ASPECTS OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT APPLIED IN ...

Annals of the University “Constantin Brâncuşi”of Tg-Jiu, No. 1/2008, Volume 2,
ISSN: 1842-4856
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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