Romanian Company Research Articles

The Hierarchical Position and Length of Service as Determinants of Accidents Naive Explanations: A Study of a Romanian Enterprize

This article aimed at examining accidents' causal attributions by employees from a Romanian company according to their hierarchical position and their length of service. We particularly investigated how workers and their supervisors perceived risks and occupational accidents' causes. Participants were 114 employees, included 30 supervisors and 84 workers. They all belonged to the most exposed departments of the factory observed. The material used derived from the fatalism scale elaborated by Kouabenan (1998) and his risk perception and accidents' causal explanation scale (Kouabenan (1996). As far as possible we adapted this material to the Romanian context. The results showed that the employees had an accurate perception of the risks inherent in their work environment (pollution, occupational accidents, traffic accidents). There was no clear effect of the hierarchical position on causal attributions for the accidents. Both workers as well as their supervisors made more external attributions. However, workers held more fatalistic beliefs than supervisors. In the same way, the length of service didn't affect causal attributions for accidents, but affect the adherence to fatalistic beliefs. Less experienced employees believe more in fate than more experienced employees. All in all, the results of this study tend to confirm those of previous work (Kouabenan, 1996; Beauvois & Dubois, 1988; Yeray & Oskelys, 2001). Implications and possible preventive measures derived from these results were discussed.

The determinants of ownership in M&As: An analysis of the stake purchases in Romanian acquisitions

Research question: The study aims to identify the microeconomic factors that influence the amount of stake purchased in Romanian acquisitions. Motivation: Romania is a market with potential and one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union, facts that make Romanian companies appealing for this type of restructuring transactions. Thus, Romanian companies participate in acquisitions, being either in the position of acquirers or target entities (in most cases). We want to identify if the purchased stake is significantly influenced by a series of factors, related to both involved companies. Idea: The decision of an acquirer to purchase a stake in a target company depends on both its characteristics and the ones of the target company which meets its needs. Considering this assumption, we use a series of financial and nominal factors, which are related to both companies involved (productivity and workforce ratios, the relatedness between the activities of the companies involved and the national/international dimension on the investment), to estimate how much they influence the purchased stake in Romanian acquisitions. Data: The study is based on a sample of 192 acquisitions, with one target and one acquirer, in which a Romanian company was involved, for 2010-2017 period of time. Out of these, 130 transactions are industry acquisitions and 62 transactions are services acquisitions. Tools: We use linear regression, crosstabulation and ANOVA. Findings: Using a mediation model, the results will show that the workforce ratio, the productivity ratio and the relatedness of the two companies have a significantly influence in the percentage purchased in the target company, but the national/international side of the M&As lead to an increase in the capacity of the proposed models to predict the variance of the final investment. The results are controlled for industry and services, considering the NACE main section of the target company. Contribution: Our findings contribute to the scarce literature on Romanian acquisitions, providing information regarding the influence factors on the purchased stake in acquisitions.

The Determinants of Cross-Border Acquisitions: Evidence from Romania

The cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are powerful strategies, used by companies, usually with financial resources, to search and acquire target companies that fulfill specific needs of the acquirers. The characteristics of the target companies and of the environment where they activate compose the determinants that lead to either a domestic or a cross-border M&A, suitable to generate synergy success and efficiency gains for the shareholders of the involved companies. Considering a sample of 60 acquisitions which involved at least one Romanian company in the position of the acquirer or the target, the authors considered the financial information of both companies as predictors for the stake that the acquiring company will buy in the target. Also, they considered the level of relatedness between the activities of the companies and the accounting practice of the target as factors with significant influence in this choice. The research results will show that the deal value paid, the productivity and the relatedness of the two companies significantly influence the stake purchased in the target company, but the accounting practice lead to a significant increase in the capacity of the proposed model to predict the variance of the final stake.

Trust as catalyst for the organizational performance. A focus on a medium-size IT Romanian company

Abstract In an environment where the shift from knowledge to social economy forces the company to identify a new sustainable approach to attire, motivate and retain employees, partners and shareholders, social capital and its elements seem to be the key. The focus of the article is to prove the contribution that trust, in its entirety, as primary component of the social capital, has on the organizational performance of the company. The centric piece of the paper is based on a quantitative research conducted in a medium size IT company and it is designed to support the hypotheses per which a high level of trust will positively influence the overall business results. Regardless if it’s societal trust, market trust, relationship trust or selftrust, the respondents are requested to assess its multiple dimensions as these are translated into the company’s principles and values, the leaders’ strategy to improve the life of the shareholders, the company’s brands and their impact on the consumers, the relationship between individual and his/her peers and managers, as well as the individual’s aspirational behavior to be a trusted colleague/employee. Analyzing the results of the questionnaire, trust as core element of the social capital appears to be a main factor that drives the competitive advantage, designed to boost the employees’ energy, increase the sustainability for the company, irreversibly gain the confidence of stakeholders and eventually act a catalyst for the individual and organizational performance. The in-progress results of this paper represent significant key findings that trigger a more advance research, at a larger scale, by evaluating other companies, with similar employees’ profile to confirm the magnitude of this influence and convince the business leaders to continue supporting the creation and leverage of social capital in general and strive to generate, build and maintain trust as a must have asset.

A Socialist–Capitalist joint venture: Citroën in Romania during the 1980s

After summarising 1960s first Romanian industrial deals with the West countries, this paper explores the 1976–94 cooperation with the French automobile manufacturer Citroën to build a new automotive plant in Romania. The contract with Citroën established a joint venture in Romania to produce the Citroën Axel for Western markets (branded Oltcit in Romania, after the name of the Romanian company). The deal highlighted the importance of transport for state-building processes and for creating a modern society in socialist Romania through industrial capacity building. Citroën was instead looking for peripheral production centres to lower production costs and boost sales. Unmet production volumes and standards, and shaky supply lines, gradually undermined the project. The Oltcit–Citroën deal failed because, even with Citroën’s assistance, Romanian car manufactures proved incapable of producing flawless cars and of meeting delivery terms.

Case Study Concerning Effects of Japanese Management Model Application in Romania

In an increasingly competitive environment, each state has developed its own model of management according to its vision and culture. The management models of the great world economic powers represent for the developing countries important systems to follow and implement. The Japanese management instruments are currently between the most commonly studied and adapted.One of the most important concepts in Japanese Management is Kaizen, which means continuous improvement. Kaizen is used in all business functions and aims to eliminate waste.In this study we present the implementation of a concrete improvement in a Romanian company, which operates in automotive industry, describing in detail the taken steps to elaborate the analysis and the effects of the implementation.

Issues of Organizational Culture in Romania – A Case Study

Abstract The present paper analyzes, through a case study, the organizational culture of a typical Romanian company from the textile industry. The company resulted from the privatization process, being a successful example in its field. The initial, socialist enterprise from which the analyzed company was created, had a long history prior to 1989; thus, although the newly created company has about 20 years of evolution, actually, the mother-company from which it was privatized has more than a decade of tradition. In order to collect data, we used two methods: direct, non-participative observation, together with a sociological survey based on a semi-structured interviewing technique. The interviews were conducted with the top managers - the strategic management and the managers from the human resources department, sales and purchasing departments. The observation and the interviews were undertaken during the period 2011-2012. For the analysis of the collected data, we used a systemization method and a theme-based organization of answers (specific to content analysis). The identification and analysis criteria for the typologies of the organizational culture were those used by Sonnenfeld (1988) and Quinn (1991). A protocol was established for all stages, including exploration, description of the situation, data analysis, typological classification of the organizational culture and interpretation. We conclude that the analyzed company has a mixed personality and hesitates between rigorous control and permanent adaptation, between the real and ideal image, between independent action and the need to wait for directions and reassuring control, a rather general characteristic of the Romanian culture. Although the managers seem to be in favor of a permanent and free adaptation to the threatening environment, control is always used as a precautionary measure. Moreover, the strategy of the company seems to privilege the maintaining of its structure and procedures and not the adaptation to the environment. The company is placed in different categories, for both models, at stated level comparing to the actual one, oscillating between Club and Baseball (for the Sonnenfeld typology) and between Hierarchical and Innovative (for the Quinn typology of organizational culture).

AN H∞ DESIGN METHOD FOR THE PITCH ATTITUDE HOLD AUTOPILOT OF A FLYING UAV

The paper presents an H∞ loop shaping method for the design of the automatic flight control system of an unmanned air vehicle's (UAV's) longitudinal dynamics. The design objectives include robust stabilization with respect to modeling uncertainties, pitch angle tracking of an ideal model and reduced sensitivity with respect to low frequency measurement errors. The design is illustrate by a case study for a flying wing UAV. The applications based on Unmanned Air Vehicle's (UAV's) received much attention over the last decades. Among them, the flying wing configuration of the UAVs was intensively analyzed due to their advantages concerning the reduced drag and the fuel consumption. A disadvantage of this configuration with respect to the classical one is its instability which fact requires an automatic control system able to stabilize the aircraft and to provide acceptable maneuverability qualities. The design problem of such a system has been previously considered in the control literature (see e.g. (1), (2), (3)). The proposed design methods include both classical techniques based for instance on the well- known PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) control laws, optimal approaches based on the linear quadratic problem, the H∞ norm minimization and nonlinear methods including nonlinear inversion, etc ((4), (5), (6), (7), (8)). The methods mentioned above have advantages and drawbacks; the main difficulty in choosing the control design method is to ensure a trade-off between the complexity of the automatic flight control system and its performances. The actual applications require a wide spectrum of performances including not only the stabilization of the aircraft but also robustness with respect to modeling uncertainties and flying conditions changes, time response performances and reduced sensitivity to disturbances and measurement errors. The aim of this paper is to present a design methodology for the Pitch Attitude Hold (PAH) autopilot of a flying wing configuration. The design procedure is illustrated and investigated for the Hirrus UAV designed and manufactured by a private Romanian company in collaboration with academics from Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of University Politehnica of Bucharest. The design approach is based on a modified version of the so-called two degrees of freedom (2 DOF) H∞ loop-shaping able to accomplish simultaneously several objectives as robustness stability, model tracking and disturbances attenuation requirements. The original 2 DOF H∞ method presented in (9) have been previously used for the autopilot design of the aircraft longitudinal and lateral SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IN THE AIR FORCE-AFASES 2016

Simulation of the Machining Process for a Spur Gear Pump Body - A Practical Study

The paper presents theoretical and applicative aspects concerning the construction, machining technology analysis of a spur gear pump body. For the machining process it is chosen a numerically controlled milling machine tool. The part analysed represents the main component of a hydraulic pump from the current production of a Romanian company. From a technical point of view, the part is highly complex due to the shape and dimensional precision, assembly and operation conditions of the pump as a whole. The authors propose some considerations related to optimization, choice of cutting tools, cutting depths, working mode parameters, reduction of the machining and auxiliary times, etc. The CAM simulation results provide many useful, tabular data that highlight the options to choose optimal machining variants.

Testing the violation of conservatism accounting principle. Case study on Romanian listed entities

Abstract From the beginning of the debates regarding the conservatism principle, the concept experienced a significant development. As it is one of the most controversial and violated accounting principle, we started to seek how can we help one of the auditor’s challenge in the audit mission: to identify and evaluate the risks from the financial statement level. The most affected accounting principle in Romania is the conservatism principle. After a long time of debates, it was stated that the conservatism principle, considered to be complementary to the “fair view” concept, which means that financial reports shall be required to submit information so impartial and in such a manner as to enable the reader to understand them clearly. Considered as a risk that should be identified, this study demonstrates a relationship between the violation of the conservatism principle and the analysis of the financial indicators, such as: Long-Term-Debt-to-Equity Ratio; Debt-to-Equity Ratio; Global Solvency Ratio; Operating Margin Ratio; Current Finance Ratio; Period of Activity Indicator and Auditor Indicator. Based on a quantitative method, this analyze was realized through three econometric model performed on annual financial statements of the companies from Bucharest Stock Exchange. After validating the sample and analyzing the factorial variables, we selected the best model: the probit model. In conclusion, as can be seen in the paper, the econometric function is efficient, reliable and can be applied to assess the risk likelihood for violating the conservatism principle by a Romanian company.

High prevalence of hypertension and obesity could promote early atherosclerosis in bus drivers: Results of a cross-sectional study conducted in a romanian company of transport

High prevalence of hypertension and obesity could promote early atherosclerosis in bus drivers: Results of a cross-sectional study conducted in a romanian company of transport

Consumers of a Special Product Service Within a Changing Business and Social Environment

We consider that around the Consumer gravitate all the problems concerning any provider (supplyer) or distributor. The actual economic and financial world crisis shown, once more, that the firms have to conceive and develop theirs products and services according to the needs, the preferences and the budgets of the potential consumers. The domain of mobile telephony is the the specific production and service aspect addressed in this paper. Despite the crisis effects, this domain continued its expansion in Romania and not only. The communication is a necessity and the facilities, the devices and the revolutionary new IT technologies are essential in these days for many people, among them the Romanian consumers. The study case is based on the experience of a Romanian company, Vegastel (partner of the corporate entity "O", which has realised remarkable economic and financial results, just by the special attention to the requirements, preferences and financial potential of the clients (individuals or firms). The importance of the domain and its continuing improvement and reshaping entail for the firms in the field, including Vegastel, to permanent adapt the offer and take into account the consumers’ feedback, such that to gain profits and to remain sustainable on the market.

Possible Solutions to the Question of Insolvency – Empirical Analysis Regarding the Degree of Exposure of the Solvency of Romanian Insurance Companies

Abstract This paper tackles a broad topic by endeavouring to find solutions to avoid insolvency in regard to insurance companies in Romania. The maintenance of the solvency state of insurance companies requires them to have the ability to honour their obligations to policyholders and beneficiaries of the contract. We analysed solvency as a dependent variable - as compared to the degree of the exposure of solvency, since solvency is, in our opinion, a key element in the management of assets and liabilities, and is a topic that is currently preoccupying researchers. The importance of the research is underlined by the fact that this subject is highly relevant in regard to insurance companies who have been subject to increased market demands in a business environment that have become difficult to navigate. Through the study conducted, built on relevant opinions from academic literature, we chose as the objective of the research, the identification of the influence variables and the intensity with which they impact the degree of exposure of the Romanian insurance company's solvency. Our analysis led to the identifications of new elements that can optimize the effects of the insolvency law as applied to insurance companies in Romania.

New Management Approaches for Increasing the Competitiveness in Mechanical Engineering Industry

The European industry, especially mechanical engineering industry, has lost step by step its competitiveness in the years that followed the global crisis. Implementing new management approaches that sustain the strategic objectives of the company is part of the solution for recovering the lost market share. One of the important issues that influence the reaching of the organization’s strategic objectives regards the qualification and the training needs of its employees. In the present paper coaching was used to develop a competencies development matrix (CDM) that responds to a Romanian company strategy. The matrix was used to define the training needs and the first stage of prioritization of the competencies development for the company (technical and management CDMs). The results are going to be used in the next step of coaching within the company and are also useful for the industrial management specialists in the process of competencies defining, prioritizing and modelling in mechanical engineering.

"Environmental Management Accounting. A Case Study Focusing On A Romanian Morocco Goods Producer "

In this article our focus is to develop a case study concerning the environmental management accounting (EMA) applied in a Romanian company which is acting as a morocco goods (shoes, bags, belts, wallets and other leather accessories) producer. We use as a research methodology the case study due to the fact that it is most desriptive in assesing the specific settings that are of interest to the concerned users. We have selected this company because of its impact on the related environment. The study relies on the EMA framework designed by Burritt, Hahn and Schaltegger (2002). We have made a material life-cycle assessment for one type of product. Our study has multiple data sources (such as a large spectrum of related persons including production and financial managers, accountants, and company owners and CEO) as well as a variety of research methods (direct observation, documentation, archival records, and interviews). Our objective is to prove that EMA can help companies act in an integrated manner, improving their production process and their performance. By implementing EMA, managers can identify ways to improve the eco-efficiency of the companies.

Struggling for Organizational Identity: Employee Voice and Silence

Abstract The organizational communication literature has often portrayed voice and silence as a state of being/state of affairs of employees, concluding that those who have voice are able to freely construct their identity, while silenced employees are more constrained in authoring their sense of self. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that voice and silence are not state of being/state of affairs. Voice and silence are so interrelated and intertwined that they presuppose each other; they are strategic communicative resources that employees utilize in their daily activities in order to survive, get by, advance and construct their identities. These arguments will be illustrated by the case of a management consulting team employed in a Romanian fish company with the goal of improving the company's performance before listing it on the national stock exchange. The 1.5 years of participant observation in this company, complemented by 40 in-depth interviews have demonstrated that people react positively to voice not because they expect specific gains, but because an opportunity for voice signifies valorisation, membership and, most importantly, a chance for self-authorship. The challenge for the identity construction process is for people to maintain a sense of self-continuity and coherence (Whorthington, 1996: 13 and McAdams, 1996: 306, in Clarke et al., 2009 : 326), while multiple and diverse moments and contexts offer the possibility to tell many different identity stories many of which are paradoxically contradictory and fundamentally unstable (Gergen, 1992, in Clarke et al., 2009 : 326).

I. INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR SETTLEMENT OF INVESTMENT DISPUTES TRIBUNAL, SPYRIDON ROUSSALIS v ROMANIA, DECISION OF 7 DECEMBER 2011

International lawyers interested in international investment law and treaty interpretation issues should consider the international award recently delivered by an ICSID Tribunal in the case of Spyridon Roussalis v Romania.1 The case arose out of the privatization of a Romanian warehouse company (SC Malimp SA). On 23 October 1998, another Romanian company (Continent SRL) entered into a share purchase agreement with the Romanian authority for state assets recovery (AVAS) to purchase 372,523 shares in SC Malimp SA, or the equivalent of a 70 per cent interest in the company. Following the acquisition of SC Malimp SA, the name of that company was changed to SC Continent Marine Enterprise SA (or ‘Continent SA’ for short).

Water footprint assessment in the winemaking industry: a case study for a Romanian medium size production plant

Abstract The sustainable use of water resources bring nowadays challenges related to the production and consumption phases of water intensive related goods such as food and beverages, not only in terms of technological improvements, but also of management practices considered at the level of the water use cycle. This study focuses on the water footprint assessment of one 750 mL bottle of wine produced in a medium-size wine production plant in Romania, evaluated for a 4-year period with different precipitation regimes. The assessment is based on the production-chain diagram, presenting the relevant process stages from the source to the final product, as well as the current emissions and environmental impacts, considering the existent equipments and actual water related practices. The wine trade-offs socio-economic potential, and the evaluation of the national water footprint scheme related to Romanian wine production and consumption were assessed. The findings of this study indicated that almost 99% of the total water footprint is related to the supply-chain water use, out of which 82% green , 3% blue and 15% grey . In addition, suggestions of sustainable practices for the winemaking industry have been selected and briefly discussed based on international relevant cases. Such practices may contribute to savings in water, energy, raw materials, diminished emissions and waste generation and a more efficient use of personnel time, with benefits for the decrease of business costs, the increase of profit and competitiveness. At the level of the studied Romanian company, due to the current economic and environmental issues, only few of these practices have been applied for the last three years, e.g. : waste monitoring and treatment, soil, plant and pest management, waste minimization, water resources efficiency program, integrated management programmes.

Penstock failure detection system at the "Valsan" hydro power plant

"Valsan" is a small Hydro Power Plant, 5 MW, situated at about 160 km north of Bucharest, Romania, on the small "Valsan" river in a remote mountainous area. It is equipped with a single Francis turbine. The penstock is located in the access shaft of the HPP. "Hidroelectrica", the Romanian company that operates the HPP, was trying to implement a remote penstock failure detection system. Starting from a classic hydraulic problem, the authors of the paper derived a method for failure detection and localization on the pipe. The method assumes the existence of 2 flow meters and 2 pressure transducers at the inlet and outlet of the pressurized pipe. Calculations have to be based on experimental values measured in a permanent regime for different values of the flow rate. The method was at first tested on a pipe, in the Hydraulic Laboratory of the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest. Pipe failure was modelled by opening of a valve on a tee branch of the analyzed pipe. Experimental results were found to be in good agreement with theoretical ones. The penstock of the "Valsan" HPP, was modelled in EPANET, in order to: i) test the method at a larger scale; ii) get the right flow and pressure transducers that are needed to implement it. At the request of "Hidroelectrica" a routine that computes the efficiency of the turbine was added to the monitoring software. After the system was implemented, another series of measurements were performed at the site in order to validate it. Failure was modelled by opening an existing valve on a branch of the penstock. Detection of the failure was correct and almost instantaneous, while failure location was accurate within 5% of the total penstock length.

Marketing Process Reengineering within a Romanian Software Company Focused on the Implementation of a Freelancing Strategy

This paper examines several possibilities regarding the implementation of the marketing process reengineering within a Romanian software company. Specifically, it argues that freelancing implementation in the Competitors Tracking area leads to a better performance of the overall marketing activity, by means of a mathematical model which reveals four situations corresponding to the research hypotheses. According to the variables related to the mathematical model, the marketing tasks are divided in different areas and we highlighted the opportunity to develop a new area—Competitor Tracking through a marketing process reengineering. The results show that reengineering focuses on redesigning the process as a whole in order to achieve the greatest possible benefits to the organization. The driving forces associated to the reengineering will lead improvements by fundamentally rethinking how the Competitor Tracking positions should be fulfilled—through permanent workers or freelancers. The results of our analysis provides a decision-making support for the marketing manager of the software company, leading to a better positioning through Competitive Intelligence techniques, which build and leverage its competitive advantages.