Author: Radu Herman

Pages: 60-68 Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the business environment, respectively the national income decreased significantly, many companies closed activity, many employees were laid off, orders fell, companies registered a deficit in cash flow, lack of supply with materials, decreased demand and cancellation of contracts. Companies have reacted differently to the COVID-19 pandemic by shutting down, making bank loans, dismissing employees, reducing employees’ salaries, temporarily or completely closing the activity. Aim of the study. The paper aims to make a radiography of the main problems encountered by companies during the COVID-19 pandemic and the short-term reactions…

 Pages: 16-36Introduction. Sustainable management in the field of sustainable cities is extremely important because cities continue to grow at an extremely high global rate. Cities are very important to the world economy, because more than most people live in urban areas.Aim of the study. The research conducted in this paper aims to show the impact of sustainable cities and the importance of their development in the world economy, given their many benefits – environmental, social and cultural. Authorities also need to take appropriate economic policy measures to improve all urban sectors, depending on local specificities and development needs. The methods…

Introduction. The economics scholars agree that investment in education is a competitive advantage. After participating and graduating the “Advanced Summer School in Analyzing Market Data 2013”, the students will gain some formal competences is applied knowledge in Statistics with the IBM SPSS Statistics software. Studies show that the employers seek also practical competences in the undergraduate students, along with the theoretical knowledge.

Aim of the study. The article focuses on a SWOT analysis for organizing a Summer School in order to compose lists of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The purpose of the “Advanced Summer School in Analyzing Market Data 2013“ is to train undergraduate students from social-human sciences to gain competences which are valued in the market and a certificate for attendance, to develop an appropriate training program which combines applied knowledge, statistics and IBM SPSS software and to create a „Summer School quality brand” with high-quality training programs for the Faculty of Administration and Business.
Keywords: SWOT, Summer School, Competences, Education, Knowledge.
JEL Classification: I21, M53, M10

Introduction. An appreciated manager coordinates efficiently the team and both his abilities to be a leader and assume his decisions is crucial for the success of the project. In the empirical study “O nouă abordare asupra învățării practice” several conclusions show that some leadership problems were related to the prioritization of the objectives, an efficient coordination of the members by the leaders, fear in assuming the leadership, not defending the leadership position and tension within the group when facing competition. As a leader, a certain state of mind is required to solve a long-term goal, to have a consistent behavior and adapt a certain leadership style to motivate in a specific situation the members of a team. In an emotional intelligence approach, controlling the afflictions of the mind means reducing the barriers towards being “able to” manifest a leadership style.

Aim of the study. The aim of this article is to argue that the quest of developing leadership skills can become useless when the leader fells into an inappropriate state of mind.
Keywords: emotional intelligence, leadership, afflictions of mind, leadership styles, creativity.
JEL Classification: J50, M12, M54

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. In the specialized literature the concept of self-directed learning is linked with personality traits, learning environment or learning process. In the literature we find that there is a correlation between self-directed learning and some personal traits from the “Big Five” model of personality, including extraversion, agreeableness, openness and conscientiousness. Self-directed learning is also influenced by the learning environment, which consists of teaching environment, learning environment, technology and administrative support. In a “traditional” learning environment, the teacher defines the learning goals, delivers the knowledge and evaluates the student’s ability to memorize the specific delivered knowledge. The student’s learning needs are rather seen homogeneous than heterogeneous. In a self-directed learning environment, the student takes the initiative, defines his own strategies of learning specific goals and evaluates his evolution in pursuing a certain learning goal. Seen as a process, the self-directed learning can be structured in certain steps like: defining the steps of learning from easy to difficult; establishing an own calendar of learning; evaluating his own learning progress etc.

Aim of the study. The aim of this article is to understand the concept of self-directed learning and to explore how to use self-directed learning in an educational environment, in order to find the appropriate qualitative and/or quantitative methodology to study the self-directed learning concept.
Keywords: self-directed learning, personality traits, communication skills, economic education, motivation.
JEL Classification: D83, I21, P36

Introduction. Currently, the industry is a very important economic branch because the industrial products have a high share in the total final and intermediate consumption. Apart from the positive effects on the global consumption, the industrial activities have some negative economic and social effects and also on the environment. The sustainable management in industry should increase efficiency and reduce waste, should find new production methods so that the economic growth can be made with fewer natural resources, fewer materials – especially the rare ones, with less energy consumption from traditional resources and with more efficient technologies, with less negative effects on the human health and on the environment.

Aim of the study. The transition to a greener industry is an important issue for all the national economies and it is very important to adapt the legislation to the new trends and standards, to adopt new payment schemes, grants and green funds schemes, so as to encourage the industrial enterprises to increase the efficiency of the total resources consumption, to make the transition to greener activities, to use more green capital inputs, to produce more green products, to increase the collaboration with the public and the private sector.
Keywords: sustainable management, metallurgy, steel industry, industrial policies, energy consumption, greenhouse gases.
JEL Classification: A12, D24, D62, F18, L52, L61, L72, M21, O10, Q25, Q42, Q52, Q57

Introduction. The public resources that are invested in R&D have the purpose to stimulate the public-private partnerships, to foster innovations and to create a pool of knowledge and spill-overs to the targeted regions. The regions from the states from European Union need to apply RIS3 strategies for investments in R&D and innovation due to pre-existing conditions to access funds from European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The European Commission launched an on-line Smart Specialization Platform (S3platform) to assist the members to develop, implement and compare smart specialization strategies and to offer data for national and regional authorities to identify the specific activities with high-added value to improve the regional competitiveness. Some indicators are presented to show the Romanian efforts for R&D and private innovation capabilities, the pre-identified potential for smart specialisation within the regions and some current evidence available on the S3platform.

Aim of the study. The aim of this article is to study the concept of Smart Specialization and to explore some evidences of how it is implemented in the regions from Romania. The concept refers to investments in knowledge activities and not in sectors. There are defined specific policy objectives that will have a specific impact in scientific and economic domains.
Keywords: smart specialization, research&development, innovation, regional development
JEL Classification: L52, O38, R11

Introduction. The multiplication and diversification of the waste resulting from economic activities can be explained by the development of the society, which implies the waste as secondary effect. Apart from the positive effects on the global consumption, the economic activities have also negative effects on the humans and environment due to the waste generation. The sustainable management in the waste sector should increase the efficiency in the resources use and prevent waste generation, should find new production methods and new eco-designed products, so that the economic growth can be made with fewer natural resources and materials, with less energy consumption.

Aim of the study. The transition to a greener waste sector is an important issue for all the national economies and it suppose reducing and preventing waste generation, improving waste recycling and qualitative valorization, reducing the environmental impact of the waste, improving the existing national and international databases, encouraging green investments and a closer and a better collaboration between the local public administration authorities, the companies and the population and also between economic subjects from different countries.
Keywords: sustainable management, e-waste, municipal solid waste, recycle, reuse, remanufacturing.
JEL Classification: A13, D12, D18, D62, E61, F42, I15, O21, O25, O33

Introduction. The sustainable management it is very important, especially nowadays, when progress made as a result of the recent industrial revolutions allow to change the vision and the economic behavior in order to increase the economic efficiency. The sustainable management in the field of the buildings is particularly important because buildings have a major contribution to the greenhouse gas emissions, to the solid municipal caves and to the water consumption and also because the individuals spend a great part of their time indoors.

Aim of the study. In recent years, we can observe a worldwide preference for the green buildings, both for new buildings and for converted traditional old buildings, demonstrated by the numerous regulations in financial and legislation fields and thanks to the advantages that they bring to the inhabitants, to the owners, to the developers and entrepreneurs and to the State. Thanks to the last Industrial Revolutions, we are allow to use new equipment and products inside buildings, to transform their appearance or shape, their utility and their functionality, so they are more environmentally friendly and healthier.
Keywords: sustainable management, green building, energy consumption, modern materials, certification.
JEL Classification: A13, D19, D24, E29, E61, E62, F35, H 21, H 22, I15, I38, O12, O15, O16