Browsing: 2017, Vol. 26, Issue 2, December

Introduction. Romania has been looking for answers for many years on reducing youth unemployment. The methods by which public actors have proposed to implement policies in this area have not been successful. An overcoming of them and a decisive change of them is useful today and it is also required for the economic and social future of this country.

Aim of the study. Entrepreneurship in Romania could be one of the answers sought by public actors at the national level, but it must be fully aware of the important elements of this, the necessary resources and a real analysis of them, but first of all, an analysis of the target group directly involved. How could Romania do these things? By imposing and observing conditions at national level, but also through a visible transition on the development of various programs of entrepreneurship in Romania.
Keywords: entrepreneurship, youth unemployment, public policies

Introduction. Without a comprehensive and generally accepted definition, but with a long history, the innovation concept is used, in different approach, for almost all areas of live. It has been, and continues to be an important topic of study in all spheres of science and a term often used by policymakers, practitioners and academics from various fields. The “need for innovation” appears in all spheres of science, new innovation theories continue to develop, and a tendency to shift the innovation models from macro-level to organization (firm) level is manifested.

Aim of the study. The paper offers, from the autopoietic system theory perspective, a new vision of the innovation concept, which can be interpreted as similar, but not equal, with the survival knowledge process. We propose a new approach of the concept of innovation as knowlegde, both for new possibilities of evolution of the organisation, as well as for new, yet inactive, perturbation in enviroment and internal organisation (structure). Moreover, the more knowlegde is embeded in the organisation, about the enviroment and internal structure, the numer of possibilities is reduced (even if the reduction is from a high number of infinities to a lower numer of infinities).
Keywords: innovation, autopoietic system theory, creativity, knowledge, system view of creativity
JEL Classification: A10, O00, O30

Introduction. Social policies have a special role in economy as they support the population, especially that part of the population experiencing a decrease in working capacity. Social services have a major role in social policies, whose domains of reference are: social security, housing, health, education, unemployment, etc. They do not only analyse society and its problems (inequality, poverty, discrimination, unemployment), but solve the respective issues by specific means including decisions and actions to increase welfare.

Aim of the study. When designing social policies, one must also consider the architecture of the structures implementing the programs through which this wealth is generated. Account should be taken of the fact that international studies show that people around the world are concerned about a number of serious demographic issues such as the steadily declining birth rate and the fast growth of the average age of population. Thus, the population of an increasing number of states is reduced, but at the same time we are witnessing a global aging phenomenon. These trends became visible decades ago; however, population aging has been having a negative impact in recent years. Throughout the world, states have reformed or reconfigured their public pension system, mainly by introducing private savings schemes for retirement. The causes are generally the same: the population ages, the periods of pension payments increase, the number of social security contributions decreases, public pension no longer provide a reasonable rate of replacement of the income from the active period, and the public pension systems are no longer enough for the payment of pensions.
Keywords: pension funds, prudential supervision, economic crisis

Introduction. Nowadays, the informal economy can no longer be seen as a temporary, atypical and a marginal phenomenon, and besides, it has more than a fixed character in countries where incomes and assets are not distributed correctly. The informal economy will not experience a decline, if the economic development is not followed by an improvement at the level of employment and if income will remain at the same level. Informal economy cannot be measured accurately. Besides, without the certainty of success, trying to measure it would entail huge costs of information and creation of specific data bases. However, the opinion that the highest relevance cannot be given by the size, but by the dynamics of the informal economy, by its structure and the behavioral archetypes of the economic actors involved, it is widely accepted (the individual offering the job, the firm, the government).

Aim of the study. This paper tries to accurately present all the dangers and the consequences of an informal economy
Keywords: informal economy, economic actors, tax evasion, ghost companies, underground economy, black work market, clandestine labour.
JEL Classification: A1, B4, D00, E2, E26, H26, J21.

Introduction. For any country, a productive workforce is an important factor of economic growth, and Foreign Direct Investment increase the influence of this factor by accelerating growth, due to capital flow that is directed by foreign investors towards the host economy. For developing countries to fulfill their target of exceeding their own economic condition, it is necessary to first find solutions to streamline the human resource management. Secondly, if the training of the workforce is made according to functional strategies directed towards attracting Foreign Direct Investment, the chances of economic development grow exponentially.

Aim of the study. The aim of this paper is to determine the importance of the workforce training and improvement system and to establish the general lines through which this system can be improved in order to attract the attention of investors that can bring in foreign capital.
Keywords: labor management, workforce, foreign direct investment, training, improvement, higher education
JEL Classification: I25, M54, F21, F23.

Introduction. Rules, methods and procedures are highly important and result in successful innovation. A good manager has to understand very well the tight relationship that exists between factors that facilitate the entrepreneurial innovation process and factors that control it – i.e. operations control mechanism.

Aim of the study. In many cases corporate entrepreneurs see the operations control as antithetical to their tasks. The main and most difficult goal is to achieve balance –aurea mediocritas- : balanced “Direction” approach; balanced “Space” approach; balanced “Boundaries” approach; balanced “Support” approach. Getting this balance right is the feature of effective corporate entrepreneurship, where all the abovementioned elements have to be seen as part of an integrated system.
Keywords: corporate entrepreneurship, operations control mechanism, innovation

Introduction. The manager is the key element in the process of information analysis inside a firm, especially because this process is used to make vast decisions, from strategic decisions to the most detailed tactical movements. It is a process that can reach all company’s departments and make them more efficient. The process’ success and its completion in order to create intelligence depends, first of all, on the manager’s ability to carry out the five competitive intelligence process activities and to act accordingly at each stage. Also, the manager’s response speed can make the difference between the success of an action to capitalize on the results of information analysis and its failure.

Aim of the study. Therefore, the paper will emphasize the importance of management functions and, especially, their particularities regarding the information analysis process and the competitive intelligence cycle. In the end, those particularities might be more important than the process itself, since the quality of the result depend drastically on the way tasks are distributed and managed. Last but not least, the manager should be able to make the distinction between regular activities and the ones defining the competitive intelligence process, in order to reach to desired objectives in an efficient manner.
Keywords: information analysis, intelligence, management functions, competitive intelligence process, competitiveness
JEL Clasification: D83, M11, M15

Introduction. In recent years, based on previous experience of the European Union to stimulate innovation at national and regional level there has been a paradigm shift in thinking about innovation in the creation of the concept of smart specialization. Smart specializations, taking into account the specificities and traditions of the regions have become a means to improve innovation and the competitive position of the European Union. In Poland, the regions introduce the concept of smart specialization in their innovation strategy. In the case of the Silesian Province for the most intelligent specializations were: energy, medicine and information and communication technologies. In these areas in the coming years should be focused stimulant level of innovation in the region, which gives a chance for faster development of the entire region.

Aim of the study. The paper presents the concept of smart specialization on the example of the Silesian province. Starting from the origins of the use of the concept of smart specialization in the European Union, shows the definition of the concept, the use of the concept in the development of regions and presented that specializations are considered smart for the Silesian province.
Keywords: smart specialization, innovation, production, technology, knowledge-based economy
JEL Classification: M14, M42, M48

Introduction. Europe is facing a growing demand for energy, with volatile prices and with serious disruptions in the energy supply. In 2014, the EU’s energy dependency was 53.4%, which meant that the EU bloc had to import more than half of the energy it consumed. To address these issues, a clear European energy strategy is needed, that is why the European Union has adopted a Democratic or participatory way of leadership.

Aim of the study. Leadership is a complex and dynamic process that has been defined in many different ways. Leadership has been described as autocratic, democratic, situational, transformational, and free rein. Democratic or participatory leadership style involves consultation with group members on actions and decisions, and encourages and rewards involvement in the process. These leaders make decisions and set goals with the approval and full participation of the members. That is why today Europe has common rules and Member States put their efforts together to access sufficient energy at affordable prices, keeping pollution to a minimum.
Keywords: European Union policy, energy dependence, leadership, energy strategy, interconnection, energy security, energy market, affordable electricity prices.
JEL Classification: F15, F21, F42, F5, F6, L11, Q4

Leadership in companies without managers

The evolution of cutting-edge technology has imposed another type of organization behaviour in relation to market stringencies. The dynamics of the company leads to the emergence of another type of management that requires the replacement of the manager with a group of decision-makers whose roles change, being influenced by the moment of the company. Thus, trust becomes a defining element of the team without a manager because it means both assuming and respecting at the same time the skills of the others. The network becomes an essential element in the decision-making process, but also in the communication thereof at the organizational level. The design of an organization changes dramatically and innovation and creativity become the decisive competencies of the decision-making processes.