Author: Sorin-George Toma

Introduction. In the age of uncertainty change represents one of the most important challenges for all types of organizations. Changeability constitutes today a key competitiveness factor for any company.

Aim of the study. The aim of our paper is to show that strategy and change are two related concepts in the business literature. The methodological approach is literature review. As companies around the world are facing hyper-competition in all industries and markets, they often initiate strategic changes in order to improve their competitiveness.
Keywords: strategy, change, strategic change, company, competitiveness
JEL Classification: L1, M1

Introduction. From the perspective of leadership change symbolizes the existence of the organization. Most assuredly, this is not a matter of change at all costs, but rather of increasing organizational performance and training people. As leadership is a creative activity, in this paper, we aim to show that the unconventional is closely connected to creativity.

Aim of the study. From the perspective of interpersonal relationships the leader has to continually create contexts in which people can express themselves. On the one hand, the success of leaders is contingent on the moment the development of their personal career starts. On the other hand, the team is thus given the opportunity to develop. In order for people in an organization to acknowledge a leader’s point of view, it is essential that the latter be compelling. From our point of view, most unconventional leaders possess an informal educational component which allows them to reveal their true potential without any constraints. When we talk about potential we have the native constituent in mind, whence we can adduce a few terms that define realities such as: multiple intelligence, emotional intelligence, social intelligence, adaptive intelligence, spiritual intelligence. The examples that we share in this paper, regarding the development of projects and organizational systems, state the ways in which unconventional leadership can occur. The unconventional leader will be ingenious, innovative, creative, charismatic, a finalizer and an example in the eyes of the team.
Keywords: unconventional, creativity, leadership, innovation, network.
JEL classification: M100

Introduction. The making of footwear, one of the most ancient crafts, has a long history. The manufacturing of shoes represented a handicraft activity until the mid-nineteen century. In the late 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s, the footwear industry adopted the factory system and became increasingly mechanized. One of the most important footwear companies has been the Bata Company. Its economic success was based on the well-known Bata Management System that constituted the subject of a wide range of discussions and debates in the business literature.

Aim of the study. The aim of our paper is to render in brief the BMS. The methodological approach is literature review. Our paper has shown that BMS represents an effective and efficient management system that includes solid business principles.
Keywords: Bata, management system, footwear industry, company, business
JEL Classification: M1

Introduction. Comparative management studies (parochial, ethnocentric, polycentric comparative, geocentric) allow us to define the scope of investigation starting from specific cultures, the similarities and differences between various cultures, from investigating multinational corporations, thus establishing the meaning of the evolution of management in the globalization era.

Aim of the study. Through this analysis we intend to briefly present some of the common elements of management in each country and, at the same time, to point out some of the notable differences. Within our analysis, we consider some peculiarities of the specific management models of enterprises in the United States, Germany, Great Britain, France and Spain. In this regard, we shall use, inter alia, Geert Hofstede’s model regarding the cultural dimensions in management (individualism / collectivism, certainty / uncertainty, masculinity / femininity, high power distance / low power distance).
Keywords: management, result, effect, individual, global, managerial culture

Introduction. The process of explaining the political factors will never be able to replace the realities and that is the reason why we propose to have, on an European level, an analysis of the way in which the economic discrepancies deepen the educational ones thus creating a spiral of disparities within all areas. It is obvious that we cannot only conclude that certain policies have been bankrupt, but to seek and find solutions for the future. The demographic deficit in the Eastern European countries has created even bigger problems in the educational field favouring the emergence of some problems in pension systems also, but in the systems of distributing the revenues as well.

Aim of the study. In this article we intend to do a review of the main issues faced by the higher education in Eastern Europe, the causes which generate these problems, but also the economic, social, political and cultural effects on the level of those countries, but also on international level.
Keywords: flow of human resources, selection, business environment, motivation, personal, performance management, discrepancy.

Introduction. Leadership has become a major topic in various domains such as sociology, political science, psychology, history, management or business for several decades and has spawned a huge number of empirical and conceptual researches. Today’s challenging and turbulent times require more than ever authentic and strong leaders both at the micro and macro level.

Aim of the study. The aims of the paper are to briefly define the concepts of leadership and leader, and to present the case of Carlos Ghosn, the chairman and chief executive officer of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Since the beginning of his professional career, Ghosn has proved to be a leader par excellence. Our research is based on a literature review.
Keywords: leader, leadership, Carlos Ghosn, Renault-Nissan Alliance
JEL Classification: M10

Introduction. Talent management could be defined currently as ,,all the systems and processes that enable a company to attract, develop and retain employees with highly qualified” but given different interpretations we observe that ,,talent management” has a different meaning for each company. Some organizations aim to manage talent throughout the company, while others are just managing employees with high potential.

Aim of the study. This paper aims to highlight that talent management is applied differently from one organization to another depending on the type and stage of development where they are. Approaches to this subject differ so greatly from one company to another, that a process for some is “nice to have”, and for others it is a process having a significant impact in business. Yet top companies have created worldwide selection networks through which talented peopleare recruited to be hired within such (Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, etc.). The budgets meant for identifying people with high potential are especially generous and therefore these companies have long-term collaboration with universities in various countries. It is true that talented people have a few areas in wich they excel and companies need to support them to develop these skills/competencies but at the same time, they have to ,,cultivate’’ also their social skills in order to integrate into organization and thus to help them but also the organization to develop harmoniously and be permanently competitive.
Keywords: Talent, organization
JEL Classification: M11, M12, M14, M54

Introduction. Management has become a subject of major interest in different domains such as political science, history, psychology, sociology or business for centuries and led to numerous researches. As a concept, science, discipline, philosophy and practice, management aims at achieving both efficiency and effectiveness. To survive and prosper in today’s highly competitive business world companies need to be managed in a creative way.

Aim of the study. The aims of the paper are to define the concepts of management and creativity, and to present the case of Honda, one of the most innovative companies around the world. The research is based on a case study.
Keywords: management, creativity, company, Honda
JEL Classification: M1

Introduction. Intensive learning methods, collecting significant information from case studies generate value and powerful business solutions. Facing avant-garde competitors and the real improvement of internal processes represent the stakes of high-performance companies. Opportunities also mean taking risks that make the difference between conventional solutions and unconventional solutions. In such circumstances, the differences are also achieved by the quality of the evaluation and the selection of team members.

Aim of the study. The paper aims to briefly present the relation between creativity and innovation and the ways in which a modern management can favourably influence the employees’ attitude in various contexts so that they are creative and, at the same time, finishers. We can mark out the fact that the management of a company can design intensive learning methods and facilitate the exchange of ideas in order to increase the speed of innovation in business.
Keywords: Creativity, innovation, management, leadership, competencies, roles

Introduction. The high importance of the entrepreneur’s role in society has been widely recognized by most economists as well as by politicians or decision-makers. The path to entrepreneurial success is not to be found only in books and business reports, but also in the country’s culture, entrepreneurial experiences, entrepreneurs’ characteristics, skills, personalities and behaviors, creativity and work.

Aim of the study. The aims of the paper are to define the concept of successful entrepreneur and to present the case of Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, one of the famous American entrepreneurs. The research is based on a case study. The paper demonstrates that Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook, has succeeded in becoming one of the most successful entrepreneurs worldwide.
Keywords: entrepreneur, Zuckerberg, Facebook, company
JEL Classification: L26