Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Challenging Global Times

The paper describes, first, the massive changes in the environments themselves in which companiesCompanies operate and, second, the ways in which these environments are continuously changing. It also highlights the impact on companiesCompanies and businessBusiness organizations and sets out requirements for organizations to survive successfully in the rapidly changing environment. After a brief look at the economic impact to illustrate the importance of this topic, ideas for creating a high-performing organization are developed. To this end, ideas from (agile) organizational development, organizational learning, and network organization are used to look at the internal organization and take the cross-border perspective to identify key capabilities. These concepts are compared and complemented with certain ideas from cybernetics and computer science.

Organizational crises managementManagement in many cases relies on ad hoc created teams to handle these unexpected events. Due to the demanded short reaction time, there is pressure on all persons involved in handling the situation. Crisis managementCrisis management team members instinctively search for the “best possible outcome” of the crisis mostly based on their professional background. Some of the individual professional goals are conflicting, and conciliation might be necessary. Ultimately, each of the apparently conflicting professional goalsConflicting professional goals points to the same organizational goal: the resilienceResilience after the crisis. Our findings are based on a survey done at some Eastern European multinational organizationsOrganizations. In the paper we not only provide arguments for multidisciplinary crisis managementCrisis management teams, but also show that crisis managers sometimes have concerns about the time-consuming reconciliation of the goals and the one-track-minded approach of some professionals.

In the twenty-first century, employees are increasingly far from the process of real product creation, or in terms of classical political economy, alienated from labor. At the same time, in terms of neo-institutional economics, the modern employee tends to behave opportunistically toward the firm and the employer. Both the employees’ alienation and their opportunism negatively affect labor productivityLabor productivity. On a theoretical level, these phenomena are related. However, the critical question is—how is it possible to identify this relation at the empirical level, and what are the features of this relation? The paper aims to answer the question: are alienation and behavioral opportunismBehavioral opportunism interconnected on data from a survey of 300 Russian employees conducted in October 2020? The study used ANOVA to test hypotheses about the relationship of these phenomena for different groups. The positive interconnection of behavioral opportunismBehavioral opportunism and alienation is confirmed. The most alienated were employees with the willingness to passive opportunism. Factors obliterating the differences between alienation and employee opportunism were managerial position of an employee, capital place of life (Moscow), salary, or position improvement in the near past. Top- and HR managers can use the research results to increase employee involvement and labor productivityLabor productivity growthGrowth.

The clusteringClustering phenomenologyPhenomenology is reconsidered from the collective to ordered (competitive and sustainable) bonding in an entangled networking; this way the quantum managementManagement rises by means of potentials of specific actions: creation and annihilation operators (of plus-values, either as technical, economical, socially, or politically); and the spin as the temporal accumulation of values counting backwards in an organizationOrganizations’s history/memory (culture and jurisprudence) or/and of the future strategies beyond the present’s contingency (ethics and ecology); the result is a clusteringClustering-relatedPESTEJEC political–econonomical–social–technical–environmental–juridical–ethical–cultural (PESTEJEC) quantum managementManagement strategy by identifying two groups of bonding potentials, depending on creating/annihilating spin up/down symmetries; the resulting networks are entangled by any local changing as produced by any bonding PES(T)EJEC potentials on the technically higher potential/symmetry configuration. The model, besides bringing further inside to a strategic managementManagement model of PESTEJECPESTEJEC, customarily viewed only as descriptive diagnosis in its infancy, originally allows in projecting and controlling the degree of activating of any PES[T]EJEC potentials in the nanotechnical cluster with maximum symmetry while contracting all space–time–knowledge dimensions.

The article presents the main stages of concept development in strategic managementManagement, emphasizing the importance of structuring the strategic decisionStrategic decisions-making process through a strategic managementManagement model. From combining strategic managementManagement approaches as a model and plan, the companiesCompanies’ focus on capitalizing on their own resources or mastering environmental influence, to globalization, digitalizationDigitalization, innovationInnovation and the pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage, all are essential to understanding paradigm shifts in strategic managementManagement. Against the inevitable background of technological and digitalDigital transformations, the trends identified in the modeling of strategic managementManagement processes, in the context of new challenges, are transposed into an innovative strategic managementManagement model, a conceptual model proposed for research and development.

Food businessBusiness is expected to safely prepare, store, and display all the dishes they plan to sell to the public. Therefore, more and more diverse materials and articles are introduced for food contact. In order to control these practices, diverse European laws and domestic regulations were introduced in the last years. However, consumers do not always know all these regulations. It is more important for them to understand how their everyday choices can affect the environment. This paper presents the results of the survey referring to the use of biodegradable containers, dishes, cutlery, and straws. The aim of this study was to check if paper products have the potential to extend the brand in paper productionPaper production enterprises. Therefore, the customer preferences of using paper, glass, wood and other compostable containers and dishes, even such as those produced from wheat bran or sugar cane, were investigated. The results of the investigation showed that the most of the respondents use paper containers, dishes and straws but they prefer wood cutlery.

To survive, humans had to demonstrate entrepreneurial characteristics from early times, when they had to cooperate and organize to hunt more powerful animals (exploit opportunities), to innovate new ways of hunting (innovationInnovation) while facing the possibility of succumbing to injuries (take risks). From idea to practice, all entrepreneursEntrepreneur are going through a similar process of assessing alternatives, evaluating their potential to start a venture, and evaluating the risk involved before deciding to act. This study focuses on providing additional information concerning the relationships between these central factors in entrepreneurial behavior, namely entrepreneurial intentionEntrepreneurial intention, self-efficacySelf-efficacy, and the willingness to take risksWillingness to take risks, as these are essential factors in the decision to start a businessBusiness. The study identified significant correlations between the willingness to take risksWillingness to take risks and entrepreneurial intentionsEntrepreneurial intention and between the willingness to take risksWillingness to take risks and self-efficacySelf-efficacy. In addition, the analysis shows that several demographics predict respondents’ entrepreneurial intentionsEntrepreneurial intention.

A deep understanding of entrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship and hybrid entrepreneurshipHybrid entrepreneurship presumes a good understanding of basic elements of how individuals make the decision to become hybrid entrepreneursEntrepreneur, in what context, and under what pressures. Understanding the essential elements and all their subtleties can only come from a careful look at the real experiences of entrepreneursEntrepreneur and at their understanding of concepts. The present article is a qualitative study that attempts a deep understanding of hybrid entrepreneursEntrepreneur’ motivations to transition from employment to hybrid entrepreneurshipHybrid entrepreneurship and furthermore to full time entrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship by employing a phenomenologyPhenomenology technique. The goal was to obtain a better knowledge of hybrid entrepreneurshipHybrid entrepreneurship in RomaniaRomania by evaluating the journeys of several entrepreneursEntrepreneur with experience in transitioning from employment to full-time entrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship via hybrid entrepreneurshipHybrid entrepreneurship. The goal of the research was to characterize, decode, translate, and otherwise elucidate the meaning and reasoning behind the transitions from employment to hybrid entrepreneurshipHybrid entrepreneurship in RomaniaRomania. An extensive number of findings regarding hybrid entrepreneursEntrepreneur’ characteristics and motivations are discussed, together with a comparison between hybrid entrepreneursEntrepreneur, full time entrepreneursEntrepreneur and employees.

StablecoinsStablecoins are digitalDigital tokens that aim at “stabilising major currencies directly in the market for cryptoassets”. StablecoinsStablecoins are built on a set of stabilization tools that classify them as tokenized funds, off-chain collateralized, on-chain collateralized and algorithmic. The paper provides a detailed overview of the different stabilization mechanisms supported by examples of international market applications. In addition, the paper distinguishes between private-issued and state-issued stablecoinsStablecoins and discusses current developments in Switzerland and China. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion on the major advantages and challenges related to the implementation of stablecoinsStablecoins. The paper recognizes the advantages of stablecoinsStablecoins for the underbanked people and cross-border payments as well as acknowledges the challenges related to the establishment of an internationally coordinated legal framework and enforcement on stablecoinsStablecoins.

This article highlights the lack of environmental analysis in business models of blockchainBlockchain-based P2P energyEnergy trading. Identifying crucial environmental factors in a businessBusiness model is pivotal to the successful implementation of the underlying technical frameworks and architectures. Thus, this article provides a viewpoint that businessBusiness models of blockchainBlockchain-based P2P energyEnergy trading platforms should be extended to address environmental factors to better evaluate the feasibility of implementation. Moreover, the authors propose an analytical framework for addressing environmental factors in the development of blockchainBlockchain-based P2P energy trading platform businessBusiness models building on the PESTLEPESTLE framework. This analytical framework is then applied in a use case on a blockchain-based P2P energyEnergy trading businessBusiness model based on the business model canvas proposed by Osterwalder and Pigneur (Business model generation. Wiley, Amsterdam, 2010) in combination with a PESTEL analysis.

In the period of 2018–2020 researchers from six countries conducted an international study on 1400 studentsStudents from twelve universities to compare their attitudeAttitudes towards the family businessesFamily business as an opportunity for career developmentCareer development. The research has been done within the international academic network INTERGENINTERGEN in the countries of Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, RomaniaRomania, Russia and Serbia—three of them are members of the European Union, while the other three countries are non-EU members. The purpose of this paper is to discuss if the studentsStudents are willing to choose family businessFamily business as an opportunity for their career developmentCareer development. The object of the research is focused on the studentsStudents, while the subject of the research is to study their attitudeAttitudes towards the family businessesFamily business. The studentsStudents have given their answers through a standardized questionnaire. Thus, it is possible to deliver some comparative discussions on the base of the related findings.

The paper presents some of the outcomes of a comparative study between studentsStudents from RomaniaRomania (Timisoara Politehnica University) and Bulgaria (Ruse University “Angel Kanchev”). The questionnaire has been given to the studentsStudents in 2010 under a joint research project. The second and third questionnaires have been fulfilled in 2019 and 2021 under INTERGENINTERGEN academic network. The answers make it possible to have some analyses on the base of the time differences. The purpose of this paper is to discuss if the studentsStudents have intentions to include their relatives in joint businessBusiness initiatives. The object is the studentsStudents from both universities, who have studied businessBusiness disciplines, while the subject of this paper is to provide a comparative study on their attitudeAttitudes towards the family businessesFamily business.

In recent years the social economySocial economy has become one of the most frequently addressed topics both nationally and internationally. In European Union countries the social economySocial economy employs 11 million people or 5.1% of the EU’s employed population. Supported social system is currently facing a number of important challenges. Successive economic crises, the demographic phenomenon of population aging, diversification of social needs and expectations, pollution, all have put particular pressure on traditional social protection systems. In this context, the social economySocial economy is beginning to become increasingly relevant as one of the solutions innovative and creative that can help address social and even environmental issues. Although it does not exist a brief and widely accepted definition of the social economySocial economy, there are outlines, both at the academic level and the political level, the minimum criteria that this border area must meet. Progresses in this area are not as spectacular as one would expect, but there are several countries that have made significant progress in defining and operating the social economySocial economy. This research resembles the meaning of social entrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship and its evolution and development in the European countries. The aim of this paper is to analyze the European evolution of social environment and to establish a direct correlation between social economySocial economy and economic welfare.

The study tries to highlight some aspects of the manager’s work as an executor of decisions made by the superiorSuperior. The purpose of this paper is to study the values and attitudesAttitudes of inferior managersInferior manager and in particular their predisposition to follow instructions or take initiative. 125 inferior managersInferior manager from 14 Bulgarian garment companiesCompanies were surveyed. Depending on their individual attitudesAttitudes and preferences, two types of managers have been identified: Strict Followers and Creative Initiators. Their main traits are described. The advantages and disadvantages of each of the two types are analyzed and discussed separately. It is concluded that the orientation of the Strict Followers makes them more suitable for activities and areas requiring higher technical knowledge and skills, such as manufacturing, finance, and accounting. Accordingly, the Creative Initiators are more common in organizationsOrganizations operating in a highly dynamic environment and are usually responsible for human resources, marketing, or sales. In the garment businessBusiness, Creative Initiators occur significantly less frequently than Strict Followers.

This case study depicts the growthGrowth of the companyCompanies Mon Chéri, which began as a small coffee shop and has since grown into a profitable coffee chain. The case will begin with a brief overview of the companyCompanies, the businessBusiness climate, and the competitivenessCompetitiveness of the industry. The companyCompanies model will then be examined, along with its benefits and drawbacks, and strategic choices for future development will be discussed. The goal of this case is to look at Mon Chéri’s plans and efforts to grow and expand its businessBusiness, with an emphasis on customer experience and a flexible market position. Finally, the example proposes Mon Chéri’s future development in order to meet the demands of today’s challenging world.

The competency-based transformation of the higher education system, the extension of digitalDigital technologiesTechnologies, and the introduction of the online educationOnline education system required by the COVID epidemic together demanded a radical transformation of occupational safety education in safety engineering training. This article describes a two-semester graduate-level educational experiment on Occupational Safety and Health, its methodology, implementation, and experience. StudentsStudents acquired professional activities to manage occupational health and safety in the first semester by investigating software applications and instrumentation. The theme of the second semester was the structured understanding of selected hazards in workplace risk assessment and the exploration of the limits of risk assessment as a methodology. The experiment met the educational objectives and achieved significant ability development with the active participation of studentsStudents. StudentsStudents had hands-on experiments using safety applications in the first semester and explored the possibility of adapting IT solutions already used in other security fields. In the second semester, studentsStudents and the mentor explored the risk assessment practice boundaries. The difficulties of some hazard elaborations and the oral discussions highlighted possible weaknesses in workplace risk assessment practice, e.g., the importance of precise hazard formulation, the impact of accident casualisation models on the risk assessment, and the weaknesses of specific risk level determination practice.

This research continues the studies of the economic behaviors and minds of the Northern indigenous peoplesIndigenous peoples in the context of global changes. The complex of socio-economic problems associated with the future of the indigenous peoplesIndigenous peoples in ArcticArctic makes it necessary to transform their economic mind and behavior, connected with the transition to a sedentary lifestyle, and acquire a new socio-cultural identity, including professional one. In order to find the solution of this issue, it is important to identify the features of economic mind of the representatives of these peoples today, including the attitudeAttitudes to money, and the impact of these features to the level of their subjective well-being. The main research method is Money Beliefs and Behavior Scale (Furnham in Personality Individ Differ 5:95–103, 1984) adapted by (Deyneka in Economic Psychology: Socio-Political Problems, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, 1999). To study the level of life satisfactionLife satisfaction, the Life SatisfactionLife satisfaction Scale by Diener (adapted by Osin and Leontiev (Osin and Leont’ev in Testing Russian-language versions of two scales of rapid assessment of subjective well-being, Institute of Sociology RAS, Russian Society of Sociologists, Moscow, 2008)) is used. The study involved 213 people aged 15–73 years (59% women and 41% men), the representatives of the Northern indigenous small-numbered peoples from the Russian ArcticArctic zone. Factor analysis allowed us to identify three factors that characterize the respondents’ attitudes to moneyAttitudes to money. The results of the structural equation modeling show that two of three factors contribute to the satisfaction with life of the Northern indigenous peoplesIndigenous peoples. ‘Obsession’ with money, dependence on its availability reduces the level of life satisfactionLife satisfaction (R = − 0.33), and attentive, thrifty, rational attitudeAttitudes to money and the ability to make savingsSavings increases the level of life satisfactionLife satisfaction of the respondents significantly (R = 0.48). The results show that attitudeAttitudes to money is really a factor affecting the satisfaction with life of the Northern peoples. It is necessary to maintain the component of a rational, attentive attitudeAttitudes to money of these peoples, their ability to create savingsSavings, to increase their financial literacyFinancial literacy. It is important to carry out preventive measures to reduce financial deprivation of the northern peoples by demonstrating the correlation between ‘obsession’ with money and reducing life satisfactionLife satisfaction.

After 40 years of adopting the neo-liberal approach by the public sectorPublic sector, this study examined the impact of this approach on public sectorPublic sector workers employed in different employment status, whether there are differences and colorations in motivation, employee satisfaction with wages, employee efficiencyEfficiency, and organizational performanceOrganizational performance. The study sampled 500 employees—277 men and 223 women—in addition to 500 service recipients (hereafter: customers). Motivation and salary satisfaction were measured using an employee questionnaire, while organizational performanceOrganizational performance was measured using a questionnaire administered to customers. EfficiencyEfficiency was measured using tools from the world of work measurement engineering. Based on the literature, we created a model and formed the following hypotheses: 1Motivation differs between employees of different employment status. 2 EfficiencyEfficiency differs between employees of different employment status. 3 There is a difference and correlation between organizational performanceOrganizational performance and different employment status. 4 Employee efficiencyEfficiency is linked to employment status. 5 There is a positive correlation between organizational performanceOrganizational performance and employee efficiencyEfficiency, with employment status being a binary variable. The findings confirm Hypothesis 1 regarding new skill acquisition and salary; they confirm Hypothesis 2, 4, and 5; they confirm Hypothesis 3 in regards to Fairness alone. Occupational resilienceResilience is therefore not necessarily required. Directly employed workers display greater efficiencyEfficiency than employees of a different employment status. This can translate into monetary loss over time. However, local authorities must first manage the issue of excessive absence which impedes service quality. Moreover, they must enhance employee motivationEmployee motivation and focus on salary and new skill acquisition.

Innovation ecosystemsInnovation ecosystems became a well-known concept since the main attention for communities’ engagementEngagement and innovationInnovation creation increased. Due to the engagement of different type of stakeholders, the innovation development and organizational growth could be seen rather as a complex and dynamic system of processes which highlighted the technology usage and the emergence of new type of ecosystems. Although there are various evidences that suggest the bounding linkage between innovationInnovation and stakeholdersStakeholders’ involvement into innovationInnovation creation, there still remains not fully explored how companiesCompanies exploit social responsibility in innovationInnovation development. Thus, this paper aims to identify the main linkage between innovationInnovation development and social dimension within corporate social responsibility in terms of social inclusion and commitment. Consequently, there will be provided an extensive framework, which aims to explore the linkage between stakeholdersStakeholders, levels of commitment, and required actions.

In an era in which organizationsOrganizations are in a profound change and in which the development of information technologyTechnologies and communication networks has led to an unprecedented economic and social context, the scientific field of managementManagement must provide solutions based on this new reality. In the context of managementManagement, motivation is especially important, particularly in regard to organizational performanceOrganizational performance. One of the biggest challenges today is how to balance the relationship with the subordinatesSubordinate, locating decision authority, delegating, and most importantly managing employees who act and think independently, and so performance growthGrowth is achieved. Therefore, motivating employees is about using different tools in such a manner that their motivation toward increasing their effort for successfully conducting the tasks is increased, generating an increase in productivity. This article aims to assess and provide directions and research perspectives for a leadershipLeadership style based on a high degree of freedom of the employees with the purpose of increasing their capacity to act and decide independently feeling thus more motivated and involved within their working environment. Consequently, we have chosen to bring forward a German managementManagement model which, from the author’s practical and theoretical experience, could enhance motivation among the employees and thus, bring a substantial positive contribution to organizational performanceOrganizational performance.

As the COVID-19 pandemicCOVID-19 pandemic evolved, executives became increasingly worried about the condition of the economy and their own firms’ perspectives. During the initial outbreak, it was only natural to be fearful and do as much damage control as possible, while during the following outbreaks and vaccine development, new unforeseen issues such as the great resignation and supply-chain challenges emerged requiring perseverance and problem-solving. The present research looks at the evolution of corporate communicationCorporate communication in this period, particularly by analyzing the word choice and phrases used in yearly earnings callsEarnings calls of the top 100 companiesCompanies in the S&P 500 for the fiscal years 2019, 2020, and 2021. The analysis aims to see what words entered and exited the vocabulary of such official calls during and after the pandemic. The study concludes that new words have indeed entered the vocabulary, while several words have increased significantly in usage. An increased use of words such as ‘flu’ or ‘virus’ was to be expected while words such as ‘meeting’ and ‘asymptomatic’ appeared likely due to unforeseen circumstances. Furthermore, there are clear examples of complete phrase changes caused by increased stress and danger during the pandemic. Also, particularly surprising is the ability of senior executives to remain calm and to mention the ‘coronavirus’ only 197 times in the 2020 calls which took place in the middle of the pandemic. While the pandemic changed the way companiesCompanies work, such analyses of corporate communicationCorporate communication provide insight into the topics that keep executives awake.

The COVID-19 pandemicCOVID-19 pandemic brought major changes in our lives as teachers or studentsStudents, but also came with a lot of uncertainty in the way knowledge is delivered to studentsStudents. In the context of the ambiguous development of the COVID-19 pandemicCOVID-19 pandemic, Higher Education Institutions approached different strategies to meet studentsStudents learning needs as effectively as possible. The paper presents some of the conclusions the authors have drawn on how studentsStudents relate to the use of e-learning toolsE-learning tools in the post-COVID-19COVID-19 era. The research was quantitative based on an online survey. Data was collected from studentsStudents of the Politehnica University of Timisoara, one of the largest Romanian universities. The results of the research revealed that nearly half of the respondents would like to continue their studies using a blended learningBlended learning approach especially because they can attend classes from any location.

This paper overviews the development of stakeholdersStakeholders’ theory and its implementation in Israeli school. Teachers, parents, and school principals are analyzed by their stakeholderStakeholders style in a modern school. Bibu and Saris (Bibu and Saris in Revista de Management Comparat International 2:200–216, 2017) point out that the stakeholder’sStakeholders model is appropriate for a modern school of globalization era in general, in Israel in particular. The long way from shareholders to stakeholdersStakeholders’ emphasis reflects changes that took place in the whole society. Their study demonstrated that the stakeholderStakeholders model which originally was designed for businessBusiness, may be successfully implemented at school and cause improvement in both pupils’ achievementsAchievements and the school climateSchool climate. Israeli school in the Arab sector who chose to implement the model first—became a story of success not just in the Arab sector, but also in the whole Northern region of Israel. Therefore, the stakeholdersStakeholders’ model should be used in the educational sector, although it is a managerial one, developed for businessBusiness organizationsOrganizations. As of today, the authors did not finally build their empirical implementation steps, but they are looking for interesting and innovative alternatives for the new digitalDigital era of schools—such as the skills-based model proposed by Connolly et al. (Connolly et al. in Edu Manag Adm Leadersh 45:5–19, 2017), where stakeholdersStakeholders’ teams are built on the basis of their expertise and not their interest in the institution.

The study examines the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the use of technological means in schools, and how it has affected studentStudents achievementAchievements. The study was quantitative and contained an online survey for studentsStudents through a Google forum made up of two parts: the first is the use of technological tools before the COVID-19 crisisCovid-19 crisis, and the second part is the impact of the crisis on studentsStudents and the learning process. The surveys were divided into 40 Arab schools in Israel. The study population included various studentsStudents, elementary schools, middle school, and high school studentsStudents. The sample included 400 studentsStudents. The hypothesis was that distance learning leads to low achievementAchievements, because of the new type of learning that studentsStudents are not used to. The study findings show that there has been a change in schools following the COVID-19 crisisCovid-19 crisis, schools have seen an increase in the use of technological means following the COVID-19COVID-19 crisis, studentsStudents have used new tools, and have difficulty using them, the majority agreed that distance learning has affected studentsStudents' achievementsAchievements, but the results show that the hypothesis has not been confirmed. The results show an increase in the use of technologyTechnologies in schools, and although the tools are new the achievementsAchievements have changed and may have improved, the studentStudents noted that IT is easy and comfortable to use.

This study aims to apply Lean ThinkingLean thinking to a small-size law firmLaw firm in RomaniaRomania, from analyzing to designing the improved process, to reduce redundancy and eliminate wasteful activities that do not bring value to the customer, and, in the end, to improve the overall quality of the legal serviceLegal service. The article is focused on a process-based approach to change in organizationsOrganizations, specifically on how legal serviceLegal service is delivered. Although waste in processes is at the core of Lean, it is not easily identified and highlighted within service providers. At this point, autoethnographic research was employed, using subjective professional experience, observation, and interviews to collect the necessary information on the existing process. In the research results, the main types of waste are identified and a new process is designed with a Lean approach, as well as a new workflow. To compare the current and proposed process, the roadmap for court case files is selected as the main quality measurement.

Six Sigma provides a systematic approach for scholars and practitioners alike. It reduces variation in processes, enabling documented process improvement in all corporate departments and problematic situations. By using proven quality tools, technical in-house specialists are able to contribute to organizational efficiencyEfficiency. In the automotive industryAutomotive industry the Six Sigma methodology is particularly useful and the present paper documents such a successful implementation through a case study in the pre-assembly area of a well-known multinational automotive companyCompanies situated in the Western part of RomaniaRomania.

The Six Sigma approach started as a new metric for statistical measurements and comparisons but with time it has been acknowledged as a complex methodology that uses quality tools at an organizational level and transforms the corporate culture. It has been applied with success in the automotive industryAutomotive industry for continuous improvement and best in class strategic thinking. Nevertheless, there are few real case studies presented in literature due to corporate internal communication strategies. Thus, without step by step clear examples managers are not able to see the application of theory in practice and the Six Sigma approach may seem too complex to be applied with success in small or inexperienced organizationsOrganizations. The present paper aims to present a case study from an automotive companyCompanies situated in the Western part of RomaniaRomania, namely, the way in which the DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze- Improve-Control) method provided researchers and specialists with thorough methodological steps and adequate tools for improving the Resistance Spot Welding Process. The results are outlined and human interaction at team level is discussed.

This paper attempts to demonstrate the strategic necessity of creating and implementing a production control planControl plan in the expanding global competitivenessCompetitiveness of the automobile industry to improve quality and efficiencyEfficiency. Using managementManagement tools relevant to the organizationOrganizations's needs in today's competitive environment has become a strategic concern for businessesBusiness (Goicoechea Itziar in Quality Management in the Automotive Industry, pp. 619–632, 2012) It has been established that a control planControl plan is a mandatory requirement of the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) or the International Automotive Task Force (IATF)/16949 standard and a strategic tool for performing auditsAudit in the production line. If we talk about either auditAudit: process layer auditAudit, process auditAudit, or system auditAudit, the control planControl plan is an essential document for starting, documenting, and performing an auditAudit. The correct elements of the control planControl plan and its application can be the key to any successful result. The requirements for creating a control planControl plan, the various aspects of a control planControl plan, and how to use a control planControl plan are analyzed.

EnergyEnergy is fundamental to modern life but poses serious environmental challenges, notably greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change. RomaniaRomania, as an EU member, adheres to EU climate and environmental regulations. This paper reviews Romania'sRomania energyEnergy transformation over recent years, assesses its compliance with the Paris Agreement, and recommends a framework for a sustainable energyEnergy system. Romania'sRomania energyEnergy landscape reveals a substantial contribution from renewableRenewables energyEnergy sources, notably hydro. However, wind and photovoltaic (PV) energyEnergy have seen fluctuations due to inconsistent government incentives. Coal power plants, a significant GHG emitter, are set to close, aligning with Paris Agreement goals but raising concerns about the fate of thousands of employees in the coal industry. The transportation sector is a major contributor to GHG emissions. Although RomaniaRomania offers financial incentives for electric vehiclesElectric vehicles (EVs), low EV adoption persists, highlighting the need for robust inter-city infrastructure and improved economic conditions. The paper emphasizes the role of the government in supporting electric infrastructure and EV adoption. This paper underscores the necessity for legislative changes and incentives to achieve climate goals. RomaniaRomania must foster wind and PV energyEnergy growthGrowth, building on its potential, and access EU funds for renewableRenewables projects. Closure of coal plants, aligning with Paris Agreement targets, must be accompanied by comprehensive strategies for the affected workforce. The transportation sector requires attention to promote EV adoption and sustainable transportation infrastructure. To meet Paris Agreement targets by 2050, a transition path encompassing social, economic, and financial dimensions is vital. Romania'sRomania active participation in climate actions demonstrates a willingness to address GHG emissions, but further effort is necessary to fulfill its climate commitments.

The global transportation sector is a linchpin of economic growthEconomic growth, yet its predominant reliance on fossil fuels, as documented by Mwasilu et al. (Renew Sustain Energy Rev 34:501–516, 2014), presents pressing challenges. The EnergyEnergy Information Agency (EIA) projects a substantial 54% increase in petrol consumption by 2035, compounded by soaring prices. Meanwhile, the adverse environmental effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, underscored by Ivascu et al. (Rev Manage Econ Eng 19, 2020), demand sustainable solutions. In response, the burgeoning adoption of Electric VehiclesElectric vehicles (EVs) is reshaping the transportation sector. This paper explores the repercussions of the expanding EV fleet on RomaniaRomania's electric gridElectric grid and scrutinizes solutions articulated in scientific literature, both globally and within the Romanian context. Our research relies on data extracted from international databases and qualitative insights derived from an exhaustive examination of pertinent scientific literature. EVs are defined as vehicles propelled by electric engines, converting battery-stored energyEnergy into mechanical motion (Williamson in Energy management strategies for electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Springer, New York, NY, 2013). EVs offer multiple advantages, including zero GHG emissions during operation, especially when charged with energyEnergy from renewableRenewables sources, considerably reducing the carbon footprint. Governments worldwide, including the European Union, are incentivizing EV adoption and considering measures like banning diesel engines in major cities, as exemplified by Xue et al. (Sustainability 13:2928, 2021). Consequently, the scientific literature predicts a swift transition from conventional vehicles to EVs. The global market shareShare of EVs may surge from less than 10% to over 40% by 2050, as forecasted by Tan et al. (Renew Sustain Energy Rev 53:720–732, 2016). In summary, this paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the EV proliferation on Romania'sRomania electric gridElectric grid and assesses potential solutions rooted in an extensive body of scientific literature and data sources. It sheds light on the evolving transportation landscape in RomaniaRomania, considering the challenges and opportunities posed by the rise of EVs.

Nowadays, there is a growing spread of the unconventional power producers from renewableRenewables energyEnergy sources: wind, photovoltaics, micro-hydro, biomass, etc. RenewableRenewables power producers (RPP) can cause a sharp increase in technical power lossesTechnical power losses (TPL). This is a major challenge for electricity distribution operators (EDO). Effective tools and measures are needed to solve this situation. The paper deals with the problem of RPP (photovoltaics and wind) in the Braila zone medium voltage (m.v.) electrical distribution networkElectrical distribution networks (EDN), managed by Electrica Muntenia Nord (EMN) EDO. The analysis of the influence of each RPP on the TPL value is the main contribution of this paper. Generated power limits have been recommended for each RPP, in various scenarios. The results are of great use for the EMN EDO and also for other EDO.

Nowadays, there is a growing spread of the unconventional power producers, from renewableRenewables energyEnergy sources: wind, photovoltaics, micro-hydro, biomass, etc. RenewableRenewables power producers (RPP) can cause a sharp increase in technical power losses (TPL). This is a major challenge for electricity distribution operators (EDO). Effective tools and measures are needed to solve this situation. The paper deals with the problem of RPP (photovoltaics and wind) in the high voltage (h.v.)—110 kV—electrical distribution networkElectrical distribution networks (EDN), of the Electrica Muntenia Nord (EMN) EDO. The innovationInnovation brought by this paper is represented by the RPP (injecting power at medium voltage level) global influence analysis (voltage level and power losses), from different areas of the network, for characteristic operating conditions. On the other hand, it is also brought by their influence on specific contingencies.

The diversity of manufacturing processes is staggering, and they contribute to various degrees of carbon emissions too, depending on the materials processed and the parameters of machine tools and equipment used. Most of the time, production managementManagement is focused on optimization of the machine use and the reduction of nonconformities, while at the same time keeping a high level of productivity and just-in-time connectivity within the global supply chains. In more complex situations, the sustainabilitySustainability factor is also taken into consideration, in terms of materials use, scrap and waste, emissions and spills, and human resource involvement. We aim to complete these approaches with a methodology for the identification of the level of CO2 emissionsCO2 emissions on small-scale machining processes, in order to further develop a mathematical model of enterprise-wide contributions to carbon emissions, focusing on the decarbonization of the economy.

The research offers explanations on the dynamics of the stock exchange sharesShare listed on the Bucharest Stock ExchangeBucharest Stock Exchange during the pandemic. The paper studies the influence of several variables on the market price of companiesCompanies admitted to trading on all segments of Bucharest Stock ExchangeBucharest Stock Exchange. The variables considered were percentage of significant shareholders, free-float, capitalization level, and specific market indicatorsIndicators (PER, P/BV, EPS, DIVY, and DIV). The data processing was done statistically, the dependent variable being the difference between the maximum and minimum exchange rate recorded for each shareShare between 31.03.2020 and 31.03.2021. The results confirm that the reduction in the stock price during COVID-19COVID-19 is not the result of the stock market performance of the listed companiesCompanies. Another interesting conclusion is that the free-float variable had a significant positive correlation with the dependent variable. A higher level of capitalization of companiesCompanies has led to a lower percentage reduction in the stock market price, but the correlation is not significant.

This research aims to emphasize the impact of indebtednessIndebtedness on the financial performanceFinancial performance of tourism companiesTourism companies. To capture this impact in the different phases of economic cyclesEconomic cycles, the study focused on the period 2004–2019. The econometric analysis is using panel data models, and it has been done for distinct periods of time. The sample was represented by 42 tourism companiesTourism companies. Based on the results of the full-period analysis, performed on the model of return on assets (ROA) and also on the model of return on equity (ROE), it was shown that indebtednessIndebtedness has a negative effect on financial performanceFinancial performance. Statistical analysis also provides information on the impact of other micro- and macroeconomic variables. Thus, it was shown that the size of the companyCompanies and the inflation rate have a negative impact, while the GDP growthGrowth rate and the degree of liquidity have a positive influence, when the performance is assessed by ROA. Breaking down the period analyzed into sub-periods depending on the manifestation of the crisis, we have shown that the variation of ROA—under the impact of the variables included in the analysis—is more significant than the variation of ROE. During the pre-crisis (2004–2008) and crisis (2009–2015) periods, none of the variables analyzed influenced ROE. The results of the study are valuable both scientifically and practically because they provide clues to managers on how to adapt performance and indebtednessIndebtedness strategies to the national macroeconomic context.

Over time, foreign direct investmentForeign direct investment has been the determining factor in the pace of economic development. At the macroeconomic level, foreign direct investmentForeign direct investment influences economic growthEconomic growth by creating jobs, developing production capacity, and increasing contributions to the state budget, and access to modern and efficient technologiesTechnologies. Foreign direct investmentForeign direct investment has an essential contribution to technologyTechnologies transfer, stimulation and growthGrowth, competitivenessCompetitiveness, and development of the innovationInnovation process. At present, RomaniaRomania is going through a difficult economic context, but investments are a good opportunity for economic growthEconomic growth. In RomaniaRomania, foreign enterprises have played a significant role in boosting economic growthEconomic growth in the key economic sectors. Over time, foreign direct investmentsForeign direct investment have been discovered to generate several externalities in the Romanian economy in the form of technologyTechnologies transfer advantages. The goal of this study was to look into the role of foreign direct investmentsForeign direct investment in economic growthEconomic growth in RomaniaRomania, with an emphasis on the period 2017–2019. The motivation is given by the fact that foreign direct investmentForeign direct investment is a relevant means of technologyTechnologies and knowledge transfers, and innovationInnovation development which drive the growthGrowth of the economy.

Land consolidationLand consolidation in forestForests areas constantly appears in all forestForests areas where the ownership is distributed between the state and the private owners. The managers face the hard problem of taking decisions combining multiple criteria, which do not integrate the various aspects into one indicatorIndicators. This article summarizes the main characteristics and features of forestForests land areas under consolidation that can be involved in one criterion to support the decision-making. The aim of the current study is to propose a managerial approach suitable to support multi-criteria decision processes based on the technical efficiencyEfficiency of the forestForests territories when consolidation is being undertaken. The approach implemented here is a non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis that is quite appropriate for the technical efficiencyEfficiency estimation of forestForests areas being consolidated. The main results reveal that the quality of the current forestsForests standing on the purchased areas is not the main benefit, but the quality of habitats.

The article presents the results of the study of the economic activityEconomic activities of the retirees from the central and regional districts of Russia. It shows that the representatives of the older generation living in the Ural Federal District consider themselves to be active people who take part in professional and economic activitiesEconomic activities. Elderly people from the Central Federal District do not consider it important or possible for themselves to analyze the situation on the market, but they consider themselves active people who cannot keep still. The comparative analysis reveals that the representatives of the region of the country have a stronger desire to follow the news taking place in the economic life and analyze the situation on the market. The representatives of the Central Federal District are more eager to improve their knowledge in the field of economics. In general, the economic activityEconomic activities of the retirees is at an average level in both parts of the country.

The improvement of internal electronicElectronic communication (IEC) is one of the most important activities that financial organizationsOrganizations strive for. The improvement process includes many actions helping to build a quality environment for information and data transfer, which requires the right strategy based on clear rules, opportunities, and responsible solutions in accordance with the available technological resources. The right approach and the availability of an information base in line with modern technological trends can be added. Of particular importance is the experience already gained, real or borrowed from reliable scientific and recommended sources on how to organize internal organizational electronicElectronic communication. In this regard, it is necessary to consider in detail the highlighted sub-topics, giving full clarity and covering the overall vision of IEC.

Modern conditions in combination with the progress of technologiesTechnologies and, in particular, information and communication technologiesTechnologies (ICT)ICT, computer systems, and software, predetermine the emergence of completely new state administrative, financial, and public systems, which are partially or fully digitalized. This direction includes electronicElectronic bankingBanking, which has become popular in recent years and is in the stage of permanent establishment in people's lives, both privately and publicly. There is already a transition from traditional bankingBanking to a remote format of work and expansion of financial operations. This has its advantages as well as disadvantages, which are discussed in detail in the present study. There is attention paid to modern ways of electronicElectronic bankingBanking. Important points for optimizing the work processes in financial institutions have been identified. Key points related to ensuring the security of digitalDigital information, which is basic in the work process of electronicElectronic bankingBanking, are highlighted.

Nowadays, there is a vivid discussion related to tax planning and the way financial statements become a core tool for managers, to achieve targeted tax basis. Recently, there has been significant research being done on analyzing covenants useful to detect managers’ discretionary accounting policy decisions to align with more aggressive tax-related firm policies. Our study is aimed to address this essential topic, but is limited to the Romanian environment. For this purpose, we have carried out an empirical econometric analysis, on a sample of 200 firms reporting to the NAFA. The study analyzes the financial statements submitted to NAFA in the period of 2010–2016. The analysis consists of two levels of discussion. First, we have tested the relevance of several financial indicatorsIndicators, in modeling the risk of tax evasionTax evasion, as per NAFA methodology. Second, we have addressed the problem of the marginal effect of some fundamental balance sheet elements on the tax level reported through financial statements. The results of the study confirm the relevance of financial information disclosed by financial statements. Therefore, seems that even in a Romanian environment, with an accounting regulation highly polluted by tax framework, managers tend to practice earnings managementManagement with the purpose of tax basis minimization. A fundamental tool used by managers is the level of discretionary accruals, frequently enclosed into the SG&A expenses.

The research answer the question: are institutional factors like industry or type of declared strategy significant for companyCompanies success and sustainabilitySustainability during the COVID-19 pandemicCovid-19 pandemic. The research is based on data from the 60 biggest Russian companiesCompanies (by revenue). Research hypotheses proceed via the Welsh two-sample test (applied for full sample) and One-way ANOVA test (for analysis of particular industries or strategy typeStrategy type differences). The main findings are: the ‘industry’ factor is essential for revenue growthGrowth rate and its changes in 2020, return on sales and its changes in 2020. Retail, Mechanical engineering, and Finances keep good results in 2020, both in revenue and profit. On the other hand, Oil and Gas, Transport, EnergyEnergy, and Communication were the weakest industries in 2020. Also, research concludes that classical planned strategy is the worst choice for companiesCompanies in 2020. CompaniesCompanies with a non-declared strategy show better results in revenue and profit than the classical planned strategy.

RelocationRelocation is an important decision, made with resource consumption. In current conditions of increased uncertainty, such action must be supported by a well-founded analysis and risk forecasting. The political, economic, and social framework needs a dynamic analysis in order to capture the changes that could occur in the future. The paper aims to identify the optimal location for a businessBusiness taking into account the factors identified in the literature. The authors selected six Eastern European states as possible options for relocating a businessBusiness. From the literature were selected indicatorsIndicators 33 present in various research. Information on each criterion was obtained from international databases. For the analysis, Analytic Hierarchy Process method (AHP) was used.

The paper investigates the strong connection [(1) holistic marketing as a complex function and (2) integrative innovation] required for this core functions of organizationOrganizations/companyCompanies/clusters in sustainable competitivenessCompetitiveness achievementAchievements, based on sustainable competitive products. The applied methodology of the systemic approachSystemic approach went through the four classic stages. Two new models useful in practice have been developed: (a) holistic marketing mix modelHolistic marketing mix model for sustainable competitive products of organizationsOrganizations/enterprises/clusters, and (b) competitiveness cycle of holistic marketing and integrative innovationCompetitiveness cycle of holistic marketing and integrative innovation in organizationsOrganizations/enterprises/clusters. The use, adaptation, and integration of current/future marketing and innovationInnovation methods and tools in the newly developed models remains a goal of future research.

Our exploratory research study’s main objective is to analyze the technical digitalizationDigitalization requirements of 60 commercial contracts signed with Romanian Small and Medium Size EnterprisesSMEs from the field of Services, HealthcareHealthcare and Manufacturing, in order to assess the context, process improvement, order, and perceived importance of digitizing 9 main groups of businessBusiness processes, such as those belonging to: Marketing, Sales, Sales Order, Invoices, Price ManagementManagement, Projects, Post Sales, Calendar ManagementManagement and ETL. The findings of this study may be used not only to provide a glimpse into the context and order of businessBusiness process digitalizationDigitalization, but also to show for which businessBusiness processes SMEsSMEs in RomaniaRomania are willing to invest for their digitalizationDigitalization.

The digitalDigital revolution has become a major disruptor for companiesCompanies across the world, creating opportunities, enhancing the organizational performanceOrganizational performance and most importantly, increasing business profitabilityBusiness profitability. This paper will look into the implementation of digitalDigital solutions, such as CRMCRM systems (Customer Relationship ManagementManagement) across Romanian companiesCompanies, for cost-reduction and time-savingSavings practices, as well as the use of online marketing tools (Email marketing, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, SEO & SEM) for increased exposure, sales, and business profitabilityBusiness profitability.

At present, worldwide, economic activitiesEconomic activities have doubled in volume in the last 10 years, which involves a series of structural and fundamental transformations in the profile of a competitive organizationOrganizations. These transformations have an important connection with the adaptation of all organizationsOrganizations to a competitive businessBusiness environment that is directly related to globalization, an aspect that is related to a transition from a “local” market to a global market. The presented study has in its composition an extremely important thing, namely the introduction in the theme of change and transition managementManagement within the organizationOrganizations of some paths that lead to a transition to an applied managementManagement using the concept of intelligent decision. Based on the example “Our Iceberg is Melting: Changing and Succeeding under any Conditions”, the authors approached change as an objective and necessary necessity but also the operationalization of the concepts presented in the example within the modern organizationOrganizations.

The concept of consumer trust in e-commerce (EC) is a topical issue, widely studied by several researchers, developed a lot in the last decade and materialized in several conceptual models of trust in online shopping. The company’sCompanies tendency to buy online has intensified due to the COVID-19 pandemicCOVID-19 pandemic. This paper presents three specific reliable models selected from the literature (Corbitt et al. in Electron Commer Res Appl 204, 2003 [2]; Mannan in A study of the significant factors affecting trust in electronic commerce, pp. 8, 13–16, 2008 [10]; Oliveira et al. in Comput Hum Behav 153–164, 2017 [13]), for which a critical analysis is performed in order to identify the advantages of the models, respectively their limitations. Starting from the critical analysis of the models, a conceptual model was developed to test the consumer trust in EC, which would contribute to solving the limitations. The paper is completed by the procedure for validating the designed model and drawing the most important conclusions.