Browsing by Author "Ciumara, Tudor"

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Inovarea în management şi rolul acesteia în obţinerea avantajului competitiv
(IEFS, 2011) Ciumara, Tudor
This paper is suported by the Sectorial Operational Programme Human Resources Development (SOP HRD), financed from the European Social Fund and by the Romanian Government under the contract number SOP HRD/89/1.5/S/62988. Innovation is one of the most important ways of achieving competitive advantage. Changing management practices is a manner less used by firms to innovate, but it has the potential to make a major contribution in the process of creating competitive advantage for the company. Management innovation represents the introduction of new management practices in the firm, which significantly change the way in which the activity in this area is conducted, in order to enhance company performance. Management innovation can help the company generate new ways to create value, discover new resources that can be used to achieve its objectives. Meanwhile, management innovation can be more difficult to copy than other types of innovation, often being tailored to suit the specific company where it appeared. Because of these characteristics, management innovation can lead to sustainable competitive advantages. Managerial innovation is likely to be more valuable when it brings more radical changes and when it occurs in the context of an environment supportive of multiple innovations.
Management consultants as agents for neo-liberalism
(IEFS, 2012) Ciumara, Tudor
The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of the role management consultants have in international development (ID) and in the global spread of neo-liberal ideas. ID is a context that brings together international financial institutions, donor governments, NGOs, developing countries and various consultants. We examine a number of issues related to the roles of management consultants in the spread of neo-liberal ideas, such as the consultants’ role as “carriers” of neo-liberal ideas and the agency of consultants in this process. Further, we analyse the mechanisms for the diffusion of neo-liberal ideas by consultants on different levels: direct transformation of practices in the developing states by the professional dissemination of the consultants knowledge, direct and indirect impact on the developing states, direct and indirect impact on those that can be seen as the real clients, from the consultants’point of view. Finally, we analyse the effects of the diffusion in terms of the spread of neo-liberalism, the general efficiency of the projects, the potentially hidden agenda of some influential institutions/groups and the consultants’ need to cultivate their market.
Rolul culturii naţionale în decizia financiară la nivel individual – cazul României
(IEFS, 2012) Ciumara, Tudor; Lupu, Iulia
In this paper we analyse the role of national culture on individual financial decision, focusing on the case of Romania. National culture, as the premise of the article, is the source of some very important factors that influence financial decision. The analysis is based on Hofstede's model of understanding cultural differences. Romania’s scores on dimensions of national culture, as measured by Hofstede, are used to interpret local individual financial behavior. Of the six dimensions of national culture, three are of greater importance for the problem considered: uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation and indulgence versus restraint. The data we used indicate that in Romania there is a strong preference for uncertainty avoidance, which translates into the use of safer financial instruments, even if returns are lower. Considering the second main dimension, due to the focus on long-term, financial preferences are adequately influenced. Romania’s score on the third main dimension shows an inclination towards restraint in consumption, which can positively affect individual savings and investments. Our analysis opens the field for research regarding ways of adapting local financial instruments to individual preferences.