Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy (E-Journal)
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Fixing the Central Parity and the Evolution of the Currency within the Exchange Rate Mechanism II in the Countries that Joined the Euro Zone
Get PDFThe present paper presents the models used by the countries that joined the Euro zone after 2000, in fixing the central parity and the evolution of the local currency towards Euro, when participating in Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II). It synthesizes the main theories for determining the equilibrium exchange rate. It also presents the modality of putting them into practice in the countries that had already become members of the Euro zone. The better we know the other countries’ experience in the respect of the joining process to the Euro zone, the better will Romania be able to prepare itself for adopting the unique European currency. Thus, we will be synthesize the main approaches within literature and also in the economic policy deciders’ practice concerning the estimation of the equilibrium exchange rate and implicitly, of the central parity. The paper presents the modality of fixing the central parity and the experience of participating in ERM II for a number of member states that joined the Euro zone after 2000: Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus and Estonia. For these states we also analyze the evolution of the currency towards Euro while participating in ERM II. Starting from these examples, we explain the advantages and the disadvantages in fixing the central parity over/at/under the value of the exchange rate on the market at the moment of joining ERM II and we underline the problems that might occur in the case of choosing a central parity that is not compatible with the equilibrium value of the exchange rate
Economic and Risk Analyses for SMEs Internationalization Projects. A Preliminary Insight on the Rationale of Business Consulting Firms
Get PDFThe present study is meant to be a first step towards the investigation of two current issues: the organization’s demand for highly professional services and the business consulting firms’ response as a challenge for the ethic imperatives. The main question raised is whether the national business consulting firms are liable to provide the economic and risk analyses required by the ambitious internationalization projects of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and if not, what should be the firms’ ethical approach. In this respect, preliminary conclusions were made after testing the deliverables of several business consulting firms which were contracted to elaborate intricate economic and risk analyses of an internationalization project developed by a medium enterprise. The proven level of expertise of the contracted firms did not confirm their claims and assurances that they were fit for the job. This is why the rationale of today’s business consulting firms should be taken into account for further consideration while the exigency for increased savvy should become a priority
Identifying Tourists Interested in Eco-Certified Accommodation Units from Brasov, Romania
Get PDFEcolabels are key instruments for a sustainable tourism development and implementation of environmental certification of tourist accommodation facilities and services. The present paper aimes to analyze whether eco-certification is considered by tourists in the choice of accommodation in Romanian destinations. We have chosen as a case study the city of Brasov in order to evaluate if certification as a sustainability policy tool is needed for accommodation facilities. A survey was conducted among 940 tourists from the analyzed destination. Data collected in the survey was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and several statistical methods have been used: descriptive analysis, crosstabs, Cluster Analysis. The results of the research outline the necessity for Brasov’s accommodation managers to consider the eco-certification of their businesses. However, since some tourists remain unaware regarding the existence of tourism certification programs and far fewer understand their meaning, they would have to consider educating tourists with respect to the utility and scope of tourism ecolabels alongside efforts towards creating or adopting tourism ecolabeling programs
The European Union and International Governance: Still on the Path to a Global Power?
Get PDFThe European Union represents an artificial construct built on the same pattern of formation of the nation states, being defined as „the imaginary political community of Europe (McNamara, 2011). The dynamic evolution of the European Union from an economic entity to a supranational political entity continues to draw a series of critics due to the fact that it represents „an unusual entity, whose principles and constitutional status are ambiguous and incomplete (Ericksen and Fossum, 2004, p.436). This article investigates: on the one hand, the way in which the process of globalisation and the emergence of the European project have changed the relationship between the nation-state and its citizens; and, on the other hand, the EU’s relationship with it’s most important stakeholders and supporters: young Europeans. This article seeks to offer, from the perspective of young Romanians, a complex approach concerning the EU’s role in global governance on an economic, social, political and security level
Employees’ Organizational Commitment Challenges - a Hotel Industry Perspective
Get PDFHotel industry is confronted with some challenges induced by changing customers’ requirements and by a competitive environment. In this context, front-line employees are a very important determinant of organizational performance. Researchers suggested that organizational performance can be achieved through employee organizational commitment (OC) development. This is the reason why this paper aims to explore employees’ level of OC components from hotel chains, considering a variety of independent variables. Furthermore, recommendations for hotel managers who want to improve employees’ OC are offered. A quantitative study was conducted on 152 employees from 12 hotels belonging to four international and national hotel chains. We first verified if the same OC components from scholarly literature can be identified in Romanian context. Then, an analysis on differences registered for these OC components was conducted, considering variables like age, gender, educational level, work experience, hotel chain name, hotel location, etc. Considering results, we identified all the three OC components presented in the literature (affective, normative and continuance commitment) and also found that affective commitment reaches the highest level of manifestation for the hotel chain employees from our study. Statistically significant differences between the level of OC manifestations are registered for normative commitment considering the “hotel chain”, respondents’ “educational level”, and “hotel chain belonging” variables and also for affective and normative commitment considering the “hotel location” variable. Even though we found support for these differences only for some of the independent variable, we could still draw some guidelines for hotel managers
Brand Image as a Function of Self-Image and Self-Brand Connection
Get PDFThis study investigates how brand image relates to self-image and how brand consumption contributes to the construction of self. Most of the research on brand image refers to brand attitudes. Day (1970) considers attitudes "a central integrating feature” in marketing theory and advertising evaluation. Gardner (1985, p.197) studied differences in brand attitudes as they relate to advertisements, finding attitude toward an advertisement affects attitude toward the advertised brand as much under a brand evaluation set as under a non-brand evaluation set. The present study goes beyond Gardner's research to show why such attitudes exist as they relate to brand consumption and self-image. Erickson and Johansson (1985) also investigated product evaluations, with an analysis of surveyed beliefs, attitudes, and intentions regarding fashion brands. They concluded that price is not a significant determinant of overall attitude. This study inquires whether brand attitudes and beliefs correlate with purchase behavior in the form of self-brand connection
Brand Positioning. An Analyze of the Romanian Chocolate Bars Market from Youngsters` Perspective
No full textPositioning is a very important component of the marketing strategy. Positioning has an impact on the entire marketing mix and is crucial for differentiating a brand from competition and gaining competitive advantage. The evaluation of the consumer's perceptions about the positioning of the existing brands in a category is a must in order to design an effective brand positioning or repositioning strategy. This paper assesses youngsters’s perceptions about the positioning of the chocolate bar brands existing in Romania through perceptual mapping. The results of the study show that the attributes by which youngsters assess chocolate bar brands can be grouped into the following categories: quality, taste and content, physical effects, price and appearance. Therefore, perceptual mapping is a useful technique in analysing a brand positioning strategy, but also in generating a brand repositioning strategy. Keywords: Positioning strategy, brand, perceptual mapping, positioning process, chocolate bars, youngsters
Consumer’s Participation on Brand Pages on Facebook
Get PDF The focus of this study is to analyze consumer’s participation and communication in the online brand communities on Facebook. This type of brand community represents a subgroup of virtual communities, which is known as communities of consumption or fan clubs (Kozinets 1999, Szmigin et al. 2005). Understanding consumer relationships in such communities is important for the success of both the brand and the community. The aim of our study is to investigate how and in what sense consumers participate and communicate with one another via online brand communities, so as to explore the nature of the consumer’s participation on brand pages on Facebook. Also, we aim to investigate the importance of the Facebook fan page as a tool for a company’s business strategy. n order to investigate all these different aspects, a quantitative audience research was conducted, using a structured questionnaire
Making Sense of Crisis: Cognitive Barriers of Learning in Critical Situations
Get PDFThis paper explores the role of cognitive issues in learning from crisis situations, in particular the managers’ mental representations of crisis and the relationship of these “maps” with the learning process through “sense-making”, as well as the possible cognitive barriers that might prevent the process of learning from crisis and thus allow the incubation of crises to develop in the company. Reviewing secondary data from the current literature, the paper focuses on the complexity of human “sense-making” and understanding the phenomena of crisis and the meaning people assign to it. Considerable attention and analysis has been done in order to assess the manner in which organizations can effectively learn to prevent crisis situations, addressing the theoretical frameworks that analyse the barriers that might occur in the learning from crisis process at an individual and group level, pointing out the need of recognition and sense-making that sometimes the current state of knowledge is not well. The paper argues that the effective organizational learning from crises requires changes in the core beliefs, values and assumptions of organizational members, which translate into sustained behavioural changes and that these changes are possible through intense cognitive processes, in particular through the way managers make sense of crisis situations. Keywords: crisis, learning, cognitive barriers, sense-making, managers, literature revie
Generation Y Students: Using Facebook for Communicating with University Staff and Professors
Get PDFAs the ICT develops, universities have to learn how to reshape their communication practices and views on learning environments. Today’s students, members of the Y Generation, are digitally natives who wish to, desire and might benefit from the use of Social Network Sites (SNS) communication with their teachers and College administrative staff.The main objective of this paper is to present a manner of using Facebook for faculties in order to better communicate with students. Thus our research is based upon previous examples from academic literature and upon a pilot study conducted online, using a self-administrated questionnaire applied on students from the College of Communication and Public Relations at the National School of Political Science and Public Administration in Bucharest. Based on their answers, this article proposes some recommendations for using Facebook for university staff and professors. Keywords: communication, educational management, digitally native, Facebook, university, Y Generatio