Browsing: 2016

Introduction. Currently, the small and medium enterprises sector is a factor of sustainable development, with a significant contribution to GDP creation and providing jobs in most economies. Economic strategies and policies in the European Union, USA and Japan lay major emphasis on encouraging entrepreneurship and the development of the small and medium enterprises sector as a balancing factor at micro- and macroeconomic level.

Aim of the study. The paper approaches important issues on the small and medium enterprises sector as a vector of economic development in the contemporary period. It presents the SMEs delimitation criteria in the microeconomic landscape used in the European Union, USA and Japan. It also highlights the preoccupations manifested at European and world level in terms of promoting entrepreneurship activities, materialized in organizing summits and major events dedicated to small and medium enterprises, as well as in the operationalization of funding programs for them. The last part of this paper reflects issues related to the support SMEs receive at institutional level, emphasizing areas of assistance, support programs and services that various institutions and bodies offer to develop the small and medium sector.
Keywords: SMEs, defining criteria, financial support, institutional support, programs, areas of assistance.
JEL Classification: L25, L26, M10, M21, O10.

Introduction. The political, economical and social transformations that human society has known throughout its existence had as a basis the settlement of a wide range of relationships and interconnections among the different communities, populations, cultures and state formations, synthesizing gradually but surely the currently phenomenon that they called globalization. As part of globalization, financial globalization is highlighted by two main elements: the free movement of capital flows and the foreign participation in the share capital within the financial system at national level.

Aim of the study. This paper aims to highlight that throughout its entire evolutionary process, financial globalization has brought some significant challenges for monetary policy that requires an investigation of the multiple macroeconomic issues involved and that are crucial in ensuring and maintaining price stability. Global financial and economic crisis in the years 2007-2010 was impact of a “tsunami” – as expressed Frederic Mishkin, a phenomenon that has not only damaged and endangered the economic environment globally, but also brought a series of challenges science rethink its monetary policy purposes.
Keywords: monetary policy, financial globalization, agents of financial globalization, financial crises, floating exchange rate regimes, foreign capital flows
JEL Classification: E31, E52, E58, F36, F62, F65

Introduction. The purpose of lifelong learning is to develop the required competencies in order to be permanently adapted and fitted in a continuous changing world. If learners acquire new competencies, they will be able to live more productively and have a better understanding of their own needs and how to better adapt to changes. After attending the training and some barriers are overcome, some learners encounter some changes which refer to a shift in mind and attitude changes, which increase their quality of work and social relationships. Some practical evidence is presented from the report “Implementarea Programului Învățare pe Tot Parcursul Vieții în Anul 2012” from Romania with respect to how some barriers were identified and overcome. Descriptive statistics is presented in a table of data for Romania that refers to persons aged 25 to 64 for the years 2010-2015 who stated that they received education or training in the four weeks preceding the survey.

Aim of the study. The aim of this article is to explore some of the barriers which adult learners ecounter and how to overcome them in the approach of lifelong learning. The literature usually recognizes two types of barriers to adult learning: external or situational and internal or dispositional. When facing internal and external barriers, students are not able to continue their learning. This article explores some reasons which they encounter in reaching their target of learning.
Keywords: lifelong learning, adult learning, barriers to education, education, motivation.
JEL Classification: D83, I21, P36

Introduction. The knowledge economy model is marked by investment in research, development, innovation and human capital which is the key drivers of modern economy for increasing returns. The allocation of resources in human capital brings performance and benefits to companies investing in their employees. Moreover, in present, once with the globalization and economic crisis, the world economy is crossing through powerful changes and challenges.

Aim of the study. The paper aims to highlight the role of human capital in the new organizational management strategies focused on achieving a high level of competitiveness, innovation and development through management and leadership strategies.
Keywords: human capital, management, development, competitiveness, investment, organization
JEL Classification: J24, O15

Management and „virtual reality”

When we talk about the configuration of forthcoming times, it is impossible to ignore the tight connection existing between the organisational management and the development of the future economies. The economic growth imposes qualitative, quantitative as well structural related changes, but the multidisciplinary feature of management makes us see reality from the perspective of eco-management, as the survival dimensions seem to be directly dependent on the balancing of the value generating activities with the value destroying activities.

Introduction. Although, it is widely used, there is no consensus among researchers in defining the concept of sustainability The various scientific debates available in the literature consider that the concept of sustainability should be approached in an integrated manner, which involves the maintenance and the improvement of the welfare at the economic, environmental and social level, taking into account both the importance of the processes and the output of the system.

Aim of the study. The paper aims to clarify the concept of sustainability through an examination of different opinions and controversies existing in the literature regarding this concept. Also, the paper presents the concept of sustainability analyzed from the perspective of system and proposes a definition of sustainability by exposing the sufficient logical conditions for a system to be qualified as a sustainable system. Are analyzed concepts such as: logically vivid system, autopoiesis, weak sustainability, strong sustainability, sustainable development.
Keywords: system, sustainability, sustainable development, logical conditions
JEL Classification: A10, O17, P00

Introduction. The macro environment refers to that side of the external environment that has the capacity to influence the companies’ activity, while acting indirectly through their microenvironment. Additionally, the macro environment’s influence can be remarked especially on a long-term perspective, being sometimes weak and somewhat uncontrollable. In this regard, some examples can be offered, such as: the unexpected activity of the volcanoes (especially after being “asleep” for a longer period of time or even after declared “inactive”); the unexpected devastating and destructive natural phenomena, such as, typhoons, hurricanes, tornados, or even floods;the unpredicted droughts; and economic phenomenon having the capacity of spreading world-wide a high and unexpected pace, such as the global financial crises.

Aim of the study. This paper focuses on the companies’ economic, social and research – development – innovation potential in terms of the macro environment. Moreover, the study takes into considerations the nowadays key elements, perspectives and challenges concerning this subject. Furthermore, this approach is a theoretical one, chosen due to the necessity of presenting the essential macro environment’s elements influencing and affecting the companies’ economic, social, cultural, technical, political and legal evolution in the marketplace, while taking into consideration elements such as competitiveness, open market, consumers’ behaviour, needs, wishes and desires, infrastructure and research – development – innovation potential. The first part of the paper focuses upon the main characteristics of the key components of the macro environment, such as, the economic, socio-cultural, technologic, demographic, natural, political and legal elements. The second part of the scientific study tackles the aspects related to the companies’ potential, in terms of their economic, social and research – development – innovation perspectives. The conclusions, limitations as well as future implications section presents the basic ideas that result from this study, as well as the elements that could be improved or even further addressed into the near future.
Keywords: macro environment; companies; economic, socio-cultural, technical, natural, demographic, political and legal elements, research – development – innovation potential, Gross Domestic Product (G.D.P.), infrastructure, financial and monetary factors, economic perspectives and challenges.

Introduction. The study acknowledges business environment’s role in the context of economic integration and points out to a few correlation that exist at present in the marketplace: competition, globalization, economic growth and sustainable development.

Aim of the study. This paper is focused on presenting: business environment’s role in the context of economic integration, in correlation with competition, globalization, economic growth and sustainable development, the economic integration and the role of the European Union at an international level, Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and sustainable development and Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) future with predictions and perspectives for 2020 and 2030.
Keywords: Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Business Environment, Economic Integration, competition, globalization, economic growth, sustainable development

Introduction. If we wake up in the morning or we are walking on the street, we will see that everyone use gadgets and all sort of technology in order to be up-to-date with news or to tellsomeone else about them. We are all using all sort of applications and social media portals to be connected to our friends.

Aim of the study. The main purpose of the paper is to illustrate the importance of the new neural networks improvements for artificial intelligence, in the help of building new ways of management of employees and new ways of marketing strategies. Artificial Intelligence helps understand the need of the customer and to deliver what he really wants. Facebook Graph is a search tool that can be used also by company’s employees to improve their strategies of personnel and marketing.
Keywords: facebook graph, artificial intelligence, new ways of search engines, search engines AI