenomenul care se manifestă 

pretutindeni la scară mondială este de descentralizare atât pe piaţa bunurilor de consum cât şi în 

politică, în educaţie şi în alte domenii. 

• Grupa factorilor tehnico-economici influenţează în mod deosebit capacitatea de inovare, 

flexibilitate şi eficienţa structurii organizaţiilor. În rândul acestor factori, se regăsesc: 

- mărimea corporaţiei, în funcţie de volumul vânzărilor şi numărul de salariaţi; 

- gradul de internaţionalizare a activităţilor corporaţiei; 

- nivelul tehnologiilor utilizate; 

- dinamica pieţei; 

- preţurile de transfer. 

• Grupa factorilor politico-legislativi constituie premize ale existenţei unui anumit tip de 

structură organizatorică şi se referă la: 

- reglementările locale; 

- formele juridice locale de organizare; 

- stabilitatea politică. 

2.3. Evoluţia structurii organizatorice la unele companii multinaţionale 

Cazul 1. Firma ABB este cunoscută la nivel mondial în special datorită produselor sale de 

bază, transformatoare şi motoare electrice. În domeniul managerial, această corporaţie este deja 

celebră prin promovarea unui amplu proces de descentralizare, concretizat prin înfiinţarea a 

peste”1000 de centre de profit”. De asemenea, începând cu anul 1988 a trecut la restructurarea 

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activităţilor din Vestul Europei, concretizat în achiziţionarea firmelor ASEA şi BBC Brown 

Bowery. În anul 1989 ABB era o companie europeană cu aproximativ 25000 de angajaţi, aflată în 

faţa unor puternice transformări mai ales datorită conjuncturii economice a acelei perioade. 

Transformările au fost de-a dreptul impresionante, corporaţia ajungând în anul 1996 la 70000 

de angajaţi răspândiţi pe tot globul: în Asia, America, Africa şi în Europa. Între anii 1989 şi 1996 

profitul corporaţiei a crescut de aproximativ patru ori, în special pe seama valorificării 

oportunităţilor oferite de noul cadru economico-social din Europa de Est, dar şi pe seama 

pătrunderii puternice pe piaţa “Triadei”. ABB şi-a format cartiere generale în cadrul celor “trei poli” 

ai comerţului mondial, în SUA, în Europa şi în Hong Kong. 

În noul context, ABB şi-a dezvoltat o structură organizatorică de tip matriceal. În cadrul 

organizării ABB există un domeniu de afaceri „global” creat în vederea valorificării produselor sale 

de tipul transformatoarelor sau motoarelor electrice. 

Răspunderea este descentralizată la nivelul unor echipe globale care decid cine produce, ce se 

produce şi unde se va produce în cadrul organizaţiei globale. Deci, structura globală este completată 

de echipe manageriale locale responsabile de activitatea filialelor din ţările respective. În felul 

acesta, diferite filiale sunt active pentru anumite afaceri, fiecare dintre acestea având o poziţie bine 

stabilită în cadrul planului global al afacerilor ABB. În acelaşi timp fiecare unitate organizatorică 

activează într-o anumită ţară ca un membru local al pieţei respective. Structura este asemănătoare 

modelului unei federaţii de întreprinderi naţionale aflate sub conducerea unei societăţi de tip 

holding. 

Cu toate că ABB deţine o mulţime de întreprinderi care realizează transformatoare (52 de 

firme de transformatoare în 26 de ţări), fiecare dintre acestea s-a specializat în producerea unui 

anumit tip de transformator, astfel încât la nivel global se obţin atât economii de scară şi de gamă, 

cât şi alte avantaje ca urmare a dezvoltării în cadrul organizaţiei a proiectării modulare şi a 

valorificării avantajelor oferite de standardizarea componentelor la nivelul procesului de producţie. 

Un rol important revine procesului de aprovizionare şi logistică. În procesul de restructurare, 

orientarea generală a firmei a fost aceea de reducere a numărului de furnizori: dacă înainte de 

începerea restructurării înreprinderii existau 20 de furnizori pentru asigurarea cu materia primă 

porţelan, în noua situaţie numărul acestora a fost redus la trei. În acelaşi timp, cantitatea comandată 

fiecăruia dintre aceşti trei furnizori este de şapte ori mai mare, ceea ce are ca efect tocmai reducerea 

costurilor de aprovizionare, cât şi o anumită apropiere a întreprinderii de aceştia, permiţând 

dezvoltarea unor relaţii de colaborare care să se extindă şi în sectorul proiectării în vederea 

îmbunătăţirii calităţii produselor. 

Cazul 2. Diversitatea mediului internaţional determină corporaţia multinaţională să opteze 

pentru o strategie flexibilă, capabilă să se adapteze rapid la modificările elementelor componente 

ale acesteia. Ca atare, apar situaţii în care unei unităţi (filiale) dintr-o ţară i se încredinţează 

mandatul de “producător mondial”, pentru un anumit produs al corporaţiei. De pildă, în anul 1992, 

firma AT&T a transferat în întregime producţia telefoanelor cu fir filialelor sale din Franţa. La fel, 

firma DuPont şi-a mutat afacerile din domeniul electronicii în Japonia, iar compania Siemes şi-a 

transferat în SUA divizia de echipamente medicale cu ultrasunete. 2 

3.Concluzii 

BIBLIOGRAFIE 

1.prelucrare după: Pricop Mihai, Tanţău Adrian, Globalizare, protecţionism şi strategia firmei, 

Editura Tribuna Economică, Bucureşti, 2003 

2. Popa Horia Liviu, Management strategic, Editura Dacia, Cluj Napoca, 2002 

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THE NETWORK FOR THE BOARD – AN INSTRUMENT USED IN 

THE MANAGEMENT OF MOULD PLANNING AND PRODUCTION 

Braga Viorica 

Lect.univ.drd. 

Universitatea Spiru Haret- Campulung 

The board picture can be see from many points of view, first of all it is an important management technique 

with a certain impact on the managers work effectiveness, it is an important means of rationing of the informational 

microeconomic subsystem contributing decisively to the fulfilment of its functions. 

Key words: board picture, board picture typology, the board picture integration, function of the board picture, 

the content of the board picture, example for the board in the management of mould planning and production. 

1.1 The theoretic information about the board picture 

Through the board picture it is ensured a full completed operative report for the leaders, it 

can be see as a base for adopting superior decisions, it is indispensable in all state firms, particular 

firm, individual firms. 

The board picture 17 is an ensemble of up- to- date piece of information, showed in a synoptic 

for seen form, referring to the main results of the firm’s activities or some of these activities and the 

many factors that condition their effective and efficient running. 

It is made up of an ensemble of indicators presented in a synthetic method and with a 

correlated periodicity that must permit the chief have a rapid action whenever the problems occur. 

The board picture typology 

1. Depending on the containing sphere, one can realise: 

- general board picture ( global), made and used at the top management, including also 

the participating organisms of the management( the Board of Administration) 

- restricted board pictures ( partial) made by and used by the managers belonging to some 

processual or structural organism ( the board picture of the economic manager, the board 

picture of the production manager) 

17 Nicolescu Ovidiu, Verboncu Ion, Management, Editura Economicã, Bucureşti 1999, pag 379 

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The thoroughgoing study of this criterion let us emphasize other types as follows: 

- processual board pictures, made at the activity, function, or the firm level, 

- structural board pictures, made at the level of functional and operational compartment, 

financial administration centre or firm. 

2. Depending on the nature of the work processes realised within the firm, the board 

pictures are: 

- strategic;financial;financial administration;running 

For example: a strategic board picture can include the following indicators: 

- the market share ( absolute and relative);- the costs and the prices ( absolute level 

and reference to the competition)- the excess of the production;- the investments in researchdeveloping;- 

the investments in production potential;- the investments in commercial 

section;- the investments in the forming of the personnel;- the life of the products. 

The board picture integration 

‣ the vertical integration 

The board pictures assemble one into another following the hierarchical lines. It is the principle 

of the informational whole. The board picture of every head includes the main pieces of 

information for administrating the own responsibility centre and also the pieces of information 

necessary to his superior, hierarchically. 

The integration principle is similar to that in the budget system, so a superior budget 

includes the information from the inferior budgets. 

The board pictures are made following two kinds of procedures, in parallel: 

The top- down procedure begins with constitution of the board-picture of the general 

direction; the other board are deducted from the first one, successively. 

The bottom-up procedure begins with the hierarchical levels. Each head defines his own 

pieces of information he need for conducting his responsibility centre. 

He integrates then, his board into the superior board. 

‣ the horizontal integration 

The board picture of one head informs upon the elements that are out of his direct responsibility, but 

are necessary to the common responsibility and to the transversal vision of the firm. The indicators 

are partitions in many board- pictures. 

For example, in a house to let society, the vacant seats figure in the board picture of the 

merchant, of the financial administrator and of the upkeep head. 

The function of the board picture 

The board picture like the managerial method has the following functions 18 : 

• the function of manager’s report as concern the state of the running domain; 

• the function of warning of difficult problems, deviations from the normal state; 

• the function of assessing the results necessary for fulfilling the objectives, the quality 

of the adopted decisions and the initial actions, as well as their optimization; 

• the decisional function, considering the fact that the pertinent information, sent 

operatively to the managers put into the diverse hierarchical hypostases, allows the 

researching and taking the proper decision. 

At the operational level, the board picture is interested for: 

o directing the heads towards the main objectives; 

o directing the action towards the proposed objectives; 

o seeking the corrective actions, picking up the information about the results, 

identification and understanding the deviations from the objectives. 

At the decisional level, the board picture is used for: 

18 Caraiani Chiriţa, Dumitrana Mihaela, Acconting and Control of Gestiune, Ed. Infomega, Bucureşti , 2004, pag 323 

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- piloting the firm activity, 

- animating of leading staff for: following the action programmes supervising of the main 

firm activities, correcting of the deviations, in order to rectify the activity before the 

results being irreversible. 

The content of the board picture 

No matter the kind of the board picture chosen it is important its content. The specialists 

consider that a board picture includes information about the results in the operational field, brought 

to surface by: 

a)the value tables which include the foreseen level of the objectives, the level of the obtained 

results during the referred period the deviation ( the positive or negative deviation determined by 

the difference between the result and the objective), the index of realisation of the objective and the 

causes which lead to the deviations: positive or negative ones. 

The indicators system that has to be established must be correctly defined having as a start 

points the objectives detached from the firm mission and the objectives of its parts. The 

board pictures are establish at the level of these parts mentioned above. 

For constituting a system of indicators there is not available receipts for any kind of firm. 

Although a whole system can be accentuated, the firms use a few types of indicators 19 

quality and volume indicators: (1) for effort, e.g. the production costs, the fixed 

capital, the personal, the wages, the stocks of circulating assets and (2) for effects, 

e.g. the profit, the business amount, the production of goods, the physical production, 

total income: of exploitation, financial and extraordinary. 

quality indicators or efficiency: work productivity, the average wage, rateability rates 

( the rent ability rate of the consumed funds, the rent ability rate of the assets, the 

commercial rent ability rate , the economic rent ability rate, the financial rent ability 

rate) the liquidity and solvency, the treasury rate, the speed of rotating for the 

circulating assets, etc. 

comments: deviation analyses, actions reports, expected results. 

a) graphs: with their help we can better illustrate the tendency of some indicators or 

indices during a certain period of time, 

b) mixed forms, tables of values-graphs 

As I have seen to now the specific literature I have studied, I consider a board pictures must 

include: performance indicators and piloting indicators. 

The performance indicators taken unto account have the following five compound parts: 

‣ The economic performance: it consists of taken care of the required rent ability asked by the 

shareholders and the financial market. Economically, the viable firms will bi those witch 

create value for the shareholder, for the clients, but for other compound parts of the firm, 

too such as the employed. They will assure their perennially and will also have a certain 

adventage again their competitors. 

‣ The clients’ satisfaction: the clients evaluate their satisfaction comparing the firm’s services 

against the competitors’ services. 

‣ The employees’ satisfaction: we can say the man is the most important capital of a firm. The 

competition oblige the firms in supporting on the innovation capacities, the reactions and 

flexibility of the employees for a better answer to the growing and changing exigency of the 

clients as concern the prices the quality the terms. 

‣ The environment protection: the compulsions that force the plantar ecosystem require 

attention for the environment. In order to protect the natural resources and their equilibrium, 

the firms can apply the concept of eco- efficiency; it consists of creating the biggest 

19 Caraiani Chiriţa, Dumitrana Mihaela, Acconting and Control of Gestiune, Ed. Infomega, Bucureşti , 2004, pag 327 

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functional value for their products and services, reducing thus, the incidences on the 

environment. 

The quality of the relation with the partners: we take into consideration the relations with the 

share-holder, with the civil society, with the customers the suppliers and other persons connected to 

the firm. 

The performance indicators show if the proposed objectives were reached. But they don’t 

explain why the performance is or isn’t reached and what the head has to do to rectify the 

deviations. The head has to identify the causes because there are not cost administrations, but 

activities which imply costs. Thus, to decrease the complexity of a product, by reducing the number 

of compound parts of the product will lead to the incidences on stock level, on the stock financial 

administration, on the simplification of the production operation, on buying and book-keeping. 

The system of indicators must realise the link between the causes (piloting elements) and 

consequences ( performance factors). 

The piloting indicators see the activities and resources afferent to the product. They are included 

the board picture and must answer to two essential characteristics: 

- they are determined in order to reach the expected performance level at the requested 

date: 

- they are controlled by a head and one can action ex ante on them . 

The control requires defining the performance indicators and the piloting indicators. 

The performance indicator measures the reached performance level. The piloting 

indicator evaluates the stadium of progress of the action plan. There is 20 a permanent link 

between performance and piloting. Thus, the board picture is considered to be a work 

instrument. 

We can mention four cases: 

Piloting 

Performance 

1. Implemented Touch 

2. Unfulfilled Unfulfilled 

3. Implemented Unfulfilled 

4. Unfulfilled Touch 

The first two cases bring a higher intellectual satisfaction. The action plan was realised and 

the obtained performance at (1), too, but at (2) we didn’t have any effort and performance. 

The other two cases are sources for obtaining the experience. The action plan was 

implemented without to obtain the performance. It could be mentioned many reasons: the define 

action plan depreciated the necessary effort for touching the performance; it was bad realized or the 

waiting performance was too big for the accessory used. The action plan wasn’t realized, although 

the performance: the defined objective wasn’t enough ambition. 

These last two cases must lead us towards to improve the next previsions, for a better fixing 

of the objective level and the action plans necessary for their obtaining. 

In the next table I’ll present o correlation between the performance indicators and the 

piloting ones: 

The defining of the key 

points 

The assurance the quality 

The performance 

indicators 

Number of the 

correct receptions 

The piloting indicators 

Number of the realized audits/ 

Number of the programmed 

audits 

20 Caraiani Chiriţa, Dumitrana Mihaela, Acconting and Control of Gestiune, Ed. Infomega, Bucureşti 2004 

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The ending of the board picture isn’t the stability of the document which presents the level 

for every defined indicator. The reason for the manager must be the touching defined objectives 

(whose numbered expressions are the indicators); so that, it must be directed through the action. 

The Frequency for Elaborating the Board Picture 

It is applied to both at the term of realizing of the board pictures and the quickness of their 

dissemination. The later the results are obtained the later the action is taken. 

The frequency of the board picture depends by the lasting of the cycle of decision life and 

by the action of the followed centre. During we are climbing up the ladder, the frequency of the 

board picture is smaller. So, we can elaborate daily or weekly the board pictures. 

1.2. The network of the board pictures used for designing and making patterns, 

moulds, other products and similar services. 

Designing and making patterns, moulds, other products and similar services are bordering in the 

individual production or in the small series and have the following characteristics: 

Characteristics 

The products volume 

The nomenclator of the produce 

The recurring of the produce 

The equipment used 

Location of the equipment 

Rhythmically 

Lasting of the making cycle 

The organization of the production flux 

Number of the clients 

Depend by the command 

Big 

Irregular 

Universal 

The homogeneous groups 

Indefinite 

Big 

On the commands and on the operations 

Limited 

How we were informed, the first side in the building of the board pictures is to indicate the 

strategic, tactic and operational objectives. 

Whereas the fixing the objectives of the enterprise are used the criteria like: profitableness, 

the requirement for the future development, the attitude of the unit-holders and the managers, I’ve 

identified the next objectives (table no. 1), in my research, in the societies of the designing 

Table no.1 The organization objectives 

The organization objectives 

The intern 

economic 

objectives 

The intern 

social 

objectives 

The extern 

objectives 

- the content of the client 

in the profitableness conditions 

- creating an organizational infrastructure 

which has to sustain the increasing 

pressure generated by the European 

integration 

- gratification the aspiring of the salaried 

- improvement their work condition 

238 

The functional objectives 

- increasing of the turn-over by 

intern and extern increasing of the 

projects/ products deliveries volume 

- decreasing of the indirect costing 

-the integral using of the production 

capacity 

- formation the centres of 

responsibility; 

- creating an efficient system of 

managerial information 

- assuring the ventilation and the 

protection equipment; 

- increasing the earning incomes 

- assignation the resources for 

implementation and holding on the


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- growing the quality of the offered 

products 

- keeping the position of the leader on the 

Romanian market and bloating on the 

European one 

system of quality management 

building in concordance with SR 

EN ISO 9001:2001 

- growing the client satisfaction by 

making the products in concordance 

with the technique documentation, 

at the price and in the term which 

was decided; 

- growing the capacity and the 

performance of the executed 

products; 

- keeping the quality at the asking 

level by the clients 

- keeping the contract terms 

- contacting and bringing new 

clients 

By my research I noticed that leaving from the objectives of this society namely growing the 

content of the client in the profitableness conditions, assurance 100% by the quality, there are 

elaborated a lot of types of the pictures like: the board picture of the firms (for analysing the 

deviation of the deliberate financial indicators), the board picture made for each level of the 

department, the board picture for analysing and following the quality (annexe no. 1). 

The principal mission of the financial service which makes the control by the budget is to 

put for the enterprises managers’ disposition and for the Managing board the full situation of the 

deviation from the indicators decided in: The board picture of the firm. 

A model of this instrument is presented in annexe no. 2. 

The board picture of the firm contains information selected from the board picture made for each 

level of the department. 

- The board picture of the research and develop department; 

- The board picture of the production department (annexe no. 3); 

- The board picture of the commercial department; 

- The board picture of the accounting and financial department; 

- The board picture of the wage staff department; 

- The general board picture. 

These types of the board pictures are recommended to keep monthly using different forms 

like graphs and tables. 

The board picture represents a support in sustaining the decisional process in all the 

decisional levels if it is the concept and rational used as: 

• At the operative and the tactic level these contain the current reports for the enterprises’ 

activities: 

o Reporting the daily selling (on the filial, product etc.); 

o The situation of the debtors and the creditors; 

o The situation of the staff; 

o The situation of the stocks (on the filial, product etc.). 

• At the strategic level these contain the elements of the financial analyse. 

Annexe no.2: The board picture of the firm 

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THE BOARD PICTURE of the firm 

Data………… 

No. 

Indicators 

1. Turn-over 

Expenditure 

2. 

- direct by production 

- indirect by department 

- general by administration 

3. The results of the period 

4. 

The rotation speed of the creditor 

- clients 

5. 

The rotation speed of the creditor 

– producer 

6. The profitableness economic rate 

7. The profitableness financial rate 

8. The cash-deposit rate 

The 

decided 

values 

The 

values 

realised 

Ecart 

Annexe no.3: The board picture of the department……data…………… 

No. 

Indicators 

1. The value of the end product 

2. 

The hours number for 

manufacturing 

3. The work productivity 

4. The gear capacity 

5. 

The level of the indirect 

expenditure of the department 

6. 

The level of the utilisation of the 

production capacity 

The expenditure for maintenance 

and using the gear: 

a) The expenditure with the 

wages 

7. b) The expenditure with the 

social insurance and social 

protection 

c) The expenditure with the 

materials 

The general department 

expenditure: 

a) The expenditure with the 

8. 

technological equipment 

amortization 

b) The object of inventory 

c) The expenditure with the 

The 

decided 

values 

240 

The 

values 

realised 

Ecart


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energy and water 

d) The expenditure with 

wages of indirect staff 

e) The expenditure with the 

social insurance and social 

protection 

f) The expenditure with 

buildings amortization 

g) The expenditure with work 

protection 

h) The administrative 

expenditure 

i) The expenditure with 

heating the department 

Annexe no.1 The board picture for keeping the quality of moulds and matrices at the data of…. 

No. 

The name of the indicator Jan Febr March Cumulate 

d 

1. The cost of the quality 

Number of the On the manufacturing flux 

2. 

unconformities 

noticed in the 

inspection phase 

At the final inspection 

Other cases 

3. 

4. 

Number of the 


Number of the 


Because of the salaried 

Because of the designing 

Other cases 

Mended 

Condemnatory 

Removable 

1.Nicolescu Ovidiu, Verboncu Ion, Management, Editura Economicã, Bucureşti 1999, pag 379 

2. Caraiani Chiriţa, Dumitrana Mihaela, Acconting and Control of Gestiune, Ed. Infomega, 

Bucureşti , 2004, pag 323 

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THE CONCEPTUAL APPROACHMENT OF TOURISTICAL MARKETING 

LECT. UNIV. DR. RABONTU CECILIA IRINA 

CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI UNIVERSITY,TARGU-JIU 

ECONOMIC SCIENCES FACULTY 

The possibility of accommodating the marketing to all areas of human activity is unanimously accepted by 

specialists. One of the fundamental peculiarities of marketing, that characterizes the necessity, the importance and its 

dynamism, is constituted by universality. The adaptation of the marketing optic to the specific of the different domains 

of activity leaded to the acceleration of the process of specialization and implementation. A distinct social-economic 

phenomenon, a really important and with a great potential economic branch, as well as a clearly outlined science, both 

theoretically and practically, are represented by tourism. The inclusion of marketing in the touristical activity became a 

necessity as a consequence of the emphasis of the phenomenon of “touristification” of the planet, of the inclusion of 

tourism in the daily activities of the human being like a new modus vivendi., of the spectacular increase of the 

touristical offers in all geographical regions of the world, of its economic and social importance both in the national 

activities and at the level of the international economic relationships and of its role of stimulating the global economic 

system. 

The touristical marketing represents an eloquent proof of the contemporary process of 

multiplying of the spheres of activity in which the science rapidly penetrates. The touristical 

marketing is the most convincing expression of the deepening of the specialization of marketing, of 

the delimitation and the particularization of the marketing politics, of the informational and of 

decision systems. As a consequence of the dynamism and its role in the socio-economic life, of the 

effects felt by the economical agents confronted with problems whose solution imposed their 

approach in a new vision, the conceptualization of marketing in tourism was realized long before 

the introduction of marketing in the sphere of services. Thus, the practical realities and the literature 

of specialty unequivocally proves the apparition and the development of the touristical marketing 

in the process of specialization. 

The firsts intents of specialization of the theory of the touristical marketing dates from the 

year 1965 in Spain, then in 1971 in Switzerland. 

The touristical marketing is one of the components of marketing as a science, discipline, art 

or demarche and is particularized by the specific characteristics given, fundamentally, of the 

extremely complex character of the touristical product. 

The expansion of tourism in the last decades was extremely accentuated, several attractive 

touristical destinations appeared on the touristic market, new countries and regions that joined the 

touristical circuit. The tourism as an economic and social phenomenon is strongly influenced by 

seasonality; is a well-known fact that at the pick of the touristic season the demand is accentuated, 

determining the so-called strangling phenomena in transports, housing, public alimentation and 

complimentary services. 

The technical-scientific discoveries had an important role in the consolidation and the 

diversification of the touristic offer, through the construction of some receiving touristical structures 

with destination of housing, fun, restoration or in the improvement of the means of transport, in the 

modernization of the roads and international airports, etc. 

Under these conditions, the massive development of tourism, its importance in economy, the 

creation of a diversified offer and the existence of the touristical seasonality, imposes the 

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application of some modern research methods for the organization, the development and the 

promotion of the different forms of tourism, therefore, the use of the principles and of the methods 

of marketing in the activity of tourism as well. As a consequence, the penetration of the optic of 

marketing in the domain of tourism come to welcome the multiple preoccupations created by the 

development of tourism in general, of the necessity of getting to know the motivations of the 

touristical demand, of the general behavior of the consumer of touristical services and of 

discovering of new distribution possibilities in a permanently developing concurrence. 

In order to define the concept of touristical marketing we need to follow some steps : 

- the familiarization with the requests of the touristic market as a starting point of the 

touristical activity, that makes possible the familiarization with the exterior environment 

in which the unity of tourism will eventually deploy its activity. This process is a 

dynamic one because both the requests of the tourists and the touristic market rapidly 

evolve from one period to another; 

- the prevision of marketing that appears as a preliminary necessity in the activity of 

touristical marketing. Through its concurrence the conditions in which the firm of 

tourism will continue to function get be known; 

- the action the firm of tourism has upon the interior environment, the establishment of the 

decisions that the firm has to take in order to be able to offer what the touristic market 

expects to receive from it. 

The concept of marketing is based on : 

Knowledge → Prevision → Action 

This can also be expressed through the necessity of getting to know in order to be able to 

anticipate and the necessity of anticipation in order to be able to action. 

The prevision and the knowledge are activities that action in the exterior environment of the 

firm of tourism, and the action refers to the activity of the firm itself, to its interior environment that 

can be influence as it wants. In this respect the action is a conscious, objective and necessary 

process through which the touristical firm adapts its activity to the requests of its clients. 

Therefore, the concept of touristical marketing takes the form : 

Research → Prevision → Adaptation 

This can be put across through the research of the exterior environment in order to be able to 

detect its evolution and the accomplishment of the previsions in order to adapt the interior 

environment to the conditions of the exterior environment. 

We can’t neglect the fact that the touristical firm has a motif, a purpose in this process of 

adaptation, namely the realization of a profitable economic activity. 

We can therefore sustain that marketing is placed at the centre of the three defining 

activities, that is : request, offer and benefit. 

The touristical marketing was defined in many ways; among the most suggestive definitions 

we can count the following : 

1. – professor Eugeniu Nicolescu looks upon the touristical marketing as representing 

the politic promoted by the enterprise or the touristical organization, that, constantly aware of the 

present and evolving requests of touristic consumption, aims at the permanent adaptation of the 

offer inherent to these requests, using specific methods and techniques, in order to obtain their 

optional satisfaction and the realization of a profitable economic activity under the conditions 

given by the market; ( Nicolescu, E. – Marketing in Tourism, The Sport-Tourism Publishing 

House, Bucharest, 1975 ) 

2. – Iosif Constantin Dragan : “ The touristical marketing represents the ensemble of 

operations that ensure the scientific prospecting of the market in order to model the touristical 

offer according to the tourists’ needs and motivations.” 

The author of this definition thinks that there is a strong connection between the activity of 

marketing and the touristical one from at least two perspectives : 

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- the establishment and the application of those methods and techniques of market 

research, that, through their nature, should furnish estimations and previsions on the preferences 

of the potential touristical clientage. 

- the formulation of variants of solutions, that will be put at the disposition of the 

factors with decisional competences in the domain of tourism and that will allow those to adopt 

some adequate decisions for the development of the activity of the organizers of tourism and of 

the carriers- out of services. Therefore, the marketing is a condition sine qua non for the assurance 

of the success of any initiative in tourism. 

3. – Oscar Snak defines the touristical marketing as being the strategy of the organizers 

of tourism and of the carriers-out of touristical services under the conditions of the existence of the 

consumer’s market, the art of discovering new clients, of penetrating on new markets or market 

segments, of maintaining and cultivate traditional markets. The marketing supposes, before 

anything else, the profound knowledge of the exactingnesses and the tendencies of the touristic 

market and, on their basis, the orientation of the offer of services according to the dimensions and 

the structure of the request, the establishment of some distribution strategies etc., the use of some 

efficient instruments of promotion of the touristical product, the estimation of the possibility of sale 

depending on the seasonality of the touristical activity. ( Oscar Snak, The Economy and the 

Organization of Tourism, Sport-Tourism Publishing House, Bucharest, 1976 ); 

4. – The Romanian specialist Iulian Berbecaru says that through touristical marketing 

we understand the science of modeling the touristical offer according to the requests and the 

motivations of the different categories of tourists and the action carried on the touristic market in 

order to conquer it, concomitantly with the analysis, the diagnosis and the prognosis of the 

economical-social phenomena in order to satisfy the necessities of the consumers and the 

maximizing of the beneficiaries. ( Berbecaru I, Touristical Marketing, Academy’s Publishing 

House, Bucharest, 1978 ) 

5. – In the vision of the World’s Organization of Tourism, the touristical marketing 

designates a series of methods and techniques that regard the satisfaction in the best conditions ( 

psycho-social, technical, financial, etc.) of the population’s needs of touristical services ( expressed 

or latent ) so that the receiving population won’t have to suffer. We must note down that this 

definition ignores the fundamental interest of the unity of tourism, that is the profit. 

6. – J. Krippendorf considers that the touristical marketing is a systematic and 

coordinated adaptation of the politic of the touristical, private or of state enterprise, on a local, 

regional, national and international plan, in order to optimally satisfy the needs of some groups 

determined by the consumers intending to obtain a profit. ( Krippendorf J.- Marketing and Tourism, 

Berna, 1971) 

7. – The specialists Robert Languar and Robert Hollier give some very suggestive 

definitions of the touristical marketing too, seeing it as a process of management that permits the 

enterprises and the touristical organizations to identify their actual and potential clientage, to 

communicate with it for a better understanding of their needs and to influence its wishes and 

motivations at a local, regional, national and international level, in order to adapt the products for 

the optimization of the touristical satisfaction and the maximization of their organizational 

objectives. 

The touristical marketing is also seen as a leading system, necessary for the planning, the 

directing and the control of the activities, through the rational use of the available means. It is a set 

of operations that permits the prospecting of the market in order to model the touristical offer 

considering the touristical requests and modalities. 

The touristical marketing makes possible the defining of the programs through which the 

profit can be maximized. In any touristic unity, the activity depends on the complex factors 

determined by the diversifying of the touristical clientage’s needs and requests that conduct to the 

permanently changing request. 

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But all these necessitate an improvement of the organization of the activity, a good 

administration of the resources of the unity and a permanent modeling of the range of products of 

that respective touristic unity. 

In marketing’s optic, seen as a leading method, every unity has to fix its politics in all 

domains of activity and, in this respect, has to permanently rethink its activity. However, the 

optimal decisions can also be adapted in the conditions in which the unity of tourism orients its 

activity depending on the coordinates of the market and the clients’ requests. 

The activity of touristical marketing is better placed than the other functions ( commercial, 

financial, research-development, financial-accounting and of personnel ), ensuring the coordination 

of all information necessary to the determination of the general objectives and the defining of the 

long term strategy. 

The touristical marketing represents a new optic, a new conception on the orientation, 

organization and development of the touristical activity, that must be directed towards satisfying the 

consumer’s effective and potential requests with maximum efficiency. Marketing’s orientation of 

the economic activity of the firms of tourism means : 

- the receptivity towards the requests of the market, the guarantee of the development of 

an useful activity, being constituted by the very orientation towards the tourists’ needs, 

towards the requests of the market; 

- the capacity of adapting the activity to the evolution of the consumption’s requests, to 

the dynamic of the market, the flexibility in the mechanism of functioning of the 

economic unities; 

- the rigorous knowledge of these requests, their systematic pursuit and even their 

anticipation, process that supposes a scientific approach of the economic-social 

environment, through the use of an adequate work instrumentation; 

- inventiveness, creative spirit, modernization and renewal preoccupations, the objective 

of these preoccupations being both the touristical products and services, the forms of 

distribution, the methods of promotion, the touristic unities’ relationships with the 

market etc.; 

- the unitary vision on the set of activities that constitute the complete economical cycle of 

the products and services, from the moment they are conceived to the moment of their 

effective entrance in consumption; irrespective if they are distinctively organized or not, 

these activities must be considered independently and, therefore, consequently oriented, 

synchronized, subordinated to the same final purpose; 

- the maximum efficiency, obtained as a result of the effective orientation towards the 

tourists’ real needs of consumption towards the requests of the intern and international 

touristic market . 

We can keep in mind that the touristical marketing necessitates a dynamic action on the 

touristic market and that final purpose of this one is the satisfaction of the touristical necessities and 

motivations, under the conditions of the maximizing of the profit. All these can be realized at the 

level of the touristic branch and unity after an analysis and a diagnosis of the unity in what concerns 

the organization and the management of this activity. The identification of the strong and weak 

points of the politic developed on the intern and extern market is also imposed. 

As a conclusion, we can sustain that : 

The touristical marketing is the modeling science of the touristical offer according to the 

requests and the motivations of the different categories of tourists and the action of the enterprise on 

the touristic market in order to conquer it, concomitantly with the analysis, the diagnosis and the 

prognosis of the economic-social phenomena in order to satisfy the consumers’ necessities and the 

maximizing of the profit. 

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THE PREVISION OF THE TOURISTIC CIRCULATION IN THE BÂRSA 

COUNTRY 

Rodica-Manuela GOGONEA, Lecturer, PhD., 

Academy of Economic Studies 

Marian ZAHARIA, Professor PhD., 

Romanian-American University 

Cristian Valentin HAPENCIUC, Associate Professor PhD. 

“Ştefan cel Mare” University, Suceava 

Abstract 

The durable regional development of the tourism in the Bârsa Country, includes on one hand the featuring of 

the possibilities of capitalization of the zone existing touristic found components, on the other hand the application of a 

managerial model which to interfere all the component elements of a touristic market adapted to the international 

requirements and standards. 

The analysis of the touristic circulation prevision for 2006 and 2007, was made based on the statistical data 

which have been grouped on the main types of statistical units and localities of the Bârsa Country and taken from 

County Statistics Direction. 

The main prevision methods used are the mechanical or analytical ones, which allow the obtaining of absolute 

values of the studied indicators, and also the method of Markov chains, which leads to the prevision of the structural 

modifications of the indicators under the processes of statistical analysis. 

The fluctuations of the touristic activities in the Bârsa Country can be featured with the help of the main 

indicators of touristic circulation quantification: number of tourists accommodated and number of staying over night 

registered in the structures of touristic accommodation. 

Generally, in 2006 and 2007, both indicators of the touristic offer form Bârsa Country were in a process of 

increase, with positive effects on the touristic activity of the zone. 

The elaboration and the application of a managerial model cannot be made out of the conditions when the 

results of a prevision regarding the touristic circulation from Bârsa Country are in attention as perspectives of the 

integration of this region in the European Touristic market. 

1. The methodology of prevision of touristic circulation in the Bârsa Country 

Between the economic-social development which combines harmoniously with the 

development of tourism in the Bârsa Country it is a relation of correspondence and reciprocity. The 

statement is augmented by the double implication which appears as a circuit, in the sense that the 

peculiar activities of tourism by their complexity, contributes to the general development of the 

region, while this development will too lead to an increase of the tourist circulation. 

In this context, it appears the necessity of future anticipation, process through which we try 

to quantify the course of the touristic phenomenon to follow, with the purpose of obtaining the best 

results, for the realization of some objectives. This prevision process is at the base of all the 

decisions regarding the tourism development strategy of the Bârsa Country. 

The prevision is regarded as a modality, a proceeding or a ensemble of proceedings with the 

help of which we do the research, the analysis, the knowledge, and description of the objective 

reality, with the purpose of anticipation, initiation and organization of a future action based on 

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efficiency criteria. The method is not referring to a passive way of knowing the reality, but shows 

which ways are best to follow. 

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Among the multiples methods of prevision used we mention, both the mechanical or 

analytical ones, which permit the obtaining of absolute values of the studies indicators, and 

also the method of Markov chains, which leads to the prevision of the structural modifications 

of the indicators under the processes of statistical analysis. 

The mechanical methods used for the prevision of the future, from touristic point of 

view, of the Bîrsa Contry include the method of the medium spore and of the medium index, 

while form the analytical methods the one of the linear trend is considered the most 

suggestive. 

The prevision of the tourism activity in the Bârsa Country for the following two years 

(2006, 2007), can be made beginning from the evolution followed for the 8 past years (1998- 

2005) for the main indicators which to feature the future tendency of them. 

The structural prevision of the touristic indicators from the Bârsa Country for 2006 

has been accomplished based on a calculation algorithm, the methodology supposing the 

following of the following steps, taken from „The Economy of services – case studies” [4]: 

‣ The calculation of the transition matrixes – which needs the determination of several 

transition matrixes according to the number of years; in every matrix, it is taken the 

smallest value, at the crossroad of the columns and rows, determining the „diagonal of 

the fidelity”, so that the differences determined are distributed into the matrix and 

represents the increase and decrease of the structure of the analyzed indicator; 

‣ The calculation of the total transition matrix – represents the step in which we sum the 

elements of the transition matrixes anterior determined; 

‣ The determination of the matrix of transition probabilities – it is the division of every 

element of the transition total matrix at the total of a row; 

‣ The establishment of the previsioned structure – which supposes the multiplication of 

the transposed of the transition probabilities matrix with the vector of the structure of 

the latest year. 

The process of prevision is referring to the main indicators of the technical-material 

base (number of touristic accommodation structures and number of accommodation places) 

and also indicators of touristic circulation (number of tourists arrivals and number of 

accomodations over night) established for the Bârsa Country. 

The oscillations of the touristic circulation in the frame of the Bârsa Country can be 

featured with the help of the main indicators of measuring, the number of arrivals of the 

tourists accommodated in the touristic accommodation structures, the number of the 

accommodations overnight. The tendencies regarding their evolution in the period 1998 – 

2005 permitted the prevision of these indicators for the next two years. 

2. The prevision of tourists arrivals number in the touristic accommodation structures 

of the Bârsa Country 

The application of the mechanical and analytical adjusting methods permitted to 

feature the evolution of the number of tourists arrivals in the touristic accommodation 

structures from the region of the Bârsa Country between 1998 - 2005 and the establishment of 

the absolute values of the studied indicator for 2006 and 2007. 

As the results of the calculation algorithm (table 1) of the number of tourists arrivals, 

in the period1998-2006, the number of arrived tourists followed the tendency of continuous 

increasing from a year to another, this tendency continuing in the following years, too. 

The method of linear trend is the one which indicates the fact that this increase of 

tourists number will be little enough, at the level of 2006 getting to approximately 398 

thousand tourists, and in 2007 at only 408 thousands tourists, the yearly medium increase 

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being established at a value of only 19 tourists. In opposed direction are the results of the 

application of the medium index which indicates a yearly medium increase of 1,0355 times 

from a year to another, the previsions indicating the most optimist tourist accommodation (the 

arrivals of approximately 496 thousands of tourists in 2006, respectively of 558 thousands 

tourists in 2007). 

Table 1 – Calculation algorithm of the tourists arrivals number and their prevision by 

mechanical and analytical adjusting methods 

yˆ 

= a + b ⋅t 

Number of y ˆ = y1 + Δ( t −1) 

t−1 

They 

y ˆ = y1 

⋅ I 

arrivals ˆ 

years 

y = 347 + 13,7 ⋅ ( t −1) 

t−1 

t t 2 t ⋅ y 

(thousands) 

yˆ 

= 347 ⋅1,0355 

y ˆ = 350, 875 

1998 347 347 347 - 2 4 -694 313,02 

- 

- 

1999 345 360,7 359,32 

2,25 517, 322,48 

1,5 

5 

2000 322 374,4 372,07 - 1 1 -322 331,95 

- 

- 

2001 323 388,1 385,28 

0,25 161, 341,41 

0,5 

5 

2002 286 401,8 398,96 0,5 0,25 143 360,34 

2003 323 415,5 413,12 1 1 323 369,81 

2004 418 429,2 427,79 1,5 2,25 627 379,27 

2005 443 442,9 442,98 2 4 886 388.74 

Total 2807 0 15 284 

2006 456,6 495,99 2,5 398,20 

2007 470,3 557,75 3 407,67 

The source: The Districtual Offices of Statistics 

The method of medium spore is the one which offers the image most equilibrated of 

the future of tourists arrivals a in the Bârsa Country, being about 460 thousands tourists (457 

thousands tourists in 2006 and 470 thousands tourists in 2007). 

600 

500 

400 

300 

200 

100 

0 

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

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Figure 1. The prevision of the tourists arrivals number 

The prevision of tourist arrivals number, on types of touristic units, for 2006 is being 

made for this indicator, too, based on the application of the Markov chains method. 

The repartition of the number of arrived tourists on types of tourist accommodation 

structures constituted the base of their structure determination (table 2): 

Table 2 – The structure of the tourists arrivals on the main types of units existent in the Bârsa 

Country 

Unit types 

Structure of tourist arrivals (%) 

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Hotels 80,59 77,85 77,77 74,66 74,56 68,99 61,61 62,73 

Motels and inns 0,82 1,02 1,09 0,81 1,26 4,25 5,39 6,04 

Villas 3,66 4,92 4,72 4,53 3,93 4,43 6,13 6,92 

Chalets 6,90 6,14 5,93 5,03 4,52 3,19 3,19 2,56 

Camps 3,26 3,89 3,94 3,59 1,95 1,37 0,86 0,46 

Pensions 0,62 0,64 1,79 2,79 4,30 9,37 14,26 10,75 

Farms 0,32 0,30 1,10 2,43 4,46 4,30 4,89 4,81 

Other types 3,84 5,25 3,66 6,16 5,02 4,11 3,67 5,73 

TOTAL 100,00 100,00 100,00 100,00 100,00 100,00 100,00 100,00 

The establishing of the structure of tourists arrivals number, on types of touristic units 

between 1998-2005 permits first of all the calculation of transition matrixes, the obtained 

results being this way: 

‣ in 1999 comparing to 1998 the number of tourists arrivals in the Bârsa Country 

registered an increase of 1,41% at the category “other types” and of 1,26% at villas, and also 

for camps (0,62%), motels-inns (0,21%) and pensions (0,02%); in compensation the decrease 

established were 0,02% for pensions, 0,76% for chalets and 2,74% for hotels; 

‣ the highest percent increase of the tourists arrivals number in the Bârsa Country, in 

2000 comparing to 1999, has been established for pensions being of 1,15%, while for farms, 

motels-inns and camps the increase was more little, of only 0,8%, 0,07%, respectively 0,06%; 

the decreases of the other types of follow the same tendency in the sense that, the highest 

decrease (1,59%) is registered only for the category “other types”, and the other three 

categories having small decreases of only 0,21% (chalets), 0,2% (villas) and 0,08% (hotels); 

‣ comparing the number of the tourist arrivals in the Bârsa Country at the level of 

2001 comparing to 2002, one can notice a percent increase for the category “other types” with 

2,5%, for farms with 1,33% and for pensions with 1%, in the conditions where the weight of 

the tourists arrived in the hotels decreased with 3%, in camps with 0,35%, in motels-inns with 

0,28%, in chalets with 0,9%, and in villas with 0,19%; 

‣ the increase of the number of tourists in the Bârsa Country at the level of ranches 

and pensions is registered in 2002 compared to 2001, but in percentages of 2,03% and 1,51 % 

to which the category motels-inns is added with only 0,45%; at the level of the present years, 

one can notice the tendency of decreasing the percentages of the number of tourists arrivals, 

the same as for the previous years regarding the camps with 1, 64,% villas with 0,6%, chalets 

with 0,51% and hotels with 0,1%. Beside these units there is still the category ”other types” 

for which there is a decrease of the percentage of the tourists with 1,14%; 

‣ at the level of the year 2003, compared with 2002, the pensions, the category 

motels–inns and villas faced an increase of the coming of tourists with 5,07%, 2, 99% 

respectively 0,5% compared to the other categories which faced decreases in the number of 

tourists in the following way: 5,57 for the hotels, 1,33 for chalets, 0,91% for the category 

„other types”, 0,9% camps and 0,16% ranches. 

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‣ the weight of tourists who arrived in the Bârsa Country at the level of boarding 

houses, villas, motels-inns and ranches increased in 2004 compared to 2003 with 4,89%, 1,7% 

and 1,14% respectively 0,59%; the decreases of the percentages of the tourists arrivals are at 

the levels of hotels (7,38%), camps (0,5%) and the category „other types” with 0,44%; at the 

level of chalets there haven’t been any changes from one year to the other; 

‣ the year 2005 compared with 2004 was characterized by increases in percentages 

of the number of tourists for the following types: the category „other types” with 2,06%, 

hotels with 1,12 %, villas with 0,79% and motels-inns with 0,65 % and decreases between 

3,51% for pensions and 0,08% for ranches (0,63 for cottages, camps 0,4% in their tendency of 

decreasing). 

Calculating the total matrix and the probabilities of transition allows the establishing 

of the forward looking structure of the number of the tourists for each touristic type, which is 

presented in the following way in 2006: the majority of tourists will arrive in hotels (60,44%) 

and in pensions (12, 60%), then in motels and inns (6,76), the category „other types” (6,20%), 

in villas (6,11%), in ranches (5,34%), the smallest number of tourists are expected to arrive at 

chalets (2, 15%) and camps (0,40%). 

3. The forward looking of the number of accommodations overnight in the tourist 

accommodation structures of the Bârsa Country 

The number of accommodations established at the level of tourist accommodation 

structures is characterized by a pendulous evolution, with increases or decreases more or less 

significant, the tendency being rather by the shape of a parable. This tendency explains the 

results which are rather different obtained through the method of adjustment and forward 

looking of the linear trend. 

Table 3 - The algorithm of calculation of the number of accommodations overnight and the 

forward looking through methods of mechanical and analytical adjustment 

Number of 

t−1 

accomodati y ˆ = y1 + Δ( t −1) 

y ˆ = y1 

⋅ I 

yˆ = a+ 

b⋅t 

t−1 

Years ons yˆ 

= 1006 − 2,14 ⋅ ( t −1) 

yˆ 

= 1006 ⋅ 0,9978 t t 2 t ⋅ y 

overnight 

(thousands) 

1998 1006 1006 1006 - 2 4 

- 

2012 

909,485 

1999 910 1003,86 1003,79 -1,5 2,25 

- 

1365 

906,77 

2000 877 1001,72 1001,58 - 1 1 -436 904,06 

2001 872 999,58 999,38 -0,5 0,25 901,34 

251 

- 

161,5 

2002 765 997,44 997,38 0,5 0,25 382,5 895,91 

2003 816 995,3 994,99 1 1 816 893,195 

2004 952 993,16 992,79 1,5 2,25 1428 890,48 

2005 991 991,02 990,61 2 4 1982 887,77 

Total 7189 0 15 -81,5 

2006 988,88 988,43 2,5 885,05 

2007 986,74 986,26 3 882,34 

The source: The Districtual Office of Statistics 

Both the method of the medium spore and the medium index indicate for the years 

2006 and 2007 the registration of some values of 988 and 986 thousands accommodations for 

the night, which creates an image of the future that is rather optimistic towards a revival of the


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tendency of increase of the number of accommodations with a positive effect on the touristic 

activity in the Bârsa Country. 

1010 

1005 

1000 

995 

990 

985 

980 

975 

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Figure 2. The prevision of the number of accommodations overnight 

Applying this method to Markov chains in order to foresees the number of possible 

accommodations on the main types of tourist accommodation structures in 2006 has as a 

starting point establishing the structure of this indicator on the main categories mentioned 

above, in the period under discussion (table 4). 

Table 4 - The structure of the accommodations registered on the main types of units which 

exist in the Bârsa Country 

Unit types 

The structure of the accommodations overnight (%) 

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Hotels 79,34 80,26 77,83 77,89 75,91 68,27 62,71 64,07 


Villas 6,33 6,33 5,74 5,54 6,36 0,85 7,08 6,86 

Chalets 5,24 4,00 4,18 4,09 3,94 3,09 2,79 2,43 

Camps 5,65 6,73 4,50 4,24 2,11 2,00 1,43 0,62 

Pensions 0,43 0,38 1,24 2,08 4,08 8,94 13,97 11,34 

Farms 0,22 0,20 1,00 2,19 4,05 4,88 5,18 6,25 

Other types 2,29 1,62 5,03 3,33 2,83 8,70 2,72 3,91 


The foresight of the structure of the number of accommodations overnight from 2006 

follows the same algorithm of calculation applied to the other indicators whose foresight 

evolution has already been studied. The methodology of the foresight has as a basis the 

determination of the transition matrixes which allow the comparison of the percentages on 

categories each year compared to the previous one. Thus we can see the fluctuations of the 

percentages (increases and decreases) which happen from one year to the other, in 8 years 

being established 7 transition matrixes which can be interpreted in the following way: 

‣ the year 1999 comparing to 1998 is characterized by a process of increase of 

accommodations overnight number registered for camps (1,08%) and hotels (0,93%), as well 

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as of decrease for chalets (1,24%), the category „other types” (0,67%), pensions (0,05%), 

motels and inns (0,03%) and farms (0,02%); 

‣ comparing to the anterior years, in 2000 the hierarchy of the increase of 

accommodations overnight number place on the first place the category „other types” (3,41%) 

then the pensions (0,86%), the farms (0,8%), followed by the chalets (0,18%); the decreases 

established features that the most big decrease is in case of the hotels (2,43%), followed by 

the camps (2,23%), and villas (0,59%); motels and inns have 0,48% in 1999, and also in 

2000; 

‣ in 2001 comparing to 2000, the increases the most significant of the 

accommodations number are at farms (1,19%), and for the pensions, motels-inns, respectively 

hotels, only 0,84%, 0,16%, respectively 0,06%; the decreases registered oscillates round a 

percent so that to the category „other types” corresponds 1,7%, to champs 0,26%, while for 

villas and chalets have only 0,2 and 0,9%; 

‣ next to the three types which had increases in the anterior period of comparison 

(pensions, farms, motels–inns), we can put in 2002 comparing to 2001 the villas too, the 

percent values of increasing of the accommodations number modifying in the sense of 

increasing this way: the pensions with 2%, the farms with 1,86%, the villas with 0,82% and 

motels-inns with 0,08%; the percent decreases of the number of accommodations overnight in 

the structures of tourist accommodation are pretty little, establishing supra unitary values for 

camps 2,13%, hotels 1,98% and sub unitary for the category „other types” 0,5% and chalets 

0,15%; 

‣ the comparison of 2003 to 2002 indicates an increase of the accommodations 

overnight number for the category „other types” with 5,87%, pensions (4,85%), motels-inns 

(1,82%) and farms with 0,83%, in the detriment of the other types at which the number of 

accommodations overnight decreased, this way: the hotels with 7,64%, villas (5,51%), chalets 

with 0,85% and camps with 0,11%; 

‣ hierarchy of the increases for 2004 comparing to 2003 is the following: the villas 

have the first place with 6,23%, followed near by pensions with 5,04% and at big distance by 

motels-inns registering increases of 0,84% and farms with 0,3%, and the decreases of the 

other types are more significant being more than 5% in the case of the category „other types” 

(5,98%) and hotels (5,56%) and insignificant for camps (0,57%) and chalets (0,3%); 

‣ in the algorithm, the latest years of comparison, 2005 compared to 2004, indicates 

an increase of the number of accommodations at the level of hotels with 1,36%, of the 

category „other types” with 1,19%, of the farms with 1,07%, of motels and inns with 0,73% 

and a decrease of accommodations at the level of pensions with 2,63%, of camps with 0,81%, 

of chalets with 0,36% and of villas with 0,22%. 

In this context, the results obtained permitted, through the algorithm, the calculation of 

the transition total matrix and of the transition probability matrix, which lead to the 

establishment of the structure of accommodations overnight number for 2006. The structure 

determined by the mentioned algorithm is the following: the most accommodations overnight 

corresponding to the tourist accommodation structures from the Bârsa Country are the hotels ( 

61,28%) and the pensions (14,32%), followed at a big difference by villas (7,46%), motels 

and inns (5,10%), the category „other types” (4,72%) and farms (4,65%), and the last two 

places are the chalets (1,75%), and camps with 1,15%. 


As a conclusion of studying the future of the touristic activity which will be in the 

Bârsa Country, as a result of application of the two calculation methodologies (the application 

of the mechanical and analytical methods, and also of the Markov chains method), we can 

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establish the tendency of increasing of the two commensuration indicators presented: number 

of tourists arrivals in the structures of touristic accommodation and of the accommodations 

overnight. 

In order to create equilibrium between the objectives, resources, aptitudes and 

possibilities it must exist a strategic planned activity at the level of the Bârsa Country, of 

every touristic services performance unit, and also in the frame of them. 

For this purpose it is necessary, first of all to define the mission of the existent units in 

the Bârsa Country as well as of the material and human resources which are necessary for the 

activity unfolding and getting to the proposed goals, and also the identification of new 

possibilities of the unfolding of the current activities, of modernization and diversification of 

offered services, as perspectives of integration of this region in the European touristic market. 

This perspective of integration supposes the modernization of the touristic product of 

the Bârsa Country, the development according to the local, national specific and with the 

demands of the international market. 

In this context, it appears the necessity of implication of various persons or 

organizations in the conception and putting in act of some projects of support and durable 

development of the tourism in Bârsa Country. The main goal of this kind of projects is to 

support the durable development of the designated region, as well as the trans frontier 

collaboration, and the experience gathered by their unfolding, will be very useful in the 

direction of integration of Bârsa Country in the European touristic market. 

Bibliography: 

1. Gogonea R.-M. – Cercetarea statistică în turismul rural. Studiul turismului rural din 

zona Bran-Moeciu, Editura Universitară, Bucureşti, 2006, 

2. Hapenciuc C.V. - Elemente de analiză şi prognoză în turism, Editura Junimea, Iaşi, 

2004 

3. Ioncică M, Petrescu E.C - Strategii de dezvoltare a sectorului terţiar, Editura Uranus, 


4. Ţiţan E.- Statistică, teorie şi aplicaţii în sectorul terţiar, Editura Press, Bucureşti, 2002 

5. Zaharia M. (coord.) – Economia Serviciilor – studii de caz Editura Universitară 


6. www.world-tourism.org. 

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THE QUALITY AND IT’S STRATEGY 

Laurenţia Avram, Asistent Drd. Universitar, Universiatea Spiru Haret 

Facultatea de Contabilitate şi Finanţe Campulung Muscel 

Abstract: The quality is a means to be used for a certain purpose and not a purpose by it self. Owing to the 

quality, an organisation may exist on the market and be competitive continuously, although it evolves in a 

changing environment. 

The strategies of the organisations focused on the qualitz are considered competitive strategies, since the purpose 

of the qualitz is to face competition. According to the traditional approach, the quality strategies are generally 

linked to the product strategies: 

- The strategy for the qualitative differentiation from the other competitors supply 

- The strategy for the quality improvement, were the organisation holds a strong position on the market: 

intensively, extensively. 

The oldest form of the control was discovered in Egypt in the Pekh-Mi-Ro’s tomb in 

Theba in 1450 B.C. There is presented an Egyptian who verifies perpendicularities of a stone 

block with a plumb line near a hacker (this representation is undertaken like an emblem of 

Juran Institute in the USA.). 

In 1920, in America, George Edwards separated the quality function by the 

manufacturing one. 

In 1961 was presented a book “Entire control of the quality”, which has been applying 

since 1951 in the Electric General Concern. 

From 1900 till nowadays the quality concept is defined in different ways in 

concordance with: the proper product; the technological process of making the product – 

quality is very important; the whole system of administrative technological process since 

charge stock until the finished product; the staff who works in this process (the quality of the 

staff involved); the society requested; the costs for obtaining the quality so that to optimizing 

and efficient the process function. 

In the last, the quality is defined by the client and represents the approaching of the 

project and the finished product to bring about the client requested. 

Although the quality is defined by the client and seems complete subjective, a lot of 

quality aspects are objectives. 

First, it needs to decompose the generic term “quality” in more fields which defines 

the quality characteristics. Then it will be analyzed each of them and it will be determined the 

principal characteristic. 

The essential elements of quality management system, respectively the necessary 

factors for building a quality management system are: 

• The entire engagement (the firm decision) and coordinating by the organization 

leading; 

• A good communication inside the organization; 

• A correct allocation of the resources; 

• The instruction of the organization staff; 

• A conscious and a continue involving of an entire staff; 

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• Involving some specialists in problems of quality management; 

• A managerial and organizational stability; 

• Monitoring the program of implementing of quality system. 

The necessity of implementing of quality management system is sustained by some 

factors like: 

1) The economic factors: 

- decrease the costs; 

- decrease the complains; 

- increase the volume of sales. 

2) The concurrent factors – increase the believing that the products will satisfy the 

quality requested; 

3) The stabilization of situation – increase the information volume; 

4) Increasing the profit – the quality is made for money; 

5) The compulsoriness legally - harmonization of Romanian economy with the UE 

economy. 

The strategies of organization based on the quality are considered concurrencies 

strategies, based on the product. 

1. The strategy of improving of quality – when the organization has a powerful 

position – through changing the characteristics of quality product so that to assure a high 

comfort in using. 

2. The strategy of differentiation qualitative beside of other competitors; 

3. The strategy of adapting of the product/services quality at the market requested. 

The preoccupations for quality system are increased in: 

- The strategy of continue improving adopts the principium of gradual improving, 

based on the client, the logistic improves, the costs decrease and the guaranteeing the outlet 

terms. 

- The strategy of total quality (TQM). In 1970 and 1980, the competition between 

goods producers and services became very intensive so that they had been preoccupied by the 

increasing the performances and satisfying the clients requested. The appearance of the prizes 

for quality like The European Prize for Quality (EOQ) has influenced this evolution. 

TQM – is a revolutionary concept in the quality management. 

- The total quality – obtains quality at a low price. 

CONCLUSION: 

In Romania the number of companies which use the quality management system is too 

low, approximate 1% of all firms. In spite of these, there is a tendency of increasing of 

certificating market in Romania, especially in the services field and in the firms which take 

part from Small and Middle Enterprises. 

The time demonstrates that for realizing the quality of products and services must be 

an efficient way to administrate all the processes in an organization, a management of quality. 

This means a real evaluation of the potential and improving the performance and not making a 

good impression in the outside of organization. 

A good system of quality assures the control of technique, organizational and human 

factors. 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

Bran, P. – Relaţii financiare şi monetare internaţionale, Editura Economica, 1995 

Horabit, A. – Managementul riscului in investitiile internationale, Editura All Beck, 

Bucuresti, 2005 

Rusu C. – Managementul strategic, Editura All beck, Bucuresti, 1999; 

www.unctad.org “The Relationship between Competition, Competitiveness and 

Development”, July, 2002 

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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SERVICES AND 

COMPETITIVENESS 

GRIGOROVICI CORINA, ASIST. UNIV. DRD., UNIVERSITATEA 

CREŞTINĂ “DIMITRIE CANTEMIR”, BUCUREŞTI 

ABSTRACT: Le rapport entre les services et la compétitivité peut être approché de la perspective de deux 

dimensions: (i) les services exercent une influence sur la compétitivité parce que moyennant eux une entreprise, 

un secteur ou un pays peuvent être plus ou moins concurrentiels; (ii) la compétitivité se refléte sur les services 

par le fait que l’économie globale, dans laquelle la concurrence augmente, expose les services aux défis de 

l'internationalisation. Il est évident que ces deux directions soient inter-corrélatif et aient leurs propres éléments 

explicatifs, et en raison de celui je me concentrerai sur deux visions différentes, mais complémentaires. La 

première est une approche générale basée sur les principaux éléments micro-économiques, et la deuxième a un 

caractère spécifique, étant basée sur des éléments macro-économiques. 

The relationship between services and competitiveness may be approached from the 

perspective of two dimensions: (i) the services exert an influence on the competitiveness as 

because of them an enterprise, a sector or a country may be more or less competitive; (ii) the 

competitiveness reflects on the services as the global economy in which the competition is 

increasing exposes the services at the internationalisation’s challenges. It is obvious that these 

two directions are inter-correlative and have their own explicative elements, and because of 

that I will focus on two different, but complementary visions. The first is a general approach 

based on the main microeconomic elements, and the second has a specific character and is 

based on macroeconomic elements. Figure no. 1.1 resumes these two approaches. From a 

general perspective, the services exert an influence on the competitiveness on three ways: 

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Dirrect effects on the global ecomony 

generated by: 

1) Service facilities 

2) Specific expertise and consultancy 

3) Services globalisation 

Services 

Internaţional 

commerce 

(comerce, 

market share) 

Effects determined by the tendency of 

prices, costs and productivity in services 

Effects generated by the levels of prices, 

costs and productivity in services 

Relative prices 

(exchange rates, 

costs, 

productivity) 

Global 

economy and 

competitivity 

Expansive factors of market opening and 

encouraging the concurrence 

Limitative factors of foreign competitivity 

according to the nature of the service service 

and the settlements in that domain 

Figure no. 1.1. The analytic medium of the relationships between services and 

competitiveness 

The first influence is associated with services that facilitate the internationalisation and 

the competitiveness of every enterprise, regardless of the sector. A good communication 

service, for example, easies the interconnection between the employees of a multinational, in 

this way saving the travel expenses and the quality of the final products. The same thing can 

be said regarding the transportation services, business or, in general, regarding all services for 

production. In the measure in which there are services that improve the enterprises’ 

competitiveness through decreasing the costs and improving the quality, we can talk about a 

proportional contribution of services at the competitiveness. 

The second influence is related to those services that offer information on the 

competitive conditions of the market. In this case, the services suppose an interactive 

implication of the consumers in order to identify their criteria of operating on the market, as 

they can make decisions oriented towards a superior competitivity. In the previous case, the 

enterprise was becoming more competitive; beneficiating of the standardised and preestablished 

services, and, in the actual situation, the enterprise must play, with an expert’s 

help, an active role in the comprehension of the unfolding events and in the evaluation of the 

possible strategies that are going to be defined. Between these services we name the 

managerial consultancy, certain strategic legal services, marketing research services, some IT 

services and certain marketing services. In all these cases, the service market provides the 

necessary inputs for making the decision of commercial competitivity. 

The third influence aims the globalisation of the services activities of an enterprise. In 

the measure in which the service providers become mare global and more competitive (able to 

act on more markets), the competitivity of sectors and countries is increasing. While services 

constitute 60-70% of advanced economies, a comparable part of their competitiveness is due 

to the way in which these services are themselves competitive. 

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The second aspect of the relation services- competitivity can be explained in different 

ways by the angle of some direct factors, but also through some specific and limited factors. 

The first way refers to the direct elements that involve the increase of the global 

economy of services by the angle of its competitivity. The globalisation of the economy 

determined the internationalisation of many service providers, thing that supposed their 

modernisation and adaptation to the new competitive challenges in order to satisfy the 

internationalizes consumers on one hand and on the other hand the adoption of new expansion 

strategies, the assimilation of the technologic advantages offered by the global economy or 

from the angle of the expectancy regarding the future concentration processes. The expansion 

of the area of activity of those firms, also favorised by the legal context, increases the 

potential of their national markets. More than that, some companies benefit on the processes 

of liberalisation and regulation. Of course, there are service enterprises that decide to involve 

in the process of international growth, due to the mirage of the economies that meet better 

cost conditions; the existence of prices quite smaller may generate the exportation of services 

in a manner similar to that of goods. However, the globalisation and the superior 

competitivity of the market influence the evolution of services and their international growth. 

The competitivity affects the services in a more or less proportion. Less due to the 

nature of the services and the existence of the regulations that restrict their willing to operate 

on open markets, in comparison with the manufacturing industry whose goods acted a long 

period of time in conditions of strong competitivity. Also, the competitivity considerably puts 

its mark on the services because, even if the agriculture and the manufacturing industry have 

operated for a long time on quite open markets, the challenges of the globalisation are much 

more obvious in the area of services. It is no doubt that the nature of the services and the 

regulations associated to them has created a specific context in which the relation between 

services and competitivity may be correctly appreciated. After a long period of denial and 

marginality in which the services have been defines and classified, the recent progresses that 

marked the economy of services have shown that those should be defined for what they are 

and not for what they are not (untouchable, impossible to store and to transport, etc. this 

change of vision has pointed to the most deffinitory aspects of the invisibles, meaning the 

interactive character of the relation between provider and consumer. 

The specific nature of services is definitely linked by certain defining elements of third 

party economy: product differentiation, reputation, monopolistic power, externalities, 

asymmetrical information, etc. All those characteristics strengthen the idea based on whom 

the traditional prices or the international ones for the services don’t follow the same rules 

applicable to manufacturing industries. The powerful segmentation of the markets amplifies 

the dependence of prices by the structures of markets, to the prejudice of cost factors. The 

success of services firms on international markets requires taking in consideration a variety of 

elements whose direct costs and prices are just a component. In the same way, the role of 

uncertainty and services quality justifies certain specific settlements destined to protect the 

interests of consumers, to guaranty the loyal competition, to control the externalities, to 

orientate for quality standards, etc. Settlements exist in a large percentage in third party 

economies so the role of prices and costs in competitive market can have a different 

importance in other sectors less regulated. A regulated environment can explain better the 

evolutions of many others sectors than a simple evolution of cost factors. Even more, for 

many other services, the price tendencies, costs and productivity can be perceived only thru 

trends who characterized the dynamics of markets and the regulations. 

In conclusion, the specific nature of services and the organization and regulations of 

those markets allows us to invoke the hypothesis of the existence of a limited market share, 

sensible to the factors of price and costs. A sector becomes active to export if it succeeded to 

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sell personalized services, competences with reputation in a regulated context and on an 

adequate market. 

In this kind of environment, cost factors and prices play a minor role compared with 

other branches that produce integrated goods at an international level. Even so, certain 

arguments who sustain the opposite idea can be validated. For example, the powerful 

reputation gained by the big firms from a certain country can impose to firms from other 

countries to compete by offering smaller prices, macroeconomics variables becoming in this 

way more relevant. The same effect becomes applicable in the case of less qualitative sectors, 

too fragmented or excessive regulated. In those cases, prices can be the only way to compete 

on foreign markets. 

Services affect the competitive economy with their influence on macroeconomic 

factors which determinates the competitive capacity of the industry. The inflationist character 

of many services (Cuadrado, 1993), which leads to higher payment levels that over excide the 

productivity levels, induce a decline of the competitive capacity by the whole industry 

(including the services). A relative growth of he prices, because of the services, can 

negatively affect the international commerce of many enterprises. 

In the case of those which belong to third party sectors, the effect would be direct from 

the moment their export capacities would decrease. For example, in the ‘90’s, the growth of 

prices index has determined simultaneous the diminishing of invisible balances in Spain 

(Gutierrez, 1992). But also, other industries can be affected, because of the price growth, by 

the higher costs which usually reflects in final prices, but also by the price-salary spiral, which 

determinate price or salary growth from one sector to another. Observing those salary growths 

from services part, the employers from other fields demand bigger salaries so in this way it is 

created the spiral mentioned. 

Plus, certain scientists suggested that those discrepancies price-productivity between 

services and manufacturing industry affects the economic growth by slowing the factors of 

total productivity. (Raymond, 1995). In this way, the growth of a tertian economy less 

productive may explain the rates of moderate growth of the most advanced countries and the 

reason why the less developed states do not succeed to converge faster to this growth. The 

opposite effect will emerge in the case of services with a limited growth of prices and with a 

superior productivity. 

The reversed relation will also underline some interesting macroeconomic effects. One 

of these refers to the fact that the evolution of changes that marked the services, and therefore 

their competitivity, could be associated with the competitive capacity of the whole economy. 

In this way, the level of the prices, costs, and productivity should inevitably influence the 

international evolution of the services due to their dominant role in the advanced economies 

and the importance of transmitting the prices and costs between the sectors. If the relative 

quite global prices are big, the competitivity of services is decreasing, and their market share 

reached in other countries could be inferior to that of economies that offer more advantageous 

price conditions. 

This idea is related to other assumption previously formulated: the economy of 

services is obviously affected by global conditions of price and cost, but in a smaller degree 

than other economic branches. Not only have the services price factors affected its 

internationalisation, but also the global economic prices. 

References: 

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1. Bermejo-Rubalcaba L., Sánchez-Maroto A., Competitiveness and the Kaldor Paradox: the 

case of spanish service sector, Institute of Social and Economic Analysis, Working Papers, 

Madrid, 06/2006, p. 7-8 

2. Bermejo-Rubalcaba L., Gago L., Relationships between services and competitiveness: the 

case of spanish trade, The Services Industries Journal, Routledge Publisher, London, 

01/01/2001, p. 35-62; 

3. Cojanu V., Competitivitatea comerţului cu servicii: câteva probleme de măsurare, Revista 

Amfiteatru Economic, Nr. 22/iunie 2007, p.149-151; 

4. De la Guardia C. D., Molero J., Valadez P., International Competitiveness in Services in 

Some European Countries: Basic Facts and a Preliminary Attemp of Interpretation, SETI, 

Bruges, 2004, p. 5; 

5. Khemani R. S., Fostering competitiveness, World Bank, 2005; 

6. Nicoletti G., Pilat D., Réglementation et performance du secteur des services, in: P. Cahuc 

şi M. Debonneuil, Productivité et emploi dans le tertiaire, La Documentation Française, Paris, 

2004, p. 195; 

7. Wysokinska Z., Competitiveness and its relationships with productivity and sustainable 

development, Fibres & Textiles in Eastern Europe, Vol. 11, No. 3(42), July/September 2003, 

Poland, p. 1; 

8. Yap T. J., A note on the competitiveness debate, Philippine Institute for Development 

Studies, Discussion Paper Series No. 2004-39, October 2004, p. 3; 

9. *** OECD, Enhancing the performance of the services sector, Paris, 2005, p.45-57. 

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TOURISTIC SUPPLY PREVISION IN THE BARSA LEND 

Marian ZAHARIA, Professor PhD.,Romanian-American University 

Rodica-Manuela GOGONEA, Lecturer PhD., Academy of Economic Studies 

Ioana ZAHEU, Asistent PhD student.,Romanian-American University 

Abstract 

Les principales méthodes de prévision utilisées sont aussi bien celles mécaniques ou analytiques, qui 

permettent d'obtenir des valeurs absolues des indicateurs étudiés, que la méthode des chaînes Markov, qui 

permet la prévision des modifications structurelles des indicateurs soumis aux processus d'analyse statistique. 

L'offre touristique du pays de Barsa, prévue pour 2006 et 2007, a été analysée par le prisme de ses 

indicateurs principaux : le nombre des structures d'accueil touristique et la capacité d'hébergement actuelle. 

Dans l'ensemble, en 2006 et 2007, les deux indicateurs de l'offre touristique du pays de Barsa ont 

affronté un processus d'augmentation, avec des effets positifs sur le déroulement de l'activité touristique de la 

région. 

1. Methodology of Evaluating the Tourism Offer to Bârsa Land 

Beginning with the very moment of starting developing tourism activities, by the 

complex ensemble that such activities generate, tourism specific consisting elements influence 

the evolution of other domains, resulting in basic effects of the national economy. By their 

interaction, these elements generate either immediate or long-term effects, having economic, 

social and cultural nature or otherwise and which occur not only at national level, but also 

locally, this way they being able to emphasize tourism influence on the economic and social 

development of Bârsa Land territory. 

Considering all the above, a certain assessment on the future is required, process by 

which we try to establish the development of the tourism phenomenon that has to be 

accomplished, in order to achieve the best results and to attain certain objectives. The abovementioned 

evaluation process offers the basis for all the decisions regarding the strategy for 

developing the tourism within the territory of Bârsa Land. 

The said evaluation is deemed as a method or the means, or as a certain procedure or 

an ensemble of procedures by which we accomplish our research, analysis, acknowledging 

and description over the objective reality, in order to anticipate, to initiate and organize a 

certain future action based on efficiency criteria. Such a method does not refer to passively 

getting to know the reality had in view, but it will emphasize the best ways to follow. 

Among the multiple forecasting methods used here we mention the mechanical or 

analytical methods, which allow the obtaining of certain absolute values for the studied 

indicators, as well as the method of the Markov chains, which leads to foreseeing the 

structural alterations of the indicators involved within the statistic analysis processes. 

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The mechanical methods used in studying the future of Bîrsa Land from the tourism point of 

view include the method of the average rise and of the average index, while from all the analytical 

methods only the linear trend method is considered as being the most suggestive. 

The evaluation on the tourism activity within Bârsa Land for the next two years (2006, 2007), 

may be achieved starting with the evolution had in view for the previous 8 years (1998-2005) for the 

main indicators that would emphasize their future tendency. 

The structural evaluation of the economic indicators related to Bârsa Land was accomplished 

for 2006, on basis of a certain scheduling algorithm, this methodology including the stages described 

below, taken from the “Economy of Utilities – case studies”: 

‣ Calculation of transition matrices – which require the establishing of several transition matrices 

depending on the number of years; within each matrix the smallest value shall be considered at 

the crossing between lines and columns, establishing the “fidelity diagonal”, so that the 

differences determines this way get distributed within the matrix and represent the increase and 

diminish percentages within the structure of the analyzed indicator; 

‣ Calculation of the total transition matrix – represents the stage in which the previously 

determined elements contained in the transition matrices get cumulated; 

‣ Determining the transition matrix of probabilities – consists in dividing each element within the 

total matrix by the line total; 

‣ Establishing the forecast structure – meaning to multiply the transposition of the transition 

probabilities matrix by the vector of the structure of the last known (taken into account) year. 

The forecasting process has in view both the main indicators of the technical and material basis 

(number of structures for having tourists and number of accommodation places) as well as those of 

tourism traveling (number of tourists coming in, number of nights as tourists) established for Bârsa 

Land. 

2. Evaluating the Number of Structures Taking Tourists in within the Territory of Bârsa Land 

Data and information related to the number of structures taking tourists in within the territory 

of Bârsa Land, allowed the applying of mechanical methods, based on which the values foreseen for 

the following two years are also established, as follows: 

Tabel 1 - Scheduling Algorithm for Calculating the Number of Structures Taking Tourists in and Their Evaluation, by 

methods for mechanical and analytical adjustment: 

Years No. of 

t−1 

y ˆ = y1 + Δ( t −1) 

y ˆ = y1 

⋅ I t t 2 t ⋅ y yˆ 

= a + b ⋅ t 

Units 

t−1 

y ˆ = 194 + 35,29 ⋅ t −1 

yˆ 

= 194 ⋅1,1245 

yˆ 

= 341,5 + 61, 37 ⋅t 

( ) 

1998 194 194,00 194,00 - 2,0 4,00 -388,0 218,76 

1999 234 229,29 218,15 -1,5 2,25 -351,0 249,44 

2000 322 264,58 245,31 - 1,0 1,00 -322,0 280,13 

2001 338 299,87 275,85 -0,5 0,25 -169,0 310,82 

2002 342 335,16 310,19 0,5 0,25 171,0 372,19 

2003 388 370,45 348,82 1,0 1,00 388,0 402,87 

2004 473 405,74 392,25 1,5 2,25 709,5 433,55 

2005 441 441,03 441,08 2,0 4.00 882,0 464,24 

Total 2732 0,0 15,00 920,5 

2006 476,32 495,99 2,5 494,93 

2007 511,61 557,75 3,0 525,61 

Source: Statistic County Directions. 

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Results obtained and presented within Table 1 would indicate a certain maintenance of the trend 

towards an increasing of the number of structures for taking in tourists during the next two years, 2006 

and 2007, the forecast absolute values being between minimum 476.32 units and maximum 557.75 

units. 

600 

500 

No. of Units 

400 

300 

200 

100 

0 

1998 

1999 

2000 

2001 

2002 

2003 

2004 

2005 

2006 

2007 

Year 

Figure 1. The evolution of number of structures taking tourists 

The number of units for tourism taking in within the territory of Bârsa Land, being structurally 

determined by their types (hotels, motels and inns, villas, huts, camps, pensions, farms, other kinds), as 

shown within Table 2, allowed the applying of Markov chain method. 

Tabel 2 – Structure of Units by the Main Types Existing within the Territory of Bârsa Land: 

Unit Type 

Structure of Units (%) 

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Hotels 18,56 15,38 11,49 11, 4 11,18 10,05 9,30 10,20 


Villas 13,40 13,25 13,35 12,72 10,29 10,05 10,15 10,43 

Huts 12,37 11,54 8,07 7,40 7,06 5,41 4,65 2,72 

Camps 3,09 2,99 2,17 1,78 1,76 1,55 1,27 0,45 

Pensions 29,90 29,06 27,02 25,74 25,88 33,25 43,97 49,21 

Farms 14,43 19,23 30,12 33,73 36,18 31,96 24,31 22,90 

Other kinds 7,22 7,69 7,14 6,80 7,06 6,19 4,86 1,81 


Undergoing the first stage, within which the transition matrices are established, led to obtaining 

the results presented below: 

‣ comparing to 1998, in 1999 an increase by 0.21% of the number of villas was determined, 

by 4.45% for the farms and by 0.47% for other types of structures, to the diminishing of the others 

which presented a decrease as follows: by 0.1% for camps, 0.18% for motels and inns, 0.83% for huts, 

0.84% for pensions and by 3.18% for hotels; 

‣ the increasing phenomenon was maintained for the numbers of villas and farms in 2000, 

comparing to 1999, by 0.1% and by 10.88%, respectively, while the category “other kinds” (cu 0,55%) 

goes the same with the types presenting a permanent diminishing of the number of structures for taking 

in tourists, as follows: 0.22% motels and inns, 0.82% camps, 2.03% pensions, 3.47% huts and 3.89% 

hotels; 

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‣ only the number of farms presented an increasing process in 2001, comparing to 2000, by 

3.61%, the decreasing processes being established at the following percentage values: 0.04% motels 

and inns, 0.25% hotels, 0.34% other kinds, 0.39% camps, 0.63% villas, 0.67% huts and 1.29% 

pensions; 

Farms 

14% 

Other kinds 

7% 

Hotels 

19% 

Motels and inns 

1% 

Pensions 

31% 

Camps 

3% 

Huts 

12% 

Villas 

13% 

Figure 2. Structure of Units by the Main Types Existing 

within the Territory of Bârsa Land in 1998 

‣ comparing to 2001, 2002 brought an increasing process for the number of pensions, by 

0.14%, for the category “other kinds” cu 0,26% and for the number of farms, by 2.45%; the highest 

diminishing was registered for the number of villas by 2.43%, comparing to the huts, hotels and camps, 

for which the established percentages were: by 0.34%, 0.06% and 0.02%, respectively; and it must also 

be emphasized that the number of motels and inns did not alter from one year to another; 

‣ the year 2003 comparing to 2002, was the one when the greatest increase of the number of 

pensions was registered, the percentage established being of 7.73%, at a great distance being followed 

by motels and inns, only by 0.96%, while the percentage values established for the diminishing of the 

number of structures for taking in tourists were classified as follows: farms by 4.22%, huts by 1.65%, 

hotels 1.13%, “other kinds” by 0.88%, villas by 0.24% and camps by 0.21%; 

Farms 

23% 

Other kinds 

2% 

Hotels 

10% 


2% 

Villas 

10% 

Huts 

3% 

Pensions 

50% 

Camps 

0% 

Figure 2. Structure of Units by the Main Types Existing 

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within the Territory of Bârsa Land in 2005 

‣ pensions keep at first place within the developing process registered this time in 2004 

comparing to 2003, by a higher percentage than the one of the previous year (10.72%), followed by the 

villas by only 0.10%; the most significant diminishing being the one established for motels and inns, by 

0.07%, followed by camps – by 0.28%, hotels and huts – by 0.75% and 0.76%, respectively, while the 

percentage for the “other kinds” was 1.32% and for the farms 7.64%, which registered the largest 

process of diminishing the number of structures for taking in tourists; 

‣ in 2005, comparing to 2004, the increasing of the number of pensions was diminished, 

reaching only 5.24%, comparing to the previous years had in view, but hotels are to be found within the 

same tendency by 0.9%, like motels and inns by 0.79%, as well as the villas by 0.28%. 

Undergoing the other three stages within the scheduling algorithm by applying the Markov 

chains led to obtaining the following structure for the number of tourism units within the territory of 

Bârsa Land at the level of the year 2006: the first place being held by pensions, with a percentage of 

48.95%, followed by farms with 26.63%, at considerable distance having the villas with 10.12%, hotels 

by 8.90%, while the last places are held by the huts with 2.26%, the category “other kinds” with 1.73%, 

motels and inns with only 1.14% and camps with 0.27%. One must notice that most of the units keep 

holding the same positions they had in the previous year, 2005, except for the camps that reach the last 

position within the classification. 

Evaluating the Existing Accommodation Capacity of the Structures for Taking in Tourists within 

the Territory of Bârsa Land 

Number of tourism accommodation spaces, this represents another important indicator 

reflecting the tourism offer of Bârsa Land, its estimating study representing a must for the present 

requirements having in view the long-lasting development of the region under study. 

The increasing from one year to another of the number of tourism accommodation spaces is 

also shown by the data assessment for the following two years (table 3): 

Tabel 3 - The Scheduling Algorithm for the number of Accommodation Spaces and Their Assessment, by the methods of 

mechanical and analytical adjustment: 

t−1 

yˆ 

= a + b ⋅ t 

No. of y ˆ = y1 + Δ( t −1) 

y ˆ = y 

Years 

1 

⋅ I 

t t 

spaces y ˆ 

t−1 

= 8750 + 298,57 ⋅ ( t −1) 

2 t ⋅ y y ˆ = 9369,625+ 

367, 8 

y ˆ = 8750 ⋅1,0311 

1998 8750 8750,00 8750,000 - 2,0 4,00 -17500,0 8633,85 

1999 8954 9048,57 9022,125 -1,5 2,25 -13431,0 8817,82 

2000 9232 9347,14 9302,713 - 1,0 1,00 -9232,0 9001,755 

2001 9248 9645,71 9592,0273 -0,5 0,25 -4624,0 9185,69 

2002 8551 9944,28 9890,3393 0,5 0,25 4275,5 9553,56 

2003 9447 10242,85 10197,928 1,0 1,00 9447,0 9737,495 

2004 9935 10541,42 10515,083 1,5 2,25 1490,5,0 9921,43 

2005 10840 10839,99 10842,102 2,0 4,00 21680,0 10105,365 

Total 74957 0,0 15,00 5518,0 

2006 11138,56 11179,291 2,5 10289,3 

2007 11437,13 11526,966 3,0 10473,24 

Source: Statistic County Directions 

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Considering the three methods applied, the method of the average index forecasts the largest 

increasing of the number of accommodation spaces, at the level of the year 2007 it reaching the value 

of 11526 spaces, while the method of the linear trend was the least optimistic by its results, this 

forecasting an increase of the accommodation spaces only up to 10473.34 spaces. 

From structural viewpoint, the repartition of spaces by the main types of structures for taking in 

tourists offered the basis in applying the method of Markov chains (table 4). 

Tabel 4 – Structure of the Number of Spaces în Ţara Bârsei 

Unit Types 

Structure of the Number of Spaces (%) 

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Hotels 59.55 58.85 56.15 55.42 54.94 49.62 47.15 44.80 

Motels and Inns 1.41 0.98 0.66 0.67 0.73 2.55 2.60 3.33 

Villas 5.52 6.23 6.09 5.97 5.34 6.71 7.54 7.91 

Huts 12.25 12.91 11.68 11.35 11.05 8.19 6.91 4.71 

Camps 13.71 12.14 11.70 10.62 10.02 9.19 6.87 1.38 

Pensions 4.00 4.46 6.37 7.06 7.84 13.98 20.37 27.10 

Farms 2.27 4.02 6.82 8.40 9.54 9.37 8.19 7.73 

Other Kinds 1.28 0.41 0.53 0.51 0.54 0.38 0.36 3.04 

TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 

Estimating the structure of the number of accommodation spaces in the years 2006 and 2007 

starts with a scheduling algorithm for the transition matrices by which each year may be compared to 

the previous one. This way one may establish the increases and the decreases, respectively, that are 

registered from one year to another, all along the 8 years, establishing 7 transition matrices, which may 

be understood as follows: 

‣ the year 1999, comparing to 1998, is characterized by a certain process of increasing of the 

number of accommodation spaces registered for the pensions (80.46%), huts (0.66%), villas (0.71%) 

and farms (1.75%), as well as of decreasing for the hotels (0.7%), motels and inns (0.44%), the 

category “other kinds” (0.87%), and camps (1.57%); 

‣ comparing to the previous year, in 2000 the classification for the increasing of the number 

of accommodation spaces brings to the first place the farms (2.8%), then coming the pensions (1.91%), 

followed by the category “other kinds” (0.12%); the established decreases show that greatest 

diminishing is that of the hotels (2.7%) and of the huts (1.23%), followed by camps (0.44%), motels 

and inns (0.32%) and villas (0.14%); 

‣ in 2001, comparing to 2000, the most significant increasing related to the accommodation 

spaces was established: for the farms (1.58%), for pensions, for inns and motels having an increasing of 

only 0.69%, and 0.01%, respectively; the registered decreases oscillating around a certain percentage, 

so that for the camps we have the value of 1.08%, while for hotels, huts, villas and for the category 

“other kinds” we have only: 0.73%, 0.33%, 0.12% and 0.02%; 

‣ besides the three types, which registered increases during the previous period of 

comparison, in 2002, comparing to 2001, and the category “other kinds”, the percentage values 

corresponding to the increasing of the number of accommodation spaces altering, -indicating increases, 

as follows: the category “other kinds” cu 0.03%, the motels and inns by 0.06%, pensions by 0.78% and 

the farms by 1.14%; the percentage decreases of the number of accommodation spaces for tourists are 

quite low, sub-unit values being established, as follows: for the huts 0.3%, inns 0.48%, camps 0.6%, 

and villas by 0.63%, respectively; 

‣ comparing 2003 to the year 2002 we notice an increasing of the number of the 

accommodation spaces for tourists related to villas (1.38%), to the motels and inns (1.82%) and to 

pensions, to the diminishing of the other kinds, for which the number of tourism accommodation 

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spaces was reduces, as follows: the hotels by 5.32%, huts by 2.86%, camps by 0.83%, farms by 0.17% 

and the category “other kinds” by 0.16%; 

‣ the order of the increases during the year 2004, comparing to that of the year 2003, is 

similar, motels and inns presenting an increase by 0.05%, villas by 0.82%, and pensions by 6.39%; the 

decreases of the other kinds are much more significant, most of them getting over 1%, the first place 

being held by the hotels (2.47%), then coming the camps (2.32%), huts (1.27%), farms (1.18%), the 

last place being held by the category “other kinds with only 0.02%; 

‣ the last comparison years within the scheduling algorithm, 2005 compared to 2004, 

indicates an increasing of the number of the accommodation spaces for tourism at the level of villas by 

0.37%, of motels and inns by 0.73%, of the category “other kinds” by 2.68%, as well as a decreasing of 

those spaces at the level of camps, by 5.49%, of hotels by 2.35%, of huts by 2.21% and of farms by 

0.46%. 

The obtained results allowed, within the algorithm, the calculation of the total transition matrix 

as well as of the transition probabilities matrix, which led to establishing the structure of the number of 

accommodation spaces for the year 2007. 

Farms 

9% 

Other kinds 

2% 

Hotels 

44% 

Pensions 

33% 

Camps 

1% 

Huts 

5% 

Villas 

3% 


3% 

Figure 3. Structure of accommodation spaces of Bârsa Land in the years 2007 

The so established structure, by the above mentioned algorithm appears as follows: the most 

accommodation spaces within the territory of Bârsa Land are in hotels (43.06%) and pensions 

(32.16%), these being followed at a large distance by farms (9.06%), huts (5.39%), villas (3.46%), 

motels and inns (3.38%), the last two places being held by the category “other kinds” (2.34%) and 

camps with 1.15%. 

Conclusion 

As a conclusion in studying the future of the tourism activity to be developed within the 

territory of Bârsa land, subsequent to the applying of the two calculation methods (the applying of the 

mechanical and analytical methods, as well as of the Markov chains method), the increasing trend may 

be established for the two evaluating indicators presented: number of the structures for taking in 

tourists and number of accommodation spaces. 

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In order to create a certain balance between objectives, resources, capacities and possibilities 

there must be a certain strategically planned activity at the level of Bârsa Land, at the level of each and 

every tourism utility unit, as well as within them. 

In this respect it is mainly necessary to define the mission of the existing commercial units 

within the territory of Bârsa Land, as well as the material and human resources, necessary for carrying 

out the activity and for achieving the assumed goals, as well as the identifying of new possibilities for 

developing current activities, for modernizing and diversifying the offered utilities, as perspectives of 

integrating the region had in view in the European tourism market. 

This perspective of the integration involves the modernization of the tourism product of Bârsa 

Land, a certain development according to the specific characteristics of the region, to the national 

specific characteristics and to the requirements within the world market. 

The tourism offer is much more wanted when tourism utilities are achieved at superior 

qualitative parameters – as content, promptitude, high degree of satisfying the clients etc, which is 

confirmed both by the national and the international experience. When we agree that the appreciation 

according to which the testing tourism market within the territory of Bârsa Land has to be equal to 

ensuring certain quality services and utilities, then the problematic of the special work resources 

becomes a certain priority. Of course, the quality of the material basis of the tourism activity is vital in 

achieving this objective, but only the competence and proficiency, the education and passion of the 

activating staff more and more emphasizes the quality of the tourism product. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

7. Gogonea R.-M. – Cercetarea statistică în turismul rural. Studiul turismului rural din zona Bran- 

Moeciu, Editura Universitară, Bucureşti, 2006, 

8. Ioncică M, Petrescu E.C - Strategii de dezvoltare a sectorului terţiar, Editura Uranus, Bucureşti, 

2004 

9. Ţiţan E.- Statistică, teorie şi aplicaţii în sectorul terţiar, Editura Press, Bucureşti, 2002 

10. Zaharia M. (coord.) – Economia Serviciilor – studii de caz Editura Universitară Bucureşti, 2004 

11. www.world-tourism.org. 

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DEALING WITH CUSTOMERS COMPLAINTS – A KEY ISSUE IN A MORE 

AND MORE COMPETITIVE MARKET 

Catrinel Dridea Asist. Univ. Drd. Universitatea Româno-Americană 

Abstact 

The tourism represents nowadays the fastest growing industry in the world and its main goal consists in the 

satisfaction of the clients. The improvement of tourism services is considered to be a key factor in order to obtain a 

competitive position and satisfy the variety of needs and demands of the customers. But from the consumer’s experience not 

all the tourism services are satisfactory. The service failure can frequently occur due to the large amount of services offered 

and to the constant connection between the clients and employees, specific to the tourism sector. The organizations must 

create coherent strategies for responding to service failure and minimize their impact. 

This paper shows the importance of tourism services, the relation between tourism organizations and their 

customers, and more than that, the proper methods to avoid or diminish their complaints. 

1. Customer’s complaints 

In the tourism industry the most important principle of the organizations represents the 

satisfactions of the customers. But in practice, not all customers will be satisfied, and not all 

organizations can guarantee to deliver quality service every time. 

Particularly in tourism, can appear service failures and customer dissatisfaction, from different 

sources, controllable or not. 

In most cases, delivery of the tourism service represents the contribution of a number of 

different parties (airline, hotel, tour operator) which must be co-coordinated to obtain a successful 

impact. This involvement of a number of different organizations can grow the potential for failure. 

On the other hand, the tourism services represent a permanently contact of customers and 

employees and this heavy dependence on people to deliver service can also increase the potential for 

service failure. 

As a third regard, the tourism experience can be influenced by individual factors outside an 

organization’s control – for example, the weather or access to visitor attractions. 

As a result, the service failure will determine the dissatisfaction expressed by complaining, 

negative word-of-mouth and decisions not to repurchase. 

So, if it is impossible to avoid service failures and dissatisfaction, then the organizations must 

understand how to manage such occurrences and minimize their adverse effects. Dealing with 

customers complaints represents a key element in service recovery. However, in order to understand 

how to deal with service failure and complaints, it is necessary to understand the way 

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in which consumers react to service failure and how they respond to different approaches to service 

recovery. 

The specialists concluded that there are a number of different types of service failure: failures of 

service delivery, failures in responding to customer’s requests and inappropriate employee’s behavior. 

2. Failures of service delivery 

This type of failure can be represented by unavailable service, slow service, and other service 

failures. 

Unavailable service refers to the lack of services, which are normally available, such as a 

cancelled flight or a hotel that is overbooked. The slow service consists in the perception of the service 

delivery as being extraordinarily slow in fulfilling their function and might include delays in serving a 

meal in a restaurant or lengthy queues at a visitor attraction. Other service failures can include all other 

aspects of the service’s delivery offered by different industries as food service, cleanliness of the 

aircraft, baggage handling etc. 

2.1Failures in responding to customer’s requests 

This type of service failure regards at the employees attitude and behavior towards the 

customers needs and special request. Customer needs can be explicit or implicit. 

Implicit needs are not requested, for example an airline that modifies a flight schedule without 

noticing its customers, so that alternative connection flights can be arranged. 

The explicit needs are the one specially requested and relate to special needs, customer 

preferences, customer problems, and others. 

The special needs represent customer’s special medical, dietary, psychological, language, or 

social circumstances. For example: preparing a meal for a vegetarian would count as a special request. 

As for the customer preferences, the employees are requested to deliver the service in some way 

that meets the preferred needs of the customer. A typical example is the customer’s desire to substitute 

a menu at a restaurant in order to meet his/her preference. 

Responding to costumers problems refers to how employees deal with the mistakes of 

customers (as lost airplane tickets, lost hotel key, etc.). 

Finally, responding to other needs or request represents the actions taken by employees to settle 

disputes between customers, such as requesting that smoking customers not smoke in the non-smoking 

section of restaurants. 

2.2 Inappropriate employee’s behavior 

The third type of service failure appears from the unexpected employee behaviors and presents 

a negative impact on the customers. In this category it can be included: the level of attention, unusual 

behavior, equity treatment, and adverse conditions. 

The employees who have a poor attitude, who ignore the customers or indifferent behavior are 

an example of a negative level of attention. 

The unusual behavior includes employee actions such as rudeness, abusiveness, and 

inappropriate touching. 

The equity treatment refers to actions such as equality, fairness, and honesty. Disregarding this 

would include discriminatory behavior, acts of dishonesty such as lying, stealing, and cheating, and 

other activities considered unfair by customers. 

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Finally, the adverse conditions subcategory covers employee actions under stressful situations. 

This relies on the employee’s attitude to remain calm and conscious in dealing with stressful problems. 

For example a pilot how a positive attitude toward the customers has in the unfortunate situation of 

airplane control loses. Otherwise it can be remembered as a negative action under adverse conditions. 

It is then a must to understand the type of service failure that can occur for using the appropriate 

recovery strategy and, more importantly, for developing future strategies to diminish the occurrence of 

service failures. 

2.3 Acknowledging the customers complaints 

Usually many customers do not complain about a service failure, but they tent to take actions 

like negative word-of-mouth and brand switching As a result many organizations don’t know that a 

failure has occurred and don’t have the opportunity to deal with existing problems and recovery. 

Generally, customers respond to a service failure by taken or not taken action regarding to the 

public (legal actions toward organizations, complaining to public, or tourism agencies, etc.) or private 

response (negative word-of-mouth, or brand switching). For example complaining to a hotel about 

poor service constitutes public action; deciding not to use the hotel service would represent private 

action. 

Specialists have identified different types of customer’s response under influence of market 

factors, services factors and consumer’s factors. 

Market Factors 

Customers respond to the service failures differently, if there is a competitive market or a 

monopoly market. In the first situation, complaining doesn’t usually take place because the customers 

simply change the brand without expressing their dissatisfaction. In case of monopoly markets the 

complaining may increase because customers are captive (no another supplier exist), complaining 

being the only chance for improvement. 

Organizational and services factors 

Dissatisfied customers tend to complain to companies who are opened to complaint dealing and 

take measures for the improvement of services. 

Also customers are more likely to complain if a service is complex, expensive, or considered 

important, or if the service failure is serious. 

Consumer Factors 

The characteristics of customers separate them in their response to service failures. The level of 

education, social environment, and financial position has a great impact on their decision. 

The ones with higher income, education, and social involvement give them the knowledge, 

confidence, and motivation to speak about their problems. 

In contrast, customers with lower socio-economic level (usually poor or emigrants) do not speak up 

when they are dissatisfied. 

Consumers’ beliefs and attitudes determine them to complain if they consider that the problems 

are not caused by themselves. If buyers attribute the problem to themselves, they are less likely to 

speak up. 

Personality factors may also be involved in consumer complaining. In general, assertive people 

are more likely to complain, in contrast with the submissive persons. 

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Regarding at the attitude towards dissatisfaction, consumers may feel different negative 

emotions and generally act accordantly. The specific feelings are based on their attributions about who 

is to blame for the problem. 

Those who blame another party, typically the company or employee, generally feel anger, or 

contempt. These negative emotions are the ones most likely to determine complaining, and probably 

lead to negative word-of-mouth communication to family and friends. 

Consumers who concluded that there is nobody specific to blame tend to feel distress or fear. 

These emotions probably do not result in as much complaining because consumers feel powerless 

compared to the company, perhaps because of its size or its market position. On the other hand, some 

customers may not complain because they empathize with, or feel with compassion for, the employee 

who causes the problem. 

Customers that blame themselves usually experience shame or guilt. These negative emotions 

will almost never influence them to speak up their disappointment. 

In conclusion, there are a variety of responses available to consumers who experience service 

failure, only one of which is complaining. However, without customer complaints, organizations may 

only have limited information on the extent and nature of service failure and may not have the 

opportunity to engage in service recovery. 

3. Dealing with costumer complaints – the recovery 

Service recovery can be analyzed as being concerned with the appropriate handling of 

complaints and includes all actions taken by a service provider in order to try to resolve the problem a 

customer has with their organization. Without complaints, a firm may be unaware that problems exist 

and be unable to resolve the existing problems. 

Studies made in this aspects show five actions for recovery: 

- Apology: A first person apology rather than a corporate apology, and one which also acknowledges 

that a failure has occurred. 

- Urgent handling: Actions taken in order to put things right even if it is not possible to correct the 

situation. 

- Empathy: A sincere expression of feeling for the customer's problem. 

- Symbolic compensation: A form of compensation that might include not charging for the service or 

offering future services free or discounted. 

- Analyzing the recovery: An after-recovery call to ascertain that the consumer is satisfied with the 

recovery process. 

Other specialists suggested that for a successful recovery an organization's response should include the 

following four key elements: 

- Acknowledgement of the problem 

- Explanation of the reason for the failure 

- Apology where appropriate 

- Compensation such as a free ticket, meal or drink. 

The process of recovery must be analyzed from two points a view: the recovery from a service 

failure and the recovery from a negative response to service failure. 

It was found that one set of actions can restore the customer to a satisfied state whereas an 

enhanced set of action will delight the customer. Fast response and correction are fundamental to all 

strategies, but an apology needs to be appropriate to the situation. 

A modest apology probably would not be satisfactory in the situation of the inappropriate response to 

problems, but a written apology would delight in the simple case of service failure. 

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The confirmation and assurance that it will not happen again can be verbal for the second 

situations and written for the first one. Also the compensation must be accordingly. 

The recent research on service recovery has focused on the level of justice perceived by the 

customers in realizing the service recovery strategies. 

Perceived justice is seen as the fairness of the resolution procedures, the interpersonal 

communications and behaviors, and the positive outcomes. 

The fairness of the resolution procedures regards aspects like the delay in processing the 

complaint, process control, accessibility, timing, and flexibility to adapt to the customer's recovery 

needs. 

The interpersonal communicational and behavior focus on the manner in which people are 

treated during the complaint handling process including elements such as courtesy exhibited by 

personnel, empathy, effort observed in resolving the situation, and the firm's willingness to provide an 

explanation as to why the failure occurred. 

The positive results focus on the level and nature of apologies and compensations obtained by 

the unsatisfied customers. 

Acknowledging that, the organizations can find proper methods to determine satisfactory 

response to service failures. 

Service failure has the potential to have a significant negative impact on organizations. 

In tourism, negative word-of-mouth may be a particular cause for concern because of the 

importance of personal recommendations. 

The excellent service recovery can lead to levels of cumulative satisfaction that are higher than 

those existing prior to the service failure. Effective service recovery has also been demonstrated to have 

a positive impact on post recovery word-of-mouth. 

In conclusion, the beneficial effects of effective service recovery have determined to customers 

to express their complaints; these complaints are the only responses that provide the organization with 

an opportunity to recover effectively from the service failure. 

Although it may seem paradoxical, it could be in the best interest of organizations to encourage 

consumer to complain, and then to react appropriately to the complaint behavior. 

Conclusions 

In my opinion, the services offered in the tourism industry are unlikely to be zero-defect 

services. If some service failure is inevitable, then the process of responding to those failures has an 

extreme significance in relation to consumers’ future evaluations of an organization. 

Service failure takes place when a service fails to live up to what was promised or what the 

consumer expected. Because the quality relies in the customers satisfactions, the customer complaints 

represent the main indicator of service failure. Unfortunately, not all customers complain (many may 

simply decide not to purchase again or may engage in negative word-of-mouth). 

An increasing number of organizations encourage customers to complain, because complaints 

provide an organization with the opportunity to recover from service failure and, most of all, to prevent 

and diminish negative behaviors of the customers. 

When an organization is aware of a service failure, a specific service recovery strategy is 

essential in order to minimize the negative effects of the initial failure and maximize the positive results 

from the recovery process. 

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Bibliography 

1. Olaru, M. (coord.)” Tehnici şi instrumente utilizate in managementul calităţii”, Ed. Economică, 


2. Revista, Calitatea acces la succes, nr.10, octombrie 2007, Societatea Romana pentru Asigurarea 

Calitatii – SRAC 

3. Maxham III, J G and Netmeyer, R G,”Firms reap what they sow: the Effects of Shared Values and 

perceived Organizational Justice on Customers Evaluations of Complaint Handling”, Journal of 

Marketing, vol I, 2005 

4. Tax, S. S. and Brown, S. W. "Service recovery, research insights and practices", in T. A. Swartz and 

D. Iacobucci (eds.), Handbook of Services Marketing and Management, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 

Publications, 2004 

. 

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WHO IS GOING TO TELL THE 2 BILLIONS CHINESSE THEY MUST NOT 

HAVE THEIR OWN CAR? 

Rotariu Ilie, senior lecturer, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 

Abstract: the whole world has a new way of producing the goods its population need. New actors have got on the stage: the 

large Asia’s people: China and India. They use the former producing system: mass production and less care to the costs of 

externalities as their large population still allow a high development rhythm as it has a high demand to satisfy. In case of car 

production China has started mass production that means one million units in less then a year. If this rhythm will go on, the 

pollution might affect the whole world. But who will tell the Chinese they are forbidden to have their own car? Are they 

ready to accept the unacceptable? Who will pay for the conversion of a new fuel? And India is follow closely. 

The last decade was one of tremendous changes that we call progress. New discoveries have 

boosted the world economies. We talk more about globalization as a compulsory way of daily life. The 

most surprising turn over seams to be the “waken up” of Asia. For centuries, we the Europeans have 

considered that the world development hang on us. Last century America (The US) has taken the 

leading, but as the American are of European origin we have kept the idea that we are the center of the 

world: all major discoveries have a European origin or background. Last years we notice a new trend: 

Asia get the initiative: we ignore Japan and its economic miracle as it has not changed the world power 

balance. We cote China and India whose populations are not the majority of the world population, but 

whose economies are on the point to impose their rules to the world. China is not only the workshop of 

the world but its GIP is on the point to over cross the US’s. 

The perspective that China will get the some economic level as Western developed economies 

rise a question: is the world capable to conserve the earth? The ever higher pollution in China’s area 

might break the thin ecologic equilibrium. To point out, Romania has just celebrated the production of 

its 3 million Dacia car: it need 17 years to produce the first million, an other 14 to produce the second 

million and 10 for the third one. China has produce one million cars in less than nine months! 

The process is longer and has the roots in the American way of producing, starting with Ford. 

At the century’s beginning, Henry Ford was looking for a solution to turn profitable his business: cars’ 

construction. But, because of valueless wages of the American working class, he could not reach that 

minimal level, that production and critical number of units that could afford a successful business. It is 

Ford’s decision to increase his own workers’ wages that have changed, in our opinion, the entire 

world’s economic system. Ford has started a process that has developed as a boule de neige: it has 

afforded the Americans to live over their income, as it was appreciated as normal in the former 

economic system. Today we can see its result when the “financial and invisible products” are the 

majority of the value of the nations’ economy, mainly of the developed ones. The simplicity, or may be 

the lack of profoundness of almost of the Americans, whose life relies on exclusive power of money, 

has determined them to adopt a new faith (near that brought by Pilgrim Fathers – the liberty of human 

being) and a new God: the Car. The highways have covered the US in order to satisfy the fretting and 

the restlessness of that people of immigrants, their nomad spirit and have subordinated the hole 

economy and development to the new God. The uninhabited space of 

America could thus, since then, easily and democratically be traveled, even by the working class. All 

along the highways quickly have issued hotels, motels, restaurants, entertainment facilities, etc. Not for 

the rich people – that have kept staying closed in their world – but for the crowd. Quantity bring small 

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profits but many of them. And, as the desire to have more is in Americans’ blood the consolidations 

have started: hotels, restaurants, services etc. brands (chains) have appeared. And all BIG, huge, 

gigantic and in expansion all the time. We have to point out that every one of these giants has its own 

philosophy (coming from that one of the successful owner). After the 2 nd WW the borders of US were 

“blown out”. Their philosophy, capitals and ways of management have spread out in the whole world 

for new profits. Globalization has started, by a special arrangement of people’ travel. This is the way 

that, unexpected, the American working class was put to entertain itself: simply, in order to assure the 

critical mass of a profitable production for Ford and his’. In fact in order to increase the present profits 

even during its free time. Long later, after the 2 nd WW this conception has found a democratic 

expression and mass media brought its humanist dimension. Tourism, as that is the way this use of the 

free time is known, will become the forerunner, the model and the promoter of globalization. 

The next moment, that we can also remark in Great Britain, is that one of the exigency of 

reconverting the flight industries from the war to civil production. In this sector huge capitals and a 

special labor force have been concentrated and have to be protected for and during the Cold War. In 

almost of the situations it is clear that the costs of a flight can not be covered only by flight tickets’ 

income. Let’s count: the costs to over flight several countries, over several borders, the repayment of 

the infrastructure, of planes, then the “small” costs with fuel, wages etc. the reservation’ systems etc. 

And yet, anyone knows that a charter flight is cheap. And yet, planes are flying, tourists, businessmen 

etc. fill the world. HOW? Using the same principle of Ford, but in a retrograde sense: paying of the 

large bourse of the state, that is it is subsidized as much as it is needed, but still with the crowd money. 

And, flying over the borders of Great Britain or US (the main producers after the WW) we have to 

involve several countries. Politically, (by agreements) the same opportunities were built for all of them, 

as it was done for the developed countries. Economically, the profits were globalized by a declared 

better distribution of the costs and the opportunities. 

The microelectronics and the biotechnologies have separated the socialist system from the 

capitalist one and segregate the last. This was and still is crucial. Let me explain it by an example: 

Holland has obtained near half of its territory from the sea. They cultivate about a quarter of the 

potential land. 3.5% of the population is feeding the whole population and make also exports. About 

10-12 % of the population is manufacturing the goods and produces all the merchandises required on 

the market. As a result, the majority of the population might be considered as throwaway for 

production, valuable only as consumers. They were near 45% working in the agriculture: what 

happened with them? If we subtract the children, pupils, students and pensioners it remains some 60% 

that work in the new economy, the services of nowadays generation, the post-modern invisible 

Moreover, it might be a menace for the society if it does not manage fruitfully its resulted “free time”. 

To “keep peace under the olives” the new post-industrial societies have had to develop the 

“management of the disposal time” that has turn on the course of the tourism from 3S (sand, sun, sea 

for crowds of people) to 3E (Excitement, Entertainment, Education for crowds of people too!), and 

further more to the life style concept that was extended over the hole individual and social life, not only 

its economic side. 

The new economy is in Hans van der Loo of Samhoud Service Management – Holland’s view 

the result of passage from PRODUCT => SERVICES=> EXPERIENCES. He distinguishes an 

American way versus a European way of interpretation of the “experiences”. According to the 

American way, illustrated by Thamas H. Devenport and John C. Beck in “The Attention Economy”, 

the experiences are the new modern religion, “the cathedral of consume”, the new hard currency of the 

businesses. As these concepts are known in informed media we shell just insert a visual schema of 

commoditisation of the economy, that illustrate the evolution of the real economy (not the economic 

theory and mainly the economics). To make my view much clear: merchandise is a good I have trade 

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for its utility. When this merchandise is more sophisticated, like a wash machine it becomes a product. 

A car is even more: I need gas pomp, a service to repair, insurances etc. that means I need services, 

values that I can not touch but worse money. In time, services become distinct domains, independent of 

the matter. One special merchandise has risen immensely and in a special way: money, as we have 

already shown. When the raw materials fail to lack, the new economy reduce their quantity and 

upraised their quality. Simultaneously, as we shall explain further on about new tourism, in order to 

give occupation to the grown population gifted with free time it was compulsory to put value (in order 

to create the source of the profit) on the consummation, of the time of consuming and the feeling the 

user experiences. Water will be sold no more for its utility; still water will be sold for the please of 

drinking still water and sparkling water for the pleasure of drinking sparking water (it is obvious that 

having thirsty is compulsory, but as water is abundant, easy and all over available the merchandise 

water seams to be mean - and - value - less without the “experience”, that is the final result of a long, 

hard and costly process of “education” of the population, that is the consumers. Next stage: I am 

interested to see which way the consumption of still water will transform my buyer and mainly what 

will be the differences between those drinking and experiencing still water and those trying sparking 

water. The purpose: we might suppose, that in order to add value, thus profits, the businessmen can 

predict the reaction and the evolution of the consumers. This information will help them to cut the costs 

and might allow them to sell to the buyers a “controllable future appearance or way of life, finally of 

happiness” that is an efficient entropy. Future will tell us soon. 

Such a theory is valid, naturally only in the developed countries enjoying large accumulations, 

that ones that are the generators of the globalization too. Some of the rest of the world can be attached 

using the utilities that become available and fit to their possibilities. 

There are theories that state that in the new economy the nations arrived to be so interdependent 

that the desire to fight one the other slow down. “Commerce, not the military force is the way to 

power” – said Bill Clinton. (Bush has changed the opinion because? of the terrorism). The major 

conflict, in a unipolar world is replaced by niche wars (local wars) that have led to changing the type of 

economy. Since recently the civil and military activity (production, or selling etc.) were separately. 

Now, the global giants like to have on the same line and in the same order both of them: military AND 

commercial products. In fact, the military and civil teaching system has already approached their 

curricula but mainly their syllabus. (even if not admitted and checked) 

We can not deny the right of people to look for a better life. The field researches carried out in 

China have shown clearly that the young Chinese do not imagine their life without the usual 

commodities of a modern life in a developed country. It is a normal attitude of common people. The 

position of politicians and businessmen are similar: they understand to take advantage of the 

opportunities that the last years. Their economy is providing good results even if it is a mass production 

and old fashion comparing with the Western ones. A postmodern economy supposes large 

accumulations that might allow a new production system that means a new lifestyle. China has to spare 

it to come at this level: even short in resources, mainly in oil it find convenient to follow the wellknown 

way the developed countries have experienced. 

The deep force that leads the Chinese politicians and businessmen is the European idea of 

making as much as possible of profit: since 17 th century the new “capitalists” have put into the center 

of their way of life not the goal to provide the necessary goods to live but the imperative demand to 

realize the most of profit – as Max Weber has pointed out. This ideas planted into China has led to a 

new Chinese philosophy; they “awaked” a part of the population and gifted it with the desire of 

HAVING in a Western way. The faster way to reach the Western lifestyle is mass production, the 

transformation of China into the world’s workshop and a powerful system of production that has a 

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large and huge demand to fulfill during a couples of years: the new desire for a better life spreads into 

larger China’s population and offer a safe market at least for some decades. 

The costs are unthinkable: to stay on our example about car production, the pollution will be 

unacceptable: a speed development of car’s production may lead to some hundreds of millions of cars 

in a couple of years that will not be supported by local environment. What is to be done? A new fuel 

might be the solution, but who will cover the costs for the conversion when the Western countries, 

including US kept going on oil? 

For technical reason someone has to tell the Chinese that they are not allowed to have their own 

car. Or find a way to discuss the future. As the future depends on numbers: the numbers of people that 

can be supported by the nowadays production system. It is only one option: to change the production 

system, in fact the whole world as we know today. 

Bibliography: 

Gunn, C. A. - Tourism Planning: Basics, Concepts and Cases, 3rd ed, Taylor and Francis, New York. 

1994 

Rotariu, I – Globalizare si turism, Continent 2004 

Meethan, K. - Tourism in global society – place, culture, consumption. Palgrave, 2001 

Motru R - Psihologia poporului român – text edited in 1937 by Societatea Română de Cercetări 

Psihologice, Bucureşti –Paideia, Bucureşti 1999 

Journal of Leisure research – series 2005-2007 

Journal of Hospitality and Leisure marketing- series 2005-2007 

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ABSTRACT 

ACQUIRING AND USING INFORMATION IN RETAIL TRADE 

SIMONA BĂLĂŞESCU, 

Transilvania University of Braşov,Romania 

In an effective retail distribution channel, information flows freely and efficiently among the three main parties 

(supplier, retailer, and consumer). As a result, the parties can better anticipate and address each other’s performance 

expectations. 

Retailers often have a vital role in collecting data because they are in direct contact to buyers. 

Either developing a new strategy, or modifying an existing one, good information reduces the risk of taking incorrect 

decisions. 

Useful information should be acquired through an ongoing, well-integrated process. A retail information system 

anticipates the data needs of retail managers; continuously collects, organizes, and stores relevant data; and directs the flow 

of information to those who take decisions. Such a system has several components: environment, retailer’s philosophy, 

strategic plans, information control centre, and retail operations. The most important is the information control centre. It 

directs data collections, stores and retrieves data, and updates files. 

1. Information Traffic in Retail Trade 

The supreme condition for obtaining an efficient information distribution channel consists in the 

freedom and efficiency of information movement between the three parts that form the economic 

system: supplier, retailer and consumer. 

Figure 1 emphasizes the information flow in retail trade: 


the supplier 


the retailer 


the consumer 

Figure 1: Information flow in retail trade (source: Berman, B., Evans, J,: ”Retail Management. A 

Strategic Approach”, 10 th Edition, Pearson, Prentice Hall, 2006, pg 227) 

Further more, we shall see what information required by the commerce aggregates: 

1. The supplier requires the following information: 

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a) from the retailer: sales approximation, stock rotation, competition feedback, “loyal” 

consumers situation; 

b) from the consumer: attitude towards certain styles and models, brand loyalty expansion, the 

will to pay more for higher quality; 

2. The retailer requires the following information: 

a) from the supplier: notices on the new models and on modifications brought to the models, 

guidance for use of complex products, sales prognosis, justification for price increases; 

b) from the consumer: the reasons why they buy from the retailer, what they like and what they 

don’t like, where else do they buy from; 

3. The consumer requires the following information: 

a) from the supplier: assembling and using instructions, expanding warranty; 

b) from the retailer: about warehousing special merchandise, about accepted payment 

possibilities; 

Retailers often play an important part in collecting data for other members from the distribution 

chain, due to their direct connection to the consumers. 

For a better information circulation, collaboration and co-operation are imperative – especially 

between suppliers and retailers. This is not always easy, as a senior executive retailer claims: “Retailers 

and suppliers, normally, do not like to share information about the supply chain. They have the 

tendency to keep secret this information even if revealing it may be in their own interest. That’s why 

there still is a conflict between suppliers and retailers at all levels of the supplying chain. For this 

reason the supplying chain shows a deficit.” 

Fortunately, many retailers started to improve the traffic of information. 

2. How to Avoid Wrong Information Based Strategies 

Retailers fall often into temptation of guiding research strategies on incomplete and inadequate 

information because of the lack of time and funds, but also because of the lack of experience in 

marketing research. The consequences can be devastating. Here are some examples: 

1. Use of intuition: A theatre asks $10 for a ticket no matter the day or the performance. The 

manager believes that because the performance is the same, the audience should pay the same 

price for a ticket for the Monday’s morning performance or for Saturday’s evening 

performance. If he had analyzed the theatre’s informational system, he would have known that 

the audience is lower on Mondays, people preferring to go to the theatre on Saturdays. As a 

good alternative tickets should be cheaper in weekend so that clients be as many as possible. 

2. Copying the strategy of a successful competitor. A local independent book shop decides to 

reduce the price to the best sellers down to the prices of a book shop chain nearby. It has losses 

and goes bankrupt. The costs are too high to face competition. The firm missed its strengths: 

personnel service, friendly ambiance for clients and close connection to the local community. 

3. Low acknowledgement of consumers perception: A florist reduces the price for flowers that 

have more than two days since they’ve been in his shop from $17 down to $5 per dozen, due to 

the fact that, even if they have a shorter life time, they don’t sell. What the florist didn’t know is 

that “old” flowers are seen as low qualitative flowers, and customers do associate low price to


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low quality, and the low price confirms their doubt and determines them not to buy those low 

price flowers. 

What are the conclusions to be drawn from these examples? 

Inadequate information can lead to a bad strategy that will not achieve the desired goals, or 

even worse, that will have exactly the opposite effect. This can be avoided by marketing 

researches that set the bases for gathering proper information. 

3. Informational System in Retail Trade 

Collecting and analyzing data mustn’t be seen as a quick solution to one problem. It is a part of 

an integrated ascending process. A Retail Informational System (RIS) anticipates the needed data, 

organizes and stores relevant data in a continuous data base; it directs the informational flow towards 

taking the best decisions. 

4.1. Building and Using an Informational System 

The following figure shows the informational system in general retail trade: 

Environment 

Retailers’ 

philosophy and 

goals 

Strategic plans 

Collecting data, Data control center Data store analyze and 

and analysis 

interpretation 

data update 

Implementation 

Feedback 

Retail operations 

Figure 2: Informational System in Retail Trade (source: Berman, B., Evans, J,: ”Retail Management. A 

Strategic Approach”, 10 th Edition, Pearson, Prentice Hall, 2006, pg 227 

A good informational system has a few strengths: 

• Information is organized and centred on the company; 

• Data is stored and verified periodically in order to anticipate opportunities and avoid crisis 

situations;


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• Strategic elements are controllable; 

• Making new strategies is faster; 

• Quantitative results are obtained and cost-benefit analysis are possible; 

• Information is directed towards the right addressee; 

RIS initially requires a lot of effort and time, and setting the basis of such a system takes 

complex decisions. 

Building an RIS requires taking the following decisions: 

1. What active role should it have? The RIS ought to be pro-active and supply any relevant data, 

and answer any possible question. 

2. Should the RIS be managed from the inside, or by an external source? Any way is convenient 

as long as the RIS is guided by the information required by the retailer. 

3. How much should it cost? Usually, retailers spend between 0.5% up to 1.5% of the income on 

such a system. 

4. What kind of technology should the RIS be managed with? Many companies rely lately on 

technologies meant to lead the informational process (PC, low cost networks, low cost software, 

etc.). 

5. How much data is required? The purpose of the informational system is to supply enough 

quantity of information to allow the retailer to build proper strategies. There must be a balance 

between few information and information overload. 

6. How should information be stored for future use? Storing the information must allow a fast 

search and finding. 

Most retailers hire a CIO – Chief Informational Officer, to supervise the system. Informational 

System Departments often have annual planning. Computers are used by most companies that have 

data analysis systems, as well as the Internet for certain functions of the system. 

25 years ago most computerized systems in retail trade were used only to decrease errors from 

the pay desks, or to improve, fasten and ease inventory. Nowadays, they set the bases for informational 

systems and are used for monitoring, ordering, and merchandise transfer between shops. Such activities 

can be managed by all retailers. 

4.2. Data Base Management 

Data base management allows retailer to: collect, integrate, apply and store data referring to 

certain interest areas. It represents a major element in RIS and can be used together with the 

consumer’s data base, with the data base of product ranges, and with the seller’s data base. 

Building the data base has 5 stages: 

1. Private data base planning and aggregate planning, establishing the required 

information; 

2. Finding necessary data; 

3. Storing the information so that it allows fast usage; 

4. Updating the data base regularly, to emphasize demographical changes, recent 

acquisitions, etc.; 

5. Data analysis, that leads to finding strengths and weaks of the company.


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Information can be provided by internal or external sources. A retailer can develop the data 

base from internal sources by keeping a close record of the data and by a proper arrangement. 

Data bases in retail trade can be: 

1. consumers’ data base – it includes: sales frequency, bought products, total sales, demographical 

data, payment possibilities; 

2. seller’s data base – total sales on each period of time, all sales towards consumers on periods of 

time, best selling products, company profit, marginal profit, delivery time and service quality; 

3. data base for product ranges – total sales categories per periods of time, product sales per period 

of time, marginal profit of the company, and percentage of products on price reduction. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Berman, B., Evans, J.: “Retail Management. A STRATEGIC APPROACH”, Pearson-Prentice Hall, 

US, 2007; 

2. Onge, J.: “Direct Marketing Credos for Today’s Banking”, Direct Marketing, 1999, pg.56; 

3. Scheraga, D.: “Disappointment Reigns”, Chain Store Age, 2002; 

4. “Retail IT and Budgeting Study”, Stores, special edition, 2005; 

5.www.donnelleymarketing.om/service/donnelley/consumer_db.aspx ”Consumer Data Bases: „DQI 3 ” 

”, (January 23, 2006); 

6. www.gs1us.org/upc_background.html ”The UPC Code”, (January 24, 2006); 

7. www.techdivas.com/data.htm ”Data Warehousing: Putting Your Data to Work”, (June 29, 2005).


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COMMUNITIES BASED ECOTOURISM ASSESSMENT MODELS AND 

PROCEDURES 

Assist. PhD. Student Remus Ion Hornoiu – Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, 

Romania 

PhD. Student – University of Messina, Italy 

rhornoiu@yahoo.com 

Abstract 

Involvement by community residents is critical when starting or promoting conservation initiatives, such as ecotourism. It is 

well-documented by numerous study that, without community support, conservation of natural areas and wild places is 

hindered and made into contentious process. It is the aim of ecotourism to improve the lives of the local residents and 

conserve the local natural resources and wild places. In developing a model of ecotourism assessment of local communities, 

this paper reviewed current methods for assessing community attitudes and readiness for ecotourism. 

Introduction 

Since the appearance of the Our Common Future and World Conservation Strategy, numerous 

community groups, academics, governments, non-government organizations (NGOs) and international 

organizations have been trying to adapt their theoretical intentions in relation to sustainable 

development into practice. Therefore, significant human resources and funds are being invested to 

elaborate practical policies and assessment models for sustainable development. In the case of 

ecotourism development, still, little practical methodology has been developed, although many 

researchers argue that ecotourism must contribute to sustainable development. Since the beginning of 

the 1990s, a number of arguments and debates concerning sustainable tourism development have been 

presented, mostly at a theoretical rather than a practical level. Where most tourism academics assess 

sustainability in specific tourist destinations, they are inclined to depend on subjective judgments 

without reference to any standards or criteria supported by measurement [4]. Some tourism academics 

even argue that ‘sustainability in tourism is generally an aspiration or goal, rather than a measurable or 

achievable objective’ [5]. To sum up, the application of the concept of sustainable development as an 

achievable and practical objective for tourism has not yet matured. 

Development of scientific and objective methodologies for the assessment of tourism sustainability is a 

necessary feature of the idea of sustainable development. If sustainable development is one of the 

tourism industry’s major contemporary objectives, then the industry needs to be able to measure its 

performance and impacts in this area. 

In developing the ecotourism assessment model of ecotourism as a distinctive process, researchers 

reviewed current methods for assessing community attitudes and readiness for ecotourism. These 

included examining literature on procedures used in other disciplines, such as community forestry, 

agro-forestry, agriculture, natural resource management. Most of the


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procedures investigated employ qualitative methods of inquiry, involving some form of Rapid Rural 

Appraisal (RRA) or Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methodology. 

Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) 

RRA, and more recently PRA, have come into their own acknowledgment as rigorous evaluation 

techniques, approved by both academics and agencies. They have been used in many different rural 

contexts - community forestry, irrigation rights, agriculture, ecotourism, land use and tenure, and more. 

Elaborated as an instrument to offer timely, precise, and less-costly information than the prevalent 

"rural development tourism" method - "the brief rural visit by the urban-based professional" - RRA and 

its descendent, PRA, offer a middle-of-the-road alternative between "quick and dirty" and "long and 

accurate" methodologies. 

RRA and PRA are both about: 

- Optimizing tradeoffs… It communicates the expenses of collection and learning to tradeoffs 

between the quantity, importance, relevance, accuracy, and actual beneficial use of information, 

- Balancing biases… The principle here is bias reversal, conscious action to achieve an 

unhurried, equilibrated, and representative view - to see and learn about what is usually out of 

sight or not mentioned, 

- Triangulating … means utilizing more than one technique or source for the same information, 

including sample people from a wide range of opinions on a subject, using more than one 

researcher with different backgrounds, and using different research methods, 

- Learning directly from and with rural people, and 

- Learning fast and gradually…employing conscious exploration; making judgments and 

decisions about what to do next on the basis of what has been discovered so far, not according 

to a blueprint, but as an adaptive learning process [2]. 

PRA raises the involvement of local communities by including them in determining the techniques, 

issues, analysis, and use of the data, where local people, not foreigners, are owners of the process and 

information. 

The method used in the ecotourism assessment model of ecotourism integrates essentials of both RRA 

and PRA. Ecotourism assessment model of ecotourism employs community involvement, and it can be 

started by the communities and/or by outside interests. Ecotourism assessment model of ecotourism is 

an instrument for international application, and can be used with any culture, geographical location, 

political structure, and level of ecotourism activity. On the other hand, it must be adapted to each 

culture and to each site. This is the beauty of qualitative methods; they are flexible and allencompassing. 

"Because each qualitative study is unique, the analytical approach used will be unique. 

Because qualitative inquiry depends, at every stage, on the skills, training, insights, and capabilities of 

the researcher, qualitative analysis ultimately depends on the analytical intellect and style of the 

analyst. The human factor is the great strength and the fundamental weakness of qualitative inquiry and 

analysis" [6]. 

In reviewing tools of evaluating communities for ecotourism feasibility, several approaches appeared 

and are highlighted here. Each approach developed measures to address what a community requires to 

discover, assess, and implement successful community-based ecotourism operations. Five ways of 

exploring communities based ecotourism issues are summarized here. 

1. Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) 

Pro-poor tourism was initiated to bring to highlight a realization, and a methodology, that tourism can 

be used to specifically benefit the ‘poor” – those in poverty. Impacts of different tourism initiatives on


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the poor are evaluated, with the objective of poverty reduction, promoting transparent and shared 

information. 

“Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) is tourism that results in increased net benefits for poor people. 

PPT is not a specific product or niche sector but an approach to tourism development and management. 

It enhances the linkages between tourism businesses and poor people, so that tourism's contribution to 

poverty reduction is increased and poor people are able to participate more effectively in product 

development” [7]. 

The principles of PPT are to not only bring increased net benefits to the poor, but also to support 

infrastructure development of the tourism industry as a whole, in order to sustain PPT strategies. PPT 

can be designed at all tourism markets, not just ecotourism or community-based tourism. It draws from 

other disciplines as examples of how to advantage the poor, and support realism of expectations in 

planning and development. 

It is a method and a mindset that can be implemented in a variety of tourism projects. Nevertheless, 

PPT spotlight mostly on the South, where most poor people live. A predecessor of PPT is Sustainable 

Livelihoods (SL). SL is a strategy that is particularly involved in eradicating poverty, and involving 

poor people, as well as the more affluent, in their assessments. SL framework assesses the impacts of 

tourism on household assets, other household activities, household objectives, and on people's capacity 

to influence external policies. 

A catalog and detailed debate so the negative and positive impacts of tourism on these areas are 

presented. Ashley debate these issues in regard to several Namibian case studies, and how people can 

use these data to create SLs. Results showed a wide range of indirect impacts and a wide range of 

benefits on livelihoods which needed to be considered. Ultimately, this approach is about creating a 

greater "understanding of why local residents have particular concerns and recognition of the value of 

systems that incorporate local views into planning decisions" [1]. 

2. Tourism in Technical Co-operation (TC). 

The German Development Cooperation (GTZ) has produced a tourism guide to assist rural 

development personnel in evaluating the potential of sustainable tourism to support biodiversity 

preservation and research [8]. 

TC supports the utilization of Rapid Appraisal (RA) to elaborate a pre-feasibility-analysis, "to appraise 

the feasibility, justifiability and sensibility of tourism as a project component" [8]. They analyze who 

stakeholders are, including suppliers and consumers, what effects tourism has on income and jobs, and 

look at the different kinds of tourism in rural areas. Key questions asked in the RA revolve around 

goals and interests, feasibility, compatibility, and benefits [8]. The document contains lists of useful 

questions to consider and include in studies. 

After conducting and consolidating a RA, the TC project then conducts an in-depth feasibility study to 

determine "options for action in the shape of scenarios," "capacities of the target groups and the other 

stakeholders," options to partner with technical and financial personnel, and how to pass on the project 

to a "co-operative or implementing organization" [8]. 

TC examines: when and how communities need to be involved in these processes, whether tourism is 

compatible with cultural or social traditions, benefits for stakeholders, how the project supports nature 

conservation, its influence on policy, and looks at the regional rural development, training, and private 

sector co-operation [8]. 

This TC guide is outstanding at demonstrating the various relations that not only different disciplines 

may play in the role of evaluating and developing ecotourism, but also in providing suggestive


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questions for participatory groups to consider when examining these issues. They continually refer 

back to previous chapters and evaluations, showing how important an iterative process can be. 

3. Community Tourism Assessment Handbook 

Community Tourism Assessment Handbook by the Montana State University, in collaboration with 

Oregon State University, has elaborated a "self-administering" program for communities to take a good 

look at them and decide if tourism is for them. This is a very useful document, because it sets out nine 

steps for local communities to evaluate the costs (environmental, economic and social) and advantages 

of potential tourism ventures. 

These nine steps are to be completed in an eight-month period. The are: community management - 

involves a group of community volunteers to construct a committee to carry out this eight-month 

process; present tourist and economic profile - evaluate what is there now and its impacts on local 

communities; resident attitude survey - what people think of tourism; visioning and objective setting - 

Where does the communities want to go in future?; tourism marketing fundamentals, analyze actual 

market trends and what the communities has to offer; attraction and facility inventory - all attractions 

and tourism facilities are rated to understand what tourist want; potential project identification - where 

the community identifies short- and long-term projects; initial project scoping - where a task force 

creates a description of each priority project; and impact analysis - to predict economic, social, and 

environmental costs and benefits. 

4. International preservation organizations 

International preservation organizations, such as The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Conservation 

International (CI), are frequently in the position to use communities based ecotourism as a process for 

conserving wildlife and natural resources. TNC’s mission is "to preserve the plants, animals and natural 

communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to 

survive" [9]. CI’s mission is to "conserve the Earth's living natural heritage, our global biodiversity, 

and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature" [3]. 

CI functions in areas to conserve natural resources and habitat, and if communities are located near a 

protected area or some vulnerable species, then CI will get involved in the communities to minimize 

the impacts on local people, and improve land – use practices. 

CI's ecotourism programs are good connected to communities due to their qualified field personnel, 

who permanently dialogue with the communities, and understand expectations from the beginning, and 

change as necessary. When field personnel perform an ecotourism assessment, they also accomplish an 

implementation plan. Elements of PRA/RRA are used as assessment tools, and SWOT analysis is one 

tool used. 

TNC’s techniques for assessing whether a community should be involved in ecotourism falls under 

their Site Conservation Planning (SCP) process and is done by field personnel living in the 

communities long-term. The SCP methodology implies a systematic approach to prioritize 

opportunities and abate threats linked to the "focal biodiversity target." The six core elements of this 

SCP framework are: preservation targets, the human context, stresses to the target, sources generating 

the stress, strategies to abate the stress, and measures of strategy success. Within the human context, 

information on the local economy, social structure, and the community's use of and attitudes towards 

the natural resources and conservation targets are critical for developing conservation strategies within 

the community and to gain local support [9].


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These five techniques are presently the most relevant rural tourism appraisal approaches located in the 

literature and among organizations which are presently implementing ecotourism as a sustainable 

development tool in the field. 

5. Development of a tourism sustainability assessment procedure: a conceptual approach 

This study examines a question that has occurred in the 1990s in tourism, namely: How can progress 

towards sustainable tourism development be measured? The question is based on the basis that if 

tourism contributes towards sustainable local communities, then the extent to which it is doing so 

should be measured. The purpose of this study is to develop a procedure for assessing tourism 

sustainability in terms of system quality. The contribution of the current study is to present a practical 

and useful model for the assessment of tourism sustainability. The major findings of this paper are as 

follows: first, to integrate methodically existing political, economic, socio-cultural and environmental 

impact studies (the supply side), and tourism service quality considerations (the demand side) into the 

sustainability assessment process. Therefore, this research seeks to improve the utility of existing 

tourism impact and service quality studies. Second, to offer quantitative data on tourism sustainability 

assessment, enabling stakeholders to understand easily and clear by the viability of a tourist destination. 

Third, to propose a succinct and accessible presentation format in order to illustrate sustainability levels 

of tourism indicators. Finally, to persuade stakeholders to apply suitable information in the process of 

tourism planning and development. 

Conclusions 

In relation to the study of the ecotourism assessment procedure, a number of conclusions and 

suggestions are offered. Progress towards ecotourism development can be measured to see whether 

ecotourism contributes to sustainable development. 

Ecotourism necessitates cooperation of all economic activities to improve the quality of life of the local 

communities and the natural environment; the tourism industry should monitor its involvement to 

ecotourism. 

A standard is needed to measure the progress towards ecotourism development, as the assessment of 

progress cannot be judged and determined unless a standard is provided. The assessment necessarily 

demands comparison between the previous and current state of system quality. 

Qualitative or quantitative data can be used to produce information for the standard. However, 

quantitative data may include more advantages than qualitative data in making an ecotourism 

assessment. 

An observation study, administered through questionnaire surveys or other surveys, is suggested to 

produce the quantitative data. Perception study is already used widely in many areas to measure the 

socio-economic impacts of tourism and the quality of service and products. 

Bibiography: 

[1] Ashley, Caroline 2000. The Impacts of Tourism on Rural Livelihoods: Namibia’s Experience, 

Working Paper 128. London: Overseas Development Institute. 

[2] Chambers, Robert, 1994. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA): Analysis of Experience. 

World Development, Vol. 22, No. 9, pp. 1253-1268.


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[3] CI (Conservation International) 2005. Web site: http://www.conservation.org 

[4] Griffin, K. A. (2000). The implication of Agenda 21: A practical investigation of sustainable 

tourism in Ireland. Environment Papers Series, 3(1), 34–43. 

[5] Middleton, V. T. C., & Hawkins, R. (1998). Sustainable tourism. Oxford: Butterworth Heineman. 

[6] Patton, Michael Quinn 1990. Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods, 2 ed. Newbury Park, 

CA: Sage Publications. 

[7] Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) 2005. http://www.propoortourism.org.uk 

[8] Steck, Birgit et al. 1999. Tourism in Technical Cooperation: A Guide to the Conception, Planning 

and Implementation of Project accompanying Measures in Regional Rural Development and Nature 

Conservation. Eschborn, Germany: 

[8] TNC (The Nature Conservancy), 2005a. http://www.nature.org


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CONSIDERATION REGARDING QUALITY MANAGEMENT 

Albu Mădălina, assist., Petroleum-Gas University of Ploieşti 

Abstract 

This paper presents consideration regarding the quality control and quality assurance documents needed to perform 

effective project quality management. The Quality Management Process helps firms to implement Quality Assurance and 

Quality Control measures 

Introduction to Quality Management 

The quality of a product or service refers to the perception of the degree to which the product or 

service meets the customer's expectations. Quality has no specific meaning unless related to a specific 

function and/or object. Quality is a perceptual, conditional and somewhat subjective attribute. 

Customer satisfaction is essential for any business. Working to recognised quality management standards can help 

to meet customer expectations. 

The most progressive view of quality is that it defined entirely by the customer or end user and 

is based upon that person's evaluation of his or her entire customer experience. The customer 

experience is the aggregate of all the touch points that customers have with the company's product and 

services, and is by definition a combination of these. 

The dimensions of quality refer to the attributes that quality achieves in Operations 

Management 

• Quality supports dependability 

• Dependability supports Speed 

• Speed supports Flexibility 

• Flexibility supports Cost. 

The meaning for the term quality has developed over time. Various interpretations are given 

below: 

1. ISO 9000 - "Degree to which a set of inherent characteristic fulfills requirements" 

2. (Philip B. Crosby in the 1980s)- "Conformance to requirements". The difficulty with this is that 

the requirements may not fully represent customer expectations; Crosby treats this as a separate 

problem. 

3. (Joseph M. Juran).- "Fitness for use". Fitness is defined by the customer. 

4. (Noriaki Kano and others)- A two-dimensional model of quality. The quality has two 

dimensions: "must-be quality" and "attractive quality". The former is near to the "fitness for 

use" and the latter is what the customer would love, but has not yet thought about. Supporters 

characterize this model more succinctly as: "Products and services that meet or exceed 

customers' expectations". 

5. (Gerald M. Weinberg)- "Value to some person".


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6. (W. Edwards Deming)- "Quality and the Required Style of Management" 1988 See 

http://www.deming.org/. "Costs go down and productivity goes up, as improvement of quality is 

accomplished by better management of design, engineering, testing and by improvement of 

processes. Better quality at lower price has a chance to capture a market. Cutting costs without 

improvement of quality is futile." 

Quality management standards 

Every organisation, regardless of size or sector, can benefit from effective Quality 

Management. Establishing optimal working practices can enhance profit as well as customer 

satisfaction, and many of the most successful companies recognise the importance of having a proven 

Quality Management System in place. 

ISO 9001 can be adopted by any organisation wishing to implement a formal procedure to help 

improve customer satisfaction levels, internal efficiency and employee involvement. 

Quality management standards provide a framework for a business to manage its processes and 

activities. They can help a business improve its efficiency by providing a best practice model for it to 

follow. 

The ISO 9000 series is the best known set of standards against which you can measure your 

quality management system. Achieving it could be a good investment for your business, giving you an 

edge over competitors. Equally, many large businesses and public sector organisations only offer 

lucrative contracts to suppliers with ISO 9001 certification. 

The ISO 9001 standard has four elements: 

• management responsibility - ensuring top level management shows commitment to the quality 

system and develops it according to customers' needs and the business' objectives 

• resource management - ensuring the people, infrastructure and work environment needed to 

implement and improve quality systems are in place 

• product realisation - delivering what customers want, looking at areas such as sales processes, 

design and development, purchasing, production or service activities 

• measurement, analysis and improvement - checking whether you've satisfied customers by 

carrying out other measurements of your system's effectiveness 

The ISO 9000 series is the best known set of standards against which you can measure your 

quality management system. Achieving it could be a good investment for your business, giving you an 

edge over competitors. Equally, many large businesses and public sector organisations only offer 

lucrative contracts to suppliers with ISO 9001 certification. 

ISO reorganized the ISO 9001 standard in order to create a more logical structure, and in order 

to make it more compatible with the ISO 14001 environmental management standard. 

Principles of TQM 

The term “Total Quality Management” has lost favor in the United States in recent years: 

“Quality management” is commonly substituted. “Total Quality Management,” however, is still used 

extensively in Europe. 

Since then TQM has taken on many meanings, but at its core it’s a management approach to 

long-term success through customer satisfaction. 

The first and major TQM principle is to satisfy the customer--the person who pays for the 

product or service. Customers want to get their money's worth from a product or service they purchase. 

A company that seeks to satisfy the customer by providing them value for what they buy and the


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quality they expect will get more repeat business, referral business, and reduced complaints and service 

expenses. 

A second TQM principle is to satisfy the supplier, which is the person or organization from 

whom you are purchasing goods or services. 

The third principle of TQM is continuous improvement. You can never be satisfied with the 

method used, because there always can be improvements. 

In a TQM effort, all members of an organization participate in improving processes, products, 

services and the culture in which they work. 

Total Quality Management is a management approach that originated in the 1950's and has 

steadily become more popular since the early 1980's. Total Quality is a description of the culture, 

attitude and organization of a company that strives to provide customers with products and services that 

satisfy their needs. The culture requires quality in all aspects of the company's operations, with 

processes being done right the first time and defects and waste eradicated from operations. 

Total Quality Management, (TQM), is a method by which management and employees can 

become involved in the continuous improvement of the production of goods and services. It is a 

combination of quality and management tools aimed at increasing business and reducing losses due to 

wasteful practices. 

TQM is the outgrowth of a long line of developments seeking to evaluate and improve the 

quality of manufactured goods. The idea behind TQM is that much can be achieved by innovation, but 

competitive advantage is largely affected by continuous process improvement. 

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management strategy aimed at embedding awareness of 

quality in all organizational processes. 

The Principles of TQM are as follows [3]: 

1. Quality can and must be managed. 

2. Everyone has a customer and is a supplier. 

3. Processes, not people are the problem. 

4. Every employee is responsible for quality. 

5. Problems must be prevented, not just fixed. 

6. Quality must be measured. 

7. Quality improvements must be continuous. 

8. The quality standard is defect free. 

9. Goals are based on requirements, not negotiated. 

10. Life cycle costs, not front end costs. 

11. Management must be involved and lead. 

12. Plan and organize for quality improvement 

The Ten Steps to TQM are as follows [3]: 

1. Pursue New Strategic Thinking 

2. Know your Customers 

3. Set True Customer Requirements 

4. Concentrate on Prevention, Not Correction 

5. Reduce Chronic Waste 

6. Pursue a Continuous Improvement Strategy 

7. Use Structured Methodology for Process Improvement 

8. Reduce Variation 

9. Use a Balanced Approach 

10. Apply to All Functions


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Conclusion 

In summary, TQM is a process that promotes bringing the right people together in teams where 

the boundaries between organisations have been eliminated and where the participants on the teams 

have been empowered to make changes. 

The principles of Total Quality Management are to seek to satisfy the external customer with 

quality goods and services, as well as your company internal customers; to satisfy your external and 

internal suppliers; and to continuously improve processes by working smarter and using special quality 

methods. 

TQM encoureges participation amongst shop floor workers and managers. There is no single 

theoretical formalization of total quality, but Deming, Juran and Ishikawa provide the core 

assumptions, as a "...discipline and philosophy of management which institutionalizes planned and 

continuous... improvement ... and assumes that quality is the outcome of all activities that take place 

within an organization; that all functions and all employees have to participate in the improvement 

process; that organizations need both quality systems and a quality culture.". 

Bibliography 

1. Capezio, P. and Morehouse, D., Taking the Mystery out of TQM. Career Press, 1995. 

2. Gilbert, G. Quality Improvement in a Defense Organization. Public Productivity and 

Management Review, 16(1), 1992. 

3. Martin, L. "Total Quality Management in the Public Sector," National Productivity Review, 10, 

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CONSIDERATION REGARDING STRATEGIC ANALYSIS 

Albu Mădălina, assist., Petroleum-Gas University of Ploieşti 

Abstract 

This paper presents suitability of strategic analysis. A strategy begins with a concept of how to use the resources of the firm 

most effectively in a changing environment. Strategic management is that set of decisions and actions which leads to the 

preparation of several scenarios for the future. 

Principles of Strategic Management 

Strategic management ist hat set of decisions and actions which leads to the development of an 

effective strategy or strategies to help achieve corporate objectives. A strategy is a unified, 

comprehensive and integrated plan relating the strategic advantages of the firm to the challenges of the 

enviroment. It is designed to ensure that the basic objectives of the enterprise are achieved. 

Strategic management can be used to determine mission, vision, values, goals, objectives, roles 

and responsibilities, timelines, etc. The strategic planning can be complex, challenging, and even 

messy, but it is always defined by the basic ideas outlined above - and you can always return to these 

basics for insight into your own strategic planning process. 

Strategy is a set of decisions and actions aimed at gaining a sustainable competitive advantage. 

Strategy is the way in which a company orients itself towards the market in which it operates 

and towards the other companies in the marketplace against which it competes. 

Strategy answers the following questions: 

• what are the sources of the company's sustainable competitive advantage? 

• how a company will position itself against competition in the market over the long run to secure 

a sustainable competitive advantage? 

• what are the key strategic priorities? 

An executive's success is affected by the ability to communicate a vision for a company's 

future, helping employees to navigate through change and motivating them to achieve specific goals. 

A strategic management competency repeatedly generates competitive business designs and 

enables the organization to deploy the new designs, sustaining a competitive advantage. There are 

three interrelated elements making up this competency. 

• First is the business design construct, a comprehensive generic business model, the schema of a 

business organization. This model provides the "guiding light" for innovative business design, 

prompting the creative thinking needed for innovation. 

• The second element of a strategic management competency is the strategic management 

process. This provides the structure for the activities which develop strategies and associated 

business designs. This guide to the activities not only produces the innovative business design 

but builds the organization's strategic management competency.


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• The third element of this competency is capable people. The people's capabilities provide 

the leadership, management, innovation, and business design knowledge needed to produce 

and sustain a competitive advantage. 

A strategy begins with a concept of how to use the resources of the firm most effectively in 

a changing environment. 

Fig. 1 A model of strategic management 

(William F. Glueck, Business policy and strategic management) 

SWOT analysis 

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SWOT analysis is a methodology of examining potential strategies derived from the 

synthesis of organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). The 

partnering of the different elements and the extensive data collected as a result of the analysis can 

serve as a spark for roundtable discussions and refinement of current strategies or generation of new 

strategies. 

A SWOT analysis focuses on the internal and external environments, examining strengths 

and weaknesses in the internal environment and opportunities and threats in the external 

environment. 

Strengths 

Internal positive aspects that are under control and upon which you may capitalize in planning 

• Work Experience 

• Education, including value-added features 

• Strong technical knowledge within your field (e.g. hardware, software, programming 

languages) 

• Specific transferable skills (e.g., communication, teamwork, leadership skills 

• Personal characteristics (e.g., strong work ethic, self-discipline, ability to work under 

pressure, creativity, optimism, or a high level of energy 

• Good contacts/successful networking 

• Interaction with professional organizations 

Weaknesses 

Internal negative aspects that are under your control and that you may plan to improve 

• Lack of Work Experience 

• Low GPA, wrong major 

• Lack of goals, lack of self-knowledge, lack of specific job knowledge 

• Weak technical knowledge 

• Weak skills (leadership, interpersonal, communication, teamwork) 

• Weak job-hunting skills 

• Negative personal characteristics (poor work ethic, lack of discipline, lack of motivation, 

indecisiveness, shyness, too emotional 

Opportunities 

Positive external conditions that you do not control but of which you can plan to take advantage 

• Opportunities you could have in the field by enhancing your education 

• Positive trends in your field that will create more jobs (e.g., growth, globalization, 

technological advances) 

• Field is particularly in need of your set of skills 

• Opportunities you could have through greater self-knowledge, more specific job goals 

• Opportunities for advancement in your field 

• Opportunities for professional development in your field 

• Career path you’ve chosen provides unique opportunities 

• Geography 

• Strong network 

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Threats 

Negative external conditions that you do not control but the effect of which you may be able to 

lessen 

• Negative trends in your field that diminish jobs (downsizing, obsolescence) 

• Competition from your cohort of college graduates 

• Competitors with superior skills, experience, knowledge 

• Competitors with better job-hunting skills than you 

• Competitors who went to schools with better reputations. 

• Obstacles in your way (e.g., lack of the advanced education/training you need to take 

advantage of opportunities) 

• Limited advancement in your field, advancement is cut-throat and competitive 

• Limited professional development in your field, so it’s hard to stay marketable 

• Companies are not hiring people with your major/degree 

Conclusions 

Strategic management is that set of decisions and actions which leads to the preparation of 

several scenarios for the future. 

Strategic management helps firms anticipate future problems and opportunities and provides 

clear objectives and directions to the future enterprise. 

The SWOT analysis is a very good tool for analyzing the organizational strengths, 

weaknesses, opportunities and threats. 

Bibliography 

1. Glueck W.F., Business policy and strategic management, McGraw-Hill, 1980 

2. Johnson, G. and Scholes, K. Elements of Strategic Management,. Exploring Corporate 

Strategy, Fourth Edition, Prentice Hall, New York, 1997 

3. Russu, C. Management Strategic, Ed. All Beck 1999 

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CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE CULTURE OF COMMUNICATION 

IN THE ECONOMY BASED ON KNOWLEDGE 

POPESCU MANOELA conf. univ. dr. 

”Dimitrie Cantemir” Christian University 

Faculty of Tourism and Commercial Management from Bucharest 

RÉSUMÉ 

L’économie de la connaissance est une économie des affaires qui inclut toutes les types d’affaires construites 

autour de l’Internet, en relation avec d'autres processus de grande ampleur et impact, tels que l’innovation, la 

mondialisation et le développement durable. Les piliers de cette économie sont : l’information, la connexion des 

informations et la communication. La complexité des processus qui se déroulent à l'intérieur de l’économie fondée sur 

la connaissance, ainsi que les modifications structurelles supposées par ceux-ci, déterminent la mise en relief de la 

polyvalence et le l’ambiguïté croissante en ce qui concerne l’information, tout comme la communication. Cela est dû au 

fait que l’économie de la connaissance ne limite pas les horizons, mais, au contraire, contribue au développement du 

contenu et de la complexité de la communication. Ainsi, à l’intérieur de l'économie digitale, la communication connaît 

de nouveaux horizons et d’infinies possibilités d’accomplissement. Aujourd’hui, le monde a été conquis par la 

communication et la culture de la communication est devenue un sujet familier pour bien de gens. D’où la conséquence 

majeure de la nouvelle économie : la tyrannie de la communication. 

La mise en œuvre de la communication dans le cadre de l'économie de la connaissance, peut être réalisée au 

moins de deux perspectives : celle de l’information et celle intégratrice. 

À l’époque de la mondialisation, les gens sont connectés de manière dynamique à l’aide de divers moyens 

communicationnels, en créant des réseaux, des constructions de niveau supérieur, qui représentent, sur le plan du 

contenu et de la relation, plus que la somme des individus qui les composent, et cela est dû à la communication 

interpersonnelle entre les membres des réseaux. La communication produit des effets sur les membres du réseau, 

engendrant des comportements évolutifs chez chacun d’eux, la dynamique individuelle se retrouvant ensuite dans la 

dynamique du réseau. 

1. Communication and culture 

There are a lot of reasons why “communication” is studied, reasons that justify the interest 

of theorists and managers regarding this subject, in fashion today. As a proof, the many articles and 

editorial publications focus on the concept of communication. In a dynamic environment, 

emphasized by deep changes, people find hard to act appropriate and adapt to these changes. 

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In this way, the individuals have three main options regarding the attempt of controlling the 

incertitude of the environment and its potential impact: to adapt the environment elements, to try to 

influence the favorable character of the existing environment and to change the field of activity. 

However, all these options cannot be successfully followed if men don’t take into consideration the 

competences and the community of communication. Communication is the only thing that helps the 

people identify the changes, offering them the possibility to adapt to the environment. 

In the same time, the culture of communication seems to be the main subject of some 

academic and professional manifestations. This is because the communicational behavior is responsible 

for all the institutional, organizational and social deficits from Romanian society. More than that, the 

development without precedent of electronic communication means in the economy based on 

knowledge has determined a generalization of the social-economic evaluation of communication acts. 

[8]. 

1.1. Communication 

The term of communication has several meanings because it has been developed by a series of 

different sciences like: philosophy, history, geography, psychology, sociology, ethnology, economy, 

politic sciences, biology, linguistic, cybernetic, cognitive sciences, etiology etc. Therefore, each 

knowledge field has definitions that stress one meaning or another of term communication: case, 

exchange, transfer, energy, information etc. The seemingly contradiction of terms that exist in 

present is caused by the fact that most of the definitions are elaborated from a perspective and a certain 

field and therefore, each definition is reported to a system proper to that certain field. 

Therefore, communication - the field of social sciences - presents many situations, generated by 

a fully specialized literature which uses in a different way this notion 

Communication is essentially a phenomenon, a process, an art and a necessary science of men. Many times 

communication is reduced to a smile (the famous source of Gioconda), to a meaningful look sent to 

another man or another flower or to a whisper, till the obsession of a song or a definition. 

The individual is the one who communicates, voluntary or involuntary, and develops his skills 

and communication abilities on one hand, and on the other hand he changes his behavior in a positive 

or negative way. Man is always meaning and never object, non-communication is impossible, the same 

way as without the cultural space created in a miraculous way by man, it cannot be defined by itself 

and concept as humanity, humanism won’t have any meanings. Communication is determined 

culturally and the human existence is a cultural existence. 

In present, there are different material and immaterial means of communication, the science and 

technique offer plenty possibilities of communication. Even if there isn’t a definition unanimous 

recognized by specialists regarding communication, fact which obviously generates controversies, 

communication is necessary. More that that, communication represents the interaction of humans and it 

focuses on the interaction process. 

The term communication is closely used with the following terms: signs and symbols, language, 

code and language, behavior, information. The first two terms are often used as equivalents and 

sometimes there is a clear different meaning. Each term receive new significations if it’s associated 

with a specific attribute. Therefore, communication can be verbal or non-verbal, interpersonal or 

intrapersonal etc. The language can be national or international. The language can be verbal, nonverbal 

and Para verbal. It can also be artistic, mathematic, philosophic, economic, emotional etc.. The 

behavior can be positive or negative, verbal or non-verbal. Any behavior has a major communicative 

value, which can be considered in the human process of communication. In modern terms, information 

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means: news, knowledge. The information offered and received are juridical, technological, 

managerial, political, journalistic, electromagnetic, biological, linguistic etc.. 

For a better understanding of cultural concept of communication and communicational culture it 

is necessary to present the concept of culture. 

1.2. Culture 

The analyses of culture, with all its aspects, can contribute to the increase of understanding 

capacity of the complex evolutions of communication as science and art. 

Culture represents the basis of thinking, feeling and individual actions, organizational and 

national. Etymologically, the term” culture” comes from Latin. The roof of the term is the verb 

“colere” which means in the first place “to cultivate” certain things, with the meaning of “taking care” 

in order to increase their quality and productivity. Horatiu used it with the meaning of cultivation of the 

spirit, and Cicero as „agrorum culture” and „animi culture”, with the meaning of an educational effort 

with a great effect for the soul, educational effort that includes both the educational process and the 

personal experience of each individual[1]. 

Later, in 1871, E. B. Taylor, the English anthropologist said: „The culture is a complex that 

includes the knowledge, beliefs, art, moral, laws and all the other dispositions, attitudes achieved by 

man as a member of society”[2]. For Taylor culture means” any complex that includes knowledge, 

religion, art, moral, law, habits and all capacities and customs which the individual achieves as member 

of society” [2]. 

G. Rocher considered culture as “the total ways of thinking, feeling and acting, more or less 

formal, which are learned and become commune to many persons and are used in a symbolic and 

subjective way to develop some persons in the social community”[1]. 

Other two great anthropologists, Malinowski and Boas, include in culture the manufactured 

products, goods, processes, techniques, ideas, customs and values[10]. In their concept culture 

expresses both the symbolic and morphologic order[9]. 

Culture is not just an immaterial version of the universe of objects and people’s souls; it also 

includes “the material equipment”, the supra-individual reality, techniques, processes, institutions[10]. 

This combination gives to the community its own cultural identity. 

Culture is not just an accumulation of artistic, literary and scientific knowledge; it includes also 

practices that were inherited, accepted beliefs, judgments and emotions. Through these ethnologic, 

sociologic and anthropologic meanings, cultures reduces to the cultivate individual in a restrained 

meaning. The way of seeing, drinking, eating, reuniting in a society is part of culture in a sociologic 

meaning. 

An important role in improving the meanings of culture is the romantic tendency, through the 

extension of popular culture, the art and custom’s tradition of people that will create, in time, an 

authentic nucleus of national cultures as specific and original manifestations of human spirituality. 

More than that, according to S. Freud, one of the founders of modern psychology, culture 

includes on one hand „the total science and techniques achieved by man with the purpose of controlling 

the nature forces and satisfying the human needs” and on the other hand “the necessary institutions 

regarding the establishment of human reports and especially the distribution of accessible goods” [3]. 

By adding the term of culture to the term of communication it generates a new concept which 

operates both in theory and practice: the culture of communication or the communicational culture. 

This concept can be approached and defined both in a restrained meaning and in a general one. 

Obviously, in a general meaning, the cultural of communication refers to the cultural processes, the 

communicational processes attached to the modern culture (brand, logo, advertising speech 

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,advertising banner , corporate image etc.), the forms of met communication, objects, types, structures, 

communication instruments (typical and not-typical), Internet, communication institutions 

communicational behavior patterns, techniques and communication strategies. In a restrained 

meaning, communicational culture represents the professional culture of communicators (journalists, 

PR people, spokesmen etc). 

2. Communication approaches in an economy based on knowledge 

To a first sight, in a society based on knowledge and in which the three pylons are information, 

the connection of the information and communication, we can affirm that the definition and the 

meaning of the term “communication” can be easily understood and everyone can tell what 

communication or information means. However, the complexity of the processes that develop in the 

new economy and also the structural changes underline the complex and the increased equivocal 

regarding both the information and the communication. This is because the new economy not only 

limits the horizons but also contributes to the increment of the content and the complexity of 

communication. 

In an informal society, the communication approach can be made according to two 

perspectives: the informational one and the integration one[6]. 

The approach of communication, from the information perspective in the economy based on 

knowledge is absolutely necessary but it’s not adequate to define and understand all the meanings taken 

into consideration. The information represents in the new economy an important production factor, 

more important than work. Today, people that work in a sustained way and have a cult of work are not 

the one rewarded but the ones that have the information and who generate the information. According 

to DEX, information means: 

‣ Communication, news that inform a person regarding a situation, words; 

‣ Each new element reported to the knowledge achieved, contained in the significance of a 

symbol or a group of symbols (written text, spoken message, plastic images, instructions of 

an instrument etc.); 

‣ The facts and opinions achieved everyday from other person, from mass-media, from 

electronic date base and all types of perceivable phenomenon from the environment; 

knowledge received from others or achieved as a result of personal researches and 

investigations; 

‣ Knowledge accumulated from books, reports regarding the recent or unknown events, 

materials from papers, newspapers or TV news; knowledge achieved from studies or 

trainings; knowledge deduced from direct observation and personal experience. 

Although new specialists consider information as a mathematic term in which the cognitive 

value of information is irrelevant, the important thing is the choice and the quantity of information; 

however, information is an ontological factor (next to material and energy) and, implicit, a production 

one. 

In 1990, the biologist and physician T. Stonier (Information and the internal structure of the 

Universe) affirms that „people are the expression of the natural evolution of material, energy and 

information organization”. 

In another meaning, the information is the creator of life and also its engine. The information is 

the fuel that aliments any live structure. To support this idea, we mention the definition from Siveco 

dictionary according to which the information defines a material signal, capable to enable a reaction of 

a system. In another words, the information is the one that enables reactions both to the receptor and 

the issuer, therefore it contributes to their development. 

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However, in the actual context of globalization, the most important individual and social 

resource of people is the information. The proof is the appearance and the development of a branch 

of management: the management of informational resources. 

More than that, in an economy of networks, the information is vital because it gives a 

meaning to the existence of networks. The term of network comes from the Latin word “retell”. In all 

the existing definitions we notice the usage of several words like knitting, net, crossing, bond, 

connection. 

Therefore, in a global and digital economy, the communication process represents the 

interconnection of several agents till then isolated, and the communication result is the creation of 

new constructions with a superior level, that presents new characteristics in report with the other 

components. Therefore, the definition of the new economy is the networks or communications 

economy. 

In a period of globalization people are dynamic connected through different communication 

means, generating networks that represent in the content and relation plan more than the sum of 

individuals that compose them and this is because of the interpersonal communication between the 

network members. Communication produces effects on the members of the network that generate 

evolutional behaviors for each individual within the network (the development of the individual 

produces by communication). The individual dynamic is found first in the network dynamic. 

Therefore, the logical affirmation is that the networking was, is and will be one of the concepts 

that give a meaning to the human development. This is because most of the people understood that it is 

better and easier to be connected in order to communicate, to find and establish necessary solutions for 

the individual, group and society development. The facile way to generate and develop inter-human 

relations through Internet leads to the increase of its importance but also to the need of solving the 

problems generated by the existence of this global network. 

3. Specific elements of communicational culture in the economy of knowledge 

Within the digital economy, communication reaches new horizons and unlimited 

possibilities of achievement. Today the world is led by the communication. According to that, the 

major result of the new economy is the tyranny of communication. People are forced to communicate in 

order to survive and develop. The appearance of the new communication means forces the individuals 

to adapt to the new exigencies of communication. Today a professional orator must know how to use 

the techniques and technologies of modern communication because the oratory without audio and 

video technique looses its efficiency. 

In present, there is a proper quantity of information that circulates through different media 

supports. It is know the fact that in any communication there are losses because of the channel 

structure, the lack of knowledge transparency, language specific etc.. 

Therefore the communication process presents several specific characteristics. In the period of 

communications, because of the quantity of information, the communication process presents the 

following components: source; transmitter; message; channel; receiver; context; sender; noise source. 

The source, although it produces the message, doesn’t have the necessary means to help him reach to 

destination. The noise is neither the unique or the most important source of non-concordance of the 

transmitted message with the received one, and the information that circulates is looses irreversible. 

However, in the actual informational context, the information generates itself. 

The power given by knowledge is determined in an international society. The issuer, as a 

component of communicational process, has different sources of power that influence the 

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communication: the reward of the receiver for the un-codified information. This reward can be both 

positive and negative; the legitimacy; the belonging; the experience. 

Today, the concept of global economy is defined according to a triple reality: a geographic 

space given, the existence of two global poles of the world (SUA and UE) and the existence of two 

categories of areas: intermediary areas (around each pole) and marginal areas (subordinates, dependent 

and manipulated by two centers of power). According to this scheme communication is realized 

between unequal partners regarding the power, therefore the economic development theories can be 

applied o communication. In this meaning, the knowledge economy is developed through the usage of 

the Internet technologies. 

The www and the communication means explosion leads to a future in which most of the 

business and a major part of human activities will develop in a virtual space, in a “digital” 

communication in order to transmit and receive the information, to promote the activities, the orders, 

the financial transactions. In this world competitive companies will be the one superior in 

communication and information. 

The communications are the most used means to create panic and terror by interrupting the 

function of conventional means of communication, televisions and radios which have become 

completely dependent on the connections to satellites. 

In present, the security of communications to an international level is very weak. The telephonic 

communications represent easy targets and the satellites can be easily destroyed. The objectives of high 

importance can be interrupted, like emergency centrals, medical services, ambulances, police services, 

any kind of alarms connected to surveillance systems that are monitories etc. In present, governmental 

communication can be blocked or viruses only with the help of some orders. 

The economy of networks is an economy of all types of businesses build around the Internet. 

The Internet has a key role in providing information of all kind in the global economy. The new 

Internet technologies contribute directly to the expansion of electronic commerce, new business 

patterns and e-business dematerialization of products and services. The Internet revolution also means 

the development of company networks like Intranet and Extranet. However, this led to the development 

of the new manipulation techniques of information and communication. 

The Internet assures a communication both on horizontal and vertical. The global network, 

which is the Internet, permits people to meet in different communities and discuss or hear their favorite 

subjects. These forums, that are called discussions forums, interactive discussions group (chat) or the 

correspondence list (mailing list) are useful both in the free time and also for business communication 

and they are called “virtual communities”[7]. 

These are often offered as free services, in order to increase the traffic on the Internet web page 

and to stimulate the emotional attachment regarding it. Of course, business communications can be 

made through a service that is charged. The direct communication channel or the video-conferences are 

attractive instruments which reduce the transport costs, being used by the large companies both for 

scientific communications and for the commercial ones. Depending on the role of the conference 

administrator (company, supplier, association, foundation, educational institution) and the objectives 

they purpose (marketing, benefits), the taxes can be of participation or specific to the even or they are 

not charged at all. 

The collaboration platforms offer a set of instruments and an informal environment in order to 

collaborate with the companies, with the external partners or with the experts, acting as a virtual 

company toward the external world. 

Although some specialists in communication sciences consider the Internet and its technologies 

as limitation of communication competences, they agree to the fact that the Internet determines a 

development of the community communications. The communication platforms are clear in this way. 

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The evolution of an electronic written press will determine also the redefinition of its informative 

speech. 

The ones that sustain the global network which is the Internet affirm that it develops the 

communication competences and consider certain ways of graphic and textual expression. The graphic, 

textual expression is a complex phenomenon that is less approached. As an issue and reception process, 

the textual communication follows the same succession of preparation techniques, elaboration, 

adaptation, interpretation of “materials” that form the content of the message. 

The researchers from psycho-linguistic field stress the idea that the concept is created in a way 

that includes also the signification, therefore the receptor receives the productive germs of the meaning. 

The visual communication can combine the verbal stimulus with non-verbal ways of expression – 

iconic signs or indicial means of representation. 

The reception of the message tries to recreate the signification of the issuer, process which is 

easier or harder put into function by the quantity of information transmitted. 

Therefore, in order to realize a more efficient communication, that permits the understanding 

without difficulties of a written content, it becomes necessary to respect the following conditions (that 

will be considered for achieving and/or using the textual communication competences) [11]: 

‣ The knowledge and the appreciation of the value of punctuation signs and the other 

graphical means; 

‣ The distinguish between essential and accessory in a written text; the control of The 

question formulation techniques; 

‣ The usage of work techniques based on written information – dictionaries, books, 

graphics, folders etc.; 

‣ The perception of several abstract levels of different types of language; 

‣ The understanding of the reports between lexical and phrase; 

‣ The correct appreciation of the contextual values etc.. 

The Internet is the participation support of all individuals to the development of the economy 

based on knowledge through global communication, that are not developing in one way but in a 

communicational circle. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

[1] Bâtlan I., „Introduction in the culture history and philosophy”, Didactic and Pedagogic Publishing 

House, R.A., Bucharest, 1993; 

[2] Duverage M., „Sociologie de la politique”, P.U.F., Paris, 1973; 

[3] Freud S., „Operas I”, Scientific Publishing House, Bucharest, 1991; 

[4] Hall E.T., „Beyond Culture”, Anchor Books, Doubleday, New York, 1989; 

[5] Kroeber A., Kluckhohn K., „Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions”, in I. Bâtlan, 

„Introduction in the culture history and philosophy ”, Didactic and Pedagogic Publishing House, R.A., 

Bucharest, 1993; 

[6] Popescu, M., „Communication and business negotiations, Theoretical and practical approaches”, 

Pro Universitaria Publishing House, Bucharest, 2007; 

[7] Popescu M., „ E-commerce”, course support to Master „Marketing and business negotiation”, 


[8] Rogojinari, A., (coordinator), „Communication and culture: applications interdisciplinary”, Tritonic 

Publishing House, Bucharest, 2006; 

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[9] Schemeil Y., „Les cultures politiques”, in M.Grawitz, J. Leca, „Traite de science politique, P.U.F., 

Paris, 1985, vol. III; 

[10] Vâlsan C. (coordinator), „Politico logy”, Didactic and Pedagogic Publishing House, R.A., 


[11] http://e.learning.ro/ro/. 

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MACRO-ECONOMIC CONSTITUENTS 

AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE TRADE COMPANIES 

Tănăsoiu Georgiana Lavinia 

Asist. univ. drd. 

Universitatea Constantin Brâncuşi, Facultatea de Ştiinţe Economice 

ABSTRACT: 

As the Romanian society presents itself as a macro system with multiple micro systems and components of the macro 

environment are of a great diversity, but they act in a close interdependency. At the macro economic level, the equilibrium of 

the production with the consumption is given by the equilibrium between the material flow of goods and services that has been 

created in the economy. Certain authors underline the need of taking into consideration not only the positive effects that the 

environment has upon the activity of the trade company, in order to choose the optimal variant of the strategy and also the positive 

effects that are present under the form of the political, economic, juridical, technological and financial risk. 

At the macro economic level, the equilibrium of the production with the consumption is given by the 

equilibrium between the material flow of goods and services that has been created in the economy, 

expressed by the gross domestic product, and the value monetary flow, expressed by some expenses of the 

economic agents for the bought of these goods. 

This structural equilibrium is given by the relation between the following values: 

C + I + P = Y = Cp + S + T 

where: C = the value of the goods designated for the individual consumption; I – the value of the goods 

for investments; P = the value of the goods for the public consumption. Y = the gross domestic product. Cp = 

the expenses of the population for the bought of the goods and for the services; S = the economies of 

the population; T = the public expenses of the state, inclusively for the social assistance. 

Because at the constitution of the offer, the imports are also participating (M), and for the 

manifestation of the request, the request from the exterior, expressed by the exports (X), also appears, the 

equilibrium between the production and the consumption in the conditions of an economy opened towards 

the exterior is given by the relation: 

Y + M = D + X 

National External Internal External 

Offer Offer Request Request 

from where it results that: 

Y = D + (X-M) 

The gross domestic product must be equal to the internal request, inclusively to the balance of 

the commercial balance sheet. 

Certain authors 21 underline the need of taking into consideration not only the positive effects that the 

environment has upon the activity of the trade company, in order to choose the optimal variant of the 

21 J. Ch – Mathé, Politique Générale de l’Entreprise: Analyse et Management Stratégique , The Economic Edition, 1987, p. 

198 

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strategy and also the positive effects that are present under the form of the political, economic, juridical, 

technological and financial risk. 

The ensemble of the elements that made up the economic life of the space where the company 

acts determines its economic environment. The economic environment is the essential element with a 

significant impact upon the trade company, because it decisively influences its operation and its 

development. 

The economic factors aim at the allowance of the resources in the society and that is the 

management of the trade company must supervise, for the adoption of the best decisions: the level of the gross 

domestic product, the structure on fields of the national economy, at the development level of each 

field, the occupation degree of the work force, the financial situation of the currency, the rate of the 

interests, the evolution of the credit requests, the evolution of the credit requests, the inflation (Graph 1.1 – 

The evolution of the synthetic budgetary indicators), the effects of the recessions, the evolution of the 

prices, the fiscality, the evolution of the economy of the population, the evolution and the distribution of the 

incomes on social categories, the balance of the commercial balance sheet, etc (Tab. 1.1 The principales 

budgetary indicators). 

Tab. 1.1 The principales budgetary indicators 

Indicators 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

The investment rate 21,8 23,1 24,6 26,3 27,5 28,8 30 31,2 32,3 33,5 

(% from GDP) 

The rate of the 9,3 8,6 4,87 - - - - - - - 

inflation -% 

The current account -8,4 -8,7 -10,3 -10,5 -10,2 -10,1 -9,7 -9,2 -8,7 -8,4 

in GDP- % 

The exchange rate 4,05 3,62 3,52 3,40 3,30 3,25 3,20 3,15 3,10 3,10 

lei/euro 

(annual average) 

The investment rate 6,3 5,9 5,2 5,2 5,1 5,0 4,9 4,8 4,7 4,6 

(% from GDP) 

The unemployment -4.5 -4.5 -6.4 -4,1 -3,3 -3,0 -2.1 -2.0 -2.2 -2.0 

rate - %) 

Net export 4.8 2.9 3.5 3,2 2,9 2,8 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 

Export of goods and 9,3 7,5 9,9 7,4 6,2 5,8 4,6 4,5 4,8 4,7 

services 

Note: The dates for the first period 2003-2006 are published by the National Institute of Statistics, and for 

the interval 2007-2013 by the National Commission of Prognosis. 

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The economic environment determines the volume and the structure of the offer of goods, at the 

level of the money incomes, the size of the request for goods, the movement at the level of the concurrence. 

The influences of the economic factor upon the trade company is different depending on the type of 

the commercial unit, but also depending on the products. The hypermarkets and the supermarkets are better 

resisting than all the types of trade companies. 

What the specialists 22 call exogenous management actors also have an impact upon the activity of 

the trade company, they being represented by: the organization system of the national economy, the 

mechanism of macro economic planning, the motivational mechanisms, the control mechanisms of the 

supra systems to which the enterprise belongs, that influence both directly and also indirectly, its operation 

an its efficiency. 

Graph 1.1 – The evolution of the synthetic budgetary indicators 

in the period 2005 - 2007 ( participation in GDP) 23 

The rates of the interests for the banking credits can have a double impact: upon the availability 

of the consumers of realizing acquisitions of non-primordial products and upon the possibilities of the 

company of self-financing for an investment. 

At the sectorial level, the services and the trade have registered in the year 2005 the biggest 

profitability (ROA), by being situated on an ascending trend (Graph 1.5.). The decrease of the rotation rate of 

the assets in the year 2005 is especially determined by the remarkable of the non – corporal immobilizations, 

so the investments in technology (know-how) and the franchising units, that have been triple in the analyzed 

period (graph 1.2). 

22 O. Nicolescu and the collaborators, Management, The Pedagogic and Didactic Edition RA, 

Bucharest, 1992, p. 48 

23 www.mfinante.ro – Budget Report 2007 definitively presented to the Parliament of Romania, page 54, page 60 

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ROA (left scale) 

The rate of the gross limit (left scale) 

The rotation rate of the assets (right scale) 

Graph. 1.2 The profitability of the assets of the companies in trade and services 

Source: BNR 

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The inflation based on the sideslips of the prices, on a short and middle term can be represented for a 

short term for the trade company with a real development motor, based on an increased request, that can 

increase the sale prices, without affecting the capital of the business, but on a middle and long term the 

sideslips appear (for example, the erosion of the incomes for the employees), and the inflationist spiral is 

increased. The level of the fiscality is another economic variant, which affects the macro environment, 

where the trade company realizes its activity. The increased fiscality decreases the consumers’ purchase 

power. The exchange rate of the national currency is another important economic factor that affects the 

trade company. 

The technical and technological environment, in the present epoch, is the force that produces the 

biggest impact. The fact that has determined the redefinition of the roles for different factors had been the 

observation according to which, in the industrialized countries, the technologic has been responsible for 

40% up to 75% of the registered rate of economic increase. The evolution of the technological environment 

also acquires a concrete expression by means of other specific elements, such as: the dimension and the 

direction of the funds designated for the research – development, the speed of apparition of the new 

products, the perfection of the traditional products, the regulations concerning the polluting technologies, 

etc. 

Phillip Kotler identifies the following evolution tendencies of the technological environment and the 

impact of these changes at the level of the companies and of the entire society, more exactly: the 

acceleration of the rhythm of the changes in the technology, respectively the serious change of the 

regulations in the technological field. 

The activities of transport, storage, retail sale and retail trade of the goods, of the commercial 

services, etc. are some utilities that increase the value of the GDP. In the same time, their cost influence the 

price that the product usually has for the consumers, and this together with the cost used to get a unit from 

the product characterize, together with the size of the GDP per inhabitant, the development degree of an 

economy. Now, there are multiple applications of some technologies in the field of the trade companies, 

as far as the retail trade is concerned, the cash registers with scanner have been introduced (lector optic) 

with an influence upon the cash operations, the organization of the experimental promotions, the 

administration of the stocks and of the linear. In the same time, in the field of the retail trade, the 

introduction of the codification, the data transmission networks, the preparation for the automatization of 

the orders with a role in the preparation of the deliveries and in the launching of the orders towards the 

supplier, the use of the optimization for the routes of the vehicles, with a role in the supply operations, etc. 

As far as the new forms of sale are concerned, we appreciate that one of the technological applications is 

represented by the introduction of the videotext and especially of the Internet, with a role in the realization 

of the purchase at the domicile in a real time. The influence of the technological environment in the trade 

companies is manifested by major innovations: the cash registers with scanner, the codification of the 

goods (EAN, UPC etc.), the data transmission networks, the automated preparation of the orders, the 

extension of the electronic trade, and the development of the telematics. The cash registers with scanner 

accelerate the cash process, the discovery of the sources of unplanned losses, the saving of the marks 

as far as the prices are concerned and the improvement of the administration for the purchase, the stocks, 

the linear, the promotions, etc. the telematics can produce in time a reorientation of the ways used to buy 

goods, in this case the innovation is decisive. 

The demographic environment is the variable of the macro environment with multiple interferences 

with the activity of the company, because the population in its quality as a partner of it is both in the 

position of beneficiary of the results gotten by itself, by constituting one of the formative factors of the 

request of goods, but also in the position of creator for them, so as a work source. That is why, the 

demographical situation, especially as far as the level, the dynamics, the structure of the population, the 

territorial repartition and on environments (urban-rural) are concerned, has some multiple effects upon the 

activity of the company both on a short term and also on a long term, fact that supposes the continuous 

study and upon the demographic prognoses. 

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The demographic environment knew a series of changes that have a considerable influence 

upon the trade companies, and more exactly: the absolute reduction of the population, the decrease of 

the average number for the members of a family, the increase of the hope for life, the increase of the 

education level, the increase of the number of single persons, the improvement of the daily comfort, etc. 

According to the report UNICEF „Social Tendencies ", elaborated together with the National Institute 

of Statistics, the population of Romania will gradually reduce, and till the year 2020 we can estimate that it 

will reach the value under 20 millions inhabitants, a value with about 2,9 millions smaller than in 2000. 

The population with the age of up to 14 years will decrease as a percentage, in the same time with the 

increase of the percentage of the persons of 65 years old and over this age. After the year 2005, in the 

segment of the population with the age of up to 14 years we’ll find the generations that are not so many 

born after the year 1990, while the generations born after the decree of interdiction of the abortions, since 

1966, will be about 40 years old. According to the prognoses, the population of Romania is estimated to 

reach in 2012 the value of 21 millions inhabitants. 

The reduction of the population in a region or in an area determines the gradual diminution of the 

market place (for example, will decrease the request of goods for the children, the married young people 

and the adults). The evolution of the structure for the population is interested to be supervised from the 

point of view of the trade company, because by its analyze we can anticipate the consumers’ comportment 

for that market, as far as its request and its structure have as determinants the demographic features such as 

the age, the sex, the race, the occupation, the ethical structure, the civil status, etc. The ethical structure of the 

population is another factor that determines the request and the consumption comportment, with a direct 

influence upon the activity of the trade company, each ethnic category has its own customs of purchase, 

and the trade companies must satisfy these needs and they must orientate their offer. 

In the same time, we appreciate that a multitude of factors, that have had a considerable influence 

upon the trade companies, such as the reduction of the increase rhythm for the population, which means 

the absolute decrease of the number of consumers, the reduction of the average number of members of a 

family (the families with a more reduced number of members consume more reduced quantities, but 

products that are better appreciated from the qualitative point of view, the increase of the hope for life, fact 

that advertise for the products that are adapted and that can be found out in the proximity trade, the increase 

of the number of single persons – leads to the need of using the small trade companies (these persons 

have some inclinations towards the consumption of some luxury products, some alimentary products that 

are already prepared, etc., by spending a lot for the leisure and for the culture), the increase of the percentage 

for the employed women (this thing leads to a redistribution of the obligations between the mans and the 

woman inside the family), the apparition of some new forms of urbanism, by the decline of the centre of the 

town and the development of the periphery, with implications as far as the placement of the commercial 

network is concerned, the increase of the education level (the present clients are better informed), the 

amelioration of the daily comfort: refrigerator, TV set, radio, telephone, etc. 

The cultural and educational environment is made up of all the factors, all the conditions and all 

the institutions that aim at the system of values, the customs, the traditions, the beliefs and the norms 

that shape the society and that regulate the behaviour of the individuals and generally of the groups 

by the ambiance of work and life. In the same time, it affects the consumption by the psychological 

changes, by the modification of the life style, which has a direct impact upon the consumer’s behaviour. 

The educational factors and especially the education contribute to the amplification of the level of culture 

and to the change of the mentality for the members of the society, that are reflected in the relations of the 

trade company with the market, by imposing a diversification of the market policy, the tendency of 

rejection of the “quantitative” in the favour of the “life quality” is now manifested, the acquisition of 

products and services is less and less impulsive. The clients’ purchase decision is more and more oriented 

on the use. Now, we assist to the development of the consumer’s culture, even if this is for many 

Romanian clients in an incipient stage, when we take into consideration the time as a constraint factor, 

for the culture of the pleasure, the simplification of the daily life, the insistence upon the value of the 

youth, the health, the physical aspect, etc. the employees of female sex influence by their work the 

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creation of an adequate environment for the development of the modern distribution formula, by saving 

the time send with the domestic activities. 

The internal and international political climate always affects the activity of the trade company, 

because it has both direct and also indirect implications that have been manifested by: the organization and 

the government of the state, the economic policy that it promotes, especially by the degree of implication 

of the state in the economy (under the form of the protective measurements and of the antitrust policies, 

etc), the appurtenance to economic and political groups and communities, generally by the conception of 

integration in the economic life and in the world policy that is promoted. 

In Romania, the political and legislative factor is especially present in the environment of the 

company, by generating a lot of difficulties for many but also a lot of opportunities for others by the 

adoption of some incomplete or interpretable laws or of some laws that are abrogated at a short period after 

the publication. 

The natural environment has become a component of the macro environment that cannot be 

ignored anymore, in the present stage, because it is unanimously accepted the idea according to which the 

ecological aspects constitute the restrictions in the way of the development of the company not only by the 

reduction of the resources that exist, but especially of those that cannot be regenerated and that are 

exhausted, but also by the level of the accepted pollution. The modernization of the trade is also 

responsible for the manifestation of the most exigent attribute of the durable economic increase - the 

unaltered storage of the natural environment or the eco-development. The trade companies have a 

contradictory influence upon the natural environment, more exactly upon the human habitat. The shops 

are the elements of the urban civilization, by creating the physiognomy of the localities and of the streets, 

and by their arrangement and by the presentation of the goods the consumers is educated concerning the 

consumption manner of the products and they create for this one the need of new products. In the same 

time the trade companies also manifest a series of actions which, being neglected from the organizational 

point of view, lead to the pollution of the environment. The trade companies can be effectively implied 

in the eco-development also by their participation, besides the industry, in the saving of the economic 

resources. 

The juridical framework is represented by the legislative system from the economic and 

geographical space where the trade companies realize its activity, by the legislative framework of the 

external markets, nut also by the national and international system. 

The legislation determines the trade companies to assume the responsibility for the quality that 

has been proposed for the promotional actions, of registering the quality and quantity indicators on each 

packed product, of requesting the payment for the products required by the consumer, of forbidding the sale 

of the alimentary goods and of the inadequate medicines, etc. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

1. J. Ch. Mathe. Politique Geénérale de l'Entreprise (Analyse et Management Strategique), The 

Economic Edition, 1987 

2. O. Nicolescu and the collaborators, Management, The Didactic and Pedagogic Edition, R.A., 


3. www.mfinante.ro; 

4. www.BNR 

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CONSUMER’S BEHAVIOR ON THE LAST MILE OF ROAD 

Univ lecturer dr. Oana Mateut-Petrisor 

Univ.lecturer drd. Gabriela Bologa 

Agora University – Oradea 

Abstract: 

An average of 70% from buying decisions, are taken in front of the shelf, space more and more valued by the 

marketing specialists, that suborn elaborated concepts of seduction. But the fight for the final consumer’s choice starts 

from the outside of the store and has as base ingredient consumer’s involvement in definition of the brand. 

The concept of marketing start from the premise that any economical activity has to satisfy 

consumers needs and wishes with maximum efficiency. Knowing the consumer needs and wishes 

involves realization of some studies of marketing. Consumer doesn’t acquaint his true motivations 

and may change the buying decision in the last moment under the influence of a friend, family, of a 

promotional action also. In this context, a special place is been given in theory and marketing’s 

practice to studying and shaping consumer’s behavior. 

Analyze of the consumer’s behavior offers useful information in establishing protections 

measures for the consumers (guarantee terms, writing downs of selling prices, and writing down of 

their origin). 

Aggressive advertising on all channels, piled of enrolments and price discounts won’t give the 

bankable effects. Marketers are trying now to involve the consumer in the brand’s concept, from 

launching on market till the last buying decision. Specialists from Ogilvy Action elaborated even a 

concept based on this theme, “Last Mile”, which they presented detailed, during the Toolbox 

Shopper Marketing Conference. “«Last Mile» is the difference between attitude and action is the 

process that transforms the consumer in buyer and the buyer into client of your products”, declared 

Rife Ring, Global Strategic Planning Director of Ogilvy Action. The 3-4 seconds when the buying 

decision takes place, are for long and minutiae’s/exhaustive prepared, to assure the chosen of 

“THE” product, from the 20 similar to it. The receive/prescription would be the following: 

advertising in different environments, followed by personalization of the product and direct 

interaction with the consumer, with the surrounding environment and with daily activities. At the 

end, the presentation from selling point of view that has to be new but friendly, and that involves a 

good collaboration with the retailer. 

Rife Ring gives for example the launch of Sun silk’s shampoo in the United States, a 

promoting company that has cost those from Unilever more than 100mil dollars. The Sun silk 

concept was based on identifying the target-consumer, women between 18 and 25 years old, and 

tried to connect the brand image to entire feminine universe specific to that range of age. Ogilvy 

realized the promoting of Sun silk shampoo by creating 3 homosexual male characters/personages, 

interacting with young females through a blow and giving varied advices. Plus, Sun silk was 

promoted through traditional channels, but also through no conventionally advertising, placed in 

places frequented by young females. In hypermarkets, Sun silk products were positioned inside ice 

cream and sweets department, for a stronger impact. Another important point of the “Last Mile” 

concept is the sophisticate analyze of the consumers behavior. “You have to ask, to film, to 

simulate, to analyze consumers thoughts and habits, and to integrate the products in them”, says 

Andrew Aylett, Planning Director for Ogilvy Action London. In studying the consumer’s behavior 

are used advanced technologies, one of them been a pair of glasses that chase the sight’s motion to 

help efficient positional of products on shelves. 

Romanian buyer needs approximately 20 seconds before making the buying decision argue/sustain 

Emanuel Sander, Country Manager AC Nielsen Romania. In 206, only 70% from Romanian buyers 

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were woman, a decreasing percent girlish 2005, year when woman were shopping in a proportion of 

83%. 

Last year, Romanian’s money were spent in a proportion of 77% in modern commerce units, 

in conditions in which in Romania exist 500 modern shops and over 800 traditional shops. Monthly 

medium budget spent on shopping, per inhabit, was of 613 lei last year, increasing girlish 517 lei in 

2005, and more than half of this amount was used for buying fresh products. 

Main reasons why Romanian is choosing one shop or another are familiarity (46%), the 

quality/price report (12%), products variety (12%) and accessibility (10%). Over 78% from 

Romanian’s decision of buying were based on other consumer’s recommendation. (“word of 

month”). Romania is second retail market from Europe, as growth rhythm, after Poland, declared 

Louisa Moraru, partner and director of retail department from Eurisko. The context dates are the 

increase of the medium salary with 22.5% in the last year and decrease of unemployment rate till 

3.8%. If in 2001 Romanians were spending 45% from incomes on food, last year the percent was of 

30% and in two-three years is expecting to get to 26%. 

In 2006, retail market from Romania worth 14 billion euro, and for 2007 is expected a 

growth till 60%. At the present, there are 0.01 sqm of retail on inhabitant, number that will grow till 

0.127 sqm, in 2010. This year where built malls on a surface of 150000sqm, which will be added to 

the 350000sqm already existing. The explosion in retail will take place in 2008, when is expected a 

building of malls on an approximately surface of 800000sqm. 

B ibliography 

: Revista Business magazin nr. 126-148,2007 

1. Revista Business Week nr. 41-60, 2007 

2. Revista Money nr. 22 din octombrie 2007 

3. web 

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THE CONTROLLER - THE MANAGER’S PARTNER ON THE WAY TO 

SUCCESS 

Dr. Valentina OARGĂ 

Senior Lecturer 

West University of Timişoara 

Faculty of Economic Sciences 

ABSTRACT 

Wer ist der Controller? Womit beschäftigt er sich? Welche Beziehungen hat er zu dem Manager? 

Wie ist der Controller im deutschen Sprachraum? Aber der in Rumänien? Auf diese Fragen versucht diese 

Arbeit eine Antwort zu geben. 

Das Porträt des Controllers wird durch seine Funktionen, seine Befugnisse, aber vor allem durch seine 

persönliche Darstellung gezeichnet. 

Ein selbstständige Teil ist den jungen Controllern aus Rumänien gewidmet. 

Wir vertreten die Ansicht, dass dieser Beruf der Gegenwart, aber vor allem der Zukunft gehört. 

1.Who is the controller? 

Elmar Mayer used to say: „The controller (Navigator) is or can become someone who learns 

and know more than the others thinks and acts subsequently and precisely, inside the network of 

effects of the environment, in order to lead an enterprise in the most profitable way.” (Mann, 

Mayer, 1997). 

Albrecht Deyle also said: „This definition is valid also for the enterprisers, managers and 

controllers who work for the resolution of the crises.” (Deyhle, 1991). 

The individual, who doesn’t posses skills inside the business world, can imagine a 

controller’s tasks in the easiest way through those presented in the American movies. In these 

movies controllers are young, dynamic and ambitious people who present different analysis, 

diagrams and reports to the department managers during the managerial teams’ meetings. They 

analyze the targets, the objectives which had been planned, present the instruments which must be 

used, search for the distortions between the results which have been achieved and those which had 

been planned. The end of these movies is always the same happy-ending: based on the suggestions 

presented by the youngster the product or analyzed service is a success and he is rewarded. 

The controller is the representative of the controlling function and belongs there where, as a 

manager assistant, can effectively contribute to the enterprise’s success. 

2.The controllers from the German language area 

The controllers in Germany and Austria are graduates specialized in business administration, 

taking post gradual courses on Controlling (Planning, Leadership, Control), or specialized on trade, 

and have taken this series of courses as optional disciplines. In both cases, when it comes to 

practical use of the theoretical knowledge as well as when finding a job, a great advantage in the 

area is represented by an internship made before the study’s elaboration 

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The controller must be acquainted with: accountancy, methods of cost calculation, basic skills 

in management and marketing, basic PC skills, at least one foreign language (English), the use of 

controlling instruments. Controller’s competence is an issue which is related to training, experience and 

personal judgment. Besides the professional skills controllers must have a series of qualities: ability of 

expressing themselves orally and in written, observatory, ability to adapt, sociable, negotiation skills, 

dynamic, ability to analyze and summarize a flexible behavior, tactics, perspicacity. Besides these, a 

controller must remain modest and open-minded. 

3.The stages in which enters the controller 

In the specific literature for the term of controllers are metaphorically used expressions like: 

pilot, copilot, helmsman, navigator, doctor, thermostat, economic conscience, etc. 

In Haller’s article, „Controlling geht alle etwas an!”, published in 1989 in „Management 

Zeitschrift 58” in the 12 volume, the controller is represented in two phases: navigator and moderator. 

During a conference in the area of controlling in Hungary – Kecskemét an example has been set where 

the controller was seen as a copilot. 

MANAGER 

ACCOUNTANT 

CONTROLLER 

Fig.1 – Controller – navigator 

3.1.The navigator stage 

In order to illustrate this stage (fig.1) we will begin from the fact that the manager is the captain 

of the ship – enterprise, and the controller is the navigator. 

The captain offers: the purpose of the trip, the waters in which navigates, the managerial team 

and its organization, the purpose of the trip (probably established with the navigator).The navigator 

offers: data regarding the actual status of the ship and the possible deviation from the established 

course, information about the weather, information about the terms in which the ship and crew are. As 

a result of the partnership between the captain and the navigator results: the purpose of the trip,the plan 

of the trip; it is essential to plan some measures if there are any cases of deviations from the established 

course. The navigator can suggest a new course to navigate and the captain can find information 

regarding the weather report, for example, but a serious navigator will never allow himself to interfere 

in captain’s decisions. Nevertheless, if the captain starts from a wrong supposition or ignores the 

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information about the bad weather report, then it is navigator’s duty to warn the captain and to maintain 

the planned course. But the final decision belongs to the captain. 

3.2.The moderator stage 

Sometimes the biggest obstacle in the trip to success of an enterprise can be the 

misunderstandings between the experts, which occur because of the fact that they „speak different 

languages”. Engineers, lawyers, economists, accountants, psychologists, the experts in different areas, 

project managers are fighting and in their lack of satisfaction they do not get to any satisfactory result 

and mostly they finally conclude that they share the same opinion. What lacks in this kind of complex 

situations is the active help of a moderator. 

It is vital that in these difficult cases of planning or execution to exist someone who is able to 

make connections between the ways of thinking of all parts involved. This achievement doesn’t require 

a universal genius; the only thing needed being the knowledge of the key-issue of each part involved. 

The controller, as a moderator, must be impartial and equal in his opinion. 

In their part as moderators, controllers try to present each category’s problems as clear as 

possible for the other groups, as a mutual and simultaneous comprehension to be possible. In order to 

obtain this they build an informational system which equally evaluates the key-problem of all involved 

groups (or at least depending on the relative importance of that area inside the enterprise) and moderate 

the interdisciplinary teams’ sessions in order to eliminate the tensions and explain their opinions. 

3.3. The copilot stage 

In order to illustrate this stage in which the controller occurs, the enterprise is seen as a vehicle 

in which the manager is the driver of the vehicle and the controller the copilot. The vehicle’s driver, 

firstly, decides where he wants to go, establishes a plan, after he start the engine. If he isn’t on the right 

road, that drives the vehicle to the planned track. He couldn’t get to the right place if there wasn’t a 

plan, control and direction. Yet, inside an enterprise, driving isn’t just a hobby; more appropriate would 

be the comparison with the track races. 

This way inside the vehicle there are two persons: vehicle’s driver and the copilot. The 

vehicle’s driver tells his partner what he should do, this being in fact the plan of the race, after which 

the two individuals’ position changes. During the race, the copilot tells the driver what to do. Yet the 

driver stays the leader: he plans, coordinates, directs, controls but for these actions he needs help. 

4.Personal insight regarding the controller in Romania 

In our opinion, the controller is manager’s partner on the trip to success, which appears as an 

observer and councilor in the administration issues. After we will present a few general aspects we will 

try to ground this definition. 

After 1990, in Romania we can speak about controllers due to the presence of some dealers of 

international concern, inside the controlling is used and therefore controllers are needed.The cases in 

which the enterprisers or Romanian managers implement their own controlling system are extremely 

rare, which makes us analyze in our approach only the controllers belonging to branches of 

international concerns. The requirements of this job are the following: GDP in Economics, German 

(and English) Language, PC skills, passing different tests (perspicacity, etc.). 

After getting the job Romanian controllers are sent for training outside, in countries where those 

concerns have their headquarters and the courses attended are made to teach them the specific issues of 

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controlling used in that concern. This way controller adapts himself with the required instrument, 

working methods but doesn’t have yet the necessary theoretical basis. They succeed even in 

implementing controlling inside those branches, on the basis of the concern’s advices and received 

indications, but yet they find difficult to elaborate a theoretical specialized basis. This issue is justified 

very simple: the concern has trained them only to practice and not to elaborate theories. 

In our country controllers have a series of qualities: analysis and summarizing ability, ability to 

resist to the supported intellectual effort, observation spirit, adapting ability, flexible behavior, 

seriousness, discretion. Controllers keep their „job’s secrets”, and therefore don not reveal information, 

because the data with which they are working with are strictly confidential. 

In our opinion, the advantages a controller has are the following: attractive salary, experience, 

traveling possibility, contacts and professional relationships with colleagues from different countries. 

Disadvantages would be: excessive work, dealing with different situations (conflicts, deadline, etc.). 

Despite all this inconvenient controllers are very satisfied with their work and are motivated to improve 

their activity. 

In forward we will try to ground our presented definition for the Romanian controller, having as 

a reference point the statement from the beginning. The controller is the manager’s partner on the trip 

to success: the manager pursues the achievement of the enterprise’s goals. Step by step, next to the 

manager, always on the second place, the controller helps the manager to achieve the goals. We can 

call the controller manager’s partner because they pursue the same objective and work in the same 

direction, completing them in their work, having as a final objective the achievement of the planned 

result. 

If in the western countries the controller is seen as a moderator, navigator and copilot, we 

consider him a supervisor as well as a councilor of the manager. The controller is a supervisor when 

pursues the achievement of all the objectives and supervises the dynamic and complex environment of 

the enterprise, when analyses and interprets the data from the cost centers, when pursues the costs and 

regards their adaptation to certain limits and when he reacts to the occurrence of the technical errors. In 

forward, the counseling stage appears when the manager must decide and the controller remains at his 

side, suggesting, leading, indicating and solving. 

Despite the fact that in Romania the controller is not yet entirely aware of his value inside the 

enterprise, he acts as a connection point between the departments and the manager (and between the 

branches and the concern) and together with the manager forms a team to which the use of the 

controlling instrument will provide certain advantages along the way to success.To be a controller is a 

job of the present but more important is a job of the future because controllers’ work is vital and any 

company which is wishing to know if it can find itself on the way to success must use the controlling. 

Bibliography: 

1.Deyhle, A. – Controlling In Vernetzter Betrachtungsweise, S.74, In: Management Zeitschrift 

60(1991), No. 6, Bwi Eth, Zürich 

2.Haller, C. – Controlling Geht Alle Etwas An! S. 86 In: Management Zeitschrift 58(1989) Nr.12 Bwi 

Eth, Zürich 

2.Mann, R., Mayer, E – Controlling. The profitable leadership of the company, All Publishing House, 

Bucharest, 1997 

5.Oargă, V. – Controlling – managerial instrument. Controlling in Romania, Augusta Publishing 

House, Timişoara, 2006 

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CONTROLLING – OBJECTIVES AND FUNCTIONS 

Dr. Valentina OARGĂ 

Senior Lecturer 

West University of Timişoara 

Faculty of Economic Sciences 

Abstract 

Das Controlling ist eines der modernsten Instrumente des Managements. Es kommt in allen Managerfunktionen 

vor, indem es sie vervollständigt und so dem Manager hilft, korrekte Entscheidungen zu treffen. 

Die Ziele und die Funktionen des Controlling sind der Grund für seine Einführung im Rahmen der Unternehmen. 

Zweck dieser Arbeit ist die Hervorhebung der Ziele und Funktionen des Controlling, die Darstellung ihrer 

Bedeutung. Die Arbeit behandelt die direkten Ziele des Controlling und die Informationsfunktion. 

Die Vorteile des Controlling verlangen die Einführung dieses Instruments in jedes Unternehmen, das eine 

Steigerung seiner wirtschaftlichen Performancen plant. 

Introduction 

Today, a strong competition pressure is being exercised upon companies, pressure that is being 

felt especially at the top management level. To be able to resist the competition, the managerial team 

must take correct decisions, at the right moment, to evaluate correctly the situation in which it finds 

itself, to be able to make good future projections and achieve their desired goals successfully. 

These things are not easily done, especially in international companies, which have a very 

complex and voluminous activity. For this reason, to help the managerial team in its activity, in the 

U.S.A., France, Germany, Austria, Holland and Hungary help has appeared for management under the 

shape of a managerial instrument – the controlling. 

This paper has as an objective the presentation of objectives and functions of this managerial 

instrument. This presentation shall be made after we briefly present controlling, considered a 

managerial instrument. Careful attention is being accorded towards the direct objectives of controlling 

as well as to the information function. 

1. Controlling – managerial instrument 

Controlling has been “born” in the United States of America in the beginning of the 20 th 

century. In Europe controlling has appeared first in France then in England, and in Germany the 

concept has become known only in the 50s-60s through practitioners’ publications, but has known a 

wide scale spread only in the 70s. 

In Hungary controlling has evolved beginning with the 80s-90s and in Romania it appeared 

only after 1990. 

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In Romania controlling is being implemented and is being practiced especially in subsidiaries of 

international concerns as well as in very few Romanian companies. 

In every geographical space controlling is interpreted differently: 

• central function of management in the U.S.A. 

• subsystem of management in Hungary 

• 3 views in the German language space: comparison of plan - achievement, unit for 

control and planning, influencing the companies’ behavior towards a direction offered 

by management. 

We agree with the German practitioners’ notion which considers controlling as a managerial 

instrument. 

Albrecht Deyhle says: “Controlling is created in the team composed of the manager and the 

controller. The controller must ensure a methodology with which the organization to achieve its goal, 

meaning achieving profit.” But Deyhle does not do a reference only to the objective of obtaining profit, 

but to the array of objectives: Growth, Evolution, and Profit, which have as a result the establishing of 

the central problem of controlling: “Is the organization on the correct path?” 

Preiβler establishes in the center the orientation towards objective of controlling. Controlling is 

an instrument for management which extends towards functions that support the organizations 

management through information and helps achieve its objectives. 

Mayer considers controlling a concept of management with orientation towards crisis situations, 

achieving objectives, creating profit and with orientation towards the future, in the purpose of leading 

successfully the organization and assuring its durable existence. 

2. Controlling objectives 

To be able to achieve its objectives, actual management must in the same time be able to 

anticipate and adapt to the medium changes, and react to what is happening inside the organization and 

outside it. Coordination of management subsystems activity can not be omitted to ensure easy 

achievement of the objective. Bu alone, management can not fulfill all these requirements. That is why 

it needs controlling. Controlling came in complementing management, having as objectives the 

insurance of anticipation, adaptability reaction and coordination capabilities. These are considered 

direct objectives but there is a more indirect objective of controlling. 

2.1. Direct objectives of controlling 

A. Insuring adaptability and anticipation 

Controlling must ensure the existence of premises for the accommodation activities, these being 

especially the necessary information, takes care of discovery of relevant data towards the possible 

changes within the medium (anticipation capacity) and altogether takes care of providing information 

referring to the changes that already took place (adaptability). But just understanding the situation is 

not enough to ensure adaptability and anticipation. Controlling is therefore active within the entire 

process of management, helping in the creative process of preparing the decision, as well as in 

controlling the results. 

B. Ensuring reaction capability 

The contribution of controlling to ensuring reaction capability is consisted of the 

implementation of an informational and especially of a control system to show steadily to those who do 

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take decisions the report of the real and planned evolution and to make possible the correction towards 

achieving the objective considering the influences from within and the exterior. 

The second direct objective is based upon the comparison of the Plan and the Achievement. 

Deviations which result from these comparisons have the role to signal out any necessary interventions. 

The role of controlling is to analyze deviations and to elaborate a series of propositions. It will 

make suggestions towards correcting, but in what way corrections will be made, the decision lays 

entirely on the manager. 

C. Ensuring coordination capacity 

Coordination through management refers to the operational system. Controlling must ensure the 

coordination in the management system because it creates the premises for correlating the action means 

of the separate subsystems of the organization management. 

2.2 Indirect objective of controlling 

Indirect objective of controlling is supporting the balance between the coalition partners (the 

owners of the capital, environment and employees). This is an indirect objective of controlling because 

management is the one that must ensure this balance by realizing simultaneously the objectives of each 

partner of the coalition. 

Controlling helps the management to do this. In the field of objectives there isn’t a unique 

system of values, that’s why a quantification of the objectives is necessary. The premises for 

organization stability are laying in ending all objectives in time. Not carrying them or just carrying 

them partially to an end cannot be compensated by achieving another objective. That is why it is 

necessary achieving all objectives of the coalition partners. Controlling helps management in this way 

by supporting it in the process of preparing of the strategies that are used in order to achieve the 

objectives of the coalition members. 

3. Functions of controlling 

Although there are many views on controlling functions, we believe that there are just 4 

functions and these are the following: 

• Completion of the management 

• Coordination 

• Innovation 

• Informing 

3.1. Completion of the management 

Completion of the management through controlling is realized under two aspects: 

• by controlling participation to management process, this participation being found under 

the form of the coordination and innovation forms 

• by offering services to the management through informing function. 

An essential function of the controlling is coordination of entire system of management. 

Also by the fact that controlling has its own pack of ideas in supporting the decisions of management, it 

is realized the innovation function. Both of them are found under the aspect of participation to the 

management process. 

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Completion of the management by the controlling means the active collaboration to the leading 

and renewal of the organization by the problems “behind” the management decisions. Controlling 

initiates organizational processes for discussions and opinion making, takes the responsibility of these 

processes and intervenes in the decisional crisis, has an essential to planning the future of the 

organization. 

Services offered by the controlling to support management are: 

• offering information to the management 

• counseling in different problems or situations. 

All these services that are offered to the management can be summarized under the name of the 

function of controlling informing. 

3.2. Coordination 

For presenting the coordination function it is necessary first the presentation of the subsystems 

that are components of the management system: 

• Subsystem of values 

• Subsystem of planning and subsystem of control 

• Subsystem of information transfer 

• Organizational subsystem 

• Subsystem of personnel coordination 

Management system must coordinate efficiently the activities of the operational system. 

Controlling coordinates the management system and also its subsystems but it is developed only in the 

organizations that are oriented towards planning and control. 

Some writers tried to emphasize coordination as the unique function of controlling but the way 

in which controlling completes the management and especially in offering services to management 

shows that not all problems of controlling can be seen under the aspect of coordination. 

3.3. Innovation 

Innovation is another function of controlling, found under the aspect of controlling participation 

to the management process. 

Innovation function of controlling comes from the need of continue adapting and renewal of the 

organization. In the first plan are situated the strategic innovative decisional processes that settles the 

basis for assuring the organizational existence. 

Controlling intervenes in these processes because: 

• decisional practices are characterized by conflicts, dynamic environment and are 

influenced often by the personal objectives of the participants to decisions. 

• there are changing behaviors, uncontrollable of the decision participants that are trying 

to represent their own interests. 

From this comes the need of controlling intervention depending of the decisional situation in 

these strategic innovative decisional processes. 

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3.4. Informing 


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Ensuring the coordination capacity, of the anticipation one, adapting and reaction are based on 

information. Every process of establishing the objective and also every decisional process are 

established by preliminary informational processes. 

Creation of the informational concordance helps the other functions of controlling. 

Information is coming from the interior and also from the exterior of the organization and is 

going to be available to the management in a formal way. 

The central point of the controlling system is represented by the information transfer, the 

controlling being responsible of the constituting and functioning of the system, and also obtaining 

information, their processing and transmission. 

First of all it is necessary to determine the need of information, to cover the request of 

information from management. And for the management to achieve its tasks it must receive 

periodically the necessary information that has to be exact and actual, 

Controlling takes care of the coordination of information transfer and does have as a task 

establishing the necessary fund data. It is based on the processing of the main data, its analysis and 

interpretation. 

Through the reporting system controlling transmits the information to the positions where 

appears the information, at the positions where it must be used, but controlling can have the function of 

informing only when it has the right to do it, so when it is possible the access to different 

compartments. 

For management the information from controlling is very important, they can make possible the 

management transparency and an activity influence in the direction of achieving the organization 

objective. 


Summarizing the information obtained from the theoreticians and practitioners our conclusion 

is that, controlling is the managerial instrument based on a set of rules applied towards achieving the 

organizations objective. 

The controller offers the manager, with which he forms a team, information about the real 

situation of the organization, suggesting in time that an intervention is necessary and how it should be 

done. 

We observe that through implementing and application, controlling offers a set of advantages to 

the company: 

• it offers a better and clearer economic foundation for management decisions; 

• it helps not only identify but even understand considerable deviations from the planned 

evolution; 

• it is constantly known weather all is going according to plan; 

• it helps create good coordination between different branches of the organizations and help keep 

them informed; 

• through all it does controlling eases significantly the work of the manager who: 

o will know exactly the status of the organization; 

o will know why a certain situation has been reached; 

o will know what measures must be applied towards attaining the desired result; 

• risk is decreased and administered in the uncertain medium if Romanian business; 

• different categories of economic interests of stakeholders are harmonically combined; 

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• a new state of spirit is being created, a new attitude towards work, of implication in achieving 

objectives; 

• a state of solidity, order and discipline is being promoted, as well as identifying the ones 

responsible for established objectives. 

Our final opinion is that by implementing controlling, by activating its functions and its objectives, the 

company will take full advantage of this managerial instrument and thus the company will be 

competitive in the business market, succeeding in controlling its future. 

Bibliography: 

1. Baumgartner, B. – Die Controller – Konzeption, Theoretische Darstellung/Praktische Anwendung, 

Bern 1980 

2. Deyhle, A. – Controller – Handbuch – Enzyklopädisches Lexikon für die Controller – praxis, 2. 

Auflage, Gauting bei München, 1980 

3. Deyhle, A. – Controlling in vernetzter Betrachtungsweise, S.74, In: Management Zeitschrift 

60(1991), Nr. 6, BWI ETH, Zürich 

4. Eschenbach, R. – Ansätze Zu Einem Gleichgewichtsmodell Der Unternehmensziele. In: Brauwelt, 

121/1981, S.1395 – 1399 

5. Eschenbach R. – Controlling, Schäffer – Poeschel Verlag, Stuttgart, 1996 

6. Eschenbach, R. – Controlling – Konzepte Und Controlling – Funktionen In Österreich. In : Mayer, 

E., Landsberg, G. V., Thiede, W. (Hrsg.): Controlling – Konzepte Im Internationalen Vergleich, 

Freiburg, 1986 

7. Mann, R. – Die Praxis des Controlling: Instrumente, Einführung, Konflikte, München, 1973 

8. Mann, R., Mayer, E – Controlling. Profitably driving your institution, All Publishing house, 


9. Mayer, E. - Controlling als Führungskonzept, In: Mayer, E., Weber, J.(Hrsg.) : Handbuch 

Controlling, Stuttgart, 1990, S.33 – 90 

10. Oargă, V. – Controlling, Mirton Publishing house, Timişoara, 2003 

11. Oargă, V. – Controlling – managerial instrument. Controlling in Romania, Augusta Publishing 

house, Timişoara, 2006 

12. Preiβler, P. – Controlling, Lerbuch Und Intensivkurs, 6. Auflage, München/Wien, 1995 

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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – ANALYSING SOCIAL AND 

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 

THE CASE OF ROMANIA 

Irina – Eugenia IAMANDI, Teaching Assistant, PhD Candidate, ASE 24 , REI 25 

Andreea Raluca CĂRĂGIN, Teaching Assistant, PhD Candidate, ASE, REI 

Alina CHICIUDEAN, Teaching Assistant, PhD Candidate, ASE, REI 

Mihaela Cristina DRĂGOI, Teaching Assistant, PhD Candidate, ASE, REI 

Abstract: Our paper emphasizes the strategic importance of CSR both for companies and society as well. A comprehensive 

literature review reflects the challenges mainly associated with two different approaches: CSR as a profitable business 

practice that consolidates a good corporate image, or CSR as an inefficient way of using corporate resources, negatively 

correlated with financial performance. Our paper brings theoretical and practical evidence proving that CSR improves the 

business commercial and financial performance; certain correlations should be established between social and financial 

indicators. As a case study, we analyze an international company on the Romanian market that has increased its business 

performance by adopting different CSR measures. 

Key-words: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); Social Performance; Financial Performance; Intangible Assets 

JEL Classification: M14, C01 

1. Argument 

Defined by the European Multistakeholder Forum on CSR as “a concept whereby companies 

integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with 

their stakeholders on a voluntary basis” [4], corporate social responsibility has become nowadays one 

of the main challenges for companies around the world. The main idea behind the concept of CSR is 

“The Triple Bottom Line” – “Profit, People, Planet”: companies harmonize their efforts in order to be 

economically viable, socially responsible and environmentally sound [2]. 

The debates on corporate social responsibility show that there is no unique approach when 

considering the appropriateness of assuming extended social responsibilities by companies. The vast 

majority of research on the topic emphasizes a positive correlation between corporate social and 

financial performance, as long as businesses do not forget the main purpose of their activity, which is 

profit maximization, and governments keep their roles in dealing with social issues [9]. 

The present paper aims to analyse, for the first time, the social and financial performance of a 

company operating on the Romanian business environment, in order to provide an extensive example 

for the above mentioned market. 

24 Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest 

25 Faculty of International Business and Economics 

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2. CSR literature review 

The purpose of this analytical endeavour is to prove that corporate social responsibility is far 

more than a mere philosophical concept, lacking consistency and practical applicability, but rather 

an effective mean to support the financial objectives of the company in the medium and long term. 

When CSR is thought of as a long-term corporate action plan, both society and the initiating 

companies win in social as well as in economic terms. 

2.1. Corporate advantages of involving in socially responsible actions 

Although corporate social responsibility can be viewed from both an ethical or pragmatic 

perspective, the business world prefers the pragmatic approach of CSR. Adopting a CSR policy has 

primarily two positive effects: on one hand, it supports the survival of the company in compliance 

with the new social requirements, and, on the other hand, if properly used, can attract that 

knowledge that hardly could be obtained without the involvement and cooperation of all 

stakeholders. A well managed CSR policy can offer the initiating company a valid competitive 

advantage. 

Companies initiate a CSR policy with the objectives of maximizing global opportunities, 

improving relations with all stakeholder groups, increasing brand value, consolidating the business 

for the long term and reducing associated risks, starting from the assumption that the consumer is 

willing to pay more for a company’s social responsibility and that society will reward socially 

responsible companies. Another motivation for social involvement, besides strict economic gains, is 

the support for “value based management”; in this case, managers act to promote the values shared 

in the organization, including moral values, pursuing two main effects: the improvement of the 

company’s long term brand image and reputation, by associating performance with ethical 

behaviour, and the creation and reinforcement of group sinergies inside the company [13]. 

A number of companies with good social and environmental records indicate that these 

activities can result in better performance and can generate more profits and growth. The economic 

impact of corporate social responsibility can be broken down into direct and indirect effects. 

Positive direct results may, for example, derive from a better working environment, which leads to 

a more committed and productive workforce or from more efficient use of natural resources. In 

addition, indirect effects result from the growing attention of consumers and investors, which will 

increase corporate opportunities on the markets. Inversely, there can sometimes be a negative 

impact on a company’s reputation due to criticism of business practices; this can affect core assets 

of a company, such as its brands and image. 

Financial institutions are making increasing use of social and environmental checklists to 

evaluate the risks of loans to, and investments in companies. Similarly, being recognised as a 

socially responsible enterprise, for example, through listing in an ethical stock market index (Dow 

Jones Sustainability Index, FTSE4Good, Domini Social Index 400 etc.), can support the rating of a 

company and therefore entails concrete financial advantages [3]. 

Briefly emphasized, the benefits of a CSR policy for the initiating company are: 

• obtaining a "social license to operate" from all stakeholders rather than just shareholders; 

• harmonizing business practices with the expectations of all stakeholder groups; 

• achieving sustainable competitiveness: improving corporate image, reputation and 

brand, improving customer loyalty and corporate sales, improving productivity and 

product quality, improving financial performance; 

• creating new business opportunities and competitive advantages; 

• increasing possibilities for the recruitment and retention of highly talented employees; 

• attracting and retaining quality investors and business partners by increasing shareholder 

value, reducing stock variability and cost of capital, improving access to socially 

responsible investment funds, reducing risks by adopting best practices; 

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• cooperation with local communities and avoiding PR crises; 

• obtaining state support and avoiding stricter regulations; 

• building political capital. 

Generally it is assumed that socially responsible companies will have above average financial 

results [10], because a company’s capability to successfully manage social and environmental 

aspects is a credible proof of a highly qualitative management and it contributes to minimizing risks 

by predicting and avoiding crises that could affect corporate reputation and cause dramatic drops in 

share prices [3]. This positive correlation between CSR and financial performance – represented by 

the share prices – is empirically supported by the examples of multinational American, European 

and Asian companies [7]. 

2.2. The relationship between corporate social and financial performance 

Empirical studies have shown a positive correlation between the social performance of a 

company and its financial performance, and that social involvement brings several benefits that 

offset and even “outrun” the costs. 

Furthermore, current literature considers that there is a direct and reciprocal causal link 

between a company’s social responsibility and its profitability: a socially responsible company will 

be better perceived by the public and will earn substantial profits; similarly, a financially well 

performing company will afford to promote and invest in a socially responsible behaviour, which 

will cause future prosperity. The connection between profitability and CSR can be seen on an 

ascending spiral, the so called “virtuous circle”, demonstrated by the experience of multinational 

companies involved in social and environmental projects. 

An exact evaluation and measurement of the positive impact a CSR policy has on financial 

results is difficult to achieve and there is no academic consensus yet on the means and methods for 

such an effort. Thus, although most of the research points to the conclusion that a positive 

correlation exists between social and financial performance, not all researchers in the field support 

this statement, with some results even contradicting it. 

In order to obtain the bigger picture on the way authors have described the relationship 

between social performance (SP) and financial performance (FP) (and, in particular, the causal link 

and the type of correlation between SP and FP), we will synthetically present the conclusions of 

Salzmann, Ionescu – Somers and Steger [15], based on the analysis of Preston and O’Bannon [14] 

(See Table 1: Theoretical synthesis of possible correlations between SP and FP). 

Authors have identified, in the theoretical framework described in Table 1, positive, negative 

or no correlations between SP and FP and different causal links between the two. Although the 

majority of the studies have shown positive correlations between SP and FP, this conclusion is not 

generally accepted and many aspects are still to be clarified, especially concerning the methods of 

research and analysis. 

The results of the last 30 years considering the relationships between social and financial 

performance are different and often contradicting. This is why reaching an academic consensus is of 

the outmost necessity in order to make corporate social responsibility a globally profitable business 

strategy. 

Among the causes of contradicting results in the field we can list [15]: 

• methodological deficiencies (inadequate measurement of social indicators, no empirical 

testing for concepts and definitions, not testing the correlations between the various 

variables, inadequate sampling, low data availability, inconsistency in measuring 

financial indicators etc); 

• complexity and large variety of social and environmental aspects, with different effects 

across industries and countries; 

• general focus on cross-industry U.S. samples, ignoring intra-industrial studies or other 

regions (e.g., Europe), making a comparative international study almost impossible; 

• specific corporate combinations of SP-FP factors, that impedes meaningful comparisons; 

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Negative 


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• not properly considering certain factors, such as company size, risk exposure, sector / 

industry, context of the analysis; 

• confusion on the right way of implementing and measuring CSR, considering the large 

variety of CSR definitions available in the literature [5]. 

Table 1: Theoretical synthesis of possible correlations between SP and FP 

Sign and direction of the SP-FP relationship 

Correlation Theoretical grounds 

Description 

Substitution hypothesis The hypothesis reflects Friedman’s neoclassical 

argument considering that obtaining 

(M. Friedman, 1962) 

Higher SP leads to lower FP high profits for the shareholders should be the 

only social responsibility of a business. If a 

company increases its SP it will increase costs 

No 

correlation 

Positive 

Managerial opportunism 

hypothesis 

(L.E. Preston and D.P. O’Bannon, 

1997) 

Higher FP leads to lower SP 

Negative synergy 

(L.E. Preston and D.P. O’Bannon, 

1997) 

Lower SP leads to higher FP 

Higher FP leads to lower SP 

Supply and demand theory of 

the firm 

(A. McWilliams and D. Siegel, 

2001) 

No link between SP and FP 

Social impact hypothesis 

(B. Cornell and A.C. Shapiro, 

1987) 

Higher SP leads to higher FP 

Available funds hypothesis 

(S.A. Waddock and S.B. Graves, 

1997) 

Higher FP leads to higher SP 

Positive synergy: The “virtuou 

circle” 

(S.A. Waddock and S.B. Graves, 

1997) 

Higher SP leads to higher FP 

Higher FP leads to higher SP 

and reduce profitability. 

This hypothesis assumes that increased FP 

will motivate managers to reduce SP costs and 

maximize personal gains. 

The theory links the substitution and 

managerial opportunism hypotheses in a 

simultaneous codetermi-nation relationship. 

The theory states the existence of an “ideal” 

SP level for each company that managers can 

determine through a cost-benefit analysis, and 

the lack of correlation is explained by the fact 

that a company will offer the exact SP needed 

to maximize profits. 

The hypothesis reflects the theory of 

stakeholder rights, stating that taking into 

account the interests of all stakeholder groups 

will increase FP. If a company does not 

answer also to the less explicit stakeholder 

needs, it could experiment failures in the 

market (e.g. losing corporate reputation), 

which will increase the risk level and decrease 

FP. SP costs are minimal compared to 

potential benefits. 

The hypothesis states that superior FP allows a 

company to allocate more resources to SP. It is 

assumed that higher profitability allows more 

social respon-sibility. 

The “virtuous circle” theory simultaneously 

considers the available funds hypothesis and 

the social impact hypothesis. A well-managed 

business organization will enjoy both higher 

SP and FP. 

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From: Salzmann, Ionescu – Somers and Steger (2005, p. 29) / Preston and O’Bannon (1997, p. 422) 

3. Data and Methodology 

3.1. BRD – Groupe Société Générale (Romanian Development Bank) 

From its total financial assets perspective, BRD ranks number two in the top of Romanian 

banks. Having a 6 billion Euro capitalization, at the end of June 2007, BRD holds the first position 

within the financial societies and the second position within all the companies listed on Bucharest 

Stock Exchange. 

BRD is a known presence in all Romanian regions through its network that comprises more 

than 600 agencies. In June 2007, BRD counted 2.2 million active clients, either individual or 

corporate. 

The main shareholder of BRD is Société Générale, one of the largest banking groups in the 

Euro area, whose services are being used by more than 22.5 million clients worldwide [18]. 

BRD is an important community actor, with various activities during the past years such as 

social, cultural, artistic patronage and sport partnerships. The bank approaches its implication in the 

local community in collaboration with some foundations, non-profit organizations, public 

institutions or sport federations [19]. 

3.2. Measuring BRD’s social performance 

In order to quantify BRD’s social performance, we considered a set of social activities 26 (more 

than 200) that the company conducted during the last seven years (2001 – 2007) and we rated them 

according to an Index (SINDEX) that we proposed. The composite index measuring BRD’s social 

responsibility was developed considering three main factors: part of the methodology proposed by 

KLD Research & Analytics [17]; the Romanian economic, political, social and cultural 

environment; the corporate culture of BRD. 

KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. is the leading authority on social research and indexes for 

institutional investors. Today, 33 of the top 50 institutional money managers worldwide use KLD’s 

research to integrate environmental, social and governance factors into their investment decisions. 

KLD rates the social, environmental and governance performance of companies using a proprietary 

framework of positive and negative indicators. Companies are rated in seven major qualitative issue 

areas: Environment, Community, Corporate Governance, Diversity, Employee Relations, Human 

Rights, Product Quality and Safety. Analysts assign Strengths and Concerns associated with these 

issues, providing a social and environmental profile of companies. 

Considering the data availability and the characteristics of national and corporate culture, we 

determined a specific composite index in order to measure BRD’s social responsibility (not rated by 

KLD). Thus, in order to analyze the social accountability of BRD, we focused on only four main 

types of criteria (Community, Diversity, Employee Relations and Reporting) and we assigned them 

different weights according to the national and corporate culture considered. We also determined 

specific indicators for each criteria and allotted them weights in order to be able to quantify each 

corporate social action (See Table 2: Criteria for measuring CSR of BRD). 

Finally, the methodology for quantifying the social performance of BRD consisted in 

screening and scoring each social action to all the pre-established indicators in order to obtain 

specific values to be compared with financial indicators. For determining a social value for each 

trimester we allotted different weights to each responsible action according to its relative 

importance in the trimester considered. The data used in order to quantify the social performance of 

BRD is represented by these quarterly composite social values 27 (See Graph 1: SINDEX). 

26 We acknowledge to BRD employees, especially to Adrian Remus Dogariu, that kindly have provided us the 

necessary data for this analysis. 

27 For more detailed information regarding the methodology and the social actions considered, please contact the 

authors. 

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Table 2: Criteria for measuring CSR of BRD 

Criteria 

Assigned value 

A. Community 40% 

• Charitable giving 25% 

• Support for art & education 25% 

• Volunteer programs 20% 

• Environment protection 25% 

• Controversial issues involvement 5% 

B. Diversity 10% 

• Support for disabled 30% 

• Women contracting 40% 

• Minority contracting 30% 

C. Employee Relations 40% 

• Health & safety at work 20% 

• Work & life benefits 70% 

• Union relations 10% 

D. Reporting 10% 

• Transparency 60% 

• Standards compliance 30% 

• Compliance with public policy 10% 

TOTAL 100% 

Graph 1: SINDEX 

3,2500 

3,0000 

2,7500 

2,5000 

2,2500 

2,0000 

1,7500 

1,5000 

1,2500 

1,0000 

Jan-01 

Apr-01 

Jul-01 

Oct-01 

Jan-02 

Apr-02 

Jul-02 

Oct-02 

Jan-03 

Apr-03 

Jul-03 

Oct-03 

Jan-04 

Apr-04 

Jul-04 

Oct-04 

Jan-05 

Apr-05 

Jul-05 

Oct-05 

Jan-06 

Apr-06 

Jul-06 

Oct-06 

Jan-07 

Apr-07 

Jul-07 

Oct-07 

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3.3. Measuring BRD’s financial performance 

The financial performance is typically assessed both by accounting and market-based 

measures. Due to the fact that accounting ratios illustrate only historical aspects of firms' 

performance, we used market performance measures (common stock returns) considered to be 

forward looking and representing the investors’ evaluation of the ability of a firm to generate future 

economic earnings. The use of market measures suggests that an investor’s valuation of corporate 

performance is a proper performance measure. Therefore we assessed BRD’s financial performance 

using quarterly stock returns since its first trading day on Bucharest Stock Exchange (See Graph 2: 

BRD's price evolution). The data was gathered from REUTERS and covers the 2001 – 2007 

financial years. The returns were computed on a quarterly basis, from data recorded on first 

Wednesday of January, April, July and October. In case the company was not listed or the markets 

were closed on Wednesday, we used data for the previous or subsequent days 28 . 

Graph 2: BRD's price evolution 

RON 

30,00 

27,00 

24,00 

21,00 

18,00 

15,00 

12,00 

9,00 

6,00 

3,00 

0,00 

Jan-01 

Apr-01 

Jul-01 

Oct-01 

Jan-02 

Apr-02 

Jul-02 

Oct-02 

Jan-03 

Apr-03 

Jul-03 

Oct-03 

Jan-04 

Apr-04 

Jul-04 

Oct-04 

Jan-05 

Apr-05 

Jul-05 

Oct-05 

Jan-06 

Apr-06 

Jul-06 

Oct-06 

Jan-07 

Apr-07 

Jul-07 

Oct-07 

3.4. Granger causality 

In order to detect and examine causal relation between social and financial performance we 

applied Granger causality tests 29 . The Granger causality test was developed as a more efficient 

approach as compared to the basic correlation tool, which does not necessarily imply causation 

between correlated variables in any significant sense of the word. The Granger test addresses the 

issue of whether the current value of a variable y (y t ) can be explained by past values of the same 

variable (y t-k ) and then whether adding lagged values of another variable x (x t-k ) improves the 

explanation of y t . As such, the variable y is said to be Granger-caused by x if the coefficients on the 

lagged values of x are found to be statistically significant. 

The general form of a Granger test is the following: 

y 

t 

t 

= α + 

y 

0 

α1 

t−1 

α 

2 t−2 

α 

k t−k 

β1 

t−1 

β2 

t−2 

βk 

t−k 

ε 

t 

x = a + a x 

0 

1 t−1 

+ 

+ a x 

y 

2 t−2 

+ ... + 

+ ... + a x 

y 

k t−k 

+ 

+ b y 

x 

1 t−1 

+ 

+ b y 

x 

2 t−2 

+ ... + 

+ ... + b y 

x 

k t−k 

+ 

+ u 

t 

(1) 

(2) 

where α 0 and a 0 are the constants, and ε t and u t are residuals. It is worth mentioning that the 

statement “x Granger causes y” does not necessarily imply that y should be seen as the effect or 

28 Given the fact that such data lack was infrequent in our set of data, we do not consider it as systematically affecting 

our results. 

29 Granger causality was developed in 1960s [6] and has been widely used since then. See for example [8]. 

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results of x, as the Granger test measures only precedence and information content on variable y, 

and does not indicate causality in the common sense of the word. The only significant piece of 

information the Granger test reveals is if whether the x variable helps in a better prediction of the y 

variable. 

4. Results 

The application of Granger causality assumes that the analyzed time series are covariance 

stationary. Thus, the series were tested for stationarity and according to Unit root test we noticed 

that the BRD's returns series is stationary (RAND_BRD) and the BRD's social index series is 

stationary only at the second difference (SINDEX_BRD_2). 

For our research purposes, the y variable was represented by SINDEX_BRD_2 and the x 

variable was represented by RAND_BRD (See Table 3: BRD's social and financial performance). 

Table 3: BRD's social and financial performance 

Date SINDEX_BRD_2 RAND_BRD 

iul.01 0,7250 0,2025 

oct.01 0,8050 0,2238 

ian.02 0,1790 0,1213 

apr.02 -1,8615 0,2929 

iul.02 0,9380 0,1716 

oct.02 0,9025 0,2735 

ian.03 -0,3955 0,1333 

apr.03 -1,0585 0,1474 

iul.03 0,6295 -0,1243 

oct.03 0,6165 0,0452 

ian.04 -0,5860 0,1918 

apr.04 -0,4230 0,1577 

iul.04 0,5935 0,0476 

oct.04 0,1900 -0,0037 

ian.05 -0,3952 0,3430 

apr.05 -0,0556 0,1720 

iul.05 0,0008 0,1667 

oct.05 0,7690 0,0769 

ian.06 -0,6645 0,1333 

apr.06 -0,0330 0,1018 

iul.06 0,4745 -0,0309 

oct.06 -0,5945 0,1518 

ian.07 0,5530 0,0354 

apr.07 -0,1105 0,0616 

iul.07 -0,9406 0,2437 

oct.07 1,7602 -0,0649 

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The autoregressive models estimated for the two variables 30 , using EViews, indicated that 2 

lags are significant for SINDEX_BRD_2 and RAND_BRD. As a result, we performed Granger 

tests and the model’s form, illustrated for the relationship between social and financial performance, 

follows: 

SINDEX _ BRD _ 2 

RAND _ BRD = a + a RAND _ BRD 

t 

0 

t 

= α + α SINDEX _ BRD _ 2 

1 

0 

1 

t−1 

t−1 

+ a RAND _ BRD 

2 

+ α SINDEX _ BRD _ 2 

2 

t−2 

t−2 

+ b SINDEX _ BRD _ 2 

1 

+ β RAND _ BRD 

1 

t−1 

t−1 

+ β RAND _ BRD 

+ b SINDEX _ BRD _ 2 

2 

2 

t−2 

+ u 

t 

t−2 

+ ε 

(4) 

t 

(3) 

Our results with respect to Granger tests show that RAND_BRD has an explanatory power on 

SINDEX_BRD_2 at 2 lags and, at the same time, SINDEX_BRD_2 Granger causes RAND_BRD 

at 2 lags (See Table 4: Pairwise Granger Causality Tests at 2 lags). One may observe that the 

results are statistically significant and taking into consideration that the data frequency was 

quarterly and the tests were performed at 2 lags, a relationship could be established between social 

activities and financial performance, with a half year lag. 

Table 4: Pairwise Granger Causality Tests at 2 lags 

Null Hypothesis: Obs F-Statistic Probability 

SINDEX_BRD_2 does not Granger Cause 

RAND_BRD 

24 2.48794 0.10972 

RAND_BRD does not Granger Cause 

SINDEX_BRD_2 

24 2.83124 0.08391 

In summary, corporate social responsibility and financial performance appear to be related 

when using a Granger causality approach. 

5. Conclusions and future research 

Assessing the debate whether corporate social responsibility has an impact on shareholder 

value or vice-versa, our research stresses the interdependence between the above mentioned 

variables. Being the first synthetic analysis ever made for the Romanian market, we adhere to the 

vast majority of the studies stating that a clear cut relation exists in time between contributions to 

corporate social responsibility and shareholders' returns. 

The novative element of this research paper is represented by the way we constructed the 

social index meant to quantify the corporate social performance. 

As future research objectives, we plan, on one hand, to take into account a larger number of 

corporate social events and reinvestigate the same issue for different frequencies (monthly, yearly) 

considering data availability, and, on the other hand, to extend the analysis to various companies 

operating on the Romanian and Central-Eastern European business environment, in order to refine 

this first intent. 

Bibliography 

[1] Cărăgin, A.R., Voicu-Dorobanţu, R., Iamandi, I.E., Dealing with Corruption in South-Eastern 

Europe, Paper presented and published in the proceedings of the International Conference 

“Eco-Trend 2006”, Faculty of Economic Studies, U.C.B., Târgu Jiu, 25.11.2006 

30 Results for 99% level of confidence. 

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[2] Elkington, J., Towards the sustainable corporation: Win-win-win business strategies for 

sustainable development, California Management Review 36, No. 2, 1994, p. 90 – 100 

[3] European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs, Unit D.1, 

Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility – Green Paper, 

Luxembourg, 18.07.2001, p. 8 – 21, 

www.europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-dial/csr/greenpaper_en.pdf 

[4] European Multistakeholder Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility, Final results and 

recommendations, 29.06.2004, p. 3 

www.ec.europa.eu/enterprise/csr/documents/29062004/EMSF_final.report/pdf 

[5] Godfrey, P.C., Hatch, N.W., Researching Corporate Social Responsibility: An Agenda for the 

21 st Century, Journal of Business Ethics 70, No. 1, Springer Netherlands, 2007, p. 87 

[6] Granger, C.W.J., Investigating causal relations by econometric models and cross-spectral 

methods, Econometrica, No. 37, 1969, p. 424-438 

[7] Hill, R.P., Ainscough, T., Shank, T., Manullang, D., Corporate Social Responsibility and 

Socially Responsible Investing: A Global Perspective, Journal of Business Ethics 70, No. 2, 

Springer Netherlands, 2007, p. 165 – 174 

[8] Horobeţ, A., Chiciudean, A., Dumitrescu, D., Stock Market Volatility and Portfolio 

Diversification in Central and Eastern Europe, Paper presented and published in the 

proceedings of the International Conference “The Future of Europe 2006”, Faculty of 

International Business and Economics, A.S.E., Bucharest, 17.11.2006 

[9] Iamandi, I.E., Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Responsiveness in a Global 

Business Environment. A Comparative Theoretical Approach, Romanian Economic Journal 

10, No. 23, Editura A.S.E., June 2007, p. 17 

[10] Kroll, K.M., Good deeds deliver, Industry Week, 15.01.2001, p. 3, 

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3044/is_200101/ai_n13039991 

[11] Nelling, E., Webb, E., Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance: The 

“Virtuous” Circle Revisited, Philadelphia, USA, August 2006, 

http://www.fma.org/SLC/Papers/CSR_and_Financial_Performance_FMA.pdf 

[12] Paraschiv, D., Drăgoi, M.C., From Multinational to Global Company Strategy, Paper 

presented in the proceedings of the F.I.B.E. Conference “Romania and Integration in EU: First 

Lessons”, Faculty of International Business and Economics, A.S.E., Bucharest, 14.06.2007 

[13] Popa, I., Filip, R., Management internaţional, Editura Economică, Bucureşti, 1999, p. 258 

[14] Preston, L.E., O’Bannon, D.P., The Corporate Social-Financial Performance Relationship: A 

Typology and Analysis, Business and Society 36, No. 4, Sage Publications Inc., Chicago, 

USA, 1997, p. 422 

[15] Salzmann, O., Ionescu – Sommers, A., Steger, U., The Business Case for Corporate 

Sustainability: Literature Review and Research Options, European Management Journal 23, 

Issue 1, Pergamon – Elsevier Science Ltd., Oxford, UK, 2005, p. 28 – 33 

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[16] Tsoutsoura, M., Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance, Centre for 

Responsible Business, University of California, Berkeley, USA, 2004, 

http://repositories.cdlib.org/crb/wps/7 

[17] http://www.kld.com/research/socrates/index.html 

[18] http://www.brd.ro/banca/ 

[19] http://www.brd.ro/banca/comunicare/responsabilitate-sociala/ 

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CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUSINESS 

NEGOCIATION PROCESSES 

Lector univ.dr. Florin Lucian Isac 

Universitatea Aurel Vlaicu din Arad 

Facultatea de Ştiinţe Economice 

Résumé: L’exposé présente l’impact de la culture sur le déroulement et l’administration des processus de négociation 

en affaires.Lorsqu’il existe des intentions de conclure une affaire entre des sociétés appartenant à des cultures 

differentes, les managers doivent connaitre profondément les coutumes et les comportements spécifiques à la culture du 

potentiel partenaire. 

Introduction 

Negotiation is a process in which two or more entities come together to discuss common and 

conflicting interests to reach an agreement of mutual benefit.(1) In international business 

negotiations, the differences in the negotiation process from culture to culture include language, 

negotiation styles, approaches to problem solving, cultural conditioning, implicit assumptions, 

gestures and facial expressions, the role of ceremony and formality(2). 

For international negotiations individuals involved must be aware of the multicultural facets in the 

process. The negotiator must understand cultural space of his counterpart. I believe that negotiation 

is a skill and it can be improved. Glenn Fisher(3) addresses five considerations for analyzing crosscultural 

negotiations: 

- the players and the situation; 

- style and decision –making; 

- national character; 

- cross-cultural noise; 

- interpreters and translators. 

Each consideration presents questions that should be answered before deciding to enter in 

international negotiation. 

The players and the situation 

Fisher asserts that there is a cultural dimension in the way negotiators view the negotiation process. 

Form, hospitality and protocol are important to the success of international negotiations. Difficulties 

sometimes arise because there is a difference in what negotiators expect of a negotiation’s social 

setting. The negotiator should discover what the foreign negotiator expects and then provide a 

tension-free environment that encourages cooperation and problem-solving. There also may be a 

national style in choosing negotiators and in selecting negotiating teams. Negotiators can anticipate 

a counterpart’s behavior by researching biographical data and analyzing the negotiator’s 

organizational and institutional role. In the case of negotiating teams, it is useful to discover how 

corporate culture affects internal dynamics. 

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Styles of Decision Making 

Fisher considers that there are patterns in the way officials and executives structure their negotiation 

communication systems and reach institutional decisions. The organizational culture of a foreign 

corporation may provide formal rules and regulations guiding its decision-making process. A 

negotiator can find some ways to influence a foreign corporation’s decisions by analyzing its 

corporate culture and structuring arguments to fit within established guidelines. There are general 

cultural patterns by which individual negotiators develop personal styles of decision-making 

behavior. By discovering how foreign counterparts look at facts and analyze data, successful 

negotiators can provide information that will increase the probability of a successful outcome. 

National character 

Studies of national character call attention both to the patterns of personality that negotiators tend to 

exhibit and to the collective concerns that give a nation a distinctive outlook in international 

relationships. Foreign negotiators concerned with international image may be preoccupied with 

discussions of their national heritage, identity and language. The tone of their argument might be 

influenced by some cultural attitudes, such as ethnocentrism or xenophobia. Fisher maintains that 

foreign negotiators display many different styles of logic and reasoning. International negotiators 

frequently find that discussions are impeded because the two sides seem to be pursuing different 

paths of logic. Negotiation breakdown may result from the way issues are conceptualized, the way 

evidence and new information are used, or the way one point seems to lead to the next. During the 

discussions, the foreign counterpart may pay more attention to some arguments than to others. 

Greater weight may be given to legal precedence, expert opinion, technical data, amity, reciprocal 

advantage. A good international negotiator will discover what is persuasive to the foreign 

counterpart and use that method of persuasion. Foreign negotiators may place different values on 

agreements and hold different assumptions as to the way contracts should be honored. The 

negotiator must find out what steps the counterpart intends to take in implementing the agreement. 

A signature on a piece of paper or a handshake may signify friendship rather than the closing of a 

contract. 

Cross cultural noise 

Noise consists of background distractions that have nothing to do with the essence of the foreign 

negotiator message. Factors such as gestures, personal proximity and office surroundings may 

unintentionally interfere with communication. The danger of misinterpretation of messages 

necessitates analysis of various contextual factors. 

Interpreters and Translators 

Fisher points to limitations in translating certain ideas, concepts, meanings and nuances. Subjective 

meaning may not come across through words alone. Gestures, tone of voice, cadence and double 

entendres are meant to transmit a message. These are not included in a translation. Sometimes a 

negotiator will try to communicate a concept that does not exist in the counterpart’s culture. For 

example, the American and English concept of “fair play” seems to have no exact equivalent in any 

other language. How than can an English national expect “fair play” from a foreign counterpart? 

Interpreters and translators may have difficulty in transmitting the logic of key arguments. This is 

especially true in discussion of abstract concepts such as planning and international strategy. The 

parties may think that they have come to an agreement when in fact they have entirely different 

intentions and understandings. 

Framework for international business negotiations 

A successful negotiation is a “win-win situation” in which both parties gain. There are many 

factors that affects its outcome. There are varied negotiation postures, based form which to 

negotiate. One framework by Weiss and Stripp (4) maintains that there are twelve variables in every 

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international negotiation that impact the negotiation and therefore can significantly influence the 

outcome either positively or negatively. 

1. Basic Conception of Negotiation Process 

There are two opposing approaches to the concept of negotiations: strategic and synergistic. In the 

strategic model, resources are perceived as limited. The sides are competitive and bargaining is 

perceived as who will get the larger portion of the pie. In the synergistic model, resources are 

unlimited. Each party wants to cooperate so that all can have what they want. Counterparts look for 

alternative ways to obtain the desired results. 

2. Negotiator Selection Criteria 

These criteria include negotiating experience, seniority, political affiliation, gender, ethnic ties, 

kinship, technical knowledge and personal attributes. Each culture has preferences and biases 

regarding selection. 

3. Significance of Type of Issue 

Defining the issues of a negotiation is critical. Generally substantive issues focus on control and use 

of resources (space, power, property).Relationship-based issues center around the ongoing nature of 

mutual and reciprocal interests. The negotiation should not hinder relationship and future 

negotiations. 

4. Concern with Protocol 

Protocol is the accepted practices of social behavior and interaction. Rules of protocol can be formal 

or informal. American are generally less formal than Germans. 

5. Complexity of Language 

Complexity refers to the degree of reliance on nonverbal cues to convey and interpret intentions and 

information in dialogue. These cues include distance, eye contact, gestures and silence. There is 

high-context and low-context communication. Cultures that are high context in communication 

(China) are fast and efficient communicators and information is in the physical context or preprogrammed 

in the person. Low-context communication , in contrast, is information conveyed by 

the words without shared meaning implied. The United States is a low/context culture. 

6. Nature of Persuasive Arguments 

One way or another, negotiations involves attempts to influence the other party. Counterparts can 

use an emotional or logical approach. 

7. Role of Individuals’ Aspiration 

The emphasis negotiators place on their individual goals and need for recognition may also vary. In 

some cases, the position of a negotiator may reflect personal goals to a greater extent than corporate 

goals. In contrast, a negotiator may want to prove he or she is a hard bargainer and compromise the 

goals of the corporation. 

8. Bases of Trust 

Every negotiator at some point must face the critical issue of trust. One must eventually trust one’s 

counterparts otherwise resolution would be impossible. Trust can be based on the written laws of a 

particular country or it can be based on friendship and mutual respect and esteem. 

9. Risk-Taking Propensity 

Negotiators can be perceived as either ”cautious” (low risk takers) or “adventurous”( high risk 

takers). If a negotiator selects a solution that has lower rewards but higher probability of success , 

he is not a risk taker. If the negotiator chooses higher rewards but a lower probability of success, 

than he is a “adventurous” or a risk taker. 

10. Value of time 

Each culture has a different way of perceiving and acting upon time. Monochronic cultures 

emphasize making agendas, being on time for the appointments and generally seeing time as a 

quantity to be scheduled. Polychronic cultures stress the involvement of people rather than preset 

schedules. The future cannot be firm so planning takes on little consequence. 

11. Decision-Making System 

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Broadly understood, decision-making systems can be “authoritative” or “consensual”. In 

authoritative decision-making, an individual makes the decision without consulting with his or her 

superiors. However, senior executives may overturn the decision. In consensus decision-making, 

negotiators do not have the authority to make decisions unless they consult their superiors. 

12. Form of Satisfactory Agreement 

Generally, there are two broad forms of agreement. One is written contract that covers possible 

contingencies. The other is broad oral agreement that binds the negotiating parties through the 

quality of their relationship. 

With these variables in mind, the international negotiator is able to develop a profile of his 

negotiating counterpart. 

Bibliography 

1. Stoica,M.C.- Comunicarea şi negocierea în afaceri internaţionale, Tehnopress,Iaşi, 2006. 

2. Harris,P.R.,Moran,R.T.- Managing Cultural Differences,fifth edition,Gulf Professional 

Publishing,1999. 

3. Fisher,G., International Negotiation: A Cross-Cultural Perspective,Chicago, Intercultural 

Press,1980. 

4. Weiss,S., Stripp,W.- Negotiating with Foreign Business Persons: An Introductory for 

Americans with Propositions on Six Cultures, New York, Faculty of Business 

Administration,1985. 

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DECIZIONAL METHODS – LEADERSHIP STYLES 

DRAGOMIR ROBERT GABRIEL 

LECT.UNIV DRD. UNIVERSITATEA “SPIRU HARET” 

ABSTRACT: In the context of globalization and of the challenging area, a great responsibility within a firm comes to 

the person that has to take decisions. The main human nature of the decisions has suffered all kinds of changes, we also 

speak these days about leadership styles and decision styles. The particularities of these styles determine different 

directions of action which, in their turn, will generate at the operational level different measurable results. Thus, 

knowing of these methods from a range of perspectives is so necessary and useful, generating models that show the 

strong points and minimize the weak ones. 

The leadership style can be defined as a mechanism of taking decisions within an 

organization. M.Zlate says that the leadership style represents “the concrete way of playing a role, 

this means the behavioural transposition of the exigencies of the status leader” 31 . 

The management couldn’t take place without decisions. The decisions is defined, generally 

as being a way of action chosen in an aware manner from a number of possibilities, in order to get 

the expected result 32 . Taking a decision depends on the human being, as an extension of the 

thinking results, although a great contribution has, the intelligent machine, the computer, too. There 

are two theories in taking decision within the managerial science: the normative theory and the 

descriptive theory. 

Within the normative theory we meet the following hypothesis: the objectives, the scopes, 

the aims are pre-determined. The decident is the person which perceives yhe reality correctly, 

having wide knowledge, he will impose the maximization of the favourable factors over the 

unfavourable factors. The main decisional instrument met within this theory is the matrix of the 

orientations and actions in a given economic, productive medium. 

The normative theory it self refers to staging the route for the decisions, it is helped by 

identifications and quantifications of quantitative causing elements. The problems connected to 

certainty, risk dependent on the environment and on its variability. 

The descriptive theory sees the maximization of the ordering factors, taking into account a 

better knowledge of the uncontrolled factors. The maximization has to take into consideration, 

mainly, the route producer-distributor-consumer and all other factors that influence this 

informational circuit. The manager doesn’t have the total capacity of knowing the objectives level, 

but depending on the general level of perceiving, of percentage rates of a perfect understanding, of 

partial formalizations and on variants that select the objectives, makes conparations and takes 

favourable alternatives. 

Introducing a decision has to take into consideration an important element, the decisional 

style. The descriptive theory is the concrete way of expressing the managerial role. This role 

influences the results of the management and the efficiency of the whole group activity. The 

descriptive theory has a great role into an organization due to: 

• influences the relation between the manager and the employees 

• can be spread, by immitation to other hierarchical level 

31 M.Zlate, Leadership and management, Editura Polirom, Bucure;ti, 2004 

32 T. Zoelentan, E.Burdus, Gh. Caprescu, Organization management, Ed. Holding Reporter, Bucuresti, 1995 

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• influences the organizational climate 

• determines the management methods that can be used 

There are many approaches of the leadership style, some stressing on the behavioural aspects, 

other stressing on the structure of the man’s personality. There are both the motivational – attitudinal 

aspect and the behavioural aspect. 

Generally speaking, the style is the proper way of acting, of behaviouring of a manager. The 

management style can be defined as all the particularities of the manager activity, of his specific way of 

thinking of acting, his capacity of adapting to some situation, by using proper methods and techniques. 

To know and to assess the leadership style is very important, because: 

- the results they have on the psychological and relational environment in a firm and production 

and on the whole activity efficiency 

- the capacity of division of the leadership style, the capacity of influencing people working in a 

firm 

- the leadership style can influence the orientation of the whole managerial team 

- the leadership style has both a personal and organizational relevance. 

There are known many classifications and typologies of the leadership style: 

a) With Kurt Lewin in his work “Psichologie dynamique-les relations humaines” there are mentioned 

three leadership style: authoritative, democratic and free, after the manner of taking decisions. 

The authoritative style is characterized by the authority centralization , unipersonal way of 

taking decisions, accent on the formal authority. The leader determines the activity of the group, 

establishes the work tasks and methods. Here, the employees aren’t praised for their creative spirit, they 

are always criticized. This style can be efficient only for short periods of time, but it can lead to 

insatisfactions of the employees, tensions, hostility, even aggressiveness. This style isn’t proper to the 

modern system of leadership. 

The democratic style characterizes the managers that let the co-workers and employees 

participate in the managerial work. By practicing this kind of exposing the autority, the managers get a 

clear image of their activity and a correct assessment of every employee. 

The free style is based on the manager’s lack of implication. The work functions automatically, 

by self-adjustment. 

A sociological experiment realized an assessment of the three above mentioned styles. 

• on short term the leaders with authoritative style and democratic style had a good productivity, 

but the leaders with a free style obtained a weak productivity. 

• the employees satisfaction is higher in a democratic style, the employees being more friendly. 

• in a authoritative style there are conflicts in the team working, a hidden aggressiveness. 

• the efficiency in a authoritative style is kept only in the presence of the manager, his departure 

lead to the ceasing of the work. This situation wasn’t met at the other two style. 

b) After efficiency 

• the style of the organizer that acts on reasons of economic rationality, establishes the duties and 

gives the employees independence. 

• the style of the participant – the main concern in working in a team, he encourages the 

communication with the employees, he also accept being criticized. 

• the style of enterprising manager, he followes to gain the best effect, he is authoritative, solves 

the conflicts, respects and promotes the values.


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• the style of realistic manager. He is based on respect and thrust on his employees, he is pacifist, 

he consults with the others. 

• the style of maximalistic. He orientates the activities after the followed objectives, he is exigent. 

• the style of bureaucratic manager. He stresses the grades and titles, he doesn t refer strictly to 

the results, he doesn’t assume the whole reponsability, but he doesn’t transfer it to the 

employees. 

• the style of paternalist manager which exaggerates and speaks more then necessary, he mistakes 

things, avoids conflicts with the employees, he isn’t authoritative. 

• the style of technocrat manager. He wants to keep the position of leader, he is biased, he 

eliminates those who don t agree with his opinion, he creates and maintains a tensioned 

atmosphere. 

• the style of the utopian manager. Here the employees are super-assessed, his decision are 

shallow, the activity is unstructured. 

c) After the values which orientate the manager’s activity 

• the bidimensional classification takes care of two dimensions: the managers orientation toward 

production and personnel. The square grid is used by this kind of leadership. This grid has on the 

vertical line from 1.9. the level of interest for human problems and on the horizontal line the level of 

interest for production problems. The matrix has 81 cassettes. We can mention five styles here: 

1. The style 1.9. characterized by a high interest for production and low for the human problems 

leads to efficiency. 

2. The style 9.1. is opposed to the 1.9. style, the work climate is favourable, it offers 

satisfactions and responsibilities to the staff, but it can, also, take the manager toward the unfulfilment 

of all the objectives. 

3. The style 1.1. shows a manager preoccupied by himself and future, uninvolved in the 

problems of production of staff. He says that everybody knows his duty. 

4. The style 5.5. shows a medium level between the two dimensions. 

5. The style 9.9. shows the manager with the highest level of concern towards the productions 

and the staff. He promotes the employees participation to the production fulfillment and to the taking 

decisions. 

• the three-dimensions classification after J.Reddin 33 refers to: the orientation towards the duty, 

towards the human relations and towards the efficiency. By combining these dimensions, we see 

several kinds of managers: the negativist, the bureaucratic, the autocratic, the altruist, the promoter, the 

vacillating, etc. 

The styles of leadership are influenced by a few factors: 

- physical, biological 

- psychological 

- psycho-social 

Schemes and correlations 

- authoritative 

- democratic 

- free 

based on interest in 

• production 

• human resources 

Leadership styles 

33 W.J.Reddin Les 3 dimensions du dirigent, Management France, Paris, 1968 

based on interest in 

• scope 

• human contacts 

• efficiency


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The leadership styles were much analised. Thus Douglas Mc. Greogor in his work “The human 

side of enterprise” surprised the existence of two conceptions connected to the nature and 

behavioural factor into an organization. These theories are called “X” and “Y”, plus “Z” theory 

belonging to the professor William Ouchi, which refers to the Japanese managers behaviours. In 

our country, Traian Herseni proposes four styles: valuable managers, with a good orientation, 

valuable managers, without style, middling managers, but with style, middling managers without 

style. A modern notion connected to the style of management is the concept of “leadership”. To 

define such a term isn t simple. 

The authors differentiate the notion of “type of leadership” and the notion “style of leadership”. 

In time, the latter concept became wider, it is understood as “the proper way of being, of 

behaviouring and of acting of a manager within the management of a company 34 ”. 

The leadership styles were studied from 1939. They say there are 4 factors which influence the 

leadership style: 

o the leader’s particularities (values, beliefs) 

o the employees’s particularities (knowledge, abilities) 

o the situation’s particularities (the organization’s culture, nature, objectives) 

o time pression. 

The leadership are several, but they depend on the environment particularities and influences 

the organization toward more directions: the level of work productivity and of the group intellectual 

productivity, the psycho-social relations within a group, the motivation of the employees behaviour, 

the level of personal satisfaction of every employee versus the activity in the organization. 

Bibliography 

1. M.Zlate, Leadership and management, Editura Polirom, Bucure;ti, 2004 

2. T. Zoelentan, E.Burdus, Gh. Caprescu, Organization management, Ed. Holding Reporter, 


3. W.J.Reddin Les 3 dimensions du dirigent, Management France, Paris, 1968 

4. V. Petrovici, Leadership styles and the efficiency of management, Ed Economica, Bucuresti, 

2001 

5. V.Cornescu, I.Mihailescu, S.Stanciu, Organization management, Ed All Back, 2003 

34 V. Petrovici, Leadership styles and the efficiency of management, Ed Economica, Bucuresti, 2001


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DEVELOPING A PRICE STRATEGY WITHIN RETAIL TRADE 

MARIUS BĂLĂŞESCU, 

Transilvania University of Braşov,Romania 

ABSTRACT 

The present work has in view: 

- Describing the part played by prices in retail strategy and the importance of price decisions, decisions that must be 

adjustable and complete. 

- Inquiring the impact of consumers, government, producers, wholesalers, and other suppliers, effective and 

potential competitors, on price establishing decisions. Retailers must know all factors that influence price 

decisions, as well as the elasticity of demand, and possible market shares. The government affects prices at three 

levels: federally, stately and locally. Price control may generate conflicts. Producers, wholesalers and other 

suppliers may be asked for guarantees (if their position is not very fortunate). Competitive environment may 

determine prices to increase, and may even generate a price war. 

- Describing the environment of developing a price strategy within retail trade. This environment has five stages: 

goals; price policies; price strategies; price strategy implementation and price adjustment. 

The goals that are to be achieved by the means of prices are: sales increase, profit increase, return on investment 

and quick depreciation. A good price strategy incorporates demand, costs and competitive concepts. Retailers must 

know when to use customary or variable prices, when to use low price policies and variable price policies, leader 

prices, multiple - unit prices, and when to range prices. Price adjustment is required for adaptation to internal and 

external conditions. It includes price reductions or higher additions. It is very important for the adjustment to be 

controlled by a budget in order to avoid excessive discounts, to measure the adjustments in time, and to write down 

reduction causes. 


The work approaches the price establishing issue within retail trade, especially in American 

economy. 

As shown in the following figure, a price strategy in retail trade includes five stages: retail trade 

goals, price policies, price strategies, price strategy implementation and price adjustment. 

Retail trade 

goals 

Price 

policies 

Price 

strategies 

Price strategy 

implementation 

Price 

adjustment 

Factors that influence price strategy in retail trade


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2. Retail Trade Goals 

The process may be a complex one due to the occasional excessive demand, to the number 

of products and due to the external factors mentioned above. 

A price strategy must emphasize its own targets and must be closely connected to the sales 

and the profit. Nevertheless, certain price goals must be mentioned in order to avoid problems that 

may appear because of the confusion created by the displaying of more prices, problems caused by 

the long lasting negotiations with clients, or by offering frequent discounts to stimulate client flow, 

or even problems caused by the major importance given to prices. 

The goals that are to be achieved can take the shape of incomes and/or volume units. An 

aggressive strategy, also known as market penetration price is used when the retailer wishes to 

obtain incomes by selling large quantities of goods at a low price. The profit per unit is lower, but 

the total profit is high if the goal is achieved. This strategy is advantageous in the case of price 

sensitive clients and if costs do not increase. 

Implementing a high price strategy the company attracts clients who are interested in 

services and prestige and not in prices. Usually it does not maximize sales, but it draws high unitary 

profit (e.g. Bvlgari – third jewellery company in the world; if you ask how much does it cost? 

means you cannot afford it). 

Return on investment and quick depreciation are other goals that retailer aim to. The retailer 

aims a certain percentage of the investment (such as 20%). Quick depreciation is used by retailers 

who do not possess high resources, wish to expand or have an uncertain future. 

Other goals are listed bellow. Each retailer establishes a list of priorities based on its current 

position, and creates a plan that tries to fulfil. Some of the goals may be incompatible. 

To maintain a suitable image; 

To encourage clients not to be price sensitive; 

To be equitable to all parts (including suppliers, employees and clients); 

To have a consequent price policy; 

To increase client flows in off-peak seasons; 

To sell season stocks; 

To align prices to competition without starting a price war; 

To promote a “we-won’t-have-the-lowest-prices” philosophy; 

To be acknowledged as price leader by competitors; 

To supply a high range of services; 

To minimize the government chance to response to price established and made public; 

To discourage potential competitors to enter the market; 

To maintain the clients interested; 

To encourage business repetitiveness. 

3. Price Policies 

Through a large price policy a retailer generates and integrates a price plan on both short 

and long term (goals that can be achieved in a short period of time and goals that can be achieved in 

a long period of time), that aim creating a consequent image (essential to franchises an shop chains). 

The retailer connects the price policy to the target, to the image and to other specific elements. 

Here are some price policies a company may chose from: 

• No competitor will have lower prices; no competitor will have higher prices (in case of 

prestige) or prices are aligned to competition; 

• All goods will have independent prices, based on demand; or all prices are connected to one 

another to ensure a certain image and to create a suitable addition;


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• There is a price leadership; competitors are price leaders and will set the first prices; or 

prices are independent from competitors; 

• Prices are fixed during a year or a season; or prices will modify if costs change. 

4. Price Strategies 

In the case of prices directed towards demand retailers set the prices based on consumer 

wishes and determine the price limits accepted by the market. The upper limit is called demand 

ceiling. 

In the case of prices directed towards costs retailers set the inferior limit of demand, and the 

lowest accepted price, so that the company gains a certain profit. 

In the case of prices directed towards competition the retailer sets the prices accordingly to 

the competition; 

As a rule, these concepts ought to be combined in order to establish a price policy. 

4.1. Prices Directed Towards Demand 

Retailers use this kind of prices in order to estimate the quantity of goods consumers should 

buy, at different prices. This concept studies the clients’ interests and price psychological 

implications. Two aspects of psychological prices are: price-quality association and prestige price. 

According to the concept of price-quality association a lot of buyers think that high prices 

mean high quality and low prices imply a lower quality of goods. This association is quite important 

if the competition or the products are hard to judge by a different characteristic but price, if clients 

have little experience or little confidence in judging by quality (as in the case of the new seller on 

the market), if the brands are unknown, and so on. Even though different researches proved that 

there is a connection between price and quality, they also proved that the environment in which the 

sale takes place, the services provided, the well-known brands, play an important part in choosing 

the buying place. 

Prestige prices presume that certain clients will not buy some goods and services if their 

prices are low. It starts from the premise that a low price means low quality (such as associating the 

price to quality). Some persons look for prestige prices when they chose places to buy from. There 

are shops that set high prices in order to make the clients feel superior by buying from there. But 

these strategies are not generally valid. Some people wish to save some money, therefore they will 

always negotiate. In this case neither price-quality association nor prestige prices can be 

implemented. 

4.2. Prices Directed Towards Costs 

Mark-up pricing is the most common and used technique. In the case of addition prices the 

retailer sets the price by adding to the unitary cost, the operational expenses and his profit. The 

difference between the price and the merchandise cost is the addition. 

Bellow we calculated the addition percentage: 

Addition percentage = (selling price – merchandise cost)/selling price 

(Retail trade) 

Addition percentage = (selling price – merchandise cost)/merchandise cost 

(Cost)


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If a retailer buys a desk with $200 and sells it with $300, the $100 covers his expenses and 

profit. The addition percentage is 33% (1/3) reported to the selling price, and 50% reported to the 

cost. 

Here are three more examples that prove the importance of calculating addition in a sales 

planning. 

E.g.1. A clothes’ shop buys men jeans for $12 and wants to obtain an addition of 30%. What is the 

selling price? 


0.3 = (selling price - $12)/selling price 

Or: 

Selling price = merchandise cost/ (1-addition) 

Selling price = $12/ (1-0.3) = $17.14 

E.g.2.A book shop wants a minimum 40% addition. If a large box of envelopes is sold for $7.99, 

which is the maximum price the book shop can pay for buying the box of envelopes? 


0.4 = ($7.99-merchandise cost)/ $7.99 

Or: 

Merchandise cost = selling price * (1-addition) 

Merchandise cost = $7.99 * (1-0.4) = 4.794 

E.g.3. A sports shop buys bicycles. The unitary price is $105 and its unitary selling price will be 

$160. What is the addition? 


Addition percentage = ($160.00-$105.00) / $160 = $34.4 

The addition percentage can also be determined by inquiring the scheduled operational 

expenses, the profit and the net sales. 

The scheduled addition will be: 

Addition percentage = (scheduled operational expenses + scheduled profit) / scheduled net sales 

E.g. A florist estimates the annual operational expenses at $55.000. The annual profit is $50.000, 

including salaries. The net sales are $205.000. 

Addition percentage = (scheduled operational expenses + scheduled profit) / scheduled net sales. 

Addition percentage = ($55.000 + $50.000) / $250.000 = 42% 

So, if a flower costs $8.00, the selling price will be: 

Selling price = $8.00 * (1-0.42) = $13.79, starting from the premise that this flower is the 

only product that the florist sells in order to obtain the desired profit.


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Even though a retailer must set the targets that the addition will aim, the addition per ranges 

of goods or per individual goods can sometimes be very different. 

With a variable addition policy retailers adjust addition per ranges of goods: 

• It is admitted that different ranges of goods/services have costs that can fluctuate. Some 

goods imply modifications or installations. Expensive products imply a higher price 

reduction at the end of the year than cheaper products. 

• Differential investments in goods are allowed. For goods that the retailer orders regularly the 

addition will be lower, in comparison to refined jewellery that are unique and therefore have 

a higher addition. 

• There are differences in sales based on the effort and abilities. E.g. a food machine implies a 

substantial effort, in comparison to a bread toaster. 

• Helping retailers to generate a higher client flow by displaying major discounts to given 

products. 

A way of planning the variable addition is direct product profitability – DPP, a technique 

that allows each retailer to find the profit of any range of goods, by calculating adjusted per-unit 

gross margin and direct costs of goods for depositing, transport, handling and selling. Next, the 

addition to each range is set. DPP is used by supermarkets, shops that offer discounts and other 

retailers. The main problem is the complex process of cost allocation. 

Prices directed toward costs are more popular among retailers. The reason for this is that it is 

easier for a retailer to calculate a standard addition to ranges of goods, than to estimate the demand 

for different products at different prices. The company may also adjust prices the demand or to the 

market share. Prices carrying addition bring to the retailers a reasonable profit. If retailers align 

their addition percentages, price competition is low. 

4.3. Prices Directed Towards Competition 

A retailer can use competition prices as reference. A company may not change prices if 

certain changes took place in demand and in costs, even though the competition modifies their 

prices. Similarly, a company can modify its prices if the competition does so, even though there are 

no changes in demand or costs. A company well placed, with an advantageous image and exclusive 

brands can set prices higher than competition. Nevertheless, prices above market average are not 

suitable to a shop wit an inappropriate position, based on self-service, lacks of innovation and 

doesn’t provide distinguished products. 

Prices directed towards competition do not imply establishing demand curves or price 

elasticity. The average market price is supposed to be fair for both the buyer and the seller. Setting 

prices at the market average doesn’t slow down competition and doesn’t lead to wars between 

companies. 

In order to best integrate these three concepts, the following questions are imperative: 

1. If there are price reductions, will the income increase consistently? (demand direction) 

2. Should one product have different prices (based on client negotiation, season and so on)? 

(demand direction) 

3. Will a fixed price offer the possibility to obtain a traditional addition? (cost direction) 

4. What price is necessary for a product that requires special acquisition, selling or supplying 

costs? (cost orientation) 

5. What prices are set by competition? (competition direction) 

6. Can prices be set above market average to create a superior image? (competition direction)


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5. Price Strategy Implementation 

Implementing a price strategy implies taking separate decisions, between which there is a 

certain interaction. These decisions may be answers to the following questions: 

How important is setting the price? For how long should prices be maintained? 

Is convenient to have low prices every day? 

Should prices be changed if modifications appear in costs or in demand? 

Should the same price be asked to all clients that buy in similar conditions? 

Is negotiation allowed? 

Should old pricing be used? 

Should leader prices be used to draw clients? If the answer is positive, should these prices be 

above, under or at the cost level? 

Should discounts be offered to clients who buy in large quantities? 

Can prices be variable, based on the department or on the production line? 

By customary pricing retailers set the prices for goods and services for a longer period of 

time (e.g. news-papers, sweets, foods, etc.). In this case it is desirable for clients to have a price 

guarantee. 

An example of such a price is everyday low pricing - ELP, by the means of which retailers 

intend to sell at low prices throughout an entire sales season. Low prices are set, but few as number 

or not advertised, except for products with discounts or products from the end of the season. The 

retailer reduces the publicity and helps increasing in clients’ minds the credibility due to the price. 

On the other hand, by ELP producers try to eliminate special permissions created to encourage 

retailers to offer promotional prices throughout the year. 

In many cases a retailer can’t or mustn’t use customary pricing. A company can’t keep 

prices constant if demand fluctuates. By the means of variable prices retailers alternate prices to 

coincide to the fluctuations created by costs or by demand. 

Cost fluctuation can be seasonal or connected to the tendencies. Supermarkets and florists 

practice variable pricing due to the seasonal nature of certain foods and flowers. 

Demand fluctuations are based on time or space. The ones connected to the space appear to 

the retailers that sell seat places (concert halls) or room places (hotels). For different locations there 

are different prices, just as places nearby the scene are more expensive. Time fluctuations appear in 

cases in which the demand is different from one hour to another, from one day to another or from 

one season to another. The demand for movie tickets is higher on Saturdays than on Wednesdays. 

Prices should be lower in periods of time in which the demand is lower. 

Yield management prices – a computerized technique, based on demand, having variable 

prices helps a retailer (usually a service firm) to determine the price combination of the production 

that brought the highest incomes on a given period of time. It is most common among hotels and 

airlines. 

Customary and variable prices can be used together. E.g. a cinema can ask on Wednesday 

$5 for a ticket and on Saturday $9. 

Through the unique price policy the retailer asks the same price to all clients that buy under 

similar conditions. This policy can be used together with customary prices and with variable prices. 

Flexible pricing allow consumers to negotiate on the price. A lot of jewellery shops and auto 

dealers use these prices. This implies high initial prices and good salesmen. A special form of 

flexible pricing is contingency pricing: the service supplier is paid only after the consumption of the 

service, and the payment is based on the satisfaction of the client. This implies a great risk to the 

retailer because it takes time and a great effort with no payment. A real estate officer can show a 

house 25 times without selling it, therefore he doesn’t get paid.


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By multiple-unit pricing a retailer can offer discounts to clients who buy in large quantities 

or buy connected products. By selling two products for $0.75 a retailer sells more than by selling 

each for $0.39. 

By bundled pricing retailers put together more elements and set a unique price. So, a 35 mm 

digital camera, with batteries and all accessories can sell for $289. Sales can increase, and clients 

are offered a smaller price than if they bought the products separately. As alternative, many retailers 

use unbundled pricing – individual price for each product (e.g. a company that sells TV’s can ask 

separated prices for the TV set, transportation and annual maintenance). 

6. Price Adjustment 

Price adjustment allows retailers to use prices as a mechanism of adaptation. Reductions and 

extra additions may be necessary due to competition, season, demand, merchandise costs or even 

little thefts. 

Reductions are used to achieve the low price of the competition, due to the large stocks of 

goods, to increase client flows in the shops, and the extra price increases appear due to the 

unexpected demand increase or if the cost increase. Competition between companies makes price 

reductions more frequent than extra price increases. 

Price reductions or extra price increases can be calculated into $ or as percentage. 

Reduction percentage = total reduction ($) / net sales ($) 

A complementary measure is off-retail markdown percentage that calculates the reduction 

for each product or for each range of products, as original selling price percentage. 

Off-retail markdown percentage = (original price – new price) / original price 

Extra addition percentage =total extra addition ($) / net sales ($) 

Extra percentage of retail trade = (new price – original price) / original price 

This percentage measures the price increase as percentage of the original price. 

Units that must sell = [original increase (%) / (original increase +/- price 

to obtain the same total adjustment (%))]*units expected to be sold at original 

profit after price adjustment price. 

E.g. Let’s presume that a Sony Walkman at a cost of $50 has a selling price of $100 ($50 addition). 

The retailer hopes to sell 500 pieces next year that will bring him a $25.000 profit ($50*500pieces). 

How many pieces must he sell in order to obtain the desired profit, if he reduces the price to $85, or 

increases it up to $110. 

Units that must sell ($85) = [50% / (50%-15%)]*500 = 1.43*500 = 714 pieces 

Units that must sell ($110) = [50% / (50%+10%)]*500 = 0.83*500 = 417 pieces 

By the control of reductions the retailer evaluates the number of reductions and their causes. 

A good way to evaluate the causes of reductions is to write down the reasons of price falls, and to 

examine periodically these reasons. Possible causes are: “end of season”, “price adjustment to 

competition”, “used merchandise”, “old fashion style”.


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Even though there are different points of view among retailers concerning the most 

appropriate period of time for reductions, there are many things to be said about early reduction 

policy. Reductions from the end of the season will be more insignificant if no reduction was made 

throughout the season. The merchandise has reduced prices and the demand is still active. Early 

reductions make space for new merchandise and they also bring cash flows. The main advantage of 

later reduction policy is that it gives the retailer the possibility to sell his merchandise for the 

original price. Nevertheless, the advantages of early price reduction policy cannot be achieved by 

the later price reduction policy. 

In the past, many retailers had initially high prices, which were reduced up to 60% in time in 

order to increase client flows. Nowadays even more retailers start with low prices, low sales, and 

low reductions. Last, but not least, a major problem is that some retailers accustomed their clients to 

buy only when reductions. 

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Berman, B., Evans, J.: “Retail Management. A STRATEGIC APPROACH”, Pearson- 

Prentice Hall, US, 2007; 

2. Prescott, L.: “Shopping around Online”, Chain Store Age, 2005, pg.78; 

3. Felsenthal, E.: “Manufacturers Allowed to Cap Retail Prices”, Wall Street Journal, 1997, pp 

A3, A8; 

4. Clark, K: “Sticker Shock”, Chain Store Age, 2004; 

5. www.bizhelp24.com/marketing/loss_leader.shtml.


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E-MARKETING –NOUVELLES TENDANCES 

Conf . Univ. Dr. Cezar Mihălcescu 

Universitatea Româno Americană 

Résumé 

Nous vivons un moment dans lequel l’humanité utilise la technologie des ordinateurs pour pousser les limites 

de la connaissance et de la liberté. Les gens se trouvent dans une permanence recherche de résultats, d’une information 

personnalisé, et l’Internet leurs fournie des options. L’Internet devient ainsi une modalité de vivre et un moyen 

d’affaires. 

The question that is asked at the moment is no longer if one should use the Internet 

technology or not, but how to use it to be competitive on the market. An electronic marketing 

strategy is necessary to give a direction to the company’s Internet marketing activities, to integrate 

them into the marketing activities and to sustain the company’s general objectives. 

The process of elaborating and implementing an electronic marketing strategy follows a logic 

similar to that of a corporatist strategy. Moreover, an Internet marketing strategy should determine a 

much more rapid reaction towards the environment, especially due to the rhythm of changes seen on 

the Internet. Therefore, the following should be considered: 

• A continuous research and analysis of the environment 

• Clearly defining objectives 

• Developing the strategy 

• Implementing 

• Control 

• The strategy should lead to an immediate answer to environment changes. 

A first decision in elaborating a strategy is evaluating and selecting the market segments and 

developing the suitable offers. In the context of the Internet, organizations usually look for those 

groups of clients with the highest probability to act online, so for those groups that present interest 

through the profit they might bring the company. Using the Internet to propose personalized offers 

for the first 20% of a company’s clients, for example, has direct repercussions on its income. A well 

made website can support customers in taking the decision to buy, by providing information of 

interest and which lead to rising the company’s credibility. The Internet can be used to reach certain 

segments that are more difficult to touch when using other environments or it can be an efficient 

instrument for making customers loyal. 

Positioning is the act of projecting the proposition and image of a company so that this can occupy a 

distinct and valuable position in the attention of the targeted customers. In other words, the purpose 

of positioning is to conceive the proposition and the image of the company so that they occupy a 

distinct and significant position in the minds of the targeted clients. In the online environment, the 

positioning of products can be made according to the following four variables: the quality of the 

product, the quality of the service, price and time. The equivalent of the unique sale proposition in 

traditional marketing is the online value proposition. The online value proposition must:


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‣ Clearly stand out from the offline companies and their propositions 

‣ Differentiate online propositions by cost, the degree of innovation of the product and the 

quality of the service 

‣ Attract specific market segments 

‣ Effectively communicate with the web page visitors 

‣ Clarify the means and resources necessary for supplying the product to the parties involved 

in the acquisition process. 

Another strategic decision is maintaining a balance between the investments for attracting new 

customers and retaining these customers. Initially, many start-up companies have invested 

enormously to attract new consumers, without balancing these expenses with competitive strategies 

for retaining them. In general, studies have shown that it is easier for companies to attract visitors to 

the web pages they own, rather than determine them to buy or to turn occasional buyers into loyal 

buyers.Therefore, is it efficient for a company to direct its funds towards attracting customers, 

towards retaining the customers they have or should they choose a middle course? The success of a 

virtual entrepreneur could be modeled and controlled using the following performance-factors: 

Attraction power of the site, which refers to the type and number of visitors, the cost of attracting 

visitors and the income generated by visitors (for the media sites). 

1. Conversion is a factor that takes into account the customers’ database, the costs for 

attracting customers, the weight of the total number of clients-visitors, the number of 

transactions per buyer, the income generated by transactions, the income per customer, and 

the cost of retaining clients. 

2. The Retention of customers focuses on the costs for retaining customers, on the income 

generated by loyal customers, on the weight of the income generated by loyal customer from 

the total incomes, the income generated by repeated acquisitions. 

These factors highlight the necessity and importance of marketing communications for the success 

of the company’s online activity. 

The Internet offers many opportunities for expanding markets and products. The Ansoff matrix 

is useful for marketers to define their strategic options using Internet technology. 

1. Entering the market. Digital channels can be used to sell “old” products on already existing 

markets (these represent a rather conservative approach of the use of Internet). 

2. Developing the market. In this case, online channels are used to sell on new markets, taking 

advantage of an international, low cost promoting, without the need for the support of a selling 

infrastructure. Even if in this case too we can talk about a conservative way of using the 

Internet, this strategic option can be extremely profitable for increasing exports from small and 

medium-sized enterprises. 

3. Developing the product. New products (usually information products) and digital services for 

existing markets can de developed and distributed via the Internet. In this case we have an 

innovative way of using the Internet. 

4. Diversifying. This strategic option implies entering new markets with the aid of new products, 

a process that the Internet facilitates a lot. 

There are two perspectives of the Internet marketing. The first one refers to the consideration of the 

internet-based marketing as a way of creating an added value for the customers, company, 

investors, and media. For example, a page dedicated to the products of the company can give a lot 

of information about them helping the consumers to take the decision to buy; an e-mail connection 

tothe service department makes the time needed for an answer to be smaller and the client 

satisfaction to rise. 

The second perspective refers to the use of the internet for developing marketing strategies and 

tactics outside the company site. The purpose of these programs is often to create traffic on the 

company site, but this is done with external means such as banners, sponsorship and e-mail


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campaigns. Often, these tactics are part of an elaborate promotion strategy. Web-based marketing 

offers a new extraordinary possibility to approach the existing and potential clients, with lots of 

supplementary advantages. Web-based marketing can lead to the extending of the geographical 

coverage area of the sales and can open access to some markets that are impossible to touch with 

other resources. Likewise, it offers the possibility to promote the brand in places where the 

company does not advertise or does not have any physical presence and the visitors interested in the 

company’s site can rapidly become potential and then real clients. When online clients have access 

to press releases, information on the product or prices, the costs and the time needed for distributing 

the information on printed support is considerably decreased. A web site and a web-based 

marketing campaign can extend the geographical sales coverage and can uncover new markets that 

would normally be impossible to approach. 

A gift shop with only one location that had loyal clients - but entirely local – has added a list of gifts 

for young newlyweds on the web site. Soon, persons from out of town began using the list to shop 

online for the couples that were about to get married. Without the list, the sells would have been 

smaller. 

Likewise, new communication channels with the clients are opening; with the help of webbased 

marketing materials such as online news bulletins, the clients will be automatically informed 

about different aspects regarding the company. More than that, internet marketing ensures 

quantitative reactions to the manifesting tendencies, to customers’ satisfaction and buying behavior. 

A scuba-diving products company sends e-mail messages to the online clients to confirm 

their acquisition, payment and the estimated date for receiving the product. In addition, the 

company has added in these messages personalized special offers to each client depending of what 

he bought. For example, one of the clients who bought a scuba-diving costume can be offered a 

mask or swimming fins at a deducted price. 

A web site can reduce the costs for customer service by allowing the online clients to obtain 

information on the product and price, and to communicate online with the customer service 

representative during the process of deciding to buy. 

A tea and coffee shop chain has added a new function to their web site, which allows 

visitors to find near-by shops, apart from shopping online. The visitor fills in the application form 

with his address and the site automatically provides a map of the nearest shops. This function 

reduced the number of telephone asking for addresses of the nearby shops and the brand began to be 

more visible in the online and offline community. 

The possibilities of marketing will grow with the use of new instruments such as online 

market research, testing and promotion marketing. It has to be mentioned that with the aid of the 

Internet, communications with the clients is permanent, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Web-based marketing can make the clients database grow very fast and in a very flexible 

way, with reduced costs. The initiatives can be launched faster and they can be targeted towards any 

part of the client database or to the potential clients. Web-based marketing activity can be 

personalized and adapted to the specific interests of each client. 

Moreover, web-based marketing can increase the capacities of the marketing department to 

include market research, testing marketing and different online promotions. 

Bibliografie 

1. Belu, Mihaela; Paraschiv, Dorel. Tranzactii pe Internet. Bucuresti: Editura Economica, 

2004. 

2. Costea, Carmen. Afaceri comerciale : abordari moderne. Bucuresti: All Beck, 2005, 

3. Manoilescu; Stanciu-Timofte, Carmen. Baze de date pentru comert electronic pe Internet. 

Bucuresti: Oscar Print, 2004


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INOVATIONS AND COMPETITIVENESS 

ON THE GLOBAL MARKET OF TOURISM 

Conf. Univ. Dr. Daniela Firoiu Universitatea Româno Americană 


e-mail: danafiroiu@yahoo.com 

Conf . Univ. Dr. Cezar Mihălcescu Universitatea Româno Americană 

e-mail: cezar_mihalcescu@hotmail.com 


ABSTRACT :In a global economy, inovation is becoming a key factor of competitiveness. The content changes in 

tourism offers, a result of the industryâ€s globalisation process, has brought about new developpement challenges for 

the involved companies. Short and medium term developpement policies wll have to be re-thought around a new frame. 

A real inovation policy requires a change in the companies policies as well as their corresponding strategies. This 

change would impact managerial engagement in transnational strategies, information technology skill developpement 

and the procedures sustaining transnational operations such as: knowledge and information transfers and awareness of 

national socio â€“ economical copmetitiveness policies. 

L’intégration de la Roumanie dans l’Union Européenne mais aussi l’intensification du 

processus de la globalisation a généré la nécessité d’analyser et de formuler un certain nombre de 

stratégies au niveau national, stratégies qui ont comme but celui d’accroître la compétitivité du 

produit touristique roumain. 

En complément a ceux antérieurement mentionné, on retrouve aussi le besoin de s’adapter 

en permanence au rythme des changements qui apparaissent de manière régulière dans la réalité du 

marché global des produits et services. 

Certainement, les motivations pour créer et implémenter un set de stratégies compétitives au 

niveau global du tourisme roumain sont nombreuses et aisément identifiables, étant donné le fait 

que les indices de la compétitivité du produit touristique roumain reposent essentiellement sur la 

contribution du tourisme au PIB, le dégrée d’occupation de la ressource humaine dans le domaine, 

le volume des exports, le solde de la balance des payements etc. 

Dans ce contexte, on peut sortir en évidence le Master Plan, pour le développement du 

tourisme roumain, qui représente, sans doute, le résultat d’un long processus d’analyse et de 

recherche, et le fait qu’au final la Roumanie puisse s’appuyer sur un plan cohérent et performant 

d’action c’est un fait remarquable. 

Néanmoins, la stratégie générale dans n’importe quel domaine repose sur l’implication de 

l’agent économique, dans la plupart des cas de dimensions réduites, qui doit dans un premier temps, 

être informé, après stimulé et ensuite évalué. Celle-ci est la raison pour laquelle tout plan a besoin 

d’une communication et d’une réelle collaboration entre toutes les parties impliquées. En plus, la 

compétitivité est le résultat des innovations permanentes et celles-ci doivent être évidentes tant au 

niveau des compagnies multinationales, que parmi les petites entreprises.


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Davis & Foray suggèrent que « le besoin d’innover est de plus en plus accentué au fur et à 

mesure que celui-ci devient le seul moyen de survivre et prospérer dans les économies globalisées 

et extrêmement compétitives » 35 . Baumol (2002) relève à son tour que, dans la majorité des cas, la 

concurrence oblige les compagnies soit à investir dans l’innovation, soit s’assumer le risque de 

perdre face à leur principaux compétiteurs. En plus, cet étude réalisé sur 46 innovations majeures 

dans le domaine des produits (relevantes pour tous les secteurs de l’économie) démontre que la 

durée dans laquelle les innovations offrent un avantage concurrentiel avait descendu de 33 à 3 ans, 

entre le fin du siècle XIX et le début du siècle XXI. 

En pratique, il est évident le fait que les innovation sont en liaison avec l’incertitude, le 

risque et l’instabilité. Par conséquent, à présent la clé du succès des entrepreneurs sur le marché 

s’appuie sur leurs habileté d’innover et de s’assumer des risques. 

En conséquence, les entreprises de l’industrie du tourisme roumain doivent conscientiser et 

anticiper les changements du marché global du tourisme, parfois même en se prenant le risque de 

perdre leur position sur le marché ou le capital. Pour s’augmenter le taux de marché ou la 

production, il leur faut aussi des innovations soutenues par des stratégies réelles pour gagner ainsi 

des avantages compétitives. 

Ensuite, il résulte nécessaire de présenter les principaux types d’innovation qui puissent 

susciter l’intérêt des entrepreneurs du tourisme roumain 36 . 

- Incrémentales – qui ne nécessitent pas des innovations extraordinaires sur le 

marché ou en ce qui concerne la technologie utilisée. Par exemple, augmenter la 

vitesse avec laquelle les touristes sont tournus par une machine dans un parc 

d’attractions ou moderniser les meubles dans une chambre d’hôtel. 

- Distinctives – celles-ci nécessitent d’habitude s’adapter au comportement du 

consommateur. Par exemple, un équipement vidéo qui est installé dans une 

chambre d’hôtel, ou des structures descentralise de management qui gèrent des 

restaurants thématiques, appartenant d’une chaîne de profil. 

- Epatantes – celles-ci implique un nouveau traitement, une nouvelle optique 

du/dans le comportement du consommateur. parmi les exemples, on peut noter la 

vente directe à travers les services internet, des billets d’avion, ou la première 

course à 360 degrés dans un montagne rousse. Les innovations épatantes 

promettent d’habitude des profits significatives pour l’entreprise, mais impliquent 

aussi des risques associés plus élevés. 

Les innovations des produits 

Les stratégies des compagnies touristiques, telle qu’il soit leur périmètre d’action, se 

ressemblent à celles des autres secteurs d’activité. dans ce contexte, on peut choisir une des 

suivantes stratégies : 

5. Eteindre la dimension du marché 

6. Augmenter le taux de marché local 

7. Diminuer les coûts 

8. Ajuster le mixe des ventes 


by Zrinski, 2004, pag. 78 

36 adaptation après Murphy, J., Forest, E.J., Wotring, C.E., Hotel Management and Marketing on the Internet, 1996


ISSN: 1842-4856 

Comme on peut observer, les stratégies sont en plein liaison avec les innovations des 

produits. Par exemple, le premier tour-opérateur américain qui avait offrit des vacances en Asie 

s’est étendu son taux de marché en attirant des nouveaux clients qui n’avaient pensés avant à une 

telle option. la compagnie avait augmenté son taux de marché, avait diminué dans le même temps 

les coûts de voyage (en comparaison avec le tourisme indépendant) et s’est diversifié son offre en 

ajoutant une nouvelle destination touristique. 

Les innovations des produits impliques en effet à savoir différentier les produits en 

comparaison avec les compagnies rivales. L’essence de la différentiation des produits consiste dans 

le fait que l’entreprise offre des variantes inédites par rapport à ses compétiteurs, à un prix 

similaire ou peu différentié, en gagnant par cette stratégie des importants poids de marché et des 

bénéfices sur mesure. 

Il faut mentionner par contre que l’ouverture du marché des produits vers le tourisme de 

masse, a été influencé de manière signifiante par le marketing et la publicité qui ont joués leur rôle, 

mai aussi par les investissements réalisées dans les nouveaux produits et dans la partie 

technologique. Par exemple, le développement des paquets de vacance depuis le nord de l’Europe 

vers le sur, a dépendu en grande mesure des changements technologiques faites aux moteurs des 

avions et du déploiement des circuits de transport aérien, ainsi que des investissements fait dans les 

nouveaux produits : hôtels, villages de vacance, l’organisation des événements, le développement 

de l’offre de type « parcours de divertissement », ou celui thématique. 

Les exemples ci-dessus viennent souligner l’importance de redécouvrir les produits 

touristiques autochtones dans l’optique d’exploiter les tendances internationales et les adapter au 

spécifique du marché roumain. Comme exemple, la crise de la qualité des stations estivales du 

littoral roumain peut avoir comme direction stratégique, en défit de celle formalisée par le master 

plan, la restructuration et la redéfinition des stations, la spécialisation de ceux-ci par catégories de 

clientèle (segment de marché). Plus concrètement, il s’agit de créer des stations-noyau, définies par 

un certain dégrée de confort, qui va re-établir l’équilibre entre les offres de qualité élevée, qui 

s’adressent à une catégorie de clientèle plus sélecte et le tourisme de masse, avec des services d’une 

qualité moyenne, adressées à un segment de clientèle ayant des revenus moyens, caractérisées par 

un dégrée de confort plus bas (exemple – 2-3 étoiles pour le logement). 

Les innovations des processus 

En ce qui concerne le système de production, dans la durée, des innovations des processus 

ont été enregistrées. Comme suite, à présent nous assistons à des manières très différentes de 

combiner les innovations des processus de travail, aspects qui conduisent à la fin vers une 

croissance de la compétitivité des entreprises sur le marché. Comme exemple, on peut opter pour 

une jonction entre des innovations de marketing (ventes directes, y compris des ventes on-line), les 

changements des processus de travail (ex : allouer les places en avion au moment d’embarcation, 

croissance d’ergonomie pendant le vol) et la réduction de prix. 

Les innovations des processus peuvent se réaliser 37 : 

4. par des changements de nature exclusivement technologique, qui sont liées, par 

exemple, à la révolution de la technologie informationnelle ou sont spécifiques à un 

certain secteur/domaine comme, par exemple, l’introduction du moteur à réaction. 

5. en adaptant les technologies du commerce électronique aux processus de vente des 

agences de tourisme 

37 adaptation après Riley, M., Managing People. A guide for managers in the hotel and catering industri, Butterworth 

Heinemann Oxford, 2000


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6. les innovations du domaine IT qu ont le plus grand impacte au niveau du tourisme. 

Les services d’IT changent le cadre de la compétition et impacte la plupart des compagnies, 

n’importe quel serait le domaine d’activité, la location ou la dimension. Cette technologie a de 

l’impacte spécialement sur les avantages concurrentielles, parce qu’elle établie la position des coûts 

ou la manière de différentiation entre les entités. Les services IT offrent aux entreprises un certain 

nombre d’avantages sur le marché. parmi lesquelles on peut compter : les barrières d’accès sur un 

marché (à cause du coût généré par le hardware/software ou des embauchés ayant des 

connaissances d’IT), la différentiation des produits/services, les limites d’accès aux canaux de 

distribution, la politique des prix, la diminution des coûts de livraison et l’augmentation de 

l’efficience. La technologie IT peut devenir un produit en soi-même, comme dans le cas du 

tourisme virtuel. Même si les coûts générés par ce service ont présentés un trend descendent dans la 

durée, les innovations nécessitent toujours des investissements substantiels de capital, soit en ce qui 

concerne le capital, soit la formation de la force de travail. Résulte que certains risques peuvent être 

associés aux innovations du domaine IT, malgré les évolutions techonologiques. 

La technologie informationnelle change non seulement le volume de transfert des 

informations, mais elle modifie aussi les relations à long terme de la chaîne de distribution et donne 

naissance à des nouvelles formes de concurrence. Cet aspect avait contribué à la transformation du 

tourisme, caractérisé comme un phénomène de masse, standardisé et rigide, dans une industrie plus 

flexible, orientée vers le client, ses attentes et ses besoins, une industrie durable et intégrée. Ainsi, à 

présent on retrouve des nouvelle modalités de coordonner la production et de créer des nouvelles 

méthodes de travail pour que les entreprises puissent gagner des avantages concurrentielles, suite à 

l’implémentation des produits et des processus de plus en plus flexibles. Certainement, la 

technologie informationnelle est souvent considérée comme étant un des facteurs qui facilitent le 

changement. En même temps, celle-ci génère des changements dans l’organisation traditionnelle de 

la production et peut réduire le dégrée de dépendance pour les agences de tourisme, puisque les 

compagnies peuvent vendre directement leur produits aux clients par internet. Autrement dit, la 

technologie avancée a conduit, dans certains cas, à la disparition des relations avec les prescripteurs. 

Du point de vue de l’utilisation de la technologie informationnelle, il existe des 

différentiations entre les fournisseurs des services touristiques. Ainsi, pas nécessairement tous les 

acteurs du marché ont des droits égales concernant l’accès aux systèmes GDS. Par exemple, les 

entreprises de petite taille sont désavantagées, parce que les commissions qu’elles payent peuvent 

représenter 20-30% des revenus totaux obtenus suite aux ventes. En plus, il est tout à fait possible 

que les petites entreprises aient des difficultés aussi dans l’implémentation des formes d’IT, en 

manque d’aptitudes techniques et managériales requises. 

Le problème des relation d’intermédiation et, spécialement, en ce qui concerne leurs futures 

implications pour les organisateurs des voyages, ont fait l’objet des nombreuses débats. Morrell 

(1998) 38 avait analysé l’impacte des trois types d’implications technologiques : les GDS, les 

voyages aériennes sans émission de billet et l’Internet. Son thèse arrive à la conclusion que les 

tendances de renoncer aux intermédiaires seront marquées par les suivantes facteurs : 

- l’ignorance des clients et la manque de confiance ; 

- le pouvoir d’achat individuel faible en comparaison avec les agences de voyage ; 

- l’immobilité des clients (réticence vis-à-vis du déplacement personnel afin de 

chercher l’information et d’acheter diverses produits/services). 


by Zrinski, 2004


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La capacité concurrentielle dépend non seulement du développement et de 

l’implémentation des nouvelles technologies, mais aussi de la capacité de l’entreprise d’apprendre 

et s’adapter aux changements. Ce problème, à son coté, soulève un autre : la concurrence ne signifie 

que la manière dont les entreprises se positionnent et évoluent sur le marché, mais aussi de la 

manière dont elles coopèrent pour accroître le niveau de la concurrence.


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LA COMMUNICATION DU MONOLOGUE AU DIALOGUE 

Avram Ionela Daniela - professeur au Lycée de Pestisani, Gorj 

Dumitrescu Delia – professeur à L'Ėcole Générale « Pompiliu Marcea » Targu 

Jiu, Gorj 

Le resumé: La communication est l'action, le fait de communiquer, d'établir une relation avec autrui, de transmettre 

quelque chose à quelqu'un, l'ensemble des moyens et techniques permettant la diffusion d'un message auprès d'une 

audience plus ou moins vaste et hétérogène et l'action pour quelqu'un, une entreprise d'informer et de promouvoir son 

activité auprès du public, d'entretenir son image, par tout procédé médiatique. Toute communication requiert l'emploi 

d'un code commun à l'émetteur et au récepteur du message délivré. Le signifié doit être employé sans ambiguïté pour 

que le message soit clair. Dans la communication par l'image, on s'intéresse à la composition de l'image, à ce qu'elle 

dénote mais aussi à sa valeur symbolique mise en valeur par toutes les connotations qui s'y rattachent. Dans la 

communication verbale, on distingue souvent la communication orale de la communication écrite. Certains textes, 

enfin, revêtent une valeur littéraire et traduisent la vision du monde de leur auteur et sa sensibilité bien plus qu'ils n'ont 

une fonction utilitaire. 

Mots clés: la communication, le monologue, le dialogue, l'émetteur, le récepteur, la valeur littéraire. 

La communication de type monologique est celle qui vient rapidement à l’esprit, car c’est celle de 

la voie hiérarchique des organisations (Grönn, P.C., 1983, Mintzberg, H., 1990). Il s’agit de « 

l’expression d’une rationalité centrale et unique dont la volonté se diffuse de manière unilatérale et 

descendante » (Giordano, Y. et Giroux, N., 1998, p.139). Ce type de communication renvoie au 

modèle ferroviaire ou télégraphique associé au modèle de Shannon et Weaver (1949). Ces deux 

ingénieurs de formation publient l’ouvrage qui marquera profondément l’acceptation du terme 

communication jusqu’au tournant pragmatique des années 70 : « The Mathematical Theory of 

Communication » (1949). A l’origine, l’objectif était d’établir une théorie de la transmission à 

travers un modèle mathématique de la communication. Ce modèle est linéaire. Certains y verront la 

marque des laboratoires de la compagnie Bell Telephon où travaille Shannon. Les ingénieurs de 

cette compagnie cherchaient en effet depuis longtemps à améliorer le rendement du télégraphe en 

augmentant la vitesse de transmission du message, en diminuant les pertes en cours de transmission 

et en déterminant la quantité d’information émettable en un temps donné. Shannon, voulant donner 

un caractère plus universel à ce travail, proposa un modèle mathématique du télégraphe, « ou 

théorie de la transmission d’un message d’un point à un autre », comme le défini Winkin (1981, 

p.17). Cette théorie peut se présenter ainsi : au début de la chaîne le message est produit (le 

dirigeant annonce le changement par le biais de journal d’entreprise par exemple), l'émetteur 

transforme le message en signal, lequel sera transporté par un canal (le câble téléphonique). A la fin 

de la chaîne, le récepteur transforme le signal en message pour le destinataire. Cette théorie de la 

communication basée sur la transmission accomplira une percée en profondeur dans diverses 

disciplines scientifiques, tant aux États-Unis qu’en France. On la retrouvera aussi bien chez les 

ingénieurs et les physiciens que chez les psychologues, les sociologues et les linguistes. La clé de 

voûte de la théorie de Shannon, est le concept d’information. Mais il ne s’agit pas d’information au 

sens de nouvelle ou de renseignement. Dans la théorie proposée par Shannon, il s’agit d’une 

grandeur statistique abstraite qualifiant le message indépendamment de sa signification. 

Le monologue correspond à une vision fonctionnaliste de la communication (Giordano, Y. Et 

Giroux, N., 1998, p.141), concevant toute organisation comme malléable à souhait, occultant au


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passage que le changement passe nécessairement par un ensemble d’acteurs qui devront réaliser ce 

changement dans leur activité quotidienne en s’appuyant sur leur propre compréhension. Elles 

appellent alors à une autre conception de la communication faisant davantage référence aux 

représentations des acteurs et à leur participation dans la mise en oeuvre du changement en 

reconstituant des collectifs de travail à travers cette forme de communication qui implique 

davantage les acteurs dans les processus discursifs. Nous verrons qu’une transformation ne va pas 

nécessairement de soi, ne se réalise pas de manière soudaine par les individus et n’est pas sans coûts 

pour ces derniers. Au contraire, l’intégration de nouvelles pratiques managériales modifie en 

profondeur l’implication et l’adhésion des différentes populations de l’organisation. Néanmoins, le 

monologue permet en situation de crise d’imposer pour un temps un nouveau mode de 

fonctionnement entre les individus. Le temps permettra de constater l’institutionnalisation 

progressive de ce nouvel ordre local. 

Dans les théories de la communication, Winkin (1981) oppose à cette vision télégraphique de la 

communication (le monologue), une conception orchestrale, appelée par d’autres « interactionniste 

» (Giordano, Y., 1994, Giordano, Y. et Giroux, N., 1998), ou « représentationnelle » (Cooren, F., 

2000, 2004, Detchessahar, M., 2003). Beaucoup voient dans le tournant linguistique le point de 

fléchissement de la vision théorique instrumentale alors écrasante. Ces approches ont été 

particulièrement influencées par les travaux parallèles de la théorie des actes de langage et 

l’ouvrage fondateur d’Austin (1991). Austin y montre que le langage n’est pas seulement descriptif 

; il est aussi « performatif », c'est-à-dire tourné vers la réalisation de quelque chose. Par l’acte de 

dire, on peut agir sur autrui, le faire agir ou faire, soi-même, une action. Les exemples classiques 

que l’auteur utilise sont : « Je vous marie », « Je vous bénie », « Je vous parie 2 euros que… », « Je 

lègue ma montre à… » On comprend donc que parler c’est agir. Tout énoncé ne peut se comprendre 

qu’en faisant un détour par les conditions de son énonciation. Ainsi, tout sens ne saurait exister en 

dehors des interactions qui la créent (Giordano, Y., 1994, p.53). 

Le comportement humain est alors vu comme un courant communicationnel doté de multiples 

balises. Pour Goffman (1987, p.7-8) « lorsqu’un individu en présence d’autrui répond à un 

événement, les coups d’oeil qu’il lance, ses regards, ses changements de position sont porteurs de 

toutes sortes de signification, implicites et explicites. Et, si des mots sont prononcés, le ton de la 

voix, la manière de la reprise, les redémarrages, la localisation des pauses, tout cela compte de la 

même façon ». Le mot d’ordre de tous ces chercheurs est bien retranscrit dans une citation de 

Watzlawick (1988) : « on ne peut pas ne pas communiquer ». L’image de l’orchestre pour définir ce 

modèle de communication montre bien le caractère éminemment social de la communication 

interactionniste et dialogique. 

Cette vision de la communication a nourri des travaux divers consacrés aux individus et à leurs 

expériences intersubjectives dans les rapports de la vie quotidienne. Différents courants de pensée 

tels l’interactionnisme symbolique et les travaux de Goffman (1987), Berger et Luckman (1996) ou 

l’éthnométhodologie de Garfinkel (1967) pour ne citer qu’eux, se sont alors développés. Ces 

auteurs se sont intéressés aux situations de communication intersubjective dans le cadre de la vie 

quotidienne. Ils ont montré qu’au travers les échanges langagiers, entendus comme communication 

verbale et non verbale, les individus construisent socialement la réalité dans laquelle ils évoluent. 

Ces travaux ont directement contribué au développement de l’analyse du langage dans les 

organisations (Boden, D., 1994, Borzeix, A. et Fraenkel, B., 2001, Boutet, J., 2001, Ford, J.D. et 

Ford, L.W., 1995, Girin, J., 2001), et souvent en réponse aux problématiques de transformation des 

organisations vers des modèles d’hyper-compétition (D'aveni, R.A., 1995) en rupture avec les 

pratiques d’inspiration taylorienne (Detchessahar, M., 2003, Zarifian, P., 1995, 1996). Le mode de 

communication dialogique fait directement écho aux travaux d’Aoki (1991) sur l’importance de la 

coordination horizontale dans la firme Il permet aux acteurs de coordonner leurs activités, de 

s’ajuster et ainsi de construire le sens des situations dans lesquelles ils sont engagés. La 

communication est alors compréhension mutuelle des participants au « processus organisant » cher


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à Weick (1995), source de toute organisation. Mais comme nous le rappelle Giordano et Giroux 

(1998), la communication dialogique va plus loin que la seule mise en commun des connaissances 

de chacun. Elle est « création interactive de significations » (Giordano, Y. et Giroux, N., 1998, 

p.146) dans lesquelles les histoires (Boje, D.M., 1991), les métaphores (Grant, D. et Oswick, C., 

1996) et les rites (Trice, H.M. et Beyer, J.M., 1984) tiennent une place importante. La 

communication dialogique renvoie également à la notion d’agir communicationnel, en tant qu’usage 

politique du langage et de ses construits symboliques (histoires, métaphores, etc.), développé par 

HABERMAS (1995). Les travaux du philosophe allemand ont été repris par des chercheurs en 

organisation (Detchessahar, M., 1999, Zarifian, P., 1996) pour décrire les nouveaux attendus 

comportementaux des acteurs de l’entreprise qui visent la construction du sens des situations 

rencontrées par les individus devant faire face à des problématiques de flexibilité et de qualité, se 

matérialisant par la prise d’initiative et la responsabilisation des populations des niveaux 

directement opérationnels. 

Ces pratiques font appel aux compétences sociales des individus (Rouleau, L. et Mounoud, E., 

1998) voire à une véritable compétence communicationnelle (Arnaud, N., 2007). Dans ce processus 

organisant qui constitue la communication de type dialogique, les dirigeants ont un accès privilégié 

aux médias de communication et plus généralement aux ressources informationnelles, matérielles, 

symboliques et humaines. En cela, ils disposent davantage que les opérationnels, de moyens 

d’action sur ces processus de coproduction de l’organisation. 

Dans ce type de processus, le rôle du middle management, en prise directe avec l’opérationnel, est 

alors central (Lorino, P., 2006, Rouleau, L., 2005). Il doit permettre de favoriser et de diffuser les 

nouvelles normes comportementales par ses actions quotidiennes et ses éventuelles responsabilités 

notamment dans le design et l’animation des collectifs de travail qu’il se voit confié. 

En conclusion de cette section présentant les deux formes de communication auxquelles nous nous 

intéressons dans ce travail, rappelons qu’il ne s’agit pas de considérer qu’une forme conceptuelle de 

la communication est supérieure, au sens de plus efficace, à une autre dans le cadre du travail, mais 

plutôt de comprendre le rôle de chacune de ces formes dans la réalisation du travail en fonction des 

moments de la vie de l’entreprise. Si le monologue est traditionnellement utilisé pour communiquer 

le changement, le dialogue est lui constitutif. Le changement se construit alors à travers et dans la 

communication quotidienne des acteurs. 

Transformation identitaire 

La transformation des modes de communication porteur de ce changement organisationnel, se 

matérialise par une transformation identitaire due aux arrivés d’individus (notamment le directeur 

général issu de l’industrie et le recrutement d’un responsable plateforme diplômé) aux trajectoires 

socioprofessionnelles venant rompre avec celles traditionnelles du secteur (Detchessahar, M., 

1998). La situation vécue par les TJ est à ce titre révélatrice des changements d’acteurs à l’oeuvre à 

différents niveaux des entreprises du secteur de l’ameublement. De manière générale, de nombreux 

individus ayant une forte expérience de l’industriel et possédant des bagages gestionnaires et 

managériaux venant rompre avec la tradition paternaliste/archaïque sont en effet arrivés sur le 

secteur du meuble. Cet afflux de gens qualifiés extérieurs au monde du meuble permet d’assurer le 

passage de l’organisation du monde du transport traditionnel de meubles au monde de la modernité. 

Ces individus sont « rodés » au travail au sein d’effectifs nombreux allant de pair avec la 

concentration qu’ont connu fabricants et transporteurs, leur permettant aujourd’hui plus qu’hier de 

peser dans les négociations avec les distributeurs. Ces individus sont porteurs de logiques d’action 

moins portées sur les relations de type affinitaire du monde domestique et davantage sur des 

logiques industrialo-marchandes (Boltanski, L. et Thévenot, L., 1991) autour des questions 

d’efficacité, d’adaptation, de rentabilité. Par exemple, le recours à des processus de sélection des 

sous-traitants par appel d’offres, reconnus pour être les plus codifiés et objectivés, en un mot les 

plus « rationnels », loin de supprimer la subjectivité des individus, permettent d’évaluer la capacité 

du sous-traitant à évoluer dans le monde industriel. Ainsi, la confiance dans le partenaire retenu


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traduit davantage la confiance que l’on accorde à cette forme de sélection. Elle reflète des 

dispositions acquises au travers un parcours scolaire et professionnel singulier, et aura de fortes 

probabilités d’aboutir à la sélection d’un sous-traitant ayant acquis les mêmes dispositions 

représentant les caractéristiques de la grandeur industrielle. 

Conclusions 

Les théories de la communication initialement mobilisée dans cette recherche nous apparaissent au 

final particulièrement pertinentes pour l’analyse d’un cas de changement, ici le passage d’un mode 

de fonctionnement traditionnel, archaïque fondée sur la toute-puissance du dirigeant historique, à un 

mode de management plus moderne visant finalement à assurer la pérennité de l’organisation audelà 

du passage de ses dirigeants. Dans l’entreprise moderne, un élément central de leur survie se 

trouve dans leur capacité à organiser et gérer les relations interorganisationnelles. Au vu du cas 

exposé dans cet article, il semble important de rappeler que cette capacité ne peut se réaliser qu’à la 

condition d’un travail de transformation des processus internes. Or précisément, l’analyse 

communicationnelle des organisations apporte un complément important pour expliciter ces 

innovations managériales en contexte. En validant l’hypothèse de GIORDANO et GIROUX (1998) 

selon laquelle le monologue est l’outil privilégié du dirigeant en situation de changement 

dramatique, et le dialogue celui du changement continu, porteur de l’action collective, notre 

recherche va également plus loin en montrant qu’il s’agit finalement de gérer cette densification de 

« l’agencement organisationnel » (Girin, J., 1995) en charge du fonctionnement quotidien de la 

prestation logistique. Ceci implique in fine de penser la construction et le management de ces 

collectifs de travail qui dépasse les frontières de l’organisation, et qui se voient confier la 

responsabilité de l’organisation de la prestation logistique dans son quotidien. Le présent papier 

oeuvre au final dans le sens d’un rapprochement de l’analyse communicationnelle des organisations 

et les théoriciens de l’instrumentation de gestion restés jusqu’à récemment étranger l’un à l’autre 

(Detchessahar, M. et Journé, B., 2007), notamment à travers la notion d’agencement organisationnel 

de GIRIN (1995). Loin d’être purement théorique, notre recherche vise également à fournir des 

repères aux managers non seulement dans le champ de l’innovation managériale en contextes 

organisationnels traditionnels, mais plus largement à l’ensemble du management. 

Bibliographie 

1. Aoki M. Le management japonais : le modèle J de Aoki. Problèmes Economiques, 19991 

2. Cooren F. The Communication Achievement of Collective Minding : Analysis of Board Meeting 

Excerpts. Management Communication Quarterly, 2004. 

3. Detchessahar M. Discussion et Domination. Pluralité des modes de coordination des 

échanges sur le marché de la prestation logistique. Gérer et Comprendre, 1999 

4. Detchessahar M. L'avènement de l'entreprise communicationnelle ? Outils, problèmes et 

politique d'accompagnement. Revue Française de Gestion, 2003. 

5. Detchessahar M.m Journé B. Une approche narrative des outils de gestion. Proposition 

à partir d'une étude de cas. Revue Française de Gestion, 2007 

6. Ford J. D. et Ford L. W. The role of conversations in producing intentional change in 

organizations. Academy of Management Review, 1995. 

7. Gadrey J., Les relations de service dans le secteur marchand, in J. De Bandt et J. Gadrey (Ed.), 

Relation de service, marché de service, Paris, CNRS Edition, 1994.


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LA GESTION ELECTRONIQUE DES DONNEES PERSONNELLES ET LES 

LIBERTES INDIVIDUELLES 

Mareş Valerica 

Lect- Académie d’Etudes Economiques, Bucarest, Roumanie 

Mareş Marius Daniel 

PhD- Université Spiru Haret, Bucarest, Roumanie 

ABSTRACT 

En informatique, les informations portent sur des éléments du monde réel. Les élements permanents du monde 

réel sont “objets de gestion”. Dans le monde reel de la gestion et de l’administration, les individus sont considérés aussi 

comme des “objets de gestion”. En plus ils sont des acteurs, effectuant des demandes, saisissant l’information, 

destinataires d’information, sur écran ou sur papier. En tant “qu’objets de gestion”, les personnes physiques sont 

décrites par des données, par les événements qui leur sont survenus, comme des objets inanimés. Or, nos démocraties 

ont une conception libérale des citoyens. Ceux-ci ont droit au respect de leur vie privée. Ce droit à l’image se manifeste, 

par exemple, par l’interdiction de photographier des personnes dans la rue et d’utiliser le cliché commercialement sans 

leur autorisation. L’informatique risque d’enfreindre le droit au secret de la vie privée et tous les systèmes 

informatiques qui contiennent des informations sur les personnes sont soumis à une législation spécifique. 

The informational technologies have developped as a need for the processes of the present 

society and as a result of its industrialisation. The information technology (IT) can not be thought of 

without also taking into account the infomation systems. The IT has an important role due to the 

strong and complex link that exists between an organization and its IT. The informatic systems 

present big interest due to the influences that they have on the economic activities of the companies. 

In the IT society, the information as a weapon, target and a strategical raw material 

reperesents the base of each decision. Adapting to this new environment (in which the flow of 

informations in real time is in steady growth) means to understand the risks in the area of ITmanagement. 

One example of this is the fact that informational operations, as they are conceptualized in 

the euro-atlantic doctrines, have as the basic-target the decisional cycle. In the area of IT the 

informations are carrying the elements of the real world. The permanent elements of the real world 

are called „management objects” and in management, in the administration, the individus are 

condsidered management objects. Morover they are actors, issuing requests, selecting information, 

are being receivers of information provided on paper and on the screen. 

At the same time, the management objects, private persons are described by data, by events 

that are consequent, being regarded as unmovable objects, or in other words, the new democracies 

have a liberal conception of the citizens. The individials have a right to have a self-image, and the 

right to have protection of their own private domain. In an extreme context, the need to observe 

very precisely the reality, being in the situation to provide the dialogue and the compromise of 

interests between multiple users, the fundamental quality of the information is to respect the rules.


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The value of the information can be gross value oder net value, perfect or imperfect, 

operational, up until the moment of the effective decision-making.


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The economic environment is unstable and characterised by processes and events that 

need the approach and event-modelling under circumstances of risk and uncertainty. The 

economical and monetary integration, the integration of the mechanisms of rate of exchange, the 

development of the capital market, the opening of the european area for investment 

opportunities, the speculatting occurance of the inovations related to the financial instruments in 

an area with fluid borders, but with different levels of evaluation of the efficiency bring 

problems and fears to the societies as a whole. 

The management process of the electronical data requires: 

• Short term or long term planning; 

• Control processes - the permanent comparison of the present performances with the 

forecasted plans and with the eventual deviations, that impose corrective actions; 

• The organising processes - the strict designation of the responsabilities, of the reports 

of authority for the remuneration of the competencies and sanction of deviations, the 

overall coordination of the activities; 

• Motivation of the actions, the harmonization of the objectives of the organization 

with the interests and the expectations of the participants. 

The quality of the transferred information oscillates between having pertinent - feasible – 

forecasted value and the transfer from the forced normalisation to the liberty if the assuming the 

quality of the measurement methods through differentiation depends on the ability of the 

manager. The diffusion of the information is facing limits and adaptation differences, with 

negotiation actions for the adapting to objectives and values of economical and social nature. 

The expected quality of the management of the electronical data is dependent on the 

perception and the capacity of the objectives of the truth imposed by the rationale of the user and 

the „game” between the plan of processing the information from documents and the plan of 

adequated „filter„ of the reporting information, an interest game that mitigates the reports 

between an inteligible reality and the reality that is built according to the needs of the users. 

The sincerity is a quality that is dependent on the content of the documents, that has to be 

exact but also of the professional quality of the applied practices – and this can be translated into 

loyality and fidelity. The sincerity is assured if the information fulfills the criteria of: 

• objectivity and verifiability; 

• regularity; 

• exhaustivity; 

• prudence; 

• structural and temporal coherence. 

It is well known the situation between paparazzi and the official persons that reflects, or 

maybe not, the real situation. The IT sometimes risks to violate the secret of the private life. All 

IT systems that contain information about persons are subject to specific legislation. 

1. The Information technology and freedom 

There are IT-applications that contain data about individuals, so-called „sensible” data, as 

for example: 

• Social-Securtity Number (CNP); 

• information about race; 

• political opinions; 

• medical data 

• membership in a trade-union, religious convictions, sexual orientation etc., which should 

not be registered and utilised without expres approval of the individual. 

Also the use of the surveillance cameras, without the purporse of safeguarding a specific 

building is forbidden. The purporse of the ban is not to invade the human identity, human rights, 

privacy, individual and public freedom (the freedom to vote and be elected, the sanctity of the


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private home, freedom to express its opinion). Private data can be found in the: gas bill, 

telephone bill, library cards, monthly public transport ticket, company identification tags, drivind 

licence, the accounts of the clients, direct mail sales, cards of members of a certain association, 

membership cards of party members, election lists, subscriptions to newspapers and magazines, 

files regarding the diplomas and study etc. 

All the processing of the private information is being done under the supervision of the 

National Authority for Supervision of the Processing of Data of Private Nature, according to the 

law 677/2001. 

The supervision is being assured through: 

• the mechanism of the declarations (for private companies); 

• the mechanism of prior authorisation (for public administration); 

• the mechanism of exception (for army or intitutions that are related to public security). 

2. The mechanism of the declarations 

The Manager of a company is the person that decides regarding the processing of the 

information, being responsible for the accuracy of the delivered data, even when nowaday the 

paper documents are being replaced by electronic ones. These declarations regard the new 

entries and the modification that happen in time; here are also included the web-sites that register 

personal data for different purporses. 

3. The mechanism of prior authorisation 

In case of administration of a public service, the person responsible with the data must 

request the authorisation prior to prcessing of the private data. Also the IT-applications that are 

used as tools, can not be used without the explicit approval from the National Authority for 

Supervision of the Processing of Data of Private Nature which enforces the law 677/2001. 

4. The mechanism of exception 

For special areas (army or intitutions that are related to public security) there are persons 

with special functions, which through the mechanism of exception, can process or pass further 

on the data for later processing, transformation and storage. There shuold also be a distinction 

between private data and secret data in order to avoid confusion and conflict. 

5. The obligation of security and confidentiality of the electronic data 

The security is being recognised as being a multidimensional concept, so that all activity 

areas (politics, diplomacy, economy, defense, culture, science, etc) try to take measures which 

would insure the promotion of their specific interests. These areas of activity are not independent 

of each other, the connections between them are being vital for the optimal overall function. 

Presently we can talk about an informational war which integrates seven different forms 

of areas and disciplines which imply even to a greater degree the security of data: 

• information warfare (intelligence); 

• the war of command and control (the exclusively military part of the informational war); 

• electronic warfare; 

• psychological warfare; 

• warfare pursued by hackers; 

• warfare in the area of economic informations; 

• warfare in the space of virtual reality. 

The terrorist attack the 11 Septembrie 2001 marked a turning point towards a new world 

order. Through this attack a new type of warfare was initiated, atypic, asymetric, very different, 

that requires a new approach, a new set of mind, a new strategy – global, multinational and 

multidimensional; it is a long term war, waged with conventional and unconvetional means, a


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silent war, selectiv in media, based on informations and actions, without a clear front, with little 

targets of strategic importance, against a force that is not concerned with the rules of engagement 

and that affirms that it has nothing to loose. This type of war is being fought vertically (between 

a superpower/coalition that is in the informatic age and powers that are in a lower level of 

development) where the asymetry of knowledge, technology, information and capacity of 

operation are very different. 

The responsability of an informatic system regarding the personal data should be viewed 

in the light of the fact that these information are being later processed, transferred and 

communicated to upper management or to a marketing operator. The obligation of 

confidentiality requires a rigour in the operation of IT-applications, especially when the ITactivities 

are offered by an external company. The recording, without a consent, of the telephone 

conversation and of the electronic messaging in the office represents a violation of individual 

freedoms and rights. 

By using the IT it is possible to achieve a more rigorous and precise control of data, but 

the employees have to be warned about the possible control and the delivery of personal data to a 

third party without a prior notice has to be forbidden. Stored personal data must only be used for 

known and agreed purporse and with prior consent. If there are practices that are in collision with 

law - if someone uses the personal data for different pusporse (fraud with credit cards, spam 

mail, black-mail, etc.) it is the duty of manager to document the anomalies and the causes, and to 

find remedies as soon as possible. 

Conclusion 

Starting with the ideea that: “in a way, we are all books" through rapid development of 

the Internet, which is reflected by double number of users and triple increase in traffic volume 

each year, we can say that the problem of security, safety and individual freedoms is becoming 

ever more acute. Up to day, there are over 53 millions european Internet users, from which 37 

millions are residential users, and some are part of the virtual world and of the electronic 

commerce and business. The problem of where the border between public and private life is 

comes naturally. 

The market of the e-commerce has expanded enormously since 1997, and the clients tend 

to become more global, using a variety of languages. In the new economy, the networks are 

replacing the markets, the purchase of virtual data will be replaced by system of accesses on 

demand (access fee, monthly fee, etc.) and the dematerialisation will be more present in the 

service area, the new product beeing the time (not buying the documents, but buying “access 

time”). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Albescu F. ş.a. - Management information systems and decision support system, Editura 

Dual Tech, Bucureşti, 2001. 

2. Florin Gh. F. ş.a. - Societatea informaţională, societatea cunoaşterii. Concepte, soluţii şi 

strategii pentru România, Editura Expert, Bucureşti, 2001. 

3. Pierre Levy, Cyberculture, Editions Odile Jacob, 1997. 

www.legis.net 

http://europa.eu


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LA NECESITỀ DE LA GOUVERNANCE CORPORATIVE 

Brotea Daniel Serafim 

Docteur en management - LÚniversité Libre Internationale de Moldavie 

Giorgi Isabela – teacher – “Virgil Madgearu” National College of Targu Jiu, 

Gorj 

Le resumé: Les investisseurs et les citoyens doutent de la capacité des dirigeants à garantir la disponibilité d’une 

information fiable et pertinente sur la santé financière des organisations. En conséquence, partout dans le monde, les 

législateurs en sont arrivés à la nécessité de reconsidérer certains processus de gouvernance corporative. 

L'article fournit un modèle de dialogue entre universitaires, législateurs et praticiens sur les questions de 

gouvernance corporative. Cet article est donc un appel à l'engagement, à la responsabilité, à la participation au " 

multilogue " social, requis par une socioéconomie dont la structure hiérarchisée et centralisée s'est effritée au fur et à 

mesure que le monde s'est ouvert, que l'information s'est diffusée et que les compétences se sont multipliées. 

Mots clés : la gouvernance corporative, les organizations, les législateurs, les praticiens. 

La gouvernance d'entreprise, thématique restée longtemps marginalisée, a pris depuis une dizaine 

d'années une importance croissante. Ce sujet, traité alternativement sous un angle plutôt 

stratégique, financier, ou comportemental a donné naissance à des théories contradictoires. Ces 

divergences résultent plus profondément de clivages idéologiques et philosophiques. Les idées 

philosophiques émanant d'auteurs tels que Machiavel, Kant, ou encore Locke et Marx, 

permettent de comprendre la diversité des approches théoriques. Les conceptions différentes à 

propos de la nature de l'homme et de la meilleure organisation de la société qui sont les leurs 

apparaissent irréconciliables, et rendent improbable la constitution d'un cadre théorique unifié. 

Le principal objet de la governance des entreprises est d' "expliquer la performance 

organisationnelle en fonction des systèmes qui encadrent et contraignent les décisions des 

dirigeants" (Charreaux 1999). Formulée de la sorte, la paternité d'une telle théorie de la 

gouvernance pourrait être revendiquée à juste titre par des auteurs tels que Fama (1980), ou bien 

encore Fama et Jensen (1983a et b), même si l'on se référe plus fréquemment aux travaux de 

Berle et Means (1932) consacrés à la séparation entre propriété et décision. Mais on ne saurait en 

conclure pour autant à l'unanimité des multiples approches réalisées en matière de gouvernance. 

En l'occurrence, comme le souligne Charreaux (1999), nous avons affaire à la coexistence de 

plusieurs "paradigmes concurrents". C'est ainsi, par exemple, que la théorie positive de l'agence 

ou la théorie des coûts de transaction ne sont nullement exclusives lorsqu'on envisage 

l'instauration d'une coopération sociale efficiente. D'aucuns pourront y voir l'avatar de 

controverses historiques récurrentes à propos notamment de la nature même de l'Homme, ou des 

fondements des droits de propriété, voire même de la finalité conférée à l'entreprise. De fait, on 

peut observer une étroite imbrication entre le champ de la gouvernance d'entreprise et celui de la 

philosophie politique. Comme le rappelle fort pertinemment Brennan (1994), Adam Smith, qui 

fut l'un des premiers à citer l'existence de conflits d'intérêts entre dirigeants et actionnaires 

(Recherches sur la Nature et les Causes de la Richesse des Nations, 1776), n'était pas professeur 

d'économie mais bel et bien professeur de philosophie morale à l'université de Glasgow. C'est 

peut-être là une des raisons qui rend les débats de gouvernance si indissociables de tout 

présupposé idéologique (Pesqueux 2000). Le


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propre de l'idéologie n'est-il point d'ailleurs d'influencer ou d'orienter, fût-ce à leur insu, les 

promoteurs de telle ou telle pensée théorique (Lalande 1999:459) ? Arguant d'un positionnement 

épistémologique positiviste, de nombreux auteurs de finance et de comptabilité ont tenté de se 

référer à des théories de gestion qu'ils estimaient neutres politiquement, s'exonérant de facto de 

toute polémique idéologique (Friedman 1953). Mais, à l'évidence, une telle stratégie est 

désormais largement battue en brèche par de nombreux détracteurs. Ceux-ci voient notamment 

dans les fondements de la théorie positive de l'agence, ou dans ceux de la théorie des marchés 

efficients et de ses modèles associés, comme par exemple l'évaluation des actifs financiers 

(MEDAF), un paradigme d'essence profondément libérale (Charreaux 1987, Franckfurter & 

McGoun 1999). Selon eux, un tel paradigme se trouve par trop focalisé sur la maximisation de la 

valeur pour les actionnaires. Ils considèrent, en outre, qu'il est fondé, d'une façon quelque peu 

caricaturale et dangereuse sur l'intérêt personnel et l'égoïsme (Brennan 1994:32). Dans un tel 

contexte, les débats relatifs à la gouvernance que les uns souhaiteraient actionnariale, et les 

autres partenariale, méritent amplement d'être relancés à la lumière de leurs fondements 

philosophiques. C'est dans une telle optique que nous nous livrerons, tout d'abord, à la 

détermination des différentes options susceptibles de conduire à des théories antagonistes en 

termes de gouvernance d'entreprise. 

Nous procéderons ensuite à l'identification des fondements historiques et philosophiques 

primordiaux susceptibles d'engendrer les principaux clivages affectant les diverses approches 

théoriques de la gouvernance. 

Différences majeures entre les théories de la gouvernance Au-delà des différences existant 

entre les approches financières, stratégiques et comportementales, des clivages plus profonds 

peuvent être identifiés. L'une des causes majeures d'antagonismes réside dans les divers modèles 

de l'homme que présupposent ces théories. 

La recherche de l'intérêt personnel 

L'article de Jensen & Meckling, édité en 1994, est en l'occurrence, particulièrement révélateur. 

Les deux auteurs ont publié cet article sur la "nature de l'homme" tardivement, la première 

version de celui-ci étant contemporaine de leur article majeur paru en 1976. Pour eux, l'enjeu 

résidait dans la démonstration de la supériorité de leur modèle comparativement aux autres 

approches d'inspiration économique, sociologique, psychologique, ou politique. Selon Jensen 

(1994), la quête des individus désireux de satisfaire leur intérêt personnel, et la définition des 

bons systèmes incitatifs demeurent des éléments majeurs et incontournables. 

Cependant, à en croire Davis Schoorman et Donaldson (1997), la théorie de l'intendance supplée 

certaines omissions de la théorie de l'agence en prenant en considération d'autres 

facteurs, de nature différente. 

- Les uns sont psychologiques, et intègrent les récompenses intrinsèques (autonomie, 

enrichissement de ses propres connaissances, variété et contenu de son travail), les ressorts 

d'identification (volonté et fierté d'appartenance), les besoins d'influence et de pouvoir personnel 

(rattaché non pas tant à la position hiérarchique du dirigeant, mais plutôt au respect et à 

l'expertise issues de la réussite collective de l'entreprise). 

- Les autres peuvent être qualifiés de contextuels, et dépendent de l'importance accordée aux 

valeurs éthiques, et à la confiance en fonction des turbulences environnementales, et des diverses 

cultures en présence. 

Jensen (1994) considère néanmoins que si l'honnêteté, l'honneur et la confiance, et même 

l'altruisme, sont des conditions nécessaires au bon développement des échanges et des activités 

bénéfiques, de telles valeurs ne sont nullement incompatibles avec la recherche de l'intérêt 

personnel. Le même auteur estime, en l'occurrence, que l'une des difficultés majeures réside dans 

la divergence des intérêts personnels, et l'impérieuse nécessité de réduire les coûts


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résultant d'éventuels conflits. Pour tout dire, l'application envisageant les relations bilatérales 

entre dirigeants et actionnaires peut être logiquement étendue à d'autres catégories. Hill & Jones 

(1992) ont d'ailleurs fait une proposition, en ce sens, en formulant une théorie de l'agence 

généralisée à l'ensemble des stakeholders, tout en levant l'hypothèse d'efficience des marchés 

financiers. L'analyse reste ainsi axée sur les modalités d'un alignement des intérêts respectifs des 

dirigeants sur ceux des différentes parties prenantes. Mais, pour autant, cela n'exclut point que 

des ressources consommées conformément à cette optique partenariale puissent éventuellement 

provoquer un appauvrissement des actionnaires. 

1.2.2 Fonction objectif et propriété de la firme 

Dans un article plus récent, Jensen (2000) s'élève formellement contre une théorie préconisant la 

maximisation des richesses en faveur de l'ensemble des parties prenantes. De son point de vue, il 

s'agit là d'une tentative de politisation de la fonction objectif de la firme, a priori nuisible. Il 

considère que le seul indicateur valable de la performance doit demeurer la création de valeur 

actionnariale, et ce, dans une optique de long-terme. Quant aux problèmes d'abus de situations 

monopolistiques ou d'externalités négatives, ils doivent rester sous la responsabilité exclusive 

des Etats et des gouvernements. Aussi, toute dépense engagée au nom du principe de 

responsabilité sociale ou sociétale ne pourrait, toujours selon Jensen (2000), que pénaliser la 

compétitivité des entreprises placées dans un environnement concurrentiel. 

Inversement, d'autres chercheurs, à l'instar de Blair (1995), n'hésitent pas à remettre en question 

le fondement classique des droits de propriété de la firme, générant un management focalisé sur 

la création de valeur actionnariale. Les investissements spécifiques réalisés au sein de la firme 

par les salariés eux-mêmes, par le biais de leurs savoirs et savoir-faire spécifiques, permettent 

d'ajouter au capital de la firme, usuellement financier, une dimension immatérielle et humaine 

non négligeable. Si l'entreprise souhaite conserver ce capital humain, elle doit alors logiquement 

en rémunérer ses apporteurs, à savoir ses propres salariés. Dès lors, ces derniers peuvent être 

considérés comme des investisseurs au même titre que les actionnaires. Le concept de création 

de valeur actionnariale apparaît, dans ces conditions, fort réducteur. De même, si l'on retient une 

optique de développement durable ou soutenable ('sustainable development'), la transmission 

aux générations futures d'un environnement préservé s'ajoute au devoir de protection de l'intérêt 

des actionnaires. Des considérations éthiques peuvent également être mises en exergue. Il en va 

ainsi de la nécessité du respect des droits de l'homme, et du développement de relations 

harmonieuses avec l'ensemble des parties prenantes (clients, fournisseurs, employés, 

communautés locales,…). On peut concevoir une extension du champ d'analyse jusqu'aux 

actions philanthropiques, comme le suggèrent Porter et Kramer (2002) en montrant de quelle 

façon des investissements ciblés peuvent améliorer la qualité de l'environnement de la firme, et 

s'avérer également extrêmement rentables pour celle-ci. 

On voit ainsi se profiler différentes options, lorsqu'il s'agit d'aborder les problèmes de 

gouvernance. Elles peuvent être tributaires de l'extension du cadre d'analyse sélectionné. En 

effet, si celui-ci peut être restreint aux relations dirigeants-actionnaires (théories de l'agence et de 

l'intendance), il peut, au contraire, devenir beaucoup plus global, si l'on intègre l'ensemble des 

parties prenantes (théorie généralisée de l'agence et théorie partenariale). Il s'agit, aussi, de 

déterminer si l'individu étudié est régi uniquement à l'aune de son intérêt particulier (théories de 

l'agence), ou s'il est mu en priorité par l'intérêt général de son organisation, et au-delà, par celui 

de la société toute entière (théorie de l'intendance et théorie partenariale). 

Certains conflits ou controverses, de nature idéologiques ou philosophiques, expliquent en partie 

les différences constatées non seulement en matière de définition des cadres d'analyse de la 

gouvernance, mais également en ce qui concerne les pré-supposés au niveau des systèmes 

individuels de préférences.


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Ainsi décrite, la gouvernance contemporaine apparaît comme indissociablement liée à l'histoire 

des idées politiques et philosophiques. On notera que les critiques récentes formulées par 

Brennan (1994), à l'encontre de la théorie de l'agence, sont pas sans rappeler celles dont l'oeuvre 

de Machiavel fit l'objet en son temps. Faut-il voir l'Homme tel qu'il est avec ses travers 

intrinsèques, ou bien faut-il le sublimer tel qu'on voudrait qu'il fût ? N'est-ce point là un dilemme 

intemporel renvoyant notamment aux écrits de Machiavel et de Kant ? 

De même, au travers des débats consacrés à la propriété de l'entreprise, attribuée tantôt aux 

actionnaires tantôt aux stakeholders, n'est-ce point là encore la poursuite d'idées qui furent 

initiées par Locke ou Marx ? Sans doute est-on ici en présence de sources de controverses 

d'ordre philosophique, qui ne manqueront pas de continuer à influencer les modélisations 

théoriques, et par voie de conséquence les pratiques de gouvernance. 

Comme nous avons pu le montrer, les problématiques contemporaines de gouvernance ne sont 

pas traitées au sein d'un cadre théorique unifié. La diversité des théories existantes est non 

seulement l'expression de sensibilité politiques7 différentes, mais également la résultante de 

conceptions philosophiques de l'Homme et de la vie en société irréductibles et irréconciliables. 

Un tel constat tend à rendre des plus improbable toute tentative d'unification des théories de la 

gouvernance. Il importe, par conséquent, de bien prendre conscience des clivages idéologiques 

fondamentaux et des sources d'opposition philosophique, dès lors qu'il s'agit de penser, 

d'organiser ou de laisser se développer la vie économique et sociale. Une meilleure 

compréhension des théories de la gouvernance devrait également passer par une lecture ou une 

relecture, toujours plus attentive, des diverses sources philosophiques nourrissant les débats 

contemporains. Coker (1990) et Werhane (2000) n'ont-ils point montré, par exemple, à quel 

point les écrits de Smith ont pu être déformés et mal compris par les théoriciens de l'agence, au 

point de commettre de grossières erreurs d'interprétation ? Ainsi, en paraphrasant quelque peu 

Lemarchand & Nikitin (2000), force est de constater que la connaissance de l'histoire des idées et 

des grands principes philosophiques mobilisés implicitement dans le champ de la gouvernance 

n'est pas seulement une distraction académique, mais aussi et surtout un vecteur incontournable 

d'une meilleure compréhension de la gouvernance hic et nunc. 


1. Badea G. Dumitru, Piaţa de capital şi restructurarea economică, Editura 

Economică, 2000 

2. Blair M. Rethinking Assumptions Behind Corporate Governance, 

Challenge, november-december, 1995 pp. 12-17. 

3. Brezeanu Petre Diagnostic financiar. Instrumente de analiză financiară, Ed. 

Economică, 2003 

4. Duţescu Adriana Informaţia contabilă şi piaţa de capital, Ed. Economică, 

2000 

5. Frederic S. Mishin, 

Stanley G. Eakins 

Financial Markets + Institutions, Addison Wesley, Front 

edition, 2003 

6. Fredman J. Alber, 

Russ Wills - Fondurile de investiţii, Ed. Hrema, 2002 

7. Grigorescu Remus - Fundamentarea strategiei de selectare a pieţelor de export, 

Ed. Independenţa Economică, Piteşti, 2003 

8. Maignan I. Ferrell O.C. Measuring Corporate Citizenship in Two Countries : The Case of 

the United States and France", Journal of Business Ethics, 23, 

2000, p. 283-297.


ISSN: 1842-4856


ISSN: 1842-4856 

LE CONTRAT DE FRANCHISE, UNDE METHODE DE RELANCER LE 

MILIEN DES AFFAIRES EN ROUMANIE 

Popa Claudia - l'avocat du barreau Dolj, Roumanie 

Le resumé: La franchise est un système de commercialisation de produits, services ou technologies reposant sur une 

étroite collaboration entre deux entreprises juridiquement et financièrement indépendantes l'une de l'autre. 

Moyennant une contribution financière, une entreprise (le franchisé) acquiert auprès d'une autre entreprise (le 

franchiseur), le droit d'utiliser son enseigne et/ou sa marque, son savoir-faire, de commercialiser ses produits ou 

services, conformément aux directives prévues dans le contrat, tout en bénéficiant d'une assistance commerciale ou 

technique. 

Le contrat de franchise n'est pratiquement pas soumis à une réglementation particulière. Il obéit, pour l'essentiel, au 

droit commun des contrats commerciaux, aux règles dégagées par la jurisprudence ainsi qu'à certains textes de droit 

européen et de droit de la concurrence. 

Sa forme et son contenu sont en principe librement fixés par les deux parties. En pratique, la rédaction du contrat 

échappe presque totalement au franchisé. Le recours à un professionnel pourra donc s'avérer indispensable afin 

d'examiner le projet élaboré par le franchiseur. 

Mots clés: le contrat de francise, le savoir-faire, le franchisé, le franchiseur, le projet, la jurisprudence. 

1. La franchise se distingue des autres modes de distribution 

Alors que le commerce électronique, la vente par correspondance ou la vente à domicile se 

développent, le " magasin ", de l’échoppe à l’hypermarché, demeure le symbole traditionnel du 

commerce pour le consommateur. Cette façade, qui paraît simple à appréhender, cache pourtant 

un large éventail de possibilités d’organisation des relations entre fournisseurs, distributeurs et 

revendeurs. La franchise en est une, parmi de nombreuses autres. Pour mieux la distinguer, il 

n’est pas inutile de décrire brièvement les différentes formules existantes. 

Les structures intégrées (succursales, filiales, agences...) reposent sur le principe hiérarchique. Le 

vendeur est en général un employé du distributeur. Il n’existe qu’un seul centre décisionnel et, 

bien souvent, qu’une seule entité juridique. 

Les groupements de commerçants (groupements d’intérêt économique, coopératives) réunissent, 

au sein de structures communes et autonomes, des entreprises indépendantes qui, par leur 

adhésion, souhaitent partager leur savoir-faire, organiser des services en commun ou encore 

obtenir des conditions d’achat plus intéressantes auprès des fournisseurs. 

La franchise s’inscrit, pour sa part, dans un cadre contractuel liant des entreprises indépendantes, au même titre que 

la distribution sélective (parfumerie...), la concession (automobile...), le courtage, les agents commerciaux ou encore 

le partenariat et la commission affiliation. 

2. La définition d’une franchise 

Les accords de franchise consistent en des licences de droits de propriété intellectuelle 

concernant des marques, des signes distinctifs ou du savoir-faire pour la vente et la distribution 

de biens ou de services. 

L’accord de franchise est donc un contrat de distribution qui associe une entreprise, propriétaire 

d’une marque ou d’une enseigne, le franchiseur, à un ou plusieurs commerçants indépendants, 

les franchisés. 

En contrepartie d’une rémunération directe ou indirecte, le franchiseur met à la disposition du 

franchisé sa marque et/ou son enseigne, ses produits, son savoir-faire et une assistance technique. 

La franchise n’est pas définie par un statut juridique particulier : il s’agit d’une relation 

contractuelle, qui, pour fonctionner normalement, doit comporter un certain nombre 

d’obligations.


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Elle se caractérise notamment par : 

- la propriété ou le droit d’usage de signes de ralliement de la clientèle par le franchiseur : 

marque de fabrique, de commerce ou de service, enseigne, raison sociale, nom commercial, 

sigles, symboles, logos ; 

- la transmission par le franchiseur de son expérience et de son savoir-faire au franchisé. 

Traditionnellement, le savoir-faire consiste en un ensemble d’informations pratiques non 

brevetées, résultant de l’expérience du franchiseur. Il doit être testé par celui-ci, et être secret, 

substantiel et identifié ; 

- la fourniture par le franchiseur au franchisé d’une assistance commerciale ou technique pendant toute la durée de 

validité du contrat. 

3. Les différents types de franchise 

Dans un arrêt resté célèbre (28 janvier 1986, Pronuptia), la Cour de justice des communautés 

européennes a distingué trois types de franchise : 

- les contrats de franchise de service, " en vertu desquels le franchisé offre un service sous 

l’enseigne, le nom commercial voire la marque du franchiseur, et en se conformant aux 

directives de ce dernier " ; 

- les contrats de franchise de production, " en vertu desquels le franchisé fabrique, lui-même, 

selon les indications du franchiseur, des produits qu’il vend sous la marque de celui-ci " ; 

- les contrats de franchise de distribution, " en vertu desquels le franchisé se borne à vendre certains produits dans 

un magasin qui porte l’enseigne du franchiseur ". 

4. Les contrats de partenariat et la commission affiliation 

Ce sont deux formules relativement nouvelles qui peuvent être considérées comme des " contrats cousins " de la 

franchise. Si la franchise est aujourd’hui bien appréhendée par le droit, il en va encore différemment pour ces deux 

autres formules. 

Le partenariat est très proche de la franchise. On y retrouve deux de ses éléments essentiels 

(l’enseigne et l’assistance technique). En revanche, la transmission du savoir-faire n’y est pas 

systématique, la collaboration étant le plus souvent organisée entre professionnels possédant au 

préalable le savoir-faire nécessaire à l’exercice de l’activité en cause (coiffure par exemple). Le 

partenariat se distingue de la franchise par l’organisation du management qui se veut plus 

participatif et par la réciprocité de l’intuitu personae qui caractérise le contrat (les deux 

partenaires se choisissent mutuellement alors qu’un franchisé ne peut remettre en cause son 

contrat si la personne physique qui dirige le réseau change). 

La commission affiliation est particulièrement adaptée au secteur textile. Elle s’y développe 

d’ailleurs largement depuis quelques années. Si ses fondements sont identiques à ceux d’un 

contrat de franchise (enseigne, assistance, savoir-faire), elle s’en distingue toutefois par la 

gestion du stock, qui reste la propriété du commissionnant (franchiseur). 

La formule présente un double intérêt : elle réduit les risques du commissionnaire puisqu’il n’a 

pas d’avance de trésorerie à effectuer, le stock ne lui appartenant pas ; elle permet, en outre, au 

commissionnant de gérer au plus près son réseau et d’adapter son offre à la demande en temps 

réel via un système informatique intégré. 

Elle comporte cependant un risque important, celui d’une trop grande immixtion du fournisseur dans la gestion des 

affaires du commissionnaire (gestion du personnel ou absence de liberté dans la fixation des prix) susceptible 

d’entraîner la requalification du contrat en contrat de travail. 

5. Le recours aux contrats de franchise 

L’étymologie du mot franchise fait remonter celui-ci au Moyen Age. Le mot "franc" était alors 

utilisé pour désigner la reconnaissance d’un privilège. On appelait ainsi "villes franches" les 

bourgs autorisés à user d’un privilège en principe réservé aux seigneurs. 

C’est au début du XXème siècle que l’ancêtre de la franchise actuelle a vu le jour. La Lainière de 

Roubaix a développé ce type de distribution dès les années 30 par le biais d’une enseigne 

toujours célèbre aujourd’hui, Pingouin.


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C’est aux Etats-Unis cependant que la franchise va se développer tout au long de ce siècle avec 

le plus de vigueur. Le secteur de l’automobile, vente de voitures, mais aussi distribution 

d’essence, est le premier à se développer par ce type de partenariat. Il s’agit en fait pour les 

constructeurs de s’adapter à la loi antitrust de 1929 qui leur interdit d’être propriétaires des 

points de vente. La formule connaît un tel succès que d’autres branches de l’économie 

américaine, comme la restauration ou la location d’outils, s’engagent à leur tour dans la 

franchise. Ainsi, en un demi siècle, de 1920 à 1970, de grands noms de l’industrie et des 

services, Ford, General motors, Kentucky Fried Chicken, assurent à la franchise une crédibilité et 

une reconnaissance qui vont lui permettre de traverser les frontières. 

Ainsi réapparaît-elle en France à la charnière des années 60-70. Le nombre de franchiseurs, et 

donc de franchisés, va se multiplier en quelques années, le nombre de réseaux passant de 34 en 

1971 à 203 en 1979. Cette croissance exponentielle s’effectue cependant dans un certain 

désordre et les professionnels de la franchise, comme les pouvoirs publics, ressentent très 

rapidement la nécessité de moraliser et d’encadrer juridiquement la franchise. 

La Fédération française de la franchise a élaboré, dès 1972, un code de déontologie de la 

franchise, visant à harmoniser les différentes pratiques relevées dans ce secteur. 

Un arrêté du 29 novembre 1973, relatif à la terminologie économique et financière, concrétise 

par ailleurs l’adoption par la France de la franchise, en substituant aux mots "franchising", 

"franchisor" et "franchisee", les mots "franchisage", "franchiseur", "franchisé". 

Pendant les années 80, la croissance du nombre de réseaux se poursuit. On en compte 675 en 

1989. C’est à la fin de cette période que vont intervenir les deux textes essentiels du droit de la 

franchise, exception faite du droit commun des contrats, le règlement communautaire de 1988 et 

la loi Doubin du 31 décembre 1989, bientôt suivie par son décret d’application en 1991. 

Ce corpus juridique va permettre, en premier lieu, de reconnaître la validité des contrats de 

franchise au regard du droit de la concurrence et, en second lieu, d’organiser une meilleure 

protection des franchisés en leur permettant de s’engager en mesurant mieux les risques 

encourus. 

A partir de 1990-1991, on constate d’ailleurs une diminution sensible du nombre de réseaux. 

Celle-ci peut s’expliquer autant par les difficultés économiques du moment que par le retrait de 

certains franchiseurs, contraints, en raison des nouvelles garanties juridiques demandées, de se 

retirer d’un secteur devenu plus stable et plus mature. 

Ainsi, après avoir connu une décrue importante entre 1990 et 1994, le nombre de réseaux 

connaît-il de nouveau une période de croissance ininterrompue, puisque l’on dénombre 553 

réseaux aujourd’hui contre 400 en 1994. 

Depuis le 1 er juin 2000, de nouvelles règles communautaires sont entrées en vigueur, visant à 

donner une plus grande souplesse aux contrats et en faisant de la liberté le principe et de 

l’interdiction l’exception. 

Ainsi encadrée juridiquement, structurée professionnellement et développée dans un nombre de plus en plus 

important de pays à travers l’Europe et le monde, la franchise paraît avoir acquis une maturité qui en fait un mode de 

collaboration vers lequel un nombre croissant d’entrepreneurs n’hésitent plus à se tourner. 

6.Les avantages de la franchise 

Les avantages pour le franchiseur 

Développer un réseau de franchise comporte pour un entrepreneur plusieurs avantages. 

Cela permet en effet : 

- d'organiser un maillage territorial rapide en contrepartie d'un investissement limité ; 

- de maîtriser entièrement le développement du concept par le contrôle du réseau ; 

- de créer une puissance économique importante qui va permettre de gagner en compétitivité (conditions d'achats, 

moyens logistiques importants permettant la réalisation d'économies d'échelle) ; 

- d'organiser des campagnes publicitaires, et plus généralement, une promotion de l'enseigne et de la marque, à 

l'échelon national. 

Les avantages pour le franchisé 

Pour le franchisé, la formule comporte également un grand nombre d'avantages :


ISSN: 1842-4856 

- elle suppose son indépendance juridique. Le franchisé demeure un commerçant indépendant, 

maître d'oeuvre et responsable de l'activité et de la pérennité de son entreprise ; 

- elle lui assure le bénéfice d'une marque ou d'une enseigne, signes forts de reconnaissance 

auprès de la clientèle mais aussi des banques ; 

- elle organise la transmission du savoir-faire de son franchiseur et prévoit son assistance 

permanente, ce qui facilite le démarrage d'activité pour un franchisé sans expérience ; 

- elle lui permet de bénéficier de tous les effets positifs d'un réseau (réputation, mais aussi prix, 

synergies, partage des innovations...). 

7. Quelles sont les exigences de la franchise 

S’il comporte de nombreux avantages, le système du franchisage n’en impose pas moins d’importantes contraintes, 

pesant aussi bien sur le franchiseur que sur le franchisé. 

Les contraintes du franchiseur 

- la transmission des signes distinctifs 

- la transmission du savoir-faire 

- l’assistance technique et/ou commerciale 

- l’exclusivité territoriale 

La transmission des signes distinctifs. 

Nul ne peut être franchiseur sans être propriétaire ou sans avoir la jouissance des signes 

distinctifs de la franchise : enseigne, nom commercial, marque de fabrique ou de service, sigles, 

symboles, logos. Il en garantit la jouissance à ses franchisés. Ainsi, c’est au franchiseur qu’il 

appartient d’agir en contrefaçon lorsqu’une atteinte est portée à sa marque. 

La transmission du savoir-faire. 

Il s’agit du coeur même de la franchise. Sans savoir-faire, il n’y a pas de franchise. Ce savoirfaire 

était défini très précisément par le règlement communautaire de 1988. Il doit être entendu 

comme un ensemble d’informations pratiques non brevetées, résultant de l’expérience du 

franchiseur et testées par celui-ci. L’ensemble doit être substantiel, identifié et secret. 

a. Substantiel. Le savoir-faire correspond à des techniques ou procédés que le franchisé n’aurait 

pas pu découvrir rapidement et seul. 

b. Identifié. Il peut figurer dans le contrat de franchise même, dans un document particulier, ou 

sous toute autre forme adaptée. Dans la pratique, il ne figure pas dans le contrat lui-même, la 

quantité d’informations étant trop importante et, en outre, susceptible d’évoluer avec le temps. 

On le retrouve plutôt dans un manuel que les professionnels appellent souvent leur " bible ". S’il 

est souvent écrit, le savoir-faire peut également être transmis par voie audiovisuelle. 

c. Secret. Le savoir-faire ne doit pas être un ensemble de procédures et de connaissances 

immédiatement accessibles au public ; il doit présenter une originalité propre, inconnue des noninitiés. 

Il ne peut ainsi se résumer à des fiches techniques fournies à tout acheteur des produits ou 

services faisant l’objet du contrat. 

L’assistance technique et/ou commerciale. 

Celle-ci débute dès la signature du contrat. Elle peut prendre de multiples formes : 

- la formation continue du franchisé et de son personnel ; 

- la prestation d’ingénierie (parfois même avant la signature du contrat) ; 

- les plans type d’aménagement du magasin et d’assortiment des produits ; 

- l’organisation de campagnes de publicité ; 

- le conseil juridique, la gestion d’un service contentieux commun à tout le réseau ; 

- la mise en place d’un centre logistique ; 

- la fourniture d’un compte de résultat type. 

Par principe, l’assistance fournie par le franchiseur se limite à celle prévue par le contrat. Il est 

ainsi impossible d’invoquer des manquements du franchiseur à son devoir d’assistance pour des 

engagements qu’il n’aurait pas souscrits. Le franchiseur peut toutefois être tenu pour 

partiellement responsable de la liquidation d’un franchisé si ses conseils et informations ont


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conduit celui-ci à prendre des décisions (extension de surface ou modification de l’emplacement 

par exemple) manifestement incompatibles avec l’intérêt économique de l’entreprise. 

L’exclusivité territoriale. 

Elle n'est pas obligatoire. Toutefois, la majorité des contrats de franchise la prévoit. Cette clause 

permet au franchisé de développer son entreprise avec plus de sérénité puisqu'elle oblige le 

franchiseur à assurer la protection de la zone concédée en ne créant pas d'autres réseaux pouvant 

lui faire concurrence ou en s'abstenant de démarcher lui-même la clientèle située dans ce 

territoire. 

Il faut noter cependant que l'étendue de la zone initialement définie peut être amenée à évoluer 

(le plus souvent dans le sens d'une diminution) en fonction de la stratégie commerciale du 

franchiseur, de sa notoriété et de sa clientèle. Le non respect de cette clause par le franchiseur 

peut donner lieu au versement de dommages -intérêts au franchisé et même à la résiliation du 

contrat si le juge considère que l'exclusivité territoriale en était une clause essentielle. 

Le règlement communautaire du 22 décembre 1999 tend à limiter le champ des exclusivités 

territoriales. Il autorise en effet les ventes passives, pour lesquelles les clients situés hors zone ne 

sont pas activement sollicités. Ainsi, le franchiseur ne peut, sous l'empire de cette 

réglementation, interdire à ses franchisés de procéder à des opérations de publicité en dehors de 

leur territoire exclusif, dès lors que cette publicité n'est pas personnelle. Concrètement, cela 

signifie que les franchisés ont la possibilité de mener des campagnes de publicité par affichage 

en dehors de leur territoire, mais pas d'adresser des courriers personnalisés aux consommateurs. 

De même, le franchiseur ne peut pas faire obstacle à la création d'un site Internet par un 

franchisé, dès lors que celui-ci répond aux obligations prévues par le contrat et ne nuit pas à 

l'image de la marque. En revanche, le franchisé ne peut pas adresser de courrier électronique 

publicitaire à des internautes situés en dehors de son territoire. 

Il a été par ailleurs récemment jugé que la création d'un site Internet par un franchiseur vendant 

les produits objets de la franchise n'était pas assimilable à l'implantation d'un point de vente dans 

la zone protégée et ne portait donc pas atteinte à la clause d'exclusivité territoriale (Cass Com, 14 

mars 2006). 

Il faut donc être particulièrement vigilant sur la teneur et la portée de la clause d'exclusivité 

territoriale. 

Les contraintes du franchisé 

- le versement de droits d’entrée et d’une redevance 

- la confidentialité 

- le respect des normes du franchiseur 

- l’approvisionnement exclusif 

En contrepartie des services assurés par le franchiseur, le franchisé est tenu au respect d’un 

certain nombre de règles nécessaires au bon fonctionnement de la franchise. 

Le versement de droits d’entrée et d’une redevance. 

En général, les contrats de franchise prévoient le versement de droits d'entrée dans le réseau dont 

le montant est très variable. 

Pendant la durée du contrat, le franchisé est le plus souvent tenu de verser une redevance 

calculée sur le chiffre d'affaires (entre 0,5% et 15%). Celle-ci correspond au paiement des 

services assurés par le franchiseur, à la contribution du franchisé aux frais de publicité nationale 

et/ou à la protection territoriale qui lui est accordée. 

La confidentialité. 

Il est de l’intérêt même de l’ensemble des membres du réseau que le savoir-faire transmis par le 

franchiseur reste confidentiel. Le plus souvent, les contrats déterminent précisément les 

personnes auxquelles le franchisé ne doit pas divulguer ce savoir-faire. Cette protection du 

savoir-faire est en général assurée après l’extinction du contrat par des clauses de nonconcurrence 

qui prohibent, pour une durée qui ne doit pas excéder un an, l’exercice d’une 

profession similaire par l’ancien franchisé.


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Le respect des normes du franchiseur. 

Le succès initial du franchiseur repose sur un concept, matérialisé par un ensemble de règles que 

le franchisé est tenu de respecter pour donner une consistance au contrat et pour pouvoir 

reproduire le succès du franchiseur. 

Ces normes peuvent porter sur de nombreux points, et notamment : 

- l’aménagement intérieur de l’établissement ; 

- les techniques de commercialisation ; 

- les actions publicitaires ; 

- le choix de l’emplacement et des locaux ; 

- l’utilisation de l’enseigne ; 

- la tenue de la comptabilité. 

Pour veiller au respect de ces normes, le franchiseur dispose en général de larges pouvoirs de 

contrôle sur ses franchisés (contrôle sur place de la conformité des locaux, des produits vendus, 

des prestations de service effectuées, des états financiers...). Les modalités de contrôle sont en 

principe prévues dans le contrat. 

L’approvisionnement exclusif. 

Le contrat peut prévoir l’obligation pour le franchisé de s’approvisionner exclusivement ou quasi 

exclusivement chez le franchiseur ou auprès d’un fournisseur référencé. 

Une telle obligation est cependant strictement encadrée juridiquement. 

- La signature du contrat doit être précédée, au moins 20 jours auparavant, de la remise par le 

franchiseur, au franchisé, d’un document d’information précontractuel prévu par la loi du 31 

décembre 1989, permettant à ce dernier de s’engager en toute connaissance de cause ; 

- En vertu du règlement communautaire du 22 décembre 1999, la clause ne peut pas être prévue 

pour une durée supérieure à 5 ans, sauf, prévoient les lignes directrices du 24 mai 2000, lorsque 

celle-ci est nécessaire au maintien de l’identité commune et de la réputation du réseau et que le 

franchiseur ne détient pas une position dominante. En outre, la loi du 14 octobre 1943 prohibe 

les accords d’achat exclusif excédant une durée de 10 ans ; 

- Elle doit avoir pour finalité de préserver l’homogénéité du réseau et non de réduire 

abusivement la liberté du franchisé. Celui-ci doit pouvoir s’approvisionner chez un autre membre 

du réseau et il ne doit pas être contraint de se procurer tout son matériel (imprimante, caisses 

enregistreuses par exemple) dès lors que cela n’est pas absolument nécessaire à l’unité du réseau 

; 

- La quantité des produits livrés ne doit pas être entièrement décidée par le franchiseur. La Cour 

d’appel de Paris a ainsi annulé un contrat qui faisait obligation au franchisé de se procurer toute 

" la collection de référence du franchiseur ". 


1. Beshel B. .An Introduction to Franchising., 2001,www.franchise.org/edufound/intro2 

franchising 

2.. Blideanu, D. .Franciza . elemente fundamentale., Revista de Comerţ nr. 9/009 2004 

3.. Budică, I.Gîrboveanu, S.Franciza internaţională., Revista Marketing Management nr. 1- 

2/2002 

4. Zeidman, Philip F. .Franciza., Casa de editură Capital şi Ed. Expert, Bucureşti, 1999


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FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS ÎN THE ORGANIZING OF 

AN INTERNATIONAL JOINT VENTURE 

Lawyer Popa Claudia – Dolj Bar, Romania 

Salomia Silviu Florin - assistant - “Constantin Brancusi” University Targu 

Jiu, Romania 

Abstract: This paper examines the use of social relationships in the organizing of a business network in the case of 

an international joint venture developing over time. The organizing process and the multicultural setting of the 

international joint venture emphasize the actions of and interactions between individuals from various organizations. 

The international joint venture - managers use of their social relationships in business organizing is explored 

through analysis of narratives of international joint venture - managers in a longitudinal single case to provide 

empirically grounded theory. One business relationship may contain only one or many of these interpersonal levels 

and an effective business relationship contains the appropriate interpersonal level for the business issue at hand. 

Keywords: international joint venture; social relationship; network; organizing; manager. 

Previous research has indicated that social relationships can be utilized for various 

business purposes. A related discussion concerns social capital and focuses on the elements of 

social interaction, such as resilient social trust, unspecified obligations and expectations, 

mutually developed norms and sanctions, as resources in socio-economic activities. The primary 

interest of the present study is in the use of social relationships, the behavioral aspects covered 

in the social embeddedness research. 

The greatest part of the existing research on the use of social relationships in business can be 

seen to rely on the early notions of the types and functions of social relationships. The 

relationships are seen to be either strong or weak where the former ties are suitable for transfer of 

complex or salient knowledge and the latter suit exchange of simple information and search for 

novel ideas. The advancing globalization, speeding technological development and 

differentiation of the customers means that the business relationship building often takes place in 

multicultural and turbulent settings where the managers need to interact and establish 

relationships with actors with diverse cultural backgrounds and interests. This is especially 

evident in the case of international joint ventures but the use of social relationships in 

international joint ventures has received scant attention. The social relationships are likely to 

have more varying types and functions in the business networks than the dichotomist views 

suggest. 

In the development of an international joint venture is a question of establishing a new business 

entity for which the managers strive to establish a favorable network position in a new market. 

Although having the parents to support it, an international joint venture is dependent also on 

other organizations, like any other firm. Relationships need to be established with suppliers, 

customers, authorities, financiers and other organizations. Through interactions in the 

relationships, managers enact workable realities and that way organize the business of the firm in 

a relationship network. Organizing is here determined as the collective definition of the nature 

and roles of the relationships to the joint venture as a result of the interpersonal interactions in 

the relationship networks. 

With respect to international joint ventures both the context-dependent and the social 

developments seem to be neglected areas of research. The development of a joint venture is 

usually described as a process that develops through consecutive stages between the parent 

companies. To emphasize the social embedding of business in wider relationship networks, the 

development process is, in the present study, named as organizing. The organizing concept takes 

into account that business takes place in constantly changing relationship networks. The changes


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lead to incessant organizing of the joint venture's business as new relationships are built, old 

ones decay or existing relationships change character. Organizing, as well, emphasizes the role 

of individuals in organizational developments. In the processes of organizing the boundaries of 

the firm are continuously updated as a result of interactions between the individuals inside and 

outside the firm. 

The present study attempts to deepen our understanding of the social embeddedness of business 

relationship building by exploring the use of social relationships in the organizing of an 

international joint venture. The study aims to answer the question: How do the international joint 

venture managers utilize their social relationships in the organizing of its business network? To 

work towards this goal, the types of social relationships and their functions are both theoretically 

and empirically examined. 

The rest of the paper is structured as follows: First, the social embeddedness of business 

relationships is discussed in the light of previous research. Then, the research methodology is 

described. The interview data was analyzed to find out the types and functions of the social 

relationships that the managers utilized in the organizing of the business networks of an 

international joint venture. As a result the business relationships are identified as including four 

possible interpersonal levels. This results in definition of four ideal types of social relationships 

used in organizing of an international joint venture: reporting relationships, organizational 

contacts, personal relationships and friendship relationships. These types of relationships are 

combined with different business uses and circumstances, i.e. relationship functions. 

Social embeddedness of business relationships 

Business relationships are primarily developed for economic advantages. But, organizational 

behavior is always a result of the actions of the individuals representing the organizations and 

therefore the social relationships, i.e. person-level ties, inevitably intervene in the business 

processes. An organizational relationship is actually a complex web of interactive relationships 

between individuals in the organizations. The present study is focused on the use of social 

relationships behind the organizing of the business network of an international joint venture and 

examines social embeddedness in the following through the analysis of the characteristics of the 

social relationships and their functions. 

Types of social relationships 

How a firm can utilize its relationships in business depends on their characteristics, which make 

some relationships more appropriate for certain purposes than others. For example, old 

relationships are expected to be more suitable for acquiring subtle information and are often used 

for multiple purposes whereas newer ties are commonly tied to one specific function. Some 

relationships are purely instrumental whereas others include strong emotional obligations and are 

supported by trust. The discussion of different types of social relationships in business can be 

seen to have a basis in the strong vs. weak tie characterization by. 

Functions of social relationships 

The importance of the participation of an industrial firm in various networks is based on the 

interdependencies and the variety of functions which the relationships may entail in the business. 

From the strategic viewpoint the relationships may reduce costs of exchange and production, 

promote development of knowledge, give the parties control over certain parts of the 

environment, act as bridges to third parties, or may be used to mobilize partners against 

competitors. 

Interpersonal relationships have been suggested to have specific functions in business processes. 

The above characterizations of the two types of relationship already relate them to different uses. 

In the interaction model interpersonal contacts are identified as performing vital roles in problem 

solving, in exchanging social values and information, and in demonstrating commitment and 

credibility. Personal contacts are means of distance reduction, which is emphasized in interaction 

between firms of different countries. They can help business-making by facilitating


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understanding of differences in culture, education and technical and economic factors between 

the counterparts noted personal relationships to be especially important for the exchange of 

information and special services, for the assessment of partners, and as being the normal means 

of persuasion and negotiation. Personal relationships may also provide crisis insurance and even 

ego-enhancement. 

. Social relationships can also be seen as a kind of business infrastructure because they provide 

underlying preconditions and support for industrial and business activities. These infrastructural 

networks are not designed for specific business deals but are interpersonal connections for 

acquisition of advance information, for influencing the business framework or for 

communication possibilities (e.g. to competitors, government agencies, potential customers or 

opinion leaders). Typically the aim is to influence other organizations through the use of existing 

personal relationships to their managers or other employees. Infrastructural relationships are 

important for handling links to parties with whom the company has no direct or indirect business 

relationships. 

To conclude, the reporting relationships are primarily channels for transferring standardized, 

simple information, e.g. in relationships to the parents and authorities. The organizational 

contacts fit for the handling of normal business matters, like initial search for market 

information, permission applications and financing arrangements. Through them initial 

convincing of the partners and customers and initial legitimating of the venture through 

relationships to embassies, ministries or financiers can also be done. Personal relationships are 

needed for knowledge transfer in parent relationships and transfer of salient information, 

evaluation, creation and maintenance of relationships to the most important customers. 

Friendship relationships can be relied on in the case of urgent problems with respect to critical 

issues of business organizing. Typical of them is being available whenever needed and providing 

help in unexpectedly arisen business problems or even private problems of a business partner. 

However, it is to be noted that one business relationship can include all the four types of the 

individual-level relationships or only one, two or three of them. Thus, these ideal types are 

actually levels in a business relationship. This is because individuals in the organizations often 

interact with many individuals in the other organizations. One manager may have relationships 

with many managers in the counterpart organization some of which are friendship relationships, 

some others reporting relationships and so on. Also two managers in one organization may have 

different kinds of relationships with the same counterpart. Finally, one relationship between two 

managers may include all the four levels and which one is activated depends on the situation and 

the issue at hand. 

Conclusions 

In this study the social embeddedness of the organizing of an international joint venture has been 

both theoretically and empirically analyzed in an attempt to answer the question: How do the 

international joint venture managers utilize their social relationships in the organizing of its 

business network? The study contributes to our understanding of the social relationships of the 

managers as the determinants of the organizing of the business network. It provides examples of 

how the interpersonal relationships of managers are intertwined with the organizing of business. 

The business relationships were noted as characterized by four different levels of interpersonal 

relationships, reporting relationships, organizational contacts, personal relationships and 

friendship relationships, whose type influences the functions of the relationships and visa versa. 

This enriches the earlier dyadic divisions of relationships into strong and weak ties based on 

Granovetter's classical ideas of interpersonal relationships. Besides, the present study emphasizes 

that a single organizational relationship can include all these four types of interpersonal 

relationship or only a few of them.


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Reporting relationships are hardly avoided in any business organizing, but they are handled with 

as little effort as possible because they are not seen as very valuable to business making. 

However, for example, in the former socialist countries it has been noted to be useful to establish 

also personal relationships with various authorities with which exists only the reporting kind of 

information exchange. Adding the personal relationship level makes interacting with them more 

efficient. 

The need for different kinds of relationships is probably strengthened in the case of an 

international joint venture in the transition markets. The utilization of personal contacts and 

friendship for any problem solving is a cultural characteristic of the East European countries 

inherited from the period under the socialist system. This makes close personal relationships 

crucial for the achievement of the resources for operation from the old Polish firms and for 

positioning the joint venture advantageously in the local market with previously centrally 

managed customers. 

Also, when a new company is just about to emerge and is totally unknown in its markets of 

operation, personal initiatives are important for organizing the business. Third-party mediation is 

often needed for initial legitimacy building and for creation of intercultural understanding and 

compromises. Establishment of personal relationships is also needed for transferring managerial, 

technological and marketing know-how. On the other hand, the managers of international joint 

ventures, based on the nature of an international joint venture as a multi-cultural and 

international unit from its initiation, need to be prepared to act also in international relationships, 

which may be primarily regulated by contracts and prices. They are like organizational contacts 

in which the managers do not need to involve their personalities as a whole but act and be known 

to act as an organizational agent. 

We know that the relationships are dynamic. Therefore the relationships in the classification 

presented here easily change their character. A reporting relationship that provides invaluable 

help in an urgent problem is likely to get a new level, a friendship level. On the other hand a 

personal relationship that is not paid enough attention to is likely to turn to an organizational 

contact used for routine matters in business organizing. The actions of any representative of the 

firm may cause a change. 

References 

1. Andersson U. , Network embeddedness and transfer of information in MNCs - The dual role 

of the subsidiary. Occasional Papers, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 2001. 

2. Coleman J.S. Coleman, Foundations of social theory, Harward University Press, Cambridge, 

1990. 

3. Ghoshal S Bartlett C. Moran P. A new manifesto for management, Sloan Management 

Review 1999. 

4. Halinen A. Salmi, A., Managing the informal side of business interaction: Personal contacts in 

the critical phases of business relationships, Proceedings of the 17th annual IMP conference, 

Norwegian School of Management, Oslo, 2001. 

5. Hakansson and Snehota, H. Hakansson and I. Snehota, Developing relationships in business 

networks, Routledge, London, 1995. 

6. Larson A., Network dyads in entrepreneurial setting: A study of the governance of exchange 

relationships, Administrative Science Quarterly , 1992.


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LES NOUVELLES RESPONSABILITIES DES CORPORATISTIONS ET 

LA GLOBALISATION 

Brotea Daniel Serafim 

Docteur en management - LÚniversité Libre Internationale de Moldavie 

Le resumé: Les compagnies autant que les individus doivent de plus en plus être responsables et répondre de leurs 

actions, en ligne avec la demande accrue du public pour des critères plus élevés de responsabilité sociale. 

Lárticle fournit une carte routière pour l'entreprise en permettant de se conduire de façon socialement responsable. 

Il s'agit de savoir comment créer des produits et des services qui ont une valeur sociale pour les gens; d'examiner la 

manière dont on fait les choses dans l'entreprise; comment l'on définit les politiques de l'entreprise et comment on 

les applique; de quelle manière les clients perçoivent l'entreprise par rapport à leurs valeurs et croyances profondes. . 

Comme jamais auparavant on demande aux corporations d'améliorer leurs pratiques d'affaires afin de mettre 

l'emphase sur leur conduite éthique et de respect des lois. 

Mots clés : la globalisation, les responsabilités, la corporation, les compagnies. 

Le débat théorique sur la concurrence 

Tel qu’il a pris forme à la fin du dix-neuvième siècle, le droit de la concurrence répondait à des 

préoccupations découlant de la concentration économique et de la formation de trusts. Les 

grandes lignes du droit de la concurrence furent établies pour interdire les ententes et les 

monopoles et contrôler la concentration économique. Si des différences significatives marquent 

les débats nationaux de l’époque 39 , le droit de la concurrence n’en visait pas moins à contrer 

l’émergence de monopoles et à préserver la multiplicité des acteurs économiques sur les marchés 

nationaux, et ce, afin de préserver l'intérêt public 40 . Sur un plan plus théorique, il y avait alors 

une forte opposition entre concurrence et monopole découlant de la conception libérale d’une 

économie de marché régulée par le principe concurrentiel. Sous l’influence de Cournot, et plus 

tard de Walras et de Pareto, la concurrence atomistique (la concurrence pure et parfaite) était 

devenue la pièce centrale de l’orthodoxie économique 41 . Bien sûr, la concurrence pure et parfaite 

n’a jamais été autre chose qu’un idéal type qui, par opposition au monopole, a la « propriété 

d’interdire à quiconque agit isolément de perturber l’équilibre du marché et de fausser les prix 

» 42 . En fait, en matière de droit de la concurrence, tout en se référant à cet idéal, les États sont 

toujours restés fort pragmatiques. L'application de règle de la raison, notamment aux États-Unis, 

ou la référence à la taille du marché, comme ce fut le cas pour le Canada, ont permis une 

application souple des lois, sans que cela vienne cependant remettre en question la présomption 

39 

Il faut, à cet égard, mentionner qu’au Canada, la question du libre-échange avec les États-Unis a été très 

importante et que la politique nationale adoptée suite aux échecs des négociations commerciales avec les États-Unis 

fut montrée du doigt pour expliquer le développement des comportements anticoncurrentiels. 

40 Les débats étaient marqués par la confrontation de deux principes, d’une part, le principe de liberté, et d’autre 

part, le principe d’équité. L’insatisfaction populaire, très vive aux États-Unis, devant la formation de trust et 

l’émergence de grandes puissances économiques posait la question de la protection des intérêts des petits 

producteurs et des consommateurs, et de l’intérêt public en général. En outre, se posait la question du pouvoir 

politique soumis au pouvoir économique et des dangers que cela soulevait pour la démocratie. 

41 

Sur l'origine du concept de concurrence pure et parfaite, voir M. Blaug, «Competition as an End-State and 

Competition as a Process», dans B. C. Eaton et R. G. Harris (dir), Trade, Technology and Economics. Essays in 

Honour of Richard C. Lipsey, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 1997, pp. 241-263. 

42 A. Bienaymé,Principes de concurrence, Économica, Paris,1998, p. 13.


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forte de risques d'abus de position dominante, consécutive à l'apparition de situations 

oligopolistiques sur les marchés. 

Mais, alors que la littérature théorique traditionnelle associait efficience et atomicité du marché, 

les nouvelles approches développées à partir des années soixante-dix considèreront que le lien 

entre les deux n'est pas automatique. Sous l’influence de Coase, pour qui les options 

institutionnelles ne se limitent pas au marché et à l’intervention étatique, la littérature va 

commencer à considérer à partir des années soixante-dix que la concentration économique peut 

être envisagée sous l'angle de l'internalisation. Comme l'entreprise est une organisation qui 

s'adapte à son environnement, qu'il s'agisse du changement technologique ou des imperfections 

du marché, les grandes organisations « se voient reconnaître une plus grande efficacité, non 

seulement de tirer pleinement parti des économies de production, mais également de substituer 

des relations internes efficaces à des relations externes marquées par de mauvaises information 

» 43 . L'argument est maintenant largement reconnu, et la plupart des politiques de la concurrence 

accordent une importance aux objectifs d’efficacité, certains pays ayant même introduit la 

défense d’efficacité dans les textes de lois ou dans les lignes directrices relatives aux 

fusionnements. Dans cette perspective, l'examen des situations de concurrence doit passer par un 

bilan économique, c'est-à-dire par la comparaison des effets anticoncurrentiels que peut 

engendrer une situation d'oligopole ou de pouvoir de marché avec les gains en efficience que 

l'entreprise peut tirer de sa taille. 

Une seconde ligne d'influence viendra de l'école dite « de Chicago-UCLA ». 

Apparentant le processus concurrentiel à un mécanisme de sélection naturelle de type spencérien, 

ne survivant que les seuls plus aptes, celle-ci introduira l'idée que la concentration économique 

devait non seulement être associée à l'idée d'efficience supérieure 44 , mais également être 

examinée avec d'autant plus de tolérance selon les tenants de cette école, que le « marché 

pertinent» pour examiner la concurrence n'est plus nécessairement le marché national, voire 

régional, mais plutôt le marché mondial. Autrement dit, à partir du moment où le marché 

pertinent n'est plus le marché national mais le marché mondial, ce sont les conditions de 

concurrence prévalant sur ce marché qui détermineront la taille d'efficience des entreprises, 

auquel cas ce qu'il est important d'examiner, c'est la taille requise pour rencontrer les exigences 

de la concurrence sur le marché mondial, d'une part, et le degré de « contestabilité » du marché 

national, voire du marché mondial lui-même comme c'est de plus en plus le cas, d'autre part. 

L'apport de la théorie des « marchés contestables »64 est, ici, fondamental : le niveau de 

concurrence réelle sur un marché est une chose, le niveau de « contestabilité » de ce marché en 

est une autre. Sur un marché monopolistique, les abus de position dominante sont toujours 

possibles, mais le risque qu'une telle situation se présente est néanmoins circonscrit, par 

l'autodiscipline des marchés face à la menace de voir entrer à tout moment de nouveaux 

arrivants. Et à partir du moment où la concurrence peut venir de n'importe où, ce qui serait le cas 

aujourd'hui avec la globalisation, rien n'interdit de penser, non seulement que la formation 

d'entreprises de grande taille est une question de survie sur des marchés devenus mondiaux, mais 

également que le consommateur y trouve son compte pour autant que les marchés soient 

contestables. L’accent mis sur les objectifs d’efficacité dynamique, c’est-à-dire principalement 

sur l’innovation, est aussi un facteur important. Il contribue à assouplir le droit sur la 

concurrence dans la mesure où l’on considère que les changements technologiques rapides 

remettraient sans cesse en cause la durabilité des positions dominantes (mis à part la question des 

43 

P. Bianchi, “Politique antitrust et politique de la concurrence dans le contexte européen”, 2ième partie, Revue 

d’économie industrielle, vol. 60, 1991 ; 1ère partie, Revue d’économie industrielle, vol. 59, p. 21. 

44 H. Demstetz, Economic, Legal and Political Dimensions of Competition, Amsterdam, New York, North Holland, 

1982 ; H. Demsetz, “Industry Structure, Market Rivalry and Public Policy”, Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 16, 

1973, pp. 1-9.


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brevets) et favoriseraient la contestabilité des marchés, mais aussi et parallèlement que le 

regroupement d’entreprises et la coopération en matière de R&D entraînent des progrès 

technologiques dont les consommateurs ne peuvent que profiter. 

2. Du droit de la concurrence aux politiques de compétitivité 

Les politiques de la concurrence, qui étaient perçues jusque-là comme une « anti-politique 

industrielle », seront en effet révisées en profondeur et considérablement assouplies au nom de la 

défense d'efficacité et de compétitivité. La seconde conséquence, plus inattendue, sera le fait que 

les politiques de la concurrence, qui ne s'appliquaient jusque-là qu'au marché national, seront 

renforcées vis-à-vis de l'extérieur et surtout s'internationaliseront, chaque pays s'arrogeant le 

droit d'examiner et de sanctionner les pratiques étrangères, des entreprises comme des États, qui 

vont à l'encontre de la concurrence et, ce faisant, de l'intérêt public. 

De fait, ce que l'on observe, c'est que la compétitivité devient l’un des objectifs principaux du 

droit de la concurrence, alors que les États Nations cherchent à promouvoir le développement 

d’industries compétitives dans un marché de plus en plus global. Généralement, la centralité du 

droit de la concurrence sur l’arbitrage des intérêts des producteurs et des consommateurs est 

reléguée au second plan derrière les objectifs d’efficacité et de compétitivité des entreprises. Il 

s’agit de ne pas faire obstacle aux restructurations en adoptant une approche trop rigoureuse, 

mais plutôt de prendre en ligne de compte toutes les dimensions, notamment le fait que la 

concurrence déborde aujourd'hui du cadre des frontières nationales. 

D'une manière générale également, les gouvernements ont sensiblement assoupli leurs 

législations et adoptent une attitude beaucoup plus tolérante que jusqu'ici à l'endroit des fusions 

et des alliances stratégiques. Cette tolérance est d'autant plus grande que ces fusions et alliances 

sont présumées être un moyen pour les entreprises d'améliorer la productivité, la recherche et 

l'innovation, ainsi que l'accès aux marchés étrangers69. On infère parallèlement que la 

concurrence potentielle des entreprises étrangères exercera un contrepoids salutaire sur le marché 

interne. En fait, si, dans le premier cas, faute de disposer de toute l'information disponible, les 

tribunaux ne peuvent pas vraiment décider « objectivement » en matière de fusion, dans le 

second, ils sont plutôt portés à évaluer de manière fort pragmatique la notion de « rivalité 

suffisante » sur le marché. 

Le problème, c'est qu'à partir du moment où les gouvernements se sont donné pour mandat 

d'arrimer la croissance économique nationale à l'insertion compétitive de l'économie dans 

l'économie mondiale, le commerce, la concurrence et l'investissement forment un trinôme 

indissociable et les politiques s'y rapportant participent d'une forme renouvelée de mercantilisme 

adapté au contexte de la globalisation. 

En somme, et pour résumer notre propos, si le droit de la concurrence a été relâché sous 

l'influence des nouvelles approches théoriques, il l'a également été pour des raisons plus 

stratégiques d'efficacité et de compétitivité internationale. En se « désengageant », les États n'ont 

pas capitulé ; ils ont plutôt changé les paramètres de leurs politiques, et celles-ci visent 

désormais à orienter et à définir les modalités d'insertion des économies nationales dans 

l'économie mondiale de la manière la plus favorable possible. Que dans ce nouveau contexte, ce 

soient surtout les FMN qui tirent leur épingle du jeu, cela ne fait aucun doute ni ne doit trop nous 

surprendre. Celles-ci cherchent à accroître leur espace de liberté afin de consolider leur présence 

au sein d’une économie globalisée marquée par des changements technologiques rapides et une 

contestabilité accrue des marchés. 

Mais, parallèlement, l'exploitation des différences nationales, voire infranationales ou régionales, 

que viennent paradoxalement exacerber l'ouverture des marchés et les politiques d'attractivité, a 

aussi pour effet d'offrir aux FMN de nouvelles opportunités d’accroître leur pouvoir 

oligopolistique, au moins de créer un environnement extrêmement favorable à l'apparition de


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positions dominantes sur les marchés et au développement d'importants effets d'éviction sur les 

marchés locaux les plus vulnérables. 

Le second constat que nous pouvons faire, c'est que, si l'on assiste à un durcissement des règles 

nationales face aux pratiques déloyales étrangères et, parallèlement, à une internationalisation 

des politiques de la concurrence, la quasi absence de règles internationales fait en sorte que l'on 

assiste à un double phénomène, de multiplication et d'exacerbation des différends entre les pays, 

mais aussi de multiplication des accords bi- ou plurilatéraux dont l'objet est d'introduire plus de 

transparence et de trouver les moyens d'uniformiser les législations nationales. Que, là encore, 

dans ce nouveau contexte, ce soient les pays les plus puissants qui tirent le mieux leur épingle du 

jeu ne doit pas nous étonner. Le rapport de force joue d'autant en leur faveur que, d'une part, 

l'accès à leurs marchés fait l'objet d'un marchandage inégal et que, d'autre part, pour eux, l'enjeu 

principal 

Un exemple nous est donné par la position officielle du Canada dans les négociations sur l'AMI. 

Elle s'inscrit à l'intérieur de trois grands paramètres. Tout d'abord, s'il a toujours été une terre 

d'accueil en matière d'investissements étrangers, le Canada est cependant affecté par deux 

nouvelles tendances : avec la libéralisation généralisée et la globalisation concomitante des 

entreprises, celui-ci a vu sa part reculer dans les investissements internationaux ; d'un autre côté, 

si le Canada dispose de nombreux avantages comparatifs, il est aussi confronté à la concurrence 

très vive des pays pour attirer les investissements. Le second paramètre est la croissance très 

forte des investissements canadiens à l'étranger; la sécurité d'accès et l'établissement de règles en 

matière de différends sont devenus des questions prioritaires. 

Conclusion 

Lorsque nous avons évoqué le fait que la transnationalisation est un phénomène qui participe du 

décloisonnement du monde, nous avons, ce faisant, cherché à montrer que, parallèlement à ce 

décloisonnement, se mettait en place un nouveau modèle d'intégration économique 

internationale, l'intégration étant plus en profondeur et centrée sur les FMN. Ce nouveau modèle 

ne se déploie pas dans le vide, mais en prenant appui sur les interactions qui existent entre les 

espaces économiques nationaux et les réseaux transnationaux des FMN. Intégrés à ces réseaux, 

les espaces nationaux se trouvent ainsi intégrés les uns aux autres, tout comme ils se trouvent mis 

en concurrence les uns vis-à-vis des autres, mais selon d'autres modalités que celles que la 

théorie économique conventionnelle a toujours envisagées. Loin de signifier l’existence d’un 

espace mondial redéfinissant les éléments constitutifs des économies nationales à l’échelle 

mondiale (monnaie, marché, production, institutions), la globalisation apporte, au contraire, un 

nouvel éclairage sur les fractures et les inégalités qui font douter de la pertinence de donner de ce 

phénomène une interprétation qui participerait d'une vision universaliste et homogène. 

Tout au long de ces pages, c'est sur l'autre dimension de la globalisation, sa dimension politique, 

que nous avons fait porter notre attention. La globalisation révèle également la décomposition de 

l’ordre international d’après-guerre, cédant devant une économie politique néo-libérale qui a fait 

« éclater les cadres nationaux de régulation et ressortir la faiblesse des instances de régulation 

supranationales » 45 , mais qui a aussi paradoxalement fait émerger de nouvelles pratiques 

d'acteurs qui vont tout à fait à l'opposé des principes sur lesquels repose cette économie politique 

et des effets que devraient produire son ancrage dans les politiques et les institutions. Qui plus 

est, loin de coller aux réalités de la mondialisation et de soutenir une reconstruction des espaces 

de régulation, le discours libre-échangiste a surtout servi de faire-valoir à des stratégies 

gouvernementales qui traduisent une double préoccupation, soit de favoriser l'intégration 

compétitive des économies nationales, d'une part, et de tourner la transnationalisation en leur 

faveur, d'autre part. 

45 Jacques Adda, La mondialisation de l'économie, Paris, La découverte, 1998, p. 4.


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1. Adda J., La mondialisation de l'économie, Paris, La découverte, 1998 

2. Bianchi, P.“Politique antitrust et politique de la concurrence dans le contexte européen”, 

2ième partie, 

Revue d’économie industrielle, vol. 60, 1991 ; 1ère partie, Revue d’économie 

industrielle, vol. 59 

3. Bienaymé A.,Principes de concurrence, Économica, Paris,1998, 

4. Demstetz, H. Economic, Legal and Political Dimensions of Competition, Amsterdam, 

New York, North Holland, 1982 

5. Eaton B.C. et R. G. Harris (dir), Trade, Technology and Economics. Essays in Honour of 

Richard C. Lipsey, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 1997


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MANAGEMENT IN TOURISM OF RECREATION 

Drd Ing.Ec. BRÎNDUŞA Andreea - C.T.A.M.”C-tin Brancusi”, Craiova 

Dir.Prof.Ec.MÎNDRULEANU Nirvana - C.T.A.M.”C-tin Brancusi”,Craiova 

ABSTRACT : The recreation is one of the base components of the touristic products. As part of the recreation 

service the element that arouse the interest of the customers is the animation. The paper presents the recreation 

tourism through the point of view of the service recreation typology which lead to the formation of the specific 

experience.. 

1. INTRODUCTION 

One of the main concerns of the vacation oferrors is to enjoy the sojourn in the best way 

possible at the established destination. The development of some activities/services that 

correspond to these demands is determined, on one hand, by the way the vacations develop, 

which nowadays are not only concerned with offering tourists just conditions for accommodation 

and serving meals, and on the other hand, it is determined by the reevaluation of the notion of 

free time. 

Having this objective, the activities come in a wide typological range in accordance 

with the various ways and places of spending the vacations. They are defined by the general term 

of animation/recreation and they constitute themselves in a distinct and important component of 

the touristic product. 

2. THE CONTENT AND FUNCTIONS OF RECREATION 

From the etymological point of view touristic recreation can be defined through the 

ensemble of means, equipments and forms given by the units, resorts or touristic places able to 

assure the individual or social groups a state of well being, of pleasure, to create the sensation of 

satisfaction, of fulfillment, to provide a good impression and beautiful memories. 

Recreation is primarily concerned with satisfying his/her physical needs to rest, to relax, 

to move and even develop his/her abilities. Its second aspect is concerned with the psychological 

revigoration of the tourist by relaxation, amusement, creating a proper atmosphere for 

communication, a state of well being and even through the enrichment of ones knowledges. 

From the point of view of touristic organizers, recreation manifests itself, first of all, as 

a factor of competition between resorts or units, as a factor of raising their activities by the 

diversification of offers. At the same time, it constitutes itself as a means of individualizing 

products and personalizing destinations, having effects on the touristic movement. 

3. THE TYPOLOGY OF THE SERVICES OF RECREATION


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The typology of the services of recreation is based on a series of defined functions. A 

classification of these functions can be made according to the criterias made on the EU level, 

according to the typological schema below: 

CRITERIAS AT THE 

TYPOLOGICAL 

SERVICES OF 

RECREATION 

General criteria of 

touristic services 

The criteria of 

the modalities 

of participation 

The criteria of the 

level of organization 

A classification of the touristic services of recreation can be made according to the 

typological schema below: 


RECREATION 

Animation for 

pure relaxation 

Recreative 

animation 

Commercial 

animation 

Physical 

animation 

Cultural 

animation 

- animation for pure relaxation, of disconnection with the daily activities, (e.g.: taking 

sun baths, walkings – tracking, visiting different objectives); 

- recreative animation, mainly constituted by loisir parks; general (e.g.: amusement 

places), thematic (e.g.: nautical, planetarium, zoological), reservations, casinos; 

- commercial animation generated by the fact that usual or specific shoppings (e.g.: 

gifts, souvenirs, workmanship articles); 

- the animation orientated towards the achievement of a complete physical condition 

refers to the wide typology of networks, from the bathing places to those of losing weight, 

cosmetics, fitness; 

- the cultural animation having as objective the knowledge, the formation and education 

of the tourist, emphasizing the moral aspect of his/her personality;


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The recreation services can be also grouped according the tourists’ ways of participation 

and so we get the typological schema: 


RECREATION 

Services 

actives 

Services 

passives 

- actives, characterized by the effective implication of the tourist in the development of 

the recreative-entertaining programs: sports, competitions, games, lessons, creative activities; 

- passives, characterized by the fact that the tourist is a mere spectator: being present on 

different cultural, sport events. 

The recreation activities classify themselves according to the level of organization and 

we have the schema: 

ACTIVITATI DE 

AGREMENT


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by the 

accommodation units 


at the level of health 

resort 


by third persons 

- organized by the accommodation units. This modality is specific to hotels and restaurants 

of high class and the activities are, in general, simple and don’t imply particular efforts of 

personnel. According to this category we have: practicing some sports like swimming, skiing, 

skating; music and dance bands; housing some events – expositions, festivals. 

- organized at the level of health resort. These are organized according to the partnership between 

touristic commercial societies and local councils. These activities have a higher level of complexity, 

for example vacation clubs, recreation harbors, etc.; 

- organized by third persons. These are of great complexity and require the implication of 

specialized organizations, others than the touristic ones, as for example amusement parks, theatrical 

tours, dance tours, musical tours, etc.. 

3. CONCLUSIONS 

The development and diversification of the services that form tourism, the improvement of 

their quality are the primary objectives of the touristic organizations and constitute the expression of 

the adaptation of these activities to the increasing and varying needs of the customers, determined 

by the quantitative and structural change of the touristic movement. 

From this point of view we can state that the development of recreation services leads to 

the improvement and creation of attractive touristic products that create positive effects on the 

human organism from the physical condition point of view as well as from the psychological aspect. 

REFERENCES 

[1] Bran Florina., Istrate Ion.,Anca Gabriela Rosu., Economia turismului si mediului inconjurator, 

Editura Economica, 1996. 

[2] Mincu R, Economia turismului, Editura URANUS, Bucuresti, 2000. 

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MANAGERIAL STRATEGIES OF STAFF DEVELPMENT 

Ec. CLAUDIA MUNGIU-PUPAZAN 

ASISTENT 

UNIVERSITATEA « CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI » 

FACULTATEA DE STIINTE ECONOMICE 

Chapter 1 .The development of human resources 

1.1 The responsibility of human resources development 

If we start from the premise that human resources management consists into efficient use of 

employees in order to reach the objectives and achieve the organization strategies, we are able to 

understand the vision of those firms, which allot the human resources development activity to 

personnel/human resources compartment who implies much more tasks. 

A reliable solution consists in assuming the task of employee’s development responsibilities 

by the managers. In moment which the manager is responsible not only for achievement of 

production/selling objectives, but also for competences development of employees , accordingly to 

the present and future demands of the jobs , the conflict between human resources manager and the 

direct boss will vanish ;the employee must not choose between professional improvement and 

solving the post requirements, because professional development will be also a job task; in achieve 

of that task will be interested both human resources manager and direct boss. 

1.2. Human resources development: place into organization, structure and objectives 

The development function of human resources can be split on these three actions/parts: 

training and development, organizational development, carrier development.{1} 

The training and development activity (T&D) focuses on improvement of know ledges and 

personnel skills. The major goal of training consists in supplying the know ledges and skills 

necessary, in order to respond to a job demands, while the development activity prepare the 

employee to respond to future responsibilities, inside organization.{4},{2},{5} 

The organization development represents a crossing process plan into organization, to high 

and low organizational level, in order to improve the organization efficiency and welfare increase of 

his members. The career development is the endless process, through the person advance along of 

professional phases, each phase with his peculiarity: problems, themes, tasks.{17} 

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Chapter.2 THE FOUNDATION OF T&D ACTIVITY 

2.1. The behavior influence 

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The development programs follow, finally, the behavior change who is influence by internal facts 

(motivation) and firm medium. 

In order to discover the training needs to motivate students to learn and apply what they have 

learned, is important that trainer and direct boss to be aware about the person and organizational 

results influence on employee performances.{10} 

Taking into account of leadership theory conduct to these conclusions for T&D activity: if the 

direct boss doesn’t care about training program, the employees won t are happy to follow that 

program, but if the boss has a good attitude, the employees will be interested and eager to follow the 

program. 

The organization influence employee’s behavior, inside T&D program through the award 

system and the allot system: the T&D program must be bound to rewards expected by employees 

and their distribution must be fair. {11} 

The influence of job colleagues over employee behavior can be use, into T&D program, on 

two vectors: the training activity must be project in order to make learning process a group process, 

not a process for each member, and for to maximum of know ledges process transfer to practice 

must involve also the work colleagues..{13} 

2.2. Learning 

Learning is the central point of T&D program and can be seen like a change almost for ever 

into behavior and knowledge, result of medium-person interaction. 

The psychology researches conduct to identify the facts that allow to maximum learning: the 

students characteristics, the program training conceive, the transfer of know ledges / skills gain into 

practice. 

• The specific features of student influence the way he will learn. The upbringing of one person 

depend by three factors: 

Upbringing = motivation x skill x perceptible on work medium 

This formula indicates that the high level of one factor can t compensate, entirely, the low 

level of other factor , thus we must assure that , into training programs , are involve employees 

motivate to learn, they have the necessary skills and have a good vision in work medium. 

• In conceiving the training program must be taken into account the factors that, by one side, 

condition the practice, and on the other side, condition the achievement of what is learning. 

Practice- regarding learning goal – is condition by the following factors: 

- The possibility to practice/use, for many times, the tasks/know ledges learnt; 

- The use of practice sessions spread in time , who conduct to improvement of performances 

and retain rate of know ledges, compare to sessions gathered by the practice; 

- The split of one program into different modules; 

- Over learning conducts to development of new automatic skills, especially, into crises / 

urgency situation; 

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- The communication of some informations with general character in starting and final phases 

of training and some informations specific to intermediate phases; 

- Splitting the tasks in under-tasks and learn them one by one 

• The Transfer of know ledges/skills, gather through training into main activity, is a critic 

element of T&D activity, because it s main goal consists in improving the performances of 

employees for each job. 

CHAPTER.3 SPECIFIC MODALITIES IN ORDER TO FOUNDATE THE T&D 

ACTIVITY 

3.1. The analyze of training and development needs 

The analysis of training needs at organizational level presents the great advantage to coupling 

action of assurance T&D to the strategy and mission of organization.{7} 

This analysis to organizational level consists in: 

- To identify the organizational objectives; 

- To identify resources that could be mobilize for T&D activity; 

- To discover the allowance/permission degree of organizational medium for training and 

development activities of the personnel; 

- To discover the medium constraints. 

The analysis of job tasks is focus on the job, not on job occupation. It consist in gathering all 

the informations who describe what should achieve to the level of that job, in order to obtain the 

desired performance. This is made on five phases: 

- The general description of the job; 

- The identification of job tasks; 

- The identification of necessary demands in order to accomplish the job tasks and what the 

employees must obtain or develop in training program; 

- The identification of demands that can be take into account in training programs; 

- The priority of training needs. 

Analyze of training needs to individual level focuses to way the person achieve his daily 

tasks. The analysis to individually level involve two phases: 

- The summary analysis, who consist in general evaluation ( on a scale between performance 

and non performance) of job owner; 

- The diagnosis analysis –try to discover the facts that imply the differences of performance 

from previous phase 

a. The internal factors (motivation, knowledges, skills, competencies lack). 

b. The outside factors (inappropriate equipments lack of material resources). 

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3.2. The design of training development programs 

The projection of T&D programs involves development of these activities: 

a. The summary of programs objectives. The objective of one training program is correctly 

summary under three conditions: 

- The performance description that should be obtain by student , consequence of program 

graduation; 

- Describe the conditions into performance must be achieved , settle the performance 

criterion; 

b. The instructor / trainer select / choice imply the choosing of the best solution, due to the 

material, financial and time restraints who action in organization. 

c. The program content projection- implies writing of course plan through these activities: 

- Settle the theme content and settle the activity sequences; 

- Choose/conceive the information sources; 

- select, conceive of course and applications frames; 

- select of training méthodes; 

- splitting the time budget on each sequence/mode of course; 

- Settle the evaluation criterions of the course. 

a. Choose of training methods and techniques – these methods groups on two big categories: 

- Training methods to the work place (on-the-job); 

- Training methods type “classroom”; 

b. Materials prepare. When the program is organized with internal forces, the firm must to elaborate 

by own resources the following materials: the program announcement, the summary program, the 

training program, the texts book. 

c. Program in time of actions. Compare with the previous phases, this one seem much simple, but is 

not true, because for individuals and organizations, time is a rare source, and the program in time of 

actions condition that active participation to the course of target- public. 

CHAPTER .4 THE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IMPLEMENT 

4.1. The training methods for each job « training on-the-job »{14} 

These methods are recommended in order to assure the swift/fast transfer in practice of 

gathered knowledges, the learning medium being identically/the same with the work medium. 

a. The instruct programs for each job contains, mainly, a procedure instructions set, which the 

instructor use in order to prepare the employee to the work place. That program develops in four 

steps: 

- The preparation of employee: the instructor- employee concordance, depict of employee 

knowledge level , their motivation, the settle of tasks achievement; 

- Present the execution mode for tasks by the instructor; 

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- Burden practice; 

- Checking in time the job performances of employee; 

b. The job rotate – is used, especially, for new hired managers in order to deeply/very well know 

the organization. 

During the rotate on different jobs, the employee is under surveillance of one person who works 

inside the respective department, person which responds about his focusing, preparation and 

evaluation. 

c. Coaching. The coaching activity consists in: the analyzes of employee performances and 

employee-coach discussions. 

The analysis of employee performances is made through comparison of his performance with the 

performance standards settled and agreed by the evaluator and the evaluate person. 

The coach- employee discussion has the goal to imply the employee in solving the 

performance problem. This discussion is achieve on five steps : is obtaining the employee 

agreement on existence and length of problem ; is discussing the alternative solutions to solve the 

problem ; is reaching to a mutual agreement regarding the necessary actions for solving the 

problem ;are following and checking the results in time ;while there appears , are recognizing the 

progress made by employee. 

d. The instruction with a mentor/adviser help. The Mentor/adviser has the role to supply/offer 

the help that his younger colleague needs, helping him to understand the organizational roots, 

offering him the opportunities to demonstrate his qualities, to be known and appreciate. 

4.2. Training methods type « classrooms » 

From the methods type « classroom » I will illustrate the active methods, which are more 

indicate for training and development programs, because are based on training student who learn 

from active experiment. {12} 

a. The case studies method 

Can apply for each person or in group, in order to develop the analysis and problem solving 

capacity, through establishment of connections between facts, the problem identification, the 

examination of alternative solutions and his consequences. The major goal of using that method 

consists not into the solution discovery , but in practice by the participants of theoretically 

knowledges regarding problems solving, sustaining/motivating his own point of view and, 

eventually , the team work. 

b. The action-learning method – is a part branch of alive case studies. The participants are 

entreat to select a problem from their organization, to write a case study about the chosen problem, 

afterwards they gather in group with the other participants with same problems and debate the 

concrete problems rise by everybody. In plus, through this way they have the opportunity to 

develop a structure mode/way to solve the problems, they have the opportunity to share their 

experiences, learning one from the other. 

c. Games and feigns 

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This method is use in order to develop the skills to establish priorities, to plan, to collect 

major informations and take decision.{3} It is applying thus: 

- It starts from the assumption that the participant was promote on a management job and 

supply him the informations regarding the new function( strategy, objectives, union relations); 

- The student receive a documents bag, which can be always on a manager desk; It is asking 

him to organize, priority them and take the decisions he appreciate being necessary; 

- After the end of time allot, it is estimate the develop activity (decisions quality, the measure 

of handling the critic problem set) and communicate the results. 

c. The method of role playing 

The students « play »various roles after the pattern depicted from firm activity, opportunity 

for them to self-discover and learn a certain behavior mode. 

d. Behavior modeling 

Due to the fact that the learning of new behaviors is conditional by the « models » we 

discover seeing the other s behavior, induce of a new behavior type is obtain by traverse of these 

phases: 

- modeling: the students watch a film who presents the behavior they must appropriate and , 

eventually, the opposite behavior; 

- to decompose the model into learning points: under instructor conduct take place a 

discussion regarding the key elements of model-behavior; 

- the memory and retain of the behavior: the students debate the key points and interpret, in a 

role game, the respective behavior; 

- feedback: the instructor analyses the performances reached, communicates to student the 

observations, marking the strong points; 

- Transfer: the students are encouraged to practice the new behavior type to the working 

place. 

CHAPTER.5 THE ESTIMATE OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS 

The estimate activity consists in methodically/systematic gathering of describe informations, 

value judgments, opinions, which can offer a clear image on the mode that T&D program proceed, 

of results obtained, in order to take decisions regarding the select, quality and alter/continue 

procedure of program. {9} 

The most important estimate model is Kirkpatrick model, who propose the following criterion 

of estimation: 

- the reaction (perceive) of program from the participants; 

- learning: if the participants learn’t what they should; 

- the job behavior; 

- Results: the results estimation is a difficult task, due to the fact that is hard to identify the 

specific burden / weight that a training program has into process of improving performances. 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

1. Adams J.S. Toward and Universtand of Inequity. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 

67, 1963 

2. Alderfer C.P., Organization Development. Annual Review of Psychology, 28, 1977 

3. Bandura A., Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice – Hall, 1977 

4. Beckhard R., Organization Development: Strategies and Models. Readin, MA: Addison Wesely, 

1969 

5. Beer M. &Walton E., Developing the Competitive Organization: Intervention and Strategies. 

American Psychologist, 45, 1990 

6. Blake R.R. & Mouton J.S., The Managerial Grid III: The key to leadership excellence. Houston, 

TX: Gulf Publishing, 1985 

7. Brinkerhoff R.O., Expanding Needs Analysis, in Training and Development Journal, 40, 1986 

8. Brinkerhoff R.O., Expanding Needs Analysis, in Training and Development Journal, 40 (2), 1987 

9. Bushnell D.S., Input, Process, Output: A Model for Evaluating Training in Training and 

Development Journal, 44(3), 1990 

10. Carrell M.R. & Dietrich J.E., Equity Theory: The Recent Literature, Methodological 

Considerations and New Directions. Academy of Management Review, (3) 1978 

11. Deci E.L. &Porac J., Cognitive Evaluation Theory and the Study of Human Motivation, in 

M.R.Lepper & D. Greene, the Hidden Costs of Rewards. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum 

Associates, 1978 

12. Eden D., Pygmalion versus Self-expectancy: Effects of Instructor and Self-Expectancy on 

Trainee Performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 30, 1984 

13. Fiedler F.E. &Chemers M.M., Improving Leadership Effectiveness: THE Leader Match 

Concept, New York, 1984 

14. Fournies F.F., Coaching for Improved Work Performance. New York 1978 

15. Galvin J.C., What trainers (Can learn from Educators about Evaluating Management Training in 

Training and Development Journal), 37(8) 1983 

16. Gilley J.W. and Eggland S.A., Principles of Human Resources Development. Reading M.A.: 

Addison-Wesley 1989 

17. Greenhouse J.H., Carrer Management. Hind Sale, IL: The Dryden Press, 1987 

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MARKETING COMMUNICATION 

MARGULESCU ANA-MARIA, ECONOMIC 

UNIVERSITY “CONSTANTIN BRÂNCUŞI” 

FACULTY OF ECONOMICS 

A efficient marketing communication assumes to show people the way (the message lead from up to down), to 

unify the different components of the organisation in one team (transmition horizontal) and get a efficient line that 

refers of how right the communication carryes on (feed-back-ul). A good internal communication treats people like a 

aim, not like some means to reach your aim. 

It is necessary to view the concept of “marketing communication” in the tight connection whith “marketing 

mix”. 

The marketing communication is a new concept, which developed mostly in the last two 

decades of the XX-th century. The main component of the marketing activity, the marketing 

communication obtained a great importance in the organizations activity. Through its building is a 

connection point between the organization on one side and the employees, clients, suppliers, 

distributors or other audience categories on the other side. Alongside the managerial 

communication, the marketing communication allows the organization to report to its intern 

environment and respectively extern. 

The marketing communication role, identified in the first phase in a wrong way with the 

promotion, is that of “sustaining the marketing plan, helping at the same time the audience to 

understand and trust the specific advantage of the transmitter”. Between the promotion and 

marketing communication is a report form the part to the entire. The marketing communication is 

realized through promotional marketing techniques, supposing actions with a temporary character 

that develops in some campaigns and continuous communications techniques, including the income 

steps for assuring a non interrupted communication with the aimed audience. 

If at the beginnings of the marketing activity was the commercial communication the most 

important, and it was realized through promotional communication techniques, gradually it became 

more important the corporative communication. This allows to the organization to assure a solid 

position in the community background where it develops its activity and to obtain a positive 

assembly image. Once with the corporative dimension, the released messages by the organization 

had a varied contain. The aimed audience was diversified and appeared the necessity of correlating 

the specific actions of the many communicational sequences. 

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Proceeding in a competitive environment, a trade cannot impose itself in the conditions where 

the entire communicational effort is well coordinated. Once with understanding this, it appeared a 

new concept, that of the market integrated communication that has the role of assuring the 

coherence of the communicational steps of the transmitter, obtaining a high synergetic effect. The 

integrated communication apparition represents the most important tendency of marketing 

development. 

Being in a full progress in the priority top from the marketing activity, the marketing 

communication will be soon the only assertion and sustaining modality of the competitive 

advantage. 

The global politic of the organization represents the ideological orienteering and practical 

activity in the business leading domain, conceived depending on the environment conditions, so that 

it assures the super valuing of the resources disposed by the organization. 

In a modern marketing vision, companies that want to develop a suitable activity on a long term 

cannot ignore the consumer. The need satisfaction and the consumer’s requests are important to 

become, along the profit’s maximizing, one of the global objective of the organization. 

The marketing communication represents one of the vectors that allows the organization to 

proceed for realizing the own objectives. The production politic, price politic and distribution 

politic influence and is influenced by the communication politics. 

If for the commercial communication the responsibility returns traditionally to the market 

compartment, the corporative communication is considered by the most specialists, as belonging to 

the general direction competence, in spite that the unitary approaching problems of the two 

dimensions of marketing communication continues. In the most companies the corporative 

communication received a distinct place in the organigram, through the creation of a new 

department-the communication department-most of the times subordinated directly to the general 

direction. In the company the commercial communication responsibility returns to the marketing 

department. The corporative function of the marketing communication belongs to the general 

direction responsibilities. The marketing manager organizes and participates at direct meetings with 

the audience, trying to stimulate the wanted attitude, consolidating the credibility and market 

position of the company. The corporative dimension of the marketing communication may be found 

in the employees’ activity from the marketing department. 

The most important objective of the communicational politic is constituted by the building and 

consolidating a favorable image from the audience. The image concept and the communication one 

are related indissolubly. The trade image is defined as “the perception assembly referring to the 

product and its environment: the product qualities, the utility, price, affective judgments”. The 

emotional constitution, generative of affective judgments, is extremely important, because it does 

the difference between a product and a trade. 

The image of some company is a is an extremely complex notion under the aspect of its 

contain. It contains: the intern image, financial, technologic, commercial and public. For a 

company, the good intern image is given by the good relations between the employees. The 

extremely favorable public image is maybe the coat of a company. The wanted image, the displayed 

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image and formed image coincide in a great measure. “We are the best”, “everything is possible”, 

“anyone may reach at any job from a company, if it proves the necessary qualities”- are slogans that 

spread daily and in most of the cases, function, contributing to the intern image and so on reflecting 

upon the assembly image of a company. 

The communication politic contains all the intern and extern measures of the company that 

actions upon the acknowledges, conceptions and attitude of the market participants towards the 

company’s performances. 

The communication process may be built with the following elements: 

-the source (a person, a group or an organization that wants to transmit a message to another 

person or group of persons); 

-the message (the words assembly, images and transmitted symbols by the source and destined 

to the receptor); 

-codification (transforming the message by the source in a way that expresses symbolically the 

idea or concept that is desired to reach to the buyer); 

-the communication channel (the way through which the codified message reaches to the 

receptor-newspaper, magazine, television, radio, street panel, etc); 

-de codification (the interpretation by the receptor of the transmitted symbols from the source); 

-the receptor (the one whom is addressed the message and cannot coincide with the receptor 

aimed at by the source); 

-the answer (the receptor’s reactions after the message exposure, respectively the consumer 

buys the product, changes the attitude towards it or gives up buying); 

-the feedback (the answer part that return to the transmitter); 

-the noise or perturbations (interferences that can lead to an incorrect perception of the 

message). 

For finalizing the communication processes with the desired answer (the products 

purchasing), are used the so-called hierarchy products that follow the stages covered by 

consumers till the product achieving. From the classic models frequently used may be 

distinguished the AIDA model and DAGMAR model. The AIDA model starts from the idea 

that the promotion must attract the attention, to create interest, to stimulate the desire and 

determine the action. According to the DAGMAR model, for the success of the communication 

process must be covered many stages: informing, consciousness, pleasure, preference, 

conviction and satisfaction. 

Having as an objective transmitting the information referring to the products destined to the 

sailing, the promotional activity is a distinct component of the communication process. 

The promotional communication mechanism begins with the intern situation evaluation and 

extern relevant from the promoting point of view politic, a SWOT analyze that fixes the benchmarks 

for the promotional actions. The marketing communication became an extremely 

important phenomenon through its proportions and implications upon the organizations life and 

of the society in general. 

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The success of an organization, form the economical and financial point of view and social 

also, is conditioned by the way the organization managers’ approach the problems related to the 

initiation and development of the communication process. Form the practice perspective, and 

conceptual also, marketing communication developed in a relation with the marketing 

philosophy. If the old marketing concept corresponds a rational communication, based on the 

product and its characteristics, the new concept of marketing determines the organizations to 

modify its course, introducing the communication based on emotional arguments. In this 

context, the trade’s role, as a communicational vector becomes essential. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. BABAITA C Catering Timisoara Mirton 2003 

2. BAJER M J Marketing Business London MacMillan 1996 

3. BRUHN M Marketing Bucharest 1999 

The Economical Publisher 

4. CATANA G Marketing Cluj-Napoca, Dacia 2003 

5. DANCIU V International Marketing Bucharest 1998 

The Economical Publisher 

6. DEMETRESCU M C Quantitative methods Bucharest 1971 

in marketing The Scientific Publisher 

7. DEMETRESCU M C Analyze methods Bucharest Teora 2000 

in marketing 

8. EPURAN G Promotional techniques Bacau University 1998 

9.EPURE M Marketing researches Bucharest 2000 

Foundation Publisher 

10.FLORESCU C The market prospecting Bucharest 1973 

The Scientific Publisher 

11.FOLTEAN F Market researchers Bucharest Expert 1998 

12. FOLTEAN F Market orienteering of Timisoara Mirton 1999 

the company 

13. FOLTEAN F Marketing Timisoara Brumar 2000 

14. FOLTEAN F Marketing researchers Bucharest Expert 1998 

15. KOTLER P The marketing principles Bucharest Teora 1998 

16. KOTLER P The marketing management Bucharest Teora 1997 

17. KOTLER P Marketing for hospitality Upper Saddle River 1996 

NJF 

18. KOTLER P Kotler about marketing Bucharest Currier 2003 

Marketing 

19. HOTLER P Marketing from A-Z Bucharest CODECS 2004 

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20. McDonald M Strategic marketing Bucharest CODECS 1998 

21. NEGRUT C Marketing initiation Timisoara Augusta 1997 

22. NEAMTU A Marketing-Systems and Economic Publisher 2005 

Approaching 

23. NEAMTU, Adina Communication and Public relations 2006 

24. PRUTIANU S The marketing research Iasi Polirom 2001 

25.PURCAREA T Marketing Bucharest Expert 2000 

26. RIT A The management communication Timisoara Mirton 2003 

27. RUS F Public relations and publicity Iasi the European 2004 

Institute 

28. RUSSEL T Publicity manual Bucharest Teora 2002 

29. ZAIT A Direct marketing elements Bucharest 2000 

Economic Publisher 

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NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT 

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MILLENIUM. 

A GENERAL APPROACH 

Claudiu CICEA, University Reader PhD. Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest 

Abstract : 

Innovation is vital to the economical growth and for the profit decrease in any company. The paper analyze in 

details the importance of innovation, the risk of this activity, the main characteristics of the innovation management and 

also the emergent factors for new products. The author emphasizes the process of selection for the optimal commodity 

market, regarding the main characteristic of the ideal commodity market. Among these characteristics the author 

presents growing potential, future significant incomes, low risk, competition atractivity etc. The selection process is 

based on the importance coefficients, for each characteristics and criteria. Finally, it is possible to calculate a global 

score for each situation, in order to select the optimal commodity market. 


In a recent study made in the USA on a 700 companies sample (from which 60% produced 

industrial goods, 20% long use goods and 20% consumption goods), it is said that almost 1/3 (28%) 

from the growth of these companies is due to the new products. Even more, 35% from the turnover 

is due to some products that did not exist 10 years ago. 

According to the marketing theory, the life cycle of a product comprises 4 phases: the 

initiation phase, the development phase, the maturation phase and the decline phase. 

No matter what option we make, the company should hold a research department to respond 

for the innovative process. If the products are not improved and if new products are not created, the 

company's profit and profit will diminish, the market quota will decrease and the company's activity 

will restrain. 

Although the development of the new products contributes to the growth of a company's 

profit, this activity has several risks [1]. 

- In 1973, RANK XEROX invented the office printer (3 years before Jobs and 

Wozniak), but it failed to be commercialized, although it represented a real 

success from a technical point of view; 

- The BOWMAR company was the one that invented the pocket numerical 

calculator, that eventually bankrupted; 

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- The POLAROID Company registered 68 million USD loses for the consumables 

of the instant photo cameras. 

According to certain studies made at a worldwide level, it is appreciated that the failure rate 

of the new products is of about 35%, which classifies the innovation activity on the first places, 

among the most risky activities of a company. Given the present conditions, this risk is more and 

more stressed as long as the products' life period is shorter following the quick technological 

changes. 

Except this high risk, the development of the new products is an expensive activity. In this 

sense, any company allocates important financial resources for: the research activity, the 

engineering, the marketing researches, products testing. Following the fact that many products do 

not go through all the stages (from need identification to consumer), a great part of these 

investments will never be recovered. A study made in the USA in 1995 showed that only 1 

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product of 7 goes through all the stages. Therefore, the incomes brought by a new product should 

not only cover all its expenses and investments but also those necessary for the making of other 6 

products [2]. 

2. The innovation management 

The success of the new products on the market depends on several factors: 

- The measure in which the product satisfies the consumers' needs; 

- The competitive advantage in comparison with the competition; 

- The competitors' ability to defend their interests and the market quota; 

- The size of the market and its growth rate; 

- Whether the company holds or not a pioneer position on the market; 

- The creativity of the research department etc. 

All these factors can be grouped in factors over which the company holds control and 

factors that need information regarding the market, competition, the consumers' potential etc. over 

which the company has a reduced control. 

In order for the new products to have success on the market, it is necessary that all these 

factors be analyzed and controlled. 

The easiest way to develop the products is to bring on the market new products, “one after 

another”, hoping they can be successful. The disadvantage of this method regards the high risk of 

the failure. Another modality is to realize a detailed and careful analysis starting from the idea of 

conceiving a new product and finishing with the decision to replace an old product. Although it 

supposes a high cost, the advantages of this method are obvious. The basic element of the new 

products' management is represented by the understanding of the consumer’s needs and the 

realizing of a connection between these needs and the way the new products are conceived, 

fabricated and traded. 

The strategy represents the total of the company's major objectives for a long term, the main 

realization modalities, the allocated resources as well as the afferent terms (initial, intermediate and 

final). 

The typology of the innovative strategies - there are two types of strategies [5]: 

A) – the reactive innovation strategy (refers to the approach and solving of different 

issues as long as they appear). An example of reactive approaching is to wait for the competition to 

develop a new product so that if this product is a successful one, you can copy it (in legal 

conditions). 

B) – the proactive innovation strategy (it takes into account the allocation of certain 

resources in order to prevent unfortunate future events). An example of proactive approach is to 

avert the competition in order to be the first on the market with a new product, hard to realize for 

the competitors. 

A) THE REACTIVE INNOVATIONAL STRATEGIES – can be classified into 4 subtypes: 

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- a) The defensive reactive strategy (it targets the protection of its own 

products that are in competition with the new products of the competition). 

- b) The imitative reactive strategy (it targets the fast copying of a new product 

developed by the competition). This type of strategy is specific to the fashion and design industry, 

furniture, electronic and appliances. 

- c) The "second but better" reactive strategy (in this case, the companies do not 

only copy the competition's product, but they also improve it). 

This type of strategy does not imply the direct attack over a certain product, but the 

identification of some unsatisfied needs of the consumers, that can generate substantial benefits. 

E.g. during the '90s, LOTUS 1-2-3 was a leader on the market for the tabular electronic calculus, for 

the IBM compatible computers. MICROSOFT EXCEL managed to overtake the greatest market 

quota for the tabular calculus, thanks to the superior graphic interface, the flexibility and 

compatibility with the APPLE computers. 

- d) The reactive strategy of answer (it targets the creation of a new product based 

exclusively on the customers' opinions and recommendations). It is the only type of reactive 

strategy that does not focus on competition. Such strategies can be applied in the area of the 

laboratory scientific equipments, in the furniture industry (where we can observe the way in which 

the buyers have modified their furniture so that it better satisfies their needs). The most eloquent 

example is the use of the Teflon for the kitchen vessels, on customer request. 

B) THE PROACTIVE INNOVATIONAL STRATEGIES – are classified into: 

a) The research-development proactive strategy (it is specific to the great 

corporations that can afford to support a research-development department, able to provide new 

products). Such strategies have been adopted by IBM (5 billion USD meant to research in 1995, 

representing 7,1 % from the company's sales), HEWLETT- PACKARD (1,3 billions for research, in 

1995, representing 10,3% from the total sales) and MICROSOFT (180 millions USD in 1995, 

representing 15,3% from the sales). 

b) The entrepreneurial proactive strategy (a person, the entrepreneur, has a certain 

idea of success that he practices thus generating new products). E.g. the great majority of the 

companies from Silicon Valley (California) have adopted such a strategy. 

c) The purchase proactive strategy (it supposes the purchase of a company by 

another company, together with all its new products and research potential). The goal of this 

strategy is to develop new products by combining the research potential of the purchased company 

with the financial resources of the buyer company. 

d) The JOINT VENTURE proactive strategy (it supposes the cooperation between 

two or more companies in order to develop new products). E.g. the cooperation between 

GENERAL MOTORS and TOYOTA to produce little cars on the USA market. The advantage of 

such a strategy is represented by the common access to technology, PIATA DE DESFACERE, 

research potential and geographic experience for all the members of the alliance. 

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3. The adopting of the adequate strategy time 

According to the growth possibilities, innovation protection, the market characteristics and 

competition, a company can adopt a reactive or proactive strategy [3]. Generally speaking, the 

reactive strategies are adopted in the following situations: 

- There is a weak protection regarding the copyright for the innovations; 

- When it is needed a certain attention for the already existing products; 

- When the sale markets are too small to cover the necessary costs to develop new 

products; 

- When there is a danger to be overwhelmed by the competition's imitations; 

- When the distribution channels are dominated by the competition; 

The proactive strategies can be adopted in the following situations: 

- It is necessary a fast growth of the sales; 

- When the sale markets have a high potential; 

- When there are sufficient financial and time resources to develop new products; 

- When the company owns a strong distribution channel; 

- When there is a real protection of the brevets and licenses for the new products. 

4. The integration of the company's functions in the process of development for the 

new products 

The success due to the adoption of the innovation strategies (that target the development of 

new products) is based on the integration of the 5 functions of the company: production, researchdevelopment, 

commercial, financial-accountant and of personnel [4]. By analyzing the 5 sections 

from the process of development for new products, we can conclude that: 

1. The research- development function acts both over the commercial function (by provide 

the new product with a design) and the production function (by providing the fabrication 

technology). Both these implications are important because if the used technology is expensive, 

determining a high cost of the product, a new product that satisfies the consumers’ requests is 

developed in vain. 

2. The commercial function initiates and ends the development process of the new 

products. In the initial phase, there come to be analyzed the consumers' needs to be then transmitted 

to the research- development function. In the final phase, the commercial function SE OCUPA CU 

the promotion and capitalization of the new products provided by the production function. 

3. In conclusion, the 5 functions have the following implications: 

- the financial - accountant and personnel function has a constant implication 

in the development of the new products; 

- The research- development function has a massive implication in the initial 

phases of the process, after which its importance gradually decreases from the moment when the 

product is launched on the market; 

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- The production function has little implication in the initial phases of the 

process then its importance grows once with the product’s launch on the market; 

- The commercial function is very important for the beginning of the 

development process of new products. This importance is maintained until the moment when the 

product is launched on the market and immediately after. Its implication begins to decrease when 

the product approaches the maturity phase. 

5. Emergent factors for the development of new products 

There are some important factors in the economy who can increase the chance of success for 

a product [6]. Among these factors, we can mention : 

- a) the financial objectives of the companies (the profitableness growth, the dividends’ 

growth, the turnover growth, the expenses decrease etc.). A study made in 1992 in the USA shows 

that 40% from the turnover of the future companies during the next 5 years will due to the new 

products; 

- b) The commercial objectives of the company (the growth of the market quota, the 

entrance on new markets etc.). The example of the Japanese companies that produce electronic and 

appliances is eloquent: they have realized a continuous tide of new products, which allowed them to 

grow the market quota and the sales. This strategy of the long-term profitableness through the 

growth of the sales and market quota was adopted by other Asian countries as well: China, Southern 

Korea, Malaysia etc.; 

- c) The competition: there is no doubt that the position of a company in relation with its 

competition is an important element in any company's strategy. In certain areas (e.g. the auto 

industry), a 1% modification of the market quota determines substantial loses or benefits. 

- d) The life cycle of the products while the products go through the 4 stages (initiation, 

development, maturity and decline), the benefits registered by the company grow; reach a 

maximum point and then they become to decrease. 

- e) The technical and technological progress: this factor plays a double role (it contributes 

to the development of the new products and to the decline of the already existing products from the 

market). 

- f) The cost of the raw material and the availability character (the worldwide growth of the 

petroleum price as well as the limited character of this natural resource has determined the auto 

industry to produce reduced dimension cars, with a low consumption of fuel; during World War 2, 

because of an important alimentary crisis, it was invented the margarine, as a replacement of 

butter); 

- g) Changes in the strategy of the providers - they have a great importance over the 

development of the new products; 

- h) The alliances between different companies - the mobile telephony direction of two 

companies (SONY and ERICSON) have merged to develop new products, in order to INLATURA 

the supremacy of NOKIA; GENERAL MOTORS and TOYOTA have made an alliance that has as 

a main object the producing of little cars on the American market. 

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- i) The user’s (the consumers) requests and needs - represent an emerging factor in the 

development of the new products, especially in the “high-tech” industry and in research. In these 

cases the laboratories tend to conceive and test their own equipments they need, and then they are 

made (as new products) by specialized producers (e.g. Spectrometer, chromatographs etc.). 

- j) The demographic growth and the life style change 

- k) The globalization - this phenomenon generates the development of new products from 

two points of view: first of all there is the menace of the competition to penetrate the traditional 

markets of the company, and secondly there is the possibility for the company to penetrate new 

markets that were not taken into account in the past. E.g. Motors penetrated the Japanese mobile 

phones market and have been a leader for a certain period of time. Although Gillette is a world wide 

leader in shaving machines, on the Japanese market the Shick Company has a 4 to 1 quota in front 

of Gillette because it entered the market earlier and thanks to an aggressive publicity. 

- l) The legislation and rules of each country - it contributes to the interdiction of certain 

products and the development of some new others. 

6. Optimal commodity market market selection 

The characteristics of the ideal market refers to the existence of a growth potential for the 

respective market, the possibility to make an early entry on the market, that are attractive from the 

competition point of view, it needs reduced investments that will generate high profits, it presents a 

low risk etc. [7] 

1. The growth potential – is quantified by the market's size (expressed in EURO or USD) 

and by its growth rate. 

While the market's size is important, its growth potential is fundamental to identify new 

opportunities. In a stable market, a new product can be successfully valued only under the basis of 

the sales taken directly from the competition. This is more difficult to realize than in the situation of 

a developing market. Even more, on the expanding markets, there can be practiced higher prices for 

the products, which make them more attractive than the stable markets. 

There are several econometric models for the evaluation of a market's growing 

potential. One of them is the Franck Bass model [8]: 

V(t) = [NTC– TCC (t-1) ] x P(t) 

(1) 

Where: 

V(t) – the sales of the new product, at the moment t; 

NTC – the total number of consumers from on market; 

TCC(t-1) – the total number of consumers from on market that have already bought 

the product until the moment (t-1); 

P(t) – the probability of the ones that have not bought the product to buy it during the 

(t) period. 

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( t −1) 

TCC 

P() t = P( 0) 

+ q ⋅ 

(2) 

NTC 

Where: P(0) – The initial probability to buy the product 

q - The adjusting coefficient. 

Usually, P(0) = 0,04 and q = 0,3 (values that are smaller for the consumption goods 

and greater for the production goods). 

By replacing the second relation in the first one we obtain: 

( q − P ) xTCC( t 1) ( 0) 

q 

V() t 

= − ⋅TCC( t− 1) + ( 0) 

− 

+ NTCxP (3) 

NTC 

It is a second quadratic equation with the negative ,,a” coefficient. Therefore, the function 

has a maximum, represented by the maximum level of the sales. 

E.g.: Let us consider that on a market the sales evolve according to the following 

function: 

V(t) = f(y) = - 0,0012 y + o,26 y + 10, în care 

Y represents the number of the buyers in the previous period (thousands of pieces). 

We have to determine the capacity of the market and the maximum sales in a given period. 

( y ) 

f = − 0 ,0012 y + 0 , 26 y + 10 = 0 

Δ = b − 4 ac = 0 ,1156 ; Δ = 0 ,34 

− b ± Δ − 0 , 26 ± 0 ,34 y1 

= 

y1, 

2 = 

= 

= 

2 a − 0 ,0024 y 2 = 

f 

= 0 ⇔ − 0 ,0024 y + 

y 

f 

( y ) = max ⇔ f ( y ) 

= 

0 , 26 

0 ,0024 

= 108 

,3 

250 

− 33 ,3 

0 , 26 = 

( 108 ,3 ) = − 0 ,0012 ⋅ ( 108 ,3 ) + 0 , 26 ⋅ 108 ,3 + 10 = 24 , 08 

0 

(4) 

Therefore, the maximum capacity of the market is of 250 thousands pieces. Over this value, 

the sales on the market are practically void. The maximum sales from a certain period are of 24.08 

thousands pieces, while the total incomes from the previous period are of 108.3 thousands pieces. 

2. The early entry on the market 

Given the conditions when all the other factors are constant, the entry on the market, as a 

first-provider of certain products or services, offers certain substantial advantages. Following the 

statistic data, it was established : 

Table no. 1 

The entry order 

Number of 

The 

first 

The 

second 

The 

third 

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competitors 

1 100 % - - 

2 59 % 41 % - 

3 44 % 31 % 25 % 

There are more causes that can explain the advantages of the early entry on the market: 

- The position on the market (the first that enters on the market provides products with both 

the A and B characteristics, in a proportion of 50% and 50%); this way, it will gain the majority of 

the consumers, thus occupying a central place on the market; those who will then enter on the 

market will be able to attack the central position of the first comer, or find certain NISE, thus 

according different proportions to the A and B characteristics; 

- The entry barriers (with the help of the aggressive publicity, the first on the market can 

build barriers against the other possible competitors); 

- The consumers’ habit (the second who entered on the market has to realize a product that 

is at least as good as the first one in order to convince the consumers to give up the product they 

have already got used to). 

3. Attractiveness from the competition’s point of view – even if a market is in full expansion 

and it has only a few competitors, it can not represent a viable opportunity, if the competitive 

environment is hostile and an important market quote cannot be reached. From this point of view, 

the attractiveness of the competition mainly refers to [10]: 

- The possibility to improve the products of the competition, that present different 

vulnerabilities; 

- The inexistence of a powerful competitor, when the market quota is approximately 

the same for all the competitors; 

- The existence of an adequate law environment able to stop the various forms of 

manifestation of the unfaithfull competition. 

4. The reduced investments – taking into account several studies it was seen that the 

greater is the necessary investment to enter on the market, the lower is the attractiveness of that 

market. More than that, given the situation of failure, its amplitude may be a disaster for the 

company [9]. 

5. The high possible gains – the existence of a great number of consumers, with a high 

purchase power, that will generate great incomes represents an impulse for a company that enters on 

that sale market [11]. 

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6. The low risk – any market that is considered to be unsafe is not attractive. If the 

request cannot be estimated or there are great fluctuations of it, the failure risk of a new product is 

high. 

7. Conclusion 

In business and engineering area, new product development is a very complex process which 

is composed from different stages : idea generation, idea screening, concept development, business 

analysis, market testing, technical implementation and sales (commercialization). There are two 

parallel paths involved in the new product development process : one involves the idea generation, 

product design, and detail engineering ; the other involves market research and marketing analysis. 

As we present above, there are some specific strategies which can be adopted in order to 

achieve the task on the market : a reactive or proactive strategy. Each of them are adopted in 

specific situations. Another interesting aspect is represented by those twelve emergent factors, 

which can increase the chances of success for a product on the market. 

Finally, the optimal market can be analyzed with the help of six elements : the growth 

potential, the early entry on the market, the attractiveness from the competition’s point of view, the 

reduced investments, the high possible gains and the low risk. Each of them has its own major 

influence over the investor and over the success / failure of the new product on the market. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY : 

1. Annacchino M. – “The Pursuit of New Product Development: The Business 

Development Process”, Butterworth-Heinemann Publishing House, 2006 

2. Baxter M. – “Product Design: A Practical Guide to Systematic Methods of 

New Product Development”, Chapman & Hall Publishing House, 1995 

3. Boothroyd G, Dewhurst P. şi Knight W. – „Product Design for Manufacturing 

and Assembly”, Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, 1994 

4. Bridger R.S. – „Introduction to Ergonomics”, McGraw Hill Inc., New York, 

1995 

5. Cooper R. – “Winning at New Products : Accelerating the Process from Idea 

to Launch”, Perseus Books Group, 2001 

6. Henderson S., Illidge R. & McHardy P. – „Management for Engineers”, 

Butterworth Heinemann Ltd. Oxford, UK, 1994 

7. Fiksel J. – „Design for Environment : Creating Eco-efficient Products and 

Process”, McGraw Hill, New York, 1996 

8. Johnson G. & Scholes K. – „Exploring Corporate Strategy”, Prentice Hall, 

London, 1993 

9. Moore W.L. şi Pessemier E.A. – „Product Planning and Management : 

Designing and Delivering Value”, McGraw Hill Inc., New York, 1993 

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10. Thomad R. – “New Product Development: Managing and Forecasting for 

Strategic Success”, Willey Publishing House, 1993 

11. Zangwill W.I. (1993) – „Lightning Strategies for Innovation”, Lexington 

Books, New York 

SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGIES 

IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT OF NOVI SAD 

Claudiu CICEA, University Reader PhD. Academy of Economic Studies, 

Bucharest 

Drago Cvijanovic, PhD. director, Institute of Agricultural Economics, Belgrade 

Jonel Subic, PhD. scientific associate, Institute of Agricultural Economics, 

Belgrade 

Abstract : 

The development of the tourism in the Republic of Serbia has been only declaratively supported for many years, 

so far. There have been no serious and proper actions taken to advance it. The policy of not-differentiated marketing has 

been implemented, uncontrolled, with unclear market policy, neglecting the demand; In other words, the requirements of 

certain market segments and their target groups aimed at, were not met. The effect of the above was that a great number of 

very respectable natural and social (i.e. the anthropological) resources were unfairly neglected. Further effect of such a 

policy was the self-denial (being aware or unaware) of all the advantages that the Republic of Serbia might have it had 

invested in the development of the tourism here. Novi Sad is the second largest city in the Republic of Serbia which has 

shared the destiny of the other tourism destinations in our country. 

The aim of the work is to point out the strategic directions for the development of the tourism in Novi Sad, 

having in mind the theoretical knowledge and the principles of marketing and management of the tourism destination 

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and the practical implementation of the both of them. In this way it would be evident how to make use of great potential 

for further development of the tourism in a practical sense. 


The implementation of the tourist destination marketing strategy is a complex process, 

which, if not consistently carried out, may have positive multiplicated effects on total economic life, 

having in mind that Novi Sad with its immediate surrounding has respectable tourist resources. 

That’s a must of its future development. 

2. Natural attractions of Novi Sad destination 

The natural attractions of the destination of Novi Sad, important for the development of the 

tourism are characterized by a high-level attractiveness [1]. They are the following: 

• the national park of Fruška Gora; 

• the Danube, as an international river water way; 

• a good geographic and traffic position – at the crossroads of many roads (The European 

corridors 7&10, which go through Novi Sad, or pass by it); 

• flora and fauna in the immediate vicinity, i.e. the city surrounding (Fruška Gora, 

Koviljsko – Petrovaradinski rit, Begečka jama, etc.); 

• moderate continental climate; 

• regional varied entities (city of Novi Sad, Petrovaradin, Sremski Karlovci, Sremska 

Kamenica, and the National park Fruška Gora); 

The above attractions are, by all means, the great potential for the tourist development and 

they give opportunities to engage in the following: 

• sports and recreation activities; 

• facilities for stay and rehabilitation; 

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• privilege for the development of a special – purpose tourism, such as: 

1. hunting and fishing tourism 

2. water sports on the Danube river 

3. walking outdoors – there is an attractive natural environment in the immediate vicinity 

of the town; 

4. the rural tourism – the farms well known in Vojvodina as “salaši”, and the villages 

typical of Vojvodina. 

Some of the above resources have been used to a certain degree, but not to a great extent, the 

latter should be the basic point for the total development of the whole destination, with regard to the 

multiplicated effects of the tourism on the economy. 

Thus, it should be mentioned here that a part of such attractions has to be included into 

current tourist courses by means of a selective market oriented access towards the strategic 

development of Novi Sad, as a tourist destination. 

3. Social preferences for the development of tourism in Novi Sad 

Social preferences for the development of tourism include many factors which may be 

divided into anthropogenic and into other social factors [2]. 

The anthropogenic diversity includes the following very important factors: 

• numerous cultural and historical monuments; 

• multiethnic issues connected to the customs and life of large number of the nations and 

nationalities who live both in the region of the town of Novi Sad and in the provience of 

Vojvodina, as a whole. 

• folklore – as an individual and constituent part of the multiethnical diversity. 

• the monasteries of Fruška Gora, as the cultural, historical and religious precious stone; 

• the original types of settlements and a rich architecture of the whole destination of Novi Sad, 

from Petrovaradin, as the oldest settlement built here, through the old city corpe, Sremski 

Karlovci and Sremska Kamenica, to the typical rural ambient units and farms in the close 

vicinity of Novi Sad (for example: farms “salaš” No. `s 84 and 137). 

• Development of economy, science, culture, education, sports and other social activities, 

represent an essential potential of the development of tourism. 

In an attempt to use better and present more completely the anthropological, demographic, 

geographical and other life conditions in Novi Sad, in the rield of tourism, many cultural 

manifestations have been established. They are for example: “Steria`s theatre”, „Zmaj`s children 

games“, „Branko`s kolo“ etc. 

There are also many music festivals and manifestations such as: Golden bell festival, 

“Summer in synagogue”, “jazz-time fest”, “golden dam”, “golden tamburica”, spiritual music 

festival, “Oh, the blue Danube” – the festival of Danube basin countries. 

Not long ago, Petrovaradin became the place where a famous festival called “EXIT” started 

to be organized every summer. This festival is the biggest of its kind in east Europe and is visited by 

more than fifty thousand people in a single day. 

It is very important to mention that the authorities at all levels, the economic subjects and 

the population have declaratively always had the positive attitude towards tourism development. 

This confirmed their decision as early as in 1955, to for the tourist organization of the city, which 

with its Chamber of commerce was an indirect government authority its aim was to work on the 

development of tourism in the town of Novi Sad and in the autonomous region of Vojvodina. This 

was also in compliance to the principe which was proclaimed by our country after the Second 

World War that all sectors of the economy should rapidly developed. Meanwhile, practically 

tourism was in shadow of development the other economic sectors. 

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4. Some aspects of the development of the marketing concept related to the standard 

of tourist destination of Novi Sad 

The definition of the tourist product as an “amalgam” of the receptive, communicative and 

attractive factors (constructed and natural) leads to the conclusion that tourism is determined by 

positive and negative economic and uneconomic influences and movements. In this way, when we 

think about the economy and its effects on tourism, we may conclude that the achieved level of the 

economic development as well as the general economic efficiency are the prevailing factors that 

influence the competitive power of the tourist offer of every destination; first of all if there is an 

interest in the investments in tourist development [3]. 

The tourist product of Novi Sad, according to its structure and quality, falls behind the 

similar products being offered at the international market (the European – in a narrower sense). The 

well – known political and economic events in the last decade of the last decade of the 20 th century 

(such as: the wars, sanctions, the deep economic crisis) have even depended and widened the gap 

between Novi Sad (and Serbia, in general) – as a destination, and the other destinations in a 

narrower and wider encirclement. Therefore, it is a very complex process nowadays, to appear at 

the international tourist market. It also requires a systematical approach [4]. 

The strategic task of coming out at the international tourist market, which is in front of the 

whole country and Novi Sad, too, requires the situation analysis as the first step to be undertaken. 

The analysis is an assumption for further planning or action. It would include the analysis of the 

micro encirclement, the market, the competition and the internal resources. 

The above would be initial stage for a successful marketing management of Novi Sad as a 

tourist destination, and every other destination, too. The strategy window, which will be open the 

same moment the correspondence, gives chance for the opportunities from the encirclement to 

enter. These opportunities will be designed and equipped with strong internal points (avoiding 

threats and elementary disadvantages). The strategy window should be kept open as long as 

possible. 

Moreover, for the successful coming out of Novi Sad at the international tourist market, it is 

necessary to undertake the following steps: 

1. to define the market – all its segments, the demand (actual and potential); 

2. to carry out an expensive research, constantly in order to meet the demands efficiently 

and promptly, in view of its elasticity; 

3. to form the unique tourist information system; 

4. to create and improve all organizational conditions, both on the micro and macro level; 

5. to elaborate corresponding programmes for the market segments aimed at and direct 

business activities towards them; 

6. to establish and guide all the activities on the basis of marketing and management; 

7. special attention should be drawn to the sustainable tourist development; 

8. to develop cooperation at all levels with the encirclement. 

5. Concept of integral marketing in view of the tourist development of Novi Sad 

In relation to the marketing and from the aspect of the whole tourist destination and for the 

purpose of a successful development of the total tourist economy, it is necessary to integrate the 

tourist product at all levels, both vertically and horizontally. Vertically – in the sense of clear 

coordination from the National tourist organization, including the Tourist Organization of Serbia 

(TOS), Regional tourist organization of Vojvodina; the local tourist organizations, such as the 

tourist organization of Novi Sad – through the immediate city authorities (i.e. the city assembly and 

the city government) – up to the companies in the field of tourist services. The horizontal 

connection would men interrelationship of all enterprises, i.e. the bearears of the tourist offer for the 

given tourist product. This would make marketing access compact and give better chances to 

increase efficiency in a word; it is a coordinated access to the market of the whole city and state 

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economy (including tourism, trade, craftsmen, traffic, agriculture, etc.). That is required. It is 

necessary to make an ambient in which all economy factors will take an economic interest for the 

development of tourism. 

Novi Sad would be a new tourist destination at the international tourist market and would be 

treated as a smaller destination. It would attract, therefore, smaller and specific market segments 

with special needs. This is why for the complete development of domestic and the international 

tourism, both on short and long-term basis. 

6. Selective strengthening of set targets and segment of the market 

The measures to revitalize and tourist repositioning, to improve improve, an image both of 

Serbia and Novi Sad, - should be undertaken in order to access all market segments, fully respecting 

all respecting all the factors that determine and enable a successful disposal of the tourist product. The 

strategic basis of the development of tourism in Novi Sad as a destination must be focused on the 

selective strengthening of set targets and segments of the market. 

Greater effects of tourism will be attained by a complementary developing of the domestic 

and foreign tourism. Coming out at the international market is a must. Novi Sad would be treated as 

a smaller destination at the international tourist market. Its chances are focused at the specific 

segments of the tourist demand (market targets), at the development of the tourism of special 

interests and the transit tourism. 

In such a context, having in mind that a visit number of the international companies tend to 

operate globally and that the development of tourism (both the domestic and the foreign one) has 

been elementarily performed so far, it is theoretically important to present what the activities at the 

international tourist market are and what the segmentation at such markets present. This is the 

condition for the regular choice of the strategy its successful implementation [5]. 

Since the segmentation is based on varied reasons and demands of the ultimate consumers 

(i.e. the tourists) which have turned out in many different demands for the products and services at 

the market, it is necessary to conform the tourist destination of Novi sad (namely: its tourist 

products) to the specific demands and reasons of tourist demands (thinking of its segments) for the 

successful disposal of goods. 

It is necessary for Novi Sad to come out at the international market. This process should be 

performed in stages, as follows: 

First stage, i.e. the outgrowing. Novi Sad has not yet built its profile as a tourist destination 

at the local market. Therefore, the opportunity to animate and attract certain segments of the home 

demand, is better. In the initial stage, the destination and all economic entities, i.e. their business 

orientation should be drawn towards the target groups within certain segments of the home demand. 

The attention would be mainly focused on excursion (pleasure trips), fair, congress, holidaymaker 

and sport tourism, and to be more emphasized and made more noticeable. 

At the right moment of market saturation, the diversification with a wide range of new elements 

should be encouraged in order to develop the tourist supply and its differentiation, in order outmaneuver 

the competitors (those who offer other destinations with similar tourist supply). 

The second stage the internalization. The first and the second stage should develop 

complementary, taking into account the development effects from the foreign tourism, which has an 

important impact on the development of tourism and raise the effects of achievement. This phase 

would include the engagement of middlement, opening of the home sections for package tour 

selling which would ensure its growth at the international market, i.e. economics of sale, the tourist 

destination must be export – oriented. 

The third stage would include the activities at the international market. This would 

include a careful preparing the strategy activities of Novi Sad is found. In addition to the marketing 

activities and organization and eventually performed research linked to the given foreign market, 

for every particular segment of it. 

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The fourth stage, theoretically, is connected to the global business. The world is considered 

as a unique market. In case of Novi Sad, having in mind the resources which this town has and the 

eventually realized targets, as a small tourist destination broadly observed) this seems unreal. 

7. Marketing strategy of the tourist destination of Novi Sad 

In the broadest access to the tourist organization marketing management, especially when 

planning the activities in the field of marketing or in we think in concrete term when making a 

selection in the strategy, the tourist destination may have three accesses. The first access would be 

an undifferentiated marketing, the second would be the use of differentiated marketing and the third 

would be the use of the concentrated marketing. So, three general strategies are mentioned [4]. 

In the first case of an undifferentiated marketing, the tourist destination is directed 

frontally on to the market offering the same product, but ignoring the existing differences on the 

side of the tourist demands. 

Nowadays, the strategy of differentiated marketing is more used, i.e. respecting possible 

“fracturing” of the market into smaller less homogenous and less compact groups of the consumers 

(i.e. segments) and the choice of only few market targets, or only one at which the product will be 

disposed in the last case, the topic is the concentrated marketing strategy or focus. Concerning the 

development of tourism in Novi Sad, it has been found out, so far, that beside publicy proclaimed 

support to its development, the concept idea of an undifferentiated marketing has been 

uncontrollably applied, where the extensive attractions have been frontally offered. There were 

neither clear market and supply policies nor the meeting of the requirements of certain market 

segments (target groups setting). 

Focus strategy has the following advantages: 

1. it enables more precise defining of the market and better understanding of the 

consumers` needs; 

2. when the consumers’ needs are under stoop it is quite easier to define the marketing 

mix; 

3. the continual market segmentation program enforces the capacity of the companies (i.e. 

destinations) in meeting variable market needs; 

4. it enables the managers to estimate better the disadvantages and of the competitors; 

5. the segmentation brings about better allocation of the marketing efforts; 

6. it enables marketing segments defining to be more precise. 

Considering many specific features of the tourist supply, the world trends to give an 

advantage to the focus strategy, Novi Sad should set market targets and should invest expect the 

resulted on the basis of such an investment this is particularly taken into account if the results from 

the tourist development (financial in the first place) are required. In such a case, both the home and 

the foreign market demand have to be complementary considered. 

In case of the priority development of the aspects of tourism at one side, and the 

disegragation of the international tourist market on the other side, i.e., forming segments and the 

target groups focused within them, it would be possible to elaborate plants and programs of stay at a 

destination, for each particular segment [6]. In view of a wide range of different aspects of tourism 

that gives features to the tourist destination of Novi Sad, it is possible – provided that all bearers of 

the tourist offer have clearly decided to invest in this segment. Then, both the short and long-term 

effects would be attainable. 

8. CONCLUSION 

The respectable tourist resources of Novi Sad must be seriously considered and incorporated 

in the plans for its future development. An important role should be played by the concept of 

marketing and management of the tourist destination, which would be applied. The multiplicated 

effects of the tourism on the whole economic life will be reflected, in a positive way and in long 

terms, to its development, in a whole, which is a common interest. Therefore, the task of the 

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destination management is (at all levels, both horizontally and vertically) its strict application. Only in 

this case all respectable resources of tourist destination will be use in profitable way. This is the basic 

condition of future tourism development. 

Bibliography : 

1. Predrag Vuković – „Strategy of tourist development in Novi Sad“, Faculty of 

economics, Belgrade, 2006 

2. Predrag Vuković, Marija M. Nikolić, Zoran Simonović – „Sustainble tourist 

development of rural areas in Vojvodina (Republic of Serbia)“. International 

conference on: Rural area sustainable development – Proceedings, page. 168-179, 

ASE, Bucharest, (2006) 

3. Vesna Popović – „European agriculture support and sustanaible rural development“, 

Institute of Agriculture Economics, Belgrade, 2003 

4. Ognjen Bakić – „Marketing management of tourist destination“, Faculty of 


5. Krunoslav Čačić – „Business activities in tourism“, Faculty of economics, Belgrade, 

1998 

6. Slobodan Unković, Bojan Zečević – „Economic of tourism“, Faculty of economics, 

Belgrade, 2002 

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NEW STRATEGIES IN CUSTOMER RELATIONSHI MANAGEMENT: 

GAINING CUSTOMER PERMISSION 

Claudia Bobâlcă 

Prep. Drd., Univesitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza Iaşi 

ABSTARCT 

CRM is a business strategy evolved to manage the development of a company, the acquisition and retention of its 

customers and to create long-term value between them. CRM has spurned the development of the new business-toconsumer, 

business-to-business markets and business approaches to database marketing and personalization through a 

multi-channel environment. New technologies are making it possible to engage in real-time customer dialog anytime 

and anywhere. Consumers respond differently to communications from the firm depending upon the extent to which the 

consumer has actively chosen to receive these communications. There are differences in consumer behaviour between 

those who "opt-in" (tell the firm they want to receive information), and those who choose "not to opt-out" (choose not 

to tell the firm they do not want to receive such messages). Permission marketing is about building an ongoing 

relationship of increasing depth with customers. Permission marketing is an approach to selling goods and services in 

which a prospect explicitly agrees in advance to receive marketing information. Advocates of permission marketing 

argue that it is effective because the prospect is more receptive to a message that has been requested in advance and 

more cost-efficient because the prospect is already identified and targeted. 

Customer Relationship Management in Business 

Customer Relationship Management is a corporate level strategy which focuses on creating and 

maintaining lasting relationships with its customers. Although there are several commercial CRM 

software packages on the market which support CRM strategy, it is not a technology itself. Rather, 

a holistic change in an organizations philosophy which places emphasis on the customer. 

A successful CRM strategy cannot be implemented by simply installing and integrating a software 

package and will not happen over night. Changes must occur at all levels including policies and 

processes, front of house customer service, employee training, marketing, systems and information 

management; all aspects of the business must be reshaped to be customer driven. 

CRM, in its broadest sense, means managing all interactions and business with customers. This 

includes, but is not limited to, improving customer service. A good CRM program will allow a 

business to acquire customers, service the customer, increase the value of the customer to the 

company, retain good customers, and determine which customers can be retained or given a higher 

level of service. A good CRM program can improve customer service by facilitating 

communication in several ways: 

• Provide product information, product use information, and technical assistance on web sites 

that are accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

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• Identify how each individual customer defines quality, and then design a service strategy for 

each customer based on these individual requirements and expectations. 

• Provide a fast mechanism for managing and scheduling follow-up sales calls to assess postpurchase 

cognitive dissonance, repurchase probabilities, repurchase times, and repurchase 

frequencies. 

• Provide a mechanism to track all points of contact between a customer and the company, 

and do it in an integrated way so that all sources and types of contact are included, and all 

users of the system see the same view of the customer (reduces confusion). 

• Help to identify potential problems quickly, before they occur. 

• Provide a user-friendly mechanism for registering customer complaints (complaints that are 

not registered with the company cannot be resolved, and are a major source of customer 

dissatisfaction). 

• Provide a fast mechanism for handling problems and complaints (complaints that are 

resolved quickly can increase customer satisfaction). 

• Provide a fast mechanism for correcting service deficiencies (correct the problem before 

other customers experience the same dissatisfaction). 

• Use internet cookies to track customer interests and personalize product offerings 

accordingly. 

• Use the Internet to engage in collaborative customization or real-time customization. 

• Provide a fast mechanism for managing and scheduling maintenance, repair, and on-going 

support (improve efficiency and effectiveness). 

• The CRM can be integrated into other cross-functional systems and thereby provide 

accounting and production information to customers when they want it. 

The use of internet sites and specifically e-mail, in particular, are often touted as less expensive 

communication methods in comparison to traditional ones such as telephone calls. These types of 

technologies service can be very helpful, but it is completely useless to a business that cannot reach 

its customers. Some major companies believe that the majority of their clients trust other means of 

communication, like telephone, more than they trust e-mail. Clients, however, are usually not the 

ones to blame because it is often the manner of connecting with consumers on a personal level 

making them feel as though they are cherished as customers. It is up to companies to focus on 

reaching every customer and developing a relationship. 

It is possible for CRM software to run an entire business. From prospect and client contact tools to 

billing history and bulk email management. The CRM system allows a business to maintain all 

customer records in one centralized location that is accessible to an entire organization through 

password administration. Front office systems are set up to collect data from the customers for 

processing into the data warehouse. The data warehouse is a back office system used to fulfill and 

support customer orders. All customer information is stored in the data warehouse. Back office 

CRM makes it possible for a company to follow sales, orders, and cancellations. Special regressions 

of this data can be very beneficial for the marketing division of a firm/company. 

Forging long-term relationships with premium customers is usually viewed as the key to 

profitability in an increasingly dynamic market. Electronic customer relationship management 

(eCRM) is one of the primary strategic initiatives in industry today. It has become the latest 

paradigm of relationship marketing in the e-world. Most people usually drop the ‘e’ when speaking 

about eCRM, they generally refer to CRM (customer relationship management) that has 

technology-facilitated interfaces with customers in a broad e-business context which goes beyond 

the web. It integrates sales, marketing and service strategies that will create more value propositions 

for customers. It enables firms to recreate an ‘old fashioned’ one-to-one relationship with customers 

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along with mass-market efficiencies from selling to millions of customers — the power of masscustomisation. 

It employs modern information technology — from relational databases, to data 

warehousing, to data mining, to computer telephony integration, to internet delivery channels — to 

unlock customer profitability. 

Sophisticated segmentation and analysis technologies, comprehensive customer interaction data, 

multi-channel communications and one-to-one interactions are used to market customised products 

and services to ever more precise segments. 

Permission marketing techniques 

Permission marketing is the new science of extracting permission from prospects, which 

leads to attention, which leads to brand building, which ultimately may lead to purchase. 

There are five basic rules of permission: 

1. Permission must be granted; it cannot be presumed. Buying a mailing label for a direct 

marketing campaign is not permission- it's spam, and it will likely be ignored. 

2. Consumers only grant permission if they perceive that there's something in it for them. And 

you've got only about 2 seconds to communicate what that something is. 

3. Once you get permission, you must take care of it. If you cross a boundary or do something 

that offends the consumer, he can instantly revoke the permission. 

4. You can't transfer permission from marketer to marketer. Remember, if you're dating 

someone, you can't just give someone else authority to go on the date in your place. 

5. Measuring permission is the first step to forging a strong relationship. If you track 

permission levels instead of reach or hits, you're far more likely to build this incredibly 

valuable 

Here are some questions to help evaluate your performance on the permission marketing scale: 

• Does every single marketing piece you create invite consumers to contact you to begin 

dating? 

• Is a top-level executive in charge of your active permission database? If not, you're not 

serious about the effort. 

• Are there programs in place to turn strangers into friends? 

• Is there a curriculum you can easily walk someone through to learn about your products? 

• After someone becomes a customer, does your company actively work to expand the 

permission and make each customer more profitable? 

Permission marketing, or “opt in” as it’s sometimes called, is about one thing: getting the okay from 

individuals to market to them. The rationale is that, since marketing is inherently intrusive and 

invasive, marketers should be required to get permission first. Consumers are more prickly than 

ever about intrusions and privacy, so securing permission is in the best interest of marketers as well. 

Still, for all the talk, there is virtually nothing about permission marketing that’s different 

from traditional marketing. Just like traditional marketing, permission marketing presumes that all 

power rests with marketers and that all interactions are one way. Permission is just a gate that 

consumers can open or not open. Once opened, however, marketing is the same old hard sell, the 

same old saturation, and the same old intrusiveness—just now with permission. The emotional 

resonance is no better because the character of the marketing is no different. The overall 

relationship is no better because marketers still have all the control. The form of the interaction is 

unchanged because the one-way flow remains in place. Opt in is said to be different from opt out 

because marketers have to ask for permission instead of consumers having to ask for relief. But in 

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fact, opt in is nothing but a Trojan horse for opt out. Because once consumers opt in, opt out 

reappears. Having opted in, the only way consumers can get away from marketing is to opt out. 

Hence, for consumers opting in, the new marketplace looks just like the old opt-out marketplace. In 

other words, once permission is granted, consumers find that their situation in the marketplace is no 

different in any way from what it was before. Certainly, consumers who have opted in are more 

receptive, by definition, and oftentimes more responsive, too. But that doesn’t mean that permission 

is enough or that response couldn’t be improved even more. Consumer disaffection goes much 

deeper than not being asked first: Once more consumers have the dawning realization that giving 

permission is little more than a novelty that has changed very little about their overall experience, 

they will feel betrayed and resistance will be a far bigger problem than it is today. 

Empowerment and reciprocity are required, too. Empowerment means ceding control to consumers. 

Reciprocity means compensating consumers for paying attention. Consumers want to be 

empowered throughout and not just at the start. They want to share in the creation of meaning and 

not just choose among what’s offered, no matter how well customized. Not that consumers want 

more work, but they do want options to exercise control, especially for things that matter to them. 

Consumers want instant rewards that reciprocate them for the time they spend with marketing. 

Marketing itself must provide value, not simply promote the value of something to be bought and 

enjoyed later. Permission alone doesn’t make marketing more empowering or more reciprocal. The 

shift that’s long overdue is not to go to permission marketing but to go to a two-way model in 

which consumers can dictate the terms and in which marketers must earn the right to be heard. 

Permission marketing is generally experienced simply as multiple choice in data protection notices, 

offering different options by channel and by house versus third party data usage. The practice has 

become all about compliance - ensuring the organisation does not breach any of the major laws tbat 

apply – with little or no marketing investment. Few reasons are offered for providing the choice to 

opt in or opt out, with almost no benefits. As a result, consumers have been conditioned into a 

defensive mindset. Research by the Office of the Information Commissioner shows that protection 

of personal information is the third most important issue for consumers, behind education and 

crime. 

The express act by a customer of granting a marketer permission to deliver marketing messages to 

the customer. The permission is typically granted by registering on a website or responding to an 

unsolicited email and the messages are typically delivered by email. 

INBOX Marketing's permission-based email CRM initiative can assist in providing your 

employees with the information and processes needed to understand their customers and effectively 

build relationships between the company, its customer base, and distribution partners. 

INBOX Marketing has solutions that will enable you to service your customers' needs in ways they 

never imagined. 

• Brand every email sent from any system: (Outlook, ecommerce systems, CRM systems, order 

management systems, etc.) 

• Enhance emails with: promotions, stock tickers, cross-sells, up-sells, help links, retail locators, 

customer service contacts, and related content. 

• Enhance B2C emails: order confirmations, shipping confirmations, system notifications, customer 

service emails, and billing statements. 

• Enhance B2B emails: daily corporate emails, sales emails, CRM emails, invoices, billing 

statements and more. 

INBOX Marketing's world-class services will help you realize immediate value from your CRM 

technologies and initiatives. In turn, you will improve intimacy with customers, begin to merge 

marketing and customer service, engage in relationship-building efforts, continually reinforce your 

respect for customers' privacy, protect your brand equity, aggregate data, build a consensual 360- 

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degree view of the customer through data, practice data-driven marketing with behavioral analysis 

and refinements, customize messages for individuals, deliver high-touch services, build trust, and 

protect relationships. 

References: 

1. Ansari, A., Mela, C., “E-Customization,” Journal of Marketing Research Vol. 40, Nr. 2, 2003 

2. Emerick, D., Round, K., “Web Marketing and Project Management”, Editura Prentice Hall, 

Upper Saddle River, 1999 

3. Godin, S., “Marketingul bazat pe permisiune”, Business Tech International Press, Bucureşti, 

2005 

4. Winer, Russell S., “A Framework for Customer Relationship Management,” California 

Management Review, Nr. 43, Vol., 4, 2001 

5. Ying,Y.,Feinberg, F., Wedel, M., „Improving Online Product Recommendations by Including 

Nonrated Items”, Working Paper, University of MichiganBusinessSchool, 2004 

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PARTICULARITES DU MANAGEMENT DE LA QUALITỀ DANS LES 

SERVICES 

Lecteur univ. dr. Florin Lucian Isac 

Université Aurel Vlaicu Arad 

Faculté des Sciences Economiques 

Abstract : In service firms, quality management shows some particular aspects. For services, the assessment of quality 

is made during the service delivery process. Each customer contact is referred to as a moment of truth, an opportunity to 

satisfy or dissatisfy the customer. 

La stratégie de la qualité est une stratégie de succès, gagnante; lorsqu’elle est opérationnelle, tout le 

monde gagne: consommateurs, managers, offrants, bref, la société toute entière. Un service qui 

bénéficie d’une bonne prestation représente une stratégie profitable pour la compagnie et offre une 

satisfaction plus grande au consommateur. Un service de qualité a pour résultat l’acquisition de 

nouveaux clients, un nombre plus élève d’affaires ainsi que la perte du moins possible de clients. La 

qualité est le principal élément qui crée des clients fidèles, des consommateurs contents d’avoir 

choisi une telle société après avoir expérimenté ses services, consommateurs qui vont faire appel à 

l’avenir aussi, aux services de la compagnie et qu’ils vont recommander aux autres aussi. 

Dans l’industrie des services, la qualité est le plus important élément concurrentiel !¹ Les 

consommateurs « ne répondent » qu’à certaines compagnies parce qu’ils saisissent plus de valeur 

dans la prestation de services de celles-ci par rapport aux services des compagnies concurrentes. Si 

le service livre est à un niveau qualitatif supérieur, le profit sera supérieur lui aussi. Il faut 

remarquer que dans le secteur des services, le profit ne représente pas tout. Le service de qualité 

supérieure engendre la satisfaction parce qu’à l’aide d’un service de qualité on forge une culture 

dans la compagnie respective. Travaillant dans une compagnie ou il y a une préoccupation pour 

augmenter les connaissances et améliorer les habiletés du personnel, les employés expérimentent un 

sentiment d’épanouissement. 

A long terme, la qualité des produits et des services d’une compagnie est le plus important 

facteur qui influence le profit et la plus efficiente modalité d’augmentation du chiffre d’affaire, fait 

qui mène aussi bien à l’extension du marche et à l’augmentation du quota de marche. Bien que les 

bénéfices de la qualité sont reconnus par les préstateurs et les consommateurs aussi, la qualité 

représente un problème pour la plupart des sociétés dans le secteur des services. 

Le long des années, la qualité a été analysée de plusieurs points de vue, philosophes antiques 

et courants philosophiques contemporains s’en sont occupé en égale mesure. Depuis une 

soixantaine d’années, a été créée « la théorie de la signification », théorie fondée sur le fait que l’on 

n’opère pas couramment avec la réalité dans son ensemble mais avec certains éléments significatifs, 

les autres éléments étant considérés invariants. C’est pourquoi, bien que le service représente une 

réalité, quand on l’analyse, ou utilise seulement une image qui comprend certains aspects discrets, 

représentes par ses caractéristiques. Le problème essentiel dans la qualité est, par conséquent, 

l’identification de certaines caractéristiques ( c’est pourquoi Immanuel Kant appelait la qualité « la 

partie sensorielle de la perception »). 

On comprend par qualité, une image du service, donnée par des caractéristiques qualitatives. 

Le standard ISO 9000 – Terminologie de la qualité – définit la qualité comme une multitude de 

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propriétés et caractéristiques d’un service qui lui confère la capacité de satisfaire des exigences 

explicites ou implicites. Il en résulte qu’il y a une multitude de facteurs qui influencent le service, et 

que la qualité représente plus que la technicité du service ( donnée par des caractéristiques de nature 

technique, comprenant des aspects de compétitivité mais aussi des aspects qui prouvent l’influence 

du service sur l’environnement. 

Selon le dictionnaire Webster, la qualité est un degré d’excellence. Dewing considère la 

qualité comme un aspect de l’efficience. Feigenbaum considère que la qualité contribue à la 

satisfaction des exigences des clients et à la satisfaction générale, et à l’analyse de la valeur prend la 

qualité pour un élément de la valeur. D. Garvan² observe que les définitions de la qualité peuvent 

être classifiées en cinq catégories : 

1. Orientées de manière transcendantale 

‐ La qualité n’est ni idée, ni matière, mais une troisième catégorie indépendante entre 

les deux. La qualité donc, ne peut pas être définie. 

‐ La qualité est obtenue par les meilleurs standards. 

2. L’orientation vers le service 

‐ Les différences en qualité consistent dans les différences d’attributs. 

‐ La qualité consiste dans la quantité d’attributs de chaque entité et elle a un prix. 

3. Orientées vers l’utilisateur 

‐ La qualité représente la capacité de satisfaire les désirs. La qualité du service dépend 

de la manière par laquelle les caractéristiques correspondent aux préférences du 

consommateur. 

‐ La qualité signifie l’ensemble des caractéristiques d’utilisation. 

4. Orientées vers le processus 

‐ La qualité signifie conformités aux exigences 

‐ La qualité représente le degré par lequel un service est conforme a une spécification. 

5. Orientées vers la valeur 

- La qualité est le degré d’excellence à un prix acceptable et à un contrôle de la 

variabilité ayant un coût acceptable. 

- La qualité représente un bien pour certaines exigences du client rapportées à 

l’utilisation et au prix. 

Les caractéristiques qualitatives permettent la comparaison des services. Les acheteurs font 

des comparaisons entre services similaires et le prix n’est pas un argument décisif dans le choix du 

service. Dans un domaine marque l’incertitude ( comme c’est le cas de celui du service), la qualité 

est évaluée par le client. L’acheteur ne se sert pas de beaucoup de critères rationnels d’appréciation 

( car, le plus souvent, il ne les connait pas), mais il utilise en priorité des critères de satisfaction, 

l’ensemble ayant le rôle déterminant. 

Les caractéristiques qualitatives des services sont générées par les particularités de ces 

derniers, c’est-à-dire l’intangibilité, la périssabilité, l’hétérogénité, la simultanéité entre la 

production et la consommation. C’est ainsi que naissent des caractéristiques telles que la 

compétence ( habiletés et connaissances), la courtoisie ( le respect, la considération), la crédibilité ( 

la confiance, l’honnêteté ), la communication ( le soutien, l’empathie). Ces caractéristiques peuvent 

être de deux catégories : 

‐ Caractéristiques numériques (quantitatives) : température de l’eau distribuée, tension 

dans le réseau de distribution de l’énergie électrique ; 

Caractéristiques attributives (bien, mal, grand, petit)conditions d’hébergement, qualité 

d’un dîner, fréquence du transport public . La présentation des caractéristiques de qualité de 

services doit être accompagnée par la définition de la qualité du service. Selon James Teboul, la 

qualité du service est donnée par cinq aspects : 

1. La qualité du résultat 

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‐ Personnalisation et standardisation ; 

‐ Compatibilité avec d’autres services ; 

2. La qualité du processus 

‐ Temps de réponse : rapidité, capacité de réponse ; 

‐ Facilité de l’accès : localisation, horaire, file d’attente, facilité d’utilisation ; 

‐ Tangibilité : endroit, milieu, confort, propreté, luxe, technologie, équipement ; 

3. La qualité de conformité 

‐ Résultats vis-à-vis des promesses ; 

‐ Fonctionnalité ; 

‐ Ponctualité ; 

‐ Informations précises ; 

4. La qualité du contact 

‐ Disponibilité : écoute, entente, réponse adopte, résolution du problème, explications, 

communication, formation, poursuite après service ; 

‐ Considération : courtoisie, respect, tact, importance accodee au client ; 

5. La qualite affective 

‐ Assurance : confiance, baisse du risque, préparation, formation, traitement équitable, 

garantie des résultats ; 

‐ Expérience positive, environnement convenable, autonomie et droit de contrôle du 

client. 

Tout comme a découvert la société de business des Etats Unis dans les années 1980-1990, 

les services impersonnels, les produits avec des défauts et les promesses non honorées, tout a un 

prix. La qualité faible peut mener à la faillite. 

Une société qui produisait des soupes gourmet a été obligée de fermer ses portes lorsque 

dans la « vichy suisse » a été découvert un poison qui produisait des organismes contenant le 

botulisme. Les produits peuvent être rendus ou chargés mais de quel recours peut bénéficier le 

consommateur d’un service avec des carences ? Le recours légal ! 

Les lois se rapportant au malpraxis dans les services médicaux sont bien connues. La 

menace d’une plainte judiciaire pour négligence peut déterminer un médecin responsable à accorder 

plus de temps à une investigation médicale, à s’instruire perpétuellement ou à éviter les procédures 

pour lesquelles il n’est pas compétent. 

Aucun service ne bénéficie « d’immunité » pour être « accusé ». Par exemple, un hôtel de 

Las Vegas a été traduit en justice pour n’avoir offert la sécurité à une cliente attaquée dans sa propre 

chambre. Un expert bien connu en problèmes de qualité, Joseph M. Juran, a proposé un système 

comptable pour les coûts de qualité dans le but de persuader le management à s’occuper des 

problèmes de la qualité.³Il a identifié quatre catégories de coûts : le coût des inconvenients 

intérieurs ( dûs aux défauts découverts avant l’expédition), les coûts des inconvenients extérieurs ( 

défauts découverts après la livraison), les coûts de détection (pour l’inspection des matériaux 

achètes effectuée lors de la production) et les coûts de prévention( qui proviennent des opérations 

d’écartement des possibles défauts). Juran a découvert que dans la plupart des compagnies de 

production, les coûts avec les inconvenients intérieurs et extérieurs s’élevaient jusqu'à 80% du coût 

de qualité. Par conséquent, pour réduire le coût total, Juran a proposé aux compagnies d’accorder 

une attention plus grande à la présentation. Les suggestions offertes précisaient qu’un dollar investi 

en prévention vaut 100 dollars dans les coûts de détection et 100.000 dollars dans les coûts avec 

déficiences. 

On peut adapter le système des coûts de la qualité proposé par Juran aux sociétés de 

services aussi, par exemple dans une banque. 

Dans la ligne destinée à la prévention, le recrutement et la sélection du personnel dans les 

services représentent une modalité d’évitement de la faible qualité. L’identification des personnes 

ayant des attitudes et des habiletés interpersonnelles adéquates pour déterminer l’embauche de 

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personnes de contact qui possédant des instincts naturels nécessaires pour servir le mieux possible 

les client. L’inspection est incluse dans la ligne qui se rapporte à la détection, mais elle n’a pas un 

caractère pratique à l’exception des opérations de type « back office ». 

Parce que le service représente une expérience pour le consommateur, tout échec devient 

une petite histoire que le client raconte aux autres. Les managers dans les services doivent 

reconnaître qu’un client insatisfait, non seulement qu’il va chercher le même service ailleurs, mais il 

va relater aussi aux autres l’expérience malheureuse qu’il a vécue provoquant par conséquant des 

pertes importantes pour la compagnie. 

Tableau 1 Le coût de la qualité pour les services 

Catégorie de coût Définition Exemple : cas d’une banque 

PREVENTION Coûts associés aux opéra-tions 

ou aux activités qui « tiennent à 

distance » le moment d’une 

possible déficience et minimise 

les coûts de détection 

DETECTION Coûts nécessaires pour 

constater la condition d’un 

service pour voir si celui-ci est 

en conformité avec les 

DEFICIENCES 

INTERIEURES 

DEFICIENCES 

EXTERIEURES 

standards de sûreté 

Coûts qui impliquent la 

correction du travail inadéquat 

avant la livraison au client 

Coûts dûs à la correction du 

travail inadéquat après la 

livraison vers le client ou pour 

corriger le travail qui ne 

satisfait pas un besoin 

spécifique du consommateur 

Planification de la qualité 

Recrutement et sélection 

Programmes d’instruction 

Projets d’amélioration de la qualité 

Inspection périodique 

Contrôle du processus 

Vérification 

Cueillir les informations sur la 

qualité 

Formulaires et rapports erronés 

Reconstruction des activités 

Paiement de pénalités pour les 

intérêts 

Temps d’investigation 

Jugement légaux 

Communication verbale personnelle 

négative 

Perte en perspective des 

opportunités d’affaires 

Les écarts de qualités 

La qualité d’un service et la qualité d’un produit sont deux notions qui différent selon 

l’importance prise par l’interaction avec le client. 

L’écart de conception 

Le concept de service, né d’une analyse des besoins d’une cible déterminée de clients 

actuels ou potentiels, est transformé en une proposition formulée au départ selon le service mix et 

l’analyse du cycle de valeur. Tout ceci pourrait être schématisé par un carré situé au sommet du 

triangle des services. L’offre est conçue par des techniciens et des analystes qui l’ont mise en boîte 

selon des normes bien calibrées et des mesures quantifiées. Bien entendu, il subsistera toujours un 

décalage entre cette offre et la demande fluctuante, variée et changeante du client individuel. 

L’écart de délivrance ou de conformité 

Les employés ou les professionnels vont délivrer la prestation conformément aux règles de 

leur profession. Ils le feront avec plus ou moins de succès. L’écart sera négatif si la délivrance n’est 

pas à la hauteur des spécifications et il sera positif si l’employé fait un effort supplémentaire ou si le 

professionnel réussit de petits miracles pour s’adapter à la situation. 

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Les employés peuvent perdre de vue les besoins des clients. L’orientation technique leur 

favorise la tâche, mais c’est parfois au détriment de la satisfaction du client particulier. Par exemple, 

l’utilisation de formulaires longs et compliqués peut aider un département à mieux organiser son 

travail, mais cette tâche supplémentaire imposée au client va certainement lui déplaire. 

L’écart de perception 

L’écart de perception vient du fait que le client ne perçoit qu’une partie de l’offre. Par 

exemple, un médecin se préoccupera avant tout de l’aspect opératoire du traitement, tandis que le 

patient réagira davantage au résultat final : qualité de vie après le traitement, rapidité de la 

convalescence et explications en termes compréhensibles. 

La qualité est avant tout ce que les clients voient et perçoivent. Leur perception est leur 

réalité. Ce qu’ils ne perçoivent pas n’a que peu de valeur et ils ne sont pas disposés à en payer le 

prix. Ils seront conduits pour mesurer la valeur du service, à faire le rapport entre les avantages et 

les sacrifices perçus. 

La perception n’est pas un processus direct et prévisible. Elle est deformée à travers une 

série de filtres et de préjugés liés à un cadre de références. Nous sommes par exemple optimistes ou 

pessimistes, extravertis ou introvertis, visionnaires ou préoccupés par les détails matériels. Ces traits 

sont renforcés par l’habitude. Nos cadres de références s’accordent mieux avec ce qui nous est 

familier surtout s’il s’y attache une signification émotionnelle. 

Nous avons tendance à chercher une confirmation de nos opinions notamment si elles sont 

renforcées par notre entourage. Nous rassemblons des informations conformes à nos convictions en 

éliminant ou en ignorant ce qui les contredit. 

Le premier contact, par exemple, est particulièrement important. Les maîtres d’hôtel savent 

bien que lorsqu’un client s’asseoit mecontent, il va créer des problèmes et il va se plaindre toute la 

soirée. Une fois que le client s’est forgé une opinion, elle risque de rester ancrée dans son esprit. 

Par ailleurs, nous avons la tendance à intégrer, condenser et catégoriser nos perceptions pour former 

des représentations plus simples et des jugements généraux. 

Un service est constitué de nombreux moments de vérité mais du fait de la capacité 

d’intégration de notre esprit, nous formons une impression unique et globale, en comblant les vides. 

C’est le principe du compte bancaire : lorsque le travail est bien fait, nous créditons le compte, mais 

en cas d’erreur, nous le débitons. Mais un débit pèse plus qu’un crédit. Par conséquent, plus les 

contacts sont nombreux, plus le risque de mécontenter le client augmente. Certains éléments 

peuvent gonfler de manière disproportionnée et un seul point négatif peut entacher toute 

l’expérience. 

La perception du client se compare à ses attentes. Lorsque l’offre de service est communiquée aux 

clients elle génère des attentes. L’entreprise va privilégier certains aspects du service et ses 

promesses seront souvent liées à des aspects différenciateurs par rapport à la concurrence. Pour ce 

faire, elle utilisera les médias traditionnels, en s’appuyant sur une marque et une image solides. 

Mais la communication la plus efficace et la plus personnalisée provient du personnel en 

interface et du mode d’interaction. Tout ce que l’entreprise fait ou dit en interface est une forme de 

communication. Même la marque en dépend. Le bouche-à oreille, qui reflète l’expérience réelle 

d’un client, influence parfois davantage les attentes des clients que les médias classiques. Enfin, si 

le client a déjà utilisé le service ou teste un service analogue, cette expérience a une incidence 

majeure sur les attentes. 

L’écart de valeur 

La satisfaction du client et sa disposition à payer pour le service, est le résultat d’une 

comparaison entre sa perception du service et ses attentes. Malgré sa complexité, l’opération peut 

être résumée d’une manière très simple sous la forme d’un écart de valeur : 

Ecart de valeur = valeur perçue – attentes 

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Il est essentiel d’encourager les collaborateurs à prendre conscience de cet écart de valeur. 

Cela les aidera à être proactifs, à chercher à ameliorer la perception ou à réajuster les attentes, à 

promettre moins et à délivrer plus. 

En conclusion, la qualité « du produit » est surtout centrée sur les écarts de conception ou de 

conformité, mais dans l’avant-scène, la qualité du service dépend beaucoup d’un écart 

supplémentaire, un écart de valeur qui reste intangible et subjectif. 

Bibliographie : 

1. Alexandru Jivan – Managementul serviciilor, Ed. de Vest, Timisoara, 1998. 

2. James A Fitzsimmons, Monaj Fitzsimmons – Service management, Tata Mc Graw Hill, 

2005. 

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PECULIARITIES OF THE EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT 

Joe Claudia – student 

Assistant Professor Phd. Student Lăpăduşi Loredana –Coordinating 

“Constantin Brâncuşi” University – Faculty of Economic Science 

Abstract: Le contenu de ce papier a comme son un objectif principal de faire le directeur futur comprendre 

facilement la nécessité et l'importance de savoir les particularités de l'administration européenne. Ainsi le transfert 

international de connaissance et des adresses directoriales représente un des buts essentiels de l'administration 

européenne. C'est constamment rendu compte et il est fait les deux d'éléments conceptuels ou de la nature des 

instruments directoriaux, mais aussi des procédures concrètes de réalisation de ce transfert, qui prennent la forme bien 

connue de méthodologies De voie une méthodologie est composée les approches influencent l'administration pratique, 

dans de différents pays, des régions géographiques ou économiques. 

The new context that all European companies use, the need that they have for well trained 

managers, in the field of internationally compared management, able of thinking in a transeuropean 

vision, beyond what was until recent considered barriers, imposed by geographic borders and 

national cultures, that impose the utilisation the use of a more frecvent and still incomplete term, 

that may generate confusion. This is often considered and interpreted by some company managers 

of the member states of the European Union as an antidote to the American or Japanese 

management. 

The extreme diversity of European cultural-historical context is obvious, and in such 

conditions only a contextualised, complex approach, can allow us to correctly interpret the 

peculiarities of this possible management model. 

Even if one cannot fully appreciate its existence and the fact that such a cultural model of 

management exists and can be applied by the member states of the European Union, one can still 

distinguish some values that can be considered European and can constitute the foundation of a 

European management model, creating this way the premise for an alternative to the American or 

Japanese management. We present here some of these cultural characteristics: 

- All European people are Christian 

- European people have created important artistically and literary movements; 

- Europe was marked by homogeneous political thinking; 

- All of the nations have common judicial roots; 

- Europe has benefit Ted from a common humanist tradition; 

- In all the European nations there are democratic political systems based on democratic 

forms of participation of the citizens to the entire economic and social life; 

- A powerful accent is manifesting itself to create opportunities of development at the 

working place; 

- We can see, especially in the Anglo-Saxon countries, the amplification of multiple social 

relations, outside of work and family, between partners and associates; 

- The value of self-realization is growing which presumes equal chances for more people. 

- There is a growing attention to the emotional and pleasant aspects at the working place, 

both at the level of position or occupied function and of the ambient environment. 

- The value of life’s quality is growing which allows the positioning on the first plan of 

some values such as: peace, human and minorities rights, protection of the natural-ecological 

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environment, combat against poverty, unemployment drug consumption, violence, all these 

constitute new orientations in the attitude of the citizens of European states thus having the 

signification of a new moral dimension, even at a global level; 

- The importance of security and personal reward are growing, such as salaries the staffs 

chances safety and quality at the work place. 

European management is based on diversity and cultural social, economic and political 

complexity of the context in which it acts, thus imposing on managers of European companies to 

have the capacity of interpreting the diversity and cultural diversity. 

In fact the managers of these companies – Euro managers- must be able to act in a mixed 

cultural environment, to understand the behaviours and attitudes that are different, to be able to 

think and act in a transeuropean meaner. 

We present here some elements that leed to a development of the European management 

model: 

- Insuring the mobility at a European level of human resources is the premise to realise a 

European and international career; 

- Insuring a compatibility between the objectives of great European companies and the 

concrete objectives established by local communities or the government of the European nations. 

- Creating a self identity for European organizations based on economic and social values 

specific to the continent; 

- Increasing the role of the managerial elements of informational nature, including the 

innovative, intreprenorial, and intraprenorial ones. 

- Transeuropean companies decentralizations in business units, easy to coordinate on the 

managerial system. 

In conclusion, we consider that the model of European management needs fundamentation, 

practising and evaluation of some strategies at the level of European companies, especially of great 

size, such as these strategies to propose objectives, strategically options, terms, resources, that 

enable to obtain a real advantage in the competition needed to realize the mission, but not in 

comparison to other companies from the same nation but in comparison with companies from other 

European nations. 

Ownership of such companies that have become transeuropean should be composed of what 

can be more frequently called today manager of a transeuropean company or Euro manager. 

In the member states of the European Union, often, both workers and managers no matter 

the level of hierarchy have a very solid training often professional and managerial. More than that, 

Euro managers are very well prepared professionally speaking, to know the domain that they leed, 

but also have training in the field of management, obtained by some professional classes, of special 

managerial training program yes or because of the passion for managerial jobs. 

The high level of preparation for the workers is imposed by the technology used, by the 

technical level of machines and equipment, by the high quality of the raw-matter, and the 

determinant role of information and knowledge, of client’s demands and a growth in competition in 

all domains of activity 

Euro managers, more than workers must know and interpret the law, have extraordinary 

communication and negotiation skills and a very well built personality, to accept the risk to initiate 

and leed complex processes of innovation and organizational change. 

The differences of geographic, social, economic legislative cultural nature between the 

member states of the European Union force those interested in the problem of international 

corporate management to give the necessary attention to these particularities when there is the intent 

of making a global revise of European management. 

All these having caused the aspects presented before, are forming for the years to come 

some common perspectives, of which we present the following: 

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- The Harmonisation of the legislation in work relations to allow the free movement of the 

work force between the member states; 

- The Harmonisation of managerial practices, to allow both Euro managers to occupy 

positions of management in companies from any European nation, as well as workers to get used to 

a European style of management practised by managers of any European nation; 

- The full completion of the European management model, because of the advantages of its 

use, especially obvious with the expansion of the European Union to the east; 

- The placing of the European Union in a position of leadership on the world trade, in 

comparison to the United States and Japan; 

- The preserving of the cultural differences between the nations of the Union, capable of 

insuring in need, the particularization of management of any European type to the concrete 

specifications of any nation; 

- The careful analysis, monitorisation and taking into consideration the decision processes of 

pan-European elements that mark politics at a world level, that may generate influence over the 

European management, such as : stress of xenophobic manifestation, nationalist extremists, growth 

of oil price, downfall of the American dollar and excessive valorification of the European coin, 

general modification of the environment, as following the excessive intervention of man, pollution, 

and powerful industrialisation actualization of international competition and even between 

member states of the European Union in some domains considered key to their respective 

economies 

- The change of vision in the preparation of Euro managers in the sense of identifying the 

development and the use utilization of the managerial abilities that insure the compatibilization of 

the strategy of the great European companies with the performance and the individual growth of 

the Euro managers; 

- The growing role of leadership, considered to have a decisive contribution in obtaining the 

managerial performances; 

- The chance of vision referring o the control of activities of great European companies, in 

the sense of using some complex control strategies, of which we remind here: The control of the 

centralised staff, the birocratic control, the result based control, the cultural control; 

- The Correct management of the potential crises that can be generated by the annexation to 

the European Union for the management of firms from states that have annexed during the year 

2004 or those from 2007. 

Romania: With a natural scenery to envy, with a chronic underdevelopment of the 

economy, with the desire to overcome the social and cultural point, Romania is a nation of medieval 

castles of painted churches and of charming countryside’s. Latin nation at the gates of the Orient a 

nation of orthodox beliefs Romania is a small miracle. 

I can add the act that present work does the part from the attempts apprehended the changes 

produced in the area so fascinating of management et he presents in a manner structurally the 

foundations peculiarities management European in a approach systemic. 

Bibliography: 

- Berstein, Serge, Milza Pierre – History European, Iaşi, Institute European, 1998 

- Gaillard, Jean-Michel – History main European, Chişinău, Editorial Cartier, 2001 

- Istocescu, Amedeo – „Symbolize cultural of the capacity European”, Mag Economic, the set 

Management, Bucureşti, Editorial ASE, nr.1-2-2001 

- Istocescu, Amedeo – „Of the analyze cultural - managerially comparative a country lateen of the 

Europe”, Mag of the Management compare internationals, Bucureşti, ASE, C.N.E.S.M.C., nr.5, 

2004 

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- Istocescu, Amedeo – Management compare internationals, Bucureşti, Editorial ASE, 2005 

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PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATION IN ADVERTISING 

Paicu Claudia Elena, phd. Student, univ. assistant, Academy of Economic Studies, 

Bucharest 

ABSTRACT 

When viewing a TV spot or listening to a commercial on the radio or even when reading a magazine and seeing a 

graphic illustration, the public desires to receive a message with useful information, necessary in order to satisfy its own 

needs. In fact the sole purpose of a commercial (as an instrument of marketing) should be exactly that of transmitting 

useful information that can change something in the life of the consumers (a change for the better) in order to increase 

the profit of the organization. However many times the commercials turn into endless monologues, where the accent 

does not underline the aspect in which the consumer is interested in, but on the feature that places the product or the 

service in a favorable light; so, what counts most disappears: establishing a connection with the public. 

The modern society is a society of communication. Advertising is part of this society. As such in advertising, we 

can also find some of the communication principles that I will discuss in this paper. 

Introduction 

Advertising is a synthetic form of marketing through which the process of communication 

between the organization and public is realized, representing in fact the most powerful instrument 

within the promotional mix of the company 4 . Through advertising, the public has access to different 

commercials that are promoting the image of an organization and its products, the commercials are 

presented, with a cost, through different and various media type of support 6 (by radio, by television, 

by press, by internet, outdoor – outside advertising, by phone). The final purpose of advertising is 

that of promoting, informing and getting the public enthusiastic in connection to a certain product or 

service. 

Throughout time the society has evolved, has registered various changes. The modern 

society, the one that we are living in today, is a society of communication. Advertising is part of 

this society. Still it appears that this area is confronted with the biggest crises suffered over the 

years. Even though the society has registered an extraordinary leap, the advertising has suffered as a 

consequence of this evolvement. At a first glance the phenomenon cannot be explained, but when 

looking at it more carefully it makes sense. 

As I was saying earlier, we live in a modern society, a commercial society. The public is 

fired at with an enormous volume of information through all the communication channels that the 

society has at hand: hundreds of TV channels and radio stations, thousands of magazines, 

newspapers and various publications, by phone and now by cellular, internet. The final purpose is 

the same: to engrave in the mind of the consumer the image of the organization and of the 

respective brand. Advertising is therefore, the instrument through which the organization comes in 

contact with the public, transmitting certain information, and the brand represents the way that the 

public identifies the organization. 

Specialists say that we are living in a landscape of brands. They also say that a study has 

been made and according to the obtained the results a third of the worlds’ wealth is in the minds of 

the people, taking the shape of brands 7 . The consumer is fired at daily with an impressive number of 

commercials. As a response to this aggressive form of advertising and invasion of privacy, people 

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have started to have a negative attitude towards commercials and towards that the entire brand 

promotions stands for. In these conditions advertising has 

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crossed through a difficult time and has had to reinvent itself. In order to draw the public, the 

advertising has tried a new approach: by building a stronger relationship with the public, trying 

through the promoted concept to establish a contact with this one, and at the same time giving and 

answer to its needs and demands. 

So, a series of principles of communication were used, in order to transform the advertising 

from an endless monologue in an opened dialogue with t he consumers. 

Principles of communication in the field of advertising 

Here on out I propose the debate on some of the specific principles of the communication process 

that can also be found in the field of advertising. 

“First try to understand, then to be understood” 

In order to realize a successful commercial campaign first we have to understand a very 

important aspect, that being: the commercial is in fact an answer to the consumer’s requests. 

Starting from an idea first we have to find out what does the public desire and later on try to give a 

new form to this information and turn it into a commercial. Once the consumer sees that the product 

is useful, that comes as a response to his needs, we will certainly have his attention. This way a 

relationship will be established with the public, based on mutual trust, trust through which on one 

hand the product is presented and on the other all the arguments that will give satisfaction to the 

customer; it is in fact a relationship through which the public can be slightly influenced by 

mentioning those things that really matter. In fact, the success of advertising consists in the ability 

to influence, even manipulate the public, through the interpretation of the information connected to 

its needs, placing thus the product or the service into a favorable light. We are talking in this case of 

a manipulation of the publics’ interests 5 . This way as long as the needs and demands of the public 

are very well known, they can be used in order to manipulate it, transmitting exactly what he wants 

to hear and manipulating it into believing that, that precise product will satisfy his every need and 

demand. This way a very important principle of communication it’s being used, regarding the fact 

that first of all the public has to be understood and only after that the campaign through which you 

can make yourself understood. 

Careful though: even though the commercials generally have as a purpose influencing the public 

through their message, the public doesn’t have to be aware of the fact that it is being influenced. 

Once it realizes that it has been lied to and manipulated, the consumer will refuse to listen to any 

more messages and as such the communication process will be stopped. 

Emphatic communication 

An efficient process of communication needs two tightly connected elements: listening and 

understanding. These two elements define in fact the emphatic communication. The listening 

process is realized differently, depending on the attention that is given to the subject presented, and 

the process of understanding it is realized depending on the level of listening. 

In advertising both processes are very important because depending on these two processes 

the message that needs to be sent to the public reaches or not the target. There are various levels of 

listening 3 and implicitly there are various levels of understanding. 

In the case of commercials, these processes can be found depending on the level of satisfaction of 

the needs. What does really happen? The satisfied needs do not motivate 3 , do not present interest. 

Only the unsatisfied ones motivate. 

Starting from this principle we have several reactions to the message sent through 

commercials. 

1. the message can be simply ignored, listening and understanding are totally lacking. This happens 

for two reasons: either the needs to which the product refers to are already satisfied and then do not 

present interest, or the product by itself does not present interest for the public, not having an actual 

utility. 

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2. the message is listed to in parts, not entirely; practically succeeds in drawing attention, but the 

listening and understanding of the message is superficial. 

3. the message presents interest and it is listened to with attention. But the listening is a 

consequence of curiosity, without any desire to understand the message. 

4. the message is interesting an then the empathic listening 3 takes place, a careful listening of the 

message in order to really understand it. Careful though: this type of listening does not imply that 

the public totally agrees with the message, just the opposite: this type of careful listening offers to 

the public the possibility to gather all the information that subsequently will analyze and only after 

that making an opinion regarding the transmitted information. A more profound listening gives 

bigger chance of better understanding the sent information. A message is not only made out of 

words. The specialists say that we can communicate 70% through body language, 23% by the tone 

of voice and the sounds we use and a 7% through words 1 . That is why the empathic listening is 

very important, because it implies a more profound understanding of the information supplied 

through different and various ways. 

Financial advantage; the advantage of lowering the tension (pressure) to the brain 

This type of commercial, the one that we were talking about before, has a huge impact over 

the public. The message reaches the addressee/ recipient very fast and the information is concise 

and to the point, what it is being transmitted is what counts and what interests the consumer: the 

product and the comparison between the old price and the new. This is even more important as the 

process by itself is being realized in a very dynamic environment, characterized by continuous 

change, an environment that does not allow the waste of time; every second counts and then time 

becomes very precious, and the access to information has to be fast and easy. The public is fired at 

with a lot of information from all over and through all the channels, as such being almost 

impossible to gather and assimilate all the data. Some shortcuts 2 are in order and really necessary 

in order to handle this environment. These shortcuts have the advantage of spearing the public from 

the task of gathering information that subsequently has to analyze (that being practically impossible 

taking into consideration the large volume of received information). 

In fact these shortcuts give to the public the possibility of having the information already decoded, 

leaving only the possibility of accepting or refusing the offer. This way the public has a financial 

advantage but, in the same time, has also another advantage: lowering the tension to the brain 2 . 

In fact the transmitted message is a simple one: the public has the possibility of saving some money 

but in the same time can save time and reduce the brain activity necessary in order to make up one’s 

mind. Everything goes down to accepting or refusing the offer. 

The principle high price = great quality 

Many times the public identifies the price with the quality of the product: what is expensive 

is god; there is a very well known mentality according to which “to give money’s worth”, meaning 

that if a product is cheap its quality is low while an expensive product reflects its high quality. This 

principle applies also in the case of commercial campaigns that have as main idea sales (lower 

prices). In fact the sale at lower price gives the public the possibility to have access to a superior 

quality product at a price under the initial value. Always the sales commercials will present the 

product first, together with some essential characteristics to bring out a sensation of superior quality 

that justifies the high price of the product, in order to further refer to the discount of which the 

public can take advantage. Passing through from the idea “expensive=god” towards” getting your 

money’s worth” is somewhat easy and logic, explaining like that the choice of taking advantage of 

the discount and buying a quality product at a much lower price. This is being done exactly in order 

to create in the mind of the consumer the idea of expensive product, and as such of good quality, at 

a very convenient price. 

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Conclusions 

Advertising, or “publicitate”, as it was translated into Romanian, is one of the most 

important instruments that the organization has in order to promote its image, products and services. 

Advertising is one of the most common methods, the means of realizing it being numerous and 

various as the transmitting channels are. So, if in the past we were talking about radio and 

television, now we can talk besides them about press, outdoor, telephone, mail. In the near future 

we will probably be able to speak of many more, because we live in a developing society, thirsty of 

knowledge and new. 

Advertising was and still is a very used instrument, which in time has got into a routine. So, 

advertising finds itself in a difficult moment, that needs to be surpassed. As such advertising does 

not have to bore when presenting a subject, in the contrary, it has to arouse and draw interest, 

transmitting a certain emotion, a certain state of spirit. In these conditions we are talking of a new 

concept of advertising that has to impress not by the volume of information transmitted, but by the 

emotions generated within the public. 

We can talk about an advertising of sentiment, the commercial being based upon certain incentives 

that will launch certain emotions and then certain reactions. 

Of course in order to be able to initiate this type of reactions within the public the consumers needs 

and desires must be very carefully analyzed. In fact advertising comes as a response to the publics’ 

needs. This type of commercial has a great impact over the public. The message is transmitted very 

fast to the addressee and the information is concise and to the point, what it is being transmitted is 

what counts and what interests the consumer. For that reason from all the daily received messages 

through various channels, the public only memorizes what interests him, what really respond to his 

needs. Of course a commercial has the purpose of influencing the consumer behavior of the public 

(in the sense of increasing the sales) and is normal that the product be presented in a favorable light, 

but the public does not have to be lied to. If a product has an extraordinary campaign but that 

product leaves much to be desired, the public will not buy that product a second time, even if the 

commercial is very well done. Is best, that through advertising, for truth not to suffer any 

modifications, eventually presenting the good points of the product, leaving the weak ones aside, in 

order not to lie to the consumer. In fact the success of advertising consists in the ability to influence 

the public, even manipulate it, through the interpretation of the information connected to the 

publics’ desires, in these conditions placing the product or the service in a favorable light, without 

leaving the impression that is manipulating or influencing in some way. Careful though: once he 

realizes that he is being lied to and manipulated, the consumer will refuse to listen to any more 

messages and so the communication process will be stopped. 

References 

1. Bălănică S., Comunicare în afaceri, Editura Ase, 2003 

2. Cialdini R. B., Psihologia persuasiunii, EdituraBusinesstech, 2004 

3. Covey R. S., Eficienţa în 7 trepte. Un abecedar al înţelepciunii, Editura All, 1996 

4. Hristache D. A., Comunicare corporativă, Editura ASE, 2004, 

5. Mucchielli A., Arta de a influenţa, Editura Polirom, 2002 

6. Nicola M.,Petre Dan, Publicitate, Editura SNSPA- Facultatea de Comunicare şi Relaţii 

Publice, 2001, 

7. Newman M., Salturi Creative. 10 lecţii de advertising eficient inspirate de Saatchi & 

Saatchi, Editura BrandBuilders 

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QUELQUES ASPECTS CONCERNANT LA LOCALISATION/ 

L’EMPLACEMENT DES FIRMES DANS LE CONTEXTE DE LA 

CRÉATION DE CLUSTERS 

POPESCU MANOELA conf. univ. dr. 

”Dimitrie Cantemir” Christian University 

Faculty of Tourism and Commercial Management from Bucharest 

RÉSUMÉ 

Les clusters, agglomérations « industrielles » compétitives, représentent une alternative réelle pour le 

développement économique de notre pays. Généralement, les clusters sont définis en tant qu’ « agglomérations spatiales 

d’entreprises ou concentrations géographiques de compagnies et d’institutions interconnectées, dans un certain 

domaine ». Les clusters se constituent dans des régions ayant un haut degré de compétitivité, régions qui ont une grande 

capacité de fournir des ressources et dans lesquelles il y a une certaine densité des industries apparentées et de celles 

d’appui. À présent, en Roumanie il y a des clusters naturels, tout comme des clusters publics (parcs industriels, parcs 

scientifiques et technologiques). 

On sait que la localisation des entreprises a besoin d’études préalables. Tout emplacement d’une entreprise se 

fait en prenant en compte un ensemble de facteurs : économiques, sociaux, politiques, techniques et institutionnels. 

Parmi les facteurs économiques importants il y a : la situation locale des clients, des fournisseurs et des concurrents 

potentiels ; la situation du climat socio-économique ; les coûts liés à l’emplacement proprement dit, à la construction 

des espaces et au fonctionnement de l’entreprise. 

Dans le contexte de l'apparition des clusters émergents, les nouvelles entreprises, crées pour assurer la 

distribution des produits ou pour offrir des produits complémentaires à l’industrie dans laquelle se sont développes les 

clusters seront intéressées premièrement par les aspects sociaux (le niveau socioculturel des futurs employés, 

l’assurance des conditions de travail et de vie, etc.) liés à l’emplacement de ces entreprises. 

1. The importance of clusters in the economic development of a country 

In the global economy we notice more and more the presence of economic conglomerations 

that have an impact on the competition of the country. Clusters are real alternatives for the economy 

development of the world’s countries. 

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1.1. Clusters – conceptual approaches 

It is said that where there is an intense economy activity, in which the actors involved 

become competitive by innovation and creativity, and the industrial technologies are spread through 

the networks, there is cluster. It is obviously that these kind of competitive conglomerations 

represent a real method of economic development of many countries from the European space and 

not only. 

In Romania clusters are defined like space conglomerations, maybe because in our country 

there are companies’ conglomerations, but these ones are not created thanks to the cooperation 

relations but to the existence of natural resources, material or human. However, Romanian state 

tried to promote the companies conglomerations through public politics, creating public clusters, 

that is industrial parks scientific and technological parks, business incubators etc. Of course, there is 

the possibility of creating natural clusters, as a result of private initiative, that can be identified 

with the help of statistic means and quantitative analyses. 

But what are clusters and how can they be identified? Cluster is an English word that means 

“pack, bouquet, and group”. Therefore, cluster means a group of industrial enterprises or 

organizations which activate in the same field and establish cooperation relation that guarantee 

them high performances. In the same group there are producers, suppliers, researchers, partners or 

even competitors, from the same industrial branches which develop their activities in the same 

region. 

Michael Porter defines them as “geographic conglomerations of interconnected institutions 

and companies, from a certain field”[2]. Therefore, clusters represent groups of companies related 

as developed activity, as well as other important entities regarding the competition: specialized 

input suppliers, infrastructure suppliers, clients, producers but also governmental and nongovernmental 

institutions: universities, paternal, professional associations, professional formation 

suppliers, research institutions, ONG s. 

1.2.Characteristics of clusters 

In Porter’s concept, clusters are developed according to three major components: social, 

political and economic[4]. Therefore, each cluster is unique regarding its way of development, 

established objectives and organization method. 

According to some empiric researches, the economic conglomerations cannot be always 

considered as clusters. Therefore, the identification of clusters by using the statistic methods isn’t 

enough; other criteria are used in order to define some economic conglomerations as clusters. 

Maybe the most important criteria refer to the existing relations between the actors that create the 

economic conglomerations and to interconnections between the actors and the external positive 

results. Therefore, all the urban conglomerations can be considered clusters and it is not true. 

According to this, the specialists use different characteristics to identify the clusters[7]: 

‣ The geographic consistence of related and support industries (horizontal and vertical); 

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‣ The flexibility of small and medium companies; 

‣ The capacity of supply and provide resources; 

‣ The level of regional competition. 

Also, the calculation of the companies’ density in a certain geographic space can contribute 

to the identification of clusters. 

The studies made in our country show that there aren’t functional clusters but only emergent 

or proto-clusters” [7], and the criteria used in order to identify a functional cluster is: 

The identity, location and borders of the cluster; 

The strategies, the dynamic and the individual performances of the companies from the 

cluster; 

The strategies, dynamic and the performance of the cluster, as a whole; 

The role of local/regional institutions regarding the functionality of the cluster. 

Beside these general criteria, other statistic criteria have been considered in order to develop 

the potential clusters, as: 

• The turn over of the sector from the area, comparing the turn over from the regional/national 

sector level; 

• The rate of work force from the sector from the given area; 

• The higher increase than the average from the sector (annual data, sector comparison); 

• The identification of a higher number of new IMM from the area/sector; 

• The concentration of an important group of organisms/institutions with competence in 

developing the economic infrastructure and/or which provide services/training 

• The local companies that operate in the area. 

This means that the companies’ position in an area where there aren’t real opportunities of 

development, determine, as long as the cooperation relations established between the different 

entities exist, the formation of clusters. 

2. The position/location within the clusters 

Therefore, if we start from the definition according to which clusters are competitive 

economic conglomerations of companies, we can consider that the location of the companies 

depends on a series of determined factors: economic (costs, resources etc.), social, politic, technique 

and institutional that contributes to the creation of potential clusters. However, in the same time 

with the creation of the competitive and spatial conglomeration, it attracts new entities (firms, 

companies, nonprofit organizations, associations, educational institutions etc.) especially because 

the advantages and facilities they can obtain: 

• Qualified personnel; 

• Support in the financial process; 

• Access to structural funds; 

• Facile access to different services etc. 

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In general, any company is located according to its activity field. More precisely, the 

companies are located close to the necessary resources specific to their activity. Therefore, it is 

logical that a department store to be located both in urban or rural environment, in places that are 

circulated, meanwhile a company that process wood must be located in areas which can provide 

prime material (for example Suceava area, where there have been identified potential clusters 

regarding this activity field). Regarding the location of manufacturing companies, it is considered 

the fact that these companies need space to expand and to deposit and also adequate transportation 

means. Therefore, these places are usually noisy; many of them are producing contamination and 

waste products. However, the settlements of urban planning devise the factories from the habitable 

areas and therefore their impact on the population is minimal. 

The banks, shops, learning institutions, non governmental organizations are placed in 

populated places. The placement of an office has to be decided taking into account the ease with 

which one can gain access to it, but also taking into account that the office must not be placed in an 

overly crowded location. Therefore the offices are placed in towns on streets adjacent to busy 

intersections, on the higher floors of buildings or on top of shops that can be found on the ground 

floor. Of course, there are companies that place their offices on the superior floors of productive 

spaces. 

The choice for the best suited location to place an office, shop or warehouse can be done 

through analyzing the client databases, demographic and census data and the existent market value. 

The best suited location can be compared to a different one. Economical decisions concerning the 

placement of a company can be determined by the following: transportation infrastructure, the 

available workers in the analyzed location, the availability of the necessary resources and the risk 

brought up the environment (locations predisposed to flooding, toxic spillage, earth movements, 

etc.). Also, the means of transportation as well as the suppliers of utilities like: electricity, gas, 

running water and used waters are important elements that are taken into account when deciding on 

a location for a business. This way, you can optimize vehicle routes, points of merchandise pick up 

and drop off, implement complex systems of management for the merchandise with a direct impact 

on the economical efficiency of transportation and distribution of the merchandise. 

A company’s activity can be disturbed by a series of factors which need to be taken into 

account when deciding the location of a business. Therefore, the disruption of electricity, flooding 

and accidents cause by bad weather, fire, storms, theft of the goods, lack of materials, the assembly 

of any materials or equipments have a negative impact of the normal functioning of a business. 

The placement of a company (of its main head quarters and any other branches) is essential 

for the survival of a business and for achieving high standards. It is said that the placement of a 

business is as important as the wellbeing of its employees, just like the location of a house is 

important for the wellbeing and health of its occupants. 

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The clusters present different levels of development, just as a business has specific level of 

development. The development level of a cluster determines the location of new businesses or 

organizations, institutions that can benefit from the surrounding competition in which the cluster 

developed. In this situation, the location of the business is conditioned by the level of development 

of the cluster and by the opportunities offered by it. Therefore, for example, in the eastern part of 

the Capital, within the Faur platform, a company called Regatta is developing a new logistic park 

(East Logistic Centre) on a surface of 27,700 mp[8]. The project offers 10 halls with a total surface 

of 16,700 mp (open plane).The location is the main advantage offered by this project. Therefore, 

due to the location of the logistic park within the Faur platform, the clients will have an 

infrastructure of an industrial capacity. The facilities represent: the heating/cooling of the halls with 

generator of warm air, air conditioning using fans and radiators within the offices, the ramps used 

for loading and offloading of goods, large access doors, concrete platforms used for maneuvering 

and parking, etc. The halls were built using modern techniques and materials with very good 

thermal and sound proofing which lead to a reduced cost of the utilities. All these, because some 

businesses, which have a special impact on the entire national economy, generate the development 

of the area they are based in, respectively the formation of clusters in a natural way. 

Usually, the companies that will be located within the clusters are more and more interested 

in the social aspects (the socio-cultural level of the individuals, the guarantee of work and life 

conditions etc), the location process and less on the economic aspects because the development 

level of clusters assure sufficient elements in order to attract economic agents. 

In the same time, clusters are crystal systems with one angle, developed in a commune base. 

Clusters are beautiful gifts in the house; its habitants obtain harmony and cooperation thanks to 

them. This means that the companies that make part from a cluster are developed companies on a 

commune fundament. 

Conclusion: The location of companies within the clusters becomes more facile because of 

there is already infrastructure, a necessary support for its development. It is essentially that, no 

matter the formation method of clusters, they generate mentality changes, technical and managerial 

changes that affect each entity from the cluster. Therefore, we can remark that the management of 

each company is influenced by the management of the others and it is necessary to create a 

management guide of the cluster that will include good practices, methods and instruments in order 

to found and develop the clusters. 

Bibliography: 

1. Pitelis, C. N., A competition policy for the wealth of nations, 1999; 

2. Porter, M. E., Clusters and competition: New agendas for companies, governments and 

institutions in on competition, Boston, Harvard Business School Press, 1998; 

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3. Porter, M. E., The economic performance of regions, Regional Studies, vol. 37, 2003; 

4. Solvell, O., Lindquist, G., Ketels C., The cluster initiative green book, Bromma tryck 

AB, Stockholm, 2003; 

5. http://www.informest.it/vivli/; 

6. www.cluster-research.org; 

7. www.gea.org.ro; 

8. www.SMARTfinancial.ro. 

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PROMOTION STRATEGIES FOR ROMANIA’S TOURISM THROUGHT 

INTERNET 

Nioaţă Alin Lecturer Dr.eng University ” Constantin Brâncuşi”of Tg-Jiu 

Nioaţă Roxana Mihaela, ec. University”Constantin Brâncuşi”of Tg-Jiu 

Abstract 

As part of the national strategy of development regarding the Romanian tourism, it is necessary to establish a 

hierarchy of the main zones which must be taken into consideration in the following period of time, keeping in mind the 

potential offer and the categories of the tourist’s demand which can be fulfilled by turning into good account the 

existing offer. The tourist product must address both to the tourists interested in culture and to those who study the 

culture from that particular area and to those who made religious pilgrimages, but, in the same time, must not be 

omitted the businessmen belonging to the category of the consumers of turism. 

Concerning Romania’s promotion as a travel destination on the foreign specialized profile 

sites, we notice that, on one hand, the travel objectives are well considered, being better rated then 

the much more diversified ones in our neighbour countries: the Danube Delta, Bucovina’s 

monasteries, the Transylvanian citadels, the Black Sea shores, the mountainous bathing resorts, 

Maramures, etc., nevertheless it is stated that these objectives worth the effort to be visited, despite 

the low quality services. 

The companies’ image mirrors the web design of their sites which usually don’t overreach 

three pages, ending each time with the address and the phone numbers for contact. 

A well-known site, through which the tourism companies (tourism agencies, hotels, 

transport companies etc.) promote their travel products and services, is The Romanian Travel 

Guide- Ghidul turistic al Romaniei (www.rotravel.com). As an informational package, this site 

includes general data on Romania, but also detailed information about every county travel agencies, 

travel objectives, accommodation options, and travel services. This travel guide on the internet also 

offers useful services (especially as intermediation and not only) to the tourists world-wide 

interested in visiting Romania. 

Among the Romanian travel portals we state: www.romaniantourism.ro, www.eturism.ro, 

www.rotur.ro, www.turism.ro, www.romaniantravel.ro, www.infotravelromania, 

www.romaniatour.ro, www.infoturism.ro, etc. 

The advantages of achieving such travel site are: 

• it can be accessed from every corner of the world 

• it has an accessible informational structure 

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• the information is presented in synthetic forms, which are further detailed 

• the information is actual, being able to be modified in anytime 

• it satisfies the promotion need specific to all agencies in the tourist area 

The conclusion of one of the sites’ authors about our country is the following: ”Romania 

remains unexplored until the tourism industry will grow, and the economical difficulties will be 

surpassed. Meanwhile, the travel packages are offered at a very good price, and the daring tourists 

that travel on their own, will discover a part of Europe rich in traditions, that part which escaped 

from the pressures, complexity and aesthetic of modern times.” In other words, we say, Romania’s 

travel program can be promoted under the name of “A travel back in time”. 

As way of achievement, internal promotion should be a concentrated action of all 

stakeholders, from central and local institutions of the state administration, to economic agents, 

agencies and professional/cultural organizations etc. 

In consequence, Romania attacked the international tourist market through a new 

aggressive-positive promotion strategy under the slogan: “Simply Surprising Romania”. This 

campaign wants to be an aggressive one, because, in this moment, we are in the middle of a 

commercial war on the tourist market. 

In these conditions, those over 125 countries that have as priority the development of 

tourism have initiated a competition, whose winner is the one who comes with original products, in 

such circumstances “Simply Surprising Romania” has been launched. 

This promotion campaign which aims at the Romanian tourism takes place on two levels: 

• The presence of Romania at tourism fair 

• Re-gain of several European tourist markets, once traditional for us. 

The promotion campaigns in the country will use the main daily newspapers and 

magazines, and also the most important TV stations. There is also a specialized press with special 

role in promotion activity, here we can name: “Tourist Romania”, “Picturesque Romania”, 

”Novelties in tourism”, “Romania Holidays”, “Holidays and Travels”, “The Carpathian 

Mountains”, “ The Travel Day”. 

As in the latest years, our country will be present also in the main TV channels-CNN, 

Euro-News, Discovery, Euro-Sport. In 2002 the first video to promote Romania as brand on the 

international market, it was launched on these channels. 

Regarding the sales promotion, we consider the continuation of social programs launch as 

proper, for example in off-peak season, through which travel packages at promotional prices can be 

offered can be offered in three resorts. 

What we want to emphasize is that the advertising material presented at the international 

tourism fairs, most of times, doesn’t excel the ordinary image, almost flat, in the sense that the 

focus in promotion is laid on the photographic image, to the detriment of the programmatic 

information, oriented on a certain primordial direction. There is no sufficient presence of 

audiovisual advertising, whose impact both on presenting the precious tourism potential of 

Romania, and on counteracting against the negative phenomena on it, could have a much more 

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convincing effect, to conclude, we emphasize that the “soft”, ordinary, without shocking elements 

promotion has a limited success. 

International Tourism Fair represents an invitation to discover and re-discover Romania. 

The promotion of Romania as a tourist destination, by identification of various offers, can create big 

hopes of success regarding the effort of raising the tourist traffic towards our country. 

With the view of creating a positive image of native tourism abroad, we consider useful 

that the foreign and Romanian journalists should have free access to all cultural tourist objectives 

(museums, monasteries, fortresses etc.) 

It is also remarkable the broadcast (presentation) of some tourist video tapes, various 

promotion actions organized under the care of the Ministry of Tourism or in collaboration with 

other institutions with representatives abroad. 

Notice that the first tourism club in Romania was founded by J’ info Tours agency, 

convening constant clients, holders of a fidelity card, journalists that want to be informed in this 

field and the possible beneficiaries of some services’ packages. The members of the club have the 

possibility of finding out in detail the attraction points of some different tourist programs, to gather 

information on the tourist destinations, on the possibilities of spending their free time, shopping, the 

conditions of crossing the frontier, obtaining the visa etc. Loyal clients benefit by the various 

facilities and important reductions of prices to tourist products presented in the offer list of the 

tourism club. 

The Romanian promotion and tourist information offices abroad, at their turn, give useful 

information to potential tourists about the tourist attractions, means of transport, accommodation, 

food, recreation, treatment and also about these tourist services’ tariffs. 

We consider that what is missing from the activity of these organisms is the accomplishment 

of some systematic marketing researches regarding both the foreign visitors’ preferences, and the 

demands of tourism agencies representatives interested in Romania’ s tourist offer. 

The project “Holidays in Romania” recommends the treatment of negative aspects in a 

positive manner. The impression of Romania as a safe destination needs to be created (without 

implicitly stating it). In this sense, ‘photo reports’ and a CD on Romania (50-60 reasons) at high 

quality standards can be edited. It is indicated the organizing of Round Tables at Berlin, Hamburg, 

Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Dresda and Munchen, working and seminary sessions, prize 

festivities of Romanian and foreign journalists in radio, Tv and written press, special info-service 

etc,. The target-journalists will be those from tourism, in this context, cooperation with media will 

be materialized through live transmissions, exclusive themes, extended promotions. For example, 

DSF, VOX and MTV have productions of about 30 minutes dedicated to tourism. 

For the efficient application of new strategies, it is recommended an increased attention to 

the journalists and the tourism agencies that represent a special influence both in the intern markets, 

and the international ones. 

In addition, there is a series of advantages which need to be revaluated. A way would be 

appealing to international consultancy agencies. Romania doesn’t’ have direct competitors. It is 

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well-positioned. It holds all the relief forms. It stimulates the development of family tourism. All 

these elements help in recreating the image of tourist destination. 

In the hospitality industry in Romania a new concept and marketing instrument has 

appeared: the regional promotion. The setting up of this concept has been inspired by the 

international practice in the field of countries with old tourist traditions. 

The phenomenon of materialization of some distinct future tourist product brands, with 

their own personality, began at Sibiu and then continued in Bucovina. 

This European concept, that imposed itself through its value in many countries, aims the 

constituting of some regional associations, meant to gather all the existent forces on local scale, 

interested in the promotion of that region tourist potential. 

The concept was successful and this way, until present time 10 of such regional promotion 

associations have been created. They have been constituted in the residences of some counties, but 

with a much larger activity area, as geographical space. In Romania, 10 of such associations 

activate: Sibiu, Bucovina, Maramures (the counties Maramures, Satu Mare and Salaj), Delta, Banat, 

Mures in Transylvania (counties Mures, Alba and Cluj), Neamt in Moldova (counties Neamt, Iasi 

and Bacau) Seashore, the Carpathians ( counties Brasov, Valea Prahovei) , Harghita. 

According to the opinions of some specialists in the field, this promotion formula proved 

to be the most viable of all experimented since now. On one hand because it gathers all the forces 

interested in the tourist development of the regional space, and on the other hand, because, in such 

formula, these factors from the hospitality industry have the possibility to constitute a larger volume 

of funds. 

If we take into consideration the existence of large number of tourist services providers 

that use their own promotion strategies, depending on the objectives and the markets they selected, 

we believe that it is convenient to elaborate and put into practice a unitary promotion policy, 

managed at macroeconomic level, that should sustain the Romanian tourism on the whole, 

especially on the external markets. 

In conclusion, we consider that the marketing and promotion strategy, as a single whole, 

needs to be founded on the detailed study of the market, on the evaluation of the tourist product and 

the general strategy of tourism development. In the same time, placing the Romanian tourism in the 

context of international and European tendencies in the evolution of this field is necessary, 

tendencies which include: changing and more and more solicited markets, increased competition 

from the part of other tourist destinations, the use of some marketing techniques and technologies, 

of promotion and sale, more and more sophisticated. 

The web pages that offer information regarding the ways of spending holidays in our 

country properly emphasize the main tourist attractions but also draw attention on the unpleasant 

surprises: “Romania is, maybe, the most beautiful country in Eastern Europe, the last stronghold of 

the medieval age, with long ago disappeared vestiges” –is the introduction of a section that presents 

our country, on a web-site administrated by an important American tourism agency. 

Consequently, we consider that Romania’s promotion is imposed as constant tourist 

destination, with no such events, attractive, in the same time, though tourist programs, prices, 

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infrastructure at disposal and through the special tourist package offer (such as: Seashore, 

treatments, circuits, Danube, Dracula). In order to change Romania’s image as tourist destination, 

we consider as necessary the creation and the expansion of regional tourist promotion associations. 

A sustainable, powerful, program needs to be elaborated and put into practice, adequate to 

the Romanian tourist potential. In other words, not by continually repeating “what a beautiful 

country we have”, but by proving that Romania is an ideal country for tourism. What needs to be 

done in the hospitality industry is lining the realities, by punctuality and courtesy, after the guide 

marks of written and un-written tourism rules, and also conceiving and putting into practice of an 

aggressive promotion of a high quality tourism, without whom our great potential remains only 

hope. 

Bibliography: 

1. Istratie I., Bran F., Rosu A.G.- The Tourist Economy and the Environment, Economica 

Publishing House, Bucharest, 1996 

2. Ioncica M., Minciu R.,- The services’ Economy, Bucharest, 1997 

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DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES OF SEVERAL ROMANIAN TOURISM 

REGIONS IN THE CURRNET PHASE 

Nioaţă Roxana Mihaela ec.University”Constantin Brâncuşi”of Tg-Jiu 

Nioaţă Alin Lecturer Dr.eng.University”Constantin Brâncuşi”of Tg-Jiu 

Abstract: The tourist agencies from Romania understood that, for better information of the present and potential 

clients, the web is an instrument which begins to be more and more at hand for the tourists. So, on the web appeared 

numerous sites for the promotion of the tourist offers. There are a satisfactory numbers of Romanian sites; ones used as 

such, the others hosted by specialized sites. A large number of firms preferred to show their image on internet only in 

English, without having a version in Romanian. The main fields are: the sea, the mountain, the foreign countries, the 

hunting, ticket reserves. 

The researches in this field have led to the conclusion that there are few tourist areas of 

interest which, included in a proper development strategy, can lead to the re-launch of the 

Romanian tourism. These regions could be: the Bucharest region, the Romanian Black Sea shore, 

Braşov and Sibiu regions, North Moldova region, the Danube Delta region. 

The Bucharest region can be considered an attractive tourist region, both for the internal 

and international tourism because the capital is situated here, it is the main business centre, the 

centre of transport networks and it represents an interesting area for the business, recreation and 

cultural tourism. Bucharest is still confronting with an accommodation crisis, even if in the latest 

years efforts have been made for modernizing the main hotels in the centre of the city and for 

building new hotels. 

The development strategy of this tourist region must have as objectives the improvement 

of endowments, the development of technical-material base, the general improvement of services. 

Regarding the tourist product, general transformations must be done: the concentration of 

the main tourist region, marking and specifying the tourist circuits around the main attractive 

elements, the restoration of monuments, organizing the tourist short-term arrangements for the 

surroundings for the visitors that come for a limited period, such as business persons. 

Another priority is the improvement of the tourist information and orientation in museums, 

arrangements for the cars and buses parking near the monuments, stimulating the promotion of 

conferences and trips. At the same time, to Bucharest it is profitable the launch of a program for 

rearrangement of amusement points, the prevention of the pollution and the environment 

degradation. 

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The Romanian Black Sea shore has represented long time the main source of attraction for 

the international tourism. Today, the demand has strongly decreased, the accommodation units 

being in unsatisfactory conditions, and the arrangements limited. 

The strategic policy concerning this region must assure the reconditioning and the 

modernization of the existent accommodation capacities and endowments. 

Arrangements differ from a resort to another. Those intended to the recreation and 

spending free time are poor: tennis and other sports play grounds are missing. Only Neptun and 

Jupiter resorts have proper centres, with shops and other arrangements. Generally, arrangements are 

modest, and the tourist information can be found in the main tourist agencies and in some hotels. 

The actual tourist activity is unsatisfactory. The difference between the Romanian tourists 

and the foreign tourists is almost 7,5/1, 25% of the total number of the foreign tourists over-night 

accommodations in Romania belonging to the shore region and a little over the number of 

Romanian tourists night accommodations. 

The main limits of the tourist activities on the Romanian shore are caused by the oldfashioned 

accommodation capacities and the precarious conditions, the lack of arrangements, the 

low period of season, the deficiency of demands. The acute demands are related to the arrangements 

and superior activities, points of multiple and international standard attractions. 

Initially, investment efforts need to be oriented towards those resorts that have the highest 

potential in the following priorities’ order, namely the improvement of accommodation and 

arrangement capacity standards and international standards additional activities, both in the resort 

and in the region. 

The restoration of monuments and other points of tourist interest are necessary in order to 

realize one-day-circuits. It is important that the ancient historic centres in Constanţa should be 

preserved and the villages that could represent points of tourist interest. The culture related 

demands include identifying the archaeological vestiges, marking, defining and presenting them in 

proper documents, improving the materials in the museums for tourists to buy. 

The main demands related to the development of tourist resorts in the region are: 

- reinforcement of Constanţa town position as main town and tourist centre by modernizing the 

peninsula 

- re-planning Mamaia resort’s organization by constructing several shops in its centre, increasing 

the possibilities of recreation and leisure spending. 

Solving these demands calls for the need to initiate a program for hotels and arrangements 

modernization by the governmental departments responsible for the tourist promotion. Together 

with the private sector, it is necessary to realize a program that aims the modernization of points and 

objectives of tourist interest such as the monuments, the natural regions, the prevention of pollution 

and environmental degradation. It is necessary the preparation of balanced promotion program and 

of an information and documentation complete program of visitors. 

The tourist region around Braşov is the most intensively developed from the tourist point of 

view, here being practiced both week-end and residential tourism. The region assures a various 

scale of historical and cultural tourist products, being used both for the winter and summer tourism. 

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It attracts a large number of foreign and Romanian tourists in such way that there is the lack of 

balance danger caused by the excessive pressure on the environment. 

Poiana Braşov represents the most equipped resort for the winter sports in Romania. The 

arrangements for recreation and leisure are inadequate, because a series of arrangements for both 

summer and winter tourism are imposed. 

Sinaia represents a tourist region used both in summer and in winter. Beside these, there are 

also holiday houses or unregistered mansions that can be rented. 

Transport facilities are inadequate, especially the cable cars at the altitude of 1400 and 2000. 

A new cablecar is necessary at Peştera, which will relate the way by cable cars from Buşteni. 

Predeal holds an accommodation capacity of almost 1900 places, from which 53% are in 

hotels. It is necessary the development of ski tracks and accommodation units. 

Regarding the current tourism, this region is known for the one-day trips, depart from 

Bucharest; this type of tourism appears in Romania’s circuit list and in other tourist circuits. The 

intern tourism is more practiced, except in Poiana Braşov where 55 % of the demands are from 

foreign visitors. The region has attractive points both for the winter and summer season. 

Near Brasov, within Bran region, rural tourism has been recovered and it attracts 

especially the foreign tourists. A very important reason is the small distance between this region and 

Bucharest. 

The arrangement strategy of this tourist area need to take into account the growth of the 

tourist activity amount, of one-day trips in the limits of a constant tourism practice. 

The strategy policy needs to develop the management techniques, capable of solving the 

problems that occur in the top period and to create a uniform demand during the season, an 

integrated planning to improve the endowments in the key-points for the winter sports and summer 

activities. The entire area must be seen as an integrated area, unitary in the purpose of planning, 

developing and promoting. 

The management of this tourist area must be unitary in order to assure the coordination of 

the entire region. A balanced promotion program and information and complete documentation 

services for visitors must be taken into consideration. 

Sibiu’s area covers the region from Sebeş in the west, to Fagaras in the east and from The 

Carpathians in the south, to Sighişoara in the north. The area has the potential advantage of winning 

a large number of foreign and Romanian tourists and one-day travelers to Braşov area. Its tourist 

density is lower than Braşov area and it presents a more largely spread tourist activity. 

Strategic policy for this area should be oriented in the following directions: 

- developing the main points of tourist interest in the entire area in order to give the possibility to 

increase the number of tourists, but in the limits of practicing a lasting tourism; 

- creating tourist opportunities which correspond to one-day trips for tourists that come from Sibiu 

area and Sighişoara. It is necessary that the scale of smaller attractions in the area should be 

diversified, connected through attractive circuits, accommodation capacities spread at a smaller 

scale. 

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There are also directions which connect Fagaraş Mountains from Talmaciu in west and 

Zarneşti in east with huts and mountain refuges placed on the top of the Fagaraş Mountains and 

across the directions. The Fagaraş highway has opened the general tourist traffic towards the Balea 

Valley area with points of natural interest: Balea Lake and Balea waterfall. Current tourism is 

practiced in general by the locals and less by the foreign tourists. The tourist potential of the area is 

particularly represented by history and tradition and especially by the heritage of the strongholds 

and churches. 

The strategic policy needs to follow the growth of tourist activity volume in reasonable 

social and environmental limits. More attractive points around the region are necessary in order to 

create a uniform demand in the season and to uniformly distribute the benefits resulted from 

tourism in the entire area. 

An approach integrated in the area is imposed by coordinating the neighbour counties 

where there are no interdependencies. The development of attraction points needs to be based on 

different themes that should satisfy different types of demands. Main themes could be the 

Romanian traditions and Marginimea Sibiului folklore, and for the mountain climbers, Fagaras 

mountains. Is it desirable that the mountain alpine directions in Fagaras should be maintained and 

improved, that the winter sports should be developed in Balea region, that folklore festivals should 

be organized. 

The town of Sibiu needs to be protected and preserved, because it represents the centre of 

the region and the stopping point in Romania’s general tour. It is necessary to improve the attraction 

points, arrangements, to assure new accommodation capacities and parking places. Because the 

tourists prefer to enter the town from Piata Mica and Turnul Sfantului towards the main market, it is 

obligatory the arrangement of a bus parking place in the proximity, and also near the central hotels. 

It is absolutely necessary a point of tourist information placed in the central area. Sighisoara 

represents a halting place during the day and destination for the one-day trips from Brasov. The 

accommodation possibilities are limited. The town lacks attraction points, except the buildings. The 

primordial objective must be the embellishing of the town through accommodation facilities, own 

access and proper parking place. The arrangement of free air coffee houses, souvenirs and 

antiquities shops. 

Sibiului outskirts and Fagaras area, rich in folklore and picturesque landscape, represent 

opportunities for the cultural tourism development, and also for the mountain travels. These areas 

must be developed as integrated area, focusing on the increase of accommodation possibilities. 

Fagaras mountains area should be promoted as winter sports practice area. Valea Balea area needs 

to be developed as winter resort according as Poiana Brasov and Sinaia operate at maximum 

capacity. 

Under tourist aspect, the North Moldova area can attract a large number of Romanian and 

foreign tourists, but it can also lead to overcrowding and irreparable damages of the monuments and 

environment. 

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Tourist development strategy of Suceava area or the North Moldova must purpose to 

create many attraction points dispersed in the region, to attract tourists sensitive to culture and to 

properly promote the region. 

The area includes other attractive monuments also, architectural and urban, museums and 

memorial houses, watering places, Cotnari vineyard, ceramic centres from Radauti, Margina and 

Paltinoasa, ethnographic and folklore centres, festivals. 

The area’s difficulties are related to the limited accommodation capacities in some areas, 

some unattractive developments and the access possibilities. The region has attracted in the 

previous years almost 6 % of the total of Romanian tourists and almost 10 % of the total of foreign 

tourists, Suceava representing the most important centre of the region. 

Tourist development strategy must purpose to maintain a number of tourists in social and 

environmental permitted limits, to create some attractive circuits that should include the entire area, 

an adequate promotion of the area. 

The tourist product must appeal to both tourists interested in culture, and those who study 

culture in that area and those who undertake religious pilgrimages. We shouldn’t forget the business 

people in the tourism customers’ category. The tourist attractions must develop including the 

realization of an organizing system of visits to the main attraction points, a good signalization and 

tourist information at both the attraction points and museums, but also at regional level and 

realization of a rehabilitation program for hotels and endowments, of constructing new buildings, of 

restoration and preservation of Monasteries. 

The tourist development strategy in the Danube Delta must focus on the tourist 

development which has to be complementary to the objectives of Biosphere Reservation, it must 

develop a low intensity tourism which should have a minimum impact on the environment, must 

encourage more one-day trips with fluvial ships or night accommodation trips in the seashore 

resorts. In this sense, it should be encouraged the use of ships with under water vanes in order to 

reduce the trip’s duration. 

Bibliography: 

1. Jivan AI.,- The Management of Services, Western Publishing House, Timisoara, 1998 

2. Priority measures plan for 2005 for European integration, Romanian Government, 2005. 

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SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGIES 

IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT OF NOVI SAD 

Claudiu CICEA, University Reader PhD. Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest 

Drago Cvijanovic, PhD. director, Institute of Agricultural Economics, Belgrade 

Jonel Subic, PhD. scientific associate, Institute of Agricultural Economics, Belgrade 

Abstract : 

The development of the tourism in the Republic of Serbia has been only declaratively supported for many years, 

so far. There have been no serious and proper actions taken to advance it. The policy of not-differentiated marketing has 

been implemented, uncontrolled, with unclear market policy, neglecting the demand; In other words, the requirements of 

certain market segments and their target groups aimed at, were not met. The effect of the above was that a great number of 

very respectable natural and social (i.e. the anthropological) resources were unfairly neglected. Further effect of such a 

policy was the self-denial (being aware or unaware) of all the advantages that the Republic of Serbia might have it had 

invested in the development of the tourism here. Novi Sad is the second largest city in the Republic of Serbia which has 

shared the destiny of the other tourism destinations in our country. 

The aim of the work is to point out the strategic directions for the development of the tourism in Novi Sad, 

having in mind the theoretical knowledge and the principles of marketing and management of the tourism destination 

and the practical implementation of the both of them. In this way it would be evident how to make use of great potential 

for further development of the tourism in a practical sense. 


The implementation of the tourist destination marketing strategy is a complex process, 

which, if not consistently carried out, may have positive multiplicated effects on total economic life, 

having in mind that Novi Sad with its immediate surrounding has respectable tourist resources. 

That’s a must of its future development. 

8. Natural attractions of Novi Sad destination 

The natural attractions of the destination of Novi Sad, important for the development of the 

tourism are characterized by a high-level attractiveness [1]. They are the following: 

• the national park of Fruška Gora; 

• the Danube, as an international river water way; 

• a good geographic and traffic position – at the crossroads of many roads (The European 

corridors 7&10, which go through Novi Sad, or pass by it); 

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• flora and fauna in the immediate vicinity, i.e. the city surrounding (Fruška Gora, 

Koviljsko – Petrovaradinski rit, Begečka jama, etc.); 

• moderate continental climate; 

• regional varied entities (city of Novi Sad, Petrovaradin, Sremski Karlovci, Sremska 

Kamenica, and the National park Fruška Gora); 

The above attractions are, by all means, the great potential for the tourist development and 

they give opportunities to engage in the following: 

• sports and recreation activities; 

• facilities for stay and rehabilitation; 

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• privilege for the development of a special – purpose tourism, such as: 

5. hunting and fishing tourism 

6. water sports on the Danube river 

7. walking outdoors – there is an attractive natural environment in the immediate vicinity of 

the town; 

8. the rural tourism – the farms well known in Vojvodina as “salaši”, and the villages typical 

of Vojvodina. 

Some of the above resources have been used to a certain degree, but not to a great extent, the 

latter should be the basic point for the total development of the whole destination, with regard to the 

multiplicated effects of the tourism on the economy. 

Thus, it should be mentioned here that a part of such attractions has to be included into current 

tourist courses by means of a selective market oriented access towards the strategic development of 

Novi Sad, as a tourist destination. 

9. Social preferences for the development of tourism in Novi Sad 

Social preferences for the development of tourism include many factors which may be divided 

into anthropogenic and into other social factors [2]. 

The anthropogenic diversity includes the following very important factors: 

• numerous cultural and historical monuments; 

• multiethnic issues connected to the customs and life of large number of the nations and 

nationalities who live both in the region of the town of Novi Sad and in the provience of 

Vojvodina, as a whole. 

• folklore – as an individual and constituent part of the multiethnical diversity. 

• the monasteries of Fruška Gora, as the cultural, historical and religious precious stone; 

• the original types of settlements and a rich architecture of the whole destination of Novi Sad, from 

Petrovaradin, as the oldest settlement built here, through the old city corpe, Sremski Karlovci and 

Sremska Kamenica, to the typical rural ambient units and farms in the close vicinity of Novi Sad 

(for example: farms “salaš” No. `s 84 and 137). 

• Development of economy, science, culture, education, sports and other social activities, 

represent an essential potential of the development of tourism. 

In an attempt to use better and present more completely the anthropological, demographic, 

geographical and other life conditions in Novi Sad, in the rield of tourism, many cultural manifestations 

have been established. They are for example: “Steria`s theatre”, „Zmaj`s children games“, „Branko`s 

kolo“ etc. 

There are also many music festivals and manifestations such as: Golden bell festival, “Summer 

in synagogue”, “jazz-time fest”, “golden dam”, “golden tamburica”, spiritual music festival, “Oh, the 

blue Danube” – the festival of Danube basin countries. 

Not long ago, Petrovaradin became the place where a famous festival called “EXIT” started to 

be organized every summer. This festival is the biggest of its kind in east Europe and is visited by more 

than fifty thousand people in a single day. 

It is very important to mention that the authorities at all levels, the economic subjects and the 

population have declaratively always had the positive attitude towards tourism development. This 

confirmed their decision as early as in 1955, to for the tourist organization of the city, which with its 

Chamber of commerce was an indirect government authority its aim was to work on the development 

of tourism in the town of Novi Sad and in the autonomous region of Vojvodina. This was also in 

compliance to the principe which was proclaimed by our country after the Second World War that all 

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sectors of the economy should rapidly developed. Meanwhile, practically tourism was in shadow of 

development the other economic sectors. 

10. Some aspects of the development of the marketing concept related to the standard of 

tourist destination of Novi Sad 

The definition of the tourist product as an “amalgam” of the receptive, communicative and 

attractive factors (constructed and natural) leads to the conclusion that tourism is determined by positive 

and negative economic and uneconomic influences and movements. In this way, when we think about the 

economy and its effects on tourism, we may conclude that the achieved level of the economic 

development as well as the general economic efficiency are the prevailing factors that influence the 

competitive power of the tourist offer of every destination; first of all if there is an interest in the 

investments in tourist development [3]. 

The tourist product of Novi Sad, according to its structure and quality, falls behind the similar 

products being offered at the international market (the European – in a narrower sense). The well – 

known political and economic events in the last decade of the last decade of the 20 th century (such as: 

the wars, sanctions, the deep economic crisis) have even depended and widened the gap between Novi 

Sad (and Serbia, in general) – as a destination, and the other destinations in a narrower and wider 

encirclement. Therefore, it is a very complex process nowadays, to appear at the international tourist 

market. It also requires a systematical approach [4]. 

The strategic task of coming out at the international tourist market, which is in front of the 

whole country and Novi Sad, too, requires the situation analysis as the first step to be undertaken. The 

analysis is an assumption for further planning or action. It would include the analysis of the micro 

encirclement, the market, the competition and the internal resources. 

The above would be initial stage for a successful marketing management of Novi Sad as a 

tourist destination, and every other destination, too. The strategy window, which will be open the same 

moment the correspondence, gives chance for the opportunities from the encirclement to enter. These 

opportunities will be designed and equipped with strong internal points (avoiding threats and 

elementary disadvantages). The strategy window should be kept open as long as possible. 

Moreover, for the successful coming out of Novi Sad at the international tourist market, it is 

necessary to undertake the following steps: 

9. to define the market – all its segments, the demand (actual and potential); 

10. to carry out an expensive research, constantly in order to meet the demands efficiently and 

promptly, in view of its elasticity; 

11. to form the unique tourist information system; 

12. to create and improve all organizational conditions, both on the micro and macro level; 

13. to elaborate corresponding programmes for the market segments aimed at and direct business 

activities towards them; 

14. to establish and guide all the activities on the basis of marketing and management; 

15. special attention should be drawn to the sustainable tourist development; 

16. to develop cooperation at all levels with the encirclement. 

11. Concept of integral marketing in view of the tourist development of Novi Sad 

In relation to the marketing and from the aspect of the whole tourist destination and for the 

purpose of a successful development of the total tourist economy, it is necessary to integrate the tourist 

product at all levels, both vertically and horizontally. Vertically – in the sense of clear coordination 

from the National tourist organization, including the Tourist Organization of Serbia (TOS), Regional 

tourist organization of Vojvodina; the local tourist organizations, such as the tourist organization of 

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Novi Sad – through the immediate city authorities (i.e. the city assembly and the city government) – up 

to the companies in the field of tourist services. The horizontal connection would men interrelationship 

of all enterprises, i.e. the bearears of the tourist offer for the given tourist product. This would make 

marketing access compact and give better chances to increase efficiency in a word; it is a coordinated 

access to the market of the whole city and state economy (including tourism, trade, craftsmen, traffic, 

agriculture, etc.). That is required. It is necessary to make an ambient in which all economy factors will 

take an economic interest for the development of tourism. 

Novi Sad would be a new tourist destination at the international tourist market and would be 

treated as a smaller destination. It would attract, therefore, smaller and specific market segments with 

special needs. This is why for the complete development of domestic and the international tourism, 

both on short and long-term basis. 

12. Selective strengthening of set targets and segment of the market 

The measures to revitalize and tourist repositioning, to improve improve, an image both of Serbia 

and Novi Sad, - should be undertaken in order to access all market segments, fully respecting all 

respecting all the factors that determine and enable a successful disposal of the tourist product. The 

strategic basis of the development of tourism in Novi Sad as a destination must be focused on the 

selective strengthening of set targets and segments of the market. 

Greater effects of tourism will be attained by a complementary developing of the domestic and 

foreign tourism. Coming out at the international market is a must. Novi Sad would be treated as a 

smaller destination at the international tourist market. Its chances are focused at the specific segments 

of the tourist demand (market targets), at the development of the tourism of special interests and the 

transit tourism. 

In such a context, having in mind that a visit number of the international companies tend to 

operate globally and that the development of tourism (both the domestic and the foreign one) has been 

elementarily performed so far, it is theoretically important to present what the activities at the 

international tourist market are and what the segmentation at such markets present. This is the 

condition for the regular choice of the strategy its successful implementation [5]. 

Since the segmentation is based on varied reasons and demands of the ultimate consumers (i.e. 

the tourists) which have turned out in many different demands for the products and services at the 

market, it is necessary to conform the tourist destination of Novi sad (namely: its tourist products) to 

the specific demands and reasons of tourist demands (thinking of its segments) for the successful 

disposal of goods. 

It is necessary for Novi Sad to come out at the international market. This process should be 

performed in stages, as follows: 

First stage, i.e. the outgrowing. Novi Sad has not yet built its profile as a tourist destination at 

the local market. Therefore, the opportunity to animate and attract certain segments of the home 

demand, is better. In the initial stage, the destination and all economic entities, i.e. their business 

orientation should be drawn towards the target groups within certain segments of the home demand. 

The attention would be mainly focused on excursion (pleasure trips), fair, congress, holidaymaker and 

sport tourism, and to be more emphasized and made more noticeable. 

At the right moment of market saturation, the diversification with a wide range of new elements 

should be encouraged in order to develop the tourist supply and its differentiation, in order outmaneuver the 

competitors (those who offer other destinations with similar tourist supply). 

The second stage the internalization. The first and the second stage should develop 

complementary, taking into account the development effects from the foreign tourism, which has an 

important impact on the development of tourism and raise the effects of achievement. This phase would 

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include the engagement of middlement, opening of the home sections for package tour selling which 

would ensure its growth at the international market, i.e. economics of sale, the tourist destination must 

be export – oriented. 

The third stage would include the activities at the international market. This would include a 

careful preparing the strategy activities of Novi Sad is found. In addition to the marketing activities and 

organization and eventually performed research linked to the given foreign market, for every particular 

segment of it. 

The fourth stage, theoretically, is connected to the global business. The world is considered as 

a unique market. In case of Novi Sad, having in mind the resources which this town has and the 

eventually realized targets, as a small tourist destination broadly observed) this seems unreal. 

13. Marketing strategy of the tourist destination of Novi Sad 

In the broadest access to the tourist organization marketing management, especially when 

planning the activities in the field of marketing or in we think in concrete term when making a selection 

in the strategy, the tourist destination may have three accesses. The first access would be an 

undifferentiated marketing, the second would be the use of differentiated marketing and the third would 

be the use of the concentrated marketing. So, three general strategies are mentioned [4]. 

In the first case of an undifferentiated marketing, the tourist destination is directed frontally 

on to the market offering the same product, but ignoring the existing differences on the side of the 

tourist demands. 

Nowadays, the strategy of differentiated marketing is more used, i.e. respecting possible 

“fracturing” of the market into smaller less homogenous and less compact groups of the consumers (i.e. 

segments) and the choice of only few market targets, or only one at which the product will be disposed 

in the last case, the topic is the concentrated marketing strategy or focus. Concerning the development 

of tourism in Novi Sad, it has been found out, so far, that beside publicy proclaimed support to its 

development, the concept idea of an undifferentiated marketing has been uncontrollably applied, where 

the extensive attractions have been frontally offered. There were neither clear market and supply 

policies nor the meeting of the requirements of certain market segments (target groups setting). 

Focus strategy has the following advantages: 

7. it enables more precise defining of the market and better understanding of the consumers` 

needs; 

8. when the consumers’ needs are under stoop it is quite easier to define the marketing 

mix; 

9. the continual market segmentation program enforces the capacity of the companies (i.e. 

destinations) in meeting variable market needs; 

10. it enables the managers to estimate better the disadvantages and of the competitors; 

11. the segmentation brings about better allocation of the marketing efforts; 

12. it enables marketing segments defining to be more precise. 

Considering many specific features of the tourist supply, the world trends to give an advantage 

to the focus strategy, Novi Sad should set market targets and should invest expect the resulted on the 

basis of such an investment this is particularly taken into account if the results from the tourist 

development (financial in the first place) are required. In such a case, both the home and the foreign 

market demand have to be complementary considered. 

In case of the priority development of the aspects of tourism at one side, and the disegragation 

of the international tourist market on the other side, i.e., forming segments and the target groups 

focused within them, it would be possible to elaborate plants and programs of stay at a destination, for 

each particular segment [6]. In view of a wide range of different aspects of tourism that gives features 

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to the tourist destination of Novi Sad, it is possible – provided that all bearers of the tourist offer have 

clearly decided to invest in this segment. Then, both the short and long-term effects would be 

attainable. 

8. CONCLUSION 

The respectable tourist resources of Novi Sad must be seriously considered and incorporated in 

the plans for its future development. An important role should be played by the concept of marketing and 

management of the tourist destination, which would be applied. The multiplicated effects of the tourism 

on the whole economic life will be reflected, in a positive way and in long terms, to its development, in a 

whole, which is a common interest. Therefore, the task of the destination management is (at all levels, 

both horizontally and vertically) its strict application. Only in this case all respectable resources of tourist 

destination will be use in profitable way. This is the basic condition of future tourism development. 

Bibliography : 

7. Predrag Vuković – „Strategy of tourist development in Novi Sad“, Faculty of 


8. Predrag Vuković, Marija M. Nikolić, Zoran Simonović – „Sustainble tourist 

development of rural areas in Vojvodina (Republic of Serbia)“. International conference 

on: Rural area sustainable development – Proceedings, page. 168-179, ASE, Bucharest, 

(2006) 

9. Vesna Popović – „European agriculture support and sustanaible rural development“, 

Institute of Agriculture Economics, Belgrade, 2003 

10. Ognjen Bakić – „Marketing management of tourist destination“, Faculty of economics, 

Belgrade, 2002 

11. Krunoslav Čačić – „Business activities in tourism“, Faculty of economics, Belgrade, 

1998 

12. Slobodan Unković, Bojan Zečević – „Economic of tourism“, Faculty of economics, Belgrade, 

2002 

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THE CREATIVE CLASS: ENGINE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH. ASPECTS 

REGARDING THE INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION OF HUMAN CAPITAL 

INVOLVED IN SERVICES CONNECTED TO KNOWLEDGE BASED 

ECONOMY 

Dinescu Maria-Cristina, Doctorand- Academia de Studii Economice Bucuresti, 

Facultatea de Relatii Economice Internationale 

ABSTRACT 

Pendant les dernières décennies le lien entre le développement économique d'une région et son capital créateur, l'apport 

d'innovations et de nouvelles technologies et la tolérance pour la diversité est devenu de plus en plus marqué. Les 

interdépendances et les synergies entre la créativité économique, la technologie et la culture sont de plus en plus 

fortes, étant les génératrices et les consommatrices de la propriété intellectuelle. Ces évolutions ont eu comme conséquence 

l'augmentation de l'attention accordée au capital humain hautement qualifié aussi bien en Europe qu'en Amérique du Nord. 

Des politiques qui visent à attirer les talents et à motiver leur migration vers certaines régions ont été développées . La 

migration internationale des personnes impliquées dans des activités innovantes est facilitée par la libre circulation des 

personnes et par des politiques, spécialement conçues pour les attirer, mises en place par certains pays. 

Creative economy- primary driver of economic growth 

The “explosion” of the creative sector has been explained by the position creativity and innovation 

started to occupy, as “driving forces” of economic growth. Human capital continues to become more 

important every year, since human intelligence, knowledge and creativity are fundamental for 

economic development. The creative industries and activities were defined [1] as those where “the use 

of expressive value is essential to the performance of these sectors”. Moreover, experts extend the 

importance of these industries to the whole economy, asserting that both service and manufactoring 

sectors exploit and benefit from the outputs generated by creative industries. Specialists [2] formalized 

the creative industries and identified 13 of them: advertising, architecture, publishing, radio and TV, 

design, film, music, software and computer services, computer games (interactive leisure), designer 

fashion, crafts, performing arts and the arts and antique market. One can see that most of them are part 

of the service sector; therefore it is obvious that a particular attention should be given to the 

transformations in this field. 

Knowledge services- employment in creative occupations 

During the last decade there has been a change in the weight of human resources involved in creative 

and non-creative fields. Reports (Fig.1) published by the European Labour Force Survey show that the 

percentage of jobs in manufacturing has diminished, both in low, medium and in high-tech 

manufacturing. A growth has been registered in “non-knowledge” services: agriculture, energy, water. 

The sharpest growth in employment was in knowledge services (creative and cultural services, 

financial services, business services, computer and information services, and 

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trade and intellectual property rights including fees, royalties and Research & Development 

services) and knowledge industries (telecommunications, ICT, education and health). 

Fig. 1 

Cummulative change in employment level 1995-2005 

2.5 

2 

1.5 

Million 

1 

0.5 

0 

-0.5 

-1 

High & mediumtech 

manufactoring 

Know ledge 

services 

All know ledge 

industries 

Low -mediumtech 

manufactoring 

All nonknow 

ledge 

services 

Source: European Labour Force Survey 

These changes in economic activities are supported by important changes in the pattern of 

investment. The investment in intangible assets (of which human capital is fundamental) equals or 

even surpasses investments in physical assets both in the U.S. and in Europe. US investments in 

intangibles in relation to tangible physical assets have more than doubled in the last 50 years [3]. 

What lies behind these assertions based on statistics is the evolution of creativity and innovation in 

the economic process. The main investments in businesses are focused on individuals and processes 

that advance R&D, deliver innovative software, design and deliver innovative products. 

The creative class in Europe and in the United States 

The United States is the world leader in creative occupations (around 30 percent) and maintains also 

(for now) a leading position as an attraction pole for the creative class from all over the world. 

However, in their study “Europe in the Creative Age” [4], Florida and Tinagli show that things are 

things are also changing in Europe, the creative force becoming of fundamental importance in the 

old continents’ economies, even though not following a homogenous pattern. While the highest 

presence of the creative class is to be found in the Netherlands (29.5 percent), Belgium (29.97 

percent) and Finland (28.6 percent), Italy and Portugal have less than 15 percent of their national 

workforce in the creative class (Fig. 2). During the last decennies, a Northen European cluster 

regarding creative activities has been created, formed by Finland, Sweden, Denmark, The 

Netherlands and Belgium. These nations kept concentrating on the investments in the development 

of creative talents and on the attraction of these talents from abroad. Immigration policies at 

European level, taking into account also the EU enlargement should prove, for the first time, that 

the supremacy of the United States as a talent magnet might be seriously threatened. The high 

degree of tolerance and flexibility, the quick integration of newly arrived, that brought the U.S. to a 

leading position, is changing as a result of their late policies regarding scientific information and the 

last years’ atmosphere of diminishing openness towards newcomers. 

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Fig.2. 

Creative occupation as percent of total emplyment 2000 

1 

13.14 

13.19 

16.92 

18.17 

19.48 

21.05 

21.18 

22.08 

26.01 

26.73 

28.61 

29.54 

29.97 

30.08 

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 

% 

Portugal 

Italy 

Austria 

Germany 

Spain 

Denmark 

Sw eden 

Greece 

Ireland 

UK 

Finland 

Netherlands 

Belgium 

U.S. 

Source: ILO, LABORSTA, Labor Statistics Database. Note: all the data referring to European 

countries are from 2000, except for Ireland, UK and US (1999) and Belgium (1998), [5], 

Until now, the fundamentals of the U.S. success of attracting creative capital resided in the 

openness to migrants, attention given to science and technology institutions and a labour market 

regulated in a light manner. It managed to maintain one of the best relationships between 

investment, technology, human capital and growth. However, a striking drop has been registered in 

the number of visas (55 percent between 2001 and 2002) issued by the United States for foreignborn 

workers in science and technology. 

Talent, Tolerance and Technology- the importance of talent attraction 

According to Florida [6], there are three important T’s defining the winners of the creative age: 

Talent, Technology and Tolerance (Fig. 3). Each nation has to find the best combination of these 

three interdependent factors, in order to become an important player in the global creative economy. 

Economic growth is generally given by more advanced technologies. In order to achieve important 

growth of the creative industries (growth directly measured in the technological impact) it is 

important that a nation should concentrate on the motivation of local talent and attraction of foreign 

one. 

Tolerance is a crucial aspect regarding the matter. In his book, “The rise of the creative class” [6], 

Florida shows that there is a strong relationship between openness to gays, immigrants and 

bohemians and the capacity a region has to generate innovation, consolidating high-value added 

economic growth. 

Fig. 3 

Tolerance, Creativity and Economic Growth 

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Source: Florida, Tinagli : Europe In The Creative Age, 2004 

There are two types of tolerance one should take into consideration. There is a type that regards for 

instance the sexual orientation or discrimination, and there is another type of tolerance regarding 

foreign-born. Even though specialists take these two aspects together, I think that from a certain 

moment they should also be treated separately. While tolerance regarding immigrants is directly 

oriented towards foreigners, that connected to bohemians and gays can take into consideration both 

national and non-national inhabitants. There is a difference between the motivation and cultivation 

policies of local creative capacities and the attraction policies oriented towards non-national 

creative capacities. It is not to think that the immigrants, gays or bohemians cause economic 

growth, but it is their presence that proves that a certain culture is open and conductive to creativity. 

It is in those places where their presence has more weight, that one can find tolerance and openmindedness. 

The indicators regarding tolerance should actually point out the existence of “creative 

ecosystems”- habitats open to new people and ideas, where people can easily network and connect, 

and where bright ideas are not stifled but are turned into projects, companies and growth. [4] 

AnnaLee Saxenian [7] found in her research that about one third of the high-tech businesses created 

in Silicon Valley during the 1990s were founded by immigrants. This proves that there was a 

certain openness towards foreign-born people at that time in that area and it pushes people to 

believe that the United States is the most open and tolerant nation in the world. A study conducted 

by Ronald Inglehart [8] in more nations over several decades and found a strong connection 

between the economic growth and political democracy and tolerance. General openness to gays, 

immigrants and women was correlated to economic growth. As Inglehart and Baker note in 2000 

[9], the United States used to be presented as a state that holds not only for a model for openness 

and tolerance, but also for a base case towards which other nations should converge. However, 

Florida and Tinagli [4] show that the general image people had about the United States is not so real 

actually. European nations score higher than the US on the Euro-Tolerance Index. Even though it 

has the higher level of immigrants among all countries, the American nation is not a prototype for 

cultural modernization, having a much more traditional value system than other countries. 

At the top of the list on Euro-Tolerance Index, Sweden, Denmark and Netherlands are to be found, 

closely followed by Germany and Finland. These countries have a competitive advantage in terms 

of tolerance. However, most of these countries have quite restrictive immigration policies that do 

not encourage the entrance of creative force. It is important therefore that tolerance should be 

combined with official policies, in order to create a stronger competitive advantage. On the other 

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hand, the United States is to be found towards the bottom of this list and studies show that this gap 

might continue to deepen; however, until a few years ago, its’policies to attract creative capital have 

been better. 

Conclusions 

Even though little-documented, attraction of global talent is a very dynamic and sensitive process. 

For the first time in years, the main attraction centre for creative minds from all over the world, the 

United States, seem to be losing this leading position. It remains the global leader in technology 

development and continue to absorb top scientific, entrepreneurial and artistic talent from other 

countries, but have to face the emerging European nations. Sweden, for instance, has a better score 

(0.81) in the Euro-Creativity Index, where the US ranks second (0.73), with Finland closely behind 

(0.72). The European Union started to pay attention, at least at a formal level, to the dynamics of 

creative economies and to creative values. In the Lisbon agenda, leaders committed their nations 

and the EU to the goal of becoming “the world’s most competitive and dynamic knowledge 

economy by 2010”. Unfortunately, the strategic importance of knowledge-based economy has been 

diminished by a series of political problems connected also to a vein of anti-immigrant sentiment 

several EU nations seem to have, mostly due to the EU enlargement and the accession of 

developing countries. Since most policies were oriented towards the limitation of low-skilled 

migrants from these countries, it became difficult sometimes to filter the highly skilled. This might 

turn into an advantage for the developing countries, since it is a chance to keep part of their creative 

force inside the territory. The problem is, however, whether they will be able to use this competitive 

advantage. There is no due attention given to motivation of the creative class in European 

developing countries in this moment. 

Bibliography 

[1] The Work Foundation- “Staying ahead: the economic performance of the UK’s creative 

industries”, http://www.theworkfoundation.com/products/publications, iunie 2007 

[2] DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) - “Creative Industries Mapping Document”, 

www.culture.gov.uk, 2001 

[3] Corrado C., Hulten C., Sichel D. – “Intangible Capital and Economic Growth”, Finance and 

Economics Discussion Series Divisions of Research & Statistics and Monetary affairs Federal 

Reserve Board, Washington , D.C., 2006 

[4] Florida R., Tinagli I. – “Europe In The Creative Age”, www.demos.co.uk, 2004 

[5] – International Labour Organisation (ILO), LABORTSA, Labour Statistics Database, 

http://laborsta.ilo.org 

[6] Florida R. – “The Rise of the Creative Class: and How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, 

Community and Everyday Life”, New York, Basic Books, 2002 

[7] Saxenian A. -Silicon Valley's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Public Policy Institute of 

California, 1999 

[8] Inglehart R. - Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change 

in 43 Societies, Princeton University Press, 1997 

[9] Inglehart R and Baker W. – “Modernization, Cultural Change and the Persistance of Traditional 

Values”, American Sociological Review, 2000, Volume 65, pp 19-51 

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THE EVOLUTION OF THE ROMANIAN ECONOMY ACCORDING TO 

THE EUROPEAN UNION’S EXPECTATIONS 

Purdescu Iulian Denis, doctorand, USM Chisinau 

ABSTRACT: This work aims to underline the multiple advantages from external trade,determined by totally 

adopting,at the moment of the European integration,the community aquis concerning the common commercial 

politics.The comparative advantages are also being analysed and so is the access possibility on the European 

competitive market. 

Romania needs to accomplish a backed process of real adjustment to the European model, 

following the demands of the Lisbon Strategy. The European Council from Lisbon(March, 2000) 

established that by 2010 the European Union would become the most competitive and dynamic 

economy based on knowledge capable of generating a backed economical growth, a great rate for 

employment and a high social cohesion.” 

Initially,the reform pack enclosed in the Lisbon Agenda has been conceived for the period of 

2000-2010. 

Some elements of the strategy of the European model are as follows:having a knowledge 

based society, the completion of the national market and promoting the competition(for public and 

financial services), creating a labour market that could adapt to any economical or environmental 

changes. 

Because of the weak results, the Lisbon Agenda was revised in 2005(Lisbon Agenda+) and 

three major priorities were established: 

- an economical growth based on research-development, innovation, knowledge etc; 

- enhancing the European attraction for investments; 

- creating more and better jobs. 

The Lisbon Agenda is considered to be the most ambitious modernising European project. 

The foundation of this strategy consists of changing the view towards the economical growth 

engines of the European model.There is a transition from the physical capital accumulation (with 

decreasing effective power) to the investment in the human capital, research-development(with 

increasing effective power). 

The strategy aims at increasing the public and private expenses for the activity of researchdevelopment,the 

one that represents the central element of the effort of amplifying the creation and 

spread of the scientific, technologic and intellectual capital. 

It also aims to assure a climate which would be more favourable to the firms and businesses as 

well as to increase the flexibility of the work force so as to assure a harmonious development in the 

EU. 

Even if more than half of the period in which the afferent reforms should have been 

accomplished has passed and the greater majority of the European Union countries fulfill not even a 

third of the objectives established for 2010, the project has to continue. 

The analysis of the structural indicators corresponding to the Lisbon Strategy shows that 

Romania holds one of the last places in the countries of the Union. 

At this moment Romania is considered to be in the stage of assimilating technology and less 

in the stage of creating technology. 

First of all we have to take into account the structural difference that separates us from the 

European model. 

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Romania will have to use a multitude of economic and institutional stimulants which are 

essential to develop the productive spirit(the quality of settlements, the observance of tha law the 

presence of the scheduled and unscheduled barriers), to pay increased attention to the growth of the 

human factor competences, that could let it create, use and spread the knowledge and assure the 

existence of an innovative efficient system consisting of branches, research centres, universities that 

enable the growth of the global knowledge stock, the assimilation, adaptation, the creation of new 

technologies. 

The recommendations for the rapid adaptation of Romania to the demands of the Lisbon 

Strategy concern the following: 

The stimulation of permanent shaping of the labour work (continuous, professionalized 

education), qualified workers, increasing the region’s attractivity towards the other companies, 

rising the interest of other qualified workers etc; 

The attraction towards the conceptualization activities(research-development, design, 

projection, implementing etc) of the strong Western branches and not necessarily the 

commercialization ones (distribution, marketing etc) 

We have to stimulate the rapprochement of the conceptualization activites towards Romania, 

because these lead to the development of the innovative spirit, creativity, high salaries, positive 

technologies , while the preponderance of the commercialization ones attracts low qualified labour 

force, reduced salaries, the impossibility of escaping poverty; 

Promoting a strong trend which could train the brains by means of creating innovative 

environments, productive spirit, improving the economic stimulants; 

Adopting measures that could release the constraints caused by the reduced number of the 

specialization fields due to the controlled adhesion to the European Union; 

Forcing the imports of high technology, intensifying the innovation activities, increasing the 

profits(monopoly rents), increasing the added value of the exports etc.Romania has to imitate in the 

fields in which it cannot innovate and to innovate in the fields in which there are capabilities (we 

have many inventions, few innovations, labour work qualified in software). 

Giving fiscal facilities to the companies that invest in research-development. 

Creating university partnerships-research-development institutes-business incubators. 

Any transition proves to be a way of combining the resources for economic growth and 

development. In addition to this, it is necessary the institutionalization of some standards that make 

possible the entrance and maintenance of our society into modernity. 

The entrance of Romania in the global games requires the urgent ending of the internal 

transition processes and closing the convergence process with the European project of economy 

and society. 

The post adhesion and integration of Romania in the E.U. does not justify its legitimity and 

does not assure its social adherence if they do not have as final objective the functionality of the 

three cardinal points: growth-development-modernising. 

Romanian economy is not prepared yet to face the pressure of the competitive forces of the 

E.U. 

Even if the adhesion to the European Union was done as settled in advance, we can still find a 

Romanian economy which is poorly structured, with a low competitive level and negligence 

concerning the innovative, research-development processes and investment in the human capital. 

With the permanent problem of dealing with the temporal, conjunctural shocks, Romania 

suffers from the lack of a development, modernising vision. 

Being reactive only to the Monitoring Reports done by the international organizations we 

shall continue favoring the import of solutions that touch the form but not the essence. We can be 

proud that we are still consistent in insisting upon the comfort conditioned by the method of long 

distance government. 

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The defective means of stabilization of the inflation,the budgetary and current potential 

account deficits that are not backed, the reduced structural convergence,the extremely small 

capacity concerning the absorption of the communitar funds, the weak capitalization of the small 

and medium companies and the insufficient attention given to the economic growth engines that 

are fashionable in the world nowadays (research-development, innovation, human capital) are 

concerns that raise the issue of Romania reaching the benefits of the E.U. adhesion in the next 20 

years. 

I consider necessary the substantiation of a device to synchronize with the European model. 

The social constructivism, the social innovation, the transition from the economic growth based on 

physical capital to the economic growth based on human capital, knowledge, researchdevelopment, 

innovation, represent the pillars of a long term viable development. 

First of all it is necessary to have a radical changing of vision at the elite level, in the way of 

approaching the integration problems as a project of exoneration and promoting Romania towards 

modernity. 

The extent of the changing horizon as well as the target’s attitude cannot have a finality unless 

referring to the conjunctural resources favorable to potentiate the “catching-up” capacity. 

The only available solution, that responds to the speed condition of the convergence, consists 

in the complete capitalization of the finance which is afferent to the integration process. 

The absorption capacity of the EU funds becomes the key factor of the moment, needed for 

the breaking of historical blocking in the outskirts condition. 

Wasting this force of escaping the vicious circle of underdevelopment equalizes the final loss 

of the natural right to identity within the civilized world. 

Failing the integration as a modernizing project of Romania wastes the alternatives of 

reclaiming the historical differences in a nonconflictual manner. 

We would find ourselves,for the first time in our people’s existence , in the situation of 

expressing the development ideal in terms of action, having reasonable arguments and substantial 

means, on one hand, and the historic context, in accordance to the definite national interest , on the 

other hand. 

There is another solution that aims strictly the effort in the modernizing project, especially in 

its innovative component. It is about recentring the education,mainly through school, on the 

integrant values of the performant civilization : equality, democracy and productivity. 

The immediate effects of the universities turned into centers of innovation irradiation, 

reinforcing their scientific research activity and the school reform for a creative education and 

which will develop, expand the creativity would obviously have results in at least 10 years’ time, 

meaning that it will coincide with the moment of convergence maturity, financed by the EU. 

The meeting of the creativity elements-the one educated in the school cycle and the one 

performed in universities, would happen therefore, in the point of maximum testing of the value of 

the modernizing project, represented by the EU integration, when we shall have got closer to the 

model’s standards and we shall be able to support our own contribution to the performances of the 

European development model.. 

The advantage of the effort of downsizing the spreading outturn through creativity, as our own 

effort in accordance to the model’s tendencies, naturally, represented by internalizing the values of 

the model, thus entering, for the first time in our evolution, in the virtuous circle of modernity selfdetermination. 

Once again the large projection of our interests, their delineation in a temporal horizon beyond 

the flaws or neurosis of a generation become vital, diminishing the emotional ingredients of our 

action manner, the reactive position towards nature’s rhythms, the excessive verbalization of 

thinking. 

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As economists we somehow have to approve the fact that the solutions of our future in 

modernity are, in the first place non-economical. Economy and the economist have solutions very 

often, especially when developing, and less often when there are problems. 

That is why it is better to have ideas in the crisis periods as well. 

Bibliography: 

1. EU Commission - ,,Catching-up, growth and convergence of the new member states’’, March, 

2005 

2. The Economic Diplomatic Department of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Official Announcement 

since the 15-th of May 2006 

3. Dinu M., Socol.C., Marinas. M. -“Convergence and Cohesion Mechanisms”, Economic 

Publishing House, Bucharest, 2005 

4. Dinu.M., Socol.C., Marinas.M .- “The European Intergration Model”, Economic Publishing 

House, Bucharest, 2005 

5. Dinu M., Socol C - ,,Romania’s Entrance in the Second Modernity. The Convergence 

Potential”, published in AGER Magazine”Theoretical and Applied Economy”, no 499/June 

2006 

6. Dinu M., Socol C., Niculescu A. - ,,The substantiation and Coordinating the Economic Politics 

in EU” , Economic Publishing House, Bucharest, 2006 

7. Ciupagea C., Atanasiu I., Campeanu V., Turlea G. - ,,Analysis and Evaluation of the Evolution 

on the Economic, Social, Legislative and Institutional Level in the Case of the New Member 

States of the EU”, Impact Studies III, No 9, The European Institute from Romania , Bucharest 

2006, www.ier.ro 

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THE GLOBALIZATION AND THE MANAGEMENT OF DOCUMENTAR 

Mareş Marius Daniel 

PhD- Spiru Haret University, Bucharest, Romania 

Mareş Valerica 

Lect-Economic Studies Academy of Bucharest, Romania 

ABSTRACT 

The term of globalization describe the increasing liberalization and rapid expansion of the word trade and 

transnational financial flows. Information is every organization's most valuable asset, but, regardless of how much data 

an organization stores, it is useless if users cannot readily find, retrieve and apply it's 'content' as needed. The 

globalization is a experience that causes confusion, problems for management either international bodies, countries, 

companies or individuals. The solution is to replace the conventional paper document with the solution 100% 

customizable and management methods with electronic document management methods. A major reason of 

globalization is the connection and management of processes, people and information across departments, enterprises 

and geographies and become operationally more efficient and effective. This paper describe the preoccupations 

concerning the reconsideration of the management of documents, easily leverage dynamic document management in the 

context of the globalization. 

Die Globalisierung ist der Begriff, der die Liberalisierung und die schnelle Expansion des 

Welthandels, der direkten Investitionen und globalen Finanzströme beschreibt. 

Die Globalisierung scheint eine Erscheinung zu sein, die viele Konfusionen, Probleme und 

Ängste hervorruft. Dies gilt sowohl für internationale Organisationen als auch für Unternehmen und 

private Personen. 

Ein wichtiger Grund ist der Vielfalt der Einflüsse dieses Prozesses, wobei einige nicht 

beeinflussbar sind und deswegen unmöglich zu kontrollieren. Eine andere Begründung kommt von 

der asymmetrischen Wahrnehmung einigen der Auswirkungen der Globalisierung auf die 

Entwicklung sozialer Lage in den Ländern, die sich auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen der Entwicklung 

befinden. 

Das aktuelle Paradox ist das die einzige Konstante scheint die Veränderung zu sein, eine 

Wahrnehmung die aus deren Rhythmus und Tiefe kommt. 

Es ist sehr schwer erfolgreich ein Unternehmen zu führen, während sich die Technologie 

rapide ändert und die Globalisierung große Möglichkeiten aber auch große Risiken mit sich bringt. 

1. Euroregionale Harmonisierung als Faktor der Beschleunigung der Globalisierung 

Die Beschleunigung der Globalisierung der Weltwirtschaft und Entwicklung der globalen 

Unternehmen waren die wichtigsten Faktoren der intenationalen und euroregionalen 

Harmonisierung. 

Die ausgewählte Abschreibungsmethode muss z.B. einheitlich und konstant während einer 

Zeitperiode angewendet werden (natürlich mit der Ausnahme, dass falls sich die Situation insoweit 

ändert, dass die Änderung der Methode gerechtfertigt wäre). 

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Falls sich die Abschreibungsmethode ändert, die Auswirkungen müssen quantifiziert werden 

und der Grund muss in Finanzberichten (Dokumenten) eingetragen werden. 

Geschäftspartnerschaft bedeutet direkte Beteiligung zum Management durch Lieferung 

„raffinierter” Analysen zum Risikomanagement und wichtigen Projekten. Ein wichtiger Merkmal ist 

durch Leistung des Managements gegeben, was Finanzberichtswesen, strategische Analyse, 

operationale Ergebnise und Bereitstellung Rahmenbedingungen für Planung und Vorhersagen über das 

Geschäft beinhaltet. 

Einige dieser Aktivitäten scheinen in Kontext der Globalisierung nicht neu zu sein, aber deren 

Komplexität und das direkte wirschaftlihe Auswirkungspotenzial ist wichtiger geworden. Zum 

Beispiel, die Controller haben immer die Zahlen für die Geschäftspläne „duchgekaut”, aber sie waren 

selten an der Gestaltung der Pläne und Strategien, die sich auf diesen Zahlen basieren, beteiligt 

gewesen. Ähnlich haben viele Controller Portfolios verwaltet, aber sie haben selten selbst ein Geschäft 

gestartet. 

2. Effizientes Dokumentenmanagement – ein wichtiger Faktor des Fortschrittes einer 

Gesellschaft 

In aktuellen Kontext der Grenzenerweiterung als Folge der Wirschaftsglobalisierung und durch 

Vervielfältigung der Bedarfe internationaler Investitoren und Regulierungsbehörden, und obwohl der 

gemeinsame Euromarkt und -währung vorhanden sind, öffnet sich die Frage, ob es ein gemeinsames 

Europeisches Controlling geben wird, ohne das man die Referenz des IASB zugreifft. Dies bedeutet 

eine unabhängige Harmonisierung auf Reginalebene und Ausarbeitung eines neuen europäischen 

Controllingstandards, und implizit, eines neuen Dokumentenstandards. 

Einige Studien 46 kommen zum Ergebnis, dass die Investoren höchstens 37% Informationen 

nicht-finanzieller Natur für ihre Entsheidugen nutzen wobei der Rest Informationen anhand von 

finanziellen Dokumenten sind. Es wir zunehmend die Herausgabe der Informationen über das 

Unternehmen gefordert. Die internationale Organisation Global Reporting Initiative 47 hat als Mission 

die Schaffung eines konzeptionellen Rahmens, der die Berichte über die Unternehmen in drei 

Dimensionen fordert: wirschafts, sozial und umweltbezogen. 

Die Vorteile dieses Berichtwesen sind: Sicherstellung proaktives Berichtens, die Schaffung 

einer Dialogbasis mit den Geschätspartnern, Integration aller organisationeller Informationen und 

Sicherung einer Übersicht über mögliche Handlungsrichtungen. 

46 Niven P.R. – Balanced Score Card – Step-by-step – Maximizing Performance and Maintaining Results, 2002 

47 www.globalreporting.org 

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Die Globalisierung der Wirtschaftsumfeldes bringt einen Beitrag zum sicheren und stabilen 

Umfeld in dem Bereich der internationalen Beziehungen. Die Angriffe von 11. September auf die 

Vereinigten Staaten und die daraus folgende Ereignisse haben aber zu einem Umdenken der 

Geschäftspraktiken im Kontext der Globalisierung geführt. 

Wenn man über eine Unternehmung sagen kann, dass sie rentabel ist, dies bedeutet auch 

meistens, dass sie Experten in dem Bereich der Finanzberatung hat. Die Rolle der Managern und 

Geschäftspartnern wird sicherlich am Bedeutung noch zunehmen, und dies bedeutet, dass auch die 

Nummer der Berater und profesioneller Arbeitskräfte in diesem Umfeld am Bedeutung zunehmen wird. 

Es scheint das heute, die Fähigkeit, mögliche Risiken eines Geschäfts vorherzusagen, viel 

wichtiger ist als vorher. Was die Messung der Geschätsergebnisse angeht, es scheint das viele 

Unternehmungen vor dem Problem begrenzter Kapazitäten gegenüberstehen. Es gibt Pro un Kontra für 

die zwei Modelle der Transaktionsverarbeitung: Zentralisierung und Dezentralisierung. Beide haben 

Vor- und Nachteile un beide haben als Vorbedingung ein efizientes Dokumentenmanagement. 

Abbildung 1 Fähigkeiten eines Dokumentenmanagers 

Die Leistung eines Managements hat heute auch als Vorbedingung einen Fluss der 

Finanzinformationen in elektronischer Form. Um dies zu ermöglichen, die moderne Systeme für 

Protokollierung, Aufzeichnung, Verarbeitung und Benutzung der operationeller und 

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Finanzinformationen müssen bekannt und benutzt sein. Zusätzlich diese Informationen müssen 

glaubwürdig sein und eine gute Abbildung der Realität darstellen. 

Die Controller sind „detaillierte” Analysten der Daten. Moderne Anforderungen bedeuten mehr 

als einer z.B. Vergleich zwischen Ist- und Planergebnissen. Es gibt Informationen, die ein einer 

Konkurenzumgebung die genaueste Daten zunichte machen können, oder die verborgenen Trende des 

Umfeldes identifizieren können. Die Fähigkeit der Vorhersage beinhaltet auch die Möglichkeit der 

Bewertung der Auswirkugen in Echtzeit. Diese Fertigkeit, nebst Erkenntnissen und Wissen, kann aus 

Controller efiziente Geschäftsführer machen. 

Fast alle Controller benutzen Register, andere benutzen Datenbanken, und wenige noch immer 

benutzen manuelle Eintragungen. Immer mehr wird Internet und Intranet benutzt und die IT hat sich 

mittlerweile zum Schlüsselwerkzeug der Controller entwickelt. Die Fähigkeit, die nötigen Daten aus 

einer Datenbank zu benutzen und auszuwerten, ist im der Geschätfsumgebung unerlässlich. 

Der Manager kann anhand der verarbeiteten und an seine Bedürfnisse angepasste Finanzdaten, 

die Lage Bewerten und die Ressourcen, die zur Verfügung stehen (Finanz-, Material - und 

Humankapital) effizient verwalten um die Ziele und Stategien des Unternehmens erfolgreich 

umzusetzen. 

3. Europäische Union (EU) - Ein internationaler Faktor 

EU stellt einen internen Markt dar, der groß genug ist um sich eine dominante Rolle in der 

Weltwirtschaftsordnung zu sichern. EU hat sich in Rahmen eines "geregelten Kapitalismus" entwickelt 

und diese Entwicklung ging weit über das Wirtschaftliche hinaus und entwickelte sich in Richtung 

eines ehrgeizigen politischen Projektes mit langfristigen Auswirkungen. 

EU sollte nicht nur eine unterstützende, sondern auch eine gesetzgebende Macht haben. EU- 

Erweiterung, gesehen nicht nur als ein Wirschaftsprojekt, sondern als auch ein soziales, könnte als eine 

Bewegung Richtung Legimitätsetablierung gesehen, im Sinne von Auswirkungen auf allen Ebenen. 

Natürlich, die Wirtschaft sollte die Prozesse für die Schaffung des Wohlstands sicherstellen. 

Man muss auch erwähnen, dass auch die Auswirkugen der Verteilung des Wohlstands in dem EU- 

Projekt der Harmonisierung des Controllings berücksichtigt sind. 

Elitistisches Denken soll die Konfliktprozesse entfernen und große Aufmerksamkeit sollte 

vorhanden sein im Züge der Kollision zwischen «marktgerechten» Normen und Normen, die durch den 

demokratischen Prozess entstanden sind. Es wird auch in Betracht gezogen, dass eine Mobilisierung 

der demokratischen Prozesse notwendig sein konnte um die soziale Auswirkungen der 

«marktgerechten» Normen abzugleichen. Die Globalisierug hat auch Auswirkungen auf die sozialen 

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Ebenen der Entwicklung, d.h. auf den Arbeitsmarkt, auf Verteilung der Gewinne und Veränderung des 

Wohlstands. 

Selbstverständlich wird ein Prozess der Interaktion zwischen Menschen sowohl 

Interesssenkonflikte als auch Interessnverbände hervorrufen, die durch Verhandlungen und 

Vereinbarungen zwischen Interessengruppen zustande kommt. 

Sehr wichtig sind Informationen, die die Wahrheit, Korrektheit, Klarheit und Präzision 

ausdrücken sollen. Die Informationen sollen realitätsnah sein um eine Entscheidung mit richtigen 

Auswirkugen treffen zu können. Es sollen aus den internationalen Standarden dijenigen Optionen 

ausgewählt werden, die am Besten zum Geschäfts- und Wirtschaftsfeld passen. In dieser Weise können 

die Ereignisse und die Phänomene, die sich aus der Aktivität eines Unternehmens ergeben, richtig 

eingeordnet werden. 

Zusammenfassung 

Wir leben in einer multikulturellen Gesellschaft und in einer offenen Wirtschaft, wo die 

Organisationen mit Menschen aus verschiedenen Kulturen und mit verschiedenen Gebräuchen agieren. 

Ein Manager muss die Schlüsselmerkmale vieler Kulturen verstehen um erfolgreich ein Unternehmen 

zu führen. 

Um die schnellen Veränderungen der Geschäftswelt zu bewältigen, die Manager und die 

Buchprüfer müssen seinen Verantwortlichkeitsbereich erweitern und Rollen übernehmen, die einen 

Mehrwert dem Geschäft bringen. Sie müssen informationelle Modelle nutzen um die Entscheidungen, 

die Kontrolle der Aktivitäten, die Preis- und Kostenschätzungen, die Vorhersage der Nachfrage und die 

Überwachung der Wettbewerbsposition und Konkurrenz zu unterstützen. Dies hat als Ziel die 

Rentabilität des Unternehmens langfristig zu sichern und die Möglichkeit dem Unternehmen zu geben, 

sich an die Risiken und Möglichkeiten der Zukunft anzupassen. Erst wenn wir wissen werden, wie wir 

sicher und langfristig die Dokumenten in elektronischer Form aufbewahren können, wird es möglich 

sein, alles was mit Papierdokumenten in der öffentlichen Administration zu tun hat in die digitale Welt 

zu bringen. 

Bibliographieverzeichnis: 

1. Niven P.R. – Balanced Score Card – Step-by-step – Maximizing Performance and Maintaining 

Results, 2002 

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2. Ionaşcu I., – Dinamica doctrinelor contabile contemporane, Ed. Economică, Bucureşti, 2003 

3. Ristea M, - Bază şi alternativ în contabilitatea întreprinderii, Ed. Tribuna Economică, Bucureşti 2003 

4. Ristea M., - Metode şi politici contabile de întreprindere, Ed. Tribuna Economică, Bucureşti, 2002 

www.globalreporting.org 

www.kpmg.com 

www.mkdata.dk 

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THE INFLUENCE OF THE PUBLIC ALIMENTATION 

OVER THE TOURISTIC PRODUCT 

Cipriana Sava 

Dr. Lecturer University 

The Christian University „Dimitrie Cantemir” Timişoara 

ABSTRACT 

Le produit touristique est compose par une gamme de service et de produits offerts aux vacanciers par une enterprise de 

profil. 

La vacancier espere qu’un tel produit va couvrir toutte son experience des deport de la maison jusq’au retour . 

Le service d’allimentation publique font part d’un produit touristique et peuvent influancer sa qualite positivement ou 

negativement. En meme temps,la qualite de sevicers d’allimentation d’un certaine destination peuvent determiner une 

augmentation du nombre des vacanciers. 

The role of services in the social-economic life, of the developed countries economies, shows a 

significant growth over the last period. 

The term of “services” is related to the idea of a third sector of economies. Through services we 

understand the activities unfolded to satisfy some needs (social needs) or in someone’s interest, but 

which do not imply the transfer of property over a material good. 

Following a characterization of services, we point out: 

- their non-material shape; 

- their non-stockability (outage or non-durability); 

- their intangibility; 

- their indivisibility or inseparability (the coincidence in time and space of production and 

consuming); 

- their heterogeneous or variability. 

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Services are the consequence of continue economic development, but at present, through their 

contribution they are influencing and conditioning the economical growth. 

Public alimentation is viewed from an economic and a social point of view as a developed stage of food 

preparation for population. 

You can say that the development level of a country or a region also influences the public alimentation. 

The main goal of public alimentation is to satisfy the population’s needs for qualitative and diversified 

food. 

Specific characteristics of public alimentation services are the following: 

- their presence in all of the important moments of touristic consumption; 

- the structural diversity of these services; 

- the specificity of public alimentation service for different tourism types; 

- their obligation to satisfy both the native and foreign tourists’ demands (national /international 

cuisine); 

- an element in the selection of holiday destinations. 

The functions which public alimentation aspires to accomplish are: 48 

- physiological; 

- leisure; 

- relaxation; 

- recreation. 

Another related opinion classifies the functions of public alimentation as follows: 49 

- nutrition; 

- leisure; 

- conviviality; 

- business 

Public alimentation is characterized by complexity, because it joins independent processes (of 

production, of commercializing, and serving) in a whole. 

The production activity is resembles the activity in the alimentary industry, and insures the making of 

culinary and confectionery products. Characteristic for this activity is the fact that the treatment of the 

raw materials is realized through modern technologies. 

The technical sheets, known as kitchen recipes, are those which certify the quality of culinary products. 

48 Ionescu N. Z. – “ Trends in organizing and developing public alimentation worldwide“ ; Modern Commerce 

magazine, no.1, 1990 

49 Tinard, Y., Le tourisme, Economie et Management, 2 nd ed., Ediscience International, Paris, 1994, page 269 

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Continuation of the production process is the commercial activity that assures thesale and delivery of 

products to the consumers. 

The third process, of serving, is in direct relation with the commercializing activity of the specific 

products. 

Public alimentation, in addition to accommodation, transport and recreation, is a basic component of 

the tourism activity. 

It is a very complex economical activity, and it is necessary, especially in case of temporary change of 

main residence. 

The quality of touristic service as a whole, is determined by public alimentation and it also has an 

influence over the content and attractivity of the touristic offer. 50 

In order to satisfy the alimentary needs, one can choose having a meal in those units for alimentation 

which are in hotel complexes (integrated) or in other independent units. 

Between public alimentation and tourism there is a relation of interdependence, both the economic 

agents and the institutions follow the evolution of quantity / quality in the “tourism industry”. 

The development of public alimentation services was a consequence of the evolution of economic and 

social life in general, and ampleness of tourism phenomenon. 

The major phenomena that influenced the food sector are: 

- growth of urbanization degree; 

- increasing of population mobility; 

- changes in the individuals’ consumption habits; 

- leisure growth; 

- tourists’ circulation enhancement. 

Having a meal out of your own house offers some advantages which reside in: 51 

- commodity; 

- sort variety; 

- quality; 

- economy; 

- accessibility; 

- existing background. 

50 Istrate I, Bran Florina, Rosu Anca-Gabriela – “Tourism and environmental economy” Economic Ed., Bucharest, 

1996, page 177 

51 Minciu Rodica – “Tourism economy” , Uranus Ed., Bucharest, 2000, page 275 

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As a consequence of the mentioned advantages, at global level the number of public alimentation units 

has increased, their typology has diversified, their range has broadened, as well as the extra services 

offered by these units has diversified. 

The public alimentation can be divided in quick (fast-food type, self-service) and commercial ( table 

serving). 

The meal serving unit from public alimentation is the place consisting of one or more rooms, with 

equipment, furniture and inventory objects specific for its profile. 

It is necessary that the profile of the unit responds to the needs of the majority of consumers within the 

area where it is located. 

The main types of public alimentation units are: 

- units with offer focused just on food; 

- units in which the offer is not based on food, but on beverages and entertainment 

In order to unfold their activities, the units are classified in categories, without takinginto account their 

types, depending on a series of minimal criteria, regarding: 

- constructions and installations; 

- improvements and interior decorations; 

- equipped with serving inventory; 

- extra services offered; 

- other criteria 

At present, the public alimentation structure types are classified by stars, according to actual 

methodological norms.(Table 1.) 

Conversion from category classification for public alimentation units was made as follows: 

- hird category = 1 star; 

- second category = 2 stars; 

- first category = 3 stars; 

- luxury category = 4 – 5 stars. 

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Table 1. Classified by stars 

No. Type of unit 

Number of stars 

1 2 3 4 5 

Restaurant : x x x x x 

- classic x x x x x 

- specialized, hence: 

- fishing - x x x x 

- hunting - x x x x 

- rotisserie x x x x - 

- zahana x x x x - 

- dietetic x x x x - 

1. 

- lacto-vegetarian x x x x - 

- homelike / boarding house x x x x - 

- with specific, hence: 

- wine cellar - x x x x 

- with local specific - x x x x 

- with national specific - x x x x 

- with artistic program - - x x x 

- saloon - - x x x 

- beerhouse - - x x x 

- summer garden - x x x x 

Bar: 

- night club - - x x x 

2. 

- day bar - x x x x 

- coffee bar - x x x x 

- disco bar - x x x x 

- buffet x x x - - 

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Fast-food: 

- self-service restaurant x x x - - 

3. - buffet / estaminet x x x - - 

- pizza shop x x x - - 

- snack- bar x x x - - 

4. Confectionery x x x x x 

5. Pastry, pie shop, pretzel shop x x x - - 

Source: the Ministry of Tourism order no. 510/2002, for approval of the methodological norms 

regarding the classification of tourist accommodation structures 

The menu contains all of culinary, pastry and confectionery products as alcoholic and non-alcoholic 

drinks, which can be served at one meal a day. 

Menus elaboration is an important process inside a public alimentation unit, and it is based on some 

rules such as: 

- the event for which the menu is offered; 

- the importance of the dinner for the person that offers it; 

- the preparation and the menu serving abilities; 

- the existing supplying and production abilities; 

- the time taken to servie the menu; 

- the customers’ alimentation habits and their culinary preferences. 

Another general valid set of rules for compiling a menu includes: 

- the season absolutely influence the menu content; 

- it is necessary to ensure the variety of the menu; 

- it has to ensure the succession of tastes; 

- it demands food association ( hard digestible + easy digestible, tasteless + tasteful, satiable + 

insatiable); 

- white meet before red meat, a white sauce before a brown one; 

- ice-cream not to be associated with fruits; 

- in the evening, easy digestible products are recommended. 

For the elaboration of a menu, the following products should be avoided: 

- different products made from the same raw materials; 

- products obtained through the same technological processes; 

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- products of the same color; 

- fat or very consistent products. 

To run a restaurant, it is important to permanently know the customers’ opinions, the consumption 

demand in order to satisfy it, the internal organization and the management of raw materials. 

Considering the destination of the public alimentation unit, the spaces are grouped in spaces for 

receiving and serving the consumers, and spaces for production activity and annexes. 

The level of salon comfort is directly related with the average surface allocated for a table seat, the 

comfort threshold being at 1.30 square meters / table seat. 

Grouped into categories, the level of comfort according with actual legislation is: 

- for 4 – 5 stars category: 1.50 sq. m. / table seat; 

- for 3 stars category: 1.30 sq.m. / table seat; 

- for 2 stars category: 1.00 sq.m. / table seat; 

- for 1 star category: 0.80 sq.m. / table seat. 

Consumers’ acceptance degree of a product is determined by the measure in which the forecasted 

requirements of the consumers for respective merchandise are known. 

The quality is a relative perception, and it is often retrospect to the requirements based on previous 

experiences. For the consumers, if a product bought in different periods of time is providing the same 

level of satisfaction, then it is qualitatively adequate. 

For the producers, which are aware of their name’s prestige and of the implications of improper 

products, quality means granted trust in the product or service. 

The producer must know, understand and fulfill the quality requirements asked by the consumer for 

that product, whichever these would be. 

The consumer gives the final acceptance, and repeated purchasing of the product denotes the extension 

of satisfaction for it. Maintaining the product quality level is the most important criteria for the 

efficiency of quality control operation. 

The consumer is accepting the products based on specific features which defines him and which are 

perceived by his senses. These peculiarities described with terms of sensations refer to qualitative 

sensory attributes perceived and analyzed, which influence a certain decision. 

To assure the quality for the culinary products it is necessary to implement the HACCP System of Food 

Safety Management. 

In Romania, the standards used for authentication of the HACCP management system are based upon 

the following 3 references: 

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- Codex Alimentarius ( General and specific rules regarding good practice of hygiene – GHP 

and production – GMP for companies which processing, transporting, stocking or selling 

alimentary products); 

- DS 3027E:2002 ( document which implements all the rules from Codex Alimentarius in a 

system which can be documented and whose performances can be evaluated); 

- ISO 22000 (the first international certification standard for HACCP system). 

After the implementation of this system, the organization may: 

- Conques of new market; 

- Prevent the spreading of potential diseases from animals to humans; 

- Identify and better control the risks related to food safety; 

- Fulfill possible auction criteria; 

- Assure the customers that the products are manufactured in a safety system, that is not life-or 

health-threatening; 

- Reduce energy consumption, water consumption, etc; 

- Limit the incidents that involve juridical responsibility of the organization; 

- Enlarge the presence on the market, and especially on the international market; 

- Improv working conditions of the employee; 

- Continuosly improv good practices related to food safety; 

- Fulfill the actual demands of the market regarding ecological products. 

Hospitality has to be a major objective of the alimentation units. Together with serving, the displaying, 

variety and the quality of culinary products are capable to attract tourists. 

A touristic product, as we mentioned, can comprise basic and complementary services. Due to 

diversification of tourists’ demands, there are alternative touristic products. This can include all basic 

services, including also the alimentation services, or combinations of these (one or two basic services). 

And in case that the touristic product contains food services, we notice the full board, the half board, or 

just a meal per day (usually the breakfast). 

From of all of the above-mentioned, we can say that the public alimentation has a direct influence over 

the touristic product also because food services are achieved by direct contact with the tourist, but also 

in the measure in which this is represented. 

The variety of gastronomic habits and culinary products is obvious, which caused to be wanted 

by more and more people. Thus, at global level, the gastronomic tourism is practiced, which offers for 

those who desire, area-specific culinary specialties. The main motivation in this case is the 

alimentation, and its influence over the touristic product is a major one. 

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The public alimentation puts its hall-mark over the touristic product and it is preferable to pay 

attention to it, in order to increase its quality and tourists’ satisfaction. 

Bibliography: 

Ionescu N. Z. – “ Trends in organizing and developing public alimentation worldwide“; Modern 

Commerce magazine, no.1, 1990 

Istrate I, Bran Florina, Rosu Anca-Gabriela – “Tourism and environmental economy” Economic Ed. , 


Minciu Rodica – “Tourism economy” , Uranus Ed., Bucharest, 2000 

Sava Cipriana – “The management of touristic activity”; Marineasa Ed., Timisoara, 2007 

Tinard, Y., Le tourisme, Economie et Management, 2 nd ed., Ediscience International, Paris, 1994 ; 

*** Ministry of Tourism order no. 510/2002, for approving the methodological norms regarding the 

classification of the tourist accommodation structures 

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THE ROLE OF SEGMENTATION IN THE STUDY ON 

ROMANIAN SOCIAL TOURIST SERVICES CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 

Author: Nicoleta –Rossela Dumitru, Lecturer Ph. D. 

Romanian-American University, Bucharest 

Abstract: In the actual Romanian social and economical environment, where for a large part of the people their 

income can barely fulfill their basic needs and where only 8% of the population can afford a holiday a year, social tourism is 

the only option to raise the number of tourists. The study of the social tourist services consumer behavior aims to shape a 

touristy profile of such a person. 

The market segmentation process, as an essential part of the study results' analysis, requires the identification of 

the segmentation criteria order: job, income, marital status, living environment and age. 

Non-parametric correlations meant to identify the criteria that can segment the tourism market in best way are 

identified in this study. 

Tourism operators might find this study's results useful by adapting their offer according to the needs of their 

target consumer. 

Key words: social tourism, consumer behaviour, social touristic services, market segmentation 

In Romania’s present economic-social context, where the incomes barely satisfy the basic needs 

for a big part of the population and under the circumstances where only 8% of the Romanians can 

afford one holiday per year, the social tourism is the sole solution of attracting into the touristic circuit 

an ever increasing number of people. 

The economic activity of the touristic units finalizes into services designed for the market (domestic 

or external). As services’ provider, the touristic company has permanent relations with the market; 

at the same time, it also intervenes as beneficiary (buyer) for the goods and services necessary for 

the organization and deployment of its own activity. 

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The special mobility of the market’s phenomenons under the actual circumstances imposes to the 

touristic companies new ways of involvement into its mechanism, an increased reaction capacity 

towards the market’s demands. In order to discover these demands and analyze them, in the social 

tourism, like in other fields as well, it is appealed to the market research. 

The study concerning the behaviour of the consumer of social touristic services in Romania 

aims at outlining a touristic profile of the consumer of such touristic services, having as objectives: 

1. – the determination of the population’s knowledge (information) degree, concerning the socalled 

“social tourism”.[1] 

2. – the establishment of the number/weight of people that have benefited of social tourism 

programs, reported to the population’s total number. 

3. – the outlining of the tourists’ major motivations in practicing the social tourism. 

4. – the determination of the tourists’ attitude from the three aspects (affective, cognitive, co-native) 

in relation with the social programs of tourism. 

5. – the assessment of the tourists’ preferences for certain forms of tourism (depending on 

seasonality, the offer’s features, the period of deployment etc.). 

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The questionnaire was distributed to a sole agency in Bucharest, where there have been filled up 

20 forms, as well as to a number of 10 agencies in the countryside (Ploieşti, Târgu Mureş, Cluj, 

Iaşi, Piteşti, Brăila, Timişoara, Baia Mare, Suceava and Craiova), each of them filling 28 

questionnaires. 

The determination of the market segments, as an essential component of the analysis of the 

study’s results, supposes the determination of the order of the aimed segmentation criteria: 

occupation, income, civil status, residence environment and the age of the interviewed people. In 

the paper there are presented structural and non-parametrical correlation methods in view of 

determining the criterion which best segments the touristic market. In order to establish the order 

of the segmentation criteria, it is used the non-parametrical test χ 2 . The methodology imposes 

that, once determined the value of χ 2 for each of the mentioned criteria, to proceed to a 

comparison of the obtained results, so that, to the one which it corresponds the biggest value of 

the χ 2 test, this should be considered the criterion which will best segment the market. 

The first segmentation criterion taken into account is the occupation of the interviewed people. 

The answers recorded and presented in table 1 have allowed the determination of the sample’s 

structure according to this criterion, as well as its graphic representation (graphic 1): 

Sample’s structure according to the occupations of the interviewed people 

Types of 

occupations 

N 

r. 

Table 1 

Struct 

ure 

(%) 

Peasant, worker 53 17,66 

Clerk (high school) 38 12,66 

Employee (high 

education) 

45 15 

Unemployed 42 14 

Retired 62 20,66 

Pupil, student 42 14 

Private 

entrepreneur 

Total 

18 6 

30 

0 

100 

Graphic1 

Structura eşantionului după ocupaţii 

6.00% 

14.00% 

17.66% 

20.66% 

14.00% 

Ţăran, muncitor 

Salariat 

Pensionar 

Întreprinzător particular 

15.00% 

Funcţionar 

Şomer 

Elev, student 

12.66 

From the viewpoint of the interviewed person’s occupation, the biggest weight is taken by the 

retired people with 20,66%, followed by workers and by the people involved in agriculture with 

17,66%, categories with incomes, generally, rather small, to which there are addressed these 

programs. 

The smallest weight is detained by the private entrepreneurs, which are supposed to earn enough 

income in order to afford stays on their own. 

The distribution of the answers of the ones questioned according to their occupation and to the 

degree of information on social tourism, is the following: 

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Table 2 - Distribution of the answers according to the degree of information on social tourism and 

occupation (the empirical and the theoretical function) 

Peasant, 

worker 

Clerk 

(high 

school) 

Employee 

(high 

education) 

Unem 

ployed Retired Pupil, 

student 

Private 

entrepr 

eneur 

Total 

32 (37) 24 (27) 31 (32) 29(30) 49 (43) 34 (29) 11 (13) 210 

Yes 

No 21 (16) 14 (11) 14 (13) 13(12) 13 (18) 8 (13) 7 (5) 90 

Total 53 38 45 42 62 42 18 300 

The calculation algorithm of χ 2 supposes, in the first stage, the determination of the 

theoretical function which will be presented in the form of frequencies that are being 

awaited to result according to the null hypothesis (A ij ). 

Basing on the data in table 2 it is determined a χ 2 calculated, as follows: 

χ 2 c = 0,67 + 1,56 + 0,33 + 0,81 + 0,03 + 0,07 + 0,03 + 0,08 + 0,83 + 1,38 + 0,86 + 1,92 + 0,30 + 

0,8 = 9,67 

Acknowledging the existence of 6 degrees of liberty = (rows-1) x (columns-1) = (2-1)(7-1) and of 

a signification level: n = 0,05, it is ascertained that the value of the theoretical χ 2 is: χ 2 t = 12,59; 

The last stage of the algorithm of the application of the χ 2 test resides in the comparison of 

the values for the calculated χ 2 and the theoretical χ 2 , as follows: 

χ 2 c < χ 2 t, situation where the null hypothesis is accepted, respectively the variable 

“occupation” does not influence significantly the population’s knowledge degree, in the case of the 

social tourism. 

Another criterion of segmentation approached is the monthly income of the interviewed 

people, which is presented in six groups (table 3), at their level being also established a structural 

form represented in the graphic 2 : 

Sample’s structure according to the interviewed people’ income 

Table 3 Graphic 2 

Groups of incomes 

(lei) 

under 6.500.000 

N 

r 

. 

1 

6 

4 

St 

ru 

ct 

ur 

e 

% 

54 

,6 

7 

8,33% 

4,33% 

8,00% 

16,33% 

8,33% 

54,67% 

under 6.500.000 

6.500.001 – 

8.500.000 

8.500.001 – 

12.500.000 

12.500.001 – 

16.500.000 

16.500.001 – 

18.500.000 

ov er 18.500.000 

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6.500.001 – 8.500.000 

8.500.001 – 12.500.000 

12.500.001 – 16.500.000 

16.500.001 – 18.500.000 

over 18.500.000 

Total 

4 

9 

2 

4 

1 

3 

2 

5 

2 

5 

3 

0 

0 

16 

,3 

3 

8, 

00 

4, 

33 

8, 

33 

8, 

33 

10 

0 

The obtained results reflect the fact that, little over half of the interviewed ones have very 

low incomes, and this entitles them to appeal to this form of tourism (these incomes may be 

scholarships, in the case of the students, or pensions). 

For this criterion also it has been applied the χ 2 test, in the conditions of recording the data 

combined between the level of knowledge of the rural tourism and the monthly incomes of the 

questioned people (table). 

Table 4 - Distribution of the answers according to the social tourism knowledge degree and according to 

the income (the empirical and the theoretical function) 

6.500.0 8.500.0 

01 01 

Y 

es 

N 

o 

T 

ot 

al 

Under 

6.500. 

000 lei 

118 

(115) 

- 

8.500.0 

00 lei 

- 

12.500. 

000 lei 

12.500. 

001- 

16.500. 

000 lei 

16.500. 

001- 

18.500. 

000 lei 

36 (34) 14 (17) 6 (9) 18 (17) 

46 (49) 13 (15) 10 (7) 7 (4) 7 (8) 

Ove 

r 

18.5 

00.0 

00 

lei 

18 

(17) 

164 49 24 13 25 25 

7 

(8) 

T 

ot 

al 

21 

0 

90 

30 

0 

The application of the same calculation methodology regarding the χ 2 test leads us to the 

determination of χ 2 c and the establishment of χ 2 t , followed by the comparison of their values. 

χ 2 c = 0,07 + 0,18 + 0,11 + 0,26 + 0,52 + 1,28 + 1+ 2,25 + 0,05 + 0,12 + 0,05 + 0,12 χ 2 c = 6,01 

For (rows-1) x (columns-1) = (2-1)(6-1) = 5 degrees of liberty and a level of signification: 

n = 0,05 , it is obtained the value χ 2 t = 11,07; 

As χ 2 c < χ 2 t, it is stated that the null hypothesis is accepted, respectively the variable 

„income” does not influence significantly the population’s knowledge degree, in the case of social 

tourism. 

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The last criterion analyzed of segmentation is the age of the interviewed persons. The 

collected data regarding this feature have been previously distributed on groups of age, fact that 

allowed the determination of the sample’s structure on groups, as it follows (table 9, graphic 5): 

Groups 

according to 

the age 

Sample’s structure according to the interviewed persons’ age 

N 

r. 

Structu 

re 

% 

under 18 years 

old 

12 4 

19 – 24 years 48 16 

25 – 30 years 64 21,33 

31 – 40 years 68 22,66 

41 – 50 years 46 15,33 

51 – 60 years 35 11,66 

over 60 years 27 9 

Total 

30 

0 

100 

Table 5 Graphic 3 

.66% 

5.33% 

9.00% 

22.66% 

4.00% 

16.00 

21.33% 

sub 18 ani; 19 – 24 ani; 25 – 30 ani; 

31 – 40 ani; 41 – 50 ani; 51 – 60 ani; 

peste 60 ani 

It may be noticed that more than half of the questioned ones are young, with ages comprised 

between 25 and 50 years old, who know or who even benefited of social tourism stays, the 

lowest weight being occupied by the persons over 60 years which, also probably because of their 

state of health, cannot participate in these programs. 

Table 6 - Distribution of the answers according to the social tourism knowledge degree and the civil status 

(the empirical and the theoretical function) 

- years- 

Under 

18 

19 – 24 25 – 30 31 – 

40 

41 – 50 51 – 60 Over 60 Total 

Yes 

12(8) 31 (34) 52 (45) 40 (48) 26 (32) 31 (25) 18 (19) 210 

No 0(4) 17 (14) 12 (19) 28 (20) 20 (14) 4 (10) 9 (8) 90 

Total 12 48 64 68 46 35 27 300 

In table 6 there are presented the data of the empirical and theoretical function, that led to 

the determination of the non-parametrical correlation coefficient: χ 2 c = 2 + 4 + 0,26 + 0,64 + 1,08 + 

2,57 + 1,33 + 3,2 + 0,5 + 1,14 + 1,44 + 3,6 + 0,05 + 0,12 = 21,93 

The determination of the coefficient χ 2 t = 12,59 has been achieved taking into consideration 

the 6 degrees of liberty determined as: (rows-1)(columns-1) = (2-1)(7-1), as well as the 

signification level: n = 0,05 

The relationship established between the two non-parametrical correlation coefficients: χ 2 c > 

χ 2 t, indicates us the existence of the situation where the null hypothesis is not accepted, respectively 

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the variable „age” influences significantly the population’s knowledge degree, in the case of the 

social tourism. 

By comparing all the values of the non-parametrical correlation coefficients χ 2 c, which have 

been calculated separately for each criterion, it may be noticed that the variable which best 

segments the market is “the age”. 

The results come in the support of the operators in tourism who, turning them into account, 

can adapt their offer depending on the demands of the beneficiaries of social tourism offers. The 

social tourism may intervene both as a regulating element, but also as a compensatory element. [2] 

On another side, much more sensitive than other sectors to the prices’ conditions, the social 

tourism’s sector is obviously the most susceptible to respond to the fundamental need of the 

touristic industry of prolonging the annual duration of exploiting its equipment. 

In another order of the ideas, by ensuring an annual period of complete and repairing rest, 

susceptible to restore the physical, nervous and psychological balance, it can be finally achieved 

the raise of the labour’s productivity. 

Considered from the aspect of the international exchanges, the social tourism represents the 

sole genuine opportunity offered to the millions of Europeans, if we only refer to our continent, an 

opportunity of learning to know and respect the other peoples that represent their community. [3] 

Bibliography: 

1. . Ionescu I., Tourism, social-economic and cultural phenomenon, Oscar Print Publishing 

House, Bucharest, 2000 

2. *** BITS, Le tourisme social dans le monde, 2004-2006 

3. Dumitru N.-R., The promotion of the social tourism in Romania, The doctor’s degree thesis, 

A.S.E., Bucharest, 2007 

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THE TOURISM ACTIVITY- A POSSIBLE ENGINE OF ECONOMICAL 

GROWTH 

Irina-Ştefana Cibotariu, lector universitar doctorand, 

Universitatea „Ştefan cel Mare”, Suceava, Facultatea de Ştiinţe Economice şi 

Administraţie Publică 

Abstract: 

Au début de ce millénaire, le tourisme et l’industrie des voyages représentent l’un des plus importants et dynamiques 

secteurs d’activité de l’économie, tout en étant la principale source d’emplois. Du point de vue économique le tourisme 

se constitue en une principale source de redressement des économies nationales des pays qui disposent d’importantes 

ressources touristiques et qui les exploitent d’une manière appropriée. 

The objective of Michael Porter’s paper 52 , Competitive Advantage of Nations, is 

determination of causes and factors which lead to international success of companies specialized on 

certain branches, so as to theory to further extend over nations, also. Analyzing the situation of 

great international companies, the American economist makes a connection between their success 

on world level’ certain sectors and nations among which Nation, production factors, technological, 

natural, human and financial resources proceed from, being constituted within a development 

matrix of companies, which using the national advantages, will distinguish on international level. 

“The nations, says M.Porter, contrive in those industries which have valuable advantages to 

other nations and where innovations and improving come towards meeting international needs” 53 . 

The assembly of factors and connections existing for creating a national matrix, able to launch 

companies on international level, has the name of “national diamond”. Connected to this, the 

determinants of national advantage are 54 : 

- factors of production (human, natural, material resources, scientific knowledge related to 

certain fields, volume and cost of capital etc.); 

- the nature of request (the request structure on segments, the behavior of consumers, the 

anticipative needs of buyers); 

- the connecting and supplying industries; 

- the internal concurrency, structure and strategy of company. 

All these individual factors form an extremely dynamic system, which continuously develops, the 

national “diamond” becoming thus a national “system”. The national advantages result even from 

this evolution 55 , generating in every country a matrix of own development, due to multitude of 

considered variables. This matrix is responsible of developing the competitive national advantages, 

thus by concurrency of some national activity sectors. 

52 Spiridon Pralea (coord.), Teoria comerţului internaţional, Editura Universităţii”Al. I. Cuza”, Iaşi, 2006, p. 107; 

53 Michael Porter, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, McGraw Hill, New York, 1995, p.69-70; 

54 S.Pralea, op. cit. p.108-110; 

55 M. Porter, op. cit., p.131; 

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Defined as being “the degree in which a nation, on conditions of free and honest market, can 

produce goods and services that have to pass international markets’ testing, succeeding 

concomitantly to maintain and increase the real income of its citizens: 56 in this way, concurrency 

represents a challenge applied not only on nations case, but also on all the regions and cities/resorts 

of the world. 

A nation’s concurrency is influenced by the level of concurrency to each of the actors’ level 

participating on national economy. In a different way said, on performing a nation’s concurrency, 

all national economy sectors bring their contribution, and implicitly all national economy branches, 

respectively all the organizations within each branch. 

Therefore, the productive sectors of national economy contribute, by their concurrency 

growth, on growing the IGP, added value, while other branches bring their contribution through 

developed activity, on growing the life quality (health, culture, social assistance), on forming 

qualified manpower, (education), on assuring the efficient functioning of justice, protection of 

private property and citizen’s security, on reducing criminality rate (police), reducing the political 

unsteadiness risk, increasing the social cohesion, reducing the social disparities (extreme wealth and 

bareness) and of discrimination against women and minority groups. 

On its turn, the level of nation’s concurrency influences in a certain measure, through the 

means/instruments had at disposal: the national plans and politics especially from percentage given 

of IGP, for developing different branches as: education, health protection, scientific research, 

justice, police and army, culture, and so on. 

A complete indicators’ analysis that influence and finally express the level of concurrency 

of a nation was made by one of the most important world’s business schools, IMD Lausanne, which 

having an experience of over 50 years over developing the leadership competencies of international 

companies managers, established 323 criteria grouped after four competitive factors: that grounded 

elaborating of „The World Competitiveness Yearbook”- the most famous yearly report over 

nations’ concurrency- which analyses the conditions offered by economic and business environment 

from each country for steadiness of companies concurrency. This report analyses 60 competitive 

countries and economical regions, upon the basis of four competitive factors and specific 

appreciation criteria of those. The four competitive factors emphasized are: economical 

performance, governmental efficiency, efficiency of business and the infrastructure. 

Although within the specialty literature, the concurrency problem of a tourist’s destination 

was approached by many specialists, among which Michael Porter, which performed at THR 

Barcelona an application of “diamond” model within tourism sectors, Crouch and Ritchie 

performed a model carrying their names, and so on, for the time being there is no unique model of 

it. Spite these, the existing models have many common elements, differentiating by different name 

of some determinants and their component elements. 

As regards the potential poles of concurrency 57 of Romanian economy, the following fields 

might register in future among these: agriculture, industrial high branches, scientific research, some 

branches of easy and processing of wood industry, international tourism etc. 

The international tourism, for which we have natural conditions from among the most 

favorable, an especial anthropogenic potential, might register on mean term among the concurrency 

poles of the Romanian economy. The basic conditions of Romanian efficient insertion within 

international tourist’s flows are the opening towards world and developing a real tourist’s industry, 

similar to that of developed countries, where tourism represents one of the most important sources 

of currency cashing 58 . 

56 Ph Kotler, Marketingul locurilor, Editura Teora, Bucureşti, 2001, p. 232; 

57 Spiridon Pralea, Politici şi reglementări în comerţul internaţional, Editura Fundaţiei Academice „Gh. Zane”, Iaşi, 

1999, p.45; 

58 S. Pralea, idem, p.47; 

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The external trade concurrency of Romania was analyzed within “National Export Strategy” 

document, during 2005-2009, which finalized that: 

• international development and concurrency of Romania’s export sector will benefit 

after a strategic orientation; 

• being given the wide opening of economy, the export represents an essential way of 

assuring a maintained economical growth; 

„The Pleading for an Export National Strategy” recommended obviously that strategy to 

center upon stimulating and even creating of competitive advantages within existing exporting 

sectors or in those sectors having high potential. 

The international context of commerce has dramatically changed in the last years and 

continues to do it. Liberalization and globalization have induced a better mobility of activities on 

valuable chains of products and services. Thus, the international concurrency is more dynamic, and 

the competitive advantages are more volatile and less lasting. 

In the view of contributing on a steady economical development, the Romanian exports have 

to be more and more centered on competitive advantages 59 . Because the resources for developing 

exports are few, it is essential that priorities between sectors to be established. A priority is and will 

be given to these sectors, sub-sectors, products and services, which contribute most efficiently on 

value adding and maintaining. The traditional production sectors, as textiles and furniture continue 

to be important because of socio-economical reasons, such as occupying manpower. As concerns 

the tourism, certain sections of it are aimed, as rural and ecological tourism, the balneal-medical 

tourism, which have a very attractive offer due to culture, tradition, unique environment and 

biological diversity. These are requested the most by the consumers, and focalization is centered on 

creating capacity, on improving quality and diversity of these services. There are opportunities after 

which it can benefit by forming clusters for Romanian products as: viticulture, organic ranches, 

handicraft, culture, etc. Besides centering on these sectors as different sectors, creating of synergies 

among and aggregating of connecting these sectors might have a positive impact over value creating 

and maintaining. 

As a consequence, the strategic priority of Romania has to be within competitive 

advantages, developing capacity and competency of exporting sectors, attracting local and foreign 

investments and creating an economy, able to develop within free trade conditions, within a market 

more and more globalizing 60 . 

The rural tourism of Romania has not yet performance on export, but has an important 

developing potential, due to unique advantages and resources, such as: 

• old rural communities, living in undiscovered environments, respecting their rustic 

traditions and life environment; 

• high rural potential based upon biodiversity and even on unique bio-systems in 

Europe, as the Danube Delta; 

• folklore’s variety. 

Within the last 10-15 years, internal efforts were made (legislation, complexes classifying, 

evaluating the potential, modernizing the services), some efforts benefiting of EU assistance 

(PHARE) and of other donors, such as USAID. 

A special association was also created for representing the new community of business’ 

concerns of rural tourism, which represents over 3000 owners of small hotels for 31 regions with 

high potential and has 31 sector’s branches. In this way, a process of concentrating the owners is 

taken into carrying out, form different attractive regions. 

But the great constraints of rural tourism are though connected to general improvement of 

services from hotels, for coping with more high international standards, weak quality of transports 

59 „Strategia Naţională de Export 2005-2009”, Bucureşti, 2005, p.5-7; 

60 Idem, p.11; 

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or of e-infrastructure and services, within aimed regions. According to prevision of Romanian 

tourism sector, this activity should become by excellence of services and attracting the natural, 

social, human environments very able on export and an important contributor on a lasting rural 

development. 

The Romanian tourist’s product 61 should “internalize” all the other local attractive and 

qualitative offers within an only proposal to consumers. Improving the efficiency on value chain 

and using of synergies with other value chains can represent a decisive factor for carrying out the 

vision. An important condition for performing this objective consists on preparation, promoting of 

offer and using of synergies on local level together with other value chains. 

The National Export Strategy strongly asserts initiative within directions as: 

• professional preparation and forming on trades of the staff in the view of 

corresponding to customers’ requests, as a critical success factor; 

• obvious norms and rules for classifying and evaluating the hotels on European 

Union standards by a special law on rural tourism; 

• the local authorities to stimulate the private initiative on sector by improving the 

infrastructure and access to area, by measures of environment protection etc.; 

• developing of ecological farms within rural regions; 

• aggressive promoting in country and abroad by informing offices; 

• Improving of competencies to private companies on field, both for exporters being at 

the beginning and for those developed; 

• creating of business alliances on local level with wine, handicraft, ecological food 

producers and cultural activities and common promotional programs. 

The rural tourism will benefit after sector’s handicraft, based upon the next initiatives: 

• especial mark by excellence for quality hotels; 

• aggressive promoting above abroad, by catalogues, mass-media, informational 

portals etc.; 

• events organized above abroad or within country; 

• a better promoting of strong points such as: undiscovered regions, old traditions, biodiversity, 

folklore, rarely fauna and flora etc; 

Considering the balneary tourism and services of balneary treatment, within National Export 

Strategy 2005-2009, numerous opportunities are foreseen. 

Segmenting tourists form entire world created a new type of tourist’s services, those for 

medical treatment. Many of them are requested due to reduced costs of medical treatment. 

This strategy searches those types of medical tourist’s services with decisive advantages, 

besides cheap manpower. Considering this point of view, Romania has to approach and take 

strategic initiatives within balneary treatments services due to following reasons: 

• the concern of consumers for natural medical therapies, based upon specific factors; 

• the plenty of unique natural therapy factors from Romania, having proven effects 

over human health; 

• pre-existence in Romania of over 160 balneary complexes, among which 30 are of 

national importance with already created infrastructure (hotels, medical treatment 

facilities); 

• the effects of this sector’s synergies with others, as rural tourism, ecological 

consumption. Culture and handicraft. 

In accordance to sector’ evaluation, there is not enough awareness on local and central level, of 

this sector’s high potential and therefore, urgent measures have to be taken for: harmonizing the 

61 Strategia Naţională de Export 2005-2009; p. 44; 

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legislation of this field with medical legislation; promoting scientific and medical studies that 

have to reveal the advantages of unique natural therapy factors; of resurging on medical 

education of balneology specialization, in accordance to business needs; of making aware the 

advantages of this sector to abroad 

Romania can strategically benefit not only from international exports, but also from professional 

tourism and professional services, on which the exporting sectors might attract events as 

workshops, expositions and conferences on regional level. Due to some sectors’ dimension, 

specializing of future events on textiles, furniture, rural tourism and IT and industrial 

externalization is recommended. In this way, the strategy has in view 62 : 

• transforming the internal national expositional events on international and regional 

events combined with conferences in which target groups have to include besides 

visitors, buyers and experts, organism of certifying the quality, researchers and 

authorities; 

• bringing Romania on the map of IT/C off-shore externalizing events within region 

where no event on regional level is kept (South-East Europe and Balkans) 

• creating of world events on organic agriculture and rural tourism theme. 

As concerns the concurrency form country, Romania occupies the place 76 (from 124 positions) 

within a classification related to tourism concurrency, performed by World Economic Forum, a 

non-profit organization with headquarters at Geneva, being unfortunately overlapped by the most 

of East Europe countries. The hierarchy is performed in accordance to a concurrency index, 

which includes three evaluation criteria: legislative frame, business environment and tourist’s 

infrastructure, natural and cultural resources. The epithets given vary between 1 and maximum 

7 63 . 

Romania achieved a total of 3.91 points, in comparison to 5.66 points within leader of 

classification – Switzerland and 2.68 points for Chad, which occupies the last position, being 

shown on report’s edition from 2007. 

The biggest score of Romania of 4.68 was given for the natural and cultural resources. On 

stipulations category, Romania received 3.86 points, and the least evaluation was received fro 

the business environment and infrastructure, of 3.2 points. The mentioned categories include 

other 13 factors of evaluation: politics and stipulations, stipulations within environment, safety 

and security, health and hygiene, the priority given to tourism sector, airline transport 

infrastructure, and road transport infrastructure, information and communications technology, 

concurrency related to price, human resources, national perception on tourism, natural and 

cultural resources. 

The first places of classification on 2007 are occupied by European states 64 : Switzerland, Austria, 

Germany and Island, followed by USA, Hong-Kong, Canada, Singapore, Luxemburg and Great 

Britain. Bulgaria occupies place 54, having a total of 4.31 points, and France, considered as the 

most popular destination of the world, being situated on place 12, situation mainly determined by 

the attitude of French citizens toward tourists. The last places of classification revert to some 

African states: Lesotho, Angola, Burundi and Chad. Within the Report it is mentioned that tourist’s 

sector has become an important increasing factor on world economy, in conditions of contributing 

with 10.3% on forming global IGP, on year 2006, and the number of persons employed within filed 

being placed on about 234 millions. 

62 Strategia Naţională de Export, 2005-2009, p. 45; 

63 http://www.weforum.org; 

64 http:// www.weforum.org; 

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Bibliografie: 

1. Pascariu, Carmen Gabriela, Evoluţii şi tendinţe în turismul internaţional – fluxuri, pieţe, 

politici, Editura Sedcom Libris, Iaşi, 2006; 

2. Porter, E. Michael, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, McGraw Hill, New-York, 

1995; 

3. Pralea, Spiridon (coord.), Teoria comerţului internaţional, Editura Univ „Al. I. Cuza”, 

Iaşi, 2006; 

4. Py, P., Le tourisme. Un phenomene economique, La Documentation Francaise, Paris, 1996; 

5. Rainelli, Michel, Comerţul Internaţional: perspective generale; noua teorie a comerţului 

internaţional, Editura ARC, Chişinău, 2004; 

6. Sută, Nicolae, Comerţ internaţional şi politici comerciale contemporane, vol. I şi II, Editura 

Eficient, Bucureşti, 2004; 

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THE TOURISM ACTIVITY VIEWED THROUGH THE COMPETITIVE 

ADVANTAGE ANGLE 

Irina-Ştefana Cibotariu, lector universitar doctorand, 

Universitatea „Ştefan cel Mare”, Suceava, Facultatea de Ştiinţe Economice şi 

Administraţie Publică 

Abstract: 

Résumé : 

L’activité touristique, pour laquelle nous avons de très favorables conditions - notamment du point de vue du potentiel 

naturel - peut etre considérée comme un pole de compétitivité de l’économie roumaine. Afin de rejoindre les pays très 

développés de ce point de vue, il faudrait que la Roumanie rende efficaces les flux touristiques et qu’elle développe 

l’industrie touristique. 

The study of external trade (and implicitly of tourism as element of it) as an economical growth 

factor and the propagation of expansion or recession phenomenon, from one country to another, 

resorts to “request optics” and Keynes’s concepts. These have an especial effect on analyzing 

some aspects related to international work and international exchange division, as well on 

existing correlation between exterior commerce and economical growth. 

Within his paper named “General theory of using the manpower, interest and money” from 

1936, J.M.Keynes opened new horizons within the analysis of studying phenomenon considering 

the macro-economical and international points of view. 

Among the range of concepts and instruments issued by J.M. Keynes, the most useful of 

international macro-economy have proven to be the most reunited within multiplier’s mechanism, 

which allow description and evaluation of effects intensity of training or dis-training propagated 

through the agency of external commerce channels 65 . 

The phenomenon of multiplying the incomes is named multiplier 66 , and J.M. Keynes has the 

merit of revealing the significance of mechanism for describing the growing process, integrating it 

within economic analysis of the most interesting aspect of training effect, spread over the monetary 

flows’ channel 67 . 

The multiplier of investments, described and used by Keynes has become the starting point 

for investigating some aspects if training effect from different fields of activity, especially within 

analyzing the export fluctuations’ incidence, over the economical growth, as well as of propagating 

the fluctuations of world economy. Later, other remarkable economists have extended the Keynes’s 

theory of the multiplier, on conditions of participant economy on international exchanges, 

elaborating “a multiplier of external trade”. 

This multiplier of external trade has special signification on analyzing the fluctuations’ 

analysis over international level. Therefore, the growing or recession phenomena propagate from 

one country to another, through the channel of external trade exchanges. Dumping of national 

income growth within a country, upon the basis of some programs supported by internal 

investments, can be favorably reverberate over the partner countries through an increased import 

request, training those on economical growth way. The process of ascension can continue to world 

65 Pralea, Spiridon (coord.), Teoria comerţului internaţional, Editura Univ „Al. I. Cuza”, Iaşi, 2006, p. 91; 

66 Todosia M. (coord.), John Maynard Keynes – doctrinar al capitalismului monopolist de stat, Publ. Universităţii 

„Al.I.Cuza”, Iaşi, 1987; 

67 S.Pralea (coord.), op. cit., p. 92; 

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economy, or contrarily, the break down might include all the participant countries to international 

exchanges 68 . 

The approach of external trade relations through the angle of Keynes’s theory multiplier can 

explain the most of processes and phenomena from world economy, but a significant contribution 

over analyzing in real terms the training effects was brought by the French economist Fr. Perroux, 

by the so-called “multiplier of significant sector”. 

The applicability of training effect over the tourist’s activity is referring to correlation 

existed between this activity and the structure of request and consumption (as parts of tourist’s 

market). 

The tourism can be an important integration factor for the countries within world trade and 

international circuit of values by the training powerful character of consumption which is generated 

by it. The offer of tourism is formed by goods and services specific to tourists, but the great part of 

it is constituted of products that concomitantly serve to other consumptions, too: transport, 

communications, restaurant, foods, clothes, general loisir, financial and insurance services, health, 

etc. all these consumption generate direct incomes through made expenditure over hotels, 

restaurants, indirect incomes generated by successive transactions between the companies by 

tourist’s consumption and induced incomes, through growth of consumption of those that earn form 

tourism. The direct cashing is thus on the origin of a transactions chain, which exert a stimulating 

part, training for a series extremely different of productions 69 . 

These training flows represent the multiplying principle, particularized for tourism by 

Francois Vellas, through four types of multiplications: 

• multiplying of sales, representing the surplus of business amount within direct, indirect and 

induced transactions, provoked by a supplementary tourist’s expenditure; 

• multiplying the production, representing the growth of production, inclusively the progress 

registered on capital’s level; hotels, restaurants, parks etc; 

• multiplying of cashing, representing the incomes generated by the progress of tourist’s 

expenditure; 

• multiplying the jobs, representing the progress of work due to tourist’s activities 70 . 

The process of multiplying depends upon categories of tourist’s expenditure and of local 

economy particularities, especially by the angle of economical structure and economical agents’ 

behavior. 

The structure of implanting economy is the determinant factor of multiplying level, by 

the range of internal activities that satisfy the tourist’s consumption and by the adapting to offer 

capacity. Multiplication of an initial income progress will be determined by the receiving economy 

of internal offer structure, by its possibilities of answering to request and by production elasticity 

within each trained branches. In countries in progress of development, the offer is more often 

inadaptable to foreign tourist’s request and it is relatively rigid; the insufficiency of resources, the 

static character of production function on short and mean term, the limits of technical endowment 

risk to generate, by the request growth, inflation and dependence toward imports. As the capacity of 

adapting of national production is smaller, as much the effect of multiplying is reduced by the loss 

due to imports and inflation. Completing the offer on tourism with imports have influence over 

trade balance, growing the dependency over the external flow and limits the training effect over the 

internal production and occupying level 71 . 

An instrument of analysis frequently used is the external trade multiplier. The conclusion 

that results – within theoretical level, is that the effects induced on economy in the view of 

68 Pralea, Spiridon (coord.), Teoria comerţului internaţional, Editura Univ „Al. I. Cuza”, Iaşi, 2006, p.97-98; 

69 G.C.Pascariu, Evoluţii şi tendinţe în turismul internaţional: fluxuri, pieţe, politici, Editura Sedcom Libris, Iaşi, 2006, 

p.165; 

70 F. Vellas, Economie et politique du tourisme internaţional, Economica, Paris, 1987, pp. 183-184. 

71 G. C. Pascariu, idem, p.166-169; 

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developing international tourism will be as much important as: the part allocated to goods and 

services consumption form local production is greater. On internal level, there are available 

resources to be attracted or the offer’s structure is diversified and easily structural adapted to 

preferences and fluctuations of the request; the part used for completing exports is smaller; the 

tourist’s flow of export is bigger and constantly in time. 

The analysis through the angle of training effect leads to other some necessary conclusions, 

in the view of dimensioning the multiplying process. This will be as much ample, as the training 

investment is greater, the trained internal productions being more different, and their productivities 

high. Each of these productions yet assumes a consumption of factors and outcomes of finite 

products. If the internal resources cannot answer to request, either quantitative or structural and 

qualitative, a growth in imports will take place; therefore it is not necessary to calculate performed 

productions, by training process. In each step of multiplying, the necessary of import and export 

coefficients will be taken into consideration. The result of weighting will give the net income 

contribution achieved upon basis of direct investment. 

Completing an analysis is also imposed, concerning the evaluation of marginal inclination 

towards consumption as essential factor within propagation of multiplying the income progress. If 

the greatest part of initial income is transformed in request of consumption and investments’ goods, 

a stimulating effect over production will result; depending on offer elasticity, the propagation 

phenomenon within economy for the multiplying reaction is more or less ample, more or less fast. 

The marginal inclination towards consumption also influences the speed of induced 

transactions. As much as the tendency of consumption is greater, as much the incomes will fast 

transform in expenditure and again in incomes. The circulation speed grows; the monetary mass 

grows, as well as the possible volume of transactions. Depending of factors, as incomes level, 

preferences, tastes, the report related to present and supplied income etc., marginal inclination to 

consumption, being yet difficult to meet and can vary even for a short period of time. It was 

observed that it is variable, especially for the segments of mean and big incomes, which offer the 

most of tourist’s flows fact for which its analytical calculation of each income period is an essential 

condition of relevance for tourist’s multiplier. 

In conclusion, using the multiplier’s mechanism within international tourism economy for 

evaluating the tourism’ impact over growth over receiving economy is extremely difficult due to 

practical impossibility of disposing of statistic data need to analysis, and o the other side, by the 

limits induced to multiplier: elastic offer on all production sectors and marginal constant inclination 

towards consumption . 

The main activity fields trained by developing the tourism are constructions, handicraft 

industry, transports and agriculture. 

• Developing the tourist’s function of an economy (national, regional or local) trains the most 

powerful – and it seems that the most brutal, creating a strong lack of balance – the sector of 

constructions. As mean, it is appreciated that to a hotel bed correspond a 2.7 jobs/year. The 

most important problem runs from the fact that after an extremely dynamic initial period, 

necessary to accomplishing the transport infrastructure, of constructions for accommodation, 

pleasure, administration etc., following a slowing step of activity and generating real lacks 

of balance on work market. As conjuncture effects, the inflation tensions, artificial growth of 

wages, movements of manpower from one sector and region to another, altogether with 

social problems raised by this immigration. 

• The handicraft and trade sector knows, after that of constructions, training effects almost 

spectacular. Within the regions with strong anthropogenic or natural potential, the tourist’s 

activity is correlated to “accompanying elements”, adapting to tendencies on evolution of 

tourist’s consumption preferences. Therefore, the local values become an important source 

of increasing the incomes. 

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• The transport represents a powerful sector trained by tourist’s consumption. Within the 

total of holiday expenditure, the transport can reach 40% of the lump travel price, to which 

the expenditure for travels made at destination of almost 10% of the total local expenditure 

is added. 

• Developing the tourism inevitably produces effects of training over the agriculture, also. 

The tourism can have a stimulating part upon renewing the family agriculture and steadiness 

of rural life, within a series of regions being on demographical and economical decline, over 

restructuring the agricultural production and adopting of modern systems of production, 

bringing supplementary incomes to terrain owners, by selling or renting those for tourist’s 

utilizations and offering a solution to occupying requirements on partial times to manpower 

of rural environment 72 . 

Drawing a conclusion, the tourist’s activity is a solution of stimulating the economy, with important 

effects of training over different activity branches, especially for the developed countries, if the 

economical point of view is taken into consideration. Developing the tourist’s activity 73 has 

determined not only numerous effects on economical level, as result of training an important 

volume of investments for creating specific material basis and for developing an important sector of 

complementary services, but also on psycho-social level, due to solutions that it offers over superior 

spending of free time, developing personality and creativity of potential tourists, etc. 

Bibliografie: 

7. Pascariu, Carmen Gabriela, Evoluţii şi tendinţe în turismul internaţional – fluxuri, pieţe, 

politici, Editura Sedcom Libris, Iaşi, 2006; 

8. Porter, E. Michael, Competitive Advantage, Free Press, New York, 1985; 

9. Porter, E. Michael, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, McGraw Hill, New-York, 

1995; 

10. Pralea, Spiridon (coord.), Teoria comerţului internaţional, Editura Univ „Al. I. Cuza”, 

Iaşi, 2006; 

11. Py, P., Le tourisme. Un phenomene economique, La Documentation Francaise, Paris, 

1996; 

12. Rainelli, Michel, Comerţul Internaţional: perspective generale; noua teorie a comerţului 

internaţional, Editura ARC, Chişinău, 2004; 

13. Sută, Nicolae, Comerţ internaţional şi politici comerciale contemporane, vol. I şi II, 

Editura Eficient, Bucureşti, 2004; 

14. Todosia M. (coord.), John Maynard Keynes – doctrinar al capitalismului monopolist de 

stat, Publ. Universităţii „Al.I.Cuza”, Iaşi, 1987; 

72 G. C. Pascariu, idem, p. 169; 

73 I. Ionescu, Turismul, fenomen social-economic şi cultural, Editura Oscar Print, Bucureşti, p.9; 

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UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT FROM A GLOBALISED EUROPEAN 

PERSPECTIVE 

Lecturer univ. dr. Ramona Todericiu 

Prof. univ. dr. Emanoil Muscalu 

The „Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu 

Faculty of Economics 

B-dul Victoriei nr.10 

0723/333.087 

ramona.todericiu@ulbsibiu.ro 

ABSTRACT 

In the current socio-historical context of our world boisterously entering the third millennium, the problematics 

of higher education, university reform, and he international status of universities are amply and intensely discussed and 

mediatised in most of the countries in which this type of institution exists. 

According to specialists, 74 the most important effects of globalisation on higher education are: the 

development of university networks which can negotiate the market segment on which strategic competitiveness can be 

asserted, preserving however the national identity of the respective institutions; the development of hybrid universities 

which combine processes of knowledge generation and transfer with structures involving firms and corporations which 

activate in the same field; the emergence of virtual universities organised as corporate structures; the emergence of 

global universities, based on the model of IBM and Microsoft Corporation. 

The globalisation of the educational system and the creation of a European Area of 

Education and of Research require, according to specialists, a new vision of the educational 

system, that is, the compatibility of that system with the demands of a competitive and dynamic 

labour market, a system in which competition and cooperation are essential. 

In the social and historical context when the world entered loudly into the third millennium 

of our era, the problems regarding education, the university reform or the international status of our 

university are strongly discussed and made public in most of the countries where exists this 

institutionalised form. The outsized discussions doesn’t have to surprise us, having in view that the 

University is, just like the Church is, one of the institutional units with the longest and uninterrupted 

existence. 

The reality proves that one of the challenges for the XXI-st century management it is linked 

to the fundamental change of the organizational prestige, in the sense of complexity growth, 

dynamics and its turbulences. The university from today it is totally different from the one from 5 or 

10 years ago. In the XXI-st century, the strategic resources are the competences, the intangible 

values, the tacit or explicit knowledge, the intellectual capital and in this new context – education, 

research and innovation is the foundation for economy and society’s development in general, and 

the university’s role becomes more and more important. 

74 Scott, P., (coord.), The globalization of higher education, The Society for Research into Higher Education, The Open 

University Press, Londra, 1999; 

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The universities’ capacity of creating and developing knowledge, getting involved in the 

dissemination of knowledge and to help for its transformation in innovation it is very important and 

became essential in the new society context based on knowledge. 

Without being able to avoid this, in this circumstances appears the problem of redefining the 

place and the role of the university which it is placed under the globalization impact, the foundation of 

the European Space of the higher education system and the knowledge revolution which will bring to 

education’s borders disappearance– as far as are clarified the repercussions of the change. 

The globalization, the free move of the labour force and the recent evolution toward a society of 

knowledge brings into discussion, more severe as ever, the problem of the quality assurance, the 

comparison and the transparency in the Romanian higher education system. 

The European credits transferred system and the integration in the euro- Atlantic university 

system, the curricula’s reform, the transformation of the Romanian educational system from a 

reproductive one to a more creative one and especially the development of a university management 

based on competition and high results, promoted very persistent by the Romanian Ministry of 

Education and Research, are as more demands, and evaluation and self- evaluation criteria, which 

interfere in the university’s interaction. 

Not being only „the society’s mirrors, but also strongly anchored elements in the belonging 

societies, the universities, beside their obvious cosmopolite potential, beside their universality, beside 

the fact that science, education and culture do not know boundaries they will always incorporate in 

themselves the ageless values of the culture and civilization of the countries which they belong.” 75 

The globalization phenomena is manifested at world wide level and it is a process which 

became very important today, both for different human categories, from politic leaders to the common 

citizen of the world. 

The term of globalization has its origin in the literature for the trans-national companies. At the 

beginning it meant a limited phenomena, the markets globalization but in time this concept enlarged its 

sense till today when it is identified with a new phase of the worlds economy or even with a new 

dominant international system, system which replaced the system of the Cold War after the Wall of 

Berlin drop. Now the globalization became an obsession, often leading to confusion, therefore it is 

compulsory to try to define it. 

The most systemic definition of globalization it is given by Thomas Friedman in his well 

known book “Lexus and the olive tree. How to understand globalization?” – globalization it is an 

INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM: the dominant international system which took the place of the system 

of the Cold War after the Wall of Berlin drop. This new system it is not a frozen process but a dynamic 

and continuous process: globalization it the inexorable integration of the markets, national states and of 

the technologies, in a level without any precedent – and in a way which gives the individuals, firms and 

the national states the possibility of reaching further, faster, more profound and cheaper as never before 

and in a way in which it produces a strong reaction from the one who this new system either assault 

them or they put it aside. The Cold War system is characterised by a unifying feature – division and its 

trade mark is only one word – the wall (Berlin’s Wall). The globalization system it is a little bit 

different. It has a unifying feature too- integration. The world became a more interconnected place, and 

today, it doesn’t matter if it is about a country or a company, the threats and the opportunities come 

from the one with which you are into connection. 

In this period, globalization of the economy, social and politic life becomes more obvious and 

the education’s role, of the university’s especially it is vital: education and the universities are the one 

75 Neculau, A., (coord.), Câmpul universitar şi actorii săi, Ed. Polirom, Iaşi, 1997; 

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which should develop the awareness, knowledge, practical skills of the one who are educated in the 

spirit of tolerance, good understanding and respect among people beside the cultural, religious, ethnic 

and linguistic differences between them. 

At this beginning of the third millennium everywhere in the world, the educational system it is 

confronted, on one hand with the new technologies of knowledge and communication knowledge with 

the fast rhythm of change, and on the other hand, with the effect of the society’s globalization, the 

growth of interdependence between nations and cultures. 

In promoting the globalization of education it is more frequent considered to be in the same 

time factor (instrument of promoting globalization) and effect (which suffers significant changes under 

globalization process). It is natural in this context that education and especially the high educational 

system to be called not only to react to the trends of globalization but to play an important role in 

developing some desirable future societies. 

The free market of education at European and world wide level – competition exponential 

emphasised for the markets (students) and the resources generate important changes at the level of the 

high education institution management from our country, establishing a clear orientation of it toward 

responsibility, efficiency, transparency and performance. The specialists in university management 

appreciate that: informatics services of the academic management and the introduction of the 

management of knowledge and of the concept of intelligent organization will bring nearer the 

university to the international standards in the developed countries. 

All this make the evolution of the university’s management to be underlined by a key word 

“change”: the change of the techniques and the management methods used by the university’s 

management. It is obvious that in this period the university management it is in front of a big challenge 

– by its capacity to adapt will depend very much the evolution and the Romanian higher education 

image in the XXI-st century. 

The fast rhythm of change generated by globalisation creates new and huge opportunities for 

the universities capable to find appropriate answers but it can expose to new and highly risks the 

universities which can not adapt themselves. The trans-national effort it is natural, and the universities 

have to deal with it. 

The globalisation of the high education system in the specialist opinion represents only one 

aspect of the university activity and doesn’t have to exaggerate or on the contrary the regional and 

national dimensions of culture. On the contrary in this context the university fulfils a double role 76 : first 

of all the one of promoting the national cultural values and second of all to promote the global 

dimension, universal. During their long history, the universities by their nature institutions with double 

perspective had to keep the balance between universal and national. Taking into account the acquired 

experience universities are the most prepared institutions in confronting the globalisation phenomena. 

The economy globalisation has as a consequence the University’s globalisation through the 

partnerships developed between the universities from the country and form abroad, between them it has 

to exist an active and continuous partnership between the local and regional environment in order that 

to become the sources of civic and spiritual development of the Romanian contemporary society. 

The responsibility for the globalisation of education starts from realising the fact that the 

problems with which we confront are interacting, therefore , the proposed changes at the educational 

level, are a part of the strategy for meeting the future. The success of change depends on the human 

resources quality implicated, and this is cultivated through education. 

“Internationality”, “trans-nationality”, “globalisation” or “world wide” are terms which try 

to reflect aspects of a complex evolution, with many forms and often ambiguous. Beyond all this it is 

76 Clark,B.,R., Transformarea universităţii, Secolul 21, număr thematic ”Universitatea”, 10-12, 2003, pp.109-116; 

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compulsory to analyse the practice and trend’s reality, for a better understanding of the complexity and 

the extent of change which doesn’t go round anyone. 

What it is today very well known and approached under the name “Bologna Process” it is a 

necessity beside any other discussion for the European countries, necessity generated by the trend, 

more and more obvious lately, of unifying the labour market, its liberalisation more and more 

emphasized, out of the politic will manifested so clearly of building a united Europe, which should 

assure the free move of the citizens and their right to unlimited education. This aspect it is signalled in 

the content of Bologna Declaration (June, 19-th, 1999) where it is underlined that: “The European 

institutions of high education, from their perspective, have accepted the challenge of playing an 

important role in building the high education’s European space, as well as in applying the mentioned 

principles in Bologna Magna Charta Universitatum from 1998. This fact it is very important because 

the independence and the university’s autonomy helps to adjust continuously of the high education 

system and the research systems’ need of change to the society’s demands, as well as the scientific 

processes.” 77 

The Bologna Declaration, adopted in 1999 distinguishes a Europe of knowledge as an important 

factor for development, not only for facing the challenges and defiance in science and technology but 

for developing and the support of the secure and democratic society. The ultimate purpose of this 

process it is to create a space for education for the year 2010. 

The Bologna Process it is not and it can not be considered a purpose in itself, it embodies the 

educational construction which has in its view the student’s needs and which should assure the free 

option opportunity about the access to education, inside the educational system of a high education 

institution or between the high education institutions of some different countries. All this represent the 

fundamental principles around which it is uttered what we call “Bologna Process” principles which are 

focused on this idea of the individual’s free option about its own education (“diploma system very easy 

to be compared and recognized through implementing the idea of diploma supplement”, “implementing 

the European system of transferred credits- ECTS”, “promoting the mobility as an effective exercise of 

the free movement”). 

As any other complex process and far reaching about change and transformation, the 

implementation of Bologna process it is determined and influenced by the human and financial 

resources of which at a certain moment society disposes. Today’s reality shows us that at least 

regarding the financial resources, Romania has many possibilities. 

Starting from this, in all the universities around the country started the offensive of restructuring 

the activity, its purpose being the harmony and maximum compatibility of the educational offer, 

implicit the diplomas received by the students with the diplomas received by their colleagues around 

the world. 

For all the Romanian universities the academic year 2005/2006 was without overstating, the 

historical year, the universities were facing a huge challenge, freely assumed and exciting. If they will 

make it the universities will become a side with full rights of the high education European space, in 

which all the universities actors will benefit of what not too long ago it seamed to be a dream very 

difficult to be reached – mobility and cooperation in the field of training and university research. 

We can say that the premises are created, but the next step is to harmonize the efforts for fully 

materialize of the plans. In this direction were made major steps – very important being to adopt the 

high educational system based on three levels: licence, master and doctoral studies. 

77 Realising the European Higher Education Area, Berlin 18-19 september 2003, http://www.bologna-berlin2003, accesat 

octombrie, 2006; 

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Major objectives 78 brought into the attention of the Romanian universities are as follows: 

• Advancing toward an European system of diplomas and certificates of high education, system 

which will fulfil the compatibility demands at continental level; 

• Improving the European system of the transferable credits, thus the transferable credits to 

express better the efforts for acquiring the knowledge at each subject; 

• For strengthening the international cooperation, especially the European one, for developing 

the joint programs in training and research; 

• Promoting some systems and complex mechanisms in order to assure the quality in education; 

The paths which Romania has to follow are, as European specialists say: more access at 

education, more coherence, more continuous education, more money for education, more money for 

research- all this are European trends and European demands. The experience proves that non of the 

member countries in the Higher Education System Space lost something by adhesion. Everybody had 

something to win but the profit level depends on the level of preparing. 

In this period labelled by important transformations, it is outlined a “revolution of knowledge”, 

process through which are designated the evolution from the economy based on the financial resources 

to the economy based on knowledge. Even if we are in the first phase of this revolution of knowledge, 

the effects of this process become visible and they manifest through: market’s volatility, uncertainties 

regarding the careers and the labour places, felt by people, etc. 

In this new context, education, research and innovation are “the foundation of economy 

development and of society in general”, the role of the university became more and more important. 

But for fulfilling this new major role the universities have to reach a high level of integration with the 

exogenous- economic and social environment to be opened toward society and its demands, to answer 

promptly and efficient transformation from the exogenous environment. The partnership, and 

experience exchange, the mobility are paths which lead to the economy based on knowledge. 

The Romanian universities interaction with the business and research environment, interaction 

which is at the first level, will be used as an instrument which could help in growing the capacity of 

answering of the university’s education and research to the changes which will take place at the 

society’s level as well as for stimulating the competitive and innovation. Providing a modern and 

quality education we are aware that will contribute to shaping a human capital well educated and 

competitive, the main element in creating the starting foundation of the developing process of the 

society based on knowledge. 

The universities are the one which provide for the society the results of the scientific research 

and knowledge created and developed in their interest and their capacity of creating and developing 

knowledge, of involving into dissemination and contributing to its transformation in innovation it is 

very important and becomes decisive in the new societies conditions based on knowledge. 79 We have to 

emphasize that the economy based on knowledge, in the specialist view the university’s role 80 it is 

decisive and consists of: 

• Producing new knowledge; 

• Delivering knowledge through education; 

• Dissemination through technologies of information and communication; 

• The use of knowledge through new industrial products and services; 

78 Strategia Învăţământului Superior Românesc Pentru Perioada 2002 – 2010, Ministerul Educaţiei Cercetării şi 

Tineretului, Bucureşti, 2002, disponibil pe site-ul http://www.edu.ro/download/strategiesuperior.pdf; 

79 Dumitrache,I., http:// www.unibuc.ro,p.7, accesat noiembrie, 2006; 

80 idem; 

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The developed countries experience proved that it can not be built an economy based on 

competitive knowledge without finding a solution for the gap between the business community and the 

education and research community. Our system of education should be reshaped having in view the 

new realities of the European offer from the labour market because it still promotes subjects for which 

there is no demand and/or demand form the market. We appreciate that making an educational system 

of network type with more excellence centres, recognized in the Romanian public space, which should 

be based on the existence of some efficient criteria of selection, should represent the fundaments of the 

educational system from our country in the XXI-st century. 

Today it is certain that education can not, by itself, shape the future and impose the desirable, 

even if in the course rooms are the students who in the next few decades will take fully responsibilities 

and will try to find good solutions for the problems which they will face. But knowing the specific 

resources for education and the extern factors which restrains it our chance to take part in shaping the 

tomorrow education growth and, thus to bring nearer the future and the aspirations and the society’s 

demands. 

Bibliography 

1. Bari, I., Globalizare şi probleme globale, Editura Economică, Bucureşti, 2001; 

2. Bauman, Z., Globalizarea şi efectele ei sociale, Editura Antet, Prahova, 2002; 

3. Bookstaber, R., Global risk management: are we mising the point, Editura The Journal of 

Portofolio Management, Spring, 1997; 

4. Clark,B.,R., Transformarea universităţii,Secolul 21, număr thematic ”Universitatea”, 10-12, 

2003; 

5. Dinu, M., Economie contemporană. Ce este globalizarea?, Editura Economică, Bucureşti, 

2000 

6. Fundaţia Drucker, Organizaţia viitorului, Editura Teora, Bucureşti, 2000; 

7. Hirst P., Thompson G., Globalizarea sub semnul întrebării. Economia internaţională şi 

posibilităţile ei de guvernare, Editura TREI, Bucureşti, 2002; 

8. Hoza, M. G., Întreprinderea secolului XXI – Întreprindere inteligentă, Editura Economică, 

Bucureşti, 2001; 

9. Marinescu, C., Educaţia-perspectivă economică, Editura Economică, Bucureşti, 2000, 

10. Neculau, A., (coord.), Câmpul universitar şi actorii săi, Ed. Polirom, Iaşi, 1997; 

11. Pricop, M., Tanţău, A., Globalizare, protecţionism şi strategia firmei, Editura Tribuna 

Economică, Bucureşti, 2003; 

12. Pricop, M., Tanţău, A., Globalizarea şi strategia firmei, Editura Eficient, Bucureşti, 2001; 

13. Scott, P., (coord.), The globalization of higher education, The Society for Research into Higher 

Education, The Open University Press, Londra, 1999; 

14. Voicu, B., Rusu, H., Globalization, European Integration and Social Developement in 

Europen Postcomunist Societies, Editura Psihomedia, Sibiu, 2003; 

15. Dumitrache,I., http:// www.unibuc.ro,p.7, accesat noiembrie, 2006; 

16. Realising the European Higher Education Area, Berlin 18-19 september 2003, 

http://www.bologna-berlin2003, accesat octombrie, 2006; 

17. Strategia Învăţământului Superior Românesc Pentru Perioada 2002 – 2010, Ministerul 

Educaţiei Cercetării şi Tineretului, Bucureşti, 2002, disponibil pe site-ul 

http://www.edu.ro/download/strategiesuperior.pdf; 

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WAYS TO EXPAND SALES FOR COMPANIES ACTNG ÎN RETAIL USING 

NON CONVENTIAL I NSTRUMENTS 

Ruxandra Badea-Doctorand- Academia de Studii Economice Bucuresti 

ABSTRACT 

Modern commerce stimulates retail expansion. In Romania, this market is growing rapidly, in a very dynamic way. 

This phenomenon is sustained, especially, by the expansion of superstores and supermarket chains. 

Evidently, it is necessary to answer the needs of the market with objective arguments in order to sustain a new 

approach of the selling process for all companies acting in retail. Combining classical methods and new advanced 

tools, we intend to show non conventional ways to increase sales for Romanian retail companies. 

The innovative elements are the informatics solutions presented in the paper, out of which the most relevant are the 

Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Geographical Information Systems are used in all economic fields that 

depend in a certain measure of the geographical component. Using them can turn into a real economic advantage. 

Using this informatics platform is, surely, a trend of the future. In western European countries and the USA they are 

a common practice; in Romania a basis should be set. 

CONTENTS 

1. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Solutions for Business 

2. Business Analysis GIS Software 

3. Business GIS Applications in the World 

4. Geographical Information Systems-Sales Management Support 

5. GIS Solutions for Romanian Retailers 


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1. GIS solutions for business 

In the present context of globalization of the economic activity and the expansion of knowledge 

management, the structured information a company owns becomes a vital resource without which the 

business can’t survive. 

No matter what industry you are in, businesses run on information. Decision making processes in a 

company are complex. The quality of the decision process depends in great measure of the quality 

and opportunity of the information which is based on. Modern technology and instruments help in 

obtaining the maximum out of the information a company owns. 

The actual conditions of the market stimulate businesses to use powerful instruments for decision 

making, instruments that can capture, process and display a true image of the reality in a suggestive 

manner through a spatial representation of its characteristics. A digital map (and the associated 

thematic database) becomes a way in which spatial data, sophisticated spatial analysis and display 

procedures can be integrated. By representing and identifying the reality on a map it is possible to 

show tendencies and traits which cannot be observed easily using only usual data sets and table 

displays. 

Google Earth and the concept it represents is one of these solutions. Google Earth is more than just 

taking a glimpse at your house through a high resolution satellite image. Google Earth was also 

meant for business and is part of an evolving industry known as Geographical Information Systems 

(GIS). 

Awareness of GIS is growing in business related fields because managers are able to see its relevance 

and potential in aspects like workflow management, customer management, and decision making. 

GIS applications are able to capture, analyze and display geographic information together with any 

other relevant information needed. What makes it different and accessible is that it is easy to use and 

understand while providing an efficient integrated platform that is cost effective. 

2. Business Analysis GIS Software 

Big providers of GIS software started to pay attention to the business analysis component. For 

example the biggest provider of Geographic Information Systems, ESRI developed an extension 

specialized in Business Analysis called Business Analyst. In the USA the extension is provided 

together with a database that consists of business, household and demographic data. Seeing all that 

data on a map gives a better insight and helps in making better decisions. Through this software 

solution you can analyze customers and better understand their behavior. 

3. Business GIS Applications in the world 

These systems are used successfully in USA and in Western European Countries for economic 

studies like consumer profiling, complex marketing analysis, strategic segmentation, and 

logistics, in helping create and analyze market areas or analyze customer profiles. It is also easier to 

find people in target marketing, create analysis for locations, conduct drive time analysis, perform 

site prospecting etc. Geographical Information Systems are used in all economic fields and it is 

obvious that the modern management has to more and more exploit the geographical 

component. 

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Every year international events and conferences demonstrate that managers and decision 

makers started to give a great importance to GIS Applications. Not all business can benefit of 

the power of GIS but in fields related to financing, transport, industry, utilities, or marketing they 

are well suited. 

4. Geographical Information Systems-Sales Management Support 

GIS Applications reached many business activities, because it is not just a way to see things and get 

informed, it is a way through which analysis can be performed and solutions can be found. GIS can 

be found at operational, tactical and strategic decision making levels. 

We can say that retail is one of the fields in which a business can really take advantage of GIS 

benefits. If until now GIS was used to map marketing and sales results, now more and more 

analytical processes go on. In this way it becomes very easy to determine sales areas, to identify 

proper retail sites, to analyze your competitors and to predict future development and sales. Different 

models have been developed and they all work in a GIS environment 

Retail marketing means a report between demand and supply, between clients and suppliers. Both 

these two major components can be easily pinpointed on a map, as each of them has a geographic 

component. Afterwards it becomes easy to analyze with the help of GIS. 

GIS became interesting with its capacity to incorporate large databases with very relevant 

information that can be further used in analysis and can also be displayed on a map. All businesses 

deal with the geographic components. Actually 80% of the total data handled by managers has a 

geographic component. This is the reason why geography becomes so important in decision making. 

Knowing where potential markets are and knowing where the clients are very important aspects for 

any manager. 

In these ways the information can be available at different levels. Top managers can benefit from 

GIS applications while making strategic decisions, when deciding what markets to enter or what 

products to create. 

In marketing research GIS applications help in knowing where your clients live, in determining their 

profile, in the strategic analysis of the competitive environment, in finding out where the competition 

is located, in seeing where there is potential for expanding, and in finding out how to reach the 

customers through promotional activities. 

5. GIS Solutions for Romanian Retailers 

In Romania GIS is used in different industries but the in the business sector very few companies take 

it into consideration. In most of advanced western European countries and the USA they are a 

common practice, In Romania a basis should be set. Companies shave to understand the benefits and 

the fact that GIS are platforms for knowledge management. By using this modern computer 

technology is possible to turn it into a real economic advantage. 

The goal is to create a synergy between the structured GIS techniques and the present Romanian 

economic context by analyzing the ways to create specialized data sets. This is a compulsory stage 

for the elaboration of GIS based applications for local companies. In order to achieve such a goal it is 

necessary to identify, adapt and integrate thematic information in a database with geographic 

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reference. These are laborious processes considering the limited Romanian experience in this field, 

the lack of structured data. In fact, most of the data is available but it is unprocessed and can’t be 

used. 

A study going on in the present is focused on a Romanian retailer and tries to create an 

application that integrates demographic, geographical and economic datasets. Afterwards 

reports will be created and analyzed. Using the GIS platform everything will be represented on 

a map showing the relevance of the application and all the valuable information it can offer. 

Practically, it will be possible to demonstrate how the application can be used efficiently in 

customer profiling, sales force management, drive time analysis, market segmentation, market 

prospecting, marketing activities, etc and how this contributes to a better sales management. 

Hypermarkets, supermarkets, etc can make their databases transparent by using GIS. In this 

way they will know exactly where their clients live, how much they spend every week or month in 

their store, how much time it takes for them to go to the supermarkets, and so on. They will know 

how to orientate their direct marketing, their promotional activities and more. 

Copyright ESRI 

Copyright ESRI 

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The expansion of GIS technology is a major asset for the business world. All the benefits of using 

spatial data are available for businesses and major providers of GIS technology take into 

consideration adapting them even more to the business needs. 

In the present context of the market, in which competition becomes more and more intense using 

these advanced solutions can turn into a real competitive advantage. 

Retailers can use GIS for consumer profiling, complex marketing analysis, strategic 

segmentation, logistics, in helping create and analyze market areas, analyze customer profiles, find 

people for target marketing, create analysis for locations, perform site prospecting, etc 

Retail in Romania can benefit from GIS and maybe in the future Romania can think of building a 

national database with data that all economic agents can access, after the USA model. As a 

conclusion: GIS can bring added value to business. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

• Basanu, G., Pricop, M.- Managementul aprovizionării si desfacerii, Editura Economica, 

2004 

• Strategic Market Relationships, Donaldson, B. Selling and Sales Management: Theory and 

Practice, Codecs Publishing House, 2001 

• Wachter, S.-Using GIS to Empower Business Solutions: The Role of Academia, article 

• Bennison, D.-Retailing and the Marketing of Urban Places: a UK perspective, International Review 

of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 2005 

• Bennison, D.- People and Partnerships: Marketing Urban Retailing, International Journal of Retail 

and Distribution Management, 2004 

• Bennison, D -Explaining Retail GIS: the Adoption, Use and Development of GIS by Retail 

Organisations in the Netherlands, UK and Canada, Neederlandse, Study,1999 

• Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.- ArcView Business Analyst-An ESRI White 

Paper 

• Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc-Case Study 

• Toppen, F., Wapenaar, H.,GIS in business: Tools for Marketing Analysis, EGIS,1994 

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Falls sich die Abschreibungsmethode ändert, die Auswirkungen müssen quantifiziert werden 

und der Grund muss in Finanzberichten (Dokumenten) eingetragen werden. 

Geschäftspartnerschaft bedeutet direkte Beteiligung zum Management durch Lieferung 

„raffinierter” Analysen zum Risikomanagement und wichtigen Projekten. Ein wichtiger Merkmal 

ist durch Leistung des Managements gegeben, was Finanzberichtswesen, strategische Analyse, 

operationale Ergebnise und Bereitstellung Rahmenbedingungen für Planung und Vorhersagen über 

das Geschäft beinhaltet. 

Einige dieser Aktivitäten scheinen in Kontext der Globalisierung nicht neu zu sein, aber 

deren Komplexität und das direkte wirschaftlihe Auswirkungspotenzial ist wichtiger geworden. 

Zum Beispiel, die Controller haben immer die Zahlen für die Geschäftspläne „duchgekaut”, aber sie 

waren selten an der Gestaltung der Pläne und Strategien, die sich auf diesen Zahlen basieren, 

beteiligt gewesen. Ähnlich haben viele Controller Portfolios verwaltet, aber sie haben selten selbst 

ein Geschäft gestartet. 

2. Effizientes Dokumentenmanagement – ein wichtiger Faktor des Fortschrittes einer 

Gesellschaft 

In aktuellen Kontext der Grenzenerweiterung als Folge der Wirschaftsglobalisierung und 

durch Vervielfältigung der Bedarfe internationaler Investitoren und Regulierungsbehörden, und 

obwohl der gemeinsame Euromarkt und -währung vorhanden sind, öffnet sich die Frage, ob es ein 

gemeinsames Europeisches Controlling geben wird, ohne das man die Referenz des IASB zugreifft. 

Dies bedeutet eine unabhängige Harmonisierung auf Reginalebene und Ausarbeitung eines neuen 

europäischen Controllingstandards, und implizit, eines neuen Dokumentenstandards. 

Einige Studien 81 kommen zum Ergebnis, dass die Investoren höchstens 37% Informationen 

nicht-finanzieller Natur für ihre Entsheidugen nutzen wobei der Rest Informationen anhand von 

finanziellen Dokumenten sind. Es wir zunehmend die Herausgabe der Informationen über das 

Unternehmen gefordert. Die internationale Organisation Global Reporting Initiative 82 hat als 

Mission die Schaffung eines konzeptionellen Rahmens, der die Berichte über die Unternehmen in 

drei Dimensionen fordert: wirschafts, sozial und umweltbezogen. 

Die Vorteile dieses Berichtwesen sind: Sicherstellung proaktives Berichtens, die Schaffung 

einer Dialogbasis mit den Geschätspartnern, Integration aller organisationeller Informationen und 

Sicherung einer Übersicht über mögliche Handlungsrichtungen. 

Die Globalisierung der Wirtschaftsumfeldes bringt einen Beitrag zum sicheren und stabilen 

Umfeld in dem Bereich der internationalen Beziehungen. Die Angriffe von 11. September auf die 

Vereinigten Staaten und die daraus folgende Ereignisse haben aber zu einem Umdenken der 

Geschäftspraktiken im Kontext der Globalisierung geführt. 

Wenn man über eine Unternehmung sagen kann, dass sie rentabel ist, dies bedeutet auch 

meistens, dass sie Experten in dem Bereich der Finanzberatung hat. Die Rolle der Managern und 

Geschäftspartnern wird sicherlich am Bedeutung noch zunehmen, und dies bedeutet, dass auch die 

Nummer der Berater und profesioneller Arbeitskräfte in diesem Umfeld am Bedeutung zunehmen 

wird. 

Es scheint das heute, die Fähigkeit, mögliche Risiken eines Geschäfts vorherzusagen, viel 

wichtiger ist als vorher. Was die Messung der Geschätsergebnisse angeht, es scheint das viele 

Unternehmungen vor dem Problem begrenzter Kapazitäten gegenüberstehen. Es gibt Pro un Kontra 

für die zwei Modelle der Transaktionsverarbeitung: Zentralisierung und Dezentralisierung. Beide 

haben Vor- und Nachteile un beide haben als Vorbedingung ein efizientes 

Dokumentenmanagement. 

Abbildung 2 Fähigkeiten eines Dokumentenmanagers 

81 Niven P.R. – Balanced Score Card – Step-by-step – Maximizing Performance and Maintaining Results, 2002 

82 www.globalreporting.org 

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Die Leistung eines Managements hat heute auch als Vorbedingung einen Fluss der 

Finanzinformationen in elektronischer Form. Um dies zu ermöglichen, die moderne Systeme für 

Protokollierung, Aufzeichnung, Verarbeitung und Benutzung der operationeller und 

Finanzinformationen müssen bekannt und benutzt sein. Zusätzlich diese Informationen müssen 

glaubwürdig sein und eine gute Abbildung der Realität darstellen. 

Die Controller sind „detaillierte” Analysten der Daten. Moderne Anforderungen bedeuten 

mehr als einer z.B. Vergleich zwischen Ist- und Planergebnissen. Es gibt Informationen, die ein 

einer Konkurenzumgebung die genaueste Daten zunichte machen können, oder die verborgenen 

Trende des Umfeldes identifizieren können. Die Fähigkeit der Vorhersage beinhaltet auch die 

Möglichkeit der Bewertung der Auswirkugen in Echtzeit. Diese Fertigkeit, nebst Erkenntnissen und 

Wissen, kann aus Controller efiziente Geschäftsführer machen. 

Fast alle Controller benutzen Register, andere benutzen Datenbanken, und wenige noch 

immer benutzen manuelle Eintragungen. Immer mehr wird Internet und Intranet benutzt und die IT 

hat sich mittlerweile zum Schlüsselwerkzeug der Controller entwickelt. Die Fähigkeit, die nötigen 

Daten aus einer Datenbank zu benutzen und auszuwerten, ist im der Geschätfsumgebung 

unerlässlich. 

Der Manager kann anhand der verarbeiteten und an seine Bedürfnisse angepasste 

Finanzdaten, die Lage Bewerten und die Ressourcen, die zur Verfügung stehen (Finanz-, Material - 

und Humankapital) effizient verwalten um die Ziele und Stategien des Unternehmens erfolgreich 

umzusetzen. 

3. Europäische Union (EU) - Ein internationaler Faktor 

EU stellt einen internen Markt dar, der groß genug ist um sich eine dominante Rolle in der 

Weltwirtschaftsordnung zu sichern. EU hat sich in Rahmen eines "geregelten Kapitalismus" 

entwickelt und diese Entwicklung ging weit über das Wirtschaftliche hinaus und entwickelte sich in 

Richtung eines ehrgeizigen politischen Projektes mit langfristigen Auswirkungen. 

EU sollte nicht nur eine unterstützende, sondern auch eine gesetzgebende Macht haben. EU- 

Erweiterung, gesehen nicht nur als ein Wirschaftsprojekt, sondern als auch ein soziales, könnte als 

eine Bewegung Richtung Legimitätsetablierung gesehen, im Sinne von Auswirkungen auf allen 

Ebenen. 

Natürlich, die Wirtschaft sollte die Prozesse für die Schaffung des Wohlstands sicherstellen. 

Man muss auch erwähnen, dass auch die Auswirkugen der Verteilung des Wohlstands in dem EU- 

Projekt der Harmonisierung des Controllings berücksichtigt sind. 

Elitistisches Denken soll die Konfliktprozesse entfernen und große Aufmerksamkeit sollte 

vorhanden sein im Züge der Kollision zwischen «marktgerechten» Normen und Normen, die durch 

den demokratischen Prozess entstanden sind. Es wird auch in Betracht gezogen, dass eine 

Mobilisierung der demokratischen Prozesse notwendig sein konnte um die soziale Auswirkungen 

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der «marktgerechten» Normen abzugleichen. Die Globalisierug hat auch Auswirkungen auf die 

sozialen Ebenen der Entwicklung, d.h. auf den Arbeitsmarkt, auf Verteilung der Gewinne und 

Veränderung des Wohlstands. 

Selbstverständlich wird ein Prozess der Interaktion zwischen Menschen sowohl 

Interesssenkonflikte als auch Interessnverbände hervorrufen, die durch Verhandlungen und 

Vereinbarungen zwischen Interessengruppen zustande kommt. 

Sehr wichtig sind Informationen, die die Wahrheit, Korrektheit, Klarheit und Präzision 

ausdrücken sollen. Die Informationen sollen realitätsnah sein um eine Entscheidung mit richtigen 

Auswirkugen treffen zu können. Es sollen aus den internationalen Standarden dijenigen Optionen 

ausgewählt werden, die am Besten zum Geschäfts- und Wirtschaftsfeld passen. In dieser Weise 

können die Ereignisse und die Phänomene, die sich aus der Aktivität eines Unternehmens ergeben, 

richtig eingeordnet werden. 

Zusammenfassung 

Wir leben in einer multikulturellen Gesellschaft und in einer offenen Wirtschaft, wo die 

Organisationen mit Menschen aus verschiedenen Kulturen und mit verschiedenen Gebräuchen 

agieren. Ein Manager muss die Schlüsselmerkmale vieler Kulturen verstehen um erfolgreich ein 

Unternehmen zu führen. 

Um die schnellen Veränderungen der Geschäftswelt zu bewältigen, die Manager und die 

Buchprüfer müssen seinen Verantwortlichkeitsbereich erweitern und Rollen übernehmen, die einen 

Mehrwert dem Geschäft bringen. Sie müssen informationelle Modelle nutzen um die 

Entscheidungen, die Kontrolle der Aktivitäten, die Preis- und Kostenschätzungen, die Vorhersage 

der Nachfrage und die Überwachung der Wettbewerbsposition und Konkurrenz zu unterstützen. 

Dies hat als Ziel die Rentabilität des Unternehmens langfristig zu sichern und die Möglichkeit dem 

Unternehmen zu geben, sich an die Risiken und Möglichkeiten der Zukunft anzupassen. Erst wenn 

wir wissen werden, wie wir sicher und langfristig die Dokumenten in elektronischer Form 

aufbewahren können, wird es möglich sein, alles was mit Papierdokumenten in der öffentlichen 

Administration zu tun hat in die digitale Welt zu bringen. 

Bibliographieverzeichnis: 

1. Niven P.R. – Balanced Score Card – Step-by-step – Maximizing Performance and Maintaining 

Results, 2002 

2. Ionaşcu I., – Dinamica doctrinelor contabile contemporane, Ed. Economică, Bucureşti, 2003 

3. Ristea M, - Bază şi alternativ în contabilitatea întreprinderii, Ed. Tribuna Economică, Bucureşti 

2003 

4. Ristea M., - Metode şi politici contabile de întreprindere, Ed. Tribuna Economică, Bucureşti, 

2002 

www.globalreporting.org 

www.kpmg.com 

www.mkdata.dk 

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