pag. 208	Advancing the Economies through SPA Industry Author: Vandana DESWAL
	Abstract This paper is an attempt to present a clear picture of how spa industry can aid in boosting the economies by promoting tourism and the ways in which it can be made instrumental in drawing tourists from various places to a destination. People have been visiting places famous for their spas since ancient times. They would visit places famous for their healing waters and stay there for days. Romans and Greeks were known for their luxurious baths devoted to relaxation and rejuvenation. Recently, spas are witnessing a revival of interest in them and they are becoming a force to reckon with in the hospitality sector. This research is an attempt to understand the role spas are playing in stimulating tourism of the place. A survey of 200 people was conducted and the responses were taken on a Likert like scale for the purpose of percentage analysis. It was found that Spas and Tourism of a destination have very symbiotic relationship and if harnessed well, spas can substantially add to the tourism of the place. JEL Classification: M19, M29 Keywords: Global Economy, India, Promotion, Spas, Tourism, USA

 

pag. 216	The Objectives of the Organization: A Managerial Approach Authors: Ion VERBONCU, Andrei SERBAN
	Abstract Any methodological scenario has, as a starting point, a certain type of objectives - fundamental, derivatives, specific or individual - and as a final point, obtaining some results at least at the assumed objective level. Everyone talks about objectives, organizations are established and operate to achieve objectives, managers rely on a certain type of benefit by reference to what is obtained in achieving the objectives. Objectives are, unquestionably, one of the most commonly used terms to all organizational levels of the economy and society, but especially at the organization level. Unfortunately, the meaning we give this concept is not always the real. Such a statement can be sustained in the public institutions where objectives intermingle with tasks or resposabilities (and vice versa), generating confusion among managers and execution positions. Approaching objectives, starting with defining and continuing with the foundation, evaluating the results, motivation depending on the degree of the objectives achievement and ending with taking responsibility, is thus not only necessary but also opportune. JEL Classification: M10, M19 Keywords: objectives, objectives typology, management, organizational and managerial change, management tools, evaluation of the results, motivation, responsibility

 

pag. 228	Role of Knowledge Based Communities in Knowledge Process Author: Sebastian Ion CEPTUREANU, Eduard Gabriel CEPTUREANU
	Abstract In the new economy, knowledge is an essential component of economic and social systems. The organizational focus has to be on building knowledge-based management, development of human resource and building intellectual capital capabilities. Knowledge-based management is defined, at company level, by economic processes that emphasize creation, selling, buying, learning, storing, developing, sharing and protection of knowledge as a decisive condition for profit and long-term sustainability of the company. Hence, knowledge is, concurently, according to a majoritiy of specialists, raw material, capital, product and an essential input. Knowledge-based communities are one of the main constituent elements of a framework for knowledge based management. These are peer networks consisting of practitioners within an organization, supporting each other to perform better through the exchange and sharing of knowledge. Some large companies have contributed or supported the establishment of numerous communities of practice, some of which may have several thousand members. They operate in different ways, are of different sizes, have different areas of interest and addresses knowledge at different levels of its maturity. This article examines the role of knowledge-based communities from the perspective of knowledge based management, given that the arrangements for organizational learning, creating, sharing, use of knowledge within organizations become more heterogeneous and take forms more difficult to predict by managers and specialists. JEL Classification: M13, O32, D8 Keywords: knowledge, knowledge based management, knowledge based communities

 

pag. 244	Business Organizations’ Positive Socio-Economic Impact on Society - A Step Beyond CSR Author: Mirela POPA, Irina-Iulia SALANȚĂ
	Abstract In this article the authors argue the necessity of taking a step beyond CSR and tackling the issue of measuring the impact businesses have on society, in general. Even if CSR points out the idea that organizations have responsibilities regarding the well-being of the entire society, it has certain limitations listed in this article. Furthermore, the authors briefly present the socio-economic impact of business organizations including (1) some basic concepts, (2) the most relevant areas/fields for measuring the impact, and (3) the main advantages regarding the development and implementation of effective impact measurement practices. The general purpose of the empirical study refers to the identification of perceptions related to the Romanian business organizations’ socio-economic impact. In this regard, we set the following main objectives: (1) identifying the extent to which Romanian organizations undertake a process of measuring, assessing and managing their impacts on society, (2) analyzing clients, managers and owners’ perceptions regarding the positive impact of seven Romanian organizations’ activities, and (3) identifying the perceptional differences between clients and managers plus owners. The empirical results show that in the managers’ plus owners’ opinions the areas in which the organization’s activities always or almost always have a positive impact are: collecting and paying taxes, keeping a strict control over the costs, and fulfilling government regulations plus obeying laws. The highest differences in clients’ and managers’ plus owners’ perceptions refer to creating jobs and improving people’s personal security and the general well-being of society. JEL Classification:  M14 Keywords: construction field, CSR, SMEs, socio-economic impact, stakeholder

 

pag. 264	The Employee’s Perception of Leadership Style in the Independent Public Institution as National Bank of Romania (NBR) Type Author: Sergiu GEANTĂ, Andreia SCHNEIDER (ISPAS)
	Abstract Leadership style literature in the independent public institution, such as national bank type, is a subject with a high potential for research studies, especially in Romania. As organizational culture, leadership style is considered to be an important element for the public institution performance and work satisfaction of the employees. The aim of this research paper is to identify which leadership style is more common in the employee’s perception of National Bank of Romania (NBR). According to this, as a scientific research method it was used a quantitative method based on a questionnaire. In the period of March-June 2015 it was applied a questionnaire with 23 items on a Likert Scale (20 regarding leadership style and 3 regarding respondent profile) on a total population of 1860 employees. Items measured were used from Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire Version 12 LBDQ XII and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (5X). After analyzing and interpreting the results related to the perception of employees on leadership style to hierarchic direct superior, it can be concluded that leadership styles often identified by employees are authoritarian leadership style and participative leadership style, both with a 82% percentage of totally agree responses. JEL Classification: E58, M10, M19 Keywords: leadership style, independent public institution bank type, National Bank of Romania

 

pag. 271	The Dynamic Character of a Psychological Contract between the Superior and the Employee (According to Empirical Research) Authors: Anna ROGOZIŃSKA-PAWEŁCZYK
	Abstract This article analyses the dynamic character of relationships between superiors and employees in the context of a psychological contract. One of the assumptions is that superiors and employees’ shared understanding of their mutual obligations and expectations underpins the performance of the psychological contract. The article explains the concept of a psychological contract and addresses possible breaches thereto as well as their impact on the shape of relationships between superiors and employees. Information necessary to carry out the analysis was obtained from surveys conducted with 178 representatives of large and medium-sized firms based in Poland and with 800 of their employees. In addition to determining the state and contents of a psychological contract as felt by superiors and employees, the article provides also a description and the rankings of their mutual expectations and obligations related to a psychological contract. The degree of similarity between the opinions of the surveyed superiors and employees on each other’s obligations and expectations was assessed with a specially constructed index (an opinion coincidence index, OCI). The results of the surveys and the direction and amount of OCI’s deviation from show that while employees and superiors frequently differ in the perceptions of their expectations and obligations, there are also areas where their opinions are identical. It has also been found that employees’ perception of the contents of a psychological contract depends on their age and the number of years they have worked in the organisation. This fact points to the dynamic character of a psychological contract. JEL Classification: M12, M54 Keywords: employee expectations, mutual expectations, psychological contract, psychological contract breach, superior expectations

 

pag. 285	A Different Statistic for the Management of Portfolios - the Hurst Exponent: Persistent, Antipersistent or Random Time Series? Author:  Ana-Maria CALOMFIR (METESCU)
	Abstract In recent years, research in the capital markets and management of portfolios has been producing more questions than it has been answering: the need for a new paradigm or a new way of looking at things has become more and more concludent. The existing and classical view of capital markets, based on efficient market hypothesis, has a definite theory for the last six decades, but it is still not capable of significantly increase the understanding of how capital markets function. The purpose of this article is to theoretically describe a less used statistic coefficient, having a vast area of applicability due to its robustness, and which can easily divide the random series from a non-random series, even if the random series is non-Gaussian: the Hurst exponent. JEL Classification: G11, G170, G14 Keywords: random walk, Hurst exponent, fractal dimension, capital markets

 

pag. 293	The Use of Balanced Scorecard in Implementation of the User-Driven Innovation Concept Authors: Marzena KRAWCZYK
	Abstract Customers play a crucial role in innovation processes. Their importance is proved by numerous theories and innovation models which put users and clients in the heart of innovation processes. One of the newest concept, popular in Scandinavian countries, picking up this thread is the User–Driven Innovation (UDI). To increase probability of innovation success consumers must be involved in the firm’s business model / innovation strategy, becoming a part of the innovation processes and all other stakeholders should be aware of the significance and character of the linkage between customer and company. As a result, building, implementing and monitoring of the customer–oriented innovation strategy should take place. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) may turn out to be very helpful in achieving the above. The aim of this paper is to show that BSC may be a device of implementing the User–Driven Innovation concept, helping to understand UDI assumptions and the role of customers in creating value. Examples of strategic goals and performance indicators presented in this paper may be used by enterprises, which intend to build UDI-based BSC. JEL Classification: M41, O31, O32 Keywords: Balanced Scorecard, customer, innovation, User-Driven Innovation

  

pag. 310	Experimental Research Regarding New Models of Organizational Communication in the Romanian Tourism Author: Cristina STATE, Dan POPESCU, Antonio GARCIA-SANCHEZ, Livia TOANCĂ
	Abstract Presenting interests for the most various sciences (cybernetics, economics, ethnology, philosophy, history, psycho-sociology etc.), the complex communication process incited and triggered a lot of opinions, many of them not complementary at all and even taken to the level of some passions generating contradictions. The result was the conceptualization of the content and of the communication functions on different forms called models by their creators. In time, with their evolution, the communication models have included, besides some basic elements (sender, message, means of communication, receiver and effect) also a range of detail elements essential to streamline the process itself: the noise source , codec and feedback, the interaction of the field specific experience of the transmitter and receptor, the organizational context of communication and communication skills, including how to produce and interpretate these ones. Finally, any model’ functions are either heuristic (to explain), organizational (to order) or predictive (making assumptions). They are worth only by their degree of probability remaining valid so long as it is not invalidated by practice and is one way of describing reality and not the reality itself. This is the context in which our work, the first of its kind in Romania, proposes in the context of improving organizational management, two new models of communication at both the micro- and macro- economic, models through which, using crowdsourcing, the units in the tourism, hospitality and leisure industry (THLI) will be able to communicate more effectively, based not on own insights and / or perceptions but, firstly, on the views of management and experts in the field and especially on the customer’ feedback. JEL Classification: M10, M11, M19 Keywords: organizational communication model, hotel management, crowdsourcing, tourism, hospitality and leisure industry