Higher education services are at a crossroads created by the disruptive impact of digitalization. The COVID-19 pandemic experience forced Romanian universities to use digital educational platforms ...and other online education tools. The questions put into discussion are: Where is Romanian university education headed, what attributes of service quality are relevant for students, how do they see the digitization experience, and what needs to be done to increase satisfaction? A survey was conducted based on an online questionnaire on a sample of 314 students from the University of Oradea that used, for the first time in empirical research, a scale to measure satisfaction with the quality of educational services to which a dimension of digital education is added. Revised importance–performance analysis (importance–performance analysis in nine quadrants with one parameter c-9Qc-IPA) was used for data processing. The results show a still-reserved attitude towards certain aspects of the digitization of services, with priority remaining on aspects related to the material base and the prospects of finding a suitable job after graduation.
ince 2010, the European Commission, through the Communication “Europe, No1 World Tourism Destination – A New Political Framework for Tourism in Europe”, has drawn the attention to the fact that local .../ urban tourism strategies should be essential to the way in which cities promote or limit the extension of tourism services; thus, the increase in the number of tourists in cities and the lack of local tourism policies can lead to negative pressures on the local (environmental, cultural and social) environment. In the research, we will analyze how the explosive economic growth trend of the analyzed region (in our case due to the massive absorption of European funds for urban infrastructure and for industrial development) has positively or negatively affected the tourism sector of the area. The objective of the research will be: identification of local officials with the elaboration and implementation of sustainable tourism policies related to sustainability and identification of specific factors of influence – local vision on sustainability, local action instruments and, implicitly, the tourist flow generated compared to the economic growth level of the region. From a methodological point of view, the research combines two levels of analysis: the comparative analysis of local economic development plans and strategies with local tourism policies as well as the comparative analysis of economic growth indicators of the region with the tourism indicators for the chosen period. A comparison between local development strategies and local tourism policies allows us to identify whether the growth of the tourist phenomenon in the region is a mere consequence of the development of the region or it is based on a strategic thinking of tourism development. The idea behind this research is based on the fact that other studies have demonstrated that the notion of sustainable tourism in major European cities remains out of the local political agenda, without discussing possible conflicts between urban tourism and negative externalities.
ESG reporting and disclosure enable financial performance by attracting revenues and optimizing managerial decisions. Within this landscape falls the present study that aimed to examine the quality ...of ESG reporting connected to the financial performance of listed companies. Stratified analysis revealed four groups of companies according to the average value of ROA and ROE indicators, as well as four classes according to the average ESG disclosure score. The analysis of GRI topics and materiality disclosure scores showed an average disclosure level on ESG components, located between a satisfactory and a good level of disclosure. Also, companies were found to be more inclined to disclose data on the sustainability strategy but provided poor and vague information on the business model. The results of comparative clustering analysis based on FinESG reporting and disclosure scores showed that 31.57% of companies maintained their position in the final ranking. Content analysis of sustainability reports by Leximancer, v.5.0 software highlighted that the most salient topic was “employees”, and it revealed correlations between the themes “employees” and “emissions”. The practical implications of the study were found in the promotion of an integrated reporting that best meets the needs of both stakeholders and those of environmental protection and the development of society.
In recent decades the economic growth based on innovation is no longer just the privilege of the industrialized countries, of countries with a high GDP. More and more developing or emerging countries ...have turned innovation policies in national development strategy. The economic practice has shown that innovation is one of the main drivers of economic growth. The question is: How can a developing or emerging country support financially and managerially a macroeconomic policy for innovation and especially how can it implement innovation in economy. The paper presents comparatively the situation of innovation in China and the US as an argument that a country that has shaped the innovation policy over more than 20 years may come to compete in this area with the strongest economy in the world. In 1978 China introduced the policy of innovation in the education sector, reforms that have generated an accelerated progress in higher education and research, aimed mainly at increasing the standard of successful innovation and technology. In 2010 China was the second largest economy, surpassing Japan in macroeconomic terms, and in 2014 China's GDP reached US $ 10 trillion dollars. China also leads in innovation among BRICS nations (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa). All these achievements were due to the political and innovation reform that China supported for several decades. In the late 1970s, China implemented a series of R&D policies to stimulate the economy and to transform the education and research system into a system close to economy. The example of this country has changed the paradigm according to which innovation and research as well as their application in the economy are only possible in industrialized countries and has also demonstrated that R&D are vital to the progress of economy.
INNOVATION AND INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS OF A COUNTRY Nicoleta Georgeta Bugnar; Liana Eugenia Mester; Andreea Florina Fora
Analele Universităţii din Oradea. Ştiinţe economice,
12/2016, Letnik:
25, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The success of economies or firms has been explained in the recent decades by the degree of innovation they have. Companies innovate to conquer markets through new products and services, to reduce ...production costs, to have an effective management system. It has been statistically demonstrated that there is a direct link between performances, profit level and degree of innovation. The ranking of countries by their degree of innovation prompted the reassessment of how innovation is quantified. The pillars that measure the degree of innovation do no longer refer strictly to research and development costs or number of patents and inventions. There are institutions, human and research capital, infrastructure, market environment, business environment, knowledge and technology outputs as well as creative outputs when we speak about the assessment of the degree of innovation of companies / countries. More and more indicators measuring innovation are focused on items that are not necessarily related to the number of patents or inventions obtained. The developed countries of the world have understood that their success on the international market is related to the degree of novelty and innovation their economy has. Due to globalization, companies and emerging countries are under pressure to engage continuously in innovation: R & D, software, design, engineering, human resources, marketing, etc. - all play an increasingly important role in what we call international competitiveness. We can also state that innovation has evolved along with the development of the human society, from a simple concept of invention or technological novelty to a very complex concept that takes all forms and sectors of economy. Innovation has become a fundamental factor in the whole value chain. Social changes, both in the developed and in the emerging countries, have recognized lately the importance of innovation, and therefore tried to introduce development policies that bring the education and R&D system closer to market requirements.
Competitiveness designates efficiency, productivity, success, adaptability, quality products, optimum costs. Competitiveness is a complex concept which defines the ability of a firm or country to ...cope with actual or potential competition companies or countries on a particular market, on the world market respectively and it is synonymous with economic efficiency; competitiveness reflects a certain state of the economic activity arising from a certain resource consumption in order to achieve economic goods. Supporting the national competitiveness and flexibility is aimed at a sustained increase in productivity relying on the diversification and the innovation of the domestic industrial base. The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012 ranks Romania as the 77th out of 142 assessed economies. Romania has access to a large market and free trade area, which makes it attractive for many foreign companies, but Romania needs a coherent economic policy that changes the approach used today - from the traditionalist design of restructuring following the resources and, therefore, related to the comparative advantage to finding solutions that stimulate the activities based on knowledge and information so that they allow the emphasis of the competitive advantages. This paper aims to identify the factors and reasons that gave rise to the level of competitiveness for some activities or fields of activities from the economy of Romania during the reporting period, as well as the possibilities that would lead to increasing and supporting the competitiveness of the national economy.
Local communities embracing the concept of Eco-industrial park are looking for some additional benefits for all the interested parties – both public and private: higher economic efficiency, the ...increase of competitivity by applying last minute technologies, generation of additional revenues through positive regulations at the community level, the creation of jobs, solving the conflict between economy and environment, diminishing the demand on the county infrastructure, decreasing the effects of pollution, using energy from regenerating sources and replacement materials. Communities and enterprises creating Eco-industrial parks will have common grounds for industrial development, which is much more competitive, more efficient and much cleaner than traditional industrial parks. Moreover, the new business niches will be open to recruitment or new incubators. Eco-industrial parks represent a special category compared to industrial parks, a category which is different from the classical ones due to the fact that they are designed in such a way so that they promote the collaboration between companies in order to reuse recyclable materials and green energy sources. A long-term vision must reflect the focus on the creation of collaboration networks between firms and the fact that an Eco-industrial park should be a business community, not only a mathematical sum of companies located in the same geographical area. The quality, continuity and interconnection of economic flows within the firms of an Eco-industrial park are important characteristics for the success of Eco-industrial networks. The following discussion tackles the way in which an Eco-industrial park is set-up: creating and implementing an Eco-industrial park in accordance with the principles of circular economy or transforming an already existing industrial park into an Eco- industrial park. The quality, the continuity, the number of interconnected firms, the flows of resources and the relations between the firms are success factors within Eco-industrial networks. The successful cases – especially those in the USA or the Northern countries – have proved that Eco parks engage a multitude of entities, from regional/local authorities to non-governmental organizations; in these entities’ action the objectives and actions of the firms; management overlap with those of the community management
In an attempt to accelerate the process of reforming the economy, the central institutions focus on supporting the use of technology to modernize the industry that would lead to the diversification ...of activities and the achievement of sustainable industrial development. The imperfections of the market and of the institutional system hampers companies\\\' access to information, knowledge, new technology and financing resulting in increased business risk and directly affecting the progress towards achieving development goals. Industrial parks may be considered as a solution to overcome these flaws in the attempt to accelerate the economic development by attracting innovative businesses that can generate jobs, higher incomes and therefore more resources to institutions. They can exploit the local potential in supporting knowledge-based business development and outline an environment where companies can interact with other supporting knowledge suppliers thus facilitating business and local development. The approach of the subject is theoretical starting from the need to support the economic activities by local social institutions fostering the access to information and technology and identifying some solutions that meet these needs - industrial parks. Even if industrial parks in Romania are still considered in draft form, some examples can be identified as functional and supporting the local development. Their functionality is given by the involvement of local authorities and the interest of the business environment in exploiting the economic potential of the region. The role of industrial parks in supporting the local development is measured in the number of new jobs created, the income received by local institutions by paying taxes and duties from firms benefiting from the infrastructure made available through their involvement in attracting investors; the more productive the industry and more efficient the production, the higher the company\\\'s results and therefore the benefits of local institutions.
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