Author: Camelia Cojocaru

Introduction. IThe concept of leadership is extremely complex and very often, there is a confusion between leadership and management. Although people are using these words interchangeably, they play very different, but still essential, roles.

Aim of the study. This paper aims to present a case study regarding an implementation project in banking back-office activities, in order to prove the importance of managing correct the back-office resources, but in the same time the need for a vision that would lead the people toward the scope of a project. The paper describes the existence of a relationship between leadership and operational excellence, also.

Keywords: back office, productivity, leadership, management, operational improvements
JEL Classification: J24

Introduction. IT&C companies need to adapt themselves to an environment featuring a high level of competition. Innovation stays as the main vector of the domain, while the renewal rate of new technologies grows in speed (there are cases where new technologies emerge and replace the older ones in months). With this series of research we aim to analyse several local or global companies within the IT&C field, as well as the importance of leadership for their development.

Aim of the study. This first article will focus on leadership within a company called Research In Motion – RIM (currently named BlackBerry) and on the main problems that have arisen within the company after the organisation was left without support from the leaders that created its worldwide brand.
Keywords: information technology, productivity, leadership, management, operational improvements
JEL Classification: J24

Introduction. The mobile device market proved one of the most dynamic, with the leader in intelligent phones changing at least four times during the last decade. At least one important acquisition was registered during 2013 (when Microsoft bought Nokia’s mobile phone division) and this event is slated to induce major shifts within the structure of this market.

Aim of the study. With this story we aim to provide information related to trends foreseen for this market.
Keywords: mobility, Nokia, Microsoft, Blackberry, mobile devices
JEL Classification: M29

Introduction. Established in 1911, IBM is an example of leadership in technology. IBM has been linked since the beginning of computing, being the company that invented the tabs (forerunner of the current computer). In 2012, IBM ranked No. 2 in the U.S. in terms of number of employees (435,000 worldwide, 100,000 in the United States). IT vertical market is characterized by a very important contribution to innovation and, therefore, the rankings are very dynamic field. IBM was able to create a value system in the organization and also a leadership system, thus managing to retain its leading position in the market.

Aim of the study. This paper highlights the most important moments in the IBM history.
Keywords: IBM, technology, leadership

Introduction. In 1979, Sony launched a portable Walkman range. For nearly a quarter of century, the Sony Walkman was the undisputed market leader and Sony was considered a top innovative company. Then, in 2001, Apple decided to launch the iPod, a new portable player. About 80% of the iPod technical components (e.g. memory, storage media) were produced by various companies within the Sony group. In 2004, iPod sales overtake Sony Walkman globally and become the new market leader in portable players. How was this possible? Theoretically, Sony held all conditions for launching the new generation of portable players, but instead, a new company – Apple – completely changed the market.

Aim of the study. This paper underline that innovation could appear in any company, not necessary the one that has all the prerequisites to provide a new innovation. Two very different firms, Sony and Apple Computer, are used as case study illustrations.
Keywords: Apple, Sony, technology, leadership, innovation

Introduction.The medical field is one of the most dynamic in Romania, regarding the adoption of IT. Dynamics is determined by two main factors. The first is related to the development of private health care market, and the second the benefits of using new technologies in medical processes. Telemedicine and advanced medical techniques are driven by new technologies. This paper aims to analyse the use of technology interoperability standards between applications and devices in medical institutions from Romania. Adoption of standards such as HL7 (Health Level 7), XML (eXtended Markup Language) and SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) can increase the quality of medical processes in Romania and can help reduce the cost of medical processes.

Aim of the study. In the article present a brief study on the use of new technologies in SMURD (Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication). SMURD implementation is a clear proof of how technology could bring leadership in medical care.
Keywords: HL7, XML SOA, interoperability, system integration, web services
JEL Classification: O33

Introduction. The Single Euro Payments Area is a payment-integration project of the European Union. SEPA is aiming to create an integrated euro payments market and to harmonize the national and crossborder euro payment systems, making cross-border transactions as simple and cheap as national ones. The SEPA regulations is aiming to increase harmonization, through using of common payments formats and computer languages.

Aim of the study. The goal of using a common standard in the industry in order to facilitate interoperability among systems and infrastructures, will be more and more important. In this view, standardizing messages across institutions and companies has never been more important. The ISO 20022 provides interoperability and consistency to a highly complex industry, thereby reducing the risk of errors and speeding up processes.
Keywords: SEPA, payments, ISO 20022, infrastructure, interoperability.