The aim of the current study is to present the circumstances in which the Proclamation of Timisoara emerged as a significant document in the attempts to discard the totalitarian heritage and to impose the principles of democratic government in Romania. The Proclamation of Timisoara was drafted at the beginning of the year 1990 and structured into two main ideas: 1) highlighting the ideals of the 1989 Revolution, including the definitive break-off from the communist regime; 2) outlining a framework for Romania’s evolution during the following period. The main element that structured the document was the radical reform of the state, from a political and administrative point of view. In-depth research into the events that took place during the Revolution of Timisoara, and later during the first month of the year 1990, up until the Proclamation of Timisoara, and after its launch into the political sphere, has revealed the fact that the democratic deficit within the Romanian society has a few obvious and explicit causes.
- Type: Editorial
- Published on: 18th July, 2015
- Keywords: Proclamation of Timişoara, Democracy, 1989 Revolution, Ceauşescu, Point 8
- Final revision and acceptance: 24th June, 2015
The present paper aims to study the differences in self-esteem and the communication style, depending on the level of education (at high school and university subjects). It is analyzed also how the positive self-esteem can correlate with a style of communication and assertively-positive approach. The participants are 120 subjects, 60 high school students and 60 students. The data was collected using two instruments: the Rosenberg questionnaire and a questionnaire on communication style. The data analyzed using a t test for independent samples and a Pearson correlation test with SPSS statistical software. The results show that there are differences regarding the self-esteem and the communication style depending on the level of education.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 18th July, 2015
- Keywords: Self-esteem, Communication style, Education, Interpersonal relationships
- Final revision and acceptance: 24th June, 2015
The globalization of business which is considered a 'second industrial revolution' is a trend that makes Cross cultural Human Resource management crucial for all organizations. Multicultural workforce congregations and increasing global interactions in business, finance, culture etc. have become today's workplace realities.Cross-cultural differences are the cause of failed negotiations and interactions, resulting in losses to the firms. This study examines the best practices in managing across a culturally diverse and geographically dispersed workforce in IT and non IT organizations and makes comparative evaluation of these practices and strategies. The results of the comparative analysis study will lead to cross fertilization of ideas as the best practices for IT companies can be imbibed by and applied to the non IT companies and vice versa. This study ellucidates that cross-cultural management will give managers on international assignments the cultural understanding essential to accomplish their tasks leading to a committed workforce thereby resulting in better financial performance of the organization.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 18th July, 2015
- Keywords: Corporate culture, Global trade, Cultural intelligence, Diversity, Overseas negotiations, Communication, Workforce
- Final revision and acceptance: 24th June, 2015
This article presents the results obtained during an enquiry based on a questionnaire about the classroom culture. This concept it is understood as a micro-society with its own characteristics derived from the dynamic of socialization and training process. This research aims to investigate certain specific aspects of micro-sociology and emphasis on classroom culture. A relatively new concept is reflected by the normative consensus or the integrated system of values that belongs to the teachers, pupils and school, as a social entity. The integrative ensemble of values, class cohesion degree and training strategies are only a few of the aspects described by 62 pupils aged 17-18 years old, from a very prestigious school in Bucharest. The perception of pupils regarding our concept is the effect of the relational practices and training used constantly by the teachers. Those practices reflect the school’s focus mostly on cognitive performance.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 18th July, 2015
- Keywords: School culture, Norms, Learning group
- Final revision and acceptance: 24th June, 2015
The present study discusses the relevance of interpersonal and intrapersonal attributes of teachers for the efficacy of teaching in the context of responding to the challenge of educating students for a society facing ongoing changes at an extreme pace . It offers a qualitative analyses of data obtained from18 participants reflective essays drafted at the beginning and the end of their ITE courses. Data was coded and analysed by four independent researchers. The results showed a clear reference to certain personal qualities of teachers. The categories identified are discussed in relation to previous studies on emotional intelligence and empathy, reflexivity and positive expectations in class.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 18th July, 2015
- Keywords: ITE, Interpersonal and intrapersonal attributes, Mental picture, Educational challenges nowadays, Emotional intelligence, Reflexivity
- Final revision and acceptance: 24th June, 2015
A people’s cultural and historical past, represented as community’s destiny, is memorized and sent down, from one generation to the next, through the many channels of popular orality: legends, ballads, popular poetry and also through those chanels more specific to modern times, such as patriotic songs, cultivated poetry, fiction (especially historical novels), history, histories, films, etc. Through their educational purpose, but also through their emotional/affective packaging, all these do manage the collective past and determine the manner in which the historical time is perceived in a patromonial and affective fashion, as national past. The present study wishes to analyze the manner in which Romanian radio stations covered the events organized on the Heroes’ Day in 2014, to identify the themes of the radio coverage and to assess whether the current radio shows are able to ensure a memory link or connection between generations.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 18th July, 2015
- Keywords: Radio, Heroes, Commemoration, Memory, Heroes’ Day
- Final revision and acceptance: 24th June, 2015
This thesis approaches a current subject, in the context of the economic changes that are occurring on a global scale, that is, entrepreneurship and the benefits of its development for people. Whether it is manifested in the tourism industry or any other area of activity, the enterprise must be encouraged for at least two essential reasons: through the diversity of the goods and services that they offer, companies contribute to serving a large number of needs and creating new jobs. The novelty of the theme is emphasized by introducing the subject of nation branding as an opportunity and, at the same time, as a challenge for entrepreneurs in the field of tourism, but also by pointing out how this can contribute to an increase of their income. The purpose of the research is to highlight the role of nation branding in the development of entrepreneurship in tourism and the results of the research are outlined in an overview of the signals that the business environment that was the object of the research is giving off with regards to nation branding and its importance for Romania.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 18th July, 2015
- Keywords: Entrepreneurship in tourism, Nation brand, Business environment, Tourism product, Romania
- Final revision and acceptance: 24th June, 2015
The main purpose of this study was to identify the degree to which established corporate online communication strategies gravitate around the new Return on Investment (ROI) which is Return on Blog (ROB). Corporate blogs allow companies to connect and communicate online with both their customers and a much wider range of participants/publics. As blogging is about information, leverage, connections, conversations, discovery, and amplification, the paper focuses on specific communication strategies for cultivating and maintaining organizational-public relationship (OPR), such as openness and interactivity. Furthermore, the importance of company-customer communications has been highlighted in the Service-Dominant Logic (S-D Logic) literature as a crucial precedent for both parties to co-create value. The conducted research is based on a content analysis of the corporate blogs of companies in the Romanian landscape, exploring the two cultivation and maintenance relationship strategies employed by communication practitioners when blogging and their potential influence on enhancing dialogue with publics.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 18th July, 2015
- Keywords: Relationship Cultivation Strategies, Corporate Blogs, Service-Dominant Logic, Co-creationProcess
- Final revision and acceptance: 24th June, 2015
The paper proposes a new perspective that explains the convergence toward an increasingly smaller number of languages in communication between speakers of different native languages: the "vocation of language for international communication". For the population of a country, the exposure to its official language by implicit interaction with it makes that the majority of citizens understands this language. Correlating the populations of these countries with the spread of these languages by countries and continents generates a hierarchy of languages, at global or regional level. English has the strongest vocation of language for international communication at global level, followed by French and Spanish, while Russian and Arabic have strong vocation only at regional level. Chinese has only a medium vocation at regional level, as German, Portuguese, Italian and Dutch. 23 languages officially spoken at least 2 countries and other 88 official languages of a sole country are grouped in 5 clusters, by their vocation of language for international communication.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 18th July, 2015
- Keywords: International communication, International language, Official language
- Final revision and acceptance: 24th June, 2015
Communication is involved in all social life acts, being the constituent factor of creation and of cultural processes. Cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue are intensely discussed topics in today's society which is marked by globalization. Cultural differences are the core subject for studies addressing intercultural communication. Good knowledge of other cultures is a necessary step to get to recognize the nature of these differences and to relate to others through attitudes of understanding and tolerance which are premises for genuine intercultural dialogue, especially in the tourism industry. While communication is an act of human relationships, culture is the motive of this act. In tourism, quality of communication is related to the level of the culture involved and to the degree of improvement of the means of which is done. Intercultural communication experiences help tourists to know and to appreciate other cultures, but also help them to a better understanding of their own culture.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 14th December, 2015
- Keywords: Culture, Tourism, Communication, Stereotype, Cultural shock, Intercultural communication
- Final revision and acceptance: 20th November, 2015
With the start of this new century China entered into a new phase of aid, after 3 decades of double digit growth China has become the world largest exporter and second largest economy today. In the light of these economic developments China has become strong enough to significantly increase its presence as a donor of official development aid (ODA). One of the main traits of Chinese aid is that economic co-operation is linked to development assistance and there is not a clear distinction between them. Economic co-operation is seen as the ultimate goal and development assistance plays a part in that. Analysing the evolution of foreign aid policies and its institutional framework would offer a better understanding on how China intends to achieve that goal and this article tries to provide that. A foundation needed for a further in depth study of its foreign aid policies.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 14th December, 2015
- Keywords: China, Policies, Institutions, Foreign Aid, International Development
- Final revision and acceptance: 20th November, 2015
Families and living arrangements have changed dramatically since the 1960s in the majority of European countries. Family life and the meaning of family have undergone a profound change. Relationships between partners or spouses, but also the relationships between parents and their children, have moved away from the realm of normative control and institutional canons, into the ideal of reflexive ‘pure relationships’ based on mutual consent and the recognition of individual autonomy. Following the collapse of communism, Romania has experienced dramatic changes in family formation. Common patterns include delays and/or declines in marriage and fertility, increasing rates of cohabitation and non-marital childbearing, rising rates of divorce. This paper aims to document the main stages of the evolution of marital behaviours in Romania from the traditional family of the 19th century to present days.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 14th December, 2015
- Keywords: Marriage, Family, Second Demographic transition, Traditionalism
- Final revision and acceptance: 20th November, 2015
Culture influences thinking, language and human behaviour. The social environment, in which individuals are born and live, shapes their attitudinal, emotional and behavioural reactions and the perceptions about what is happening around. The same applies in the case of assigned/assumed roles in society based on gender. Cultural dimensions that reflect differences in gender roles, but also elements related to the ethics of sexual difference were highlighted by many researchers. The presentation of these issues from the interdisciplinary perspective is the subject of this article. Briefly, the article refers to: importance of communication in transmission of roles of those two sexes, cultural dimensions that reflect role differences invarious cultures, discrimination issues and ethics of sexual difference.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 14th December, 2015
- Keywords: Gender Role, Culture, Geert Hofstede, Masculinity-Femininity, Gender stereotypes, Feminism
- Final revision and acceptance: 20th November, 2015
Previous studies revealed that ethnocentric consumers are more willing to purchase a domestic product. Furthermore, country-of-origin has a direct impact on consumers’ decision to buy a product in such a manner that a positive country image can substitute other missing qualities of the product. On the other hand, a strong brand is not expected to compensate for a negative country-of-origin perception. Many brands rely on their home country as a warranty for quality and prestige, in order to gain consumers’ interest and attention. This paper examines the moderating role of variables such as perceived quality, ethnocentrism and familiarity in determining a consumer to buy a domestic product. Through exploratory research, this study aims to investigate to what extent Romania, as country-of-origin for its local products, influences consumers’ decision making process. The major contributions of the study consist of identifying the elements that play a role in consumers’ product evaluation based on the country-of-origin and to improve the understanding of country image effects on the buying intention.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 14th December, 2015
- Keywords: Country-of-Origin, Country image, Domestic products, Ethnocentrism, Buying intention
- Final revision and acceptance: 20th November, 2015
Nowadays the global market allows each individual to work in foreign countries. This fact is a great opportunity for business development, but also puts into light the problem of cultural barriers. Ineffective cross-cultural communication and collaboration can harm employees, customers, and other stakeholders. A company with employees from different cultures must acknowledge and understand these barriers in order to overcome them and to obtain the desired performance. The present study aims to expose the cultural barriers encountered by foreigners in a multinational company from Romania.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 14th December, 2015
- Keywords: Culture, Cultural levels, Cultural barriers, Communication
- Final revision and acceptance: 20th November, 2015
Business performance and its measurement play a key role in the life of enterprises. For sustainable development, companies must constantly keep in mind and measure their performance, in accordance with their long-term goals. Looking over the performance measurement history, we can see that this area has improved a lot, underlining the importance of this. In addition to „traditional” performance measurement indicators, several completely „new” methods from different perspectives have been developed. The economic and social conditions changed our image about the business performance. A complex and useful corporate performance evaluation, in addition to financial and non-financial indicators based on the accounting reports, has to contain other factors too. The „traditional” indicators must be completed with new performance measurement systems, or at least parts of them.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 14th December, 2015
- Keywords: Business performance, Performance measurement, Value creating
- Final revision and acceptance: 20th November, 2015
This article aims to search and formulate a systematic framework for choosing methodology as an essential component of research. The idea originated in quite numerous conceptual and semantic inconsistencies that we have encountered in studies provided at the expense of applied research in economics and management. I did not intend to provide examples, but those situations are not hard to find in different specialized journals, even without reference to the source. Semantic confusion, perhaps less significant in research practice in the areas mentioned, is also pretty present, and it is not at all irrelevant to talk about it, as well. The most delicate aspects of this articles’ approach have as origin some logical inconsistencies in combining various methods, techniques, procedures and research tools. The issue of methodological compatibility is important, that’s why criteria have to be established in this regard. On the basis of such incursions and critical analysis, the article proposes, with a conclusive character and as possible recommendations, a step by step procedure for the methodological choice, under a logic compatibility between methods, techniques, procedures and research instruments, on one hand, and the nature and characteristics of the field of provenience, on the other hand.
- Type: Methodological Article
- Published on: 14th December, 2015
- Keywords: Research methodology, Research method, Technique, Instrument, Arbitrary abduction, Inductive estimation, Deductive determination
- Final revision and acceptance: 20th November, 2015
Tourism is the act of travelling for a person or group of people from their own locality to a specific destination in a short term or long term period either for leisure or business purposes. Tourism is an important sector in the Malaysian economy where tourism development will lead to the positive economic development of the country and in general improve the quality of life for all citizens. Therefore, forecasting tourist arrivals with high accuracy becomes important since it may ensure the development and the readiness of all tourism related industries such as hotels, transportation, food and services industries and their best shape. This study focuses on tourist arrivals in Langkawi Island as one of the major tourist attractions situated in the northerly region of Peninsular Malaysia. Importantly, this paper attempts to measure and compare the performance of forecasting with Exponential Smoothing, ARIMA and ARFIMA models using the R software package.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 14th December, 2015
- Keywords: Tourist Arrivals, Forecasting, Time Series, Exponential Smoothing, ARIMA, ARFIMA
- Final revision and acceptance: 20th November, 2015
Scientific research has, now a day, an exponential evolution. Fundamental, applied, exploratory or empirical researches are developed in all the fields, for all disciplines, activity sectors and companies, expectations and results being more or less spectacular. Resources allocated are almost always considerable, but results are rarely of the same caliber. The amplitude, importance and diversity of scientific research, the significance of allocated resources, as well as the importance of results, in comparison with changes in theory and scientific practice, in technology, enterprises and administration require the creation, improvement and adaptation of methods, techniques and instruments of knowledge and know-how, and even innovation in terms of research methodology. Without talking about the scarcity of really good researches, it is important to interrogate ourselves about the quality and finality of every research endeavor, and from here about the crucial importance of a good research methodology and, implicitly, a good strategic construction of the research approach. Our book does not suggest standards or norms for research methodology, simply because the authors, themselves, discovered that corresponding activities are rarely entirely reproducible, similarities being almost always imperfect. The basic idea that animated us was to integrate, in a coherent and systematic manner as much as possible, different research methods, techniques, procedures and instruments into a flexible framework of methodological choice, open and dynamic, available for researchers looking for the most appropriate ideas and ways for their research questions and hypotheses, so that they could obtain valid results within a reasonable period of time. As a suggestion born from our approach, presented as a book titled “The strategic construction of research. The methodological choice – between logic and heuristic”, stands the idea that a rigorous research has to be based on a good, valid strategy and the corresponding methodological elements. The consequence of this idea was the structured development of a research philosophy together with its strategy construction, build around the main methodological dimensions, which are always specific, particular for a field, theme or problem for which we need answers, solutions, and anticipations.
- Type: Book Review