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present paper the relationship marketing will be performance indicators to control organizational
approached from the perspective of relational capital. behavior and to improve public sector efficiency and
The relational capital represents the value of the quality” (Frolich et al., 2010, p.8). Each year,
relations that the organisation has with its stakeholders acceptance for marketing tools grew and the field
(for instance the relations between universities and the expanded. Nowadays marketing became a valuable tool
business environment, industry, high-schools, alumni, to ensure survival and ultimate success for higher
local community) (Nicolescu and Nicolescu, 2005). education providers.
Beside the aforementioned factors, which are
CHALLENGES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF generally accepted in the European Higher Education
THE RELATIONAL CAPITAL OF ROMANIAN Area, Romanian universities face also the following
UNIVERSITIES specific challenges:
- The steady underfinancing of the Romanian
education system- a report released by Eurostat in June
For Romanian universities the challenges for the
development of relational capital are represented by (see 2009 shows that between 2001-2006 the total public-
Fig.1): sector expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP
in Romania amounts 3,4% compared with an average of
Demographi
c downturn 5,1% in EU- 27 or 8% in Scandinavian countries.
Increase
According to the same report Romania ranks on the last
EU
membe Relational
d place regarding the unit cost per pupil/ student: 1.467
operatin
rship capital of g cost Units compared to over 14.000 Units in Luxembourg
Romanian
universities (European Commission, 2010). Given these
Resistance circumstances the Romanian higher education
Steady
under-
within
organizatio
institutions have to seek for private financing coming
financing
n itself from the stakeholders. In this respect making use of
Figure 1: Challenges for the development of relational capital in
Romanian universities, Source: Own illustration
their relationship marketing plays a crucial role.
- EU membership- facilitates the access of
- Demographic downturns- namely the steady Romanian high school graduates to European
decline of the potential number of eighteen year olds universities. This fact along with the establishment of
entering the higher education market private universities increases the competition for the
- Increased operating cost- by acquiring and Romanian public universities and therefore the need to
implementing advanced communication and make sense of more consolidated and aggressive
information technology; access to expensive electronic marketing. The number of Romanian universities
databases; payment of lectures delivered by prestigious increased from 45 in the ‘90s to 140 in 2004. This
visiting professors etc. number exceeds by far the needs of the domestic market
- Resistance within organization itself- the removal (Calota, 2004).
of bias, especially on the part of faculty members, who
perceived marketing as advertising and personal selling THE RELATIONAL CAPITAL OF THE
that degraded the profession, was probably the most ACADEMY OF ECONOMIC STUDIES OF
difficult challenge to be met. In Romanian universities BUCHAREST (ASE)
this issue was even more difficult to approach than in
other European universities as the Romanian society had The quantitative part of this paper consists of a pilot
tradition neither in business marketing or non business survey conducted within ASE in the period March-
marketing. During the communistic period and also in April 2010. A pilot study is a standard scientific tool for
the next decade after revolution the Romanian research, allowing scientists to conduct a preliminary
universities were not aware of the need of a analysis before committing to a larger study
consolidated marketing strategy, the need to deliver (Shuttleworth, 2008). The online questionnaire was the
high teaching and research performance and an instrument of data gathering. The research seeks to
appealing study offer. This perception was caused by assess the relational capital in ASE and to design
the large number of applicants and the egalitarian and development priorities. The questionnaire comprises 16
uniform public financing of universities, irrespective of items consisting in 13 closed ended questions (yes/ no,
any performance criteria. There was no need for multiple choice and scaled questions) and 3 open ended
Romanian higher institutions to strive for marketing or questions. An effort was made to select respondents
performance, since their development was taken for from different faculties and departments, that would
granted (Bratianu, 2004). “Changes in this financing result in a representative sampling. The data analysis
system entail a fundamental shift from allocation of techniques used for the pilot study comprise different
funding based on incremental development of public forms of descriptive statistics, such as means, frequency
budgets to performance criteria. Reforms have been analysis, correlations, graphs and tables, cross
introduced in many European countries; this has been tabulations.
interpreted as an attempt on the part of the state to more
systematically utilize financial incentives and
Promotion Techniques Adopted byy The Faculty off Economic Sciences Within The Lower Danube University in Galati To
Reach The Target 5
The
he survey was carried out with the participation of 5
45 employees from ASE,, out of which 42 answers were
complete and valid (see Table 1). 0
Students Alumni Business Civil society Partner
Table 1: Profile of the sample environment universities
Indicators Relative Absolute Figure 4: Stakeholders’ ranking
frequencies frequencies
(%) like Facebook and Linkedin. Recently within one of
Position Management 21,4
21,43 9 ASE’s faculties it was put in execution a new concept,
Execution 78,57 33 namely “Open en days in ASE” dedicated to high school
Age Under 30 54,
54,76 23 pupils. They would have the chance to attend lectures in
31-40 26,19
6,19 11
41-50 9,52 4
ASE together with regular students in order to gain a
51-60 9,52 4 first impression on university life.
Over 60 0 0
Presentations
The research reveals an interesting finding: while 5.13%
24.79% Newsletter
over 55% of the managers believe that ASE has an 28.21%
4.27% Site visits
appropriate strategy for the development of relational
rel 19.66%
17.95% Advertising materials
capital,, just 33% of the regular employees share the Web-site
managers’ opinion. In the samee time one can notice Other methods
Figure 5: Communication’s methods with potential students
different opinions among the 5 age categories: while
53%
3% of the younger employees (younger than 40 years) For top ranked business universities such as
a Havard
believe that the measures set can not overcome the Business School, Oxford University etc. the alumni
challenges mentioned in the previous chapter and 14% network plays a key role in their
the development. Although
of them do not have an opinion in this respect, just the respondents were able to point out representative
12,5% of the older employees believe that the strategy Alumni
lumni of ASE such as Mugur Isarescu, Varujan
should be reconsidered
ed (see Fig.2 and Fig.3).
Fig.3) Vosganian, Mircea Geoana etc., only 2,44%
2,44 of them are
well informed about the activity of the Alumni
Association in ASE and over 50% couldn’t point out
200.00% I don't know
0.00% any activity organized by the Alumni association. The
No survey reveals that the most important benefit triggered
Yes by a strong alumni
lumni network is the enhancement of the
University’s prestige in the economic and business
Figure 2: Cross-tabulation Age- Confidence
onfidence in strategy environment. Despite the poor financial resources that
the university has at its disposal,
disposal the acquirement of
100.00%
sponsorships from alumni ranks on the last place.
Execution
0.00% The Romanian education system
sy was not designed to
Yes No
I don't know
Management meet the needs of the labor market. This problem occurs
in most former communist countries. The universities
Figure 3: Cross-tabulation Position- Confidence in strategy have to redesign their curricula and introduce new
specializations. The survey’s results shows
show that big
Among stakeholders, students rank first- the most steps have been made within ASE: in the last 2 years
important- with 4,27 points on a scale from 1 to 5. On 53.66% of the faculties/departments
faculties/dep underwent
the next positions we encounter business environment moderate changes; s; 29,27% major changes and 2,44%
with 3,59 and
nd partner universities with 2,73 (see Fig.4). were completely restructured, while none of the
As we can see in Fig.5 the most frequent methods programs underwent no changes.
used by ASE to build andd consolidate relations with According to the current survey the business
potential students consist in: website of the university environment
nvironment is considered the second most important
(28,2%), presentations of the education programs in i stakeholder. Although partnerships between business
high schools (24,8%), Pupils’ site visit in the faculties universities and companies represent one of the key
(19,66%),, distribution of advertising materials success drivers,
ers, it can be noticed that university
(17,95%). The less used ed method is the newsletter sent members are not highly involvedinv in this kind of
by email (4,27%). Among other methods proposed were projects: only 45,2% (19 persons) from the questioned
mentioned participation at universities fairs f and employees participated in the last 2 years in one joint
presence on the socialization and professional networks project with a company, while only 9,5% (4 persons)
were involved
nvolved in more than 4 projects (see Fig.6).
12,2% of the active members assumed the role of
project initiator and 9,76% coordinated projects; almost
30% had a secondary active role, while 19,5% were
beneficiaries.
6 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
After the adoption of the Bologna educational, the status of a study program can be authorized or accredited. The work is aiming: to
identify how important is this status in the minds of the future students and, to give some suggestions for the university management to
promote appropriately every study program. We focus the study to the pupils from 3 Arts High Schools from Moldova region, we
systematized their opinion regarding the status of the study programs and those regarding the promotion methods used by the Arts
Universities in the promotion of the new study programs.
Key words: authorized study program, accredited study program, educational offer, vocational education, promotion
elaborated both from European and American The Romanian arts universities adopted the Bologna
specialists. Almost all these studies are approaching the educational system and re-design the curricula for every
arts separately because the differences between them. study program. For the new programs the curricula was
According to Locklear (2002), music has two main elaborated according with the similar ones from other
functions in school curriculum: as a subject with its own European arts universities and with the experience
value for the young people, expressing human feelings accumulated during the time.
in unique and powerful ways, and as enrichment, Because of the lack of knowledge, in the minds of
reinforcement, and expansion of learning in other areas. common people, including the high school pupils, an
A direct correlation has been found to exist between authorized study program has a high degree of
arts-based programs and enhanced student achievement. uncertainty. For this reason, there were situations when
Music has been found to improve the intellectual some new study programs didn’t have the expected
functioning of all children and teenagers and is now success. So, the university management has to intervene
known to be essential for optimal cognitive and to find the appropriate solutions to promote every
development (Rauscher, 1996). study program. An overall promoting politic is not the
The visual arts have a very positive impact on the best method to assure enough students for all faculties
development of the young people in terms of improving and study programs.
communication, imagination, and creativity (Catterall, In this context, the paper has two main purposes:
2002). First: to make a survey on the basis of a
About the drama, there are studies which affirm that questionnaire in order to understand the level of
it promotes inventiveness, clowning, and timing; knowledge about the status of a study program among
(Upitis, 2005) also, drama promotes creativity, is the pupils in the last year of study from the Arts High
solving behavior problems, improve the language and Schools;
communication, helps the integration of at-risk-students Second: to propose some specific methods of
into society (Gervais, 2006). promoting for the new (authorized) study programs.
Students who are studying the arts develop self-
confidence. They see themselves as capable of doing 3.2. Subjects of the study and methodology
work that is personally satisfying and publicly A study made two years ago at the Arts University
acknowledged. Because serious work in the arts “George Enescu” from Iasi revealed that more than 75%
requires persistence, students develop self-discipline of the students came from Moldova region. All the
and come to understand what it means to make multiple counties of this region have an Arts High School with at
revisions to achieve high standards. Because so many least music and visual arts specialties, some of them
art forms are collaborative in nature, students often have also drama or ballet specialties. So, it is obvious
develop the crucial ability to work on a common project that our study focused on the pupils from these
with others (Goodheart, 2000). education institutions. We choose the pupils from the
At European level, the Education, Audiovisual and last year of study which will become students starting
Culture Executive Agency published in 2009 a very with academic year 2010 – 2011 from Arts College
important document regarding the importance of the arts “Octav Bancila” Iasi, Arts College “Ciprian
education in the countries members of EU in the frame Porumbescu” Suceava and Arts High School “Victor
of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation – Brauner” Piatra Neamt.
2009. The document underline that the European Generally, the number of the pupils who are
countries need to preserve cultural resources, promote studying in an Arts High School is not very big; usually,
cultural identity, respect diversity and encourage inter- there are 25 – 30 per specialty. At our study participated
cultural dialogue and, in this context, the education in the first phase 87 subjects, but after the introducing
system from every country is playing a fundamental role question, remained 72 subjects.
(2009, http://www.eurydice.org). We elaborated a questionnaire with 5 main questions
In the light of the review presented above, the paper and an introducing one and we distributed it at the
is aiming to study the arts educational offer from institutions mentioned above. We want to specified that
Romanian arts universities regarded from the point of we had a fully collaboration with the teachers from
view of the recipients of high education services. these high schools, especially with the teachers of arts
study objects.
3. THE STUDY OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE The distribution of the participants between the three
STATUS OF THE STUDY PROGRAM institutions is:
After the adoption of the Bologna educational, the - Iasi Arts College: 29 in the first stage, 24
status of a study program can be authorized or remained;
accredited. For the teaching staff and for the majority of - Suceava Arts College: 36 in the first stage, 30
the students, the differences between these two statuses remained;
are clear and known, but among the future students still - Piatra Neamt High School: 22 in the first phase,
persists confusion. 18 remained.
The answers at the questions were statistically
3.1. The study’s premises interpreted and at the questions with free answer we try
The importance of the status of a study program in the promotion politic of the educational offer 9
The subjects were able to choose the following using modern means and give general information about
variants: No, In a little measure, In a great measure, the its educational offer. For the beginning, that can be
Yes. The answers were very edifying – more than 90% enough, but it is obvious that the pupils need more
of the participants at the survey didn’t know or have a information. So, the arts universities have to improve
very little knowledge (63 answered No, 6 answered In a their promotional activities focusing on the specific of
little measure and 3 answered In a great measure). this vocational high education.
We consider that the results obtained at this question
can be used in designing a suitable strategy for the 4. CONCLUSIONS AND PERSPECTIVE FOR
promotion of the study programs. The promotion CONTINUING THE RESEARCH
campaigns have the charge to explain the accreditation The arts high education has an intense vocational
process of a study program and what are the differences character, the students are coming especially from arts
between the two stages of the process. high schools and there is a strong bind between the two
Question no. 4: Do the arts universities make types of institutions. During the last years the arts
promotional actions in the arts high schools? universities have initiated a big number of new study
At this question the participants can answer with programs as a response at the request in the field. The
Yes or No. We obtained a unanimous opinion, all the 72 future students have to be informed in a very specific
subjects were answered Yes. mode about the changes and the news from the
We consider it a positive situation – at one hand, the university level, in order to be able to make a choice in
arts universities are interested to present their an informed manner. The printed promotional
educational offer at the future students and organize a documents elaborated by the arts universities and the
large range of promotional activities, and on the other persons which are promoted direct has to synthesize the
hand, the pupils participate at these activities with the specificity of each study program, to explain that is no
desire to find out a lot of information about the arts high risk to study at an authorized program and to offer
education institution. answers at possible questions of the pupils.
Question no. 5: How are you appreciating these We consider that the application of this
promotional actions? (it is possible to choose more questionnaire brought important information and can be
than 1 variant) extended at all the high schools from Moldova region.
The variants can be seen in the legend of the graph. On the basis of the results of this survey, the border
This last question is more subjective then the others; of the Arts University “George Enescu” Iasi decided to
we obtain very spread answers and a lot of combinations renew its promotional campaigns and to give more
of variants scored by the subjects. However, we can details about the authorized (new) study programs. The
notice that no one consider the publicity made by the promotional politic of the institution will be elaborated
arts university as useless. Evan the institutions are well depending the competition at the admission exam.
known, every year there are new elements which can be The application of this survey can be considered a
emphasized regarding the teaching, artistic and first step in a complex research regarding the mutual
scientific process. The overall results at this question are influence between high school and university education.
showed in the next graph:
References
9
50
4 1. Rauscher,A., (1996) “What Educators Music Learn From
61 Science”, Tacoma, Washington
variants 2. Vlasceanu, L., and all, “Starea calitatii in invatamantul superior
21
58 din Romania 2009 – Baromentrul calitatii 2009”, QualMedia,
55 Bucuresti, http://www.aracis.ro
0
3. Gervais, M. (2006), “Exploring Moral Values with Young
Adolescents Through Process Drama”, International Journal of
0 20 40 60 80 Education & the Arts, 7(2)
4. Upitis, R., (2005), “Experiences of Artists and Artist-Teachers
are organized too late Involved in Teacher Professional Development Programs”,
International Journal of Education & the Arts, 6(8)
are organized early enough 5. Catterall, J., (2002) “Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and
Student Social and Academic Development”, http: // www.aep-
are using old means
arts.org
are using modern means 6. Goodheart, C., “A Case for the Arts in Education”,
http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/arts/goodheart.htm
are emphasizing the specific of the study pr. 7. Locklear, S., (2002), “Research-Based Justification for the
are general
Highline School District. Elementary and Secondary School
Music Programs”,
are providing minimum information http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/arts/locklear.htm
8. * * *, “Arts and Cultural Education at School in Europe”,
are useless (2009), Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency,
The answers at this question allow some comments: Brussels, http://www.eurydice.org
9. * * * National Report Romania 2009,
the arts universities start the promoting campaigns with http://www.edu.ro/index.php/articles/12049)
enough time before the ending of the scholastic year, are
MEASURES TO COMBAT CORRUPTION IN FACULTY OF DENTAL MEDICINE
"OVIDIUS" UNIVERSITY OF CONSTANTA
Aim: Objective measures program applied in the Faculty of Dental Medicine to reduce corruption and unfair competition. Objectives:
Online evaluation program of the teaching staff and students’ attendance at lectures, practical lessons and seminars. Exams’
proceeding program with assessment and announcing the results on the spot in plenary. Prior work: There have been several studies
on the referral of students and teaching staff, as well as problems arising in the management of the Faculty of Dental Medicine during
2004-2009. It continued with opinion surveys, observations, case studies that we have tried different solutions. The conclusion of these
studies was that only the adoption of a firm strategy with a set of measures that can not leave space to interpretation may begin the
action to mitigate corruption. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: In the descriptive-retrospective analysis based on observations,
surveys, case studies, we designed a program targeting these objective measures: online attendance at lectures, practical lessons and
seminars, displaying individual teaching staff’ daily schedule, 10 custom mandatory regulations of faculty, examinations using
multimedia one-minute-answer questions on the adhesive sheets. Results: The measures taken have resulted in adherence to 68% of
students and 50% of teachers, reducing by 23% the number of arrears exams and the number of students in complementary years
reduced with 72%. Implications: Leaving higher education by 11% of teaching staff refractory to these measures. It is important that
balance of the faculty staff attitude, now 50% - 50%, tilt in favour of quality. 5 Faculties of Dental Medicine partially introduced these
measures. Although inertia is huge, the measures had the mentioned results. Originality value: The degree of originality of the paper
consists of the courage to discuss officially unrecognized but very serious problems that cancels any attempt to increase quality. The
set of measures which, by their objectivity reduced the chance of contesting the people quarrelled with academic ethics and morality is
also original. Keywords: quality in higher education, moral, combat corruption.
attendance at courses were allowed in exam as having at - Establishment of exams commissions composed of
least 70% attendance as it is stipulated in faculty 4-5 teachers including the discipline holder for
regulations. Moreover, in practical lessons where there supervising the exams accuracy and prevent attempted
are maximum 2 absences allowed, there were students fraud trough electronic devices.
which promoted with high marks even if in reality they For implementation of these measures were applied
have not participate in more then ½ of didactic activity. specific programs, for not exceeding the space of this
The study have shown that some teachers have paper we refer to 2 programs with a high degree of
falling in to the monitoring trap, reporting after 10-11 originality and which subside the excess of the one
practical lessons 2 attendances, and in the final tempted to fraud, namely:
situation, after another 2-3 practical lessons, the same 1. The on-line assessment program of students and
students appear with an attendance of 90%, without teacher attendance at courses, seminars and practical
question absences recovery. lessons.
Analyzing above mentioned situation assessment Because previous measures such as collective
ways of it was found that some students, especially from control or evaluation by students showed the most
other countries, obtained passing marks even they have obvious, without getting data about real quality
massive absentee and embarrassing marks from improvement in time, therefore has been created an
semester time, without a chance of improvement informatics system which brings, in the first 10 minutes
knowledge by fair means. of teaching activity, to the faculty board the real
Other assessments shows that students with good attendance of students and teachers. The teacher cannot
mark were un-passed in some exams, usually the same, change the previous inserted attendance because the
and the others manifest the opposite phenomenon. There system did not allow it, as it is known the exact time
were situations that have lasted for years when although and date of the data insertion. The system also allowed
the exam was according to regulations, with the entire viewing the marks given by the teacher during the
group, the marks were given following a face-to-face semester. There are special sections for recovering
discussion in the discipline holder desk. After these absented practical lessons, with the possibility of
discussions the final situation was completely different monitoring their accuracy.
from our previously collected data. Another benefit of this system is to refuse the
Starting an official investigation is almost diligences of some Ministry officials which urged us to
impossible, disadvantaged students are often threatened register students presented at Faculty after half time of
in the most rude way and others are interested in getting semester. The system not allowed their exam entrance.
results without work because their parents have money. To ensure the rightness, IT teacher, who designed
Considering that all the dishonest work can be the technical support of the program, gave each
reversed at a time, starting from the medical principle: semester a password which allowed the system access
prevention is more important then the treatment, we only to discipline holder teacher and only at timetable
began a consultation with fellow troubled by a specific scheduled hours.
situation in which students from rural areas, with 2. Exams scheduled program with evaluation and
average mark situation lost their state subsidized seats in announcing of results immediately, in exams plenary.
favour of the ones potentate by time. This program was necessary as students don’t face
with lists posted a few days after carrying out an
Design/ Methodology/ Approach examination, with marks distorted from reality. The
exam, which model was introduced in our faculty by
Prof. Gheorghe Taralunga, proceeds as follows:
In the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Constanta, were
established real measures and targets for each of the - Students are given forms in duplicate, auto-copy
sheets for answers;
problems affecting an important segment of education.
- A training (visual and auditory) is done about the
According to this, were introduced and updating
conduct of examination;
measures which target:
- Each question is projected for 1 minute, the student
- On-line courses, practical lessons and seminars
attendance; encircling the correct answer / answers on the form;
- Displaying the daily scheduled for each teacher; - At the exam end the original examination sheets
for answers are taken, the students left with the copy
- Introduction of 10 custom faculty regulations,
sheet, both copies being signed by students;
which became mandatory;
- The correct answers for each question are projected,
- Exams using 1 minute multimedia projection of
and students mark on their remaining sheet the right
questions and students answer on auto-copy sheets;
- Evaluation by the Dental Medicine Faculty Council answers;
of the end of each semester of teaching activities of each - Students are invited alphabetically to communicate
aloud the obtained score, which is written on the
teacher and the discipline holder will present the activity
original form existing at the holder of the discipline;
of his teachers;
- Students know the regulation that if they declare a
- Sending to the families the actual semester
different score than actual one, they will lose the exam
situation of the students with more then 2 arrears in the
previous semester; because it is considered fraud attempt to lie the
Measures to combat corruption in Faculty of Dental Medicine "Ovidius" University of Constanta 13
Livia ANASTASIU 1, AndreI MOGA 2, Ovidiu GAVRIŞ 3, Sorina CIPLEA 4, Alexandra ANASTASIU5, Sorin
HOPÎRTEAN6
1
PH.D Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, E-mail: livia.anastasiu@cif.utcluj.ro
2
PH.D Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, E-mail: randreimoga@yahoo.com
3
PH.D Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, E-mail: ovidiugavrilg@yahoo.com
4
PH.D Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, E-mail: sorina_ciplea@yahoo.com
5
Babes Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, E-mail: inahanastasiu@yahoo.com
6
GAMI RO NET Cluj-Napoca, E-mail: office@trust.ro
The present paper aims to demonstrate how to use the principles of social responsibility in higher education system, by applying modern
teaching techniques. The students` practice in the construction companies showed that Romanian businessmen are more interested in getting
profits than to protect the community.
The study is based on the principles of democracy, often worse understood. There must be a balance between rights and obligations.
The questionnaires applied to the constructor students’ show that the interests of the owners of the construction companies are more important
than community care.
Education in social responsibility principles is a long-term investment, for it represents a change of mentality. The role of the University is to
train educated people not only professional, but morally as well.
They will be integrated into communities and they shall protect them.
Our team designed a questionnaire based on the principles of social responsibility, applied for 60 students from the Faculty of Constructions,
who have practiced in construction companies. The questions are closed and open.
The research results show that in companies where the students have made the site practice, 73% of the employers are mainly interested in
financial results, even if they violate the rules of social responsibility. The case studies reinforce these issues.
This research involves two categories of people: teachers and students. The role of the teachers is to prepare the students to implement the
principles of social responsibility. The future graduates will be aware of the positive effects and will be able to apply and disseminate these
concepts among their subordinates.
The originality of this work consists in the responsibly approach of the theme: positive effects if applicable and negative effects, even
stranded, if immediate gains are not correlated with the principle. The modern education system highlights the long-term implications of the
phenomenon.
INTRODUCTION METHODOLOGY
The concept of social responsibility is not new. The The construction field is one of the main pillars of a
first time mentioned was in 1953 in “The Bowen’s national economy. It involves the companies and the
Social Responsibility for Businessmen”. The evolution people as well. Therefore, the social responsibility must
of the society, the industrialization and the changes of govern all the actions. CSR is not imposed, it’s
the consumers’ tastes gave it a different dimension. The volunteer. The customers come from the community, so
companies began to be aware of its importance. The the firms must give something back, not only making
first company which implemented this theory was Shell, profit.
in 1998, followed by lots of firms which understood that The organization’s activity concerns several
it’s the only reasonable way to do business in the connected domains:
Modern Age.
The social responsibility is based on sustainable Economic
development and it leads to ethical norms, both for
businesses and consumers, so it deals with actions that
Ethic
protect and improve the quality of life.
The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
represents “the voluntary actions that business can take, Politic
over and above compliance with legal requirements, to Organization
address both its own competitive interests and the Legal
interests of wider society”.
The analysis of the companies` results showed that
Social
the strategies for development based only on immediate
proffit weren`t sustainable and led to conflicts, basicly
Techologic
dued to the breach of the legislation concerning the
environment, the working conditions, the social
protection of the employees and others. Figure 1: CSR`s activities
investment and the result is the change of mentality. The be the leading idea: beginning with the raw material, the
role of the University is to train educated people, energy consumed for the manufacturing, the transport,
professionally, as well as morally, who will be the building of the construction and the life time cycle
integrated in the community. of the building.
Concerning this principle, our team conducted a
study that involved 60 students who performed their CONCLUSIONS
summer practice in construction companies. The
questions were both open and close and were focused The results of the study highlight the importance of
on the following issues: the education system that involves the three pats of the
The public image of the company
project: the companies, the students and the teachers.
The regulations
The new technologies are a priority in the modern
The support of the community in survival
times and they give a competitive advantage for the
The green products
firms which understand the long term benefits in almost
The employees’ motivation and satisfaction all areas:
The protection of the environment - public image: reputation for customers and employees
The profit
- regulations: toxic technologies may close the business
The ethical and moral values
- survival and growth: the only way a company may
The community services
survive is by the community’s support
The results revealed that most of the companies
- employees satisfaction that leads to high productivity
(73%) are mainly interested in immediate incomes, and and quality
the profit is the basic concern. On long term, 43% of the - consumers faith: their rights are protected by law
subjects want safer conditions for their employees, but
That’s why the companies must think their
only if the business is good.
businesses in long run in order to survive in a
When the market is in crisis, 56% lower the wages,
competitive and globalize market:
26% reduce the overall costs and 14% reduce the profit For employees: fair wages, education, training,
ratio. safety, respect, honesty
More than a half of the firms that participated in this
For consumers: fair prices, safe and quality
program don’t use green materials or technologies for
products and services
two main reasons: they are not aware of the benefits or
For the society: non-pollution technologies, moral
they are more expensive and the profit is smaller.
and ethical values, health services
After interpreting the results, we organized a meeting The originality of this works is the modern approach
with the representatives of the companies, the students of the concept based on the three parts involved:
and the teachers. The opinions showed that all the
companies, students and teachers. Their common effort
participants agreed on the fact that the long term plans
in a sustainable development of the construction field
must take the social responsibility in account. The
will lead to a better understanding and implementing of
managers thought about training their employees and
the corporate social responsibility.
applying the concept, as long as the profit is not
affected.
The teachers understood that the university is the
perfect place for students to learn about CSR, so they References
have to think about introducing specific chapters in the
curricula in order to support the idea. 1. Domsa, J., Anastasiu L., (2010), “Post graduate courses in
national and transnational system”, The 6th International
The constructions consume 40% from the world Seminar QMHE, 8th-9th of July 2010, Tulcea, Romania.
energy, 25% of the wood and 16% of the water. 2. Kotler, P., (2005), Corporate Social Responsibility – Doing the
Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause, John Wiley&Sons.
3. Moga A., Anastasiu L., Moga R.A., (2010), “Student traineeship
in the national and transnational system”, The 6th International
Seminar QMHE, 8th-9th of July 2010, Tulcea, Romania
Raw Manufacture Transport 4. Werther, W., Chandler, D. (2006), Strategic Corporate Social
material Responsibility, Sage Publications.
The world crisis affected a major area of economic activities involving the construction industry. Graduates from this particular domain have
difficulties in employment in the profession of civil engineer. This paper aims to demonstrate the way the Bologna Master Program assist future
graduates in finding jobs in collateral fields.
The Faculty of Construction in Cluj-Napoca Romania applies for Bologna type Masters since 2009. The effects of the crisis began to manifest
since 2008, therefore we felt the need to organize programs that provide additional competences for the future graduates.
The Management and Technology Department from the Faculty of Construction Cluj-Napoca Romania initiated the Master Program “Project
Management and the Property Evaluation”. Its graduates get competences in project manager, corporate and real estate assessor, techniques for
accessing the European Funds, and others. In this way, they broaden their employment opportunities, which until now were restricted only to the
construction companies. 32 people are studying in the master “Project Management and the Property Evaluation”.
We designed a questionnaire to capture several aspects: understanding of concepts, teaching methods used, the applicability of the knowledge
gained. The questionnaire has 15 questions: 12 closed and 3 open. The results are credible, for the presence was 100% (32 survey’s participants).
Closed questions were developed on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 – negative, 5 – positive).
Of course, the results are limited, because only after graduation we will be able to quantify the effects of this master program.
The research of this program’s effects has implications for several groups: students, teachers, businessmen. The crisis sharpens the competition in
a global market. Modern methods of teaching will help the universities to attract students, while the companies will hire well trained people in
order to gain higher profits.
The originality of this work is the new approach of the competitive market in crisis conditions. The Master Program provides additional
competences for the constructors. An important fact: the joining of the Romanian education system to Bologna allows the graduated constructors
to work throughout the EU.
This paper attempts to emphasize some aspects regarding the application of Performance Prism framework in higher education
sector. The Performance Prism concept states that organizational performance arises at the intersection of the following five
perspectives: satisfying organization’s stakeholders’ wants and needs, using stakeholders’ contributions, and the organization’s
strategies, processes and capabilities, respectively. Performance Prism can help a university to integrate its own needs with its
stakeholders’ expectations and to align its necessary strategies, processes and capabilities.
Keywords: performance management, performance prism, stakeholders
institutions: to university level, to faculties level or to products and services, risk management, financial
operational level. control.
A strategic plan at university level usually includes Romanian state higher education institutions are
main objectives like attracting a larger number of financed by the Government, therefore a university’s
students or university integration in the social and main investor is the Ministry of Education, Research,
economic life, by adapting the educational offer to the Youth and Sports. National Council of Higher
requirements of the labor work. At the operational level, Education Financing is a national consultative entity of
a university’s strategies may include: an educational the Ministry that is responsible for developing policies
strategy, that seeks the achievement of a high level of distributing public funds among state Romanian
academic education or a scientific research strategy for higher education institutions. The Council makes
carrying on high level scientific research activities. proposals for the minister of education and research
The next performance perspective is that of regarding the financing needs of higher education, as
processes. According to Neely et al. (2002), most well as annual allocation of budgetary funds among
organizations classify business processes in the public higher education institutions in Romania
following different categories: (CNFIS, 2009).
development of products and services, demand According to CNFIS (2009), state Romanian
generation, fulfilling demand, organizational planning universities receive two types of funding: base and
and management. A higher education institution needs complementary. The methodology for funding
to execute processes for its educational and research allocation includes 17 quality indicators, classified in
activities; appropriate processes are needed as well for five major groups: academic staff, impact of scientific
financial, human resource or quality management. research on teaching process, material base, university
For successfully achieving its goals, an organization management and permanent education.
must coherently align its strategies, processes and Universities also try to identify and activate
capabilities (Neely et al., 2002). A higher education commercial activities that do not break the compatibility
institution must develop and maintain the right with the academic statute, in order to attract extra
capabilities, that is, the adequate mix of people’s budgetary funds, like consultancy or technological
competences, good practices, physical infrastructure and transfer.
high technologies (Neely et al., 2002).
Managing university’s relationships with its
MANAGING UNIVERSITY RELATIONSHIPS customers
WITH ITS KEY STAKEHOLDERS
A higher education institution’s customers are its
This section presents some aspects regarding how a students, so the university should identify and fulfill
higher education institution manages various their needs and expectations at its best. Basically, the
relationships with its key stakeholders, according to the institution must ensure that students get what they need
perspectives of the Performance Prism model. The and want in terms of teaching quality and educational
following groups of stakeholders are identified and support. In addition to a very high quality educational
discussed: university’s investors (funding bodies), offer, adapted to the requirements of the students and of
customers (students), employees (academic and the labor market, universities must also offer students
administrative), partners (from both private and public social, cultural and sportive facilities. Therefore the
sector), local communities and regulatory authorities. institution should focus on increasing the capacity and
comfort of its accommodation offer, including hostels,
Managing university’s relationships with its canteens, sports club, cultural activities and others.
investors In order to satisfy both its needs and its students’
needs, the institution should try to attract a larger
What investors want from an organization is return number of students, as well as to retain its current
of their investment, as well as numbers that accurately students. These objectives can be achieved through
some strategies, like extending and renewing the
reflect organization’s past financial and nonfinancial
educational offer of products and services, attracting
performances, as well as its future perspectives. In
new students for the educational offer and retaining
exchange, an organization wants from its investors
current students through satisfying their wants and
capital for satisfying its needs and support on the long
term (Neely et al., 2002). needs at a very high level.
All universities include in their strategic plans If these strategies are taken into account, then the
education institution needs some particular processes. A
strategies whose implementation needs investors’
first process refers to the development of products and
capital and support: growth, cost optimization or capital
services. The institution must develop a sufficiently
investments. In its relationship with investors, a
wide range of products and services, ensuring that will
university should be able to develop a set of important
capabilities: market orientation, development of new satisfy the desired number of new, current and former
students. University’s products and services are
represented by the educational offer, including forms of
Performance prism framework in higher education institutions 21
long-term or short-term education, postgraduate studies dissatisfaction level. Employees’ contribution will be
or doctoral studies. The university’s offer could also measured in terms of results per employee, absenteeism
include various research centers, specialized on distinct rate, employee’s willingness to recommend the
disciplines. Another process involved in managing organization as a good employer, feedback related to
customers (students) relationships refers to demand training courses.
generation, which is strongly related to the university’s
ability of developing and offering faculties, Managing university’s relationships with its partners
departments, specializations that are demanded by
students. In this process, the university’s marketing A higher education institution is interested in
resources play a very important role.
establishing, maintaining and developing partnerships
For a successful execution of the processes involved
with a various range of external partners. Through such
in customer relationships, the academic institution
a partnership, university can get access to resources or
should develop and nurture capabilities in the following
capabilities that it can not develop at its internal level, or
areas: marketing research, product and service would cost to much to acquire. These resources, like
development, marketing campaigns, quality high technologies or particular skills, have a high
management, customer relationship management, brand
contribution to the improvement of university’s
management.
performance for various activities. Higher education
institutions and their partners can jointly develop new
Managing university’s relationships with its products and service, highly useful for both the
employees university and its partners, as well as for the social and
economic environment. University’s partnerships can
A higher education institution’s human resources also contribute to increasing institution’s reputation and
include academic staff and administrative staff. visibility in the national and international context.
Employees have several needs that expect to be fulfilled Establishing relationships with partners represents
by their employer. Firstly, they want to have a purpose an important strategy for all higher education
in the organization, meaning they would like to have an institutions. This strategy’s implementation require
interesting job, that makes them feel proud, with a specific processes like mechanisms of strategic alliances
reasonable level of stress and enough variety for them or measurement of partnership’s performance.
not to become bored. Next, the employees want their A higher education institution is interested in
employer to care about them, to treat them with respect developing strategic partnerships with other universities
and fairness and to do their jobs in a comfortable and at both national and international level. At research
pleasant environment. Other important aspects for level, universities join their efforts for large scale
employees are the skills they can develop by doing their projects, which require significant material and human
job and the compensation package (Neely et al., 2002). resources. An example of partnerships at educational
On the other hand, the employer wants an adequate level is the agreement between universities regarding
number of employees, large enough to allow the students exchange.
organization to successfully run its activities and Partnerships with important companies from the
achieve its goals. Employers also want loyal employees, business environment contribute to the absorption of
that have a constructive and positive attitude, good graduate students on the labor market, to the transfer of
abilities of working in a team, and that will recommend consultancy, knowledge, skills and technical assistance
the institution as a good employer. or to the dissemination of specific information, to name
The strategies in the field of human resources that just some of the benefits university – companies
will contribute in satisfying both organization’s and relationship can bring.
employees’ needs refer to recruitment of best
candidates, especially the academic ones, retention of Managing university’s relationships with
key employees, consolidation of the organizational communities
culture. The institution will need processes specific for
human resources management. The competences that an
Higher education institutions must clearly provide
organization should develop for ensuring a good
evidence of their performance’s social dimension as
relationship with its employees refer to: development of
they have a responsibility towards the community in
employees’ skills, recruitment standards, organizational
which they activate. Recently, many Romanian higher
values, attractive compensation packages, practices for education institutions started to include in their annual
safety and health, for ethics, for employees’ evaluation operational plans the development of social
and promotion.
responsibility strategies and the annual publication of
In measuring its relationship with employees, the
social responsibility reports.
institution will firstly refer to measures of employees’
Communities rely on both corporations and
satisfaction. The employee’s satisfaction level will be
institutions from public service domain to offer jobs at
monitored (his satisfaction regarding working place, the local level, therefore universities can be seen as
human resource policies, compensation package, great local employers, as an university’s personnel
training courses, and so on), as well as employee’s
22 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
needs are quite demanding for both its academic and exercising its attributions, the Ministry relies on the
administrative staffs. Universities are also expected to support of national expert groups and advisory bodies.
adopt a loyal, transparent and responsible behavior in The National Council of Scientific Research in
their relationships with communities. Higher Education (CNCSIS) represents the interface
On the other hand, universities also have some between the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth
expectations from the communities in which they are and Sport, and the Romanian academic scientific
located. A higher education institution will need community. Its main attributions fall in the fields of
community’s competences and services for successfully funding allocation for research in universities and
executing its activities. Universities also need scientific research performance evaluation.
community’s help for creating and consolidating The National Council for Higher Education
institution’s favorable image, which should be based on Financing (CNFIS) has the responsibility of developing
its good reputation. An institution having a strong allocation methods of public funds among Romanian
positive image among the community will help the state universities.
university to attract more students and more employees. Romanian higher education’s quality, both at the
Regarding university – community relationship, a study programs and institutional levels, is externally
possible strategy which a higher education can adopt evaluated by the Romanian Agency for Quality
regarding its involvement in the community is based on Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS). Its main
the university’s vision of development and growth in the attributions are in the fields of higher education
geographic area in which resides. That is why many institutions’ accreditation and quality assurance.
Romanian universities include in their operational plans All these regulator authorities monitor specific sets
activities regarding institution’s inclusion in the city’s, of performance indicators and universities should do
county’s and region’s development strategies. their best for obtaining best results for all monitored
In relation with this strategy, the necessary related indicators.
processes will be those referring to establishing relations
with local community and planning requirements for CONCLUSIONS
local resources and infrastructure. University’s
capabilities in this field will necessarily have to include
The Performance Prism managerial and
those of developing relations with local government and
measurement instrument was presented in the context of
community influencers and leaders.
higher education institutions’ performance. By applying
the first two perspectives of the prism, the needs and the
Managing university’s relationships with regulatory contributions of the following groups of a university’s
authorities stakeholders were identified: funding bodies, current
and prospective students, academic and administrative
Regulatory bodies for higher education primarily staffs, strategic partners, local communities and
exist for ensuring that academic institutions conform to regulatory authorities. The remaining three perspectives
the laws, so a first need of regulator authorities that of the instrument refer to the strategies, processes and
universities must satisfy is to comply with the legal capabilities needed for satisfying both stakeholders’ and
requirements, both Romanian and European. Next, institution’s own needs and expectations.
universities are required to act in a fair manner and to References
tell the truth about all their activities. 1. Marr, B. (2008),” What is a Balanced Scorecard?”
Management White Paper, The Advanced Performance Institute.
In what concerns universities’ needs and wants from
6. Meyer, M. (2007), “Finding performance: the new discipline in
regulator bodies (their contribution), it can be said that management”, in: A. Neely (ed.), Business performance
higher education institutions want a clear and measurement: unifying theory and integrating practice, second
transparent legislation, based on justified reasons. edition, Cambridge University Press, New York, 113-124.
7. Neely, A., Adams, C., Kennerley, M. (2002), The Performance
Universities do not want laws that are subject to
Prism: The Scorecard for Measuring and Managing Business
interpretability and confusion, as in order to clarify them Success, Financial Times, Prentice-Hall, London.
they will lose precious time and money. 8. Srikanthan, G. and Dalrymple, J.F.(2007), “A conceptual
Strategies regarding an university’s relationships overview of a holistic model for quality in higher education”,
International Journal of Educational Management, 21(3), 173-193.
with the regulator bodies in the field of higher education
9. *** *** National Council of Higher Education Financing
usually refer to regulatory compliance, and the typical (2009), available from http://www.cnfis.ro/ ( accessed March 23,
related processes will refer to policies implementation, 2010).
management of conformity programs, or preparation 10. *** National Council for Scientific Research in Higher
Education (2010), available from http://www.cncsis.ro/ (accessed
and regulation for future legislation. Universities must
March 23, 2010).
improve their capabilities focused on developing 11. *** Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher
relations with regulatory authorities, employee training, Education, available from http://www.aracis.ro/ (accessed March
conformance audits. 23, 2010)/
Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sport is Acknowledgement
the Romanian regulator authority for national education, This work was supported by CNCSIS –UEFISCSU,
being responsible for elaboration, coordination and project number PNII – IDEI 770/2009
application of national higher educational policies. In
UNIVERSITY RANKING SYSTEMS AT GLOBAL, EUROPEAN AND ROMANIAN
LEVELS
The present paper attempts to give an overview on main university ranking systems recognized globally, at European level and in
Romania. The paper presents and compares the most recent rankings (2009 editions) of two global university ranking systems:
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and Times Higher Education Supplement (THES).
Next, in the context of European higher education institutions ranking systems, the CHE system is presented, as many academicians
and specialists around the globe consider it to be interestingly different from the previous two ranking systems, from a methodological
point of view. The paper continues by presenting some Romanian aspects and initiatives related to university rankings.
institutions scores will be determined as a percentage of According to ARWU, the top ten universities of the
the top score. world include 8 higher education institutions from USA
The methodology used by Times Higher Education and 2 universities from UK: University of Cambridge,
Supplement (THES) is quite different than the one used considered the fourth best university in the world, and
by ARWU. At its first edition in 2004, the methodology University of Oxford, which ranks on the 10th position.
supporting THES ranking stated that a leading higher Not only that THES ranking includes four institutions
education institution should be based on four pillars: from UK among the best ten universities of the world,
“high quality research, high quality teaching, high but the UK universities score significantly better in this
graduate employability and an international outlook” top, compared with ARWU ranking.
(Baty, 2009). Another significant difference can be noticed
Table 1: Top ten universities of the world according to the Academic Ranking
regarding the overall scores assigned to each university
of World Universities, 2009 edition included in the top ten ranking. While both ARWU and
Rank Higher education Total Country THES recognize Harvard University as the best
institution score university in the world, and assign to it a total score of
1 Harvard University 100.0 USA 100.0 points, the scores obtained for the other
2 Stanford University 73.1 USA institutions included in the top ten universities are quite
3 University of California, 71.0 USA
different. Stanford University, the second best
Berkeley
4 University of Cambridge 70.2 UK university in the world according to ARWU, had an
5 Massachusetts Institute of 69.5 USA overall score of 73.1, which is quite far from the 100
Technology (MIT) points obtained by the leader Harvard. Obviously, the
6 California Institute of 64.8 USA scores determined for the other universities are in a
Technology decreasing order; for instance, University of Oxford,
7 Columbia University 61.7 USA which ranked on the 10th place, had a score of 56.3,
8 Princeton University 60.2 USA almost half of Harvard’s overall score. On the other
9 University of Chicago 57.0 USA hand, the best ten universities ranked by THES
10 University of Oxford 56.3 UK
methodology obtained much closer scores; California
Institute of Technology, occupying the 10th position,
Table 2: Top ten universities of the world according to the Times Higher obtained an overall score of 95.9, given that Harvard
Education Supplement, 2009 edition
was again the leader of the ranking, with 100 points
Rank Higher education Total Country
institution score assigned to it.
1 Harvard University 100.0 USA The general perception of the two most famous
2 University of Cambridge 99.6 UK university rankings is that ARWU focuses on
3 Yale University 99.1 USA institutions scientific research performance and pays
4 University College 99.0 UK little attention to the educational dimension, favoring
London universities particularly strong in the sciences fields,
5= Imperial College London 97.8 UK “comprehensive enough to amass strong research
5= University of Oxford 97.8 UK performance over a broad range of fields … and from
7 University of Chicago 96.8 USA English-language nations” (Marginson and van der
8 Princeton University 96.6 USA
Wende, 2007, p. 311), while THES’ main focus is
9 Massachusetts Institute of 96.1 USA
Technology (MIT) university’s reputational performance, neglecting to
10 California Institute of 95.9 USA some extent the scientific dimension and favoring the
Technology best known higher education institutions from many
countries (Marginson and van der Wende, 2007, p.312).
Tables 1 and 2 present the ten best universities of the After analyzing each criteria included in the ranking
world according to the 2009 editions of ARWU and methodology for each of the two ranking systems,
THES rankings respectively. By comparing universities debating on the advantages and shortcomings of each
rankings, it can be easily noticed that there are only two performance criteria, Taylor and Braddock (2007,
institutions that preserve their ranks in both tops; these p.252, 255) conclude that THES is a poor university
are Harvard University, which is considered the best ranking system, while ARWU system, far from being
university in the world by both ranking systems, and perfect, “is clearly superior to the THES ranking
Princeton University, occupying the 8th position in both system”.
rankings. Moreover, 7 out of the ten best universities
according to ARWU appear in THES ranking, but their UNIVERSITY RANKING SYSTEMS AT
ranks differ considerably. The most significant EUROPEAN LEVEL
discrepancies appear for Stanford University, which is
the second best university in the world after Harvard, In the 2009 edition of ARWU ranking, only two
according to ARWU, but ranks only on the 16th position European universities were included among the best
in THES ranking. ARWU places University of twenty universities in the world, while the remaining 17
California on the third position, but this institution were from USA and one university from the Asia/
occupies only rank 32 in THES top of universities. Pacific region. Further, Europe had 32 institutions in top
University ranking systems at global, European and Romanian levels 25
100 (while America had 59) and 208 universities in the second and third position. In both editions, the best
top 500 (ARWU 2009). Romanian university was the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”
When speaking about the European university University of Iaşi, and the institutions occupying the 4th
ranking systems, a number of papers allocate a special and 5th positions were Politehnica University of
place for the CHE ranking, developed in Germany by Bucharest and the “Gheorghe Asachi” University of
the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) Iaşi, respectively.
and published annually in the German news magazine In 2006, prior to Romania’s adherence to European
“Die Zeit”. In opposition with ARWU or THES Union, the Ad Astra Association had a notable initiative
rankings, which calculate an overall score for each of estimating the scientific performance of Romanian
institution and then rank the universities in the higher education institutions, according to the
decreasing order of their scores, CHE ranking relies on methodology used for Shanghai ranking 2005 edition, in
the belief that the large number of various criteria used which no Romanian university was included.
for assessing universities cannot be aggregated in the According to the results (Florian, 2006), the top five
form of a single composite indicator and that Romanian universities that obtained the best estimated
comparison and hierarchy of universities is possible scores were University of Bucharest (4,09), the “Babeş-
only for a particular dimension, and therefore, no Bolyai” University of Cluj-Napoca (3,96), Politehnica
university can be considered as being the best in a University of Bucharest (3,66), “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”
general ranking system. Instead, CHE looks more like a University of Iaşi (3,25) and “Gheorghe Asachi”
rating system. This methodology obviously leads to Technical University of Iaşi (2,44). The estimations
different rankings of universities, according to the revealed that even the institution considered the best
criteria considered for their comparison (CHE Ranking, Romanian university, University of Bucharest, which
2010). obtained the highest score – 4,09, had a long journey
In June 2009, the Consortium for Higher Education ahead before being included in the Shanghai ranking of
and Research Performance Assessment (CHERPA) won 500 best universities in the world, as the lowest score of
European Commission’s tender for developing and a university included in the 2005 edition of Shanghai
testing a new multi-dimensional global ranking of ranking was 8,22 (Florian, 2006). Four years later, in
higher education institutions. The new ranking model 2010, nothing changed much. Not one Romanian higher
will respect the Berlin Principles for ranking higher education institution managed to be included among the
education institutions and is expected to overcome the 500 best universities worldwide, despite the fact that
drawbacks of the existent international university many of the Romanian universities recognize the
ranking systems, like ARWU and THES (Centre for importance of being part of such a ranking. Therefore,
Higher Education Development, 2009). New ranking’s some Romanian higher education institutions include in
launch is scheduled for 2011. their strategic plans the goal of being included by
ARWU in the top of 500 best universities of the world.
ROMANIAN UNIVERSITIES RANKING For instance, the “Babes-Bolyai” University of Cluj-
SYSTEMS Napoca launched in March 2006 a program called
“UBB500”, which included many improvement
initiatives in the field of the university scientific
Top of Romanian universities developed by Ad Astra
research and educational performance, and whose end
Association of Romanian Researchers
goal is to promote the university among the best 500
universities according to ARWU by 2012 (Agachi and
The first ranking of Romanian higher education Bucur, 2007).
institutions was developed by Ad Astra Association of
Romanian Researchers. The methodology used by Ad
Astra was based on the scientific work published by the Romanian university ranking developed by Capital
universities’ academic staff in scientific journals which magazine and Kienbaum Consulting
enjoy international recognition and were indexed by ISI
Web of Science in 2005 and 2006 (Ad Astra, 2007). The most recent ranking of Romanian higher
The main drawback of Ad Astra’s ranking system education institutions was conducted by Romanian
resides in the fact that is based just on scientific Capital magazine and Kienbaum Human Resource &
performance evaluation, not taking into account other Management Consulting and published in September
factors that strongly contribute to a higher education 2009. The study covered two main modules: one for
institution’s performance (Ad Astra, 2007). employers and one for graduates and students.
By comparing the Ad Astra’s university rankings The participants for the first module were 35
from 2006 and 2007 editions, it can be easily noticed national and international employers/companies, who
that the same higher education Romanian institutions were asked to rank state and private Romanian higher
made their way to the first five positions of the top in education institutions by their educational content,
each of the two years considered. Moreover, these which included the following dimensions: theory,
institutions preserved their order in 2006 and 2007, practice-orientation, language skills and international
except University of Bucharest and the “Babeş-Bolyai” experience. According to the overall ranking results
University of Cluj-Napoca, which interchanged the (Capital and Kienbaum, 2009), the top five universities
26 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
in Romania are: the “Babeş-Bolyai” University of Cluj- certainly contribute to strengthening a university’s
Napoca (1), the University of Bucharest (2), brand (Quality and Leadership for Romanian Higher
“Transilvania” University of Braşov (3), “Ştefan cel Education, 2009).
Mare” University of Suceava (4) and “Lucian Blaga” References
University of Sibiu (5). 1. Academic Ranking of World Universities (2009), Academic
Ranking of World Universities – 2009, available from
The study’s second module had 3.131
http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2009.jsp (accessed April 1, 2010).
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answer questions regarding various aspects of university universities in Romania, 2006”, available from http://www.ad-
educational content, business focus, university astra.ro/universitati/clasamentul_universitatilor_2006.pdf (accessed
March 27, 2010).
environment, quality of university administration,
3. Ad Astra Association of Romanian Researchers (2007), “Top of
corruption in higher academic environment and career universities in Romania, 2007”, available from http://www.ad-
options (Capital and Kienbaum, 2009). astra.ro/universitati/clasamentul_universitatilor_2007.pdf (accessed
Some of the study’s results reveal that although most March 27, 2010).
4. Agachi, P.Ş. and Bucur, I. (2009), “UBB 500 Program of Babeş-
of the respondents are satisfied (50.80%) or very
Bolyai University”, Quality Assurance Review for Higher Education,
satisfied (18.51%) regarding the theoretical education 1(2), 156-163.
they receive in the universities, they are unsatisfied or 5. Baty, P. (2009), “World University Rankings 2009. Rankings 09:
very unsatisfied in what concerns the international Talking points”, available from
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=408562
experience (32.98% / 35.53%) and language skills
(accessed April 1, 2010).
(34.78% / 21.12%) offered by the university (Capital 6. Capital magazine and Kienbaum Human Resource &
and Kienbaum, 2009). Management Consulting (2009), “Romania University Ranking”,
available from http://www.capital.ro/usr/imagini/0-37835-
studiev10.pdf (accessed March 27, 2010).
Strategic projects for Romanian higher education 7. Centre for Higher Education Development (2009), “The
system CHERPA-Network wins a European tender to develop a multi-
dimensional global ranking of universities”, available from
http://www.che-
In 2009, the Romanian Ministry of Education ranking.de/cms/?getObject=302&getNewsID=983&getCB=309&get
Research and Innovation launched five strategic projects Lang=en (accessed April 1, 2010).
regarding Romanian higher education system, all of 8. Centre for Higher Education Development (2010), “CHE
University Ranking”, available from http://www.che-
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Sectoral Operational Program for Human Resources 2010).
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One of the five strategic programs is “Quality and Shanghai” (“Universities from Romania and Shanghai ranking”),
Journal of Ad Astra Association of Romanian researchers, 5, available
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the future of our society”, whose main goal is to (accessed March 27, 2010).
develop a vision and a strategy for the Romanian higher 10. International Observatory (2006), “Berlin Principles on
education sector. Ranking of Higher Education Institutions”, available from
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The project has four specific objectives; the fourth observatory.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=41&
specific objective consists in developing a Itemid=48 (accessed April 1, 2010)
methodological framework for Romanian universities’ 11. Marginson, S. and van der Wende, M. (2007), “To rank or
institutional differentiation. In order to reach this goal, to be ranked: the impact of global rankings in higher education”,
Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(3/4), 306-329.
several activities were planned. The first activity was 12. Quality and Leadership for Romanian Higher Education,
carried out between March and August 2009, and was in available from http://www.edu2025.ro/about-the-
charge to make a critical analysis of international project/presentation.aspx (accessed April 1, 2010).
practices regarding higher education institution’s 13. Taylor, P. and Braddock, R. (2007), “International
university ranking systems and the idea of university excellence”,
evaluation, differentiation and benchmarking. The last Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 29(3), 245-260.
activity planned for this objective consists in 14. Thakur, M. (2007), “The impact of ranking systems on
formulating strategic recommendations and proposing higher education and its stakeholders”, Journal of Institutional
an official document regarding universities Research, 13(1), 83-96.
15. Times Higher Education (2009), World Universities
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universities, leading to the accession (at least of some of Acknowledgement
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It is also considered that in the current conditions, of project number PNII – IDEI 770/2009
intense competition in the European and global
educational markets, and of internalization of higher
education, Romanian universities require a branding
process, and acceding in international rankings can
THE IMPACT OF ACADEMICS’ MOTIVATION ON THE QUALITY OF THE
EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
Bogdan BACANU1
1
“Transilvania” University of Brasov, email: b.bacanu@unitbv.ro
Abstract: The study discusses the effects that the shift in motivation of Romanian academic teaching staff has on the quality of the
educational process due to the emergence of legal changes related to the organizational environment. The topic refers to significant
theories of motivation, focusing on work motivation as discussed in the context specific to the university. The consequences related to
the change of the most usual factors of motivation are analyzed by means of a deductive approach, using reference correlations
identified decades ago; the same method is used for the effects triggered as regards the university management system.
discussion on the role of money as motivator, some case studies related to the university system and having
recent studies (ex. Horwitz et al, 2003) find that a highly a longitudinal nature, and in the light of certain relations
competitive pay package, with performance incentives, belonging to executives in the system or to independent
seemed to be more important for attracting employees experts.
than other motivators. On the basis of the relations identified by reviewing
Frederick Herzberg’s motivation theory also states the literature associated with motivation, one can
that employees’ satisfaction is associated with non- identify the variables whose monitoring is significant
monetary or intrinsic factors such as achievement, and which can undergo important modifications due to
recognition, personal growth and the characteristics of the legal changes which take place in the Romanian
the work. The intrinsic factors motivate the employee. environment. If they had a major impact in previous
Similarly, dissatisfying or extrinsic factors such as cases, pointed out by empirical or explanatory studies
company policies, salary, relations with co-workers or for the state of facts in other countries, there is a high
supervisors and job security etc. renders the employee probability for the effects to be the same in Romania.
less motivated. The great probability becomes certitude if there are
A challenging work environment and support of the top already signals which predict a known effect, which is
management represents a very high motivator (Horwitz expected according to the reasoning exposed in the
et al, 2003). The ineffective practices may be potential study.
dissatifiers and may not motivate intrinsically
(Herzberg, 1966). Collective bargaining is one variant ROMANIAN FACTS
of participation (Porter and Miles, 1974). It has been
further stated by Porter and Miles (1974) that The first major legal element which may generate a
participation would contribute positively to motivation. change in teacher motivation is the so-called “unitary
Sector differences as regards performance rewards, wage law”, related to the employees belonging to public
procedural constraints and goal content may influence organizations. Such a law sets a relative positioning of
work motivation directly. the various categories of public employees depending
Higher employee motivation leads to greater on the institution they belong to, and settles the limits
employee creativity, productivity and discretionary between which a certain organization may negotiate
effort which, in turn, lead to improved organization salary agreements, in fact the limits of the particular
performance. relation between employer and employee. More subtly,
this law defines an economic relation between the state
METHODOLOGY and a public institution and, finally, it models the
economic conduct of a private organization. This
The study is based on the idea of causal relation conduct will implicitly model the attitude of the
between motivation and the quality of work, considering organization towards quality and also the so-called
that a direct correlation is logically associated with the orientation towards the client.
content of the concepts. The study also considers the In addition, the Romanian law related to the
fact that the aforementioned correlation has been aforementioned category includes, explicitly or
emphasized by numerous empirical studies developed in implicitly, a series of elements that may become an
various types of organizations. This correlation is valid object of analysis, guided by the concepts associated
in universities as well, the most common form with the present-day theory of motivation and by the
associated to it, considered as demonstrated, being that practice of the public organizations.
„motivated teachers have a positive effect on the The first issue to be discussed is the inclusion of
educational process”. Romanian universities in the category of institutions for
From a dynamic perspective, the consequences of which the mentioned law is applicable. A problem
modifying a set of motivating factors related to teachers appears due to the fact that the state budgets the student
are of great interest. The study is particularized for and not the academic staff, and an increasing number of
Romanian universities, which represent a subclass students are currently paying their studies entirely, as
belonging to the set of organizations for which the well as connected services. In this manner, an economic
aforesaid relation exists, under conditions that do not behaviour associated with the incomes is encouraged.
essentially differentiate the context where the studied The law has however an opposite effect on salaries.
process evolves. The dynamics of the Romanian Incomes can be increased if the quality or the volume of
particular situation is generated by a set of significant „production” can be improved, in other words if the
changes, which have an effect on the motivational number of students and the assignable tuition fees are
system. increased. As this fact may become possible provided
In the case of the universities, the analysis of the there is a sharing of the profit with the one who
impact related to the modification of variables, which generates it, it follows that the reduction of possibilities
can be predicted to be the causes in a relation to motivate the teachers will have negative effects from
considered as demonstrated, is based on a deductive the point of view related to the economic rationality.
approach. The validity of the reasoning results are The anti-entrepreneurial approach is more obvious,
discussed in the light of certain elements, generated by due to the fact that the previous legal approach offered
The Impact of Academics’ Motivation on The Quality of The Educational Process 29
the university the possibility to choose the basic level of other hand, a “boss-oriented behaviour” cannot be
the remuneration system, between x and 2x. Conversely, considered as a substitute for the client-oriented one. It
between the years 2009 and 2010, the ministry of rather seems to be the sign of a negative tendency,
education interfered administratively in decisions because different competences will prevail instead of
related to salaries at organization level, diminishing the the ones which are essential for the educational process
academics’ salaries. All the mentioned aspects lead to and the expert type leadership.
setting the expected reward in a less favourable area A major modification of context, with an impact on
than the one associated with the previous situation, the the motivation in Romanian universities, is produced by
result consisting in the effects described by Vroom establishing a new statute for the teaching staff. This
(1964). statute changes the university management system
Strictly from the point of view related to human especially from the point of view of the manner of
resources, the legal regulations we referred to reduce the empowering faculty and university managers, deans and
opportunities to negotiate the rewards, a fact that, rectors, or other executives having a direct relation with
according to Hertzberg (1966), has a demotivating them. In association with this major modification, other
effect on pursuing the economic performance and, transformations are to be produced, in order to generate
consequently, on quality. From the responsibility point a “corporate style” management in universities.
of view, a motivating factor indicated in several Even if the intention seems to be positive, the main
significant theories, the effect is the restriction of the question is whether the university, especially the
area associated with university managers. Romanian one, can and is advisable to adopt the
Another important issue to be analyzed is behaviour of a profit-oriented organization. Supposing
represented by the academics’ relative positioning on the answer is affirmative, the issue of the impact on the
the general salary scale related to public servants. This educational process quality emerges and, in the
fact can be interpreted by referring to the theories Romanian context, the issue of adjusting this new
devised by Maslow (1954), Hertzberg (1966), Argyris behaviour to the existing regulations established for
(1960) or McClelland (1961). If the new positioning public organizations, especially to the “unitary wage
proves a negative evolution, then the needs related to law”.
the superior area of Maslow’s hierarchy are not fulfilled In principle, the corporate governance and the profit
and recognition, one of the main motivational factors orientation of a certain organization supposes that this
according to Hertzberg, is questioned. organization tends to innovate and to gain a higher
If the absolute level of salary is considered, then, in degree of freedom in comparison with a public
the case of assistants and lecturers, this calls into organization. However, it was previously argued that the
question even the fulfilment of needs associated with new “unitary wage law” has a restrictive effect on the
the first stage in Maslow’s hierarchy, emerging as a behaviour and management of the university, and
dissatisfaction-inducing hygiene factor, according to consequently an essential contradiction emerges
Hertzberg. between the two regulation directions.
The law also changes the criteria of importance On the other hand, a university is, due to its nature, a
related to one’s professional progress and promotion, so called “professional bureaucracy” (Mintzberg, 1979),
bringing the management positioning in the forefront having characteristics which are significantly different
instead of the didactic one. In this manner, the effort to from those specific to corporate organizations, which
obtain a position in the administrative hierarchy is could be identified as „mechanic bureaucracies” or
encouraged to the prejudice of the professional possibly an “entrepreneurial organization”. The
accomplishment as a professor and researcher. The coordination mechanisms are based on the
concern about the fulfilment of the requirements coming standardization of qualifications, whose consequence is
from those who determine a certain individual’s the autonomy of the individual and group work,
administrative position may become more important supported by superior competences and the innovative
than the concern about the fulfilment of the client’s approach of processes. Corporatism represents an
needs, be it a student or a research beneficiary. In the integration which is opposed to university autonomy.
total quality management (TQM) terms, this shift of The result of the respective modification is a
interest represents a diminution of quality. transformation of the external relation system belonging
There is also the possibility to analyze the restriction to universities, but mainly of the internal relations at the
related to the set of financial reward instruments and to level of groups and individuals. The individual
the choice of a certain orientation which will encourage organizational behaviour will change in order to gain an
the competition for management positions as having a orientation with commercial elements. If the university
positive impact on quality by increasing the number of becomes an organization with obvious commercial
standardized procedures related to the instruction and interests, a similar orientation is expected at individual
the formalization of certain processes. However, there level. The change of attitude, imposed de facto, also
are no substantial enough reasons to identify a positive requires a change in the reference system related to the
correlation between the standardization and decrease of value associated with the educational process, and also a
rewards and the standardization of processes, supposing change in the manner of setting temporal milestones.
the latter represent an improvement of quality. On the
30 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The short term orientation becomes prevalent, and the level can be interpreted as a normal reaction, generated
instability a basic characteristic of the organization. by the need of safety. The worries related to jobs are
The aforementioned elements affect the safety of the visible due to the insignificant reaction against the
position, the interpersonal relations, the quality of diminution of financial rewards.
supervision indirectly or directly by referring to hygiene
factors. They also impinge on the recognition or the CONCLUSIONS
career plan, by referring to motivating factors, according
to Hertzberg (1966). Even if the discussion related to motivation refers to
From a more general point of view, the modification the usual elements of the most renowned theories, the
of the university statute represents a negative change in conclusions obviously belong to an area which
the motivation of the academics, according to the main generates worries due to the expected negative results.
classic theories in the field. The legal modifications related to the operational
The change in the way university managers are context of the Romanian universities have significant
empowered represents „the top of the iceberg”, the effects on the work motivation of the academics. The
iceberg being a substantial institutional transformation individual and organizational statute, the system of
associated with the autonomous character of the rewards and a series of other factors of influence
university. The old system reflected a fellow-like discussed in the managerial literature are essentially
formula of management, as the new one will represent affected.
an empowerment from top to bottom, influenced by the Even the discussion of the modifications with
external stakeholders’ option. Their interests refer reference to renowned theories of motivation suggests
doubtfully to the quality associated with the educational its general deterioration, with substantial effects on the
process, which calls into question the beneficial work itself and on the re-orientation of the individual
character of their decisional involvement. interest. The negative consequences on work are
The new manner of empowering managers and the translated into the diminution of the educational process
modification of the university decision mechanisms quality, due to the main role of the academics in
represent a diminution of the academics involvement. defining the education level.
The group decision will lose ground to the individual Taking into account the fact that the change
one, in the case of issues related to an educational analyzed involves professors who should know the
process based on voluntary cooperation and consensus. usual theories of motivation, one is surprised by the
In principle, it is expected that, according to the manner in which the causal relations underlined by the
corporate practice, the decisional process will prove a present study and by any study focusing on the relation
deterioration of quality and the people in subordinate context-motivation-work-process quality are ignored.
positions will show resistance during the experimental
stage. References
Paradoxically, the empowerment will probably
diminish, due to the fact that the setting of SMART 1. Argyris, C. (1960), Understanding Organizational Behaviour,
(specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-related) Dorsey Press, Homewood, IL.
objectives within universities is difficult and so is that 2. de Jesus, S.N., Abreu, M.V. (1994) ”Study of Teachers′
of the objectives related to quality, their qualitative Motivation: To Motivate Students by the Theory of Planned
Behavior”, paper at „23rd International Congress of Applied
assumption being related to the collective system of Psychology” Madrid, Spain, 17-22 July, from:
management. In the new situation, it will be difficult to http://eric.ed.gov/.../Ed400235
set individual objectives related to a certain 3. Hertzberg, F. (1966), Work and the Nature of Man, World Publ,
responsibility correlated with the new management Cleveland, OH.
4. Horwitz, F.M. and Heng, C.T. and Quazi, H.A. (2003), "Finders,
system. The deresponsibilization will have a Keepers? Attracting, Motivating and Retaining Knowledge Workers",
demotivating impact with effects on performance and Human Resource Management Journal, 13(4), pp. 23-44(22)
also on quality. 5. Maslow, A. (1954), Motivation and Personality, Harper& Row,
If the reaction of the university teaching staff New York, NY.
6. McClelland, D.C. (1961), The Achieving Society, D. Van
regarding the “unitary wage law” was insignificant, the Nostrand, Princeton, NJ.
reaction generated by the law of education was 7. Mintzberg, H. (1979), The Structuring of Organizations, Prentice-
particularly clear. The national conference of rectors Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
voted unanimously against it, identifying a large number 8. Porter, L.W. and Miles, R.E. (1974), “Motivation in
Management”, in: J. W. McGuire (Ed.), Contemporary Management:
of weak points, including those with a strong influence Issues and Viewpoints, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., pp. 545-
on motivation. The rectors from Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca 570
and Iasi have frequently expressed their critical points 9. Sylvia, R.D., Hutchinson, T. (1985) “What Makes Ms. Johnson
of view. The independent experts were relatively less Teach? A Study of Teacher Motivation”, Human Relations, 38, pp.
841-856
visible, being put in the shade by politicians and by 10. Taylor, F.W. (1911), The Principles of Scientific Management,
other problems of the educational system, generated by Harper Bros., New York, NY.
the “unitary wage law”. The substantial argumentation 11. Vroom, V. H. (1964), Work and Motivation, Wiley, New York,
related to the motivational system has not raised the NY.
public interest, and the lack of reaction at the system
QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN ROMANIA AND THE CHANGE MANAGEMENT
IN BOLOGNA PROCESS
The first step, establish a sense of urgency, in decade of Bologna process, till 2020, that means that the
Bologna Change Process can be identified as being the structures already created that provide the new ways of
creation of the legal framework; National Alliance of operating, with good ad bad parts, were build and run in
Student Organizations in Romania (ANOSR) concludes this new European High Education Area. In the future
that this framework has some major deficiencies, like no the new behavior continues and actions will be focused
plan, just wanted to get the line, to much laws and on improvements, on increasing quality management of
directives in a short time (few months), no coherent education process. Qualification granted: good.
feedback required and expected form students. Still, the
target has been reach and people start talk about the
need of change, but not like a conviction but as a
constrained. Qualification granted: satisfactory .
Second Step, Developed the guiding Coalition, is
easy to be identified - the new organizations: the
National Report on 2009 presents The Romanian
Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education
(ARACIS) as piloting universities in their change
process taking care about institutional and
methodological aspects of quality assurance. For the last
year, 2009, the National Council for Higher Education
Financing decided to increase the quota of quality
indicators in the founding formula from 20% in 2006 to
30% in 2009, the remaining 70% depending on the
number of equivalent students Qualification granted:
good.
Third Step, develop the vision, has been accomplish Figure 2: Achievement of 8 steps Kotter’s model in implementing the Bologna
by the laws and vision – mission of the institutional process in Romania
Note: developed by authors
framework build: ARACIS, ANOSR, ACPART (The
Agency for Qualifications in HE and Partnership
between Universities and Socio-Economic CONCLUSIONS
Environment). Qualification granted: good.
Communicate the vision, the fourth Step, is the area Analysis of phases in the implementation of Bologna
where the process has to work more on. Qualification Process in Romania, viewed in terms of change
granted: not satisfactory. management theory, particularly thought the 8 great
Regarding the Fifth Step, empower brown based steps of Kotter, brings out certain deficiencies, which
action, by removing key obstacles and getting more lead to results under the expectations. Poor
people act on the vision, was limited mainly by lack of communication of the vision, of the opportunities that
disseminated information and lack of founds. change offers, draws in opposing forces, strong barriers
Qualification granted: not satisfactory. in the process of change.
As Sixth Step, there is a good practice used by So the effort in disseminating information, providing
ARACIS and other institutions to make public the high quality services both in terms of information and
success stories and conserving these little wins. In education, providing funds for counseling and
ANOSR Report-Implementation of Bologna Process – promoters programs and must rise to a higher level than
student eye [2009] it is stipulated that, although not all the current, to ensure success change.
line of actions have not yet reached the desired It is not enough a top-down approach to a major
parameters, we can grant a satisfactory qualification. change in public organizations, in particular the
Consolidate gains and produce more change, as Bologna Reform in Higher education in Romania till
Seventh Step in Kotter Change Model, was the main 2010. It is required also a bottom up approach, from the
reason for which in spring 2008, “eight major projects student - beneficiary of education services, to senior
concerning various aspects of the impact of the Bologna management and national organizations. Sticking the
process on university management were approved to be change in the organizational culture can not be done
financed through the European Social Fund” (Romania properly without student motivation and implication.
National Report 2009, p. 3). Is a great movement in Bologna process is a major Change in High
assuring the quality management is system and Education System and it is mandatory to be well
institutions in Romanian Higher Education, but because managed (planned, controlled, coordinated) and
of the short run till now is somehow to early to discuss implemented; so this research has implication for
about their success. Qualification granted: satisfactory. administrators of the university, policy makers, quality
The Eight Step, the last one in the Kotter’s assessors but also for researchers and practitioners.
recommendations in order to assure the success of the
change is to anchor the new approaches in the
organization culture. We are talking now about new
34 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
References
Maritime Education and Training is quite an expensive system since it requires high investments. Training on board ships is a sensible
issue for all the maritime universities. The main question is if this training on board should continue or could there be another
solution for training students within the university. Maritime Education and Training became expensive since costly equipment, such
as simulators and training ships, were considered to be a necessary prerequisite for offering a high-level education. This situation,
which suggests the compulsory need for these resources, which are worth several million euro and incur considerable running costs,
is acerbated by the reduced number of students at many Maritime Education and Training institutions. It also leads to the thesis that
not all institutions can offer high-quality Maritime Education and Training (particularly not those which cannot afford expensive
equipment) and that Maritime Education is more expensive than it needs to be. These arguments make it necessary to have a closer
look at costs and financing of Maritime Education and Training and to investigate the constraints in the present economic conditions.
Rapid evolution of technologies, increased globalization, communication, and economy factors will govern any attempt at finding the
best costs’ reducing solutions. Therefore, it is compulsory for the Maritime Universities to catch up with the technologic
advancements and to improve the quality standards in order to remain viable and competitive, to design the education of the next
generation and to compete with other universities. Constanta Maritime University is a good example of a maritime institution that had
to reduce expenses by suspending students’ training on board its own ship, “Neptun”, in 2004. Therefore, our university uses a
protocol with the most influent shipping companies in Romania, for training our students on board their ships. This paper emphasizes
the importance of reducing the costs for training students on board traditional training ships, while money could be redirected to
other more important investments and the training on board could be solved by the shipping companies that need to train their future
officers.
Today’s maritime universities, academies and could be redirected to investing in a better material base
faculties using advanced methods of teaching, modern inside the university in this present economic crisis (last
simulators and other sophisticated equipment have not generation simulators, teaching aids and materials for
to forget that practical training plays an invaluable role students and teachers).
in officers education. Training ships belonging to the maritime universities
Training ships and on board practice give students also imply the need for teachers with a particular on
and cadets an important and unique opportunity to board experience to be present on board the training
achieve proper skills for performing their future job ship during the training period, teachers who also have
requirements under the control of experienced teachers to be extra paid.
and seafarers.
Practical on board training of maritime students Training in a multicultural crew
became a very important component of the maritime
education process since the International Maritime
There is also another important issue to be taken into
Organization (IMO) imposed seagoing practice as an account and that is the multicultural crew that will not
integrated educational part for future seafarers. be on board a training ship under the national flag of the
Therefore, the optimum solution could be the
university.
training of the future officers performed by combining
Nowadays, the shipping industry is a multinational
the simulator hours (Radar Training, Ship Handling
one and future maritime officers should be prepared for
Training, GMDSS Training) inside the maritime
working in a multinational crew.
universities with the training on board training ships or All activities in this industry are based on interaction
on board merchant ships. and collaboration between people from different
On Board Training Record Book is an important
countries and cultures.
component of the training process as it includes sea
In an international company these details are
training tasks for cadets.
common, due to company necessity in having offices
During this training, the cadets gain the professional placed in different countries according to the business
skills and experience necessary during the work process interests.
as a watch keeping officer.
But these aspects become more complex when we
On board training skills achieved according to the
refer to onboard ship activities.
program included in the Training Record Book fulfil the
For this reason it is necessary to observe and study
minimum requirements for certification as an officer in
the kind of compatibilities or non-compatibilities that
charge of a navigational watch. During the sea training exist between seamen from different countries in order
period the cadets have the opportunity to combine the to create a proper working environment on board the
theoretical knowledge obtained during the classes taken
ship.
at the Maritime University and the practical knowledge
These problems are even worse when we think for
achieved first on the simulators in the university and
example about a cadet at his first experience on board a
now improved when being onboard a real ship.
ship and especially in a multinational and multicultural
It allows the future watchkeeping officer to learn crew.
everything about his job on board modern and This category includes cadets and young officers
automated seagoing ships.
who performed their practice stages on board merchant
Sea training properly integrated with theoretical
ships under international flags.
education is necessary for an officer of a contemporary
Facing a multicultural working environment, many
modern ship.
seafarers have accommodation problems, difficulties in
A cadet’s practical training should be performed the working relationships onboard and the worst
under the careful supervision of the Master, Chief
problem has been created by the use of a foreign
Officer and designated supervising officers.
language, mostly Maritime English, in the daily duties
A properly filled Training Record Book is the
communication.
evidence that the trainee has achieved the professional
The multicultural problems are hard to be managed
skills and experience required in the standards of at the first contact and here we refer to young maritime
competence according to Code A of the STCW cadets and officers, people who can be very affected by
Convention 78/95.
the difficult relation especially in communicating with
That is why the Training Record Book should be
those of a different nationality.
precisely filled in and carefully reviewed by those in
A solution could be the involvement of the training
charge.
institutions in preparing the young cadets for a
However, training on board training ships involves multicultural work environment.
spending a large amount of money by the Maritime Before their first experience onboard ships, a special
University that owns the training ship (costs for
training about multicultural concepts and social
maintaining and repairing the ship, costs for the crew,
activities in a multicultural crew would be useful in
costs for operating the ship – fuel, spare parts, taxes for
order to provide the necessary knowledge about and
crossing the channels, taxes for calling a port, for
how to deal with problems raised by cultural
berthing, flag costs and so on), a sum of money that differences.
The Sustainability of Maritime Education and Training on Board Training Ships in the Present Economic
Conditions 37
Maritime English represents another problem for in this way the money that should have been invested in
students. It is a fact that the language barrier on board a new training ship were actually spent for training the
the ship can be overtaken only if the students really teachers, for acquiring last generation simulators, for
master the Maritime English, so it could be important investing in a high standard material base, for improving
for them to work in a multinational crew right from the the library with the latest editions of the required
very beginning in order to get used to speaking in a bibliography and so on.
different language other than their mother tongue.
In our opinion, in order to reduce the expenses Training on board merchant ships through
caused by the training of young deck cadets on board a ERASMUS programme
university’s own training ship, it would be much
cheaper to sign a collaboration protocol with the ERASMUS is part of the communitarian education
shipping companies. programme SOCRATES and includes actions meant to
This way, students have the opportunity to work in a
encourage European cooperation in the superior
multicultural environment and to get used to it, having
teaching system. ERASMUS supports the development
the opportunity of improving their Maritime English
of the European dimension of university and post
and the opportunity of learning from experienced
university studies, and it covers all study subjects and
seamen. domains.
Also, another advantage of these protocols is in The programme pursues to continue, into a revised
favour of the shipping companies having the possibility
and extended form, the action project of the European
to train their future officers as per the company’s policy
Community for students’ mobility (European
and on their own type of ships.
community Actions for the Mobility of University
It is in their interest to train the apprentices the best
Students), having as objectives the quality development
they can in order to have on board their ships well and consolidation of the European dimension in the
trained officers when students end their 12 months superior education; promoting trans-national
period of training on board.
cooperation between universities on all educational
On board merchant ships, there are usually one, two
levels (university diploma, post-university studies,
or maximum three deck cadets, so the entire attention of
doctorate), encouraging students’ and teachers’
the officers focuses on training fewer people than on
mobility, improving transparency and academic
board a training ship where there are more cadets (some acknowledgement of studies and qualifications obtained
training ships can accommodate up to 30 students) and
in any of the European Union countries, harmonization
it is rather difficult to properly train each one of them
of university studies curricula, providing them with
and to make sure that they fully understand their
European value in order to become compatible with
responsibilities.
well known university’s curricula in EU, development
But there is also the reverse side of the coin for the and extension of the Transferable Credits European
shipping companies – the students they take on board System, meant to facilitate the academic
could have a poor theoretical background or they might
acknowledgement of diplomas and qualifications
not adapt to the sea life, so the Master could be forced to
obtained in partners universities.
disembark them and the company could lose the money
In order to fulfil these objectives: universities must
invested for bringing them onboard.
develop activities in collaboration with other superior
Constanta Maritime University is a good example of education institutions in EU, based on the reciprocity
a maritime institution that uses a protocol with the most principle, approved by the Bilateral Agreements of
influent shipping companies in Romania. In 2004, the
cooperation SOCRATES/ERASMUS.
University suspended the students’ training on board the
These agreements are annually signed and they first
training ship “Neptun”.
of all stand for the formal engagement of the two
Since then, the solution found for training the deck
institutions to collaborate in ERASMUS programme.
and engineer cadets was to send them in international Secondly, they define the activities meant for
voyages with different shipping companies, local or
cooperation and state several preliminary data (number
international and for this action the local crewing
of students and teachers who will be sent or received,
agencies or ship owners’ offices have been contacted.
study domain, training period etc.) which will be
This was the accomplished first step, when over half
included in the application form for signing the
of our students covered their requested onboard training Institutional Contract.
on ships belonging to different owners, most of them, The actions which are approved are financed
international shipping companies with a great name on
through funds provided by the European Commission,
the world shipping market, as NYK Ship Management
Romania’s Government and the institution. The whole
from Japan, Peter Dohle from Germany, Maersk from
activity is conducted on national level by the National
Denmark, CMA-CGM from France and many others, in
Agency for Community Programmes in the Educational
total 22 shipping companies being part of the and Professional Training Domain, and in universities
partnership. bye the Community Programmes Bureau.
Therefore, Constanta Maritime University is a good
ERASMUS programme is developed in Constanta
example of how not using a training ship can work and
Maritime University during the onboard training periods
38 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
performed by students onboard ships in international They can accommodate to the sea life from the early
voyages. Therefore, during the university year stage of their career.
2007/2008, through this programme, 146 mobility of They can see from the beginning what being on a
placing students have been realized, for periods between ship is all about (working in a multicultural and
3 to maximum 7 months. In this view, our university has multinational crew, the responsibility for the lives of the
signed protocols with the largest shipping, crewing and entire crew members, for the safety of cargo and the
manning agencies in the United Kingdom (Dohle ship itself while performing the watch and not only
Manning Agency, Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd. and during this period, using a language different to their
Carisbrooke Shipping Ltd.), in Denmark (Maersk native one while working on board and so on).
Marine Services Ltd) and Germany (Oskar Wehr KG This is an economy of scale that could allow the
Gmbh&Co, International Tanker Management Gmbh) Maritime Universities to maintain their strong positions
which provided students’ recruitment for the cadet in the Maritime Education and Training.
position, their training and monitoring during the
onboard training period. We should also mention the References
fact that, besides the monthly scholarship offered by
these companies for our students, they also benefit from 1. Butman, B.S. (2007), “STCW and Beyond: Minimal
the best onboard learning conditions, as well as the Requirements and Additional Knowledge for Marine
possibility to have access to the newest technologies and Engineers”, 8th IAMU Annual General Assembly, Odessa,
equipments, compulsory instruments for the navigation Ukraine;
2. Laczynski, B. (2007), “Role and Situating of Practical Training
activity. of Deck Students on Training Ships in Practice of GDYNIA
Who has the right to candidate? Maritime University”, 8th IAMU Annual General Assembly,
• Students attending long term studies, who Odessa, Ukraine.
3. Hanzu-Pazara, R., Stan L., Grosan N. and Varsami A. (2009),
graduated the first university year; “Particularities of cadets practice inside of a multinational
• Students who didn’t benefit from any other crew”, 10th General Assambly of International Association of
ERASMUS mobility; Maritime Universities – St. Petersburg, Russia;
• Student with Romanian citizenship or any 4. International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification
and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (1978), Adoption: 7 July 1978;
other European Union member. Entry into force: 28 April 1984; The 1995 amendments, which
General conditions: completely revised the Convention, entered into force on 1
• To possess a seaman’s book; February 1997;
5. Kostylev, I and Loginovsky V. (2007), “Comprehensive Review
• English communication abilities; of the STCW 78 Convention and Code: Some Concepts and
• Specialization knowledge level, proper for Trends”, 8th IAMU Annual General Assembly, Odessa, Ukraine;
the didactic purpose of the placement. 6. Zhukov, S. D. and Mykhaylo V. M. (2008), “On-board training
and experienced officers”, Proceedings of the 9th Annual
General Assembly International Association of Maritime
CONCLUSIONS
Universities, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
The paper aims to highlight the central role of the student support services (SSS) within the global reformative process directed to
quality and sustainability in higher education (HE). In particular, we focus on some key-challenges of implementing Bologna process
related to such services, especially to the issues of academic advising (AA). According to the recent reports, many European
universities offer an apparently extended range of SSS, but these may be poorly developed or adapted to the various needs of students.
By revealing the main developments of AA conceptual approaches and practices in the USA, as those developed and applied by
important organizations such as National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), or Council for the Advancement of Standards in
Higher Education (CAS), we attempt to provide a useful frame of reference for our universities.
problems leading shortly to a worrying increase in Many other subsequent approaches of AA build on
abandon studies before their completing. Against this these two models, with an obvious tendency towards
background, the famous Carnegie Commission revealed developmental advising during last two decades, as we
the real need for a more systematic approach of can observe in the following examples.
academic advising (AA) in USA universities as a mean ►Approaching AA as an advisory system based on
of improving students’ retention, involvement, and shared responsibility means in essence (Frost, 1991):
motivation. - viewing AA as an institution wide system centered on
Thus a new stage of concerted efforts toward students' involvement and positive university outcomes.
improving conceptual approaches and institutional - promoting concept of shared responsibility for both
practices of AA started. Therefore, a first conference on students and the university.
the AA issues held in 1976 at the state level (Fresno, - starting AA relationship with an awareness of the
California) being followed after a year by first national overall purpose of advising and continuing then with an
conference (Burlington, Vermont) that put the basis of awareness of details.
the National Academic Advising Association - planning for success (all participants in AA should be
(NACADA), founded in 1979. Whether in the first year involved in an ongoing, strategic effort to develop
NACADA brought together 429 members, nowadays advising around a meaningful mission).
the association has over 10.000 members, representing - assessing the overall program and individual
the HE institutions from USA (covering all 50 states), contributions, for further improvements.
Canada, Puerto Rico and other few worldwide countries - developing a collaborative advisor-student relationship
(http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/). (a shared advising relationship leads students to contact
The conceptual approaches of AA have registered many members of the university community for answers
significant developments during the three decades of to questions that arise in academic planning).
NACADA existence, revealed by evolving some ►A more recent AA approach is strength-based
referential models for the theory and practice in the advising proposed by Schreiner and Anderson
field. According to Williams (Williams, 2007), the most (Schreiner and Anderson, 2005) that focuses on
known basic models for approaching AA are identifying, developing and applying the student’s
prescriptive advising and developmental advising (terms strengths. The basic idea is that the complex needs of
coined by Crookston in the early 1970s), describing today’s various categories of students can be satisfied
them as follows: with better results in this way than in traditional way of
►Prescriptive advising reflects the traditional advising focused on solving the problems caused by the
relationship based on authority between the academic aspects in “deficit”. In fact, the model proposes a shift
advisor and the student. This can be compared with the of the focus in the advising sessions by directing
doctor – patient relationship, where the advisor (the attention toward the natural talent and engagement of
doctor) makes a diagnosis and prescribes something to student and not on the need of correcting deficiencies
the “patient” student having a problem, giving him that occurred because of some weaknesses of the
advises regarding the way for solving the problem and student. In such an approach, the advisors can identify
waiting for him to follow these advises. The model does the inherent talents that students bring with them within
not imply any responsibility from the student (even if the university and can build a relationship based just on
the advice is misunderstood, or ignored), not encourage these talents/personal strengths, teaching them how to
him to develop the “sense of responsibility” for his own develop and use their strengths to gain the needed
academic choices. In addition, even the advisor learning outcomes in the new challenging academic
responsibility is limited to answer specific routine environment.
questions rather than to address the more comprehensive ►Another recent AA approach is based on the
academic concerns. learning-centred paradigm that places the teaching
►Developmental advising relates to the student element on the first line of AA, seeing the role of the
development theories, particularly those of developing advisor like that of a teacher, but with an action
competence, autonomy and purpose, and reflects a covering the whole student’s curricula. Lowenstein
relationship of active involvement and responsibility considers that “the advisor's instruction in the logic of
assuming from both parties (advisor and student). In this the curriculum elevates the advisor's work to a central
model, AA deals not only with a specific personal or role in enhancing a student's education” (Lowenstein,
vocational decision but also facilitates the thinking, 2005, p. 65). By helping students to look into
environmental and interpersonal interactions, behavioral perspective upon the various aspects of their course of
awareness and skills evaluation of the student, helping studies or curricula, this approach enhances their
them to develop a “life plan” for personal growth and individual learning potential, allows them to understand
self-fulfilment. In Appleby opinion, the “active, better the relations between courses and disciplines and
dynamic interchange that forms the essence of identify the options most appropriate to their own skills
developmental advising relationship produces trust, and learning methods.
curiosity, enthusiastic participation, and a sincere desire
to learn and grow” (Appleby, 2001, p.4). RECENT INITIATIVES
Student Support Services Enabling Quality and Sustainability inn Higher Education: Academic Advising 41
by meeting the requirements of different accreditation By its nature, the process of formal education is a
agencies. The standards updated by CAS in 2005 year bilateral process with outcomes that depend decisively
include the following 13 parts (domains): mission; on the real, active involvement of both parties (teacher
program; leadership; organization and management; and student). In the present context of reforms aiming at
human resources; financial resources; facilities, quality and sustainability of HE, the universities has to
technology and equipment; legal responsibilities; equity integrate all parts of their institutional mission within
and access; campus and external relations; diversity; the quality system and to focus on enhancing student
ethics; assessment and evaluation. Each part establishes involvement in both learning and research process. This
criteria that every HE institution must and can meet is not easily to achieve, especially if we consider the
through a reasonable effort, as well as some guidelines major challenge confronting European HE institutions
for action in the respective domain. For exemplifying (including from our country) for reaching the EHEA
the standards, we present a selection of issues addressed goals within the global context. Therefore, we
in the first two parts (CAS, 2005, pp. 1-5), as follows: highlighted the recent approaches and initiatives in AA
►Mission: The primary scope of the AA Program field that are among sources of competitive advantage
(AAP) is to assist students in the development of for some world class universities from USA.
meaningful educational plans. AAP must incorporate
the student’s learning and development processes in its References
mission, enhancing overall educational experiences. The
institution has to draw up a clear declaration of mission 1. Appleby, D. (2001), “The teaching-advising connection”,
concerning AA, including the program of goals and published in The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal on
expectations of both advisors and students. March 19, 2001 [Electronic version, www.psu.edu/dus/mentor]
►Program: The students’ formal education is 2. Altbach, P.G., Reisberg, L.,Rumbley, L.E. (2009), “Trends in
Global Higher Education: Tracking an Academic Revolution“, A
holistic, having a curricular and co-curricular content Report Prepared for the UNESCO 2009 World Conference on
and a specific finality. AAP must identify relevant and Higher Education – Executive Summary, published by UNESCO,
desirable student learning and development outcomes Paris, 2009
which include: “intellectual growth, effective 3. Crosier, D., Purser, L., Smidt, H., “Trends V: Universities
Shapping the European Higher Education Area”, Report to the
communication, realistic self-appraisal, enhanced self- Conference of Ministers of Education meeting in London on 17-18
esteem, clarified values, career choices, leadership May 2007, European University Association, Brussels, 2007
development, healthy behaviors, meaningful (http://www.eua.be).
interpersonal relations, independence, collaboration, 4. Frost, S.H. (1991), “Academic Advising for Student Success: A
System of Shared Responsibility”, ASCHE-ERIC Higher
social responsibility, satisfying and productive Education Report. Washington DC: The George Washington
lifestyles, appreciation of diversity, spiritual awareness, University, 1991 (http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/91-11dig.htm)
and achievement of personal and educational goals”. 5. Gillispie,, B. (2003), ”History of Academic Advising”
AAP must identify environmental conditions that may (http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/Histor
y)
influence student academic achievements and propose 6. Lowenstein, M. (2005), “If advising is teaching, what do advisors
measures that may neutralize negative influences. Both teach?”, NACADA Journal, 25(2), 2005, pp. 65-73.
students and advisors have to assume the shared 7. Rauhvargers, A., Deane, C., Pauwels, W. (2009), “Bologna
responsibility in the advising process. Examples of Process Stocktaking Report 2009”, Report from working groups
appointed by the Bologna Follow-up Group to the Ministerial
achievements student learning and development Conference in Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve, 28-29 April 2009.
outcomes: 8. Schreiner, L.A., Anderson, E. (2005), “Strengths-based advising:
▪intellectual growth: understands the requirements of an A new lens for higher education”, NACADA Journal, 25(2),
academic degree plan, as well as the institutional 2005, pp. 20-29.
9. Williams, S. (2007), “From Theory to Practice: The Application
policies and procedures; adopts a critical thinking in of Theories of Development to Academic Advising Philosophy and
problem solving and courses selection; uses complex Practice”, Retrieved 08.11.2009 from NACADA Clearinghouse
information from various sources (including personal of Academic Advising Resources Web site:
experiences and observations) to make a decision or to (http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/Theori
es.)
form an opinion; applies information and concepts 10. Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
previously assimilated to new situation or setting etc; (CAS, 2005), Standards and Guidelines for Academic Advising
▪independence: acts autonomously by attending Program, Retrieved 05.11.2009 from NACADA Web site
advising sessions or programs or by soliciting the advice 11. National Academic Advising Association (NACADA, 2006),
NACADA concept of academic advising. Retrieved 05.11.2009
of the advisors at the right moment; interprets and from
applies correctly the information; selects courses in http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/Concep
consultation with advisors etc. t-Advising.htm
▪collaboration: works cooperatively; seeks to involve 12. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO, 2002), “The Role of student affairs and services in
and to obtain feedback from others; contributes to higher education: A practical manual for developing,
achieve the group objectives etc. implementing and assessing student affairs programmes and
services”, Paris, 2002 (www.unesco.org/education/wche)
CONCLUSIONS
MISMATCHES BETWEEN THE
T COMPETENCES ACQUIRED THROUGH THE HIGHER
EDUCATION AND THE LABOR
LA MARKET DEMAND IN TEXTILE CHEMISTRY
The paper takes into discussion the issue of quality of higher education services, from the perspective of the correspondence between
the competences acquired through the higher education and the labour market demand, as seen in the process of the development and
revision of the National Qualifications Framework in higher education. Mismatch between the output of educational systems and
labour market needs in field of textile chemistry, especially in the context of globalization and accelerating technology, has been
identified discussing with various stakeholders from the textile sector and other potential employers. We have analyzed the acquired
a
knowledge and skills within the fields of textile chemistry as supplied by universities and as demanded by employers, in order to
evaluate the linkages, gaps and suggest reasonable interventions to bridge the gaps. The outcome of the approach was a consensus
consen
among the participants on a variety of themes, which werewere believed to be most critical for the development of better curricula for
Higher Education in textile chemistry.
4. development of the discipline sheet according to This is a four-year program, and many aspects of the
the educational plan and the competences that curricula are identical to all chemical engineering study
define the qualification. programs from the Technical University in Iaşi. In fact,
An important step towards the National about 66 of the credits are common with those offered
Qualifications Framework for Higher Education is by the Chemical Engineering Faculty of Iaşi Technical
represented by the consultations with the representatives University.
of the labour market, such as sectoral committees, In the process of preparing prepares the National
employers, professional associations, trade unions, Qualifications Framework for Higher Education,
employers’ associations. consultations with the representatives of the textile
chemistry industry took place, a good opportunity to
3. HIGHER EDUCATION IN TEXTILE find in the present curricula is responding to their
CHEMISTRY expectations.
The role of the textile finisher has become 4. GAPS BETWEEN THE KNOWLEDGES AND
increasingly demanding, and now requires a careful THE LABOR MARKET DEMAND IN THE
balance between the compatibility of different finishing TEXTILE CHEMISTRY STUDY PROGRAM
products and treatments and the application processes
used to provide textiles with desirable properties. The European textile industries has passed through
Textile chemistry is primarily an applied form of stormy weather over the past decades: the development
chemistry. It is a highly specialized field that applies the of the World economy, consumer demand for high
principles of the basic fields of chemistry to the value-added products, product and process innovation in
understanding of textile materials and to their functional the sector, globalisation of production and trade, public
and esthetical modification into useful and desirable support for environmentally friendly products.
items. Textile materials are used in clothing, carpet, tire Attacked by competitors from Asia and faced with
yarn, sewing thread, upholstery, and air bags, to name a heavy price competition on consumer markets, the
few examples. The study of textile chemistry begins industry had to adapt to the changes in the global
with the knowledge of fibers themselves-both natural marketplace, and emphasized the use of specialty
and synthetic. Because synthetic fibers are such an products and functional materials to enhance product
important part of today's textile business, the field and performance characteristics. These specialty textiles
includes many who are trained as polymer chemists. are equipped with electronic components, coated with
The interaction between textile chemistry and materials new materials, and used for packaging, filtration, or for
science is also increasing. Textile chemistry includes the construction and mechanical engineering purposes. The
application of the principles of surface chemistry to use of these textile appliances is seen as the best escape
cleaning processes and modifications such as dyeing from apparently tight consumer markets.
and finishing. Textile chemistry can generally be The textile chemistry education has to follow the
divided into three major areas: dyeing and finishing economical background by responding to these
chemistry, fiber and polymer chemistry, and a newer challenges and introduce adequate ways of teaching and
area that intersects with materials science and involves learning.
the blending of textile materials. In the textile business, The chemistry textile industry needs engineering
chemists work in R&D, process development, process graduates with skills in engineering, design, chemistry,
modification, technical services, environmental testing, management, computers, marketing/sales, and quality
and dyeing and finishing operations control.
Chemical companies that manufacture the basic Textile Chemistry Curricula is a specialized
polymer from which synthetic fibers are made employ program, focusing on the chemistry and physics of
chemists globally. Small dyeing houses that dye yarns, fiber-forming polymers and the theory and practice of
fiber, fabric, and carpets employ them. wet processing including dyeing and finishing of
In Romania, the study program Textile Chemical textiles.
Technology is given only by the department of Textile Conventional practices, recent advancement in
Finishing from the Technical University in Iaşi. technological processes and equipments, environment
To prepare students for future professional careers in and human friendly approaches used for textile
the textile and chemical industries, this curricula manufacture are part of the curricula.
provides an integrated, multi-functional academic Course curricula in chemistry textile technology
experience. Students focus on the preparation, dyeing must be framed by taking into account the requirements
and special finishing of textile products and are of the employers, the facilities and available resources.
encouraged to develop a broad-based problem-solving There is, more than ever, a need for increased
perspective through synthesis of concepts, course work, correlation between the education systems and industry
and work experiences. Graduates pursue careers with requirements – education providers need to react more
textile and chemistry manufacturers, retailers, testing rapidly to changes in industry.
laboratories, government agencies, media firms, or they
may open their own businesses.
Mismatches Between the Competences Acquired Through the Higher Education and The Labor Market Demand
in Textile Chemistry 45
In time, many transformations have been made to employees) and 4 large business companies (LB -
the textile chemistry curricula, following the five-step between 250 and 999 employees).
curricula development process (Print, M., 1993).
their subsequent evolution at work, the employers have study program has the opportunity to achieve the
been asked to use a grade on a 1-10 grading scale. The redesign of the curricula for better alignment with
results are shown in fig. 6. market requirements and improvement of the
employability of graduates. In what concerns the textile
chemistry study programs, the opinions of the
employers showed that the curricula has to be reshaped,
taking into account the labour market evolution by
orienting the education towards the development of
necessary competences, abilities and skills and
identifying transversal key competences that can
enhance employability. Curricula designers of the textile
chemistry study program should take into consideration
the improvement of development of competencies such
as time management and effective performance under
stress.
References
Figure 6. Level of initial competences of the
graduates and their subsequent evolution as seen by 1. Antia, B.E. (2009), ”A German Initiative in Higher
the employers Education Management and Nigerian Applications”, in: S.
Mayanja & R. Sonaiya (eds.) Network Dialoguing and the
Even though variations exist in the quality of Strengthening of Academic Exchange between German and
graduates entering the labour market every year, and West African Universities, Boersedruck Publishers, Vienna
employers rarely have a well-formulated mechanism to 2. Dacre Pool, L. and Sewell, P (2007), ”The Key to
Employability. Developing a practical model of graduate
assess the quality and competence of graduates, it can employability”, Education + Training, Vol 49, No 4, pp
be seen that the general impression in not very good, 277-289.
especially in what concerns the level of competences of 3. Knight, P, and Yorke, M. (2004), Learning, Curriculum
the graduates. The employers have a better opinion and Employability in Higher Education, Routledge Falmer,
London.
regarding the skills and knowledge that the employees 4. Petersen, W., and Wehmeyer, C., (2005), ”European
gain on the job. Qualification Strategies in Information and
According to employers’ opinion, during the studies Communications Technology (ICT) - Towards a European
some competencies are developed more than it is (reference) ICT Skills and Qualification”, Studies in
Informatics and Control, Vol.14, No.1, p.37 - 46
required in labour market. It is the case with general 5. Print, M (1993), Curriculum development and design,
engineering knowledge, and the too deep study of some Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, Australia.
chemistry disciplines (such as analytical chemistry, for
example). On the other hand, the employers mentioned
the insufficient application of scientific knowledge to
practical problems.
In what regards the rapid insertion of the graduates
immediately after leaving school, employers
recommended appropriate stages of practical activities,
that take place in industrial environments, where
students have to face and solve real problems. Such
activities are already included in the curricula, but a
tighter link with the company applications has to be
acquired.
The graduates’ value at the entrance on the labour
market is unstable because of the rapidly changing
labour market, and that is why employers have to take
rapid measures in order to help the insertion of the
graduates immediately after leaving school and to keep
them updated with the latest developments. The
majority of the employers indicated short training
courses for the personnel working in company keep
them up-to-date with the continuous development of
knowledge.
4. CONCLUSIONS
In the process of establishing the National
Qualifications Framework for Higher Education, each
UNIVERSITY RANKING SYSTEMS AT GLOBAL, EUROPEAN AND ROMANIAN
LEVELS
The present paper attempts to give an overview on main university ranking systems recognized globally, at European level and in
Romania. The paper presents and compares the most recent rankings (2009 editions) of two global university ranking systems:
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and Times Higher Education Supplement (THES).
Next, in the context of European higher education institutions ranking systems, the CHE system is presented, as many academicians
and specialists around the globe consider it to be interestingly different from the previous two ranking systems, from a methodological
point of view. The paper continues by presenting some Romanian aspects and initiatives related to university rankings.
institutions scores will be determined as a percentage of According to ARWU, the top ten universities of the
the top score. world include 8 higher education institutions from USA
The methodology used by Times Higher Education and 2 universities from UK: University of Cambridge,
Supplement (THES) is quite different than the one used considered the fourth best university in the world, and
by ARWU. At its first edition in 2004, the methodology University of Oxford, which ranks on the 10th position.
supporting THES ranking stated that a leading higher Not only that THES ranking includes four institutions
education institution should be based on four pillars: from UK among the best ten universities of the world,
“high quality research, high quality teaching, high but the UK universities score significantly better in this
graduate employability and an international outlook” top, compared with ARWU ranking.
(Baty, 2009). Another significant difference can be noticed
Table 1: Top ten universities of the world according to the Academic Ranking
regarding the overall scores assigned to each university
of World Universities, 2009 edition included in the top ten ranking. While both ARWU and
Rank Higher education Total Country THES recognize Harvard University as the best
institution score university in the world, and assign to it a total score of
1 Harvard University 100.0 USA 100.0 points, the scores obtained for the other
2 Stanford University 73.1 USA institutions included in the top ten universities are quite
3 University of California, 71.0 USA
different. Stanford University, the second best
Berkeley
4 University of Cambridge 70.2 UK university in the world according to ARWU, had an
5 Massachusetts Institute of 69.5 USA overall score of 73.1, which is quite far from the 100
Technology (MIT) points obtained by the leader Harvard. Obviously, the
6 California Institute of 64.8 USA scores determined for the other universities are in a
Technology decreasing order; for instance, University of Oxford,
7 Columbia University 61.7 USA which ranked on the 10th place, had a score of 56.3,
8 Princeton University 60.2 USA almost half of Harvard’s overall score. On the other
9 University of Chicago 57.0 USA hand, the best ten universities ranked by THES
10 University of Oxford 56.3 UK
methodology obtained much closer scores; California
Institute of Technology, occupying the 10th position,
Table 2: Top ten universities of the world according to the Times Higher obtained an overall score of 95.9, given that Harvard
Education Supplement, 2009 edition
was again the leader of the ranking, with 100 points
Rank Higher education Total Country
institution score assigned to it.
1 Harvard University 100.0 USA The general perception of the two most famous
2 University of Cambridge 99.6 UK university rankings is that ARWU focuses on
3 Yale University 99.1 USA institutions scientific research performance and pays
4 University College 99.0 UK little attention to the educational dimension, favoring
London universities particularly strong in the sciences fields,
5= Imperial College London 97.8 UK “comprehensive enough to amass strong research
5= University of Oxford 97.8 UK performance over a broad range of fields … and from
7 University of Chicago 96.8 USA English-language nations” (Marginson and van der
8 Princeton University 96.6 USA
Wende, 2007, p. 311), while THES’ main focus is
9 Massachusetts Institute of 96.1 USA
Technology (MIT) university’s reputational performance, neglecting to
10 California Institute of 95.9 USA some extent the scientific dimension and favoring the
Technology best known higher education institutions from many
countries (Marginson and van der Wende, 2007, p.312).
Tables 1 and 2 present the ten best universities of the After analyzing each criteria included in the ranking
world according to the 2009 editions of ARWU and methodology for each of the two ranking systems,
THES rankings respectively. By comparing universities debating on the advantages and shortcomings of each
rankings, it can be easily noticed that there are only two performance criteria, Taylor and Braddock (2007,
institutions that preserve their ranks in both tops; these p.252, 255) conclude that THES is a poor university
are Harvard University, which is considered the best ranking system, while ARWU system, far from being
university in the world by both ranking systems, and perfect, “is clearly superior to the THES ranking
Princeton University, occupying the 8th position in both system”.
rankings. Moreover, 7 out of the ten best universities
according to ARWU appear in THES ranking, but their UNIVERSITY RANKING SYSTEMS AT
ranks differ considerably. The most significant EUROPEAN LEVEL
discrepancies appear for Stanford University, which is
the second best university in the world after Harvard, In the 2009 edition of ARWU ranking, only two
according to ARWU, but ranks only on the 16th position European universities were included among the best
in THES ranking. ARWU places University of twenty universities in the world, while the remaining 17
California on the third position, but this institution were from USA and one university from the Asia/
occupies only rank 32 in THES top of universities. Pacific region. Further, Europe had 32 institutions in top
University ranking systems at global, European and Romanian levels 49
100 (while America had 59) and 208 universities in the second and third position. In both editions, the best
top 500 (ARWU 2009). Romanian university was the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”
When speaking about the European university University of Iaşi, and the institutions occupying the 4th
ranking systems, a number of papers allocate a special and 5th positions were Politehnica University of
place for the CHE ranking, developed in Germany by Bucharest and the “Gheorghe Asachi” University of
the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) Iaşi, respectively.
and published annually in the German news magazine In 2006, prior to Romania’s adherence to European
“Die Zeit”. In opposition with ARWU or THES Union, the Ad Astra Association had a notable initiative
rankings, which calculate an overall score for each of estimating the scientific performance of Romanian
institution and then rank the universities in the higher education institutions, according to the
decreasing order of their scores, CHE ranking relies on methodology used for Shanghai ranking 2005 edition, in
the belief that the large number of various criteria used which no Romanian university was included.
for assessing universities cannot be aggregated in the According to the results (Florian, 2006), the top five
form of a single composite indicator and that Romanian universities that obtained the best estimated
comparison and hierarchy of universities is possible scores were University of Bucharest (4,09), the “Babeş-
only for a particular dimension, and therefore, no Bolyai” University of Cluj-Napoca (3,96), Politehnica
university can be considered as being the best in a University of Bucharest (3,66), “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”
general ranking system. Instead, CHE looks more like a University of Iaşi (3,25) and “Gheorghe Asachi”
rating system. This methodology obviously leads to Technical University of Iaşi (2,44). The estimations
different rankings of universities, according to the revealed that even the institution considered the best
criteria considered for their comparison (CHE Ranking, Romanian university, University of Bucharest, which
2010). obtained the highest score – 4,09, had a long journey
In June 2009, the Consortium for Higher Education ahead before being included in the Shanghai ranking of
and Research Performance Assessment (CHERPA) won 500 best universities in the world, as the lowest score of
European Commission’s tender for developing and a university included in the 2005 edition of Shanghai
testing a new multi-dimensional global ranking of ranking was 8,22 (Florian, 2006). Four years later, in
higher education institutions. The new ranking model 2010, nothing changed much. Not one Romanian higher
will respect the Berlin Principles for ranking higher education institution managed to be included among the
education institutions and is expected to overcome the 500 best universities worldwide, despite the fact that
drawbacks of the existent international university many of the Romanian universities recognize the
ranking systems, like ARWU and THES (Centre for importance of being part of such a ranking. Therefore,
Higher Education Development, 2009). New ranking’s some Romanian higher education institutions include in
launch is scheduled for 2011. their strategic plans the goal of being included by
ARWU in the top of 500 best universities of the world.
ROMANIAN UNIVERSITIES RANKING For instance, the “Babes-Bolyai” University of Cluj-
SYSTEMS Napoca launched in March 2006 a program called
“UBB500”, which included many improvement
initiatives in the field of the university scientific
Top of Romanian universities developed by Ad Astra
research and educational performance, and whose end
Association of Romanian Researchers
goal is to promote the university among the best 500
universities according to ARWU by 2012 (Agachi and
The first ranking of Romanian higher education Bucur, 2007).
institutions was developed by Ad Astra Association of
Romanian Researchers. The methodology used by Ad
Astra was based on the scientific work published by the Romanian university ranking developed by Capital
universities’ academic staff in scientific journals which magazine and Kienbaum Consulting
enjoy international recognition and were indexed by ISI
Web of Science in 2005 and 2006 (Ad Astra, 2007). The most recent ranking of Romanian higher
The main drawback of Ad Astra’s ranking system education institutions was conducted by Romanian
resides in the fact that is based just on scientific Capital magazine and Kienbaum Human Resource &
performance evaluation, not taking into account other Management Consulting and published in September
factors that strongly contribute to a higher education 2009. The study covered two main modules: one for
institution’s performance (Ad Astra, 2007). employers and one for graduates and students.
By comparing the Ad Astra’s university rankings The participants for the first module were 35
from 2006 and 2007 editions, it can be easily noticed national and international employers/companies, who
that the same higher education Romanian institutions were asked to rank state and private Romanian higher
made their way to the first five positions of the top in education institutions by their educational content,
each of the two years considered. Moreover, these which included the following dimensions: theory,
institutions preserved their order in 2006 and 2007, practice-orientation, language skills and international
except University of Bucharest and the “Babeş-Bolyai” experience. According to the overall ranking results
University of Cluj-Napoca, which interchanged the (Capital and Kienbaum, 2009), the top five universities
50 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
in Romania are: the “Babeş-Bolyai” University of Cluj- certainly contribute to strengthening a university’s
Napoca (1), the University of Bucharest (2), brand (Quality and Leadership for Romanian Higher
“Transilvania” University of Braşov (3), “Ştefan cel Education, 2009).
Mare” University of Suceava (4) and “Lucian Blaga”
University of Sibiu (5). References
The study’s second module had 3.131 1. Academic Ranking of World Universities (2009), Academic
Ranking of World Universities – 2009, available from
students/graduates as participants. They were asked to
http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2009.jsp (accessed April 1, 2010).
answer questions regarding various aspects of university 2. Ad Astra Association of Romanian Researchers (2006), “Top of
educational content, business focus, university universities in Romania, 2006”, available from http://www.ad-
environment, quality of university administration, astra.ro/universitati/clasamentul_universitatilor_2006.pdf
(accessed March 27, 2010).
corruption in higher academic environment and career
3. Ad Astra Association of Romanian Researchers (2007), “Top of
options (Capital and Kienbaum, 2009). universities in Romania, 2007”, available from http://www.ad-
Some of the study’s results reveal that although most astra.ro/universitati/clasamentul_universitatilor_2007.pdf
of the respondents are satisfied (50.80%) or very (accessed March 27, 2010).
4. Agachi, P.Ş. and Bucur, I. (2009), “UBB 500 Program of Babeş-
satisfied (18.51%) regarding the theoretical education
Bolyai University”, Quality Assurance Review for Higher
they receive in the universities, they are unsatisfied or Education, 1(2), 156-163.
very unsatisfied in what concerns the international 5. Baty, P. (2009), “World University Rankings 2009. Rankings 09:
experience (32.98% / 35.53%) and language skills Talking points”, available from
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=40
(34.78% / 21.12%) offered by the university (Capital
8562 (accessed April 1, 2010).
and Kienbaum, 2009). 6. Capital magazine and Kienbaum Human Resource &
Management Consulting (2009), “Romania University
Ranking”, available from http://www.capital.ro/usr/imagini/0-
Strategic projects for Romanian higher education 37835-studiev10.pdf (accessed March 27, 2010).
system 7. Centre for Higher Education Development (2009), “The
CHERPA-Network wins a European tender to develop a multi-
dimensional global ranking of universities”, available from
In 2009, the Romanian Ministry of Education http://www.che-
Research and Innovation launched five strategic projects ranking.de/cms/?getObject=302&getNewsID=983&getCB=309
regarding Romanian higher education system, all of &getLang=en (accessed April 1, 2010).
them being financed by the European Social Fund, 8. Centre for Higher Education Development (2010), “CHE
University Ranking”, available from http://www.che-
Sectoral Operational Program for Human Resources ranking.de/cms/?getObject=644&getLang=en (accessed April
Development 2007-2013 (SOP HRD). 2, 2010).
One of the five strategic programs is “Quality and 9. Florian, R. (2006), “Universităţile din România şi clasamentul
Leadership for Romanian Higher Education – charting Shanghai” (“Universities from Romania and Shanghai
ranking”), Journal of Ad Astra Association of Romanian
the future of our society”, whose main goal is to researchers, 5, available from http://www.ad-
develop a vision and a strategy for the Romanian higher astra.ro/journal/8/florian_shanghai_romania.pdf (accessed
education sector. March 27, 2010).
The project has four specific objectives; the fourth 10. International Observatory (2006), “Berlin Principles on
Ranking of Higher Education Institutions”, available from
specific objective consists in developing a http://www.ireg-
methodological framework for Romanian universities’ observatory.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id
institutional differentiation. In order to reach this goal, =41&Itemid=48 (accessed April 1, 2010)
several activities were planned. The first activity was 11. Marginson, S. and van der Wende, M. (2007), “To rank or to be
ranked: the impact of global rankings in higher education”,
carried out between March and August 2009, and was in Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(3/4), 306-329.
charge to make a critical analysis of international 12. Quality and Leadership for Romanian Higher Education,
practices regarding higher education institution’s available from http://www.edu2025.ro/about-the-
evaluation, differentiation and benchmarking. The last project/presentation.aspx (accessed April 1, 2010).
13. Taylor, P. and Braddock, R. (2007), “International university
activity planned for this objective consists in ranking systems and the idea of university excellence”, Journal
formulating strategic recommendations and proposing of Higher Education Policy and Management, 29(3), 245-260.
an official document regarding universities 14. Thakur, M. (2007), “The impact of ranking systems on higher
differentiation, which is scheduled for September 2011. education and its stakeholders”, Journal of Institutional
Research, 13(1), 83-96.
The process of Romanian universities’ institutional 15. Times Higher Education (2009), World Universities Ranking
differentiation is supposed to lead to a growth in 2009, available from
Romanian higher education institutions’ visibility both http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/hybrid.asp?typeCode=4
at external and internal levels. It is believed that 31&pubCode=1&navcode=148 (accessed April 1, 2010).
16. Usher, A. and Savino, M. (2007), “A Global Survey of Rankings
institutional differentiation will put more pressure on and League Tables”, in: College and University Ranking
universities, leading to the accession (at least of some of Systems: Global Perspectives and American Challenges,
them) in university international rankings, like ARWU. Institute for Higher Education Policy, 23-34.
It is also considered that in the current conditions, of Acknowledgement
intense competition in the European and global This work was supported by CNCSIS –UEFISCSU,
educational markets, and of internalization of higher project number PNII – IDEI 770/2009
education, Romanian universities require a branding
process, and acceding in international rankings can
INVESTIGATION OF THE BOLOGNA PROCESS IN MOLDOVAN HIGHER
EDUCATION PRACTICE
About five years ago, Moldovan higher education joined the Bologna Process, being inspired by the great opportunities offered by
EHEA. In spite of rapid reforming of the national policy, many higher education institutions are engaged formally in the proposed
reform and the promised results are not still tangible. The aim of this research is to review the national practice in implementing
Bologna goals, to analyse the lack between top-down policy and its bottom–up reception, updating the strategy for Moldovan HE
system reform. Moldova is one of the five last-comers into the Bologna Process, a small country with limited resources that tried to be
an equal partner in EHEA. Is it possible for the Moldovan HE system to be competitive in EHEA and to assure sustainable
development of the country? The answer to this question is sought trough a dialectic analysis of the values of the old and new
structure of HE, massification and quality assurance, national or international accreditation, Pros and cons of applying the Bologna
principles in reforming the Moldovan higher education are researched applying surveys of main stakeholders, statistical data
analyses, and are based on personal observations and conclusions of authors who are national Bologna promoters. The results
underline the main patterns for national legislation framework development, agenda for national stakeholders and international
collaboration for future higher education policies development and regeneration of the country‘s growth capacity. New approach to
HE policy development at national and institutional level emphasise the importance of greater “ex-post” post accountability of
Moldovan universities for quality, efficiency and achievement of agreed national and European objectives, new managerial and
communication policy. This research paper formulates the main positive and negative lessons of implementing the Bologna principles
and formulates a proposal for updating the policy agenda for reforming the Moldovan higher education system based on reviews of
best international practices.
Before joining the Bologna project, Moldovan fields of studies (law and business), and – last but not
Higher Education included a 4-year graduate program, least – the serious deterioration of quality of teaching
which gave access to a 1-year postgraduate master's and low, irrelevant learning outcomes for graduates,
program and to a 3 to 4-year doctoral program. Main which is mentioned in many labour force market
reforms initiated in that time were regarding research surveys carried out by stakeholders.
accreditation, admission, harmonization of classification When considering access to higher education, it
of fields of higher education according to ISCED and should be noted that there is a tendency for
reconsideration of national research. universalisation: more than 70% of upper secondary
Table 1: Main indicators of Moldovan Higher Education system after education graduates applied for a tertiary program.
implementation of the Bologna model About 60% of 19-30 age groups are enrolled in tertiary
2005/ 2006/ 2007/ 2008/ 2009/ programs.
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
It should be mentioned that the Republic of Moldova
Institutions : - 2
35 31 31 31 33 performed well in the structural reform of its Higher
Students 2 cycles: -12,9% Education system, in the “hard” elements of the
126132 127997 122939 114865 109892 Bologna Process. But there is still considerable amount
Admitted: -21,6% of work to be done in the “soft” aspects, like quality
34553 25854 23767 29122 27075 assurance, governance, recognition of prior learning,
I-cycle: -38,5%
34553 25854 23767 23889 21243
etc. Most reforms were implemented in 2005-2007,
II-cycle: +11,4% mainly fuelled by the enthusiasm and voluntary work of
- - - 5233 5832 a small group of Bologna promoters. Subsequently,
Graduates: +49,9% when the leadership of the Bologna project
17415 16984 19972 29614 26111 implementation has changed, there was stagnation,
Doctoral program students: -7,4%
1667 1685 1610 1574 1543
coupled with increasing criticism of the system
Doctoral program admission: -10,3% deterioration from various stakeholders.
388 388 290 322 348 Looking at the level that the Moldovan Higher
Defended doctoral and post doctoral thesis : +46,2% Education has achieved in the main area of actions lines,
195/21* 225/24 247/18 197/23 285/38 we provide comparative overall achievements of 46
Graduated students per 10 000 people: -43
signatory countries and five last-comers in the Bologna
351 357 344 322 308
Graduates per 10 000 people: + 27 Process that share relatively similar points of departure
48 47 56 83 75 and nature of national higher education policy issues
Mobility III cycle , outgoing: -19,1% (table 2). It is worth to mention that the leader in this
47 46 41 38 - group is Georgia, which is closer to achieving strategic
Mobility, ingoing 2 cycles:-30,1% goals, but Moldova fits the general trends, which gives
1979 1687 1645 1383 -
Public expenditure on HE in total expenditure for education, %
us the moral right to affirm that even small countries
+8,8 p.p. with lack of financial resources could be an equal
5,0 16,5 15,1 12,4 13,8 partner in the EHEA.
Public expenditure on HE in GDP, % +1,44 p.p
Table 2: The comparative progress in implementation Bologna action lines in
0,36 1,3 1,2 1,0 1,8 the last comers’ countries
Public expenditure on research as GDP,% +0,26 p.p
Moldova Armenia Georgia Ukraine
0,37 0,45 0,58 0,63 0,63 Degree system
Table 1 shows aspects of the compression of the 2cycles 31* green green lt.green green
system during the last 5 years after signing the Bologna Access 42 green green green green
process. The network of institutions has decreased by 2 NQF 6 red yellow yellow red
units, mostly because of revoking the license from a few Quality assurance
External 16 yellow yellow green yellow
private institutions. In 2009, a new state university was Students 19 lt.green green lt.green green
created, with 3 cycle programs in science fields, Intern-l 16 yellow orange orange orange
targeting gifted graduates of lyceums that are Recognition
subordinated to the Academy of Science. In other Dipl..Supp26 green yellow lt.green red
words, a Lyceum-University-Science academic cluster Lisbon 35 yellow green green yellow
ECTS 21 lt.green yellow green lt.green
was created aiming to recruit, train, and promote gifted
RPL 19 red yellow green green
youth in science carriers. * number of countries out of 46 with highest level of
The admission to the 1st cycle during the researched implementation of action line - "green", the lowest level - "red"
period continuously decreased, mostly because of state Degree and curriculum reform is in ongoing
regulation of study places. These actions were supported transition. This action line has been achieved partly but
by the following arguments: the doubled number of it needs more effort to fully converge to European
graduates in 2008 that created a serious pressure on the principles. The prominent model 180+120 credits was
labour market, the low interest to continue the study at established, but the attractiveness of II and III cycle is
next levels of higher education (only 28% of 1st cycle very low. In order to ensure convergence with European
graduates applied for master programs, and less than principles, a framework for university curricula
5% of 2nd cycle graduates applied for doctoral elaboration for 2 cycles was created together with the
programs), over-concentration of applicants in two Council of rectors.
Investigation of The Bologna Process in Moldovan Higher Education Practice 53
Table 3: Recommended structure of 1 cycle program, ECTS education. All of these efforts taking in this regard did
Basic Modules Courses Courses Courses
formation oriented oriented with
not change the image of HE and attitudes of main
structure 1 field of 2 fields vocation stakeholders. The main weaknesses of accreditation as
specialisa of character important pattern in QA are the following: Moldova is a
tion specialisa small country where usually the academicians know
tion
Common Fundament.
each other and often they accredit the institutions in
40-60 40-50 40 which they are working based on reciprocity; the
route courses
General external accreditation is a process mainly based on
<10 <10 <10
courses inputs rather than on outputs; lack of transparency, lack
Socio-uman. 18-25 15-18 15-18 of expertise on how to evaluate. The interview of
Individual Major spec. 40-70 40-50 60
route Minor spec. 0 30-35 0
students, teachers and international reports on business
Master spec. 20 20 20 and investment climate in Moldova indicate low
Internship 15-20 15-20 30-40 relevance of higher education studies, lack of
Grad. exams 5 6 5 competences and disappointment regarding the effect of
Total 180 180 180 providing reform and management of quality assurance.
Psycho-ped.
training.
60 60 60 Employability - the percentage of unemployment of
people with higher education is about 24% in 2009 and
Table 4: Recommended structure of 2 cycle program, ECTS is decreasing from 2005. A survey on youth entry in the
Type of Master program 120 ECTS
Research Professional
labour market indicates that after graduation of higher
Fundamental 30-40 25-35 education only 20% of respondents did not find a job.
Specialization 40-50 45-55 About 30% of respondents mentioned that after
Internship 10 10 graduation have tried to initiate their own business.
Thesis 30 30 5,3% of the respondents indicated that they were
The practical implementation of this innovation in employed during their study. These data demonstrate
curricula planning shows that without a qualification the contrary to stakeholders' opinion – the rate of
framework and clear learning outcomes, institutions insertion is relatively high. At the same time we accept
have compressed the old program provided in 4 years that the quantitative data don’t provide information
into 3 years, which has a negative impact on the about the real mix of graduates’ competences and level
teaching and learning process and quality of learning of possession.
outcomes. University curricula remain relatively The National Qualifications framework is not
inflexible in terms of the students' options in choosing established and it seems there is now qualified expertise
desirable courses and professors, because of the rigid to realize this goal. Although university leadership for
system of university management. We note intensifying each broad field of education has been nominated and a
criticism of the 3-year program from some few national and international workshops have been
representatives of the academics, who use the argument organized, there is different interpretation and
that 3 years are not sufficient time to prepare a good understanding of learning outcomes for each cycle.
specialist, in order to stimulate graduates to apply for a Recognition policies - Moldova has ratified the
second cycle. Lisbon Recognition Convention. A positive outcome is
Doctoral degrees program is in deep crisis. The that a Diploma Supplement is issued automatically and
number of doctoral students who successfully graduated free of charge by all higher education institutions for
in normative terms is very low (5%). The program is graduates of 1st and 2nd cycles; it is bilingual. A unique
organized mostly as individual research of doctoral soft and guide for its completion was provided for all
students. The graduates of master programs are not institutions. Although at the national level there is low
motivated to apply for the next level. Presently, the awareness of the existence and meaning of the Diploma
academic community is actively engaged in reforming Supplement among employers.
the doctoral program and developing doctoral schools Student mobility did not increase substantially
according to ERA principles. because, in spite of all efforts of the Ministry of
The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation Education, the Government did not provide financial
System has been established through regulations, but the support for the mobility program. The main positive
degree to which ECTS is used in institutions and change was the increase in 2nd cycle mobility abroad
programs is not connected to learning outcomes and due to European support programs. The internal vertical
often formally is linked to student workload. The and horizontal mobility is at the incipient phase, it still
programs are mostly modularized at the II cycle, but at remains unclear and unattractive. Due to bilateral
the I cycle it seems to be predominantly old style. cooperation agreements, there is a slight increase in the
Quality assurance is the most vulnerable action line mobility of teachers in both directions.
in Moldovan HE and requires serious reform. Although Social dimension - starting with 2005 state bursaries
internal and external quality assurance is applied, the for higher education have continuously increased.
national quality assurance system is far from European Gradually, state scholarships based on excellence in
Standards and Guidelines. National QA system did not learning and institutional or state public life have been
become a powerful driver of change in higher extended: republican, presidential, prime minister,
54 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
regular based on learning achievements, social for the specifics of various fields of HE, we would suggest
students from vulnerable social group. New regulations to extend the good practice of CHARME, POLIFONIA
on state scholarships provide equity for both budget- on other projects oriented to harmonies medical, arts,
and contract-based students. This process attracted some engineering HE at the European level which were
of the biggest enterprises which launched, in agreement oriented on development, professional network and
with the Ministry of Education and Council of Rectors, carrying of accreditation. We should strengthen the
a program of corporate social responsibility through efforts on improving employability of higher education
which many students have the opportunity to compete graduates and create a mechanism for monitoring
for study grants. In 2009, more than 40% of all students institutional responses and reactions of main
were financed by the state and these figures have stakeholders and their consultations. Positive attitudes
increased constantly since 2005. About 50% are and commitment to Bologna model reform of Moldovan
accommodated in university campuses. The level of HE could be ensured supporting implementation by
investment in the modernization of learning and living updates, surveys, case studies ensuring in such way
condition is relatively low. more visibility and comprehensiveness of HE. The
Governance, funding and public responsibility in the small countries are usually excluded from such research
Moldovan HE system is another action line which is far at European level, but those results are very important to
away from compatibility with Bologna principles. The convince internal stakeholders that reform goes well or
organizational structure, governance, payment system in to operate some changes in reform routes having an
universities at institutional level is rigid and external impartial expert view. To speed up the reform,
incompatible with new tasks. At national level, the universities should maintain this rhythm, in spite of
performances of universities are not stimulated and political uncertainty and ministerial changes in order to
financing from state budget is provided equally per stimulate progress of the national HE system and to
students to all universities with some exception in arts participate in the EHE as equal partner, to demonstrate
and medical education. The election procedure of excellence. Tthe management of the Bologna process
governing bodies is imperfect and the main actors in was a mix type of top and down decisions, but starting
interview indicated lack of democracy in this field. One now it should become more from down-level operated.
positive achievement in this sense is student In this regard, the universities should improve their
participation in governing bodies at all levels, management practices, develop their innovative
institutional and national, but they usually do not have capacity, and modernize their curricula in a manner that
enough experience to be effective in this process, so corresponds to the labour market and students' needs,
there is a necessity for capacity building in this respect. meets the requirements of economic and technological
Main obstacles are lack of resources and expertise to competitiveness and broader societal goals, reinforces
guide, to influence the domestic policy process and partnerships with main stakeholders, and strengthens
subsequent implementation, especially quality assurance project-based learning and early involvement of
process, enhancement of doctoral programs, effective students in research.
mobility, qualifications framework. It seems that the
interest of political leadership among the universities is References
decreasing in the reform process area. Incoherence, slow
speed of reform, effective institutional leadership raises 1. Don F. Westerheijden, The first decade of working on the EHEA,
the risk of small impact of Bologna model reform on the The Bologna Process Independent Assessment, V.1, Detailed
reality of Moldovan higher education. assessment report , CHEPS, ICHER Kassel, ECOTEC, pages
116
2. A.Rauhvargers, Cyntia Deane, Bologna Process Stocktaking
CONCLUSIONS AND KEY CHALLENGES Report 2009.Education and Culture DG, LLP, pages 144
3. Andrée Sursock and Hanne Smidt, Trends 2010: a decade of
change in European Higher Education, EUA, pages 128
In order to achieve more substantial change, Moldovan 4. Education in the Republic of Moldova 2008/2009, statistical
HE needs grater involvement and more consistent work publication, pages 100,Chisinau 2009 www.statistica.md
of staff and other stakeholders in real implementation of 5. Roadmap for the OECD assessment of Higher Education
learning outcomes (AHELO) feasibility study, 2nd ver. 11 June
Bologna action lines. It is critical to strengthen the
2009 ,pages 21
capacity of bodies responsible for quality assurance at 6. Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Moldova, Chisinau 2009,
national and institutional levels. Development and National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova, pages
implementation of NQF is a main priority and it should
be explained to teachers and learners. For better
realization of Bologna Process actions line, an on-line
tool for benchmarking view should be create. Also, we
suggest intensifying efforts and financial support
through European projects to implement the project of
global Assessment of HE learning outcomes (AHELO)
in all Bologna countries, in order to eliminate internal
subjectivity and provide a real comparative assessment
at European and Global level. Taking into consideration
FRAMEWORK OF TEAM LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
A model of team learning (TL) within the context of higher education (HE) was developed with a set of antecedents, moderators and outcomes. Seven
factors are identified as the antecedents of team learning including individual learning, motivation, goal setting, team commitment, organizational
culture and leadership. Individual performance including administrator performance, teaching performance and research performance, and
knowledge sharing are the outcomes. Learning environment and communication system are the two moderators of the relationship between team
learning and the outcomes.
Team learning appears as ‘a concerted effort’ to get all
people participating in innovation (Molnar & Mulvihill,
INTRODUCTION 2003, p. 172). All the members learn together and
Team learning can be defined as ‘the process of manifest a level of collective intelligence that is greater
aligning and developing the capacity of a team to create than the sum of the intelligence of the individual
the results its members truly desire’ (Senge, 1990, p. members (Hitt, 1995; Senge, 2006). Team learning
236). This emphasizes the significance of team learning cannot happen without individual engagement and team
as a fundamental learning unit in organizations. A commitment (Ellemers, de Gilder, & can den Heuvel,
learning team can constantly foster other learning teams 1998; Katzenbach, 1998). Team commitment,
by inculcating the knowledge and skills of team learning leadership, organizational culture, goal setting, and
more widely (Senge, 2006). development and training are believed to be antecedents
While research on team learning in HE mainly of team learning (Bui & Baruch, forthcoming-b).
focuses on either students (Fiechtner & Davis, 1992; Few works on team commitment are found in HE. This
Karp & Yoels, 1987; Rassuli & Manzer, 2005), or top area is under-researched (Bui & Baruch, forthcoming-
management (Bensimon & Neumann, 1993; a). However, a valuable research finds that teamwork
Katzenbach, 1998; Woodfield & Kennie, 2008), team makes teachers more committed (Park, Henkin, &
learning among academics is often neglected and poorly Egley, 2005; West, 2004). When people are committed
understood (Nissala, 2005). to team learning, they tend to set clear goals for the
Research finds that academics are more committed team and themselves (Bui & Baruch, 2010-b). Outside
to their professions than their organizations (Baruch & HE, team commitment is highly associated with team
Hall, 2004). Team learning challenges university leaders learning (Bishop, Scott, & Burroughs, 2000).
and managers when they manage to make all talented Goal setting has long been referred to as MBO
individuals work together to achieve its vision and (Management by Objectives) (Drucker, 1954). It is not
missions in severe competition of the global HE. Team something new, but important in order to measure the
learning has been found to be successful in some result of team learning. Studies find that the more
universities in their process of becoming learning educated employees are, the more participative and
organizations (Bender, 1997). effective their goal setting is (Ivancevich & McMahon,
The aim of this paper is to present and test a model 1977; Locke & Latham, 2002).
of team learning with a set of antecedents, moderators, The most successful teams have leaders who proactively
and outcomes. Then, a comparison is made between two manage the team learning efforts (Edmondson, Bohmer,
different cultures, the UK and Vietnam. The UK scores & Pisano, 2004; Marsick & Watkins, 2003; Wageman,
very high in individualism and masculinity, but 2001). ‘Leadership (in education) is about culture
represents small power distance and weaker uncertainty building that allows educators, students and parents to
avoidance (Hofstede, 1984, 2001). In contrast, Vietnam be a part of a team that learn together’ (Sackney &
is a collectivist culture, appreciating harmonious Walker, 2006, p. 355). Leadership is the soul of the
relationships (Smith & Pham, 1996; Thêm, 1999; team, inspiring the innovation and creation of
Vượng, 2001; Vuong, Thanh, Ben, Dzung, & Anh, knowledge on team members. ‘Empowering is the
1999). As mentioned earlier, UK is a big HE exporter fundamental component in quality leadership: in
while Vietnam is quite a big HE importer in the South essence it involves releasing the potential of individuals
East Asia. Unlike other goods or commodities, – allowing them to flourish and grow, to release their
education has impacts on both exporters and importers. capacity for infinite improvement’ (J. Bell & Harrison,
More precisely, these impacts are ‘beyond the economy 1998, p. 60). Team learning has now become
of exchange and satisfaction’ (Standish, 2005, p. 57) particularly significant in HE where interdisciplinary
towards development and changes of both. The paper research is about to flourish (Lattuca, 2001).
also tests if there are any differences between academic Team skills are important for successful learning
and non-academic employees, and between science and (Bowen, 1998; Druskat & Kayes, 2000). To be
non-science employees in the HE sector. effective, team members must have both genetic and
specific team competencies (Prichard, Stratford, & Bizo,
THE MODEL OF TEAM LEARNING 2006). Team skills training enhances collaborative
Antecedents of team learning learning (Prichard et al., 2006). On the other hand,
56 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Garavan (1997) states: team learning and performance It is argued that communication and learning
are team skills that need to be practiced if they are to environment are moderators rather than antecedents in
result in improved individual and organizational this case because the association between the team
effectiveness. HE often puts on-job training as a top learning and the outcomes including individual
priority (Dalin, 1998; Maslen, 1992). Team skill performance and knowledge sharing will work only if
training can be one of these forms of training. there are clear and strong communication systems and
Organizational culture describes the fundamental effective learning environment, whereas with poor ones
assumptions people share about an organization’s the association will not exist.
values, beliefs, norms, symbols, language, rituals and Communication influences fundamental beliefs, values,
myths that give meaning to organizational membership and attitudes necessary for employee empowerment and
and are expected as guides to behaviour (Bloisi, Cook, commitment to quality and service (Kapp & Barnett,
& Hunsaker, 2007, p. 751). In other words, it is a 1983; Mohr & Spekman, 1994; Quirke, 1992; Snyder &
combination of values, structures and power that has Morris, 1984). Team learning can be supported by
implications for every aspect of an organization’s effective communication (Hirst & Mann, 2004; Holton,
operations and external relationships (Dopson & 2001; Jamali, Khoury, & Sahyoun, 2006). There is,
McNay, 1996). The culture of an organizational however, little theoretical innovation in organization
environment can be highly influenced by the societal theory grounded in communication, though
culture in which it is embedded (Dimmock & Walker, communication has been emphasized as a significant
2000; Hofstede, 2001). Thus, organizational culture is constituent of organizational life (Dixon, 1998). With
influenced by the societal culture, where a framework of the aid of technology, universities can create effective
values has been established. However, the culture of and efficient e-communication systems to boost up the
universities might be distinctively different from other team learning process.
sectors, because academics are generally highly A learning environment supports team learning (Pedler
individualistic in their work (White & Weathersby, et al., 1991) and improves performance as well as
2005). knowledge sharing (Barker, Schaik, & Hudson, 1998;
Individual learning (IL) is the core layer of team Cabrera, Collins, & Salgado, 2006). Research shows
learning (Antonacopoulou, 2006; Pedler, Burgoyne, & that supportive learning environment encourages
Boydell, 1991; Senge, 1990; Wageman, 1995). In other professional and collaborative learning in HE
words, team learning is the product of individual (Merrienboer & Paas, 2003; Roberts, Oakey, &
learning (Antonacopoulou, 2006; Argyris & Schon, Hanstock, 2007). Otherwise, people become ‘stuck’ and
1978; Fiol & Lyles, 1985; Senge, 1990; Watkins & ‘professional obsolescent’ (P. T. Knight, 1998).
Marsick, 1993). However, among a large number of As a multidimensional comparative research, this
studies conducted on the relationship between research also detects any differences in team learning
individual learning and team learning, few of them work components in various aspects. For the first time, team
on HE’s employees’ perspective. learning is compared in different cultures, between
academic and non-academic, and between science and
Outcomes of team learning non-science employees. Academic employees are
A number of research works have proved that defined as those who have either research or teaching or
organizational benefits of team learning include both roles. Science employees refer to those who work
increased workplace productivity, improvements to in schools of natural sciences and technologies.
service quality, a reduced management structure, low We depict the model based on the combination of the
level of absenteeism, and reduced employee turnover hypotheses in Figure 1 below:
(Park et al., 2005, p. 464). Team learning plays a critical
role in individual performance and knowledge sharing
as team members exchange ideas through dialogue and
discussion (L. Bell, 1992; Hackman & Wageman, 2005; Goal setting
Learning environment
Organizational
students (Gurtner, Tschan, Semmer, & Nagele, 2007; culture
Team learning
Petrina, 1998; Stengers, Mathieu, & Verstraeten, 2000). Developing
& training
more easily. An and Reigeluth (2005, p. 37) emphasize Leadership Communication systems
of the literature related to team learning and beyond. cultural approach. School Leadership and Management,
20(2), 143-160.
The development of the propositions stems from the
17. Dixon, T. (1998). Communication: An elemental
existing literature as well as from logical argumentation constituent of organizing. Australian Journal of
and sense-making of knowledge already acquired within Communication, 25, 41-68.
the management and organizational studies. 18. Dopson, S., & McNay, I. (1996). Organizational culture. In
D. Warner & D. Palfreyman (Eds.), Higher Education
Our model opens an easier route to explore the theory
Management: The Key Elements. Buckingham: SRHE &
via quantitative analysis, which would be Open University Press.
complementary to the many studies already conducted 19. Drucker, P. (1954). The Practice of Management. New
to examine team learning. We believe that empirical York: Harper.
20. Druskat, V. U., & Kayes, D. C. (2000). Learning versus
research will validate this theory in practice.
performance in short-term project teams. Small Group
A would be to identify ways to measure the different Research, 31, 328-353.
variables. For most of the variables we employed, there 21. Edmondson, A., Bohmer, R., & Pisano, G. (2004).
is a choice of already developed measures which were Speeding up team learning. In Harvard Business Review in
Teams That Succeed (pp. 77-98). Boston: Harvard
tested for their validity and reliability (e.g. team
Business School Publishing Corporation.
commitment, organizational culture). Some measures 22. Ellemers, N., de Gilder, D., & can den Heuvel, H. (1998).
are yet to be developed. An example of how to approach Career-oriented versus team-oriented commitment and
measurement of such constructs was demonstrated by behavior at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 29, 371-
389.
Jerez-Gomez et al (Jerez-Gomez, Cespedes-Lorente, &
23. Fiechtner, S. B., & Davis, E. A. (1992). Why some groups
Valle-Cabrera, 2005). fail: A survey of students' experiences with learning
groups. In A. Goodsell, M. Maher & V. Tinto (Eds.),
Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher
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TOWARDS FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS:
ISSUES ON IMPLEMENTING FULL COST ACCOUNTING USING ACTIVITY-BASED
COSTING METHOD
The financial sustainability is a key issue in the modernization of European higher education institutions. Costs indicate the financial
performance, measuring how well resources have been allocated and consumed. This paper emphasizes the need for identifying the real
costs of universities' activities and for implementing full cost accounting, in order to understand the funding requirements necessary to
maintain financial sustainability. Costing in higher education has received considerable attention over the past four decades, many
studies examining institutional costs and analyzing internal efficiency, using various frameworks and methods. As, recently, the movement
towards full cost accounting has been promoted by national and regional regulatory institutions, we have critically investigated the
benefits and the challenges of its implementation. We have also conducted a theoretical research on the general principles of Activity-
Based Costing method, investigating how it can be applied within higher education institutions and we have provided a practical research
on the particular aspect of allocating the costs to activities and programs. The conclusion is that the Activity-Based Costing provides a
reliable method to report, define and capture the resources spent by higher education institutions within specified activities contributing
to their overall performance, and insures these operate on a financial sustainable basis. This paper should be useful for all types of
universities and for their professional managers engaged in costing, its value consisting in being a first step on the way of implementing
full cost accounting within the Romanian higher education institutions, discussing and investigating the feasibility of Activity-Based
Costing system implementation. Keywords: higher education institution, full cost accounting, costing information, activity-based costing.
and wages, utilities, depreciation, purchases of autonomy, legal barriers and a lack of financial support
materials, transport costs, advertising costs, etc.), and do with the implementation of full costing, this being a
not reallocate them among functions within the costly process and a strain on financial, technical and
institution. In case of using the analysis based on the human resources. To overcome these barriers it is
‘function of expense’ method, a HEI would classify necessary to raise awareness of the benefits of full
expenses according to their function as part of cost of costing among the top leadership and key academic and
instruction, research, public service, academic support, administrative staff of the universities.
student services, institutional support, operation and
maintenance of plant, scholarships, or administrative ISSUES ON IMPLEMENTING ABC IN HEIs
activities. In our opinion, this method can provide more
relevant information to stakeholders, despite that
Our research is based on ABC approach, as this is the
allocating cost to functions may require arbitrary
most common in universities that have already
allocations and involve considerable judgment.
implemented full costing system. It is also a model
Ernst and Young (2000) in the DETYA-funded recommended by the International Federation of
study came up with a number of factors to justify Accountants (IFAC) because it reflects the underlying
Activity-Based Costing and Management in Australian
reality of an organization’s workings as closely as
universities. Analyzing these factors throughout the
affordability allows. According to IFAC (2008), ABC is
perspective of the necessity of implementing the
both a product costing method and a resource
managerial accounting in HEIs, our opinion is that they
consumption model that can provide information useful in
are the same within Romanian academic environment. making decisions concerning product and process
The Accounting Law no 81/1991 (republished in 2008), improvements. ABC focuses on the costs of activities
subsequently modified and amended, does not impose to
Heskin and Sharma (2001), addressing certain weaknesses
the public institutions to apply the managerial
of traditional absorption costing and identifying the most
accounting, this being a legal obligation generally for
appropriate way of tracing and assigning indirect expenses
private companies. The factors can be summarized as to final cost objects (IFAC, 2009).
follows: 1) the current state of cost management in most Since 1970s, numerous studies have examined
universities is not adequate to support the needs of the
institutional costs in higher education using various
entity and its changing environment; 2) traditionally, in
frameworks and methods, based on full costing or
Romanian universities, the financial managers have
partial costing systems (see Heskin and Sharma, 2001
focused on meeting the external reporting and basic
for a literature review of implementation of ABC
management accounting requirements, in order to fulfill method within HEIs published until 2000). Our
the accounting regulation; 3) effective use of cost contribution consists in reviewing the recent studies. In
management is essential as this allows understanding
Australia, an Ernst & Young study (2000) showed that
the creation, maintaining or destroying value by
ABC information reflects: which activities are
decisions and actions and allows university managers to
performed in the institution; what resources they
obtain information and feedback necessary to meet the
consume; and for what purpose those activities are
goals towards the achievement of their strategic agenda. performed. It is suggested that with this sort of
Our opinion is that the costing information must be information, university managers can make their
required in universities for financial reporting and
decisions about what, how and for whom they provide
strategic requirements, for understanding the costs of
services or products and at what price. This study has
activities and services and for providing feedback and
recently been followed up by a study of KPMG, which,
insight to management on what causes costs.
according to Heskin (2001), advocated two main
The benefits of full costing for universities are the approaches to costing, including top-down (Activity-
following: a more systematic approach to activity
Based) costing and bottom-up cost estimation. The top-
analysis and costing; a more efficient internal resource
down ABC substantially increases the accuracy of
allocation; improved strategic decision-making based on
output/product costs by tracing indirect expenses to
better understanding of investment decisions; enhancing
outputs in a way that is more consistent with the
ability to negotiate and price activities, which leads to causality principle. Resource expenses are ‘pushed’ (top
higher cost recovery of project costs and thus contribute down) through activity costs, and eventually re-assigned
to financial sustainability (EUA, 2008). On the national
to final cost objects (IFAC, 2009). KPMG proposed top-
level full costing facilitates budget allocation, as
down costing approach for obtaining institutional,
universities can prove what they need on a reliable and
subject, discipline but not course costing or obtaining
verifiable basis. This accounting tool can enhance
cost information about types of students and teaching
financial sustainability and in the long run create methods. For the latter they suggested bottom-up
stronger and more competitive universities which helps costing, which involves drawing up the cost of a set of
strengthen the higher education area (EUA, 2008).
programs of courses on a zero base budgeting approach.
Among the most common obstacles in implementing
Cox, Downey and Smith (2000) used the time-driven
full cost accounting we note the resistance to change
activity-based costing (TDABC) approach, emphasizing
and to a managerial approach in universities, a lack of
the feasibility of ABC. An important study was
management and leadership commitment, a lack of elaborated by Granof, Platt and Vaysman (2000). Its key
Towards Financial Sustainability of Higher Education Institutions: Issues on Implementing Full Cost
Accounting Using Activity-Based Costing Method 61
findings are: great disparities existing among various the starting point for any costing study; deciding which
programs; unused capacity is costly; ABC accounting source of cost data to use is an important consideration.
provides useful efficiency information; support services Activity analysis. It identifies the activities within
do not benefit programs uniformly; and space costs are each department and why, and under what
significant. The study of Heskin and Sharma (2001) has circumstances each activity is done; how often, and for
applied principles of ABC to the discipline of Social and whom, the activity is performed; resources consumed in
Behavioural Sciences undertaken as part of a pilot study doing the activity; and, what factors determine or drive
within an Australian university. In 2006, a case study of the activity or resource (Krishnan, 2006). The EUA
Krishnan had as a purpose to study the application of study (2008) emphasizes that each costing model should
ABC in higher learning institutions and to investigate include a process by which its activities can be
whether this cost system provides better control over the identified. This usually comprises teaching, research
cost in comparison with the traditional costing. and support, but can be extended to include a much
McChlery, McKendrick and Rolfe (2007) described an larger range of activities. Some authors (Pineno, 2008)
ABM model, which has been successfully used to cost argues that the core activities are teaching, research,
institutions’ activities down to appropriate levels of service, and outreach, these being supported by
focus, linking the activities to income streams and functions such as registration and administration,
arriving at a form of value added. Pineno (2008) facilities maintenance, security, library and learning
outlined the application of the ABC concept and the resources, and various types of labs. Ernst & Young
balanced scorecard approach, investigating whether the study (2000) suggests that the major activities cost pools
approach should be used to drive the university strategy include infrastructure, administrative support,
for continuous improvement. It worth mentioned the student support, teaching and research. The cost
study of Qinhua, Geng and Li (2009) who analyzed the objects are the purpose of costing and, considering the
status of the school-running cost and efficiency of the mission oriented approach, one can delineate teaching
pilot universities for distance education in China. and learning, research and community service as major
cost objects, and also type of student (full time, part
ABC METHODOLOGY time, undergraduate, postgraduate, etc.); cost of
individual programs or subjects; different approaches to
teaching and learning (e.g. traditional lecture, tutorial
The ABC concept draws attention to what is driving
costs within a university. According to Pineno (2008), and practicum); various distance education
methodologies. The development of ABC costing
applying ABC in the specific context of HEIs involves
systems within universities should consider using macro
the following: 1) Identifying cost objects, as a sum of
activities in the initial projects, this ensuring that the
individual curriculum consisting of a number of courses,
project does not get bogged down in too much detail
being, in fact, what ABC seeks to measure, e.g. the cost
of delivering a single course; if the cost of a single course (Ernst & Young, 2000). Limiting the number of
is the cost object, the cost unit is the cost per student; 2) activities identified makes the process of data gathering
and allocation simpler (EUA, 2008).
Identifying output, as the desired end results, e.g. courses
Attributing costs to activities. This is based on
and programs; degree programs, a collection of courses
gathering resource driver information. A resource driver
that form a special curriculum; 3) Identifying activities
is a measure of the quantity of resources consumed by
that are needed to deliver the outputs; 4) Allocating
resources and making cost pools based on direct or an activity. The most common methods of attributing
indirect costs; 5) Linking activity costs to output - once costs to activities include direct assignment and
assignment on an activity or causal basis. Two major
the cost pools are made and cost drivers identified, costs
characteristics have to be considered when specifying
from these pools are assigned to cost objects according to
resource drivers: firstly, a resource driver must bear a
activity levels; 6) Analysis and cost reporting and make
logical relationship to its activity and secondly, statistics
relevant conclusions such as whether to keep or remove
a specific course within a curriculum. Ernst & Young’s must be available allowing associating the costs with the
activities. Typical resource drivers include headcount or
study (2000) groups the steps of implementing ABC
full time equivalents (FTEs); square meters; number of
into two phases: Phase I is fully costing activities and
computers; and managerial estimates of relative effort.
Phase II is fully costing cost objects.
Once the resource drivers are specified, the information
Phase I. Costing Activities - The costing activities
phase primarily focuses on (a) defining the activities about the quantity of each resource driver associated
performed within the institution, or area of focus, and with each of the activities it wants to cost is collected.
(b) gathering data that will enable costs, from the Table 1. Example of activity cost and activity driver
general ledger or budget, to be attributed to activities Activi- Activity Activity Activity Unit cost
ties cost (lei) driver driver volume (lei)
and for these costs then to be attributed to the required Teaching 720,000 Teaching 6,000 hours 120
cost objects (e.g. courses or students). hours
Cost analysis. In a university, resources include the Research 160,000 Research 2,000 hours 80
salaries of academics, professionals and support staff, hours
consumables, computers and information systems, Total 880,000 - 8,000 -
energy, travel, etc. The costs in the general ledger are
62 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
In our opinion, analyzing and identifying the available, but these should be evaluated to see if they
resource drivers are important tasks in the ABC system, are fit for this purpose. The types of activity drivers that
as they are the links between the resources and the are likely to be required include the number of: lecture
activities. The resource driver allocates the total budget hours; tutorial hours; examinations; graduations;
to each resource centre and is also used to disseminate research grant submissions; research projects; students;
the centre budget to other sub division (Krishnan, 2006). EFTSUs; new enrolments; student counseling sessions;
Phase II. Costing Cost Objects - Designing the costing academics; staff; and applications. Once the assignment
model is the critical stage in the ABC implementation of an activity driver for each activity is finalized, it is
process, where the structure of the system is created and needed to collect data about each activity driver for each
the intelligence added (Ernst & Young, 2000). cost object (e.g. information about how many teaching
Cost object analysis. Each model needs to identify hours there are for each cost object, i.e. course).
cost objects. The concrete choice of cost objects depends
on specific institutional context and their objectives CONCLUSIONS
(EUA, 2008). The common types of cost objects include
faculties or schools; courses or subjects; student types Our conclusion is that the ABC provides a reliable
(i.e., international fee paying undergraduate); various
method to report, define and capture the resources spent by
commercial operations; delivery channels (i.e., chalk and
higher education institutions within specified activities, and
talk, Internet); and process groupings (i.e., research).
insures these operate on a financial sustainable basis. This
Gather activity driver information to attribute
paper should be useful for all types of institutions of higher
activity costs to cost objects. Activity drivers measure education and for their professional managers engaged in
how often activities are performed on each type of costing, also for the governing boards, administrators, and
course or student and the effort involved in carrying
others whose decisions directly affect the cost of higher
them out, for example, the number of students or
education, its value consisting in underlying the need for
number of equivalent full time student units (EFTSUs).
costing information, required in universities for purposes of
Table 2. Example of activity drivers and cost object calculation allocating their scare resources. Moreover, it is a first step
Activities Activity driver Unit Cost object on the way of implementing full cost accounting within the
description/ cost (lei) cost (lei)
volume Romanian higher education institutions, discussing and
Teaching Course A / 4,000 hours 120 480,000 investigating the feasibility of ABC implementation. This
Course B / 2,000 hours 240,000 paper raises awareness of the full costing issue on a
Research Grant X / 800 hours 80 64,000 broader scale within the higher education community.
Grant Y / 1,200 hours 96,000
Total 8,000 - 880,000
Selective References
Table 3. Example of teaching related activities unit cost calculation
Teaching Activity Activity Activity Unit cost
related cost (lei) driver driver (lei) 1. Ernst & Young (2000), “A Study to Develop a Costing Methodology
activities description volume for the Australian Higher Education Sector”, Final Report, pages 13, 20,
Developing 50,000 # New 1 50,000 25-37, http://www.dest.gov.au/archive/highered/otherpub/costme2.pdf
new course courses 2. European University Association (2008), “Financially
Enrolling 75,000 # Students 5,000 15 sustainable universities towards full costing in European
students universities”, An EUA Report, page 6, 8-9, 12, 18, 58-63,
Teaching 1,250,000 # Teaching 10,000 125 http://www.eua.be/fileadmin/user_upload/files/Publications/Financial
students hours ly_Sustainable_Universities.pdf
Assessing 225,000 # EFTSU 4,500 50 3. Granof, M.H. et al. (2000), “Using Activity-Based Costing to
students manage more effectively”, The PricewaterhouseCoopers Endowment
Graduating 150,000 # 1,200 125 for The Business of Government, page 7-10, 12-15,
students graduands http://www.businessofgovernment.org/pdfs/GranofReport.pdf
4. Heskin, K. and Sharma, R (2001), “Activity Based Costing in an
Total 1,750,000 - - -
Australian University: a Pilot of Social and Behavioural Sciences”,
Table 4. Example of course cost calculation pages 1-4, http://www.aair.org.au/jir/May01/Heskin.pdf
Teaching related Activity cost Course A Course B 5. IFAC (2008), “Costing to Drive Organizational Performance”, in
activities (lei) Explanatory Statement of Ministry of Corporate Affairs to the Review
Developing new 50,000 20,000 30,000 of Cost Accounting Record Rules, Cost Audit Report Rules & Cost
courses Accounting Standards, page 521,
Enrolling students 75,000 30,000 45,000 http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/latestnews/Explanatory_Stmt_24apr2009.pdf
Teaching students 1,250,000 500,000 750,000 6. IFAC (2009), “Evaluating and Improving Costing in
Assessing students 225,000 100,000 125,000 Organizations”, International Good Practice Guidance, page 31-34, 37,
Graduating students 150,000 70,000 80,000 web.ifac.org/media/publications/a/.../evaluating-and-improving-co.pdf
7. Krishnan, A. (2006), “An Application of Activity Based Costing in
Total 1,750,000 720,000 1,030,000
Higher Learning Institution: A Local Case Study”, Contemporary
No. of EFTSU’s - 3,000 4,000
Management Research, Volume 2, No 2, pages 5-9, www.cmr-
Cost per EFTSU - 240 257.50
journal.org/article/download/221/511
Cost objects are costing accurately when activity 8. Pineno, C.J. (2008), “Should Activity-Based Costing or the
drivers measure the use of activities directly or correlate Balanced Scorecard Drive the University Strategy for Continuous
closely with their use. The choice of sources is Improvement?”, Proceedings of ASBBS, Volume 15, No 1, Shenandoah
University, pages 3, 7, 17, http://asbbs.org/files/2008/PDF/P/Pineno.pdf
determined to a certain extent by the data and systems
TEACHER FACING SOME CHALLENGES OF AN ULTRA-MODERN SOCIETY
Gheorghe CALCAN
Associate Professor, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti,
calcangheorghe@yahoo.com
This work aims at surprising the impact of the new technologies on the attitude and behaviour of the academic community (students and
teachers), nowadays. More tests of opinion survey, which we’ve already done, illustrate the fact that students reasonably use the new media, leading
to the achievement of a favorable climate of the formative activity that a teacher must take into account and adapt himself.
between the educational efforts of the private and state from our university and that this conclusions can be
universities, a competition which not always has guiding for the student communities from the
positive effects upon the quality of the formative “province” universities (smaller), as well. At the same
process. (Stan, 2004, p. 43-50). time, these conclusions can give, to a certain extent, a
A constructivist view on the teaching design ask signal about the attitude of students from the whole
the contemporary teacher to use the students’ ideas and Romanian society. With its specific which obviously
interest regarding the courses’ orientation and structure, includes new things but also the conservatism, the
to promote students’ ability and responsibility as power of reason, “moderation”, manifest a role of
partners of the formative act, to encourage students’ balance and harmonization. We think that this “specific”
interventions and view points, to fructify the students’ offers a favorable space of activity to all the actors of
way of thinking and experience, to encourage the use of the educational system (teacher-student-social demand).
alternative informational sources, to emphasize the ideas We can thus conclude that students prove interest
expressed in school before they are possibly denied, to for the form of education they choose, they rewardingly
surprise the best timing for analyzing and reflection of use modern enquiry facilities, a fact that assures the
the uttered opinions, to emphasize the continuity of the climate for a positive formative system. The teacher,
research beyond the classroom, to guide all the teaching under modern research and informative system and
design to the specialization and career that students involved in it as well, must be understanding regarding
want to take up etc. Obviously, all this teaching design the preoccupations and aspirations of youth, he must
must include preoccupation for a communication adapt himself to the present-day demands, he must show
language/efficient style (Cerghit, 2002, p.268; Stan, ability regarding the most suitable ways of
2004, p.105-106; Albu, 2008). communication with young people, by the most efficient
methods of reaching the educational and formative
Conclusions purpose. The academic community of our society
demonstrates its viability, as its two main components,
Our research certifies once again the modernism students and teachers, represent a partnership within the
and great changes that take place in our society educational process.
nowadays. In spite of all these difficulties, our students
prove maturity and balance. This was surely REFERENCES
demonstrated by our research. Students choose their
future job according to their own wish, aspiration and 1. Albu, G. (2008), Comunicarea interpersonală, Institutul European,
Iaşi.
interests. They aim at professionalizing, not studying for
2. Albu, G. (2009), Educaţia, profesorul şi vremurile. Eseuri de
the sake of study. It means an alarming signal for pedagogie socială, Editura Paralela 45, Piteşti.
teachers. They must entirely correspond to their
3. Calcan, G. Munteanu, V. (2009), Istoria românilor. Elemente de
students’ wish of specializing. metodica predării istoriei, Ediţia a II-a revăzută şi adăugită, Editura
Our research demonstrates “the contamination” of Universităţii Petrol-Gaze, Ploieşti.
the students with the latest acquisitions in science, 4. Campbel, R. (2001), Educaţia prin iubire, Editura Curtea Veche,
computer technique, Internet etc. But their use is within Bucureşti.
5. Cerghit, I. ( 2002), Sisteme de instruire alternative şi
normal limits, with some exceptions. The use of complementare. Structuri, stiluri şi strategii, Editura Aramis,
computer and Internet is not “pathological”. This is a Bucureşti.
good prerequisite for a smooth and efficient educational 6. Cucoş, C. (2006), Pedagogie, Ediţia a II-a, Editura Polirom,
process. Bucureşti.
7. Simenschy, T. (1979), Un dicţionar al înţelepciunii, Ediţia a II-a,
Obviously, by making these statements, we don’t Editura Junimea, Iaşi.
deny that we have done the test only on a small group of
students in our university and the results may have a 8. Stan, E. (2004), Pedagogie postmodernă, Institutul European, Iaşi.
9. Stan, E. (2007), Educaţia în postmodernitate, Institutul European,
partial character. However, according to our perception, Iaşi.
we consider that the results of our research can be
relevant, by extension, on the whole student community
RESPONSIBILITIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN RESEARCH OF
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE IN ROMANIA IN THE LIGHT OF NEW LEGAL
REGULATIONS
By Government Decision number 1421 of 2009 was founded the National School of Public Health, Management and Training in
healthcare Bucharest, Romanian public institution with legal personality, subordinated to the University of Medicine and Pharmacy
Carol Davila Bucharest (UMF Carol Davila Bucharest) and coordination of the Ministry of Health created by merging the National
School of Public Health and Health Management Bucharest with National Training Center in Bucharest healthcare. This institution
has created new teaching positions, scientific research, design and production in public health, administration and health
management.
The importance of this legislative approach consists mainly in the fact that, for the first time in Romania, a public institution of
medical research - the former National School of Public Health and Health Management Bucharest - was passed by merging the
merger of subordination of executive power under the control of a university and the Ministry of Health has just coordinating
institution.
In this context, the study aims at highlighting the role of an important higher education institution in Romania by taking a public
institution subordinated to research, administration and health management, this fits in the overall strategic Romanian public service
and business research. Are also highlighted the skills of the new institution, structure and financing, governing bodies and powers of
the institutions.
Paper foundation is a relevant case study in terms of increasing the role of higher education institutions in Romania and research
topic is based on empirical method and epistemological approach, comparative analysis, coupled with legal analysis of the regulatory
framework in the field. Research results lead to the conclusion that the involvement of higher education institutions in research,
administration and management of a public service of great importance for the efficient conduct of its citizens the benefit of general
public interest, creating a regulatory framework in the field is an essential requirement this purpose.
The novelty of the subject and its pragmatic character, the work is addressed to researchers in higher education, is also a real
working tool for public institutions and practitioners of public administration with public health service preference.
Key words: public institution, higher education, responsibility.
services businesses, creating proficiency centers and created. This was a Romanian legal entity whose main
technologic platforms; activity was research and development, whose
c) increase in the social quality of research, by functioning was based on economic management and
generating conceptual and technologic solutions that financial autonomy, and which was coordinated by the
promote the design and implementation of public competent ministry in the field of public health.
policies, and by interconnecting them in fields such as During an intermediate stage, the National School
public health, environmental protection, infra-structure, of Public Health and Sanitary| Management was set up.
territorial planning, and sustainable eco-responsible It was a public institution, a Romanian legal entity
management of national resources. based in Bucharest, and coordinated by the Public
Colligation of education level and demographic Health Ministry. This public institution was set up by
tendencies requires the augmentation of higher reorganization of the National Institute for Health
education participation ratio and that of adult continuous Research and Development of Bucharest, which had
learning programs, which could compensate for the been repealed when setting up the National School.
highly-qualified work force deficit in an economy based For this purpose, Government Decision no.
on competitive and sustainable knowledge. This aim 1718/2008 regarding organization and functioning of
could be achieved by increasing the involvement of the Health Ministry included Bucharest National School
higher education institutions in scientific research; this of Public Health, Sanitary Management and Training, in
approach is likely to become possible if partnership is the List of institutions with juridical personality
created between government institutions in the field of subordinated to the Health Ministry. Coordination by
public administration and higher education institutions, the competent ministry has currently been maintained
in the general context of proficient and responsible by Government Decision no. 144/2010, applicable in the
public management (Lazăr, I ., 2009). field of Health Ministry organization and functioning.
Consequently, if the activity of this institution used
A MODEL OF STRATEGIC REFERENCE to be and is currently coordinated by the Government
FRAMEWORK APPLICATION IN THE through its competent ministry in the field of public
MEDICAL FIELD: THE FOUNDATION OF health without the existence of any provisions that
BUCHAREST NATIONAL SCHOOL OF PUBLIC mention any subordination links to another type of
HEALTH, SANITARY MANAGEMENT AND government structure of the public sector, Government
TRAINING, SUBORDINATED TO A HIGHER Decision no. 1421/2009 meant a major step towards
EDUCATION PUBLIC INSTITUTION achieving reform in the field of education and research
in the field of health, as this institution passed under the
Historical evolution. The transfer from direct authority of a higher education institution - Carol
governmental subordination, under the authority of Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, of
Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest.
Bucharest It is true that to the present days, coordination of this
institution by the Health Ministry has been maintained.
Government Decision no. 1421/2009 provides the The explanation behind this is that the higher education
foundation of Bucharest National School of Public institution itself is but another public institution, which
Health, Sanitary Management and Training, which is a does not prevent the existence of legal subordination
public institution with Romanian juridical personality, relations to the higher education institution; and
subordinated to the Carol Davila University of Medicine subordination relations prevail, coordination relations.
and Pharmacy of Bucharest (Carol Davila Bucharest Moreover, the topic under discussion here is legal
UMF) and coordinated by the Ministry of Health. relations established between public law legal entities,
Firstly, we underline that this institution has been and therefore, they fall under the incidence of the
created by merger of Bucharest National School of existence of administrative law legal relations that
Public Health, Sanitary Management and Training with emerge according to the law, and are defined by
Bucharest National Sanitary Training Centre. doctrine (Petrescu, R.N., 2009) as those social
This subject calls for some observations to be made, relationships regulated by provisions of Administrative
since they are relevant from the perspective of the Law, which appear within and in order to achieve the
research objectives of this study, as for the first time in executive function of the State.
the evolution of health reforms in Romania, an
institution placed under the direct authority and Functions and object of activity
coordination of the Government through the competent
ministry, becomes subordinated to a higher education In accordance with art.1 of Government Decision
and research institution, that is Carol Davila University no. 1421/2009, the Bucharest National School of Public
of Medicine and Pharmacy of Bucharest. Health, Sanitary Management and Training has four
The historical evolution of health reforms major functions in the domains of public health,
demonstrates that, in the initial stage of scientific sanitation management and administration:
research development in Romania, the National Institute ▪ didactic function,
for Health Research and Development of Bucharest was ▪ scientific research function,
Responsibilities of Higher Education Institutions in Research of Public Health Service in Romania in The Light of New Legal
Regulations 69
An important aspect related to the functioning of this c)the methodology and conditions for students’
organization is its financing. As far as this matter is admission;
concerned, it functions as a self-financing institution, d)procedures for internal training programs quality;
that uses funds coming from interests, donations, e)conclusion of partnerships with other education
sponsorships, and fees charged in accordance with the institutions under the conditions of the law.
law, from Romanian or foreign private individuals or
legal entities, or from other sources, under the CONCLUSIONS
provisions of the law.
Another worth-mentioning issue is the fact that the The National Strategy for Sustainable Development
incomes of the institutions are based on contracts drawn of Romania, increase in the relevance of higher
with legal entities or private individuals, and represent education on the work market requires support of the
the fees paid for the provided products and services, or interaction among universities, of the business
other type of incomes, under the conditions of the law. community, and of the research-development-
The Bucharest National School of Public Health, innovation sector, by strong partnerships, which may
Sanitary Management and Training is headed by the include the setting up of complex interdisciplinary
general director who is the credit release authority under “cluster” organizations.
the conditions of the law, and by the Board of directors. A model of strategic reference framework
What should be noticed is the highly important role of application in the medical field is the foundation of
the higher education institution which the Bucharest Bucharest National School of Public Health, Sanitary
National School of Public Health, Sanitary Management Management and Training, subordinated to a Romanian
and Training is subordinated to, as the general director higher education public institution. In fact, if the activity
is appointed by the rector of Carol Davila University of of this institution used to be and is currently coordinated
Medicine and Pharmacy of Bucharest for a 4-year term, by the Government through its competent ministry in
and he/she is also member of the Senate of this the field of public health without the existence of any
university. provisions that mention any subordination links to
Furthermore, appointing the general director is another type of government structure of the public
based on elections held when and under the conditions sector, Government Decision no. 1421/2009 meant a
decided by The Charter of Carol Davila University of major step towards achieving reform in the field of
Medicine and Pharmacy of Bucharest, in accordance education and research in the field of health, as this
with the applicable legislation. institution passed under the authority of a higher
With regard to the Board of directors, it has a education institution - Carol Davila University of
series of functions, among which extremely relevant is Medicine and Pharmacy, of Bucharest.
the one related to sanctioning the internal regulations Research results lead to the conclusion that the
on organizing its educational activity and research, involvement of higher education institutions in research,
which is based on The Charter of Carol Davila administration and management of a public service of
University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Bucharest; great importance for the efficient conduct of its citizens
In the first semester of each academic year the Board the benefit of general public interest, creating a
of directors presents a report on the activity carried out regulatory framework in the field is an essential
during the previous year, and on the activity planned for requirement to this purpose.
the following year, in front of the Health Ministry and
the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy REFERENCES
of Bucharest. This function calls for at least two
observations: on the one hand, reporting to the Health 1. Lazăr, I. (2009), ”Administraţia publică, managementul public
Ministry is motivated by this institution being şi sursele europene de finanţare în contextul noilor provocări
coordinated by it, and on the other hand, this reporting impuse de conjunctura actuală a economiei mondiale”,
is practically the only legal obligation that the institution Pandectele române no. 5/2009, Wolters Kluwer Publishing
House, Bucharest
needs to comply with, as the role of Carol Davila 2. Petrescu, R.N. (2009), Drept administrativ, Hamangiu
University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Bucharest is Publishing House, Bucharest
overwhelming. 3. Government Ordinance no. 52/2002, published in the Official
With the same intention we draw attention to the Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 643 of 30 August 2002, endorsed
by Law no. 324/2003, with subsequent modifications and
provisions of art. 13 of Government Decision no. completions.
1421/2009, according to which, the Senate of Carol 4. Law no. 95/2006 regarding reform in the field of sanitation,
Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy of published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 372 of
Bucharest sanctions the following matters, in order to 28 April 2006, with subsequent modifications and completions.
5. Romanian Government, The National Strategy for Sustainable
achieve the object of activity and the functioning of the Development of Romania, published in the Official Gazette of
National School of Public Health, Sanitary Management Romania, Part I, no. 824bis of 8 December 2008
and Training:
a)the general strategy and the research plan of the
institution;
b)the curriculum plan of the institution;
SUBSTANTIATION REASONS TO SET UP
THE VALUE ANALYSIS AND ENGINEERING ROMANIAN ASSOCIATION
Gheorghe CONDURACHE,1, Romeo Mihai CIOBANU2, Costache RUSU3
1
« Gh.Asachi »Technical University of Iasi, Romania, email: condur@cetex.tuiasi.ro
2
« Gh.Asachi »Technical University of Iasi, Romania, email: crm_iasi@yahoo.com
3
« Gh.Asachi »Technical University of Iasi, Romania, email: crusu@cetex.tuiasi.ro
Abstract: The research aims to identify the knowledge and using level of Value Analysis and Engineering (VAE) method within Romanian
specialists in training, scientific research and economic activity, and their points of view, too, in order to set up a national framework for a wide
application of this method. Having old concerns in teaching and management of VAE projects, as members of SAVE International and MCDA
Working Group, the authors have tried radiography of the state of VAE knowledge at national level with the desire to change the actual situation
by establishing a mechanism/structure to manage the work in this area. The paper continues the authors' concerns evidenced by the publication of
books and scientific papers in this area. Thus, we have developed a questionnaire that we have delivered to around 200 specialists in education,
research and business. The questionnaire contains questions with the both closed and open answers, allowing us a quantitative analysis, and a
qualitative analysis, too. The answers from 52 respondents provide a relatively clear image about the actual situation, which is not just happy
about the using level of VAE in Romanian economic activity. All respondents consider necessary to establish a VAE national structure, and the
most respondents indicate the association /foundation as the best form. The consequences of our study for the target groups of academics,
researchers, administrators of universities and practitioners is to invite them to set up the Romanian association of VAE, and to act upon it.
Authors are encouraged to continue their efforts to set up this structure, too. Despite the necessity and utility of a VAE national association is
obviously, it has to be founded. That is why the authors try for the first time in Romania to substantiate this action by their original research.
Key Words: Value Analysis and Engineering, questionnaire, survey, national association/foundation.
techniques. 14
12
10 8
1. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS 8
6
4
The applied questionnaire contains a number of 26 2
that we have received answers even from certain Figure 3: Knowledge source
persons who don’t know the VAE method (23 %). The
majority of answers show that the knowledge is situated The respondents’ perception regarding the utility and
on a medium level and it is based on the self-training, applicability of VAE method are shown in the figures
no. 4 and 5. The conclusion is very obviously because
72 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
even permanently. 25
20
20 17
knowledge utility 15
10 7
18
17 5
18
16 0
Training program university Structure of research / Professional association / Other
graduate design foundation
14
12 Figure 6: The best VAE structure
10
8 5 activities to be conducted this structure
6
4
350
2
300
0 250
Small extent Aught Largely
200
150
Figure 4: Knowledge utility 100
50
0
Apply this knowledge in your professional activity
20
17
15
11
Figure 7: Activities rank of VAE structure
10
7
5
5 Table 2: Activities rank
0 Activities Rank
rarely occasionally often permanently
Training 140
Figure 5: Method applicability Technology transfer 268
Table 1: Concrete results of VAE utilization
Research 269
Number of Professional promotion 270
Concrete result respondents Advice 274
Reducing cycle 3 Lectures, congresses, meetings 277
Increasing the value 5 Implementation of projects/inventions 282
Standardization 5 Project Management 288
Fitness for use 6 Projects assessment 296
Other 6 Inter-organization cooperation 307
Simplification of products and processes 12 Publishing and distributing 310
Customer satisfaction 15 Membership of international bodies 328
Reducing costs 16
Self-financing and European projects have to be the
Improving quality 22
basic financing sources of the VAE Romanian structure
according the answers presented in the figure no. 8.
Simplification of products and processes, customer
satisfaction, reducing costs, improving quality are the self-financing
most important results VAE utilization. This conclusion Ways of financing structure
30
25 40
20 35
15 30
25
10
20
5
15
0
industrial education administratio n health o ther 10
5
Figure 9: Activity sector of respondents
0
public interest organization private interest organization
25
20
50
15
45
10
40
5
35
0
30
top manager midle manager line manager employee
25
Figure 10: Position in organization 20
15
sex 10
5
0
40 as employee as ow ner,
shareholder, partner
30
20
Figure 15: Status of respondents
10
0
M F
2. QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
Figure 11: Sex of respondents
According the questions with open answers the authors
age have selected the following aspects:
19
20
15 Areas of VAE application:
15
11
10
6
a) Teaching activities (the following courses of
5
1
specialization: Value Analysis and Engineering;
0 Functional Analysis; AMDEC; Technological Devices;
18 - 25 26 - 35 36 - 45 46 - 55 56 - 65
Elements of Design; Elements of General Technology;
Figure 12: Respondents age Basics of Technical Design; Quality Function
Deployment; License and Dissertation projects design;
seniority in the organization
Case Studies design; Planning of Continuum Education
11
Courses; Self-Evaluation Reports of Scholar Unities).
12
10 9 b) Research, Design and Marketing Activities (Doctoral
8
6 6
7 7 Thesis; Research and Consultancy contracts;
6
4 Pharmaceutical, Electrics, and Electronics products;
4
2
2
Development of New Products according the customers’
0 requirements; Programs Study design).
under 1
year
1-5 6 - 10 11 - 15 16 - 20 21 - 25 26 - 30 over 30
years c) Production and Service Activities (Heat Treatment;
Selection of Certain Logistics Systems; Selective
Figure 13: Respondents seniority
Gathering of Waste to Recycling; General Repairing of
Huge Vehicles; Redesign of Fuel Distribution Network;
Selection of Investment Projects; Electronically
Evidence in Documents Archives; Quality
Quantification of Textile Products; How to Sell a
Tourism Product; Water Source Capitalization, etc.).
74 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
As in any field of activity, also in higher education, long-term success can be ensured mainly by focusing on the quality of the educational service.
Therefore, our research aimed to identify ways to realize the peculiarities of the quality management system (QMS) developed in a university in
accordance with SR EN ISO 9001:2008 and ISO IWA 2:2007 standards. Although SR ISO 9001:2008 is the standard which presents the QMS
requirements developed for any organization, the peculiarities, but also the consequences of the quality level of the educational service, it also
involves specific approaches in the development of the QMS processes. To solve these particular issues we have researched also the ISO IWA
2:2007 and SR EN ISO 9004:2000 standards. The results of a research on the QMS particular development in a university can be assessed only in
a specific situation, namely by developing and implementing all QMS necessary processes. From what we know, such a research is original for
the higher education in Romania.
CONCLUSIONS
FORMAL EDUCATION IN BUSINESS ETHICS – research among students reveals the fact that 67.9%
AN INSIGHT INTO TIME complain about this aspect) and the role models for a
business man or a successful politician are largely
The great ethical dilemmas of a post-communist presented in the press as being highly controversial.
society have generated consistent efforts for their Another barrier is even the message sent out by other
solving, many times based on recommendations from economics disciplines that aggressively orient the
western countries. The National Report on Corruption, student strictly towards material objectives, profitable
from 2009, published by Transparency International businesses, not calling their attention towards the
(2009: 8, 31) shows that Romania is dealing with an importance of individual and collective values
unprecedented institutional crisis, but also with a social management (amusing but immoral commercials are
one, as even “the educational system represents one of abundant, 81.3% of students blaming deceiving
the sectors most vulnerable to corruption” (idem, 2009: publicity and manipulation in marketing practices, etc.).
51). Romania is moving backwards in the battle against To these we may add the feeling of “tied hands”, in the
corruption, being in the danger of reaching the level of sense that students do not feel they can put into practice
the year 2003, the general confidence climate the solutions learned at the courses because “no one
deteriorating dramatically. In the public declarations of takes you seriously” and the law is too permissive or not
foreign officials it is recommended that our society punitive enough (“an environment oriented towards
mobilizes against corruption. Still, many of the lawfulness, but unethical” – 59.4%). Alongside other
measures taken have remained without effect, given the unfavorable factors, the lack of ethical behavior models
fact that they haven’t been directed towards eliminating (counter balanced by the success of the unethical
the real causes: many of the unethical behaviors are behavior), and the lack of a civic education shows its
based, among others, on an obsolete mentality and lack influence and we pay tribute to passive attitude and we
of education. Willingly or not, ethics disciplines are part perpetuate the unfavorable consequences of the lack of
of the arsenal used to fight against this “inability” to exit morality. Experience demonstrates that although some
this vicious circle. of us consider ourselves moral, we lack the ethical
One of the role models followed by Romanian dimension, and the role of the ethics teachers is firstly
universities in order to introduce business ethics inclined towards making students aware, towards
disciplines in the university curricula starting with the convincing them, and only afterwards teaching the
late 90’s was USA. The explanation could be owed to theories and the instruments. In these conditions, the
“the exaggerated respect for everything that meant school has a greater mission, not only to shape future
Western” (Heintz, 2006: 20), to the large amount of leaders and businessmen (the present students) but also
American bibliography or to the teachers that went to to re-call those already integrated in the economics area
USA on Fulbright scholarships for specializations. To and who, in their turn, have the mission to
these we may add the ethics courses held by American promote/follow the ethical behavior.
experts in ex-communist countries of the East-European
bloc. Literature review
Teaching a business ethics discipline or a Public Supported efforts for “an ethics formal education”
Administration ethics discipline in Romania remains a are visible in the USA starting with the 90’s, when
true challenge for university teachers. The skepticism or interest has been directed towards introducing ethics
irony of the students represents one of the great barriers, courses in professional schools, at Master level, or by
considering that for them the reality outside the organizing training programs for clerks at governmental
university is different from the ideal world of theory: level. However, research concerning the role of
they cannot easily find a job because “everything education in ethics, may be found starting even with the
depends on roots and connections” (the results of our early 60’s, 70’s (Collins&Wartick, 1995,
80 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Bowman&Menzel, 1998, Deni Elliott, 2007, Ronald R. projects, establishing management positions in ethics
Sims, 2002 and many others). (Swanson&Frederick, 2005: 235).
Researches found their legitimacy the more the Most business schools have chosen to implement the
period of the 60’s and early 70’s has been considered infusion model, by encouraging ethics teachers to
the stage of the values’ crisis in education, the students mandatorily approach ethical dilemmas encountered in
no longer being exposed to values; the latter had to deal the texts from the manuals. Unfortunately, students have
with “a model of knowledge that was objective, reported that ethics teachers avoid present ethical
impersonal, instrumental, specialized, reductionist, matters in their courses, thus the former are
atomist and even amoral”. The values’ moral crisis in inadequately prepared for the types of ethical dilemmas
superior education appears because of puzzleness and that they may encounter throughout their career
egocentrism, and is explained by three psychological (Wankel&DeFillippi, 2006: 332). Another study among
reasons: each person’s anxiety regarding its economic MBA students referring to seriousness in approaching
stability, narcissism with focus on limited personal and ethical dilemmas brings out the fact that they feel
social matters and the loss of a credible experience embarrassed about their lack of experience in making
center, as well as the confusion whether decisions could decisions based on values, that they do not understand
be made based on adopting the vision of long term the consequences of their actions in society and that
values (Mitchell, 1989: 3 -4). they are not able to harmonize their own values within
Still, although it seems that the start in ethics leadership (Mintzberg, 2004:42). The design of the
education has been given, business schools are still ethics courses must be shaped on learning experiences
characterized as lacking relevance and legitimacy in services oriented towards the community, which will
concerning the interest in ethics courses offer business students the opportunity „walk ethics
(Swanson&Fisher, 2008: 14). The dilemma remains if talk” (Collins, quoted by Swanson&Fisher, 2008: 12).
“the short-sighted attitude in business is reflected by the The immediate challenge for education in business
business Master programs and vice versa” ethics is to develop an approach and a conceptualization
(Orlitzky&Swanson, 2006: 18). Innovation is needed in that may be universally understood and carrying a
the education of ethics, which may salvage business message meaningful for all actors involved, regardless
schools from being „nurseries for amoral practitioners, of the geographical area or the culture they are in. As
who are being discouraged from considering collective stated by Tom Dickson (2000: 215),”Ethics global
necessities”. approaches are created as we move from standards
based on culture towards more universal standards”.
Challenges of the present or of the future? Ethics Cowton and Crisp (2004: 177) criticize the present
in university curricula teaching methods that overcharge the cognitive analysis
Bowie (2002: 135-136) asserts the need to integrate of individual actions, of case-studies based on difficult
management and ethics in two large directions: dilemmas and with the final message that „there are no
integration within the curricula and emphasis on what correct solutions”, which leads to the relativity of the
may be called „extra-curricula”. idea that nothing is good or bad; they suggest the
The curricular strategy, teaching ethics based on the development of the social actors’ moral character in the
method of the case study must be supported by the education of adults and of those already involved in
management (by specifying the importance of ethics in business practices, the teaching of virtues’ ethics, and of
the curricula) as well as by the university. The strategy the cognitive techniques of decision making. To the
includes four steps – initiation (an introductory module question „how ethics should be taught?”, they insist on
to create the common language of business ethics treating business as human, virtues’ ethics and personal
among students), the inclusion of case-studies with character development based on mentorship (idem,
ethical topics, of readings within the main functional 2004: 183- 199).
courses existent in the curricula (management,
marketing, finance, law, enterprise), the consolidation of Research design
functional applications, and feedback from the students Our research is based on the distribution of an ample
to thus improve the methods and the range of teaching explorative questionnaire made up of two parts (the first
materials for the next cycle. with 27 items being the object of our analysis) among
The extra-curricula completes the curricular strategy, the students from all Master programs from the Faculty
consolidating the culture of ethics relevance and the of Economics and Business Administration, „Alexandru
method of the case-study through optional courses, Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, who have the discipline
special guests, organizing colloquies, students’ seminars Business Ethics in their study program.
and various learning techniques with the aid of the
internet. Research objectives
A conclusive trio points out that a fundamental The purpose of this questionnaire was to identify the
ethics course is essential; integrating ethics courses perception of ethical behavior in the Romanian society.
within the studies program curricula must become an As intermediary objectives, it was also desired to
objective; other initiatives are desirable, such as guests’ identify the opinion of the students regarding the utility
speeches on ethical topics, offering services for learning of the discipline Business Ethics, for students, as well as
Teaching Ethics at Master’s Level - The Role of the Teacher and its Challenges 81
for future or present leading factors, starting from the two variables is not significant, chi2 = 13,48, ddl = 15,
ethical problems that the Romanian society is presently 1-p = 43,47%). More than half of the respondents,
dealing with; the structure of the teaching program and 53,7%, consider that it would be beneficial to introduce
the role of the teacher in passing on ethical knowledge. the study of ethics from the first years of study in the
Work method university. One of the explanations would be that not all
The questionnaire was distributed during the exam students continue their studies with a Master, or because
session, depending on the period set for each exam „it would gain time” to study thoroughly the ethics
(semester II 2009 and semester I 2010), to 374 subjects. issue.
The number of questionnaires processed from each With respect to the role of the discipline, 66,3% of
Master differs due to the number of students subscribed the Master students consider that it will determine an
at the each Master programme or present during the awareness of the future decision factors/specialists
exam session, but also due to the taking out of the regarding the role of ethics in business, and 61,5% that
analysis of the questionnaires that were not filled in it will be the beginning of an ethical behavior at
correctly, or where answers given were contradictory. individual and professional level, offering a reflection
The distribution resulted as follows: Human Resources reference point. The difference with the reference
Management (HRM) – 156; Organizations Management repartition is very significant, chi2 = 344,33, ddl = 6, 1-
(OM) – 84; Tourism and Hotel Management (THM) – p = >99,99%.
54; Human Resources Development Management Cross-tabling the variable with demographic
(HRDM) – 35; Marketing Planning and Strategy (MPS variables shows that the dependence is significant only
postgraduate) – 29; Public Relations Negotiations with the Master type (chi2 = 41,17, ddl = 25, 1-p =
(SCOP 2M) – 16. The data has been processed using the 97,80%). The students from THM Master are skeptical,
statistical program Sfinx . The questions were of the considering that it only has a theoretical role, the
type closed, with one possible answer, multiple answer conditions of the market determining whether to adopt
and ordered answer, but they also left the possibility for an unethical behavior or not. Students from marketing
an open answer. As the variables were nominal, the add that it is not a sufficient factor, the ethical behavior
univariate statistical analysis was used to interpret the depending on each individual at a time.
obtained information, (the analysis of the frequencies
and the Chi-square significance test) and the bivariate What the Business Ethics discipline should be
statistical analysis. based on
80,7% (304) of the Master students prefer that the
Research results teaching of the discipline be based on discussions and
The ethics issue has been approached gradually, case-studies (of these 54,5%, meaning 204, are aged
obtaining several results that we present here selectively under 25) and for 60,2% it is preferable to have the
and succinctly: 43% of the Romanian Master students instruments that help solve the ethical dilemmas
questioned consider that the moral correctness of an presented. Only 33 of the students believe that the
action is determined by each person’s conscience; discipline should be based on teaching ethics theories.
56.4% associate ethics with etiquette and good manners. The result is not surprising, considering that « most
A percent of 58,3% of the students state that the often, students consider moral philosophies hard to
Romanian society is dealing with many unethical understand and their most important features difficult to
behaviors, 40,6% with ethical dilemmas and 71,7% with remember; they are complex and very abstract »
lack of education. (VanSandt, 2005: 477). Romanian Master students
The previous answers are enforced by affirmations prefer that the teacher stimulate discussions and
regarding the causes for unethical behavior, 268 analyses (73,3%) and make students aware of the
respondents (71,7%) being convinced that the lack of benefits of ethical behavior in business and society as a
ethical education comes first. whole, offering solutions for different ethical dilemmas
from the practice of organizations (52,7%). Cross-
The Teaching and the Role of the Business Ethics tabling the variable The teacher’s role in teaching the
Discipline discipline with demographic variables show significant
Our research reveals that 66% (247) of the Master dependence to Studies (chi2 = 21,83, ddl = 12, 1-p =
students consider that the discipline Business Ethics is 96,05%). The least interested in „theories” were
useful to students and future managers, and 41,7% that graduates of technical and medical studies.
it would be useful to managers an enterprisers (156 of
which 96 are employees). Of these, half are women Conclusions
(187). Still, cross-tabling the variables of the role of the Starting from Richard De George’s statement
discipline Business Ethics and the sex of the (quoted by Cowton&Crisp, 2004) that the role of the
respondents shows that the dependence is not significant Business Ethics discipline is to create awareness,
(chi2 = 3,11, ddl = 5, 1-p = 31,73%). sensitivity and critical thinking among students, or from
The percent of 71,6% (179) of those that appreciate Ronald Duska’s statement (idem), not to modify the
the positive role of ethics are aged under 25 (still, the system of values and behavior, but to analyze and
test Chi-square shows that the dependence between the evaluate possible action alternatives in order to find the
82 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
ethical path, our research is based on the premise that an ethics discipline exam with a high mark does not
through ethics courses the ethical competence is shaped, necessarily mean that the respective student will have an
but not necessarily the ethical behavior (“or changing ethical behavior, our study may be a step forward in the
students’ values”) as well, several variables having to understanding of the university’s mission of shaping a
contribute to this. The ethics disciplines in business society more aware of the benefits of ethical decisions
have essentially an instrumental character, and business and actions, through the study programs proposed.
practice demonstrates that the market forces you to line References
up to ethics and social responsibility, even if it is about 1. Bowie, N. E. (2002), The Blackwell guide to business ethics,
Blackwell, Massachusetts, pages 135-136.
reputation, image in the relationship with shareholders
2. Bowman, J. S. şi Menzel, D. C. (1998), Teaching ethics and
and stakeholders and for that instruments are used (see values in public administration programs : innovations,
the role of ethical codes). strategies, and issues, State University of New York Press¸
As asserted by Giacalone, Jurkiewicz, Knouse Albany, NY , pages 1-7.
3. Collins D. şi Wartick, S. L. (1995), Business & Society/Business
(2003: 592), any consistent program for ethical training
Ethics Courses: Twenty Years at the Crossroads, Business
must include “theory, research and practice”; the Society 1995; 34; 51,
program, as well as the teaching manual must help http://bas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/1/51
students “integrate philosophy and management theory, 4. Cowton, C., Crisp, R. (1998), Business ethics : perspectives on
the practice of theory, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, page 177,
research and practice”. Williams and Dewett (2005:
`183-199.
112-114) also insist on becoming aware of the moral 5. Crane, A. şi Matten, D. (2007), Business ethics: managing
matters, moral development and teaching students how corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of
to deal with complex ethical decisions. globalization, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, page 166.
6. Dickson, T. (2000), Mass media education in transition:
Although „sick and tired” of theory, as the slogan
preparing for the 21st century, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
strongly tethered with Romanians says „theory goes, but Mahwah, NJ, page 215.
it’s practice that gets to us”, the students demanding that 7. Heintz , M. (2006), “Be European, recycle yourself!": the
the teaching be based more on discussions and case- changing work ethic in Romania, Berlin Münster London Lit,
page 20
studies, especially since the business environment
8. Giacalone, R. A., Jurkiewicz C. L. şi Knouse, S. B. (2003), A
demands objectiveness, we consider that teaching ethics Capstone Project in Business Ethics: Building an Ethics Training
without presenting ethical theories and interpreting Program, Journal of Management Education 2003; 27; 590, page
various situations and ethical dilemmas based on them, 592
9. Mintzberg, H. (2004), Managers, not MBAs : a hard look at the
means skipping „the shaping of moral judgment”, and
soft practice of managing and management development,
that would be superficial, similar to learning „by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, page 42.
standing aside and observing from the side of the road”. 10. Mitchell, C. T., (1989), Values in teaching and professional
The teachers have the role of making these theories ethics, Mercer University Press, Macon GA.,pages 3-4.
11. Orlitzky, M. şi Swanson D. L. (2006), “Socially responsible
attractive and connecting them to practice, by applying
human resources management. Charting New Territory”
methods and instruments based on theories in which (Chapter 1) in John Raymond Deckop (eds.), Human resource
people learn, remember and apply something new, management ethics (Chapter 1), Information Age Pub. Inc.,
complex or abstract. Greenwich CT, page 18.
12. Swanson, D.L. şi Mitchell, C. T. (1989), Values in teaching
Essentially, the teachers have the shaping role of the
and professional ethics, Mercer University Press, Maco, page
parent who must convince its child to eat according to 514
standards of good manners, or to go to school and learn 13. Swanson, D.L. şi Fisher, D. G. (2008), Advancing
things that are considered unpleasant and „boring”. Still, business ethics education, Charlotte, NC : IAP, page 14, 18
14. Swanson, D.L şi Frederick W. C. (2005), “Denial and
the parent insists because he/she knows that later on
Leadership in Business Education” in Robert Allen Peterson,O.
these will be useful to the child, in order to succeed in C. Ferrell (eds.), Business ethics: new challenges for business
life. The true art consists in choosing the means of schools and corporate leaders, Business ethics: new challenges
persuasion and the associations that he/she can make. for business schools and corporate leaders, Armonk, NY [u.a.]
Sharpe, pages 224, 235.
However, the approach must be differentiated, from
15. VanSandt, C. V. (2005), Three on Three: A Tale for
„child to child”, depending on the students’ background Business Ethics Classes, Journal of Management Education
and level of studies, type of master, age and statute. 2005; 29; 475
The present study is a step forward in the http://jme.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/29/3/475, page 477
16. Wankel, C. şi DeFillippi, B. (2006), New visions of
understanding of the way in which the Ethics discipline
graduate management education, Information Age Pub,
influences the behavior of future leading factors and Greenwich, CT, page 322
specialists, or that of those already integrated in the 17. Williams, S. D., Dewett, T. (2005), Yes, You Can Teach
labor market, but willing to improve their knowledge. Business Ethics: A Review and Research Agenda, Journal of
Leadesip and Organizational Studies, vol. 12, nr. 2, pages 112-
The conclusions obtained will represent an extra proof
114
for the utility of this discipline, but also the basis for 18. Transparency International, Raportul Naţional asupra
future approaches of subjects chosen by teachers, Corupţiei 2009, Iunie 2008 – septembrie 2009,
depending on the targeted audience. At the same time, http://www.transparency.org.ro/politici...studii/studii/national_co
ruptie/2009/NCR2009ro.pdf, pages 8,31,5
depending on the aspects signaled, teachers will have to
look for balance between the theoretical support and the
practical applicability, by searching for innovative
strategies and teaching instruments. Although passing
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STUDENTS COUNSELING PROGRAM AT THE
POLITEHNICA UNIVERSITY FROM TIMIŞOARA
Ioana Alina COSTESCU1, Rareș HĂLBAC COTOARĂ ZAMFIR2, Radu JUMANCA3, Catalin IENCI4
1
Politehnica University of Timișoara, ioanafair@yahoo.com
2
Politehnica University of Timișoara, rares_81@yahoo.com
3
Politehnica University of Timișoara, jumancaradu@yahoo.com
4
Politehnica University of Timișoara, catalinienci@yahoo.com
The aim of this paper is to present and to promote the steps that we take in developing a Student Centered Learning process through
the foundation of the Office for Students Information and Counseling at the Hydrotechnical Engineering Faculty in the
POLITEHNICA University from Timişoara. This is a very important thing for a better transparent implementation of the Bologna
Process.
Figure 8
RESULTS
IMPLICATIONS
Figure 10
ORIGINALITY VALUE
References
Ioana Alina COSTESCU1, Rareș HĂLBAC COTOARĂ ZAMFIR2, Radu JUMANCA3, Catalin IENCI4
1
Politehnica University of Timișoara, ioanafair@yahoo.com
2
Politehnica University of Timișoara, rares_81@yahoo.com
3
Politehnica University of Timișoara, jumancaradu@yahoo.com
4
Politehnica University of Timișoara, catalinienci@yahoo.com
The papers presents a project implementation whose purpose was to raise the awareness of the young generation regarding the
educational staff activities impact on higher education environment, affirming the idea that education is timeless, identifying the major
educational problems and consequences of some teaching approach, the consequences of our professors action or inaction in problems
with major impact for students.
PRIOR WORK
OBJECTIFS
The basic concept is The European Higher
Education Area concept that is found in the Bologna
The presented project purpose is to valorify the
Process (Figure 1), to be able to speak about our higher
positive idea of the young generations regarding the
higher education environment problem, starting with education environment existence for the future
their spontaneity, sincerity and feed-back; organizing generations.
activities on higher education environment problem,
contests and scientific exhibitions.
Figure 11
On 12 March 2010, the Minsters of the now 47 Europe. Countries outside the area will now be able to
countries participating in the Bologna Process adopted more effectively foster increased cooperation with
the Budapest – Viena Declaration and officially Bologna countries.
launched the European Higher Education Area. 1. We, the Ministers of Higher Education and heads of
In this context, we note that the Bologna Process of delegation of the countries, institutions and
creating and further developing this European Higher organisations participating in the Second Bologna
Education Area has helped redefine higher education in Policy Forum, held a dialogue on systemic and
88 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
institutional changes in higher education in the something for our society benefit and to be a good
developing global knowledge society. example.
2. We focussed our debate on how higher education According to the law no. 288/24.06.2004 in
systems and institutions respond to growing demands Politehnica University Timiţoara are organised the
and multiple expectations, discussed mobility of staff following stud programs:
and students, including the challenges and opportunities • bachelor degree studies;
of “brain circulation”, and the balance between • master degree studies;
cooperation and competition in international higher • PhD studies.
education. In the university year 2008/2009 the programs proposal
3. To address the great societal challenges, we need for Bachelor studies reached 18 area regarding
more cooperation among the higher education and “Engineering Science” (with a studies duration of 4
research systems of the different world regions. While years), 2 areas regarding the fundamental area “Social
respecting the autonomy of higher education institutions and politic Sciences” ( with studies duration of 3 years,
with their diverse missions, we will therefore continue Communication Science and Administrative Science) , a
our dialogue and engage in building a community of fundamental area involving “Humanistic Science” (with
practice from which all may draw inspiration and to 3 years duration, Applied modern languages) one field
which all can contribute. regarding the “Exact sciences” (3 years, Informatics)
4. To facilitate policy debates and exchange of ideas and and one field regarding “Architecture and urbanism”
experience across the European Higher Education Area (with a duration of 6 years, Architecture).
and between countries, institutions and organisations Below is shown a graduates comparison between
participating in the Second Bologna Policy Forum, we 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 regarding the students
will each nominate a contact person and inform the repartition in faculties.
Bologna Secretariat by May 31, 2010. These contact
persons will also function as liaison points for a better
flow of information and joint activities, including the
preparation of the next Bologna Policy Forum at
ministerial level.
5. We welcome the commitment of the European
Bologna Follow-up Group to provide expertise on the
Bologna Process and the European Higher Education
Area.
6. We welcome the initiatives of the institutions and
organisations participating in the Second Bologna
Policy Forum to promote dialogue and cooperation
among higher educations institutions, staff and students
and other relevant stakeholders across the world. In this
context, we especially acknowledge the need to foster
global student dialogue.
7. In September 2010 the OECD will be hosting an
Figure 12
international conference on how the crisis is affecting
higher education and how governments, institutions and
other stakeholders can work towards a sustainable future
for the sector. In 2011, a seminar on quality assurance
will be organised with the support of the European
Union.
8. Cooperation based on partnership between
governments, higher education institutions, staff,
students and other stakeholders is at the core of the
European Higher Education Area. This partnership
approach should therefore also be reflected in the
organisation of the next Bologna Policy Forum at
ministerial level in 2012.
METHODOLOGY
Figure 13
Acting in a volunteer manner from our student part
to sustain the higher education environment must start The studies conducted presented t the following
with a feedback from our young generation from the existing problems in Romanian universities and
principle that is in the young generation power to do colleges:
What We Can Do or Not Do For Our Higher Education Environment? 89
IMPLICATIONS
ORIGINALITY VALUE
The propose project is the first of this kind in
POLITEHNICA University of Timişoara and promotes
adaptation of good practices for higher education,
associated to a “life style” and also elements from the
daily program of an individual ally of the higher
education environment.
REFERENCES
1. www.reflexives-lpr.org
2. http://cevug.ugr.es/africamideast/module_six/3.html
3. http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/Bologna/
4. www.anosr.ro
5. www.upt.ro
ON THE WHY AND HOW OF MAKING MORAL EDUCATION AN INTEGRATED PART
OF LANGUAGE COURSES AT MEDICAL UNIVERSITIES
Ioana CREȚU1
1
« Gr.T.Popa » University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, « Al. I. Cuza » University Iasi, ioana.cretu.2009@gmail.com
The paper discusses arguments, opportunities and challenges for enriching the medical language and communication curriculum with
moral/ethics education principles and methods. The discussion is fueled by literature review, the author’s teaching experience and two
questionnaire-based surveys involving medical students. This is part of a PhD research project at the Faculty of Psychology and
Educational Sciences, “Al. I. Cuza” University Iași, which also includes a SWOT analysis in the context of Romanian medical
education and a didactic experiment at “Gr. T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iași.So far, findings have revealed fertile
grounds for further research into insufficiently known areas, concrete opportunities for improving educational practice at UMF Iași
and potential for increasing cooperation between Romanian medical universities.This kind of educational research is a first in many
ways, not only in Romania but also in the field of teaching foreign languages for specific purposes.
The call for a renewed needs analysis In Romania, medical universities offer both
compulsory and optional courses for medical students to
Regardless of advances in medical science and study a foreign language (mostly English and mostly in
technology, communication is still the most powerful the first two years of study). This seems to suggest that
tool AND the biggest obstacle in making or breaking the Romanian medical education is committed to increasing
therapeutic relationship, depending on how it lives up to students’ chances of participation and success in an ever
the moral promise made by medicine’s contract with more connected, dynamic field. However, a consensus
society. The only difference today is that the medical on what objectives and contents these courses should
encounter still sitting on moral pillars does so with entail is missing in Romania. Moreover, many language
increased difficulty and likelihood of failure. In this teachers from the different medical universities are still
paper, we seek to explore what (if any) arguments, largely unaware of what the others are doing. This
opportunities and challenges exist for moral/ethics research project has the potential to do more than
education principles and methods to inform the LSP∗ improve the language teaching practice at UMF Iași, but
curriculum in a way that also fosters the kind of moral also help fuel conversations and cooperation across
conduct expected of a medical professional. institutions (as we have reason to believe based on most
The content and method choices in the teaching of positive reactions from our colleagues at UMF Cluj).
LSP revolve around the learners’ needs and preferences,
which makes LSP an approach (rather than a method) Research methods and processes
with and incredible diversity of forms and shapes based
on a few core features: satisfying the specific needs of In my 7-year experience teaching English to medical
the learners, using methods and activities from the target students, I often found myself listening and responding
field, selecting and teaching language and to students’ needs and interests beyond my role as a
communication items relevant to the target field9, 10. language teacher, such as when they would act
A needs analysis is, therefore, the starting point of insensitively towards each other, or they would
any such venture: what should the learners be able to do plagiarize assignments without considering any of the
and how well? How much do they already know? Etc. short- or long-term consequences etc. Eventually, I took
However, in teaching language and communication this interest from the level of classroom to the level of
skills for medicine, the needs analysis is never truly PhD research at the Faculty of Psychology and
easy and straightforward. As one may find, the need for Educational Sciences, “Al.I.Cuza” University in Iași.
medical jargon is sometimes falsely perceived as a real To a large degree, this process of gaining awareness,
learning need, when in fact it other learning objectives learning about practice and improving it follows the
and contents should get more attention12. Moreover, the spiraling pattern of Action Research2, 16. This PhD
learners’ actual learning needs may not necessarily research project running until Sept 2011 is the latest and
match the linguistic requirements of the field. Some most formalized cycle. This paper draws from literature
aspects which often go unnoticed are how language review, two questionnaire-based surveys and initial
serves to fulfill important social functions in piloting of didactic materials.
communication such as being polite3 or how the correct The bibliographic online databases Science Direct,
understanding and production of a specific type of Wiley InterScience, SpringerLink, Oxford Journals,
discourse is underpinned by a "hidden" thinking Cambridge Journals and ProQuest, other relevant
framework (Hirvela, 1997, in Basturkmen, 2006, p.137). websites and works available in print locally were
∗
surveyed. Some texts were obtained by contacting the
LSP / Language for Specific Purposes (other related authors directly. The full results of the review will
acronyms are ESP / English for Specific Purposes, EMP constitute the object of a PhD research report.
/ English for Medical Purposes, EAP / English for
Academic Purposes etc.)
92 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The two questionnaire-based surveys were communication, medical communication with empathy,
conducted in spring 2009 at UMF Iași. One looked at honesty and trust, possible difficulties in telling the truth
the students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes related to and so on are to be taught throughout the curriculum as
academic dishonesty. The other explored their an integral part of all the disciplines, as relevant and
perceptions of if/how their university (and the Medical appropriate5, 8. However, while communication can be
English course in particular) had helped them to develop learned and improved, medical education has often
certain values such as altruism and honesty. The failed to provide adequate or sufficient formal training.
quantitative and qualitative results, combined with the
students’ general feedback and the then available The moral development of medical students
literature were used to update the 2009-2010 syllabus.
Currently, closer attention is being paid to the Students bring into the learning equation not only a
Romanian medical education context and to how the certain amount of knowledge, but also their (largely
updated course syllabus has been received by this year’s invisible) (auto-)(mytho-)biographies shaped by life
medical students. These will be fed into a SWOT experiences in the family, at school, in society11. From a
analysis informing the design and delivery of a didactic moral standpoint, students come in with certain values,
experiment at UMF Iași in 2010-2011 involving the sense of justice, empathy levels, habitual moral conduct
piloting of Medical English teaching activities using and metacognitive ability to identify, analyze, accept or
principles, contents and methods appropriate for reject new educational experiences. All these need to be
fostering moral values and corresponding considered or at least acknowledged, as research shows
communicative competence in the medical encounter. that moral growth is not yet finished by the typical age
The expected outcome is a suggested didactic approach of attending university. This further emphasizes the
for language teachers at medical universities. responsibility to do more than impart knowledge, but to
also facilitate the development of an autonomous person
The moral pillars of the medical profession in tune with the standards of the profession.
The formal curriculum seems to largely ignore the
A fair degree of worldwide consensus on the moral issues of development during studies and fails to
morality of medicine can be found in documents such as support students in understanding and resolving their
the Hippocratic Oath, the UNESCO Universal dilemmas. This is all the more important as studies
Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (see show how medical students’ moral judgment and
http://portal.unesco.org), the World Medical conduct may take a turn for the worse during medical
Association’s Declaration of Geneva, Declaration on the school under the influence of the hidden curriculum6, 14,
17
Rights of the Patient, International Code of Medical . The road to moral maturity involves development of
Ethics, Medical Ethics Manual etc. (see www.wma.net) cognition (knowing, interpreting, understanding,
and the 2002 Physician Charter1. The common view is judging), motivation (aspirations, values, interests,
that medicine’s contract with society is essentially a commitment, convictions, perseverance) and action
moral one. It is defined by a doctor-patient relationship (communication and discourse, social participation).
built on trust, which in turn demands altruism and These are linked, but their development is not7.
compassion, respect, honesty and integrity, cooperation. Medical education programs should, therefore, pay
However, these values and their implications are empty more attention to making use of findings and models
words without putting them into practice in both from the field of moral psychology (see Kohlberg’s
everyday and exceptional medical communication. stages of moral development, Gilligan’s morality of
Consequently, the World Federation for Medical care, Turiel’s domain theory). A variety of educational
Education considers it a must for medical education to methods are available: the moral exemplar, the moral
ensure the acquisition of such values, attitudes, skills dilemma discussion, values clarification activities, the
and strategies21. At European level, the Tuning Project use of demonstrative or authentic materials (including
lists the learning outcomes for medical graduates and audio-video, produced in class), simulations and role-
includes honesty, empathy etc. (www.tuning- play with observation tasks followed by reflection and
medicine.com). Two of the most advanced countries in feedback, teamwork and peer-teaching, use of
producing coherent guidelines for initial education, suggestive literary texts, use of portfolios and journals
accreditation, continuing education and medical practice to stimulate reflection etc. Curriculum and course
in this sense are the USA (www.aamc.org and developers should aim to include positive examples, to
www.acgme.org) and the UK (www.gmc-uk.org), with occasion clarification, to build in time for reflection and
Scotland following in UK’s footsteps feedback, to foster desired behaviors based on
(www.scottishdoctor.org). upholding moral values, to create the right atmosphere
Currently, there is a large body of empirical for students to be sincere and receptive6.
evidence demonstrating how, in order to be effective, Despite the lack of general consensus in terms of
medical communication must also be ethical, which specific objectives and benefits (which are also
demands that ethical principles feed into the doctor’s extremely difficult to measure, being mostly qualitative
actual use of verbal and non-verbal communication4. in nature), the general feel is that the humanities are a
Contents such as the ethical importance of channel for introducing important non-scientific aspects
On the WHY and HOW of Making Moral Education and Integrated Part of Language Courses at Medical
Universities 93
of medicine – professionalism, ethics and commitment questionnaire in which I had purposefully avoided the
to humanistic values, empathy, communication, use of words such as “plagiarism”.
intercultural sensitivity19. Only 30 students gave clear indication that they
knew how to quote correctly, 88 gave incomplete
Two surveys at UMF Iași answers and 46 were completely wrong or off track (11
did not answer). Moreover, only 7 students out of 175
With such ideas in mind, in spring 2009 I invited my gave clear indications that they knew how to paraphrase
1st year medical students to respond to an online survey correctly, 98 were on the right track but fell into the trap
which featured an inventory of 21 moral, professional I had planted on purpose in the formulation of the
and social values (I.Al.Dumitru, 2001, in Sacară, multiple choice item, while 69 gave clearly mistaken
2006:41). I asked the students to rate how important answers (1 did not answer). These numbers indicate that
each value was to their definition of professional many students may resort to plagiarizing simply because
success. I also wanted to find out to what extent they they do not know how to quote or paraphrase (which
felt that life at UMF Iasi (and their experience at their could be addressed through appropriate instruction and
Medical English course in particular) was fostering or writing practice).
preventing their commitment to those values. According to answers in several items, 27 students
Although altruism is, across the international were regular and faithful copy-pasters, 28 were used to
literature, the number one value at the core of the submitting texts as their own while producing them with
medical profession, it was in the bottom 3 in terms of the help of other people, 14 would submit the same text
my students’ definition of professional success, with for several assignments (it is not clear if / how many of
16.8% compared to ambition, ranked first by 73.7% of the other students participating in survey had the same
the 82 respondents. Also, 43 students felt that life at habits but hid them in the survey). 77 students felt the
UMF Iasi was helping them greatly, much or adequately need to comment additionally on how instruction or
to develop altruism, while an almost equal number of support in this area was: non-existent, too little, too
students felt that it helped them very little, not at all or vague, confusing or had come as a reproach (which
quite the contrary, that they were being prevented from confirms the need for explicit learning opportunities).
being altruistic. For honesty, it was exactly 41 vs. 41. The reasons students gave for their dishonesty,
Regarding the experience at the English class, many however frequent or rare, speak for themselves:”the
students appreciated positively the fostering of altruism grade is more important”, “the teacher is not
(e.g. “I always have the chance to do something good interested”, “it is not punished”, “because copy-paste
for my colleagues”, most likely a reflection of the exists”, “the stupidity of the assignment”, “this is how
teamwork and peer-teaching scheme), kindness (“by I’m used to do it”, “nobody has ever told me to do it
developing the availability to see others without differently”, “I don’t know how to do it differently” etc.
prejudice” and “one must answer kindness with On the other hand, other students justified their
kindness, right?”), honesty (“the honesty and openness avoidance of academic dishonesty by invoking: ”my
of the discussions” and “it’s good that we are being ethical code”, “for the way I would feel about it”, “I
treated as honest people, hopefully it will catch on”, don’t appreciate plagiarism”, “honesty”, “respect”,
possible reactions to the series of seminars addressing “to avoid the degrading of my principles” etc.
plagiarism), dignity (“the collaboration and respect Despite appearances, the students did not form two
between us and the teacher, the fact that we are being clear sides, as the responses to the opinion-based items
treated as equals and that our opinions matter”, showed little consistency and much confusion among
probably in relation to the overall student-centred most students. They did prove aware of the dishonesty
approach), “the pleasure to participate in the seminars of certain actions but were mostly careless about the
fosters the love for the profession” (capturing some of long-term implications on their development due to
the classroom atmosphere) etc. pressures of a more immediate nature and a perceived
Besides highlighting once more the uniqueness of lack of interest from teachers in general.
each individual, the answers also suggested that the However limited, these results convinced me of the
university might be sending conflicting messages, need to tackle the academic dishonesty issue in a more
ignoring the fact that learning draws not only from complex way, providing opportunities for clarification,
education, but also from imitation and experience. On teaching certain specific skills, engaging in open
the other hand, paying deliberate attention to tailor the discussions and reflection, addressing failure and
methods to more “subliminal” objectives in the English occasioning remediation, promoting a firm attitude and
class did not go unnoticed and lead to what the students friendly classroom climate etc. Indeed, if 4 years ago
perceived as a holistic approach to personal and approx. 50% of the written assignments I would get
professional development. from my students at the end of a semester would have
In another survey I conducted in April 2009, I been plagiarized, this year less than 10% fit into this
wanted to further explore why plagiarism seemed to be category. Further studies are needed to monitor if and
so commonplace among my students. 175 1st year how such results are maintained in time.
medical students anonymously filled out in Romanian a
Implications / complications for theory and practice
94 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Abstract: The development of the human resources and the growth of the competitiveness through initial and continuous
training, for a flexible and globalized labour market are the goals of a modern society. In this context, all the structures of
education inclusively the university must prove their responsibility and adopt a pro- active attitude in the large process of
promoting the fundamental values. In the conditions in which the social responsibility is becoming a necessity for the business
environment as well as for the society, the higher education must support and encourage the society in order to generate global
knowledge which should answer to the global challenges, among which we can mention the security of the food, the climatic
changes, the water administration/ management, the intercultural dialogue, the renewable energy and the public health. The
social responsibility is a concept with a large application which can prove to be efficient in the structures of higher education,
too. The present paper highlights the importance of the concept of CSR for the society and the way in which the mechanisms of
this concept can be integrated in the Romanian university or higher education. Practically, it is made a summary ( at a glance)
of the main aspects that mark out the academic environment at the European level as well as at the national level and that
demand the problem’s solving using a series of managerial models and patterns that should support and make effective the
effort of any structure from the higher education in the context of the sustainable development.
Key words: social responsibility, education, sustainable development, higher education, CSR patterns
We are in a time interval in which the higher
1. INTRODUCTION education must be considered a priority in the special
The paper emphasizes background issues context marked by the globalization process and
identified at the level of the entire society. Thus, CSR made worse by the economic crisis. Thus, we can
is a concept tackled by the business environment state that the main themes of major importance for
representatives, seeming that it’s only their the higher education from all over the world are the
responsibility. The issue that we referred in our paper following:
is that the academic environment needs to identify The impact of globalization upon the higher
the CSR approach, and every university can focus its education,
policies by taking into account the social The social responsibility in the higher education
responsibility phenomenon. The academic freedom,
The year 2009 was marked by a series of events The society’s commitment for the higher
on a national and international plan which education
emphasized the problem and the necessity of the The research and financing etc.
social responsibility in the system of Romanian This general frame can be completed by a series
higher education. The concept of social responsibility of other problems, such as: the uprightness, the
is taken into consideration to the extent that it is academic professions, the governance, the leadership
really wanted to initiate the process of reformation of and responsibility, the diversification of the
the higher education and a beneficial evolution for institutions, the promotion of the cross-sector
the following years to come. Nowadays the mission politics, the continuous education, the possibilities of
of the higher education is a very complex one: to employment, finances, the informational and
educate or bring up the graduates with high communicative technologies and the teaching
qualification and responsible citizens, to create and practice of the new higher education, the research
disseminate knowledge in such a way that it can management and many other things besides all these
influence the projection or design of politics, to mentioned.
provide services towards the community. The uprightness is one of the delicate aspects of
Before any debate, it must be noticed the fact that the education, with significant implications on a long
in the future the winning countries will be those that term. The whole society contributes to the
are going to invest in efficient and competent persons harmonious and sustainable development but it can
able to create and consolidate a society based on be easily be jeopardized if the investment in the
knowledge, on the economic development, on the human resource does not take into consideration the
social cohesion and on democracy. Thus, each type of,, the raw material” that is polished by
country must make the inventory and revise its society. The greater the disequilibrium between the
talents, to cultivate it and motivate in order to investments will be, the higher will be the tensions
generate a sustainable development through between the social differentiated categories
economic and social efforts. depending upon the gender, race, religion, ethnicity,
Practically, there must be identified the main geographic position, income, physical disability,
challenges to which the higher education must face in historic disability. The participation to the higher
the future and the evaluation of the way in which the education does not automatically reflect the society’s
university is prepared to answer them and to structure. This is why, the political responsible and
contribute to the society’s welfare. officials and the governments must take the right
96 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
measures in the future, in order to reduce these gaps The internationalization of the higher education
or differences. from Romania.
In a society in which the intercultural 2. PATTERNS OF THE SOCIAL
communication is on the one hand stimulated by the CORPORATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
dynamics of globalization and on the other hand APPLICABLE TO THE ROMANIAN
being encouraged by a whole series of regional UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
politics, we observe that either there are not enough The social responsibility covers a large range of
politics of integration for the communities, either that themes and problems such as: the human’s rights,
the integration equalizes to the members’ isolation health, the alternative energies, the infantile work and
within certain institutions of higher education. In this the eco-efficiency, but despite the fact that it is
context, the directions of action in the system of perceived as being favourable, it is not really
Romanian higher education regard the following integrated in organizations yet. Despite the promising
aspects: debates, in the confrontation with the competition
The training of specialists with creativity and pressure, with the demands in a continuous change,
innovation capacity. or with the economic recession, the organizations
The production of relevant international cannot consider the social responsibility as being
knowledge through scientific research. urgent enough. The process of the integration of the
The achievement of cultural creation. social responsibility in the structures of an
The dissemination of knowledge. organization must be made in an integrated manner
The training of specialists in relevant fields for (Jonker, Witte, 2006).
society. 2.1 The pattern of the multi-dimensional value
The opening towards community and the This pattern emphasizes and defines all the shapes
participation with expertise to the establishment of of the created value, especially the ones sustained or
the directions of national development. supported by the ethic reasons and ideals (Détrie,
The assumption of the social responsibility 2003) specific to the education field. Thus, within a
derived from the academic autonomy. structure of higher education there can be identified
The promotion of personal and institutionalized seven basic dimensions:
excellence on the basis of valuable criteria 1. The economic dimension
internationally validated. The main groups of interests that are directly
The encouragement of the repatriation of the implied in this dimension are:
Romanian university elites. The teachers and their families;
The external evaluation of all the institutions of The auxiliary staff and their families;
higher education, public and private ones, in order to The Students;
ensure quality. The structures of the public administration;
The differentiation through legislation of the The civil society – the direct and indirect
universities, in universities of education, of education beneficiary of the educational and teaching process;
and research and mostly of research. The business environment – beneficiary and/ or
The strengthening of the university autonomy in partner of the academic system.
order to increase the quality of the higher education. Practically it is mostly required with necessity the
The modernization of the management and of the identification of the demands present and of
leadership of the universities. perspective of the economical-social environment
The effective operation of a deontological code at and the orientation of the university’s offer towards
the level of each university. their satisfaction in performance conditions.
The multi-annual financing of the study 2. The relational dimension
programmes. This dimension given by” the combination of all
The support of the exact sciences and technical the external real or potential relations of the
education according to the European directives. organization” and perceived through three
The promotion of the institutional excellence perspectives:
through competitive financing programmes; - The direct relational dimension emphasized
The involvement of the universities in the through the participation of the universities to fairs
permanent education for the inclusion of 10% of the and specific profile exhibitions;- The indirect
active population. relational dimension is given by all the relations that
The promotion of the partnership with the contribute to the solidification of the reputation of a
students. university;
The development and diversification of the - Relational goods- refer to the human content of
scholarship programmes. the relationships independently of any immediate
The insurance of the students’ mobility at a financial benefit.
national and international level. In this way, the relational capital of a university
The insurance of the operation of the credits contributes to the identification of all the external
system for the studies financing. groups that are in connection with:
Nurturing Policy Communities Through Foresight Exercices. The Case of Romanian Higher Education 97
- Market development/ growth – through the the existent deficiencies and the prevention of the
student’s satisfaction and of the structures that ones that can appear in these processes and activities.
integrates them after they finish their studies; A performant and responsible management, a new
- The final product – the structures of the philosophy of education oriented towards results and
administration and the business environment; towards the relationship with the society and the
- The local community and the civil society in the economic environment, the accent being put on the
locations where the university is placed; teaching and learning quality, on creativity and
- The social and intercultural dimension. innovation are some of the elements which support
3. The culture of the university this necessary change.
This concept defines a set of principles that guide 6. Education, training and innovation
the activity of the university and to which join the This dimension refers to the intellectual capital,
employees as well as the students. Synthesizing, the the development of the training processes,
culture of the university refers to the following main innovation, and their continuous improvement. Such
aspects: processes can generate the increase of the intellectual
- The defining of the strategic and operational capital accompanied by the compatibility of the
distinctive elements of the culture of the university; structure and content of the graduates’ preparation
- Actions for the awareness of these principles for for facilitating the students’ , teachers’ and
the education of the involved ones, too: teachers, graduates’ international mobility; the insurance of the
students, and administrative staff; performant preparation of the graduates in order to
- The granting of a special attention to the contribute efficiently to the economic and social
transparency and to the legality or lawfulness. development of Romania.
Taking into consideration this aspect it is imposed 7. Communication
the creation and development of an institutionalized This dimension takes into account two
culture in the university in the middle of its own components of the communication process: the
personnel/ staff as well as among students. internal communication and the external
4. The Social Dimension communication, the quality of the communication
Regarding the social dimension the main interest and of the information can be evaluated taking into
points are: consideration:
- The protection of the psychological and psychic - The forms and frequency of the internal
health of the staff within the university; dialogue;
- The analysis of the work climate, by indicating - The participation of the employees and student’s
the quality of the work relationships between the to the dialogue;
employees; - Activities of external communication.
- The analysis of the quality of the relationships The pattern implies the analysis of the seven
between the teachers and students; aspects, the mapping of the strategy of the university
- The quality of the teaching process, scientific and of the process of value creation. At the same
research, the students’ quality; time, the strategy and creation of the value must be
- Producing the social capital. correlated with the vision and objectives of the main
In this context, the universities must track the groups of interests through a matrix of the type
objectives of the uprightness, quality and success by aspect/ interests group. By offering each dimension
developing more flexible means of access and an intrinsic value the pattern allows us to highlight
ensuring a better recognition of the previous learning the way in which the social responsibility can
and work experience. integrate and the way they can support each other
5. The human resources and the organizational mutually. Practically, all the seven dimensions derive
structure from inside the structure of the university and inside
Moreover, the organizational style cannot be the company, all the decisions, events and problems
separated of the relational one and of the cultural are also integrated in an interdependence relation.
identity of the university. Also, each academic centre 2.2 The molecular pattern
must determine the optimum degree of This pattern has as main goal the integration of
(de)centralization, to revise the organizational the social responsibility in the strategies of the
structure and not in the least, to promote a system of university and in their daily activity; they also reflect
improving the quality in a comprehensive manner, the fundamental change that takes place in the
respectively a quality culture. For this purpose, it is present in the debate concerning the sustainability
highly recommended the introduction of mechanisms and social responsibility. The molecular pattern is
that should allow to the leadership of the university, based upon the following principles:
faculties, departments, and services: a more efficient First of all, it is necessary the acceptance of the
institutional control of the individual and collective strategic role played by the social responsibility. The
services, keeping under control and the continuous pattern combines indicators for a long term strategy
improvement of the university processes and with specific indicators that facilitate a practical
activities, the identification and the rectification of action plan (Bergmans, 2006). Everything starts from
98 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
the manager’s opinion and convictions, of the 7. Valorisation – It is well understood that of
teachers and students’, that the social responsibility course that the profitability is important on a short
represents the anchor of a renewed and distinct and long term, but it must constitute the result of a
position, a necessity but also an opportunity. sustainable/ responsible strategy. This also implies an
Secondly, the social responsibility is an integrated awareness of the value created by the commitment
and component part on a long term of the societal and loyalty of the citizens, the respect in society and
and corporative development, bringing its the preservation of the natural environment.
contribution towards a sustainable society based on 3. CONCLUSION
knowledge. The pattern highlights seven elements Taking into consideration the exposed problems,
that can be developed step by step. we can reach the conclusion that each university
1. Rehabilitation – this element refers to the must adopt a proactive attitude, in the sense of
restoration or rehabilitation of the damage caused to preserving its values since it proves its responsibility.
the resources and to the human resources, natural One of the best ways of making these things happen
capital, social and economic one. Practically it refers is to offer academic programmes and competitive and
to a series of actions such as the reduction of the of a high quality research ones. Beyond the common
resource consumption: electrical energy, paper, European discourse, the university practices evolve
water, etc. That even if they seem simplistic, in differently from country to country, depending upon
whole they can be marked as responsible actions. In the traditions and the economic and social specific of
this context the universities must review and re- each region. The compatibility of the higher
examine their missions, better define their objectives education national system with the European system
and establish and fix their strategic priorities. of education implies the understanding of the
2. Prevention - by integrating this element it is dynamics of the higher education, the identification
guaranteed that there are not going to be any of the main challenges to which evaluation of the
damages in the future. It is highlighted the necessity way in which the University is prepared should
of the prevention that is preferred to the subsequent support and make face in the future and to contribute
reduction of the caused damages. to the welfare of our society.
3. The increase – refers to the exploration of the The opportunity of the approach and originality of the
activities that can consolidate and increase theme concerning the responsibility come as a result of
simultaneously the economic and social capital of the certain problems that the universities have at the present
university. Practically, we can make reference to the moment: the equity or uprightness, the academic
professions, the governing, the leadership and the
initiation of some projects that take into responsibility, the diversification of institutions, the
consideration the human resource, respectively promoting of cross-sectorial politics, the continuous
participation to qualification and specialization education, the possibilities of employment, the finances,
training courses through the internal training the informational and communicational technologies and
structures of the universities, participation as the didactics of the new higher education. In reality, the
volunteers to social projects in partnership with other change and transformation of the academic environment in
institutions in order to find out solutions at a series of an ethic frame connected to the new orientations that exist
problems of the local community. on an international level regarding the sustainable
4. The integration – This aspect refers to the development must be seen in the context of the
international cooperation between the representatives of the
empowerment of the university to deal with different academic education and teaching, as well as the role and
political perspectives upon the social responsibility responsibilities that they have in promoting our society’s
that are often in conflict. In this case, the specialists progress through the public politics.
propose that each unit of higher education to In a strong competitive environment, the
integrate in its structures the respect and the trust. universities “fight” for a better position both in the
5. The renewal - This element highlights the academic system and in society, the image and
necessity of renewal of the philosophy and mission reputation being resources with strategic value. Even
of the university, of its relations with the interest if this aspect isn’t consistently highlighted in the
groups and with the environment. It is based and Romanian universities, these academic institutions
axed upon new principles that are going to engage a will have to prove their responsibility towards all the
new identity, a pro-active one, a new logic and other people they represent, to launch and develop CSR
strategic decisions. programs with the employees, students and local
6. Classification – corresponds to a new necessity, community.
respectively of cooperation of the universities with REFERENCES
different establishments and institutions, 1. Bergmans F. (2006), Management Models for
representatives of the business environment under the Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, Berlin.
2. Jonker, J., de Witte, M. (2006), Management Models
shape of some public or public- private partenerships.
for Corporate Social Responsibility, Edit. Springer,
In this way, there are unrolled different research- Berlin. Heidelberg
development projects with beneficial results for each 3. Détrie, P. (2003), L'entreprise durable, Editions
structure. Labor, Bruxelles.
NURTURING POLICY COMMUNITIES THROUGH FORESIGHT EXERCICES.
THE CASE OF ROMANIAN HIGHER EDUCATION
Adrian CURAJ1, Radu GHEORGHIU2, Cosmin HOLEAB3
1
POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest, Centre for Strategic Management, email adrian.curaj@gmail.com
2
Institute of World Economy, email radu.cristian.gheorghiu@gmail.com
3
POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest, Centre for Strategic Management, email cosmin.holeab@gmail.com
In the last decades there has been a growing trend of enlarged participation in supporting decision-making in public policy. This trend
has not been generated only in view of a progressive democratization, but also of collecting intelligence and collaboration on a larger
scale and in an increasingly complex environment. Hence, policy communities are now more than ever needed to for the promotion and
validation of new ideas. Policy communities have a life of their own and they cannot be artificially created, but they can be nurtured.
One mechanism for nurturing them is to involve the members in a foresight exercise, i.e., a systematic collaboration in the definition of
future options for their field. Foresight exercises may contribute to the development of a policy community by enhancing reputation
mechanisms in the community; structuring the problems; making explicit the policy paradigm; and even developing the mechanisms for
the sustainability of the policy dialogue.
The paper explores the contribution of a national foresight exercise in higher education to the development of the corresponding policy
community. The foresight exercise started at the beginning of 2009 with the main aim of developing the vision of Romanian Higher
Education in 2025, and involves over one thousand experts and representatives of stakeholders in face-to-face meetings, and other
several thousands in online interaction. The different collaboration tools used in this foresight are analyzed in view of their relevance
for developing the policy community on Romanian higher education and its international integration.
capacity of the country, the large number of researchers and mature community tends to make explicit these criteria and
the existence of relatively autonomous research areas even subject them to debate.
(David 1995).
The policy communities can be described as hybrid b) Making explicit the policy paradigm
agents-concepts networks. Criticism of this theoretical The policy paradigm embodies the reference framework
model of policy collaboration refers to the emphasis on the for the entire policy debate. Making it specific clarifies to a
science-policy interface as a domain of power, prone to great extent both the questions and the institutional
ignore the sources of scientific ideas, beliefs and practices structures meant to answer them.
(Miller 2004). At the level of loosely structured systems, the process of
Some related forms or patterns of collaboration are: making explicit the policy paradigm(s) contributes not only
advocacy coalitions, policy networks, policy transfer to the positioning of the types of discourse, and to the
networks, and think-tanks. focalization of dialogue at a national level, but also to its
Advocacy coalitions create “spaces of signification” integration in the international debate space, also by linking
inside the policy community. There are usually 2 to 4 such it to the main flow of publications.
coalitions inside a policy community (Sabatier 1988). These The policy paradigm may evolve in time, either through
coalitions are based on shared values and beliefs which are a learning process, or through a Kuhnian revolution process
difficult to alter, not because they cannot be reached, but or external shocks.
through arguments and a permanent interrogation of their
empirical basis. As the research comes closer to those c) Structuring the problems
involved in decision making, it is shaped by the conceptual Identifying the problem is epistemically subordinated to
debates and values. Sometimes regarded as different from the paradigmatic level, but practically it is connected to the
epistemic communities because of the economic importance voices of the actors in the system. Formulating the problems
of their agents, advocacy coalitions can generate dedicated is not a linear process. This is why interrogating about them
individuals (policy entrepreneurs). should be performed on several levels: from the analysis of
Policy networks represent types of public-private current discourse on the problems, to the social and
partnership which create the space for debates on policies economic causalities, all the way to worldview and even
(Atkinson and Coleman 1992). The state-social actors myth (see Inayatullh 2004).
rapport may be balanced or it may be dominated by one of
the parties, making three situations possible: corporatism d) Debating
(balanced), state corporatism (state domination) or Debating implies not just identifying the divergences and
clientelism (domination of social actors). Many of these building consensus, but also a dialectics of discourse at
networks go beyond national frameworks and become community level.
global (Reinicke and Deng 2000).
Policy transfer networks is a concept meant to link e) Ensuring dialogue sustainability
“policy networks” and “epistemic communities” (Marsh and Identifying and debating the policy options need an
Rhodes 1992), which are ad hoc and aim at a change of acknowledged debating space, with rules commonly
policies in a single respect (Evans and Davies 1999). accepted by the community members. Very often this space
Think Tanks are characterized by: organizational combines publication in specialized journals with structured
autonomy; self-determination of research agenda; focus on interaction frameworks.
policies; public aim; expertise as resource and public A policy community evolves in time, which presupposes
activities such as conferences and seminars (Stone 1996). a dynamics of its members, the continuous structuring of the
space of internal dialogue and of the dialogue with policy-
A FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING POLICY making agents.
COMMUNITIES
FORESIGHT AND THE ROMANIAN HIGHER
We have identified the following pillars for the cultivation EDUCATION POLICY COMMUNITY
of a policy community:
According to the online guide of the European
a) Ensuring the visibility of community members Commission (forlearn.jrc.ec.europa.eu/), foresight is a
Members’ visibility can vary from mere identification to systematic, participative, future-orientated process which
the construction of strong social networks and the aims at developing medium- and long-term visions for the
development of complex reputation mechanisms. The support of present decisions and for the mobilization of
members’ identification represents the primary condition for collaborative actions. The typical objectives of foresight
any community. This process is dynamic and has to be exercises are: informing the people who elaborate policies;
correlated with members’ activism inside the community. building up networks; developing capacities, including
Visibility is strongly related to access to the community, foresight culture; building strategic visions and creating a
to a certain epistemic structure of the community and to the common spirit of accountability for these visions at the level
recommendation mechanisms. The criteria for the reputation of participants in the foresight exercise.
mechanism are not always explicit and they may develop. A Da Costa and al. (2006) identify six functions of
foresight specifically for the elaboration of public policies:
Nurturing Policy Communities Through Foresight Exercices. The Case of Romanian Higher Education 101
informing the public sphere; facilitating policy Table 1. The relevance of the project “Quality and Leadership” from the perspective
of developing a community of associated policies in higher education
implementation (through building up a shared awareness,
new networks and visions); support and participation in The element of community Activity
elaborating policies; the reconfiguration of the policy consolidation
system (through debating and assuming long-term
Ensuring visibility of Viral questionnaire of
challenges); and the symbolic function (letting the public
community members nominalization-
know that policies are based on rational information). conominalization;
The project “Quality and Leadership for Romanian Key-actors analysis.
Higher Education” (www.edu2025.ro), developed between
2008-2011, has set as its main objective the collaborative Identifying the problems Brainstorming sessions.
development of the vision on Romanian higher education at Scanning literature.
the horizon 2025, a document meant to become a point of Analysis of current state.
reference for the actors in the system. Like in every Analysis of drivers of change.
foresight exercise, the consultative process (which in this
Making explicit the policy Developing success scenarios.
case includes thousands of individuals) has a great value in
paradigm
itself, which we consider to be capitalized on through the Debating Delphi consultation.
development of an active policy community, capable of a
sustainable dialogue in this domain. Ensuring dialogue Observatory regarding
The consultative process was conceived with the sustainability Romanian Higher Education.
purpose of reaching the main objective, that of the vision The increase in the visibility of community members was
document, and includes the following stages: achieved in this exercise firstly through a nominalization-
a) Five expert panels (each of them approaching one of conominalization questionnaire. The main objective of this
the main functions of the higher education system) analyze questionnaire was to identify the individuals who have the
the situation in Romania in these domains, identify the interest and competences to participate in the debates
drivers of change and develop success scenarios at the regarding the future of Romanian higher education. The
horizon 2025. viral approach allowed the respondents to identify other
b) Success scenarios constitute the object of an extended individuals and / or institutions with an interest and
debate with the actors in the system, on the basis of which a competences in this direction, the latter being subsequently
vision framework on higher education is proposed (a invited to respond to the questionnaire themselves.
coherent, desirable and realistic image). As for identifying the problems for the debate, this was
c) Other ten expert panels on specific domains propose done iteratively, starting from scanning scientific literature
policies which support the elements of the vision. on higher education and exploring the ideas existing at the
d) The policy proposals are the object of a Delphi level of the different categories of actors. Thus, the analysis
consultation which gradually involves up to several of the contents of over 100 titles was done by human
thousands of individuals. analysts, after which, with the help of a semantic analysis
e) The vision document is elaborated as a combination software, key concepts from over 600 books and articles
between the assumed success image and the policies were identified. The results of this scanning were then
validated by the community as relevant. analyzed comparatively with the results in the three
Each of these stages is based on activating the policy brainstorming sessions (students, professors, representatives
community at the level of Romanian higher education, but of the business environment), so that in the end the
at the same time generates a new dynamic within this identified topics could be adequately positioned. This
community. The contribution of the consultative exercise on structuring of the problems was directly reflected in the
the five pillars of the model proposed for the development topics and sub-topics of the expert panels, being completed
of a policy community is summarized in the chart below. with their assistance and thus becoming a reference for the
policy dialogue.
The elaboration of success scenarios was in itself a way
to make explicit the policy paradigm. Through their very
nature, success scenarios are based on a series of
assumptions about the future which target both the functions
and the general organizational model of the higher
education system. A part of these assumptions were made
explicit during the scenario-building workshops, also being
repeated during the enlarged debate with the actors in the
system.
In order to increase the involvement of key actors, the
scenarios were subjected to a debate among their
representatives. One problem that arises in this type of
situations is that scenarios are not complete so as to be
easily assimilated by the new participants in the debate. The
solution was that from the existing scenarios a set of key
102 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The aim of this study is to analyze how the implementation of the Bologna process was undertaken
under by decision makers in higher
education in terms of curricula design. Creating separate
separate curricula for bachelor, master and doctoral cycles in different stages
without a link between the three levels, has led to poor development of curricula: the repetition of themes, disproportion, mergerm of
knowledge and disciplines in a short period of time, number of hours, a. o. All this meant overcrowded curricula, training deficiencies
in skills and abilities of graduates, as well as some repetitive courses. The paper will highlight the types of curricula developed
dev for the
Bologna process in Romaniann universities. At the same time, will be analyzed the causes and effects on quality education of those
faulty curricula design. The work is based on comparative analysis of the curricular structures before and after the transition
transiti to the
Bologna process. In this sense will be analyzed cases of curricula and expressed as summarized in the types of conceptual models and
graphics. The results of this study represent a warning sign concerning of designing curricula to avoid a truncated, fragmented
fragment and
without consideration of the inputs and outputs of the system, socio-economic
socio economic demands, the expectations of graduates, the balance
between information, knowledge and skills, abilities. The main people directly interested by this document are, at the same level l of
importance,
mportance, all major stakeholders in the education process - academics (teachers, researchers), management structures at university
level, students as well as quality evaluators and policy makers. The paper shows and materializes in the form of conceptual models of
serious gaps in the License - Master – Doctoral studies,, curriculum through a critical analysis of the results of implementing the
Bologna Process.
Method
hod of "roughing" the specialized
disciplines (Fig. 5)) achieved in light of their retrieval at
master M, where the emphasis will not be put on basic
and fundamental subjects, ts, but on those specialized,
those which allow learning through research;
CONCLUSIONS
Must be used to maximum opportunities offered the cycle of the Doctoral university studies starting with the
university year 2005/2006;
by existing legislation which allows higher education
7. Order of the Min. of Edu 3404/07.03.2006 on the general
institutions to establish partnerships with businesses, criteria for the organization and admittance on the cycle of
professional associations and / or public institutions to Licence university studies for the year 2006-2007;
develop some academic curricula of masters (M) which 8. Bologna Declaration (1999)
9. Evaluation reports from ARACIS
to respond to labour market successfully. Labour market
requires graduates of License and Master skills,
practical knowledge, critical thinking, adaptability
capacity and lifelong learning.
Final effects of teaching (instructive + formative
+ education) must ensure not only the rate of
employment and income of graduates, but especially
intellectual values, moral and ethical, important
personal and professional satisfaction for both the
individual and especially for a rapidly changing society.
Only by understanding and applying the 8
principles of quality - orientation to clients /
beneficiaries of teaching activity, a good organizational
management at the institution level and classroom
(clear vision towards the future, setting goals, values
support, the creation of ethical and trust models,
training for accountability, encouragement of valuable
contributions and their recognition), involvement of
people (using their talent and capacity, motivation,
innovation, creativity, the feeling of mastery of the
domain of activity, responsibility of teachers and
students for continuous renewal), standing approach,
systemic approach to management, continuous
improvement following the correct self-assessment and
external evaluation (setting targets for change,
improvement, measuring the efficiency of the
mechanisms which determine and implement these
changes for the better), foundation decisions on facts,
establish mutually beneficial relationships with
interested parties – can ensure correct implementation of
the Bologna process and achieve quality results.
AKNOWLEDGMENTS
References
The success of the organization in increasing the quality of all activities carried out, depends on the ability of managers to deal with human
relationships, to recognize and assess the characteristics and individual talents, to give every employee the opportunity to achieve their maximum
potential, to develop and continually train the whole staff organization.
The requirements of management standards, by which observation there is configured in an organization a quality system management, make no
explicit mentions of cultural degree. However, regardless of organization, designing and implementing a quality management system is a directly
conditioned process by specific corporate culture, pre-existing cultural elements at the beginning of the process, by its flexibility to incorporate
new values and specific quality standards.
In the past, the employee was hired for a job and applied during the last decade, preservation of
keeping him in the organization was desirable. Given structural elements that perpetuate old outdated
the narrow specialization of jobs and their stability, the mentality still put their influence on the culture
polyvalence was not necessary. learning in the university environment, resulting the
Nowadays, for the flexibility of human perpetuation of old university mentality actors, limiting
resources is necessary to give up the old training to students regarding creativity, responsibility,
all unfolding in a vicious circle. Of the respondents
structures and the old perspectives for surveyed, we can notice that they of their own
promotion and adoption of a career system knowledge or from other information sources, know
based on acquiring a portfolio of skills. the fact that in the business environment from Sibiu
In terms of organization, the need of there are promoted mainly young employees for their
career development includes: stability and interest, capacities and qualities that they value and not
last, for their professional abilities, thus from this there
employee loyalty, reduction of the impact that results that the academic education from Sibiu is of
will cause the future shock, motivating quality. Still, among the surveyed ones, we have
performance. noticed that most of the young people started to build
In general, the time spent during a year for and develop a career, by continuous training that
planning and career development of a normal means they have the necessary culture or come from an
organizational environment where organizational
individual is less than the time spent during a culture influenced them.
week watching television. Any environment has a specific culture that
A fundamental difference between individual and influences the behavior of actors that manifests inside,
organization is that organization is, theoretically in this sense the academic environment does not
speaking, an unlimited life, while the employee has a compromise. In terms of contemporary society that is
finite time, which can highlight the strengths and take in a continuous change, the university is required a
decisions on career development. Things may however high degree of flexibility and dynamism, a greater
be viewed differently, from the point of the time, familiarity between the two entities (company and
employees who access a certain position, have a wide university). Also the number and percentage of
range of possibilities regarding career development, students increased, conditions in which some "myths"
each following his own career path. specific to university tend to expire, no longer have the
Career management plans and shapes the progress same coverage at a practical level, to become truly "a
of individuals within an organization according to myth", for example: the myth of academic erudition.
organizational needs assessments as well as Image of the concept of organizational
performance, potential and personal preferences of its performance makes us think to develop a model to
members. quantify performance. The literature has many such
models, more or less compatible with the idea of
3. THE IMPACT OF QUALITY IN HIGHER university organizational performance. For an
EDUCATION IN THE ACADEMIC overview, we recall some of the most used models:
ENVIROMENTAL OF SIBIU Methodology Shanghai proposed by Shanghai Jiao
Tong University, U.S. News, Times Higher Education
The environmental study in Sibiu, on a relatively Supplement accomplished in United Kingdom or
large sample of 70 respondents of which one third are Rating Ad Astra Romania.
from the academic environment, who have mentioned Our investigative approach does not aim to
the following aspect about the organizational culture develop an organizational system for measuring
trends universities cumulate difficult trends, latent academic performance, or to identify performance
changing factors, changing factors that act culture in Romanian University. We follow this
simultaneously. approach because no matter how difficult it would be
Naturally, this accumulation of elements more or to develop a system for measuring the organizational
less contradictory, are found in extremely nuanced performance of the academic environment and it is
forms in the organizational culture of the Romanian more difficult to implement this system, especially if
school. In this organizational culture, there are: the you don’t know how actors perceive the concept of a
totalitarianism influence - which perpetuates its performance university.
presence by perceptions, mentalities, attitudes, In our intention to see how the Romanian involved
behavior - found at the school actors; existence in in the academic environment relates to the concept of a
latent and potential upgrade state of the traditional performance university we applied a sample
cultural elements that have lost their influence or that questionnaire / statement test, psychological adapted
were devalued during the dictatorial regime; version of the instrument and asking subjects to
emergence – in the decade of "transition" – of some complete statements like: a performing university is.
new cultural factors as the effect of specific social Data collected were processed based on content
context and external openness. Despite reform strategy analysis, using software - SPSS. Thus, we distributed
The Impact of Educational Quality Over The Organizations Culture 109
each statement in one of three academic perspectives of Students are a special category of human resource
organizational university performance, after which we in the academy environment, they have a special social
grouped into representative categories statements and status, they are young people in training, future
we calculated the percentage of the same class of intellectuals, they are perceived by the society as being
claims is among the sample. After these procedures we different from other young people. Students are seen as
determined the weight that each perspective has an a particular social and age group, a group that shows
academic organizational performance in our subjects' certain cultural specific features (behavior norms,
responses. values and principles).
In the study we conducted semi-structured Student position makes the young person have a
interviews with 30 persons from the academic contradictory status between satisfying the age needs
management staff (scientific secretary, head and comply with the ones imposed by the academic
department, vice-dean, dean, rector), seeking to field, to prepare as good as possible for the purposes of
identify aspects of implementing changes in the academic performance. For this problem we can
Romanian university organization. Sample subjects identify a series of conflicts faced by students: the
were asked to answer the following items: 1. Indicate desire for freedom, but the financial dependence on
the most important changes observed in the evolution parents, the desire for a rapid social integration, but
of your university since 1989 to the present moment? also they need for professional development; the desire
2. Describe briefly the implementation approach of one to live the situations specific to the age, but also the
of these changes (procedure relevant and commonly requirement for thorough preparation of the academic
used in your university), 3. List the main factors activities, etc.
required to implement these changes?, 4. What were In the study accomplished by us, through the
the most virulent organizational factors that have come questionnaire on social representation of student life in
from these changes? 5. How do you proceed now, Sibiu (March 2010), on a sample of a population
when you want to insert new elements in the divided into three categories (aspiring student status,
organizational structure managed by you? 6. What are students and non-students / non-aspiring status), there
the key factors to keep in mind when considering is revealed a positive perception of student.
implementing a program of organizational changes? 7. Aspiring students see in the student life few
What are your usual difficulties met when you plan the disadvantages and advantages as: scholarships, access
introduction of changes? to information, entertainment, social prestige, various
The academics staff respondents of which we found discounts, freedom, the possibility of a high
after questionnaires, many of them consider relevant specializations and not at last the entry into the world
the impact of educational quality over the organization of the intellectual elite and shaping a successful career.
culture. And thus we can reach the conclusions or Students, while identifying some disadvantages,
suggestions that they have to put greater emphasis especially on the short term (living in a campus
during the years of study of higher education, so that housing, lack of money), they stress about the same
those attending these types of education forms to be benefits as those who aspire to students status.
prepared for the changes that will appear in the future The last questioned category, non-students / non-
organizations and that will influence more on the aspiring students, keep the positive image note about
organizational culture, in the form of globalization. the student, considering this class characterized by:
Another fact found is that in terms of scientific intelligence, optimism, dynamism, seriousness,
research or continuous training only those who work in competence but they show a few negative aspects as:
universities or the freelancers are focused on this. As a lacking material resources, arrogant, or libertine or
suggestion that emerges is that if they would put more "long-haired."
emphasis on continuous professional training would Empirical study conducted for the group displays
increase the quality of education, not just the university the following cultural profile of students: the tendency
one. towards universalism; tendency toward collectivism,
Auxiliary staff of the university is an unique less tendency to avoid uncertainty, trend towards low
cultural group. In this group specific for the academy power distance; tendency towards emotional, tendency
environment, we can identify several subgroups: staff to diffuse; trend attributed status, trend past-oriented,
secretary, the economic staff - administrative, safety trend-oriented self.
and security personnel, the cleaning staff responsible Educational management is a growing field,
for cleaning activities and staff responsible for especially in the view of recent reform initiatives of the
maintaining the university's goods and assets, etc. Ministry of Education, in particular quality assurance
Regarding the formation of organizational group in education and decentralization of education. All
culture for different staff groups, some specific these initiatives have on the one hand, important
differences are undeniable, as required by level of consequences for management and administration of
education or status, or assigned place in the university education, on the other hand, can not be implemented
staff organization scheme to the members of different without an education training management system.
groups of the auxiliary staff. The definition of research is given of W. Carr and
S. Kemmis who say: 'research-action is an auto-
110 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
reflexive research form made by participants in social quality is directly proportional to the size and
situations in order to improve the rationality and consistency of invested resources (based on accurate
fairness of their practices, understanding these cost-benefit analysis), requires the prior action and then
practices and situations where these practices are the well-cadenced "engine" the establishment, by
performed '. training, under the sign of lack of concentration into
The result of the educational services is actually collaborative business expertise of the specialist,
the result of education understood as a value for the manager and professor.
learner, namely what the science has also at the end of Considering the cultural particularities
one year from initial situation. We can reach to the determinant, we present a list of suggestions still
following conclusion, namely, the high quality of operational. Management suggestions provide two
education actually means added value and creation of directions: suggestions for who is inside the group that
a plus that is determined by factors such as work presents cultural profile, and suggestions for who
during their studies, organizational culture in terms of comes from outside and comes in contact with the
internal and external environment that is part of the group that presents cultural profile.
individual. Therefore, students are the beneficiaries of The suggestions proposed by us can be easily used
educational services outside primary, secondary in approaching any organizational group described
beneficiaries, and labor market, employers, society in above (students, staff, professors, etc.). Such an
general, are tertiary beneficiaries. approach can build on the cultural profile of the group
In order to support organizations prepare and train revealed by that group and intercalated/combined to
their staff, that the organization wants to get the list of proposals made to each cultural perspective
specialized in order increase the potential of quality in every dimension. Certainly, the suggestion list is
management in education, there have been created open to additional suggestions, and from another point
structures for learning and training activity: business of view we should mention that at each case we should
incubators, centers for research recognized nationally be cautious of rigor in their effective application.
and internationally, research centers, doctoral centers. Suggestions that we propose:
constantly try to follow rules and procedures,
4. CONCUSIONS deviations from the regulation, even if you do
not seem justified context are seen with good
In drawing conclusions, we can state the first eyes;
conclusion, that is the opinion of trying to make be transparent in everything you undertake;
obvious the product - "core", elaborated, relevant (and try to be prompt in the steps you take;
possibly "anticipated") are not the needs, but the try to adjust to the individual needs of the
development interests by training (ongoing) that organization;
innovative research cannot only reveal but also induce, manifest your availability to experience
and the efficiency is not reached by producing and occupational mobility.
disseminating recipes as unique ways (best practice)
according to the information likeness clones reduced at
scale, to exact copies of the scientific content of the References
syllabus, but co-development (joint research team:
teachers, experts), by regional applicability (not local) 1. John G., (1996),Organizational behavior, Economic
and programmatic de-multiplication. Taking over the Publishing, Bucharest
unprejudiced facts from the site and build accordingly - 2. Saratean E., (2003), Human resources, Support change,
intervention models based on innovation, in order to Mirton Publishing, Timisoara
3. Berghe den Van Wouter, (1997), Application of ISO 9000
valorize this kind and at this level - including a Standards to Education and training, Interpretation and
discussion forum and, if possible, "location" and guidelines in a European perspective, CEDFOP – Eoropean
performing of models - is, we believe, not only Centre for the Development of Vocational Training Publishing,
employment obligation, but rather an ethical duty. Thesaloniki
4. Ionescu S. (2000), Quality of education, concepts, principles,
Managerial approach of the solid pillars of the methodologies, 2000+ Workshop Collection, 2000+ Education
quality education as a process - the organizational one Publishing, Bucharest
– school and the strategic one – innovation – it must
be, in this respect (as, indeed, of the problem of staff
assessment), not the situational exercise, but consistent
approach to the essential reform support of education,
with basis in the professional belief that producing
QUALITY ASSESSMENT FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE. BETWEEN PRIDE AND
PREJUDICE - ARE ALL EQUALLY GOOD OR SHOULD ALL STRIVE TO BECOME
BETTER?
If higher education institutions are to be able to demonstrate the effectiveness of their own internal quality assurance processes, and if
those processes properly assure quality and standards, then external processes might be less intensive than otherwise. It is important
that the institutions' own internal policies and procedures are carefully evaluated in the course of external procedures, to determine
the extent to which the standards are being met. Support universities in fulfilling their mission(s) as it was established by the
Committee of Ministers to member states of the Council of Europe on the public responsibility for higher education and research:
preparation for sustainable employment, preparation for live as active citizens in democratic societies, personal development, the
development and maintenance, through teaching, learning and research, of a broad, advanced knowledge base.
Some answers on what should then be made to a better quality of activities (usually through recommendations)
understanding of the role of quality assurance in higher and therefore foster a quality culture” rankings are
education could be given by starting from the purposes externally driven and only state the current situation of
of higher education. The Recommendation Rec (2007) 6 an institution in comparison to other institutions on the
by the Committee of Ministers to member states of the basis of selected indicators.“
Council of Europe, on the public responsibility for European Student’s Union (ESU): „Ranking systems do
higher education and research, prepared by the Steering not help to improve the quality of Higher Education
Committee for Higher Education and Research Institutions as they line them up according to simplistic
(CDESR), points to four main purposes of higher ranking criteria. ESU strongly opposes the introduction
education: of rankings into the Bologna Process. Rankings, or
• preparation for sustainable so‐called «transparency instruments», provide a false
employment; sense of knowledge of the institutions’ performance and
• preparation for life as active citizens quality, are inaccurate and scarcely focus on the
in democratic societies; information needs of the students.“
• personal development; Rankings can provide comparative information and
• the development and maintenance, improve understanding of higher education, but they are
through teaching, learning and not the main method for assessing what higher
research, of a broad, advanced education is and does. Rankings may ignore the causes
knowledge base. of deficits, weaknesses or poor performance and the
These are the overall purposes of higher education and most important issue for higher education in a dynamic
research. In the European Higher Education Area European society is not finding problems. The most
characterized by the diversity and the autonomy of its important challenge is to understand why they occur and
institutions, each institution may fulfill one or more of a to improve.
wide range of missions and it may do so at varying 3. QUALITY ASSURANCE EVALUATION
levels and degrees. “Quality assurance in higher education is at the heart of
On the other hand, the dynamics of society induce efforts to build a coherent, compatible and attractive
change, new requirements and expectations, need for European Higher Education Area (EHEA), in line with
adaptation to fluid realities much over shorter time the objectives of the pan European Bologna Process” -
intervals as before. Report from the Commission to the Council, The
As an active answer to some of those challenges, the
European Parliament, The European and Social
ministers responsible for Higher Education in the
Bologna Countries approved at their meeting Bergen Committee and The Committee of the Regions: Report
(2005) the “European Standards and Guidelines for on progress in Quality Assurance in Higher Education,
Quality Assurance in Higher Education” (ESGs). In 2009.
many aspects, considering the large number of countries In the EHEA quality assurance evaluation is based on
having become members of the “Bologna Process” in confidence. The most important document in the
Bergen, 2005 is now considered as the “point of no- external evaluation of a higher education institution is
return” of this comprehensive reform of Higher
Education in Europe. Quality Assurance has thus been the Self Evaluation Report (SER) – result of an internal
upgraded as an essential component of the Bologna evaluation. Evaluation is a constructive process and the
process and the role of external evaluations performed self evaluation is the most important part of it.
by Quality Assurance Agencies is recognized by the More and more universities understand that
creation of the European Quality Assurance Register evaluations/audits/assessments (internal or external) are
(EQAR), which became functional in 2008. not to demonstrate that the quality of
One common question is, however: are the ESGs good, educational/research processes is perfect. Quality
do they describe adequately quality processes and assurance in higher education should be an on-going
procedures in Higher Education? After a number of process in the context of dynamic society and economic
years of regulations being developed by Governments environment. The experience of ARACIS, which has
and procedures being developed by Quality Assurance been listed in the EQAR on October 2010 in evaluating
agencies on the basis of ESGs the most commonly heard externally 58 universities in Romania allows for an
answer is “the ESGs are perfectible”. interesting conclusion: not all the universities have been
Another question is where is quality assurance and how close enough to a balanced attitude between „pride” –
it can be achieved and “measured”? showing only how good they think they are and the
Are ranking adequate tools to allow judgments or do we „prejudice” of open self-criticism. Although academic
need more tools? performance is influenced by management, the result
According to the European University Association depends on the extent to which university staff (teachers
(EUA): „There is a fundamental difference between and other employees) and students feel empowered and
Quality Assurance and rankings: “Quality Assurance engage effectively for achieving higher education
process should always be internally driven (even if there institution objectives. Peoples motivation is not only
are external incentives) and aim at enhancing the material, it depends on a number of other factors such as
Quality Assessment for Quality Assurance. Between Pride and Prejudice - Are All Equally Good or Should all
Strive to Become Better? 113
institutional culture and quality, attitude, work quality assurance processes, and if those processes
environment, hierarchical relationships. properly assure quality and standards, then external
The university settings indicate where is positioned in evaluation processes might be less intensive than
the national educational offer and what steps intends to otherwise. It is important that the institutions' own
take to accomplish its mission. This cannot be achieved internal policies and procedures are carefully evaluated
without a realistic internal evaluation and a transparent in the course of external procedures, to determine the
external evaluation, accompanied by clear and relevant extent to which the general and own criteria, standards
recommendations to support the institution. Many and performance indicators are being met.
foreign evaluators who participated in ARACIS external Some recommendations to improve the quality of the
institutional evaluation noted that self-evaluation reports Romanian can be found in the reports of foreign
of higher education institutions in Romania are to experts who participated in the recent ARACIS
"laudatory," which is a question of understanding the external evaluation panels.
concepts and activities themselves. Also often Prof. Ivan Zadori from University of Pecs, Hungary,
exaggerated response to recommendations made by writes: „Developing more international links and
ARACIS or ratings given to certain institutions or collaborations to support international research activities
university education programs shows that many and encourage students and staff members taking part in
institutions are suffering from a syndrome that could be exchange and mobility programs. The universities
called "Snow White" - just look in the mirror and say should continue to invest in the physical infrastructure
that you are "the most beautiful in the country", without and facilities when own resources, state support or any
accepting the reality. other funds allow.“
Concerning the external evaluation in Romania, the Prof. Malcolm Cook, from the University of Exeter, UK
ARACIS Methodology for external evaluation, states: „I am not convinced that the University fully
standards, standards of reference and list of performance understands the implications of the Bologna process as
indicators, which was approved by Government it became apparent, in the course of discussions, that
Decision No. 1418/2006, the Guide of the Activities of teaching was still following a traditional pattern and that
Quality Evaluation of University Study Programs and student-centred learning was not a reality in every
Higher Education Institutions, are basis on which were faculty. Contact hours are still very high, far too high
made public more than 1000 ARACIS evaluation for a university that aims to be research intensive. I
reports for study programs and 58 institutional reports. recommend early engagement with a Bologna expert to
Also, several papers for ENQA seminars, proposals for discuss different ways of learning and teaching.“
ENQA guideline etc. recommend ARACIS as a reliable Prof. Roger Downer, expert of the European
partner for Romanian universities. One of the main tasks University Association (EUA) suggests that „The
of ARACIS was to determine the main approach for the University should examine current procedures for
definition of quality, adapt its Methodology and performance evaluation and identification of annual
procedures it developed according to the ESGs to the workloads and job descriptions with a view to
national context in order to become acceptable improvement and consistency across units. The
throughout the system. University should mobilize support from the media and
all levels of society to persuade government of the
4. CONCLUSION importance of Universities to the economic, social and
In order to achieve real quality higher education cultural welfare of the nation and to resist any further
motivation must be a powerful incentive for all reduction in state funding. The University should
participants in the process. Developments in the social explore alternative sources of revenue including
and economic reality are reflected also at the individual expansion of the intake of foreign students,
level, in every HE institution. To meet the challenge of commercialization of research, generation of fee-
quality higher education, the quality criteria, standards generating services and solicitation of gifts-in-kind from
and performance indicators applied to evaluate business. The University should establish an Office of
academic institutions should consider all the purposes of Technology transfer to explore and implement revenue
Higher Education since the institutions are also generating commercial opportunities.“
accountable to the society. Tradition is not a guarantee In concluding her findings, Ms. Jacqueline Smith, EUA
and youth is not a handicap. Professional competence, expert, writes: „Therefore it is recommended that the
moral integrity, respect (for work and values, to people university reviews carefully what the Bologna
and community), creativity, dynamism and personality, objectives imply, and identify areas where further
democratic behavior, harmonization of individual improvements can be achieved, especially as regards
interests with those of the community, entraining defining learning outcomes and developing programmes
students in scientific research are all part of the shaping based on learning outcomes, increasing mobility, and
of the European Higher Education Area. flexibility of studies or transdisciplinarity as a form of
If higher education institutions are to be able to intra-university mobility.“ The Quality Assurance
demonstrate the effectiveness of their own internal process should always be internally driven (even if
114 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
AKNOWLEDGMENTS
Selected References
1. Report to Council of Europe by Susana Melo, University
rankings: What can they tell about higher education?
Strasbourg, February 2009.
2. Quality assurance, ranking and classification in the light
of the missions of higher education, Presented at the
Conference of European Ministers Responsible for
Higher Education, Leuven - Louvain-la-Neuve, 28-29
April 2009.
3. Professor Jean-Marc Rapp, EUA President, The role of
evaluation and ranking of universities in the quality
culture, 2 July 2009
4. ESU, Policy paper “Excellence”, 20 May 2008.
5. Position paper of the CDESR on Quality Assurance and
Rankings presented to the BFUG in preparation of the
Conference of European Ministers Responsible for
Higher Education, Leuven - Louvain-la-Neuve, 28-29
April 2009.
6. Report from the Commission to the Council, The
European Parliament, The European and Social
Committee and The Committee of the Regions: Report on
progress in Quality Assurance in Higher Education,
2009.
7. ENQA Seminar Quality and Transparency, Bologna, 17-
18 May 2010.
8. Reports - www.aracis.ro.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERS FOR ROMANIAN UNIVERSITIES
I. GIURMA1, B. RUSU
1
„Gh. Asachi” Technical University of Iasi - Romania, email igiurma@hidro.hidro.tuiasi.ro
Abstract: The main objectives of the paper are to identify the main activities of university leaders towards the transformation of their
institutions and to analyse the perceptions of academic staff regarding the frequency of such actions and the differences in perception
among staff on various hierarchical levels of management. The results of the research provide an image of the distribution of the
frequency of such actions and the key factors that defines institutional change on different hierarchical levels of management. The
implications of such research are of interest for university leaders from Romanian universities that may further particularise the
results for their own institution and initiate appropriate actions that will enable the provision of high quality education. The
originality resides with the exploratory examination of the perception of academic staff from different hierarchical levels, regarding
the transformational actions of the leaders and the implications of the factors that defines institutional change.
Key words: Transformational leader, university
sample regarding the strategic orientation and The names of the factors reside from the composing
transformation of Romanian Universities. variables and express the perceptions of Deans and Vice
Table 2 Results of the factor analysis at University Level Deans included in the sample.
Table 4 Results of the factor analysis at Faculty Level
Table 6 Results of the factor analysis for those with no As it was expected, at University level, Rectors and
administrative position Vice-rectors are primarily concerned with the
development of academic activities, which are mostly
internal, the external development towards the industry
and University image and for integration and University
transformation. On Faculty level (deans and vice deans)
focus primarily on opening up their faculty, seeking
visibility and prestige that in turn would attract better
students which will become better graduates sought by
the employers which in turn will generate a reinforcing
positive loop.
All managers must harmonise and support the
transformation efforts on their hierarchical level,
especially during the unprecedented crisis that we pass
through, highlighting the importance of quality
education provision and strengthening the links with the
industry on both Faculty and University level. .
The actions towards integration and transformation
must commence with the University’s vision and values
that must be explained and made transparent for all the
members of staff, because many of the employee that do
not have administrative positions must be actively
encouraged to follow and support their leaders. Such
members of staff must not perceive the transformation
The “Organic” focus on “human” side of the process just as a set of new rules and regulations
transformation, and “Mechanistic” considers the
designed by management that they just have to abide to.
bureaucratic aspects required for practical
implementation based on new rules and procedures
developed and imposed by management team. The References
distribution of the variables that comprise each factor
are graphically depicted in figure 5. 1. Brombley Howard R. şi Kirshner – Brombley Victoria A., (2007),
Are you a Transformational Leader?, in „The Physician
Executive”, November – December, pp.54-57.
2. Barss B.M. and Avolio B.J., (1994), Improving organizational
effectiveness through transformational leadership. Thousand
Oaks. CA: Sage.
3. Bartram Timothy, Casimir Gian, (2007), The relationship between
leadership and follower in-role performance and satisfaction with
the leader: The mediating effects of empowerment and trust in the
leader, in Leadership & Organization Development Journal;
Volume: 28 Issue: 1, pp. 4-19.
4. Deselnicu C.D., Rusu C., (2008), The practice of Quality in
Romanian Higher Education Institutions, in “Proceedings of The
5th International Seminar on the Quality Management in Higher
Education”, pp.415-420.
5. Gregory Stone A., Russell Robert F., Patterson Kathleen, (2004),
Transformational versus servant leadership: a difference in
leader focus, in „Leadership & Organization Development
Figura5: Variables distribution after factor analysis of the Journal”, Volume 25, Issue 4, pp. 349 – 361.
respondents with no administrative position 6. Krishnan Venkat R., (2004), Impact of transformational leadership
on followers’ influence strategies, in “Leadership & Organization
Table 7 Variance distribution among factors for those with no Development Journal”, Volume: 25 Issue: 1, pp. 58 – 72
administrative position 7. Rusu C., (2008), Quality Costs in Romanian Higher Education, in
“Proceedings of The 5th International Seminar on the Quality
Management in Higher Education”, pp.571-576.
8. Sidani Yusuf Munir, (2007), Perceptions of leader transformational
ability: The role of leader speech and follower self-esteem, in
“Journal of Management Development”, Volume 26, Issue 8,
pp. 710 – 722.
Abstract
Higher educational institutions as organizations are made up of complex webs of individuals and groups with diverse orientations,
perceptions, values, goals and aspirations. Getting all such individuals and groups committed to a vigorous pursuit of the quality
standards aspired for is a Herculean task for managers of higher educational institutions. What effective measures can leaders of such
institutions put in order to ensure that quality assurance is accepted and pursued by all or most involved actors? A sustained
organizational commitment of all or most actors seems to be an answer.
Organizational culture has become in recent years a frequently discussed topic in both academic and economic environment. The
research in this field shows that it affects management decisions and even the way in witch evolves the organization.
Thus, regardless of what type of organization we refer, either a public or commercial enterprise, organizational culture is one of the
main factors that can determine success or failure of that organization.
A quality-oriented organizational culture is for any organization the guarantee of the survival and continued development, whether
operating in a highly competitive environment or in a socially, economically or politically unfavorable environment, because the
organizational culture, through its components, dictates certain rules of conduct of employees and how they perceive the reality and
adapt to environmental changes.
Culture is a kind of "map", which gives employees direction and knowledge about how to react and adapt in different situations.
Given these considerations, the present paper addresses the concept of organizational culture, places it in the quality management
field, and stresses the relationships influence between organizational culture and the success of quality management system
configuration.
The main objective of this paper is to highlight the importance of institutional environment as a prerequisite for quality assurance of
educational services, using a case study of “Petru Maior” University of Tg. Mureş.
- A clear vision of the organization, known by all not be hurt. Therefore social skills must be applied
actors; when reprimanding actors for non performance.
- Focus management attention on teacher-student Equal participation is a condition in which all or
relationship; most actors perceive that no one acts as a free rider, a
- Teamwork; social loafer, or a sucker. There should be no room for
- The need for change and strive to anyone to brood the idea that some actors are working
perfectionism; while others are goofing. Nor should others see
- Ability to create new; themselves as doing almost all the work. All must be
- Clear functioning rules of the organization. perceived to be involved.
The research in this field identified certain features Finally, shared leadership is the condition in which
of the internal dynamics of groups and organizations all or most actors perceive themselves to be leaders at
that have the consensual or cooperative organizational their levels of operation. They must feel that each actor
culture. has a role as a leader in the local constituencies they
These features are: operate. Each incumbent of a position must have
- Interdependence initiative to offer the leadership that will contribute to
- Interaction the achievement of the goals set by the institution.
- Group processing Therefore, even though leadership is reposed in the
- Social skills Vice-Chancellor or Rector, in actual practice, leadership
- Accountability must be perceived to be diffuse and contextual (Opare,
- Equal participation, and 2007).
- Shared leadership Quality is also an element of culture. Besides art,
Interdependence is the recognition that no one can science and philosophy in the spiritual patrimony of a
succeed in their tasks unless every one else succeeds in nation step in organizational culture also.
theirs. Most or all actors must accept the fact that as In the quality management literature, attention to the
they strive to achieve and sustain quality in academic importance of organization culture has been largely
standards and output, and as they strive to achieve driven by the fact that many organizations failed to
effective management of their institution, they are in a achieve expected benefits from their quality
position where they can swim together or sink together, management implementation because of the ignorance
depending on the total effect of their individual efforts. of the cultural factors. (Prajogo and McDermott, 2005).
Interaction is the mutual help that members offer to University because of its position upstream of all
one another as they interact as members with a common other institutions which provide resources is also in this
objective. There should be a platform for actors to share regard a critical locus of national culture.
experiences, ask questions, offer or receive explanations For many reasons it is necessary to develop an
and seek clarifications, learn from one another. organizational culture in higher education leading to
Meetings at the staff club or the senate/academic board greater efficiency, greater responsibility, creativity and a
can be suitable for such formal and informal greater autonomy in the whole social system. Such an
interactions. organizational culture can only be a culture of quality
Group processing is the monitoring of the (Pânzaru, 2005).
performance of the institution as a whole, as well as
monitoring of the performance of groups and individual ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE – QUALITY
actors. Members of the institution must occasionally and MANAGEMENT RELATIONSHIP IN “PETRU
periodically meet and reflect on how well they are MAIOR” UNIVERSITY OF TG. MUREŞ
achieving their goals. There is the need for periodic self-
appraisal to determine the extent to which the institution "Petru Maior" University of Tg. Mureş is a state
is making success both as a corporate entity and as institution for higher education and scientific research.
individual actors. The two components of its work are kept in balance
Accountability is the acceptance of the fact that each under a quantitative and qualitative aspect with shares
consequential actor in the institution is accountable to substantially the same. The imperative concern of the
the group for tasks assigned to them. The lecturer, the teachers, researchers and administrative staff is focused
head of department, the director, the dean, and the on ensuring quality parameters that enable the
student must recognize that they are individually and transformation of a regional university in a wide-profile
severally accountable to the institution for the roles they national character, which provides training in fields of
are supposed to play in the quality direction. By holding engineering, economics, linguistics and history ,
actors accountable, and by monitoring one another, free science, mathematics, computer, social-psycho-
riders and social loafers can be identified and made pedagogic, physical education, etc.
aware of their non performance. Also, the university is a permanent training center
Social skills are the tact and diplomacy with which (education) for specialists, having appropriate expertise
actors monitor and thereby reprimand non performing to enhance the business center in the scientific
actors. Reprimands and awareness creation must be community, cultural, technical, economic and social
made so tactfully that the pride of those in question will area.
Total quality management in higher education and Organizational culture 121
It can be said that “Petru Maior” University has a 5. Organizational behavior: work motivation,
certain personality, which is an expression of shared organizational stress, participation in organized
values and beliefs of the vast majority of staff activities outside working hours, job satisfaction,
organization, is an expression of organizational culture, career intentions;
(fig.1). 6. Individual and organizational variables: age,
education, personal values, statuses and roles, etc.
7. Job satisfaction: relationships with colleagues and
supervisors, human resources, cooperation
between departments, the possibility of enrichment
of knowledge and skills, information and
supervision, conditions associated with the job.
8. The perception of management: favoritism and
discrimination, teamwork, bureaucracy, mobilizing
personnel.
Figure 1. Organizational culture
Setting quality management system has generated
major changes in overall management of the “Petru
The organizational culture of the university does not
Maior” University. The entire management system has
control all perceptions, thoughts and feelings of the
been remodeled to steer and control the quality of the
staff.
institution, towards obtaining maximum satisfaction for
The institution uses the organizational culture - deep
all stakeholders of the university. Also, the cultural
beliefs, common values and embodies their teachers,
values promoted together with the implementation of
various rituals and ceremonies, etc. - to formulate the
quality management system are a consequence of
majority of strategies and policies.
changes in organizational culture.
The objectives of quality policy developed in the
By implementing the quality management system,
"Petru Maior" University include the presence of a
which involves cultural elements, allow to the
permanent concern for creating a culture of quality,
institution a better adaptation to new conditions and
involving all staff of the university.
ensure the maintenance of continuous improvement.
Progress approach relies on developing an
The success of quality management system
organizational culture that promotes the following
configuration of the university, as a process of changing
values:
organizational culture is closely related to how staff
- Quality management is the central axis of the
responds to this process in the cultural aspect. To get a
University;
positive response is necessary for the employees to:
- Accountability of each individual in achieving
- Know what means at individual and group
its mission;
level the implementation of quality
- Creativity and entrepreneurship, key factors to
management systems (cognitive plan);
improve quality.
- Have a positive attitude relatively to change
Successful quality management system
which involves setting up a quality
configuration is directly subject to specific
management system (attitude plan);
organizational culture, the underlying cultural elements,
- Develop an individual and group behavior to
the flexibility of organizational culture, to integrate new
support the implementation and maintenance
values and specific quality standards.
of a performing quality management system.
To do so, before setting up the quality system are
Because of the organizational change posed by, the
analyzed:
quality management system configuration is a long
1. Management philosophy: the university mission
process. This process began with the commitment of
and strategic goals, values, guidelines and
management in developing those individual behaviors
management principles that are applied in the
that support change and further involvement of all
organization;
employees in an effort to develop those group behaviors
2. Socio-cultural context in which the institution is
that support continuous improvement.
operating;
The development of competence and an internal
3. The way in which is perceived teaching by both
culture of the university in Quality Management are
professors and students;
achieved by:
4. Issues and teaching organization: the
- University staff training on Quality
organizational structure and organization of
Management in Higher Education;
teaching (the determination and analysis of formal
- Developing and promoting the discipline of
and informal groups of university, the mode of
Quality Management with its introduction in
cooperation between them, etc.) decision making
curricula and scientific research;
(structure, content and personnel involved),
- Development of masters programs in quality
personnel management policy; analysis items
management;
(tasks, responsibilities, authority and decision
- Organizing training courses in quality
making, organizational relationships);
management and performance of cooperation
122 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
agreements with third parties (research and To survive in a rapidly changing and expanding
consultancy to implement quality management market, customers and their needs should govern all
systems). activities of an institution of higher education.
In order that the costumer of the university to benefit For most universities, this requires a change in
as much as possible from de implementation of a quality internal culture. The core concept of total quality
system, after developing an organizational culture management, namely focusing on the customer, with
oriented towards quality, it is necessary for the changes continuous improvement plans supported by innovation
to be planned, participatory and negotiated, and creativity can build a strong culture focused on
characterized through: increasing performance and competitiveness.
- The rate of change is rationally scheduled; The aim is to create an organizational culture of
- The agreement (compromise) of all employees quality.
of the university, to ensure participatory A strong organizational culture enables the smooth
necessary support and maintain quality system flow of information and nurtures harmony among its
implementation; members.
- The changes are for a long term. Future research is desired that employs a
longitudinal approach to explore the causal direction
The values and beliefs underlying “Petru Maior” and possible reciprocal relationships between TQM/Six
University’s culture are able to shape its philosophy and Sigma implementation and organizational culture.
policies of managing processes, which in turn influence
the development of quality management practices. References
By implementing and maintaining quality
management system in the university, is formed a strong 1. Atanasiu, G., (2000), Calitatea în învăţământul superior în
contextul globalizării, în Brătianu, C. (coord.), "Managementul
organizational culture, a culture where the values and
calităţii în învăţământul superior", Ed. "Vasile Goldiş" University
beliefs, roles and behavioral norms, etc., are Press, Arad.
subordinated to the idea "everything you do, must be of 2. Brătianu, C., (2002), Paradigmele managementului
quality." universitar, Ed. Economica, Bucureşti.
3. Cameron, K.S., Quinn, R.E.,(1999), Diagnosing and
Changing Organizational Culture. Addison –Wesley, Reading, MA.
CONCLUSIONS 4. Irani, Z., Sharp, J.M., Kagioglou, M., (1997), Improving
business performance through developing a corporate culture. The
International Bi-Monthly for Total Quality Management: The TQM
This paper sought to provide a better understanding Magazine, vol. 9, No 3.
of the culture-quality management relationship. 5. Kanji, G.K., Yui, H., (1997), Total quality culture. Total
For an institution to realize the value of Quality Management, vol. 8, No. 6.
6. Opare, J. (2007), Simplicities and Complexities of the
implementing the quality management practices, it must Effect of Collaborative Learning Contexts on Academic
have a culture that is capable of fully supporting their Achievement.International Journal of Educational Research, 3 (1)
implementation. 7. Pânzaru, I., (2005), Asigurarea calităţii în învăţământul
Given the strong influence that organizational superior din ţările Uniunii Europene, Consiuliul Naţional de
Evaluare Academică şi Acreditare, Ed. Ars Docendi, Bucureşti.
culture can have on performance of an institution, the 8. Prajogo, D.I., McDermott, D.M., 2005. The relationship
problem arises increasingly is to adapt this culture to the between total quality management practices and organizational
demands and dynamics of the organization external culture. International Journal of Operations & Production
environment. This means changing organizational Management 25 (11).
9. Schein, E.H., 1985. Organizational Culture and
culture and its orientation to new value systems and new Leadership: A Dynamic View. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San
systems of collective thinking. Francisco, CA.
We cannot talk about quality in an organization 10. Sigler, T., Pearson, C., 2000. Creating and empowering
without the existence of an organizational culture culture: examining the relationship between organizational culture
and perceptions of empowerment. Journal of Quality Management 5
oriented to this concept.
The need to recognize the multidimensional
relationship between organizational culture and quality
management has been identified by some researchers
(Cameron and Quinn, 1999).
Employees’ attitudes and behaviors are critical for
implementing the change entailed in implementing
quality management programs.
Organizational culture is recognized as having a
limiting effect on the effectiveness of quality
management implementation.
An organizational culture toward achieving quality
is a key factor in improving the competitiveness of
every type of organization, including higher education
institutions.
ASPECTS OF THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN HIGHER TECHNICAL
EDUCATION ORGANIZATIONS
Cristina Mihaela GHEORGHE1, Mircea COVRIG2, Claudia POPESCU3, Steliana (UNCUŢĂ) PUŞCAŞU4
1
Politehnica University of Bucharest, cristina.gheorghe@upb.ro
2
Politehnica University of Bucharest, mircea.covrig@upb.ro
3
Politehnica University of Bucharest, claudia.popescu@upb.ro
4
Politehnica University of Bucharest, steliana_1185@yahoo.com
The authors aim to examine the main forms of the concept of social responsibility that match higher technical education and should be
developed and implemented by universities. The study is based on results published in specialized literature works that examine the
concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR), on the authors' experience in technical higher education and also on the actions of the
Electrical Engineering Faculty of Politehnica University of Bucharest, which can be included in this approach.
Keywords: social responsibility, CSR, higher technical education organizations
“Operating a business in a manner that meets or social responsibility is a function of the elite or the
exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public executive class (Lolescu, 2009).
expectations that society has of business.” (Business
for Social Responsibility) (apud Raynard and Main themes of the CSR domain
Forstater, 2002).
“Being socially responsible means not only fulfilling
A brief browse of CSR literature highlights the variety
legal expectations, but also going beyond
of the themes in the social responsibility field, thus
compliance and investing more into human capital, emphasizing the complexity and importance of this
the environment and relations with stakeholders.” domain. The most common themes are the studies that
(The European Commission) (apud Raynard and
examine the forces driving CSR, the evolution of the
Forstater, 2002).
concept of CSR, the CSR approaches, the ways to
implement the principles of CSR and CSR's criticisms.
Historic landmark David Vogel (2005) states that an organization may
decide to act according to CSR principles being driven
The 1950s period is considered as the starting point of by strategic, defensive or altruistic considerations. For
CSR. The American economist Rothman Howard instance, there are companies that really think they are
Bowen (1908-1989), called “the father of CSR”, is the responsible not only for creating wealth but also for
first author who theorized this concept, in the paper social welfare and environmental quality. Some of these
Toward Social Responsibilities of the Businessman reasons could be encouraged by the market through
(1953). This paper defined for the first time the concept measures like: consumer demand for responsibly made
of CSR and it presented at the same time the types of products, actual or threatened consumer boycotts,
responsibilities that should be undertaken by pressure from investors, challenges to a firm’s
businessmen (Carroll, 1999) (Crane, 2008) (Lolescu, reputation by nongovernmental organizations.
2009) (Vuţă et al., 2007). This milestone is the start of Moreover, the market may limit the actions of social
theorizing the CSR concept, but not beginning of the responsibility by the fierce competitiveness, which most
specific actions which can be subsumed under the often translates into lower costs to an organization
principles of social responsibility. The works that (Vogel, 2005).
analyzed the evolution of CSR found some interest in A second issue of the domain analyzes the CSR
this problem before they defined it. There are authors approaches. The field of CSR has developed differently
who consider that actions within the SR began with the in the U.S. and Europe and it materialized into two
Industrial Revolution (Crane, 2008). approaches. The U.S. perspective of CSR is a positive
Here are some contributions which show the various one, with self-imposed strategies and practices by
forms CSR may take, contributions which are not so organizations. On the other hand, Europe has developed
common in the works that examine the concept of CSR. a negative approach, based on rules and principles set
Among those who contributed to defining CSR is by the State and society. While the U.S. market
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), founder of U.S. Steel, motivates and encourages the ethical behavior,
whose two life principles were: the principle of charity European environment formulate ethical rules and
and the stewardship principle. These two principles are regulations. U.S. ethics is a product of competition and
considered to be manifestations of social responsibility CSR is considered an added value, a distinctive feature
(Lolescu, 2009). The principle of charity suggests the in the competition of different brands on the market. In
manifestation of compassion by wealthy members of a Europe, ethics seems to be a requirement imposed from
society towards those less fortunate: the unemployed, exterior, not a market need. While the U.S. encourage
the elderly and the sick ones. Manifestation of volunteerism and originality in social programs, the
compassion could be expressed directly or indirectly regulatory trends on the European market lead to a
through the churches, settlement houses or self-help standardization of the criteria for ethic performance and
community groups. The second principle, the to a leveling of social responsibility campaigns.
stewardship principle, means that businessmen are Bredgaard Thomas (2004), considering two
caretakers of the wealth of the entire society and they dimensions of analysis, the CSR focus (societal
must behave as such (Lolescu, 2009). responsibilities or labor market responsibilities) and the
Another contribution in shaping the field of CSR CSR initiator (business driven or government-driven),
comes from teachers A.A. Berle and C.G. Means. They has identified four approaches to the concept of CSR,
were the ones who introduced, in 1930, the term „social namely (Bredgaard, 2004):
corporate responsibility”, when expressed their view CSR in business (e.g. Human Resources
that businessmen who earned a lot must offer something Management within firms)
in return to society, by elaborating or contributing to CSR between business and society (e.g. the US
programs for its benefit (Lolescu, 2009). approach)
Another contribution to the extension of the CSR field CSR between business and government (e.g. the
is the study of Chester Barnard, The Functions of the European Commission's approach)
Executive (1938). In this paper the author argues that CSR between employment policy and business (e.g.
the Danish approach).
Total quality management in higher education and Organizational culture 125
Another issue is the problematical topic of the objective of a higher education organization - that is, to
different forms of manifestation of CSR. What does it preparing the future generations. The second direction is
actually mean to act in accordance with the principles of determined by the actual existence of the higher
CSR? David Vogel notes that CSR can mean anything education organization, which can be considered as any
from actions which strictly aim to reduce energy to other corporation and should be subject to commercial
reorganizing the entire business of a company (Visser et common sense, as any other economical organization: to
al., 2007). In respect with the above mentioned, Bogdan serve customers, take care of staff morale, be attentive
Diaconu (2009), identifies ten "action areas" which are to suppliers, to be good neighbors and protect the
oriented to social responsibility programs, specific U.S. environment. Each of these two directions has its own
society (Dahlsrud, 2006): actions (see Table 1).
Economic Development (in partnership with
government research and productivity growth) Table 1: Manifestation of social responsibility
charges the electric network and also has the functions 3. Carroll, Archie B. (1999). Corporate Social Responsibility.
Evolution of a Definitional Construct. Business & Society, Vol.
of a laboratory.
38, No. 3, 268-295
Current extracurricular activities undertaken by the 4. Crane, Andrew. McWilliams, Abagail. Matten, Dirk (eds)
faculty are: the Christmas Tree Celebration, the Spring (2008). The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social
Festival, and the Earth Day Celebration. In the Spring Responsibility. The Oxford University Press
5. Chelcea, Liviu. (2009). Cultură, firmă, globalizare. (note
Festival, a representative action is "A tree for the
de curs)
future". The students and the professors together planted 6. Dahlsrud, Alexander. (2006). How Corporate Social
trees around the faculty. Every year, Earth Day is Responsibility is Defined: an Analysis of 37 Definitions.
celebrated around the day of April 22, by organizing a Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management
special section of the Scientific Students Sessions.
7. Diaconu, Bogdan. (2009). Etica societăţii
During this event the students present papers with an instituţionalizate. Trei dimensiuni ale responsabilităţi sociale:
environmental theme. legea, statul şi mediul de afaceri. Bucureşti: Editura Curtea
Particularly in the last two years, the actions of the Veche
8. Kotler, Philip. Lee, Nancy. (2005). Corporate Social
Faculty of Electrical Engineering aimed at creating a
Responsibility. Doing The Most Good For Your Company And
proper framework for study, in which to achieve a high Your Cause
level of performance and desired competencies, through 9. Lolescu, Radu. (2009) The Significance Of CSR And The
a professor-student educational active partnership. On Effects Of The Financial Crisis. The Young Economists Journal
(Revista tinerilor economişti). issue: 12 / 2009, pages: 105-110.
the other hand, the faculty wants to inform students on
www.ceeol.com. (accesat în 07.04.2010)
current issues and environmental legislation and drive 10. Morrison, J. J.Catherine. Morrison, Paul. Siegel, Donald
them towards adopting an active attitude, by adopting S. (2006) Corporate Social Responsibility and Economic
solutions in accordance with the principles of Performance.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=900838&re
sustainable development.
c=1&srcabs=1347358 (accesat în 07.04.2010)
11. Orzam, Mihai. Stancu, Alin. (2006). Responsabilitatea
CONCLUSIONS Socială a Companiilor
http://ideas.repec.org/p/ase/wpaper/1001.html#provider
(accesat în 07.04.2010)
The paper examined the concept of social responsibility, 12. Raynard, Peter. Forstater, Maya. (2002). Corporate social
by highlighting the possible actions that can be responsability. Implications for Small and Medium Enterprises
in developing countries. UNIDO
deployed by almost any higher education organization, 13. Visser, Wayne. Matten, Dirk. Pohl, Manfred. Tolhurst,
as the presented case study shows. Nick (2007). The A To Z Of Corporate Social Responsibility.
The main implications of the work are intended to John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium
be: the development of an awareness of the actors 14. Vogel, David (2005). The Market for Virtue. The Potential
and Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility. Washington D.C:
involved in the educational process in dealing with the Brookings Institution Press
concept of social responsibility in education, the 15. Vuţă, Mariana et. all. (2007). The Corporate Social
emphasis on the importance of this concept Responsibility Practices in Romania in the Context of
implementation and the specific actions that can be Sustainable Development Principles. The 47th Congress of
European Regional Science Association, ERSA, 2007
taken by a technical education organization to keep in http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=900838&re
line with this approach. c=1&srcabs=1347358 (accesat în 07.04.2010)
The value of the study consists in highlighting the 16. *** WBCSD (2001). Corporate Social Responsibility:
particular aspects of the concept of social responsibility Making Good Business Sense. WBCSD. Washington,
www.wbcsd.org.
for higher technical education organizations. 17. *** EU Green Paper (2001). Promoting a European
Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility. Brussels,
Commission of the European Communities.
18. *** BSR – Online Introduction to CSR
References www.bsr.org/BSRLibrary/TOdetail.cfm?DocumentID=138
19. http://www.upb.ro/documente/stiri/sarbatoarea-
1. Barth, Regine. Wolff, Franziska (2009). Corporate Social primaverii.pdf (accesat în 07.04.2010)
Responsibility in Europe. Rhetoric and Realities. Edward Elgar.
Cheltenham, UK • Northampton, MA, USA
2. Bredgaard, Thomas (2004). Corporate social
responsibility between public policy and enterprise policy.
European Review of Labour and Research, Vol. 10, No. 3, 372-
392
GENERALIZING THE FEES IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Eugenia GRECU1
1
Associate Professor, PhD, Politehnica University of Timisoara, Faculty of Management in Production and Transports,
eugeniagrecu@yahoo.com
Abstract: To place a quality education universities require large funds. Universities should ensure quality education. Generalized charges could
bring universities amounts they need to perform a quality education. State fails to recover lost resources and investment in human resources
through inefficient use of graduates with higher education but also by brain drain.
Keywords: fees, universities, granting, quality.
1. Imperatives of higher education development abroad, the Romanian state does not recover anything
from the investment in this human resource of exception
At the current stage of economic and social (Voineagu, V., 2007).
development, the development of education appears as a
requirement of the overall progress of the society. On 2. The financing evolution of public higher education
long term, education contributes to the economic in the period 1990-2009
development, stimulates progress and raises the
population's living standard. To achieve these objectives In Romania, education is declared a national priority,
are necessary but some conditions: education must be meaning that the Romanian higher public education is
well tailored, rationally organized, adapted and free, during the legal duration of studies. In 1989, in the
adaptable to current and future needs of society, driven higher education system were 46 public universities,
by professionalism and competence (Crăciun, C., 2008). which numbered a total of 164 507 enrolled students.
Regarded as educational and training activity, Currently, the number of students increased almost
education is materialized in two forms, closely related: fourfold and universities (public and private) reached
first as a process of transmission - reception of the number of 119. The number of students has tripled
information and then a lengthy process of storing and in the last decade, reaching almost one million, while
checking them gradually. In other words, on short term, the exact number of students in private universities is
education is a consuming activity of National Income not known, many of them refusing to report on all
and on long term an investment in human resources entries.
process. Until 1990, the main source of financing public
Education costs vary depending on the degree of education was the Romanian higher budgetary
coverage of students in education, the size and structure allocation for this chapter. Due to changes occurring in
of the school network, the duration of studies, the the higher education system in the period 1990-1996,
economic nature of the expenditure entailed, etc. The there were changes and the principles of public
return of educational investment varies from one financing of Romanian higher education( like changes
country to another, from one form of education to in the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and
another (university, postgraduate). It was noted that the Development countries): a complex system of allocating
profitability of investment in education (human capital) funds, the increase of universities’ financial autonomy,
is higher than the return on investment in the economy the diversification of funding sources, the sharing of
(in real capital). The increase of efficiency on costs for education by introducing tuition fees, a clearer
investment in education can be increased in various separation between the funds for education and those for
ways: by increasing the enrollment of students in research. Even in these conditions, the budget
education by improving the organizational structure of allocations continue to represent the main source of
learning, adapting curricula and syllabuses to the needs funding for public higher Romanian education.
of each determined historical phase, by raising the International experience has shown that the funding
professional qualification of teachers, by creating the of the public higher education system in order to meet
infrastructure necessary for the modernization of the present needs is the following mixed nature: a core
educational process (Păunescu, M., 2008). funding from budgetary allocations, to ensure free
Unfortunately for Romania a sad phenomenon "brain access to education, the quality and consistency of the
drain" of highly qualified human resources leave the learning process, an additional funding obtained by the
country to work on much higher salaries in the institution through their own efforts and resources other
Occident. This way, the investments in such human than the State Budget. Thus, education can be supported
resources who decide to emigrate have no purpose for through scholarships, study loans, fees, donations,
the Romanian state. For example, from one graduate of sponsorships, own sources and other legal sources. The
general medicine (6 years), without charge, and then a financing of education is made from the following
residency in neurosurgery ( 7 years), so the recipient of sources: state budget (central or local), sources of
a grant of 13 years of education (university and population shares of companies for education and
postgraduate) who decides to leave country and work
128 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
education (transportation, supplies, uniforms), country and work abroad. This way, the “brain drain”
donations, sponsorships, own income of educational would not lead to leakage of funds and would not turn
institutions (research, rent, tuition fees etc.) and other Romania into a free "supplier" of highly qualified
external resources (grants, external loans granted by human resources to other countries (Voineagu, V.,
foreign financial institutions). 2007).
Moreover, a milestone in the reform process was the In addition, it appears that people generally
replacement of the financing of budgetary chapters with appreciate more the things they pay for than those who
the global finance of the university based on come for free (Crăciun, C., 2008).
institutional contracts with the Ministry of Education, Currently, in many universities there seems a kind of
Research, Youth and Sports. This change was a way to tacit agreement between teachers and students. Students
get better performance in education and research "pretend to work", the teachers “pretend to teach and to
through a better management of financial resources. note" and everyone is happy. Lack of interest occurs on
Thus, the financing of public universities will also be both sides. Perhaps higher wages might motivate the
determined by performance and by efficiency criteria. teachers. Perhaps the feeling that college is more than a
Thus, since 1999, the means of financing higher diploma and the what one learns is really useful could
education have changed, and it passed to a methodology motivate the students. Through the generalization of
for allocating the budget allocations based on formula university fees, students would be more responsible and
(quantitative component) and based on the fundamental probably will think better about their options before
principle "resources follow students.” Since 2002, the applying to college. At the same time, it will also
methodology for allocating the budget allocations for increase the interest in the study.
base university funding was complemented by a Virtually, every university must have academic fees.
qualitative component, continuously updated during It is unrealistic to pretend that the state (that is our
2003-2009. However, the state budget is the main taxes) to ensure the cost of 4-6 years of university for
source of funding for education. each student. Obviously, there will be universities with
lower taxes and others with higher taxes.
Table 1: The % GDP invested in basic funding for public universities
Year %GDP
The university education is a luxury which must
1998 0,37 fight for both from the students and from their parents.
1999 0,32 This should represent an investment in the future of the
2000 0,34 student. To obtain the diploma that requires a battle not
2001 0,33 only financially, but academically speaking as well. The
2002 0,32
2003 0,34 job, the salary after university should offset this
2004 0,32 investment, even if it takes several years. In this way,
2005 0,34 there will be no more problems with the teachers’
2006 0,36 salaries while students will no longer mock university.
2007 0,34
2008 0,39 And the more strictly these university rules apply (ie
2009 0,33 only those who deserve to go in; copying are not
allowed, corruption should not exist) then that
For each student who benefits of free of charge university will be known, and those big companies will
university studies, the state pays between 3,200 lei per hire graduates (Păunescu, M., 2008).
year for the human profile, and 16,000 lei for the Maybe from the money that our state allocates to the
vocational one. At the technical or sports college, a universities it could create scholarships somewhat
student is worth more than 5,600 lei, and in Medicine, similar to the present places "on budget", but managed
7,200 lei. The fees that the students at the state with more accountability, fewer and more selectively
universities on the fee places are less than the cost of granted.
schooling and they cover only about 60-65% of costs for Such a system could even revive the preuniversitary
preparing a student. Therefore, from the total income of level. High school students would be more aware that
universities, less than 15-20% is provided from tuition they have an enormous opportunity in the scholarships
fees. For example, in 2009, the state contribution to granted and it should result a greater responsibility
university funding was 3.76 billion lei, and only 0.44 towards their training and development. As there are
billion came from tuition fees. In these circumstances, young romanian people who get full scholarships at
the funds currently available to universities are universities abroad, there would also be young romanian
insufficient. A possible solution to increase university people or abroad who get those from us. There would be
funding could be generalized charges. students well prepared and interested in the faculty who
know that the scholarship file is evaluated annually and
3. Arguments for introducing generalized charges in work hard to keep that scholarship. Or work hard not to
higher education repeat one year and pay extra (Levine, A.. and Cureton,
J., 1998). I will not deny that by this method it would be
The introduction of generalized charges in higher students for which will pay their mother (or their father)
education would allow the Romanian state to recover and they actually do not care about this, but probably
the amounts invested in those who decide to leave the that will be marginal phenomena.
Generalizing The Fees In Higher Education 129
But if universities will have fees, they would not to increase the number of places with fees because of
build their budgets based on the number of students; insufficient financial resources.
universities will have and could apply more serious
selection criteria. They could also be more stringent in 4. Loans for education - a modern source of
assessing students and not allow that every student pass financing higher education
the study year simply because the university funding is
basically granter per budgeted student and therefore Under the new conditions the society we live in
teachers needs students to take their salaries (Păunescu, operates, it is necessary to find new sources of
M., 2008). financing, which, along with the traditional sources of
For a long time in many countries worldwide are financing education, to provide funds necessary for
generalized university fees. Maybe this is one of the developing, development and modernization of teaching
reasons that American and British universities are the activity in higher education.
first in top. It seems that the solution to this problem is the loans
for study incurred by students during the university
Table 2: University fees study. These loans contribute to increase resources for
No University Country Fee financing higher education and also represent a
1 Oxford United 10000£ mechanism that requires students to choose the desired
Kingdom
specialization and to frame in the normal period to
2 Worcester United 5000 £
Kingdom promote academic years.
3 Harvard USA 48000$ This innovative form of financing education allows
4 Yale USA 49000$ anyone willing to study to do so, in some countries is
5 Princeton USA 40000$ reaching even be considered a way to help students
6 HEC Canada 14000CAD along with study grants or allowances. These loans can
Montreal be contracted through commercial banks and institutions
7 Saint Louis Spain 8000 euro especially created for this purpose.
8 Utrech Netherlands 1700 euro In countries with developed market economy, the
9 Amsterdam Netherlands 1600 euro
credit is an important tool in most fields of activity,
University
10 University Switzerland 700 euro including education. In Europe, loans for studies are
of Geneva found mainly in the Nordic countries (Finland,
Denmark, and Norway) and represent for many years
now the most important form of support for students.
Thus, in a university from Canada, a student with These loans are guaranteed by the state. In Finland, the
good grades (let’s say that the average is equivalent to interest of these loans is initially of 3.25% and increases
the grade 9) can receive a scholarship covering the to 6.25% at graduation. Reimbursement is in 10 years
school cost. For example, a masters program costs $ after a grace period of 2 years from graduation.
2,800 per semester and a student with good grades, Reimbursement is in Denmark 15 years to graduation.
receives an admission scholarship of $ 3,000 per In Norway, over 80% of students benefit from these
semester. The fact that school is paid for is good. The funds. We note that during their studies, the interest is
students in an overwhelmingly majority learn. They do zero, and at graduation they begin charging an interest
not afford to waste the money. However, not everybody of 4 to 5 percent below the prevailing commercial
can take the scholarship. But there is a loan that the banks. Repayment is made in 20 years.
students pay back after they get employed. In Japan the loans for education are very important
A good example that we could follow is the system and therefore there was created the ’Japanese
in England, where the university fee is quite high, but Foundation Scholarship" which granted either only
students are helped with a loan from state which covers loans (2 / 3 of total transactions) or a combination of
the university fee and only after they finish college and loan and scholarship. Loans are granted with low
have a job, they start to pay back in small installments. interest or without (Crăciun, C., 2008).
Presently, in Romania, no law in force or only in the In United States of America, there are many
planning stage does takes into consideration the programs to assist students. Such a program is "Work
introduction of a generalized fee for higher state and Study" which allows students to work and attend in
education. parallel. Most popular loans for studies are those
Perhaps in the future, those who will deal with the guaranteed by the government, however, before
education reform will have to analyze this topic too, but granting them there take place various examinations to
not in the way the issue of the generalized fee is being avoid waste and abuse. The students who benefit of
discussed at the moment, when there is a battle between these loans may be independent (graduates who pursue
private and state education on the places with money. further studies or master) or dependent (students
The rectors from the private universities accuse their attending a university). Loans are not made by banks,
colleagues from the state institutions of unfair but the funds are obtained through auctions of
competition for places that have introduced toll on government bonds. The government bears the interest of
admission. Instead, the state rectors argue that they need these loans for the students in employment, for those
130 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The role of education and training in the human resources development, as elasticity mechanisms of the labour offer in relation with the
demand, is recognized both at a national and an international level, being a strategic priority. Achieving a high degree of mobility and
adaptability of the human capital as response to the demands resulted from the logic of the technological process is one of the conditions in
reaching a higher economic performance. The education process, especially the higher education, assures the conditions for the labour
market’s flexibility, this meaning adapting competences to the new requirements specific to the new jobs, having consequences also on the
degree of job security, increasing this, but also on finding another job more easily. The current economic theory and practice highlights the
fact that the higher the education level the higher the employment rate. In our study, we intend to analyse the economic-statistical
correlation between labour market indicators (employment rate and unemployment rate) and the education level, in Romania, between
1996 and 2008. The results of this research show that, in Romania, there are direct significant relationships between employment and the
education level, and an inverse correlation between unemployment and the education level, fact that states the major role of education in
the labour market.
income and occupation, and greater employment labour market and finding
ing a convenient job belong to
stability (J. Mincer, 1991). those who graduate higher education.
In general, higher
gher education leads to accumulation of
human capital, which is linked with higher productivity.
Firms are keen to maintain high levels of productivity, 100% 8 8.9 12.6 14.8
thus they would be reluctant to dismiss employees with 80%
high skills. Growth in education has historically
historicall been an 55.1 54.7 Tert
important source of growth in worker productivity. 60% 61 60.7 iary
In Education at a Glance (OECD,
OECD, 2008)
2008 study it si 40% Med
shown that employment rates rise with educational ium
attainment. With few exceptions, the employment rate 20% 36.9 36.4 26.4 24.5
for graduates of tertiary education is markedly
mar higher 0%
than the rate for upper secondary graduates. Similarly,
unemployment rates are generally lower for higher- higher 1996 2000 2005 2008
educated individuals, but this is typically because higher
Source: Social Tendencies, INS, 2009, p.160
educational attainment makes an individual more Figure 15 Employment by educational level in Romania, 1996-2008(%)
attractive in the labour market. t. Unemployment rates
therefore include information both on the individual’s The structure of the employed population by
desire to work and on the individual’s attractiveness to education level, in 2008, at the level of the development
potential employers. regions,, presented in the figure below suggests that in
In the decade up to 2020 European higher education Romania significant regional differences are recorded
has a vital contribution to make in realising a Europe
Eu of regarding the influence of education on employment.
knowledge that is highly creative and innovative.
Europe can only succeed in this endeavour if it 100.0 14.514.411.311.3 9.5 33.213.615.814.8
maximises the talents and capacities of all its citizens 80.0
and fully engages in lifelong learning as well as in 60.0 62.470.453.961.262.0 55.665.960.7
40.0 58.7
widening participation in higher education. 20.0 23.115.334.827.528.4
28.4 8.1 30.818.324.5
0.0
3. HIGHER EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
IN ROMANIA
average education level (high school studies, professional, work resources is also reduced (Turkey, Romania,
post-high
high school and technical) were employed and only Malta, Hungary, Slovakia, ia, etc). A higher level of higher
41% of those with a low education level (secondary education is accompanied by a high employment rate
studies,, primary or without studies). As we can notice, (Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, etc.)
from the analysis of the data in fig. 3 during 1997 and fact that highlights the decisive role of higher education
2008, in Romania, a reduction in the employment rate of in increasing employment, and implicitly in the process
the people with a low education level (from 56.1% to 41%) of sustainable development.
development
as well as in the employment rate of those with an average
education level (from 71.6% to 63.5%). 4. HIGHER EDUCATION AND
The data presented above confirm the hypothesis UNEMPLOYMENT IN ROMANIA
according to which higher education assures an increase in
employment. Thus, it is necessary to take some measures
Together with the employed population, the
in order to increase the educationon level of population in
unemployed people represent an important part of the
Romania. Over the last decade the number of population quantitative – numerical dimension of the labour force
with higher studies, the indicator of population with tertiary market. Employment and unemployment
unemploym are considered
education per 100 population aged 25-64 25 recording an
polar categories, meaning that employment is a category
increase from 10% to 12.8% (fig.4). But making a
integrally positive, beneficial to the state of functioning
comparison with the average recorded at the EU-27EU level
and of relative wellbeing, and unemployment has an
we notice a negative difference of 11.5p.p. and compared
exclusively negative connotation, equivalent to a
to Finland, the country with the highest level of population marginal state, one of poverty.
with tertiary education per 100 population aged 25-64,
25 the The lack of employment represents a dimension of
negative difference is of 23.8 p.p.
social exclusion, because it means exclusion from one
40.0 32.4 32.8 34.0 34.6 35.1 36.4 36.6 of the most important components of human activity,
from the social relationships that participation in work,
23.0 23.5 24.3
19.9 20.9 21.7 22.5 the impossibility of valuing youryo on potential implies
20.0 12.8 and facilitates. The statistical-economic
statistical activity of the
10.0 9.8 10.4 11.1 11.7 12.0 ILO unemployed people structure according to the level
of education highlights the fact that unemployment is
0.0 highly spread among those with a low or average level
Romania EU-27 of training. In 2008, 30.6%6% out of the number of ILO
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 unemployed people had a low level of training and
Source: European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) 2009 almost two thirds (62.7%) had an average level of
Figure 4. Population with tertiary education per 100 population aged 25-64,
2002-2008
25 training. According to the data in the figure below
In the economic literature it is stated that a better between 1996 and 2008 the percentage of the
educated population, with a qualification corresponding unemployed people with a high education level rose
to the
he needs of the market, is characterized through from 2.8% to 6.7%, as result of the increase in
higher rates of activity and employment. population with a higher education level.
level
80
IS
CHDK 80%
NL NO Terti
70 AT SE FI 69 74.3 69.3 62.7
PT DE
SI LV CY 60% ary
FR UK EE Med
CZ BG ES LT IE 40%
60 RO SK PL ELEU LU BE ium
IT
y =HR
0,694x
HU + 49,32 R² = 0,504 20% 28.2 21.3 24.3 30.6
50 MT
0%
40 TR
Spearman correlation coefficient=0,699 1996 2000 2005 2008
10 15 20 with25
Population tertiary30education
35 … 40
Source: Social Tendencies, INS, 2009, p.167
Figure 5. Direct Correlation between Employment rate and population with Figure 6.Structure of unemployment by education level, in Romania, 1996-
tertiary education per 100 population aged 25-64,
25 in 2008 2008 (%)
Based on the data regarding the employment rate Moreover, the unemployment rates indicator of the
and population with tertiary education per 100 population aged 25-6464 by level of education (annual
population aged 25-64, for 32 European countries,countries in average) shows that in Romania the increase in the
fig. 5 was identified a strong direct and statistically education level reduces the risk of unemployment. This
significant correlation (correlation is significant at the 0.05 indicator provides a measure of difficulties that people
pe
level, 2-tailed), fact
ct highlighted by the value of the with different levels of education have to face in the
Spearman correlation coefficient, of 0,699.
0,699 labour market and offers a first idea of the impact of
Therefore in the countries where a low level higher education in reducing the chances of being unemployed.
education is recorded, the level of employment of the
134 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Ionica HOLBAN (ONCIOIU)1, Florin Razvan ONCIOIU2, Matei Agaton DAN3, Ana Yolanda VODA4, Oana Ion
BOCĂNETE5, Nelu MOCANU6,
1
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi and Academy of Economies Studies from Bucharest, email:
NELLY_ONCIOIU@yahoo.com
2
University of Agronomies Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, email: oncioiu_florin@yahoo.com
3
Tomis University of Constanta, email: dan.matei@yahoo.com
4
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, email: yolandadr3i@yahoo.com
5
Tomis University of Constanta, email: nelly@cta.ro
6
Tomis University of Constanta, email: nelly@cta.ro
The problem of unsustainability has been attributed to a wide variety of root causes including economic growth, greediness and
leadership impotence. Helping new generation learn about sustainable development by putting its principles into practice during a
community forum can catalyze individual and collective action on environmental, economic and social equity issues by raising
awareness and consciousness. Outside the higher education sector, education about sustainable development can be accomplished
through community learning forums and are then given an opportunity to operationalize the principles with discussion tool, planning
model and decision-making framework. So, the barriers to cooperating and communicating with each other are falling down. This
paper explains the importance of the separation of conceptual knowledge from experience. The solution to this problem is
reconnective learning to use when designing and implementing educational programs.
Perceiving ourselves and nature as a relational meaning. Problems arise when the secondary meaning is
process, constantly being recreated, sets up a relational dislocated and distorted from the primary meaning,
ontology that is central to understanding a lived resulting in practices that no longer depend upon
paradigm of learning sustainability. Sterling (2005) experiential truth values for comprehension.
explains that in order to achieve a more suata1nable Secondary, conceptual or propositional level of
society we need to learn to think and act in ways that are knowing can be separated from the primary experience
far more relational than currently is the custom. As on an individual basis, as well as collaboratively by
Harding (2006) shows, through a relational focus the intersubjective agreement. But taking concepts as
principle of emergence quickly becomes evident. That is separate from the lived reality is like confusing a map
to say, surprising properties appear at the level of the with its actual geography. By privileging the map or the
whole that cannot be understood through focusing on secondary meanings, many of the fundamental beliefs
the individual elements in isolation. The relations and practices of an unsustainable culture are reinforced
ontology is fused with a participative epistemology, by technologies of separation, both linguistic and
which is part of the critical/emancipator paradigm (Fien material. An example of this habituated separation is the
2002). practice of driving along the freeway in our cars without
Full humanity implies the epistemological noticing the resulting brown sky clearly visible through
imperative of” living as part of the whole” which means our windscreens, or knocking down ass old
that we integrate all of our forms of knowing (Reason neighbourhood tree without seeing the habitat it
2005). provides for endangered fauna, or purchasing over-
packaged products and immediately filling our rubbish
Learning sustainability bins. Our separation, and in many cases our dualistic
hyper-separation from each other and nature, are thus
reinforced with many of our cultural practices, which
Table 1 below presents the elements in the proposed
are hegemonic. To query these hegemonic practices is to
learning sustainability method which
query the mundane, the everyday, in many cases with no
Table 1: Elements in the Learning Sustainability Process satisfactory alterative available.
Levels
Level of
of
Ways of Quality of Participative The language-embedded deepest cultural
Meaning Knowing Knowing Epistemology
Knowing assumptions about progress away from nature and each
Experiential Direct,
unmediated
other are heartily endorsed by the modem liberal
experience which assumptions upon which the ecological crisis is
is local and constructed (Bowers 1997). An example of this is the
Presentational culturally
notion of creativity as an unquestioned ‘good’ in
Holistic
Primary
cycling through the stages. One cycle produces only a between primary and secondary meaning, in which the
formative, practica1 belief. For the higher order truth secondary has been privileged causing social and
values of practical knowing, several or many cycles are ecological consequences.
required. The method cannot be properly understood in
isolation from the participatory approach, which Conclusions
provides depth and methodology. I shall detail the
participatory approach in the following section, with an
Sustainability education which includes education
explanation of the relationa1 ontology and participative and interpretation serves three basic functions increases
epistemology in order to situate and properly explain the knowledge and understanding of the value of
this method of learning sustainability.
protected areas that justify their existence, increases
satisfaction of the visit by minimising or preventing the
A method of learning sustainability impact of visitors in the area and increases support and
encourages the participation of the community living
Essentially, the process comprised collaboratively near the protected area. The role of environmental
cycling through the forms of knowing, enabling the education and interpretation (communication, education
development of increasing practical knowledge as a and public awareness) in protected area conservation
result of each cycle. As shown in Figure I at the start of should be highlighted and prioritized amongst protected
this chapter, the learning sustainability method is area institutional staff and management. People are not
iterative - very rarely did the stages smoothly flow in a concerned with the conservation of protected areas
set order. We assumed the teacher was also a learner, unless they realize their value. If this is not done, all our
and collaboratively learned with the group. The teacher efforts will be undermined by the activities of
had enhanced political power by virtue of being surrounding communities. Case studies in which
facilitator and teacher, but needed to use this education, communication and public awareness have
responsibly as a leader, acknowledging that every group been successful in promoting conservation should be
of learners will be different to every other group in documented and widely disseminated. It is necessary to
make-up, context and interpersonal relationships. communicate the link between protected conservation
The teacher cannot know in advance what will work areas and local communities. Protected areas are not
the best for any particular group, so needed to be deeply isolated islands. They occur within peopled areas and
aware of and responsive to the students group dynamics these people can positively or negatively impact on their
that emerge with the implementation of the method. activities. In countries such as Greece, despite the
With the benefit of experience, I advocate a deep obvious role that environmental interpretation could
responsiveness on the part of the teacher even if the play, the vast majority of environmental educators in
learners are young students; a facilitator with an open protected areas lack formal training in environmental
mind enables the emergence of new ideas and angles interpretation. Considering the positive benefits of
that may surprise and delight even a very experienced environmental interpretation in other countries, it is
teacher. recommended to resource management agencies to use
In Heron’s post-conceptual realm, the self-system is interpretation as a tool to help people understand the
continuously reaching out expansively, integrating process and policies of management objectives.
experience and empathic imagination, to reframe its
concepts subject to the claims of a deeper vision of the References
world. Its cycling, together with the reflective nature of
propositional knowledge, enables the retention of the 1. Beriatos, El. (2005), Planning and management of protected
benefits of ethical, political and scientific thinking in areas in Greece. Sustainable Development and Planning II, vol.
continuously revised forms. This is significantly 1, pp.389-400.
different to the normal business-as-usual way of relating 2. Reason, P. (2005), Living as part of the whole: The implication
of participation. Retrieved 21st March 2006.
to people and nature. Through the process of elaborating 3. Renn, O. (2006), Participatory processes for designing
propositional knowledge out of more holistic environmental policies. Land Use Policy. 23:34-43.
experiencing, people become transformed and/or freer 4. Wooltorton, S. (2004), School and community: Bridging the
(emancipated) from the grip of propositional structures. gap to sustainability. Unpublished Doctor of Philosophy
Dissertation, Murdoch University, Perth.
This analyze resulted a method for learning
sustainability to address the problem of a distinction
INFORMAL INSTITUTIONS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. THE ROLE OF
EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING A CULTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY IN ROMANIA (I)
This paper takes an institutional approach to analyzing the role of education in adopting sustainable development practices. It
assesses the influence of the existing individual values on the capacity of countries to follow sustainable paths and suggests possible
ways to make education a pillar for building a culture of sustainability. Prior research has shown that the ability of a country to
follow sustainable development paths largely depends on the presence of strong formal rules (such as free market, property rights,
contract enforcement etc). However, fewer studies are concerned with the role of informal institutions and the ways these can be
changed in order to underpin sustainable development practices. This paper adheres to the idea that sustainable development is
mainly about individual values and, if not appropriate, these should be changed. We believe that the process of institutional change at
the informal level can happen only through education and learning. The paper provides a combination of qualitative and quantitative
analysis. Data from WVS and EVS databases and from own researches previously conducted in Romania are used, the purpose being
to determine the extent to which the existing values influence sustainable development practices in our country and how they can be
changed through education and learning. The findings confirm the existence of a relationship between individual values and
sustainable development. Also, the Romanians share several negative values which hamper the ability of the country to follow
sustainability paths. However, we believe that only through education and learning people will adopt and praise those values proven
to be a sure path to welfare and progress. The conclusions of the paper may be valuable for a successful development in Romania.
Also they point out that development strategies cannot be designed via a “one size fits all” principle and need to be adapted to the
conditions of different national institutional environments, in order to achieve sustainable development. The added value of the
research derives from the correlation between the existing individual values and the indicators of sustainable development. Besides
contributing to the literature on the role of education in developing institutions underpinning sustainable development, this paper may
provide useful knowledge for higher education and public administration decision-makers.
is quite a limited consensus among psychologists when sustainability institutions strongly depend on receiving
it comes to asserting the role of personal values in the acceptance and support of pre-existing institutions.
guiding behavior. Some argue that values have an If the pre-existing institutions are not part of the
obvious role in guiding behavior (Rokeach, 1968); network built by the newer arrival, the process of
others argue that, on the contrary, values rarely guide integration suffers (Sedlacek and Gaube, 2010). The
behaviors (Bardi and Schwartz, 2003, 1207). pre-existing institutions refer to both formal and
Most empirical research links singular behavior to a informal rules. People’s sustainability values are a part
certain set of variables. This is why one cannot assert of the informal pre-existing rules.
that values influence human behavior in general. Previous work in the field of sustainable
However, some recent researches argue that there is an development provides several attempts of identifying
extensive connection between the general value system these sustainability values. The most explicit set of
and human behavior as a whole (Bardi and Schwartz, values can be found in the UN Millennium Declaration
2003). which clearly states that “certain fundamental values are
Distinction should be made between instrumental essential to international relations in the twenty-first
values (the ones that guide human behavior) and final century: freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect
values (which envision the final goals of existence). The for nature, shared responsibility” (UN, 2000).
instrumental values are, in other words, means to If “human development is the end” (UN, 1996, 11)
achieve a goal. At the same time, “values provide and if “sustainable development can be defined as a call
standards against which the behaviors of individuals and to maximize human welfare over time” (Anderson &
society can be judged” (Kates et al., 2005, 16). Huggins, 2003, 59), then we believe that the true
Value systems are relatively stable in time. Not sustainability values are the ones that make human
completely stable because social and individual changes efforts and human cooperation possible. They are the
would not be possible; and not completely unstable ones which allow the individuals to develop just their
because the continuity of personality and society would good side in order to survive; the ones that have always
be impossible (Baciu et al., 2008). led to peace, prosperity and expansion of human
This sort of stability creates several challenges for a freedom.
situation of institutional change. If formal institutions Taking the existing literature as a point of departure
can change marginally or they can be replaced “over and even if to a certain extent intuitively, we believe
night”, informal rules tend to develop a certain that the main instrumental individual values
resistance to change and to carry on our values and underpinning sustainable development practices are
attitudes. Thus, cultural norms, personal values and trust, democracy, tolerance, responsibility,
attitudes and inherited beliefs affect the present independence, imagination respectively those
individual behavior furthermore, affecting the instrumental values positively influencing economic
institutional and economic development of a country. behavior at social level.
At the same time, individual values are also formed,
reinforced and changed through education. Education EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE
explains not only the differences in the cognitive RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SSI AND
content of individuals’ mind (which, furthermore, INSTRUMENTAL VALUES
explains the differences in skills and competences,
income level, socio-economic situation etc.) but also in
Data and Method
the ways individuals filter the environment and reason.
Also, education “may bring about differences in
individual attitudes, in values concerning personal and In order to study the relationship between
social relations and in the strength of certain sustainable development and individual instrumental
psychological propensities” (Inkeles, Holsinger, 1974, values we use several indicators. Sustainable
1). Studies conducted in less developed countries point development is measured by Sustainable Society Index
out that “education is a major determinant of the (SSI) 2008 released by Sustainable Society Foundation.
syndrome of attitudes, values and behaviors which Using World Values Survey 2005-2008 we quantify the
distinguish the more modern from the more traditional instrumental values identified above. In order to capture
man” (Inkeles, Holsinger, 1974, 1). Other studies each value, one question from the survey is identified
clearly state that “the educational process is of constant that is most closely correlated with each trait. Trust is
self-realization leading too the achievement of essential measured by the question “Generally speaking, would
values as a human being” (Nomura, 2002, 44). you say that most people can be trusted or that you need
There are also more focused studies on this issue. to be very careful in dealing with people?”., Democracy
For example, it has been proven that education is by “Importance of democracy” and all other variables
“significantly associated with tolerance not only via a are selected from the list of qualities that children can be
direct path but also indirectly though its influence on encouraged to learn at home. Due to the fact that
values” (Golebiowska, 1997, 30). individual values are relatively stable in time, as
Translating all these aspects into the language of discussed above, there is no impediment in using data
sustainable development, we can say that the previously 2008 although the SSI value is registered for
2008.
Informal Institutions and Sustainable Development. The Role of Education in Developing A Culture of Sustainability
in Romania –Part I 141
Data are recorded at country level for 13 EU Considering the small sample dimensionality, we
Member States (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, France, also accept for analysis the significant correlations for a
Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, risk of 10%. For a risk of 10%, the factors that influence
Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain). Data sources are the SSI are: Democracy, Independence, Tolerance and
sites of Sustainable Society Foundation respect for other people, Religious faith, Obedience.
(http://www.sustainablesocietyindex.com/Datasheet_SS From the analysis we can conclude that several
I_2008.xls) and World Values Survey instrumental values such as, Trust, Democracy,
(http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/). Statistical data Independence, Responsibility, Imagination, Tolerance
processing was conducted using SPSS software. positively influence a society’s sustainable development
The relationship between two or more variables is while there are also other instrumental values which
most frequently analyzed using regression and exert a negative influence on a country’s sustainability
correlation analysis. This method is applied in the paper such as Religious faith and Obedience.
in order to identify those individual values which have a Furthermore, we selected the countries with the
strong influence on Sustainable Development. The highest value for SSI (Sweden, Finland) and
identification of the significant correlations is made respectively, the smallest value of SSI (Poland, Cyprus)
using Pearson correlation coefficient. The statistical and we represented the column diagram for SSI and the
significance of the Pearson correlation coefficient is most important influencing instrumental values (Trust,
tested using Student t - test. Responsibility, Imagination) and also the variables
Using Student t-test we test the null hypothesis which negatively correlate with SSI (Religious faith and
H 0 : ρ = 0 , the absence of correlation between the Obedience)
analyzed variables, as against alternative hypothesis We reached the following conclusions: i) the
H 1 : ρ ≠ 0 , the presence of correlation, where ρ , is variable Responsibility, positively correlated with SSI,
displays a weak variation and a relatively constant
the Pearson correlation coefficient. If Sig probability influence from one country to another; ii) the variables
associated to the calculated value of t statistic is higher Trust and Imagination, also positively correlated with
than the conventional probability α , Sig > α , the null SSI, have higher values for the countries with high SSI
hypothesis is validated. On the contrary, if Sig < α , we values; iii) the factors Religious and Obedience,
reject the null hypothesis, with assumed α risk. negatively correlated with SSI, have small values for the
countries with high SSI values and vice versa.
Main Results
7.00 SSI
Most people
For the sample of 13 countries, we studied the can be trusted
bivariate correlation between SSI and the identified 6.00 Feeling of
responsibility
instrumental values. Imagination
Table 1 presents, for each analyzed correlation, the 5.00 Religious faith
Obedience
estimated value of Pearson correlation coefficient (r)
and Sig probability associated to the computed value of 4.00
t statistic.
3.00
DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 13. Rokeach, M. (1968), Beliefs, Attitudes & Values: A theory of
Organization and Change, Jossey Bass, San Francisco.
14. Sedlacek, S. and Gaube, V. (2010), “Regions on their way to
The findings confirm our premise, i.e. the existence sustainability: the role of institutions in fostering sustainable
of a positive correlation between several instrumental development at the regional level”, Environment Development
and Sustainability, 12 (1), 117–134.
individual values namely, trust, democracy, 15. Sharp, B. (2002), “Institutions and Decision Making for
independence, tolerance, imagination and sustainable Sustainable Development”, Working Paper, 02/20, New Zeeland
development. Treasury.
This study confirms, once again, that people, with 16. Shepherd, D.A., Kuskova, V. and Patzelt, H. (2009), “Measuring
the values that underlie sustainable development: The
their preferences and values, should be taken into development of a valid scale”, Journal of Economic Psychology,
account when it comes to design sustainable 30 (2), 246–256.
development strategies. The existing differences 17. United Nations General Assembly (2000), “United Nations
between countries from the cultural point of view Millennium Declaration”, Resolution 55/2. Available at
http://www.um.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm.
(including values and preferences) make impossible a 18. United Nations (1996), Human Development Report, New York..
“one size fits all” approach or a top-down approach of 19. Veeman, T.S. and Politylo, J. (2003), “The Role of Institutions
sustainability institutional framework. It is not enough and Policy in Enhancing Sustainable Development and
to have adequate formal institutions. It is not enough to Conserving Natural Capital”, Environment, Development and
Sustainability, 5 (3–4), 317–332.
put rules on the paper and wait for a change in the
direction of sustainability. People have to believe in
those rules; if not, they will be designed in vain and will
remain on the paper.
In a situation of reluctance, it takes a long term
learning and education process to change people
mentality and make them appreciate those values which
enable behavioral adjustments to the institutional
context of sustainability.
References
This paper takes an institutional approach to analyzing the role of education in adopting sustainable development practices. It
assesses the influence of the existing individual values on the capacity of countries to follow sustainable paths and suggests possible
ways to make education a pillar for building a culture of sustainability. Prior research has shown that the ability of a country to
follow sustainable development paths largely depends on the presence of strong formal rules (such as free market, property rights,
contract enforcement etc). However, fewer studies are concerned with the role of informal institutions and the ways these can be
changed in order to underpin sustainable development practices. This paper adheres to the idea that sustainable development is
mainly about individual values and, if not appropriate, these should be changed. We believe that the process of institutional change at
the informal level can happen only through education and learning. The paper provides a combination of qualitative and quantitative
analysis. Data from WVS and EVS databases and from own researches previously conducted in Romania are used, the purpose being
to determine the extent to which the existing values influence sustainable development practices in our country and how they can be
changed through education and learning. The findings confirm the existence of a relationship between individual values and
sustainable development. Also, the Romanians share several negative values which hamper the ability of the country to follow
sustainability paths. However, we believe that only through education and learning people will adopt and praise those values proven
to be a sure path to welfare and progress. The conclusions of the paper may be valuable for a successful development in Romania.
Also they point out that development strategies cannot be designed via a “one size fits all” principle and need to be adapted to the
conditions of different national institutional environments, in order to achieve sustainable development. The added value of the
research derives from the correlation between the existing individual values and the indicators of sustainable development. Besides
contributing to the literature on the role of education in developing institutions underpinning sustainable development, this paper may
provide useful knowledge for higher education and public administration decision-makers.
values on sustainable development in Romania, The relationship between SSI and Most people can
compared to the other countries considered in the be trusted is presented in figure 2. The estimated
analysis. equation for the regression model is
~
y i = 5,356 + 2, 413 x i .
The estimation errors, ei , i = 1, n are deviations
between the observed value of the dependent variable
y i and the estimated value of the dependent variable 7.00
Sweden
~y , meaning e = y − ~y . The estimation errors may Finland
i i i i
6.75
be negative or positive.
Negative errors mean that the estimated value of the 6.50
dependent variable (SSI, in this case) is higher than the France
Netherla
SSI
6.25 Germany
considered factor has a strong influence on sustainable Romania
on sustainable development. The higher the positive 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70
errors are, the weaker the factor influence is. Most people can be trusted
Figure 2 The relationship between SSI and Most people can be trusted
Main Results
According to Student test, the model’s parameters
The relationship between SSI and Most people can be are statically significant ( Sig < α ).
trusted We test the following assumptions on errors: the
The comparative analysis of data regarding SSI and average error is zero (the Student t-Test), the hypothesis
Most people can be trusted, registered for the 13 of normality (the Jarque-Bera test), the
countries in the sample (figure 1) points out the homoscedasticity hypothesis (Spearman nonparametric
following aspects: i) countries such as Great Britain and correlation coefficient test) and autocorrelation (Durbin-
Italy register SSI values below the average value of the Watson test). According to the results obtained the
index and the values registered for Trust are equal or regression model is validated.
above the average. ii) France and Romania display SSI The estimation error corresponding to Romania is
values above or equal to the index average value but e RO = y RO - ~y RO = 6 .10 − 5 .595 = -0.254 .
they register Trust values below this variable’s average.
0.60000
7.00 SSI
Most people 0.40000
can be trusted
6.00
0.20000
5.00
4.00 0.00000
3.00
-0.20000
2.00
-0.40000
1.00
G
Sp rla
Sw
Sl d
C nia
G s
Fr
Ita Br
Fi
Po d
Bu ia
R ria
yp
et
om
re
er
nl
ov
an
ly
ai
la
lg
ed
0.00
he
an
at
m
ru
en
n
a
ce
a
en
an
G e
Sp erla
Sl d
C ani
G s
Fr
Ita t Br
Fi en
Po nd
Bu ia
R ria
y
w
et
yp a
re
om
er
nl
ov
an
ly
ai
la
lg
ed
h
a
a
m
ru
en
n
a
c
an
Sp rla
Sw
Sl d
C nia
G s
Fr
Ita Br
Fi n
Po d
Bu ia
R ria
yp
et
om
re
er
nl
ov
an
ly
ai
la
lg
ed
he
at
an
m
ru
en
n
a
ce
a
e
an
The relationship between SSI and Feeling of
y
responsibility Figure 5 Distribution of the estimation errors of SSI depending on
Responsibility
Boxplot diagram of the distribution of the countries
from the analyzed sample depending on SSI and Feeling The most significant influence of Responsibility on
of responsibility (Figure 4) indicates that SSI shows a sustainable society can be traced in Poland, Cyprus and
greater variation compared with the indicator of Italy, which have negative estimation errors (Figure 5).
Responsibility. Given this aspect, we make the intuitive The weakest influence can be noticed in Sweden and
assumption that the positive estimation errors of the SSI Finland which, like Romania, register positive errors.
based on Responsibility have higher values in the We compute the average range of variation,
countries where SSI has high values (Finland, Sweden).
The negative estimation errors will be recorded for the e ± s = ±0.381, where s is the standard deviation of the
countries with the lowest SSI (Poland and Cyprus). estimation errors, s = 0.381 .
Romania ranks 6th among the countries in the 68.27% of the countries register estimation error
sample from the point of view of SSI and the value of values between (− 0.381; + 0 .381 ) . The error registered
Responsibility indicator is below the average. In this for Romania can be located in this range which means
case, we expect a positive estimation error, that it can be found among the smallest 68.27% values.
Responsibility explaining to a small extent sustainable
society in our country. The relationship between SSI and Imagination
The variable Imagination registers a small value for
Romania and we expect that the estimation error of SSI
depending on Imagination to be a positive one, having a
Feeling of weak influence (Figure 6).
responsibility
7.00 SSI
Imagination
6.00
SSI 5.00
4.00
3.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2.00
S erla
Sw
S d
C ani
G s
Fr
Fi en
P nd
Bu nia
R ria
Ita Br
~
pa
lo
ol
yp a
et
om
re
er
nl
an
ly
lg
ed
a
at
m
in
ru
a
ce
an
y
between SSI and Feeling of responsibility is validated. Figure 6: Distribution of the countries from the analyzed sample depending on
SSI and Imagination
The estimation error for Romania is
e RO = y RO - ~y RO = 6 .10 − 5 .825 = 0.2753 . The
The relationship between SSI and Imagination is
positive error shows that the estimated value of SSI is presented in figure 7. The linear regression equation is:
smaller than its empirical value, meaning that in ~y = 5,382 + 2,831 x . The linear regression model
i i
Romania, Responsibility contributes to a small extent to
between SSI and Feeling of responsibility is validated.
supporting SSI, compared with other countries in the
sample.
146 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
7.00
small extent influenced by Trust, Responsibility and
Finland Sweden
Imagination.
6.75 Based on these research results and corroborating
with the ones obtained in first part of this paper, we can
6.50
Netherla state that the Romanians have not embraced yet the
sustainability values.
SSI
6.00
92.3% of the interviewed Romanians never heard about
Italy
Slovenia Spain
Great Br
the Millennium Development Goals and of the small
5.75 Bulgaria percentage of those who heard about them, the majority
Cyprus
consists in people with University degree, as long as
5.50 Trust, Responsibility and Imagination are by far more
0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 appreciated by educated people (the ones with higher
Imagination educational levels), we believe that education and
Figure 7: The relationship between SSI and Imagination learning are the way towards praising the sustainability
The estimation error for Romania is values. However, education does not only stand for
~
e RO = y RO - y RO = 6 .10 − 5 .852 = 0.248 . As in the cognitive acquisitions; it also stands for modeling
previous situations, the positive error shows that the behaviors. Consequently, the issue of the use of
estimated value of SSI is smaller than its empirical education in enhancing sustainability values has to be
value, meaning that Imagination explains sustainable put in terms of learning how to overcome the mentalities
development to a smaller extent compared to other obstacles and not only introducing Sustainable
countries in the sample. development in classroom curricula.
The positive errors, indicating weak influences of If education and, more important, the individual
the variable Imagination on sustainable society values it “teaches” make the distinction between
indicator, are also registered for Finland, Netherlands traditional and modern individual and Romania is to a
and France. The most significant influence of large extent a traditionalist, reluctant to change society,
Imagination, as an instrumental value, on sustainable then we can state that the surest path towards Romania’
development can be noticed in Great Britain (Figure 8). s modernization is education .
0.60000 References
Sp rla
Sw
Sl d
C nia
G s
Fr
Fi n
Po d
Bu ia
R ria
Ita Br
om
re
er
nl
ov
an
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ai
la
lg
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a
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c
a
e
an
Objectives: International rankings, national rankings, intra-university rankings, intra-departmental rankings are performed
constantly. At present, performance management in higher education is undoubtedly one of the main concerns of most universities. At
international level performance management as part of quality assurance and assessment programmes has proved to be a stressful
system for teachers and has created a culture of mediocrity. The goal of this article is to underline the need for an alternative
paradigm for performance management in higher education, more independent, customer – centred and human oriented.
Prior work: Performance measurement used in higher education is considered in comparison with performance measurement used in
business organisations. Performance management in higher education institutions has its roots in business performance management.
The stressful key-performance-indicators system borrowed from business, very often built according to some “prestigious” external
rankings, has caused the advanced countries to rethink the scope of their higher education system.
Approach, results and implications: For identifying the main differences between business and higher education performance
measurement systems literature review is used. The need for a new paradigm regarding performance measurement and management
within higher education institutions is identified considering the pitfalls which the advanced countries have already met while
implementing business-like performance management systems. This article is a manifest for thinking and rethinking how performance
management is done. Several conclusions are revealed: the interest in meeting external conditions imposed by international rankings
prevails over internal improvement interest; output results interest prevails over process key performance indicators measurement;
the focus on result indicators (task orientation) is rather a stressful factor for teachers and generates demotivation.
Value: this paper underlines the need for changing the focus from international rankings to customer needs, from output to process,
from process to human resources in building performance management and measurement systems within HEIs.
Key words: performance, measurement, management, system, paradigm, higher education
business community. The term “performance measure” satisfaction, strategies, processes, capabilities, and
is vague, historical, and diffuse (Neely 1999). stakeholder contribution. These performance
The management of performance is centred on its measurement models and similar ones, such as Lebas’s
measured values, hence the importance of performance tree (1995), the performance matrix of
measurement above all else (Neely et al. 2003). Quite Keegan et al. (1989) or even the Tableau de Bord
often the measurement of performance has been seen (TdB; Epstein and Manzoni 1998), and the others
simply as a collection of numbers refering to presented in the next table recognize the need for
operational functions. As a result, the metrics should including non-tangible performance indicators in a
have allowed meaningful comparisons. Neely (2005) broad-based metric.
found that the field of performance measurement has Table 1: Some emerging systems for performance measurement
become a broad framework covering disciplines as far Source: Ilieş, Butilcă, Crişan 2009
from each other as management is from medicine, Performance measurement systems References
and approaches
providing “little consensus about its theoretical
Strategic Measurement Analysis and Lynch and Cross 1991;
foundations” (p. 1267). Reporting Technique (SMART) McNair et al. 1990
Schneiderman (1996) stated that measures consist of a Performance Measurement Dixon et al. 1990
broad set of infinite forms of evaluating a firm’s Questionnaire (PMQ)
processes whereas metrics are a subset of the few Results and Determinants Matrix Fitzgerald et al. 1991;
(R&DM) Fitzgerald and Moon 1996
measures actually useful for improving a company’s
efforts. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) Kaplan and Norton 1992,
The accounting, finance, management and economic 1996, 2000
world certainly accept that the financial metrics were Comparative Business Scorecard Kanji 1998; Kanji and
initially the most suitable indicators of comparative (CBS) Moura e Sá 2002
performances among companies, industries and Cambridge Performance Measurement Neely et al. 1996, 2000;
Process (CPMP) Bourne et al.1998, 2000
nations. Secondly, financial performance measures Consistent Performance Measurement Flapper et al. 1996
acted as barometers to signify achievement against Systems (CPMS)
major organizational objectives. Thirdly, they acted as Integrated Performance Measurement Bititci et al. 1997, 1998a, b
motivators for future achievements. By providing a Systems (IPMS)
Dynamic Performance Measurement Bititci et al. 2000
window of the past they were thought to be the Systems (DPMS)
instigators of future success. The fact that they were Integrated Performance Measurement Medori 1998a, b; Medori
cost-based and backward-looking provided little Framework (IPMF) and Steeple 2000
motivation to improve, and in some instances even Performance management in business has evolved
hindered improvement (Kaplan 1986). from shareholders’ focus (financial results) to
The difficulties with financial measures of stakeholders’ focus (considering several aspects of the
performance are many (Eccles 1991): performance is business). All mentioned systems were built in order to
usually isolated to individual units, rather than ensure performance improvement.
measured and interpreted holistically; often, financial Just focusing on results has been considered a very
information used in managerial decision making has no poor method to ensure improvement as it did not
operational relevance, resulting in the failure to provide the tools for improvement. BSC, for example,
understand the processes within the organization; extends the focus from financial indicators
customer focus is usually not considered or (shareholders) to customers and employees (innovation
downplayed by financial indicators (Hill and and learning), but considers the processes improvement
Alexander 2000); bottom-line financial results are as the key to performance. All the other systems
historically focused when the firm should be orientated consider the process approach of business, which is
to the future; cost based accounting metrics are well recognized by ISO 9001:2008 as a key approach to
over half a century old (DuPont method, in Gardner obtaining quality in organisations. The direction of
2004). these management systems is not only from
The problems of traditional finance-based measures shareholders to stakeholders, but also from results to
generated the search for better metrics. Financial processes. We have presented here only the
specialists adopted measures such as activity based measurement systems, but they have been
costing (ABC), economic value added (EVA) (Otley complemented by several management tools used for
2002), triple bottom line (TBL) (Elkington 1997). It attaining the objectives established by these measures.
was the balanced scorecard (BSC) (Kaplan and Norton These tools, presented as quality improvement tools,
1992) that paved the way for an innovative approach to six sigma tools or just improvement tools are useful
measuring and managing performance. This framework both in business and in higher education management.
has four dimensions, including the financial one. The
other three are the internal business perspective, THE PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
customer perspective, and the innovation and learning PARADIGM IN HIGHER EDUCATION
perspective. The Cranfield University response to the INSTITUTIONS
BSC is the Performance Prism (Neely et al. 2003),
which has five facets of performance: stakeholder
Informal Institutions and Sustainable Development. The Role of Education in Developing A Culture if
Sustainability in Romania- Part II 149
Performance management and measurement in earlier • QA modified the primary function of HEIs to
HEIs were based on the master – apprentice relation management rather than learning.
and on trust. Because profit and money were not the Competition becomes international. In addition to the
focus of state-owned HEIs, financial performance external pressure on HEIs activity, determined by
measurement was not used in education. specific governmental quality assurance programmes,
Until the 1970s, performance and quality in higher another external pressure appears: global
education were controlled through legal conditions university rankings (Wende 2008). Increasingly,
(Massy 2004, p.17) when creating institutions, faculties national higher education systems and higher education
or programmes of study. A first movement in institutions are judged by where they stand in global
performance management was the appearance of terms.
quality assurance (QA) in university management. It The most influential global rankings are ARWU
started in the 1970s and 1980s, when it was used as a (Academic Ranking of World Universities) and Times
new management tool in industry by the Japanese Higher Education Supplement. Performance indicators
companies. considered by Times are: quality of research – 60%, the
Massification of higher education systems could be percentage of graduates hired in the field they were
considered one cause of this new trend. The majority of prepared for – 10%, international recognition – 10%,
Western governments decided to create quality quality of teaching – 20%. To establish the rankings
assessment agencies, which were responsible for several means are used: questionnaires from higher
ensuring quality in the more autonomous HEIs. In Cen- education teachers (40% weight), questionnaires from
tral and Eastern Europe, they were introduced in 1990. employers (10% weight), number of citations (20%
In 1998, the Commission of the EU made a weight), student/teacher ratio (20%), international
recommendation to establish and support a network of factors (5% - international students, 5% international
the EU member states quality assurance agencies. This teachers). There are several problems related to this
network, the European Network of Quality Assessment measurement: it was only in 2007 that institutions
Agencies (ENQA), became operational in 2000. stopped evaluating themselves; the citations indicator
The belief was that quality can be assured through considers only three sources: Web of Science
measurement of performance, productivity and (Thomson Reuters); Scopus (Elsevier) and Google
customer satisfaction. A variety of performance Scholar, a disadvantage for social sciences; the quality
monitoring mechanisms have been introduced, from of teaching is reflected only by the student/teacher ratio
research and teaching assessment to quality audits and – the calculation method for this ratio does not mention
publication of quantitative performance indicators whether the number of associated teachers is
(Kezar and El-Khawas 2003). Increasingly, however, considered. Performance indicators considered by
these trends are taking place in the context of ARWU Shanghai are: quality of teaching (number of
globalization which leads to fiercer competition for graduates of the institution winning a Nobel Prize or a
human and financial resources across the borders of Fields Medal - Alumni) – 10%, quality of the
nations and continents. One example of globalization is institution (number of teachers of the institution
the Bologna process which led to the convergence of winning a Nobel Prize or a Fields Medal – Award –
higher education systems in different European 20%) and the most cited authors in 21 fields – HiCi –
countries. 20%), research output (papers published in Nature and
These QA programs have several pitfalls and are Science – N&S– 20%, papers published in Science
contested by teachers from the UK, where these Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index –
mechanisms were first introduced. Morley (2003) and PUB – 20%), performance per capita (PCP – calculated
Hussey (2010) identified several negative effects of as a weighted average of the previous 5 indicators
using these systems: (Alumni, Award, HiCi, N&S, PUB) considering the
• QA is about standards and conformance. These number of teachers).
mechanisms neglect differences and diversity. The Some of the problems with these external rankings are:
TINA (there is no alternative) effect appears in HEIs; • HEIs have a high degree of diversity, which is not
• QA systems could be perceived as power systems reflected by these rankings;
imposed by the state; • Research rankings tend to be biased towards the
• QA is not suitable for education where the the natural and medical sciences and the English language,
human relationship component is very important; neglecting other sciences and languages;
• QA is perceived and used as a defence mechanism. • The international rankings place significant weight
HEIs attaining pre-established KPIs and the on research activities. This element only partially
government will ensure funding. Do these KPIs mean reflects academic activity;
real quality? • These rankings only measure the effects; they don’t
• QA has modified the old academic culture; consider the causes of these values and can rarely be
• QA means excessive regulation, which, combined used for improvement.
with low salaries, makes academy a poor career option; An international survey supported by the OECD
• QA culture of excellence produces mediocrity; programme on Institutional Management of Higher
• QA forced people to hide things; Education (IMHE) has looked into the impact of
150 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
rankings on institutional and academic behaviour. 46% knowledge, dissemination of knowledge, and
of the responding institutions have a formal internal gatekeeper to professions.
mechanism for reviewing their rank (Wende 2008). HEIs should adopt the good things which the business
The main disadvantage of these rankings is that instead systems boast: independence in action and customer
of being driven by competition for consumer needs, focus (stakeholder approach). The academic system is
HEIs are driven by competition for institutional based on trust; the QA programmes should be more
reputation. The institutions which succeed in meeting flexible and should insist on personnel development of
customer needs could not be recognized as such due to HEIs. Within HEIs, mentoring and coaching are
their lack of prestige; considered better QA alternatives than KPIs.
References
1. Eccles, R.G. (1991), The PM manifesto, Harvard Business
CONCLUSIONS Review, 69, pp. 131 –138.
2. Elkington, J. (1997), Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom
Business organizations have built their performance Line of Twenty First Century Business, Capstone Publishing,
Mankato.
management system in accordance with their prime 3. Epstein, M. and Manzoni, J. (1998), Implementing corporate
goal: profit. They can independently choose the main strategy: from tableaux de bord to balanced scorecards,
KPIs and directions for improvement. European Management Journal, 16(2), pp.190-203.
Education is different. The external pressures imposed 4. Gardner, D.L. (2004), Supply chain vector, J. Ross Publishing,
Florida.
by quality assurance agencies and by international 5. Hill, N. and Alexander J. (2000), Handbook of customer
rankings are not considered a progress by the entire satisfaction and loyalty measurement, Gower Publishing
academic world. Company.
The introduction of QA programmes into higher 6. Hussey, T. and Smith, P. (2009), The Trouble with Higher
Education: A Critical Examination of Our Universities,
education is an example of the changing relations Routledge.
between universities and the state. The state has the 7. Ilieş, L., Butilcă, D., and Crişan, E., (2009), From firm
stronger position in this relation. The import of best performance to supply-chain performance: methodologies used
practices for QA from business has not produced at international level, The Proceedings of the international
conference Managerial Challenges of the Contemporary Society,
equally successful results. Teaching and learning must May, 29-30, 2009, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, pp. 130-139.
be motivated by appropriate ideals, not driven by 8. Kaplan, R. (1986). Accounting lag-the obsolescence of cost
managerial desires to achieve economic outputs accounting systems, California Management Review, 28(2),
(Wende 2008). Perfect uniformity is essential when pp.174–199.
9. Keegan, D. et al. (1989), Are your performance measures
manufacturing bricks, but not when educating people. obsolete?, Management Accounting, 70 (12), pp.45-50.
In advanced countries, this managerial movement in 10. Kezar, A. and El-Khawas, E. (2003), Using the performance
education is considered a mistake. dimension: Converging paths for external accountability, Higher
QA incorporated international rankings objectives, education reform. London, Society for Research into Higher
Education, pp. 85-99.
adding new general (and probably wrong) solutions to 11. Lebas, M. (1995), Performance measurement and performance
specific problems. Rankings are recognized as management, International Journal of Production Economics,
improper approaches to academic performance. All 41(1-3), pp.23-35.
rankings are partial in coverage, contain biases and are 12. Massy, W. (2004), Markets in higher education: Do they
promote internal efficiency?, Markets in Higher Education, pp.
purpose-driven. The Centre for Higher Education 13-35.
development in Germany has developed an alternative, 13. Morley, L. (2003), Quality and power in higher education.
replacing the holistic ranking approach with a great Open University Press, McGraw Hill House, Philadelphia.
range of indicator data in specific areas. Rankings 14. Neely, A. (1999), The performance measurement revolution:
why now and what next?, International Journal of Operations
make sense only within defined groups of comparable and Production Management, 19(2), pp. 205-228
institutions. 15. Neely, A. (2005), The evolution of performance measurement
It is recognized that actual quality and performance research: Developments in the last decade and a research
systems do not generate quality: they are output agenda for the next, International Journal of Operations and
Production Management, 25(12), pp. 1264-1277.
oriented; they neglect processes and inputs; they 16. Neely, A. et al. (2003), Towards the third generation of
measure only numbers; measurements do not reflect performance measurement, Controlling, 3/4(2), pp. 61–67.
the market where each university acts; they do not take 17. Neely, A., and Platts, K. (2005), Performance measurement
into account the performance of each university in system design: A literature review and research agenda,
International Journal of Operations and Production
satisfying the needs of the stakeholders. Management, 25(12), pp. 1228- 1263.
Successful HEIs should change the way in which 18. Norton, D. and Kaplan R. (1992), The balanced scorecard:
things are measured and the actual external orientation. measures that drive performance, Harvard Business Review,
The orientation should be customer driven, not 70(1), pp.71-79.
19. Salmi, J. (2009), The challenge of establishing world-class
imposed by the government or by some global universities, World Bank Publications.
rankings. They should remember that HEIs have 20. Schneiderman, A. (1996), Metrics for the order fulfilment
several purposes, not just research (Hussey and Smith process (part 1), Journal of Cost Management, 10, pp. 30-42.
2009, p.78): individual and social development, 21. Wende, M. (2008), Rankings and classifications in higher
education: A European perspective, Higher Education:
preservation of freedom, creativity, repositories of Handbook of Theory and Research, XXIII, pp. 49-71.
STATISTICAL METHODS TO QUANTIFY THE STOCHASTIC RELATIONS THAT
CHARACTERIZE THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN ROMANIA
Nicolae ISTUDOR 1,Silvia Elena CRISTACHE 2,Rodica GOGONEA3,Lavinia ŢOŢAN4,Georgiana ŞTEFAN5, Constantin
Viorel MIHAI6
1
Professor, PhD,Academy of EconomicStdies, Bucharest, nicolae.istudor@ase.ro
2
Professor, PhD, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, csilva2005@yahoo.com
3
Assistant professor, PhD, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, manuela.gogonea@gmail.com
4
Assistant, PhD Candidate, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, laviniatotan@yahoo.com
5
Assistant, PhD Candidate, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, stgeorgiana@yahoo.com
6
PhD, Bucharest University, constantionviorelmihai@yahoo.fr.
Abstract:
The progress report on the national education system in 2005, produced by MEC, in most European countries, personnel costs have a share of
over 70% of total expenditures on education. Interested in 2001 and 2005 under the same ratio of personnel expenses decreased share of total
expenditures on education, this being determined by increasing the share of material expenditures in education. Also under MEC CNFIPS and
international statistics show that in all European countries, costs per student increase with education level and average cost per student of recent
years is a dynamic upward, one plausible explanation of this phenomenon is increasing funds allocated to education and decrease the total school
population.
the individual to decode the social codes, to create
1.General considerations on the education system in explanations for the actions they observe, the suitability
Romania of the context (the fitness function - Albrecht, 2005), is
a major concern of contemporary socio-humanistic,
while the whole civilization is based on an ideal time
A challenge at the moment is the addressing new needs
in terms of quality of higher education in the context of success (Rigaud, 1999). Also active population in
Europe lives in a complex and diverse world of socially,
European space for higher education achievement and
politically, culturally, ethnically and linguistically.
alignment of the Romanian system for higher education
Education in general, is how to effect during learning
quality standards imposed by the European Commission
and understanding and adaptation of new European
through the implementation of the Bologna Process. The
report on the status of the national education system in context approach. So education and training systems
2005, prepared by the MEC in most European countries, continue to be found in the process of transformation.
For this European Union member states will have to
personnel costs have accounted for over 70% of total
adopt measures within the competence of state
expenditure for education. Between 2001 and 2005
authority, to identify coherent strategies and practical
decreased as compared to the same share of the total
measures to facilitate the development of learning
personnel costs for education, this being determined by
increasing the share of expenditure in education throughout working life of individuals, both at
materials. MEC also under CNFIPS and international individual and institutional and in public and private
spheres of life. It aims to harmonize higher education
statistics reveal that in all European countries, the cost
systems to achieve, by 2010, a European Area of Higher
per pupil increase with education level and average cost
Education.
per student last year has a dynamic upward, one
plausible explanation of this phenomenon is increasing
funds allocated to education and decrease the total 2. Analysis of statistical distributions to characterize
school population. Also, National Institute of Statistics the evolution of higher education in Romania during
in its official publications and publications Statistical 2001-2009
Yearbook of Romania and the Educational System in
Romania with Higher Education points out that higher An accurate analysis of the levels of the population of a
education is an upward trend of average duration and country must first know the political, economic, social
increased its attendance rate Specific coverage of the and demographic. As a result of systematic statistical
population of all ages, which reflects the average data on education indicators derived were determined,
duration of attendance and the level of education. which enable a first form of the higher education system
Also according to these publications issued by INS is thus: • Real GDP economics Average annual real
between all levels of education, private alternative is GDP in the economy during 2001-2009 was 81,212.5
best represented in higher education that occurred after million euro with a representation that exceeds the
1990, registering a spectacular evolution. Also threshold of 35% is 44.72%, due to a high of 94,941
supported by J.M. Conference Barroso, in 2005, the million euro dispersal makes asymmetry coefficient
European Parliament, presents education as a successful value of 1.10 million euro to show us that the average
investment. Issues of success, depending on individual GDP overcomes median value of 70,450.5 million euro.
factors such as intelligence, the ability to adapt • Real GDP education -Follow the same distribution as
(Laughton, 1990, Gardner 1983, 1999), emotional real GDP economy with an average of 2537.5 million
intelligence (Goleman, 1995), narrative intelligence euro in the period 2001-2009, indicating quite
(Blair and Mayer, 1997, Elliott et al., 1998) which helps significant (coefficient of variation 47.64%> 35%) as
152 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
the amplitude variation is 3447 million, the asymmetry 3.Analysis of dependencies between variables that
is negative and low (0.54). There are times in analysis influence and characterize the educational system
the real GDP value of education was located above the
million Euro in 2377 and the period in which GDP In the second stage of the statistical approach are
showed a lower value of the central value of 2377 characterized quantitatively and qualitatively the main
million euro. dependent variables mentioned above. Thus the analysis
of complex connections and interdependence of
• Real average net monthly salary in education economic and social phenomena, elementary statistical
Macroeconomic indicators dependent on real GDP in methods are often inadequate. The connections between
education, the economy's real GDP and the total school economic phenomena of mass that is characterized by
population in education at all levels, recorded an one or another phenomenon varies under the influence
average of 227.8 euro in the period 2001-2009, of a complex of factors, some of them crucial, and
unrepresentative because the value of the coefficient of others of secondary importance. In most of the links
homogeneity (55, 68%) is high, this because in 2005- between causal link am phenomena based on cause and
2009 the real value of average net monthly salary has effect relationship. Links to statistical analysis is
doubled year 2005, tripled in 2006 and 2007. Real necessary first to identify linkages, identifying and
wages in 2009 average net monthly amount of education prioritizing their influence, followed by the analysis of
accounted for 418 euro maximum. This is confirmed by the forms that show causal relations and statistical
relatively high positive value and the asymmetry measurement of the degree of connection. Multifactorial
coefficient (0.85). ANOVA also allows analysis of the indicators
characterizing tourism activity due to several factors and
• Total school population education at all levels - default comparison typical values in order to determine
Average total school population education is 4.421 whether there are significant differences between them.
million persons per year, indicating very representative • Factors Influencing the net average monthly
confirmed the value of the coefficient of uniformity of nominal wage in education Analyzing the average net
1.81% which is noted and the low value and positive nominal monthly wage developments in education
asymmetry coefficient of 0.58, because period 2004- during 2001-2009, according to causal variables: real
2009 was a total school population education as 4.421 GDP evolution education, development economics real
million people. GDP, the total school population education at all levels
following results were obtained regression function
Multiple linear regression model using multifactorial
• Population of Higher Education -Average annual
value of higher education population was 719 thousand
yˆ x1, x2, x3 = 3047,05 + 0,233x1 + 0,0029x2 + 0,695x3
persons with reduced significance (coefficient of Intensity of the relationship between variables of this
variation of 18.05%). Maximum range of variation of model is measured by multiple correlation ratio whose
325 thousand persons [907 in the 2001/2002 2007/2008- value is 0.99, the relationship between variables is
582] is low, leading to a small and positive asymmetry strong and direct. Determined coefficient of variation
(CAS = 0.52). shows that 98% of net average monthly nominal wage
of education is explained by the influence of educational
• Population over 12 years -Population over 12 years variables real GDP, real GDP national economy, the
with an average of 4.649 million persons per year ahead total school population education at all levels, as
of the total school population education, that dispersal is adjusted R showing, but in view of number of degrees
modest spread in the area of 330 thousand people, very of freedom. Deviation of error (Standard Error) = 30.23
high uniformity (Vx = 7.10%) after this indicator where this indicator is 0, means that all points are on the
analysis. Asymmetry is small and positive (CAS = right of regression. Checking the accuracy of regression
0.22). model multifactorial and multiple correlation ratio
criterion "Fisher" leads to the following conclusion:
because the probability Sig. F is less than 0.05
• Degree of coverage in education, all school-age multifactorial regression model is valid, with a
population-Between 2001-2009 the average coverage significance threshold of 0.05. Intercept is free time and
degree in education was 75.65% / year with a is 3047.05 which is the point where explanatory
coefficient of variance not exceed the 5% (Vx = 4.20%) variables are 0 so the net average monthly nominal
and a low asymmetry as for population over 12 years wage of education that would exist if educational real
(CAS = 0.19). Also, higher education is an upward trend GDP, real GDP national economy, the total school
of the average duration of attendance and its specific population education at all levels should be 0. Member
growth rate of coverage of the population of all ages. Since t = 1.71 and p-value = 0.1608 means that the
Increase gross enrollment rate in higher education coefficient is not valid for a significance level of 0.05
reflects the average duration of attendance and the level (probability> 95%).
of education. Confidence interval in this case is: -1876.70 <α
<7970.81. B1 coefficient is 0.233 which means that real
Statistical methods to quantify the stochastic relations that characterize the educational system in romania 153
GDP increased by one million euro education, some freedom. Deviation of error (Standard Error) = 0.39
with a measure of net average monthly nominal wage where this indicator is 0, means that all points are on the
increase with education 0,0,233 ROL / employee. right of regression. Checking the accuracy of regression
Member Since t = 2.29 and p-value = 0.030> α means model multifactorial and multiple correlation ratio
that the coefficient is not valid for a significance level of criterion "Fisher" leads to the following conclusion:
0.05. Confidence interval in this case is -0.048 <α because the probability Sig. F is less than 0.05
<0.515. B2 coefficient is 0.0029 which means that the multifactorial regression model is valid, with a
national economy with real GDP growth of one million significance threshold of 0.05. Intercept is free time and
euro net average monthly nominal wage of education is 103.38 which is the point where explanatory variables
will increase by 0.0029 MDL-employee. Member Since are 0 so the degree of coverage in the education of
t = 1.025, and p-value = 0.3631> α means that the school-age population that would exist if real GDP
coefficient is not valid for a significance level of 0.05. education, population over 12 years, people of higher
Confidence interval in this case is -0.0049 <α <0.010. education should be 0 .
B3 coefficient is 0.695 which means that the total Member Since t = 12.46 and p-value = 0.002 means that
school population growth in education at all levels with the coefficient is valid for a significance level of 0.05
a thousand people the average net nominal monthly (probability> 95%). Confidence interval in this case is:
salary of education will increase by 0.695 Euro / person. 80.36 <α <126.41. B1 coefficient is -0.00050 which
Since they can be inferred that the influence of the total means that real GDP increased by one million euro
school population education and education to real GDP education, is a unit degree of coverage in education
is higher than real GDP national economy. population school age will decrease by 0.00050%. B2
Multiple correlation between average net coefficient is -0.0073 which means that the population
nominal monthly salary outcome variable real GDP growth of over 12 thousand people with a degree in
and educational developments, changes in real GDP education coverage of school-age population will
national economy, the total school population decrease by 0.0073%. B3 coefficient is 0.010 which
education at all levels as factorial variables means that the population growth of higher education
Regression Statistics with a thousand people, the education level of coverage
Multiple R 0.998 of school-age population will increase by 0.010%.
R Square 0.997
Adjusted R Multiple correlation between the degree of coverage
Square 0.99 in the education of school-age population outcome
Standard Error 30.23
variable and real GDP evolution education,
Obs. 8 population over 12 years, people in higher education
Coeff. P-value Lower 95% Upper 95% as factorial variables
Intercept 3047,05 0.16089 -1876.70 7970.81 Regression Statistics
PIB invat.
corectat 0,233 0.0830 -0.04 0.5152 Multiple R 0.99
PIB ec R Square 0.99
nationala Adjusted R
corectat 0.0029 0.3631 -0.0049 0.010 Square 0.98
Pop scolara Standard
totala in Error 0,39
invatamânt 0,695 0.1500 -1.7817 0.3905 Obs. 8
• Factors influencing the degree of coverage in Lower Upper
education, all school-age population Coeff. P-value 95% 95%
Analyzing developments in education degree coverage Intercept 103,38 0.0002 80,36 126,41
population schoolchildren during 2001-2009, according PIB
to causal variables: real GDP evolution education, învăţământul
population over 12 years, population education, the corectat -0.00050 0.3758 -0.0019 0.0009
following results were obtained by multiple regression Populaţia
peste 12 ani -0,0073 0.0065 -0.011 -0,0034
function using multifactorial linear regression model Populaţia
yˆ x1, x2, x3 = 103,38 − 0,00050x1 − 0,0073x2 + 0,010x3 invăţământul
superior 0,010 0.0728 -0,0015 0,0029
Link between the model intensity variables measured by 4. Implications and conclusions
multiple correlation ratio whose value is 0.99, suggests Presentation framework of the Romanian education was
that the relationship between variables is strong and aimed at identifying general features of Romanian
direct. Determined coefficient of variation shows that education in order to determine areas where you can
98% degree of coverage in education population school take steps to improve the quality of Romanian education
age is explained by the influence of educational system. Given the observation that Romania has the
variables real GDP, population over 12 years, the lowest level of expenditure on education as percentage
population in higher education and R showing as of GDP, accounting for only 3-4% compared with an
adjusted, but in view The number of degrees of average of 5.22% calculated for the remaining EU
154 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
members, our recommendation would be to percentage enrollment rate in higher education, whose trend can
increase spending by at least 5% in the immediate justify hope for a change upward evolution.
aftermath. Resources must be directed towards
equipping faculty with laboratories containing References
equipment performance art, able to encourage the
pursuit of practical application courses. Education can 1.Anuarul statistic 2005, Capitolul 3, Piaţa forţei de muncă – datele
help to improve the quality of their work, but can lead to Anexei 6 şi Anexei 7 – http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/pdf/ro/cap3.pdf,
jobs for new graduates. 18 Aprilie 2007
Participation rate of population aged 15-24 years at all 2.Raport asupra stării sistemului naţional de învăţământ 2005
3.ŞERBAN, DANIELA, Statistica pentru studii de marketing si
levels of education (ISCED 1-6) ranks Romania last administrarea afacerilor
place compared to other European countries. However, 4.BLALOCK, H. M., Social Statistics, 2nd Edition, New York, Mc.
the gross school enrollment in all levels of education has Graw Hill, 1979
made some progress in recent years. Upward trend is 5.BOONE, P. KURTZE, R., Unabriged statistics, New York, Hartcourt
Brace, Colledge, 1992
visible both when the female population and male, 6.GUJARATI, DAMODAR, Essentials of Econometrics, Mc. Graw
maintaining differences by sex, for the female Hill, 2006
population during the entire reference period. The 7.http://www.leidenuniv.nl/fsw/verduin/stathist/1stword.htm
increase rate of participation at all levels of education is 8.http://members.aol.com/jeff570/stat.html
9.Raport asupra stării sistemului naţional de învăţământ 2005
primarily a consequence increase the participation in Bucureşti
higher education. The average duration of education 10.Communiqué of the Conference of European Ministers
attendance increased by one time last year, reaching Responsible for Higher Education, Bergen, 19-20 May 2005
15.16 years. However, Romania continues to be ranked 11.Focus on the Structure of Higher Education in Europe 2004/05
12.National Trends in the Bologna Process, EURYDICE The
lower than other European countries. Increased duration information network on education in Europe
of schooling is primarily the result of specific growth
rate of enrollment in higher education. Resources must
be directed towards equipping faculty with laboratories
containing equipment performance art, able to
encourage the pursuit of practical application courses.
Also regarded that some funds should be targeted at
financing foreign students study in order to inspiration
of practical methods used in Western educational
systems. In conclusion, although Romania is still
deficient in Chapter efficiency in higher education, there
are some indicators such as average cost per student and
HANDLING THE QUALITY PRESSURE IN UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
Mihai KORKA1
1
Professor dr. Academy of Economic Studies – Bucharest
Quality pressure is a new concept used in university management in order to underline the central role of quality assurance of study programs in a
more and more crowded competition among higher education providers for students and for resources. The article discusses the learning
environment that generated the quality pressure in the European Higher Education Area, as well as the external and internal dimensions of the
concept. Concluding remarks refer to the quality management tools that could assist study programs’ providers in improving the package of tools as
well as the impact of the internal quality assessment in higher education institutions.
Key words: quality culture, quality pressure, quality management of study programs, learning outcomes, assessment of individual learning
achievements
The approach of quality in university education - The dramatic change of the dialogue between
has undergone a series of changes in the attempt to teacher and students as access to modern tools
better respond to the expectations of the society. In the of information and communication is becoming
19th century and in the first half of the 20th century, one wider and cheaper from childhood on,
of the basic missions of universities was to provide the - The variable balance between teaching and
elite of the society, to educate people for the laic and research in university endeavor and the
religious administration of the country and for public emergence of research intensive higher
services. In the public eye, universities which were fully education institutions,
or partly supported by national authorities were offering - The steady increase of international co-
quality education and training to their students. Quality operation among universities and international
of higher education was a defining value for the mobility of students and academic staff.
university and quality management was an intrinsic
aspect of providing each study program. In an elite All these changes of the last 50 to 60 years had
higher education, quality and morality of the teaching o strong impact on the quality management in higher
staff were guaranteeing the quality of the learning education. In their competition for students and
outcomes. resources, the various higher education providers have
After the 2nd world war social, scientific, adopted different attitudes and strategies to attract
cultural, political and economic environment have students. The consequences are easily observable in
dramatically changed in each country. On the other many higher education systems in various countries.
hand, the effective functioning of the newly established Well established universities tried to preserve their
international organizations induced the first steps tradition of quality education. Yet, for many new
towards what we currently understand by globalization1. providers, quality was a secondary issue. Commercial,
Under these and many other development drivers of the financial or personal interests prevailed to quality when
modern and post-modern society, we witnessed: strategies on the provision of higher education were
- The massification of higher education in most discussed.
of the developed and emerging countries, As transparent means and ways to guarantee
which goes alongside with the increase of the the quality inside each providing unit were missing and
number of education providers, in order to preserve an acceptable level of quality in the
- The diversification of public and private higher national higher education systems, in the late 1970’s and
education institutions in terms of vision and in the next decades external watch entities were set up.
mission assumed to serve the society, Ministries and/or accreditation bodies took over the
- The rapid development of higher education not responsibility to guarantee from outside the providing
only as a public service but also as a tradable units the quality of higher education. In the best case,
service in the local market and in cross border this kind of external quality assurance managed to
transactions, regulate the market entry of the new providers, but not
their conduct after starting to operate. The rigid
verification rules have frequently generated a
standardization of the educational offer, using
1
In essence, globalization aims at ironing out quantitative standards for the input factors and lists of
differences inherited from the past and mapping out a disciplines, while neglecting contents of the disciplines
common future at world-wide scale. The future of and quality of the teaching and learning.
mankind cannot be conceived outside the desire to build As Jürgen Kohler recently observed: “Quality”
bridges between the local needs and the global demands of higher education is challenged by the freedom of
of the global village, as McLuhan put it. teaching and learning and the very essence of
innovation brought about by the unimpeded integration
of teaching and research may be jeopardized if and
156 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
when study programs are put into straightjackets of immediate perspective of the cohorts of young people
program templates, standardization, and external that graduate from schools and universities. In the given
surveillance which might mutate into censorship in the circumstances, even ARACIS as an external evaluation
name of “quality assurance”. (Kohler, 2009). agency of the higher education providers will have to
There are two ways of avoiding the widen its perspective and rethink some of its quality
standardization of teaching end learning programs. First, standards. Initial formal education programs at
universities should take into account the specific needs Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral level will remain the
of the region and/or of the country that hosts the core of the institutional evaluation, but the further
institution. Current and future labor market education at the level of tertiary education cannot be
expectations, local and regional public administration ignored when it comes to evaluate a higher education
needs, cultural and social life improvement/revival provider. The outgoing point is, of course, to design the
needs should be at the origins of the design of study new training programs in accordance with the quality
programs. This attempt to bring the standards set by the university itself.
local/regional/country specificity into the content of the The market puts its pressure on the successful
educational offer should not neglect, of course, the delivery of initial and further education programs in
progress registered in modern knowledge and terms of quality and flexibility as:
understanding, the dynamics of the knowledge driven - The number of local and international
society and economy, the impact of the new providers of similar programs is increasing:
communication and information techniques in problem - The number of young people interested to start
solving and active involvement in social life. its tertiary education is decreasing;
On the other hand, the university can and - The information related to the educational
should create that student centered learning offer, the learning outcomes and the job
environment, which invite to explore and promote the perspective of graduates is becoming more and
personal talents of each and every student. The use of denser.
modern information and communication techniques, the In other words, market atomicity improves the
liberalization of interpersonal relations and the impact market transparency for those interested to enroll in a
of the globalizing world demand an increased capacity new study program, but generates new challenges for
of each individual not only to assume independent the providers. The attractiveness of the offered
decision-making but also to accept interconnectedness, study/training programs has to be guaranteed via
interaction with peers, teamwork, etc. transparent information by each provider. And
“New skills for new jobs” – a document information on quality of the provision makes the
prepared on request of the European Commission and difference.
released in February 2010 underpins some critical This is why in recent debates the quality
aspects and challenges of the future of education in pressure is in the very center of the discussion. This
Europe: Upgrading, adapting and widening the skills new concept has an external dimension, as each
portfolio of individuals through education “is a real university competes with the other providers active in
“win, win” for all – for the economy, for society, for the same market niche. Good quality has to be
employers and, of course, for individuals themselves. In convincingly demonstrated by the provider to the
each and every single EU country, unemployment rates potential learners. The cheapest way of making public
systematically vary with qualification levels. … And how good a study program is consists in posting on the
yet, it is an inconvenient truth that, despite progress in university website appropriate information concerning:
recent years, much of Europe is still not sufficiently - Learning benefits in terms of outcomes;
skilled. …Another major challenge is to ensure that - Internal quality management efficacy, and
people have the right skills. … During the last decade - The labor market entry success rate of the
education and training systems in Europe have become recent graduates.
more relevant and more responsive to the needs of Quality pressure has also its internal dimension
society; but labor market mismatches still exist and inside each university. Higher education institutions and
create the painful and wasteful situation of both skill the members of the academic communities have their
shortages and skill gaps co-existing with unemployment own responsibility in assuring in a transparent and
and economic and social exclusion.” systematic manor the quality of the learning contents
The negative demographic trends and the and outcomes as well as the quality of research related
increasing old-age dependency ratio add complementary to education.
concerns related to the need to adapt and to become The accountability of the higher education
flexible in offering initial and further education in terms providers cannot be replaced by external monitoring or
of design of the educational packages, recognition of control. Quality assurance agencies play a widely
prior learning, assessment of learning outcomes, etc. recognized role in improving quality management,
Only a pro-active, innovative attitude of universities transparency, certification of good practice, etc. But the
accompanied by appropriate tools of quality main actor and responsible for quality assurance
management for each and every new type of provision remains the higher education institution itself together
of study and training programs could limit the with the members of the academic community.
Handling The Quality Pressure in University Management 157
As the 2008 European Quality Assurance One of the outcomes of the research project on
Forum revealed, it is the interaction between the “Quality Education for Labor Market”2 suggests
education providers and the quality assurance agencies universities to improve the syllabi of the disciplines.
that best respond to the new forms of accountability, These documents should offer to students and members
particularly quality of learning outcomes and rankings. of the teaching staff of the university full information
In improving accountability, the European Standards concerning the contents of the discipline accompanied
and Guidelines (ENQA, 2005), the cyclical peer-review by references from the local and international literature,
of quality assurance agencies and the establishment of and by learning objectives to be reached during the
the European Quality Assurance Register Committee courses, seminars, labs and project works. It should also
were leading in recent years to: provide clear information on learning outcomes in terms
- Profesionalisation of the quality assurance of knowledge, skills and transversal competences and
agencies, the way the personal achievement of these outcomes are
- Development of a variety of internal quality individually assessed during the teaching and learning
assurance packages and processes in higher process (Korka, 2009).
education institutions and Currently, Romanian universities prepare to
- Involvement of students in quality assurance register their Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs
processes (QA Forum, 2008). in the National Register of Qualifications in Higher
What remains insufficiently involved in the Education – RNCIS. Full documentation for each study
quality management process are the other stakeholders, program is developed in consortia reuniting higher
and mainly the employers and of the professional education providers and representative employers with
associations. Their role in the quality management of the professional assistance offered by the experts of the
higher education should not be reduced to expressing Romanian Agency for Qualifications in Higher
opinions and judgments on the quality of graduates from Education and Partnership with the Social and
the labor market’s expectations and needs perspective. Economic Environment – ACPART. There are two grids
They should also accept to invest time, intelligence and used in the standardized description of the
money in the design and implementation of the qualifications. The first one presents the learning
study/training programs. outcomes, the second one captures the coverage of
When linking quality of higher education knowledge, skills and transversal competences by
expressed in terms of learning outcomes to disciplines involved in the study program.
accountability of the providers, a new successful quality The project on “Quality Education for Labor
culture has to be gradually developed in each university Market” provided the coverage of the last piece of the
and in each of its institutional constituencies. It is package for an in depth quality management of the
grounded in the mutual engagement of all persons active study programs: an improved syllabus for each
in the campus: teaching staff members, researchers, discipline involved in the delivery of the study program.
administrative staff and students. Performing learning Having displayed the package of tools is just a
outcomes require new approaches to teaching and prerequisite of a sound quality management. The
learning, improvement of the physical learning systematic and appropriate use of the tools, the
environments corresponding to new learning objectives transparence of the assessments’ outcomes and the
and academic staff development in order to ensure an continuing debate on outcomes with students, members
effective amalgamation of resources in order to get the of the teaching staff, alumni and employers of the
most competitive and attractive learning and living graduates aiming at improving the existing quality
conditions for students. represent the single way to handle the quality pressure.
Content standards and learning outcomes have
been among the drivers of the Bologna Process (Figel’,
2009) from the start and the Lisbon Agenda enhanced 2
significantly their role. Quality of learning outcomes, For the benefit of ARACIS – the Romanian Agency
qualifications framework and employability of for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, a research
graduates are currently among the key topics discussed project on „Quality Education for Labor Market”
in the European Higher Education Area. aiming at the improvement of the internal and external
ARACIS, alike most of the quality assurance evaluation methodology of study programs and of their
agencies in Europe launched a review of the components has been developed during 2008-2009. The
methodology concerning the educational efficacy of the research covered fours fields of study: Computer
study programs. On their side, universities are more and Engineering and Information Technology,
more interested to implement new tools in the quality Communication Sciences, Law and Mechanical
management of the programs they offer in the context of Engineering. Content standards at study field level have
a glowing competition for students and complementary been designed and tested as an efficient means to
resources. increase employability of the bachelor degree graduates.
Subsequent recommendations were addressed to
ARACIS as well as to universities aiming at improving
quality management criteria, standards and performance
indicators.
158 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
References
This paper is showing some findings concerning the trends of the real quality in the Romanian higher educational system. Based on an
Internet research and internal statistical data analysis as well, during the last decade, the authors are trying to emphasize the main
reasons of the identified trends, and the means needed to be used further, in order to avoid a major fall down of both the Romanian
educational system and economic development. The specific demands for EU integration of Romania, the Bologna Process, the level
of business investments, the quality of economic development, and the local and regional policies, are only a few challenges and – at
the same time – related constraints to be overcome by the Romanian higher educational system. Finally, the authors are trying to
identify the main causes that can explain the reasons of the present low regional development despite the obvious existing high level of
training of human capital.
there are, more and more, voices which start, more and allow the educational infrastructure to catch-up, and,
more louder, to signal that the entire national most unfortunately, lots of resources were wasted in
educational system is already in crisis, and, if nothing unnecessary investments. Now, due to the present
good will be quickly done, its future can become much economic crisis the lack of financial resources is higher
worst, near to the bankruptcy [2]. than any time before. Despite other existing factors of
Since those voices are coming from employers, influence, the under-financing alone is enough to deny
graduates, students, and teaching staff – in, precisely, to any Romanian university the access in Top 500 [7].
that order – a realistic, unpartisan, and deep analysis of Never mind, the under-financing factor is not alone and,
the system become unavoidable. perhaps, is not even the first one.
For this very purpose we will try to summarize
official recorded opinions - of different national and 2.3 The University Teaching Staff and Students/
international specialized institutions – by taken into Graduates Professional Competences and
account seven distinct issues. Motivation
2.1 The Romanian Higher Education as a Priority of Let is start with just one statistics: between 2000 and
Each Government 2003, in Romania, were graduated 3.000 Ph.D. That can
be good. But, if the Romanian nation is not plenty of
The education, claimed such as a national priority by geniuses, than that is wrong. In the university year
each Romanian Government – next by the health and 2008-2009, in all Romanian universities were almost
culture sectors – is, nowadays, a sick patient; the other one billion students. A real mass training approach.
two mentioned sectors are in a same condition. Being And, they say, the quantity is something else from
involved in the educational system over 300.000 people quality. However, the best official expectations for the
is the largest from all Romanian public sectors. During graduates to find a proper job were between 15% and
the past two decades, they were trying, from time to 25%. That, before the economy decline. So, what
time, to do infrastructure investments and to increase the professional motivation can have many students, if they
wages. Concerning the overall educational system, each have little chances to find a job on the labor market?
Minister has came with his/her own ideas, starting the Also, if we have in view that in the past 10 years, almost
management mandate by changing or, sometimes, even all Romanian universities gave up to the admission
canceling the prior work of the predecessor. Also, exams and the reality of pretty unattractive wages level
sometimes, few ministers were able to build something in educational system, then it is understandable if the
and to put to work an idea. Sometimes, something, universities has grate difficulties to find out and to keep
changing, canceling, can be considered as the main in system well prepared specialists for their own
descriptors of most attempts from the past 20 years. A teaching staff. Going further, deep down, also the
single, but relevant, example: since 1995, when the quality of the high school graduates decreased [8]. Of
National Education Law became operational, were course, they will be the future students from Romanian
operated over 100 changes. Just these days, the present universities, and, after a while, maybe even professors
Minister of Education will promote a new law, which is who will teach next students. An undesired loop!
already highly disputed. But he has decided that – for
such an important law - a couple of weeks for the public 2.4 The Romanian Higher Education Quantity and
debates are more than enough. There are several gains, Diversity Development
like the university autonomy, but, overall, the
unpredictability is a central feature in the Romanian In Romania – for 22 billion inhabitants – there are
educational system. Worst, until now, there was not a
more universities, state and private ones put together,
vision, a long-term strategy concerning the education
than in Germany, a country about five times larger.
[8]. In fact, still there is not! So, in statements, the
Added to that, the per-capita financing system and the
education was a priority for 20 years. In reality, it was a overall and, already, the chronically university sub-
constant ever-changing process without any vision. financing, have lead to just one result: a frenzy rush for
students. That means two things: to accept everyone as
2.2 The Romanian Higher Education Financing student, and to try hard to keep them all until the
graduation. That last thing, next by the university
Since 1990, Romania had annually financial autonomy, is another reason for - more than necessary -
difficulties. By consequence, the educational system curriculum diversity: to avoid losing students by using
suffered, at its turn, by a consistent under-financing. the ECTS. The ECTS procedures were formally
During the years 2004-2008 Romania recorded its first implemented, but not for a practical use [6]. So, the
economic growth. That made possible in 2006 to insert educational quantity, in Romania, still is waiting to be
in the National Education Law the Government transformed in educational quality. And… is waiting.
obligation to ensure a financing of 6% from the gross
internal revenue. But this rule was really applied just for 2.5 The Romanian Higher Education and World
one year. Of course, one year of well financing does not Performances Recognition
Handling The Quality Pressure in University Management 161
There are voices – from officials or not – that Romanian universities will be able to (re-)search only to
emphasizes the Romanian students’ successes at find out what the other have researched.
international Olympics and different professional
contents, the Romanian graduates employed in 4. CONCLUSIONS …
multinationals and international prizes earned at world
innovation competitions. But there are many other
… for the Romanian higher educational system, as it
voices which are saying that are, in fact, just oasis of
concerns its real quality trend, just three words: is going
excellence in a sea of mediocrity, since under 0,5% of down. But, it is not all lost for good. There is hope
the students and graduates are able to prove themselves because there still are resources: human resources.
as international professional values. Here it seems to be
There are also many good rules and regulations, but
very difficult to set a crystal clear verdict. However, one
they are not properly applied by the existing public
more fact can make the difference. There is not any
bodies (government, minister of education, ARACIS,
Romanian university in the top 500 [4], [5]. Not a single
universities themselves etc.).
one. And, now, there is a new major player on the
educational “battleground”, which can be successfully
2.6 The Romanian Higher Education and the used to set a new positive trend: the crisis itself. They
National Market Competition say when something goes well do nothing. Or,
nowadays, the entire educational system runs from
Not very much left to be said after the mentioned wrong to worst. So, now is the time to do a lot. A good
issues at §2.4. There is a Quality Law for Education management has the opportunity to prove itself efficient
(since 2006), also a public institution to apply it only when a crisis strikes. We have to give up from the
(ARACIS) and one major result: 2/3 from the 39 traditional principle that seems to guide us: many and
assessed universities received the “highest degree of poor.
trust” for their performances, and no one was punished. Several measures ought to be taken:
So, the higher educational system is running well, since I. First of all, a well and explicit vision development for
almost all universities are so good. Added to that, the the Romanian education for next 20 years, vision and
increased universities number, their geographical correspondent strategies which will be set by scientists,
spreading out and the increasing approach of the members of Romanian Academy, university
distance learning system, have lead to a very low representatives, business environment representatives,
mobility of candidates. They are choosing just the educational unions, non-governmental organizations,
educational offer from the most “comfortable” – from but starting from the existing educational policies in EU
many unprofessional points of view – university [2], [6]. and into a public debate process [6];
There are exceptions, but the rule seems to underline II. A real and correct assessment of any Romanian
that pretty every university has the chance to be the university, evaluation made by joint-teams of auditors,
“king of the jungle” in its geographic area. So, when Romanian and European [8];
each university controls its own “hunting ground”, who III. A public communication of Romanian university
needs competition any longer? rankings, available to every potential candidate/student
and possible university partner from Romania or abroad;
2.7 The Romanian Higher Education and the IV. A four-year governmental program concerning the
International Research and Cooperation financing shifting criteria towards – not every single
university from Romania – but only to the best
It is notorious the fact that Romania, since 2007, is a universities, that prove themselves able to use highly
efficient the public funds, and at the same time, the
financial contributor to the European Union. For the
amount received will be accordingly to the university
past two years we have one of the lowest rate of
educational and research performances [6].
absorption of European founds, which are available to
us. At the university level the status is a little of bit All these measures are well known, in the past
better. However, the partially obsolete infrastructure, the several years individuals and organizations, separately
or together, becoming more and more vocal, trying to
chronic under-financing of research, and the present
signal that the crisis – in the Romanian educational
lack of governmental founds for projects co-financing,
system - approaches, but also to make the Romanian
will lead to a decreasing involvement of the Romanian
officials aware that there are also solutions. A long and
universities in international partnerships and research
co-operation programs [6], [8]. At the moment, already, deep crisis in education is a guarantee that the economic
many universities have to face increasing difficulties to crisis never ends. A poor skilled labor force and
unprepared specialists means low productivity and lack
keep their involvements in international research
of innovation [8]. No progress.
programs which are in progress. Therefore, many
This paper can be considered, by someone, as
scientists and young researchers, even fresh graduates,
mostly full of criticism, ignoring the bright side of the
are leaving Romania for a professional fulfill abroad. In
this way, in a short period of time, just few years, the subject. May be so, but not exactly quite. Anyhow, next
by the reason according to which the things are going
wrong, surprising, there is also another need to have
162 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
such an approach. In the single report made and do the right thing. Until it will be too late for many
published in the last two decades [1] about the generations to come. And the clock is ticking…
Romanian educational system status, another criterion
analysis should shock: by taken into account the References
criterion “The hierarchy of most important knowledge
and abilities of the graduates, requested from the point 1. http://www.aracis.ro, 2009, Statistical Distributions,
of view both of the teaching staff and employers”, the Interpretations and Options, Concerning the Quality Barometer.
result points the large gap existing between these two 2. http://www.ziare.com, 2009, What the Recent ARACIS Report
players, from the educational market and the labor Does Not Say.
3. http://www.ziaruldeiasi.ro, (28.01.2010), Not Any More
market. With only one major exception. On a scale from Admission Exams, Just Personal Files Placed on a List.
1 to 10, both players place the “sense of criticism” on 4. http://www.topuniversities.com, 2009, Top Universities.
the same position: the last one. So, if there are 5. http://www.arwu.org, 2009, Top Universities.
differences among all requested skills of a graduate, the 6. http://edu.presidency.ro, 2009, Presidential Commission for
Policies Analysis and Elaboration in Romanian Education and
professors and the employers as well, agree: the Research.
criticism is not desired. Obviously, we like to criticize, 7. http://www.flacarais.ro, (26.02.2010), The Poor Financing
not to be criticized. Keeps the Romanian universities far Away from Top 500.
Summarizing, indeed, there is a real crisis and there 8. http://www.hotnews.ro, (21.03.2010), National Education Law
Analysis, Quality Control – the Achilles’ heel.
are available solutions, but if we continue to let the time
to past, it will be increasing more difficult and painful to
THE ROMANIAN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AS A MAJOR PLAYER ON A
TURBULENT LABOR MARKET IN A CONTINUOUSLY CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
G. P. LUCA, I. VERZEA
“Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, Romania, gpluca77@yahoo.com
In order to narrow the gap between the EU members, as well as between the different administrative regions inside Romania, the
“Ghorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, located in Moldova Region – one of the poorest industrial developed region of
Romania – has started up, in 2002, to build a special designed educational structure: the Regional Training Center in Public and
Private Business Administration (RTC-PBA). During the past 8 years of practice and experience, the RTC-PBA was growing and
enriched continuously its high educational offers, especially throughout the Master Programs. Until now, RTC-PBA has proved to
have a perfectly adapted curriculum, which met the labor market demands from Moldova Region. The flexibility to regional low
financial resources, the adaptability to poor local infrastructure, the quick response to new educational rising demands, and the
quality of partner relationship, are the main features taken in view and step-by-step emphasized by the RTC-PBA activity. The paper
shows the further proper approach of the Higher Educational offers in order to support the economic development in a continuously
changing environment and on a turbulent labor market.
Next, it will be briefly displayed several relevant 2.3 The students structure accordingly to the age and
statistics and analysis outcomes in order to emphases gender
the RTC-PBA “client’s orientation” on a turbulent labor
market and a continuously changing environment. The lated to the students' age, considering 100
Related
study will help to identify the correspondence between students, the statistics is as can be shown in Figure 3. It
the students' profile – candidates’ reservoir - and the can be noticed that the master studies are attractive for
master programs curriculum, in order to increase the the people in the 23-2525 years range, meaning specialists
attractiveness of the educational offer, accordingly to which have graduated a university specialization in the
the requirements sett by the Bologna process, and, last 1-22 years. For the people in the 26-34
26 years range
especially, in the new context of the economical crises. the master attractiveness is lower; that fact can be
explained by a satisfied self-assessment
assessment concerning their
2.1 Students' number trend on the time period of own practical expertise - earned through the job - and a
2002-2009 pretty recent theoretical knowledge due by the
university graduation. The students' flow is significantly
The students' number trend shows a constant increased for the people in the 35-4935 years range, all
increasing, from the program start-upup until the 2009 these students being, in fact, university graduates before
university year (Figure 1).. This trend is a direct 1989 (the year of Romanian political system change) or
consequence of the marketing actions done at the entire in the earlier '90s; this trend has as main reason the
RTC-PBA
PBA level, and, at the same time, of the value and people needs to up-date
date their own knowledge, especially
importance recognition for each kind of master in a context due by a different vocational carrier.
carrier
specialization [1].
concluded that most students held job positions at a higher ranks jobs not on a specific diploma basis, but on
bottom management level in their organization. The knowledge and expertise proved criteria. However,
students' majority is young, under 30 years old, making 100% of these kinds of students are paying the training
efforts to consolidate their executive and/or fees from their personal financial sources (their own
management position. n. The firms' middle management is income). As a significant percentage,
pe there are students
pretty well represented, but there is a lower level for the provided by the public administration bodies, in which
students' number provided by the firms' top the diploma is a very important criterion just to keep the
management. We appreciate – as a good sign – the job, but the promotion on higher ranks jobs is, many
effort made these last two students' segments, because, times, conditioned by the, so named, “good informal
from our pointnt of view, they are directly interested to personal relationships”. The teachers and associate
put into practice – as much as possible – the knowledge personnel from the undergraduate educational system
earned during the training. are also interested in this master programs, because the
diploma is one criterion in their professional
performances assessment, and, at the same time, they
perceive
ceive the program as a real opportunity to update
their knowledge – useful for their professional
competences or, even, for a future own business
development.
3. INSTEAD OF CONCLUSION…
This research paper aims to bring attention to an issue of particular importance for improving quality in higher education, namely, motivation of
academic staff. Using a questionnaire based on the theory of expectations, we conducted a survey among instructors in two public universities in the
country. By survey, we sought to evaluate the respondents’ strength of motivation, as well as to emphasize the differences, if any, in the attractiveness
of various types of rewards based on ranking in the academic hierarchy.
confidence in the possibility of achieving the expected - you will have more job security;
performance following a certain level of effort; this - you will be promoted or will get a better position;
expectancy is influenced by several factors, including - you will have the chance to learn something new;
the level of one`s self-esteem, the employee`s past - you will have the feeling that you are accomplish-
experience in similar situations and the employees`s ing something worth the effort;
perception of the actual situation. - you will have more freedom in your work;
2. instrumentality (the “performance – reward” - you will be respected by colleagues and/or
expectation (P R)); it is the probability of a students;
performance result to lead to the desired reward; - you will be more appreciated by your superiors;
performance- reward expectancy is influenced by a - your colleagues/students will be friendlier to you;
variety of factors, including past experience in similar - you will gain professional acknowledgement;
situations, the attractiveness of the various rewards - you will gain power/authority;
available, the extent of one`s internal locus of control - you will be able to face your professional
and belief in an ability to control the environment and challenges better;
the individual perception of the actual situation (Steers, - you will be able to cooperate more with your
R.,1991) colleagues.
3. valence (V), is the value that the individual Considering the nature of academic instructors’
attributes to various results or rewards, the degree to work, which has a high potential for intrinsic
which the latter are appealing or unappealing to the satisfaction, we thought it was appropriate to add a wide
individual. The valence attached to certain rewards can variety of intrinsic rewards to our list of possible
vary widely. For instance, some of the employees do not rewards.
want to be promoted into positions of increased • Question 2: The perceived value of rewards
responsibility and stress, whereas others welcome such “How important are to you the potential results
opportunities. Some rewards, such as money, are listed below? Please indicate the level of importance for
consistently valued in their own right or because of their each type of reward by filling in the corresponding
instrumental value in leading to the acquisition of other space with the number that reflects your opinion (1-
outcomes. unimportant; 5 – extremely important)”.
According to Expectancy Theory, the strength of To this question, we have attached the same list of
motivation: rewards, though this time, the respondents were asked to
specify how important each type of reward is to them.
M = [E → P] ⋅ ∑ [(P → R ) ⋅ V ] • Question 3: the „effort performance”
expectation
We chose the Expectancy Theory model as basis of “At your job, how often does it happen that when
our research because it provides a means to measure the you work more and harder you get better results from
motivational strength based on the above formula. your performance? For each instance, please indicate
how often you encounter a better result, by filling in the
corresponding space with the number that reflects your
4. RESEARCH REGARDING WORK opinion (1 – very rarely; 5 – almost always)”:
MOTIVATION OF ACADEMIC STAFF - By working more hours, the quality of my courses
is better;
4.1. The Research Tool - By using time more efficiently, the quality of my
courses is better;
The questions aimed at evaluating the three factors - By working more hours, I have better results in
of motivational strength are as follows: my research activity;
• Question 1: the „performance reward” - By using time more efficiently, I have better
expectation results in my research activity.
„In your opinion, to what extent is it possible to Considering the fact that the three basic questions
achieve the following rewards in your job, as a underlying the computation of motivational strength
consequence of excellent fulfilment of your duties? were spread over a scale of 1 to 5 and that the
Please indicate the level of probability for each type of motivation is the product of the three factors, the
reward by filling in the corresponding space with the resulting values of motivational strength vary within the
number that reflects your opinion (1- unlikely; 5 – very interval 1 - 125.
likely)”. By splitting this interval into 5 subdivisions, we
The list of the fifteen types of possible rewards have the following scale for motivational strength:
included both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, as follows:
-you will receive a merit bonus or another salary 1 – 25 25,1 – 50 50,1 – 75 75,1 – 100 100,1 – 125
Very weak Weak Average Good Very good
increase;
- you will feel more accomplished; The fourth question was meant to emphasize
- you will have the opportunity to develop your whether in their professional activity, academic staff
skills; members ever found themselves in the situation of not
Work Motivation Issues among Academic Staff 169
being able to live up to their own or others’ expectations • most values indicate weak (40,30 – 45,70), or
because of external factors. average (50,47 – 58,46) motivational strength;
The questionnaire also comprised questions • the University of Oradea’s group of “readers”
regarding academic title, age and sex of the respondent. who registered a score of 77,06 seems to have a good
strength of motivation;
4.2. The Structure of the Sample • there were no great differences among the
results registered by the different groups of academic
The universities from which staff members were ranking;
surveyed, and the number of filled out and returned • there was not any score to indicate a very good
questionnaires are as follows: motivational strength of any members of academic staff.
1. “Dunărea de Jos” University, Galaţi – 53; By processing the data, we were also looking to
2. University of Oradea – 55 questionnaires; emphasize whether there are differences according to
3. Academia de Studii Economice, Bucharest – 4 title regarding the perceived value of various types of
questionnaires; rewards.
4. Petru Maior University, Târgu Mureş – 6 From the analysis of the data, we noticed that most
questionnaires; academic instructors, regardless of title, hold as
5. Al. I. Cuza University, Iaşi – 2 questionnaires; important or very important the intrinsic rewards, such
6. University of Petroşani – 10 questionnaires; as:
• the feeling of accomplishing something worth
Because of the low number of questionnaires the effort – 4,72
returned from the Al. I. Cuza University of Iasi, Petru • the possibility of facing professional challenges
Maior University of Targu Mures and A.S.E. Bucharest, better – 4,33
the latter were not included in this study. They will be
• the chance to learn something new – 4,25
accounted for within a future research.
• professional recognition – 4,53
The profile of the survey according to academic
• opportunity to develop competencies– 4,57
ranks of respondents from “Dunarea de Jos” University
and the University of Oradea is shown in Table 1.
As far as the importance of the “merit premium or
Table 1 – Number of respondents by academic title of a salary increase”, the results are laid out in Table 3.
“Dunărea de Jos” University of
Title
University, Galaţi Oradea Table 3 – Perceived importance of merit premium
Professor 7 4 “Dunărea de Jos” University
Title
Reader 17 10 University Galaţi of Oradea
Lecturer 15 14 Professor 3,28 3,50
Assistant 9 12 Reader 3,55 3,66
Preparator 5 15 Lecturer 3,58 3,0
TOTAL 53 55 Assistant 3,50 3,58
Preparator 3,50 3,33
As far as the 10 questionnaires received from the
University of Petrosani, the answers therein have been It is once again noticeable that there are no
computed and an average score was obtained for all of significant differences as far as perceived importance of
the respondents, regardless of academic ranking. The the merit premium according to title. The merit
result is 66,21. premium is considered to have average to great
importance.
4.3. The Processing and Interpretation of the results Regarding expected rewards, the study emphasizes
relatively large differences based on the type of reward,
The processing of data consisted of categorizing but not on academic title. Therefore, while intrinsic
answers from the 2 universities according to academic rewards are “fairly likely” or “very likely” for most
title and the computation of an average motivational academic instructors, “the merit premium or an
score for each member of the staff. The values obtained additional salary raise” is “less likely” or even
are listed in Table 2. “unlikely”.
We think that one of the reasons for the relatively
Table 2 – Average motivational score by academic title
poor motivation level of academic staff members is the
“Dunărea de Jos” University
Title
University, Galaţi of Oradea lack of confidence in the fact that their efforts will be
Professor 53,09 43,21 financially rewarded as well.
Reader 58,46 71,06 Analysing the „effort performance” factor, or the
Lecturer 52,58 40,30 instructor’s confidence in the chance to have better
Assistant 45,70 56,44
performance results following a certain level of effort,
Preparator 43,82 58,18
we note the following:
By relating the values in the table to our • with regard to academic activity, generally, the
measurement scale of motivational strength, we noticed confidence is higher than in the case of research
the following: activity;
170 The 6th International seminar Quality management in High Education – QMHE2010
• as perceived by professors, there is generally a fatigue and lack of time. The extra work hours cannot
higher chance of improving the performance of both lead to improved performance if the individual is tired.
teaching and research by more efficiently managing 2. The weak belief that performance will lead to
time rather than working more hours; financial reward.
• on average, “the frequency with which a better 3. Even if considered great, the value attributed to
result occurs” scored between 3 and 4, which rewards does not stimulate the individual if there is lack
corresponds to “sometimes” and “frequently”. of confidence that the results can be achieved.
A positive aspect that emerged from the study and
which gives hope and maintains academic instructors’
5. CONCLUSIONS motivation is their confidence that their efforts will at
least bring upon them professional acknowledgement,
Before formulating a few of the conclusions of our the chance to develop competencies and better ability to
research (because there were left over unprocessed data, cope with challenges, even in lack of a merit premium
while others were not interpreted), we allowed ourselves or other financial gains.
a few personal opinions. The intrinsic motivation and the satisfaction related
The idea of elaborating a research paper on the to the content of the work often have the power to
work motivation came to us from the atmosphere of counteract the effects of dissatisfaction regarding
dissatisfaction and even sometimes apathy that we quite financial rewards.
frequently sensed in our work environment. We hereby Among the environmental factors bearing a
refer to both a significant part of our students, who negative influence on performance, the professors
manifest lack of interest for studying, as well as mentioned: too much bureaucracy, insufficient time,
colleagues whom in disappointing preponderance I have unsatisfactory rewards, lack of leadership support, the
seen tired, stressed, unsatisfied or resigned. limited amount of knowledge that fresh students have
At the time of handing him a questionnaire and after graduating from high-school.
being asked to answer the questions regarding his
expectations from the workplace, one of our REFERENCES
distinguished colleagues replied with discouragement in
his voice: “I no longer expect anything”. 1. Huffman, K., Vernoy, M., Williams, B. Vernoy, J. (1991) –
Psychology in action, John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Our scrutiny, despite being of small-scale, proves 2. Cicea, C. (2004 – Motivarea cadrelor didactice, element
what we subjectively assumed: there are serious fundamental al eficientizării sistemului de învăţământ, Economia,
motivational problems among members of academic 1/2004
staff. 3. Gordon J. (1991) – A diagnostic Approach to Organizational
Behavior, Allyn and Bacon, Boston
The scores of motivational strength set against the 4. Creţu, R., Shankes, R., Ciobanu, G. (2001) – Motivarea
evaluation scale indicate a poor or average level of angajaţilor în companiile româneşti – între mit şi realitate, HRD
motivation at most for the majority of surveyed subjects. Dezvoltare Resurse Umane
What causes poor motivation? Based on the 5. Pânişoară, G., Pânişoară, I.O.(2005)-Motivarea eficientă,
Editura Polirom,Iaşi
concepts of the underlying theoretical model that we 6. Steers,R. (1991)- Introduction to Organizational Behavior,
employed, we can state that poor motivation is the Harper Collins Publishers, New York
combined effect of three factors: 7. Steers, R.,Porter, L., Bigley, G.(1996)-Motivation and
1. The relatively weak belief that the invested effort Leadership at Work, McGraw Hill, New York
will lead to performance. There are many who blame
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS INVOLVED IN
CHANGING THE STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE REPRESENTED ON THE LIKERT SCALE OF AFFECTIVITY
Elena LUPU1
1
University Lecturer Ph.D. Physical Education and Sport Department
Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti
e-mail: lupu_lln@yahoo.com
Abstract: As a consequence of the research undertaken, concerning the educational objectives and the motivational factors involved in
this process, we have observed that the students’ training during the Physical Education classes is still characterized by ambiguity and inadvertence,
generated by the tendency of working according to a current programme, where only the physical objectives are followed, thus ignoring the affective
and cognitive objectives. We consider that the chosen subject may represent a priority in the training process and for the national interest
Objectives: Our research objectives were focused on designing a methodology that will underpin the training of physical education lesson. Filling the
information specialized regarding the importance of the introduction and use of cognitive and affective objectives in education, in order to learn of
how their achievement leads or not to attitudinal and behavioral changes towards physical education activities;
Prior Work: We observe that training students in physical education is still pervaded by ambiguities and discrepancies arising from the tendency of
working according to a current programme where only physical aims are pursued. We believe that if we build and adapt a teaching strategy (a new
working programme with cognitive, affective and psycho-motor objectives) then the quality of the training process will be enhanced and a positive
behavior will be spontaneously triggered for the activity of Physical Education and leisure time.
Design/Methodology/Aproach: In the research we involved the students from the Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, in number of: 88-group
experiment, 94 control-group. The considered basis for determining the research hypothesis arose from the field literature and the experience gained
during the training processes. The design of the research on cognitive and affective objectives in physical education activities with students:-A
program was developed that has met the physical, cognitive and affective objectives. Training the students according to the program was adopted
pursuing the impact of the independent variable. -The effect of the new program was measured by comparing it with the current program. Likert-
scale was used for affective processes.
Results/Acknowledgements: This research started from the assumption that: By explicitly introducing cognitive and affective objectives in Physical
Education lessons with students increases the effectiveness of training. Basing ourselves on the hypothesis we observed the evidence that cognitive
and affective objectives are indestructibly related to the physical ones and may provide teachers the possibility of their evaluation in changing
mentality, thus becoming a goal in training and a working method used consciously. In interpreting the responses we used the arithmetic average,
ranking, percentage. The motivational factor occupied different places on the Likert scale of affectivity. We started exemplifying with a motivational
factor on of rank 1 in order to rank 7, according to the students' preferences.
Implications: Sometimes attitudes are called emotional processes, this being the motivation for which part of the experiment conducted was
channeled towards attitudes and were measured as emotional processes on the Likert scale. Presenting our proposed new program developed on the
basis of the cognitive objectives, affective and psychomotor can be a beginning for a new manner to approach Physical Education both for teachers
and for the younger generation.
Originality Value: Scientific research related to the problem treated "educational goals and motivational factors involved in changing attitudes
presented on the Likert scale of affectivity in Physical Education activities with students", has been less studied in our country, which led me to
choose this subject as a necessity having the purpose of refreshing the field of information and launching new approaches of the subject.
Keywords: students, Likert scale, educational objectives, cognitive, affective, higher education, Physical Education
Scientists and philosophers have always objectives, we can foresee the result of the educational
contributed in formulating educational objectives, act, translated through behavior as a response of the
because the concept in itself is essential for the educating subject after the experience of certain learning stages or
and managing the quality of learning. A role in the sequences. The design and programming of the Physical
development of the Physical Education lessons is held by Education activities implies the formulation of the
the establishment and definition of the educational finalities and strategies which lead to the fulfillment of
objectives. Through the means of conceiving these the objectives.
Research content
“We do not insist on the manner in which the themed sport games - Basket points scored by the
Physical Education functions and objectives were not weakest, the development of fair play, etc. The novelty of
treated in our country literature. We will remark that, this research is the approach of the presentation of
declaratively, among functions as well as among the affective processes on the Likert scale, resulted from
objectives of the Physical Education domain we can also practical application of the three motion-cognitive and
find those referring to the educational aspects, the affective objectives in the Physical Education lesson. The
cognitive or the attitudinal formation. Formulations are survey was separated in two sequences: Questionnaire
albeit general enough, more implicit, their concrete No. 1 divided into 14 questions about interest in sport,
operation in the methodical recommendations being lack of exercise and needs of self-knowledge;
nearly inexistent.” (M.Epuran, 2005, p.301) the purposes Questionnaire. 2 divided into 16 questions about the need
can be materialized into a variety of objectives, for assertion, domination, aggression, and compensation
concerned with the influence upon personality as a To measure a general attitude I used a battery of
whole. The content of the objectives is usually statements and calculated the obtained points. The
measurable through patented methods, in order to offer subject expressed for each statement the degree of
the possibility of a minute control of the educational agreement /disagreement by choosing an interval on a
activity. Usually, the cognitive objectives are more scale of answers presented in 5 levels. Likewise, I
difficult to be formulated and operated, and even continued to follow the events, concluding what
evaluated (if there is an intention and a competence). On happened with the Experiment Group, which received a
the other hand, the objectives generically named special program, as compared to the Control Group, not
affective are less precise and included in the general term involved. I mention that students were organized, and
of education.”(M. Epuran, 2005,p. 301)Affective mental participated in lessons according to the data from the
processes relate to: affection, states, emotions, feelings, table below: We begin presenting the questionnaire by
passions. Sometimes, attitudes are called affective the comments for each question, while presenting the
processes, this being the motivation due to which a part two groups in parallel – Experiment and Control. The
of the undertaken experiment was driven towards analysis of the recorded data is revelatory; the sum of the
attitudes. The measurement of attitudes considered to be obtained points after the application of questionnaires
condensed affective processes was made on the No. 1 and No. 2 was expressed as scores, according to
attitudinal scale – Likert method (1937) and highlighted data from the scheme No. 1.Students from the
through the design of a program applied in lessons and Experiment Group maintain a constant appreciation
the development of a questionnaire with answers towards the Physical Education activity, feel its positive
consisting of 30 questions on students’ attitudes towards effects, show respect towards the teacher, and collaborate
Physical Education. The program was designed on the with him/her. The score of the answers was higher in the
basis of the three objectives: those concerning physical Experiment Group, as compared with the Control Group.
skills structures; cognitive- providing information about It may be due to their interest being aroused by the
sport, games regulation, lifestyle, etc.; and affective on information that they would be part of an experiment.
the stimulation of the affection represented by the Average and rank made us observe the differences that
aerobics lessons, done with music, the latter being an emerged between the two groups Control - Experiment
element with affective impact, as all human beings are during the training process. Presenting the motivational
sensitive when listening to a piece of music we enjoy, factors are the main aim in sports; needs for motion
affirmation, compensation, domination, reaction to motivational factor occupied different places on the
frustration have the order assigned by me at the Likert scale of affectivity. I started the illustration with a
beginning of the research, considered ideal in the motivational factor from rank 1 to rank 7, according to
expression of attitude changes. The evolution of the the students’ preferences. Average and class differences
motivational factors in the top of preferences was other appear during the two years according to data from
than the one considered to be ideal, evidence being the scheme No.1. Students linked between the learning
fact that attitudes change independently of the teacher’s outcomes, success in society and needs for self-
desire; it is important that change is positive. The knowledge, motion, asserting, all holding the first 4
Educational Objectives and Motivational Factors Involved in Changing Attitudes Represented on The Likert Scale of
Affectivity 173
ranks in both groups. Need for compensation is situated Group, as we can observe in the images that were
on rank 5 in the Experiment Group and for the Control captured in the photo of the team’s organization. We
Group on rank 7. Students in the Control Group are more evaluated these factors and how they influence
aggressive, with less desire to offset mental fatigue affectivity, using the Likert scale with the following
through motion. Deprived of the positive effects of interpretation for the two groups – Experiment and
Physical Education, students in the Control Group have a Control. In order to understand and interpret the recorded
"disability" of understanding, perceiving tasks, data on the Likert scale, we firstly show the legend and
cooperating, fair play, as compared with the Experiment symbols used, and then schem
Scheme No.1.
Grupa Experiment
Caption – motivational factors
5
Needs of
*
compensation
4 Level of interest for
•
the sports activity
3,19 3,17
▼ Aggressive needs
3 2,6
2,41
■ Self-affirming needs
2,26 G.E
1,98 2,06 ♦ Dominating needs
2 1,79 1,78 1,7
1,58
1,4
▲ Motion needs
1,29
1,02 Self-knowledge
◊
1 needs
Caption – motivational factors
Needs of
0 *
Grupa Control compensation
* · ▼ ■ ♦ ▲ ◊ ▲ ◊ ■ · * ♦ ▼ Level of interest for
5 •
the sports activity
Anul 2003-2004 Anul 2004-2005
▼ Aggressive needs
4 ■ Self-affirming needs
♦ Dominating needs
3 ▲
2.59 2.58 2.52 Motion needs
2.2 G.C Self-knowledge
◊
1.93 needs
2 1.68 1.62
1.41 1.45 1.46
1.21 1.16 1.09
1.06
1
ORDERING THE MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS INVOLVED IN
THE ATTITUDINAL MODIFICATION ON THE LIKERT SCALE
OF AFFECTIVIY
0
* ■ ▼ · ♦ ▲ ◊ ◊ ▲ ■ · ♦ ▼ *
2003-2004 2004-2005
Year I Year II
* • ▼ ■ ♦ ▲ ◊ ▲ ◊ ■ • * ♦ ▼
E.G. 1.02 1.29 1.58 1.79 1.98 2.41 2.6 3.19 3.17 2.26 2.06 1.78 1.7 1.4
Year I Year II
* ■ ▼ • ♦ ▲ ◊ ◊ ▲ ■ • ♦ ▼ *
C.G 1.06 1.21 1.41 1.45 1.68 2.2 2.59 2.58 2.52 1.93 1.62 1.46 1.16 1.09
Legend – motivational factor (FM) .Interpretation of intensity; Value 2 = the motivational factor has an
the obtained values :Value 0 = motivational factor is average value ;Value 3 = strong motivational factor;
absent; ;Value 1= the motivational factor has a very low Value 4 = very strong motivational factor .
• Sometimes, attitudes are called affective processes, this
Conclusions being the motivation due to which a part of the undertaken
174 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
experiment was driven towards attitudes, evaluated • The emotional connection implies the acknowledging the
according to the Likert scale. possibility that emotion can become a factor to trigger
• The whole research confirmed the main theories action, influencing the subject to act in accordance with its
regarding the psychological and behavioural characteristics, intensity, this being the explanation for the order change of
as well as the emotional ones, observed in students during the needs on the scale of Likert's affectivity.
the Physical Education activity (see the legend below • Our current knowledge in terms of affection is elusive,
scheme No. 1 – the motivational factor changes). but by introducing cognitive and affective objectives in
• Between emotion and cognition a bilateral relationship of physical education activities with the physical aims, we
mutual conditioning of needs is created, demonstrated by could determine positive changes in students’ attitude
the change of the needs during the experiment. towards the taught material, which confirms the hypothesis.
• There are attitudes which remain unchanged, therefore • Approaching the subject through the implementation of
we find these on the Likert scale during the experiment, the cognitive-affective objectives in the Physical Education
even though we stimulate the affective side, the result being lessons, alongside the physical objectives, can still be a
irreplaceable (see scheme No. 1 below the scale for E.G. challenge for scientists and the initiation of a new research
and C.G.) to determine the changes, to contribute both theoretically
and practically to specifying the characteristics regarding
the changing attitude in this sector.
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11. Gagne, R..M, (1975) Learning conditions. Didactic and Pedagogical
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Publishing, Culture and Sports, Bucharest, pages.7-14. Psychologie sociale, Editura Puf, Paris.
5.Cârstea, Gheorghe, (2001) Teaching physical education. ANEFS, 16. National Evaluation System in Physical Education in primary schools.
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7.De Landsheere, Viviane, De Landsheere, Gilbert,(1979) Defining 18. Şchiopu, U., Verza, E.,( 1979) Ages Psychology, EDP-RA, Bucharest,
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Bucharest, pages61-114, 117-190. 19. Thomas, R. – Jerry & Nelson, K., Jack,( 1996) Research Methodology
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188,299- 304,387.
HUMAN RESOURCES STRATEGIES AND POLICIES IN THE ROMANIAN
UNIVERSITIES
Laura MARINAŞ1, Cristian MARINAŞ2, Ramona PUIA3, Sorin SFERLE4
1
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, laura.marinas@gmail.com
2
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, cristian_marinas@yahoo.com
3
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, ramonapuia@gmail.com
4
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, sorin@romfra.ro
The paper aims to assess the human resources development strategies and policies in the Romanian universities.
The assessment will focus on several key areas of HR policies: recruitment, motivation, training and career development in universities. The
existing HR policies in Romanian universities will be compared with similar policies in varies EU member states as well as by reference to the
transforming processes of higher education in Europe.
The methodology for conducting this study refers to makes use of: analysis of the relevant legislation as well as the relevant documents and
strategies of the universities, surveys and questionnaires applied to a sample of the management and academic staff of the 10 important
universities in Romania.
The findings revealed by the survey, the HRD policies are not sufficiently developed and present in the life of the academic community in
Romania, in particular with regard to the university teaching positions.
This article synthesizes the preliminary conclusions of the existing legislation in the field of higher education and of the HRD
policies/documents of the 10 important state owned universities in Romanian.
This article is the first output of research initiated by the authors with regard to the human resources development (HRD) policies
implemented in the Romanian universities.
continuous training of teaching staff in higher manuals; in most cases provisions covered accession to
education, none of the 10 universities documents and teaching position and evaluation. A particular case was
strategies consulted do not contain provisions referring registered in case of a technical university which
to the involvement/participation of the university to the developed a procedure for „awareness and
development/implementing of continuous training competences” of human resources. Although almost
programs for university teaching staff and/or the 50% of the universities surveyed referred to the
financial support granted to the staff for participation to continuous training opportunities of the teaching staff,
training programs during their academic career. This both no coherent programs were available nor
situation may have negative effects on the quality and developed (at least 3 of the universities surveyed
relevance of the teaching, and in the end on the quality mentioned that the training of teaching and research
of the higher education delivered. staff by exchange of good practices, partnership with
According to the legislation in force and with the student community and teaching staff mobility). This
universities individual regulations, regular evaluation of indicates inconsistencies between declared mission and
the academic staff is an important element of the HRD the availability of competences and skills of the
policies. The main pillar of the performance based university teaching personnel (HR policies) taking into
wages schemes (operational in some of the surveyed account both the knowledge that the teaching staff
universities) is the academic staff evaluation processes posses and the capacity to transmit knowledge to the
and policies in the respective universities; similarly students.
performance criteria/standards influences access to If the factors of the knowledge triangle identified at
higher academic positions/degrees and career EU level are considered, the capacity of the academic
development. The framework evaluation criteria are staff to transmit knowledge to the students and to
detailed at the level of the universities (including integrate research results in the teaching processes,
threshold ceilings). In all of the universities surveyed, seem to be considered of a lower importance (as
the quality of the teaching delivered in measured against compared to the content of the university education
the students’ satisfaction and evaluation and this seems programs). The policies to develop these capabilities to
to be the only criteria in this respect. In all of the the teaching staff trough continuous training programs
universities surveyed, the quality of the research are not part of a coherent vision/policy in case of the
conducted by the university teaching staff (usually Romanian universities surveyed.
measured by the number of the research conducted and Diverse competence and qualifications requires, in
the valorization of research by scientific publication) is universities, diverse profiles: applied research and
an important criterion. The analysis reveals imbalances innovation, pure research and educational research. If
with regard to the weight of these two major issues: people with different competencies integrate, it has a
teaching quality/performances and research great impact on higher-education policy.
quality/performance for the teaching staff in In this context a number of measures could be
universities; regardless that the university teaching suggested, including creating a workforce of skilled
staff/position are not full time research /research staff, knowledge transfer staff in universities (and a
still the quality of their teaching activities/skills is less professional qualification and accreditation scheme) In
important for their career development. This may addition, voluntary guidelines to help improve
explain why the continuous training for the university knowledge transfer cover issues such as intellectual
teaching positions is less present in the HRD policies in property management, incentives for researchers to
higher education. This focus on research in HR policies participate in knowledge transfer activities, and the
in universities could be explained by the fact that the development of knowledge transfer resources [4]. This
declared official missions of the 10 universities knowledge transfer activities should cover both
surveyed are to become „research oriented universities” knowledge transfer to the industry (research, innovation
or „research and education oriented universities”. Once and technology transfer policies, university-industry
this conclusion drawn, the authors extended the analysis partnerships) as well as knowledge transfer to the
to other 10 regional/small universities and universities students (learning content and teaching methods); the
with declared mission of „education oriented last area identified for the knowledge transfer covers
universities” selected on the random base. The analysis development of specific competencies/capabilities of the
revealed the same prevalence of the criteria related to academic teaching staff. This approach raises the need,
the research activities as compared to the teaching in universities to ensure balance of the positions
quality. All of the universities surveyed had participating to the knowledge creation and transfer:
standards/performance criteria for university teaching teaching positions, research positions, management,
staff evaluation embedded in an official document professionals from industry etc. In this respect, in case
(university Charta, internal regulations). Only one of the Romanian universities’ HR policies, one major
university had available an approved strategy for human weakness resides in the recruitment policies which are
resource development. In other cases, issues related to (limited to the graduates of the respective universities,
human resources in teaching positions were rather according to the surveyed universities’ regulations and
marginal and not embedded in a internal regulation or procedures), while one major strength consists of the
procedure or in the university Charta or in the quality importance of the research activities/performances of
Human Resources Strategies and Policies in the Romanian Universities 177
the teaching staff in the evaluation policies and for 1. Lefter, V, Deaconu, A, Marinaş, C, Nica, E, Marin, I & Puia, R.
(2008), Human Resources Management. Theory & Practice, Second
career development (accession to upper side of the
Edition, Economica Reader, Bucharest
academic position pyramid). 2. Manolescu A., Lefter V., Deaconu A., Marinaş, C. (2008), Human
Resources Management, Economica Reader, Bucharest
CONSLUSIONS 3. *** Conclusions of the DEAN Network “The knowledge triangle
in the shaping the future of Europe”, 31 august-2 September 2009,
Goteborg, Sweden
Taking into considerations the findings revealed by 4. *** European Commission, Voluntary Guidelines for Universities
the survey, the HRD policies are not sufficiently and Other Research Institutions to Improve their Links with Industry
developed and present in the life of the academic across Europe, SEC (2007) 449, European Commission, Brussels
5. *** Romanian Parliament, Law 84/199, Law 128/1997,
community in Romania, in particular with regard to the
consolidated versions
university teaching positions. Based on the future results 6. *** University Senates of Academy of Economic Studies in
of the study initiated by the authors, future Bucharest, University of Bucharest, Politehnica University of
recommendations will be made. Bucharest, University A.I. Cuza of Iasi, Technical University of Iasi,
Babes Bolyai University of Cluj Napoca, Technical University of Cluj
Napoca, West University of Timisoara, Politechnica University of
Timisoara, University of Craiova and Ovidius University of
Constanta, Official documents (University Charta, Quality assurance
procedures and manuals, Procedures, HR Strategies, Internal
REFERENCES Regulations), 2009
178 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
THE INVESTIGATION OF CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN
ROMANIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
The purpose of the current paper is to propose a way for investigating trainer perceptions towards the indicators who aim at the
continuous professional development of teachers in the Romanian educational system.
and Campbell (2003) point out that a good process for to training teachers and fostering human resources in
professional development of teachers must ensure the education to maintain a high motivation for education
unity, convergence and complementarity between the and self-education. In terms of both conception and
initiatives of central or local institutions, the needs of design of training programs, special attention was given
schools and teachers and individual needs of teachers to the teacher’s condition, how personal development is
situated on different levels of their careers. associated with professional development, without
In view of the above, there may seem to be a explicitly correlating it with the completed stages in the
tension in meeting with the conflicting demands evolution of the teaching career.
between individual needs and institutional needs At the internationally level, the researches on the
(Sanggura and Inggeris, 2002). However, this may be issue of continuing professional development are better
overcome if the management succeeds in integrating the structured and focused. Regarding the investigation of
needs of the individual teachers with the needs of the continuous professional development from perspective
institution. To do so, the management may have to carry of teachers need, there are a number of research: Hustler
out needs analysis among the staff. O’Neill (1994, p. et all., 2003, Earley, Bubba, 2004, Evans, 2008,
286) states that needs analysis is an essential part of a Kyriakides et. all, 2009.
process designed to generate a range of possible
professional responses to a problem. III. Educational research
Therefore the professional development of teachers
is not only about meeting the professional needs of
III.1 Objectives and Hypothesis of the Investigation
individual teachers but also meeting organizational
III.1.1. Objectives of the Investigation
needs and growth. The main objective of our research is to obtain the
Evans (2002) have identified two constituent
perception of trainers towards the three main indicators
elements of teacher development (which are equally
aiming at the continuous professional development
applicable to the broader concept of professional
(CPD) of teachers in the pre-university education
development): functional development and attitudinal system:
development. To be effective, professional development
• Significance of the concept of continuous
initiatives or policy need to incorporate not only
professional development;
mechanisms for achieving functional development, but
• Development of continuous training programs
also recognition of the great significance of attitudinal
according to the needs of teachers;
development.
Essentially, continuing professional development • The reasons of teachers to attend at continuous
encompasses three types of activities (Caffarella and training programs.
Zinn, 1999, p. 242): self-directed learning experiences,
formal professional development programs, and III.1.2. Hypothesis of the Investigation
organizational development strategies. The first hypothesis
For future professional development programs to Trainers determine the significance of the concept of
succeed, researchers and practitioners must attend to continuous professional development in accordance
situational factors that affect the program at both the with current European educational policies.
institutional and individual levels (Yamagata-Lynch, The second hypothesis
Haudenschild, 2008, p. 508). Newmann, King, and The continuous training programs are conducted in
Young (2000) identified some of these factors, which Romanian education according to the needs of the
included teacher knowledge, skills, dispositions, school professional development of teachers.
community, program nature, available resources, and The third hypothesis
school leadership. Trainers identify the reasons for which teachers from
The interest for teacher training in the Romanian the Romanian education system attend continuous
education system has been generated rather recently (10 training programs.
years) and has become visible through several directions
of innovation in continuing teacher training in Romania. III.2 Variables
They are defined by R. Iucu and Păcurari O. (2001): The concept of continuous professional development
changes at the level of the forms of organizing the has been developed in main categories, corresponding to
research, assessment of joint, both quantitative and the current educational European policies: the current
qualitative, methodologies for investigating the field, significance of the continuing professional development
(Iucu, Pânişoară, 1999, 2000); reconsideration of concept, achieving continuous training programs closely
scientific research funding mechanisms, building of related to the needs of teachers, the reasons that support
professional/ education standards in relation to a the process of continuing professional development,
challenging teaching career (Potolea, 2001). Also, relationship between practical competencies and
development of human resources was one of the six theoretical preparation, continuing professional
directions of the Education 2000 + Program (Păcurari, development stages.
Tepelea, Tîrcă, Crişan, 2003). One of the fundamental
orientations of changes in the system of training refers III.3 Subjects
The Investigation of Continuous Professional Development in Romanian Educational System 181
48 trainers were involved in this study; they were education programs are made based on the teachers’
grouped according to the independent variables: the needs of professional development, and less in the pre-
education system (26 from Teachers’ Training university education system.
Departments – TTD and 22 from Didactic Staff House -
DSH); the education system (26 from the university
education system and 22 from pre-university education 18
16
system). 14
12
10
yes
8
no
III.4 Methodology 6
4
In close accordance with the objectives, an 2
0
interview guide consisting of 13 questions was applied 1 2
1 - univesity, 2 - pre-university
to investigate the trainers’ perception towards relevant
indicators of continuous professional development. Graph 1: Graphic representation of trainers’ perception towards ways of
achieving the needs analysis of teachers’ professional development, depending
on the educational system
III.5 Data presentation and Analysis
The responses obtained by using the interview grid In terms of the reasons why teachers attend
were analyzed qualitatively, establishing the dominant continuous training programs, they are both the
categories, topics and their corresponding specifications. nature of extrinsic and intrinsic nature (Table 2). The
The analysis algorithm allowed the obtaining of the main external reasons that trainers mention are: interest
most relevant categories at the level of three categories for professional development (26), obtaining credits
of CPD. These are briefly presented only for three (22), desire for promotion (18), compulsoriness (14),
categories: the significance of the concept, achieving job security (9). Besides these, trainers also emphasize
continuous training programs according to the needs of the existence of internal reasons that support the process
teachers and the reasons of teachers to attend continuous of continuing professional development of teachers:
training programs. interest for personal development (7), curiosity (3) and
Regarding the significance of the concept of desire for self-improvement (3).
continuing professional development, trainers define
it as a dynamic process of building the teaching career Table 2: Frequency specifications for the reasons that support the process of
continuing professional development, differentiated by kinds of reasons
(21), as a genuine need for training (13), as a program of Frequency
improvement and updating of knowledge, skills, Themes specifications
attitudes (9) or as a means of personal development (5). ER IR
These meanings are given by trainers from the 1.1 compulsoriness 14
Teachers’ Training Departments, and those from the 1.2 job security 9
Didactic Staff House (Table 1). 1.3 obtaining credits 22
References Bucureşti.
1. Caffarella, R.S. and Zinn, L.F. (1999), “Professional 14. Kelchtermans, G. (1998), “Teachers’ Professional
development for faculty: A conceptual framework of Development through their Life Histories”, Paper
barriers and supports”, Innovative Higher Education, Presented at CARE Bag Lunch Seminar, University of
Vol. 23, No. 4, Summer, 241-254. East Anglia, Norwich.
2. Darling-Hammond, L. (1994), “Developing professional 15. Kyriakides, L., Creemers, B.P.M., Antoniou, P. (2009),
development schools: early lessons, challenge, and Teacher behavior and student outcomes: Suggestions for
promise”, in: L. Darling-Hammond (ed.), Professional research on teacher training and professional
Development Schools: Schools for Developing a development in Teaching and Teacher Education,
Profession, Teachers College Press, New York. Volume 25, Issue 1, January 2009, 12-23.
3. Day, C. (1999), Developing Teachers: the Challenges of 16. Leithwood, K. (1992), “The principal’s role in teacher
Lifelong Learning, Falmer, London. development”, in: M. Fullan and A. Hargreaves (eds.),
4. Dean, J. (1991), Professional Development in School, Teacher Development and Educational Change, Falmer,
Open University Press, Buckingham. London.
5. Earley, P., Bubb, S. (2004), Leading and managing 17. O’Neill, J. (1994), “Managing Professional
continuing professional Development, Sage Publication, Development”, in: T. Bush and J. West, The Principles
London. of Educational Management, Longman, Burnham.
6. Eraut, M. (1994), Developing Professional Knowledge 18. Păcurari, O., Tepelea, A., Tîrcă, A., Crişan, Al. (2003),
and Competence, Falmer Press, London. Dezvoltarea de resurse umane în cadrul Programului
7. Evans, L. (2008), Professionalism, professionality and Educaţia 2000+: politici, strategii şi modele de formare,
the development of education professionals, British in: Crişan, Al. (coord.), Reforma la firul ierbii.
Journal of Educational Studies, 56 (1), 20-38. Programul Educaţia 2000+ sau lecţiile unui proces de
8. Fullan, M. and Hargreaves, A. (1992), “Teacher schimbare, Editura Humanitas Educaţional, Colectia
Development and Educational Change”, in: M. Fullan Educaţia 2000+, Bucureşti.
and A. Hargreaves (eds.), Teacher development and 19. Potolea, D (2001), Standarde pentru formarea
Educational Change, Falmer, London. personalului didactic; un cadru de referinţă şi câateva
9. Holye, E. (1982), The Professionalization of Teachers: A probleme, Conferinţă prezentată în cadrul Seminarului
Paradox, British Journal Of Educational Studies, 30, 2, “Formarea iniţială şi continuă a personalului didactic”,
161-171. organizat de Centrul Educaţia 2000+, Sinaia.
10. Hustler, D., McNamara, O., Jarvis, J., Londra, M., 20. Sanggura, L.H. and Inggeris, J.B. (2002), “Professional
Campbell, A. (2003), Teachers’ Perceptions of development: Can the teacher’s role be extended without
Continuing Professional Development, Institute of loss of classroom competencies?”, JURNAL
Education, Manchester Metropolitan University, PENDIDIKAN IPBA, JILID 2: BIL. 5, 63-71.
Queen’s Printer, Nottingham. 21. Yamagata-Lynch, L.C. and Haudenschild, M.T. (2009),
11. Iucu, B. R., Pânişoară, I.O. (1999, 2000), Formarea “Using activity systems analysis to identify inner
personalului didactic – Raport de cercetare, Vol. I + vol. contradictions in teacher professional development”,
II, Editura Adevărul. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 507–517.
12. Iucu, R., Păcurari, O. (2001), Formare iniţială şi 22. *** (2002), Continuing Professional Development for
continuă, Editura Humanitas Educaţional, Colecţia Teachers in Schools, Office for Standards in Education,
Educaţia 2000+, Bucureşti. Alexandra House, London.
13. Iucu, R. (2007), Formarea cadrelor didactice. Sisteme,
politici, strategii, Editura Humanitas Educaţional,
PROMOTION TECHNIQUES ADOPTED BY THE FACULTY OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES
WITHIN THE LOWER DANUBE UNIVERSITY IN GALATI TO REACH THE TARGET
Adrian MICU1, Angela Eliza MICU2, Nicoleta CRISTACHE3, Irina SUSANU4 , Costel NISTOR5
1
University “Dunarea de Jos”, email: mkdradrianmicu@yahoo.com
2
University “Dunarea de Jos”, email: angelaelizamicu@yahoo.com
3
University “Dunarea de Jos”, email: cristache.nicoleta@yahoo.de
4
University “Dunarea de Jos”, email: irisusanu@yahoo.com
5
University “Dunarea de Jos”, email: cnistor@ugal.ro
Abstract: This paper has in view the creation of a clearer vision on the promotion way of the educational activity, developed by an
institution of high education on the target in order to underline some decisions regarding the school- professional guiding of the
pupils in the final classes of high school. The Faculty of Economic Sciences promotes a marketing specific to high education using
different means, methods and specific techniques, such as: the student’s guide, printed field means and materials, the faculty website,
methods of promotion by means of local television; We address ourselves to a sample of 294 pupils in the twelfth grade, belonging to
high schools of Galati, Braila, Vrancea and Tulcea by means of these questionnaires. The existence of a decreasing trend of the
number of pupils registered at the Faculty of Economic Sciences on a period of six years (1157 pupils were registered in 2004, 999
were registered in 2005, 1050 in 2006; their number decreased to 960 in 2007; 878 pupils in 2008 and 828 registered pupils in 2009)
will determine in the near future an improvement, a multiplication and diversity of the promotion techniques.
The activity of the educational marketing starts by active citizens, who are able to work in a team,
considering first the target –public (the pupils), that can innovative, responsible, able to solve different practical
be determined based on the statistic research stored in problems as a result of their interaction with the social
different publications, studies, reports, analyses or by – economic environment) to contribute to the
direct research. (Cojocariu Venera Mihaela, 2004). The development of the human resources by means of
pupils or the education consumers have a certain clear continuous education, to promote a high education in
behavior as being the sum of actions and decisions the spirit of the academic and European Union’s
regarding the value of opportunities in order to get and exigencies which rise in front of the Romanian
use the educational goods and services. These economic education the challenge the train the future
educational products are disseminated and received by economists, able to face the new professional requests
the consumers who, in their turn, give them a certain imposed by the European standards (knowing the
value. When establishing the value, in the case of this difficulties the students of the Romanian faculties of
type of marketing, there must be taken into account the economy face when they request the recognition of
quality of the educational act, the investments made in some subjects or studies graduated in universities in
order to create and insure better development Europe or vice versa because of the incompatibility of
conditions of the teaching –learning process and also the education plans.
the quality of the teachers who support education. We The main objective is represented by the tendency
can also state that the educational services are actually for a performing university and post university
activities carried out for the benefit of the education education, able to give necessary specialists on the
consumers in order to fulfill certain needs and give present and future market of the labor force.
them intellectual satisfactions.
Educational marketing is in fact, the marketing that 3.2. The design of an efficient promotion policy
is applied in the organizations that operate for the In the contemporary world, the importance and
public interest, without having in mind financial necessity of the school and professional guidance in
profits, but only the satisfaction of the beneficiaries accordance with the social requests represent an
and paymasters of social services. indisputable truth that doesn’t create controversies and
requests the co-operation of the economic, social and
III. TECHNIQUES OF PROMOTION ADOPTED cultural factors.
BY THE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGH EDUCATION FES applies a transparent policy of the students’
– THE PRACTICAL APPROACH recruitment, publically announced at least four months
before the development of the file contests.
Actually, a FES promotion campaign can be
3.1. The presentation of the Faculty of Economic
extremely useful both on a short term and on a long
Sciences – mission and objectives
term, bringing the new students or master candidates
who choose this institution of education being fully
The Faculty of Economic Sciences (FES) is a non-
acquainted with it, by their identification with the
profit organization which had to follow certain
directions of action, due to the important changes that values and principles promoted by it.
took place in the Romanian high education, as a result
of the integration in the European Union (in which 3.2.1. Techniques of promotion adopted by FES
The Faculty of Economic Sciences promotes a
Romania is integrated). FES has in view the future
marketing specific to high education, using different
professional development and training by formation
means, methods and specific techniques, such as: the
courses, identifying the interest domains and
specializations, insuring their organization conditions student’s guide, printed didactic means and materials,
the Fes website, methods of promotion by means of
(the teachers’ staff, specialists in economy, foreign
some local televisions; organizing academic bids fairs
collaborators, the material base, documentary sources,
or promotion activities of the faculty during the
etc.) and following the unity of the faculty’s
guiding classes. In the same time, the FES students and
professional offer at the present and perspective
standards of the society. (Cristea S. 1996) graduates are an important factor in the promotion of
The teaching - learning process and the research the faculty image both informally and formally on the
work market.
one are the main processes that define the objectives of
The promotion by means of the printed didactic
the Faculty of Economy and Business Administration.
means and materials was made by delivering brochures
The FES mission and objectives are subordinated to
in the institutions of high school education in the
the general mission to develop and promote education
and research, taking into consideration the districts of Galati, Braila, Vrancea and Tulcea.
requirements of a society based on continuous The brochures and the posters had and still have a
big impact on the teenagers who are interested in the
knowledge and education that are in accordance with
future plans. They capture their attention and make
the European and /or world norms and principles.
them curious.
The didactic mission of the faculty is to prepare
The FES website was mentioned on all the printed
specialists for the Romanian economic life, to improve
their insertion degree (transforming them into civically didactic materials of promotion in order to guide the
Promotion Techniques Adopted by The Faculty of Economic Sciences Within The Lower Danube University in Galati To
Reach The Target 185
pupils (the potential students of FES) interested in the mentioning of the essential factors in making
much more complete information that couldn’t be decisions; the ticking of the favorite type of education
presented in brochures or folders. The maintenance of (public or private); the identification of the degree in
the website presupposed the use of some much more which tradition was kept in the family of the
reduced costs unlike the printed materials, even if an interviewed pupil regarding the faculty chosen; the
up- dating and permanent checking of the existent determination of the favorite form of education
information were required. (frequent or long distance learning); the mentioning of
The participation to the academic bids fairs the domains the pupils would like to be specialized in
represents another opportunity of promoting FES by and also their order; the ticking of the economy faculty
means of which, it was facilitated the students, the in the well-known university centers where he / she
parents’ direct contact with the faculties’ would like to finish the studies; the determination of
representatives. The faculty had to present at these bids the way in which pupils perceive the position of the
fairs different materials such as: posters, folders and faculty within the Romanian high education system;
brochures. The faculty’s stand had both students and the degree in which the admission information, present
one or two professors who offered the necessary in the previous year were enough; the ticking of the
information for the potential students’ guiding. favorite admission variant; finding out the components
the pupils consider necessary to calculate the
3.2.1.1. The design of the questionnaires and the admission final average mark; the mentioning of the
promotion favorite admission method; the determination of the
The promotion policy of the faculty has in view the favorite specialization; the mentioning of the
maintenance of the present attractiveness on some very specializations for which the pupils knew what
requested specializations and the increase of the profession or employment possibilities they would
attractiveness manifested for some specializations have by graduating them; the presentation of the
directed to application, being foreseen a balance of the information sources used and the favorite one; the
report between the three cycles: (license, master, PhD) necessity of some supplementary information sources;
so that a large number of graduates have access to a the mentioning of the school period when the
full university education. information received are the most useful; the necessity
Besides, FES applies in the present a promotion to obtain additional information.
policy of an academic education focused on the student The second stage consisted in the proper promotion
in order to attract candidates for admission, thus, of the faculty carried out both by the students involved
giving them the opportunity to choose consciously the in volunteering projects and the coordinators and it
faculty they will pursue after high school graduation. started with the distribution of some brochures and /or
Certain promotion actions of the faculty develop flyers and which continued with a more detailed
during the guiding classes and contain more stages presentation of FES educational offer, the pupils
which presuppose: the development of the having the opportunity to ask different questions.
questionnaires application activities before informing Particular / concrete cases of the pupil participants
the pupils regarding their school and professional were approached within these free discussions
direction; the promotion of the faculty and in the end, concerning their school – professional direction. In the
the evaluation of the newly acquired information after same time, this dialogue actually represented a way of
the campaign by means of the questionnaires. The extending the information amount initially received
questionnaires used both before and after the proper which had to be adapted to the degree of understanding
action of promotion, adopted by FES, were applied to a and interest game so that in the end, a feed-back
sample of 294 pupils and were used to determine both mechanism is drawn, which could have as an effect the
the teenagers’ information level and their attitude waking up of the implicit aspiration and the increase of
towards this faculty. the request of new information.
The questionnaire made before the proper The next step in the promotion policy was the
promotion is of the funnel type which presupposes it presentation of the educational offer of the Faculty of
starts with general questions and continues with more Economic Sciences with the departments it contains;
specific questions (see appendix 2) and has a total of the presentation of the way in which the courses take
21 questions, different from a typological point of view place, but also a short general presentation of the
(only one question was open, 4 were questions with faculty (images of the classrooms, library, conferences
multiple variants of answer, 16 were close questions, organized by FES). Thus, FES is presented as an
two with hierarchical classification and one question institution of high education which customizes the
was with attitude scale). educational offer according to the students’ necessities
As the purpose of the research was to establish the and adapts to the present socio-political and economic
school and professional direction of the pupils in the context.
high school final classes, the questionnaire had in At the end of the promotion activity, the pupils
view: the determination of the degree in which pupils were offered questionnaires (made of questions
want to pursue college; the establishment of the connected to the faculty and the expectations they have
institution of education which was initially selected; from this activity domain) in order to develop an
186 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
analysis of their present vision on the faculty and the feminine subjects and the masculine ones regarding the
future job. importance they give to the different professions.
The questionnaire made after the development of This promotional action which had the stages and
the promotion activity is of the turned (reversed) funnel the development way previously presented, takes place
type which contains ordered questions, starting from because high schools don’t prepare the pupils maturely
particular to general. This questionnaire contained 15 and practically enough to make the right decisions in
questions, addressed to a sample of 294 persons: only what concerns the faculty they will choose later and the
one question has multiple variants of answer, 6 are domain they will work as future professionals. During
close questions and 8 are open, the purpose being for a period of 6 years, the number of pupils registered at
example, to mention the interviewed person’s name the Faculty of Economic Sciences had a decreasing
and surname, the respondent’s sex, feminine or trend (1157 pupils were registered in 2004, 999 in
masculine; the age; the specification of the 2005; 1050 in 2006; their number decreased to 960 in
provenience; the type of high school and profile 2007; 878 in 2008; 828 pupils in 2009), this is the
graduated; the determination of the economy faculty reason why it will be necessary an improvement, a
popularity among pupils; the mentioning of the multiplication and also a diversity of the techniques of
information sources; the ticking of the admission promotion.
methods; the different specializations they could An improvement of the questionnaires applied is
choose within the faculty; finding the way in which suggested, by adding new questions which should emphasize
FES is seen in the pupils’ eyes; the necessity to obtain the pupils’ wish to be admitted to other faculties such as:
supplementary information; the listing of the different ‘What are the institutions of high education you want to opt
for at the end of the high school education cycle? Why?’;
expectations, suggestions concerning FES and in the questions that should emphasize the reasons why a pupil
same time, the degree in which the information studies or he /she prefers a certain subject etc..
transmitted is useful. The promotion policy adopted had as a purpose the
attraction of some future students that should choose
3.2.1.2. The analysis of the questionnaires, FES deliberately, the reinforcement of this institution’s
conclusions and recommendations reputation and also generating funds by the admission
At the end of the evaluation of the two types of taxes. More than that, the promotion campaign adopted
questionnaires, we can state that the pupils between 17- had as an objective FES right positioning in the pupils,
18 years old are well informed regarding the choice of parents and high school teachers’ minds, presenting a
a future faculty and in the same time, they have enough general image, promoting the multiple options a
information referring to FES. graduate has at the end of the faculty.
In what concerns the admission method, most of the In conclusion, we can say that the educational
interviewed pupils chose an exam based on files, marketing approach presupposes a good mastering of
preferring the average mark during the high school the information concerning the socio-economic and
years to have a significant weight in the calculation of educational environment, so that the information
the admission final average mark plus the BAC exam support of the decisions should be insured by the
average mark. marketing research, defined as a systematic activity of
As a result of the pupils’ answers analysis, we can gathering, analysis and interpretation of the
say that FES is relatively well known by them, most of information necessary for the design, development and
them knowing about its existence from colleagues, accomplishment of the marketing policies.
teachers, friends or parents who also influence them in
making decisions about the educational offer. The
References
eventual growing up, observed in the answers of the
potential students and the approach of the moment of
1. Amerein P., Barczyk D., Ecrarad R., Rohard F., Sibaud B.,
decision make them more responsible and also more Weber P.; „Manual de Marketing strategic şi operaţional”, Editura
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regarding the school and professional direction because la acţiune”, Editura PUNCT, Bucureşti, 2000
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Teora, 2004
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NEEDS VERSUS REALITIES REGARDING THE EDUCATIONAL AND
OCCUPATIONAL SYSTEM FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
The situation of disabled is not yet a fully solved in terms of educational and occupational integration. Needs and realities presented
in the light of two major predictors of quality of life highlighted some positive aspect that should be continued and some negative
aspects that should be improved through specific measures, presented here.
The various problematic for disabled people caused exploratory research based by questionnaire, which was
by the type and the degree of disability requires a conducted by the Center for Urban and Regional
complex analysis. Identifying the needs of the disabled, Sociology CURS in the second part of the year 2006.
in all its forms, is particularly important, both in general The main target groups are: people with disabilities (47
aspect and in the individual one. It is well-known the people) personal assistants looking after disabled (30
difficulty in identifying all the needs of disabled people, persons), families looking after disabled (23 people),
even if there are some generic needs, or individual ones, and families looking after children with disabilities (11
regardless of type and degree of disability. However, persons). In addition, some questionnaires have been
identifying these needs is very important, especially in applied to some college students with disabilities in
terms of design, adjust and adopt the most appropriate public and private universities and to the some teaching
measures to support the improvement of the quality of staff of these universities, where these college students
life for persons with disabilities, to ensure equal with disabilities attend. The sample size does not ensure
opportunities and access and also a social integration of national representativeness, the research having an
this group. exploratory nature, offering some perceptions in terms
There are many needs of disabled people: health of people/college students with disabilities face a variety
needs, physical, educational, occupational, social, of special needs.
economic, psychological, and so. These special needs
must always be considered when talking about the better Education needs of disabled
social and economic integration of persons with
disabilities. And often, these needs overlap and are Integrated education and special education.
added to the multiple disadvantaged status, and the Although the present theme focuses on higher
success stories in educational or occupational level are education, it is important to have an overview of the
not frequent enough (a small percentage of disabled preceding levels of education, to see the school quotas,
have higher education, a small percentage of disabled to know their needs, to prepare the context of access to
have a job, up in a fifth of the disabled employees have the higher education. In exploratory research on the
higher education, and so). educational needs of the disabled were interviewed 11
The present topic deals with the main needs of families who have students/children with disabilities,
disabled in terms of education and employment, and nearly half of them were integrated into special
although there are plenty of other needs. There are schools, one third were in schools integrated mass,
required quantitative and qualitative analysis or some while which only 2 were not included in any form of
perceptions, to know these needs, and their results must education by reason of the severity of disability.
be included in a grid with general and individual needs The main educational issues raised in the survey,
to guide the educational and occupational integration, which took into account the needs of disabled have
for the improvement the situation of persons with particular reference to:
disabilities. In addition, although there is not legislation -related to the need for acceptance, tolerance of others,
with the needs of disabled, other vulnerable groups are we noted the negative attitude of the colleagues,
covered (elderly needs), and there is a specific grid for discriminatory against people with disabilities, and the
them, according to the law. This situation can be an lack of training teachers who work in mass education to
example of good practice and these aspects can be meet the needs of the disabled.
considered when talking about people with disabilities. -related to the accessibility needs, the existence of
The main key data and information that contributed specific facilities regarding the access, the parents who
to quantify these needs have been deducted from some have children enrolled in special education were
surveys which have focused on the problems of dissatisfied with the lack of facilities to support the
disabled, whereas the existing statistical data and adjustment of disabled, and also the lack of adequate
information especially in terms of higher education for training of staff working in these special schools.
disabled are very limited. To identify the needs of -related to the educational services that benefit
disabled we used the following method of research: students/children with disabilities: there are only a few
188 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
centers of information for parents relating to the Concluding these special needs of disabled, it is
disability problem and the educational needs of noted the following educational needs of integrated
student/child with disabilities, there are some of these education and special education:
centers in non-governmental organizations; sources of -need to have access to education, according to the law,
information for parents on legal provisions relating to disabled are currently not receiving any form of
disability and especially in special education are not so education, although, by law, everyone has free and
easy to obtain; parents feel deprived of power to be equal access to any form of education, depending of his
involved in decisions about the educational process degree and type of disability and his educational needs
which benefits their children. (only 30-40% of people with disabilities assigned to a
In terms of reality, according to educational degree of disability are attending some form of
statistics, most of those with disabilities who are education, according to the national statistics, at the
enrolled receive special education services provided in beginning of years 2004-2006).
schools. In early 2004, the total of those employed -disabled need to get a correct diagnosis of his
framed into a degree of disability, which were integrated functional potential and to be included in relation to this
into education system were 28%, while two years later, in the educational system, for his optimal mental and
their share increased to 42%. This gap is due to the intellectual development. The assessment of the
decreasing from year to year of the number of those potential of disabled must be made in a very serious
who are enrolled in a degree of disability and also due to manner, to get the situation not only for a physical level
the increasing of the number of disabled who are integration, without to be a real one.
attending some form of education. At the beginning of -need to get a quality education process - teachers well
2006 compared with the beginning of 2004, the number prepared both professionally and pedagogically,
enrolled in special education was more than double that properly equipped schools to ensure the real access and
those enrolled in integrated education, given that the proper conduct of the educational process. An important
quotas of both school educations knew an important role in this regard would have the school resource
increase with 30% in these two years. centers and the itinerant teachers, who can bring
These aspects highlight once again the need for important information to carry out the educational
disabled to attend special education, which is more process and to develop a good relationship between the
suitable to the type and the degree of disability due than teacher and the disabled.
the integrated education. On the other hand, the number -need to get a non-discriminatory treatment in relation
of disabled who attend integrated education is growing to both school staff students and the relationship with
from a year to the year, with about 11-20%. Regarding teachers.
the home schooling, this form of education has seen -parents need to play an important role in education of
significant increases in those seeking this type of their children with disabilities, this means their access to
education. Thus, if in early 2004, the disabled need to information sources on education needs of persons with
follow this type of education, it distinguished the disabilities, but also for a greater decision power of the
relatively low number (159 persons, which represented parents in relation to the school. The Act 448 of 2006
about 1% of those employed in some form of establishes that the disabled person or, where
education). Two year later, the number of those who appropriate, his family or legal representative, is the
have turned to home education increased more than 10 main decision maker in choosing the shape and type of
times (1709 people, which represented 8.5% of those schooling and choosing the proper school for them child
employed in some form of education, in that year). with disabilities. Also, by law, the public authorities
From these aspects, we can see, in a clearer manner, must develop and support the collaborative programs
the need of disabled to seek such educational services, between parents and disability specialists. However,
and it is very clear that these people realize the supreme parents of the disabled more often not exercise these
importance of education for their future. Given this rights and what is worse, they do not even know their
insatiable need for education and having the legislation rights provided by law.
background area with the facilities which refer both to
the educational side and the specificities of people with Higher education. For highlighting the situation of
disabilities, form here we can observe the reality that higher education, both in terms of college students and
these people with special needs face. Thus, in the home teachers, we realized some case studies, and although
education it can be said that special education needs these case studies cannot be generalized and cannot
overlap with existing educational realities, and this ensure representativeness, they give some views on
example of good practice should be supported and these issues in terms of those with disabled who are the
sustained to continue in the next time. direct beneficiaries of the higher education system.
We continue to advocate (and the statistics support Perceptions of college students with disabilities were
these claims) for raising the number of disabled to generally unanimous in their access to the higher
follow the integrated education, but also the special education; they attend either distance learning courses,
education, and these two forms must continue to coexist part-time or with reduced frequency, either, mostly day
and to meet basic educational needs of this target group. classes of state and private universities.
Promotion Techniques Adopted by The Faculty of Economic Sciences Within The Lower Danube University in Galati To
Reach The Target 189
All college students with disabilities that were worked at home. Most respondents, 68% believed that
investigated believe that the disability did not affect the existing legislation does not encourage people with
their integration in higher education, while the disability disabilities to access on the labor market.
influenced the integration in education system over time In order to increase employment rate for disabled
(school, college), issues also were expected. people, it should be kept in mind the following: creating
Regarding the facilities of the universities where more jobs specific, more frequent jobs market for
these college student with disabilities are attending, disabled, legislative changes where employers have an
there are differing views in the sense that some incentive to employ disabled by providing some
universities have appropriate facilities/equipments incentives. Respondents felt that the integration of
specific to the type/level of disability (such as ramps, disabled people in the labor market is hindered by: the
elevators, computers on the ground floor of buildings, mentality of people in general and employers in
libraries, and so), while some respondents argued that particular, prejudices and poor information, limited
the universities where they are students have not supply of jobs for the disabled, the current legislation,
specific equipments. and so.
Unfortunately, according to opinions of the There are many employment needs of persons with
respondents, there are still some higher education disabilities. It is well-known the need of everyone to
institutions which are not accessible for persons with have a job that generates income, which contributes to
disabilities and as future course of action, from this increasing to the quality of life. Here we refer to the
point of view, are the physical environment need for employment, in terms of job:
accessibilities. In addition to this accessibility, a special -need to benefit from actions to ensure the conditions
emphasis could be put on e-learning activities to for people with disabilities to be able to choose and
facilitate the educational integration of disabled persons practice their profession/job/occupation, to be able to
in the university system. gain and maintain their employment, but also to be able
From many elements that would hinder the college to promote at professional level: flexible working,
students’ participation in the higher education system, usability and accessibility of space to provide the better
students with disabilities have identified the following: access for the activity of disabled, adapting the job
barriers of physical environment (ramps), environmental occupied by persons with disabilities to the
barriers (lack of specific facilities), higher costs and the opportunities, encouraging employers to hire persons
presence of severe disability. Regarding the attitudes, with disabilities, programs for mediation of the
students with disabilities were fully agree that there is relationship of disabled to seek a job with the potential
not a reserved attitude from others, teachers or students employers, and so.
colleagues, which means that at this level, the -need to receive training and vocational programs
understanding, the tolerance, the acceptance, even the suited to the requirements of the labor market. Public
education level differ substantially from the similar authorities are obliged by law to provide education and
situation of the other levels of education and in terms of training required for occupations in the field of
employment side, we see, these aspects are placed in the disability, to link the training of disabled with the labor
other pole, unfortunately. market demands and to create the framework for the
access of disabled to assessment and guidance in any
Employment needs of disabled profession, according the skills of these people with
disabilities.
There are many papers who present the difficult -need to be treated without discrimination in the
situations of persons with disabilities, who face many workplace; discrimination is prohibited by law, and
problems in their attempt to integrate on the labor Law 446 of 2006 establishes the obligation of public
market. Although the need for employment is authorities to promote the concept that the disabled
indisputable, not only for disabled, but for the entire person is an added value for society and for community
population, these groups of people face real problems to which he belongs.
when referring to get a job and statistics are highlighting -need to get a wider choice and range of protected
the hard situation for the employment aspects of units for disabled who cannot have an easy access for
disabled. Here is a great difference found between the the free labor market - increasing the number of
needs and realities, meaning that in our country, protected units, information to persons with disabilities
according to very limited statistics on employment of on the existence of these protected units, development a
disabled, a small percentage (7-10% of people with labor market for the products made by disabled, and so.
disabilities) who have the capacity to work are active on -need to have the opportunity through work at home
the labor market. employment - supporting organizations which provide
Field surveys were conducted by the Center for employment for people with disabilities, development a
Urban and Regional Sociology CURS in 2006 revealed labor market for the products made by disabled, and so.
the following aspects of the needs and realities faced by For highlighting the situation of occupational needs
disabled: only 28% of disabled adults were interviewed of college students with disabilities (they attend
have a job in the investigation moment. Of these, 77% university courses and also they have a job), some case
obtained the job on the free labor market, while 23% studies have been made. The responses of college
190 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
students with disabilities who have a job, although they Concluding, in the light of these two determinants,
can not be generalized and they can not ensure the such as the education and the employment key
representativeness, gives some perception regarding the predictors for the quality of life, both of them
access of disabled on employment, from the point of considered in terms of basic needs, but also in terms of
view of the college students with disabilities. reality, the situation of persons with disabilities is not
The choice of these individuals who are included in yet fully resolved.
the higher education and also in employment field was There are some positive elements that support the
telling to see the perceptions of success or obstruction in social integration of persons with disabilities, and these
terms of educational and occupational same respondent. issues must be pursued and promoted as examples of
Some college students from the case studies have good practice. But, in the same time, there are some
occasionally a job, working at home, and they believes significant barriers, and these factors that are impeding
that the integration on the free labour market or on the the social inclusion of disabled should be deeply
protected labor market is difficult, that the disability has studied, from the point of view of special needs and of
influenced largely the lack of the access to employment, the current reality. The alarm signals are very important
while regarding the access of disabled to the higher to outline the proper directions for improving the
education has no negative influence. educational and employment situation of persons with
The main negative aspects were noted by the lack of disabilities.
mobility, lack of independence and lack of equipment Although the legislation for disabled gives them
assist in this regard, lack of employment opportunities, some special rights trying to meet their needs, the reality
poor link between education / training and employment. shows that the concrete situation of disabled people is
On a low position on the scale values that affect their much more difficult. Disabled people should know their
lives, they include the lack of information, the lack of rights and their voice must to be heard, their needs must
independence, and people's mentality and the attitude of to be known. However, in the present time there are still
the authorities. Furthermore, over time, the respondents significant delays in the community to accept and treat
have faced with some discrimination in the labor the person with disabilities as some individual that has
market, arguing that they had not access to an interview the same rights and needs, he must be considered a part
for a job or that they had not obtained a job over them of society with their peers. The reluctance of the
searches work or that in this job some of them received community about the understanding and the acceptance
fewer responsibilities than other persons who have of the disabled is a direct result of discriminatory
similar jobs or training. However, in the higher attitudes and also of the lack of information. The role of
educational level the respondents were not faced with informant that owns the media in a democratic country
situations of discrimination, not identified barriers that is, on the Romanian scene, widowed by the lack of the
prevent the participation of those students with interest in social affairs, especially compared to that of
disabilities in education, while their participation in the disability problems. Changing the attitudes is possible in
occupational system has shown some evidence time, with special efforts, through awareness of society
obstructed. In terms of employment, it appears some that disabled persons have potential and are not simple
problems like the lack of access, being accused the participants of the sphere of social protection.
mentality of people regarding the disabled, many
barriers of physical environment (lack of accessibility,
access ramps, so on), environmental barriers (the lack of References
specific facilities), the reluctant attitude from those who
come into contact, the lack of suitable cover, and so. 1. Popescu, S., 2008, Main elements for evaluation of the
In conclusion, if in the educational system there are disabled’s degree of social inclusion/participation, paper
not barriers that hinder the access of disabled people to „Identifying the needs of the disabled”, Universitara
the higher education, the disability does not affected and Publishing, ISBN code 978-973-749-428-3, Bucharest, pg. 110.
2. Stroe, C., 2008, Main elements for evaluation of the disabled’s
influenced the integration of people with disability on degree of social inclusion/participation, paper „Quantitative
the higher education, some universities have developed aspects regarding the employment of the disabled persons”,
largely accessibility (ramps, special features, and so), Universitara Publishing, ISBN code 978-973-749-428-3,
regarding the occupational system from the disabled’s Bucharest, pg. 201.
3. Tone, T., 2008, Main elements for evaluation of the disabled’s
point of view, these issues are exactly on the opposite degree of social inclusion/participation, paper „Qualitative
place, being identified numerous factors impeding the aspects regarding the social integration of disabled persons.
access of disabled people in employment. And, Results of the qualitative research on the target groups adults
fortunately, if a person with disability has a job, there with disabilities, institutions”, Universitara Publishing, ISBN
code 978-973-749-428-3, Bucharest, pg. 156.
are other problems such as the lack of accessibility 4. Web pages: NAPD, National Authority for People with
(which falls on the employer duties), the thinking of Disabilities www.anph.ro; NACRP, National Agency for Child
others, the reluctant attitudes, and so. Rights Protection www.anpdc.ro; MLFSP, Ministry of Labour,
Family and Social Protection www.mmuncii.ro.
OPPORTUNITIES AND LIMITATIONS OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN HIGHER
EDUCATION: ROMANIAN CASE
This paper attempts to describe the social responsibility initiatives of Romanian universities and the way they embody these initiatives
as part of their strategies. The major objective is to determine the opportunities and limitations in which a university could capitalize
on its role as social developer to promote sustainable development. The efforts of universities focus on creating and implementing new
and innovative academic programs, increasing education quality via course offerings and the reaching of methodology, and preparing
students for their future careers. Universities, faced with competition, have realized the role of social responsibility as a powerful
source of competitive advantage. However, in the literature there is little agreement and a few information sources available to
analyze the extent to which a university is engaged in social responsibility initiatives. The authors present in this paper the results of
an exploratory research based on both literature and also the authors experiences through observing and participating Romanian
higher education system. This paper is limited in terms of the experimental data. The future research should examine the exploratory
factors and the correlation between them by experimental research. Our findings illustrate that a university can take a competitive
advantage from maximizing their contributions to social causes and to have a more visible, long-term engagement with the
community. The contribution of this paper is to aid academics and researchers to better understand how Romanian universities may
differentiate on the education market and thus generate a competitive position through a combination of high quality education and
social responsibility in order to integrate the practices of social responsibility. The authors propose in this paper a simple framework
to rank for socially responsible universities because universities are agents what remain in interactive dialogue with society.
Key words: Social responsibility, ethics, competitive advantages, higher education, Romania
Universities are the main actors having the means to The most widespread motivation for Romanian
produce such change, but Romania universities are not companies to donate to a cause (70 percent) is
able to successfully deal with such challenges. There is humanitarian (including helping children and/or the
a high degree of criticism by students of the quality of poor). This could explain why areas like environment
the educational service provided by such universities protection, civic education are not among the most
(Şerbănică and Militaru, 2008). favoured donation areas for Romanian companies.
One of the academic of UPB states that “a university
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH cannot operate as an institution isolated from its social
environment and should commit itself to reinvest in
society. A university has to integrate with the social
In this study, qualitative research is undertaken and a
community to create a synergy for social development
descriptive research design is employed in order to gain
and generating a knowledge-based society”.
a deeper understanding of how Romanian universities
Another important element that resulted from the
integrates its social responsibility initiatives into their
strategies to obtain a competitive advantage on the survey is that Romanian’ students, teaching staff don’t
education market. perceive universities as being socially responsible.
However, the interview with management findings
The basic rationale behind this study stems from the
reveals that a university may contribute in terms of
fact that social responsibility of universities helps the
teaching ethics to its students. The knowledge has to be
university to improve its image, strengthen its brand,
accessible to all. For example, in Table 1 there are
raise the value, and enliven morale. Universities must
balancing long-term objectives against the short-term presented the motives for social responsibility
costs they incur. Moral principles do not tell a university involvement.
how to allocate its resources to avoid behaviours that are Table 1: The motives for social responsibility involvement
socially detrimental or environmentally wasteful. In Items Results
Romania, the sustainability high education raises 1. Universities are forced by external pressure 35%
questions about these trades-offs without offering a 2. It increases the university’s reputation 30%
3. It is fashionable 15%
framework to answer them.
4. To obtain a competitive advantage 5%
In order to collect the primary data for this study, in 5. Attracts and maintain good students 3%
depth interviews were conducted with the students, 6. Attracts and maintain good academic staff 8%
academic staff for the social responsibility projects. 7. Reduced operating costs 2%
Different instruments were used in collecting this
data: questionnaires, interviews with key actors within Talking with students many of them are
the universities, analysis of public documentation, and a disappointment once they enter into higher education
study of internal documents which are not in the public system either because the specialization offers or
domain. The interviewees were five managers, eight because the amount of memory – work required greatly
academic staff and 18 students from the Faculty of outweighs the degree of practical skills and abilities
Marketing of the Bucharest Academy of Economic developed within formal curricula.
Studies, the Faculty of Power Engineering, and the At question “To what extent do you think the
Department of Management of the “Politehnica” graduates of your faculty are familiar with the CSR
University. These semi-structured were undertaken by concept and practices as a result of the formal education
the authors. The interviews also covered identification programs being offered by your faculty”, a large
of social responsibility initiatives of the universities, percentage of students and professors from Romanian
their implementation, and their outcomes in terms of the universities has answered that the subject is mentioned
benefits to the local community, to the university and to marginally and there is no formal discipline focusing on
the departments as well as to the students. CSR.
Data analysis is inextricably intertwined with the Only 30 percent of survey respondents declared
data collection. We assessed the quality of interviewees themselves familiar with the CSR concept. An
based on their organization positions. We also relied overwhelming 60 percent of respondents had very little
more on those data that could be endorsed by authors’ knowledge of CSR. An assistant professor from UPB
personal experience. has answered “the subject is mentioned marginally and
there is no formal discipline focusing on CSR”.
Results For UPB, the education of engineers with worldwide
competency has failed to keep pace with the complex
Romanian has the highest proportion of young and highly dynamic development processes of
volunteers. Out of a total number of volunteers, 78 globalization. Study programs are not sufficiently
percent are students. The need to have professional international and cross disciplinary. Mutual recognition
contacts in real working environment is the most of degrees and curriculum modules is still poorly.
important relationship for a student to do voluntary In Romania, CSR reaching is almost non-existent, at
work. least not explicitly, there are no course/classes explicitly
referred to as CSR. Talking with students many of them
are disappointment once they enter into higher
194 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
This article provides rationale for developing a learning outcome approach to business education, one that makes use of reflective
activity by students as they track their individual learning in a final submission of a Documentation of Learning (DOL). Although the
lessons reported in this article apply to academic program design, the implementation of these innovative principles can be applied on
a course by course basis by faculty willing to take the initiative to enhance the learning potential of their students.
reflective inquiry process, critical to action learning, assignments and elements of the course. The second set
surfaces multiple perspectives on a problem. Diversity contains outcomes that are more specific to individual
of thinking is paramount as the teams grapple with elements and assignments.
complex problems. The problem-solving reflective
inquiry process enables collaboration and is the Meta learning outcomes
foundation for embracing multiple perspectives
(Honebein, 1996; Reynolds & Vince, 2004).
1. Understand the holistic, dynamic, global and
Since action learning requires the use of authentic often ambiguous business environment.
and urgent organizational problems, the learning is 2. Assess and manage oneself, taking personal
optimal. Because the problem is embedded in a
responsibility for learning.
realistic, work environment, this encourages transfer of
3. Evaluate the mission and mission statement of
learning to the workplace (Raelin, 1999). Students learn
an organization to analyze its alignment to
through the research and action that is motivated by the
current business practice.
questioning process. Additionally, the use of current 4. Act as a change agent and transforming leader.
authentic problems enables transfer of knowledge 5. Perform an internal/external leadership audit
gained in the action-learning context. Individuals take
on an organization.
ownership of the learning process through their
6. Create novel approaches to business as a
commitment to learn and the fact that they are
participant in an extended learning community.
encouraged to take action to address their own problem
7. A proactive orientation with the ability and
(Marquardt, 1999, 2004). Whether the problem is self-confidence to take initiative and function
oriented within the classroom environment or developed independently demonstrating both creativity
outside those parameters, the students are required to
and responsibility.
produce a reflective analysis of their learning
8. The ability to tolerate ambiguity and the ability
accomplishments via the DOL.
and self-confidence to clarify own role through
Examples of such statements in the DOLs follow. normal interaction with others, internal and
One student highlighted … “as a result of what I have external to the organization.
learned in this course, I was able to think outside of the
9. The ability to manage self - time, resources,
box and develop an innovative Educational Partnership
priorities, stress and function with reliability.
Strategy that has the potential to greatly increase LMI’s
10. Communication skills, with particular
value by generating brand/product awareness, creating
emphasis on the ability to communicate ideas
long-term brand loyalty, providing LMI with access to a succinctly in oral form and electronically.
sizeable zero-cost workforce, and the creation of While traditional report writing remains
additional revenue generation stemming from additional
important, it will be less so in the future.
student membership dues.” Another student illustrates
11. The ability to collaborate effectively - the
in their DOL the ability for a team to cope within the
ability to influence others and be influenced, to
problem situation… “Due to the large undefined scope
listen and understand, to work out differences
of the organization’s mission, we found that breaking so they do not become destructive conflicts, to
things down into manageable pieces was critical. Even use diverse perspectives, cultures, and
then the client was not always forthcoming with
expertise to maximize effectiveness.
information. Therefore, we were forced to be flexible
and creative in our research and investigation. We
found that relying on our own experience provided vital Course specific learning outcomes
insight in helping us to uncover useful information with
the client and build our recommendations.” These are the learning outcomes that are unique to
this course.
Alignment with Learning Methods Table 1: Learning outcomes: Bringing content to action
Learning outcome
All classes across the various programs and 1 Demonstrate leadership and organizational ability
2 Provide appropriate assessment and feedback of
institutions where the DOL has been applied have made individual performance for purposes of development
use of a constructivist approach to learning. In these 3 Manage projects – develop, implement,
classes, the DOL has typically replaced the final exam monitor/control, and evaluate
as the single most heavily weighted individual 4 Demonstrate sensitivity to the disparate cultures,
assignment for the course. The classes have also values, and behaviors of global business
targeted stated learning outcomes from the outset. 5 Perform basic business research using primary and
Students are permitted to add their own individual goals secondary sources
and learning outcomes to the list, but the specific 6 Communicate a clearly articulated position in
course-based outcomes are provided in the syllabus at writing and orally
the start of the course. An example of a list of learning The syllabus also contains the assigned weight for
outcomes follows. The first set represents “meta” each of the assignments, both individual and team, in
learning outcomes that are approached via most order to provide students some form of road map to
198 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
navigate through the course. This reveals that not only References
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Transforming Problems and People for World-Class
6. Double your “questions-to-statements ratio” in Organizational Learning. Davies-Black publishing: Palo Alto,
the next year; know what questions to ask CA.
7. Decide what not to do: work is infinite, time is 13. Marquardt, M. J. (2004), Optimizing the Power of Action
finite Learning. Davis-Black Publishing: Palo Alto, CA.
14. Mumford, A. (1995), “Learning in Action”, Industrial and
8. Suspend titles and define responsibilities Commercial Training, 27(8), 36-40.
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10. Set a BHAG (“big, hairy audacious goal”) Expressing Emotions. The Guilford Press: London.
16. Raelin, J. A. (1999), “The design of the action project in work-
based learning”, Human Resource Planning, 22(3), 12-18.
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continually enhance as they take strides to deepen their Education, 3(4), 442-456.
18. Revans, R. W. (1998), “Sketches of action learning”,
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opportunities in areas of leadership, problem solving, instructional model and its constructivist framework”,
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NEW APPROACHES TO QUALITY ASSURANCE.
THE PERSPECTIVE OF ARACIS
Adrian MIROIU1
1
National School of Political Studies and Public Administration, admiroiu@snspa.ro
The paper discusses a series of processes that characterized Romanian higher education system in the past decade and resulted in a strong
homogeneity of the higher education institutions. It is argued that, while these processes were not necessarily accompanied by an increase
in the quality of the study programmes, diversification may be a solution. The paper discusses the role of ARACIS in creating incentives to
an institutional isomorphism, as well as possible actions to promote diversification.
1. introduction: current procedures of The quite tempting to draw some conclusions. What is the
Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in quality of the Romanian higher education? Did the
Higher Education (ARACIS) activity of ARACIS make a difference? What is to be
The Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance done in the coming period?
in Higher Education (ARACIS) based its activities on One important product of the current activity of
regulations concerning the standards to be fulfilled by ARACIS is the delivery of a yearly Quality Barometer
Romanian universities. The law on quality assurance (2009). The Barometer presents interpretations of the
(Law no. 87/2006 on the approval of the Government existing information as well as of the results of social
Emergency Ordinance No. 75/2005 regarding quality studies carried by the experts of the Agency. However,
assurance in education) described the main processes to even though the Barometer may provide a picture of the
be observed: a) planning and effectively achieving the quality of higher education, the second of the questions
expected training output; b) monitoring the results; c) raised above, did the activity of ARACIS made a
internally reviewing the results; d) externally reviewing difference, got no answer.
the results. Managing these processes required the The aim of this paper is to delineate the main lines
appeal to the following four components: a) criteria; b) that would help us formulate such an answer. The
standards and reference standards; c) performance approach I follow is an institutional one. Although the
indicators; d) qualifications. More specifically, these general framework I have in mind can be traced to a
rules have been codified in two types of documents. The rational choice, or economic, approach (North: 1990,
main types of standards, standards of reference, and Ostrom: 2005), I shall also appeal to the influential
performance indicators were introduced by The institutional analysis put forth by DiMaggio and Powell
Methodology for external evaluation of ARACIS (1991) to explain important processes in organizational
(approved by the Cabinet Decision no. 1418 / 2006). behavior.
The Quality evaluation activities guide for university Given the space limitations of this presentation, I
study programmes and for higher education institutions, shall concentrate on only a few issues. In the next
issued by the Board of ARACIS, includes minute section I shall introduce the idea that a series of
descriptions of the standards and indicators, and provide processes in the Romanian higher education resulted in
the basis for the work of both internal and external a strong institutional isomorphism. I shall, in this
evaluators. respect, argue that, to a large extend, this evolution was
The evaluation activities started with the not necessarily correlated with a higher quality of the
academic year 2006/2007, and normally a period of at education provided by the Romanian universities. In the
least five years is required to complete a first cycle: in third section I argue that the objective of increasing the
fact, the procedures employed by ARACIS require that quality of the study programmes can be reached by
all and each university study programmes be reviewed creating a number of specific incentives and appealing
after a period of five years. Moreover, the procedures to a more diversified set of policy instruments. To
clearly specify that academic quality assurance exemplify my analysis, I shall refer to the role of
evaluation must be completed for each accredited higher ARACIS in both the present homogenization process,
education institution after a period of five years. So at and the desired diversification evolution.
this moment we are still in the middle of the first cycle.
Therefore, attempts to derive rigorous and fully 2. THE IMPACT OF QUALITY ASSURANCE
informative conclusions on the state of the art in the PROCEDURES ON INSTITUTIONAL
Romanian higher education can only be partial. ISOMORPHISM
However, while ARACIS succeeded to One of the striking characteristics of the Romanian
evaluate nearly four thousand study programmes and higher education system is its homogeneity, or at least
more than sixty higher education institutions, an the existence of a powerful process of weakening the
immense amount of information is yet available. It is differences between state and public universities,
200 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
between old and new ones, between large and small universities employing them. The evaluation
universities, between comprehensive and highly committees organized in all universities included people
specialized universities. Their mission (as codified in who belonged to different universities. In this way
the university Charts) are quasi-identical, their professional networks were developed, if not simply
organizational structures, types of study programmes created: largely shared standards were designed and
and their organization, as well as content, the disseminated.
procedures and the practices concerning teaching and ARACIS contributed to this process by its peer
research activities, the internal regulations, are similar evaluation procedures. ARACIS established a pool of
(if not simply copied from one another) and at most nearly fifteen hundred evaluators, and actually appealed
incrementally different. (The process of institutional to more than seven hundred. Their joint activities
isomorphism also characterizes other educational impacted the way in which standards of quality
systems. Probably the most famous work in this respect assurance are defined and applied in Romanian
is Birnbaum (1983); see also Morphew (2009). A universities.
similar process can be met when we move across However, the most important mechanisms that
national boundaries. As argued by Dobbins and Knill led to institutional isomorphism were the coercive ones.
(2009), the Bologna process brings about institutional Regulations issued by the state authorities played a core
isomorphism when we compare educational systems.) role. Laws, cabinet decisions, decisions of the ministers
For institutionalist scholars, the process which of education brought about stricter requirements on the
resulted in these consequences should be no surprise. As organization and the structure of the universities, on the
DiMaggio and Powell (1990) argue, in highly structured types of study programmes offered, on the human
organizational fields like higher education, incentives resources policies. In the entire period following the fall
exist to produce homogeneity. According to DiMaggio in December 1989 of the socialist regime the Romanian
and Powell (1991), isomorphic forces are so powerful in state was a weak one. Its narrow capacity to govern
the field of higher education mainly due to three of its determined the adoption of regulations that in many
characteristics. First, its objectives (like getting cases required simplification, and even over-
knowledge or producing educated graduates) are simplification. A clear example is that of the types of
difficult to measure. Secondly, the technology used the study programmes: the state was never able to
(teaching activities) is largely unclear. And third, the manage a large diversity and therefore issued
organizational actors are extremely professionalized. regulations that dramatically reduced the option of the
The two authors identify three mechanisms universities (and, consequently, of the candidates). We
through which institutional organizational change all know that today universities are compelled to offer
occurs: mimetic, normative, and coercive. First, mimetic only one type of first cycle diploma, only one type of
mechanisms express a propensity of some universities master diploma, but no intermediary diplomas or
characterized by a lack of legitimacy to imitate certificates.
universities perceived as traditional and highly The coercive isomorphism was also stimulated
performing. In Romania the establishment of new in a number of more specific ways. The financial
universities in the past decade, as well as the appearance incentives provided by the National Council for the
of private universities provided a strong impetus in this Financing of Higher Education (CNFIS) pressed the
direction. Institutional mimetism consisted in adapting Romanian universities to adopt similar policies and
the organizational structure to existing traditional structures. The example of the so-called quality
patterns, in developing new study programmes similar indicators, which currently account for 30% of the core
to those existing in prestigious universities, etc. The financing of the state universities, is quite relevant: state
result is the increase of legitimacy on the part of the new universities are bound to become similar, if they wish to
(and private) universities, although not necessarily fulfill these indicators. In my view, the main reason why
correlated with an effective better quality. the universities try to satisfy the quality indicators as
ARACIS should not be forgotten in this well as possible is not that they get larger funds in this
process. It performed evaluations of a large number of way; for the differences resulting by taking into account
study programmes; most of its evaluators come from the indicators are small, even negligible. But by better
old, more prestigious universities. These factors satisfying the performance indicators the universities
contributed to creating incentives that new universities enjoy a higher legitimacy and a better external
try to derive their own legitimacy from an isomorphism perception of the quality of their activities.
with structures, and activities of the old, and prestigious Accreditation and quality assurance procedures
ones. developed and implemented formerly by the National
Normative mechanisms had an important role: Council for Evaluation and Academic Accreditation
in the past decades the impact of the norms defined at (CNEAA) and since 2006 by ARACIS produced even
the national level concerning the access to faculty more profound consequences. They concern both state
positions was quite extensive. The process of and private universities, and all types of study
professionalization of the persons who populate both old programmes offered. To have its study programmes
and new universities resulted in their tendency to be accredited, or to be highly evaluated as an institution, an
more and more similar in the activities carried on in the university has a clear option: to mimic the most
New Approaches to Quality Assurance 201
prestigious institutions in its field. ARACIS may also be institutions are freedom in determining the form of
mentioned with respect to a different form of coercive engagements with business and the community; student
isomorphism: non-formal pressures can be exerted premiums, which recognize differing costs between
cultural expectations in the society. I hope I do not levels and modes of study; specialist institution
exaggerate too much when I claim that ARACIS opened premiums, especially for small and mono-subject
the way to strong expectations for a culture of quality institutions; special funding incentives for particular
assurance in the Romanian higher education. In turn, purposes; supporting institutions in developing their
these expectations determined universities to be own missions and strategies, by taking into account
increasingly organized around rituals of conformity. performance indicators which recognize the variety of
To conclude, the ongoing process of institutional types and allow benchmark comparisons to
homogenization is enforced by structural characteristics be made, etc.
of the Romanian higher education system. While it The instruments appealed to by HEFCE are
contributed to an increased conformity with regulations intended to help increase the quality of the activities in
and good practices, to a higher legitimacy of many, the higher education organizations. We can immediately
especially new, universities, the process had also a notice that this objective is mediated by a quite
negative side. The race for conformity is not necessarily extensive, multidimensional differentiation of the
a move toward greater efficiency and higher and higher institutions. Differentiation, as opposed to
quality standards. On the contrary, in an institutional homogenization, is much closer connected with
framework, the propensity to align to a median position efficiency; but, as the example of HEFCE shows, this
is accompanied by the downwards shift of this position. may happen in a context in which the issue of
On a medium term, homogenization is strongly legitimacy lost its core role, in that the higher education
correlated with lower quality standards. The reason is organizations have reached a satisficient (to use H.A.
simple: homogenization, as well as the legitimacy it Simon’s famous phrase) level of legitimacy.
displays, is a public good. Therefore, if they attain a ARACIS can also stimulate a higher efficiency
certain level, organizational actors have strong by appealing to different tools or instruments. I shall
incentives to free-ride. And free-riding brings about shortly mention two of them. The first is developed in
worse result for all the actors involved. analogy to the financing differentiation incentives. The
second is more indebted to the main theses of the
3. THE MOVE TO EFFICIENCY institutional approach, and focuses on the role of
A main objective of the quality assurance creation and internalization of rules and norms of trust
mechanisms is to provide incentives for increasing the and reciprocity.
quality of all the activities of the universities. The First, it has been argued by many scholars that
question naturally arises, how can this objective be the differentiation of the universities is multi-
reached? dimensional, and that the reductionist approaches
I do not believe that we need to give up the (which usually focus exclusively on research and
instruments already in use. For they helped obtaining teaching) induce, on the one hand, a theoretical
desired results. It can be argued that maintaining a inadequate picture and, on the other hand, misguided
minimum level of quality of the study programmes is a policy recommendations. I believe that one of the most
means of ensuring that each member of the society will important trends in the activity of ARACIS in the
get an education appropriate to her abilities, interests coming period will be the development of procedures to
and ideals. But I think that, in view of the perverse stimulate the universities to differentiate their activities.
consequences of the institutional isomorphism, those To be effective and stable, differentiation should in my
instruments need to be supplemented with new, and view satisfy a number of properties: it should be 1)
different, instruments and mechanisms. multi-dimensional; 2) inclusive; 3) non-hierarchical; 4)
Let me consider an analogy. It is well-known flexible, and 5) non-compulsory (see also van Vught:
that the financial incentives are crucial in the attempt to 2007). Inclusiveness implies that it should apply to all
change the behavior of the organizational actors like the Romanian universities. Non-hierarchical character is
universities. These incentives may consist in general required in order to attract the positive action of the
rules for funding universities, such as funding formulas universities: for any differentiation that ends with top-
(as used by CNFIS to allocate budgetary resources), or positioned and bottom-positioned universities creates
even more specific procedures. A standard example is frustrations and perverse actions to undermine the
provided by the Higher Education Funding Council for criteria proposed and the effects of the resulting
England (HEFCE). The Council developed an hierarchy. Non-compulsory differentiation means that
impressive number of types of incentives used to induce the university themselves have the crucial role in
the differentiation of the higher education organizations defining their position as members of one or another
(HEFCE: 2000; see also Taylor: 2003). Among them we cluster; and flexibility entails that differentiation is not
may note: institutional flexibility in the use of block static, but dynamic.
grant funding, with freedom to determine resource Differentiation can be stimulated by using a
allocation internally; dual support for research, enabling variety of policy instruments. For example, the
universities to plan their own research profiles; performance indicators can be grouped according to
202 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
alternative dimensions, and be taken as essential P.J. DiMaggio (eds.), The new institutionalism in organizational
analysis, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
according to the mission of the university. This analysis
[5] Birnbaum, R. (1983). Maintaining institutional diversity, San
can be done a priori or a posteriori. This means that by Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
appealing to the data ARACIS acquires it can provide [6] Morphew, C.C. (2009). Conceptualizing Change in the
information to the universities concerning the type of Institutional Diversity of U.S. Colleges and Universities, The Journal
of Higher Education, Vol. 80, No. 3, pp. 243 – 269.
clusters they are most likely to be included in.
[7] Dobbins, M., Knill, C. (2009). Higher Education Policies in
Secondly, in an institutional setting the role of Central and Eastern Europe: Convergence toward a Common Model?,
the new institutions like, e.g., the formal and shared Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and
rules, norms, and practices associated to quality Institutions, 22, 3, pp. 397–430.
[8] HEFCE (2000). Diversity in higher education: HEFCE policy
assurance in universities can be analyzed only if a long
statement.
enough time horizon is assumed. As I have already [9] Taylor, J. (2003). Institutional Diversity in UK Higher Education:
mentioned, ARACIS started its activity only four years Policy and Outcomes Since the End of the Binary Divide, Higher
ago, and the first cycle of evaluations performed by it is Education Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 3, pp. 266 - 293.
[10] Van Vught, F. (2007). Diversity and Differentiation in Higher
not yet completed. But effective institutions require
Education Systems. Challenges for the Knowledge Society,
iterated interactions and cooperation between the www.uhr.no/documents/Fran_van_Vught_text.pdf.
organizational actors involved over a long period of
time. It is only in this way that trust emerges. Therefore,
evaluations can be regarded as elements in a process in
which reciprocity is essential for attaining a superior
state of equilibrium.
It would be pointless to claim that quality
assurance procedure and instruments in place in our
higher education system, and specifically the
mechanisms and activities of ARACIS should already
have succeeded in producing efficient and long-
enduring results. The effects can only be effective on a
medium or a long term period. We can of course see the
seeds. My general conclusion is that we always need
stability, we need to be patient. Enduring, and therefore
efficient, institutions are those that are 1) well designed,
and 2) consistently implemented. I believe that the
former condition holds for the present procedures of
quality assurance. I hope ARACIS will also succeed to
accomplish the later.
AKNOWLEDGMENTS
References
Abstract. The paper presents the possibility to achieve leadership in higher education by development of poles of excellence in
research. In this way research results are obtained in a project for excellence that allows the formation of leadership in the field
studied, while increasing the educational process and quality by developing skills in the study of complex technological systems. There
are present mainly the possibility of introducing on process distributed and decentralized modular structures which use
programmable logical automates, thereby offering all the facilities for real time control and additionally the possibility of interactive
interfacing with a PC by integrating an open architecture system. A modular structure in open architecture system is developed, based
on the SCADA concept of control in complex automations. Economic analyses reveal that in comparison with a centralized structure
the presented system with modularized and decentralized structure significantly reduces efforts of conceiving, designing and
controlling the technological flux. Finally, it offers a modern solution for developing of new complex automation installations and
updating existing ones, in order to gain new skills in the study of complex automation systems, targeting the students in their last years
of college, master students and PhD students.
Keywords: leadership in higher education and quality insurance, knowledge bases innovation, complex automation, innovation-
transfer of technology-creativity, intelligent management.
temperature as well as a slow control loop for dryer selecting the speed of the frequency converter high /
temperature, having as input signals 10 temperature low, running on Auto / Manual, alarm signal exceeded
transducers and a current PID regulator calculated with the nominal current, exceeding the power, resetting the
a fuzzy regulator law. To monitor the process of alarm of the frequency converter, signal reference that
weighing are generated the following signals: dosing measure the speed of frequency converter, a
products on high speed, dosing products on low speed, measurement signal of the motor nominal current. The
emptying, pause dosing, upper limit scale, lower limit system for acquisition and control PLC, provides 336
scale, dosing in progress, value measured of weight. inputs/outputs analog, 384 inputs / outputs digital and
Additionally, add the control signals of the frequency 720 inputs/outputs digital/ analog.
converter in correlation with the weighing system:
PC programmer RS 232 n
CS 31 BUS
PROCESS
n n
Fig. 1. Architecture with a maximum number of components necessary for the automation of corn mills
possibility is ensured of monitoring the entire
technological process by connecting to the Internet, all
In modulating the flux the physical repartition of the
tools has been taken into account in order to reduce the
length of cable between the PLC I/O module and the
field elements (confirmations, command relays, the while visualizing the technological process from
transducers, etc.). With this in mind part of the wherever there are authorized operators for data access.
pneumatic transport and de-dusting has been assigned
locally to each technological module. This was made
3. Conclusion.
possible by the concept of decentralized and distributed
structure of the command and control system.
Theoretical results and design concepts presented
have led to a system of modular complex automation,
Communication between the central units allotted to with remote dispatching flow control technology with
each technological module can be achieved through the graphical interface flow control technology
system buses: Ethernet, MODBUS, PROFIBUS, presented in figure 2.
ARCNET, MODBUS, etc. A central PLC unit is
allocated for communication with all central units on The main innovative elements that have the basis for
technological modules and will represent the interface achieving this control system are presented below,
with the local monitoring and dispatch system. The namely:
latter works similar to a server enabling data Introduction of modular structures of
transmission for the Internet through tunneling. Thus the decentralized and distributed on process,
Leadership in Higher Education by Development of Poles of Excellence in Research 205
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References
Abstract t The aim of the study is to assess the knowledge and attitudes among young healthcare dentist professionals, like young doctors,
residents and master students in dentistry, in relation to healthcare ethics and law, in order to improve the ethical and moral aspects in higher
education in dental Medicine.
Prior work: There has been growing public concern regarding the ethical conduct of healthcare professionals. This is often reflected as
complaints about poor ethical conduct and an increasing use of litigation against healthcare practitioners. In the relationships with their patients,
doctors have some moral obligations: confidentiality, respect for patient autonomy and consent for treating infected patients.
There are many recommendations to strategize the teaching of medical ethics, incorporating ethical and legal issues into medical curricula. In
this case, the first step may be to determine the current basic knowledge and attitudes of the healthcare young practitioners.
Methodology: A questionnaire concerning knowledge of healthcare ethics was distributed to 65 young dentists who graduated 2009 the Faculty of
Dental Medicine, of Iasi, Romania. The questionnaire consists of 16 items regarding code of ethics in dentistry: responsibility to patients,
responsibility to the public, responsibility to the profession, responsibility to colleagues.
Results: All doctors responded that ethic attitude is very important, 34% recognized they had minor ethical problems. There are significant
statistical differences between subjects: 79% of doctors had a stronger opinion than 35% of master students concerning treating infected patients.
56% did not know about the ethics committee in our university.
Implication: A very important implication of our study is improving curricula in dental medicine with the ethical and moral aspects in higher
education. It is necessary and helpful to make ethical conferences and the proceedings of the case conferences must be published to be available
for all healthcare professionals.
Originality values: There are no studies in our region regarding ethical and moral aspects in higher education in Dentistry. For the first time,
dentists have the moral obligation to continuously update their knowledge. In addition, they must always ascertain that they are doing their very
best in each diagnostic and clinical procedure.
KEY WORDS: KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, ETHICS, YOUNG DENTISTS
university? family (item 10), to which only 56% dentists and 51%
16. Is it dentists 77 23 0.12 p=0.56 master students answered affirmatively.
necessary to master 73 27 The answers to question 16, “Is it necessary to make
make students ethical conferences?” demonstrate that most of the
ethical subjects, 77% dentists, respectively, 73% master
conferences
?
students agree with conferences, classes and case
presentations.
*=statistical significance (p<0.05)
REFERENCES:
Abstract: The objectives of this study are to evaluate the oral health related quality of life in older people and to increase the perceptions and
roles of dental education in serving communities, in promoting oral health, providing access to care, and conducting relevant research as a
strong sense of social responsibility. Prior work: Research about the relationship between quality of life and oral health is realized on the basis of
socio-dental indices, defined as evaluation the way in which oral health disturbs social function. The 12-item of Geriatric Oral Health Assessment
Index (GOHAI) was developed to evaluate three dimensions of oral health-related quality of life which includes: physical function, psychosocial
function and pain or discomfort. In order to use this index our team validated in a research project the Romanian version of GOHAI. In this way
higher education in dental medicine serves society through its missions of teaching, research, and service the communities.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in ‘’St. Parascheva” Centre from Iasi, Romania, in 2009 by a team composed by the
authors of this study and 46 students in Dental Medicine. The 75 subjects were clinically examined and interviewed in order to assess their
quality of life using GOHAI Romanian version.
Results: The most affected quality of life dimension was avoidance of certain food, reported by 73.3 % subjects, and the least affected was social
limitation, 6.6 %.Significant correlations were found between oral health indicators “denture used” and items like “functional limitation” (r=
0.62), and "avoidance of foot" (r=0.56).
Implications: Improving quality of life for older people is an important activity that involves not only doctors, but also teachers and students.
Dental Medicine Schools must include in their curricula design better integration with institutions partnerships/interdisciplinary collaborations
as means to better serve the needs of the public health dentistry.
Originality value:The Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) has been adapted for general use and tested on adult samples, according
with language, cultural norms and the health care system for the first time in Romania before it receives widespread use.
KEY WORDS: QUALITY LIFE, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, STUDENTS, DENTAL MEDICINE
between the oral health and the quality of life with the RESULTS:
help of the GOHAI-Ro questionnaire, especially Table 2 shows the responses to the GOHAI-Ro items
adapted for this purpose. Oral status evaluation was from the participants and the most serious problems
conducted with the help of the World Health (responses with always) were reported as it follows:
Organization methodology, based on clinical -55% of the participants for question GOHAI 2 –
considerations, without resorting to other type of chewing problems for hard foods,
examinations [11]. -53.3% of the elderly subjects reported hard foods
The demographic and clinical characteristics of the limitations (GOHAI 1);
subjects from the study group, including sex -42.2% of the subjects felt discomfort when chewing
distribution, general health status, age, denture status certain foods (GOHAI 5);
and prosthetic treatment needs, are present in table 1. - 7.6% used drugs for oral pain very often, (GOHAI 8),
and only 4.4% are unsatisfied with the esthetics of their
Table 1. Overview of respondents’ characteristics teeth, gums and dentures, (GOHAI 7);
Variables n (%) -social dimensions are much less affected (GOHAI 11):
Gender only 2.2% of the subjects felt uncomfortable when
Male 22 29.3 eating in public.
Female 53 70.7
Related to quality of life dimensions, the most affected
General health status
Cardiovascular disease 31 45.3 dimension (responses with often and always) was
Diabetes mellitus 13 17.3 physical dimension- avoidance of food, (GOHAI 1) for
Other diseases 31 41.3 73.3% subjects, and the least affected was social
limitation (GOHAI 6), reported only by 6.6%
Age
60-64 11 14.7 Table 2. Negative item responses (%)
65-74 35 46.7 GOHAI-Ro Items 4 5
>75 29 38.7 Often Always
The data was analyzed with the help of the SPSS.14 9. Worried about teeth, gums or 35.6 15.6
program, at a statistic significance level of 0.5. With the dentures
help of the Spearman correlation, the relationship 10. Self-conscious of teeth, gums or 28.9 4.4
dentures
between the clinical and the socio-demographic
11. Uncomfortable eating in front of 11.1 2.2
variables was tested, using the questions of the GOHAI- other
Ro questionnaire. 12. Sensitive to hot, cold or sweet 13.3 6.7
The Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index foods
(GOHAI) questionnaire was described by Atchinson
and Dolan in 1990 and consists of 12 questions that
reflect aspects considered as having an impact over the To check the association between life quality, evaluated
life quality of the elderly population, such as: functional through the GOHAI-Ro questions and the oral status,
limitation, chewing discomfort and avoidance of certain we made a Spearman bivaried correlation analysis
foods, avoidance of social contact, self medication for concerning: on one side, the physical, psychological and
dental pain, unsatisfied with look of teeth. The answers social dimensions of the quality of life and, on the other
are arranges as such: 1=never, 2=seldom, 3=sometimes, side, the clinical and socio-demographic indicators. The
4=often, 5=always [6]. results are exhibited in table 3 and table 4.
Teaching dental students concerning specific aspects on social responsibility 213
Table 3- Spearman correlation between GOHAI-Ro and clinical Table 4- Spearman correlation between GOHAI-Ro and social
indicators indicators
GOHAI-Ro dimensions Clinical indicators GOHAI-Ro dimensions Social indicators
Denture Removable Age Gender
used treatment
need
PHYSICAL DIMENSION PHYSICAL DIMENSION
Limit the kinds of food (GOHAI r= 0.561 r= 0.445 Limit the kinds of food r= 0.240 r= 0.374
1) p=0.000* p=0.000* (GOHAI 1) p=0.001**
p=0.002**
Discomfort to eating any kind of r= 0.624 r= 0.420 Discomfort to eating any r= 0.120 r= 0.313
food (GOHAI 5) p=0.000* p=0.000* kind of food (GOHAI 5) p=0.453 p=0.006**
PSYCHOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGICAL
DIMENSION r= 0.042 r = 0.200 DIMENSION r = 0.325 r = 0.141
Self-conscious of teeth, gums or p=0.722 p=0.867 Self-conscious of teeth, p=0.004** p=0.226
dentures gums or dentures
(GOHAI 10) (GOHAI 10)
REFERENCES
1. Alice Murariu, 2008, Oral health and quality of life in adult
population, Editura Junimea, Iasi.
2. Mac Entee M I, 2007, Quality of life as an indicator of oral
health in older people, J Am Dent Assoc, 138, 47-52
3. Inglehart M.R., Bagramian R.A. 2002, Oral Health – Related
Quality of Life. Quintessence Publishing Co. Inc.
4. Lupu, I, 2006, Quality of life in health, J. Quality of life, XVII,
nr.1-2, 73-9.
ASPECTS OF GREEN SUSTAINABILITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION
This paper tries to identify the aspects which make a mass higher educational system a green sustainable one: curriculum, recyicling
aspects in universities, energy issues, etc. The number of students enrolled in universities all over the world has increased drastically
in the last 10 – 15 years. The massive increase of this number became a notion which is found in the special literature as mass higher
education (massification). It has been noticed a shift from elite towards mass higher education. Moreover, The Council of the EU
described a situation in which Europe becomes “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge – based economy capable of
sustainable economic growth with better jobs and greater social cohesion”. Green sustainability in higher education is a subject at an
incipient phase in Romania. The approach used in this paper is a practical one, based on observations, comparisons and case studies.
In fact, the paper is a case study for identifying the possibilities for Romania to become a green sustainable higher education system.
The authors have as starting point the progress made by developed countries on this way and try to identify the opportunities and
challenges for green sustainability in Romanian higher educational system. All universities need to define green sustainability for
teaching, research and community activities. The economy of Europe will become a knowledge based of economy only if green
sustainability purposes are included in the educational curricula in all universities, no matter what profile a university has. In
Romania there are a lot of studies dedicated to sustainability and sustainable development. But there is a less focus on sustainability
in higher education which put the accent on the green part of it. We consider that this paper is one of the first steps in the field of
green sustainability in education system.
system. An important contribution has the article What being in a different way. The study proposed by the
do engineering students learn in sustainability authors is a pleading for sustainable development in
courses? The effect o pedagogical approach (2010), J university curriculum. The results of this study
Seagalas, D Ferrer-Balas, KF Mulder) in which the demonstrate an obvious support for the implementation
authors make a study in more European prestigious of sustainable engineering in university curriculum
universities regarding the impact of pedagogical (authors’ opinion is that this implementation is
teaching methods for certain sustainable development imperative).
courses upon both students’ knowledge and perception. Environmental engineers were formally trained only
The article is very important through both its proposed in a framework of standard academic disciplines. The
evaluation method and the results presented in the end academic disciplines are orriented towards sustainable
of the article. The authors propose a complex engineering and implicitly towards agriculture
methodology: the evaluation of knowledge through: engineering, civil engineering, environmental
conceptual maps, methodology applied both for students engineering, ecology, environmental sciences,
who attended the courses about sustainable development management of natural resources. Our opinion is that
and a group of experts, members of Engineering these parts of different disciplines give information and
Education in Sustainable Development and their results practical experience linked to sustainable engineering
were considered reference points in the evaluation of but they are not totally subjects of ecological
students’ answers. Two indexes were defined in order to engineering. The impact of university studies is higher
evaluate the results of conceptual maps: an index of for the students who are within a training process than
relevance and an index regarding the distribution of the for the students who attend postgraduate programmes
importance of sustainable development concept. The and who mostly are actively envolved on the labour
main conclusions of the study emphasize that the market.
applied methodology was adequate for the proposed We have to analyze sustainable development issues
puropose – the cognitive learning of the sustainable from the perspective of the formation of knowledge and
development concept. After this course students will be competences both for becoming engineers and future
aware of the negative influences of the bad technologies practitioners. It is necessary to make connections
on the environment. Concerning the technological between engineering projects and environmental and
development, this will have to take into account the social components. The curriculum in higher education
implications on the environment. The authors emphasize has to creat the framework for the importance and
that teaching methodology has to be placed between existence of multi and interdisciplinary training of the
social and institutional zones. students engineers in the context of sustainable
H.T. Odum predicted the necessity of a sustainable development.
approach in the design of technologies. He referred to At the international level, most programmes of
this process as one of ecological engineering and sustainable engineering include a compulsory course
suggested that practitioners should get a green education regarding the assimilation of knowledge and general
beyond the necessary technical knowledge and abilities. competences and an optional course for graduates.
(Odum, 1973) In order to understand the natural In Romania, in the programmes of technical training,
processes necessary for the design, development and general aspects of sustainable development (as concept
restoration of the natural systems, Odum suggested that and trend) are presented without accents on implications
engineers should have wider knowledge of of nonrespecting certain basic principles and without
environmental and ecological systems. Beitz, W., viable solutions for environmental protection. In
Blessing, L., Grote, K.H., (2007. Engineering Design: contrast to the environmental engineering
A Systematic Approach ) propose a vision as critical as specializations, the university curriculum has a more
possible about the necessity of understanding the basic exhaustive approach, providing individual courses for
elements of a technical system orriented towards human one ore more semesters, based on previous knowledge
being and environment which became the main reason about special issues. Nevertheless, coordinators of
for designing, building and implementation of new educational programmes (course coordinator) will
technologies. Other authors propose a very interesting understand that for certain domains (such as chemical
study with students in which they used a questionaire engineering, mechanical engineering, biotechnical
regarding the importance and implications of engineering) the environmental disciplines are very
sustainable development for the technical domain. appropriate and adequate in the context of ascending
(Diemonta, Lawrence, Endreny, 2010), The authors are resource consumption. Exemples of courses such as
directly interested in both the perception about the place environmental audit, the management of biotechnical
of the courses within the university curriculum and the systems, the evaluation of the life cycle of the industrial
comparison of results with H.T. Odum’s statements. products, technologies for less pollutant products will be
The field of sustainable engineering needs new much more adequate in certain cases if the approach of
pedagogical methods which might be used by both environmental engineering issues is desired.
practioners and theoreticians who must think and (Hansmann, 2009)
behave in a way of reconciliation with natural Unfortunately few institutions dedicated to the
processes, who must interlink the nature and human technical training have made major updates regarding
Aspects of Green Sustainability in Higher Education 217
the courses and educational programmes concerning disciplines and curriculum are difficult to be done
sustainable development and training of environmental because of both long working time for this process and a
engineers during the last decades. fully filled curriculum. The biggest difficulties with the
Sustainable engineering is a new and integrator most direct implications refer to the challenge of
concept which has as a fundament a mix of theoretical introduction of new theories and examples which need a
and practical components. There is a certain total update of the content of the courses and the lack of
controversial discussion about the notions of sustainable prioritization for these changes. (Boyle, 1999)
engineering and green engineering. Recently technical universities and colleges have
We propose an integrating approach for the concepts started to introduce the issues of sustainable engineering
of environmental engineering and green engineering. in the disciplines of their curriculum. But unfortunately
Authors’ opinion is that green engineering will the themes are not presented in a integrator manner, but
transform technical disciplines and practices into ones fragmented with respect to the specificity of each and
which promote sustainability. Green engineering every technical discipline. For example, profesors teach
includes both development and implementation of concepts such as: the evaluation of the life cycle,
certain economically and technically viable processes concepts in the field of renewable energy, methods of
and systems which promote social welfare increasing diminishing the quantity of waste. The need for change
the protection of human health and biosphere protection is urgent because today graduates who enter the labour
as a main criterium for technical solutions. market do not understand the constraints of resource
The strategic management of sustainable scarcity and the negative effects of the waste produced
development implies the implementation of a mix of by nonecological technologies. Their colleagues with
principles and criteria validated at international level. longer experience on the labour market are used to solve
These criteria generally appeal to: an integrated vision the technical problems in a conventional manner which
about the management of sustainable development, is no longer used in the context of sustainable
equity between generations, precautionary principle in engineering.
using the scarce resources, the approach of the life cycle
of the products, the prevention of wasting the resources
and investments in new modern production capacities, RRR in Universities
the substitution as a compulsory condition for keeping
the environmental equilibrium, punitive aspects such as
“Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.” It has to be not only a
“polluter pays principle” or the internalization of
slogan with not content. It has to be a compulsory
negative externalizations, the development of the public behaviour in universities.
– private partnership and the cooperation between The practice of developed countries in this field of
states.
actions proves very efficient recycling programs based
An interesting classification of the criteria is
on partnerships between students and administration.
provided by Daniel Loucks, at Universitatea Cornell,
Ithaca, SUA: University of Colorado at Boulder has one
1) from the sociological perspective: the involvement of of the oldest campus recycling programs in the country.
the public sector, social mobility, social cohesion, It operates as a partnership between students and
cultural identity, institutional development; administration. A campus guide details locations to
2) from the ecological perspective: the integrity of recycle everything from paper to office products and a
ecosystem, environmental capacity of resoration, the Green Products Guide helps students and staff in finding
reduction of global implications; recycled and environmentally friendly products. In
3) from the economic perspective: efficiency, growth, West Chester University, The Recycling
equity; Department encourages recycling. Collections of
4) from the engineering perspective: the efficient use of various materials exceed 260 tons per year, as indicated
energy and natural resources, the waste minimization, in the University Recycling Report. All organic waste
recycling and reusing, economic and environmental from grounds maintenance is composted on-site.
comprehensive evaluation using the analysis for the Middlebury College has one of the most extensive
whole life cycle. recycling programs focused on composting. The
The principles and criterium approaches of the program also is built as as a mean for education and
strategic management of the economic sustainable research. A goal of this program has been to teach
development of Romania are according to the students that it is easy to recycle everything from paper
recommendations of Rio Declaration, Agend 21, products and plastics to electronics and hazardous
Millenium Development Goals and other documents materials. Construction materials are recycled and green
approved during the world summits of sustainable certified. Michigan State University has a
development. comprehensive recycling program with an emphasis on
Turning back to the importance of sustainable paper products and reduction of waste. The "Pack Up
development in the context of promoting certain Pitch In" program encourages students to donate usable
measures for supporting the technical sustainable items or recycle materials at the end of school years.
education we have to say that such updates of University of North Carolina has an aggressive
218 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
recycling program and around 40% of the total daily practical steps which make students reduce, reuse and
trash is recycled. That saves the university hundreds of recycle universities in developed countries are on their
thousands of dollars annually in landfill fees. own greener way. We think that in Romania public
And the examples can go on. Unfortunately, in engagement in the transition towards greener economy
Romania as we know there is no recycling program in is essential: top-down solutions, such as regulating
universities. Our teachers teach our students about carbon emissions, will not be enough. We need a bottom
environmental audit, sustainable development, polluter – up approach which begins with small practical steps
pays principle, products life cycle, etc, but there is no such as: putting into practice the slogan “Reduce, reuse,
practical step towards sustainability in campuses. recycle!” in campuses, reducing energy consumption in
Maybe we should begin with putting into practice the universities and teaching sustainability subjects in an
slogan Reduce, reuse, recycle. integrator manner.
All universities need to define green sustainability
Energy issues in universities for teaching, research and community activities. The
economy of Europe will become a knowledge based of
Students can be helped in higher education system to economy only if green sustainability purposes are
included in the educational curricula in all universities,
understand the complex connections between the
no matter what profile a university has. In Romania
environment, energy sources, and the economy. These
there are a lot of studies dedicated to sustainability and
connections have to be understood in this direction:
sustainable development. But there is a less focus on
cleaner and cleaner energy goes to a greener and greener
economy. sustainability in higher education which put the accent
Each year, higher education gives the labour market on the green part of it. We consider that this paper is one
of the first steps in the field of green sustainability in
millions of graduates. They may behave in two different
education system.
ways: either using their attitudes, skills and knowledge
in the direction of clean energy and green economy or
continuing acting in a usual manner.
In United States of America, Obama administration
gives a high priority to these aspects. Literate citizens References
have to make this transition towards greener economy.
650 college and university presidents have signed the 1. Boyle, C., (1999), “Education, Sustainability and Cleaner
American College and University Presidents Climate Production”, Journal of Cleaner Production, volume 7, issue 1,
Commitment and they are trying to develop action plans 83 – 87.
2. Segalas., J., Ferrer-Balas, D., Mulder, K.F., (2010), “What do
to make their campuses climate-neutral. In USA, the engineering students learn in sustainability courses? The effect
higher education sector is he largest purchaser of wind of the pedagogical approach”, Journal of Cleaner Production,
energy in the United States. 18, 275 – 284.
In Romanian Universities, the energy issues are 3. Odum, H.T., (1973),” Energy, ecology and economics”, Royal
Swedish Academy of Science, in: AMBIO, 2 (6), 220 – 227.
taught in academic disciplines such as: renewable 4. Beitz, W., Blessing, L., Grote, K.H., (2007), Engineering
energy, sustainable environmental technologies, Design: A Systematic Approach, Springer, Berlin.
sustainable development, etc. There is no report in 5. Diemonta, S.A.W., Lawrence, T.J., Endreny, T.A., (2010),
Romanian universities about energy consumption or “Envisioning ecological engineering education: An
international survey of the educational and professional
reuse. community”, Ecological Engineering, Volume 36, Issue 4, 570-
578.
Conclusions 6. Hansmann, R., (2009), “Linking the Components of a
University Program to the Qualification Profile of Graduates:
The Case of a Sustainability-Oriented Environmental Science
In developed countries we may say there are Curriculum”, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, volume
incipient steps towards implementing sustainability 46, no. 5, 537 – 569.
7. http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/
principles in higher education. Beginning with a
curriculum which contains sustainability subjects
integrated in a transdisciplinary manner, continuing with
THE EFFECTS OF BOLOGNA DECLARATION
The starting point of this paper is Bologna Declaration and tries to highlight progress made by Romania and EU countries following
the adoption of this treaty. Special attention will be given to analyze the situation in Romania; this is accomplished primarily through
quantitative indicators. Although Bologna Declaration contains mostly qualitative objectives, the authors have tried to capture
quantifiable phenomena, which can be measured accurately without subjective interpretation.
Directorate General responsible for Education and to mobility, often mentioned countries lacking or
Culture. Limited Funding, Issues Visa and work permit, failure
Gross enrolment rates (all Students irrespective of to recognize courses studied abroad and the difficulties
age as a % of student-age population) in tertiary related to studying in the Foreign Language”.
education in 2003 show that the EU-25 is only 57% One way to increase student mobility should be
comparing to the USA where is 81% (All Students as % portability of grants and loans, but only about 40% of
of population in age group 20-24). countries participating in the Bologna Declaration offer
To increase participation rates in higher education, both portable grants and portable loans. However 80%
there must be more modular structures which allow a have some kind of portable support for mobile students.
flexible learning program for people. Most signatory Although countries participating in Bologna
countries (75% according Stocktaking Report) of Declaration have implemented programs to stimulate
Bologna Declaration have implemented flexible learning a foreign language (usually English) statistics
methods of learning consisting of Open Universities and indicate that these efforts had rather modest success. On
part-time, distance e-learning and blended learning an average 1,3 pupils teach foreign languages in 1999,
approaches. and this average rose to 1.5 in 2007, but the 27
The most important goal, according to the authors, European Union have very few countries in which
is student mobility, the opportunity to study at any students learned at least 2 foreign languages (only 5
European university. This will lead firstly, to a stronger countries, including Romania have this performance).
competition among faculties to attract as many and Regarding the reduction of the mobility caused by
better students as possible and among students to get lack of money it should be noticed that in the EU
access to top universities. Secondly, the most powerful countries public spending for R&D increased as both
and prestigious universities will try to attract prestigious absolute volume (from an average of 476.0023 billion
teachers and thereby developing the research process. euro PPS (Purchasing Power Standard) in 2001 to PPS
But this would be possible if the other objectives 583.2663 billion euro in 2006) and share of GDP (from
were included in it. If a student wants to transfer from 4.86% in 1999 to 5.04% in 2006). R & D expenditure
one university in one country at a university in another from private sources also increased from 0.63% of GDP
country, it is necessary to be assured an easily readable in 2000 to 0.67% of GDP, but this increase is rather
and comparable credit transfer system (ECTS is an modest.
example very good). European Credit Transfer and Using Diploma Supplement for qualification
accumulation System (ECTS) - European credit recognition serves the principal purpose of the learning
accumulation and transfer was established to make process: entering the labour market (Employability of
"teaching and learning more transparent and recognition graduates - another goal of the Bologna Declaration).
of education easier (formal, non-formal and informal). Bologna Declaration states the issue of the
The system is used throughout Europe for credit transfer Diploma Supplement in the EU / CoE / UNESCO
(student mobility) and credit accumulation (learning Diploma Supplement format and in a widely spoken
path towards a higher degree). It will also design the European language to make it easier to read and
curriculum and quality assurance". recognize by the participating States. However, around
(http://ec.europa.eu/education) But according to the one third of these countries fail to issue Diploma
same report "Although ECTS has been part of the Supplement to ALL graduates, or to issue automatically
Bologna process since 1999, it is still not fully (some of them have fee for this Diploma Supplement or
implemented across all the countries" which constitutes issue it only upon request). The statistics show that this
a barrier to student mobility. It is a positive fact that system is implemented in 35 countries and 13 of them
only few signatory countries of Bologna Declaration (3 have some problems.
countries) have no credit system or have a not Since many students have no knowledge of the
compatible system with ECTS. existence of the Diploma Supplement while studying
Student mobility (students studying in other euro and the Diploma Supplement is issued on request,
zone countries or candidate countries) increased from students might not receive it when they graduate. There
280.9 thousand students in 1998 to 487.9 thousand in are some country were Diploma Supplement is issued
2007. Although the trend is upward, growth rates automatically in your native language, and students
suggest that student mobility was not driven by must make an application for the Diploma Supplement
administrative measures in BD but rather by increasing in English version.
the number of countries participating in the EU, which To facilitate the entrance or the mobility on labour
led to the removal of barriers related to labour mobility. market, recognition of prior learning is extremely
As you can see, in the next year after Bologna important for individuals. According to Stocktaking
Declaration was signed (2000) the number of students Report only a relatively small number of countries have
studying in other European countries declined by 6200 well-established a systems for recognition of prior
students. Moreover, student mobility is among the few learning and most of them have no recognition of prior
indicators that had an ascending evolution in 2009 learning including non-formal and informal learning. In
compared to 2007. In 2009 Stocktaking Report authors the end of Stocktaking Report are stated the main future
mention some barriers to mobility: "The main obstacles challenges identified by the participating countries to
The Effects of Bologna Declaration 221
Bologna Declaration. An important place is given to Agenda where it is said that the appropriate split for R
innovation and technology transfer, seen as a balance & D is 1 / 3 financed by public funds and 2 / 3 by
between learning and research. Analyzing the share of private, according to Eurostat.
research-development expenditure in the EU, we see Unfortunately Romania does not follow this trend
that there is a reduction in the share of expenditure of EU countries because the share of government
made by the government sector from 34.9% in 1999 to expenditure increased from 46.7% in 1999 to 70.1% in
33.5% in 2008. Unfortunately, this reduction was not 2008. Moreover, this increase in government spending
accompanied by the increasing of business enterprise has led, logically, to the decrease of spending of
sector, whose share decreased too, but on behalf of business enterprise sector from 50.2% in 1999 to 23.3%
higher education sector expenditure which increased in 2008.
from 0.6 in 1999 to 0.9 in 2008, and in particular, on As in the EU, the total number of patents granted
behalf of abroad sector which increased its share of decreased from 817 in 2002 to 684 in 2007 this fact
expenditure from 7.3% in 1999 to 8.9% in 2008. showing the disparity between quantitative growth and
Studying statistics provided by Eurostat we see a economic efficiency.
negative and undesirable quantitative increase to the Romania has a Procedural Guidelines for the
detriment of quality: increasing number of researchers recognition of prior learning competences acquired in
led to the reduction of the number of patents and other contexts than formal education which was adopted
innovations! Patents granted by the United States Patent in 2004 in form of a Common Order of the Ministers of
and Trademark Office (USPTO) decreased from 64.34 Education and of Labour (article 32 of Ordinance
patents per one million inhabitants in 1999 to 33.98 129/2000 approved with amendments by Law 375 /
patents per one million inhabitants in 2004 for EU 2002). Recognition and validation of professional skills
countries. acquired in non-formal education is done in formal
A recent study by the Education International Pan- assessment centres authorized by the National Council
European Structure (Enhancing Quality: Academics’ for Adult Vocational Training (Consiliul Naţional de
Perceptions of the Bologna Process, 2010) about the Formare Profesională a Adulţilor), according to the
impact of Bologna on teaching and research conditions evaluation and certification of professional skills
reveal that in seven countries respondents consider both obtained by other means than formal learning as was
teaching and research conditions to be deteriorating approved by Ministry of Labour, Family and Social
simultaneously (Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Protection.
Romania, Serbia and Slovakia). Additionally, in another Authors’ opinion is that even if there is a
seven countries, academics have suffered deterioration procedure of the recognition of non-formal learning this
only in teaching conditions (Georgia, Germany, Ireland, is not sufficiently promoted so individuals cannot
the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden) and in benefit from the accumulation of non-formal
one country academics have suffered deterioration only knowledge. A national awareness campaign could be
in research conditions (Croatia). the solution to this problem.
Romania has also developed flexible learning
III. ROMANIA'S SITUATION methods and this is reflected by the evolution of the
Regarding the performance of the 10 objectives of number of students enrolled in various forms of
the Bologna Declaration, Romania is one of the education. The number of students who attended part-
performers. She met not less than 9 of them as time education form increased by 73%, from 51625
Stocktaking Report (9 is "green"). The only criterion students in 1999 to 89335 students in 2007. The number
that needs to be improved is the implementation of of students enrolled in distance learning courses
national qualifications framework (which is yellow). increased dramatically from 9946 students in 1999 to
But studying statistics we find that reality is not as green 260911 students in 2007 (i.e. an increase of 2623.3%!).
as is in the national reports. Only in the evening education form, number of students
Thus, the share of public expenditure for R&D in enrolled decreased by 65.5% from 3281 in 1999 to 1132
Romania was 3.37% of GDP in 1999 and rise to 4.2% in 2007.
of GDP in 2006, but in EU the average is 5.04% of Using Diploma Supplement for qualification
GDP. recognition serves to the main purpose of the learning
Analyzing the structure of expenditure on R&D in process: entering the labour market. But in Romania, the
Romania, we find that though the expenditure with R & increase of the number of students with higher
D from private sources increased from 0.31% in 1999, education was to meet some administrative criteria but it
to 0.4% in 2005, but it is still at a very low level. This is was not based on economic principles. This is
because there are no incentives for companies to emphasized by the evolution of the structure of
provide sponsorship (under Law no. 32/1994 discounts employment and unemployment. Share of individuals
for all taxable base for sponsorship made arising from with higher education in total employment increased
acts of patronage, can not exceed 10% of the income or from 9.1% in 2000 to 13.8% in 2007. But the big
taxable income, if necessary). number of graduates led to an increasing share of
The importance of the source of funding has been highly educated individuals in unemployment rate from
recognized in one of the Barcelona targets of the Lisbon 2.9% in 1999 to 5.7% in 2007 (a top of 7% in 2004).
222 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
References
1. Andrejs Rauhvargers, Cynthia Deane & Wilfried Pauwels
(2009) - Bologna Process Stocktaking Report - Report from
working groups appointed by the Bologna Follow-up Group to
the Ministerial Conference in Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve 28-29
April 2009
2. Enhancing Quality: Academics’ Perceptions of the
Bologna Process - A Study by the Education International
Pan-European Structure, On the Occasion of the Bologna
Process Celebration Conference, March 2010,
http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be
3. Focus on Higher Education in Europe 2010: The Impact of
the Bologna Process - published by the Education, Audiovisual
and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA P9 Eurydice), February
2010, http://www.eurydice.org
4. Legea nr. 32/1994, lege privind sponsorizarea, modificata
si completata prin: Ordonanta Guvernului nr. 36/1998, Legea
nr. 204/2001 si Legea nr. 394/2006 - M.Of. nr. 129/25 mai.
1994
5. Legea 375 din 11 iunie 2002 (Legea 375/2002) pentru
aprobarea Ordonantei Guvernului nr. 129/2000 privind
formarea profesionala a adultilor Publicat in Monitorul Oficial
436 din 21 iunie 2002 (M. Of. 436/2002)
6. Romania National Reports 2007-2009 - BOLOGNA
PROCESS
7. THE EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION AREA Joint
Declaration of the European Ministers of Education Convened
in Bologna on the 19th of June 1999
SOME CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT THE SUSTAINABILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
IN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITIES
This paper reviews definitions and frameworks for sustainability in higher education by examining a few national and international
institutional policies related to sustainability higher education in technical universities. The engineering specializations have been
among the most active in seeking to integrate issues of sustainability into professional education courses. Much research on the
resultant innovations has focused on descriptions of course structures, learning experiences and curriculum change processes. The
paper highlights a fundamental research that consists of analysis, processing and assimilation of bases knowledge found in
international used. We add to this new knowledge with specific and particularity for Romania. In the paper is a comparative analysis
about the sustainability in higher education in technical universities, from Romania and abroad. One of the results following
completion of comparative analysis is that between technical universities and companies abroad exist in a solid working relationship
for practical training of students and to establish competencies and skills that graduates must have higher education. Companies have
a critical role in financing research and development programs with the Technical University. This paper presents various aspects of
implementation of sustainability in higher education in Romania and the European Union.
- Oriented courses and number of hours Professional practice is particularly important for
depending on interests not related to students' acquiring knowledge of practical knowledge and skills
needs in terms of their knowledge and aptitude; training in the specialty field in which the student is
- Resistance to change; formed. Whatever form of assessment: ratings (accepted
- Staff with limited knowledge (especially in /rejected) or grades, internships are treated lightly in
practical terms) in sustainable development; Romanian universities, which leads to a weak
- Lack of discipline in the curriculum to address development of practical skills, not in conjunction with
sustainable development; business requirements. Therefore this creates a gap
- Packages of optional disciplines must offer a between business needs and skills of graduates, which
variety of alternatives to provide training leads to a less sustainable education.
correlated with students needed skills; By carrying out this work we have shown the role
- The Syllabus contains more theoretical and less that business plays in academia, in developed countries
practical knowledge. in the European Union. Supported by collaboration
These deficiencies can be reduced by a strong between educational institutions and companies,
influence of civil society and business environment on graduates of universities in developed countries have
the Romanian Technical Universities. solid knowledge and practical skills. Unfortunately, we
can not say the same about university graduates in
Romania, who when leaving school, have only
theoretical knowledge.
In the future we plan that the research on
Education Research sustainable development of higher technical
education to be based on finding answers to these
questions:
- What Sustainable Development competences
University should engineers have when graduating?
- How should Sustainable Development
competences be taught/learned at technological
Civil Business universities?
Society Environment - Which curriculum structure is more suitable to
facilitate the acquisition of Sustainable
Development competences?
References
Figure 3: University = Engine of Sustainable Development
The present paper explores the importance of identity building for a coherent communication process meant to ensure the adaptability
of Romanian universities to the needs of both their Romanian public, and also to those of an international audience. The research
focuses on research made in The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies on the way it succeeds in identity building and marketing its
image. Keywords: university marketing, organisational identity, organisational communication, globalisation, educational markets
and more profitably connect to the global economy” classification process has become a very profitable
(our translation, Constantin et al., 2006, p. 11). business, the proof being that these classifications are
Therefore, universities clearly need to redefine their published usually right before admission procedures in
role, to reformulate their mission and to redirect towards higher education institutions. One of the most important
developing long-term strategies which should allow criticisms is that classifications are based more on
them to become dynamic organisations, capable of elements that can be quantified and less on the truly
permanently and constantly offering education and relevant criteria, i.e. criteria that mirror the quality of
training to society in an increasing competitive market. education. Academics themselves believe that an
In what concerns Romanian universities, they face the indicator for the quality of teaching would be very
imperative of restructuring their institutional discourse important, but it is difficult to define and quantify, it is
from a purely declarative to a demonstrative and cost-ineffective and time consuming. Therefore it is
transparent one. One of the difficulties arises from the only used in three out of ten classification systems.
fact that the actors on the Romanian educational market (Stella and Woodhouse, 2006, p. 10).
are more and more numerous, as now competition for We should emphasise though the classifications’
students is open for the European universities as well. potentially positive effect, as they are expected to
Unfortunately, although the Romanian education system trigger quality assurance procedures, as now in
has been constantly restructuring and reforming, with Romania. A visible effect is founding The Romanian
the aim of attaining recognised quality standards, which Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education
should make it competitive on the international market (ARACIS), as an independent public institution of
of educational services, the general impression is that it national interest, a legal entity, with financial
continues to be relatively inadequate. (Bogdan et al., independence. Its general mission is to externally
2007, p. 4). evaluate the quality of education in higher education
institutions and other providers of programmes of
University marketing through classifications and studies and life-long learning specific to tertiary
rankings education in Romania (HG 1257/2005).
One of the ways in which universities nowadays on University sites: information, mission and vision
the one hand justify their activity to their stakeholders
and on the other hand try to attract more money from The lack of clear, transparent, procedures,
them is to make themselves visible in different available in other languages is the first criticism of
classifications and rankings available worldwide. As Romanian university sites. The difficulty of accessing
Nicolae points out (Nicolae, 2002, p.2) the discussion information, the lack of dynamism in bringing
about educational markets and their clients changed information up-to-date on universities’ internet sites is
from a decade ago, when universities were not another problem of Romanian universities.
competitors in the business world, but were after a For example, The Bucharest Academy of
relatively ideal profit, difficult to quantify, of Economic Studies (BAES) with approximately 40 000
knowledge and science. (Strategia ASE 2008-2014, p. 2) students in all
Thus in order to better market themselves, education programmes, has a concise English and
universities nowadays have to comply to these rankings, French version of its internet site. When we accessed
which are highly attractive for their clients and working the site on 19 March 2010, we noticed the reference to
as a risk reduction factor for them. By choosing a the celebrations of the 95 anniversary of BAES from
university placed high in the rankings, stakeholders are 2008, while under the button “Conferences and
made to believe they will obtain the best return on their Symposia” the information is from 2007. Otherwise the
investment with the least liabilities possible. As an versions in English and French are a good attempt at
example, a study undergone in The Bucharest Academy providing international students with some practical
of Economic Studies on the Efficiency of Evaluation in information on life in Bucharest.
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies in 2006 The mission and vision of universities should
showed that 60% of the 1,008 candidates of the Faculty be clear, concise and all-inclusive, such as for example
of International Business and Economics (FIBE) who the mission of the Harvard Business School “We
took part in the survey had opted for this academic educate leaders who make a difference in the world”.
specialty because of the perspectives it offers after (http://www.hbs.edu/about/ ) or of the London School
graduation. These perspectives are connected especially of Economics, which uses 48 words: “Combining
with the career the candidate will have after graduation, academic excellence with practical learning and cutting
many people considering that university studies are a edge research. Working with businesses and
means of earning more money or following a diplomatic practitioners around the world” (http://www.se.ac.uk/).
career. Only 20% of the sample in discussion chose If we compare them with the mission of BAES (to take
FIBE due to the high level of knowledge and skills only an example), which contains 248 words
available in the respective faculty. (http://www.ase.ro/site/Baza%20legislativa/Strategia%2
However there are also critics of these classifications 0de%20dezvoltare%202007-2014/index.htm), we can
and rankings. One of their main arguments is that the say that Romanian universities still use a difficult,
Some Considerations About The Sustainability in Higher Education in Technical Universities 229
highly digressive language (sometimes even confusing so small, we can say that the students’ answers were
for their public), clearly not to their advantage. comparable (bachelor vs. masters).
Moreover when asked to correctly express how
IDENTITY BUILDING – STAKEHOLDERS’ BAES would like to be identified by 2014, only 248
PERCEPTIONS respondents out of 253 (who as we have seen in great
majority believe they know the identity of the institution
they study in) answered this question. As can be seen
According to a study made in The Bucharest
Academy of Economic Studies in October 2009 – from Figure 2, most of them (137, that is 55 %)
March 2010 (Nicolae, M., Marinescu, R.), the correctly identified that as “a research and teaching
university”, with 60 respondents (24 %) saying that they
perception stakeholders have on the identity of BAES is
are both in equal measure). Only 38 respondents (15 %)
still unclear to most of them, although the conclusion is
believe that BAES would like to become a teaching
somewhat optimistic regarding the public’s high interest
university by 2014, and 9 respondents (4 %), a research
in the organisational image of the institution they belong
to. A questionnaire distributed in the period November – university. Only 4 respondents (2 %) believe that BAES
December shows a higher interest from the part of the would not like to assume either of the two roles
mentioned, but without mentioning any other role!
students (at both bachelor and masters programmes),
According to BAES development strategy 2007 – 2014,
with 243 responses (160 from bachelor students and 83
the identity is to be “a university for research and
from masters students) compared to only 10 responses
teaching, which organises higher and scientific
from BAES employees (6 from the academic staff and
only 4 from the administrative staff), as can be seen in education in the areas of economics and administrative
Figure 1. We can only speculate on the much higher rate sciences” (pg. 5, our translation).
of students’ responses, but possibly we should include a
greater confidence in clarifying the identity and 140
137
140
120
When asked to specify whether they know the
100
83
mission of BAES, 106 plainly answered no, out of them
80 six admitted having read it, but were unable to
60
remember it! We are not surprised, as we noted above,
40
the mission being a long and confusing paragraph. The
20 6
0
4
rest of the respondents tried to explain the mission in
acad. staff admin. staff bachelor st. master st. their own words, so they give a large variety of answers,
some of them showing the confusion they are in. We
note here some in the respondents’ own words:
Figure 1: Responses of questionnaire on BAES identity - to be the first economic university in Romania;
- to help students develop necessary cognitive
Another important finding is the obvious and behavioural competences as to become
discrepancy between the extent to which BAES specialist in an ever more complex and
stakeholders believe they know the identity of this dynamic national and international business
institution and its visibility: if 80 % of the respondents environment;
think they know the university identity (with answers 3 - to prepare its students for an international
and above), only 52 % think institutional identity is economic environment;
visible enough (again 3 and above). The differences - to form professionals with high level of
between those who marked number 5 (extremely well knowledge, etc.
and extremely visible) is even more emphatic: 52 % and Twenty-five of the respondents more or less gave
38 %, whereas at the other end, those who marked 1 versions or summarised the correct mission statement:
(not at all and not at all visible) stays the same, at 2 %. “To remain the most prestigious institution of higher
Although it was not our intention to see who of the economic education and public administration in
stakeholders gave these answers, given that the numbers Romania and to qualify among the first universities in
of members of the teaching and administrative staff was Europe”.
230 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Only 219 people answered the next question: Figure 4: Identity of BAES by 2014. 1 a university; 2 a higher education
institution; 3 there is no difference between the two; 4 there is a difference,
“Have you read the documents that define the strategy but I don’t know which.
of BAES for the following years?”, out of whom, the
great majority, 201 (92%, all of them students) honestly Conclusion
answer they haven’t. Only 18 (8%, all of the professors
and administrative staff and some of the students from
In this original study we analysed the way Romanian
both bachelor and master degrees) say they have. When
universities try to market themselves on the global
asked to enumerate some of their main points, the
educational market. As our research points out, the first
answers received vary quite a lot. Here are some of
steps should include identifying university market share,
them:
re-shaping their academic and professional identity and
- to remain the most prestigious institution of
trying to address the target audience through clear
tertiary economic and public administration
communication channels. Although there is a long and
education in Romania;
difficult road ahead, some universities, such as The
- to rank among the leading universities in
Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, are trying to
Europe, etc.
find the Unique Selling Point that differentiates them
As seen in Figure 3, the website is clearly
from their competitors, so as to attract more students
considered by most (90 %, 216) respondents to be the
and, ultimately, more prestige and investment.
best means of communication of this strategy, followed
by meetings (16 respondents, 1 %) and hard-copy
newsletters (only 6 respondents). It becomes thus References
evident that the website has to be updated regularly and
to include concise and easy to obtain information in a 1.Agachi, P. Ş. and Nica, P. (2006) Ierarhizarea universităţilor din
România. Metodologie de aplicare, Raport interimar decembrie 2006,
reader-friendly layout. BAES Publishing House, Bucharest.
2.Bogdan, A., Prejmerean, M. and Vasilache, S., “Research Activity
as an Indicator of Market Competitiveness. The Case of Post-
6; 3% 16; 7% 0; 0% Adhesion Romanian Business Education”, International Symposium
The Path Of Internationalisation and Integration in The Europe of
1 Region, 25 – 28 aprilie 2007, Curtea de Argeş.
2 3.Constantin, D. L., Dragan, G., Suciu, C. M. and Zaharia, R. M.
3
(2006), Asigurarea calitătii în interiorul spaţiului european al
4
învăţământului superior. Acreditare, evaluare, ierarhizare, Raport
216; 90%
interimar decembrie 2006, BAES Publishing House, Bucharest.
4. Harrison, D., Website to compare universities on quality, The Age,
3.03.2010, http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/website-to-
compare-universities-on-quality-20100302-pgfu.html
5..Nicolae, M.(2002), “Explorări ale unor posibile oferte educaţionale
Figure 3: Visibility of communication methods: 1 the website; 2 meetings; 3 în administrarea afacerilor”, The International Conference
hard-copy letters; 4 other
Globalisation and university economic education, vol III, Libris
Publishing House, Iaşi.
As regards the identity of BAES as perceived by the 6.Nicolae, M. (2007), “Integrarea europeanǎ – economie, instituţii şi
comunicare”, European Institutions and Economic trends in the
respondents, the results are the following (Figure 4): 20th century, BAES Publishing House, Bucharest.
most of the answers were divided between those who 7. Nicolae, M. and Enache, M. (2007), “Romanian Higher Education
believe that BAES is a higher education institution – the First Lessons as a European Union Member State”, BAES
(110) and a university (108), whereas 24 believe there is Publishing House, Bucharest.
8.Peters, T. (1992), Liberation Management, Necessary
no difference between the two, and 14 think there is a Disorganization for the Nanosecond Nineties, BCA, London.
difference, only they don’t know which. Suffice it to 9.Stella, A. and Woodhouse, D. (2006), Ranking of Higher Education
mention at this point that the Strategy mentioned above Institutions, AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES QUALITY AGENCY,
and all the institutional documents identify BAES with a Occasional Publications Number 6.
10. Strategia de dezvoltare a Academiei de Studii Economice din
university. True, its name (Academy) can create Bucureşti pentru perioada 2008-2012, cu extensii până în 2014,
confusions. http://www.ase.ro/site/Baza%20legislativa/Strategia%20de%20dezvol
tare%202008-2012/index.htm
11. Hotărâre nr. 1257/2005, din 18/10/2005, privind aprobarea
Regulamentului de organizare şi funcţionare al Agenţiei Române de
120 110 108 Asigurare a Calităţii în Învăţământul Superior (ARACIS).
12. Harvard Business School http://www.hbs.edu/about/
100
13. London School of Economics (http://www.se.ac.uk/
80
60
40
21
14
20
0
1 2 3 4
LEADING WITH SPIRITUALITY – WHAT THE MASTER STUDENTS MUST
LEARN ABOUT THE IMPACT OF SPIRITUALITY AT WORK
Valentin NIŢĂ 1, Daniela Tatiana CORODEANU AGHEORGHIESEI 2
1
FULL PROFESSOR Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza valnit@uai.ro, valnit2003@yahoo.com,
2
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza, dtc@uaic.ro, d_corodeanu@yahoo.com
Abstract
The research presented in our article aims to illustrate how future or current managers studying currently in the Masters in Economics consider
spirituality an important element in the workplace and exercise leadership. Concerns for studying the implications of spirituality in the workplace
are increasingly older, but Master’s Students do not have enough knowledge on this subject. They only partially accept the fact that it influences
the well being, organizational climate or leadership at work. Studying the impact of spirituality at work can demonstrate that it is a value that is
useful / applicable to individuals and organizations, but at the same time, it is not addressed properly, or it may be problematic, from an ethical
and practical perspective.
In the opinion of Fairholm (2001: 40-41), spirituality possibility to understand the values of the others, the
“defines the emotional, physical and intellectual self…it beliefs, it further motivates them and increases
is the source of the general perception of the world, effectiveness.
truth, beauty and kindness…it is what separates the In the opinion of Pruzan (2004: 195-196, quoted by
human being from other creatures”. Talking about Zsolnai), the organizational orientation towards
spirituality means talking about values, such as spirituality is taking place because of the manifestation
“harmony, trust, good communication, cooperation, of a new phenomenon: leadership based on values
transparence and honesty” (Dorr, 2007: 155). (shared with the stakeholders of the organization, which
In business and management, it signifies any form of constitutes corporative identity and self reference land
moral, religious, social and psychological fulfillment, mark), social and ethical responsibility (extra report,
such as creativity, self expression, participating/sharing aside the financial one, about how the corporation
with others, charity and service to the community (Das serves multi stakeholders and brings multi value to the
Gupta, 2004, xxii). society), corporatist social responsibility (responsibility
(Chu, 2007: 62) proposes the spiritual market capital to all categories of stakeholders, from employees to the
model, whose foundations are spiritual actives, and local community, the role of “citizenship”),
which includes as classes of actives the talents and preoccupation for corporatist reputation and identity (in
abilities that form multiple intelligences, as well as face of consumer “critics” also preoccupied about who,
positively affective personality traits. The spiritual how and when the products are made, but also in the
actives of an individual are his interior qualities and face of employees who search for meaning in their
abilities, “of his divine energy”, highly superior to work, in an organization they are proud of), investments
material actives, and their “bringing to life” brings about that consider ethics (which are the products, services,
welfare, peace and openness to the flux of the greatest and/or production methods that should be chosen or
power in his life. should be rejected).
Srinivasan (2003: 71) justifies the interest for Corporations, through their leaders, are called to
spirituality in business “because of all social organisms, participate in a global spirituality, next to governments
these have the potential to become the evolutionary and leaders of the local communities, in ensuring work
laboratory for collective experimentation of the spiritual mechanisms which should help solve intergovernmental
transformation”, being at the same time the spirit of our disputes regarding the usage of water and land
modern age. resources, access, security and pollution. Leaders are
Although he concludes that more study is needed in challenged to integrate six values in their daily
order to identify the role of spirituality in business, decisions: “our development and investment politics,
Gibbons (2000, quoted by Pielstick, 2005:161-162) he self determination, management style, cross cultural
first of all considers it a dimension of leadership in the understandings, commercial practices or current loans,
organization; it brings welfare, positively modifies the political crises between countries and within the
organizational culture and ensures a beneficial countries, and international conflicts”
organizational climate; it motivates the individual and (Barrentine&Eisler,1993: 128).
contributes to the effectiveness of fulfilling tasks; it will With an approach based on religion, Pierce (2001: 19)
influence the organizations ability to acquire resources defines spirituality at the work place as: “an organized
and it will improve its ethical behavior. attempt to align ourselves and our environment with
The idea of the connection between leadership and God, to embody the spirit of God in the world and to try
spirituality may also be found in Neal (2009: 481) who and make the world a better place through all our efforts
claims that lately there have been changes in the (paid or unpaid), somewhat closer to the way God
personal and professional lives of leaders, as they would make it”. To make it applicable, we must look for
became deeply concerned with integrating their own a set of “work spirituality disciplines”, which will help
spirituality in their work. discover the meaning of our work, of working with
Fairholm (1997: 91-92) considers that leaders interested others, of balancing our responsibilities and deciding
in spirituality lay emphasis on the security of the what is good and what is bad, and to maintain and
employees and their families, healthy working change the institution we work in. Hayakawa
environment, welfare and friendship in promoting (2003:189) considers work spirituality “the energy of
values in their organization, thus responding to the the team…, the collective energy of all individuals in a
spiritual needs of their followers; it represents a service team”, energy that can be resonant, harmonious, focused
to others (to help them discover their power in the and thus power generating. Team work helps increase
service of improvements); it means obeying the golden conscience, by sharing “awareness, knowledge and
rule “do not inflict on another that which you dislike”. beliefs” and influences the values and ethics of
Spirituality promoted by the leader helps employees individuals and of the whole working community (idem,
better understand themselves and the others, ensures the 2003: 194).
sharing of values, because they know in their heart that An example of spirituality management is the one
what they are doing is good, correct, true; it motivates successfully presented by the leader manager J. Robert
the others to act by sharing belief (trust); it adds a vital Ouimet (2008: 75-88) who changes his attitude towards
source of force and inspiration; gives employees the employees following a religious experience, by giving
Leading with Spirituality – What Master’s Students Must Learn About The Impact of Spirituality at Work 233
them the impulse (and the financial support) for several spirituality being the object of our present analysis. The
spiritual activities: social and communitarian activities questionnaires were distributed during the exam session,
(donations, etc.), the prize of the heart, bonus depending on the period set for each exam (2009 and
participation to the organization’s benefits, subsequent 2010), on 374 subjects. The number of questionnaires
meetings with employees that have left the company for from each Master differs due to the number of students
various reasons, mentorship for new comers, annual subscribed/present during the session, but also because
bilateral meetings, weekly meetings for conversations some questionnaires have been taken out of the analysis,
with randomly chosen subjects, of at least an hour, where the data was incorrect or the answers given
between the manger and the employees, inner peace contradictory. The distribution on participating subjects
moment during the meetings, monthly support group, came out as follows: Human Resources Management
quiet room, mural illustrations and advice posters, etc. (HRM) – 156; Organizations Management (OM) – 84;
Gupta (1996: 155) points out the fact that in many Tourism and Hotel Management (THM) – 54; Human
organizations the manifestation of spirituality may be Resources Development Management (HRDM) – 35;
strictly forbidden or trivialized by: denials, suppressions Marketing Planning and Strategy (MPS postgraduate) –
and repressions, isolation, ridicule, unfair judgment, 29; Public Relations Negotiations (SCOP 2M) - 16. The
minimizing it by interpreting spirituality as “the spirit of data has been analyzed with the help of the statistic
the company” or “enthusiasm”. program Sfinx Plus.
A study by Mitroff&Denton (1999, quoted by Piestick, Starting from the advantages presented by Gibbons
2005:163), regarding the spiritual practices in a (2000) regarding the promotion of spirituality in
company, pointed out, among others, that their leadership and at the work place, 35 questions have
respondents “felt the lack of role models in practicing been formulated on a Likert scale with 5 predefined
spirituality at the work place without offending their answers (1 – total disagreement, 2 – partial
colleagues or giving way to sarcasm”; “often, they even disagreement , 3 – neuter, 4 – partial agreement, 5 –
avoided using words such as spirituality and soul at the total agreement). To interpret the information obtained,
work place”. we applied the uni-variate statistic analysis (frequency
The problems mentioned above bring us to the analysis, contribution to Hi square) and the bi-variate
statement that although the time for spirituality “has statistic analysis (the Hi square independence test).
come”, it is not an activity easily manageable in the life The coefficient α Cronbach has the value 0,93 which
of a leader or in organizations’ management, without ensures the internal consistency of the questionnaire.
considering the ethical and practical aspects that appear Research results
inherently in such cases within groups or teams. From the analysis of the answers we reached the
Research design conclusion that the Romanian Master students do not
The steps we took in identifying the position of the consider spirituality a common denominator for all
spirituality at the work place (and implicitly its employees; it may be important for some and less
characterization as a dimension of leadership), is based important for others. However, spirituality is
on the analysis of the perception of this relationship by considered to improve the ethical behavior of the
the students from the Masters of the Economics and organization, to influence and bring welfare to the
Business Administration Faculty, future leaders and organization, to have a positive role on the individual
specialists, who have studied the Business Ethics and the organization, and it can be managed through
discipline, starting from the premise hat spirituality different instruments by the managers.
essentially means referring to values, the self and the Very low scores have been obtained for the items
like. referring to a potentially higher level of spirituality
Objectives of the research within Romanian organizations, compared to
The objective was evaluating the position taken by the organizations from other countries and, naturally, for
students regarding the practicing of spirituality at the two control items (low impact on the work climate and
work place, the association they make with this concept, the fact that spirituality is related to practicing a
the positive effects they consider may be generated by religious cult, with which the students do not agree).
spirituality in organizational activity. The results of the averages obtained for each item are
Work methodology presented onwards.
The research is based on a questionnaire distributed to - some employees are interested in spirituality, some
students from all the Masters previously mentioned aren’t (4); spirituality improves the ethical behavior of
during the exam session. The data has been analyzed the organization (3,98); influences welfare (3,93); has a
from 374 students, given the fact that the number of positive role on the individual and the organization
students varies from one Master to another, that some of (3,87); brings welfare to the organization (3,86);
them were not present at the respective exams or that contributes to the modification of the organizational
some questionnaires were filled in incorrectly. culture (3,81); can be managed by the managers through
Structure of the questionnaire the help of various instruments (3,76); stimulates
The questionnaire is part of a more ample investigation employees’ motivation (3,72); influences the
regarding the perception of the ethical behavior in the organizational climate (3,66); is a managerial instrument
Romanian society, the second part with reference to for consolidating the organizational culture (3,55); has a
234 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
positive impact on the organization’s ability to acquire significant role in shaping the future organizational
resources (3,41); in organizations where work leaders. For this, we must first of all shape authentic
spirituality is emphasized, the employees are more leaders, who will know how “to lead with their soul”.
loyal, they work better (3,40); is a dimension of Still, the lack of studies in the field, but also the “frailty”
leadership (3,35); is an issue for each employee (3,24); of the topic in a world consumed by conflicts based on
certain religions have more support for spirituality at the different spiritual and religious values, make it difficult
work place (Islamism (3,20), Christianity (3,16), to enforce the practices of this new theory in the life of
Buddhism (2,98)); contributes to the effectiveness of organizations, from an ethical and practical point of
tasks (3,19); is related to religion, but not to practicing a view.
religious cult (3,14), employees interested in spirituality References
perform better (3,08), has no negative impact on 1. Barrentine, P. şi Eisler, R. T. (1993), When the canary stops
singing: women's perspectives on transforming business,
performance (3), is practiced by naives, “sectarians” Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, page 128
(2,96), the level of spirituality is higher in organizations 2. Canda,R. E., Smith, E. D. (2001), Transpersonal perspectives
where the employees are generally part of the same on spirituality in social work, The Haworth Press, Inc.,SUA,
religious cult (2,87), in Romanian organizations there is page 6
3. Chu, E. (2007), Spiritual Capitalism: The Achievement of
more emphasis on spirituality than in other countries Flow in Entrepreneurial Enterprises, Journal of Human Values;
(2,74), has no impact on the work climate (2,71), is 13; 61, http://jhv.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/1/61,
related to practicing a certain religious cult (2,56). page 62
Identifying spirituality as a dimension of leadership is 4. Das Gupta, A. (2004), Human values in management,
Ashgate , Aldershot, England , page xxii
not among the first ten averages of the characteristics 5. Dorr, D. (2007) , Faith at Work: A Spirituality of Leadership,
associated with it. Still, 36,6% of the students partially Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minn., page 155
agree with this affirmation. 6. Fairholm, G. W. (1997), Capturing the heart of leadership:
spirituality and community in the new American workplace,
Table 1: Spirituality, a dimension of leadership Praeger, Westport, pages 91-92
Spirituality-leadership No. cit. Freq
7. Fairholm, G. W. (2001), Mastering inner leadership, Quorum
total disagreement 26 Books, Westport, pages 40-41
7,0%
8. Gupta, R. K. (1996), Is there a Place for the Sacred in
partial disagreement 48 Organizations and their Development, Journal of Human
12,8%
Values 1996; 2; 149,
neuter 116 http://jhv.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/2/2/149, page 155
31,0%
9. Hayakawa, E. (2003), The Inspired Organization: Spirituality
partial agreement 137 and Energy at Work, B.C. Spirit Unlimited, Bowen Island,
36,6%
pages 189, 194
total agreement 47 10. Kale, S. H. (2004), Spirituality, Religion, and
12,6% Globalization, Journal of Macromarketing 2004; 24; 92,
TOTAL OBS 374 100% http://jmk.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/24/2/92, page 93
11. Neal, J. A. (2009), “Leadership and spirituality in the
Note 2: the difference with the reference repartition is very significant workplace”, în Robert N. Lussier, Christopher F. Achua
(chi2 = 126,19, ddl = 4, 1-p = >99,99%). (2009), Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development,
South-Western Pub, Mason, Ohio, SUA, page 481
Cross-tabling this variable with the Master type, leading 12. Ouimet, J. R (2008), Tout vous a été confié, Presse de la
factor, the status of the respondent (employee/non Renaissance, Paris, pages 75-88
employee), the sex of the respondent, the age shows no 13. Porth, S. J. (1997), Spirit, Religion and Business Ethics: A
Crossroads?, Journal of Human Values; 3; 33,
significant dependence. http://jhv.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/3/1/33, page 34
Conclusions 14. Pierce, G. F. (2001), Spirituality @ work: 10 ways to
Although in specialized literature it is considered that balance your life on-the-job, LoyolaPress, Chicago,: page 19
spirituality is the new paradigm in the organizational 15. Pielstick, C. D.(2005), Teaching Spiritual Synchronicity in
a Business Leadership Class, Journal of Management
management and leadership, the economic higher Education, 29;153,
education in Romania has few disciplines covering this http://jme.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/29/1/153, pages
topic and that is the main cause why the answers are not 161,162 163
uniform when this aspect is considered. Though it is 16. Renesch, J. şi Harman W. W. (1992), New traditions in
business: spirit and leadership in the 21st century, Berrett-
positively evaluated (it influences the ethical climate, Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, page x
the organizational climate, brings welfare), it is not 17. Srinivasan, M.S. (2003), The Meeting of Business and
considered to be directly related to the performance of Spirituality: Its Evolutionary Significance, Journal of Human
the employee at the work place. Values; 9; 65, page 71,
http://jhv.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/9/1/65
The present study is the first research of the type in 18. Zsolnai, L. (2004), Spirituality and ethics in management,
business schools in Romania and it may be an Dordrecht [u.a.] Kluwer Acad. Publ., pages 195-196
opportunity for improving the content of management
disciplines, organizational behavior, human resources
management, leadership and ethics, which have a
ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE COMPONENTS IN A HIGHER
EDUCATION INSTITUTION FROM ROMANIA
Abstract: The main objectives of our research that we undertook in the "Lower Danube" University of Galati were the analysis of the
organizational culture features, based on sample of 60 employees, and its positioning in the "Competing Values Framework" designed
by K. Cameron and R. Quinn. Our paper is focused on a research that we planned and implemented in "Lower Danube" University of
Galati in the period October December 2009. The research tool was a questionnaire that we presented to a sample of 60 employees
from different positions and hierarchical levels of this higher education institution. The answers received from these persons
emphasized the values, behaviors, rituals, perceptions, expectations, work relationships which facilitated the analysis of the
organizational culture of this institution. We consider that a practical approach associated to an organizational culture project is
appropriate in view to achieve the goals of our research. The main method was a survey based on a questionnaire conceived after the
analysis of several models used in the organizational culture audit processes, in order to outline the main characteristics of the higher
education values system. The answers received from the participants to our research provide significant results concerning the
adhesion degree of the employees to the organizational culture values system of "Lower Danube" University. As a future research, we
intend to enlarge the survey by the means of the inclusion of another questionnaire section, which will be focused on the "ideal"
projection of the organizational culture of this higher education institution. In this way, we will be able to make a comparative
approach between the "real" organizational culture and the "ideal" one.
activities. The questions were submitted by the means of The planning can be also a proof of risk avoidance,
the university Intranet system and the answers were but in the same time, we mustn’t neglect the fact that the
analyzed by having in mind the Competing Values university’s activity domain involves this important
Framework strategic dimensions. management task.
First question from the questionnaire has in view to The answers to the third question reveal the main
underline if the "Lower Danube" University employees factor which determines the influence of a person within
focus on discipline and consistency to the detriment of the university (its abilities and contribution to the
experimentation and innovation. (figure 1) performances or its position and its authority). (figure 3)
the influence of a
focus on order and person is based on
its abilities and
36,6% consistency
35,0% contribution to the
performance
focus on the influence of a
63,4% experimentation and 65,0% person is based on
innovation its position and
authority
Figure 1 – The analysis of the cultural values: order and consistency Figure 3 – Emphasis of the main factor which determines the
vs. experimentation and innovation influence of a person within the university
The answers reflect the fact that the "Lower We consider that the University top management
Danube" University is concerned itself about the must involve more actively in the promotion of a values
innovations, motivating the staff to participate to system which assures the acknowledgement and reward
research projects and improving constantly the quality of individual and collective accomplishments. We can
of the educational services offer. mention the devotion towards profession and study,
The employees are receptive to innovation, able to institution and academic community members,
learn new teaching methods facilitated by the creativity and talent, efficiency and performance.
information technology. The fourth question has in view if the university
The "Lower Danube" University management managers (no matter the hierarchical level) encourage
concentrates its strategy on training and career the loyalty towards the group, even if the individual
development activities in view to make loyal the goals are affected. (figure 4)
academic and administrative staff.
Do the University managers
The second question is focused on the way in which
encourage the loyalty towards the
the "Lower Danube" University managers and the group?
employees’ approach of the problems (they make plans
before or they solve the problems in the order they
appear). (figure 2) to a little extent
23,3%
45,10% to a medium
extent
31,6% to a large extent
planning of the
21,7%
activities in view to
solve them
solving the problems Figure 4 – Determination of the degree in which the loyalty
in the order they towards the group is encouraged within the University
78,3% appear
We remark the concentration of the answers on the
the loyalty towards the group encouragement, fact that
outlines the orientation towards the collectivism as
cultural value.
Figure 2 – Ways to approach the problems’ solving according to the
"Lower Danube" University managers and the employees’ The team spirit is concretized, due to the trust of the
persons involved in administrative, didactic or research
In the conditions of the academic autonomy, the activities, on the participation to the decisional
planning represents a strategic management problem. processes and the high level of group motivation.
The university must emphasize its targeting within
the educational offer and the concrete measures The fifth question has the role to observe if the
undertaken in view to achieve this goal. wage policy from this higher education institution is
Analysis of The Organizational Culture Components in A Higher Education Institution from Romania 237
conceived in view to maximize the individual interests The high percent of answers registered in the total
or collective interests. (figure 5) disagreement (55%) and partial disagreement (25%)
categories indicates the fact that, in most of the cases,
the subordinates are satisfied in what concerns the
access they have to the persons with leading positions in
order to express some ideas or requests, a specific
maximization of
individual
feature to an organization in which a small distance
45,0% interests towards power is manifested, although we have to
55,0% maximization of
collective
observe the fact that the some respondents’ answers that
interests claim the access to the University management staff is
limited, indicate the existence of some contrary cases,
that may determine conflict situations.
The eighth question refers to the correlation
Figure 5 – Determination of the wage policy orientation within
the university Your values system is correlated with the
University values system?
The university attempt to correlate the rewards
system with group performances diminishes the risk
associated to the apparition of conflict states as a result
of the internal competition in the career development. 8,3% 5,1% Total agreement
The sixth question analyses the situation in which 10,0%
45,0% Partial agreement
the main reason of the hierarchical structure is the one Neuter opinion
Partial disagreement
that every manager should know on which group of 31,6% Total disagreement
employees he has authority. (figure 6)
5% 5%
10% Total agreement Figure 9 – The analysis of the University managers trust degree in
Partial agreement the employees’ expertise and knowledge
Neuter opinion
55% Partial disagreement
25%
Total disagreement The distribution of the answers on this scale
emphasizes the trust accorded by the “Lower Danube”
University to the experts from different domains and
Figure 7 – The analysis of the distance towards power from
their knowledge.
managers-employees relationships perspective
238 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The leaders from higher education institutions on stability, continuity, application of rules and
influence the organizational culture in order to generate procedures, order, discipline, continuous assessment of
the employees’ commitment. They must be responsible the activities (values specific to a hierarchical culture),
for their objectives concerning the actions focused on but in the same time we mustn’t neglect the efforts of
the limitation of brain-drain phenomenon and value the “Lower Danube” University top management in view to
employees in a credible way. build a group culture, focused on tradition, social
The last question from the questionnaire is focused cohesion, trust, loyalty, orientation towards the
on the extents in which the employees feel loyal to the development of human resources development.
university. (figure 10)
III. CONCLUSIONS
To what extent do you feel loyal to the
university where you develop the
activities? The results of our survey reflect the orientation of
the “Lower Danube” University organizational culture
on values like teamwork, collaboration, talent
in a large extent management, empowerment or efficient inter-personal
15,0%
in a medium
relationships, but in the same time we remark the
25,0% 60,0% extent preoccupation of the top management on assessing and
in a small extent measuring activities, controlling processes, structuring,
efficiency improvement or quality enhancement. We
propose the implementation of techniques focused on
Figure 10 – The determination of the loyalty degree of innovation, creativity, in view to articulate the future
the employees from “Lower Danube” University vision of this higher education institution.
In our opinion, there are relevant implications of our
The main consequences (positive effects) of the research both on the administrators and quality assessors
“Lower Danube” University employees’ loyalty are: of the university and on the practitioners and
higher quality of work, teamwork spirit, stability to the researchers. For the first group of stakeholders, the
workplace, group cohesion. results report can be considered as a guide that can
The features frequently observed to the loyal contribute to the improvement of the academic strategy
employee in higher education institutions are: focused on the organizational culture. From the second
responsibility, identification with the group, interest for group, we are waiting for proposals in order to develop
the development of the group status, own interest together new researches in this field, taking into account
subordinated to the group interest. their expertise and experience.
These answers allow the positioning of “Lower The originality of our approach consists in the
Danube” University organizational culture in analysis of the values system implemented in a higher
„Competing Values Framework”, in accordance with education institution that reveals the relationships
the strategic dimension revealed by this model. among the organizational culture, opinions about quality
of research and performances measures.
References
Angela ON
“Petru Maior” University of Tîrgu-Mureş
email: angelaon67@yahoo.com
Some practical implication for higher education are pointed out by the results of this longitudinal investigation, in order to influence
attitudes of young generation regarding women’s careers. This educational institutions should deal more with the subject of female
management and leadership, bring to the surface the vast amount of literature dealing with gender studies, equality in the workplace
etc., to create a real nondiscriminatory environment for everyone..
Changing social, economic and educational trends, instrument is the Women As Managers Scale (WAMS),
the impact of legislation and the policy on equal designed and used by professors Nancy Papalexandris
opportunities have undoubtedly made some and Dimitris Bourantas, from Athens University,
improvements in the way women are perceived in our Greece. They also conduct several studies on this topic
society. Still, Romanian society has always been, and with interesting results.
continues today, to be a patriarchal one. Many surveys The scale includes ten positive and ten negative
had already shown that women still participate to a very statements to which respondents had to reply by using a
limited extent in positions of high managerial seven-point Likert-type scale. The maximum point 7 in
responsibility. This isn’t the unique and particular the scale expresses the total acceptance of the statement
situation of our country. Almost all over the world and the minimum point 1 – total disagreement. For an
women are underrepresented in decision making easy evaluation and interpreting of the data we treated
processes, especially at the high level, either in public the WAMS scale in a different manner than Greek
sector, or in the private one. The reasons for this lack of professors, by splitting it in two halves: the ten positive
representation have to be found in every country or statements which express the most positive attitudes
geographical region, due to the cultural roots or specific when receive maximum score (10x7), and the other ten
background of each nation. Therefore we cannot import negative statements which express the favorable
theories or practices from abroad in such a sensitive, attitudes when receive minimum score (10x1).
and often controversial issue about sharing power The students’ samples were structured as follows:
between men and women; instead, we must find the
particular characteristics of our social life, the way 2003/2004 2008-2009
power is divided between men and women in Romanian (N = 322) (N = 258)
households, the impact of education on perceptions, Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
attitudes and behaviors of young generation or learn Men 162 50,3 95 36,8
more about traditions and cultural aspects of our lives. It
is necessary to do so before implementing any Women 160 49,7 163 63,2
inappropriate politics or actions that later can have 19-24
unexpected effects. 212 65,8 213 82,6
years
Looking for an explanation for the gendered Group 25-30
65 20,2 26 10,1
uneven participation in top management and leadership, age years
in politics, modern organizations or even 31-40
45 14 19 7,4
years
entrepreneurship, we explore the attitudes of young
generation towards women managers. We assume as a Table 1: Samples structures, by gender and age group
plausible cause of this situation the way women are The two elder groups of ages (25-30 years old and
perceived in our society and their lack of self- 31-40, respective) were represented by master degree
confidence. students and by those who follow a reduced frequency
or distance form of studies.
LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATION ON Although some differences in attitudes towards
STUDENT’S ATTITUDES TOWARDS WOMEN women managers, by groups of ages were found, they
MANAGERS didn’t show statistical relevance. Variance analysis with
One-way ANOVA shows no significance between the
Two periods of investigation were considered, 2003- three groups of ages. Still, as a general aspect of
2004 and 2008-2009, for gathering data on attitudinal respondents attitudes we note a more favorable
pattern. A twenty items questionnaire was used to perceptions about female management of the elder
measure the attitudes of more than 550 students of group of respondents (31-40 years old). We appreciate
„Petru Maior” University of Tîrgu-Mureş. This this as a proof of life experience wisdom and a more
240 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
accurate opinion on feminine issue of those who reveal that they see now most of the obstacles, once
possible encountered biased or discriminating situations, impossible to surmount, reduced to the challenges level
who had had experience with female supervisors or of developing their own careers. Possibilities are
simply know more about the challenges of women’s practically unlimited for those who posses knowledge or
careers. critical abilities for management.
This situation is somehow the opposite we normally
expect because of the fact that we assume younger confidence
respondents have been raised in a different environment,
with low degree of prejudice and stereotypes and where femininity
sex equality was discussed more. This is a prime emotions
unconfirmed hypothesis that leads us to the conclusion
that Romanian school should do more about improving pregnancy
attitudes of young generation. compete
The ten positive statements out of the twenty items
of WAMS questionnaire were coded as follows: recognize
evaluation, instruction, skills, accept, recognize, accept
compete, pregnancy, emotions, femininity and
confidence. This group of statements generally refers to skills
the equality of opportunities for men and women and to
instruction
the relationship between certain female characteristics
(pregnancy, femininity, emotional feelings) and evaluation
managerial career. As mean scores of the respondents
on these items are getting near maximum score 7, 1
2008-2009
3 5
2003-2004
7
demonstrates more favorable attitude towards women Figure 2: Differences of opinions – positive items -women
managers.
Regarding lower mean scores of men in the second
confidence
investigation, a possible explanation could be the
absence of any important public female leader, playing
femininity the role of a model in our society. The impact of a very
emotions
small number of Romanian successful women managers
on people was so poor that perceptions were rather
pregnancy insignificant or negative.
compete
Really competent female managers remain
somewhere hidden, avoiding publicity, aiming low
recognize objectives and small successes which all mean
accept
reinforcing stereotypical perceptions about their lack of
managerial capabilities.
skills
instruction
agressive
evaluation
succes
1 3 5 7
2008-2009 2003-2004 asertive
Figure 1: Differences of opinions – positive items - men ambition
The negative statements were coded as follows: We consider that conformism or the social
responsibility, importance, capable, roles, mama, desirability effect is partially responsible for the results
mathematics, ambition, assertive, success and of our investigations. Identity with what is considered
aggressive. Maximum overall mean score to this correct, good or acceptable responses is fairly high
statements (70) demonstrate hostile attitudes towards when using questionnaire like WAMS. When
women managers, and minimum score (10) is for expressing opinions in writings on men/women issue,
complete disagreement with negative statements about individuals tend to avoid categorical opinions, choosing
women managers, which is the most favorable situation. a neutral position where they cannot be considered
Close examination of the content of these statements neither feminists or extreme liberals, nor sexists. Almost
reveals that they generally refer to women’s ability and everyone tends to choose a global trendy path, accepting
motivation to respond effectively to the role of manager that modern societies means diversity in all kind of
or to women’s possession of the characteristics which aspects.
are considered necessary in order to succeed in In 2008-2009 investigation female respondents
managerial positions. weren’t so timid about having a favorable attitude
As shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 the tendency of towards other female in managerial position and men
changing opinions and attitudes of the two sexes from weren’t so generous in opinions, embracing more
the first study to the second is confirmed, with more neutral, cautious positions.
dramatic figures. The sense of those changes is also the As described before, the positive statements
same: half of the negative statements get worse mean generally refers to the equality of opportunities for men
scores (with differences about more than 1 point), in and women and to the relationship between certain
case of male respondents, while 8 out of 10 negative female characteristics and managerial career. We called
statements get better mean scores, in case of female them independent, external factors and the differences
subjects (also with important differences). between mean overall scores (MOS), resulted in our
studies and maximum favorable scores, (MFS) which is
70, are included in Table 2. We also include the
aggresive differences between minimum mean score (most
favorable score – MFS – which is 10) of the ten
success
negative statements, and mean overall scores (MOS)
assertive that result from our investigations. We also called the
negative statements internal factors, because of their
ambition content, revealing women’s ability and motivation to
mathemat respond effectively to the role of manager.
mama
Conclusion
THE ROLE OF DIDACTIC MANAGEMENT IN THE MOTIVATION AND EXPRESSION
OF THE ATTITUDES FOR THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORT AT THE
STUDENTS OF THE PETROLEUM AND GAS UNIVERSITY OF PLOIESTI
Viorel OPREA1, Marius VAIDA2
1
Petroleum – Gas University of Ploieşti, e-mail:vopreaefs@yahoo.com
2
Petroleum – Gas University of Ploieşti, e-mail:vaidamarius@yahoo.com
Abstract
The present study wants an addition to the made studies in the domain until now and it started from the premise that by the clear
determination of the motivations and attitudes that are at the base of the physical education and sport didactical process a qualitative
increase of the reminded process can be made having as result the active implication at the superior level of students in practicing the
physical education and sport.
The research has been made at the Petroleum and Gas University of Ploiesti on a pattern of 240 students, the used research method in the
attitudes and motivation evaluation being the questionnaire. From the experiment we noticed that the intrinsic motivation given by the
nature of the activity specific to the physical education and sport advances the extrinsic motivation.
Reporting the data obtained from the study at the ones aimed in the educational process, completed by the analysis of the actual level of the
physical education and sport perception at the students’ level and also of the means to see the development of the motivation and attitudes
favourable for the practice of these activities.
This present study can be used as an argument in implementing the physical education in the educational plans in universities existing the
availability from the students for movement and physical education and sport, knowing that physical education besides the intellectual,
moral, aesthetic and technical-professional education is a component of the general education.
help us at the improvement of the didactic activity and 13. Do you consider the sport norms as a factor
eventually in establishing certain methodological and that decreases the interest of the physical education and
functional parameters for the physical education and sport classes?
sport classes. 14. In obtaining sport performances and achieving
The objectives that were at the base of this the specific objectives, do you think that the material
research were the following: conditions (installations, equipments, etc.) have a great
• elaborating certain questionnaires on the two importance?
evaluation directions – of the motivation towards the In the second questionnaire we used in our
practice of the physical education at a university level research the following 10 items:
and expressing the attitudes as a way of reporting at the 1. Do you consider the professional deontology an
debated phenomenon and through which the subjects important factor in the development of the physical
can selectively orientate and preferentially auto-adjust; education and sport activity?
• research analysis of questionnaire type; 2. Do you appreciate the attitudinal consistency of
• drawing the research conclusions. the teacher as being an essential condition in
In the questionnaire type research we made two optimizing the physical education and sport activity?
types of questionnaires, the first one having 14 items 3. Do you consider the teacher’s availability a
and it was referring to the motivational factors that are trump for the increase of the interest in the physical
reported to the physical education activity, being education and sport class?
comprised both the intrinsic factors and the extrinsic 4. Do you think the level of interest of the classes
ones, and the second one having 10 items and referring is directly proportional with the level of empathy
to the attitudinal level of the subjects in report with the manifested by the teaching staff?
researched phenomenon. 5. Do you appreciate the authenticity, “the
In the first questionnaire we used in our research openness” of the teaching staff towards the activity that
the following 14 items: you undertake an important condition in the optimum
1. Do you consider physical education a development of an activity?
motivational form for realizing a harmonious physical 6. Does the impartial attitude of the teacher
development? facilitate the team work?
2. Do you consider that you can reach an 7. Do you consider that the didactic interaction
acceptable performance level in different sport based on respect and appreciation is an important
branches with the help of physical education and sport? component of the teaching staff?
3. Do you appreciate the sport activity as an 8. Does the creativity of the teaching staff
attractive form of maintaining health? stimulate you to be spontaneous, exigent in what you
4. Do you think that a weak contribution at the do?
physical education and sport class has a negative 9. Do you consider that the observation spirit of
influence in the relations with the colleagues? the teaching staff changes positively the instructive-
5. Do you trust your own strength to realize educational process?
progresses in what concerns the physical education and 10. Is the fact that the teacher manifests an open
sport? spirit in understanding different opinions of the
6. Do you consider that physical education and students an important element in the classes’
sport activity has a benefic role in the integration development?
process in a group of the student?
7. Do you appreciate that the physical education The obtained results
and sport stimulates the tendency of the individual’s
affirmation? The obtained results in the made experiment are
8. Do you appreciate the teacher’s attitude as an presented in the tables 1 and 2, in which we can
argument in favour of the practice of the physical distinguish both the number of answers at the three
education and sport? variants – “yes”, “no” and “I do not know” on each
9. Do you consider communication (verbal, non- researched item, also the percentage on each variant of
verbal, para-verbal or combined) between the teacher answer. The first table refers to the motivational factors
and the student as an important element in the physical that are aimed through the physical education and sport
education and sport activity? point of view, and the second one expressed the study
10. Creating an affective climate can have a of attitudes reported to the physical education and
positive impact over the physical education perception sport.
at students?
11. Do you consider that a varied lesson’s content
increases the lesson’s interest among students?
12. Using the competition as a mean of the
physical education represents an important factor in
stimulating the student towards the performance sport
and the physical education at a university level?
The Role of Didactic Management in The Motivation and Expression of The Attitudes for The Physical 245
Education and Sport at The Students of The Petroleum and Gas University of Ploiesti
Table 1. The resulted values from the study of the motivational factors have a similar percentage (45%), at the same time
reported to the physical education and sport activity
9,5% of the questioned persons answering “I do not
I do not know”.
Item Yes No
know At the same time, the material conditions are not
Nr. % Nr. % Nr. % considered of high importance in reaching the
1. 188 78.33 46 19.17 6 2.50 objectives specific to the physical education and sport
2. 212 88.33 18 7.50 10 4.17 at a university level, the percentage between “yes” and
162 67.50 46 19.17 32 13.33
“no” being relatively similar, slightly superior for the
3.
ones that answered with “yes”. The use of the
4. 84 35.00 120 50.00 36 15.00
competition as a mean of the physical education does
5. 194 80.83 14 5.83 36 15.00 not represent an important factor in stimulating the
6. 136 56.67 100 41.67 4 1.67 students towards the performance sport and the
7. 154 64.17 84 35.00 2 0.83 physical education at a university level, the ones that
8. 169 70.42 61 25.42 10 4.17 answered “yes” being of 41,67% from the total of 240
9. 146 60.83 76 31.67 18 7.50 students questioned.
10. 109 45.42 108 45.00 23 9.58
100
11. 178 74.17 18 7.50 44 18.33 90
12. 100 41.67 116 48.33 24 10.00 80
70
13. 176 73.33 30 12.50 34 14.17
60
14. 112 46.67 108 45.00 20 8.33 50
40
After we can notice in table 1 also in the figure 1, 30
20
the physical education and sport is considered by the 10
large majority (78.33%) as being a motivational form 0
for realizing a harmonious physical development, this 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
tendency being able to be noticed also at the item 2,
having the highest percentage from the questionnaire
yes no I do not know
(88.33%) where the subjects consider that through the
specific means of the physical education an acceptable Figure 1. The values of the percentages of the motivational factors reported
at items
performance level can be reached – superior in the
different sport branches contained in the curriculum. Table 2. The values resulted from the study of the attitudes reported at the
physical education and sport activity
High percentages (over 60%) have been also
obtained at the items 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 13, fact that
I do not
denotes that the students consider physical education Item Yes No
know
and sport as an attractive form of maintaining the
Nr. % Nr. % Nr. %
health that stimulates the tendency of affirmation of the
individual. 1. 146 60.8 48 20.0 46 19.2
Also it is considered that the teacher’s attitude, the 2. 136 56.7 98 40.8 6 2.5
communication under its different forms, the varied 3. 196 81.7 20 8.3 24 10.0
lesson content have a role in the increase of the 4. 153 63.8 52 21.7 35 14.6
lesson’s interest, being considered important in what
5. 178 74.2 24 10.0 38 15.8
concerns the lesson’s management.
In this tendency with very high percentages 6. 144 60.0 44 18.3 52 21.7
(80,83%) the confidence in one’s own strength was 7. 226 94.2 10 4.2 4 1.7
enclosed for realizing progresses in what concerns the 8. 110 45.8 124 51.7 6 2.5
physical education and sport, that is a positive thing. 9. 140 58.3 69 28.8 31 12.9
In what concerns the sport norms 77.33% from the
questioned subjects have answered that this represents 10. 106 44.2 103 42.9 31 12.9
a factor that decreases the interest in the physical
education and sport. At the same time, only 35% from From the study of the attitudes reported at the
the subjects consider as a weak performance at the physical education and sport activity the results that
physical education and sport would influence were centralized in table 2 have been obtained, being
negatively the relations with the other colleagues, 56% presented also in figure 2, both as number of obtained
considering that the interest in the physical education results and as percentage.
and sport has a benefic role in the integration process The highest percentage in what concerns the
in the student’s group. positive answer (94,2%) at having item 7, the subjects
In what concerns the connection between the considering that the didactic interaction based on
perception of the physical education at students and the respect and appreciation is very important in the
affective climate the answers between “yes” and “no” didactical process. Also, it is considered that the
246 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
This study is intended to be a complement to studies conducted so far in this area and we believe that, approaching the topic from a
scientific point of view, we can make a breakthrough in terms of didactic communication relative to physical education and sport at
the university level by understanding the phenomenon and the possibility of subsequent identification of ways and means conducive to
practicing these activities. The study was conducted on a sample of 10 teachers and 100 students, the research being based on the
relationship between teacher-student, the first as a leader and coordinator of activities that stimulate, initiate and maintain
communication with students and the second as a receiver.
We believe that, in terms of improving the quality of teaching in university education in physical education, this can be done as well by
studying and analyzing the different behaviors defining the act of communication, and more.
This study was based on a scientific approach to the mentioned problem, completed by the analysis of the current perception of
physical education and sports of the students, in order to increase the quality of teaching.
Successful communication between teacher and student is very important in learning activities, consolidation or improvement of motor
actions taught to the student, the teacher being the catalyst of the students’ activities and the trailblazer for communication channels.
Successful communication between teacher and student is strongly related to the success in learning, consolidation or perfection of the
motor actions taught to the student.
Keywords. quality, conducts, communication
Introduction
In the present work we started from the premise optimized, consciously and objectively) through the
that the act of communication can be continuously assessment activity that provides feedback to the
improved. The educational process is essentially a training process. And therefore the assessment process
process of communication between teacher and student plays an important role in improving the quality of
having a permanent exchange of messages whose main instruction.
purpose is to achieve educational objectives, in optimal
conditions. Materials and methods
The communication process specific to physical
education and sport is less treated in literature and very The study was conducted in physical education
little approached by scientific research with and sports classes during the 2009-2010 academic year
pedagogical character. Pedagogical communication on a sample of 10 teachers and 100 students from
represents the major structural element of the common Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, and took as its
repertoire between the subject and the object of starting point the assumption that, if we identify and
teaching, materialized by preparing the didactic define the main behaviors defining the communication
message specific to the teaching activity and the act that underpin the teaching process in physical
receiving of the message specific to the learning education at university, then quality of teaching at this
activity. level increases.
This research aimed at identifying the types of Research methods used in assessing behaviors
communication and the specific structural elements and the communication acts were the following:
used within relational area specific to physical • bibliographic study method to identify the
education and sport, identifying behaviors, their role current state of topic knowledge
and the measure in which they are used in the • direct and indirect observation of the act of
educational process and the implementation of methods communication used in teaching-learning-assessing the
and measures for increasing efficiency of physical exercises and the sport
communication at university level. • protocols for observation of the act of
The research is based on the relationship between communication and reception of the message
teacher-student, the first as a leader and coordinator of • study of the common repertoire that
activities that stimulate, initiate and maintain establishes between teacher and student during the
communication with students and the second as a different ways of practicing physical exercises,
receiver. identifying the teaching style of teacher and the
We aimed to highlight behaviors and learning style of student
communication flows, knowing that an unsatisfactory • statistical-mathematical method
communication makes the two factors (teacher / • graphic method
student) not have the didactic relationship needed for a The observation protocols no.1 and no. 2 were
proper activity, eventually leading to failure in made by authors, the protocol no. 3 having been
achieving the educational objectives. completed by the surveyed teachers, while the
Normally, the two specific didactic activities
(teaching, learning) are also monitored (controlled,
248 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
No. 1
P6 P7 P8 P9 P10
Unit -1
1. 6,06 7,81 6,4 6,9 4,95 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
2. 4,54 5,46 8 4,16 6,61
3. 13,63 8,59 4 8,32 9,09
Average
4. 6,06 4,68 2,4 2,77 4,95
5. 15,15 11,71 16 16,66
,66 13,22 Figure 1. The average values obtained after identifying the teachers’ conduct
during the physical education lesson
6. 4,54 5,46 6,4 9,72 4,13
7. 3,03 7,81 4 6,9 8,26
From the above mentioned we can say that the
8. 3,03 6,25 5,6 6,9 12,39
verbal communication together with non-verbal, the
9. 7,57 5,46 4,8 5,55 2,47
paraverbal and the combined have an important role in
10. 4,54 3,12 5,6 2,77 1,65
the teachers’ conduct in the physical education and
11. 3,03 1,56 1,6 1,38 2,47
12. 1,51 2,34 4 1,38 0,82
sport lesson. Also, the demonstration showed a high
13. 1,51 1,56 1,6 1,38 1,65
score of 9.14, while the opposite pole was represented
14. 3,03 2,34 3,2 2,77 1,65 by the reactions to feedback, the assessment of
students’ behavior, ensuring retention and quality of
the message.
Table 3. Average obtained on identifying the teachers’ behaviors during the Table 4. Observation protocol no. 2 on the distribution of the students’
physical education lesson behaviors as a response
se to the teacher’s types of communication
No. Types of Aver
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
No. Unit behavior age
Behavior Average
unit Ready to
Responsive to 1. 46 47,36 53,06 33,33 40,32 44,01
1. 5,641 receive message
student behavior Unprepared,
Takes measures for 2. inattentive, 16 8,77 6,12 11,12 8,06 10,01
2. 5,656
mistakes indifferent
Bologna Process in Romania – Achievements and Failures 249
Positive No. P
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 Average
reaction in Unit 10
3. 10 10,52 4,1 9,24 3,23 7,41
taking 1. 5 4 3 5 5 5 4 5 4 5 4,5
messages 2. 4 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 4 5 4
Often expects
4. 4 3,54 6,12 7,41 9,68 6,15 3. 5 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 4,5
explanations
Expects 4. 4 3 3 5 5 4 5 5 4 5 4,3
5. 4 8,77 8,16 14,82 9,68 9,08
corrections 5. 5 3 3 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 4,5
Ask for 6. 5 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4,6
6. additional 8 8,77 8,16 11,12 9,68 9,14
explanations 7. 4 3 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4,6
7. Careless run 4 5,26 8,16 7,41 8,06 6,57 8. 3 3 3 5 5 5 4 4 4 5 4,1
9. 5 4 4 5 5 5 5 4 5 5 4,7
Motor self-
8. 8 7,01 6,12 5,55 9,68 7,27 10. 3 3 3 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 4,2
corrections
Manifestations 11. 3 3 3 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 4,3
9. 0 0 0 0 1,61 0,32
of indiscipline 12. 4 4 4 5 4 5 5 5 4 5 4,5
Total percentage 100 100 100 100 100 100 13. 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 4 5 5 4,1
14. 4 3 3 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 4,3
50 Table 6. Types of behavior appeard in protocol no. 3 on self-asseseement
self of
teachers’
chers’ behavior
40
No.
30 Types of behavior
Unit.
20 1. Communication behavior
Conduct of the request (interrogative) and
10 2.
orientation
0 3. Explanatory Conduct
-10 Reasoning
easoning techniques and explanatory self-
4.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 reasoning
5. Psycho-motor
motor behavior
average 6. Non-verbal behaviorvior
Figure 2. Averages obtained after identifying the students’ behavior as a
7. Decisional - driving behavior
response to teacher’s types of communication 8. Awareness of students’
student behavior
Legend Organizational behavior, management and
1. Ready to receive message 9.
control of activities
2. Unprepared, inattentive, indifferent Conduct of positive reinforcement and
3. Positive reaction in taking messages 10.
motivation
4. Often expects explanations 11. Socio-emotional
emotional behavior
5. Expects corrections 12. Creative behavior
6. Ask for additional explanations
13. Conduct of training individualization
7. Careless run
8. Manifestations of indiscipline 14. Assessing and self-assessing
assessing behavior
9. Motor self-corrections
Observation protocol number 2 shows show that
students are ready to receive the message - 44.014% , 4.7
4.6
only 10.014% being unprepared or inattentive.
inattentive In 4.5
response to the teacher’s type of communication only a 4.4
rate of 6.15% waiting for additional explanations. A 4.3
rate of 7.272% shows Motric Autocorrections,
Autoc and 4.2
what is gratifying is that the smallest proportion is 4.1
4
found in manifestations of indiscipline - 0.322%.
3.9
Table 5. Observation protocol no. 3 on self-asseseement
asseseement of teachers’ 3.8
behavior 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
average
Figure 3. Averages
ges obtained after self-assessment
self of teaching behavior
highest value being represented by the organizational breakthrough in terms of didactic communication
behavior, management and control of activity - 4.7 and relative to physical education and sports classes. The
the driving behavior with 4.6, the lowest values being results of this study can be implemented both at
recorded to the conduct of request (interrogative) and university and collegial level, secondary and primary.
orientation -4, awareness of the student - 4.1 and From this study, we can draw the following
regarding the conduct of training individualization we conclusions:
got the value of 4.1. 1. The quality and efficiency of pedagogical
communication specific to physical education and sport
Discussions can be improved if the messages to be sent to students
and the conditions of reception (coding-decoding) are
Successful communication between teacher and optimized.
student is strongly related to the success in learning, 2. If we introduce modern technologies for
consolidation or perfection of the motor actions taught teaching-learning-assessment inside the message
to the student. content and the teaching scenarios, then the effects of
The way in which the teacher communicates has the above processes will increase significantly.
an important role in the educational process, because 3. If we are to improve the didactic activities of
its purpose is to adjust the student’s so that it can teaching-learning-assessment, they must be addressed
establish the setting in which the message is relayed. in a triptych systemic in which the act of
The relay of messages by teachers to students communication plays a leading role in optimizing the
should be made in the same time with observing them, students’ educational process.
creating the possibility of controlling the team, 4. In physical education and sport, there are more
avoiding the situation of a simple receiver. types of communication. They can be taken as
Using inadequate communication techniques independent variables manipulated so that the targeted
brings to the lack of confidence in teachers as well as instructional objectives are always achieved. This
the appearance of improper relations to a smooth requires substantial improvements in the
specific activity. The teacher must realize that it is a communicative act.
catalyst for student activities and the trailblazer of 5. It is necessary for the specific types of
communication channels. communication used in physical education and sport to
Any communication transmitted from teacher to be treated in a systemic-cybernetic vision. Thus the
student may be damaged by disturbance factors that three elements (subject-object-process) make up a
appear either on the communication channel (which are group where the message is being prepared,
the qualities and capacities of teachers and students to transmitted, and checked during the teaching-learning-
send and receive information), or factors in the assessment activities.
environment (land location, sports misuse of devices).
In modern education, the teacher’s issuing role is References
more relaxed as long as the student has unlimited
access to other sources of information (especially 1. Andersen, P., (2007), Body language, Teora Publishing
House, Bucharest.
television and internet). The teacher is obliged to use 2. Anghel, P.,(2003), Styles and communication methods,
often the role of receiver to enhance the role of issuing Aramis Publishing House, Bucharest.
and develop communication. 3. Biltac, Gh. and Calin, D., (2008), Interhuman
As it is known, each of the two factors of communication in physical education, Universitaria
Publishing House, Craiova.
communication has systems of projection- 4. Colibaba-Evulet, D. (2007), Praxeology and curriculum
identification operating in the teaching process. Both design in physical education and sport, Universitaria
student and teacher send and receive images of each Publishing House, Craiova.
other. The student has an additional role in this 5. Condrill, Jo. and Bough, B., (2005), Learn fast,
communicate efficiently, Curtea Veche Publishing House,
relationship, he must constantly adapt to the controls Bucharest.
and actions proposed by the teacher and to permanently 6. Rozakis, L. (2007), How we speak in public, Curtea Veche
display his knowledge and drivability at a higher level. Publishing House, Bucharest.
Quality communication has a very important role 7. Oprea, V., (2010), Research Report No. II, Optimization of
the joint repertoire of action between teacher - student by
in maintaining a proper relationship between teacher improving the operations of transmission and reception of
and student, this relationship being maintained between messages, Piteşti.
the two by performing joint actions undertaken during
the lesson.
Conclusions
ABSTRACT: The aim of the present paper is to set forth a mathematical model for the indicator of higher education innovation. In
this respect, we are going to study and measure the complex process of innovation. The model set forth may be applied to universities,
faculties and departments of any field, as well as research centres. We have already presented a similar study in the paper [3]. The
present model may also be applied in the context of the current global economic crisis. Mention should also be made that the model
requires certain fundamental logical and arithmetic operations that may be performed by scholars other than mathematicians.
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the main problems facing higher education as well as expectations for it in the 21st century,
the importance of sustainability in this context. This paper takes into account many of international agreements regarding human
rights, sustainability and development, sustainable human settlements, the impact of the Bologna principles but also clarify the
concept of sustainability in universities from Talloires Declaration. Given the general framework and context analysis, as the good
results of the organizations for the study of sustainability in higher education in the U.S., we considered reasonable to extend some
dimensions of it in Europe too. Research for this paper consists of an extensive documentary on sustainability in higher education and
shaping courses of action for the possibility of its implementation and development in Romania. The main methods of study were
observation and some case studies of U.S. and E.U. The results of this work highlight what is and what you can expect from a
sustainable higher education, interest to both academics and social and political environment. The paper shows that the greatest
evidence of the need to transform education is the state of the world and the tremendous effort being made by thousands of
nongovernmental organizations and schools in environmental and sustainability education to “fix” the traditional educational system.
would express prominent and explicit concern for Factors Characteristics of the Factors
sustainability. Identified
2. The college or university appropriately Internal - Solid infrastructure, sense of goodwill
incorporates the concepts of sustainability into all Conditions and mutual trust (Eckel et al., 1999)
academic disciplines and in liberal arts and professional External - Exerted some pressure, encouraged
Environments change (Eckel et al.)
education requirements, as well as into faculty and
- Source of support, advocacy and funding
student research (e.g. Globalization and Sustainable (Stanton et al., 1999)
Development; Environmental Philosophy; Nature Leadership - Leaders perceived to be credible and have
Writing; Land Ethics and Sustainable Agriculture; Characteristics personality needed to promote the initiative
Urban Ecology and Social Justice; Population, Women (Corcoran & Wals, 2004)
and Development). - Leaders displayed attitudes and used
3. A major shift from the current academic paradigm approaches that facilitated change (Eckel et
lies in a conscious reflection of the role of the institution al.)
in its social and ecological systems. Students learn about Change - Long term, planned and balanced
the institutional values and practices in this context. Process approach
- A sense of urgency and appropriate
4. Since research and teaching are the fundamental
deadlines existed
purposes of academic institutions, knowledge of - Investments of funding, time, and training
sustainability is a critical concern in the hiring, tenure were made (Eckel et al.)
and promotion systems. - Emphasis on incremental changes
5. The institution has an "ecological footprint." In its (Stanton et al.)
production and consumption the institution follows - Sufficient publicity to generate awareness
sustainable policies and practices: for example, CO2 of the program’s progress, successes, and
reduction practices and the use of emission control failures (Calder and Clugston, 2003)
devices; sustainable building construction and Engagement - Leaders involved and listened to the
of institution’s constituents (Eckel et al.)
renovation; energy conservation practices; local food
Constituents
purchasing program; purchasing and investment in Facilitated - New ideas were invited
environmentally and socially responsible products; and Learning - Ongoing and widespread conversations
many others. were fostered
6. Institutional support and campus student life - Actions were adjusted in response to
services that emphasize certain practices, such as: learning (Eckel et al.)
a. new student orientation, scholarships, internships - Debate was encouraged as community
and job placement counseling related to community sought best principles, practices and
service, sustainability and/or justice issues; outcomes (Stanton et al.)
b. an Environmental or Sustainability Council or Change - Academically legitimate, grounded in
Characteristics recognized body of knowledge, and
Task Force, an Environmental Coordinator or
documented academic rigor and validity
Curriculum Greening Officer; (Stanton et al.)
c. regularly conducted environmental audits; - Endorsed by key administrative leaders at
d. prominent public, student and staff celebrations of the institution
sustainability on campus (for example, lectures, - Perceived to benefit many programs and
conferences, Earth Day celebrations, etc). departments
7. The institution is engaged in outreach and forming - Fit with institution’s ethos, saga, and/or
partnerships both locally and globally to enhance culture
sustainability. The college or university supports - Brought in critical resources and/or
produced cost savings (Calder and
sustainable communities in the surrounding region and
Clugston)
relationships with local businesses that foster
The Bologna process aims at creating a European
sustainable practices.
Higher Education Area where inter-country mobility of
This list is an abbreviated version of the questions
students and staff, as well as workers holding a degree,
found in ULSF’s Sustainability Assessment
is facilitated. While several aspects of the process
Questionnaire, 1999 (ULSF - The Association of
deserve wide public support, the reduction of the length
University Leaders for a Sustainable Future - was
of the first cycle of studies to three years, in several
established to promote and support academic leadership
continental European countries where it used to last for
for the advancement of global environmental literacy.
four or five years, is less consensual.
ULSF is working in partnership with more than 270
The European higher education reform process is
institutions in 40 countries to further the goals and
having an impact way beyond its borders.
recommendations of the Talloires Declaration).
In June 1999, ministers of education from 29
In literature were identified the most important
countries gathered in Bologna, the birthplace of
successful factors that can influence the change process
Europe’s oldest university, to sign a declaration aimed
in higher education for implement the sustainability.
at harmonizing degree structures and quality assurance
Table 1
Factors of Successful Change Efforts in Higher Education procedures across their diverse higher education
systems by 2010.
Expectations from Higher Education for The 21st Century 257
Almost eight years later and membership has grown • What processes guide higher education
beyond the geographic borders of Europe to include a institutions in efforts to deeply and comprehensively
total of 46 nations. This expanded membership has implement sustainable changes?
prompted questions as to how far the borders of the A sequential mixed-methods research design was
European Higher Education Area (EHEA) might grow. used to gather data from questionnaires administered to
And beyond the geographical profile of the new EHEA, 86 colleges and universities in the United States
the Bologna Process is having an impact on higher implementing sustainability programs, from interviews
education reform in countries and regions as far away as with 20 individuals who are guiding the change
Australia, Latin America and Africa. processes at ten different institutions, and from archival
As Bologna framers look to expand their horizons, records documenting the initiatives and outcomes at
so higher education professionals in other parts of the these colleges and universities. After the data had been
world are beginning to look at Bologna as a potential analyzed to identify common themes, factors and
model for educational reform. Globalization presents change process strategies, the results of the analyses
many challenges and opportunities for higher education were examined in relationship to existing models of
systems and institutions around the world. Increased change in higher education. Significant correlations
student and faculty mobility offers new and exciting were found between the change strategies used and the
opportunities for international academic collaboration support systems provided by these institutions and the
and cultural exchange, while advancements in level of progress achieved on the sustainability
information and communication technology allow for initiatives.
faster exchanges of knowledge and greater flexibility in
the creation of joint study programs. However, this new RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS
spirit of international cooperation in higher education
represents a host of challenges related to issues such as
Research study conducted by McNamara, open
academic recognition, quality assurance standards, and
questions that have been made respondents, there led to
compatibility of qualification frameworks.
a comprehensive collection of good practices in this
There appear to be two distinct ways in which
field, practices which may take into account by
Bologna is impacting reform beyond Europe. In some
Romanian universities. The collection summarizes most
countries, Bologna tools and action areas, such as the
of the key themes that were addressed in this study and
Diploma Supplement and the harmonization of quality
offers valuable words of advice to those who seek to
assessment procedures, are being piloted on an 'a-la
foster sustainability initiatives at their own institutions
carte' basis, while in other countries, more wholesale
of higher education. We mention the most important
efforts are being adopted as countries restructure higher
actions:
education in terms of the three-cycle Bologna model.
Obtain backing of the president's office as a
Many centuries after European nations imposed their
champion of the initiative.
systems of education on foreign shores through imperial
Institutionalize the sustainability initiative.
conquest, and half a century after the US model was
Empower the committee with the authority to make
adopted in parts of Asia, it might be argued that a new
decisions and the power to enforce them.
“Euro model” is beginning to emerge as an influence on
Develop, formally adopt and implement a
education systems around the world via the more
sustainability plan.
collaborative means of cross-border cooperation.
Allocate resources necessary to achieve the plan.
Foster greater and more active participation of the
faculty in promoting sustainable efforts.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Build a strong student commitment.
Engage more people; try to get everyone to be part
Given the general framework and context analysis, of a continuing effort.
as the good results of the organizations for the study of Adopt a holistic approach to sustainability.
sustainability in higher education in the U.S., we Stay the course - maintain the forward movement
considered reasonable to extend some dimensions of it and the enthusiasm into the future.
in Europe too. Research for this paper consists of an We believe that recommendations from this list
extensive documentary on sustainability in higher should be able to solve many of the problems facing
education and shaping courses of action for the universities worldwide, not just those in the U.S. On the
possibility of its implementation and development in other hand, many of these recommendations we found
Romania. The main methods of study were observation to European guidelines in trying to harmonize the
and some case studies of U.S. and E.U. Bologna principles with sustainable development.
A very interesting work in the field (McNamara, K. Since over 600 universities worldwide have
H., 2008), tried to answer at two fundamental questions: committed themselves towards sustainability by signing
• What factors are essential for initiating and international agreements and convention such as the
leading a successful change effort to foster Bologna Charter, The Halifax Declaration, the Talloires
sustainability in higher education? Declaration and the Copernicus Charter for Sustainable
Development (signed to date by over 240 European
258 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
universities), however proving the importance of 8. Partnerships: Universities shall take the initiative
international academic collaboration. in forging partnerships with other concerned sectors of
Since its inception by the former European Rector’s society, in order to design and implement coordinated
Conference (CRE) in 1993, 328 universities and higher approaches, strategies and action plans.
education institutions from 38 countries across Europe 9. Continuing education programmes: Universities
(as of 31 December 2006) have signed the University shall devise environmental educational programmes on
Charter for Sustainable Development, thereby declaring these issues for different target groups: e.g. business,
that they will give sustainable development an important governmental agencies, non-governmental
place in their activities. This implies that in curricula, organizations, the media.
institutional management and services to the 10. Technology transfer: Universities shall
local/regional society, a responsible balance between contribute to educational programmes designed to
economical, ecological and social/cultural aspects has to transfer educationally sound and innovative
be worked out. Due to this broad acceptance in daily technologies and advanced management methods.
university life, the COPERNICUS Charter constitutes The principles of action listed above are general and
today principle guidance for the majority of higher open-ended. It is left to each individual institution and
education institutions in Europe in their efforts to its students and staff to give them substance compatible
contribute to sustainable development. with local circumstances.
To achieve these aims and fulfil their basic mission, In Romania, only 8 universities have signed the
universities are urged to make every effort to subscribe University Charter for Sustainable Development
to and implement the ten principles of actions set out (COPERNICUS Charter). It is expected that other
below (principles of action -COPERNICUS Charter): universities in Romania to participate in this process
1. Institutional commitment: Universities shall and, slowly, the concept of sustainability to be
demonstrate real commitment to the principle and implemented in academia area too. The fact that have
practice of environmental protection and sustainable signed and acceded to this document does not mean that
development within the academic milieu. sustainability was already implemented in the
2. Environmental ethics: Universities shall promote universities, but is a first step towards achievement.
among teaching staff, students and the public at large Ideally it is that other Romanian universities to follow
sustainable consumption patterns and an ecological the example above, to realize the importance of this
lifestyle, while fostering programmes to develop the concept and the benefits that its implementation would
capacities of the academic staff to teach environmental bring both academic and local communities, human
literacy. society generally.
3. Education of university employees: Universities
shall provide education, training and encouragement to References
their employees on environmental issues, so that they
can pursue their work in an environmentally responsible 1. Calder, W., Clugston, R. (2003). Progress toward
manner. sustainability in higher education. Environmental Law
4. Programmes in environmental education: Review, News & Analysis, 33, 10003-10023.
Universities shall incorporate an environmental 2. Clugston, R. M., Calder, W., (1999), Critical Dimensions
of Sustainability in Higher Education, This chapter
perspective in all their work and set up environmental appeared originally in Sustainability and University Life,
education programmes involving both teachers and Walter Leal Filho ed., published by Peter Lang, pages 1-
researchers as well as students - all of whom should be 5
exposed to the global challenges of environment and 3. Corcoran, P., Wals, A. (Eds.) (2004). Higher education
and the challenge of sustainability: Problematics,
development, irrespective of their field of study. promise, and practice. Dordrecht, The Netherlands:
5. Interdisciplinarity: Universities shall encourage Kluwer Academic.
interdisciplinary and collaborative education and 4. Eckel, P., Hill, B., Green, M. & Mallon, B. (1999). On
research programmes related to sustainable development Change III, Taking charge of change: a primer for
colleges and universities. Washington, DC: American
as part of the institution's central mission. Council on Education.
6. Dissemination of knowledge: Universities shall 5. McNamara, K. H., (2008), Fostering Sustainability In
support efforts to fill in the gaps in the present literature Higher Education: A Mixed-Methods Study Of
available for students, professionals, decision-makers Transformative Leadership And Change Strategies, A
Dissertation, Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership &
and the general public by preparing information didactic Change Program of Antioch University in partial
material, organizing public lectures, and establishing fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor
training programmes. They should also be prepared to of Philosophy
participate in environmental audits. 6. Stanton, T., Giles, D. & Cruz, N. (1999). Service-
learning: A movement’s pioneers reflect on its origins,
7. Networking: Universities shall promote practice and future. San Franciso, CA: Jossey-Bass.
interdisciplinary networks of environmental experts at 7. COPERNICUS-Guidelines for Sustainable Development
the local, national, regional and international levels, in the European Higher Education Area, How to
with the aim of collaborating on common environmental incorporate the principles of sustainable development
into the Bologna Process,
projects in both research and education. For this, the (www.unece.org/env/esd/information/COPERNICUS%2
mobility of students and scholars should be encouraged. 0Guidelines.pdf)
QUALITY ASSURANCE APPROACHES IN THE ROMANIAN HIGHER EDUCATION:
ACTORS, OPINIONS, PROCESSES
Mihai PAUNESCU
1
ARACIS, paunescu.mihai@gmail.com
This paper aims to unveil the different meanings of quality assurance in the Romanian higher education system. It thus addresses the topic of
culture and quality in higher education. The paper is the result of researches undertaken in the framework of two projects developed and
implemented by ARACIS in 2009. The two researches focused on investigating the opinions and perceptions of various stakeholders, university
teachers, managers, students, employers, recruiters, professional associations’ representatives. The study hypothesis is that various stakeholders
hold different views of quality in higher education that differ from the legal prescriptions and that determine different approaches and attitudes
towards quality assurance. The study tries to explain the puzzling finding that most stakeholders have a positive perception of the higher
education in general, but are quite critical when it comes to aspects such as labor market insertion of graduates and/or competences that higher
education produces. One possible answer to be explored is that there are various meanings and cultures of what is quality in higher education
that depart from the legal prescriptions. The research is original as it tries to develop a grounded approach to quality assurance, unpacking the
meanings of the concept and the approach for various stakeholders as these diverge from the legalistic ones. The research has implications on the
policies and politics of quality assurance in higher education, on the way the society perceives the higher educational services; it has implications
on the sustainability of higher education in the actual society as it identifies what is valued and what is expected from the higher education
institutions. The research is original as it tries to develop a grounded approach to quality assurance, being based on empirical evidence about the
opinions of various stakeholders as well as opinions and procedures employed by decision-makers at faculty and university levels. Sustainability
in higher education is thus seen from a different perspective, as a gap between the opinions and practices of internal actors, the expectations of
the external actors, namely the beneficiaries of the education, and objective the needs of the labor market in particular and society in general
though not unsatisfied, employers tend to be less completion of the studies” is sought. Though the
optimistic about the competences of the graduates when majority agrees with the statement, 37% rather disagree,
entering the labor market. while 17% cannot answer the questions. On the contrary
However, the students tend to be relatively more critical teachers agree with this statement in 60% and tend to
than their teachers when it comes to the evaluating the disagree in 33%.
quality of the teaching process. Asked to rate on a scale When it comes to evaluating the output, students’
from 1 to 10 where 1 means total disagreement and 10 opinions are more pessimistic than their teachers’. 29%
total agreement different aspects of the teaching of the students rather disagree with the statement the
process, Table 2 presents the means scores for students faculty I’m enrolled in offers me all competences
and respectively teachers. The satisfaction level for the necessary to become a good specialist in this field,
students group vary lightly with the year of study, the while 69% agree. The teachers agree with the statement
status of the student (paying fees or bursary) and the faculty I’m teaching in offers students all
command of a foreign language. As the year of study competences necessary to become a good specialist in
increases, the students’ level of satisfaction with the this field in 90%, while only 8% disagree.
teaching process decreases. Also, students paying fees When asked about the quality of the Romanian
tend to be more exigent as they see their education as a higher education system, students agree and
private investment and require more value for money. respectively disagree in 41% that the Romanian HE
Also, students in command of a foreign language tend to system is at least as good as the Western European
be more critical as they have a higher probability of ones, while 18% don’t know or don’t answer the
having been exposed to other education systems, but question. The dichotomous trend is thus continued for
also as an indicator of their own level of knowledge and students, while teachers agree in 61% and tend to
capacity to make informed judgements. This also disagree in 33%.
applies to students enrolled in higher years of study.
Turning to employers’ opinions, in Table 3
comparative appraisals of necessity and satisfaction are
Students Teachers presented in relation to various competences. Necessity
of the specific competence has been evaluated from 1
Teaching not important to 5 very important. Satisfaction with the
level graduates hold when entering the company was
The teaching is 7,4 8,5 The students find measured on a scale from 1 totally disatisfied to 5 very
very clear for the teaching very satisfied. Table 3 entries represent means from
our clear to understand employers’ sample.
understanding
Employers’ opinions Satisfaction Necessity
Teachers know 7,0 8,5 The students
how to make the consider the Specialist in the field 3,7 4,6
teaching teaching interesting
interesting Capacity to convincingly 3,6 4,4
argue a point of view
The courses are 7,3 8,8 The courses are Capacity to work in teams 4,0 4,8
mentally mentally
challenging challenging Capacity to lead a team 3,5 4,6
The faculty in 8,1 8,9 The faculty in Capacity to organize 3,8 4,8
which you learn which you teach is a herself at the workplace
is a very good very good one Analythic thinking 3,6 4,5
one
Creativity 3,5 4,4
Table 2: Students and teachers opinions regarding the teaching process
Table 3: Employers opinions regarding the output of higher education
Alternatively, when it comes to evaluating the
competences and abilities needed at the workplace, the Though generally not dissatisfied with the level of
students are less positive. Without being pessimistic, competence of the graduates, there is an important
40% consider in small and very small measure that the discrepancy between average levels of employers’
faculty helps them acquire all competences and abilities satisfaction and average levels of perceived necessity
required on the labor market. Though the majority for each of the competences listed.
considers the faculty does provide these competences, When asked about the agreement with the statement
the two halves distribute almost evenly. The distribution the graduates have a good theoretical background in
presents the same dichotomy when the field, on a scale from 1 (totally agree) to 10 (totally
agreement/disagreement with the statement “I don’t disagree), the employers’ mean score is 6,2. Even
think I will have difficulties finding the desired job after worse, when asked about the graduates’ practical
262 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
abilities in the field, the average score is 4,8! transaction is not that of competences, but of
Furthermore, the 40% of the employers declare that they certificates, the universities that are most efficient at
prefer graduates that worked part-time during their issuing certificates gain market share. Issuing
studies, 26% prefer graduates that worked full-time, certificates without a serious quality enforcer is a
11% prefer those who did not have a job and 17% do common pool problem. In the long run, it decreases the
not consider this as an employment criterion. The credibility of the entire system and not only of the
relatively high proportion of employers who prefer issuing university. In order to keep up with less quality
graduates that worked during their studies show a lack concerned competitors, even more prestigious
of confidence in the appropriateness of the study universities need to lower costs and consequently
contents and consider that for a good professional quality. The market is thus not enough for assuring a
insertion it is necessary complementing the academic sustainable quality for society’s needs; at least not an
training with independent work experience. asymmetric market where consumers are much less
informed than the providers in terms of the quality of
CONCLUSIONS the service delivered.
The solution some of the university representatives
proposed is a typical hobbesian one: to increase the
The data presented show important discrepancies
powers of a quality enforcer (particularly ARACIS) that
between the fairly positive general evaluation of the
would prevent less quality concerned universities to
higher education system by the students and teachers
issue certificates at an inflationary rate. This would be a
and to an important degree also employers and the
considerably less optimistic evaluation of the outputs of top-down approach. Conversely a bottom-up approach
higher education on the part of students and more is one that fosters the emergence of quality cultures
within the universities and then partnerships between
importantly of employers. The differences stem from
universities and employers’ representatives as well as
the reference employed in judging the quality of the
professional associations. By expanding the academic
higher education system and its institutions, on the one
hand, and the particular outputs investigated on the community into society, the focal group of interests
other hand. becomes encompassing including student, employers
and thus more able to promote a sustainable culture of
The general appraisal of higher education, especially
quality. Sustainable governance of higher education
when it comes to actors from the system, teachers and
institutions shall effectively include not only teachers’
students is not independent from the legal prescriptions
representatives, but also, students’, employers’, civil
about quality which overwhelmingly emphasize input
indicators and are largely administrative. However, society’s. Reaching a larger, all-encompassing interest
considering the employability mission of the higher community would be an olsonian solution to a
fragmented system characterized by a mainly traditional
education, in addition to academic training, the overly
view of a non-externally questioned academic
optimistic view is not sustainable. The dominant culture
environment.
of complacency and of considering the universities’
processes and outcomes as good enough cannot lead to
a shift towards a culture of quality, of questioning the AKNOWLEDGMENTS
current assumptions and reforming the higher education.
This work was accomplished under the project:” Quality
The image of elitist university, addressing the brightest
Assurance in Higher Education in Romania within
in field and producing a handful of excellent specialists
European Context. Development of Academic Quality
is very much spread to the disadvantage of a model of
Management at System and Institutional Level” –
university promoting even standards and striving for the
average or lowest level graduate. Thus not the ACADEMIS, POSDRU/2/1.2/S/1, Project Manager
Prof. Ioan CURTU, Ph. D, Romanian Agency for
excellence standard is important but the passing
Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS).
standard that ensures a minimal acceptable level for all
graduates entering the labor market in special and
society in general.
According to current standards and methodology, as References
well as general public opinion, the level of quality is
quite high, yet when it comes to satisfaction regarding 1. Kohler, J.(2009), „Quality“ in European Higher
the professional insertion of graduates, Romanian Education, Paper prepared for the UNESCO Forum on
Higher Education in the Europe Region: Access, Values,
universities fail to an important extent. The market-
Quality and Competitiveness, 21-24 May 2009,
approach to quality assurance could be a sustainable Bucharest, Romania
model in the long run. Yet, without market regulations 2. Van Damme, D. (2001), “Higher Education In The Age
to ensure a fair competition, asymmetries of information Of Globalisation: The need for a new regulatory
framework for recognition, quality assurance and
prevent an optimal allocation of resources. The round-
accreditation”, Introductory Paper for the UNESCO
tables held in September 2009 in various faculty Expert Meeting Paris, 10-11 September 2001.
councils revealed the concern of faculty members that 3. Vlăsceanu, L., Hâncean G.M., Voicu, B., Tufiș C. (2009),
due to competition pressures they are forced to lower Starea Calității în Învățământul Superior. Barometrul
Calității 2009, QualMedia, București.
the costs and thus quality. As long as the most important
BOLOGNA PROCESS IN ROMANIA – ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES
Abstract. This paper aims to highlight the achievements and the failures of the Romanian higher education institutions in their challenge to
participate at the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) based on international cooperation and academic exchange.
Because 2010 is the year initially established to be the end of the Bologna Process, we find important to critically analyze the way that our
country has assimilated the principles of the process comparing with the experience of the other European countries. The main approach
used was comparison between the initially goals of the Bologna Process (as they were determined at 19th of June 1999) and the results of
the Romanian higher education activity as they are in 2010. In the same time, we made comparisons between the European higher
education systems in order to highlight which are the futures challenges for Romanian universities to become an integrated part of the
EHEA. We have determined the achievements and the failures of the higher education system in our country, in the main areas envisaged
by the EHEA. We consider the results of the study are useful for all educational stake-holders like managers in higher education at national
level, managers of higher education institutions, academic staff and students. Our work originality is due to the fact that we realize a
synthetic image of the higher education system in the European context and we also critically analyze this layout from the managerial point
of view.
Keywords: Bologna Process, higher education management, European Higher Education Area.
For Romania no comparable data was found to enable obtained higher values of the LLL indicator. The second
us to explore socioeconomic background or ethnic category of measures consists of strategic measures at
origin, so we focused on gender and age inequalities. the national level, which may cause changes to factors
Regarding access to tertiary education by gender, the which were shown to influence that indicator, namely:
statistics show that in most European countries there are the ratio of urban population / rural population (people
a higher proportion of females than males accessing living in rural areas had higher non-participation rates in
ISCED levels 5 and 6, and Romania is not an exception. training than people living in semi-urban or urban
In 2007, females were 56% of population enrolled in areas); previous level of educational attainment (on
higher education. More, during the period 1999 -2007, average, around one in three people in the EU who has a
all countries except Bulgaria have seen an increase in high educational level takes part in non-formal
the proportion of women among tertiary education education per year); occupational status (participation in
students. adult education is lower for the unemployed and
Regarding inter-group inequalities by age, the inactive than the employed); occupation (amongst the
status of it is somehow ambiguous. Nevertheless we employed, different occupations provide different rates
present the average age of the Romanian population of access to adult learning); firm size (small firms are
enrolled in higher education as being 21.8 years face less likely to provide training for their workers).
with an European average as 22.2 years. Yet, these data
do not let as to conclude about potential iniquities
regarding aging. EMPLOYABILITY
As a whole, it can be concluded that in terms of the
social dimension of European higher education, the Employability has been one of the main goals to be
indicators used by European countries are not enough,
achieved with the creation of the European Higher
data collection is not done systematically, which does
Education Area (EHEA) from the very start.
not allow obtaining enough relevant results for make
As regards Romania, the situation of assimilation of
relevant conclusions. So, the challenge at this level highly qualified labor force in the labor market is
consists in formulating a methodology and a set of characterized by the following:
relevant indicators to measure the social dimension of
- In the worldwide top of labor competitiveness,
European higher education.
developed by the World Economic Forum, Romania
ranks 68;
- A Manpower study on recruitment difficulties
LIFE LONG LEARNING shows that Romania ranks 1 in the world, with 73% of
employers reporting that they are encountering
Lifelong learning has become a recognized mission difficulties in covering the needs of personnel;
of higher education institutions during the Bologna - According to the INS about 80% of higher
decade, but nevertheless remains a peripheral concern in education graduates are working in other professional
many countries. The Lifelong Learning indicator refers specialty than the one for which were trained;
to persons aged 25 to 64 who stated that they received - A study of the Ministry of Labor shows the
education or training in the four weeks preceding the following: the involvement of relevant employers and
survey, whilst the denominator consists of the total social partners is very limited in terms of planning the
population of the same age group, excluding those who university education, the connection between
did not answer the question 'participation in education universities and industry / employers are very weak; the
and training'. biggest problem facing university graduates is related to
In terms of Romania, our country is on the the "lack of experience", but companies are beginning,
penultimate place in Europe, followed only by Bulgaria. however, to waive this condition and provide
Thus, in the year 2005 the proportion of people aged employment for as long as young people are going
between 25 and 64 years involved in educational through several stages of practice during the years of
programs of any kind was 1.6%, compared to the college;
European average of 9.7%. Very high rates of this - The forecast for higher education graduates in
indicator were in Sweden (32.1%), Denmark (27.4%), 2009 shows that at most 10% of them will be able to
and Great Britain (27.5%). find an employment.
Therefore, Romania is far below the European Solving these problems requires implementation of
average and far from the "target" set for 2010 on this measures which have in view adapting the university
indicator, during the meetings of the Bologna Process, curricula to labor market needs. Of course, these
that of 12.5%. To improve the value of this indicator the measures, in terms of university autonomy, may be
existing studies emphasize the need to implement two initiated only in the higher education institutions. At
categories of measures. The first category follows the national level, in order to determine the universities to
example of Anglo-Saxon and Nordic countries, which leave their inertia in this problem, we propose an
have shown that by supporting the development of increased importance, as indicator of quality
structures for non-formal and informal learning, in measurement, given to the ratio of graduates assimilated
addition to the formal education system, there can be in the labor market, namely to the existence of
Quality Assurance and Trans-National Education 265
organizational structures that demonstrates collaboration situation is that for research in our country are allocated
of university with representatives of labor market. minimum financial resources (0.04% of GDP, in 2004,
year for which we have data available, compared to a
STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING European average of 0.41% and to a goal of 3% under
the Lisbon Strategy). Other causes that determine the
situation of research in Romanian universities have been
Student – centered learning describes ways of
identified by authors during the study mentioned above
thinking about learning and teaching that emphasize
student responsibility for such activities as planning and refer to:
learning, interacting with teachers and other students, - Teachers on the upper level of academic hierarchy
are not motivated to continue to get involved in such
researching and assessing learning. A study, regarding
projects and share from their experience with less
deficiencies of the Romanian higher education learning
experienced teachers;
system, developed by authors allows the formulation of
- Insufficient subsidies for research (apparatuses,
the following conclusions:
- A major part of the teaching staff has not laboratories, software, subscriptions to well-known
assimilated the instruments which the modern international publications, on-line subscriptions);
- Excessive inflexible bureaucracy and a weak
technology accommodates to facilitate the teacher-
organization from the logistic point of view of the
student frame communication;
research activity within universities;
- The teaching methods that determine the
- There is not an adequate mentality to achieve
creative, personal intervention of the student have a
relatively reduced significance; performance and excellence within scientific research,
- A major part of the students don’t have a clear since there is still the habit of unrecognized contribution
that does not fit into the evaluation process and this is
image over the objectives of all the studied classes,
compromising the entire research system.
learn only during the examination session and use as
bibliography material solely the lecture and the book of
the professor; MOBILITY
- The students appreciate of the teaching staff
the raised relational capacity and the extent to which the Student mobility has been an over-arching goal of
teachers use efficient teaching methods, but consider the Bologna process since its inception, and the drive to
that less than half of the teaching staff are willing to promote mobility has been consistent throughout the
discuss informally; last decade. But, while most countries have some
- The students learn first in order to find a job, financial measures in place to support student mobility,
and a relatively major part of them don’t find any the economic disparity between countries in the
motivation for learning; European Higher Education Area creates major
- It is observed a growth tendency of the rapid problems for the less wealthy countries and citizens. So,
examination forms proportion as based on open despite the ministerial agreement of a target that 20 %
questions or the written one based on the grid type of graduates should have experienced a study or training
questions, as opposed to the verbal examination as period abroad by 2020, few countries have so far
based on subjects or projects; also it is noticed the fact adopted this goal as a part of a national higher education
that the students’ examination, in many cases is strategy.
exclusively focused during the examination session. As regards Romanians citizens studying abroad,
- Only a third of the students choose to study existing data show that their number is increasing year
because they „like” it and upon admission, as a rule, the by year and, by late 2007, Romania was in the first half
students are not guided according to their aptitudes; of the European ranking EUROSTAT on the number of
- The students are not informed about the fact students studying in another European country. (20300,
that their interests are represented in the leading corps of number which represents approximately 2.5%). At the
the university/faculty. same time, in terms of foreign students coming to study
All the above conclusions, in the global context of in Romania, the situation is unsatisfactory, so the
the study, sustain the idea that the Romanian learning- position of Romania in the European rankings (which is
teaching system is still not centered on the student. placed behind Bulgaria, Czech Republic, and Hungary)
and the fact that, according to EUROSTAT, the number
EDUCATION, RESEARCH, INNOVATION of Europeans students coming to study in Romania is in
constant decline (in 2006 it represented 1.5% of overall
According with the European strategies, higher number of students), demonstrates that the Romanian
higher education is still unattractive to European
education should be based at all levels on state of the art
partners.
research and development thus fostering innovation and
creativity in society.
No university in Romania does enter in Shanghai FUNDING
rankings (which classifies universities according to their
scientific performance). A first explanation of this
266 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
In recent decades, public funding for HE has not important part of European states, mainly the Nordic
adequately reflected the massive growth in student and Anglo-Saxon countries. Romania, with a value of
numbers, resulting in a gap in financial resources. The 1.6% of this indicator, takes the penultimate place in
funding gap is a priority issue of both national and Europe and is still far from the aimed target;
international concern, and has employability - statistics show that Romania
never been as present as it is today. The main funding occupies a weak position in the ranking of European
sources for the Romanian higher education are: countries in terms of professional relevance of
- public funds – In 2005 Romania allocated university graduates
0.08% of GDP which placed our country on the last student-centered learning - educational systems
places among European countries; oriented to the student remains a goal for the Romanian
- tuition fees - the introduction or rising of educational system;
tuition fees becomes an easy solution to a complex education, research and innovation -
problem, when the money performance in scientific research obtained from
available within the higher education sector remains Romanian universities are very few quoted on the
insufficient in order for there to be an adequate level of European level and this situation has two major causes,
quality. In our opinion the argument of disciplining one being financing, the other being related to the
students by burdening them organization of this activity.
financially is superficial and not worth any serious mobility - is another target far from being
consideration. Tuition fees negatively affect poorer reached by European countries. Romania occupies a
students, while those from a financially relatively satisfactory position in terms of Romanian
well-off background will still be able to afford students studying in other countries, instead, the number
irresponsible behavior. of foreign students coming to study here is continuously
The question which arises in connection with this decreasing;
issue is to attract financing of higher education from funding - the diversification of financing
various sources and of course, to ensure the efficiency sources of higher education is a challenge for European
of this action from the social, economic and pedagogical countries to the extent in which the increasing students’
point of view. number makes it impossible their financial support, only
from public funds.
CONCLUSIONS
References
Bologna process is far from being complete and
from achieving its goals. A good part of its objectives, 1. Heinze, T. and Knill, C., (2008), “Analysing the differential
impact of the Bologna Process: Theoretical considerations on
as developing a certification system of higher education
national conditions for internal policy convergence”, Higher
comparable and understandable to all EU countries, Education, (2008) 56: pp. 493 – 510
organizing university studies in three cycles, providing a 2. Orosz, A., (2008), “The Bologna Process in Croatia”, European
European dimension to higher education quality, Education, vol. 40, no. 2: pp. 66 - 84
3. Pusztai, G. and Szabo, P. (2008), “The Bologna Process as a
promoting the European dimension of higher education
Trojan Horse”, European Education, vol. 40, no. 2, Summer
in terms of curricular development and inter- 2008: pp. 85 - 103
institutional cooperation, increasing participation of 4. Reinalda, B., (2008), “The Bologna Process and Its
student organizations in creating EHEA (The European Achievements in Europe 1999 – 2007”, Journal of Political
Science Education, 4/2008: pp. 463 – 476
Higher Education Area), though perfectible, can be
5. Tauch, C., (2004), “Almost Half-time in the Bologna Process –
considered as being in substantial progress during 1999 Where Do We Stand?”, European Journal of Education, vol. 39,
- 2009. However, a number of important issues remain no. 3: pp. 275 – 288
to be solved, such as: 6. The Bologna Process 2020- The European Higher Education
Area in the New Decade – Communiqué of the Conference of
social dimension of higher education -
European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education, Leuven,
eliminating inequity in terms of access to higher 28 – 29 April 2009
education is still in the stage of goal. More than that: the 7. Veiga, A. and Amaral, A., (2009), “Survey on the
instruments and methodologies for expressing this implementation of the Bologna Process in Portugal”, Higher
Education 57/2009: pp. 57 – 69
indicator refers to access to higher education according
8. Wiepcke, C., (2009), “Employability in the Bologna Process: An
to age and gender, other factors, potential determinants Area of Tension between Society, Businesses and Students”, The
of inequity, being not assessed; International Journal of Learning, vol. 16, no. 4: pp. 435 – 445
lifelong learning - the value of the indicator set
as "target", namely 12.5%, was exceeded by an
IMPLEMENTING EUROPEAN DIMENSION IN CURRICULA DESING FOR HIGHER
EDUCATION
Abstract. This study aims to highlight the importance and necessity of implementing an European designed curricula for universities, as a
guarantee of a high quality education process in the context of the knowledge society such is the world in which we live in. In the same time the
study offers a model for action in order, the Romanian universities to face this challenge. In the context of Bologna Process, the higher education
ministers assert, since 1999, the necessity of developing a common frame for qualifications in higher education, consistent with the present
requirements of labor market. Nevertheless, in Romania, the absorption of universities’ graduates as a work force and the correspondence
between their knowledge and the needs of the employers is still a real problem, and probably the most important, for the higher education
managers. This paper offers a new perspective and a point of discussions over the change which must to be made in curricula design of economic
higher education institutions; the paper reveals the advantage and limits of some of the models used worldwide, and most of all affirms the
necessity of the implication of the business’ environment in designing curricula for higher education. We consider the results of the study are an
important contribution to develop a strategically management of higher education institutions able to offer graduates compatible with the present
requirements of labor market.
THE ROMANIAN GRADUATES’ SKILLS FACE
INTRODUCTION TO LABOUR MARKET
In March 2000 in Lisbon, the European Council set Nowadays, the developed economies come to rely
an ambitious and strategic goal for the EU for the next on knowledge-driven business and the national
prosperity depends on upgrading the knowledge, skills
decade: Realizing the European Higher Education Area
and entrepreneurial zeal of the workforce. The nature
for making Europe the most competitive and dynamic
and the structure of work is changing - the labor market
knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of
sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs needs “knowledge workers” able to meet the challenges
and greater social cohesion. In that context the of a global economy characterized by rapid change. The
societal response to this shift is the dramatically
European Council stressed the importance of
increase of the demand for higher education in order to
‘‘establishing a European Area of Research and
“produce” high-qualified workforce. Consequently
Innovation’’ and of ‘‘education and training for living
widening participation in higher education has become a
and working in the knowledge society.’’ The pillars on
which is founded the new society are: European Higher global policy objective, worldwide. Now, more than
Education Area (EHEA), European Research & ever, in a globalize world the responsibility of the
higher education institutions is to provide its graduates
Innovation Area (ERIA) and European Research Area
with the skills to be able to operate professionally within
(ERA).
the environment required for the “learning age” or
So, the higher education institutions gain a central
learning society.
role in the society and one of them major aim is to
“produce” the so-called knowledge workers, meaning As regards Romanian higher education graduates,
individuals with the types of knowledge, skill and there are some representatives studies and statistics
which emphasis their lack of competitiveness on labor
creative potential who can meet the challenges of a
market and the lack of correspondence with employers
global economy characterized by rapid change. They
expectations. So, in the worldwide top of labor
have to elaborate an overarching framework of
competitiveness, developed by the World Economic
qualifications, comprising generic descriptions for each
of three cycles, based on learning outcomes and Forum, Romania ranks 68; a Manpower study on
recruitment difficulties shows that Romania ranks 1 in
competences. But, the employability literature still
the world, with 73% of employers reporting that they
points out the existent gap between the skills graduates
are encountering difficulties in covering the needs of
presents to their employers on career entry and the skills
personnel; according to the INS about 80% of higher
employers expect from these graduates, that means there
is a general need among employers for graduates to education graduates are working in other professional
possess and demonstrate skills that are relevant and specialty than the one for which were trained; the
forecast for higher education graduates in 2009 shows
applicable to working in their organizations, but this
that at most 10% of them will be able to find an
need is not being met. It is obvious that, in order to
employment.
reach this goal it needs a coherent strategy at national
More, a study developed by authors suggests some
and institutional education management level and a
major point of this, to be a higher education curriculum important features of the teaching – learning process in
designed to meet knowledge-driven economy the Romanian universities, which will be synthesized as
it follows. Our study is based on the application of a
requirements.
questionnaire to a number of 377 students and 263
teachers in order to identify the deficiencies of the
educational process. In this paper we will presents only
268 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
those results which can sustain the aim of our present first year after graduation. Only 33% of them think
work. positively about this issue, while 36% of the students
a quarter of the students do not know the tend to consider they will not find such a job, situation
learning objectives of the most part of the taught which can have a powerful demotivating effect over the
courses, and only 39% affirm they are familiarized with efforts they must undertake during the study years;
these objectives for all courses they attend. Studying the as a rule, the students do not engage together in
teachers’ educational documents also demonstrate an other activities than the ones strictly related to the
inappropriate manner to formulate the learning didactical activity;
objectives; there is not a scientific correlation between the
as an average, 80% of the time a student uses time allocate for learning and the learning objectives in
for individual learning is concentrated during the the courses’ planning;
session, a cause being also the fact that for a major a major part of the teaching staff has not
portion of the classes the students consider that they are assimilated the instruments which the modern
not evaluated until the moment of the examination. technology accommodates to facilitate the teacher-
More, only 18% of the students using supplementary student frame communication;
bibliography, the rest of the students resume strictly to
studying what is taught by the teachers during classes; Each of the above conclusions and all together
the teaching methods that determine the affect the future performance of the graduates on the
creative, personal intervention of the student have a labor market. The connections are complex, both direct
relatively reduced significance; and indirect and it is not so complicate to observe.
the examination forms which presume the However, the aim of the present paper is not to reveal
teacher-student direct contact (respectively the verbal these connections but to offer a solution to correct them.
examination or the one based on practical test) have a
more and more reduced significance (18% for the verbal NEW CURRICULA FOR A NEW ECONOMY
examination and the practical tests even less – 8%), for
many occasions being preferred the rapid examination As long as higher education should seek to enable
forms, such as grill tests (38%) or written examination
the individual to better fulfill their role in society, the
based on open questions (36%). In the same time, the
curriculum should seek to enhance the employability.
most part of the teachers (60%) appreciates that their
Matters related to curriculum development have
students have difficulties to express their opinions;
traditionally been mainly determined at the national
most of the students (45%) have as learning level. Recently, however, matters of curriculum
motivation the hope that thus they will find a job easier. development are increasingly being influenced by an
Interesting is the fact that a significant segment of them,
agenda defined by the emerging global economy rather
respectively 20%, can’t find any learning motivation,
than by locally perceived problems. Harvey and
except the immediate one of passing all examinations;
Bowers-Brown (2004) have pointed out that, with
more than half of the students (53%) have
increased mobility across national borders, there is a
never been involved in a scientific activity (scientific growing need for a model of generic skills that is
communications sessions, students’ scientific recognized worldwide. It means that what is expected of
workshops, contracts, research projects etc.) as
higher education graduate to be similar throughout the
developed within the university;
world, obtaining a “global competency” defined as the
most of the students choose a higher education
set of skills that enables the professional to operate with
institution as opposed to others, after less academic
confidence, comfort, and competence in the global
criteria, however very pragmatic, such as the admission arena.
method (45%); this criteria is followed by the prestige
Reaching this goal implies a conjugate effort of all
of the institution, with a ratio of 33%. For what
the educational stake-holders to develop an coherent
concerns the specialty of choice, this is mainly selected
process of designing an European curriculum. This kind
after the potential chances of the future graduates to
of curriculum should be theoretically grounded,
hire, stating by this the importance which the future organized and methodologically consistent. In our
graduates give to their chances on the labour market opinion, this process embedding three logically
(38% of the persons answering have used this criteria
sequential stages:
for choosing the specialty). A rather reduced
significance, for the case when the students’ aptitudes
Stage I – Identifying the learning outcomes for
for a certain profession are not verified, has, for the
qualification recognition and employability
selection of the specialty, the fact that the students are
attracted towards a certain specialty, considering they Learning outcomes provide comprehensive
have aptitudes for it (only 30% of the persons answering
information about knowledge, understanding and skills
choose the specialty which they „like”);
that the graduate should have acquired after successful
it is noticed a fairly large distrust of the
completion of studies or a certain study level. Clear
students with regards to their chances of finding a job
defined study outcomes form an important starting point
according to their academically education within the in designing and developing the plan of the curriculum.
Implementing European Dimension in Curricula Design for Higher Education 269
Application of the study outcome principle in the important to him/her in the whole process of teaching-
curriculum planning design and realization creates learning, with all thing implied by this, through the
conditions for studying at various higher education elements which will be evaluated. Therefore, for a
institutions, with different systems of education and student the objectives of a course are not those initially
ensure possibilities for receiving full recognition of fixed by the teacher (these can only attract him/her to a
academic degrees and qualifications. certain discipline of study), but the objectives will be
The learning outcomes must to be close with the expressed through what he/she will have to know to
employers’ expectations. While the full integration of pass the exam.
common European learning outcomes into national Another notice which can be done for explaining
qualification frameworks still appears to be something this situation is that from the point of view of the
of a distant goal, the Dublin Descriptors offer a window teacher the evaluation is the final stage of the teaching-
into the direction that curriculum design is headed in the learning process, but for the students this is in fact the
European Higher Education Area. first stage, and around it they organize their whole
In the same time, it is of great importance for activity.
universities to have a perspective over the expectations Teacher’s perspective:
of the national employers, to create a “skills map” for Establishes the objectives
the Romanian graduates in order to fit the curriculum
with the national employment market. For reaching this
goal the higher education system needs, on the one Establishes the teaching methods
hand, scientific researches to show which characteristics
are of utmost importance for businesses with regard to
employees and, on the other hand it needs a set of Evaluates
organizational measures to integrate the employers in
the academic life and not only with a consultative role, Student’s perspective:
but a decision-making one. This fact should be of much
importance within higher education institutions and Knows the aspects for which he/she is evaluated
formal approach has to be avoided. Organizational
structure within university would be useful in order to
manage partnership between university and economic Chooses the learning methods
agents. Management of this structure does not have to
be conditioned to academic titles but to results and
commitment of practical activity of coordinator, who, Reaches or not the objectives established by the
under the circumstances of subordination to academic teacher
authorities, may be representative of business
environment and not teacher. Stage III – Performances’ evaluation
Unfortunately these kinds of studies are just
isolated in our educational landscape, do not have a For a durable success of the process it needs a
scientific foundation and can not be expended at periodically evaluation of its performances. It is
national level. More, employers do not have an essential customary for many ranking systems to calculate the
participation in the academic life. employment rate (as a proportion of graduates which
find a job according with their qualification in a certain
Stage II – Developing an efficient teaching-learning period of time after graduation) and to use it as an
process expression of an educational system that works well.
Without denying the relevance of this indicator we
Starting with clear and relevant learning objectives, appreciate that it is primarily determined by the labor
the next step in creating an efficient teaching – learning market and the economic conditions rather than the
process is to set the most appropriate teaching-learning capabilities of individuals. So it is not a guarantee that
methods, as well as the time required to reach the one educational system will produce permanently
objectives using scientific methods. It is also important satisfactory results. Consequently, it needs more
to talk, in this context, about the examination activity. elaborated methodologies for evaluation the
This represents the basic condition for an efficient performance of higher education institutions, regarding
teaching-learning process, with all the advantages their graduates, methodologies that will have to
coming from it. In the measure that the idea of building appreciate the followings:
educational systems based on learning is accepted, we - the capacity of creation of framework
must act firstly on the way on which the examination conditions and enlargement of the choice at universities,
activity is organized and is running. Thus, the goal of which facilitate the necessary acquisition of
the students’ evaluation must be rather to sustain the competencies in addition to knowledge and science
learning than the simple assessment of the performance transfer;
level reached at a given moment by the subject. - creation of a new attitude and mentality with
Practically, who learns defines for himself what is respect to job (in)security, in order to reduce fears
270 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
concerning uncertainty and helplessness with regard to - promoting, at national level, a methodology of
the future occupational situation of university graduates; ranking universities according with their capacity of
- creation of a new self-conception that is not offering employable graduates rather than having a great
standard employment but employability; employment rate.
- creation of a mentality of lifelong learning,
flexibility and mobility, so that continuous learning References
processes do not turn into a “situation of pressure” and
cause fears of overstress or burn-out syndrome. 1. Baker, C.M., (2000), “Education for International
Understanding and Global Competence”, Professional meeting
by the Carnegie Corporation in New York
2. Brown, P., Lauder, H., (1996), “Education, globalisation and
CONCLUSIONS economic development”, Journal of Education Policy, 11(1), pp.
1–24.
3. Cranmer, S., (2006), “Enhancing graduate employability:
The Romanian higher education system does not
best intentions and mixed outcomes”, Studies in Higher
offer to the labor market the graduates capable of Education, vol. 31, No.2, pp. 169 - 184
acquiring and maintaining different kinds of 4. Dale, R., (2000), “Globalization and education:
employment, according to their qualification, more to be Demonstrating a Common World Educational Culture or
locating a globally structured educational agenda?”,
competitive as a workforce. European statistics and
Educational Theory 50 (4), pp. 442 - 448
studies sustain this idea. Analyzing the causes that 5. Presidency Conclusions Lisbon European Council, 23 and 24
determine this situation, the authors have revealed some March 2000: Numbers 12–13 and 25–27
important features of the Romanian higher – education 6. Pukelis, K., Pileicikiene, N. (2005), “The Quality of Higher
Education:Paradigm of Study Outcomes”, The Quality of
teaching – learning process, and concluded that changes
Higher Education, 2005/2, pp. 96 – 107
have to be made into curriculum design. For this reason 7. Pukelis, K., (2009), “Ability, Competency, Learning/Study
we proposed a three stages process focused on the next Outcome, Qualification and Competence: Theoretical
main ideas: Dimension”, The Quality of Higher Education, 2009/6, pp. 12 –
34
- elaborating learning objectives very close to
8. Rauhvargers, A. (2004), “Improving the Recognition of
the actual labor market expectations; Qualifications in the Framework of the Bologna Process”,
- organizing the teaching – learning – European Journal of Education, vol. 39, no.3, pp. 331 – 347
examination process as being a coherent one; 9. Terrence, T., Gunden, C., Faulkner, P., (2008), “Exploratory
Study of Ege University School of Agriculture Students’ Opinion
- the implication of employers in the teaching –
of Globalization and Curricula Design for Related Instruction”,
learning process as well as in the organizational IJAES, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1 – 15
structure of the higher education institutions; 10. Young, M., (2007), “Qualifications Frameworks: some
conceptual issues”, European Journal of Education, vol. 42, no.
4, pp. 445 - 457
MANAGING CHANGE IN HIGHER EDUCATION ORGANIZATIONS BY QUASI-
CONTINUOUS ADAPTATION TO THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
The way an organization adapts to the changes of its external environment depends on the change model adopted by the management
and is expresssed by the values of its performance indicators. The paper is based on the previous work of the authors that was focused
on a change model having the human resistance to change as a central risk. The conclusion of their work was that the change model
has to be complemented with a mechanism that supports the change at the organizational level. The organizational model used in this
paper is based on the Balanced Scorecard concept of „cause-and-effect” relationship and is expressed as a system with two feedback
loops. The authors additionally describe the steps that must be met in order to make the model operational. As a case study, the paper
analyses the posibility of the use of the model for a higher education organization in the context of the present Romanian higher
education market. In this respect, the authors formulated and proved a number of hypotheses which stated that most of the students
who have to pay for their education perceive themselves as customers on a market where they are buying a product.
Key words: organizational model, change management, process maturity, performance indicators.
this loop allows the organization to deal with these Based on the model presented in this paper, the
changes before an internal crisis appear. authors propose a five-level process that will allow an
The sampling frequency at the market interface organization to reach the continuous improvement
level must be adapted to the dynamic of the monitored stage:
market processes. Practically, this loop allows the Level 0: The organization has the capability to
dynamic adaptation of the organization strategy to the analyze the data regarding the quality of its processes
market. and to establish a cause-effect relationship between the
A closed feedback loop means that the information perturbations of these processes and their causes.
is traveling between the loop ends. The closing of the Level 1: The organization has implemented a
internal feedback loop does not take place quality monitoring system that ensures the traceability
automatically. In order for this thing to happen, we of its processes.
need the existence at the organization level of a Level 2: The organization operates at stable values
number of support processes like those used by the of its performance indicators by maintaining a
quality management system. These processes allow the controlled variation around their target values.
incremental improvement of the quality of the core Level 3: The organization continuously improves
business processes and of the quality of the the quality of its processes based on the analysis of the
products/services offered by the organization. In the data acquired during the continuous monitoring of its
case of the external feedback loop, the marketing operations.
process plays the role of the closing mechanism. Level 4: The organization continuously monitors
We have to stress that the inclusion of the its external environment (e.g. by means of market
management under the external feedback loop is a researches), replacing the reactive attitude by a pro-
mandatory condition for the closed loop functioning of active one.
the system. One of the roles of the managers is the one Practically, at the levels zero and one the
of ensuring that the implemented quality management organization works with both feedback loops open.
system (e.g. CMM (SA-CMM, 2002) or ISO Only when it has reached the second level, the internal
9001:2008) does not deviate from its initial purpose feedback loop can be closed. This happens because, in
and becomes in time more bureaucratic. order to be able to set the target performance indicators
to meaningful values, the organization must first know
ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESS CHANGE AND the current values of its performance indicators.
ITS ASSOCIATED RISKS After performing in a stable way for a while, the
organization may go to the third level where it can
When the organization fails to adapt itself to the detect and remove the common causes of variation of
the performance indicators.
market changes, the external change pressure
Reaching the fourth level allows the closing of the
accumulates. Therefore, this process will eventually
external loop, which will permit the organization to
lead to a jump change in the organization.
adapt dynamically its strategy to the market. By
The practice has shown that an organization
behaves much better when the changes take place reaching the fourth level, the organization becomes a
incrementally. When this thing happens, the “learning company” (Senge, 1990).
The activities performed at each level must be
organization finds itself in a so-called virtuous cycle
established as solid practices throughout the
(O’Connor, 1996) where the continuous improvement
organization. They must not to be perceived only as
of its business processes increases the capacity of the
means to emulate a model. The purpose of this
organization to cope with the external change.
The achievement of the incremental improvement performance measures must be to help the organization
to align the daily activities with its strategic objectives.
of the organizational business processes is only
The performance indicators of an organization may
possible if these processes have reached a certain
be expressed by means of a Balanced Scorecard (BSC)
maturity level.
(Niculescu, 2009). The advantage of using a Balanced
A model that depicts maturity level of the processes
of an organization is the one developed by the Scorecard system is that it mirrors in an optimal way,
Software Engineering Institute (SEI), which is called by means of its four views, the two-feedback loops
model: the organizational processes and the quality of
Capability Maturity Model (CMM) (SA-CMM, 2002).
its employees (the internal loop) and the financial
The model shows that we will be able to collect
performances of the organization and its clients (the
data about the business processes only after these
external loop).
processes are defined, approved and documented at
organizational level. In this way, the processes and the
products of the organization are controlled CASE STUDY: THE USE OF THE TWO-
quantitatively and qualitatively. FEEDBACK LOOPS MODEL FOR A
Only after this stage has been reached, the ROMANIAN HIGHER EDUCATION
organization can achieve a continuous improvement by ORGANIZATION
using the quantitative information at hand.
Managing Change in Higher Education Organizations by Quasi-Continuous Adaptation to The External Environment
273
After the year 1990, Romania was confronted with several economic faculties of a private university. The
an increased demand for human resources having an students were randomly selected while they arrived to
academic degree, a demand that the public higher the finals (every seventh arrived student was chosen).
education system was not able to satisfy due to the lack In order to verify the research hypotheses, the
of funding. authors set up a number of four higher-tail test using
This increased demand was a good thing in the long the significance level α=0.05 (95% confidence). To this
run for Romania, taking into account that one of the end, they formulated two hypotheses about the
performance indicators of a country today is the proportion p of the students that perceive the obtaining
number of its citizens that have a bachelor, master or of the academic degree similar to the acquisition of a
PhD academic degree (e.g.: in England, in 2009, 40% product:
of its young people were university students, the - the null hypothesis H0: p=0.5 (the equilibrium
government target being of 50% (Hussey, 2010)). condition)
The classic model of the higher education market - the alternative (research) hypothesis Ha: p >0.5
used at the beginning of the ‘90s was the integrated The questions contained by the interview, the
one, where the student is the product of a higher proportion of positive and negative answers received
education organization and the clients are the private and the values of the z score are presented in the Table
and public companies. 1.
Yet the increased demand for higher education Table 1: The results of the survey organized by the authors
services created the conditions for the appearance of a in the winter 2009-2010
new parallel market where the students acted as clients
(Hussey, 2010) and the higher education organizations Yes No z
as suppliers of undifferentiated academic degrees. No. Question
(%) (%) (z.05=1.645)
Typical for such students is that they work for a
living and that they need flexible hours for the study.
If such a market exists, we will try to find out later Did you apply for
in this chapter under what conditions might a higher admission at more than
1 75 25 3.5
one faculty with
education organization utilize the two-feedback loops different specialties?
model for adapting its strategy to the requirement of
this new market.
By means of a qualitative research of the Romanian Do you perceive the
higher education market, the authors reached several essays and the finals
2 67 33 2.3
conclusions. The first one was that (1) the higher mere as costs of getting
education service became undifferentiated, being the academic degree?
practically transformed in a commodity. The students
are applying for admission simultaneously at more than Did you choose the
one higher education organization, with different faculty due to the
3 prospects of a higher 79 21 2.6
specialties, in order to be sure that they will be
gain after you would get
admitted. This is especially true for the economic the academic degree?
specialties.
On the other side, (2) the essays and the finals are
Did the amount of
perceived by the students as mere costs of the scholarship taxes
academic degree and not as means of accumulating 4 65 35 2.11
influence you decision of
knowledge. This perception is caused by the belated or choosing the faculty?
inexistent feedback received from the teachers to the
results of these examinations.
Last but not least, (3) we witness the existence of From the Table 1 we can see that the null
an instrumental view of the academic degree, the hypothesis was rejected each time. We can conclude,
student trying to obtain the degree not for its intrinsic with 95% confidence, that the majority of the students
value (the acquired knowledge) but for its use value who have been interviewed perceived the academic
(what can he get after he possess the degree). degree as an undifferentiated product, obtained on a
On the other side, we witness a number of measures competitive market.
taken by the universities in order to increase the We must point out from the beginning that the two
solvable demand on the market. Among other things, feedback loops model can be used by a Romanian
we can mention here (4) the decrease of the taxes for higher education organization both in the case of the
the education services. integrated higher education market and in the case of
As a conclusion of this qualitative research, the the competitive education market. The difference
authors formulated four research hypotheses. They between the two cases consists of the used performance
organized a sample experiment consisting of a survey indicators.
that took place in the winter 2009-2010 on a number of The performance indicators used in the case of the
50 students in the third year of study, belonging to integrated higher education market are:
274 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
a. the indicators that measure the satisfaction of the organizations act as suppliers of undifferentiated
public and private companies that hired the graduates; academic degrees.
b. the indicators that measure the degree of After proving the research hypothesis, the authors
competence and inventiveness of the university evaluated if the two feedback loops model might be
teachers. used by a private higher education organization in the
As one can see, these indicators give us an image of process of adapting its strategy to this new market.
the quality of the education process. The conclusion was that, in the case of the
In order to use the model in the case of the competitive education market, the higher education
competitive education market, we must express the organization can use the model but has to express the
performance of the higher education organization by a efficiency of its education processes by means of a
number of additional performance indicators that number of additional performance indicators.
reflect the four perspectives (views) of the model: (a) These new performance indicators are: a) the ratio
financial, (b) clients, (c) education process and (d) between the tuition and the expenses for one student,
teaching personal. (b) the market share of the higher education
In this respect, the authors propose the following organization, (c) the ratio between the students who get
performance indicators: (a) the ratio between the the academic degrees and the ones that were initially
tuition and the expenses for one student, (b) the market admitted and (d) the amount of money that come from
share of the higher education organization, (c) the ratio the research activities.
between the students who get the academic degrees and These indicators came to complement the
the ones that were initially admitted and (d) the amount performance indicators used in the case of the
of money that come from the research activities. integrated higher education market such as the ones
that express the satisfaction of the public and private
CONCLUSIONS companies that hired the graduates and the ones that
express the degree of competence and inventiveness of
In order to survive, an organization must the university teachers.
continuously adapt itself to the changes of its market.
Adapting to the market means that the organization BIBLIOGRAPHY
delivers to the client the best possible products and/or
services while it continuously improves its business 1. *** Software Acquisition Capability Maturity Model (SA-
CMM) (2002), Version 1.03, Software Engineering Institute
processes.
2. *** SR EN ISO 9001:2008 – Sisteme de management al
In order to analyze the adaptation process of an calităţii. Cerinţe
organization to its market, the authors used a two- 3. Hussey, T., Smith P. (2010), The Trouble with the Higher
feedback loops model based on the Balanced Scorecard Education, Routledge, ISBN 0-203-86634-7
4. Kaplan, R, Norton D. (1992), The Balanced Scorecard-Measures
concept of „cause-and-effect” relationship.
that Drive Performance, Harvard Busisnes Review, Reprint 92105
In order to work properly, both feedback loops 5. Niculescu, C. et al. (2009), “ISO 9001 vs. CMMI and their
must be closed. In this respect, the authors proposed a contribution to organization development”, The Fourth International
five-level process that provides for the orderly closing Conference of Management and Industrial Engineering, ICMIE 2009,
University Politehnica of Bucharest, Management Department,
of the two feedback loops.
Industrial Management Chair, Romania, ISBN 978-973-748-468-0,
The authors further studied if the two feedback pp. 42-49
loops model may be used for a higher education 6. O’Connor, J. (1997) – The Art of Systems Thinking: Essential
organization under the present situation on the Skills for Creativity and Problem Solving, Thorsons
7. Prisecaru, B. et al (2009), “The Change of Organizational
Romanian higher education market.
Culture for Performance Improvement”, Proc. 6th Int. Conf.
Following a qualitative research, the authors Management of Technological Changes, ISBN (vol. I) 978-960-
formulated the hypothesis that a new competitive 89832-7-4, Book. I, pp. 397-400
education market has appeared. On this market, the 8. Senge, P. (1990), The fifth discipline, Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-
26095
students act as clients and the higher education
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
CASE STUDY: ROMANIAN HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM
This paper aims to analyze the educational offer of the Romanian universities, concerning the specialists’ training in the field of
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It starts from the premise that Corporate Social Responsibility is an indispensable factor of
sustainable development in a society with global economy. In order to reach the set objective, the research team used document
analysis (curricula, syllabus etc.) to identify the educational offer of the Romanian universities and conducted a survey in order to
emphasize the way the expertise is obtained by those who work in the field of CSR. This research was developed by a heterogeneous
team (sociologists, an ethicist and a philosopher) of specialists from three major universities of Timisoara, Romania. In the
final part, some conclusions and final remarks are inserted. Through its results, the study propose a turn in the educational policies of
the Romanian universities in order to improve the training of the future professionals in CSR, the build-up and development of the
expertise in this field.
development, and acts as a real vector of knowledge and was represented by 25 companies with Romanian or
development. ”University as a key actor in the foreign capital which develop their activity in our
knowledge society, it is meant to contribute to country. For this purpose an enquiry was developed
individual welfare and socio-economic environment including 27 items which was sent to the CSR
generating and transferring knowledge through responsible from the companies concerned. The
education, research and innovation”, say the documents intention of this investigation was to capture experts’
produced in the process of setting the strategy for opinions on how skills in this area are acquired and
Romanian higher education for the horizon of 2025 ways in which companies in Romania implement
(Munteanu, R., coord., Popescu, S., rapporteur, 2009). specific activities of the sector. The enquiry also
In the context of its mission adapted to the paradigm revealed the perceptions of those working in Romanian
of the contemporary society, the roles of the university companies on the offer of training in the field, the
in relation to economic environment redefine relationship between academia and economics, and their
themselves. University plays the role of forming views about the benefits that CSR brings to
competent human resources, of being the generator communities and to the society at large but also the
of new in knowledge, and, not least, of “the difficulties that the introduction of a culture of CSR
institutional citizen”. Through the latter role it takes, meets in a country currently under development.
the university actively contributes to community
development both by cultural intervention – education 2. OVERVIEW OF THE UNIVERSITY
for social paradigm of the future – and by institutional EDUCATIONAL OFFER IN CSR
intervention – involving of the university as institutional
actor in construction and development efforts of the An important component of our research was the
society. In such a context, it may be included the analysis of information about the specializations and
provision of educational social opened practices, plans of academic curricula to identify the educational
orientation to knowledge transfer to contribute to the offer in the field of CSR. In the latter we refer especially
formation of professional elites connected to the values to official documents found on the accredited higher
of society. education institutions’ websites in Romania. The survey
pointed the following:
1. OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY • The presence, in the university degrees, of
the specialization Corporate Social
Our research has considered the following Responsibility, as independent specialization.
objectives: • The existence of masters or postgraduate
O1 Identifying the educational offer of Romanian studies with the specialization Corporate
universities regarding the training of the graduates in the Social Responsibility.
field of CSR.. • The existence, in the university studies, of
O2 Highlighting the situation of integration of CSR the discipline Corporate Social
into the curricula of the university degrees and master Responsibility and Business Ethics in the
degree programs and, where this occurred, the manner context of various specializations, mainly in
in which this adjustment was made. economic sciences, agriculture sciences,
O3 Determining how Romanian CSR professionals environmental sciences, or communication
have acquired and developed their professional sciences.
expertise. • The existence, in master studies or
To achieve the first two goals O1 and O2, we postgraduate studies, of the discipline
conducted a research on the websites of the accredited Corporate Social Responsibility.
higher education institutions in Romania. The 84 • The analysis of analytical programs of
universities were evaluated to determine if CSR exists Business Ethics to identify in their theme, the
as an independent specialization in the university and issue of Corporate Social Responsibility.
master studies. Noting the rarity of this phenomenon,
our study focused on the curricula of the faculties to The main difficulty that we faced was the absence,
identify if CSR exists as discipline or if its theme is in many cases, of the information related to the matters
present in the context of other disciplines such as covered. The main source of documentation was
Business Ethics and Sustainable Development. From a represented by the university curricula, or they are not
methodological point of view, achieving the two posted, in many cases, on the faculties’ pages.
objectives was possible by analyzing the content of Therefore, the analysis of the universities’ websites tend
curricula aiming at specific ways in which each to say something about transparency regarding the
university understood (or not) to provide a place to research papers and about the concern of the education
CSR’s problems in training young people from different providers towards offering training in the field of CSR.
specialties or different profiles. However, there were plenty of situations where the
The third objective, O3, was achieved though a education curricula and the necessary information were
sociological survey which targeted the companies that made public.
state they develop CSR activities. The basic population
Corporate Social Responsibility in Higher Education. Case Study: Romanian Higher Education System 277
A first conclusion that emerges is that there is not, in A distinct educational offer in the field of CSR, at
university degrees, Corporate Social Responsibility as postgraduate level, is proposed by the Center for
independent specialisation. Moreover, we have not Corporate Citizenship in Romania in partnership with
identified in the curricula examined in any of the the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna. The
specializations offered by the accredited universities in postgraduate course, CSR Management, is a one-year
Romania an independent course of Corporate Social English language program with units taken in Bucharest
Responsibility. A small number of courses offer lectures (11 units) and Vienna (2 units). The course gives 60
of Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility and ECTS points. The resulting qualification is the
others, also in a small number propose lectures of Academic CSR Manager title given and administered by
Business Ethics where we meet corporate responsibility the University in Vienna.
issue as one of the many topics offered, therefore having
a modest space. 3. EXPERTISE IN CSR IN ROMANIAN
Most specializations whose curriculum has Business COMPANIES
Ethics as discipline are part of economic sciences:
Management Marketing, Accounting and Commercial For capturing the views of CSR managers on how
Data Processing, Business Administration. Usually, the to acquire skills in this area and ways in which
course stretches over a semester, has assigned an hour companies in Romania implement specific activities of
or two of lectures and seminars, it is a compulsory this sector, a sociological survey has been carried out
discipline and has a number between 3 and 5 credits. which covered 25 companies operating in our country
Some specialties offer the Business Ethics as optional and which declare that they unfold CSR activities..
discipline. Where present, this discipline is included in The data analysis revealed a wide range of issues
the curricula of Ist, IInd and IIIrd, year which shows a which we present, in summary, below. Thus, CSR
different understanding of the volume of specialized activities are conducted in most analyzed cases in a
knowledge expected from the students for covering and service within a department, usually the Department of
assimilation of this subject. Fixed in the first year, the Communication, or Department of Public Relations. In
discipline seems to be placed in the category of those isolated cases, this activity is conducted in the
which are rather introductory and do not imply a great Department of Sustainable Development or an
deal of specialized knowledge while its inclusion in the independent CSR department. In most cases, CSR
third year curricula implies the fact that the students activity is coordinated by a department manager, and in
already possess a significant amount of knowledge to one case this function was taken over by the General
use in the assimilation of the business ethics. Manager or a member of the board. Interviewed CSR
Ethics appears also in the curriculum of the faculties managers consider that their information level in
with a different specialization that economy, but both relation to their sphere of activity is good, an
the content and title of the discipline are suitable to that exceptionally small number considers that this level is
profile. Thus, we meet disciplines named Ecological very good, either medium or low. Regarding the
Ethics in the specialization Engineering and information sources of CSR, the respondents state in
Environmental Protection in Agriculture, Legislation, majority that the websites are favorite followed by
Ethics and Professional Deontology in the newsletters, magazines, newspapers, and books. Other
specialization Expertise and Food Control. mentioned sources are meetings with experts and
In the educational offer of the accredited universities internal company resources. During the past year, CSR
in Romania are not included master degrees in respondents state in a large number that they have
Corporate Social Responsibility as an independent participated in conferences and workshops on issues of
specialization. CSR, a number somewhat lower in seminars and
In master studies, a single specialization – trainings and totally isolated in CSR sources organized
Management and Business Communication – has by universities. Asked if they consider appropriate, at
provided, in the curriculum the discipline Corporate the university level, the presence of specializations in
Social Responsibility (CSR), which has allocated, in the CSR, in most cases the respondents consider that such
IVth semester two hours of lectures and one hour of specialization is needed in master studies. Almost half
seminar and for which are provided 7 credits. Also in the respondents consider useful to have a CSR
the master studies, some specializations have courses specialization in university and/or PhD. It was identified
that refer to social responsibility. Thus, in the a small number of cases in which the respondents
specialization Management and Governance is the consider that such specialization is not needed in
course of Corporate Governance and Management of university.
Transnational Corporations in whose syllabus is Regarding the collaboration with academia, as it
provided the topic Corporate Social Responsibility. Or, can be noticed in the figure below, in more than half of
in European Politics and Economy specialization, is the cases it does not exist. Ways in which collaboration
included the discipline Global Capitalism and is reflected when it exists, are usually sponsorship,
Transnational Corporations, in whose syllabus is internship, educational projects. In only one case the
prescribed the theme Ethics and Corporate Social collaboration consisted in consulting on writing CSR
Responsibility.
278 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education
Edu – QMHE2010
reports. Less than one quarter of companies surveyed By organizing university degrees or masters with
provide traineeships
ships for students in CSR departments. specialization in Corporate Social Responsibility or at
least by introducing into the curriculum
cur of some
specialization of CSR courses, Romanian universities
can help train and develop the necessary expertise in
this area, assuming the status of key player in the field
Yes of education by promoting high quality services adapted
(Interns to the needs of the society.
hip, Don't
Sponsorknow, No, 54% References
ship,… 8%
1. European Commission, (2001), “Green Paper Promoting a
European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility”, Brussels
(COM (2001) 366 Final).
2. European Union, (2004), “Euroabstract: Corporate social
responsibility”, Vol. 42–1,, February. European Commission:
Figure 1. Collaboration between academia and companies that carry on CSR Directorate-General for Enterprise.
activities in Romania 3. European Commission, (2006), “Implementing The Partnership
For Growth And Jobs: Making Europe A Pole Of Excellence On
Corporate Social Responsibility”
Analysis of training of CSR managers of the companies 4. Keinert, C. (2008), Corporate Social Responsibility as an
surveyed reveal that the university specialties they International Strategy, Physica-Werlag
Werlag A Springer Company,
graduated are very diverse, from social assistance, Heidelberg, p.38.
media, law, international relations or engineering to 5. Kotler, P. and Lee, N. (2005), Corporate Responsibility: Doing the
Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause,Cause Wiley, Hoboken, New
foreign languages and literatures, public relations, Jersey, p.3.
political sciences and communication. This wide range 6. Mandl I., Dorr A., (2007), ”CSRCSR and Competitiveness European
of specializations overlaps the difficulty of the SMEs’ Good Practice. Consolidated European Report”, Vienna, in
requirements
uirements the CSR activities entail. In the absence of Mainstreaming Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Among SMEs,
Grant Programme Financed by European Commission, p. 12.
specializations in the field of CSR and of training 7. Munteanu, R., coord., Popescu, S., rapporteur,
rapporteur (2009) ”Universities
courses meant to develop specific skills, it is necessary and Socio-Economic Environment”, in the Project Quality and
for Romanian academia to adapt the educational offer to Leadership for Romanian Higher Education, p.4,
the requirements of the moment. http://www.edu2025.ro/UserFiles/File/PR1/Panel3/diagnostic_panel3
.pdf, 06.04.2010.
8. Nicolescu C., (2006), “Corporate Social Responsibility in the
4. CONCLUSIONS Romanian Higher Education”, International Policy Fellowship
Program Open Society Institute, Budapest, Hungary.
9 .World Business Council for Sustainable Development, (1999),
CSR is an essential element of European social “Corporate Social Responsibility:
nsibility: Meeting Changing Expectations”,
Expectations”
model, of Europe’s strategy, for sustainable World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Geneva.
development, allowing the solving of social problems
generated by economic globalization. European
Commission undertakes a series of steps, embodied in
resolutions, recommendations, and community policies
designed to boost the social responsibility. This
European organization declares that the CSR dimension
should become a priority in the development of the
companies and also as a value to instill in young
you people
who study in order to become part of corporate business
environment. The European Commission even does,
since 2006, the following recommendation: “For CSR to
become a mainstream business practice, the right
knowledge and skills need to be developed
develop among
future entrepreneurs, business leaders, company
managers and employees. CSR is also a lifelong
learning issue. The Commission invites business
schools, universities and other education institutions to
incorporate CSR into education, as a cross--cutting issue,
in particular into the curricula of future managers and
graduate students” (European Commission, 2006).
ASPECTS OF IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION OF THE QUALITY
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
IN PETROLEUM-GAS UNIVERSITY OF PLOIESTI
In this paper there is presented the experience of the Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti management staff and of the services with
responsibilities in the implementation, supervision and development of quality management system in accordance with standards and regulations.
The actions mentioned in this paper allow the location of the Petroleum – Gas University of Ploiesti in the regional economic and social life’s
plan in order to promote the collaboration relation with the economic agents interested in the improvement of the competences developed by the
university.
Keywords: Petroleum-Gas University of Ploieşti; higher education; quality; development
The mission of the Petroleum – Gas University of
INTRODUCTION Ploieşti (PGU) focuses on three dimensions:
The higher Romanian education is still to the beginning (1) The educational and training mission refers to the
of developing a new culture of the academic quality, professional training of graduates in the fields of oil
but these beginnings is under the pressure of four production and refining and gas industries in all
negative convergent forces: a. the ineptness of the educational cycles stipulated by law (Bachelor’s
approaches and previous practices is stronger than the Degree, Master’s Degree, Doctoral Studies), as well as
engagement on a new way, already dominant in the the training of specialists through Bachelor courses and
states partners in the European Union (EU); b. thin master courses in Economy, sciences and humanities,
receptivity of the higher education managers and the education and administrative sciences which are legally
didactic and research staff toward new approaches; c. accredited or authorized.
methodologies and other instruments with (2) The scientific research mission refers to the
practicability at the system level and in universities organization and development of core research,
need substantial improvements; d. the interests and the applicative and technological development, as well as
implication of the students and especially of the supplying services in designing, consultancy and
employers in the development of a new quality are still expertise activities in order to put into use the scientific
in a state of circumscription being still poor as research as a means of dissemination of knowledge and
intensity. Instituting a new culture of the academic training of the forthcoming generations of specialists
quality supposes not only the counterpoise of such through master and Doctoral programmes.
tendencies but also that approach which has to be (3) The civic/ public and cultural dimension, including
based on: a. the harmonization of the higher education the organization of the cultural artistic, sports life
institutes initiatives with the strategies of the economic within and outside the university campus so that the
and social agents; b. the development and the University gain, apart from its implied status of
improvements of the culture and quality management didactic centre for professional training and scientific
as parameters of an efficient institutional management research, the quality of an educational, civilization and
and these public responsibility; c. the existence of a culture community centre.
serried relation between the universities and the In order to accomplish its mission, the PGU makes use
economic, social and cultural environment in which it and develops the resources and necessary tools to
functions, thus the universities tend to become agents ensure the adequate development of the didactic and
of the communitarian and regional development by research processes, on the one hand and on the other
cognitive, technological and innovation transfers hand it focuses on the
[Petrescu (2009)]. The quality assurance supposes the public, civic and social dimension observing the high
existence of an institutional and procedural frame at the quality standards required by the EU Space for Higher
systemic level but the financing is on the account of the Education and Research, stipulated in the Romanian
universities. The resources necessary to the consequent Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education
and durable transformation of the higher education into (ARACIS) methodology.
one based on quality are considerable. Thus, for the Having these points in mind, the main strategic
moment the market can not sustain, by the taxes objectives (found in the University Strategic Plan for
increasing, the supply of a quality education; this is a 2007-2011) are the following:
public good because it is in the interest of the bachelor - increasing the effectiveness of the university
and also of the economic agents and of the formation management in order to use in an efficient manner the
suppliers, but any of these and even the universities can available material resources, to improve the
not act unilaterally. functioning of the institutional structures and to orient
towards the improving of transparency of the
STATEMENT OF MISSION decisional acts;
AND OBJECTIVES OF PETROLEUM-GAS - development of the scientific research so that the
UNIVERSITY OF PLOIEŞTI PGU become one of the top universities in Romania in
all the top-rankings made by CNCSIS;
280 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education –
QMHE2010
- development of collaboration relations with the Taking into account the actual social and economic
commercial companies from the oil and gas industry context, the management of the PGU recommends the
enabling the University to become their main partner in utilization, in the educational process, of the modern
the field of scientific research; didactic technologies and techniques with accent on the
- continuation of the implementation process of those each object applicative side, emphasizing the economic
institutions and mechanisms that may guarantee high components, of the quality control, of the personnel
quality educational services according to ARACIS and environment protection measures, of the
benchmarks and performance indicators, having also as management activities. In what it concerns the
the main aim the development of active training scientific research process, the managerial actions are
methods of students and their involvement in the oriented to the consolidation of the existent research
managerial policy of the University; structures, encouraging the scientific production of the
- increasing the effectiveness of the Quality didactic staff and the development of the
Management System (QMS) through the Commission multidisciplinary research staffs. An important role in
of Evaluation and Quality Certification from PGU assuring the success of such initiative has the
(CEQCU) and the Quality Management Department evaluation activity of the clients’ demands and of the
(QMD) which have as their objectives the adequate feed-back assurance instruments [Petrescu (2009)].
integration of standards, of the reference standards, and
performance indicators stipulated in the ARACIS LIMITS OF THE ACTIVITIES DEVELOPED IN
methodology in the University’s activity. PETROLEUM – GAS UNIVERSITY OF
PLOIESTI
EVALUATION OF THE EDUCATIONAL AND Even if, on the whole, the processes developed in the
RESEARCH PROCESSES university are carried on adequate conditions according
The activities by which there is realized the evaluation to the specifications from the documentation of the
of the educational and research processes may be Quality Management System, their monitoring offers
analyzed from two points of view: from the individual the possibility of identification of some technical and
point of view (of the teaching staff) – proves to be a organizational limits and their solving it may
continuous process based on self-evaluation and contribute to the system improvement.
continuous improvement of the work methods and Among the problems that the university has there are:
didactic material; from the global point of view a. the absence/insufficiency of the knowledge/skills in
(institutional) – is an intermittent process and it is the quality management field to persons involved in the
made every time it is necessary [Niculiţă (2005)]. quality assurance; b. the absence of experience in the
Accumulating the two aspects, the educational and identification of the problems/non-conformities and
research processes monitoring activities assure: their correction/solving putting in close-up the
- The updating of the educational curricula and it’s preventive actions. It is still accepted the more
adaptation with the labor market demands; comfortable practice of corrective actions; c.
- The identification of the place and role of each Mentalities/ behaviors/contra-productive attitudes
object in the educational plan; (instead of these proactive); d. Absence of a quality
- The quantitative and qualitative appreciation of culture, insufficient/inadequate education of the higher
transmitting knowledge modalities; education personnel; e. Perception according to which
- The identification of the economic partners the quality assurance and improvement are the duties
demands about the technologies development and the exclusively of the execution personnel (formal
solving of the economic applications. implication of the managers); f. Formal evaluation of
The accurate development of the evaluation activity client’s satisfaction (student, employer, society); g.
and the objective monitoring of the results guarantee Inefficiency communication with interest partners
the continuous improvements of the educational and (especially in hierarchic pyramid and between the
research processes in correlation with the knowledge compartments of the same entity); h. Passing – by of
level and labor market demands [Petrescu, Bucuroiu the reticence and resistance to change and the
(2008)]. decreasing techniques and methods; i.
The promotion of the didactic staff self-evaluation Insufficiency/inadequate of the material resources
contributes to the increasing of the responsibilities, to allocated to quality assurance in education. These
the improvement of the teaching and exam methods, to aspects are favored also by the evaluation system
the equilibration of the knowledge volume, knowledge applied to the education and especially to the higher
transmitted guaranteeing the development at the education. It must be recognized the fact that, at this
student of the competences declared by the objects’ moment, the qualitative level of an education
cards, the scientific activity orientation to practical institution is appreciated on the basis of an indicators’
aspects of the economic agents, the research set, mostly quantitative ones. In these conditions it has
integration in the social and economic context of the to be more attentive in reaching the indicators’ values
region in which is the university [Niculiţă (2005, demands by the standards, than in developing the
Petrescu (2009)]. competences validated by the labor market.
Practical placement system as a sustainability factor in higher education 281
the communitarian, national and international The developing and implementing process of an
development in the economic, social and cultural plan. analyze and diagnostic efficient system of the
economic partners
RESULTS
The mentioned actions allow the location of the PGU Figure 1. Interaction between university and economic
in the regional economic and social life’s plan in order environment
to promote the collaboration relation with the applications in order to adapt the curricula, to plan the
economic agents interested in the improvement of the research and to improve of the managerial system at all
competences developed by the university [fig. 1]. levels is assured by the development of the active
MANAGERIAL ACTIONS
The implementation of an university – economic environment
interaction analyze and diagnostic system
competences
IMPROVEMENT
Managerial
UNIVERSITY
Scientific competences
Educational competences
This paper reveals the importance of the students’ placement in developing the cooperation between universities and industry. The
main objectives are the following: to reveal the need of new and effective placement system, to explain the features of the efficient
placement system and to reflect the impact of the placement quality on all the actors involved in educational process.
• Every academic year, the Faculty Council The behavior of the companies is different, being
confirms the responsible person for practical unsatisfied or satisfied.
stage which is a professor in charge with the • Is a learning process → students have the
student distribution to companies. possibility to learn by doing things in a real
• When sending the students to companies, the environment, to complete their knowledge and to
responsible professor takes into account such gain new skills;
criteria as their preferences and decreasing • Is an informational process → students must be
results of the studies one year before. informed before starting the placement regarding
• A contract usually named Practical Convention is the meaning of the placement, the role and
signed by the Faculty and the Company which advantages and most of all, about the
regulate in a very formal way the placement possibilities to get an effective placement;
process – especially regarding the number of • Is a responsibility generator for young
students and the duration of the placement. generation, because students are expected to
• Many times, the Faculty asks the companies to behave like real employees, following the rules
accept some students for the next semester and and procedures of the working place;
they face one of the following answers: • Is a stimulating process for entrepreneurship →
− Yes, the company agrees with a certain students learn more about the labor market and
number of students; the business environment and get impulse for
− Maybe, and the companies ask some starting a business and becoming entrepreneurial;
questions or require some conditions; • Is a continuing process → students should be
− No, not for the moment, the companies accepted for placement year by year, by active
mentioning something about their other companies, while the relationship between
priorities; university and company become a long therm
− No, the companies have already contracts one.
with other universities and faculties; An effective placement system reveals the following
− No, since the companies declare they are types and competences:
too small or not preoccupied of this kind • Internship/Placement:
of cooperation. − Moving the student across various departments
• The student evaluation for the practical stage in order to achieve specific skills and gain
many times, is made only on the basis of a proof relevant professional experience;
from the company mentioning that the students − Adequate implementation of science-specific
had worked in the company during a period or concepts (using them in identifying subjective
some number of hours. phenomena in the professional environment);
• More effective placement evaluations regard − Explaining and interpreting ideas, projects,
some of the following situations: processes and manifestations of the professional
− Students make a report which is evaluated life);
by the professor responsible in the − Assessing examination of professional ideas,
faculty; projects and processes;
− Students create a portfolio which is − Developing, managing and assessing
evaluated by both professor and tutor professional activities;
from the company; − Innovating and improving professional
− Students present their practical results and processes; implementing and using new
experience to a Commission with informational and communication technologies;
members from the University and • Voluntariate:
Company. − Building a realistic image of the future career;
• Sometimes, when the number of the placement − Developing specific skills and gaining relevant
for the academic year is less than the number of professional experience;
students, the faculty accept the individual − Showing a positive and responsible attitude
involvement of the students to find their towards the respective profession;
placements by themselves, which almost all the − Building connections between what is gained
time is going to be less effective. throughout the academic study of the respective
discipline and other fields of human knowledge
and practice;
II Effective placement system • Visits in organizations:
− Building a realistic image of the future career;
The need for an effective placement system for the − Developing specific skills and gaining relevant
Romanian Universities is a current priority since the professional experience;
formal aspect of it does not mean skills and − Understanding the professional environment
competences for the students. focused on democratic values and relations;
Practical placement system as a sustainability factor in higher education 285
The purpose of the paper is to reveal the features of the organizational and managerial culture in universities. The main objectives
are: to clarify the correlations between the organizations and universities and to specify ways of culture development in higher
education institutions. This comparative analyze is made in order to find possible improvement directions for the university activities.
Direction The leadership behavior contribute and determine the performance and
providing substantially to define the task of the institution functionality of the university.
or structure, as well as to help the team to In the business environment, an organizational
achieve the task and maintain effective culture for an enterprise is influenced by factors, such as
relationships.
Other A real leader is not afraid of being replaced in
the following:
people this or her position and the information known • employers;
developing in disseminated with pleasure to other people • managers;
who are not considered competitors on the • owners;
labor market. • history;
• size of the company;
The examples may continue. What is relevant for • technology used;
the relation management – leadership is that in normal • informational capacity;
organizations, a leader is a visible and effective
• economic situation of the enterprise;
presence that is followed in a certain period, while in
• phase of the life/cycle of the company;
higher education institution a leader-professor is more
than that (as seen in figure no. 1). • objectives;
• management system, legislation.
In the academic environment, an organizational
Leadership in culture in university is influenced by such factors as the
universities
following:
He/she is a
mentor for the
• professors;
He/she
student’s contributes to • students;
Leader-professor
the career
development for
• potential employers for the graduates;
He/she remains a
the graduates • history;
even if only
nice-memory for through the self • research dimension;
the whole example
student’s life He/she neglects the real • prevailed domains of studies;
age and behaves
accordingly with his/her
• free of tuition – tuition paid students relation;
spirit which remains • mission, vision and objectives;
always young
• quality management system;
• economic environment;
• European and national legislation.
In universities, the concrete manifestations of the
Figure 1: A leader professor role organizational culture consist of specific elements:
symbols, behaviors, rituals and ceremonies, status and
II Organizational and Managerial Culture in roles, stories and myths.
Universities 1) Symbols
a) These are elements that offer universities
common understandings to some
In every country, several types of cultures may be organizational aspects such an object, an event
distinguished: national, economical, sectorial and or message;
organizational. b) Such a symbol may be considered the name of
The national culture is based on a huge diversity of the university if it shows an essence aspect of
historical data regarding the evolution of the society, the its activity;
economical one refers to economic variables that c) When the name itself of a university is a
express the economic development and the sectorial symbol, it may refer either to the aspect of
culture is based on specific processes and activities in relevant research, or to the qualitative
the field of current operations. More profound, the processes;
organizational culture expresses the functionality and d) Sometimes, the symbolic value is referred to
performances of the University reflecting the whole details from the way of the furniture
context: national, economical and sectorial. arrangement to the paintings on the wall;
The organizational culture of the university is e) Cultural symbols are meant to express certain
considered: conceptions and to promote certain values an
• a set of beliefs of the academic personnel behaviors in the university which contribute to
regarding the way people should behave during the academic personnel’s thinking and to the
the educational and administrative activities in actions of the employers.
university; 2) Behaviors
• a bundle of values and major senses defined by a) In practice, there are recognized formal rules
the interested parts in university; which follow official requirements from an
• a huge variety of values, beliefs, hopes, organizational point of view such as: university
expectations and behaviors that are prevailed carta, evaluation procedure, quality manual,
Organizational and Managerial Culture in Higher Education Institutions 289
position descriptions etc. Here are included c) Are said several times, a past story being told
many behavioral features which include with additional new real or fictive details;
relations between professors and students, d) Typically, the history proves uncertainty or
students and dean and vice-deans, professors temptation in different activities or
and colleagues etc. departments;
b) In universities, like in all business company, e) Myths refer to prestigious leaders or managers
there are informal behaviors which are not part such as deans or rectors that worked in the
of any official description, but influence university.
significantly the organizational behavior. Such Managerial culture in university refers to a system of
informal behaviors may include some social values, beliefs, expectations and behaviors for the
events and the way they are organized on managers in the higher education institution which is
different promotions, dates birth, Christmas reflected in the management style used in the university.
time etc.
3) Rituals and Ceremonies III Conclusions. Premises for Organizational
a) These rituals contribute to programming some Culture Change
events in order to achieve important objectives
for university;
At present, universities face many difficulties from
b) Rituals may regard situations of passing,
financial restrictions to curriculum design process.
degradation, performance, renewal, conflict
Therefore, a need of adapting the organizational culture
management and integration (see table no 2) must be observed.
Table 2: Rituals in universities The premises for changes in the organizational
Rituals Description culture in universities take into consideration the
Passing Regards the changing of positions and roles following aspects:
and status of some persons; for example,
• Diversity of organizing processes and activities
promotion from associate professor to full
professor or from a professor position to a dean in higher education institutions;
position • Need of strategic orientation when defining the
Degradation Regards the situation of loosing the changes;
organizational position and power in the • Correlation between organizational culture and
context of a negative output phase of the life-cycle of different study
Performance Reflects the employer’s performance which as programs;
a consequence get rewards like a financial
• Understanding the organizational learning as the
bonus or an appreciation during a festivity
Renewal Consists of new contents to some relations and
base of organizational change;
processes in university; for instance a new • Need of considering the ethical dimension in the
curriculum development, a new extra change of the organizational culture;
curriculum activity, a new diploma festivity • Management tendency to belong to leaders able
Conflict Reveals a set of procedures when interested to understand and protect the organizational
management parties are involved with divergent interests; culture of the university.
for instance, the dialog between professors
who teach connected disciplines
Integration Develops collective feeling and living, all
participants being favorable impressed and References
understanding the fact that they belong to a
group in the university. 1. Kitchin Duncan(2010), “Organizational Behavior for
Managers and Engineers”, Elsevier Publishing House.
4) Status and roles 2. Popescu, Constantin, Taşnadi, Alexandru (2007),
Respiritualizarea educaţiei din perspectiva sănătăţii
a) Refers to the position and prestige a professor întregului viu comun, Conferinţa internaţională, UB-
has in university as it is understood by his/her UNT, Bucharest.
colleagues; 3. Trevor, L. Young (2007), Managementul proiectelor de
b) The status shows that a person is considered succes, Editura Rentrop& Straton, Bucharest
4. Tudorica, Roxana (2007), “Managementul educatiei in
better or more performant or influent than context European”, Editura Meronia.
another. 5. Verboncu, Ion, Nicolescu, Ovidiu (1999),
c) Usually, a status has a triple determination: “Management”, Editura Ecomica
functional, hierarchical and personal; 6. Armstrong, Michael, Stephens, Tina (2005),
“Management and leadership, A guide to managing for
d) A professor’s impact in the university is results”, Kogan Page, London
higher, the higher his/her status is. 7. *** (2008), “Improving Competences for the 21st
5) Stories and myths Century”, European Communities.
a) Comment a chronological set of events in 8. *** (2005), “Strategy. Create and Implement the Best
Strategy for Your Business”, Harvard Business School
University which has a symbolic sense; Press.
b) Reveal some common expectations of people; 9. Kotler, Philip (1998), Managementul marketingului,
Editura Teora, Bucharest.
10. Mihalcea, R., Androniceanu, A. (2000), „Management”,
290 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
As part of the development effort, higher education is being disseminated in all regions of Brazil, more notably along the last few
decades. In all state capitals and in all the largest cities higher education establishments and universities, managed by either the
Federal Government, by State Agencies, by religious institutions, or by the private sector, have been opened. Due to a large series of
historical, regional, economical, and cultural factors, the quality of such university degrees is not uniform and has been the object of
generalized criticism. In order to initially evaluate and later to enforce quality, the federal government has since long introduced
periodical evaluation of all institutions, culminating in 1996 with the introduction of a mandatory National Exam for all of the
graduating students. These have reacted strongly and have organized a boycott fearing some sort of downgrade of their diplomas. The
federal authorities have modified somehow the rules and objectives stating that no student had the risk of invalidating his degree, but
rather the Exam would signal the institutions that should improve their standards or face the risk of being closed. In order to
overcome resistances, the government created an elaborate and comprehensive evaluation system, which included an exam of
performance improvement, called ENADE. This exam has some original conception and it is applied to an oriented sample of
students, extracted from the first year and the last one. Although only part of the process, the exam receives most publicity. This paper
overviews the historical developments of the education processes in the country, and discusses the present periodical evaluation
instruments, all subject to criticism and continuous improvement.
A BRIEF HISTORICAL EDUCATION ORIGIN numbers of other Europeans and a steady and vigorous
number of Portuguese, who always enjoyed
The country is racially composed by local Indians, distinguished treatment and family relationships.
slaves brought from Africa, and voluntary immigrants Regarding education, these immigrants have constructed
from Europe, Middle East and Asia. By a number of schools in their settlements providing education that
reasons, since the start of the colonization there was an would otherwise be non-existent.
intensive racial miscegenation, giving rise to a Also very significant was the subsequent arrival of
dominating mixed population and justifying the Arabs, specially from Lebanon, Turkey and Syria.
currently asserted lack of racial conflicts. Thanks to their familiarity with commercial activities
From an education perspective, at the very most of them soon started to accumulate power
beginning a part of the Indian population received and prosperity. These people were settled all around the
education from the Jesuits who learned their country and were rapidly mixed and assimilated by the
predominating language and elaborated its written local population. Finally, around 1920, another flow of
expression. Roughly, one million Indians were foreigners came from Asia. About a few hundred
estimated to be living at the moment of discovery, a thousand Japanese arrived and their descendents
number comparable to the Portuguese population at the numbered more than two millions by the end of the
same time, but they were culturally living far behind century. Again, their tendency as a race was for full
their counter parts in Mexico, Peru and other Central integration with the local population. A distinguishing
American populations. Divided in small tribes and feature among the Japanese was their competence to
sparse groups, the Indians used to walk naked and were deal with the agricultural techniques, specially fruits and
living in a surprising purity suggesting, as some would vegetables. Newer generations tend to work hard to
call it, a kind of pre Adam paradise. Since most of them arrive at universities and to reach higher social levels.
were inquisitive and receptive towards the newcomers Mostly rural the Japanese have also developed their own
the integration turned out to be easy. However, these education system.
male newcomers lack families and wifes, and were Considering this brief colonization history, it is
mostly rough, adventurers and uneducated, with reasonable to conclude that education was no priority
differing cultural and moral conceptions. The result was and only the more educated, more affluent and wealthier
anarchical marriages and the fast reproduction of the would have access to it. Many factors, especially the
mixed population. Later on, with the beginning of the industrialization and urbanization of the country noticed
economical development, Indians, although unused to in the post war, imposed a new trend to the popular
disciplined work, started to be recruited as slaves, or education and today it is both a requirement for local
devastated by diseases brought by the white European governments to offer the fundamental school to every
made more likely due to their concentrations in villages young person, as well as a crime for a citizen not to
or Jesuit missions. In any case, the critical position of enroll his child in one. Thanks to such evolution, near
the Jesuits in favor of the Indians’ freedom and their 100% of the population attend the basic school.
acceptance as human beings has irritated the white However, many public administrators limit their action
settlers and ultimately the Portuguese Crown that to public school constructions and to statistics
decided to expel them from the country. With their satisfaction, and largely disregard the operation of the
absence all education efforts were abandoned. system, notably its quality.
No regular education has been provided to the black
slaves who started to arrive in the XVII century, whose A BRIEF HIGH EDUCATION HISTORY
flow, however, persisted for more than 200 years up to
the mid XIX century. Five million blacks are roughly The history of the higher education in Brazil starts
estimated to have been received in the country. These with the Jesuits who have organized higher level
slaves have been spread around the country according to courses on arts, that is, philosophy and sciences.
regional working demands. They were extremely Students willing to get further education would go to
important for the formation of the Brazilian people, Coimbra to specialize on Law studies or to Montpelier
starting from the diffusion of the language. Many assert to study Medicin. In addition, the Jesuits entertained
that Brazil today would speak tupi/guarani as happened research activities, such as the astronomy observatory in
to Paraguay, were it not for the blacks who were only Rio de Janeiro. These organizations remained until the
able to speak the language of their masters. eradication of the order in 1759. By 1792, the Royal
Along the last two centuries, the European Academy of Artillery, Fortification, and Drawing was
immigration has certainly outnumbered Indians, slaves created to prepare civil engineers. The important
or colonizers. The strong waves of immigration have evolution occurred after the arrival of D. João VI, in
started immediately after the ban on the slavery traffic 1808. Among his celebrated initiatives that remain
and lasted for more than a century. Briefly, the German active up to these days, the first building to host an
immigration, officially sponsored by the Brazilian engineering school was built in 1812. Much later, 1920,
emperor, started in the early XIX century. By the end of appears the first university in the country, then called
the same century, large numbers of Italians came to the University of Brazil. Along the same lines, the by-
work in coffee plantations, together with a smaller law governing the Brazilian universities was created in
Enforcing Quality in Higher Education in Brazil 293
1931; the Ministry of Education and Health appeared in before, this exam met strong opposition from the
1937; the first Guide for Education in Brazil is dated of students. The general criticism has imposed changes to
1961; the basic curricula for engineering programs was the objectives of the exam and has imposed the
defined in 1976 (Almeida and Borges, 2007). development of more comprehensive evaluation
The first doctoral program appeared in 1931, but its instruments. These are discussed in the next section.
use was very limited. Although several institutions used Incidentally, politically oriented corrective measures
to produce research there was no regular admission’s have been intensively put in place, all subject to strong
program for preparing researchers’ candidates. The controversies and disputes, such as racial quotas for
same might be said about the master’s programs. The indians and blacks, privileged funding for certain areas
first regular master appeared within the Air Force in of the country and so on.
1961. But, by the end of the 60’s the National
Development Bank, a state agency, has included among THE GENERAL INDEX FOR PROGRAMS
his financing activities a number of technological
master’s programs in two selected universities. Along The General Index for Programs (IGC) is a recent
the following decades, the Federal Government decided indicator adopted by the Brazilian federal agencies that
for the generalized creation of master’s programs in all
evaluate the higher education institutions. This index
federal universities.
seeks to express in a single number the quality of all
The evaluation of the post graduate programs started
undergraduate programs. The IGC as presented below
in 1976, for which a specific agency (CAPES) under the
depends strongly on the Courses Preliminary Concept
Ministry of Education was in charge. Since then, this (CPC) and marginally on the post graduate programs,
agency is responsible for funding but also for evaluating masters and doctors, when they exist, whose grades are
the operations of all post graduate programs. Every post
established by CAPES in a range 1 through 7: one if it is
graduate program in the country is evaluated and
very poor and ought to be closed down; seven if it is
receives a grade which allows comparisons with similar
comparable to similar top international institutions.
institutions in developed countries. Some of these The CPC is based on evaluations related to several
procedures have been presented in the 4th QMHE, aspects of the institution such as infrastructure, teaching
(Pizzolato et al., 2006). In the year 2007, there were
resources and faculty qualification, and it is made public
2211 masters programs and 1246 doctoral programs in
annually. As a consequence, it is a controversial tool
the country, all being periodically graded, i.e, every
since it becomes an important element to influence the
three years. Although the agency has its own staff, most
public opinion and to favor the publicity of some
of the work is done by invited but distinguished institutions against others.
professors, in a pair evaluation process. In order to reach the CPC, for each program, the
Also to register is the National Council for
following six elements are considered with their
Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq),
corresponding weights:
created in 1951, under the Science and Technology
Ministry, responsible for supporting individuals, both I. ENADE (40%);
academic and researchers. Although there is some II. IDD (30%);
overlap, CAPES deals with programs, while CNPq III. Infrastructure (3%);
deals with individuals. IV. Teaching resources (8%);
V. Percentage of doctors (12%);
VI. Percentage of full time professors (7%).
THE GRADUATE PROGRAMS EVALUATION The ENADE means simply the result of the exam as
applied to a selected sample of students, and the IDD, or
Certainly, the recognized efforts and long Index of Difference in Development, is quite interesting.
accumulated experience developed by CAPES for the It is an evaluation of the improvement a student
post graduate programs has moved into the accomplishes during the program. Its implementation is
undergraduate programs. made in the following way: the exam evaluates an
From the above presentation it is certainly correct to average starting student and his performance is
conclude that the country development is unequal, not compared with the one of an average student which is
only demographically, but also economically and completing the course. Supposedly, the more advanced
culturally. In particular, the basic education is excellent student has a better performance than the starting one.
for some that can afford enrollment in expensive private Such difference is exactly the IDD or the improvement
schools, but is critical for most of the others that get the average student has experienced thanks to the
enrolled in substandard schools. All such inequalities effectiveness of the institution. The ENADE is applied
compose a big challenge for the country whose every year, but after three years, the results of the
immediate consequence lies on the quality of the graduating students might be compared with their
students that are admitted to the university programs results three years before, when he was a beginner, and
and the subsequent quality of the graduated. provide some statistics adjustments.
In order to measure the quality of the bachelors, the Other than the exam, the quantitative elements cited
first national exam was organized in 1996 but as noted above are obtained, some by visiting the institution
294 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
others by inspection, and others by checking their Research; Proceedings of the 4th International Seminar on
the Quality in Higher Education; Sinaia, Romênia; 9-10
annual reports. CPCs are then obtained for each
June, 2006, pp. 115-120.
undergraduate program and a weighted average for all 3. Bittencourt, H. R., A. O. Casarteli, and A. C. de M.
programs offered by the institution, denoted by G, is Rodrigues ; Sobre o índice geral de cursos (IGC) ;
calculated. If the institution has postgraduate programs, Avaliação: Revista da Avaliação da Educação Superior
(Campinas; Vol. 14, No. 3, Nov 2009, pp. 1-12.
with grades M for masters’ and D for doctors’, in the
4. Pizzolato, Nelio D., José Alberto R. Parisi and Marlene J.
range 1 through 7, according to CAPES evaluation, all S. Bezerra; A Few Remarks on the Individual and
elements are available for calculating the IGC. The Institutional Aspects of the Evaluation of Post-Graduate
numbers collected are weighted in order to obtain the Programs; Nelio D. Proceedings of the 4th International
Seminar on the Quality in Higher Education; Sinaia,
IGC, according to the expression below.
Romênia; 9-10 June, 2006, pp. 235-240
CONCLUSIONS
References:
Anca Alexandra PURCAREA1, Elena FLEACA2, Dan DUMITRIU3, Adrian Valentin MOISE4, Octav Ion NEGOITA5
1
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Management Department, Industrial Management Chair, apurcarea@gmail.com
2
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Management Department, Industrial Management Chair, elenafleaca@yahoo.com
3
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Management Department, Industrial Management Chair, dumitriud@gmail.com
4
Romanian Broadcasting Company, aesiom@yahoo.com
5
One Advertising Business, octav.negoita@oneadvertising.ro
This paper aims to achieve a comparative study between the doctoral system based on the new European regulations and the doctoral
system that was used before. In a market increasingly competitive, globalized, people are subject to new challenges which they must
deal with through appropriate training. By joining the European Union, Romania has had to adapt its educational programs under
the new rules. The authors conducted a survey of documents produced by decision factors in the education system after meetings in
Bologna, Berlin and Lisbon, which established a new system of training in "Higher Education" on three cycles. A comparative study
has been made using utilities theory between the doctoral system based on the new European regulations and the previous system.
Specific aspects of the new doctoral system have been identified, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages. Highlighting the
positive aspects of the new system may result in attracting new candidates and increasing interest in this form of training. This paper
contributes to a better understanding by those concerned of the fact that doctoral programs contributes to their professional
development and increase their ability to face new challenges in the labor market. Keywords: higher education, doctoral studies,
comparative study, professional development.
Doctoral programs meet the third cycle of university additional pay, promotion opportunities,
studies in the Bologna process [3] and at the same time, increase of the professional skills, occupying a
represent the first phase in constructing the careers of highly skilled post etc. These benefits are
young researchers. obtained faster in the second doctoral system, as
In concordance to the latest legislative initiatives the PhD is obtained sooner
Romanian higher education reform plan should cover - C4 quantifies the level of stress induced by the
both legislative and especially the strategic and tests that the PhD student has to promote:
operational level so that the university can truly become exams, writing and presentation of scientific
a key element of economic, social and cultural progress. research reports, disseminating research results
To fulfill the role outlined in the Lisbon Strategy [4, 5] etc. This level is higher or lower depending on
and the face the challenge of interacting on a rapidly the requirements imposed
globalizing market, with limited resources, the - C5 shows the recognition of the professional
university must take into account also the competition prestige
as the fundamental rule of its management. - C6 states what are the PhD students’ obligations
Orientation capacity and managerial skills determine in order to obtain a doctoral degree:
the real progress, beneficial for the university as a whole - D1 system does not specify the amount
but also for the whole higher education system. The of information to be disseminated, nor
management team of each university is being directly a certain quality
responsible for the institution stand out in a society that - D2 system is explicitly requiring the
has opted for a market economy, international opening dissemination of scientific articles in
and for global competition. internationally recognized conferences
In the development of a new society in which (indexed in international databases) of
education is recognized as a key factor in competitive which at least two must be indexed in
success of the nation, the traditional model of the the ISI (Thomson) database, public
university must know deep changes. presentation of the reports and of the
According to the Lisbon Strategy, one of the thesis; for graduates of higher
priorities of the EU countries is developing a knowledge education under the Bologna Process
economy based on resources of highly skilled and (Bologna Accords), completion of a
specialized labor force [6]. In this context, Romania has master program is required
to pass from thinking and planning at a local level, to a Given all these differences between the two doctoral
European and global one. It must, therefore, reform the systems, the authors have tried to identify the opinion of
doctoral system according to European doctoral schools competent persons regarding which is the most
and organize a new form that might be more flexible appropriate program that meets the new labor market
and able to respond to contemporary needs. requirements.
The comparative study was based on utility theory
PURPOSE OF THE PAPER applied under deterministic conditions (certainty),
taking into account the criteria set presented above.
The purpose of the paper is to create a comparative The formula used, to show which is the preferred
study of the old and new doctoral system, based on system, is:
European regulations. n
D preferred = max ∑ u ij ⋅K j
For this, there has been made a research of the j =1
(i )
methodology used in the two systems, the authors
identifying a set of criteria for use in the comparison where:
process.
- Di – represents all the doctoral systems being
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY analyzed, i = 1,…, m (i = 1,2)
- Cj – all the criteria, j=1,…, n (j = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
The two types of doctoral systems, the previous (D1) - uij – the utility given to an “i” type of program,
and current system (D2), were analyzed considering the take in consideration the “j” criterion
following criteria: - Kj – priority coefficient
- C1 is the period of the training program, where
the program D1 had 4-6 years and D2 is of only For overcoming subjectivism, there has been made a
3 years research based on a questionnaire that has been
- C2 shows the quantity of knowledge gained deployed to a number of PhDs and PhD Students, in
during the program, considered by the authors order to give notes for the two doctoral systems on each
to be directly proportional to the duration of criterion (nijr), which expressed the utility given by the
studies respondent “r” to the type of program “i”, according to
- C3 refers to a set of benefits which the holder of the criterion “j”.
the PhD scientific title can obtain, such as: The formula used to calculate is:
Survey Regarding The Doctoral Studies System Based on New European Regulations and Comparison with The Previous
System 297
All the persons who completed the questionnaire C1 0,53 0,43 0,16
were asked to establish the priority of the criteria in
such way that the coefficients sum should be equal to 1. C2 0,95 0,80 0,24
In other words, kjr represents the weighted score given
by the respondent “r” to the criterion “j”, with the
following condition: C3 0,43 0,59 0,12
∑ k jr =1
j =1 C5 0,62 0,65 0,15
The utility theory will be used in the consequences C6 0,46 0,63 0,16
matrix, and the weighted score for each criterion from
each variant was calculated. n
Kj is being calculated using the following formula: ∑N
j =1
ij ⋅Kj 0,5850 0,6229 -
∑r =1
k jr In Table 3, there have been taken into account the
K j = responses of both groups.
p
Table 3 – Both groups’ responses
There have been interviewed 160 persons, from Program type “i”
which 80 are PhDs, and 80 are PhD Students. The Nj1 (D1) Nj2 (D2) Kj
Criterion “j”
results after questionnaire completion are presented in
Table 1 and Table 2. C1 0,49 0,40 0,13
∑N
j =1
ij ⋅Kj 0,5641 0,5885 -
CONCLUSIONS
References
Abstract. Most faculties around the world are planning to develop the integral quality culture system which will be a prerequisite for
institutional evaluation and accreditation. The diversity of European higher education emphasizes the harmonization and convergence of
quality assurance processes, based on common principles. The paper’s main objective is to analyze students’ perception regarding the
effectiveness of the Bachelor’s program and Master’s program within the Faculty of Commerce and to provide initiatives for improvement
of the quality assurance system at the Faculty of Commerce, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies. The paper is based on the research
and data collected and interpreted using documents obtained from the Faculty dean, academic affairs division head and assistant head,
student activities division head, and 10 instructors. The findings of the research constitute a reference for internal quality assurance by
constructing a system and mechanisms to assess the conformity of the educational institution to be in with established quality standards.
The process is to contribute to a common frame of reference for the provision of higher education and the assurance of quality. As a result
of the research, the internal quality assurance system for the Faculty of Commerce is analyzed and improved. The implementation will be
carried out across certain dimensions such as organizing a committee for Education quality assurance for the Faculty of Commerce, to
enhance confidence to education service receivers, both direct service receivers: students and parents and indirect service receivers such as
the people and the society. By introducing a research methodology that comprises the construction of a research conceptual framework and
an internal education quality assurance system, a research based on an interview with the personnel from the Faculty of Commerce was
also carried out, which represents the degree of novelty associated with this type of research methodology.
Key words: Bachelor’s program, Master’s Program, quality assurance, research methodology, student perception
three areas are complementary and their use is • Quality management department
mandatory. Criteria, standards and performance coordinating and ensuring the logistic
indicators are applied in quality assurance and support for ensuring the quality
accreditation. The vision of ARACIS (Romanian management system’s conformity
Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) with the standards and the conformity
regarding the quality culture refers to values, norms and of the quality assurance system with
activities conducted within an institution, for initiating, the European and national normative
approving, evaluating and monitoring the quality of documents applicable and elaborates
teaching and research. Structures, policies and strategies the „Annual program of initiatives for
create the institutional framework for effective improving the quality of educational
development and monitoring of quality, for promoting a and research processes” within ASE;
culture of quality and continuous improvement of • Own professional body of internal
quality standards. auditors – 45 members of the teaching
staff and researchers – to carry out the
internal audits.
2. QUALITY ASSURANCE WITHIN THE
BUCHAREST ACADEMY OF
ECONOMIC STUDIES 3. STUDENTS PERCEPTION OF THE
QUALITY OF THE BACHELOR’S
PROGRAM AND MASTER’S PROGRAM
After the Bologna Declaration (1999),
PROVIDED BY THE FACULTY OF
Romanian higher education can be seen as a
COMMERCE
process of implementation of practices and
procedures defined at European level (quality In higher education institutions the challenge in
law, the set up of ARACIS (Romanian Agency terms of implementing a quality culture is two-fold:
for Quality Assurance in Romanian • To systematize standards and operations across
Education), ARACIS external evaluation, an institution while taking account of
introduction of ECTS, etc. European Credit differences among disciplines or between the
Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is administrative and academic units.
a standard for comparing the study attainment
• To develop a set of criteria and measures that
and performance of students of higher
captures successes and failures in a
education across the European Union and other
constructive and transparent manner
collaborating European countries. Quality
Five conditions that ensure that internally driven
assurance (services of education and scientific
evaluation procedures support and enhance quality
research), is part of quality management which
culture include:
refers to all activities aimed at developing the
• Integrating the evaluation process into a
Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies
broader process of quality management and
capacity to develop, plan and research
development.
programs studies to give customers and other
stakeholders confidence that such services will • Introducing transparent rules and procedures
be at the level of quality standards and their which are discussed and then clearly
expectations. documented and communicated to the
The structure of the quality assurance system institutional community
of ASE at the level of the University is the • Involving academic and administrative staff,
following: students and external stakeholders in internal
• The Quality Council, that has an procedures.
advisory role in establishing decisions • Implementing follow-up procedures linked to
regarding ASEs quality policies and the outcomes of the evaluation.
objectives, comprising 19 members;
• Quality assurance and evaluation 3.1 Methodology employed
commission, in charge with the Teaching evaluations are widely regarded as an
application of quality assurance and important tool to ensure the feedback of students on the
evaluation procedures and activities, teaching process. In order to assess the effectiveness of
elaboration of the annual self- a Bachelor’s program delivered by our faculty, a
assessment process of the quality of thorough assessment was carried out. To conduct our
education and formulating proposals evaluation, we used a questionnaire administered to
for improvement of all the activities students in order to investigate their perception with
carried out in ASE; it comprises 5 respect to the effectiveness of the Master’s Program
members “Quality management, merchandise expertise and
consumer protection”. The findings led to designing a
SWOT analysis in order to identify the strengths and
The analysis of the quality assurance system at the Faculty of Commerce within Bucharest Academy of
Economic Studies, in the view of the quality culture 301
• Overall, the course content should be updated make decisions for improvement. The changes
and strongly connected with acquiring the implemented should be evaluated in relation to
competences required on the labor market their impact on improving outcomes. Also,
• The knowledge supplied should be relevant reports should be provided on the assessments
and applicable in real work settings conducted, with an emphasis on methods
employed as well as changes implemented
Conclusions and recommendations along with results on the effectiveness of the
The goals of the Lisbon Strategy and their implications changes and impact on the overall progress.
for higher education are closely linked with the The reports should also be made available to
objectives of the Bologna Process, and the drive to all stakeholders, via the faculty’s website.
create a European Higher Education Area by 2010. At
the same time, high quality development of education References
policies can only happen when the ones concerned – the
students – are intensively involved in all steps of the 1. European University Association (2006), Quality Culture
process. in European Universities: A Bottom-Up Approach, Report
At the level of the Faculty of Commerce, within the on the Three Rounds of the Quality Culture Project 2002 –
2006, EUA Publications, Brussels
Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, the quality 2. Introduction of Outcome Assessment of Graduate
assurance system should continually seek to improve Programs at NC State, [Online],
itself through designing new ways to evaluate the http://www.ncsu.edu/grad/faculty-and-
effectiveness of the graduate programs delivered. In the staff/docs/pe/introduction_to_outcomes_assessment_at_nc
_state.pdf
case of the Master’s program “Quality management, 3. Quality secures the future of the university, [Online],
merchandise expertise and consumer protection”, http://www.helsinki.fi/evaluation/
students revealed many aspects that need further 4. Raport de autoevaluare a calitatii academice din
improvement that the quality assurance system should Academia de Studii Economice din Bucuresti, an
universitar 2007-2008, [Online],
consider while designing and implementing http://www.ase.ro/site/Managementul%20calitatii/Raport
improvement initiatives for graduate programs. We %20de%20autoevaluare%20a%20calitatii%202007-
recommend that, in order to address the weaknesses 2008/index.htm
identified by students corresponding to the components 5. The Students’ Opinion on the Lisbon Strategy of the
European Union, [Online],
of the Master’s program, a Committee is to be organized http://www.esib.org/index.php/documents/policy-
at the level of the Faculty of Commerce, under the papers/293-pp-lisbon
supervision of the faculty dean, in order to conduct an 6. Unesco Forum on Higher Education in the Europe Region:
outcome assessment that can be applied to all the Access, Values, Quality and Competitiveness (2009),
[Online], http://www.cepes.ro/Forum/pdf/outline.pdf
graduate programs offered. The main objective is to 7. Vlasceanu,L.,Hancean,M.,Voicu,B. (2009, Starea calitatii
determine how effective the graduate programs enable in invatamantul superior, Barometrul calitatii – 2009,
students to achieve the knowledge, skills and other QualMedia, Buchares).
attributes the faculty expects their graduates to attain. 8. Ward,J. (2008), Measuring student satisfaction with
vocational education and training services…and getting it
The assessment should cover three important areas: right!, National Center for Vocational Educational
Research, Australia
• The faculty should decide upon the objectives 9. http://www.europeunit.ac.uk/eu_policy_education/lisbon_s
(related to students’ professional development, trategy.cfm
the ability to perform research in their fields) 10. Documents provided by the Quality Department within
and outcomes (the program’s expectations for A.S.E.
students’ professional development and ability
to perform research in their field) for each
program.
Anca Alexandra PURCAREA1, Bogdan TIGANOAIA2, Octavian Ion NEGOITA3 , Elena FLEACA4
1
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Management Department, Industrial Management Chair, apurcarea@gmail.com
2
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Management Department, Industrial Management Chair, bogdantiganoaia@gmail.com
3
One Advertising Business, octav.negoita@oneadvertising.ro
4
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Management Department, Industrial Management Chair, elenafleaca@yahoo.com
This paper aims to identify student expectations for disciplines that concern information security, to provide specific skills required for
further development and specialization of the business community. Bologna process has brought significant changes in the Romanian
higher education system creating both opportunities and challenges. In addition, accession to the European Union meant the
continuous need to adapt educational programs to the new requirements resulting from a globalized, competitive, and increasingly
specialized market. Increased interaction within the business community involved changes in the nature of university curricula to meet
the need of highly qualified specialists in the market. Research methodology is based on questionnaire which was answered by 300
students and determines the need for development the information security disciplines in university curricula. The research has
identified the degree of interest that the students have on information security, the need for new disciplines that provides them with
specific competences required of higher degree qualifications. Results will be used by the faculties management in order to bring up-
to-date the curricula. Adapting the university curricula to the current requirements, according to the degree of specialization, is a
determinant of development. In the same context, adaption leads to increased interest in this form of training, information security.
Considering the research results, the authors have developed recommendations for enhancing the curricula of the engineering higher
education. By redesigning the engineering curricula, the technical universities should seek to enable students to develop the
information security competences required by the workforce market.
obtained these acquaintances (at a medium or low level) environment assures students to learn the skills and
in university. capabilities to shape their own attitude and to acquire
the attributes needed to become good engineers in the
50% of those with a medium or high level of knowledge
field of information security. It is very important to
in the field of databases security have obtained these
change the methods of teaching and promote new
acquaintances from other educational courses, not from
methods that stimulate teamwork.
university.
Even though, this research has several shortcomings
The importance given by the respondents to the such as sample selection and number of respondents,
disciplines from the information security domain points there are several conclusions:
out the necessity to redesign the engineering 1) There is a gap between the demand and offer
curricula.78% of the respondents think that the study of regarding information security competences
databases security has an important role in their ensured by the engineering higher education.
education, 69% think that networks security is also 2) There is a lack of the systematic research of
important and 61% think that knowledge in the fields information security environment in order to find
such as risk management, information security out the changing requirements and provide
management has a major role. feedback to the higher education environment.
In order to overcome these challenges, the authors
All these results show the importance of redesigning the
propose several recommendations based on the research
engineering curricula by introducing the disciplines
findings:
from information security domain. It is also important to
1) The higher education of engineering students has
point out the interest of the respondents regarding the
to complement technology education by
disciplines from the field of information security. adequately consider new courses in information
The results of data analysis point out that respondents security area such as: risk management, networks
place great importance on the following domains: security, databases security, information security
databases security, networks security, information management. By redesigning the engineering
security management, risk management. Obviously, the curricula, the technical universities should seek
attitude and knowledge are important parts in achieving to enable students to develop the information
competences, but most respondents consider that skills – security competences required by the workforce
the ability to act effectively are more important. In the market.
field of information security, the focus point is on skills. 2) New teaching methods must be incorporated (the
The data analysis reveals a serious lack of knowledge use of case studies, practical courses, interactive
in the following domains: networks security, risk courses, etc.).
management, information security management. 3) The technical universities should carefully take
into account the development of innovative
networks between the academic environment and
CONCLUSIONS business community. These networks provide an
excellent context for exchanging ideas, projects
and learning by sharing information and
Even though, starting with the academic year 2005-
experience.
2006, the engineering curricula and syllabi have evolved
in accordance with the new requirements, the research
results highlight the need for further improvements. References
From an educational point of view, the new
competences in the field of information security are a 1. Spencer, L.M. & Spencer, S.M. (1993), Competence at work.
Models for Superior Performance, New York: John Wiley &
priority for the actual students. Thus, the actual Sons, 1993.
engineering education should be based on topics on top 2. Quin, R.E., Faerman, S.R., Thompson, M.P. & McGrath,
importance such as risk management, information M.R. (1996), Becoming a Master Manager: A Competency
security management, networks security, database Framework, New York: John Wiley & Sons.
3. Naresh, K. and Birks, D. (2007), Marketing Research. An
security. Applied Approach, Third European Edition, Prentice Hall,
Based on these, the technical higher education London.
should be more oriented to practical approaches that 4. Aaker, A. D., Kumar, V., & Day, S. G. (2001), Marketing
enable engineering students to practice information research: Attitude measurement (7th ed), New York: John Wiley
& Sons.
security skills. A practical oriented educational
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY - THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTIC OF SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Rodica ROHAN1, Gheorghe SINDILĂ2
1
rodica.rohan@gmail.com
2
sindila@yahoo.com
Abstract: This paper aims to highlight the importance of social responsibility initiatives in the current socio-economic conjuncture,
characterized by dynamism and uncertainty, and by the expansion of globalization. It is necessary for the universities to adopt these
initiatives to serve their long-term development interest, distinguished by complying with the law, assuming ethical behavior, paying
special attention to environment and taking into account the needs and interests of all partners.
industry will require that profitability be achieved educational offer on developing skills of future
within a context of not harming people or their habitat. graduates, for successful insertion in the labor market.
Industrial engineering is one of the main fields of The primary values of engineering practice at the
engineering that endeavor to improve the quality of life time were functionality and profits. Both the
in society; ironically, actual production and services engineering curriculum and faculty reinforced these
patterns have created unintended side effects such as values.
environmental pollution and human health problems. Improving quality management in study programs
The emergence of the concept of corporate social will allow future graduates to work as engineers in
responsibility led to a change in the organizations companies whose technological characteristics we have
management. Unlike the classical paradigm that previously outlined.
emphasizes efficiency, productivity, profits, the new The key to better technological development lies in
paradigm, socio-economic and ecological, stresses the cooperation among the previously separate disciplines
importance to be given to quality of life, conserving to attack problems that have no recognizable
natural resources, community and society. disciplinary boundaries.
Corporate social responsibility addresses three major 1. Specific objectives for students:
impacts on the environment, as follows: a) Socially:
• economical impact; • develop social responsibility and civic skills;
• social impact; • development of appropriate attitudes towards work;
• environmental impact. • active involvement in solving social problems.
Technology is responsible for much of what we value b) For individuals:
about our society and our way of life, but it must also • develop confidence and self esteem;
take responsibility for the threats to public health and • developing the skills of teamwork and the
depletion of nonrenewable natural resources that now communication;
endanger that way of life. • develop skills to analyze social problems and to
Acceptance of this social responsibility by industry and develop strategies intervention;
individual engineers is a necessary step for the survival • develop intellectual capacities.
of our society in the next century. 2. Specific objectives of the institution:
The future engineers must understand that the • motivating students for learning;
transition to a sustainable society requires not only • developing the students the spirit of civic
changes of the way in which resources are managed, but responsibility;
also changes in attitude from "me, now", specific to • improving the education / curriculum.
traditional economy, to considerations such as "others, 3. Point to the community:
now and later”. • ensuring relevant services;
The circumstances facing practicing engineers today • playing a sense of social utility.
are considerably different from those of the past, and the Scientists and engineers could contribute positively to
circumstances of the future will be even more different. make any changes to these social democratic
Future engineers, in their capacity as creators of institutions. A necessary condition for this is that they
products must be aware that potential consumers are not should be informed of relevant and well founded
only interested in purchasing good quality and knowledge that exists on these institutions and their
reliability, but also whether the production is a socially functioning.
responsible one.
Significant changes in engineering education will be 3.2 Initiatives related to managing and monitoring
required if we are to meet the needs of our graduates in the supply of university education in relation to the
preparing them for the challenges of the coming demands of the society
century. Let us consider in somewhat greater detail the
knowledge, skills, and values that will be necessary for The transformation of a passive university in a
engineers to deal successfully with new challenges. dynamic one can be done only with a strategic
The skills required to address the challenges to management, which can plan development in the
future engineers may be divided into seven categories: long term. The introduction of this new notion in
1. independent, interdependent and lifetime learning management imposed a functional adaptation of
skills; dimensions, so that the interface between the
2. problem solving, critical thinking, and creative university and the social environment is in dynamic
thinking skills; balance.
3. interpersonal and teamwork skills; Transparency in corporate responsibility
4. communication skills; policies is a prerequisite for effective
5. self-assessment skills; communication with interested groups and it
6. integrative and global thinking skills; requires the definition of a university code of
7. change management skills. ethics. More than transparency in communication,
Active adaptation of university education to the credibility requires an agreement between the
needs of the job market yielded centering the statements and actions of the university.
310 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The values and principles of this code of ethics, the development of critical skills needed to make
which is especially promoted and whose appropriate use of it.
development one tries to perform exclusively in the The education that succeeds will be the one that
university, are: academic freedom, personal facilitates lifelong learning, equipping students with the
autonomy, justice and equity, merit, skills they will need to adapt to change.
professionalism, intellectual honesty and fairness, The implications of introducing social responsibility
transparency, respect and tolerance, responsibility, in the university are analyzed in terms of costs and
kindness and care. benefits.
University “Politehnica” of Bucharest encourages Corporate social responsibility must be considered a
members of the academic community to stand up smart long term investment that benefits both the
through collegiality and civic attitude, to be actively university and the large society.
involved in professional and public issues. Some
initiatives worth mentioning are: References
- institutionalization of a working committee that will
represent the interested parties in the activity of the 1. Nicolescu C.(2005/06) “Corporate Social Responsibility
university (financiers, students, suppliers, beneficiaries, In The Romanian Higher Education“, CPS /
international policy fellowship program.
local community, etc.) with the objective to offer 2. Rohan R. (2007),“Responsabilitatea Socială - element
consultation in development of the educational and de dezvoltare strategică a organizaţiei“, Conferinţa
research offer of the faculty; Ştiinţifică Cu Participare Internaţională “TEHNOMUS
- adjustment of the academic offer to the labor market XIV”, Suceava.
3. Rugarcía A .and Felder R. (2000), “The future of
needs, by involving all parties mentioned, thus ensuring engineering education i. A vision for a new Century“,
long term sustainability; Chem. Engr. Education, 34(1), 16–25.
- providing feed-back by liaising with college members 4. Toma S. G. (2006), “De la calitate la responsabilitatea
in all preparation levels (bachelor, master, doctoral and socială corporatistă“, Amfiteatru economic v. 8, nr. 20,
Bucureşti.
post-graduate);
- modernization of the communication process of
projects, initiatives and actions related to social
responsibility in the university and with other
structures of academia;
- implementation of applications like CRM (Customer
Relationship Management), marketing software to
manage a database of graduates, beneficiaries, clients,
employers, suppliers, business partners, internal and
external academic contacts, which permits building
relationships in real-time, customized to each
stakeholder, in order to intensify the collaboration on
the labor market.
CONCLUSION
The paper summarizes the main challenges that the Romanian higher education will be facing during the years to come, in terms of its
responsibilities for human capital development and community evolvement. These challenges are revealed as gaps against European
and international tertiary education system, opportunities as well as threats. Individual interviews were employed and focus groups
sessions were conducted with professionals and experts from both the academia and the socio-economic environment to learn more
about their demands and expectations. A diagnosis analysis performed discusses the current status of Romanian higher education and
its priorities for the human capital development. The challenges described in the paper predict but also determine the future of
Romanian higher education, and help to create successful strategies for universities, taking into consideration their particularities
and available resources. Also, a high impact of universities on solving local community issues is expected.
group’s work adhered to a precise, predefined Adapting the educational offer of universities to the
framework established by research coordinator, which need of durable socio-economic development on a local,
consisted of: an introduction that defined the object of regional and national level, and to the needs and
analysis and the main concepts used; a description of the interests of educating and training students represents an
present situation of the educational system; an analysis essential requirement for encouraging the
of the key developments as they appear today; an competitiveness and economic growth of a nation
identification of the major forces (changing factors) (Machin and McNally, 2007). In our country, the
likely to impact on future developments; and, finally, situations in which universities train under or over-
challenges for the future of higher education. The aim of qualified work force with no adequate place on the
these group sessions was to provide a rich and well- current labour market are the ones that occur most often.
documented presentation of the main challenges Not always are the qualifications needed on the current
considered pertinent to the evolution of each educational labour market created and the competences necessary
actor, its missions, its values, its competencies, and its for obtaining and keeping a job are not all the time
relations with the other actors of the higher education generated, even if we are talking about one’s first job.
system. At the moment, the labour market does not hold
The sample consisted of 53 research actors from sufficient information (or the legislative framework
universities, companies, research institutes, student does not offer the needed support) to make the
organizations, NGOs, ministries, and other distinction, for example, between undergraduates and
organizations, who hold managerial positions in their graduates. The postgraduate level of preparation is also
institutions. The interviews (face-to-face meetings) were questioned (doctorate studies, cycle 3 of the Bologna
conducted between June 2009 and December 2009. System) in the sense that the persons that obtained this
Four focus group sessions were organized during the degree are over-qualified, they are not able to find
same period of time. enough appropriate jobs (given the fact that the
The main research questions raised during the scientific research institutions are struggling,
various phases of the analysis were referring to: universities hire only a very small percentage of them
Diagnosis phase: Currentely, how relevant are the and companies/ organizations with a research and
qualifications and competences acquired by development orientation are scarce in Romania) (see
individuals in the formal education (both public and Gonzalez and Wagenaar, eds. 2003).
private education) to the society they live in? What The adverse, incomplete, non-accurate and
is the current impact of those individuals on the permanently reconstructed character of the legislation
community they live in? and its current deficits has led to a very low level of
Exploration phase: What are the needs for adaptation of the educational offers to the real demands
competences development that the community of the labour market, and has led to sustaining a
requires at local, regional or national level? What are nonoperational qualification system for the Romanian
the existing actors, institutions, decision-making labour market. Also, the low degree of involvement and
centers, committees, policies, programs, projects and the lack of professionalism of the political decision-
activities? makers have resulted in the deficient correlation
Prescription phase: How to enhance human capital between the levels of education and its forms with
development and knowledge transfer? Who is respect to the educational process content, its
responsible for human capital development in the competences and the qualifications it offers.
near future?
One additional point that is worth mentioning is that Increasing the relevancy of education, validating its
although the focus groups followed a set pattern, the results and lifelong learning
authors were free to choose their own hypotheses and
frames of analysis.
Extending the private higher education in the
detriment of the public higher education, the invention
CHALLENGES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION of new forms of graduate training (100% on-line
universities) and the appearance of equivalent
The challenges discussed below refer mainly to the educational programs offered by companies or local
role of the universities in the human capital (regional) organizations will lead to an increase in
development and their contribution to the progress of competitiveness on the educational services market, but
community at local, regional, and/or national level. not necessarily to an increase in the quality of the
These challenges are revealed as gaps against the educational services offered. This is possible due to the
European and international tertiary education system, lack of efficient structures on a national level and due to
but also as opportunities as well as threats for Romanian lack of counselling and orientation procedures for
educational market. persons towards finding the study programs which are
the most adequate for the development of their
The anticipated correlation between the educational individual and professional competences at the level of
offer of universities and the structure and dynamic the society in which we live in.
demands of the labour market
Who is responsible for Human Capital Development? Challenges Faced by Romanian Higher Education 313
Also, the discrepancies between the relevance of the work, and new methods of teaching/ learning adequate
results obtained in the private and public educational to these forms of preparation. Thus, the necessity of
system will persist due to the inexistence of a unitary set assuring alternatives of studying to all those interested is
of indicators for the evaluation of the study programs, highlighted.
which would serve the purpose of determining the
measure in which the competences declared by the The development of university networks and
universities and those acquired by the students are real. creation of career opportunities
Moreover, this discrepancy occurs as a consequence of
the lack of an integrative approach towards all the study The consolidation of university cooperation
cycles, made possible through the development of a
(internal, European and international) through the
unitary set of indicators for the evaluation of the
creation of university networks, including the
competences acquired by students in high school and
partnership development with companies (as an integral
then, successively, in the undergraduate correlated with
part of these networks) will facilitate informational,
the graduate and postgraduate education. In addition, it technological and “good practice” transfers but will also
is necessary to draft and adopt systems which will intensify the mobilization of teachers/ students/
recognise the level of knowledge acquired in the formal
researchers regarding experience exchanges. The
educational system through the activity of the persons at
grouping (fusion) of universities will allow the creation
their work place.
of administrative, organizational and financial structures
Even more so, because of the globalization of the
that will facilitate the development of educational
labour force market, the necessity of developing new programs between partner universities, with the proper
competences will determine an increase in the demand acknowledgement of graduated studies, respectively the
of ongoing training programs in different areas of
skills and qualifications acquired at the level of the
specialization (lifelong learning programs). The need for
created structures (for example: such a fusion between
the educational process to include everyone, to include
universities is already functioning in the northern
individual integrality and to include all the forms of countries, in the UK).
education determine the planning and organizing of The absence of formal structures for periodical
education to proceed through the perspective of it
consultation and for direct involvement in the
spanning over an entire lifetime.
universities activity by all economic and social partners
for the creation of universities networks, as well as the
Developing alternative programs for the traditional lack of institutionalized communication between
educational system universities and the business environment, lead to the
increase of imbalance between what the universities
The rise in the number of universities which offer offer and what the employers need. Also, at present, as a
on-line and off-campus educational programs (there are reaction to the intensification of globalization, the
even universities which offer only on-line study Romanian universities do not have the capacity to train
programs), and the increasing competitiveness of the the required work force, whose skills and abilities could
foreign universities which offer the programs help answer to the global economy's current and future
diversify the educational offers and the types of problems (skills that would allow the graduates to think
preparation in the higher education system in Romania, and act in a global environment).
but they can as well contribute to the decrease of the The increase of the importance of entrepreneurial
will to study and the interest in learning. education in universities attracts/ demands the increase
The quality of the educational system and the in the efforts made for creating structural changes in the
relevance of the learning outcomes are also put to higher education system regarding: the development of
question. It is known that the employer does not the internship programs, the integration of applications
appreciate the quality of an off-campus or on-line and experiments, simulations in/from the business
preparation as much as it appreciates that of a traditional environment, offering extra-curricular classes and also
one. On the other hand, the simultaneous access to identifying financing solutions for optional courses
several information means (libraries, internet, TV, (other way they will remain at a statement level in the
international databases, etc.), including the use of curriculum, without being actually implemented).
electronic devices (IPod, cell phones, MP3, electronic The low level of adjustment of the Romanian
agendas, etc.) determine an increase in the individual’s universities’ educational offer in compliance with the
capacity to learn and quicker assimilation of data and current reality in our country, more specifically, offering
information. In case of absence of innovative means for a limited number of entrepreneurial education courses
teaching/ learning and absence of the necessary that focus on real life and concentrating them mainly in
logistical support, the educational personnel will universities with an economic or business profile,
encounter difficulties and they will be forced to doesn’t favour student entrepreneurial initiatives, nor
overcome these challenges. the professor’s, that can be quantified in creating spin-
The policy of the decentralization of the educational offs or start-ups and the creation of new jobs.
system imposes the necessity of regulating new forms of
education (off-campus, on-line) accessible to those who
314 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The demographic decrease, population ageing and An educational offer of universities better adapted to
exodus from the rural to the urban environment the labor force market requirements;
Anticipatory studies regarding the labor force
Statistical research shows that the active population market dynamics and trends;
of Romania has experienced a sharp downward A unitary set of indicators for the evaluation of the
tendency in the past few years, and that the school study programs offered by both private and public
eligible population will diminish dramatically towards universities, which would serve the purpose of
2025. The population numerical decline, as a determining the measure in which the competences
consequence of the decrease in the birth rate, will declared by the universities and those acquired by
determine a decline in the number of students, the students are real.
regardless of their academic degree (bachelor, master,
Ph.D.), who are involved in the continuous education Acknowledgements
and lifelong learning process. The phenomena of active
population emigration will continue in the following The contribution was prepared under the support of
period as well, and will lead to the diminution of the the ESF project QLHE 2684, run by UEFISCSU in
activity rate in our country (approximately 2-3 million Romania.
Romanians – active population – have emigrated
between 2000 and 2009).
References
Furthermore, the population ageing and the
depopulation of the rural areas and small towns, through
1. Akrich, M.; Miller, R. (2007). The Future of Key Research Actors
the exodus of population to more socially and in the European Research Area – Synthesis Paper. European
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3. European Commission (2007). Improving knowledge transfer
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The diagnosis analysis performed, using a 5. European Commission (2008). Modernising Universities for
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COM(2008)680 din 30.10.2008
academia, government and various business fields, 6. Gonzalez, J., Wagenaar, R. eds. (2003). Tuning Educational
revealed five main challenges for the future of Structures in Europe I. The Universities' Contribution to the
Romanian universities that should be carefully Bologna Process. Deusto, ES: Universidad de Deusto,
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and the structure and dynamic demands of the labour 8. Miller, R. (2006). Equity in a Twenty-first Century Learning
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9. Miller, M.; Shapiro, H. and Hilding-Hamann, K.E. (2007).
alternative programs for the traditional educational School’s Over: the Rise of Learning Spaces. Final Report,
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decrease, population ageing and exodus from the rural 10. Romania’s Presidency (2008). Strategia Educaţiei şi Cercetării
pentru societatea cunoaşterii
to the urban environment. 11. Senges, M.; Brown, J.S.; Rheingold, H. (2008). Entrepreneurial
These challenges predict but also determine the learning in the networked age. How new learning environments
future of Romanian higher education and help to create foster entrepreneurship and innovation. Paradigmes, Issue no. 1,
successful strategies for universities taking into December 2008, pp. 125-140
consideration their particularities and available
resources. Also, a high impact of universities on solving
local community issues is expected. Some of the
potential benefits for the both universities and
community are listed below:
Stimulating dialogue between stakeholders
(university management, students’ organizations,
companies, national agencies, NGOs, etc.);
Contributing to improving financial and strategic
management of universities’ human resources,
innovating support, academic cooperation and
partnership, including the business environment and
the research centers, towards the Romanian
knowledge society development;
UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP AND QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
C. RUSU1
1
PhD Professor Technical University “Gheorghe Asachi” of Iaşi, Romania crusu@cetex.tuiasi.ro
Objectives. How the university leaders see the reality in their universities; to establish the university leadership capability to establish
the solutions for university development; how the university leaders could energize, mobilize people (staff) to fight with the reality, to
implement theirs solution.
Prior work. The concepts of leader and leadership are used in other organizations in Romania and in the world; for increasing the
competitiveness of the universities from Romania, the concepts of leader and leadership should be transferred and implemented in
universities from Romania; the managers of universities from Romania to make performance/quality, to turn into leaders should be
another policy of recruitment, selection and training them.
Approach. The main methods we used were: questionnaires, structured interview, literature research, own experience.
Results. The results of research show us: the ability of management to recognize the problems facing nowadays; the solutions they
discern for raising quality in higher education; the possibilities of mobilization/training by the university management staff of
universities to implement the proposed solutions.
Implication. The paper will help university staff and the politicians: to change their attitude related to the leadership in the Romanian
university; to offer some principles, methods, procedures and techniques; to be used for a better management in the Romanian
Universities development, to choose the right leaders for Romanian University.
Value. The characterization of the leaders in Romanian higher education where does not exist research in the aria.
Keywords. University leader, quality in higher education
External forces for change in the HE are: • the quality of the educational process
deregulations, technology, analysis the reality, SWOT • the quality of the results
analysis, discover the crisis. • solutions for improving the quality of the
The leaders need to be able to ground the solution. management solutions
lutions from universities
Service for university development • methods used by university leaders for
The leader need to evaluate: vision, mission and training / involvement / motivation of staff
strategies from the university in universities, for implementation of the
Ground the new objectives and strategies for solution proposed by the leaders
university For reasons of space we refer only to the analysis of
Creating new university programs some aspects off staff training by the leaders.
Assuming the risk of the solution promoted The questionnaire was applied to 186 educators from
Assessing, controlling, coordinating
inating quality of state and private universities from Romania. The
educational process structure of the respondents is:
Search new needs of competence Tab.1: Respondents teaching positions
Curricula design by customer competence needs Valid Cumulative
Search university customer satisfaction Frequency % % %
Making ground the new internal quality standards Valid Assistant 11 5,1 5,3 5,3
Innovating solution for quality input improving in Instructor 37 17,1 18,0 23,3
HE Conferential 49 22,6 23,8 47,1
These are not political decision, only sound business Professor 101 46,5 49,0 96,1
decision. The most important DRIVER of performances Research
8 3,7 3,9 100,0
in the universities is Leadership. We are all the time in a professor
Total 206 94,9 100,0
change management business.
Missing System 11 5,1
The biggest challenge, today, in HE: to develop,
Total 217 100
mature and spread leadership through University.
A University leader is a thumb. What does a thumb
do? It work with all different to create a leader knows miss
Missi 25- ing
how to help people disagree without being ng, 34,
55- fema 4%
disagreeable. A leader is able to build and enrich a 70, 2.8 13.4
culture of mutual trust and respect – a culture in which le
29.5 35-
people are not afraid to speak their minds. 36%
44, male
Without a thumb, you will not have a hand. 27.2 60%
Without a leader there is not teamwork, and without
teamwork, the cast will be stuck in the mind. 45-
54,
The leaders need to mobilize, energize, empower 27.2
people to fight with reality, to implement his solution
(morally – ethical – social response) Fig.2: Respondents age distribution Fig.3: Respondents distribution by
Fig.
gender
Will be necessary to develop a new generation of
higher managers which have to pay attention to: social
responsibility, ethics and moral aspects, ects, individual
versus cooperation, business orientation, degree
curricula change, balance between tradition and modern
new teaching technology, cross disciplinary teaching, Tab.2: Leadership position* Age Crosstabulation
risk aversion, communication with the internal and Count
external environment, interpersonal
rsonal staff cooperation age
Passion (responds) of the staff: developing the
25-34 35-44 45-54 55-70 Total
competition to all the level, university management as a
Position Prodean 0 5 10 1 16
team, management by performance, green sustainability,
cloth relation with HR corporate sector and alumni, Dean 1 4 3 9 17
value added by training - new competences (knowledge) Prorector 0 3 7 3 13
theoretical and practical, opportunity
pportunity costs in HE,HE Rector 0 0 1 6 7
selectiveness. No-
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 26 45 36 43 150
function
The main methods used for this research was – the Total 27 57 57 62 203
questioner, structured interview, literature research and
own experience. Tab.3: Leadership position* Leadership experience
experien
The questionnaire was related to: Crosstabulation
Count
• how respondents perceived the reality from
universities regarding Management position experience
• the quality of entries in the system 1-5 6-10 11- 16- > 20 Total
University Leader and Quality inn Higher Education 317
Third group of variables: employer satisfaction and education that university leaders should tackle. I also
quality of university change are very critical because received many thanks for the content of this
these issues address a evolutionary problem: Is actually questionnaire.
university system capable of adaptation? I am convinced that reforming the higher education
system and other systems that can come only from
within the system, but from "outside forces". Until now
CONCLUSION in Romania it have been proposed 6-7 reforms which
To bring about and implement new solution in partially overlapped and who have more disrupt than
the university you need leaders and strong helped. "Outside forces", in our case, is constituted from
leadership the members of the academic community from Romania
In this period some university managers do not who have received our questionnaires (over 600) and
realize that the employees are an asset, not just an who are present here, in Tulcea.
expense. The employees can tell managers what is going
on in the university better that anybody else. There are
open-door policies, but how many assistants have you References
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“together”. Integration is the secret of healthy International Congress of Engineering Deans – Industry leaders,
organization, and that is how we will turn a crisis into Melbourne, Australia, 3 – 6 July 1995
an opportunity and succeed in the future, and leave 9. Rusu C. - Aplicarea conceptelor managementului calitatii in
behind those that are fighting among themselves to invatamantul superior -Quality Assurance in the Romanian
Technical Higher Education”, Iasi, 1997, P.19-31, ISBN:-973-
catch the cold. 9178-47-2.
The limits of the proposed questionnaire analysis are 10. Rusu,C. - Principles for the Evaluation of the Individual Activity
related to: of Teaching Staff, The Dynamics of Quality in Learning
The standard of "other prestigious universities”, we Universities -Quality Management in Higher Education,
Proceedings of The 4rd International Seminar on the Quality
believe that it was differed from one respondent to Management in Higher Education, Iaşi, România, June 14-15,
another; 2004.
Retaining teachers to talk about "home things". Even 11. Rusu,C. - The University Regarded as a Cybernetic System, The
one respondent told us that because he was raised and Dynamics of Quality in Learning Universities -Quality
Management in Higher Education, Proceedings of The 4rd
trained in that university he can only grant votes to the International Seminar on the Quality Management in Higher
maximum limit. Education, Iaşi, România, June 14-15, 2004.
Some respondents considered that some terms are 12. Rusu C. - From the managemeny quality to the quality of
not unambiguously defined; there are situations in management -The 4the international seminar on quality
management in higher education, Sinaia, Romania si publicate in
which respondents could understand a concept in volumul Conference Procededings, Ed. Performantica Iasi, ISBN:
different ways. 973-730-225-7, 2006
The purpose of the questionnaire was to raise 13. Zairi Mohamed – Beyond TQM implementation: the new
awareness, alert forces within the university that some paradigm of TQM sustainability – School of Management,
University of Bradford, UK, Total Quality Management, vol.13,
colleagues have the courage to see reality from within no.8, 2002
the system, they see reality, but not to recognize it. The
questionnaire we wanted to emphasize the questions
some of the big problems, important to Romanian
THE IMPLEMENTING
OF THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
IN THE EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT
Abstract: The concept of Sustainable Development should be analyzed from multiple perspectives, out of which the human resources
training is defined as the central aspect, and its lacking involves the implementing of the above mentioned concept in an unsuccessful way.
Implementing the concept of Sustainable Development initially engages changes of perspective for the business environment, secondly the
development of legislation with facilities for the economic agents who want to be involved in this concept’s implementation, and thirdly the
assuring of the labor force able to implement the concept. Higher education, and mostly the technical field, has a large experience in the training
of the human resources to implement this concept, guiding specialists to be able to find the best solutions for the optimal use of the local, material
and human resources, under the purpose of increasing the living
standard and the environment protection. "How the impact of long-term economic and social
activities should be evaluated?"
1. Defining the concept of sustainable
development 2. Socio-economic implications of implementing
The concept of "Sustainable Development" has the concept of Sustainable Development
several definitions, among which the most usual one is: Socio-economic implications of this concept’s
"that development which ensures the needs of the implementation can be withdrawn on two action
present times without compromising the chances of the directions, namely:
future generations to meet their own needs". Promoting the economic growth and environmental
Reported to a country, the concept of "Sustainable management, actions that include the subsidies
Development" is defined as the ability of that country elimination when using the resources, clarifying the
to achieve at national level the balance between property rights, accelerating the training and education
economic-social development and environment, taking process of the population;
into account the natural resources, social conditions in Ceasing the altering process of the environmental
the view of insuring economic and social prosperity for through laws, sanctions and incentives.
the future generations. Studies undertaken in the field of stimulating this
This concept has emerged as the result of the fact concept have revealed that the administrative tools
that currently the world is facing serious issues based on market criteria, and also generating financial
generated by the insufficient resources, the modality of obligations to those who pollute are more efficient than
distributing the resources on continents, and the fact setting up quantitative restrictions or quota of materials
that a large proportion of population is disadvantaged or products.
and suffers of poverty. In many countries, the intentions of Sustainable
The concept of sustainable development can be Implementation’s concept have failed due to the fact
defined in concrete terms by at least four major that there had been no institutional capacity for
objectives: coordinating and tracking of the implementation of the
Setting up programs for stimulating personal concept. It should be noted that the World Bank
development through education, social ethics, provides technical assistance for supporting the states
developing practical abilities, stimulating intellectual in strengthening institutional capacity for tracking the
creativity, etc. implementation concept.
Conceiving a universal awareness - environmental The environmental approach of the concept of
and social, by encouraging the respect for nature, by Sustainable Development or the so-called eco-
avoiding the environmental pollution, increasing development must directly ensure the protection of the
quality of life for everyone; biosphere, the biodiversity and the normal sequence of
Implementing and respecting the universal laws on the phenomena and bio-geo-chemical cycles.
environment protection; If by the end of last century the issue of exhaustion
Preserving the natural capital by reducing of resources was not closely approached, today this
consumption of materials and energy by recycling problem is more and more of an issue, mainly in the
materials and using renewable energy. field of energy, fossil energy resources, coal, oil and
If today's environmental assessment is difficult, gas.
then assessing the future is at least as difficult. People As it was previously said, the natural resources
are still looking to find answers to questions like: were considered "inexhaustible goods" and one could
320 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
foreseen in these circumstances a continuous economic diminution, peace, ethics, democracy, cultural diversity
development based on resources. and the management of natural resources.
Economic environment, as a relatively new field of In terms of education, sustainable development
study, now seeks solutions to establish environmental involves the acquisition of key skills universally valid
and social criteria in taking some economic decisions. in the context of globalization and the need of easing
The economic approach of the concept of labor market. "Education for a sustainable development
Sustainable Development may influence important develops and improves the ability of individuals,
decisions regarding the concept of economic and social groups, communities, organizations and countries to
life. think and act in favor of the continuous development. It
Economic environment, as field of study, is not can generate a change in people’s mentalities,
new. In the past decades, the existent economic increasing their ability to create a safer healthier and
principles were built on and extended mainly to assess more prosperous world, improving in this manner the
the impact of economic activity on the environment quality of life [5].
and biodiversity, more recently, especially in the case Romania has underlined the importance of adopting
of developing countries. In the case of these countries, this strategy, fact that means "the formalizing the
taking major decisions on economic development takes concern for future generations and promoting the
into account the impact of future economic activities balance between progress and economic development
on the environment and biodiversity. on the one hand, and social cohesion and
Sustainable economic development (sustainable) is environmental protection, on the other hand." The
now interpreted as a process of maintaining the welfare conclusion of the participants was: "We must take steps
projected indefinitely into the future. today to maintain for the future the fragile balance
Economists have introduced a new concept, namely between the economic, social and environmental
economic optimality defined as maximizing the aspects and the challenge of this century is to learn
present value of consumption. This concept is how to live on a limited planet [7].
antagonistic to that of continuous and sustainable Responding to the efforts of promoting a
development. Moreover, some economists consider development of the human society accepted socially,
that the concept of economic optimality is synonymous economically viable and environmentally sustainable,
with non-sustainability. the General Council of the United Nations adopted on
Therefore today one is trying to combine the 20 December 2002, a resolution that sets the period
optimality with sustainability, looking to resolve the 2005-2014 "Decade of Education for Sustainable
desire of maximum profit at any cost, with the concept Development", which shows the importance of
of environmental protection, especially non-renewable education for the sustainable development in the world.
resources. The resolution indicates the need of integrating the
Sociological approach of the Sustainable sustainable development into the educational systems
Development is quite new. at all known levels.
Sustainable social development means avoiding In this context, both academic and administrative
major problems, such as: staff, and also the management decision makers for
tensions generated by the major discrepancies education, must improve themselves in terms of
between rich and poor; knowledge on education for sustainable development
dividing society on the basis of culture; so that they can provide their advice and support in this
dividing society on ethnic criteria; area.
systematic breaching of the human rights. Education is seen as a path to sustainable
All these, as history has shown, are sources of development being a process of social learning and in
conflict, sometimes even violent and wars generators. search of innovative solutions [6].
In this context, one should not neglect the slogan In this international context, the Technical
"consider human the priority" within the framework of University of Cluj-Napoca is continuously and
investments oriented towards sustainable and equitable intensively involved in applying this concept at
development for all. national level.
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca has acted on
3. Strategies and options in implementing the two main directions, namely:
concept of Sustainable Development in training the Training human resource to implement the concept;
human resources Opening new lines of research in the field.
During 17-18 of March 2005, in Vilnius Regarding human resource training, the old
(Lithuania), was adopted, under the auspices of the specializations that only tangential approached this
Economic Commission for Europe United Nations concept, respectively "Engineering and Environmental
(UNECE), the Strategy in the Field of Education for Protection in Industry” and the postgraduate course of
Sustainable Development. The main objective is to study" Special Procedures of Control and Pollution
incorporate in all the educational systems of the key Reduction for Environment ", have been analyzed and
themes of sustainable development, such as poverty adapted the new concept, and in parallel new master
courses have been organized, among which:
Central Dimensions of Socio-Professional Integration of Persons with Disabilities – The Binomial
Education/Professional Training – Employment System for The Future of Disabled 321
"Sustainable Development and Biodiversity the use of local resources to produce new products,
Protection”, “Sustainable Development and eco-design of products;
Environment Protection”, “Environmental protection of natural resources by obtaining new
Management of Natural Resources and Wastes materials and waste products;
Recycling”. alternative sources of energy,
All these forms of education include a series of increasing energy efficiency of industrial processes,
basic disciplines that approaches the implementation of sustainable spatial planning;
the concept of sustainable development, such as: BAT technology implementation in SMEs.
Fundamentals of the Concept of Sustainable Teaching and research staff of the Technical
Development, Strategies and Policies for Sustainable University of Cluj-Napoca are aware that
Development and Protection of Biodiversity, implementing the concept of "Sustainable
Sustainable Development and Arrangement of Development" will be beneficial, especially for future
Planning, Environmental Management of Natural generations.
Resources, etc.. We must change our mentality and think more of
The themes of Bachelor and Master Final Projects future generations. We have a duty to take all the
have topics of applicative research character, such as: necessary steps to ensure future generations a cleaner
Use of Indigenous Materials to the Development of Ion and more prosperous environment.
Exchange Filters, Biomass Use for Energy Obtaining,
Alternative Energy Sources, Recovery of Useful
Materials out of Wastes, Development of New BIBLIOGRAPHY
Composite Materials from Wastes, Energy Recovery
from Wastes, etc. There are themes that approach the 1. Baboianu, G., Cornelia Benea, Rusu, T., Strategies and
European Policies in Sustainable Development and
issue of using local resources and protection of limited
Biodiversity Protection - UTPRESS Publishing Office,
natural resources and environmental protection and Cluj-Napoca, 2008, ISBN 978 - 973-662-430-8.
biodiversity. 2. Cândea, Melinda and others- Organization, Planning and
When finalizing the curricula, one of the aspects Sustainable Development of the Geographic Area,
University’s Publishing Office, ISBN-973-749-022-3.
that were taken into consideration was establishing the
3. Munteanu, R., Alternative Energy Sources - UTPRESS
competencies a graduate must acquire as a result of Publishing Office, Cluj-Napoca, 2008, ISBN 978 - 973-
attending these courses. In this purpose, a form of 713-245-1.
competencies has been drawn up and distributed to 4. Rusu, T., Fundamentals of the Concept of Sustainable
Development, UTPRESS Publishing Office, Cluj-Napoca,
over a hundred business agents, research institutes,
2008, ISBN 978 - 973-662-407-0
agencies, municipalities, etc. The completed forms 5. Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development
were synthesized and afterwards were defined the 1. UN-Economic Commission for Europe, Vilnius 17-18 March
minimum mandatory competencies required by the 2005.
6. National Strategy for Sustainable Development of Romania.
labor market. These skills have been covered by the
Horizons, 2013-2020-2030 - National Center for
compulsory disciplines, which were foreseen in the Sustainable Development, Bucharest, 2008
curricula. 7. www.edu.ro - Synopsis Education for Sustainable
Regarding the research direction in the field of Development, Press Release - 21 March 2005.
"Sustainable Development", new research directions
that have been approached are:
TRANSPARENCY IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY APPLIED PROJECTS IN
HIGHER EDUCATION
Abstract. There are authors who prefer the term corporate responsibility (CR) to avoid limiting the concept only social issues
(strategic philanthropy and community relations). Others use the term social responsibility to delete the link this issue with corporate
affairs. Those who prefer this approach will expand the concept and the non-profit organizations and government agencies. Any time I
choose, one thing is certain: the interests of organizations and the common good can not resonate over a long period of time. Results.
At this time we have a complete knowledge of corporate social responsibility in higher education in Romania. There is partial
information on programs of social investment takes the form of donations or sponsorship and corporate philanthropy. We, however,
little information about CSR strategies, organizations on policies to groups involved in or affected by the actions lor.Implications.
Importance of corporate social responsibility is the same length as the organization itself. Central question has always been this:
manages an organization, as it tends to build their mission and vision, adding value to society and facilitates its existence?
Originality. Corporate social responsibility strategies (the CSR) of the Romanian organizations could be improved by a more
analytical, communication, in a word by research.
development strategy of the institution and the humanitarian causes such as fighting poverty, helping
corporate communications strategy; people affected by natural disasters, human rights or
-CSR can not be designed separately, outside of a sustainable development, while their actions contradict
vision which aims to integrate the management and this commitment. Finally, companies' sweat washed
marketing. (sweatwash) are known for their difficult working
Transparency is a prerequisite for effective conditions offered to employees, but also trying to
communication between the institution and interested deflect public attention from these practices.
groups. Furthermore communication transparency,
credibility requires an agreement between statements 3. International standards and guidelines for social
and actions. reporting:
In short, transparency in corporate responsibility One way that companies interested groups shows
policies mean: that take seriously the issue of social responsibility is
-To define a code of ethics, principles that guide the on adherence to local and international standards and
organization in its actions or a set of ethical standards reporting guidelines.
to establish rights and obligations which the institution
is to interested groups;
-To publicize and promote the ethical code for RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
teachers and students
-To prepare periodic reports reflecting the social as Despite the enthusiasm enjoyed the concept of CSR
the institution complies with its obligations assumed; still remains vulnerable in front of those who deny the
- To make the reporting standards used and the strategic role and pleads in case of recession, reducing
auditor who prepared the reports; costs of social investments. To face critically examined
Assess the social investment programs, their impact the concept of CSR and promoted in terms of tangible
on social groups concerned; economic benefits they bring. This involves passing the
-To publish the results of social investment most difficult test, that of value added and profit. Need
programs. to test CSR policies in terms of profit stressed the need
to measure their impact on quantitative and qualitative
indicators. Opinion polls and social and environmental
CSR STRATEGIES audits are the best ways to measure social opportunity
and environmental policies.
One may speak of three strategies that companies Communication is an important element of CSR
use, combined or separated in the communication policies, as a way to ensure dialogue and transparency
process social responsibility: social performance for interested groups. But social programs should not
reporting, marketing and public relations, be seen solely in terms of PR and marketing benefits
implementation of international standards. they bring. When he established the CSR strategies,
companies must start to real community needs to
1. Social performance reporting: define its objectives and measurable and honest, and
Practices of social and environmental reporting has then to be concerned with promoting social programs.
evolved rapidly over the past 10-15 years. In countries Research goal is to see the opinions of managers,
like France, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Australia and, teachers and students in higher education with regard
recently, Britain proposed or already has imposed to two of the most controversial issues in the field of
mandatory reporting of certain aspects of the field of CSR: corporate responsibility policy transparency and
sustainability. But they are exceptions. Generally, credibility of companies engaged in social programs.
social reporting is voluntary. Transparent criteria defining the questions were
covered. The questionnaire was conducted from
2. Marketing and PR: January to March 2010. The study was conducted
Companies have always used marketing resources online on a sample of 32 representatives of the four
to achieve competitive advantages in a given situation. higher education institutions involved in CSR. The
The concept of sustainability is no exception to the research had two phases, the first quantitative and
rule. qualitative second, the latter consisted of analyzing
If there is disagreement between the campaigns of responses to a set of questions to those who answered
the companies image and behavior in relation to the questionnaire.
community and environment, public opinion reacts
spontaneously. Companies affecting the environment DATA ANALYSIS
or community, while searching, through marketing to
maintain and expand the market, promoting the 1. Presentation of overall results of research:
environment as friends and leaders in the fight to
eradicate poverty are classified "green" or "tinsmith Structure of surveyed organizations by:
green (greenwash). "Tinsmiths blue (bluewash) are -field of activity: education;
firms that are appropriate for their commitment to
Measuring the innovation process 325
audited office. Note that while dealing with the CSR 50% of respondents claim that their university
field, 28.1% of students say they do not know if the social investing. In contrast, 50% of respondents admit
institutions are audited social learners (Figure1). that their institution does not evaluate social
In a significant proportion, 68.8% of respondents investment programs (Figure 5).
say their institutions publish social reports. However, The main methods for evaluating social
the vast majority of institutions have published reports investments are, in order of importance:
on social sites (Figure 2). -investment budget (70%);
Of respondents, 15.6% have not heard of Romanian -newspaper articles (55.6%);
institutions of social reporting, 37.5% said that social -reports of universities, partner in social projects
reports are not credible, 62.5% claim that social reports (48%).
seem credible (Figure 3). -preferred areas of social investment companies
56.2% of respondents say that there are social are:
transparency in CSR policies (Figure 4). a training and professional development opportunities
for employees (94%);
-education (70%);
326 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
-a working conditions for employees (69%); - must be based on clear principles reflect the extent
- culture and art (63%) . . to which objectives are achieved;- real experience in
Finally, social investment fields preferred by the field of Romanian companies is much smaller than
employees are: : we tend to believe;- if the CSR community are
- training and professional development opportunities addressed, but not meet it, they have no future.
for employees (69%); ; 5. Assessment of social investment programs:
- education (69%) ; - in Romania, the CSR is far from being understood
- working conditions for employees (63%). . as a management practice. It is a discipline being cared
In a large proportion, 76% respondents stated PR department, when in fact it should be a concern of
that their institutions have codes of ethics. Also, the management. It is a cosmetic tool ("May we make a
main way in promoting ethical code are: donation", "May sponsor something" more plant a tree
- internal communication channels (74%); ", etc.) and not planning a long-term development.
- traning (46%); There are few effective CSR programs in Romania,
- corporate website (43%). programs that have objectives, budgets, evaluation
According to research, codes of ethics is primarily methods, performance indicators;
addressed to students (81%), teachers (46%) and - CSR assessment should be a quite natural
managers (41%). approach for companies involved in CSR projects that
are oriented in their work on results. This type of audit
- conducted in all stages of action - to establish the
objectives, priorities, target audience, the steps
themselves - with specific tasks within the team
involved, but the prosecution of partial and final
results.
CONCLUSIONS
It is important for companies to release information
regarding the practices and performance in social
responsibility and sustainability. This requirement will
become increasingly necessary. Companies will earn
their credibility not preoccupied with their create a
better image. Credibility is achieved through several
steps to be traveled.
First of all, companies must assess their real image
Figure 5: Social investind in university
they have, taking into account public opinion. And
Qualitative research results
identifying and analyzing problems and the
Qualitative research was to identify answers to
organization need to redefine strategies for social
some questions suggested by the first part of the
responsibility so that they are in agreement with the
research. Largely transparent CSR policies and
desired image. This must be done in spite of short-term
corporate credibility are determined by how companies
costs.
make their results public social programs. Ie, the
Therefore, companies must constantly ensure that
evaluation of social investment programs, how social
there is an agreement between their actions and desired
reporting, the publication of reports to be aware of
image.
CSR by companies.
This agreement is created by:
1. Why is social reporting:
- defining a coherent strategy for social
-social reports are evidence of transparency and
responsibility appropriate company specific;
accountability needs.
- sending the company's leading social
2. Why not credible social reports:
commitments undertaken by the organization;
-tend to exaggerate the results;
- development of criteria and benchmarks against
-are unduly optimistic;
which it can be appreciated CSR practices;
almost exclusively aimed at attracting the benefits
- social performance reporting and publication of
of image;
reports;
-lack of a tradition in CSR can determine the
existence of a state of disbelief about investment References:
1.Basu, K., & Palazzo, G.,(2008), Corporate Social
institutions; Responsibility: A process model of sensemaking. Academy of
-their use for advertising purposes to decrease in Management Review.
value. 2.Freeman, R. E., & Liedtka, J.,(1991), Corporate Social
Responsibility: A critical approach.
3. Arguments for social reporting transparency: 3.Black, L. D., & Hartel, C. E. J.,(2004), The Five Capabilities
-to be credible, a social report must show in a of socially responsible organizations.
transparent manner which is the company's strategy; 4.Bowie, N.,(1991), New Directions in Corporate Social
-must be clear objectives and measurable; Responsibility.
-transparency is key to confidence.
4. CSR policy issues:
TEACHING OF SUSTAINABILITY BY AN INTERNATIONAL MASTER COURSE
Michael SCHLAAK1,
1
University of Applied Sciences FH-Emden/Leer, Germany
(schlaak@fho-emden.de)
To aim for a sustainable future the human activities and the human behaviour have to change drastically. To achieve these
changes an understanding of the situation and the needs for a sustainable future has to be taught in all levels of education,
especially in the university education before the young people start their working life. The European MSc in Environmental
Technologies and Management gives an understanding of the situation, the complex interaction between different spheres of the
environment and an overview on the technologies and tools needed to achieve a sustainable future.
the situation. The idea of sustainability has to be
integrated in all levels of human activities: at home, in
education, in economy and industry, in policy, .. An
essential part will be the education, therefore the UN
Introduction
has announced the decade of sustainability in education
2005- 2014.
Human development shows three important transition
steps (revolutions):
Objectives
- from hunting towards agriculture (about
8000 a ago),
We need to incorporate
- towards industrialization (about 150 a
- the understanding of the ecological
ago),
situation on the earth
- towards sustainability (now).
- the necessary changes towards
As a consequence of the industrial revolution, using
sustainability
new energy resources, new scientific knowledge about
in our education. This will need a basic understanding
nature and its resources, the life style of humans
- of the ecological situation
changed drastically (at least in the northern
- of the economical functions
hemisphere) leading finally to the actual situation. It
- of the human behavior.
might me characterized by some highlights:
We need to develop a teaching method to increase the
- the life style
creativity of coming generations to develop
- the depletion of resources and its
- a new thinking
consequences as for instance the climate
- a new life style with new values and
change [IPCC, 2007]
- new technologies.
- the number of human beings on the earth
(Fig.1).
Result: The European Master in Environmental
The situation and its consequences were analyzed by
Technologies and Management
the “Club of Rome” and published by Maedows et al.:
“The Limits of Growth” [Maedows 1972]. In a difficult
This Master program is a one year full time European
but necessary third revolution humanity has to develop
course in Environmental Technology and Management
towards a sustainable future, which
suitable for graduates in Chemistry, Chemical
…”may not go beyond the ecological
Engineering, Biotechnology or similar subjects. It is
limits of the earth” and
running at 3 locations:
… is a “development that meets the needs
- Esbjerk, DK, 4 months,
of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their - Emden, G, 4 months,
own needs” [Brundtland report, 1987] - Leicester, UK, 4 months,
In the sustainable future there must be an equilibrium The course has 3 trimesters in one year (in total 12
between the consumption and the renewability of months compact teaching), the course language is
resources, limiting finally also the number of human English. Admission is twice a year: Sept. 1st in Esbjerg
beings on the earth. or January 3rd in Emden.
Based on this knowledge the global policy has decided Aim of the Master Course
to aim for a sustainable future by the Agenda 21 of the • Understanding of industrial and political
UN Conference of Rio in 1992. It is stated that the developments in Europe and worldwide in
sustainable future only can be achieved by integrating relation to environmental questions
- ecology • Profound knowledge of environmental
- economy and technologies
- social and cultural aspects • Knowledge of environmental law and
in a future development. The necessary changes will management in Europe
not be obtained if there is no general understanding of
328 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
• Better career chances in multinational The students come from countries all over the world:
companies and in international political Mexico, Nigeria, Ghana, Iraq,
organisations Poland, Finland, China, India, Germany, …(Fg.2).
• Environmental consciousness and experienced
behaviour on an international level.
Content Conclusion
The content of the course is delivered in 11 modules:
1. Environmental Field: Water This Master course
2. Toxicology - develops the creativity by Project
3. Environmental Field: Soil Oriented Problem Based Learning
4. Energy (POPBL)
5. Raw Materials and Waste - leads to an understanding of the situation
6. Environmental Field: Air and the complex interactions between
7. Technology, Economy, Environment and Man different spheres of environment and
8. Economy, Process-Control and Management human behavior and an understanding for
in Industry the needs to develop a sustainable future
9. Environmental Protection and Laws in the - gives a basic knowledge on
Different Countries of Europe environmental techniques in the different
10. Research and Communication Methodology environmental fields (toxicology, water,
11. Master's Thesis / final project air, soil , waste, resources, economy,..)
- develops the social skills of the
Teaching Method participants by working in an
The teaching style incorporates Project Oriented international team
Problem Based Learning (POPBL) and fits to the aim
of the course (interdisciplinary approaches to Future development
environmental global problems), the structure of the
course (different universities in Europe) and the Further European universities may participate in
participants (from all over the world with different teaching modules or teaching a whole section of this
background): course with the given content, thus participating in this
- lectures / seminars master course.
- project work
- lab work For the environmental impact China is an essential
- excursions country with a high and increasing industrialization.
To establish more knowledge and more acceptance for
An essential element of the course is the POPBL the environmental situation, it is discussed to establish
teaching: The students get a project (for instance the a similar course in co-operation with a Chinese
remediation of a contaminated site or the energy University.
concept of an isolated island) to be treated by a group
of students. They work like a team in an engineering world population
company. The basic knowledge is given by lectures.
The detailed knowledge for the project has to be 7,00
5,00
international team, where all members have different
background and different working methods 4,00
2,00
Teaching staff 1,00
The teaching staff is selected as specialists coming
0,00
from 6 different institutions participating in the course, 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
from industry and economy. time / years
EU – Dimension
The course is running at three locations within Europe,
the teaching staff is coming from 6 European countries. Fig.1: Development of human population [UN]
The students will experience the different European
cultures during their stays at the different locations
References
Abstract: The psychological perspective on the study of gender offers the possibility of knowing the
differences between the personality of men and women concerning communication, affective needs and reaction to
stress.
Modern psychosocial research highlights the plurifactorial type of gender identity and the importance of
socialization in ownership of gender roles and the development of personality.
The second question was demanding to point out II.1. Communication from the perspective of women
the differences between the feminine and masculine
gender. The majority of the questioned subjects (87%) In a different way from the man, who needs
referred to the differences from the point of view of the confrontation to set his own value, the woman needs to
two sexes. feel loved, appreciated, desired, that is she needs to be
To the third question, that demanded their opinion appreciated before doing something, not for doing
about the exclusive assuming by men or women of something.
certain activities, a total of 81.3% of the subjects Women feel motivated and mobilized when
support the possibility of carrying out different activities they feel appreciated. They feel they deserve affection,
or occupations “because men as well as women can they don’t feel they have to earn it. The fundamental
learn and get familiar to any occupation”, or “consider affective necessities of women are: care, compassion,
that there shouldn’t be any attributions exclusive for respect, devotion, recognition, assurance. For fully
men or women, and there has to be a possibility in both expressing their feelings, women go to superlatives,
cases to try out anything without discrimination”, or generalization and metaphors.
“nowadays I don’t think this problem will arise. While The self esteem of women grows and
lately women joined the army, proving physical and decreases, as well as the capacity of loving the others
mental resistance, it seems like men do things that and of self-loving. She mustn’t be obstructed in this
require a higher degree of sensitivity, like taking care of movement, but accompanied and sustained
children”. sentimentally with understanding and patience. Women
While the gender category as a concept is quite contest for the right to be upset, they demand
hard to define, to the question that asked to specify at understanding. Arguments can’t change the original
least three behaviors specific to each gender in the sentimental state, this can only be understood.
context of interpersonal relationships, the subjects To forget its own suffering, a woman can
responded and pointed out clearly the significant involve in other’s problems. They consider that
characteristics. A total of 73.4% mention for the attention and care towards others make them worthy of
feminine gender: “sensibility, sociability, respect and consideration. A woman proves her love by
communication skills” and for the masculine gender an concerning.
amount of 71.6% mention: “power, pragmatism, less For women, in relationships, all gestures have the
communicative”. same importance. There aren’t any big gestures or small
Based on studies and on the analysis of the unimportant gestures.
students’ opinion, we were very interested in the
influence of the academic activities have upon the II.2. Communication from the perspective of men
information about gender from a psychological and
pedagogical perspective. When asking them to suggest
Men avoid asking or demanding for advice
ways of initiation and training in this aspect, 82.5%
from someone else, they tend to consider the advice or
consider that discussions about this problem are
suggestions coming from women as critics to them or to
necessary “because one’s preconceived ideas regarding
their performances and abilities. A man accepts to
gender could be reshaped and changed. Thus, women
change if the change appears as the solution to a
can benefit from the same privileges as men do, and
problem, and not if he appears as a problem himself. To
men can become more communicative and sensitive”.
evolve, the man mustn’t feel like the woman wants to
We consider that the disciplines in the psycho
change him.
pedagogical study program, as well as the disciplines
Men feel motivated and mobilized when they
studied at faculties of letters, law, economics
feel useful. If he is given the possibility to reveal his
(management), can offer the frame of thematic approach
potential, the man evidences the most beautiful features.
referring to gender and personality.
Otherwise, he comes back to his egocentric tendencies.
The conclusions of the studies regarding the
A man is defined in terms of competence, power and
cognition and acceptance of gender identity consider
accomplishments. The fundamental affective necessities
that it is appropriate to apply a psycho pedagogical
of men are acceptance, confidence, appreciation,
training program, that would contribute to self-
admiration, approval and encouragement.
discovery, to knowing the personal gender identity, to
Men feel good if, when trying to solve their
its acceptance and finally to the creation of a state of
problems by themselves, they can take refuge in
harmony with self and with the social environment.
themselves. Men talk to themselves especially in their
The psycho pedagogical program regarding gender
own thoughts, and get angry if they are interrupted from
education of the young (students) includes promoting
this interior communication. This is a reason why
activities like seminaries and discussions that follow the
women consider men distant, they see the man’s refusal
objectives of gender education among students in
to talk as a refusal to the relationship. When a man
universities.
wants to take refuge in himself, and the woman does not
understanding this, when seeking the solution to a
II. GENDER AND COMMUNICATION problem, he is either stressed or upset, or wants to find
himself. He has to be left to recover quietly, and his
Gender and Personality in The Vision of Students 333
The aim of this paper is to research the possible connection between values of teachers, students and staff on one hand and quality of the
teaching process that is evaluated with students’ grades upon the completion of each course on the other. The author would like to find out,
if there are any connections between the main values of teachers and students and their perception of the quality of the higher education
institution. Several researches have been made on values, organizational culture, the quality of higher education recently all over the EU and
beyond, especially after the Bologna reforms. In this paper, the author presents a case study that was made at a certain higher educational
institution, which provides undergraduate and graduate programmes for around 3000 students in business sciences. It suggested a Code of
ethics for participants, based on the main values of respondents. One of the main research questions was, why do students enrol in this
specific institution, what do they expect? Quantitative approach was used to get responses about values and quality. A representative sample
of students was asked to fill in a questionnaire about values. Also the results of quality assurance questionnaires, which are going on each
year, were used as a base of secondary data. This enabled us to compare both results and to compare some specific variables with statistical
methods. We used those variables to design some hypotheses and tested them during the research. Also, some qualitative methods with
structured interviews for a group of teachers and students were introduced. Results of the research showed that in this specific case study,
interests and values of students and teachers are not always similar. When expectations are very different, quality or perception of quality
may have many different outcomes. Results of this case study will enable the management of this particular institution to prepare
evaluations and to adjust the processes in order to ensure quality.
Jørgensen, 2009). Acting in accordance with values, normative records in the Statute, visions, missions, to
which form a particular culture, is in that particular workshops with various groups, surveys on the values
culture regarded as appropriate, agreeable, ethical and and evaluations of the quality of courses. The research
moral. Usually, there are differences between the question led us to develop several hypotheses, which
morality of their actual behaviour and the way and we examined in the research: Hypothesis 1: The things
reason why they should behave morally (Kavčič 2007, students value most in teachers is their competence
145, Beck Jørgensen, 2007). Ethics can be peeled into and impartial assessment of exam papers. Hypothesis
many layers, one containing the other. This does not 2: In other workers at the Faculty, student value
mean that everyone, individuals, groups, organizations responsibility and being up to date. Hypothesis 3: The
and countries adhere to the same values (Maio et al., most important values for students are respect and
2009). Results from a study on teacher-student honesty. Hypothesis 4: The most important values for
behaviour and on teaching skills reveal that teachers teachers are honesty and knowledge. Hypothesis 5:
with more advanced types of behaviour have better The most important values for other faculty staff is
student outcomes (Kyriakides, 2009). In many higher good organization of work and good human relations
education environments, especially the younger and (Seme, 2008).
private ones, as well as the ones under the auspices of As the basis for our research we took the visions
older public universities, the situation regarding and mission of the Faculty and its study programmes
teachers is similar. Faculties strive to collaborate with as well as the facts that we are searching for
the best experts with the highest academic competitive advantages, which must be based on
qualifications and with practical experience (Kovač, comprehensive quality. We acquired our data by using
2008). However, many university teachers are only various, mainly primary sources, sources for students,
part-time workers, duly appointed in some other for teachers and for the staff. We also used data from
environments (economy, consulting, public student surveys and from surveys among graduates on
administration etc.). How to ensure that both full-time the satisfaction with the study. The data was then
teachers at the faculty and part-time teachers have the statistically processed. Values were divided according
same level of awareness, competence, affiliation and to individual groups and according to the frequency of
attitude towards the values defined by the relevant occurrence.
faculty? There are several possible ways of acquiring
and recognizing values, one of which is definitely the RESULTS
learning process, not only formal learning (Dolinšek,
2008), but learning in the sense of life long learning. Information on the values of an institution and its
Willemse et al. (2005) reports about a research study components were gathered from several sources both,
on the preparation of students and teachers for moral
primary and secondary. At the organisational level the
education and results showed, that this couold be one
guidelines are specified in the vision and mission as
good way for values evaluation.
well as study programmes which are all well known to
Ethics and values need to be addressed already
both, the participants in the process and the process
when introducing employees (and other groups i.e. facilitators. The values of students expressed through
students) to their work. It is very stimulating if the answers in regular anonymous student surveys,
organization mentions ethics in its manuals, thus
conducted upon the completion of each subject,
joining an increasing number of organizations who are
academic year or study programme are also important,
already aware of the importance of ethics and values in
since they reflect what was important to students in the
the working environment (Tierney 1997, 16–19). It is
light of implementation of the programme. Third and
important that ethics and morals are addressed more key source of information on the values was the
frequently in companies, as well as in the economy
gathering of information on the values of individual
and society. (Donaldson 1992, 2).
groups of elements of the education process at the
Faculty.
MATERIALS AND METHODS a) In its mission the Faculty states that it wishes to
provide the business, public and the third sector with
In examining the problem and in searching for the staff, highly educated in the field of economics
answer to our research question we used the case study suitable for important positions within organisations.
method. This was a combination of a qualitative and With its work in the local environment the Faculty
quantitative approach, where various methods were wishes to offer students in the region the possibility to
used, from the study of literature and examination of acquire higher professional education and attract them
the background of the problem, to the compilation, with its unique programme orientation. In order to
comparison and analysis of primary and secondary provide for a suitable programme orientation the
sources and data, as well as observation, survey and Faculty systematically and continuously develops
implementation of workshops with the respondents. cooperation of the highest quality with potential
We used the triangulation to ensure a wide variety of employers of its graduates. The latter also applies to its
various sources for the acquisition of data on the research work. In its vision the Faculty states that it
situation regarding values at the relevant faculty, from aims to become one of the best private faculties in
Values of Teachers and Students and Quality of Higher Education 337
Slovenia, as well as Europe. Its links with practice filled by 17 members of teaching staff and 9 other
allows for training of graduates of the highest quality employees - since they were not present at the
with applicable knowledge for the business and the Academic Assembly Meeting, (Seme, 2008).
public sector at the European level. Its appeal for Results submitted by students:
students and employers is based on the highest 1. Students on the values of higher education
standard of quality. Faculty study programmes are teachers:
designed according to criteria laid down in the Competence: 57.7 %, Righteousness: 33.8 %,
Bologna declaration, comply with the national Respect: 32.4 %, Responsibility: 25.4 %,
legislation in the field of higher education and are Accessibility: 23.9 %. 2. Students on the values of
evaluated with ECTS. Study programmes state on the students: Friendship and good interpersonal relations:
basis of knowledge of their fields of work. Graduates 54.9 %, Respect: 49.3 %, Responsibility: 43.7 %,
shall acquire competencies from the field of planning, Work habits and diligence: 36.6 %, Integrity: 33.8 %.
organisation, management and controlling of 3. Students on the values of other staff: Responsibility:
organisation as a whole, its individual units and its 54.9 %, Competence: 46.5 %, Being up-to-date: 42.3
functions. %, Good organisation: 36.6 %, Good inter-personal
b) Each academic year upon the completion of a relations: 33.8 %.
subject approximately 2500 students of the Faculty Results submitted by higher education teaching
take the survey on their satisfaction with the subject, staff:
their progress in knowledge, the importance of 1. Higher education teachers on the values of
individual components of implementation, including students: Solidarity: 68.4 %, Knowledge: 52.6 %,
study materials, methods and lecturers. The average Respect: 52.6 %, Responsibility: 42.1 %, Work habits:
grades at the organisational level are improving 36.8 %. 2. Higher education teachers on the values of
slightly each year by a tenth or two percentage points. higher education teachers: Competence: 100.0 %,
On the scale from 1 to 5 the most common average Respect: 73.7 %, Integrity: 63.2 %, Solidarity: 52.6
grade, which reflects the satisfaction of students, is %, Responsibility: 42.1 %. 3. Higher education
approximately 4. Normally the programme subjects teachers on the values of other Faculty staff: Good
are not graded as too demanding or too extensive. inter-personal relations: 88.2 %, Success at work: 52.9
Graduates, who already completed the programme and %, Competence: 47.1 %, Responsibility: 41.2 %,
are already employed, participate in the survey on their Integrity: 35.3 %.
satisfaction with competences acquired during the Results submitted by other Faculty staff
programme. Their grade for year 2009 was 4.2 on a 5- (professional staff):
level scale from 1 to 5. 1. Professional staff on the values of students:
c) We examined which values are considered the Knowledge: 72.7 %, Friendship: 63.6 %, Attitude to
most important for each group and which values each work: 45.5 %, Respect: 36.4 %, Honesty: 27.3 %.
group considers the most important for the other two 2. Professional staff on the values of higher education
groups on three groups of participants in the process at teachers: Good relations: 63.6 %, Competence: 54.5
the Faculty. We summarised and showed the five most %, Integrity: 45.5 %, Respect: 36.4 %, Success: 36.4
common values for individual groups according to the %. 3. Professional staff on the values of professional
range of repetition. We analysed the information staff: Good inter-personal relations: 81.8 %, Good
which was submitted by students (generation organisation of work: 72.7 %, Professionalism: 63.6
2008/2009) during tutorials for the subject %, Honesty: 27.3 %, Respect: 27.3 %.
Organisational Culture. Students from 9 units were
divided into groups of five. Consequently 60 groups of DISCUSSION
part-time and 11 groups of full-time students were
formed. Approximately 300 part-time students and 60
In its mission and vision the faculty emphasizes
full time students participated in this part of the
that it shall provide employers with highly qualified
research. We also analysed sources which we acquired
staff for important positions and tasks within
at the regular annual meeting of the Academic organizations. Thus, we can conclude that the latter
Assembly of the Faculty and questionnaires submitted applies to the following values: competence and
by teaching and other staff. Other staff of the Faculty
knowledge. Appeal to employers and students must be
comprises entire administrative staff, technical staff of
based on the high quality standards, reflected in the
the student’s registrar, library, computer lab and
competence, knowledge and responsibility. The
professional services (ten employees). At the Faculty
anticipated competences of individual study
there are ten higher education teachers with full-time programmes emphasize the development of skills and
employment, and approximately 70 higher education knowledge for the successful management of change
teachers with part-time employment or other forms of
and solution of professional challenges. The values of
agreement. The participants at the Academic
the institution recognized in all long-term documents
Assembly meeting were divided into 5 groups of 8
and formal contents are therefore competence,
members. After the completed workshop and the
knowledge and responsibility. The research among
Academic Assembly meeting the questionnaires were students, higher education teachers ad professional
338 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
staff of the Faculty and the comparison of results of the institution all groups attribute only to higher
uncovers that according to self-evaluation of each education teachers. Students do not attribute enough
group the highest importance is attributed to importance to knowledge and competence as well as
“expertise” in the group of higher education teachers integrity. Results show that other potential measures
only – the same result for teachers were submitted also for changing the latter include the adoption of a code
by students and professional staff. According to self- of ethics for all participants in the education process,
evaluation of students the highest ranking value among which would present fundamental values, their
students is friendship and good relations – the same meaning and acceptable conduct in order to ensure
results for students were submitted also by values, which are important to the institution. At
professional staff and higher education teaching staff, present, the Faculty with its way of operation does not
which emphasize solidarity among students. These provide for the latter since competence as a value is
results therefore mean that expertise and knowledge as attributed to higher education teachers only and not to
one of fundamental values of the institution is the group for which the process is intended – the
attributed and acknowledged to higher education students. If the Faculty wishes to acquire students who
teachers only. The second surprising fact is that shall value a high level of training for important
students did not rank knowledge among their top five positions and tasks within organization it shall have to
values – although higher education teachers considered complete a couple of systematic steps towards internal
knowledge as important to students, while other and external reputation as a school, which considers
professional Faculty staff believe that knowledge is the ethical conduct during acquisition of knowledge of
highest ranking value among students. Perception of significant importance. Otherwise, objectives in the
these two groups of the importance of knowledge mission and vision shall remain only at a formal level.
among students is therefore highly discrepant with the
actual state presented by students in the research. References
Another unpleasant fact is also that students ranked
integrity as the last of five values, while higher 1. Beck Jørgensen, T. (2007),”Public Values – their Nature,
education teachers did not even place integrity among Stability and Change. The Case of Denmark”, Public Administration
the five values which are the most important to Quarterly, vol. 30, nr. 4, 2007, pp. 363-396
students and professional staff placed it on last place. 2. Beck Jørgensen, T. (2009), “Value dynamics and infrastructure
reform” I: International Journal of Public Policy. 2009 ; vol. 4, nr.
We can conclude that all three groups assess that 5, s. 449-457
students consider the way in which they complete their 3. Crittenden, K. S., Norr, J. L. (1973), “Student values and
study requirements of lesser significance, since teacher evaluation”, Sociometry, Vol. 36, No. 2, 143 – 151
integrity also applies to testing of knowledge, 4. Donaldson John. 1992. Business Ethics. San Diego: Academia
pressing.
especially if dealt with in the context of another 5. Dolinšek, Tatjana. (2008). Delovanje učnih podjetij v Republiki
important value – solidarity among students. Sloveniji (Operation of practice firms in Slovenia). V: Rajkovič,
When we check the set hypotheses on the basis of Vladislav (ed.), Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on
analysis and comparison of results from primary and Organizational Science Development, Slovenia, Portorož, March,
19th-21th, 2008. Kranj: Moderna organizacija, 2008, str. 584-588.
secondary sources we can establish that Hypothesis 1: 6. Gregory R. Maio, Ulrike Hahn, John-Mark Frost and Wing-Yee
‘The things students value most in teachers is their Cheung, (2009), »Applying the Value of Equality Unequally: Effects
competence and impartial assessment of exam papers’ of Value Instantiations That Vary in Typicality«, Journal of
is confirmed. Hypothesis 2: ‘In other workers at the Personality and Social Psychology, Volume 97, Issue 4, October
2009, Pages 598-614
Faculty, student value responsibility and being up to 7. Kavčič, Bogdan. 2007. Organizacijska kultura. 3. dopolnjena
date’ is confirmed, since both values were placed by izd. Celje: Visoka komercialna šola Celje
students among the top three that apply to professional 8. Kovač, Tatjana. (2008). Izzivi za merjenje kakovosti v šoli. V:
staff. Hypothesis 3: ‘The most important values for Žargi, Darinka (ur.). Slovensko združenje za kakovost, 17. letna
konferenca, Bernardin, 6. in 7. novembra 2008. Biti boljši na poti do
students are respect and honesty’ has been rejected. boljšega: zbornik referatov. Ljubljana: Slovensko združenje za
Hypothesis 4: ‘The most important values for teachers kakovost, 2008, str. 199-202.
are honesty and knowledge has been confirmed’ since 9. Kyriakides, L., B.P.M. Creemers B, P. Antoniou (2009)
both values were placed among the three most Teaching and Teacher Education 25 ( 12–234)
10. Lovat, T., Toomey, R., Clement, N. (2010), International
common among higher education teachers. Hypothesis Research Kandbook on Values Education and Student Wellbeing,
5: ‘The most important values of other faculty staff are Springer
good organization of work and good human relations’ 11. Seme, Slavica (2008), Osnutek etičnega kodeksa Fakultete za
has been confirmed. komercialne in poslovne vede, FKPV, Celje, Slovenija
12. Sorell, Tom in Hendry, John. (1994). Business Ethics. Oxford:
Butterworth Heinemann. Teacher behaviour and student outcomes:
CONCLUSION Suggestions for research on teachertraining and professional
development
13. Martijn Willems, Mieke Lunenberg, Fred Korthagen.(2005),
The research has shown that there are certain links Teaching and Teacher Education 21 (2005) 205–21
between values of students and values of higher
education teachers and professional staff which
support the implementation of the teaching process.
Competence as one of the fundamental guiding values
ALUMNI – A UNIVERSITY’S RESOURCE FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
The paper introduces a new approach to considering the relationship between a university and its Alumni. Alumni are looked upon as a strategic
resource that can be capitalized on in pursuit of raising the quality of higher education through adding to the university’s social capital. Building
tight ties with Alumni is a matter of organizational culture and an essential item on the academic management agenda. Based on the perspective
advanced in the paper, visionary academic management can provide for a continuous organizational learning process and innovative ways to
building competitiveness through closer community integration.The main intended beneficiary of our viewpoints is the management of Romanian
universities.
Conference Topic: Sustainability in Higher Education/ Organizational culture and quality of higher education
Key words: university organizational culture, academic competitiveness, academic management, alumni associations
In order to conduct a first analysis of the current
INTRODUCTION practices and tools in building and maintaining the
University - Alumni relationships we have resorted to
An alumnus (pl. alumni)/ alumna (pl. alumnae) is researching the websites of higher education institutions
and alumni associations. From our direct experience and
a man/ woman graduate or former student of a school,
as confirmed by our Internet search, Romanian
college or university or their community [1]. The noun
universities interrelate rather feebly with their alumni. It
"alumnus" is a Latin word, originally meaning "ward"
is apparent that fostering the relationship with alumni
or "protégé", as a hint at the metaphoric meaning of the
student’s relationship with the Alma mater – any has not become a part of the culture prevailing in
learning institution viewed as the Mother of Learning Romanian universities. Therefore, we ended up focusing
on foreign educational institutions and researched the
(nourishing studies)/ an educational establishment [2].
sites of about 70 universities on all continents. Our
An Alumni Association [3] is an organized group of
research will be continued with running a survey of the
graduates – Alumni, of former students of a form or
opinions of Romanian alumni and senior academic
structure of learning/ education/ training/ instruction.
Such groups can be organized officially, as legally leaders about the issue. Our purpose is to systematize
registered associations, or can function informally, as the information we gather and turn it into guidelines
useful to Romanian academic management.
circumstantial group relationships. Most of the alumni
In selecting the websites to investigate, we
associations are formed around universities or university
followed three directions:
departments, around groups sharing a certain pursuit (a
- We chose universities in the world’s top 500 [5],
certain sport, art, science etc.) or a certain defining
feature (nationality, race, faith, geographical area etc.). considering that the highest ranking universities
have significant alumni communities;
At a minimal level, the relationship between a
- We had in view to cover geographically all
university and its graduates can boil down to recording
continents; for this purpose we resorted to the lists
the alumni in the annals of the university or in the
of the top 3/ top 10 universities by countries [6];
databases of department secretariats. Thus, setting up
alumni associations is an independent initiative based on - We identified certain Alumni Associations that
the will of the alumni. World experience shows, stand alone and have their own websites
independent of their alma mater.
however, that there is benefit in universities’ orientation
Based on this study we present some of our
to maintaining and nurturing the relationship with their
findings.
alumni, either directly or through Alumni Associations.
In a cumulative but not exhaustive listing, the
That relationship, in turn, can be mutually beneficial,
fostering the evolution and gain of both sides up to prevailing ordinary objectives and actions of Alumni
synergy and sustainability [4]. Associations are related to:
- Organizing events (reunions, conferences, social
For this to be so, each side must invest some
activities, documentary trips) [7];
involvement in this undertaking, be it only of time,
- Fund-raising (methods and purposes) [8];
thought, organizational work, attention or training.
- Talents and personnel recruitment [9];
Basically, as will be seen further on, creating the
university – alumni relationship and making it work can - Evidencing personalities (VIPs) – in terms of
be only a matter of attitude and management, such as positions and hierarchy or of scientific titles [10];
- Issuing newsletters, books, other publications [11];
would lay the foundation for and institute an
- Facilitating networking/ communication forms [12];
organizational culture. And, as will be seen below, this
- Providing a framework for creativity, scientific
process basically depends on the university leadership’s
conceptual approach and strategic managerial support, improvement of learning, career support
orientation. (ideas, case studies, thematic projects) [13];
- Launching and conducting evaluations/ studies
CURRENT APPROACHES TO THE
based on opinion surveys/ questionnaires [14];
UNIVERSITY-ALUMNI RELATIONSHIP
340 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
- Granting support to students, including scholarships - Sometimes even help with moving or renting [26];
and prizes for excellence, as well as assistance for - Retirement assistance programs (pension plan,
retirement plans, memory boosting, facilitating fitness classes, information on cures & travel) [27];
travel, fitness, visiting, recreation, hobbies, etc [15]; - Official granting of a class ring as a token of
- Motivating the community toward involvement in recognition anywhere in the world, ensuring access
support of the respective university/ its campus and to all the benefits going with the alumni status [28].
the values, standards and principles defining it [16]. ALUMNI – ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE
Although most Alumni Associations are self- As evidenced on the university sites we
reliant, they essentially aim to be an interface between investigated, current practices highlight the services a
the university and the community, alumni helping to university offers to its alumni, stressing out alumni
maintain ties and to facilitate interaction in a smooth, benefits. Universities do not mention or only imply the
harmonious manner. Thus, beyond all the other specific benefits they can derive from interrelating with alumni.
sections, the website of an Alumni Association features The “other perspective” we adopt calls for improved
a number of links to various other resources of interest: transparency on the side of the university. We trust that
- Websites of all Alumni Associations, related to all alumni can be motivated to support their alma mater by
branches and representations of the university in the discloser of: the benefits the university draws from
the country and abroad [17]; their contributions, and the furthered objectives the
- Websites of all alumni clubs (by specific area of university can pursue with the help of alumni.
interest: hobby, graduation year, research group, We highlight the major benefits a university can
geographical area, nationality, faith etc.), including derive from building a lasting relationship with alumni:
clubs or associations of parents and students [18]; 1. Financial/ in-kind contributions: alumni contribute
- Networks of associative partnering membership; money (donations, sponsorship, scholarships and
- Long-term plans and statistical analyses regarding prizes, grants, projects, commercial activities,
the association’s activities and their results [19]. collaborative actions, a share of revenue, etc) and/ or
The management practices evident in the case of goods (property transfer, equipment endowment,
universities fostering networking with alumni stress the facilities investments) and/ or services (volunteering,
benefits and services the alma mater may offer to its promotion).
alumni. The range of benefits and opportunities is very The university obtains supplementary income (and
diverse – this probably depending on both creativity and goods) enabling it to support excellence in higher
resources. However they obviously differ from one education (by providing equipment, facilities, good
university to another, and/ or from country to country. professionals, confortable conditions for learning,
Summing up, these practices include: granting scholarships and prizes, diversified assistance,
- Providing all alumni with an e-mail address for life, research programs, innovation). In fact, the university
and other IT/ Internet facilities; can thus secure some of its independence and financial
- Enrolling them at cut-rate costs or with a privileged autonomy, which in turn secure its freedom of action to
status in all activities on the campus; access to provide quality academic services. Harvard University
publications, to certain hotel networks, to buying [29], for instance, which appears to have a very good
books, to sports grounds/ specialized clubs (e.g. strategic plan and method of attracting and managing
golf), or to restaurants, libraries, shops or clubs funds from alumni (in various ways), also has the
other than those on the campus, to participation in biggest budget of all universities in the world – hence
conferences, expeditions, contests [20]; the excellent endowment and educational standards,
- Free or privileged online access to certain scientific handsom rewards for teaching and research staff, all of
articles or journals, or data-basis [21]; which account for Harvard being the world’s highest
- Career assistance, guidance, improvement either rated university.
through dedicated bureaux, including the testing of The fact that alumni can contribute financially to
abilities, finding jobs, post-graduate specialization supporting the univerisities, also entails other aspects:
opportunities, as well as cooperation contracts [22]; - Pressure on the national budget to provide for a
- Access to thematic forums (climate change, stock quality educational system is diminished; and
market, retirement homes and communities) [23]; - Alumni Associations can exist and function as
- Providing credit cards or privileged access (to all increasingly strong organizations, by having their
alumni) to certain chain stores, hotels, restaurants, own management and ensuring all the benefits that
travel agencies, hospitals, bookstores, libraries [24]; can only come from a well organized system [30].
- Facilitating travel arrangements and holiday trips, 2. Informational/ professional benefits: maintaining the
stays, field studies, educational conferences [25]; interaction with alumni, the university will have
- Acquisition of goods/ products with the logo and permanent contact and access to data and information
colors of the alma mater: pens, caps, bags, neckties, originating in the practical realities and specific needs
calendars, jackets, T-shirts, umbrellas, watches etc.; of society, which can serve as sources of inspiration
- Supplying various information through the E- both for adapting and modernizing the university
Bulletin/ Newsletter, and the Events & News page; curricula and for new research projects or assistance
- Cut-rates for car, home, health and travel insurance; services.
Alumni – The University Resource For Competitive Advantages 341
One of the missions of the university is to train contributions that enhance the university’s topical
professionals in keeping with the changing needs of relevance. It is the alma mater, after all, that is thus
society; as well, to foresee the evolution of society and advantaged, as it has the opportunity to become an
provide scientific and technological feedback; such as it organization that is learning through its alumni. In fact,
would prepare the society to cope with or determine the the alma mater and its alumni can evolve together,
global changes. Such desiderata can be attained synergetically, thereby helping to advance the
precisely by maintaining the grip on practical reality and community they serve and represent. Consequently, the
resorting to alumni as agents of innovation and suppliers community in turn gets to better understand, appreciate
of feedback to the academic institution from the and support more substantially the role of academia, the
concrete context of their functioning in society. need for and value of quality education and training and
Concurrently, the alumni returning to the university for investment in this area.
either to continue their training or for collaboration in - The brand: the relationship between the alma mater
research or assistance services offer the alma mater and alumni – to which each side contributes and in
their creativity and innovative spirit, while also acting as which both sides evolve, individually and together –
a supplementary human resource, both for renewing the improves the university’s image, its fame, reputation
syllabi and enriching the portfolio of university and recognition expanding and being institutionalized;
competencies and services. Subsidiarily: alumni’s pride in their alma mater is boosted and so is
- The alumni – university relationship may also offer the university’s pride in its alumni and their
the opportunity for undergraduates to be trained for their acknowledged worth, based on the excellence of studies.
chosen professions also through interaction with alumni These aspects of the relationship and its impact create a
(by consulting with the latter, in actions on campus, or brand for the university and that in turn acts as an
by being selected by the latter for joint research incentive for furthering that mutually beneficial
programs, being offered the opportunity of practice at relationship. The power of one side therefore influences
the workplace of alumni, or being recruited to be and determines the power of the other side, in a mutual
trained, while still at university, for jobs in the and synergic interconditioning.
companies owned by alumni etc.) [31]. A corollary of the above, the conclusion is that
3. Social support/ networking: alumni are a strategic resource for their university, a
- Alumni represent the university, be it even permanent source of competitive advantages, based on
indirectly, in the community; the professional renewal and differentiation [32]. Alumni and their
services they render justify the role and institutional community contribute to the university’s: Financial,
purpose of the university, which thus fulfils its Human, Material, Technological, Social, Informational,
mission; at the same time, however, alumni’s work Reputation, Innovation and Creativity capitals [33].
can win community support for the university in Therefore, in our opinion, capitalizing on the alumni
recognition of its merits, contributions and quality potential in the service of the university should be a
of the provided educational services; strategic concern of academic management [34].
- Alumni can act as marketers for the university,
directly or simply through their socially and INVESTING IN ALUMNI
professionally proven quality, thus attracting new
students and/ or collaborative actions; As is known, both in theory and in the practice of
- With alumni throughout the world, the alma mater managing any resource in any field, solid, lasting results
acquires international networking advantages, cannot be obtained without investing strategically. As
including specific projects and cooperation actions, far as building and maintaining the university - alumni
and/ or luring students from foreign countries. relationship is concerned, the examples above have
Subsidiarily: already evidenced the fact that both elements of the
- Connections with alumni, notably based on relationship are involved in the investment effort.
networks assisted by Alumni Associations and the Obviously, on either side the main investment is in
services they provide, foster a feeling of communication technology, organization of services,
membership and the awareness that wherever you and in the application it takes to activate the relationship
are, wherever you go, you can anytime count on and make it work. In our view, permanently cultivating
your alma mater and its assistance, on the ties with and consolidating this relationship pertains to and
fellow alumni, even if not of the same class, but of transfers into the grounding and institutionalization of
the same community, at large; an organizational culture. And it is at this level that
- At least in virtual space, through Web 2.0 means, academic management responsibility steps in.
the community of your university belongs to you In this respect, international experience shows
and can permanently grow. there is a tendency to increasingly use corporate
To note, however, that this university – alumni management levers and instruments for vertical and
relationship implies mutual advantages as well: horizontal organizational integration, and the policy of
- Lifelong training: the alma mater can assist its alumni pursuing financial self-reliance in order to ensure
throughout their life, but alumni in their turn support the quality education and research. Practical examples attest
alma mater, by their return to study and their practical that there are universities where the concern to arouse
342 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
interest in academic activities and in backing the role all, it is a matter of improving the management of such
and mission of higher education ranges from opening readily available human resources.
kindergartens, programs for high school students or Last but not least, all these aspects make up a way
setting up colleges, supporting a wide array of activities of creating and investing in an academic organizational
for students, teachers and alumni – culminating with the culture and in university branding, which in turn would
setting up of institutes providing specialized assistance entail, in our opinion, many advantages, chiefly for the
to support their creativity, to introducing networking university but also for the community, thas is, for us all.
with parents, retired alumni, or the community as such. It is all just a matter of awareness, attitude and
Likewise, there are more and more examples of involvement – at the level of academic management and
universities beginning to institutionalize partnership also of each individual, in relation to the importance of
relations such as that of academia – business – public higher education and the need to capitalize on all
administration – civic organizations, precisely in order resources available to it; therefore it all depends on us!
to foster the best possible integration of higher References
education in the community. Note: Because of space limitations we had to keep references at
As a more recent occurrence, at the level of higher a minimum. Readers interested in pursuing the topic are welcomed to
e-mail the first author for a fully documented version of this paper.
education, too, more and more attention is given to 1
. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language:
internationalization and globalization. Universities are Fourth Edition. 2000; Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009
extending their coverage from branches in the country 2.
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by
to representations abroad; from courses in foreign Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio
3.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language:
languages to attracting foreign students; from updating
Fourth Edition. 2000 – viewed on January13th, 2007
the university curricula by introducing the latest themes 4. Candea, D. (2006),“From Sustainable Development to The
of interest in the world, to creating new programs, Sustainable Corporation” – în Candea D. (coord.) Întreprinderea
summer schools included, approaching globalization sustenabilă – Studii şi cercetări, Vol. 1, UTPRES, Cluj-Napoca
5. http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-
aspects as such. Worth mentioning in this line is the
university-rankings/2009/results - (12/12/2009)
Asian way of linking up with world education through 6. QS Quacquarelli Symonds <http://www.topuniversities.com>
the shift from sending students to study abroad to luring 7. http://www.wsu.edu/ - Washington State University, (08/06/08)
foreign students to their institutions. Alumni are given 8. http://www.anu.edu.au/alumni - Australian National University
9. http://www.en.uni-muenchen.de/index - Ludwig-Maximilians-
special attention in this connection, as messengers and
Universität München, (03/14/2009)
mentors likely to attract foreign students to exotic places 10. http://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/ - Cambridge University, (01/29/09)
and novel educational offers. 11. http://www.ufl.edu/friends/ - University of Florida, (03/14/2008)
All these examples prove that universities are 12. http://www.eui.eu/ - European University Institute, (01/07/2009)
13. http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/alumni - Kyoto (07/28/2008)
increasingly aware of the need to ensure the support for
14. http://www.alumni.ox.ac.uk/ - Oxford University (04/21/2008)
their institutional existence, by cultivating the human 15. http://www.stanford.edu/gateways/alumni.html - (12/03/2008)
resource of all kinds, at any level and in all possible 16. http://www.alumni.auckland.ac.nz/uoa - University of Auckland
ways. Moreover, emphasis is being given to developing 17. http://umalumni.um.edu.my/ - Malaesya, (06/23/2009)
18. http://www.alumni.berlkeley/edu/community/alumni-groups/all
alumni loyalty: by contributing you will find yourself in
19. http://www.useoul.edu/ - Seoul National University (06/18/2009)
what is achieved, your name will be recorded in the 20. http://alumni.utoronto.ca/s/731/index.aspx - Toronto(11/13/2009)
history of the university, and your descendants can be 21. http://www.yale.edu/gateways/alumni.html - Yale (10/15/2009)
proud of what you did for everyone’s future. 22. http://www.alumni.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ - Tokyo University (11/02/2009)
23. http://www.wpi.edu/alumni/index.html - Worcester Polytechnics
24. http://www.isualum.org/en/retirees_association/ -Yowa(01/08/07)
CONCLUSIONS 25. http://www.wmalumni.com/?travel_08 –William&Mary (10/07/08
26. http://www.buffalo.edu/members-only-benefits/ - (03/21/2009)
27. http://www.cornell.edu/ - Cornell University, (12/02/2007)
As we see it, the most important conclusions are: 28. http://web.mit.edu/life/ - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Alumni can be a major source and resource 29. http://www.alumni.harvard.edu/haa - (01/02/2008)
universities can capitalize on; and 30. http://aoc.mcgill.ca/ - McGill, California, (04/25/2008)
31. http://alumni.indiana.edu/membership/ - (04/24/2007)
- International experience is a wealthy source of 32. Porter, M. (1998) “On Competition”, Ed. HBS Publishing
information and inspiration in this respect. 33. Bochniarz, Z. (2001) “Executive Management Education in
And, in our view, all these stand for objectives and CEE”, LKAEM, Warsaw, pg. 28-54
actions that can also be transposed and adapted in 34. Stefanescu, R., Candea, D., Candea, R. (2009) „Alumni – A
Strategic Resource for Universities”, BRCEE – LBU Sibiu
Romania, too. The experience others have accumulated Conference Proceedings, Volume 2, pg. 557-561
can be a useful lesson to be learned so should not have
to necessarly invent anything. It can be adopted
creatively, but innovation on that basis is also possible.
We see no impediment to this valuable resource which
alumni make up to be managed in Romania, too, in the
service of the university and of the local and/ or national
community. All the more so as it costs almost nothing,
except attention and organization, and it is at the disposal
of the university already in the undergraduate stage. After
CENTRAL DIMENSIONS OF SOCIO-PROFFESIONAL INTEGRATION OF PERSONS
WITH DISABILITIES – THE BINOMIAL EDUCATION / PROFFESIONAL TRAINING –
EMPLOYMENT SYSTEM FOR THE FUTURE OF DISABLED
The paper described the educational and occupational system which includes disabled, issues that are supported by statistics. For the
middle of this education-employment binomial, that related to the higher education for disabled, there is no statistical data, these
issues can be taken either part of the two extreme sides of the binomial (special education and occupation), or by surveys. Following
these analyses, some lines of action were proposed to improve educational and occupational inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Persons with disabilities form a very diverse group, students enrolled per the training profiles. Dynamics of
which often have to face some very different barriers, persons with disabilities included in special education
thus facing a multiple disadvantage state. As such, it is (ISCED 3) is particularly eloquent and underlying panel
particularly important to ensure equal opportunities to on higher education of persons with disabilities (ISCED
participate in social life - specific objective for an 5A, 5B), as essential, leading up and mandatory steps, to
inclusive society, by developing training services / higher education, while without a high- school diploma
vocational training, creating employment opportunities, the enrollment for admission to higher education it not
strengthening the role of the community and of the civil allowed.
society in general, through the awareness of Highlighting the situation of persons with
accountability to the disabled person at the level of disabilities in special education (secondary / high
society, target group or family, for enhancing the school) is crucial to see how many of them could
integration and social participation of this population theoretically go on and get access to higher educational
segment. Since 2003, the number of people with level (it is true, is not the only requirement to access to
disabilities has taken a continuing and significant the higher education or to graduate), but showing some
upward trajectory, with more than 64% in 2009 important signs for highlighting the educational system
compared with 2003. In the evolution of the number of for disabled, including higher education system and also
disabled has experienced both the effects of increasing the employment for a specific job.
awareness of people with disabilities and of their For highliting the situation of disabled in educational
families and the effects of Law no. 448/2006 regarding and occupational system, the research methodology was
the protection and promotion of persons with handicap. based on this research method: analysis of secondary
Reporting the total number of disabled to the total sources (specific literature, legal documents, official
population, the resulting rate ranges between 2÷3%, statistics available, position papers and documents of
well below the average of 10% estimated as existing in various non-governmental organizations), and some
the EU countries, according to the international results of a study made by the Academic Society of
statistics. On the one hand, it is true that these values are Romania, published in 2009, because there are no
not very big, and even much lower than the EU average, statistical date related to the higher education of
but emphases that, numerical, people with disabilities disabled.
are on a continuous upward slope. Thus, serious It is well known that there are no statistical data
consideration should be given to disabled’ issues and to about the number of college students with disabilities
the encompass issues (education, employment, and so), enrolled in higher education, but considering the data of
starting from an accurate sizing and down to the lines of education for the persons with disabilities in special
action, with related feedback. The two main interrelated education, and taking into account the employment
issues regarding the integration of disabled are provided statistics which include disabled, this represents a first
by the educational and occupational level - major step for highlighting the level of education of persons
elements for the enhancement of the quality of life, with disabilities. From the both structures can be
equal opportunities and greater social inclusion of this obtained relevant information concerning: the level of
population segment, according to European and national education, the employment rates, the linkage between
strategies in the field. education and employment, in a word – the integration
into educational and employment systems of the
Access to education for persons with disabilities disabled people.
The following issues are considered: the situation of Thus, except for persons with disabilities included in
the special education in the schools and the students the primary and secondary special education,
enrolled; the situation of the professional special schools considering the following levels for special education,
and the students enrolled per training profiles; the namely secondary (ISCED 2 and 3), vocational and
situation of the special post-secondary schools and apprenticeship and post-secondary and foremen (ISCED
344 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
3 and 4), it appears that there is a predominant and Sports, MERYS); there are open schools, meaning
orientation to vocational schools and apprentice, with a that in some special and integrated schools there are
majority number of registered disabled people (30%) as classes with students with disabilities and with students
opposed to the secondary and post secondary education. without disabilities - in the 2005/2006 school year
Over the years, due to the decreasing of the overall operate 16 such schools (MERYS data); there are
number of students enrolled, the number of persons special schools - resource centers - in the 2005/2006
enrolled in the primary and secondary schools and those school year there are 2 units of this type; the number of
in vocational and apprentice, decreases also. In the same special compact classes in mass school (integrated
time, the number of students enrolled in secondary education) increased, as a first step towards integration
education decreases, and the number of students of students with learning difficulties – in 2005-2006
enrolled in secondary education and apprenticeship school year, at national level, 3,957 disabled were
increases slightly, marginally. integrated into the mass school in compact groups (data
This picture entails the following signals: the MERYS); some type of alternative education at home
number of special schools is declining (except in education have developed (according to the Law
secondary / high school, but not significantly) due to 448/2006, till the age of 26 for the disabled) and the
weaker overall number of people with disabilities number of beneficiaries of such type of education has
enrolled in special schools, in almost all levels number increased over 10 times in 2003-2005.
of people decreases (primary, secondary and vocational Education for students with disabilities shall be in
education). segregated form, although there are some trends towards
Doing a simple correlation with the number of inclusion into integrated education. Education emerges
disabled in the same age group, it is noted that although as a decisive element in the social valuing of people
the total number of persons with disabilities is with disabilities, as well as a segment prior to further
increasing from year to year, including those for the social integration. To avoid polarization in education
respectively age groups, the number of those enrolled in between those with disabilities and all people of the
special education system is still very low (about 40-50% same age group, it is necessary to support the
of disabled can be found enrolled in special education integration of mass education. Integration policies are
system), which means that most of them are found in the relevant to achieving sustainable results over time and
integrated education system, which can be a positive focuses on their involvement in special education and in
aspect. But, in the same time, while it is possible that a integrated education, on increasing the opportunities for
number of disabled in this age group might not be found their access to medium-high education, vocational
in the special education nor in the integrated one, education and higher education.
because of the type and/or increased degree of Even in the special education, there are official
disability, the lack of accessibility, transport and other statistics in dynamic, for higher education system which
determinants of household (income, education, and so), includes people with disabilities, there are not statistics
which would subsequently increase their placement into showing the rates of enrollment. Any higher education
the social protection system. institution and statistics in this field do not reveals such
It is also important that disabled people who can data for higher education, being neither differences
really benefit from integrated educational services to be between disabled nor other students. As such, some
integrated and there should not exist situations where information may be obtained from specific field surveys
special education for disabled is based on other conducted. One such report was of the Academic
arguments besides their functional gap and the Society of Romania made over the 1,555 persons with
remaining gap to be properly assessed. disabilities, non-institutionalized, with aged between 18
By type of disability, for the year 2005-2006, and 55 years. The results of this field survey showed the
students with mental deficiency predominates, while following: from the total persons with disabilities, only
most people with hearing impairment (43%) and vision 8.3% have higher education. From the number of
deficiencies (3%) are found in a form of special disabled who have higher education, 62% live in cities,
vocational education type, high school and colleges, as 50% have an increased degree of disability, and 40%
these types of disabilities are less disabling in terms of have physical disabilities. The distribution by age and
access to education for persons with disabilities. gender is relatively uniform by subgroup of people with
Thus, it can be noticed some progress in the special the same level of education. However, from the group of
education system, in the direction of adapting it to the those who have higher education, less than 10% attend
disabled’ needs: decreased number of students in special at one time special school’s courses.
schools, so there is an increased downward trend: if in Given two main chapters of this paper related to the
the 2000/2001 school year were enrolled in special equal opportunities and inclusion for disabled in special
schools 50,826 children and students with disabilities, in education and in employment, which are supported by
the school year 2007/2008 were included 28,828 in statistical data in the dynamic, the middle link in this
special education (data of the National Institute of highly interconnected binomial education-employment
Statistics, NIS); the number of students with disabilities system, respectively that related to the higher education
integrated into mass schools (integrated education) has system, is not supported by official statistics.
increased (the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth
Alumni – The University Resource For Competitive Advantages 345
So, these issues for the higher education can be were quite many disabled of working age, only about
taken from the two extreme sides of the binomial 14% of them are disabled who were employed in the
system, or by some field investigations with these two years 2005-2006 and 23.63% in 2008.
large structures that are made occasionally and are not Labor mediation activity was boosted by the
highlighting these issues every time. Thus, although the organization at national level of a few jobs market for
exact size for inclusion of disabled in higher education all categories of persons seeking employment, but also
is unknown (the number of persons with disabilities for target groups, as disabled. Over time, there have
included in higher education or the number of graduates, been no requests from people with disabilities to these
and so), it is well known that, although a small mediation activities in the labor market, so if at first
proportion of people with disabilities have a workplace, NAE annual organized such a jobs market (in 2003,
only a part of the disabled employees have higher 2004, 2005), after they were held occasionally, only on
education (16-20%). But in these conditions it should be request, whenever such requirement exists, so it may be
provided measures of equal opportunity and access, to only on a single county level, not necessarily at the
promote the social inclusion of disabled, including national level and not necessarily every year. Although
especially the education and the employment of this the state provides, according by the laws in force, some
population group. employers facilities, employers often refuse to hire
people with disabilities. Unjustified refusal entails
The access to employment for disabled penalty for that company, but this is not an
The following issues are considered: the situation of insurmountable obstacle for employers.
disabled in employment, according to the statistics of The small number of disabled people in employment
NAPD (National Authority for Persons with Disability); is due to order psychological barriers and the physical
the situation of disabled in employment and those who ones. The difficulties of integrating people with
participate in active measures programs of NAE disabilities are very diverse, they are mainly related to:
(National Agency for Employment); the situation of the availability ensured by the community and
protected units and of disabled placed in these units. employers, the adjustments of workplace ensured by
There is a few information concerning the employers, the attitudes about the employment of such
employment of disabled, official statistics is being persons in activities, more soon the employers are
mentioned on 31st of March 2003, 31st of December willing to pay the penalties provided by law that to hire
2005, and on the 4 quarters of 2009. According to these persons with special needs.
statistics of NAPD on 31st of March 2003, only 12,183 The protected units represent another real possibility
people were employed, which represented 2.93% of for employment of disabled. If in 2003 there are 28 of
total number of persons with disabilities. In only 2 these units, since 2007 their number increased
years, there were no significant differences between significantly from year to year (150 protected units
these indicators, so the number of disabled employed authorized by NAPD in 2007, 340 in the first semester
was 13,684, which represented a total of 2.98%, while 2009). Number of disabled employed in the protected
the share of persons with disabilities and for adults with unit saw a significant increase since 2006 until now.
disabilities in the total population increased. Then, for
2009 (when it begins to calculate the quarterly number The correlation between the demand and the supply
of disabled employed), these rates have increased from of labor for persons with disabilities. By the frequencies
3% to 4.1-4.2%. It is true that employment rates are based on statistical data from 1st January 2007, we can
very low, but they are calculated to the total persons conclude that the greatest employment opportunities
with disabilities, regardless of age groups, type and have the disabled with increased handicap (78.4%), with
degree of disability. somatic handicap (27.3%) or persons who have
graduated from high school (35.84%), regardless of type
The situation of disabled in employment and those and degree of disability. A structural analysis of
who participate in active measures of NAE programs. disabled people employed according to their educational
By the support of NAE, by applying the complex active level, indicates a majority share for those who graduated
employment measures for people with disabilities, the last school, and 78% of those employed have at least
number of disabled in employment was on an upward secondary education. In the higher education they have
trend, from 874 persons in 2004 to 1,061 in 2008. employed people with disabilities, according to the
However, the small number of disabled employed by NAPD, the estimated number of such persons is very
NAE support compared to the number of disabled low, till 16%, the largest share being held by those with
recorded in NAE agency reflects the difficulties of secondary education 35%. Unfortunately, higher levels
disabled’s integration which are very different: the of education (ISCED 5) has not a relevant share in the
availability/accessibility that should be ensured by the total persons with disabilities employed at that time
community and employers, the adjustments of (16%), which persist to this day (about 20% of disabled
workplace made by employers, the attitudes about the employees have higher education).
working of these persons in practical activities, rather To analyze the parts of labor demand, respectively
employers are willing to pay the penalties provided by the unmet supply of labor market, we have as a starting
law than to employ persons with disabilities. It remains point the structure of professions/occupations of
disturbing that, although in the NAE agency records disabled in employment, respectively the share of main
346 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
This paper is aimed at debating ethics and moral issues in a multicultural learning environment. It promotes the idea of organizational culture
and quality in higher education with a focus on intercultural dialogue, intercultural sensitivity and intercultural effectiveness. The paper disseminates
a part of the research results obtained by the team of “Idei 1224” & "Parteneriate 92116" National Research Programmes. The two research
projects take into account ethical and moral issues in higher education with special reference to equality of chances, management of diversity and
intercultural dialogue-as prerequisites for higher education sustainability. The methodology consists in case studies, interviews and questionnaires
applied both to the Faculty of Business Administration (with subjects taught in foreign languages) at the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies and
the Faculty of Engineering in Foreign Languages at “Politehnica” University of Bucharest. The qualitative interpretation refers to students’ opinion
regarding intercultural sensitivity at the two faculties that function as multinational learning environments. The team members support the idea that
moral and ethical issues are very important in order to better understand and interpret the dynamics of competences in a global knowledge-based
society and economy. Intercultural competence and effectiveness can make the difference for the quality and sustainability of higher education. In
Romania the previous studies concerning intercultural sensitivity focused on the ethnic dimension. The originality of our research consists in its focus
on intercultural dialogue, ethics, moral and intercultural effectiveness when students interact learning the same topic in a foreign language.
becomes a social obligation and more of an economic The open questions: (1) provide solutions for
imperative. respecting and promoting an equal opportunities climate
Nowadays universities must have a specific behavior in universities; (2) provide suggestions for universities
like organizations to remain competitive and to as to how sustain intercultural dialogue and cultural
permanently upgrade their curricula to the necessities of diversity in the learning environment and (3) identify
the labor market. Research indicates that participation in what kind of competences are important resources for
intercultural education can result, in the short-term, in the potential employer.
changes to individual attitudes and cross-group Multicultural training is considered as an
relationships (Dessel, Rogge, and Garlington 2006; opportunity to stimulate students' ability to work
Rozas 2007; Vasques Scalera 1999). effectively with various cultural identities. The table
While there are studies (Halualani, 2008) that reflect below presents students’ characteristics
how culturally different students define, make sense of, Table 1. Main characteristics of students involved within our survey
and experience intercultural interaction at a Faculty of Business Faculty of Engineering in
multicultural university in the US, they are not centered Administration (FBA) Foreign Languages (FEFL)
on intercultural competencies. Stier J (2006) argues that Mainly first year business Mainly fourth year and first year
intercultural communication must be seen as an undergraduate students undergraduates
academic discipline and that the education system must Students mainly of Students mainly of Romanian
be Education for Intercultural Communication. Romanian nationality nationality (70.9%)
The goal of intercultural dialogue – a hallmark of (94%)
intercultural education - is to promote the idea of Foreign students’ Foreign students’ participation in
organizational culture and quality in higher education participation in our our survey: Nigerian (8.33%),
survey: Kuwaiti (3%), French (12.5%), Iranian (4.16%);
with a focus on intercultural dialogue, intercultural
Moldavian (3%) Cameroonian (4.16%)
sensitivity and intercultural effectiveness.
Their citizenship is the Their citizenship is the same as
With the aim of understanding the implication of same as their nationality their nationality with no
intercultural dialogue and intercultural capabilities in the with no exception exception
context of equal learning opportunities and ethics among
We started our survey by asking if students had
students and being able to provide a correct and accurate
interactions with students of other nationalities and
interpretation of results we have decided to do a
citizenships than Romanian. All respondents confirmed
qualitative research in two prestigious universities in our
that they had interaction with foreign students. Thus,
country.
42% said that they interacted with a number of 1 to 10
We focused our research on the Faculty of Business
foreign students, 26% interacted with 11 to 20 foreign
Administration (FBA) that offers courses taught in
students, 22% with more than 30 and 10% with 21 to
foreign languages (English, French and German) and
30. The interactions have been with various nationalities
functions within the Bucharest Academy of Economic
such as Nigerian, Spanish, Pakistanis, Taiwanese,
Studies. In order to discover if the subjects taught make
French, German, American, Russian, Dutch, Turkish,
any difference we also considered the Faculty of
Greeks, Portuguese, Austrian, Italian, Arabs, Egyptian,
Engineering in Foreign Languages (FEFL), the English
Iranian etc. The circumstances under which the FBA
section, at “Politehnica” University of Bucharest. We
students declared that they interacted with foreign
applied the questionnaire method for both universities
students were university activities.
on 35 students from FBA and 56 students from FEFL.
For the FBA students university activities represent a
We present briefly some of the results of our survey.
large proportion - 57%, while 5% is on job experience
The assumptions of the research methodology are:
and 38% personal experience – Figure 1.
1. equality of chance is respected;
2. intercultural education implies intercultural contact Circumstances of interaction
competences accumulated in university. Figure 1: The circumstances of interaction with foreign students
Twenty-five of these survey questions were multiple Regarding the engineering students, 39% declared
choice questions and three of them were open questions. that they interacted with foreign students in university
One of the 28 questions is interpreted through the Likert activities, while 34% indicated personal experience and
scale. 26% job experience.
Ethics and Moral Issues Within A Multicultural Learning Environment. Intercultural Dialogue, Intercultural Sensitivity
and Intercultural Effectiveness Contributing to Higher Education Sustainability 349
The circumstances presented offer a broader range of There were also other available responses such as:
information regarding their experience, their openness to university support, teacher attitude at seminars or
intercultural dialogue, their interaction preferences and laboratories and university facilities (dorm, cafeteria,
their native inclination to be open to such intercultural library) the number of answers reflect a certain degree
communication through different experiences. of inequality. We should mention here that foreign
When asked to identify the main difficulties that students identified unequal treatment most of all in
foreign students faced within the educational university support (FBA 13%, FEFL 20%) and
environment, the answers were: “understanding the university facilities (FBA 14%, FEFL 14%) while some
language” (18% FBA and 33% FEFL); “adapting” of them also chose teacher attitudes at laboratories or
(18% FBA and 13% for FEFL); “socializing” (10% seminars (FBA19%, FEFL14%). This situation reflects
FBA and 4% FEFL) “getting used to the Romanian the fact that until now there have been unnecessary
academic environment” (31% FBA and 26% FEFL) and policies and involvement to encourage equal treatment.
“different level of knowledge concerning different Students were asked to rate to what extent teachers
topics” (23% FBA and 24% FEFL). and university management encourage intercultural
Around 60% of students from both universities collaboration for ensuring equal treatment in homework
agreed on the fact that the equal opportunities climate is projects; the results are presented in Figure 2.
not affected; the other 40% considered that equality Do teachers and university management encourage
climate is affected mainly by students’ difficulties. intercultural collaboration in order to ensure equal treatment in
Although this percentage is lower than 60%, it shows homework’s, projects or other activities?
The next question reflects the importance of certain Those having identified differences said that these
components of intercultural competence. Students were differences consisted in “attitude and mentality” (45%
asked to rate from 1 to 4 (where 1 represents least for FBA and 36% for FEFL), “system of values” (33%
important and 4 most important) the following for FBA and 32 % for FEFL) and “self-expression
components of intercultural competence: cultural capacity” (22% for FBA and 32% for FEFL). According
empathy, cross-cultural awareness, flexibility, foreign to the respondents’ opinion, working and studying in a
language, adaptability to intercultural environments, culturally diverse environment favorable to intercultural
respect for other cultures, interpersonal skills, cross- dialogue can lead to: “more opportunities to manifest in
cultural communication skills, cooperation between a creative way” (30% for FBA and 32% for FEFL);
people from other cultures, appropriate and effective “use of the innovation and creativity potential in a more
behavior. Results are presented in figure 3. operational way” (28% for FBA and 36% FEFL);
Please rate each of the following components of intercultural
“resourceful work outcomes, including career and
competence as follows personal development” (42% for FBA and 32% FEFL).
100
90
CONCLUSIONS
80
70
Our research suggests that students are open to support
60
50
intercultural competence & sensitivity. They argued
40
30
their answers mostly based on the fact that multinational
20 companies prefer experienced employees, who are more
10
0 open-minded, tolerant and open to diversity. We
em pa th y
flex ib ility
s k ills
c ros s -c u ltural
lang uage
a dap ta bility
o th er c u ltu res
c om m un ic ation
pceop
interc ultural
ros le
beha v io r
w ithin
c u ltu ral
s -cfrultural
k illss on al
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present the relations which are established between doctoral students and how these
relationships can be improved. General objectives are: the typology of the relationships established between doctoral students and
identifying the methods to improve these relations. The previous researchs on this issue are not very high because there were not large
groups of graduate students but by implementing the european financed projects has increased the number of doctoral students in
romanian universities and therefore the formation of the groups. The research carried out have watched the identification and
classification of relationships can be established between doctoral students and also identification and application that lead to the
improvement of relations between doctoral students. To achieve the research was chosen a group of doctoral students and as
methodology was used as interview, questionnaires and group meetings. Results: a the typology of relationship between graduate
students are social and professional relationship b. improving relationships can be achieved by participating in school and
extracurricular activities. The results contribute to improving the university policies on the establishment of their psychosocial
climate. The originality of the work consists of both the theme and the results.
Type B questionnaire has five items and aims to analyze 3. Participate in activities 80% 20%
the impact of the meetings of graduate students on organized for doctoral students in
improving relations between them and was applied at a the doctoral school?
single doctoral school (CMMI). The target population
populatio of 4. But to those organized by the 70% 30%
the present research is composed from: the frequency of university?
5. Communicate with colleagues 40% 60%
second-year
year doctoral students from the Technical
in the doctoral school?
University of Iasi, where two samples were extracted: 6. But with your colleagues from 30% 70%
- X sample consists of thirty graduate students, of the university?
second-year,
year, from doctoral various schools
schoo of the 7. Discuss your research with 30% 70%
Technical University of Iasi, who agreed to participate colleagues from the doctoral al
as volunteers in this research. school?
- Y sample was extracted from the sample X consists 8. But with your colleagues from 20% 80%
of fourteen doctoral students from CMMI doctoral the university?
school . 9. In carrying out research you 20% 80%
The Y sample was used for application interviews
interview are working in a team with your
and questionnaires B and X sample for the colleagues in the doctoral school?
10. But with your colleagues from 10% 90%
questionnaires type A.
the university?
Effective implementation of research was done by 11. Do you think the meetings 70% 30%
following plan: organized for PhD students, at
I. Diagnostic phase doctoral school level, would help
1. Setting the investigated object you interact with colleagues?
2. Setting goals and assumptions 12. But those organized at 50% 50%
3. Choice the samples university level would help you
4. Making the interview guide interact with colleagues?
5. Application interviews 13. Think trips organized for PhD 90% 10%
6. Making A questionnaires students, at doctoral level
7. Application A questionnaires school,would help you interact
with colleagues?
8. Collate the results
14. But the trips organized for 80% 20%
9. Analysis and interpretation of results PhD students at university level
II. Intervention phase would help you interact with
10. Establishment problems colleagues?
11. Identifying solutions
12.Establish intervention plan at CMMI level By analyzing the answers to each question is
doctoral school revealed some interesting things. First, university
13.Providing
Providing a room with necessary equipment, colleges at all unknown among them. Also, at the
where doctoral students are making their activities.
activities doctoral schools level,, PhD students very little
14.Organization the seven meetings, held once every communication between them as shown in item five
fi
two weeks, during which the doctoral students presented percentages.
their researchs.
15.Organizing a trip where attended the all fourteen
Ph.D. students.
16. Making B questionnaires
17. Application B questionnaires
18. Collate the results
19. Analysis and interpretation the final results
RESULTS
Partial results:
Summarizing
rizing the answers to the A questionnaire
items were obtained Table 1 and Table 2: Figure 1 :Achieving research tem in doctoral school?
Table 1: Questionnaire A- Part I Analyzing responses to items: one (Figure 1) and ten
Question YES NO (Figure 2), notice that doctoral students do not
collaborate with their colleagues in achieving the
1. You know all two year colleges 100% 0% research, which shows that, psychosocial
psych climate is not
to attend doctoral school that suitable exhibition of research and thus refute the three
belong? hypothesis of this study.
2. But those from the university? 0% 100%
The
he Improving The Relations Between Doctoral Students 353
Table
able 2: Questionnaire A- Part II After interpreting the results obtained through
Question Friendly Competition Conflict None interviews and A questionnaires have identified
identifi the
following major problems. At university level
15. What 30% 20% 0% 50%- interpersonal relationships between group members are
kind of very poorly shaped, hence the fact that the psychosocial
psychosoci
relationship climate is not a suitable for research activities, because
you have group members interact less between them..
them. At doctoral
with your
schools level, it was identified, a communication
colleagues
from
failure,, caused by insufficient knowledge of all
doctoral members, by tend to turn dialogue into monologue,
school that stereotypes in the mode of transmission and presentation
you of information, using high tone, lack of attention or skill
belong? in directing and controlling the dialogue (Panisoara,
( I.,
16. But 20% 10% 10% 60% 2003) and relationship difficulties between group
with your members due to the difference
ifference between skills and habits,
colleagues difference of opinions, preferences, aspirations
from the (Nedelcea, C.,1999).
university?
Implemented solutions:
Analyzing responses
sponses of fifteen item and Figure 3, we
see that the doctoral schools, half by doctoral students
have no type of relationship with their colleagues, To improving the relations it was proposed
leading to refute the second hypothesis : Subgroups organization of meetings and carry out joint activities
formed, from doctoral students to attend the second between group members
year,
ear, at doctoral schools level the relationships are well At CMMI doctoral school level were applied
outlined. following solutions: providing
roviding a room with necessary
equipment, where doctoral students are making their
activities; organization the seven meetings, held once
every two weeks, during which the doctoral students
presented
ented their researchs and organizing a trip where
attended the all fourteen Ph.D. students.
Following implementation of these actions was
applied B questionnaire for Y sample.
Final results:
Table 3: B Questionnaire
Figure 4 and responses to the sixteen item, indicates that
at university level, 60% of doctoral students, dont have Question Variant Variant b)
b Variant Variant
any relationship
hip with their colleagues, such a hypothesis a) c) d)
is confirmed: the group consistss of PhD students to
354 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management
Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
1 You know Yes No - - school had a positive effect on the group. Thus the
all two year 100% 0% hypothesis is confirmed that: formal and informal
colleges to meetings between members of the group lead to better
attend relationships between them. Research has made a
doctoral
number of methodological limitations that have affected
school that
belong? the validity of results.
2. Yes No - -
Communicate 100% 0% PERSONAL CONTRIBUTIONS
with
colleagues all First personal contribution consists in choosing a
you know? research topic, and achieving a thorough study of
3. Discuss Yes No - - previous researchs, made de especially for this research
your research 70% 30%
field. Is a personal contribution and achievement of the
with
colleagues? interview guide and questionnaires. Gathering,
4.Made Yes No - - interpreting, identifying and implementing solutions are
researches 60% 40% personal contributions brought to the development of
with researchs in the chosen field.
colleagues?
5. What kind Friendly Competition Conflict None
of 50% 40% 0% 10%
DIRECTION FOR FUTURE RESEARCHS
relationship
you have
with your Even if the study was limited by some factors,
factor has
colleagues contributed to the identification of solutions aimed at
from doctoral improving the psychosocial climate of the group of
school that docotoral students. Implemented solutions may m be
you belong? applied to the entire university. The research opens the
Analyzing Figure 5 we see that doctoral students, possibility of other types relationships of analysis such
accept and work in teams to achieve their research as relationships between PhD student and supervisor, or
leading to the formation of an optimal psychosocial other university professors and doctoral students.
environment for stimulating creativity and achievement
of quality research.
CONCLUSIONS
References
schools to the building of the integrated managerial haven’t heard about the teacher -manager at other
system, the managerial problem solving of the schools, why should I complicate myself?” there are as
Romanian school is more efficient. Henry Mintzberg many negative cognitions, that prevents the receptivity
identifies 10 different manager roles that he groups in for innovation, information, learning the managerial
three big categories: A. Informational roles: monitor, behaviors. The teacher’s rigidity in his classical roles of
distributor, spokesman B.Interpersonal roles: specialized person in transmitting knowledge, already
representative figure, leader, connection C. Decisional elaborated, to be in the center of the educational process
roles: Initiator, perturbation solving factor, resource (dixit magister), to decide and to evaluate excludes the
allotment factor student from knowledge discovery, from his location at
the center of personality formation and development
space, from living the mobilizing satisfaction for
learning and evolution.- emotional: a.whim, b. habitude
c. preference for what is familiar, d. risk fear, e.
dogmatism, f. strict observance of standards, g. affective
certainty. The already known trodden path, the change
risks, the anxious or conformist personality type are
examples of obstacles that from emotional point of view
can prevent the teacher’s transformation into teacher-
Figure no 1 – Manager’s Rolesurce: Henry Mintzberg: The Nature of manager. Are there whimsical teachers, lacking
Managerial Work, Englewood Clifs, NJ, Prentice Hall, 1980
receptivity for change, do they prefer the already known
Applying these managerial roles in education and
situations, that offers them a state of high certainty? The
instruction we can make the following observations: 1.
affirmative answers to these questions are non-
the teacher-manager is the center of the information
pedagogical in their essence and preserve the teacher’s
network only from the didactic point of view, he by the
statute in a stage outrun by the modern pedagogy. 4. of
nature of his profession the one who selects the didactic
environment: a. homeostasis, b. lack of support from
information, he organizes it in didactic contents,
the group, c. non-acceptance of critics, d. head masters’
transmits them to the students, assesses them. From
domination, e. affirmation of some auto-accomplishable
other points of view, the teacher-manager can delegate
prophecies. Preserving the given balance, a non-
these informational roles or even give them to some
receptive teachers’ staff, a dominating head master,
informal group leaders: colleagues or students.2. the
negative auto-programming at the level of an entire staff
inter-personal roles are fulfilled by the teacher-manager
can constitute environment obstacles that block the
also in official situations where he is the representative
teacher’s managerial transformation. The teacher-
group figure, the leader and the connection person with
manager is an actor of the educational – class, school
other groups. 3. the decisional roles are in the case of the
scene, but each time he has to play the role in an
teacher-manager valid in all their hypostases. The
innovative, creative and decisional way not only in the
modern teacher-manager has to have initiative, motivate
relationship with his stage partners – the students. 5.
the students for the activity, get involved in the financial
cultural: a. intellectualist pre-suppositions, b. respect
resources allocation, in the material endowment of the
traditions, c. thinking through power-of-attorney The
class, prevent conflicts, solve them when they show up,
teacher has to remain teacher, by tradition he doesn’t
negotiate for the group. All these teacher-manager’s
deal only with teaching-learning-evaluation, things have
roles are grafted on a certain type of vivid and concrete
to remain the way they are - here are a few of the
personality that introverts them in a way of his own. But
cultural obstacles of the educational management. The
staging all these roles, the teacher faces many obstacles:
Romanian school intellectualism developed on French
3. Teacher’s managerial obstacles S. Iosifescu, 2000
channel, the coercive conceptions according to which
considers that most of the obstacles that prevent the
the students don’t learn unless they are forced, by
Romanian teacher to become teacher-manager are: -
authoritarian methods can be fought by the new
perceptive: a. saturation b. stereotypy, c. false target,
conceptions of the interactive, pragmatic and creative
The teachers of a certain age, but not only them, can
pedagogy. All these change obstacles can be outrun by
enter a stereotypical teaching-learning-evaluation
what it is called teacher’s becoming managerial
process crystallized, inertial, stuck where they don’t
professional. The present fashion stage in which the
leave space for change, innovation, improvement. This
management is perceived in education will transform in
is one of the most dangerous stages in the educational
a managerial trend that will determine the teachers’
process evolution, stage in which the teacher is not
managerial training. But these conception changes have
interested in the managerial perspective of his activity; -
to be gradually, coherently, stimulatingly introduced so
cognitive: a. ignorance, b. precedence, c. inflexibility, d.
that they lead to the superior valorizing of human
selective retention. The lack of information about
resources. The teacher himself has to be both the one
educational management, the fact that in that class or
who accepts as well as the one who determines the
school there was not formulated the teacher-manager
change management. He has to understand the teachers’
issue, the selective retention of some difficult aspects or
new managerial mission, to approach the educational
less important, constitute as many cognitive obstacles of
process on long term, abut also on medium and short
the managerial process. “I don’t know about this, I
The Implementation of the European Credit Transfer System in Romanian Higher Technical Universities 357
term. Gradually the teacher has to develop a managerial rendering the teachers professionals as well as in the
culture that should contain the following components: - students’ initial training and educational process. 2. The
general and specific managerial knowledge to education, psycho-pedagogic field is defined according to the field
pedagogical, psychological, sociological, ethical, theory elaborated by K. Lewin by the teacher-manager’s
juridical, ergonomic, axiological, computer science subjective life environment. It is represented by: -
knowledge referring to the education and instruction teacher’s socio-economic statute in society, external
process, flexible intellectual capacities, operational influences on him: social (society expectations),
competences for applying this knowledge in concrete political (attitudes towards educational policy), familial
educational situations, in strategic projects and (relationships with his parents), ergonomic factors, that
programs, render professional the managerial activity by constitute the school material goods, deontological
theoretical and practical training, by the passage from norms, interactive communication, at macro-educational
the managerial occupational concept to the one of level – with the teaching staff and at micro-educational
managerial profession. Thus, there can be defined the level with the students. 3. The psycho-pedagogic
teacher’s managerial roles, in interdisciplinary manner, representations as ideas, perceptions, images, attitudes
there can develop his managerial personality. 4. The were classified by R. Iucu in several categories: didactic
teacher’s managerial personality was structured in a of: design, strategy, interactive, evaluation, socio-
new model (R. Iucu, 2000) starting from the known educational, parents’ status, family position, sex, race,
acquisitions about the personality in: 1.basic ethnic, deontological, of professional ethics. What are
personality (Kardiner) 2.psycho-pedagogic field 3. the teachers’ ideas about the didactic design, what
psycho-pedagogic representations 4.psycho- importance is conferred to this activity, how do they
pedagogic beliefs and convictions 5.crystallized practically do it, do they have a strategic conception on
personality (Cattell) 6.educational style 7. managerial long term that they combine with the tactic one or on
style. 1.Basic personality represents the internal short term? What are the teachers’ perspectives about
personality structure flexible, partially polyvalent with the ethnic role in the educational activity, about the sex
which the teacher enters in the professional psycho- and race criteria in the educational process, what about
pedagogic field. This contains the two big dimensions: - their professional ethics behavior? 4. Psycho-pedagogic
the real personality made up of representative functions, beliefs and convictions According to Kaes, the belief
processes, trends, interests for education psycho- represents a durable organization of relative perceptions
pedagogic aptitudes represented by the elements: and knowledge, from a specific field of our daily life.
temperamental, intellectual-cognitive (sensorial, The belief has a complex structure: axiological,
language related, intellectual capacities), affective- objective, psychological (cognitive, affective, will
motivational, instrumental, stylistic, regulatory related), experiential. The psycho-pedagogic beliefs and
(attention, will), relational-valoric (character, self convictions, relatively little researched have an
image). Referring to the psycho-pedagogic aptitude – we important psycho-value core due to which they take
consider that there is no predetermined temperament for more time to get formed, they are strongly interiorized
education, but, there can be modeled those and difficult to change. Their knowledge and self-
temperamental features as : balance, force, mobility, knowledge is a managerial efficiency condition. The
effort and stress resistance, sociability, activity, beliefs, with which a child grew up in a family, the rules
dynamism, that would constitute the fundamentals for imposed by his parents remain at the personal
efficient educational-managerial personality unconsciousness level for a long period of time, if not
development.The intellectual-cognitive features from the for the rest of his life. The rules imposed by school
psycho-pedagogic aptitude structure are: fluidity, assimilated at various degrees by the child are gradually
flexibility, sensitivity to problems, originality, metamorphosed, becoming belief or even convictions
productivity, convergent-heuristic, explicative thinking about education. Becoming a professional in the field of
that can ease knowledge comprehension, consolidation education involves non only theoretical and practical
and process for students. The affective-motivational knowledge, capacities formation, educational attitudes
components refer to the positive, optimist and balanced development, but also the rooting of beliefs and
coloring of affectivity and motivation, to the modeling convictions more or less aware, more or less
and development capacity of the students’ intrinsic determining. The models the children had, in the family,
motivation, to the emotion control, to the superior at school, in the society, that resonate more or less with
humanist sensitivity development. The efficient their own to be formed personality are decisive in the
instrumental components are pedagogic skills, habits and formation of beliefs and educational convictions. At the
socio-educational abilities. The relational-value level of beliefs and convictions the combination among
component synthetically represented by character is one cognitive, affective and will is stronger that at other
of the most important components of the psycho- psychic phenomena, that is why they are more inertial
pedagogic aptitude –we consider its core. The attitudes and more difficult to change. The beliefs and the
towards the self, the attitudes towards others and the convictions have not only a complex structure, but also
attitudes towards the activity are taxed by the value an ambivalent one: positive-negative. The belief in truth,
element, of auto-appreciation and inter-appreciation. right, beautiful, decency is doubled by the belief in lie,
Unfortunately the character is neglected both in unfairness, ugly, impudence, shamelessness, that can be
358 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
as active and strong as the first one. The dissociation organizational variables,- directional, directivity and
between them is difficult, it is made in different stages of permittivity variables,- socio-affective variables 7.
the students’ personality and morality development Teacher’s managerial style can be rendered according
(Kohlberg, Piaget). Katz (1970) elaborated a model of to various patterns. According to Vroom, there were
the managerial abilities mix that highlights the identified several managerial styles as it follows:
interaction among the various types of cognitive, autocrat I, where the manager takes the decision by
interpersonal and technical abilities. himself according to the information had up to that
moment, autocrat II - the manager gets supplementary
information and only afterwards takes the decision
consultative I – the manager presents the problem to
some relevant members and takes the decision by
himself, consultative II - the group members take the
decision, group II – the manager implements the
decision taken by the group. Likert identifies 4
government and leading systems: authoritarian-
exploiting: has the power, control, monopolizes the
decision, it the top of the hierarchy authoritarian -
benevolent: develops opportunities for consultation,
5. The crystallized personality is made of: scientific consultative: develops deep interactions, reward
competence: abilities of knowledge processing, selected system, a great degree of responsibility assumption,
and real scientific information, knowledge transmission participative: the lateral communication is
capacity, intelligence, wisdom, flexible didactic encouraged, a favorable climate based on respect is
experience, aptitudes for research, creative capacities set. Of all these managerial styles, consultative I and II,
and strategies, transfer and application capacities according to Vroom and consultative and participative –
psycho-social competence: capacities to relate to the according to Likert can be considered the most efficient
students, adapt to various roles, group communication, in the educational process, for the teacher-manager. The
authority-freedom relationship, enthusiasm, systemic situational management as managerial
comprehension, authority managerial competence: orientation and the democratic, consultative,
capacity to influence the class, design and planning participative, motivating styles or that are differently
abilities, decisional force and opportunity , organization called but that lead at the group taking decisions, to the
and coordination of class activity, correct management students’ stimulation, but also to assuming their
of reward and punishment, supportability in conditions responsibility, are the most efficient in the didactic and
of stress psycho-pedagogic competence: capacity to educational process. The managerial style of the
access the information, capacity to understand the consultative-teacher or participative – applied to the
students, empathic capacity, educational work capacity, educational context represents desirable educational
stimulating attitude, methodic clairvoyant spirit. After styles that have of course the personality profiles of
this exhaustive presentation of the teacher-manager’s those teachers.
personality we can formulate a few questions: can any References
teacher become a manager? can the teacher’s necessity 1. Cattell, R.,H.,(1967), The scientific Analysis of Personality,
Harmonsworth, Penquin Books
of managerial training become of obligatory character? 2. Constantin-Stoica, A.,(2004), Interpersonal Conflict, Polirom
does becoming didactic professional involve also Publishing House, Iaşi
training in managerial field? will the perspective vision 3. Davitz, S., J., Ball, S.,(1978), Psychology of the educational
of the didactic training allow the existence of the non- process, Didactic and Pedagogic Publishing House, Bucharest
4. Iucu, R.,(2000), Class Management and Administration, Polirom
manager teacher? At these questions as well as at others Publishing House, Iaşi
of this kind will answer by underlining the vocational 5. d,Hainaut, L., D.,( 1981) Instruction and Education Programs,
character of the teacher profession. You get trained as a E.D.P., Bucharest
teacher, and you become a teacher if you have certain 6. Iosifescu, S.,(2001), Educational Management. Methodological
Guide for trainers’ training, MEC, Institute of education
pedagogic abilities, you like it, you are passionate about sciences, Bucharest
the educational field, you are dedicated to the 7. Katz, D, Robert., L, (1970), The social Psychology of
personality formation and modeling. Becoming a Organizations, Wiley Eastern Private Limited, New Delhi
psycho-pedagogic professional involves also managerial 8. Kolberg, L.,( 1968), The Child as a moral Philosopher,
„Psychology Today”
training, but this is not enough, the specialization in the 9. Likert, R.(1976), New Ways of Management Conflict
field of educational management being stringent, mainly 10. Mintzberg, H., (1980), The Nature of Management Work,
during this development period of the Romanian Englewood, Clifs, N.J.:Prentice Haull,
education system. 6. Educational style was defined by 11. Neacşu, I.,(1990), Instruction and Learning, Scientific Publishing
House, Bucharest
R. Iucu as a set of constant associated elements
behaviorally set in the contact region with beliefs and
convictions, directly perceptible. The educational style is
made of: -non-operational personality components,-
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN CREDIT TRANSFER SYSTEM IN
ROMANIAN HIGHER TECHNICAL UNIVERSITIES
The present research aims at analyzing how the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) (set as an objective by the Bologna Process),
has been implemented within the Romanian technical higher education, between 2005-2008. An assessment grid has been elaborated
and applied to 28 Romanian technical universities. The results of our research show significant progress made by some universities
within the Romanian technical higher education with regard to the implementation of ECTS. Nevertheless, some universities, subject to
our research, must undertake a thorough understanding of the ECTS implementation methodology so that they could streamline its
application within the institution.
Key words: Bologna Process, transfer credits, higher education, technical universities, implementation.
Ministers of Education, “efforts must be made in view implementation within the 23 Romanian state
of granting credits according to workload and universities subject to our research .
achievement of a connection between credits and Taking stock of the European and Romanian
learning outcomes” (Bologna Process Stocktaking researches conducted in order to monitor and analyze
Report Leuven/Louvain–la Neuve, 2009, p.10). the implementation of the Bologna Process within the
The study The Black Book of the Bologna Process, European higher educational sytem, it becomes worth
2005, carried out by the ESIB (The National Unions of mentioning that our research has proved a pathbreaker
Student in Europe)- delineates the ECTS as a in the field at both the European and Romanian levels.
„champion” of a misimplementation or malpractice All studies mentioned aim at providing an outline of this
within the European universities that have adhered to issue, making no discrimination among institutions in
the Bologna Process. Credits computation and granting terms of their line of educational activity.
for programs of study still raise problems in countries
such as Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia, Bosnia- The aim of the study, methodology, research findings
Herzegovina, Belgium, Poland. The educational and outcomes
subjects are overloaded and the credits are granted
according to their importance or to the number of
The present study, part of an in-depth research on
contact hours, except the student’s workload needed to
how the Bologna provisions have been implemented
achieve the corresponding results. Nevertheless, there is
within the Romanian higher technical education system,
no students’ involvement in the implementation of
between 2005-2008, depicts the way ECTS has been
transfer credits (The Black Book of the Bologna applied to our national education system.
Process, 2005, pp. 8-16). This study is a pioneering national undertaking on
The Study Bologna With Student Eyes, 2009,
the implementation of ECTS according to the provisions
conducted by the ESIB, ascertains a low progress
set by the Bologna Process, displaying the outcomes of
regarding the assurance of the ECTS so that it could
the implementation of ECTS within Romanian higher
fully reveal the student’s undertaken efforts. technical institutions, at the end of the first Bologna
The researches conducted at the national level on the graduation session.
implementation of the Bologna Process within the
Our research has been conducted by means of a
Romanian universities show outcomes similar to other
survey covering 28 technical universities or technical
European studies on the same topic. The study tilted The
faculties within the Romanian higher education system.
Bologna Process in România: an initial outline (2006)
There has been elaborated a tool based on the
carried out by a group of specialists (Mihaela Singer, questionnaire method – a self-assessment grid of the
Ligia Sarivan, Cornelia Novak, Nicoleta Bercu and university, regarding the implementation of the Bologna
Simona Velea), affiliated to the Institute of Educational
Process within the respective institution. This research
Studies (ISE), Bucharest, points out a series of limits of
tool provides a holistic overview of all the European
the implementation process within the Romanian
requirements for the implementation of the ECTS
universities. Furthermore, there is a tendency to grant a
within higher education institutions, in line with the
certain number of credits to a particular educational Bologna Process. The self-assessment grid has been
subject according to its importance to the detriment of applied to vice-deans of technical universities,
highlighting student’s achievements or undertaken
responsible for both educational system and
efforts (Singer, Sarivan, Novak, Bercu and Velea, 2006,
implementation of the Bologna Process altogether.
p. 32).
The dimensions subject to our research focused on:
The study The Black Book of the Bologna Process
ECTS implementation within the university and transfer
within the Romanian Universities, 2006, conducted by credits internal policies. For each of the dimensions
the National Association of the Student Organizations in
researched, the variables to be analyzed were identified
Romania (ANOSR) underlines how heterogeneous and
and thus, minimal and reference descriptors were
ambiguous the granting of credits is. “Credits are
formulated.
generally granted according to the importance of the
The minimal descriptors indicate the minimum
respective course as well as to the number of contact compulsory achievement level of an activity, the
hours so that the credits would assess the professor’s simplest, less costly and most accessible form enforced
rather than the students’ workload through put, as it
by law or current policies to fulfill a task or assignment
would normally be expected. Likewise, there is no
(on a grading scale, this level corresponds to
unanimously acknowledged view on how student’s
„satisfactory” or the minimal requirement).
workload throughput could be assessed” (The Black
The reference descriptors indicate the value added or
Book of the Bologna Process within the Romanian the ideal level, the desirable situation, improved
Universities, 2006, p.10). execution of that particular activity (on a grading scale,
The study The implementation of the Bologna
this means „very well”).
Process in Romania: from a student’s perspective,
The research data point out the implementation of
2009, carried out by the ANOSR illustrates the
the ECTS –at least, at a minimum requirement level, in
misunderstanding of the ECTS as well as its mis-
compliance with the data as shown in Figure 1., by
97,6 % of the universities targeted (cumulative high
The Implementation of the European Credit Transfer System in Romanian Higher Technical Universities 361
percentage based on the sum of percentages provided by and outside the country; on the building of cross
the universities that have opted for satisfactory, well and partnerships in view of mutual credit recognition as well
very well regarding the descriptors for the as on the existence of some records within the
implementation of the ECTS). university of the way transfer credits are used; of laying
Consequently, most of the universities targeted out the grounds against which students are allowed to
implemented the ECTS in conformity with the transfer their credits obtained by passing a certain
European and national policies; elaborated internal discipline with different universities/faculties even if
regulations concerning the transfer credit system in they make up the program of study and of proving by
view of ensuring internal and external student mobility. means of records (if need be) the recognition of credits
granted as a result of passing disciplines in the
education syllabus by other faculties/universities.
68.5%
By way of a conclusion, all this derives from
70%
awareness of the ECTS role within a higher education
60%
institution, on one hand, functioning as a management
system for the learning time and curriculum elaboration
50% and, on the other hand, as a system of standards and
measurement units that will allow mutual recognition
40% and comparability of the learning periods and credit
transfer so as to foster internal and external student
30%
17.9%
mobility. Since more than half of the universities
20%
subject to our research have set up and applied the
11.2%
necessary means (internal guidebooks, external and
10% 2.4% internal agreements/partnerships across universities) in
order to provide some real internal mobility paths (both
0% inside the origin university and across universities) as
Unsatisfactory Satisfactory Well Very w ell
well as external ones. This reflects the constant interest,
Figure 1: The implementation of ECTS within the Romanian technical
within technical higher education, in promoting,
higher education sustaining and motivating student mobility. Hence,
judging by the progress made so far, the universities
2,4% of the targeted universities opted for targeted have managed to achieve three main goals set
unsatisfactory. This means they have not managed to by the Bologna Process: make use of the ECTS,
implement the ECTS; 11,2% have fulfilled the minimal promote internal and external student mobility and
descriptors, thus, meeting only the obligatory focus on their needs.
corresponding requirement; 17,9% have made a Nevertheless, 2,4% of the target group has not
progress in the minimal descriptors, yet without managed to implement it, thus, ascertaining some
considering the reference ones and 68,5% have pitfalls. These pitfalls lead to the following aspects: one
efficiently implemented the ECTS, fulfilling the of the 28 universities analyzed takes into consideration
reference descriptors. not only the workload but also additional factors such as
It is noteworthy that half of the universities targeted the importance granted to the discipline by that program
(more precisely 68,5%) have fulfilled reference of study, professor’s credentials, the contact hours or
descriptors, which reveals a strong tendency of technical professor’s workload throughput etc. Similarly, a
higher education towards unfolding quality activities. university that has not managed to set up an internal
In an attempt to figure out this percentage - 68,5% of guidbook on credits tarnsfer across the faculties of the
the universities targeted, that have fulfilled the reference same university as well as across similar institutions in
descriptors regarding the ECTS, we could ascertain the the country or abroad. It is likely that, within this
tendency for the universities to implement the ECTS, to university, internal and external student mobility be low
comply with the corresponding methodology as well as for there is no guidebook nor data its students can
with the national requirements concerning the transfer „benefit” from; two universities answered negatively
credits system. Likewise, universities insist that the when asked about the existence of promotion norms for
ECTS should be correctly understood by the academic students, be it from one academic year to another, two
community and applied for both transfer and academic years in one or three academic years in two
accumultation as well as that each student accumulates calendaristic ones according to the number of credits
at least 30% of the total number of credits when accumulated. We are of the opinion that the inexistence
attending optional disciplines. There is a growing of such internal guidebooks and norms is to the
interest across universities in the constant setting and detriment of students and quality of the study programs
applying of student promotion norms, proving that their since it undermines the student’s right to information as
educational path is well organized. What is more, there well as the so much desired flexible educational path the
is focus on the elaboration of internal regulations meant student must be able to take according to his needs.
to ensure credit transfer across the faculties of the
respective institution and across similar institutions in Limits of research and conclusions
362 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Cornelia Elena TUREAC1, Georgeta DRAGOMIR2, Stefan DRAGOMIR3, Anca Garbiela TURTUREANU4, Bogdan
Constantin ANDRONIC5, Gabriela PĂDURE 6
1
“Danubius” University of Galati, cornelia_tureac @yahoo.com
2
“Danubius” University of Galati, gretadragomir@yahoo.com
3
“Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, dormomir_dragomi@yahoo.com
4
“Danubius” University of Galati, ankterra@yahoo.com
5
“Danubius” University of Galati, bandronic67@yahoo.com
6
“Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, gpadure@yahoo.com
The efficiency of training and learning activities depend, undoubtedly, by the mane in which the teacher manipulates the different
elements of the education process or in other words, how they establish the educational goals, the way in which thinks the
presentation of the training content, the way of how selects the methods and means of education and integrates them in different
teaching strategies, by the way that design the educational activities, of the didactic behaviors which they constantly display them, by
the way of how conceive the didactic projection, etc.
The computer will generalize the human dialogue in a contemporary form, but especially, in forms of the communication future. As
well as the platonic dialogues, maybe won’t draw conclusions and will keep with care the beauty and richness of natural language, as
well as the opera of the ancient philosopher’s work became the ideal of the classical Greek language. The information technology will
give birth to a new reality, artificially existent. By its codes and languages, it will aspire not only at the safety and relaxation of
univocal meanings, but also at participating to the boarder participation in the process of democratization of social life.
The paper tries to improve the training of the students and at the same time to be better used their unique qualities that distinguish
them from other environments: interactivity, accuracy of performed operations, the ability to provide multiple and dynamic
representations of the phenomena and, especially the fact that may consistent and differently interact with each student separately.
If the first achievements in the computer assisted instruction domain they were focusing more on learning by checking the knowledge,
then began to appear complex software, which encourages the active construction of knowledge, provides meaningful contexts for
learning, promotes the reflection, frees the student from many routine activities and stimulates the intellectual activity similar to that
made by adults in the work process. All these elements change the area of teacher’s activities both quantitatively and qualitatively
Key words: computer assisted, training, training, education, education, teaching, method
unlimited number of levels. The program calculates (Instructor-Led Training). The Computer Assisted
automatically the coefficient of price differences at Instruction is a didactic method or an educational
materials, closes automatically the income and method that leverages the principles of modeling and
expenditure counts, the VAT counts. cybernetic analysis of the activity of training in the
For the joint venture companies, the program context of new informatics’ and of communications
provides the percentage distribution of income and technologies, characteristics of the contemporary
expenditure. Since the accounting records are made society.
automatically, the program composes and their
explanations, detailed according to the user’s choice.
The accountancy entries made automatically by
program can be completed, eventually, with various
accounting notes (ex: for formation expenses, profit
sharing, and tax on dividends). It is possible and
obtaining of a cumulative balance for the companies
within a group.
WinMENTOR varations
Table 2. Monthly assessment of the WinMENTIR product modules (at 100 points)
Suppl Collect
Lists DOC-
iers ions Cash Com Stocks,
Bookkee Fixed Produc and Exp Resta IMP-
Period Stocks and and Wages regist merci online
ping assets tion report ert urants SERVE
client payme er al orders
s R
s nts
Oct.
92.81 91.25 93 91.25 92.97 93.12 91.94 85 88.93 100 89.29 91.25 92.5 90
2007
Nov. 2007 93.75 90.94 91.8 90.93 92.97 88.75 88.71 89 88.57 100 87.14 86.25 92.5 86.67
Dec. 2007 90.31 90.31 92.1 88.44 91.1 91.25 87.74 86 92.5 100 90 88.75 90 83.33
Ian.
92.81 89.38 92.9 90 91.86 92.5 88.44 76 90 95 78.57 85 95 90
2008
Febr. 2008 93.44 90.94 91.4 90.63 90.63 81.88 90 82 88.21 95 78.57 92.5 97.5 80
Aspects Concerning The Growth Process of Students Preparing by Using The Computer-Assisted Instruction 365
Proposed result (estimated) • Normal curve • High and uniform level of training
The systematic and methodical training process is • Functional principles and methods for teaching
advantageous because: supports the instruction centered structure and presenting the courses
on learning; maintains an effective and attracting • Correcting the errors made by student and
training; sustain the communication and collaboration ensuring the feedback on the student;
between designers, teachers, applied computer • Creating a system of assessment and grading;
specialists (computer networks) and users; facilitates the • Development of a system of self-control and
diffusion and dissemination of pedagogical knowledge self-assessment to increase the student’s motivation
by the professional educators; provides practical If the first achievements in the computer-assisted
solution, possible and acceptable for the training instruction focused more on learning through
problems; the analysis stage also supports the further knowledge verification, then began to appear complex
development of other educational materials; ensures that software, which encourages the active construction of
what is taught is necessary to achieve the learning the knowledge, provides meaningful contexts for
objectives of the students; facilitates affair anc accurate learning, promotes reflection, frees the student of many
assessment of the training process. routine activities and stimulates the intellectual activity
The computer-assisted instruction is a important method similar to the made by adults in the work process. All
of teaching-learning, as well as and of assessment of the these elements change the area of teacher’s activities
students activities, with high formative-educative both quantitatively and qualitatively
valences developing their thinking capacities, of
imagination, of operationalization the theoretical
REFERENCES
knowledge in different practiced contexts, of learning
the rules of activity and living in a group of their job
1. Adascalitei, Adrian – Computer Assisted training . Didactica
satisfaction, etc. informatica, Editura Polirom, Iasi, 2007;
This is a method of training, in which the student learns 2. Airinei, D. s.a., Programing Environments , Editura Sedcom
in self rhythm, the educational material is divided into Libris, Iasi, 2002;
small sequences of study, followed by questionnaires, 3. Galea & Adascalitei . The Strategy to Adopt Open and Distance
Education in Romania. In: Proceedings of the 17th, World
the instructed and instructor being able to immediately Conference for Distance Education “One World Many Voices.
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The Informatics’ Systems of Training believes that the Focus, pp.493-496, 26-30 June 1995, Birmingham, UK
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Invatamantului, Bucuresti, 1998;
within the learners. In this sense in the future is 5. Moise, Gabriela – Models of computer assisted instruction from
necessary to be studied and resolved several key the fifth generation.
elements of designing these training systems:
TRENDS OF GLOBALIZATION
GLOBALIZAT IN THE ACADEMIC AND POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION
EDU
IN THE TOURISTIC DOMAIN
Anca Gabriela TURTUREANU1, Georgeta DRAGORMIR2, Cornelia Elena TUREAC3, Ioan BORDEAN4, Georgeta
MODIGA5, Gabriela PADURE6
1
“Danubius” University of Galati, , ankterra@yahoo.com
2
“Danubius” University of Galati,
Galati gretadragomir@yahoo.com
3
“Danubius” University of Galati, , cornelia_tureac @yahoo.com
4
“Danubius” University of Galati, ioanbordean@yahoo.com
5
“Danubius” University of Galati, georgeta.modiga@univ-danubius.ro
6
” Dunarea De Jos” University
U of Galati, gpadure@yahoo.com
This paper aims to reflect some concernments concerning the training at academic level from the touristic domain and highlighting
highligh of its
peculiarities. To highlight these features
features were studied the educational offerings of some European, American, Asiatic and Australian
universities, both public and private. The methods used such as the statistical analysis, comparative studies, the historical evolutionary
method allowed the authorsrs to include in its totality the globalization phenomenon manifested and in the touristic education domain.
This work is a systematic research of the phenomenon on the part of the authors and are is one of the first attempts of analysis
analy of the
advantage off intervened changes after the accentuation of globalization and of the reforms from the academic and postgraduate academic
domain.
The effectuated analysis revealed the multitude of similarities within the curriculum, but also the emphasis of the globalization
globali
phenomenon in the academic education domain. The international tourism is facing with serious problems: the growth rhythm is
decreasing, is reduced the share of the branch in the system of global commerce, is worsening the global tourism state becausebecau of the
global economic crisis.
PRIOR WORK
First it must be emphasized the standardization. The growing number of students, with the labor market but
terminology, measurement instruments, research also with the needs of quality and with the trends of
methodology in all the fields of study must be curriculum globalization. In the same time the
standardized to ensure efficient communication. international tourism is confronting with serious
Secondly, the easiness of the quality evaluation - it problems: decrease the growth rate, is reduced the share
requires landmarks and a set of measurable quality of the branch in the world trade system, is worsen the
indicators. The university web pages and printed global tourism state because of the global economic
materials create access to information and allow the crisis.
observers accessing from outside to appreciate the This situation requires a multilateral and
quality of the academic programs, facilities and the comprehensive research of the perspectives and trends
research activities. of further development, as well as and the elaboration of
Thirdly, the intellectual understanding - some measures to restore the branch location and role in
globalization has great potential for strengthening the the international commerce with goods and services.
intercultural understanding. In addition to the Table 4. Enrolments in 1970 and 2007
understanding of own culture, the students, masters,
doctoral students must learn that are and other cultures Ratio of upper
and other beliefs. Upper secondary secondary gross
In fourth place, the reasonableness - if the students, education, gross enrolment ratio
are studying the same learning materials, regardless of enrolment ratio over tertiary gross
Region enrolment ratio
where they get the education and the quality of training
is of the same quality, and then the graduates from
institutions around the world will have more equal 1970 2007
1970 2007
opportunities to have success in all domains.
extends into a broader context of sustainability, ethic. profile benefit by the curriculum with specific skills and
Ultimately, the development decisions require a competences.
combination of knowledge, both theoretical and The interested parties have two main roles in the
practical. Successful tourist development depends in educational process: firstly to influence the strategic
part upon appropriate education provision. At the same leading of education through curriculum planning; and
time, the needs of tourist development must inform the secondly, of performance measurement, especially
education curriculum. through the quality management process. From the
historical point of view, knowledge, extra-disciplinary
played an important role in the tourism curricula. This is
not surprising, given the relatively recent origin of
tourism as a field of study. It was developed, based on
subject like, economy, geography, planning,
environmental studies to name a few, and allowed the
tourism to expand into a wider field of expertise.
Table 5 Curriculum Content
Vocational Action Liberal Action
· Tourism Marketing · Tourism and the
· HR Management Environment
· Business Development · Planning and
· Foreign Languages Development
· Entrepreneurship · Sustainable Tourism
· Quality Service
· Information Technology
international tourist arrivals and the tourism revenues. to explain the patterns and characteristics of the
The tourism industry produces over 10% of global touristic demand and the influences on the demand;
GDP. In Europe, the tourism produces directly 5% of - to know how the tourist behave at destinations
European GDP and another 10% indirectly.
The tourism industry based on the principles on the REFERENCES
Global Code of Tourism Ethics is a tool for achieving
the objectives of millennium development of ONU. The 1. Airey D (2008) ‘Tourism Education: life begins at 40’, Teoros,
tourism plays a key role in the balance of payments of 27(1) pp 27-32.
many countries, especially, of the smallest states in 2. Airey, D. (2008) In Search of a Mature Subject, Journal of
development, for which, this often is the only mean of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, 7(2)
3. Braslavsky, C. (eds) School Curricula for Global Citizenship.
competitive fighting in the global dynamic industry of Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong.
services. 4. Ayikoru M, Tribe J and Airey D (2009) ‘Reading Tourism
The jobs in the touristic companies are created Education: Neoliberalism Unveiled’ Annals of Tourism R
frequently in the regions less developed, thus opening 5. Cornbleth, C., 1984, Beyond Hidden Curriculum, Journal of
Curriculum Studies, 16(1).
economic opportunities in front of the inhabitants from 6. Council for National Academic Awards, 1993, Review of
the most various parts of the worlds and improving the Tourism Studies Degree Courses, London, CNAA.
social life in the rural areas. 7. Graves, D. (ed), 1983, The Hidden Curriculum in Business
Studies, Chichester, Higher Education Foundation.
8. Kerr, L. (ed), 1968, Changing the Curriculum, London,
CONCLUSIONS University of London Press
9. Marshall, H. & Arnot, M. (2007). The gender agenda: the limits
and possibilities of global and national citizenship education. World
All those who are concerned about the university Studies in Education,
curricula in the field of tourism studies, are following, 10. Meyer, J. (2006). World models, national curricula, and the
largely, the same principles. They consider, under the centrality of the individual. In Benavot, A. & Taylor, P., and Richards,
C., 1985, An Introduction to Curriculum Studies, Windsor, NEFR-
sign of globalization, as a graduate regardless of the
Nelson.
country in which follows the toruistic studies to 11. Snyder, B., (1971), The Hidden Curriculum, Cambridge Mass.
demonstrate an understanding of: and London, MIT Press
- the concepts and characteristics of tourism as a field 12. Stevenson N, Airey D and Miller G, (2009) ‘Complexity Theory
and Tourism Policy Research’ International Journal of Tourism Policy
of academic study;
13. Tribe, J. (1997), "The indiscipline of tourism", Annals of
- inter-cultural dimensions of the tourism; Tourism Research, Vol. 24 No.3, pp.628-57.
- can use a range of source materials in the tourism
investigation;
- to understand and appreciate the potential
contributions of discipline, which helps at
explaining and the development of the tourism,
explain and may change the tourism operations;
- to demonstrate and understanding of the internal
and international tourism dimensions;
- to understand the inter-cultural dimensions of the
tourism, the products, structure and interactions
from the tourism industry;
- to demonstrate an understanding of the structure,
operation and organization of the activities from the
public, private, and from the nonprofit sectors of
tourism domain;
- to assess the factors that influence the development
of the organizations working in the tourism domain;
- knowledge of the complex relationship that are
established between the consumers of tourism and
the tourism service providers;
- understanding the role of tourism in the
communities, that organize touristic activities and
receive tourists;
- to be able to asses the contribution and the tourism
impact from social, economical, political, cultural
and environmental point of view;
- to understand and be able to asses management
strategies to develop the tourism, through concepts
of policy and planning;
- asses the ethical issues associated with the
operation and development of the tourism to be able
IMPROVEMENT OF RESEARCH QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN RENEWABLE
ENERGY FIELD BY APPLYING A PROPER MANAGEMENT
Mihaela VARTOLOMEI1, Teodor MILOȘ2, Daniela CIOBOTARU3, Dorin MUNTEANU4, Cornel JUPĂNEANT5
1
Politehnica University of Timisoara, email mihaelavartolomei@yahoo.com
2
Politehnica University of Timisoara, email teodor.milos@gmail.com
3
Politehnica University of Timisoara, email daniela.ciobotaru@rectorat.upt.ro
4
SC CLAGI-Romania SRL, email dorin.munteanu@clagi.ro
5
Medical Christian Association “Izvorul Tamaduirii”, email jupaneant_cornel@yahoo.com
Paper’s aims and objectives are stated by economic and social impact of renewable energy exploitation in sustainable development
field. Paper studies ways to achieve real implication of Romanian universities in researches that are meant to settle the new industrial
revolution. This care is very important even for European or national decision-makers because of energy European consumption
security. This field research approach is very used lately, because of more and more scarce fossil resources and more and more
sophisticated energetic needs. The priority of this research is to find global trends and challenges in energetic field. Also it studies
European Union energetic policy and promotes renewable energetic sources (according to EU’s White Book). Other important aspect
is to compute the investments’ costs, the energy’s cost, the competitivity of renewable sources. The paper subject is much related both
with European Union preoccupations and with Romanian Energetic Strategy for 2007-2020. This paper presents some research
results that were obtained during authors’ implication in the Partnership Project MAVA: "Energetic Supplying of a Local Community
Using Air Streams", contract no. 21-036/2007. The project is financed by the National Authority for Scientific Research – The
National Center for Programs' Management. Issues debated refer to various energetic entrepreneurial researches, also to knowledge
transfer activities between universities themselves but especially between university and business environment or other actors
implicated in energetic question in order to respond to the local/national/regional/European environment's energetic needs and
challenges. This results' transfer is approached from the perspectives that the possibilities for cooperation on the provided activities
has impact upon the all implicated organization’s performance. The evolution of technique and technologies area, the globalization
and internationalization of higher education, but also the various expectations in learning and research interests give new purposes
and challenges to the universities. The fundamental question is how higher education institutions could quickly adapt and react to
nowadays challenges.
revolution from telecommunication field and has a more technologies and institutions in order to preserve the
impact over life, health and environment quality. inheritance and have what to give to our offspring.
The energetic industry (with its basic components:
resources, production, transport, distribution, Project management draft
consumption) represents a strategic sector of any
nations, it is a vital sector for rational economic and
The purposes of project management is planning,
social development and these depends by the rationality
organizing and controlling activities, so that the project
the limited resources are exploited by humans. can be completed as good as possible, without
It seems more and more clear that Romania has to neglecting the risks.
find proper ways to achieve real implication of
Project management is proved to have many
Romanian universities in researches that are meant to
components, also from the point of view of process
settle the new industrial revolution. This care is very
management as well as process modeling, in the special
important even for European or national decision-
conditions of the project.
makers because of energy European consumption In figure 2, the authors make a briefly presentation
security. of the project management’s components:
A major objective is to deliver a maximum protected
patrimony, both quantitative and qualitative ground.
Thus, it allows forecasting, in good conditions, the Evaluation Opportunity
future development, in order to help the social, and Strategy Complaint
economic or political decision makers to manage the Risk Management
environment protection. Management
260,000 EUR, and the production was about 186,000 objectives cannot be achieved until the people will
kWh in 2005. The manufacturer also owns green understand to enhance the mutual relationships and their
certificates (a system that promotes the production of relation with the ecosystem they live. To discover
energy from regenerable sources), that are added to the sources of energy (Aeolian, solar, hydro energetic,
incomes earned by selling the electric energy. biomass) and to develop methods for their settlement
The controversies regarding the eolian turbines are (wind-mill, Aeolian turbines, solar light and warmth
linked to the landscape impact and the impact on birds. catching, hydro-electric power station, solar-electric
At an international level, fields of eolian turbines are power station) have become a real necessity of
known in the following countries: Canada, The nowadays world challenges. Furthermore, the authors
Netherlands, Germany, Austria, respectively the areas consider that these objectives cannot be achieved until
from Island and Denmark or the areas from Italy, Czech people will understand the importance to enhance
Republic sau Slovakia. mutual relationships and their relation with ecosystem
The trend of contributing with eolian energy to they live.
satisfy the worldwide necessities is in continuous Both technical and socio-economic impact of this
growth, based on the latest research. It is estimated that paper is to emphasize Romanian universities potential
in 2010 it will reach about 500 TW/h/year, and in 2020 regarding solutions and spread the results in order to
it will reach 1,000 TW/h/year. Also, it is estimated that settle some clean processes and technologies (without
the requests for eolian electric energy will go beyond wastage) in areas where it can be possible (flow air
the classic method of energy produced from fosile fuels presence, for instance) with the respect of sustainable
(coal, oil, gas), respectively hidro or nuclear. Only the development principles. Issues debated refer to various
energy produced using biogas, solar and geotermal will energetic entrepreneurial researches, also to knowledge
go beyond it. transfer activities between universities themselves but
Higher education institutions (especially engineering especially between university and business environment
higher education) are based on knowledge, with or other actors implicated in energetic question in order
research and dissemination objectives in this field. The to respond to the local/national/regional/European
evolution of technique and technologies area, the environment's energetic needs and challenges. This
globalization and internationalization of higher results' transfer is approached from the perspectives that
education, but also the various expectations in learning the possibilities for cooperation on the provided
and research interests give new purposes and challenges activities has impact upon all implicated organization’s
to the universities. The fundamental question is how performance.
higher education institutions could quickly adapt and Subsequently, it is necessary for Romanian
react to nowadays challenges. researchers to find and develop local or international
The originality of this subject consists in a real collaboration in present research fields in order to find
improvement of local/European governance, realization solutions for the mankind’s energy needs.
energetic consumption behavior that lead to the new People must be educated in this spirit. Thus, it is
industrial revolution: technological system that keep and very necessary to engage a proper education on this and
stock carbon dioxide, find higher potential for bio Romanian universities are directly and especially aimed.
combustible production/exploitation, produce
combustible oil from biomass with high productivity on References
sustainable and ecological way promoting social
inclusion, chose optimum solution using Aeolian 1. Ayres, R., et. (1997), Natural Capital, Human Capital, and
turbine along a region. Sustainable Economic Growth, Boston University, Boston.
2. Klarer, J., Francis, P, Jim McNicholas, Mihaela Popovici
(1999), Pentru un mediu mai bun si o economie mai buna,
CONCLUSIONS Centrul Regional de Protectia Mediului, Bucuresti.
3. Rojanschi, V.; Bran, F.; Diaconu, S.; Grigore, F. (2005),
Abordari economice in protectia mediului, Editura ASE,
The paper subject is much related both with
Bucuresti.
European Union preoccupations and with Romanian 4. Vartolomei, M, Milos, T. & Vartolomei-M, S. (2008),
Energetic Strategy for 2007-2020. The general objective Economic Engineering Study Regarding Aeolian Installation
of the Romanian strategy for energy field is represented Manufacturing System Using CPM and PERT Methods,
Annals of DAAAM for 2008 & Proceeding of The 19th
by satisfying the energy necessity both for present and
INTERNATIONAL DAAAM SYMPOSIUM Intelligent
for future, at a lower price according to market economy Manufacturing & Automation: Focus on Next Generation of
and a civilized living level, in quality conditions, safe Intelligent Systems and Solutions, Katalinic, B. (Ed.), pp.1447-
and respecting sustainable development principles. 1448, ISSN 1726-9679, Trnava, Slovakia, 22-25th October
2008
To not neglect sustainable development it
5. www.proiectmava.org
determines to increase the human welfare and the
ecosystems conservation. These suppose the integration
of economic, social and environment objectives. These
STRENGTHENING ACHIEVED COMPETENCES BY
DEMAND-ORIENTED FURTHER EDUCATION
Due to the rapid development of methods and technologies in many fields, vocational qualification is not finished when a student
graduates. Measures of further education have to be chosen adapted to the individual demand, in order to allow for an efficient
achievement of required additional competences. But for most interested persons, it is very difficult to find courses suitable for
their specific learning aims as well as for their individual state of existing competences. Therefore, an assistance system is being
developed which enables the description of existing competences as well as of a target profile. Based on observed differences, a
schedule optimized toward the individual demand will be proposed where available course offers are used as components in
modular set-up.
training and the costs arising for the course as well as Regarding the estimation of existing knowledge and
for travel and subsistence constitute a severe drawback skills of an employee, the most common and easy
for many companies and also for the participant himself. method is to judge based on certificates of previous
The readiness to send an employee to such a training education. Yet, once gathered knowledge of higher
offer is considerably reduced by these constraints of education is lost or obsolete if it has not been used for
presence-based courses. To ease this situation and some time. On the other hand, a person fit for self-
enable a proper vocational qualification, new methods driven learning may have achieved a variety of
for qualification have to be developed adapted to the additional competences during professional life which
specific demands of employees under the current are not certified.
conditions of modern industry. Out of the huge number Therefore, even if the aspect of insufficient
of different approaches, some major trends in correlation between high marks on a topic and high
continuous qualification become evident [6]: working performance is neglected, existing
• Self-controlled learning competencies of an employee can not at all be judged
• Integration of working and learning satisfyingly based on certificates of formal education.
In order to fulfil an individual demand, it is possible
• Cooperative learning and knowledge management either to create a personalised training or, to combine
• Informal learning ready-made training offers in a modularised way to
Based on these new methods, offers of vocational form an individual training concept best fitting the
training can be provided that are more fitting for the actual demand. With individually designed courses, the
demands of Life Long Learning under the constraints of comparability of gathered competences is reduced
modern industry. Yet, to achieve an optimal result of considerably and also the arising costs usually are quite
qualification with minimum effort, it usually is high. Yet, regarding the election of standardised training
necessary to combine several activities to a holistic offers, it is very difficult for the learner to identify
learning scenario. adequate courses in order to define an optimal training
concept.
Thus, to support the learner with the determination
Adaptation to individual demands
of target and existing profile of competences and the
subsequent selection of appropriate training offers to
In order to enable an efficient and sustainable enable the definition of an individual training concept,
impartment of competences, the provided measures of an adequate facility for assistance is developed.
qualification have to be of high quality, i.e. they have to
fulfil the requirements of customers on the qualification.
ASSISTANCE TOOL FOR INDIVIDUALISED
To express the quality of an educational activity, on the
FURTHER QUALIFICATION
one hand the impact on competences of the participants
has to be regarded. They shall on short term be able to
apply their newly gathered skills efficiently to their Regarding advanced vocational qualification, the
actual tasks, on long term maintain and deepen their never ending demand for continuous improvement
knowledge and thus improve the quality of their work. usually is envisioned as a staff development cycle rather
On the other hand, the satisfaction of learners has to be than as a unique event. To describe the phases of this
considered which depends not only on the outcome but development cycle, different models are used [e. g.
also on the proceeding of a course regarding contents, 3, 7]. They can be summarized in a seven step model:
implemented methods of teaching and learning and 1. Analysis of required competences
general circumstances. 2. Assessment of available competences
Yet, the required content and method of any measure 3. Identification of demand for qualification
of qualification depends strongly on individual 4. Election of adept training offers
constraints. Each learner needs to achieve the 5. Participation in training
competences required for his very specific task, starting 6. Utilisation of gained knowledge in tasks
from his already existing knowledge. To achieve a high 7. Assessment of training success
efficiency of qualification, the choice of methods and Based on the results of the assessment as well as
courses has to be optimally adapted to the individual driven by new requirements, the cycle will start all over
demands of each concerned employee to close the gaps again. The success of a measure of qualification does
between desired and available qualification. Here, both not only depend on the training itself, but also on the
the determination of needed competences and of preceding phases of planning and selection of
actually available competences as well as the adequate appropriate training offers as well as on the subsequent
planning of training forms major challenges. transfer of newly gained knowledge and skills to the
Regarding the determination of needed competences, performance of actual tasks. Therefore, an assistance
it is often difficult to define the desired state. For this, a tool for the planning of qualification has to support the
good overview of the subject at hand and the intended whole cycle of staff development in order to allow for a
tasks therein is needed. This can be supported by facility holistic approach.
for structured determination of required competences
for existing and future tasks. Requirements on properties
Strengthening Achieved Competences by Demand-Oriented Further Education 377
As a basis for the further development, requirements identified gaps, a recommendation has to be provided, if
for the assistance tool have to be specified, regarding additional training is necessary or if identified deficits
both functionalities and overall properties [8]. are likely to be easily smoothed out by ways of informal
Regarding properties, especially user friendliness has to learning, e.g. by increasing experience in the execution
be considered. The system has to be easy to handle, of tasks or by exchange among co-workers.
robust against possible user mistakes and self- In order to schedule measures of qualification
explaining. The imparted information has to aim for adequately for the specific situation of the intended
completeness regarding trainings on the market and for learner, besides the content of training specified by the
correct descriptions, covering contents as well as results identified deviations of competence profiles also other
of quality assessment for each course offer. constraints have to be considered. Thus, requirements
Preferably the tool shall be accessible by all regarding disposable time, acceptable costs, formal
interested employees in order to enable target-oriented specifications such as the employee’s level of education
advanced training. It is important for the success of Life and previous training with accredited certificates,
Long Learning that the initiative for advanced training available technical infrastructure, preferred method of
may come from the learner himself and not only from a learning and other constraints, e.g. maximum travel time
superior or a clerk in human resource department for seminars, have to be collected.
following fixed procedures. Often, the employee Based on this comprehensive analysis of user
himself has a much better recognition of existing gaps requirements, possible qualification offers can be
of knowledge than any other person, as he will notice if identified that fit the gaps in competences as well as the
questions arise during his work which cannot be learner’s constraints. It has to be checked if preparative
answered satisfyingly. If there is no possibility to or integrative methods should be preferred and to which
consider the opinion of the learner himself, the extent they may be used, considering available time and
willingness to participate in any activities of further infrastructure. Then, out of the identified possibilities
education will considerably be decreased. To enable a qualification concepts have to be defined and evaluated
broad accessibility, an easy integration into any existing according to their fulfilment of the requirements.
system environment and low requirements on a user’s Finally, one or several suitable plans adapted to the
computer are desirable. individual demands are derived. As a prerequisite for
this recommendation, a data base of generally available
Requirements on functionalities training offers is required, where contents and
circumstances are described. The results are displayed
In order to define the intended functionalities of the to the user, who selects one of the suggestions. If no
tool, based on the seven stepped model for each phase it suitable offers are to be found, the collected data may be
used as specifications for an individually developed
has to be analysed, in which way a person trying to find
training.
suitable measures of qualification could be supported.
For the actual participation in the qualification
During the first two steps, analyses of competences
program, no support from the tool is required. Yet,
have to be executed. On the one hand, the target profile
of competences has to be identified, focusing on afterwards a possibility for assessing the training should
knowledge and skills required to fulfil the given or be offered. The gathered results can be included in the
data base and thus enable a fine-tuning of
future tasks correctly and efficiently but considering
recommendations.
also demand of future development. On the other hand,
Also, suitable methods to support the transfer of
the current competence profile of a specific person
newly gained competences to the performance of actual
intended to perform this task has to be measured.
Herein, it is necessary to provide a possibility for the tasks and enhance activities of knowledge sharing with
co-workers should be proposed and as an integral part of
comparable description of the intended or available
the qualification concept to increase the effect of
competences, adapted to the considered area of tasks.
training for the actual participant as well as for the
This has to include a comprehensive portfolio of
whole surrounding. By that, each individual employee
relevant skills as well as an adequate set of categories
for rating desired and current state against it. For both can contribute to the knowledge network in his
steps, the same scheme for assessment has to be used in company or even in a larger context [9].
Finally, after a certain time to assure an unbiased
order to provide comparability between the two
assessment, the now available competences should be
recorded profiles. This information also can be used as
measured and compared with the target profile. Here
subject-specific input for describing job characteristics
again a standardised set of categories and observed
respectively for performance appraisal of employees or
as a tool to support accreditation of competences skills is needed, where the same criteria are used as
gathered via informal learning processes or former, non- during the first assessment of competences and the
definition of target competences. Based on these results,
standardised measures of training.
the cycle eventually can be started all over again.
For the following identification of the actual demand
for qualification, targeted and current competence
profile have to be compared and occurring deficits have PREREQUESITES FOR SUCCESFUL FURTHER
to be highlighted. Depending on the size of the QUALIFICATION
378 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The successful participation in Life Long Learning In nowadays knowledge based economy,
and thus the sustainment of value for the labour market employees’ capability and willingness to perform make
require ability and motivation to use offered facilities up a main influence on success in vocational life. Life
for learning and self-improvement. Virtual courses Long Learning for vocational qualification is necessary
provide some specific advantages and disadvantages to assure the sustainable use and improvement of
compared to conventional face-to-face teaching to the competences gathered in basic and higher education.
participant, resulting from the higher degree of freedom. To enhance a proper adjustment to the individual
But this choice of possibilities causes also a high self- requirements and target competences of the specific
responsibility for the learning progress and thus learner, a concept for an assistance system has been
demands sufficient organisational and self-motivational developed which provides holistic support during the
skills of the learner. But so far, during university whole staff development cycle. This concept can be
education most students do not experience any courses used for all subjects by adapting the observed
based on self-controlled learning. competences to the specific demands and accordingly
Usually, participants rate the high degree of freedom registering courses on related topics in the data base.
very positive and thus approve of the provided courses, Additionally, it is necessary to prepare students for
as observed by the HISBUS study, which was Life Long Learning during higher education by
conducted to measure the view of students in German introducing them to modern learning methods. Thus,
universities on eLearning [10]. But as virtual courses competences gathered in higher education later on can
mainly establish an additional offer – amending but not strengthened and amended by adequate further
replacing conventional lectures or seminaries – it has to qualification.
be considered that the positive results are biased by the
fact that only those students participate, who are References
exceptionally motivated and comply with the 1. Geiger, W (1994), Qualitätslehre, Vieweg, Braunschweig.
requirements of a successful participation better than the 2. Pfeifer, T. (2001), Qualitätsmanagement - Strategien,
average student. Methoden, Techniken, Carl Hanser, München.
3. Weinert, A. (1998), Organisationspsychologie,
This assumption fits well with the observed quite Psychologie Verlagsunion, Weinheim.
low quote of acceptance and usage of purely virtual 4. Lubit, R. (2001), “Tacit knowledge and knowledge
lectures, courses or seminaries. The ratio of acceptance management - The keys to sustainable competitive
describes the percentage of students that use an offer out advantage”, Organizational Dynamics, 29(3), 164-178.
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of those knowing about the offer, and amounts to about in: B. G. Dale et al. (eds.), Managing Quality, Blackwell
36-48%, depending on the kind of offer and the course Publishing, Manston, 200-233.
of studies. The ratio of participation describes the 6. Weckenmann, A. and Werner, T. (2009), “Quality
percentage of students that use an offer out of all Management for Sustainability in Manufacturing”, in:
M.S. Shunmugan, N. Ramesh Babu (eds.), Proceedings of
possible users, and amounts to about 4-8%. [10] the 7th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing
The data of the HISBUS study suggests strongly (GCSM) "Sustainable Product Development and Life
that, although it is commonly assumed that graduates Cycle Engineering", IITM, Chennai, 19-25.
are fit to use eLearning based offers of vocational 7. Wood, F.H. and McQuarrie, F.O. and Thomson, S.R.
(1982), “Practitioners and Professors Agree on Effective
training without problems, most of them do not have Staff Development Practices”, Educational Leadership,
any experience with this. By studying the reactions of 40(1), 28-31.
students obliged to join a virtual course as a compulsory 8. Werner, T. and Weckenmann, A. (2010), “Computer-
subject, it was gathered, that although all students had assisted generation of individual training concepts for
advanced education in manufacturing metrology”,
been able to participate and rated the course itself quite Measurement Science and Technology, 21(5), 6pp.
positively, they experienced severe difficulties to adjust 9. Mazzola, A. and Bruccoleri, M. and Perrone, G. (2009),
to self-controlled learning [11]. “A strategic framework for firm networks in
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Annals – Manufacturing Technology, 58(1), 387-390.
introduce all students to new forms of learning, in order 10. Kleimann, B. and Weber, S. and Willige, J. (2005), “E-
to prepare them for a vocational life requiring Life Long Learning aus Sicht der Studierenden“, Kurzbericht Nr.
Learning by an increasing number of self-directed, 10, HIS GmbH, Hannover.
computer-based offers. Therefore it would be useful to 11. Weckenmann, A. and Werner, T. (2008), “Introducing
Engineering Students to Open Distance Learning – a case
emphasize the inclusion of eLearning-based offers in the study on the acceptance of a virtual course as compulsory
regular course of study for all engineering students. subject”, in: F. Fink (ed.), SEFI 2008 36th Annual
Yet, to enhance a successful participation in such Conference – Book of Abstracts, Sense Publishers,
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prepared and informed. Also, eLearning should not be
regarded as a possibility to decrease academic staff, as
the opportunity to contact a tutor when required has to
be considered as a key component of success for all
learning offers.
Abstract: This paper aims to offer a practical model construction for developing programs of study for any specialization. Case Study
included in this paper is the elaboration of the curriculum Finance-Banks based on competencies identified as necessary in specific activities of
banks. The concept of competencies is meaning of "organizing" against which are selected and organized learning content, training methods,
assessment procedures. Competence is "red thread" that crosses all training courses, from primary school to university. Identification of training
needs is an important first step of any training course, but, however, often overlooks it. This paper is based on educational research carried out
within the Leonardo da Vinci program, Certiskills project.
Key Words: standards, competencies, interview, qualifications, training
Work Preparation
arranging To that end, gathering all necessary information
materials, and the correct interpretation in terms of expected
equipment, tools results;
Form of "Knowledge Society", as traditional and appliances, Identify the various possible solutions and thus
organization - mainly emphasized on bureaucracy, estimate of identifying and choosing the most appropriate
work and action solutions;
hierarchy, specialization, standardization and control. sequences to be Fitting basic criteria that should be identified,
It's would leaving the area of organizational pattern performed; found and combined resources on the problem
based on the concepts linked, partially smoothing ... solution.
To describe their competences and working
hierarchies, disseminate horizontal communication, Implement knowledge sequence, taking necessary action verbs
decentralization of responsibilities, strict separation procedures with additional descriptive on:
Work performance
apply their skills to support the work efficiently and 2. LEARNING RESULTS
effectively: diagnosing of tasks; drafting an action The reform of high education system process ask
plan; preparing for what is absolutely necessary; the identification of professional profiles, needs of
considered implementation plan / prepared; final society and the objectives set by the academic
monitoring and control work in progress; actions to be community who will play an important role in national
taken in case of error. The Table 1 below facilitates a and regional sustainable development. It is very
description of timely importance/complexity of important to define the each level of
competences given by their articulation of knowledge education/professional training what are the learning
applied in sequence (always introduced by the phrase outcomes and competences acquired. Learning
"participants should know how"). outcomes can be applied throughout a course of study
Table.1. Competence-results relations in the fields Finance- in first or second cycle (degree, teaching degree) or a
Banks specialization [5]
Internships
single course (module or course unit). It is clear that
Typical operations Useful guidelines to describe a sequence of applied
typical
traineeship knowledge
the results of education and skills should be the final
workflow qualification of a course of study. Skills and learning
outcomes allows for flexibility and independence in
building the curriculum and at the same time offer the
fundamental indicators at each education system level,
382 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
accepted by all actors on the labour market and Recommendation to Member States. So now, the EQF
especially by employers. proposal covers all types of education (including
The analyze of labour market necessities focused university) and is characterized by three basic
on learning outcomes and competences stresses that principles: 1) Should be a core set of common
there is a substantial change in the paradigm of reference points - referring to the results of education
teaching that focus on student learning is itself located in an 8-levels structure; 2) These reference
increasing importance. Need to give importance and levels would be supported by a number of means and
recognition aspect of learning has an impact on the tools to address its application to individual citizens (a
classification and construction of educational programs system of credit accumulation and transfer of European
leading to professional qualifications. This requires a life education, the Europass instrument, Ploteus
transition from an educational system focused on database for educational opportunities); 3) EQF
teaching to one focused on learning. included a set of common principles and procedures to
Reflecting on the various aspects that characterize provide rules for cooperation between participants at
this trend becomes clear focus on the competences; different levels - in particular emphasized quality
previous paradigm emphasizes the acquisition and assurance, validation, guidance and key competences.
transfer of knowledge. The paradigm shift involved the As shown in the EQF are eight levels of the results of
following elements: an education that focuses more on education and they are described - as is illustrated
students, a different role of the teacher, a redefinition below - in terms of knowledge, skills and personal and
of objectives, even a change in the approach of professional skills (which they are divided into four
education, a shift from input to output a change in types). For each level there are three types of learning
organization learning. Interest in developing skills in outcomes - see Table 2.
educational programs is under an educational approach Table 2. Professional competences and skills interconnection [6]
centred mainly on himself/herself as student and the Professional competences and abilities
Knowledge
involvement from the teacher because the student must and Competences competences Professional
develop the capacity to deal new information and to responsibility and competences
communication
find and evaluate sources of information in their
various forms (from teachers, libraries, Internet etc).
This approach emphasizes that the student is the central The qualifications framework presented in THE
point of this paradigm. EUROPEAN STUDY OF A LIFE, from July 8, 2005,
Considering that the university's traditional role has stated that "key skills were partly integrated into the
been seen as limited to the development and transfer of common reference levels and descriptors of the EQF;
knowledge is not surprising that many academics are this is particularly true for 'learning to learn',
not accustomed to consider methods of teaching and 'interpersonal and civic competences',' entrepreneurship
learning based on competencies and thus are 'and' cultural expression 'which were merged into one
unfamiliar with the vocabulary and concepts used to category' personal and professional skills.” Other key
describe classify those methods (or are even hostile to skills, e.g. language skills, digital skills and
them). The changing paradigm is that the university mathematics, science and technology are brought to an
should not be limited to enhanced knowledge transfer appropriate level of detail in national and sector
and evolving - a traditional area of specialization - but frameworks. "The main importance of learning
also a variety of skills (general skills and competence outcomes is emphasized in such a way that the
matter). This implies as particular universities to questionnaire used by the Commission for consultation
develop a new method of teaching and learning to with Member States is the following question: "How
encourage, enable and promote student skills, such as and when could the national certification bodies to
analysis and synthesis, independent opinions, curiosity, adjust your approach based on the results of
ability to work in teams and communication skills. education?”
Changes in methods and objectives of teaching and 3. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
learning involve further changes to the methods and FOR SPECIALIZATION FINANCE – BANKS
criteria for assessing appropriate profile. They should The investigation in the frame of banks concerning
not only consider the subject knowledge but also the the identification of professional competencies by
capacity and competence (general skills and results/outcomes in specific activities had two
competence matter). In the ways of development of important parts: 1) definitions of competencies in
ensuring the quality at European level of professional banks specific activities – Part A; 2) define of Units of
profile it is essential to assure transparency and the Competence – Part B.
ability to compare systems training and assessment The first part of investigation: "participant should
criteria of a professional profile. As a summary of the demonstrate ...", descriptors should be formulated - at
results of education and skills it can be used in the least for each activity analyzed "... The participant is
European Qualifications Framework (EQF). A formal able..." – the situations should make explicit the
proposal on the EQF was presented by the Commission results/outcomes expected, verifiable and indicator of
in spring 2006 and was the objective of a Council professional performances. What matters is that they
Choosing the Academic Program: An Exploratory Research on the Dynamics of Students’ Decision-
making Process
383
are considered suitable situations and as a "test review" 3. to identify all documents necessary for a complete credit dossier
in a training situation. As a case in particular for With the view of approval of application for credit, should be analysed a
series of documents that certify the reliability of the client and assure
enabling the identification of technical and professional minimizing of risks for cooperative. In this sense, the credit inspector, to the
skills - to obtain a description "uniform and concise" - dossier reception should verify the existence of all requested documents and
their correctness.
is one where the participant is asked: a) What is the
most similar to current activity of processes (the same In the second part of investigation shall formulate
indicators that are needed to express their assessment skills
technology, same procedures, same consumption etc.), and detail level. Some guidelines are explored below for the
the better if it is implemented in the same technical and definition of indicators. Recommendation is the limiting the
social contexts of employment; b) What is the most number of indicators for each descriptor defined by taking
significant result in the critical field of activity and into account the criteria for making revisions of skills:
relevant current employment situation process? The selected indicators must be most relevant for the current
answer of many boarding banks at these questions competence and can be used as factors of the competence
allowed us to update curricula of master degree predictor. The important aspects of identifying of
programs in this field. An example of a concise competences needs in banks are : 1) each Unit of
description of the unit in a situation where a person is Competence must not necessarily be a review unit;
summarize tests could be envisaged to ascertain (by
asked a result (output) is illustrated in Table 3. grouping, summarizing, etc.) competences (and related
Table 3. List of specific banks activities related to results.
situations and indicators) for more than one Unit of
Person should be able to:
Competence; 2) similarly to the review of a single Unit of
1… Competence, it may verify (by grouping, summarizing, etc.)
2…
more competences (and related situations and indicators) of
3. to determine the client reliability and repayment capacity of the request the same Unit of Competence.
credit
In the second part of investigation (Part B) descriptions
The result (output) describe the most important should be formulated and produced for, and the participants,
objective competence-based learning because it is the to assess those aspects of competence, though not appreciable
least exposed to risk of emotional interference or in the product itself, can be assessed in other ways: the
pollution from other variables (empathy, following example, dealing with the previous one – Table 6.
communication skills, etc.) which would make the Table 6. Product (Result) descriptions in Finance-Banks field
Participant Indicators:
other test. From this perspective, it is suggested that - if should
it is considered possible - to describe the situations demonstrate:
where the result is required should be extended and 1… ...
enriched by adding information to guide the evaluation 2… ...
of those elements which - although not valued on the 3. [Examples of product descriptions (= project) and choose the
result/outcome itself and its inside - are still valued by to most significant "predictors"]
other means (e.g. by indicating the criteria and identify all oinput data necessary for planning (plan features available
documents locations, types and standards of service, etc..) Are made
procedures useful to illustrate the solutions necessary for explicit and examined.
incorporated in the product, etc.). Below are two a complete o(and / or) are identified faultless service areas required to
credit dossier implement defined standards.
examples of different rich descriptions, on the same o(and / or) ...
situation in the example above. The first description
to oKnow how to describe the main distinguishing features of a
indicates as such participant is in a situation where, in determine the "loan repayment mode;
addition to elaborating the result, he / she could explain client o(and / or) knowledge of how to illustrate the logic behind the
the reason of the professional choices of project reliability and correct application of the criterion of "guaranteeing"
repayment o(and / or) knowledge of how to rebuild guide planning etc.
completed as result – Table 4. capacity of
Table 4. Results expected as professional competencies in the request
Finance-Banks field credit
Participant should be able to: This kind of investigation of juridical entity can be
1… chosen to formulate indicators necessary of human
2…
resources development and it is a way which entails a
3.
to identify all documents necessary for a complete credit dossier "technology" complex, which is characterized by an
to determine the client reliability and repayment capacity of the request increased content of "objectivity", while requiring
credit
relatively sophisticated processes and tools. This
The second description gives details of results of method will be illustrated in any case that could be
competencies as product specification by incorporating used in some Unit of Competence's, also illustrated in
a draft report of the reasons elections met, and by combination with the first paragraph - Table 1.
detailing the "field" (based :...), be related to the There is a general consensus on the definition of
reasons – Table 5. "indicator”. "Indicator" is defined differently
Table 5 – Results specification as product of professional depending on context. For example, we can see that the
competencies in Finance-Banks field
same words that are used to indicate some different
Participant should demonstrate:
concepts (for example, some authors use the term
1…
2… "parameters" to define what others call it "index"). In
384 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
this context, the term "indicator" is used as described be grouped into one classification. For example, we
below. An indicator showing: a) Quantitative measures could see how the first phenomenon as "appropriate
of phenomena and features subject to detection / planning inputs" should be considered qualitative
measurement; b) Qualitative phenomena private because it is impossible to identify a unit able of
functions subject to review. "planning consistency measure. It may be reviewed
The values indicators have provided clues that only by qualitative variables. In general, the same can
define limits of quantitative values, or to specify be said for other processes during investigation of
requirements and conditions for qualitative professional competences required.
phenomena. It has stressed the importance of defining 4. CONCLUSIONS
indicators and indices in a way around that there is a Each training program has as input different
consensus among experts in the field of labour market contextual elements and limitations of various types
and training and education. The first step of curricula that must be carefully analyzed and evaluated. For
updating is the identification of activities and starters, the objective of the plan must be clearly
indicators measurement and/or review. understood: suppose you have to do with brief but
Descriptor of professional profile must demonstrate continuing intervention training - has to do with a
is "field" of phenomena subject detection/measurement complicated surgery and should be articulated as an
or review. If appropriate descriptor was made, educational process designed to achieve a final grade
phenomena are easily detectable by analysis using of the original course subject? Organization or person
verbs, objects / complements on and syntactic is responsible for planning its own models of
structure: the set of "control" language might warn us instruction (teaching methods), planning and
of the situation relevant features subject to review. It assessment methods so that the scheme intends to
must remind that the expected results may take incorporate the plan? Planning the training program to
different forms in each case, they can be grouped into provide a degree, an official document that records the
two main categories: 1) It could take the form of a certification competencies developed? Skills course
tangible product, whether manufactured physical (e.g. will be certified at the end of individual segments of
a mechanical device) or the result of follow up on, and the program important? There are rules to be followed?
tangible items (e.g. if a technician management, In a hypothetical situation planning principles are
product equipment maintained: the lubricating oil obviously competences and standards of training that
lubricated condition items, cleaning machine parts, works very realistic as a compass for orientation
etc...); 2) It could take the form of an intangible training program, ensuring transparency, providing
product or consisting of one or more documents (e.g. a recognition of diplomas and the expected results after
project) or completely intangible, such as an activity learning. These standards are so "reference point" for
performed coincident with the interface between the program schedule learning (formal, non-formal,
supplier and customer, and do not expect any informal) to determine the final state, e.g. learning
transaction with a / on the physical elements, and not outcomes expected after completion of learning. They
involving documentation (e.g. describing a work of art are effective factor for the program, represents a
to a credit guide). strategic dimension and the main source of
Now consider the result formulated in the example legitimization of the proposed training. Result of
above: "... A person should demonstrate: to identify all analysis of competences of a professional profile
documents necessary for a complete credit dossier represent the training needs of a person must obtain, in
In order to obtain the approval of application for whole or in part, identified skills during an
credit, should be analysed a series of documents that investigation in labour market as we have brief
certify the reliability of the client and assure presented in this paper. When a training program is
minimizing of risks for cooperative. The credit designed to obtain a professional profile it must contain
inspector, to the dossier reception should verify the the entire Unit of Competence (and Unit of Training)
existence of all requested documents and their that are relevant.
correctness". References
Analysis of verbs, objects and syntactic structure 1. Andragogy, Encyclopedia of Informal Education. Explore
informal education, lifelong and social action,
that outlines the three processes are essentially subject
http://www.infed.org/lifelonglearning/b-andra.htm,
of investigation / measuring and / or review: 1) 2. Simmonds, D. (2008). Proiectarea si livrarea programelor de
Planning appropriate inputs ("Drafting ... based on”); training. Bucuresti : Codecs.
2) Optimizing connections and deployment bodies 3. Vaughn, R.H. (2008). Manualul trainerului profesionist. Bucuresti
: Codecs
("Drafting ... on the optimal deployment of connections
4. Train the Trainer. Training Fundamentals. Instructor’s Reference
and bodies ...»); 3) Election Motivation Project Manual. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific,
("Project preparation, a report containing the choices United Nation, New York, 2001
made during the project"). For each identified 5. http://www.certiskills.net/Vproduct/certiskills-pub1-ENG.pdf
6.
processes, we need to understand that, whether criteria
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/publ/pdf/eqf/broch_en.pdf
quantitative or qualitative, taking into consideration,
sometimes result in the formulation, may be present
margin of ambiguity / complexity, which cannot easily
CHOOSING THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM: AN EXPLORATORY RESEARCH ON THE
DYNAMICS OF STUDENTS’ DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
Rodica BOIER1
1
"Gh. Asachi" Technical University of Iaşi, Rodica_Boier@yahoo.com
The paper summarizes the outcomes of a complex exploratory research, planned and conducted in the last five years. The results of the research
describe the distinct dynamic of the decision process involving prospective students: the specific way in which they became aware of the need to
continue their studies; the manner in which they collect information about available education programs; the methods of evaluating each
program; the final choice decision; the assessment of satisfaction levels during the studies, at their completion and, later on, during the process of
insertion in the labor market.
The objective of the research is to provide an insight into the internal dynamic of the decision process involved in the adoption of an academic
program and to explore the changes that Romanian prospective students have experienced in terms of how they manage this process, from the
initial recognition of the need to pursue higher education training to the post-graduation self-assessment.
dramatic transformations. The main findings, selected contests, a more favorable university / faculty image and
for presentation in this paper, are about the dramatic greater students’ loyalty, and the additional positive
shift of information sources for the prospective students long-term effects that these will produce.
toward the virtual space, and the process to gather Risk perception differs from one prospect to another,
information in order to lower the involved risk. These due to the main aspects that risk correlates with, i.e. the
aspects will be approached in detail below. program category; the type of prospect; and the nature
of the enrollment situation.
Information search on the Internet The program category influences the perceived risk
Both for the established academic programs of in terms of both its level and extent. Thus, the more
prestigious universities and for newly introduced involving the higher education program is for the
programs, prospective students resort to information prospect, the more elevated the perceived risk will be
from university and/or personal sources. Typically, for the student in a process of evaluating the enrollment
personal sources – perceptions resulting from the decision. The degree of involvement increases if the
personal experience of persons who the student trusts – program is more complex in content terms and more
tend to convey greater confidence, compared to relevant for the acquisition of specific knowledge;
university sources, which are perceived from the start in likewise, if the costs involved are high; if the necessary
terms of the intrinsic interest to promote the offered time expenditure is hard to make up; if the
service. specialization contributes to a greater extent to the
Prospective students filter the collected information student/graduate’s public image.
through the prism of their own values and convictions. The type of prospective student refers to a wide
Their reaction to the information acquired may vary in range of typologies, extending between two extremes:
relation to the joint influence of such factors as: the prospects who take on risks impulsively, at one end, and
degree of prospect involvement of the higher education prospects who avoid risk completely, at the other end.
program; the complexity and value of the offering for Various possible situations occur within this range, as
the prospect; the support received from others (parents, individuals blend to varying degrees risk acceptance and
professors, friends, peers); the perception of entailed risk aversion, depending on their proximity to one or the
risks and the concrete ways of managing the risks other the said extremities. Age, gender, education, level
involved; the urgency of the decision, etc. of information, residence environment etc. are variables
The internet is increasingly the preferred information which influence the inclusion of the prospective student
source, even for prospects from rural areas. Internet into a particular category of attitudes to purchasing risk.
ranked as the first source in 80% of cases, the difference Based on the findings of our research, the decision
between the two residence areas (i.e. urban and rural) situation – a segment of the standard decision process –
being insignificant in this respect. The percentage is does not exert considerable influence on the prospective
even higher for MA prospective students compared with student’s perception of the risk entailed, because
BA prospects. information, evaluation and deliberation generally
The main cited internet addresses were the official extend over a longer period and enrollment follows the
site of the Romanian Ministry of Education, Research, classical pattern.
Youth and Sports (www.edu.ro) and the sites of Risk means the state of uncertainty, which the
universities and faculties, respectively. As regards the prospective student faces when he cannot accurately
favorite information sources of prospective MA foresee the consequences of his projected enrollment.
students, the site www.postuniversitar.ro was at the top Risk therefore anticipates the loss that the student may
of the list, indicated by 87% of respondents. incur in case he fails to make the optimal choice.
In an attempt at a thorough investigation, by
Reducing enrollment decision risk dissecting the global risk perceived by the prospective
With varying degrees of intensity, risk is student, we may observe that risk includes following
permanently present in the decision process involved in dimensions: performance risk, financial risk, physical
the adoption of a higher education program of study. risk, psychological risk, social risk and time risk. Most
The student will decide on a field of study, frequently, one risk element entails another in a
specialization, geographical area, city, faculty in sequential manner, therefore the whole chain must be
addition to other extra-curricular aspects such as considered when examining global risk.
accommodation and meal services, transportation, Performance risk refers to the fact that the offering
entertainment opportunities, etc. The questions of what, may not achieve the expected level of performance and
how much, how, where and when related to a preferred deliver the promised solutions and benefits, or that it
academic program confront the prospective student who will quickly become outdated due to the sudden shifts in
is about to decide on a higher education course. the market place demands for specialists. In terms of the
University marketing has the capacity to determine the performance risk, the study indicates a rather weak
student’s needs, wants and interests and to provide connection between the prospective student’s decision
solutions which will deliver satisfaction in the long run. to choose a higher education program of study, on the
Marketing itself will benefit of the anticipated one hand, and the competence level (i.e. information,
performance: increased enrollment in admission
Choosing the Academic Program: An Exploratory Research on the Dynamics of Students’ Decision-making
Process 387
knowledge, skills and attitudes) which the program is choose an academic program. Cognitive dissonance is
certainly capable to provide, on the other hand. also often experienced after the decision has been made,
Physical risk occurs when the product endangers sometimes for a long period of time, throughout the
the prospects’ health or even their life. The study program duration or even after graduation.
suggests an extremely low perception by prospects of
such physical risks (e.g. the lack of proper comfort that Risk management in the enrollment decision
can cause illnesses; violence on student campuses, etc.). Marketing must not ignore or underestimate the risk
Financial risk raises the possibility that the prospect involved in choosing a particular academic program,
may be wrong in deciding on a program of study which because prospective students themselves are aware of it
is too theoretical, disconnected from reality or outdated and their own perception will influence the selection
in terms of the information provided. Additionally, the pool that the university / faculty will eventually tap. The
prospect’s failure to carry out thorough market research chapter ‘student risk’ must be thoroughly considered in
in advance may cause him to miss the most marketing planning. Below we provide a checklist of
advantageous offerings, in terms of the costs incurred. actions that marketers must take into account, in
Psychological risk is connected to the prospect’s agreement with the requirements of research-based risk
self, self-image and self-confidence and refers to management in the decision process to adopt an
embarrassing, traumatizing and even damaging social academic program (Figure 1).
consequences that he may incur in case of a wrong
choice of academic program. From this point of view, ………………………………………………………….
the perception of psychological risk has a perverse 1. Identify all the risk sources involved in the decision
effect, confirmed by the study: quite a lot of high school to adopt a program of study, as perceived by the following
graduates decide on a specialization without assessing categories: current own students, students of competing
its contribution to providing skills that will be in universities/faculties/programs, potential students, prospective
demand on the market place, but rather based on criteria students.
such as “I’ll see what people, colleagues etc. say”. This 2. Classify the identified risk sources involved in the
actually explains the increased enrollment level for adoption decision in terms of their type (extent).
3. Measure the prospective students’ and separately,
specializations viewed as fashionable. the parents’ perception of the intensity of each risk source;
Social risk is possibly the most related to rank the identified risk sources in reverse order of severity to
psychological risk, among the several listed risk types, produce a list based on urgency of action
because it involves the prospective student’s reference 4. Examine the current strategies that prospective
groups in the assessments he conducts. The choice of a students’ employ to reduce their own perceived risk.
particular program or university/faculty can cause 5. Design solutions to meet the prospects’
admiration, envy, imitation or, conversely, disapproval, expectations, to reduce the potential risks entailed by selecting
irony or even contempt. a program in the university offering.
Time risk is more keenly felt by the prospective 6. Test the identified solutions on current and potential
students.
student who is aware of this limited resource. The ways 7. Implement the validated solutions, to the extent that
in which the student’s time may be wasted include: the they also serve the need to secure the financing needs of the
difficult access to information about the offering, the university/faculty.
lack of available places in labs or libraries, long waiting 8. Monitor the implementation of the solutions and
lines at the university’s administrative office, etc. potential changes in the promotion process of the academic
Reviewing these aspects is not an objective in itself. offer, which can impact risk perception among prospective
The marketing professional operating in the area of and enrolled students.
university services constantly seeks to know: the risk 9. Apply corrections whenever required by specific
sources anticipated by the prospective student; the developments.
…………………………………………………………………
extent of each risk source identified; the student’s
approach to reducing risk entailed in the decision on a Figure 1: Risk management for the prospective student’s decision to adopt an
academic program.
particular program of study; the solutions the marketer
may come up with to ensure that the prospect is
recruited, enrollment goes through and it ultimately
leads to the student’s/graduate’s satisfaction.
Opportunities for future research
It must be emphasized that, spontaneously or
The complexity of the issue means that the field of
deliberately, and with more or less inspiration, the
investigation of the dynamic of the students’ decision-
prospective student will produce personal strategies to
making process involved in choosing an academic
confront the risk involved in the enrollment decision.
program is highly fertile and favorable to further
Such strategies enable the prospect to increase his
research. The suggestions for future research relate to
confidence in the favorable consequences of his
topics such as: the marketing environment for
decision. Nevertheless, one of the tasks of marketing is
educational services in higher education; ways to
to diminish cognitive dissonance, i.e. that state of
increase recruitment levels, by analyzing the structre of
uncertainty and therefore anxiety and stress that the
the university services offering; aspects of the
prospective student experiences prior to the decision to
perception of the risk involved in choosing a particular
388 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
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References Networking as an Admission Tool: A Case Study in
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CURRICULUM DESIGN IN NETWORK
Abstract: The paper presents a method of designing new curriculum at university level (engineering area) and improving the existing
ones in accordance with the human resource market needs. After a current approach to the curriculum on a global level and in
Romania, a modern approach of curriculum design in terms of market needs is presented. This last approach has three main parts:
research of the human resource market needs, establishing connection between competences and the curricular units, and establishing
the reasons for which competences will be of use to a student. Finally, a structure of a software platform for curriculum development
is presented.
Figure 1: The logic behind developing a curriculum (Km- Knowledges, An – abilities, Cp – competences, SGiUj - curricular units of general subjects, SBiUj - curricular
units of basic subjects, SGiUj - curricular units of specialized subjects)
The studies are structured along four years for specific competences. Some of these are necessary for
Undergraduate Studies and two years for Master. The covering other subjects, but they are required in training
latter are grouped into three categories (professional specialists in a particular area.
studies, complementary studies and research studies) but Analyzing in a simplified manner, the relationship
there are proposals for only two categories (professional between labor market and the curriculum, we can say
and research studies). Considering their content, these that the market defines its need for specialists
disciplines are grouped in the following categories: (graduates) who have a specific amount of
general engineering subjects (SG), basic engineering competencies. Knowing what curricular units develop
subjects (SB), specialized engineering subjects (SS) and desired competencies, we may create optimal
complementary subjects (CS). Taking into account the curriculum by summing (concatenating) selected
possibility for students to access them, subjects are curricular units (fig.1)[1].
grouped into mandatory, optional and non-mandatory. If Analyzing the logical way to create a curriculum we
the original part of the curricular training program is see that there are three knowledge modules, namely:
20% compared to similar license programs of other • Research of the Human Resource Market needs;
faculties in the country, each university curricular • The connection between competences and the
master program can be originally developed. curricular units;
• The logic in which competences can be added to a
MODERN APPROACH TO CURRICULUM student, a logic that determines the precedence
DESIGN IN TERMS OF MARKET NEEDS between the curricular units.
The best way would be to start from the market from Research of the Human Resource Market needs
the request of customers (companies) and to construct
curriculum to meet the general competencies specified The organization of marketing research is necessary
in the classification of trades, but also to respond to to have a very "dynamic" nature aiming to identify
specific requests made by companies regarding specific market needs. It is very important to know the types of
skills of graduates. The heterogeneity of the education specialists needed and their number, to identify
of candidates who have different backgrounds and competences that every type of specialist should have.
specific native capabilities must also be taken into To gather up to date realistic data, a close cooperation
account. with the companies is required. The information may be
To achieve this goal, a first idea was to organize collected through questionnaires that need to be
each teaching unit into several modules to deepen prepared, submitted and collected; after that the data
concepts, namely: analysis and interpretation is necessary. The information
• Curricular unit I: connects with previous subjects obtained is the basis on which educational programs are
and defines general notions of the subject, provides created. This information will be the basis for
basic knowledge. establishing the topic of the program studies and the
• Curricular unit II: develops general concepts, sizes of the study groups.
describes phenomena, provides knowledge and
competences needed by engineers. Establishing connection between competences and
• Curricular unit III: provides detailed knowledge of the curricular units
aspects regarding the latest research, develops
research skills and optimizes this processes. It is
Each study program must define the necessary skills
dedicated to master and PhD students.
and competences required by the specialist to cover the
Of course there may be several curricular units, each newly formed job (occupation). Skills will be defined
being a longer-term, theme-based learning experience for new license and master studies, reviewed and refined
composed of many lessons and/or activities. Each
for the existing programs.
module provides knowledge and skills and creates
Curriculum Design in Network 391
ENGINEERING CURRICULUM
Subject areas
S1 S2 …
Compe- Curricular units of Curricular units of a
tences a subject area subject area
S1U1 … S1Ui S2U1 … S2Ui …
C1 X X
C2 X
… …
Figure 2: Curriculum Development in Microsoft Project software
A hierarchy of skills and competences is required.
They must be divided according to market demand In this analysis activities will be considered as
which will lead to mandatory learning modules competences and resources will be considered as
(required for all beneficiaries), optional (required by curriculum units that create these skills and
some important beneficiaries) and non-mandatory competences. In Figure 2 are presented several skills
(restricted demand). Hierarchy of subjects will also whose logic precedence can be established based on
enable and optimize the allocation of credits. information obtained from structured information as in
Establishing the link between competences and the Table 2.
curricular units is a complex one, both in volume (large Applying these principles the bachelor’s, master’s
number of competences and curricular units) and the and postgraduate teaching programs can be designed in
number of persons called upon structuring this accordance with the achievement of the desired
information (every teacher is required to structure these competencies.
curricular units and to define competences that will be In this analysis we can see that the volume of
gained at the end of the course). To achieve this, we information is extremely high. On the other hand it
proposed to structure the information in tables as shown would be ideal that the curriculum design would bring
in Table 1. together not only specialists from universities
(professors) but also specialists from companies - the
beneficiaries of the product (curriculum graduates).
Establishing the reasons for which competences will
Such an approach can be successfully achieved through
be of use to a student
networking.
The reasons for which competences will be of use to
PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT
a student, reasons that determine the precedence
between the curricular units, are another very complex
task involving the description of many competences and The idea of designing a platform to establish
subjects by a large number of professors. curricula appeared first in the Mechanical Science
For example, in engineering, a student cannot design Department from the Engineering Faculty of Sibiu, in
before knowing how to draw. response to market demands of having specialists
We propose the use of a matrix table as presented in trained in certain areas: Computer Aided Design - CAD,
table 2. For each desired competence (that will be Computer Aided Manufacturing - CAM, Lean
developed in a curricular unit) all the necessary Manufacturing, Product Lifecycle Management - PLM,
competencies that a student must have at the beginning Digital Factory, Logistics, etc.
of the curricular unit we speak about must be The mission of the software platform is to help the
underlined. development or improvement of curriculum and syllabi.
Using this matrix analysis, the next step is to build The Strategic Objectives of the platform are:
the curriculum. For this we propose the use of the 1. Platform development;
Project Management methodology and Microsoft 2. Creating the database, tables and links between them;
Project software because a student education can be 3. Using platform for development and improvement
seen as a human project in which competences are of curricula and syllabi.
acquired in a certain logic. In order to design an educational platform model for
monitoring diploma project activities, the entities that
Table 2: Necessary competences that a student must have before will use the system will be presented first. These are
developing a new competence university and faculty leadership (head of department,
Necessary competences curriculum directors, vice-deans, deans, vice-rector on
C1 C2 … Cn educational activities), teachers, human resource
Obtained C1 executives from various companies.
competences C2 X The functional structure of the platform is shown in
… figure 3. It should be noted that it must be structured
Cn X into three major modules.
392 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The first module refers to the opportunity of a • To determine the skills and competences necessary
marketing study in human resources. For this purpose, for a specialist and their hierarchy depending on the
human resource directors from various companies are expert, the team includes ARACIS moderators,
invited to complete questionnaires. The information curricula representatives (head of department,
retrieved is processed in the SPSS software. The curriculum directors), company specialists (Human
analysis results will be posted on the platform. Resources Manager, Technical Department Manager)
Another module of the platform refers to the .• To build the curriculum, the team is composed of
creation of a complex database. It will contain representatives of educational programs (head of
structured information in related tables: trades department, curriculum directors) and professors.
classification, skills and competences necessary for
various trades, the engineering fundamental subjects in CONCLUSIONS
the industrial engineering area; the engineering
curricular units of the fundamental subject areas, the
The paper presents a method of curriculum
engineering curricular units of the fundamental subject
development and improvement based on human
areas and the competences created by them, the reasons resources market needs. The originality of the method
for which competences can be of use to a student, consists of the way in which information is structured in
syllabi for each curricular unit, professors who teach
different stages, the idea of building a platform for
different curricular units. The software application will
curriculum development and the use of Microsoft
be based on a classic relational database model.
Project software in order to elaborate the curriculum
The third module of the platform is about building a
based on abilities and competences.
curriculum starting from the market and database
information. The used software is Microsoft Project.
Activities will be considered as student’s skills obtained References
in the educational process. Resources will be considered
as curricular units of the fundamental subject areas. 1. Beju,L.D., Brindasu ,P.D. (2008) Methodology for
Organizing E-creative Research and E-creative Design Sessions,
Actual construction of curriculum is done based on the Annals of DAAAM for 2008 & Proceedings of the 19th
Gantt chart (displacement - activities) in conditions that International DAAAM Symposium “Intelligent Manufacturing &
follow the precedents of activities. Automation: Focus on Next Generation of Intelligent Systems and
The great advantage of the platform is to benefit Solution” Trnava, Slovakia pg. 83-84.
2. Brindasu,P.D., BejuL.D., Borza, S.(2008) Research
from knowledge and experience of various specialists. Methodology for the National Knowledge Network INPRO-
For this, many activities can be accomplished in Romania, Proceedings of the 5th WSEAS/IASME International
synchronous or asynchronous networking sessions. Conference on Engineering Education, Heraklion Greece , pg.
Depending on the issues investigated, the team may 67-72.
3. Howard,J., Curriculum Development, Centre for the
have the following structure: Advancement of Teaching and Learning, Elon University
• To identify appropriate type and number of the 4. http://org.elon.edu/catl/documents/curriculum%20developme
professional team members, the team consists of nt.pdf
representative of the program study and representatives
of companies.
TEAM LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION:
A MULTIDIMENTIONAL COMPARATIVE RESEARCH
A model of team learning (TL) within the context of higher education (HE) was developed and tested, and its validity was
examined within a global context. Quantitative data from 687 respondents of two well-established universities in the UK and
Vietnam were used to test the hypotheses of the model. Most of the hypotheses were confirmed, providing overall support for the
validity of the model. Statistically significant differences were found in team learning between the two countries, but no strong
differences between academic and non-academic employees, or between science and non-science employees. The research
provides an innovative perspective of TL relating to its antecedents, moderators, and outcomes. It also shows that TL tends to
work better in a collectivist culture; and universities should pay attention to development and training to have effective TL.
RESULTS
The prediction of team learning shows a within an international context. We discuss the results
significant increase in R2 = .28, significant Fchange = as follows.
29.35*** and coefficients in the respective regression. First, a number of methods were employed to
The coefficients were significant with CT, L, TC, IL, minimize research bias in this research including
and G, but not with DT. It means that organizational stratified random sampling, cross-check and
culture, leadership, team commitment, individual Harman’s one-factor test. Thus, the quantitative data
learning, and goal setting were positively associated in this research are reliable and valid for
with team learning. Hypothesis 1 was mainly generalization.
supported. Second, most of the suggested antecedents
The predictions of the outcomes show were significantly positively associated with team
positive results with teaching performance (PA1) (R2 learning. In details, team commitment, individual
= .12) and knowledge sharing (R2 = .12), but not with learning, goal setting, organizational culture and
administration and research performance (PA0 and leadership are positively associated with team
PA2). In other words, team learning is positively learning. Unlike what has been raised in literature,
associated with teaching performance and knowledge development & training were not significantly
sharing, but not with administration and research positively associated with team learning. This finding
performance. Hypothesis 2 was partially supported. contrasts with Prichard et al (2006) argument that
With the mediating effect of team learning, a development & training enhance team learning, at
significant increase in R2 = .38, significant Fchange = least in HE. There are two possible explanations for
7.97** and coefficients in the respective regression this. Well-qualified employees may find development
was shown in the analysis. Though the coefficient & training at their universities inadequate compared to
team learning in model 3s was not reduced to non- their demand of life-long learning. In contrast, it may
significant, most of the coefficients of the antecedent be the neglect of universities, which supposed their
showed a reduction from model 2s to model 3s. They employees to obtain all necessary skills before joining
show that team learning partially mediated the them.
relationship between the antecedents and the Third, knowledge sharing and teaching
outcomes. Hypothesis 3 was partially supported. performance showed evidence to be the outcomes of
The results show significant coefficients on team learning. Team learning will promote the spread
the predictions of moderating effects of CM (β = of knowledge and high teaching quality, which are the
.069*) and LE (β = .075*) on the relationship between primary functions of HE. However, team learning was
TL and KS, but not much with the relationship not significantly positively associated with
between TL and PA1. Hypothesis 4 was partially administration performance and research
supported. performance. This shows team learning is still weak
with both academic and non-academic employees in
Independent sample t-test HE. Administrators appear to work individually based
The test showed all significant results when on job requirements. Researchers tend to collaborate
comparing all the component of the model in two with colleagues outside the universities more often
countries. The UK University had lower scores in than with their colleagues within their universities.
most of the components than the Vietnam University, Fourth, team learning partially mediates the
except teaching performance and research relationship between the antecedents and the
performance. outcomes. It shows that the proposed sets of
No statistically significant difference was antecedents and outcomes are highly correlated with
found when an independent sample t-test was team learning. In other words, the proposed model
employed to detect comparisons between academic demonstrates applicability in the reality.
and non-academic employees, except individual Fifth, communication and learning
learning. Not many statistically significant differences environment do moderate the relationships between
were found between science and non-science team learning and teaching performance, and team
employees, except teaching performance and goal learning and knowledge sharing. They have a vital a
setting. Science employees were better at goal setting role in promoting these relationships. Sixth, the
while social science and humanity employees blamed geographic factors such as qualifications, working
better teaching performance. In general, independent span and jobs’ roles did not really have strong impacts
sample t-test results did not lend support to hypothesis on the model. This may be because most of them had
5. high qualifications and work in academia. Thus, they
had high confidence in their work regardless of how
DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION long they had been working.
Based on the developed framework, this is Finally, an interesting and unexpected
the first known empirical study that utilizes finding of this research is that all the components of
quantitative measures to analyse team learning model the team learning model, except teaching
performance, in Vietnam had higher values than in the
Team Learning in Higher Education: A Multidimentional Comparative Research 395
UK. While the UK has a long reputation of high learning more easily than those in individualist
quality education export to the world (Marginson, cultures because their employees appear to be more
2006), including to Vietnam, Vietnam is a developing committed to their teams and organizations.
economy with a developing HE systems under the Team commitment in team learning mainly
transformation and innovation (Ca, Chuong, Mai, & depends on individual intrinsic motivation to teams.
Tuan, 2006). The answer to these differences must be Like a circle, this factor is affected by the culture of
in cultural difference. Vietnamese respondents tended the organization in which people are working.
to agree that their organizational culture is dynamic, That leadership is associated with ‘designers,
interactive, proactive, group-oriented, accommodating teachers, and stewards’ of learning organization in
and friendly. These indicators were lower with UK general, team learning in particular is not new (Fullan,
respondents. The answer to these differences must be 1993; Senge, 1990). However, in reality, leaders can
in cultural difference. The university in Vietnam is be very good designers and teachers of team learning,
located in a collective culture where people appreciate but not stewards. Successful team learning requires
the harmony and relationships with others (Thêm, leadership of all team members, not only with those
1999; Vượng, 2001; Vuong, Thanh, Ben, Dzung, & who are entitled leaders, demanding all the team
Anh, 1999), whereas the University in the in the UK members to act as designers, teachers and stewards of
is located in an individualistic culture where people the learning processes. In other words, team learning
tend to have strong individual autonomy (Hofstede, requires new perception of leadership, i.e., the
1993, 2001), especially in academia (Dearlove, 2002; leadership from and within each individual.
Woodfield & Kennie, 2008).
It is challenging to explain the higher scores Managerial implications
in communication and learning environment. UK is a Apart from the theoretical implications
developed country and a major HE exporter to the mentioned above, this research has a number of
world. Vietnam, in contrast, is a developing country, relevant findings for HE managers. Below are some of
which is currently importing HE from developed these important implications.
countries, including the UK. Therefore, it is hard to First, HE recruiters should be aware that
say that the communication and learning environment employees who come from collectivistic cultures
in Vietnam were better than in the UK. The possible often have a more positive attitude towards their
explanation is that people in Vietnam, again, teams and organizations than those who come from
embedded in collectivistic culture, found it easy to be individualistic cultures, while those coming from
satisfied with the conditions that they had while their individualism tend to perform better because of their
UK counterparts were more demanding on these better education systems. This is one of the benefits of
issues. diversity.
In general, there is not much difference between the Second, team learning does not get as much
proposed model and the tested model in this study. It benefit from development & training as individual
shows the applicability of the team learning model in learning. Thus, universities should revisit
HE. Further conclusions presented are in the development & training in order to achieve better
theoretical and managerial implications, and team learning.
limitations. Third, timely, accurate, adequate, complete
and credible communication systems really positively
Theoretical implications affect the process of team learning. They help to share
Under the changing ecology of teams, knowledge across the organization and promote better
teamwork tends to be replaced by team learning. In teaching. Supportive learning environment has a
nature, team learning, which includes teamwork, similar impact on team learning.
shows a higher development of team. This research Finally, qualifications, tenure, and job’s roles
strongly validates the proposed model of team do not have any special impact on team learning in
learning. We identified five antecedents, two HE. In addition, there is no myth about differences
moderators and two outcomes for team learning. related to team learning between academics and non-
Organizational culture, team commitment, and academics, between science and non-science
leadership have particularly significant impacts on employees. The separations among academics and
team learning. non-academics, science and non-science are not
In order to expand teams’ ‘capacity to create necessary in team learning.
the results they truly desire’, to promote ‘collective Though the research was conducted in HE,
aspiration’ and learning together (Senge, 2006), the model can be applied outside HE. Thus, the
organizational culture must be group oriented, findings can be generalizable to other contexts where
proactive, interactive, dynamic, and accommodating. team learning is appreciated, for example
More than ever, organizational culture has become organizations which are on the process of becoming
more critical to team learning, formulating a culture of learning organizations (Pedler, Burgoyne, & Boydell,
collective learning. Societal culture also affects 1991; Senge, 1990, 2006; Watkins & Marsick, 1993).
organizational culture. Organizations, which are
embedded in collectivist culture, tend to obtain team Limitations and future research
396 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The research is subject to some limitations. 18. Vuong, T. Q., Thanh, T. N., Ben, N. C., Dzung, L. M., &
Anh, T. T. (1999). Fundamental Vietnamese Culture.
From literature, team performance can be another
Hanoi: Education Publishing.
outcome of team learning (Chan, Lim, & Keasberry, 19. Watkins, K. E., & Marsick, V. J. (1993). Sculpting the
2003; Senge, 1990). However, team performance is Learning Organization: Lessons in the Art of Systemic
not merely an outcome of the internal functioning of Change. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.
20. West, M. A. (2004). Effective Teamwork: Practical
teams (Ancona, 1990; Joshi, Pandey, & Han, 2009).
Lessons from Organizational Research (2nd ed.).
Employees in HE institutions may belong to an Oxford: BPS Blackwell.
internal team(s), or external team(s), to both internal 21. Wiersma, W., & Jurs, S. G. (2005). Research Methods in
and external teams, to mixed teams, or no team at all. Education (8th ed.). New York: Allyn & Bacon.
22. Woodfield, S., & Kennie, T. (2008). 'Teamwork' or
Hence, measuring team performance in two separate
'working as a team'? The theory and practice of top
universities in two different countries would be team working in UK Higher Education. Higher
beyond the scope of this paper. This explains why Education Quarterly, 62(4), 397-415.
team performance was not one of the outcomes of LO
model.
Most of the above limitation is expected to
be resolved in future research where the newly
developed team learning model, as used in this
research, can be applied and tested in other sectors.
References
Competence is widely used and in higher education plays an important role. The tools for managing competence are created in a
specified context. Based on a deep analysis we found the similarities between the ontology management and competence management.
Due to the fact that for ontology management is many frameworks we propose a model for competence management based on the
above similarity. The features of the model are inspired from current actions done on the competence.
of different types of new knowledge, while the - search retrieval and reasoning: Once the ontologies
process of putting a specific competence into have been created, they can be used to realize
practice is accompanied by the activation of a certain information access in the application, for example
amount of acquired knowledge. This includes via search and retrieval;
knowledge concerning key entities (e.g. type of task, - Ontology Population: To populate the knowledge
type of resource) that allow the actor to link the base (KB), instances may be collected from the user,
current situation to situations in the past, as well as e.g. via forms;
knowledge such as action rules. - Cleansing and Fusion: Automatically extracted
- aspect concerns the close link between the knowledge cannot be assumed to have the desired
competence and the work situation in which this quality.
competence will be used. The scheme activation COMPETENCE
aims at achieving goals related to a class of MANAGEMENT USAGE
situations and results in a relatively stable
organization of the associated action plan for such TOOLS APPLICATIONS
similar situations. This aspect means that signatures
specific to each competence can be elaborated Editor Browser Portal Search
through their underlying scheme.
Management Services Usage Services
The competence characterization can be done using
work situations from Belkadi, F., Bonjour, E. and Use Case Modeling Retrieval/Reasoning Related
Dulmet, M. (2007). Due to the specific interest of the Mapping Services
Visualization
entities, companies or education institutes, the Functional Evaluation Loading
competences are treated in a particular manner, and Performance Evaluation Fusion
these outline the goals of the entities. In the field of
engineering design, companies are becoming more
aware of the strong connection between competence
management and knowledge management in Belkadi, Core Competence Services
F., Bonjour, E. and Dulmet, M. (2007), Pepiot, G. et al. Querying Reasoning Repository Registry
(2007).
Data Source Abstraction
DBMS File System Competence Repository Service
ONTOLOGY MANAGEMENT Registry
Ontologies are understood as means to share and Figure 1: A Generic OIS Architecture with Lifecycle Support
reuse knowledge. Ontologies provide knowledge
engineering and artificial intelligence support for
COMPETENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
modeling some domain of the world in terms of labeled
concepts, attributes and relationships, usually classified
in specialization/generalization hierarchies. The competence in higher education is considered of
They are at the core of a new strategy for the major importance. In Chi, Y-L. (2009) the consideration
development of knowledge-based systems, in which on competence in the context of e-learning is complex.
application or domain knowledge is strictly separated Learning is a complex cognitive activity; a course
from software implementations and can thus be generally has a learning goal that comprises listed
efficiently reused across heterogeneous software competence items to facilitate learning assessment.
platforms Guarino, N. (1998). A feature of learning, must allow to the users to
One of the main problems concerning the ontology interact with the system for obtaining a learning route
is their reuse presented in Simperl, E. (2009). Based on based on their curriculum competences. It is necessary
Perez, A., Fernendez-Lopez, M. and Corcho, O. (2003) to use competence items as the mapping medium.
in Tran, T. et al. (2008) is presented the life-cycle not Additionally, both the course materials and competence
only the engineering, but also the usage of ontologies at items must be abstracted to create a knowledge model.
runtime as well as the interplay between usage and The performance assessments can be represented
engineering activities. All the methodologies for using Competence Indicators (summarize the
ontology engineering contain main lifecycle activities, assessment methods used to determine whether students
namely requirement analysis, development, evaluation, have reached the corresponding competence levels) and
maintenance and integration. Ontology usage Specific Details (are more in-depth and detailed
encompasses all activities performed with ontology after descriptions of the competence indicators, which can be
it has been engineered. mapped by learning units of course materials).
Current lifecycle models however do not incorporate The Competence Indicators are considered high
activities involved in the actual usage of ontologies. In level concepts. The Specific Details are mapped to
Tran, T. et al. (2008) were elaborated the activities and corresponding concepts that are subordinate to super
based on them, was showed that the lifecycle can be concepts. The individuals are instances of the concepts.
dynamic:
Ontology Server for Competence Creation and Management 399
Individuals Enterprise
COMPETENCE MANAGEMENT Aspects
Acquire
Based on the fact that the competence is used in Domain Require
many domains as the ontology we consider that the Competence
competence management can be done and can be treated Ontology
as the ontology is.
For competence management the main lifecycle
activities are: requirement analysis, development, Define
evaluation, and maintenance.
The competence usage comprises some similar Resources
aspects like the ontology usage: search retrieval and
reasoning, competence population and we can add Figure 2: Integrating architecture for competence management
comparisons between different competences (like those
offered by the universities and those of the future The life cycle model proposed is illustrated in Figure 3.
students).
The management of competence concerns the
design, development and implementation of competence
being specific to the domain. Between the goals that the
competence management deals are: identification,
allocation, acquisition, mobilization, development,
characterization and evaluation (assessment), all are
presented in Belkadi, F., Bonjour, E. and Dulmet,
M.,(2007).
In Boucher, X. and Burlat, P. (2003) was proposed a
method to evaluate the performance of competence
management processes through the development of
specific indicators. It aims at giving managers a decision
support system by assessing the results of different
action plans to obtain the appropriate development of
competences. This approach is based on a fuzzy
modeling of competence, linked to professional
situations, actors and resources.
Figure 3: Life cycle model for competence
SERVER
Our proposed model will allow the following:
Concerning the competence management many - query access to competences;
models were proposed. In Berio, G. and Harzallah, M. - generation of competence views;
(2007) was proposed an integrated architecture for - management of multiple competences;
competence managements. Due to the space constraints - reasoning on competences.
we illustrate it in the Figure 2. As was stated in our previous work Cicortas, A. and
Iordan, V. (2007), Cicortas, A., Iordan, V. and Naaji, A.
(2008), Iordan, V. and Cicortas, A. (2008), (2008 a), the
agents allow to discover (search and retrieve) the
appropriate information that is analyzed, and treated in
order to construct the competence. One of the sources is
400 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
the curricula. Another source can be information that Journal Europeen des Systemes Automatises, Vol. 37 Iss. 3, pp.
363–390
specifies directly the competence from web pages of the
5. Bonjour, E., Dulmet, M.and Lhote, F.(2002), “ An internal
universities. modeling of competency, based on a systemic approach, with socio-
The server model allows placing the competences in technical systems management in view”, IEEE Conference on
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2002
competences and their components based on appropriate
6. Cicortas, A. and Iordan, V (2007), “Representing and Comparing
queries. In order to facilitate the friendly access of the Competences Using Agents”, Proceedings SACI 2007, 4th
human user are generated different views of the International Symposium on Applied Computational Intelligence
competence and their components. and Informatics, Timisoara, Romania, May 17-18, 2007, IEEE
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manage multiple competences. Reasoning on 10-th WSEAS Intl. Conf. Mathematical Methods and
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definition and its details can be done in different ways. 14. Lin, H.K. and Harding, J.A. (2007), “A manufacturing
system engineering ontology model on the semantic web for inter-
The proposed model offers a solution for enterprise collaboration”, Computers in Industry, Volume 58, Issue
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ACKNOWLEGNMENTS Glardon, R. (2007), “UECML: Unified Enterprise Competence
Modelling Language”, Computers in Industry Vol. 58, Issue 2, pp.
130–142.
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Enterprise Modelling Language - Overview and further work”, Gomez-Perez, A., Studer, R. (2008), “Lifecycle-Support in
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architecture for competence management”, Computers in Industry Golbeck, P. Mika, D. Maynard, R. Mizoguchi, G. Schreiber, P.
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characterisation by means of work situation modeling”, Computers Germany
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4. Boucher, X. and Burlat, P., (2003), “Vers l’integration des Trajectoire historique, enjeux actuels et propositions”, Editions
competences dans le systeme de performances de l’entreprise”, Liaisons, Paris.
UNIVERSITY COURSES DESIGN USING FMEA METHOD. A POSSIBLE APPROACH
Alina CRIŞAN1, Radu A. MUNTEANU2, Liviu CRIŞAN3
1
Techical University of Cluj Napoca, Alina.Crisan@dppd.utcluj.ro
2
Techical University of Cluj Napoca, Radu.A.Munteanu@mas.utcluj.ro
3
Techical University of Cluj Napoca, Liviu.Crisan@muri.utcluj.ro
Universities are leading providers of human capital for higher skilled employment. The quality of human resources, considered being essential for
the economy and progress of society as a system depends crucially on the quality of educational services offered by tertiary education institutions.
Starting from the premise that anything “well done” was previously “well-thought” believe that, above all, quality of university products (knowledge
and competence achieved through teaching-learning-evaluation processes) is determined by quality of educational design, both at macro,
intermediate and micro level. This paper aims to present a possible design model of university courses using, beside consecrated methods from
educational sciences, specific quality management tools, techniques and methods.
Key words: quality of curricular design, FMEA, course design, specific and transversal competences
Probability
Potential
Potential
Controls
Current
Severity
failure
The aim of this study is to analyse the implication of trans-national (cross-border) education from the perspective of the quality of the education
process and see how Quality Assurance mechanisms can be implemented and how those mechanisms apply.
This paper will try to analyse the concept of trans-national education, as well as the already existing mechanisms applicable in quality assurance
and diverse national and international approaches on the matter.
Amongst the methods used, are the analysis of extisting documents, as well as presentation of some study cases from Europe and other continents,
as well as a clear point of view both from Higher Education institution and Quality Assurance Agency perspectives.
The paper will highlight the real implications (both positive and negative) of the globalisation process and cross-border cooperation in the higher
education area.
The main people directly interested by this document are, at the same level of importance, all major stakeholders in the education process -
students, academics (teachers, researchers), management structures at university level, as well as quality evaluators and policy makers.
As the globalisation process opens new possibilities for the service providers, the education systems are not yet well protected against the risks of
un-ethical or misleading attitudes. Therefore, as quality assurance, at national level, is of great importance for the general society, a trans-
national approach of the concept is paramount.
assurance” and to “explore ways of ensuring an accountability guarantee quality assurance and quality
adequate peer review system for quality assurance enhancement of such agencies.
and/or accreditation agencies or bodies”. The Ministers
asked ENQA to realize those Guidelines via its UNESCO-OECD guidelines for quality provision in
members and in thorough consultation and co-operation cross-border Education
with the EUA, ESIB, EURASHE and other relevant
stakeholders. Based on a follow-up to a resolution adopted by the
General Conference of UNESCO in 2003, OECD and
Once drafted and accepted by all Parties, the ESG were UNESCO had a separate initiative, in order to elaborate
adopted in 2005 at the Bergen conference of the specific guidelines for quality assurance of trans-
Ministers of Education, the ESG entered into force and national (cross-border) higher education, “as an
are now at the core of the quality assurance process, educational response to the growing commercialization
becoming a species of “soft law” within this area of of higher education”.
expertise. The main objectives of the Ministers were to
establish a clear set of European standards, both for Those standards, known under the general name of
internal and external quality assurance and for external “OECD-UNESCO Guidelines” were finalized also in
quality assurance agencies, which are expected to 2005, being adopted by the resolution of the 33rd
submit themselves to a cyclical review every five years session of the General Conference (October 2005) and
and to apply for listing within the EQAR – the European issued as a Secretariat document. They represent the
register of quality assurance agencies. work of many UNESCO and OECD Member States
experts and stakeholders (students, teachers, higher
The ESG are structured into three main parts, each one education institutions, quality assurance agencies,
dealing with specific items, as follows : professional bodies, which rapidly realized, during the
the conception process, the existing differences between
- Part 1 - European standards and guidelines for the needs to regulate the ever-growing
internal quality assurance within higher education internationalisation of higher education and the fact that
institutions, that state general principles for quality of national quality assurance agencies ususlly analyzed
the higher education institutions and their respective only internal, domestic processes, offered soley by
study programmes, including the cross-border ones – national institutions, based on the principle under which
“specific needs of different modes of delivery” under education is one of the State’s priorities and the
standard 1.2 dealing with approval, periodic review and evaluation of a foreign/external study programme would
monitoring of the study programmes and degrees. Other not reveal of it’s competence.
applicable standards are related to the existence of
general quality assurance procedures and mechanisms, The Guidelines are voluntary and nonbinding, as they
student assesment criteria, training of teachers, student only give general orientation to six categories of main
support, transparency; stakeholders within the higher education system
(governments, higher education institutions/providers
- Part 2 - European standards and guidelines for the including academic staff, student bodies, quality
external quality assurance of higher education, that assurance and accreditation bodies, academic
establish general criteria related to quality assurance recognition bodies, and professional bodies) for
processes within the higher education system as a developing their own national capacities and
whole, being of general application, both by higher international cooperation with the scope to an useful
education institutions and evaluation agencies in instrument and a set of general good practice that can
organizing their respective activities. Those indicators help those stakeholders in evaluating the quality of
state concepts such as fitness for purpose, cyclical higher education programmes provided in a cross-
reviews, internal and external quality assurance border approach and to protect the major beneficiaries,
procedures, reporting and follow-up procedures, mainly students, from low-quality higher education
introducing, thus the most important items, such as programmes and unlawful providers.
systemic analysis and accountability;
This was the main challenge for the national quality
- Part 3 - European standards and guidelines for the assurance systems, that had to be albe to develop
external quality assurance agencies, that present appropriate methodologies and mechanisms to cover
criteria that agencies must comply with, in order for also the foreign providers and programmes in addition
their decisions to be considered fit to their purpose and to domestic ones, both to assure the real advantages of
to really contribute to quality assurance. Those are this experience and to timit the potential risks and
general concepts such as independence and official disadvantages of the internationalisation of higher
status, existence of sufficient resources to guarantee full education via the development of institutions aiming
autonomy from other stakeholders, especially higher more at simply delivering a degree than real higher
education institutions. Items suchy as use of external education.
quality assurance criteria and processes and
Quality Assurance and Trans-National Education 407
Those OECD-UNESCO guidelines recommend thus human, social, economic and cultural needs of the
that external quality assurance agencies should ensure globalized society.
that their quality assurance processes are applicable also
to foreign and commercial providers, as well as all other The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education -
forms of modern education – distance and other non- OBHE
traditional ways of delivering higher education. The Observatory, created in 2002, started initially as a
collaborative initiative within the Association of the
The major inconvenient of this concept, recognized by Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and some UK
the authors of the guidelines, is the fact that, in order for universities, with the scope to gather international
national agencies to be able to of national agencies will strategic data, by investigating how, why and where
in most cases require changes in national legislation and education crosses geographical, political, economic and
administrative procedures, in order to allow an intellectual borders, through massive collaboration with
institution depending of the authority of one State, to be and between key stakeholders in the higher education
able to control and eventually sanction institutions area. This structure is presently formed by 180 various
depending of the authority of another State. educational entities, from more than 55 countries.
Those guidelines are of major importance, as they were The Observatory has a small team of core staff,
also mentioned by the Report to the European Ministers supported by an Advisory Board, many of it’s reports
of Education (which confirmed the importance and being undertaken by external experts all projects being
implications of internationalisation on the quality implemented with associate consultants from around
assurance process of higher education institutions), the world. The Observatory benefits from management,
based on which the ESG were drafted, one major aspect editorial, database and website support from ACU staff.
confirming this being the fact that despite the fact it has
been considered to be too soon some specific references The main objectives of the Observatory could be
to TNE within the ESG, the the proposal and now the summed-up as follows :
existence of an European register implies that both
agencies from outside Europe and the European ones - Engage international quality assurance experts on
could and should be able to analyse cross-border higher current and emerging issues in transnational higher
education operations. The main instrument through education;
which the European quality assurance process would - Organize international conferences for it’s members
meet the objectives of OECD-UNESCO to exchange ideas and strategies, thus providing best
recommendations is via strengthening the already practice guidelines on specific areas of cross-border
existing regional and international networks in quality higher education to all interested parties;
assurance, until one quality assurance agency would be - Cooperation with global higher education
able, from all points of view, to asses an entire stakeholders (education institutions and agencies) in
mechanism of TNE, both in the national country of the order to facilitate greater knowledge and understanding
provider and in the host one, wothin the entire European of the key issues related to cross-border higher
Higher Education Area. education.
Council of Europe Code of Good Practice in
From the general principles stated by those guidelines the Provision of Transnational Education
one could highlight the following :
The Code, drafted under the auspices of the
- Competence of evaluation for national quality Council of Europe and adopted by the Lisbon
assurance bodies within the receiving State, as well as Recognition Convention Committee in Rīga,
obligation for the provider of ensuring the same quality on June 6th, 2001, gives a very clear
level for study programmes offered both on it’s own definition of TNE (see above) and is intended
State system and in the receiving one, as well as for the
teaching staff qualifications;
to promote good practice in the area of
- Transparency of the registration and licensing transnational education - with particular
processes; reference to the quality assurance of study
- Obligation for the cross-border higher education programmes and the standards of
providers to permanently cooperate and consult the qualifications. Thus, the Code tries to align
quality assurance and accredditing bodies within the
receiving country.
expectations of all major stakeholders with
regard to transnational arrangements in higher
In conclusion, one could state that the main goal of
those Guidelines is both to prevent stakeholders from
education and to provide a source of reference
low-quality and unlawfull providers and also to on issues relating to the quality assurance and
encourage the development of real quality cross-border evaluation of transnational education
higher education that could attend to ever-growing programmes, in order to guarantee “consumer
408 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Abstract: The paper is integrated in the objective of promoting the vocational training on the basis of the research and technological
development programs, especially by the means of the cooperation between universities and enterprises to prepare and apply technology
transfer.
Construction sector, even if it is a traditional one, is weak considering the aspect of the technological innovation, has low productivity in
comparison with the industrial activity, a wrong organization of production and administration of human resources. Universities, training
organizations and professional associations identified the sector needs by their contacts with construction enterprises (by consulting,
evaluation, expertise, design).
Through international seminars has collected data and information about sectoral continuing training needs connected to: new
technologies (procedures, materials, equipment/tools) for a new constructions and rehabilitation; technological innovation and
management; construction quality and environment protection, and has developed models for short-term courses.
Concrete results was: identification, definition on the training needs in the construction sector and conceiving a methodology to anticipate
the necessities and development of models for short term courses for continuing vocational training with the final purpose to increase the
competence in construction enterprises.
The study covered in the paper is based on a research of the universities, professional training institute, construction enterprises, public
authority and professional associations from five countries: Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Spain.
The originality is by the innovative didactic products (manuals, bulletins, information files, papers etc.), from methods to learning tools and
by the creation of two centers for continuing vocational training at the university from Cluj-Napoca (RO) and Györ (HU).
Key Words: construction sector, short-term courses, vocational training, enterprises, universities..
PRIOR WORK
INTRODUCTION
In present-day conditions, companies (the construction
Nowadays, construction enterprises have to face an enterprises included, too) must be diagnosed to identify
increasingly competition. Therefore, enterprises are their activities’ strengths and weaknesses, to study and
obliged to engage in activities in adapting/restructuring analyse facts and responsibilities, to highlight causes
and innovation, in order to improve their competence on and propose measures that could lead to an improved
the European market. use of the opportunities provided by the economic
The paper is integrated in the objective of promoting the environment or to the diminishing of risks due to the
vocational training of the research and technological economic environment where the company operates.
development programs, especially by the means of the Diagnosis is, then, a management instrument favouring
cooperation between universities and enterprises in present and future action by getting to know the present
order to prepare and apply technological transfer. The and the past and which is based upon more types of
concrete objectives are: analysis, such as:
- the identification and definition of the training needs a) the external analysis of the environment by
of construction enterprises to increase their competence; interpreting the state of the market, of the actions of the
- curricula design and creation of short term courses competitors, of the technological, economic, political
for continuing vocational training of the young and legal, social and cultural factors, and
graduates, managers from enterprises and personnel of b) the internal analysis of the material means, human
the organizations from the construction sector; resources and financial resources available for the
- creation of trainers for seminars, meetings, visits to enterprise, of the managerial competence, of the
competitive companies; strategies and policies adopted by the company, of its
- development of innovative educational product, from organisation, control methods, management and
teaching method to learning tools using the consulting administration methods used.
structure of open university system; Diagnosis constitutes a stage in the evaluation of an
- testing of the innovative products like short term enterprise and can be either global or partial
courses (at the universities from Romania and Hungary) (functional), the latter being used in this specific case
for continuing training with groups of apprentices, in with respect to the diagnosis of the function human
order to increase the competence of the construction resources.
enterprises. Among the objectives related to the function staff, one
of the most significant is”the development of individual
and group competences”, an objective approached in the
VICCE pilot project [5].
410 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
- fluctuating demand;
- variability of the process linked to a dissimilarity
in products.
Continuing Vocational Training for The Construction Enterprises 411
Abstract: European Construction Market development requires cooperation at European level in the construction industry on various
issues, such as Construction Practice Within this context the paper presents the development of certain models of Post Graduate courses in
civil engineering in the national and trans-national system.
The work was conceived in terms of a quality Post Graduate teaching system, in order to meet the needs of the construction industry. Under
those requirements, we studied the models involving the trans-national and national approach of the courses, work in multinational groups,
drafting projects/essays, curricula and the examination method.
The method used in the study was the direct participation with teachers and students in Post Graduate national and trans-national courses,
beginning with drafting the model and ending the development of teaching materials related to the curricula.
Concrete results refer to: the model and the curricula design for the Post Graduate courses with multinational participation (areas from
southern, central and northern Europe) and national participation (Romania) along with the particularities and the implication of each
model. The study presented in the paper refers to models of Post Graduate courses in civil engineering designed for students to win the
European experience in the construction field and to develop qualities to facilitate their future entrance in free competition on the European
market.
The originality of this paper consist in the model of Post Graduate courses designed for multinational groups, the development of the
curricula that is suitable to present the area’s particularities, the participating countries and the comparison with the model of the national
courses belonging in the Civil Engineering Faculty, Cluj-Napoca.
Key Words: Post Graduate courses, Construction market, multinational groups, students.
experienced under-graduate students with adequate Construction Practice”; “Urban Space and Tourism”
study background had also possibility to apply for the (table 1) and “Construction with Quality and Safety”
courses. (table 2).
The proposed curricula had to be known by the future The participating countries were chosen to cover such a
students; therefore it was sent in advance to every wide geographical area, namely the northern and
university involved in the programme. southern Europe to ensure that the courses and projects
Table 1: Post-Graduate course: Urban Space and Tourism to be able to highlight the specificity of each area.
Partners Subjects to be taught Post Graduate courses were conducted intensively
Technological Education *The Importance of Urban during two weeks, totaling daily schedule by 8-9 hours:
Institute of Piraeus, tourism in E.U. Political, - Presentation of courses by teachers grouped in
Greece Social, Economic & Urban thematically multinational teams;
University of Applied planning Aspects - Training students` multinational groups (about 5-6
Science, Holzminden, *Urban Space and Tourism students/group);
Germany the recent trends worldwide - Group work for project presentation on topics thought;
ISEL- Technical Institute, *Architecture and Tourism
- Presentation/evaluation of the project by teachers.
Higher Institute of Need for Change
Engineering Lisbon, *Urban Design and its Role At the end of the courses, the students received a
Portugal in the Changing of diploma in header having all the participating
Technical University of Touristic Urban Space universities, signed by all the teachers involved, the host
Cluj-Napoca, Romania *Design Visual Communic. university seal and with totally 5 to 7.5 ETCS.
University of Applied System for Chosen, Post Graduate national courses have the designed
Science, Stuttgart, Particular Tourist & Cultural curricula similar to that in the multinational system, but
Germany Events based on Local Area the latter makes a major contribution to preparing the
University of Applied *Construction Methods of students because they understand the relationship
Science, Neubrandenburg, Pavements at Historical Sites
between the different local environmental effect in the
Germany *Urban Regeneration of
Technical University of Industrial Territories and building projects; they acquire their knowledge about
Koszalin, Poland Revitalization of Buildings the different environmental conditions effect on the
University of for Cultural Tourism building constructions; they understand the basic
Architecture, Civil *The City Structure and the differences that affect the free trade in Europe and the
Engineering and Geodesy, Tourism emphasis placed on the contracts` terms in each country;
Sofia, Bulgaria *Systematization of the they know what relationships exist between companies
Urban Zones without in European countries, etc.
Building Demolition
*Historical Building and
Urban Tourism CONCLUSIONS
Table 2: Post-Graduate course: Construction with Quality and Safety
Partners Subjects to be taught Post Graduate courses designed for multinational groups
Oulu University of *Construction Project and perform an opportunity to work with colleagues from
Applied Science, Finland Informational Flow different countries and acquire all European perspective
University of Applied *Quality Management, on the discipline, understanding the implication of
Science, Holzminden, Quality Assurance, Quality cultural and environmental background and situation
Germany Control and the benefits of sharing experience. The idea of the
Technological Education *European regulations and curricula is to provide the participants with opportunity
Institute of Piraeus, design codes
to build up a firm network which enables them to share
Greece (Euro codes)
Kingston University, U.K. *National regulations, norms
the information, to further train themselves, enhance the
Technical university of and national practices in mobility of trained labor and to find solutions for
Cluj-Napoca, Romania construction breaking the obstacles of free competition and human
Technical University of *Safety in Construction, equivality.
Koszalin, Poland from Design to Use
University of Granada, *Construction Environment References
Spain and Technology
*Benefits and barriers to free
trade and 1. Chemillier, P. (1992), “La construction à l’horizon 2025”, CSTB,
Plan Construction et Architecture, Paris, 13-40.
labor movement 2. ERASMUS-EUC-1 Intensive Programmes (IP) (2001-2007),
*Benchmarking and Best “European Construction Practice”, “Urban Space and Tourism”,
Practice “Construction with Quality and Safety”.
*Excursion to demanding 3. Gîrboveanu, S.,R. (2002), „Marketingul exportului de
construction project construcţii”, Editura Universitaria, Craiova
4. Pryor, P. (2005), „Marketingul serviciilor de construcţii”, Editura
CODECS, Bucureşti
The students of the Technical University of Cluj-
Napoca Romania participated along with the students
from other European countries over several years, to
three such programmes [2] as follow: “European
NEEDS OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR FUTURE POWER ENGINEERS
The paper approaches the need of higher education for the future power engineers based on the analysis of the major directions
imposed by the Smart Grid concept. A comparison of a MSc program in the Management of Electric Power Systems (MEPS) offered
by the “Gh. Asachi” Technical University of Iasi with similar programs at other universities worldwide, and with the Smart Grid –
oriented curriculum, shows good compatibility. At the same time, a SWOT analysis applied to the MSc program in the MEPS has
shown its opportunity, but also the need for continuous curriculum updating to reflect most recent changes in the power industry.
Figure 2: Parallel between the MSc program in MEPS (white boxes) and the Smart Grid – oriented curriculum as in Heydt G.T. et al. (2009) (black boxes).
Table 1: Curricula for the MSc program in Management of Electric Power Systems and other similar programs in Europe and North America.
MEPS - RO EPE - SW PES - CA EECEPE - PL EPE - NO
PS Transients PS Transients Analysis of PS Transients
PS Stability and Control PS Control and Operation Power Systems PS Operation and Control Electric PS Stability
Dynamics and Control of
Power Stations Dynamics
AC/DC Drives
Switching Techniques and Advanced Substation and
FACTS and HVDC in PS DC and FACTS Power Electronics
FACTS Electrical Equipment
Project Management
Distrib. Systems Planning System Planning Planning of Electric PS
High Voltage Insulation High Voltage High Voltage Advanced High Voltage
High Voltage Insulation
Coordination Engineering Engineering Applications Technology
Integrated Protection and
PS Protection PS Protection Protective Relaying
Automation
Electrotechnical Selected Problems of
Nonlinear Analysis
Modeling Circuit Theory
Energy Markets and Electricity Markets Operation of
Power Markets
Policies Analysis Restructured PS
Modern Management PS Computer Electric Power Systems
Techniques Applications Management
Computational Intelligence Applications of AI to PS AI Techniques
Energy – Society -
Selected Courses (Hum.) Energy and Environment
Environment
ECTS (credits, max.120 /%) 83 / 70% 90 / 75% 69 / 58% 90 / 75%
MEPS – RO: MSc in Management of Electric Power Systems – “Gh. Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, Romania.; EPE – SW: MSc in Electric Power Engineering
– Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden; PES – CA: MSc in Power and Energy Systems – Waterloo University, Ontario, Canada; EECEPE – PL: MSc in
Electrical Engineering Control in Electric Power Engineering, Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland; EPE – NO: MSc in Electric Power Engineering –
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway; EPE – GE: MSc in Electrical Power Engineering – RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
correspondence is not always univocal. Computational based on other interests than promoting education and
Intelligence course was introduced in the MEPS development through education.
curriculum as a carrier of modern computational The results of the SWOT analysis synthetically
technologies (expert systems, neural networks, fuzzy presented in Table 2 emphasize the opportunity to
systems, evolutionary algorithms, swarm intelligence, continue to offer MSc programs in MEPS.
immune algorithm, intelligent agents etc) to applications
in all directions of the future SG. Finally, for two SG CONCLUSIONS
directions (Reliability & Risk Assessment and Direct
Digital Control) no correspondence has been The paper approached the need of higher education
established to existent courses in the MEPS program.
for the future power engineers. Based on the above
To complete the above comparison, a SWOT
analysis, the authors consider that, updating and
analysis of the force and opportunity of the MSc
upgrading the MEPS program based on the major
program in MEPS, was conducted. The results of this
directions of the SG concept, taking also into account
analysis are summarized in Table 2. the opportunities offered by the present day
Strengths. Compatibility of the MEPS program with development of the power industry, can be considered a
other similar MSc programs worldwide and with the
guarantee for the training of future high qualified power
needs for high technologies in power industry are two
engineers and the development of academic research in
major positive benchmarks. The faculty of Electrical
the faculty at international standards. On the other hand,
Engineering offers accredited academic programs for
we believe that a poor financing policy, both at
two undergraduate directions (PSE and Energy governmental an industry partnership levels, will
Management) and two MSc directions (MEPS and represent a serious threat not only for future power
Management for Energy and Environment). Its location
engineering education programs, but also for the
offers an appropriate geographic coverage for training
professionalism of the future engineers trained to
potential future engineers at different academic levels.
design, implement and operate the future smart grid.
Academic and research staff, laboratories and the
library, partnerships with power industry are valuable
resources and assets that ensure a high professional and References
efficient educational process.
Weaknesses. The comparative analysis of the MEPS 1. Andersin, L.W., and Krathwohl, D.R., (2001), A Taxonomy for
Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's
program revealed that the main concern of curricula Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Longman, New York.
managers must be the continuous updating and 2. Bloom B. (1956), Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook
upgrading process necessary to keep the educational 1: The Cognitive Domain, David McKay Co., New York.
process in line with most recent trends and 3. EU-nited (2009), “The future of engineering in Europe”, www.eu-
nited.net.
developments in the power industry and in society, as a 4. EURELECTRIC (2007),”The Role of Electricity – A New Path to
whole. A solid financial support must exist to achieve Secure an Competitive Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World”,
these goals. Unfortunately, a constant drop of this Summary Report, EURELECTRIC, March 2007.
support was observed in the last few years. 5. Europe@Risk (2008), “Europe@Risk - A Global Risk Network
Briefing”, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Rep. World Economic Forum.
Opportunities. It is obvious that, during these times, 6. Fatabo, N. (2004), “Needs of Education and Research in the
energy is a main priority. At the same time, a constant Electricity Supply Industry and Manufacturing Industry”, Report of
drop in the number of active professionals in power the CIGRE - EPEE Panel of 30th August 2004.
engineering was encountered worldwide, which clearly 7. Heydt, G.T. et al. (2009), “Professional Resources to Implement the
Smart Grid”, Proc. North American Power Symposium, Oct. 2009.
indicate the need of new, high qualified power 8. IEEE (2010), Power and Energy Society Discussion Forum:
engineers. Meanwhile, the development of energy www.ieeecommunities.org/power (available June 2010).
markets offers the opportunity for new jobs, mainly as 9. IEEE – PES (2009), “U.S. Power and Energy Engineering
niches for outsourcing services with energy Workforce Collaborative – Preparing the U.S. Foundation for
Future Electric Energy Systems: A Strong Power and Energy
management. On the other hand, new university – Engineering Workforce”, Report IEEE – PES.
industry partnerships, with dual objectives could be 10. Ilic, M. et al. (2004), “Introducing Electric Power into
established: training future engineers by academia to Multi-Disciplinary Curriculum for Network Industries”, IEEE
respond to industry need, and funding academic Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 19, Issue 1, pp. 9-16.
11. Khan, N. et al. (2006), “Power Engineering Education
research projects by industry. Scenario”, Proc. IEEE Power Engineering Society General
Threats. Threats coming from environments close to Meeting.
the university can address a dissipative and inefficient 12. Montoya, A. H. (2008), “The Future of the Electric Utility
Industry: Opportunities for Power Engineering Education”, Proc. of
use of human resources and assets by applying a the IEEE Power Engineering Society General Meeting, 2008, pp. 1-
“dispersed education policy” or internal obstacles 5.
related to organizational or managerial issues. A threat 13. Smart Grid (2009), United States Department of Energy,
that must be treated with most intelligent recruitment “Smart Grid”, available at http://www.oe.energy.gov/smartgrid.htm
and marketing strategies is the present lack of interest
among future students for engineering, in general, and
power engineering, in particular. An institutional threat
is the risk of a chronic underfunding by public policies
ROMANIAN LEGAL EDUCATION AT THE CROSSROADS: DESIGNING RESPONSIBLE
LAW CURRICULA
Brindusa Camelia GOREA1, Elena-Adriana TOMULETIU2, Elena PUHA3, Mugur GOREA4
1
“Dimitrie Cantemir” University of Targu-Mures, brindusa@amph.ro
2
“Dimitrie Cantemir” University of Targu-Mures, adriana.tomuletiu@gmail.com
3
“Dimitrie Cantemir” University of Targu-Mures, elenapuha@yahoo.co.uk
4 The Institute for Culture and Political Culture, mugur gorea@
_ tvmures.ro
Abstract
Is the Romanian law graduate ready to fulfill his/her social mission, after 20 years of democracy? To find the answer, we asked law students and
law graduates from several law schools in Romania to fill in a questionnaire. Judging by the answers, nowadays law graduates do not consider
themselves ready for a juridical life. The experience of twelve years of law teaching, law practice and law scientific research tells us the same
thing. Even if they know the law very well, they are not able to operate with it the beginning of their career. One of the purposes of our study is to
identify the causes of this situation. We discovered that the law graduates are not ready for a juridical life because they need a proper training.
The Romanian law teaching lacks the practical training and the social human education. In this respect, the aim of the study is to recommend
some solutions.
Keywords: Romanian legal education; Civic education, culture; Academic responsibility; Law curricula
.
rapid long term transformations, even if sometimes less
predictable [Alexandru (2004), pp. 40-41].
1. THE CIVIC EFFECTIVENESS OF Is the Romanian law graduate ready to confront
THE LEGAL EDUCATION themselves with these transformations, after 20 years
The legal profession is not just a challenging, of democracy? We hardly think so. Twelve years of
beautiful occupation, but it is also a vocation. A jurist, law teaching, law practice and law scientific research is
a lawyer, an attorney, a law-professor – they all have a what made us question the civic effectiveness of the
social mission too: to preserve and to defend the social legal education we have in Romania. On the other
peace and harmony. Obviously, legal education is an hand, law students, law graduates and young lawyers
important part of Social Sciences Teaching. are unhappy with the practical knowledge they
All academic training should follow four axes: (1) obtained in law departments. Apart from these younger
learning to learn, as a condition to your future students, high school or gymnasium graduates in
independent work; (2) learning to put into practice Romania are not provided with an opportunity to
what you have learned; (3) learning to be yourself; (4) become acquainted to a basic juridical education, or at
learning to live with your fellows, to cooperate and to least proper civic education.
work together [Nicolesco, (1999)].
The traditional values of academia (rigorous 2. ROMANIAN LEGAL EDUCATION
research skills, evidence based practice, understanding AT THE CROSSROADS
of the nature of discretion, consciousness of the Starting from these empirical observations, we tried
complexity of decision making and the habits of to find out what is missing in the Romanian legal
critical reflection) [Johnson (2009), p. 46] are critical education system and to recommend some solutions.
in legal education, but not enough nowadays. It has to How can we help our law students develop their civic
engage with the real world. It has to deal with the spirit?
needs of the legal market. Moreover, it has to fulfill its In the last years of democracy, Romania adopted –
social mission. In South America, for instance, popular at least in theory - the world ideal of academic self-
lawyers engage in fighting on behalf of the oppressed, determination and responsibility. Which way should
which links both legal and political action [Johnson we take at this crossroad, where the government is no
(2009), p. 46]. longer supposed to guide law schools on their
Within the European communitarian context, we educational politics, yet we cannot afford to raise
may notice a mitigation of law and a contest of its lawyers who are irresponsible in the face of community
“regalities”, of which the state for a long time drew or unequipped for a healthy social life?
advantage [Alexandru (2004), p.52]. Until recently, “to In order to obtain a proper answer to these
administrate” used to mean to maintain the existing questions, we started by asking 100 law students and
social relationship, focusing on stability. The law itself
law graduates from several law schools in Romania to
was created and interpreted according to social realities
fill in a questionnaire, using a Likert scale. We also
that rejected transformations, rapid changes. It
conducted a comparative analysis of law curricula in
preserved, on the contrary, the small progress steps,
with the focus on regularity and long term plans. the eight main Romanian public and private law
According to Pan-European concept, changes shall faculties.
emerge to make the juridical concept possible for the
420 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
3. DESIGNING RESPONSIBLE LAW This kind of dilemma concerning the content of law
CURRICULA curriculum can be found elsewhere too, not only o in
Both the interviewees` answers evaluation and the Romania. For instance, a number of law faculties from
comparativee study we conducted on the legal education Turkish private universities add to their curriculum
curricula revealed that the law graduates are not ready general courses such as Legal Philosophy, Sociology,
for a responsible legal life because they are not entirely and Economics, which are studied for one year, before
trained. There are three main components that are students take up their legal courses
course [Hacimahmutoglu
missing / underestimated in Romanian legal education:
educ (2008)]. As it is the case in Romania, Turkey has a four
the social human education, the practical training and year legal education system and it seems to have
the teaching of alternative dispute resolution encountered the same difficulties in deciding upon
techniques. what is the best way to design the lawyers’ academic
Hereinafter we will analyze these three coordinates training.
of any whole legal education system, by bringing to Why should we consider social human education so
light the Romanian current statee of fact and trying to important for a lawyer? Does he/her really need to
suggest some reasons for a more responsible academic understand the philosophical, sociological or
attitude. psychological bases of the law, justice,
j equity, fairness
or truthfulness? We plead for an affirmative answer to
3.1. The social human education this question..
The first main component we consider defective in We are often invited by the social human scientists
Romanian legal education is the social human to watch the Juridical Life in order to understand the
education. changes in our society. But the field of law scientific
aw students and law
More than 50 percent of the law research is still tributary to a positivistic technical
graduates we interrogated disagree (40%) or strongly view. This view implicitly or explicitly
expli rejects the
disagree (12%) with the statement “My legal studies complex relationship between law and philosophy.
made me a better citizen”: It is beyond all questions that law has both
philosophical origins and philosophical contents. Any
Strongly disagree
40 historical analysis tells us so. Plato is one of the first
35 thinkers who meditated on Justice Just and Injustice.
30 Disagree Aristotle, Cicero, St. Augustine, Rousseau, Locke,
25 Hobbes, Kant, Hegel and Marx, Ernst Bloch and John
20 Neither agree nor Rawls are only the best known names of philosophers
disagree
15 preoccupied by law [Gorea and Puha (2009), pp. 1-8, 1
10 Agree 39-49, 53-60, 83-138].
5 The interrelation
rrelation between underlying values of
0
Strongly agree
Philosophy and Law is clearly expressed by Mircea
% Djuvara: “The ultimate idea standing at the fundament
of Law is […] to respect the human dignity, to respect
Question 1: My legal studies made me a better citizen.
the human being, to be sympathetic with all human
kind, therefore
erefore to respect human being’s legitimate
In Romania, the legal academic education has a
rights, the ones which do not challenge the liberties of
duration of four years, that is eight semesters, and there
others” [Djuvara (1995), p. 78].
are approximately 8 courses / semester. How the
In addition to this philosophical approach, the social
approximately 60 courses a Romanian law student
human education has a practical dimension too. Does
takes are distributed, and what is the ration between
the law student ent need logical knowledge such as
general courses and strictly specialized ones?
concepts, syllogisms and paralogisms, reasoning,
Of the eight main law faculties we chose for our
demonstration and argument? It is certain that he/she
comparative study, only one includes in its curriculum
does! A lawyer operates with these concepts even if
legal Philosophy, Legal Sociology, Politology, Legal
he/she is not fully aware of it, so it is much more
Logic and Legal Rhetoric as compulsory courses. At
helpful if he/she does it properly. Legal Logic is about
the other seven Faculties, if these particular courses
proper thinking and proper acting within the law
happen to be part of the curriculum, it is the law
[Gorea (2009), p.32].
students’ option whether to attend them or not.
What about Rhetoric?
hetoric? No one questions
question its
Is this situation a normal one? Should we understate
importance for a law student, but few understand
understan that
these social human disciplines` importance in favor of
Rhetoric
hetoric is not only about speaking nicely nice and
the ones we call “specialized law courses”?
course Is four
convincingly;; in legal matters, where nothing can be
years enough time to inculcate in our law students
demonstrated (in a mathematical way), but everything
cultural, moral and civic values too, besides the
can be argued [Gorea (2009, p. 44], it is about good
indisputable important professional knowledge?
reasoning.
Romanian Legal Education at the Crossroads: designing responsible Law Curricula 421
learning how to constructively deal with a dispute. justice. Otherwise, we do not make justice. We only
Active listening, reformulation, identifying the first make law enforcement. We do not obtain social peace
signals of a conflict and so on, are valuable skills to be and harmony; we only obtain a fragile quietness,
used in the relation with the clients, with the judges underneath which social conflicts smolder.
and with the colleagues. After 50 years of Communism and another 20 years
“The major goal of the negotiation course is to give of searching our ways, it is the duty of each law
our students a general idea about the impact of department in Romania to make sure that we educate
negotiation in society, and especially about the role not only good lawyers, but also good citizens.
lawyers play in avoiding and settling disputes through
negotiation”, says Lionel Bobot, a law professor at
Sorbonne University [Bobot (2009), p. 13]. References
Furthermore, sometimes the law does not help
1. Akbas, Kasim (2007). A Frame For The Features of Legal
figuring out how to solve a social conflict with Profession in Turkey. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the
minimum costs, time and pain. Sometimes, a conflict is Law and Society Association, TBA, Berlin, Germany, Jul 25, 2007.
better solved by appealing to the parties’ interests Available on: http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p177360_index.html..
instead of their rights. The key presumption underlying Accessed: 2009-10-10.
all interest-based processes for resolving conflict is 2. Alexandru, I. (2004), The Law and the Management, “All
Beck” Publishing House, Bucharest
likely to provide a better resolution to the conflict than 3. Bobot, Lionel (2009). Teaching Negotiation at the Faculty of
a decision imposed by a third party [Picard, Bishop and Law of the Sorbonne University. European Journal of Legal
Sargent (2004), p. 41]. Education, Volume 5, Number 1, March 2009, 13-20.
4. Commission of the European Communities (2005),
4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Communication to the Spring European Council. Working Together
for Growth and Jobs. A New Start for the Lisbon Strategy, pp. 26-28.
According to the Bologna process, the professional
Available on: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/lexuriserv/site /en/ com/ 2005/
specialization is reserved to master and doctoral degree com2005_0024en01.pdf, Accessed: 2009-11-20
level. The first cycle of juridical studies aims at 5. Djuvara, Mircea (1995). General Theory of Law. Bucharest:
providing law students with general knowledge. All.
Therefore, there is no need, in our opinion, to overload 6. Gorea, Brindusa & Puha, Elena (2009). Philosophy, Justice
and Law. Targu-Mures: Zethus.
the legal curriculum with an excessive number of
7. Gorea, Brindusa (2009). Legal Rhetoric. Targu-Mures:
strictly specialized courses. It is preferable to teach Zethus.
students the law principles, how to think accurately in 8. Gorea, Brindusa (2009). Legal Logic. Targu-Mures: Zethus.
juridical matters and, last but not least, to be aware of 9. Government of Romania (2005). The National Plan of
the lawyer’s social mission. Development, 2007-2013. Available on: http://eufinantare.info/
Documente/Sinteza_PND2007_2013.pdf, Accessed: 2009-11-20
There is a need for reconsidering the social role a
10. Hacimahmutoglu, Sibel (2008). Effective Techniques for
law graduate ought to play. “Nowadays a basic Teaching Anglo-American Legal System in Turkish Legal Education,
transformation is seen for lawyers. Their class position paper presented at Effective Teaching Techniques About Other
is changing with the world’s changing economic Cultures and Legal Systems, The General Assembly of International
system”, says Kasim Akbas in a paper presented at the Association of Law Schools, 29-30 May 2008, Montreal, Canada.
11. Johnson, Nick (2009). Coming Out: Legal Education and the
annual meeting of the Law and Society Association,
Wider World. European Journal of Legal Education, Volume 5,
which took place in 2007 at Berlin, Germany [Akbas Number 1, March 2009, 42-46.
(2007)]. 12. Nicolesco, Basarab (1999). The transdisciplinarity. Iasi:
To conclude, in our opinion, the law curriculum is Polirom.
incomplete without both the social human education 13. Picard, Cheryl Ann & Picard, Bishop & Sargent, Ramkay
(2004). The Art and Science of Mediation. Toronto: Emond
and the practical training, including non-judiciary
Montgomery Publication.
conflict resolution methods. 14. Tomuletiu, A., Oroian, M., Lupu, A. (2008). Building Human
In the last twenty years, Romania made a long quest Capital in Romania: Practices and Opportunities. In B. Katalinic
from the Communist centralized learning system to the (eds.) Annals of DAAAM for 2008&Proceedings of the 19th
world ideal of academic self-determination and International DAAAM Symposium Inteligent Manufacturing &
Automation: Focus on Next Generation on Intelligent System and
responsibility. This odyssey has not ended yet, even if
Solutions. Vienna: DAAAM International, 1405-1406.
the Romanian Government tried to make a step
forward, by assuming responsibility for a new Code of
Education. Unfortunately, the Romanian Constitutional
Court recently declared this new Code of Education
unconstitutional, which allows much more
management discretion for the scientific boards of
universities.
We need to make sure that our law students are fully
aware of the fact that a lawyer ought to be much more
than a law technician who deals with the machine of
THE IMPACT OF EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL REQUIREMENTS ON
ROMANIAN MARITIME TRAINING CURRICULA
Last years has appears new requirements for maritime academic studies expressed by the European Union and by the International
Maritime Organization. To put in practice these new recommendations is necessary to change almost completely the present curricula
and to align the graduates’ competences to the present workforce market needs. At European level are many examples of transition
from national curricula to international one in the maritime study field. Some of these experiences had disastrous results for the
applicant universities, but many of them was a real success and is seen in the last years development of these universities. All
Romanian academic system pass in the present through a changing process of curricula and competencies to come more closer to the
present European requirements and inside of this process is necessary to have an earlier model applied successfully by others.
Changing of present curricula have impact on the graduates, especially on their competencies acquires. The evaluation of this impact
is based on practical methods like graduates opinions and reactions, results of examinations based on new curricula and most
important the feed back from maritime companies on competencies. The results presents in the present paper are based on only one
graduates generation evaluation, are interim results. To have an ample view of the changes impact are necessary more than one
generation to be evaluated. But, anyway, over 50 percents of the graduates considered as useful and necessary these changes
according with their future career. Changing of curricula, or in some cases just an update of this have produced changes in all
maritime study system, starting from development of new teaching material and finishing with designing of competencies more
appropriate to the actual maritime industry requirements. The present paper will show a way to bring the Romanian academic
training closer to the European and international requirements, maritime training in particular, and how this effort can affect the
beneficiary of changes, the graduates and how influence their future career development.
CHANGING OF CURRICULA – CHANGING OF Maybe, the most important aspect of this revolution
THE TRAINING CONCEPTS? in training has marked by the changes of graduates
opinion about their future career and what really
During time many of the European maritime supposed this.
academies and universities have changed their curricula, Other changes, this time on concepts of training and
partly due to new regulation implemented in the field, teachers approach to the new training system has
partly due to evolution of the technology and produced slowly, mainly due to the retention in usage of
requirements for training in accordance with these these and very important, due rejection of idea of
evolutions. necessity to change the training process according with
The new technologies uses today for the purpose of the new requirements and trends.
training in the maritime academic field are various, as Today, at almost ten years from this revolution in
simulators, computerized programs and all types of training, the problems are fixed, especially due to
virtual learning. changing of lecturers generation and capacity to react
Today, the computerized technology is part of the more positively to technological provocations.
life for many people. The computerized technologies are Besides all of these, the influences create by the
becoming indispensable for many activity fields, regulations changes, mostly after integration of
computers being part of the educational processes, or Romania in European Union and from here, the
even the essence of these. obligation to realign the maritime training to European
It seems that the new technologies have power to context and in this way to facilitate access of Romanian
change, maybe just to upgrade, the concepts regarding maritime younger officers to European workforce
the way of training and these have been proved by market.
many books and articles. All these changes, made on curricula, technology for
Hensen explained that simulator-based training training and training itself, lead to change of the older
courses were introduced primarily to train the skills of concepts about how the training must be done, what
passage planning and the importance of the Master/Pilot materials are necessary and how to be used and produce
relationship. (Hensen, 1999). changes of trainers concepts and visions about their
In 2002 other two authors have observed that many meaning in the entirely process of learning.
types of simulators as bridge, engine and cargo control In some cases was necessary to study how others
room have tended to emphasis a physically realistic made these changes in their yard and what difficulties
environment in which specialized exercises occurs, they met and, most important how fix them.
although of the PC-based simulators for training some Anyway, some of these changes continue today also
tasks is increasingly widespread (Peterson, 2002) and and produce effects daily, especially on students
the use of simulation in providing solutions to the attitudes and behavior.
problems of risk and crisis management and the optimal The curricula in the maritime academic training field
use of crew resources has a long established pedigree in suffers modifications continuously due to speed of
maritime training (Barnett at al., 2002). evolution in the technological domain, ships becoming
These opinions and points of views expressed by daily more advanced as endowment, more suitable for a
persons who have been acting in the system or have safer and secured activity.
been in direct contact with it, show the evolution of Even if all these new technological advances are
present technology and the revolution made in the covered by the training curricula, remains also the
classically concepts about a well training for a duty in question if this is capable to offer the best solution for
the maritime field. formation of future maritime officers and they are able
The only mandatory requirements in the maritime to complete the requirements for daily duties.
domain for the development of the non-technical skills It is important to mention that not only the maritime
of crisis management are those of the International academic passed through a changing process of
Maritime Organization’s in the Seafarer’s Training, curricula in order to become more competitive in the
Certification and Watchkeeping Code, where is specify world context of education and training, also other
the minimum standard of competence in crisis national academic institutions have passed through this
management and human behavior skills for those senior process, a very important one according with the new
officers who have responsibility in emergency situations position of Romania in the European space.
(Barsan at al., 2007).
To introduce these new technologies in the training THE IMPACT OF CURRICULA CHANGES ON
programs means to reevaluate the in use curricula and to GRADUATE’S EVOLUTION
find where is possible and normal to apply theoretical
knowledge on these. In order to realize and quantify the impact of
In the field of maritime academics introduction of curricula changes on graduate’s of one or other
latest technologies for training had made for few years, education domain is necessary some time and a few
even before to start changing of curricula, and results generations to graduate, applying their knowledge in
started to appear from the beginning. activity and receive feedbacks about their level of
training.
The Impact of European and International Requirements on Romanian Maritime Training Curricula 425
In the context of present curricular changes made by which involve an increased use of highest technology
our University is early to have a complete image of the and reduce the use of classically teaching methods.
impact produced by these on the graduates and more Graduates, on the other side, salute these changes, in
concluding on their duties on board ships, where the principal after they find that are very usefully in their
process of assessment is made by persons without daily duties, duties which suppose a great use of
contacts with the training system. practical skills and high technology. The accent put in
The actual changes produce effects only on one the last years on use of electronic devices in the
generation complete and partially on the second navigation and engine activities show now the results
generation of graduates. and are positive ones.
Anyway, to have a view of impact and implications The present stage of technological endowment of
of changes made to the curricula, our University ships, where almost all actions are based on computers
initiates some studies which involve graduates, present and control of vital equipments is made electronically,
students, teachers and beneficiaries of the training request to have knowledge and good skills in use of
process, the shipping companies. them.
Interviews and discussions with involved entities Other aspect related to change of curricula and
have made on subjects related to these changes, like the appreciate after as a good result is represented by
opportunity to modify number of training hours for introduction as compulsory of specialized training for
specialized disciplines, especially to those where have operations on board ships like oil carriers, liquefied gas
been remarked lacks of knowledge and skills due to carriers and bulk chemicals tankers. These
insufficient training, if increasing of practical periods specializations help graduates to access to this type of
and simulated trainings have lead to a satisfactory level ships, considered to be most well paid jobs on sea and
of competence and which are their opinion and ideas for also offering possibility to work in an environment
future changes in this way. based exclusively on higher technology.
The answers received are very various, starting with After the introduction of these specialization courses
positive remarks about the present level of skills the percentage of graduates who had started their career
acquired through these new concepts, but also with directly on board of these ships increased with around
retains about the possibility to keep the standards of 40 percents than before.
training due to increasing of work volume for some Other introduced concepts considered as usefully in
disciplines. the future career, mostly due to necessity to work daily
Have to be mention that this new vision about the with these equipments, is represented by deeply study of
future of maritime academic training has produced on electronically navigational and engine devices, like GPS
an increasing trend of recruitment of students interests receivers and their functions, Anti-Collision Radar,
to become maritime officers. Maybe, this increasing was Electronic Charts for navigation graduates and
favoured by the option changes in the national social integrated operational systems and computer controlled
structure, where population, especially young one, is processes for engine graduates.
interested to access to a better paid job, been known that Objectively, the older curricula allocated a number
the maritime jobs are some of these. of 1200 hours for specialization disciplines, the present
According with the partial results of the study made one have more than 1500 hours for these, changes
by our university on the subject of curricula change and which permitted to came closer than European stage,
presented by categories of participants we are able to where, during three years of study, are covered 1700
show the present opinions and reactions of these. hours of specialization disciplines. To reach the
According with the answers received from European level regarding number of hours, in Romanian
interviewers, from students group, 45 percents of them system, the future maritime officers must to pass other
considered as more usefully the actual changes, 20 two years of master degree.
percents considered that a curricula more based on Studying the teachers and trainers reactions to the
engineer qualification was better, 20 percents have been new situation has observed a division in two groups of
considered as not affected by the curricula changes and opinions about. One of them, mainly the experienced
15 percents had no opinions about. teachers, with years of activity in the field of maritime
Teachers position about this problem, as resulted education, considers as necessary these changes, but still
from their answer was more than strikingly. In our have considerations about necessity of classically
opinion, many teachers have been expected to been teaching methods where the teacher has the main role in
against these changes and more attracted by the older training and technology was only for complementary
version of curricula. Results shown an acceptance rate use. These considerations appear mostly due to the
of new curricula of more than 50 percents of than, many “fear” to change the attitudes and teaching styles and
of them emphasized the step forward made by the also to use new technology, maybe more difficulty than
maritime academics through these changes to a more we believes.
competitive training in European space of maritime In opposite situation are the younger lecturers and
training. those for whom the new and revolutionary processes
As a personal opinion, we consider that students will represent the sense of their lives. Here we find teacher
have anytime a positive attitude about the changes who base their activity on use of computers and
426 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
multimedia equipment, aspirant lecturers more common reconsider their position about the future of maritime
with the new technologically trends and conceptions, academic education.
like internet, intranet, e-learning and virtual The last, but maybe the most important actor in the
environments. evaluation of curricula changes on maritime
Changes of teaching curricula has received as an professional competencies and skills, is represents by
opportunity to develop new states of training and to use the shipping companies and ship owners.
equipments and technology considered more accessible Here is revealed if our efforts have reached the
and convenient than classically teaching methods. expected results and our graduates have acquired the
Taking account that the change of curricula and international and European requirements for duty.
courses structure involves also acquiring of modern Discussing with some of the companies which take
technology like multimedia, superior video and audio on board cadets and younger officers, we realize that
systems, computerized training programs and they are much closer to the European and international
simulators, it seems to touch the needs of the younger maritime field, mostly due to relation with companies
generation of teachers, increasing the entire quality of from these areas, and offers us possibility to get contact
teaching methods and bring closer the system to the with general opinion about training level of our students
European considerations about training methodology. and graduates.
In the line of new trends in teaching and The impact of curricula changes, the passing to a
requirements for the future teachers, our University more based on professional knowledge and skills, is
initiates a number of projects dedicated to formation and materialized in higher accessibility inside of European
increasing of competency level of our lecturers. Inside companies and recognition of their capacities.
of this initiative, at this moment are developed three These opinions gave us certitudes to continue the
projects, one national and two with international process of changes and to try to become a real European
collaborators from European countries. maritime university, with European concepts and ideas
The national project developed, called MARCON is and also recognized by the European economic space as
based on the necessity of increasing the competency of a veritable “producer” of good trained maritime officers.
younger lecturers according to the actual requirements
for debutants in the maritime academic education and in CONCLUSIONS
the same time to help experienced teachers to add to
their activity the new technology and changes made.
For the moment, the situation in Romanian maritime
The international projects are structured also on
academic, through latest curricular changes, is closer to
problems of the maritime education system, differences the actual European and international requirements. Is
are given by the subjects developed. still need to continue the process in order to keep the
One of them is in collaboration between Romanian
level and adjust some deficient aspects, like use of
and Norwegian governments on subjects related to
simulators and computerized programs where is
maritime training and after study activities. Inside of
obviously necessary, to update teaching materials and
these points have made visits in both countries maritime
internationalized them and other things particular to the
academic institutions with intention to evaluate training system.
similarities and differences between both systems and Studying other similar European maritime academic
also to exchange teachers in order to create possibility to
system and comparing with ours we found that are not
act in other teaching system than they are familiar.
so far by the actual stage of specialized maritime
These exchanges of lecturers facilitate the
training and we have possibilities and opportunities to
possibilities to know and understand how are made
bring new elements from there and apply in our teaching
curricular changes and structural adjustments in other methodology.
countries and how is possible to import these to our
curricula and training structure.
The second project is a European “Leonardo References
daVinci” project and has the main purpose to create
electronic teaching material as an internet platform with 1. Barnett, M.L., Gatfield,D, and Habberley, J. (2002),
“Shipboard Crisis Management: A Case Study”, in:
large accessibility of teachers and students also. Also Proceedings International Conference Human Factors in
inside of this project had been possible to take contact Ship Design and Operation, 131-145.
with other maritime academics views about the present 2. Barsan, E., Hanzu-Pazara, R., and Arsenie, P. (2007),
stage of training in the field and how to stimulate “New navigation competencies required for an updated
STCW Convention”, Journal of Maritime Studies, volume
lecturers to step to the future generation of teaching, 21 (issue 2/2007), 151-161.
based on internet and distant communication, but as an 3. Hansen, H. (1999), Ship Bridge Simulators: A Project
integral and unique system. Handbook, Nautical Institute, London.
Regarding to teachers attitudes about curricula 4. Peterson, A.M.M. (2002), “Simulation and Modeling in
Innovation”, in: Proceedings of the 29th Annual General
changes, following our study we considered that is Meeting of the International Marine Simulator Forum
received as a new provocation which make them to
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS NATIONAL
FRAMEWORK IN INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
N. IONESCU1, A. VIŞAN2
1
POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest, ionescu_upb@yahoo.com
2
POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest, aurelianvisan2003@yahoo.com
This article contains the principal contributions of the authors to the defining of competences that are included in the eleven Industrial
Engineering study programmes. The authors’ contributions focus on the definition of professional and transversal competences, the
determining of both the minimal performance standards for each competence, and the common competences in the domain of Industrial
Engineering, as well as on preparing the grid of competences in this domain.
implementation of the National Framework of Figure 1: Team structure for the implementation of
Qualifications in Industrial Engineering Studies. The National Framework of Qualifications in Industrial
POSDRU Project no. 2/1.2/S/2 entitled „Developing of Engineering
Higher Education Qualifications Operational System in The management team under the DOCIS Project
Romania” (DOCIS) has been in progress under the within ACPART framework comprises higher education
leadership of the National Agency for Qualifications in professionals highly experienced in different domains,
Higher Education and in Partnership with the Economic including education science experts who have joined for
and Social Environment (ACPART) in collaboration several years in preparing of CNCIS Methodology
428 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
(Zaharia et al., 2009) and its promoting in view of specific for the study programme in its domain of
approval as an Order of Ministry (Andronescu, 2009). activity, called grid G1, in conformity with the structure
The DOCIS management team is the coordinator of in figure 2, based on the CNCIS methodology (Zaharia
several long term experts (LTE), one for each domain of et al., 2008, Andronescu, 2009). The grid structure of
study. Each LTE provides the coordination of several G1 is that shown in figure 2: (1) Qualification –
Short-Term Experts (STEs), corresponding to the identical with the study programme title, in conformity
number of study programmes in a particular domain of with the current regulations in force and the level of
study. The domain of Industrial Engineering Studies qualification – University graduation diploma
comprises eleven study programmes, in conformity with (Bachelor); (2) Possible occupations in conformity with
the detailed structure provided in figure 1. the Catalogue of Occupations in Romania (COR) and
To determine the graduates’ competences for the new occupations recommended to be introduced in
eleven study programmes, each STE proceeded by COR; (3) Level descriptors of competences based on the
consulting minimum five representative employers with framework matrix of CNCIS Methodology for the
extended experience in the employment of a significant graduation diploma level; (4) the six professional
number of graduates, as well as all universities offering competences (C), of which two general – common to
a selected study programme. Thus, consulting was the study domain, and four that are specific to the study
performed mostly by direct work sessions, of 56 programme; (5) detailed definition of each competence
employees and several universities/faculties for each through level descriptors; (6) minimal standards of
study programme that is: TCM – 16, MUSP – 9, IS – 9, performance for each competence and (7) transversal
DI – 6, IMC – 5, ISI – 1, NSN –1, ISER – 1, TDPT – 4, competences (CT) and minimal corresponding
TDCPI – 3 and TTC – 3. performance standards.
Based on the consulting of these employers and
universities, each STE has prepared the competence grid
1
2
the National Register of Qualifications in Higher representative employers, as well as during several
Education - RNCIS and become compulsory for all working meetings organised by ACPART in the period
universities/faculties organising the eleven study 2006 to 2010, the authors have identified several points
programmes. They will be accessible on-line by all of view relating to competence statement.
interested parties – employers, students, high school First, the „extent” of the competence statement: in
pupils, parents etc. certain cases, simple and short definitions were
CNCIS methodology contains the grid G1 bis, where suggested of competences, to make them easy to
each university/faculty can register several professional understand for the employers, students and pupils, also
competences, which they are capable to cover in having in view the fact that these will be recorded on the
addition to the six ones in grid G1, on the basis of its Diploma Attachment Document and integrated in
own practice and acquired experience. RNCIS, which is accessible on-line. Others recommend
After consortium approval of the grid G1 and its more detailed definitions, which should allow making
registration in RNCIS, following a similar model, the difference between competences of individual study
CNCP Franţa (Charraud, 2008), each university /faculty programmes. Considering that both points of view were
shall prepare grid G2 (figure 2). This grid contains: (1) equally supported by the investigated parties, the
data concerning the university, faculty, qualification, authors have recommended and implemented a double
study level etc.; (2) professional competences, with their grid description that is simple and more elaborate, as
explicit description through level descriptors, as well as detailed in the examples below.
transversal competences from grid G1; (3) contents and Example 1 – Professional competence (NSN grid,
subjects of study; (4) credits per each subject and per competence C4): design of manufacturing technological
competence. On the basis of G2, each faculty shall flow, including mainly nanotechnologies and non-
prepare their curricula and subjects of study. conventional methods and processes, defined as „good
designer of technological flow”.
Mention should be made here that this synthetic
1 formulation provides the short definition of the
competence.
Other aspect is the structure of competence
definitions. Starting from the definition of the
competence concept (Zaharia, 2009), it has been
recommended that one competence is described in Grid
1 as “The capacity to perform...”. To avoid repetition of
the phrase “The capacity to perform …”, for each
competence, the definition structure was adopted as
shown in example 1, which shall read as “The capacity
to design technological processes...”, in conformity with
the competence definition.
Definition of minimal performance standards,
in view of competence assessment
The approach to this issue, as set forth by the
DOCIS management team, is that at position (6) of
2 3 4
Figure 3: Structure of grid G2 (Zaharia et al., 2009, Andronescu, figure 2, only minimal performance standards are
2009) indicated. For more adequacy, the authors
Thus, the curricula will stem out naturally from the recommended to indicate, both the standard, and the
need to ensure competences at the required level, as minimal standard level.
determined by investigations. By enforcement of grid Example 2 – Competence C4 (NSN grid):
G1 at RNCIS level and by giving the possibility that Standard: design of optimum manufacturing
each faculty fills in the grid G1bis and grid G2, there are technological flow, including mainly nanotechnologies
ensured the prerequisites of wider university autonomy, and non-conventional methods and processes.
and therefore increased responsibility in providing Minimal level: design of manufacturing
higher graduates’ educational standards. technological flow, including mainly nanotechnologies
RESULTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS and non-conventional methods and processes of
Considering the most relevant contributions of the medium complexity, based on specified data.
authors relating to the implementation of the higher Example 3 – transversal competence CT1, for all
education qualifications national framework in study programmes:
industrial engineering, this article focuses on the Standard: preparing annual projects and the
following issues. graduation diploma project.
Competence statement Minimal level: preparing annual projects of medium
During the consulting sessions held with the complexity and the graduation diploma project
participation of Universities that have been organising comprising minimum two sections (technological
study programmes in Industrial Engineering and the 56 process and equipment) with correct utilisation of
430 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
bibliography, norms, standards and specialist methods, grid by the authors, according to the model specified in
under the conditions of limited autonomy and qualified figure 2.
assistance, as well as oral presentation of the projects, CONCLUSIONS
while providing a demonstration of graduate’s own Based on the aspects presented in this paper, we may
qualitative and quantitative assessment capacity of conclude as follows.
technical solutions in this domain, and work results. The originality of this work resides in the
Determining Industrial Engineering competences description of competences, the definition of similar
and preparing of grid competences in Industrial Engineering, the statement of
Two common professional competences specific to performance standards for the evaluation of
the eleven study programmes are defined below. competences and the definition of the competence grid
C1. Utilisation of fundamental engineering for Industrial Engineering graduates competences.
knowledge that allows the student to develop the The results of this work are most relevant for the
capability to produce calculations, demonstrations and successful implementation of the national framework of
applications, to solve specific industrial engineering higher education qualifications in Romania. The
tasks: good user of theoretical knowledge. outcome of this work is useful for all universities
C2. Selecting, combining and using of knowledge, specialising in Industrial Engineering, to help them run
principles and methods of basic sciences in industrial their study programmes and prepare their own curricula,
engineering, as well as their association with graphical with the aim of setting Romania in line to European
representations - technical drawing, to solve specific Union standards related to the competence-based higher
industrial engineering tasks: good user of theoretical education approach.
knowledge associated with graphical representation. References
The third professional competence refers to the
1. Andronescu E. (2009), Order regarding the Utilisation of the
computer skills and is individualised for each of the
National Qualifications Framework, Official Monitory of Romania,
eleven Industrial Engineering study programmes. Part I, Year 177 (XXI)–no. 545, 5.08.2009, pages 23-42.
C3. Utilisation of software and digital technologies 2. Charraud A.M. (2008), L’Application du Cadre Europeen des
to solve specific industrial engineering tasks in general Certifications en France – un Demarche visant la Dissemination de
l’approche “competences” pour l’ensemble des Diplomes Relevant du
and study programme tasks in particular: good user of
Cadre National Francais, Proceedings of International Conference
computer. “Universite dans la Societe – UNISO”, 16 – 20 July, Iaşi, Romania,
Transversal competences, required mainly by top pages 45-49.
employers, have been determined with almost identical 3. Ionescu N., Vişan, A. and Hîncu D. (2009), A New Approach
Regarding the Competences of Higher Education Graduates Based on
formulations for the eleven study programmes, as
Employers Satisfaction, Proceedings of the 6th International
follows: Conference on Management of Technological Changes, September
CT1. Responsibility in performing of professional 3rd – 5th, 2009, Alexandropoulis, Greece, pages 271 - 274.
task, respect of the values and ethics of engineering, as a 4. Zaharia S. (2008), Role of the National Qualifications
Framework in the Development of a Competence-Based Higher
profession, under the conditions of limited autonomy
Education, Proceedings of International Conference “Universite dans
and qualified assistance, on the basis of documentation, la Societe – UNISO”, 16 – 20 July, Iaşi, Romania, pages 13-31.
convergent and divergent logical thinking, practical 5. Zaharia S. et al. (2009), Implementation Methodology of the
applications, evaluation, self evaluation, and optimum Higher Education Qualifications National Framework in Industrial
Engineering-Implementation Guide, ACPART, Bucharest,
decision: responsible accomplisher of the professional
www.acpart.ro/docis.
tasks.
CT2. Carry out activities and develop roles that are
specific for team work with different responsibilities,
and task assignation to the subordinate line employees
on the basis of communication and dialogue,
cooperation, while showing positive attitudes and
respect to others, acknowledge diversity and
multicultural societies, using feed-back for self-
improvement, initiative spirit and awareness of
limitations set forth by the managerial staff: good
communication skills and team work abilities.
CT3. Objective self-evaluation of the need for
continuous professional formation, continuous learning,
efficient use of linguistic skills, ICT knowledge for
personal and professional development, for insertion on
the labour market and adapting to the dynamics of its
demands: continuous learning awareness.
Based on the definition of competence and
competence assessment standards, eleven grids G1 have
been prepared by STEs and one Industrial Engineering
EDUCATION OF UNIVERSITIES PROFESSORS IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF
INSTRUCTIONAL QUALITY CULTURE
This study represents a contribution to the design and development of a training model for higher education teachers (mainly for
young professors) and to the substantiation of a curricular projection model based on specific skills and on learning outcomes; the
model proposed represents a balance between the main curricular variables: general competences, specific skills, learning outcomes.
the definition of qualifications, assuring a direct relation The condition to successfully develop, implement
between the level of studies and the labor market. and assess study programs specific to Bologna Process
is represented by the development of specialized
Qualifications – competencies – learning programs, with differentiated curricular lines to train
outcomes teachers in higher education.
Each domain must explicitly define qualifications
(in the lack of a national framework, the EQF may be Initial training and professional growth
taken as a reference point). The definition of programs
qualifications in terms of competencies should lead to a After analyzing studies in this field and after
significant reorganization of the curricula. The curricula analyzing needs, a series of educational dimensions
will have to answer defined competencies, enhancing were identified, all converging towards building a
relevance and focusing on the end results of learning. culture of instructional quality (main source of the
One of the highly important problems is the presented data is professor Dan Potolea’s study for the
adequate definition of qualifications in the three University of Bucharest Senate):
university study cycles (BA, MA and PhD). In the same Create and develop curricular products
field / specialization it is necessary to define BA level Realize lecture syllabus; the bigger record of the
skills, MA level skills and PhD level skills. Develop studied domain.
curricular tools (domain records, specialization records, Write thematic modules (speech sets, learning
field of study records as mentioned above: skills / end support from the structure of the course).
results of learning / assessment criteria). Elaborate study support for
seminaries/laboratory/pedagogical practice etc.
INSTRUCTION AND QUALITY Making didactic processes more efficient /
Teaching – learning practice
Develop and communicate the course’s / seminar’s
Specific Dimensions of Quality
goals, intentions.
Present and organize a debate regarding the content
Making instructional academic management an of the domain.
efficient one Teaching strategies focused on the student.
Build skills specific to the management of Structure and organization of didactic activity.
academic processes – instructional and curricular – Psycho-social climate of teaching.
for all structures of higher education. Assessment practice
Reorganize the training system for the group of The envisioned assessment system.
student’s management as to assure consistency and Assessment methods and tools used.
efficiency of decision-making processes. Alternative assessment techniques.
The training system must support all actions to Knowledge of assessment deontology.
improve institutional quality, while the quality of Use assessment results in order to improve didactic
educational services offered by the university is a activities.
sine qua non condition to improve professional Teachers’ relational skills
occupation and European competitiveness. Relational behavior.
Quality of educational processes / educational Interpersonal and group communication relations.
services Develop abilities of class / aula management.
Improve teaching and learning processes by Functional behavior / knowledge and counseling
defining educational standards and promote Know and differently counsel students.
teaching focused on the student. Counsel students through realizing research
Develop a counseling and orientation system for projects.
students. Coordinate BA papers and MA dissertations.
Revised curricula should focus on general and Support participation to activities organized by
specific skills, on long-term results and not on student communities.
performance relevant only in the academic field. Tutor activities: meetings with students on learning
Duration and transfer of information represents an problems, on professional orientation, social
indicator of transversal, interdisciplinary skills that assistance etc.
are highly required from a graduate of a
contemporary university. During the end of the last year was developed a
Reestablish institutional performance standards of longitudinal research 2000-2010 about teachers training
study programs, by assessing them and building a needs and priorities. The methodology which have been
hierarchy. used was a complex one. The sample have been
multilayered and the strategy a comprehensive one:
University teachers’ training from the perspective of quantitative by using a questionnaire-based survey. This
a culture of quality strategy represents the assurance of fidelity and validity
by controlling variables. (Iucu Romita, Panisoara Ion
Education of Universities Professor
rofessors in the Perspective of Instructional Quality Culture
ulture - The Curricular
Design in Higher Education Focused on Competences and Learning Outcomes - 433
Ovidiu, Formarea cadrelor didactice – cercetare argumentation regarding overexposure as a factor in the
longitudinala 2000-2010,
2010, Centrul National pentru diminishing training necessities in the area of
Formarea Personalului din Invatamantul Superior – assessment, since didactic communication evolves
Proiectul POSDRU/3/1.3/S/2 „Restructurarea completely differently, although it starts from similar
sistemului de formare continuăă a personalului din premises. Thus, although training courses regarding
învăţământul
mântul preuniversitar prin generalizarea didactic communication were very significant too,
sistemului de credite profesionale transferabile”, nevertheless didactic communication remains on second
place when it comes to preferences of ongoing training
Cod/ID proiect: 3777, Bucuresti, 2010).
2010)
programs. Here we can offer a more important
We selected only two items in order to be integrated
guarantee to the second reason, the importance of the
on this topic.
study field and the fact that it answers direct necessities
On which dimensions of the educational activity
of training for teachers, since didactic communication is
should training programs focus? (Rank each of the eight
a development space consistent with an efficient
statements below, taking into consideration that rank 1
learning process.
represents the most important statement)
techniques
1 7 40
30
25.24
Theoretically
20
f. Special needs in aula – relational 10
1.01 1
Mixted
skills
6 8 0
AKNOWLEDGMENTS
DETERMINING THE SKILLS NECESSARY FOR MANAGEMENT AND ENGINEERING
GRADUATES IN ROMANIA
This paper aims to establish the skills necessary in the labor market that engineering and management graduates must master. The objectives
derived from the above-mentioned aim are: interviewing management and engineering graduates from several Romanian universities,
interviewing skill developers (technical-economic universities) and potential employers of the graduates.
The paper highlights the coordinates of the research programs conducted in order to set up a National Qualifications Framework for Higher
Education in the Engineering and Management fields. The research is meant to establish a structure for qualifications and ensure national
recognition, as well as the international compatibility and comparability of the qualifications obtained within the higher education system.
Keywords: competences, Human Resources, graduates, Engineering and Management
requirements form an integral part to the engineering
profession and
1. INTRODUCTION the entrepreneurial activities. Izvercianu et al.
(2007)
The increased competition one faces when seeking
employment makes it necessary for both the suppliers 2.2. Competency
of skill formation services and their beneficiaries to
approach skill formation in a responsible manner. In order to develop the employees’ skills, increase their
Thus, in order to determine what skills the engineering professionalism, and essentially improve the overall
and management graduates must possess, one must efficiency of the business enterprise, all managers
establish the employers’ needs. Only then can higher (100% according to the survey) demand that
education centers prepare their graduates in accordance employees have varied and multiple professional skills,
to actual job requirements. skills that “economist engineers” must obtain while
The educational offer, as it appears in the context of studying for their degree.
the Reform of the Romanian training-educational The skills refer to a minimum standard for carrying out
system, must be adapted to the national and professional activities successfully. At the same time,
international labor market requirements. Individual these skills revolve around the individual’s ability to
competitiveness will appear as a result of both the high analyze situations in which complex problems arise,
standards in professional formation, and one’s ability and to develop solutions that can be used in these
to adapt to ever-changing job requirements. situations.
The interest in analyzing and solving difficult
2. WHAT ARE THE CONCEPTS OF situations involves several dimensions of one’s
PROFESSION AND PROFESSIONAL SKILL? personality, and is not restricted to the recall and
activation of professional knowledge. In order to
2.1. “Profession” and Activities determine the skills that graduates must develop one
In general, a “profession” is comprised of a set of must take into account the graduates’ professional
permanent responsibilities and temporary goals, and development, which presupposes the existence of a
each component can be described through functional genuine “engineering of their professional formation”
analysis. through skill development, which, in its turn, implies
The “engineering” profession is connected to several innovation, planning, achievement and assessment. We
types of activities: suggest that the engineering of skill formation be built
activities specific to the engineering profession at the level of two axes: an axis representing the
(managing technical projects) individual and the organization, and another
activities relevant for a technical profession representing education and production (Fig. 1).
(performing calculations related to elements, Note that, in order to pass from the sphere of the
structures and systems) university curriculum into the professional sphere, one
activities relevant for non-technological professions must make a practical move and begin by studying the
(assessing budgets, coordinating collaborators’ activities related to the job, then analyze the skills
careers, etc.) necessary and, finally, obtain a formation referential
Furthermore, the “economist engineer” who has that allows for the acquirement of the new skills
graduated in the “Engineering and Management” field necessary in order to achieve professional
must be able to verify, on all levels, the “economic advancement, all in accordance with individual
feasibility” of the projects, processes and decisions, requirements and personal traits.
and to manage their integration into the socio-
economic environment of the organization, as all these
436 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Education
Socio-economic, cultural, legislative environment
University
HR policies of the enterprise
formation policies
- University
- Individual curriculum
requirement - Skill
- Personal formation
traits - Target group
Analysis of the Analysis of the Analysis of the
Analysis
Assessment
Assessment
Individual Organization expectations professional university
of the
situation educational
- Job analysis demand
offer
- Professional - Assessment and
adaptability based on application of
skills, experience, professional skills
formation according to the needs
- Professional of the actual Diagnosis of skill formation
advancement technical-economic
system
Figure 1: The engineering of skill formation Figure 2: General Framework for Determining
3. RESEARCH RATIONALE the Skills
Determining the skills necessary for the university graduate in 4.2. Research Methods and Techniques.
the field of “Engineering and Management”, in close Target Groups.
connection with the entrepreneurial and organizational needs
that arise from the requirements of the economic, technical, Three target groups (A, B, C) were analyzed, according
cultural, social and legislative environments. to the objectives pursued.
The research aims to address the following: Group A
the analysis of entrepreneurial needs in human resource -Work sample: 31 potential employers, companies
policies (qualifications, positions); that operate in several fields: industrial, mechanical,
the analysis of the expectations of enterprises as electrical, chemical, transport and agriculture, whose
concerns “the “Engineering and Management” graduate’s characteristics are shown in Table 1.
competence”;
Table 1: The Sample characteristics
the analysis of the educational offers supplied by
Profile of Number of Size of Enterprise
universities;
Enterprise enterprises
the needs of recent university graduates, who master
the skills acquired during their university studies and who are SMEs Big
struggling to obtain their first job. Enterprise
Based on these analyses, we proceeded to suggest the a) industrial 6 2 4
necessary skills for the “Engineering and Management”
graduate. b) mechanical 4 2 2
c)electrical, 6 2 4
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
electronic,
energetic
Based on the objectives pursued, we suggested a general
framework for the establishment of the skills necessary for the d) construction 9 6 3
engineer in the “Engineering and Management” field (Fig. 2) e) chemical, 2 2 -
and we chose to employ a qualitative research method in
f) agricultural 2 2 -
order to reach the above-mentioned objectives, namely the
phenomenological group analysis, while the techniques used g) transportation 2 1 1
were the “centered non-direct group interview” and the
questionnaire technique. Total number 31 17 14
4.1. General Framework for Determining the Skills -Research method: phenomenological group analysis.
The technique used was the “centered non-direct group
The analysis used in determining the skills was structured interview”, in which a group interview is organized.
according to the flow chart suggested by the authors (Fig. 2). Each respondent participates willingly in the interview
The flow chart starts by deducing professional skills from the and is faced with a real or imaginary situation, then
human resource policies of the enterprise and the university encouraged to express their opinions on the given
skill formation policy, which are anchored in the economic, situation. The most common comments are registered.
social, cultural and legislative environment. -Research topic:
o the needs of the enterprise in HR policies
(qualifications, jobs)
Education of Universities Professors in the Perspective of Instructional Quality Culture - The Curricular
Design in Higher Education Focused on Competences and Learning Outcomes - 437
o the expectations of the enterprises as concerns “the main skills pertaining to the profession of an
“Engineering and Management” graduate’s skills” “Engineering and Management” graduate engineer.
Group B The engineer plays an active part in the economy;
-Work sample: 10 universities, developers of The engineer employs knowledge and skills from the
engineering and management skills, which offer 6 fields of science, technology and management;
types of specializations according to the technical field The engineer must respond to the “needs” of the
studied (industrial, mechanical, electrical, construction, customer and the system by optimizing technological
chemical, agriculture) and 23 university curricula and managerial solutions using rational, scientific
(Table 2). criteria;
The engineer is closely involved in and assumes
Table 2: The Sample characteristics
Crt. University Specialization responsibility for the research, design, construction,
No. management, maintenance and exploitation of
organized systems (comprising people, material assets,
a b c d e f
technical and technological assets, abstract data, etc.);
The engineer must assume responsibility for the
1. A X - X X X -
sustainability of the system.
2. B - - - - - X
6. THE MAIN SKILLS SUGGESTED FOR THE
3. C X - - X - - “ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT”
4. D X - - - - - GRADUATE
5. E X - X - - -
Main Competency Areas
6. F X - - - - - a) Fundamental knowledge - engineering science
and basic principles
7. G X - X - - -
C1 - Applying theoretical and practical knowledge of
science, mathematics, as well as basic engineering
8. H X X X X X X principles, when performing calculations, making
9. I - X X - - - demonstrations and developing practical applications
in order to solve engineering and management
10. J X - - X - - problems.
Total = 23 8 2 5 4 2 2 C1.1 - Sound knowledge of the basic mathematical
principles and fundamental scientific concepts and
procedures used in order to design and build systems,
Observation: the specialization marked with
structures, processes and products.
a, b, c, d, e, f in table 2 correspond with the
C1.2 - Sound knowledge of the basic engineering
Enterprise’s profile a, b, c, d, e, f in table 1.
concepts and procedures used in order to design and
-Research method: analysis of the curricula in a group
build systems, structures, processes and products.
consisting of six specialists.
C1.3 - Understanding the properties, applications
-Research topic: skill formation in the educational
and limitations of the instruments and materials
offers supplied by universities in their curricula, for the
employed when designing and building systems,
field of “Engineering and Management”.
structures, processes or products, and solving errors
Group C
related to the correct usage of resources and
-Work sample: 80 university graduates in the field of
instruments.
“Engineering and Management”, Bologna cycle,
C1.4 - The ability to use modeling techniques in
coming from several Romanian universities.
order to solve problems specific to the field.
-Research method: the “questionnaire” technique
C1.5 - Basic understanding of the concept framework
comprising a quantitative synthesis of the respondents’
and of the part that different study disciplines play in
answers, which subsequently formed the basis of a
the field, in order to assess the work involving complex
qualitative analysis within the “phenomenological
systems from a multidisciplinary approach.
group analysis”.
C1.6 - Laboratory work proficiency
-Research topic: the needs of recent university
graduates, who master the skills acquired during their
b) Knowledge and technical abilities acquired
university studies and who are struggling to obtain
through specific engineering study disciplines
their first job. Forcrest Project, Leonardo da Vinci
C2 - Knowledge and application of the concepts,
Program (2007)
principles and techniques related to specific economic-
engineering study disciplines necessary for the
5. INVESTIGATION CONCLUSIONS
expertise in and the design of engineering issues
through the efficient use of computers.
The conclusions we reached after processing the data
C2.1 - Knowledge of the instruments and materials
obtained from three distinct target groups (A, B, C) led
specific to the area of the engineering disciplines in
to the following criteria used in order to establish the
438 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
question, necessary in order to interpret and explain C4.2 - The ability to develop creative design ideas
situations, events, processes, and projects related to the based on creative assessments and existing practices.
field. C4.3 - Knowledge related to the systemic approach
C2.2 - Keeping up-to-date with topics in the area of to engineering and management activities based on the
the specific engineering disciplines in order to solve cost and time considerations that affect the design.
problems/ situations that can be encountered when
providing qualified assistance. c)Communication and Continuous Development
C2.3 - Using assessment criteria and standard methods C5 - The skills necessary in order to be able to
properly, in order to evaluate the quality, merits and communicate in different professional and social
limitations of processes, programs, structures, systems environments and make proper use of the resources
and products. related to continuous development.
C2.4 - Having advanced knowledge of a least one C5.1 - The ability to compile correct documents, in
module in the area of engineering disciplines, as well accordance with specific procedures.
as the expertise necessary in order to make corrections C5.2 - The ability to discuss and negotiate effectively
to calculations, projects and other components specific and productively.
to the disciplines. C5.3 - Using all the resources and learning techniques
properly in order to aim for lifelong personal and
Entrepreneurial Knowledge and Abilities professional development, as well as objective self-
assessment in order to be integrated into the labor
C3 - Knowledge relating to the planning, programming market in a timely manner. DOCIS Project (2009)
and self management of enterprises with emphasis on 7. CONCLUSIONS
SMEs and the associated logistics networks: planning,
programming, management and production tracking. The present paper represents a continuation of the
C3.1 - Using basic knowledge in the planning, research developed by the work team, in the
programming and the management of production in framework of Leonardo da Vinci Program -
order to explain and interpret the processes and ”Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Development”
projects related to the field of Engineering and (Forcrest) Project, augmented with the new premises of
Management. current research, during which were studied the
C3.2 - Applying basic methods and principles for Universities offers for the “Engineering and
planning, programming and self-management of Management” field, the enterprises needs in their
SMEs when providing qualified assistance. Human Resources policy, as well as their expectations
C3.3 - Using standard assessment criteria and regarding “the competences of Engineers in the
methods properly in order to evaluate the quality, the Engineering and Management field.
limitations and the benefits of certain methods for In the paper were established, as a consequence of the
planning, programming and self-management of small results obtained from the research, the professional
and medium enterprises and the associated logistics competencies of “Engineering and Management” field
networks. graduates.
C3.4 - Planning of professional projects in terms of The originality (novelty) of paper is the establishment
scheduling, programming and self-management of of professional competences at higher education level
small and medium enterprises and associated logistics (“Engineering and Management”) and that is the first
networks, while using the principles and methods complex investigation in which worked together the
recognized in the field. competences providers, universities, competences
Design and Problem-Solving beneficiaries, graduates and the employer enterprises.
Signing the Bologna Declaration has meant the country, aiming at diploma recognition within another
beginning of a new European higher education reform, academic context.
its main purposes being to ensure the European higher At the meeting with the ministers responsible for
education system consistency and compatibility, and to the higher education system in the signatory countries of
increase both transparency and its international the Bologna Declaration, on May, 2007 at London, it is
attractiveness. Within this context, at the Berlin presented in the press release the progress made for the
Conference in 2003, there have been established (by 46 creation of a European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
ministers responsible of the higher education) the Therefore, is has been laid great emphasis on the
following priorities: the introduction of curricula necessity of creation of a curricular reform within the
structured on three main cycles; the more efficient higher education in order to become compatible with the
recognition of titles and the study periods; the European labour market’s requests, as well as on the
promotion of an advanced corresponding system of access possibilities at other study programs, by
quality assurance; the implementation of the European implementing programs that use the ECTS system
Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS); the which is concerned with learning outcomes and
issue of bilingual language supplement. competences.
A crucial moment in the accomplishment of a A special importance is given by the Tuning Project
“Europe of knowledge” has been represented by the on the educational structures in Europe. Intending to
European Commission meeting in May 2006, an offer a concrete approach of the Bologna Process
opportunity to stress the necessity for intensification of implementation, this project comprises a methodology
efforts to reach the main reforms of the Bologna process of redefinition, elaboration, implementation and
until 2010. It was especially aimed the assurance of a assessment of curricula for each and every Bologna
compatible and comparable qualifications system cycles. Therefore, the Tuning Project is comprehended
(bachelor, master, PhD), as well as the formulation of as a development platform of some reference points at a
flexible and modernized curricula that would meet the study area level. These are relevant for the elaboration
constantly changing needs of the European labour process of some comparable, compatible and transparent
market. study programs. Characteristic to the Tuning Project is
The Diploma Supplement stands for the document the fact that these reference points are defined or
attached to the higher education diploma and has as expressed by learning outcomes and skills. Therefore,
main objectives the increase of transparency at an this project has also emphasized the importance of
international level and the facilitation of professional utilizing at a large scale in Europe the concept of
and academic recognition of qualifications. Being issued ‘volume of work’ which must be submitted by
by the European Commission, the European Council student/workload, being based on the ECTS system.
and the UNESCO/CEPES, the Diploma Supplement One must know that the ETCS system can
contains eight sections which are described in a contribute to the curricula’s projection and development
European language and offers additional information by offering optimal use planning solutions of student’s
about the higher education national system from a time by offering credits only when skills are acquired.
The utilization of learning outcomes and skills should
440 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
bring changes in the teaching and learning process and of great value for the increase of universities’ social role
in the assessment methods that are utilized within a within a multicultural and multilingual Europe. Having
curriculum. The Tuning Project methodology has 4000 universities, 17 million students and almost 1,5
identified five points that are to be taken into million teachers, the European Universities have a huge
consideration when defining curricula: (1) general potential which is unfortunately insufficiently exploited
competencies and transferable abilities; (2) for the increase of jobs and development.
competencies that are specific to study disciplines; (3)
the ECTS role; (4) new teaching/learning and Reforming the Qualifications Framework Based on
assessment approaches; (5) the role of improving quality Skills
during the educational process.
The implementation of a three cycle system The signatory countries of the Bologna Declaration
enforces the necessity to re-examine curricula in such a have engaged in the initiation of some transformations
way that the first two cycles may offer access both to and in the acceptance of some new approaches in regard
the labour market and to the next cycle. This aspect to the national qualifications within higher education
shows the skills concept utilization’s importance as a and its harmonization with the European Qualifications
basis for the learning outcomes. For this reason, we are Framework (EQF) until 2010.
able to make some conceptual clarification. The In the Berlin Communiqué (2003) the ministers of
learning outcomes should describe what a student education have made recommendations for developing a
should know, comprehend and/or to be capable to framework which includes all qualifications within the
demonstrate after the teaching process is over. European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and have
Competences stand for the dynamic combination of offered good practice examples regarding the
knowledge, understanding, skills and abilities. The elaboration of qualifications’ national frameworks
utilization of skills provides reference points for the within higher education. The member states have been
curricular projection and it is important in the encouraged to launch a qualifications framework that is
assessment process due to the fact that offers the comparable and compatible with their higher education
curriculum’s structure flexibility and autonomy. At the system and that should describe qualifications in terms
same time, they offer a common language for the of study hours, level, learning outcomes, skills and
curricula’s objectives description. profile.
The qualifications systems in Europe are quite
European Level Actions Started by the Bologna different, being created depending on the local and
Process national circumstances and for this reason it is pretty
difficult to understand how a qualification acquired in
The accomplishment of a “knowledge triangle” one country should be interpreted in another country.
comprised of education, research and innovation, In May 2007, the European Commission has
capable of functioning correspondingly in such a way to showed the need of a divisional qualifications
help all European citizens to improve their skills, stands frameworks correlation which is specific to disciplines
for a crucial condition for the assurance of or professional fields of activity, having the
competitiveness, development and work places, as well qualifications’ National Frameworks within the
as for equity and social inclusion. European Qualifications Framework (EQF).
Starting with 2002, the cooperation at a European The European Qualifications Framework (EQF)
level regarding the politics of professional building and shows where qualifications should be placed, no matter
educational domain has stood for a valuable support not which is the country where they have been acquired and
only for the national reforms, but also for the increasing specifies what kind of skills an employer should expect
mobility of students and teachers in Europe. from a graduate who has a certain level qualification.
At the informal meeting of the European Council in EQF stands for a voluntary and transparent system and
October 2005 it has been emphasized the need of does not imply any obligation for the EU member states.
European universities’ modernization regarding their EQF has eight reference levels, the last three of
training mission, research and innovation, recognizing them corresponding with the Bologna cycles (thus the
the fact that they represent essential factors of the sixth level in EQF corresponds with the bachelor cycle,
European competitiveness. Thereafter, the Council in the seventh level with the MA cycle and the eighth level
the spring of 2006 has formulated the idea of with the PhD one).
accelerating the implementation of the necessary Nowadays, the qualifications frameworks in every
reforms in the academic sector in order to assure country are structured on levels and each level
development and jobs at a European level. corresponds to some results and skills of the learning
It has been observed that within the National process. As some good practice examples, we can
Reform Programs that were issued through the mention the qualifications frameworks in Ireland,
integrated directive for jobs and development, the Scotland, England, Wales, North Ireland, as well as in
member states have generally mentioned these aspects, Denmark.
but they are too numerous to be considered national The importance of the qualifications framework lies
priorities. The reform of national education systems is in the following aspects: (1) it gives information for
The Necessity to Use Competences in Order to Sustain the Reform of Curricula in Romanian Higher Education 441
employers and the public regarding the certification without borders”. This project has reunited partners
structures and the graduates’ gained competences; (2) from numerous European countries who have made a
helps orientate students in choosing their way and study concerning the necessities and the importance of
ensures progress within the educational system; (3) skills harmonization within the hospitality industry for
recognizes a previous study, ensures credit transfer and increasing the workforce mobility at a European level.
the lifelong study; (4) offers higher education New Hospitality Project has been developed
institutions an instrument for curricula planning and for between October 2006 and October 2008, and the
the programs’ elaboration; (5) ensures equalization and research activities were aimed at describing, comparing
mobility by recognizing qualifications offered by and promoting qualifications and competences in the
foreign higher education institutions, and (6) gives hotel sector, in order to support the transparency,
reference points for quality assurance and for recognition and transferability in the European area. The
assessment. direct targets and potential users of the results of this
project are the European education institutions (the
The Achievements Level of Romanian Higher proposed tools for the competences analysis being
Education Given the Bologna Process Requirements important for curricula design) as well as graduates and
workers in the hospitality industry, for whom the formal
By Law no. 288/2004 the Romanian higher recognition and transparency of competences and
education system has been organized on three cycles. knowledge represent a warranty for European mobility
Starting with the 2005-2006 academic year, the of professional qualifications.
Government Decision no. 1175/2006 has readjusted a The dissemination of this project results has
new structure of the first academic cycle (bachelor contributed to the restructuring of courses so as the
studies as according to the Bologna Process). The graduates achieve the new competences, identified as
Minister Order no. 3235/2005 ensures a precise necessary within the New Hospitality project research
definition of knowledge and skills gained by bachelor (13,14).
graduates. The Government Decisions no. 404/2006 and ARACIS (Romanian Agency for Quality
576/2005 define the main objectives and the Assurance in Higher Education) was established in 2005
organization of the MA and PhD cycles. The MER and has the mission to externally evaluate the quality of
(Ministry of Education and Research) order no. university education in Romania, both at study program
361/2005 stipulates the generalized application of level and from an institutional point of view. Starting
ECTS, which allows student mobility within and September 2009, ARACIS is a member of the European
between Romanian universities. The MER order no. Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education
4868/2006 introduces the issue of Diploma Supplement (ENQA) and is stated in the European Quality
for all graduates. Assurance Registry for Higher Education (EQAR).
To ensure compliance with Romanian regulations Through its two departments (of external
and EU Directives on higher education, at the request of evaluation of quality and accreditation), ARACIS aims
the Ministry of Education and Research (MER) there at ensuring and improvement of quality in the Romanian
have been approved by the Government Decision no. higher education, as well as creating a quality culture of
1357/2005 the expansion of responsibilities of the the Romanian higher education.
National Agency for Universities Partnership with the Through the external evaluation of quality and
Social-Economic Environment (APART) in order to accreditation, ARACIS aims at accomplishing the
include the responsibility for the qualifications national Bologna objectives, especially as far as the curricula
framework within higher education. The new agency reform, the focus on results and competences, the
has been renamed the National Agency for modernization of teaching-learning-evaluation system,
Qualifications in Higher Education and Partnership with the application of ECTS, the issue of Diploma
the Economic and Social Environment (ACPART). Supplement, the recognition of qualifications,
Therefore, preoccupations concerning skills definition correlation of national qualification framework with
within higher education and their correlation with the EQF are concerned, all these in order to ensure
Qualifications National Framework have been compatibility with higher education systems in Europe
considered agenda priorities of the Romanian Economic and to raise the attractiveness in the European labour
Faculties Association. Thanks to numerous meetings market.
between the leaders of Business Faculties, there have
been established the competencies for the undergraduate Key-Skills in a Changing World
and master education. Participation at different
European projects has meant great progress in the The European Communities Commission
development of qualifications frameworks. The Faculty communication in November 2009, in Brussels,
of Economics from the Ovidius University of Constanta presented the Council’s and Commission’s joint project
has been partner of the Leonardo da Vinci program- activity report for the year 2010 regarding the
New Hospitality “Analysis and implementation of a implementation of the “Education and professional
European system of qualifications and standards in the training 2010” program. This program emphasizes the
hospitality industry for transparency and knowledge fact that the educational systems should become more
442 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
open and more relevant for the citizens’ needs, for the their correlation with the organization of education on
labour market demand and for the society’s cycles and with the National Qualifications Framework.
requirements in general. There is also specified that the It is of utmost importance to pass from a theoretical
education’s skills oriented approach aims at the attitudes approach to the effective applicability of skills
and the abilities that are necessary for an adequate utilization to ensure curriculum reform.
application of knowledge and for a positive attitude
development in favour of continuing studies, critical References
thinking and creativity. These stand for a true challenge
to organize the learning process. 1. *** Studies regarding “Qualifications framework development
Another important discussed subject was concerned within Romanian higher education” ACPART – WYG
with the universities-enterprises partnerships. They can International-2007
create adequate conditions for the increase of 2. *** European Communities Commission Communication –
Brussels 11.25.2009, COM(2009)640 final
enterprises’ contribution to the higher education 3. L’enseignement supérieur eu Europe 2009: les avancées du
financing, and according to the “New skills for new processus de Bologne, Brussels: Eurydice 2009
jobs” initiative, the enterprises may support universities 4. *** European Communities Commission Communication –
in the elaboration of qualifications and study programs Brussels 04.02.2009, COM (2009)158 final
5. *** European Communities Commission Communication –
that are more relevant to students’ and labour market’s Brussels 05.10.2009, COM (2009)208 final
needed competencies. 6. *** European Communities Commission Communication –
Brussels 11.25.2009, COM(2009)200 final
The conclusion that emerges from this context is 7. *** COM(2008)865 final
8. *** COM(2008)868 final
that the role of education and professional training 9. *** COM(2006)36 final
should be consolidated within the knowledge triangle 10. *** The Directive no. 2005/36/EC
framework. The innovation and the development would 11. http://www.responsible-partenering.org/
remain at a low level in the absence of solid knowledge, 12. www.aracis.ro
13. *** Leonardo da Vinci – New Hospitality Desk Research
skills and aptitudes that are updated by learning 14. ***Leonardo da Vinci New Hospitality, work sessions Malta
throughout life. 2007, Perugia 2008, Ljubljiana 2008
There is more to be done for the Romanian higher 15. *** Starea Calitatii in Invatamantul Superior-Barometrul
education regarding the clarity of the acquired skills, calitatii 2009, www.aracis.ro
THE ANALYSIS OF THE CREATIVITY DETERMINANTS – CASE STUDY ON
ROMANIAN AND ITALIAN STUDENTS
This paper is a comparative study on the creativity of the students in economics, in Romania and Italy. Creativity is most explained
through personal characteristics that are assessed using the concept of Big Five personality traits. The researchers proposed this
concept to group the personality dimensions into five categories: Conscientiousness, Openness, Extraversion, Neuroticism and
Agreeableness. Using the probit model, we explore the main effects of different factors that could influence the probability of being
creative. Appling the method developed by Ai and Norton (2003), we although compute interaction terms between different factors and
explore their impact on the creativity. Data were obtained through two sample surveys in Romania and Italy and they were analyzed
using Stata and SPSS. The main results of the show that from all personality dimensions, Conscientiousness and Openness have the
highest impact on being creative. But the interaction effect between these two factors is negative and statistically significant only for
some Romanian students. The results also revealed significant differences in the Romanian and Italian students’ opinion regarding the
meanings of being creative: the Romanian students agree significantly more strongly than the Italian students that being creative
means solving different issues in an original way; while the Italian students are significantly more convinced than the Romanian
students that being creative means having a surplus of energy; having a critical mind; being unprejudiced; being sunk in his/her own
thoughts and being deviant.
Keywords: creativity, big five personality traits, probit model, interaction terms
We analyze the data obtained by a sample survey on on Extraversion are more distant, independent and
students’ creativity. The questionnaire was applied on peaceful. We use the following variables to measure
two samples of students in economics from two Extraversion: availability to effort and courage.
different countries, Italy (118 students) and Romania Neuroticism (reverse: emotional stability) refers to
(159 students). Data from Italy were collected by a anxiety, depression, vulnerability and impulsiveness.
working group of the Faculty of Economics, Seat of Individuals with low score on Neuroticism are calm,
Terni, Università degli Studi di Perugia, under the relaxed, and face easier the stressful situations. To
supervision of Mario G.R. Pagliacci. We focus our measure Neuroticism we use the following variables:
analysis on students because they represent, as future self-confidence and dissatisfaction.
employees, a potential source of creativity for the Agreeableness (reverse: antagonism) is a dimension
business environment accelerating the progress and the of personality indicating the tendency to be altruistic,
innovation. able to help, honest and cooperative. People scoring low
The students’ creativity is defined by assessing the on Agreeableness are self-centers, competitive and
students’ opinion regarding the specific features of a suspicious. We use cooperation and errors acceptance to
creative person: solving different issues in an original measure in our study Agreeableness.
way; having many ideas; having an ampler vision on We use the probit analysis in order to model the
situations; doing things differently than others; having a relationship between creativity (the dependent variable
better understanding of problematic situations; Y – a binary variable, with two possible outcomes:
establishing new connections based on experience; creative and non-creative) and the determinants of
having a surplus of energy; having a critical mind; doing creativity (independent variables X). The variables take
odd and fanciful things; being unprejudiced; being sunk the value 1 if the students responded with “Very agree”
in his/her own thoughts; being deviant. According to to the questions if a certain factor is a determinant of the
these defining elements, one person can be creativity. In this way we construct the following
characterized as a creative or non-creative person. On a variables: Conscientiousness, Openness, Extraversion,
scale from 1 to 5, the students responded to what extent Neuroticism and Agreeableness. Table 1 presents the
a given factor is a potential determinant of the descriptive statistics of the data used in this paper.
creativity. Besides the five dimensions of personality, we also
To determine the influence of different factors on the include in our analysis other factors that could have on
creativity, we use the concept of Big Five personality impact on being creative, as gender, innovation, attitude
traits. The researchers (McCrae, R.R. and Costa, P.T. towards rules, human interrelations. The variable
(1987)) proposed this concept to group the personality “Gender” takes the value 1 if the student is a male. The
dimensions into five categories: Conscientiousness, variable “Innovation” takes the value 1 if the student
Openness, Extraversion, Neuroticism and responded with “Very agree” to the question if the
Agreeableness. ability to put in practice an idea could have an impact on
Conscientiousness (reverse: lack of direction) refers the creativity. The dummy variable “Interacting with
to self-control and self-discipline. The conscientious others” is 1 if the students responded with “Agree” or
person is very organized, competent and determined. “Very agree” to three questions. They ask if the factors
The individual has a strong willpower and is as the mobility of the persons, the presence in the same
achievement oriented. Those, who have the opposite group of people with different skills and the contacts
form of Conscientiousness, don’t work very hard, are with other persons have an influence on the level of
lazy, couldn’t motivate themselves and are not very creativity. The analysis is performed using Stata.
carefully in thinking and acting. In our data set, we use Table 6: Descriptive statistics
the following variables to measure the
Conscientiousness: the need for order, the aim of Italy Romania
affirmation, self-discipline and tenacity. Male 0.43 0.21
Openness (reverse: conservative to experience) Urban area 0.63 0.83
refers to openness for new experiences. The person who Conscientiousness 0.68 0.75
has this facet of personality is curios and has a broad Openness 0.73 0.74
imagination, has wide interests and is unconventional, Extraversion 0.47 0.53
being open to new ideas and experiences. The Neuroticism 0.36 0.35
individuals scoring low on Openness tend to be more Agreeableness 0.32 0.27
Innovation 0.37 0.28
conservative and accept very easy the authority. In order
Rules
to measure the Openness, we use the following
encourages 0.41 0.36
variables: curiosity, critical spirit, independence of
limit 0.37 0.35
judgment, ability to play, sense of challenge and ability
let indifferent 0.22 0.30
to abstract.
N 118 159
Extraversion (reverse: introversion) includes Own calculation
activity, assertiveness, positive emotions and As Table 1 shows, “Openness” and
excitement-seeking. Individuals with these traits are “Conscientiousness” are the factors that are considered
optimistic, warm and friendly. People with low scores by the most of the students (almost 70 percent of the
The Analysis of the Creativity Determinants – Case Study on Romanian and Italian Students 445
Italian students and 75 percent from the Romanian points. Being openness to new experience increases the
students) to have an impact on the creativity. probability of being creative by 21 percentage points.
“Innovation” is considered only by 37 percent of the For Romanian students, only the Conscientiousness
Italian students and 28 percent of the Romanian students and Neuroticism have a statistically significant impact
to influence the creativity. An interesting result is the on creativity. Compared to Italian students, the
fact that the existing of the rules rather encourages than Openness has no effect on being creative. Having
limiting the creative potential. In the sample, 43 percent Conscientiousness as a personality trait increases the
from the Italian students and 21 percent from the probability of being creative by 22 percentage points.
Romanian students are male. The most of the students The impact of Neuroticism is lower, increasing the
who participated at this study live in an urban area (63 probability only by 7 percentage points.
percent from the Italian students and 83 percent from When we perform the regression for both countries,
the Romanian students). only Conscientiousness and Openness are statistically
The next section focuses on the estimation significant and have a positive effect on the probability
procedure. of being creative.
For all estimations, the magnitude of the coefficients
3. EMPIRICAL APPROACH AND RESULTS is rather low, except for Conscientiousness and
Openness.
In order to reduce unobserved heterogeneity likely to
Our goal is to determine the factors that influence
the creativity. We first estimate a probit model for being affect the estimates of β1 to β5 , we include in the
creative including only the measures of the Big Five regression other factors that could have an impact on the
personality traits: creativity. We introduce as covariate the “Innovation” –
a variable that measures one’s capacity to put in practice
P(creativityi ) = Θ(α + β1Ci +β2Oi + β3Ei + β4 Ni + β5 Ai ) a new idea. We include also two variables that describe
the attitude toward rules (being encouraged, limited or
where P is the probability of being creative, C i , Oi , being indifferent to the rules regarding the creativity).
Table 8: Probit estimation being creative
Ei , Ni , and Ai represent the five categories of
Italy Romania Pooled
personality traits and Θ the cumulative distribution samples
function of the standard normal distribution. Male 0.04 -0.05 -0.03
We perform the regression both for pooled data as (0.06) (0.05) (0.04)
well as separately for each country. Urban area -0.04 0.04 -0.01
Table 2 reports the marginal effects. (0.06) (0.05) (0.04)
Conscientiousness 0.24*** 0.15** 0.19***
Table 7: Probit estimation being creative
(0.09) (0.07) (0.06)
Italy Romania Pooled Openness 0.19* 0.05 0.14**
samples (0.10) (0.04) (0.05)
Conscientiousness 0.19** 0.22*** 0.21*** Extraversion 0.004 -0.06 -0.03
(0.09) (0.08) (0.06) (0.07) (0.04) (0.04)
Openness 0.21** 0.09 0.13** Neuroticism 0.02 0.06** 0.05
(0.10) (0.06) (0.05) (0.06) (0.03) (0.04)
Extraversion 0.004 -0.06 -0.03 Agreeableness 0.02 0.02 0.04
(0.07) (0.04) (0.04) (0.07) (0.03) (0.04)
Neuroticism 0.03 0.07* 0.05 Innovation -0.08 0.05** -0.004
(0.07) (0.04) (0.04) (0.07) (0.03) (0.04)
Agreeableness 0.01 0.04 0.03 Rules (reference category: Rules limit)
(0.08) (0.04) (0.04) encourages 0.05 -0.06 -0.004
N 118 159 277 (0.06) (0.05) (0.04)
Log lik. -41.56 -43.17 -86.56 let indifferent 0.09 -0.12* -0.04
Chi-squared 21.04 21.79 40.91 (0.05) (0.08) (0.05)
Standard errors in parentheses Interacting with 0.38 -0.09 -0.03
*p<.10, ** p<.05, *** p<.001 others (0.29) (0.10) (0.04)
Own calculation N 118 159 277
Log lik. -38.15 -37.00 -85.54
We observe that except Extraversion, all domains of Chi-squared 27.87 33.89 42.65
the personality have a positive impact on the probability Standard errors in parentheses
*p<.10, ** p<.05, *** p<.001
of being creative. In case of Italy, Conscientiousness Own calculation.
and Openness have even a statistically significant effect.
Having Conscientiousness as personality trait increases We control also for the existing of groups, which have
the probability of being creative by 19 percentage an influence on the creativity through the spillovers that
446 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
they generate. Other variables, as gender or urban students that being creative means solving different
location, are also included. Table 3 provides the results. issues in an original way; while the Italian students are
Introducing all these variables we get some significantly more convinced than the Romanian
interesting results. The coefficient of Conscientiousness students that being creative means having a surplus of
increases in the case of Italian students and decreases to energy; having a critical mind; being unprejudiced;
a greater extent for the Romanian students. Also for the being sunk in his/her own thoughts and being deviant.
Openness the effect is lower in both samples. From the Future research should be extended to analyze more
new variables that were introduced as covariates, only other factors that could have on impact on the creativity.
the variable “Innovation” and one regarding the rules Furthermore, the analysis should be performed also for
are statistically significant and only for the Romanian other ages of the individuals, enabling thus the platform
students. Being innovative has a positive impact only for comparison.
for Romanian students. For them, being able to put in
practice a new idea increases the probability of being REFERENCES
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that the existing of rules let them indifferent, the 1. Aznar, G. (1971), G., La créativité dans l’entreprise, Les
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what? European Journal of Personality, 8, pp.335-339.
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in the papers of Helson (1985), McCrae (1987) and Openness to Experience, Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 52 (6), pp.1258–1265
Costa and McCrae (1992). For example, McCrae argued
14. McCrae, R.R. and Costa, P.T. (1987), Validation of the five-
that Conscientiousness is correlated to creativity factor model of personality across instruments and
because “conscientious individual may complete their observers, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52,
creative projects more often” (p. 1264). In their study, pp. 81-90
15. McCrae, R.R. and John, O.P. (1992), An introduction to the
McCrae and Costa (1987) show that individuals with
five-factor model and its applications, Journal of
high levels of Openness to Experience are imaginative, Personality, 60, pp. 175-215.
broad-minded and original, properties that describe 16. McCrae, R.R. and Costa, P.T. (1997), Personality trait
creativity. Some authors have defined this personality structure as human universal, American Psychologist, 52,
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Johnson (1994) found that Openness represents Creative 17. McCullagh, Peter; John Nelder (1989), Generalized Linear
Models.: Chapman and Hall. London
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Creative Imagination. and economic performance of an industrial enterprise, PhD
The students’ opinion on creativity relieve that being Thesis, Academy of Economic Studies of Bucharest.
a creative person is most likely to mean solving
different issues in an original way; having many ideas,
and having an ampler vision on situations, both for
Romanian and Italian students.
However, there are significant differences in the
Romanian and Italian students’ opinion regarding the
meanings of being creative: the Romanian students
agree significantly more strongly than the Italian
A NEW PROMISING MASTER PROGRAMME IN THE FIELD OF ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING EDUCATION ORGANIZED AT A ROMANIAN TECHNICAL
UNIVERSITY
The paper presents an aspect of technical higher education in the field of environmental engineering: a promising master program at Technical
University of Iasi-Romania, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environment Protection. The target of this program implementation is to
assure a possibility for Bachelor students to get the necessary specific skills and competencies in order to be implicated into solving of
environmental protection problems and also to acquire news ones.
conformity with the requirements of the National established and regulated in a unitary way, thus
Agency for Qualifications in High Education and contributing to the increase of the quality of the
Partnership with Economic and Social Environment educational process for the second study cycle; ♦
[**]. The curricula wanted to be structured according to Moreover, the methodological approach may constitute
the related specializations from the field of the the working instrument when approaching other master
graduation studies, but it is different because of its specialization.
nature and of the type of the suggested disciplines, Table 1: The disciplines from PI contribution to realization the master
competencies
representing in fact a thorough knowledge in the field of Master competencies Corelations Proposed disciplines
the Management, Treatment and Valorization of Wastes 1. Knowledge, understanding
and use of the specific language 1. Management, treatment and
(Table 1). From the analysis of the correlation master- The deep knowledge of a valorization of wastes
specialization field and, inside it, 2. Environmental legislation
subjects, (Table 1) the following issues resulted, which of the theoretical, methodological of wastes regime
were taken into consideration for the curricula: to assure and practical development
specific to the programme; the
3. Economic analyses of
wastes treatment and
the achievement of all the set of competencies which proper use of the language in valorization
communicating with different 4. Environmental impact
must be assured during the master studies; refering professional environments assessment of different
mainly to the following competences: Problem 2. Explanation
interpretation
and activities involved in waste
management
application, transfer and solving, and Critical and The use of the technical 5. Life cycle assessment into
knowledge for explaining and wastes management
constructive reflection, which supports the applicative interpreting new situations, in 6. Pollution reduction at
and analytical role of the master which may provide broader contexts related to this
field;
source
minimization
and wastes
useful information to those who want to apply in their 3. Application, transfer and 7. Biotechnologies for wastes
problem solving treatment and valorization
activities the acquired information; the three-ways Integrated use of the conceptual 8. Unitary processes and
approach of the competences: technical, managerial and and methodological device, in equipments into technologies
of wastes treatment and
completely defined situations, in
legislative; the development of the ability of creativity order to solve new theoretical valorization
and practical knowledge 9. Audit of preventive
and innovation by performing specific research in the 4. Critical and constructive pollution
field of the subject and at the end of the master studies, reflection 10. Management of wastes
packaging
Nuanced and relevant use of
etc. assessment criteria and methods 11. Management of industrial
wastes
The suggested master program has 2 semesters, 14 to make valuable judgements and
to fundament constructive 12. Valorization of building
weeks each, and a total number of 1456 teaching and decisions wastes
13. Sustainable consuption
5. Creativity and innovation
research hours. The subjects introduced in the education Elaboration of professional
14. Management of
plan can be classified as follows: 1.according to the and/or research projects, using in
an innovative manner a wide municipal wastes
optional character: obligatory – 89.42% and optional range of quantity and quality
15. Treatment and
methods
– 10.58%; 2. according to the formation category: 6. Autonomy and responsibility valorization of plastics
wastes
synthesis - 66.35%; thoroughness - 33.65%; advanced Executing complex professional
tasks, under the conditions of
knowledge - 85.58%; complementation - 14.42% ; 3. professional autonomy and 16. Hazard wastes treatment
(medical and radioactive
independency
according to the type of activities: courses (34.61%), 7. Social interaction
wastes)
seminars (3.85%), laboratories (4.81%); research Assuming guiding roles/functions
17. Energetic recovery of
for the activities of the
activities (44.23%). professional groups or
wastes
institutions
18. Monitorization of
8. Personal and professional
controlled wastes storage
development
5. CONCLUSIONS The self-controlled studying
systems
process, the diagnosis of the
19. Scientific research
formation needs, the reflective
♦ Our analysis allowed the design of an education plan analysis of its own professional
20. Elaboration and public
activity
based on the results of the study the hypotheses presentation of Master thesis
The aim of this research is to analyze the protection of the right to privacy in Romanian educational system. Our study focuses on the
following of two objectives: the content analyze of the scholar documents and the identification of the juridical dimensions that deal
with the aspects of this study. The rights of privacy must become priorities of defining policies and strategies in the schools.
I. Privacy in education Privacy abuses can range from grades bandied about
In terms of the normative dimension of the in hallways to the non-consensual exposure of student
education for private life, the representatives of school information and photos on the Internet. In today’s
organizations intend to elaborate the school rules climate of heightened security, it is more important than
regarding the respect towards the privacy rights of ever for parents and adult-age students to be vigilant
students and the teaching staff. about who has access to their education records. There
Today’s multidisciplinary debates regarding privacy are many reasons why educators feel so strongly about
also influence the educational steps for transmitting the this ethical code and therefore choose to incorporate it
information which is needed at the level of educational into school (Bates et all). One reason is due to the
contents and for developing the competences for life (H. amount of information that schools possess about their
Farstad, 2004). P. Chambat (2002) highlights the students that could leave their students vulnerable if the
changes that determine the propagation techniques of information was to fall into the hands of the wrong
communication in everyday life: intellectualization of person. Another issue is the liability of the school
private life, weaken privacy protection, creating a district's own staff. Just like the corporate world,
private space hypertrophied. Although this invasion of schools deal with information that should only be seen
privacy can come from many sources, the main concern by certain personnel. Steps must be taken to insure that
of scientists in recent years is linked to what is called this type of information is only made accessible to those
“informational intimacy”. The concept is defined by individuals. Computer hacking is another key issue.
Westin and Schweder (1985) as the right individual, Hackers don't usually hack just for the fun of it, most
group or institution to choose how, where and by whom have more devious motives. With the sensitive nature of
will be provided or disclosed personal information. In school records and the advances in technology, the
the conception of authors, information privacy is the threat of computer hacking has become a concern.
most significant problem arising frequently in debates Rapid advances in technology have stretched privacy
on the “intimacy right” subject. laws to the limit. The Internet, now in use in nearly all
Ohrimenco and Cernei (2005) highlights the causes schools, opens the door for instantaneous and
which determine rules for privacy protection in terms of widespread dissemination of student information.
technology. This occurred because of computer Incidents of school violence in recent years have
technology (information) ensure the availability and prompted school administrators and parents to debate
simplicity of processes of accumulation, storage, the issue of privacy versus security (Privacy in
modification, manipulation and transmission. Another Education: A Guide for Parents and Adult-Age
issue that has resulted in the production of these changes Students, 2006). The privacy of students and faculty
is the fact that personal data set (or documented) are, on must be protected against this threat. To address this
the one hand, more valuable, large, and secondly, more challenge, institutions of education have begun to look
accessible. to the private sector for lessons on creating
Colleges and universities now find themselves in the comprehensive data privacy programs that mitigate risk
spotlight as they grapple with an increasingly complex while building trust with key stakeholders (Steinfeld
legal and regulatory environment relating to information and Sutherland Archuleta, 2006).
privacy and security (Steinfeld and Sutherland Schools must take the initiative of defining policies
Archuleta, 2006). It is not surprising, then, that a recent and strategies that best serve children, parents and staff
survey of college and university attorneys identified the (Goodman, 2000, p. 52). They must continue to assure
proliferation of privacy regulations and technology to be the collection, flow, validation, and dissemination of
among the most important issues and trends emerging data. You need to know what data are leaving your
for higher education in the next five to ten years school, who receive that information, and how it is
(National Association of College and University being used. The Internet does not eliminate the
Attorneys (NACUA) Survey Report, 2006). responsibility to live up to the privacy information
requirements of the law, or to the expectations of staff,
452 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
students and parents. The interests and rights of parents II. The right to private life in the Romanian
and young people must become priorities in the school educational system
politics. School records contain highly sensitive
information, even information about the family. The The Romanian educational system has no rules
contents of student files are likely to have an impact on stipulating the right to privacy in school. The authors of
the overall educational experience of students. That is the study “Romanian educational system today”, note
why it is wise for parents and adult-age students to be that private life training is missing not only from the
informed about laws and policies that govern student curriculum, but also from the normative acts (Miroiu et.
information. all, 1998, p. 68). We can grasp just a few items related
Consulting the international policies about the to the respect for confidentiality in the academia.
regulation of the right to privacy in schools, we University ethic codes have been developed and adapted
observed specific strategies. Governmental laws and after the project of the Ethic Code of the Ministry of
school regulation protect, to some extent, school Education and Research, whose coordinators are M.
records. The United States, for example, have a market- Miroiu, A. Bulai, D. Cutaş, L. Andreescu, D. Ion
dominated policy for the protection of the right to (2005). In the explanatory memorandum, the authors
privacy in education (Rainsberger, Baker, Hicks, Myers, introduce the protection of the right to privacy under the
Noe, Weese, 2001). In contrast, European norms reflect heading of academic freedom. According to this right,
a rights-dominated approach and the European Union the teaching and administrative staff must respect
now requires each of its Member States to have confidentiality in matters related to privacy of students,
comprehensive statutory protections for schools. There they will not give away information unless authorized
are also many programs and strategies designed to deal by the Rector and Deans or only when there are
with this problem. Integrating cyber safety into the legitimate reasons. This rule also applies in respect to
curriculum and offering training sessions to educate personal requests concerning the maintaining of
families and students on safeguards are also important confidentiality regarding marital status, sexual
strategies for protecting young people from orientation or hidden disability, address, political,
embarrassment or other harmful acts. To ensure that religious affiliation etc.
schools receive the best internet connection, that is safe The personnel who have access to documents and
both for the school and parents and students, school information must take care to maintain confidentiality
managers must seek out companies that are responsive and privacy of such information and protect people who
to their unique needs. do not want this information to become public.
In the U.S., there are several state laws which University members must maintain the privacy of
provide the confidentiality of school records (Privacy in confidentiality requests. The personal files are
Education: A Guide for Parents and Adult-Age confidential and breach of confidentiality is punished.
Students, 2006): Family Educational Rights and Privacy Confidentiality represents one of the ten key values of
Act (FERPA) 20 USC 1232g (1974), Protection of the Code of Professional Ethics for quality insurance
Pupil's Rights Amendments (PPRA) 20 USC 1232h and accreditation in higher education in Romania, with
(1978); No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. 107- legality, independence, objectivity, impartiality,
110, 115 STAT. 1425 (January 2002); USA Patriot Act, transparency, personal responsibility, professionalism,
P.L. 107-56 (October 26, 2001); Privacy Act of 1974, 5 openness to new dialogue and consensus.
USC Part I, Ch. 5, Subch. 11, Sec. 552. FERPA is the The principle of confidentiality is characterized by
most known and used law dealing with the right to faithfulness in providing, expanding, using and
privacy of the student. FERPA is the best-known and providing access to information in accordance with
most used law which deals with the students’ right to accepted rules and procedures. It means proceeding with
privacy. discretion and protecting personal data and data related
Respecting the right to privacy in school covers a to intellectual property in activities of self-evaluation,
number of characteristic elements: respecting external evaluation and accreditation. In the process of
confidentiality in matters related to the privacy of external evaluation and accreditation, the display,
students, teachers and auxiliary teaching staff; the distribution or publication of information is realized
representatives of the educational institutions let parents only after the ARACIS Council formulates and
know, at least once a year, about the existence of approves an official position or statement, a clear
regulations specifying when and how parents are definition of the space of information of public interest
informed about the surveys and evaluations involving and only by meeting with the privacy conditions
students; adopting a regulation regarding the rights and previously determined and agreed upon with the
responsibilities of students, teachers and school staff acceptance of this Code by signing a confidentiality
which regulates privacy and safety, whether there are declaration.
any cameras installed; formulating rules for filming and
taking photographs in schools where consent is also
taken into consideration, schools’ obligation to allow
parents to request the non-disclosure of the information
from school documents. III. Educational research
The Protection of The Right to Privacy in Romanian Education 453
III.1 The Objectives and the Hypothesis of the Table 1: One Sample T test statistics test for comparison with the
average value of neutral 3 teachers assessments on regulatory aspects of
Investigation education for private life
III.1.1. The Objectives of the Investigation Test Value = 3
The objective of this study is to grasp the openness t df Sig. (2- Mean 95% Confidence
tailed) Diffe- Interval of the
level of teachers and students towards issues concerning Difference
rence
the compliance with the school rules related to private Lower Upper
life. 1 53,378 889 ,000 1,49 1,44 1,54
2 30,400 889 ,000 1,09 1,02 1,16
III.1.2. The Hypothesis of the Investigation 3 33,210 889 ,000 1,10 1,03 1,16
The first general hypothesis 4 15,150 889 ,000 ,65 ,56 ,73
Teachers consider that some school rules taken from 5 29,975 889 ,000 1,11 1,04 1,18
specific documents facilitate the respect of privacy in 6 46,392 889 ,000 1,40 1,34 1,46
school. 7 60,348 889 ,000 1,54 1,49 1,59
The second general hypothesis
Students consider that some school rules taken from Table 2: One Sample T test statistics test for comparison with the
average value of neutral 3 students assessments on regulatory aspects of
specific documents facilitate the respect of privacy in education for private life
school. Test Value = 3
The third general hypothesis t df Sig. (2- Mean 95% Confidence
There are significant differences between the teachers’ tailed) Diffe- Interval of the
rence Difference
and students’ perception of the normative aspects of Lower Upper
education for privacy.
1 37,979 1455 ,000 1,13 1,07 1,19
III.2 Variables 2 27,363 1455 ,000 ,87 ,81 ,93
The concept of school rules was developed in 7 3 24,922 1455 ,000 ,78 ,72 ,85
main categories, according to specific regulations 4 17,659 1455 ,000 ,64 ,57 ,72
stipulating the protection of private life in school: 5 10,341 1455 ,000 ,39 ,31 ,46
respect of confidentiality and privacy of students and 6 23,874 1455 ,000 ,83 ,76 ,90
teachers (1), parents may request the nondisclosure of 7 16,688 1455 ,000 ,60 ,53 ,67
personal information (2), representatives of school let
parents know about the information that may be made
In order to verify the third hypothesis, we have
public (3), compliance to professional results
applied the Independent-Samples T test. The test results
confidentiality (4), adoption of rules for filming and
indicate that there are significant differences between
taking photographs (5), developing a regulation with the
the perceptions of teachers and students concerning the
rights and responsibilities of students and staff in the
normative aspects of education for privacy. Teachers
case of installing cameras (6), informing parents about
appreciate, more than students do, the following
the surveys and assessments which involve students (7).
normative aspects: respect of confidentiality [t (2344) =
8,112, p < 0,05], parents’ right to request nondisclosure
III.5 Data presentation and analysis of personal data [t (2344) = 4,527, p < 0,05],
In order to verify the first and second hypothesis, representatives of school let parents know about the
we have applied One Sample T test, comparing the information that may be made public [t (2344) = 6,552,
average of teachers’ or students’ assessment of the p < 0,05], adoption of rules for filming and taking
extent to which some rules are important to respecting photographs [t (2344) = 12,998, p < 0,05], developing a
privacy in school with the value 3 (neutral). regulation with the rights and responsibilities of
Hypothesis 1 is confirmed, because all school rules students and staff in the case of installing cameras [t
extracted from the specific regulations are seen by (2344) = 11,376, p < 0,05], informing parents about the
teachers as important for the respect to privacy in surveys and assessments which involve students [t
schools. The most appreciated issues are those relating (2344) = 18,813, p < 0,05].
to informing parents about surveys involving students
(M7 = 4,54) and those concerning the respect of
confidential personal data (M1 = 4,49) (Table 1). 5
4,5 4,49 4,4 4,54
4,13 4,11
Hypothesis 2 is confirmed, because all school rules 4
3,5
43,87 4,1
3,78 3,65
3,64
3,39
3,83
3,6
1
respect of personal data confidentiality (M1 = 4,13) 0,5
(Table 2). 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Categories
This paper presents an analysis of the activities pattern of Continuing Education Organizations (CEO) that addresses a large number
of students, and their role in a global and dynamic society. Continuing Education Organizations have particularly important role in
present economic and social context, globally focusing on continuous training of human resources. Through the Organizations of a
Continuing Education a student has the opportunity to refine the area that he studied in the initial training program and to specialize
in a new sphere of activity, in a determined period, without his professional life is affected. The paper highlights a fundamental
research that consists of analysis, processing and assimilation of bases knowledge found in international used. In the first part of
paper are presented the types of permanent training services offered and in the second part a SWOT analysis (case study) on an
Organization for Continuing Education. CEO operating like a company, in conditions of economic efficiency and the ultimate goal
being profit-driven. Demand for continuing education services is increasing. Following completion of this work resulted some
conclusions based on which a CEO must fundament its decisions, promote and publicize the programs in as many fields.
-
Compact Programs – specialized on a specific
INTRODUCTION segment and providing complex information
about the considered field
- Courses on subjects (disciplines) - they address
Continuing Education Organizations offer support
for those stakeholders interested to continue training a particular activity sector and can be broken
after graduation from initial training. These down into specialties. To understand how the
course progress, is considered the following
organizations provide services in various fields, from
example: The audit is a vast field, and students
training to the teachers in secondary school to ongoing
may be uninterested in all aspects, in that case
training programs for the following fields of interest:
was appealed to the specialization and such
audit, management, marketing, human resources, IT,
engineering, etc. exposition occurred on Internal Audit, Financial
Audit, Energy Audit, etc.
- A modular program, each subject (discipline) is
ACTIVITY FIELDS, THE WAY TO CARRY OUT regarded as an independent course, finalised
THE ACTIVITIES after getting over all modules and obtaining a
Certification Diploma.
Continuing Education Organizations have structured Types of courses, and the organization and
their activity depending on the type of course offered, deployment, are the common one, frequently offered by
area that is addressed, duration of the course Continuing Education Organizations (Action Plan on
development, and the number of persons interested to Adult Learning).
continue training. Types of courses offered by Those who getting over Continuing Education
Continuing Education Organizations: courses have a certain typology that is correlated with
- ACADEMIC COURSE developed in two the type of program they participate. This correlation is
segments: the exposition, which may be shown in Table 1.
attended by a large number of students, the Table 1: Correlation type - lector
application - the number of participants is Crt.
limited, approximately 15 participants Course Type Lector
No.
- INFORMATION COURSE consisting of an 1 Academic Course Academics (professors) at home
exposition (consultation) on a field of activity and abroad
number of participants is limited, up to 25 2 Information People with charisma, have
people. Course positive influence on students
- TRAINING, this course is specialized for a 3 Training Trainer, specialized in a narrow
field of activity and consists of practical applications segment
training for students; the number of people
participating can be no more than 15. Continuing Education Organizations promotes
Running of courses offered by Continuing Education courses, voluntary, that address a wide audience, from
Organisations is as follows: different spheres of interest and similar programs at the
request of certain Commercial Companies that are
specialized in certain activities and who want their
available human resources to be better informed /
456 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Internet
Professional
advantages
50% 41% Trainers
25%
Syllabus 45%
18% 20% Leaflets
Opinion of former
students Other
10% students
SWOT analysis:
STRENGTHS
Figure 4: Decisive factors for the choice of continuing
co education
Performance programs and courses,courses useful for
- 66% of those market surveyed (Figure 5) opted for current and future activities. These programs reach a
services of certain Continuing Education Organization vast audience in various fields.
because of its reputation and 18% were influenced by Qualified Personal.
l. Continuing Education
other people who have attended courses in this Organizations
rganizations have arisen from the international
organization. collaborations, which is an advantage in terms of staff
skills to organize and support courses. People who teach
permanent training participate in training courses and
international conferences on various topics.
Granting related services.
services Continuing Education
18%
Awareness Organizations have also in their activities portfolio
organization
brokerage contracts abroad, books publishing under its
16% Courses quality
own brand, offering facilities for conferences, symposia,
round tables.
66%
Infrastructures offered by the organizers.
organizers To
Other persons conduct programs in good conditions is essential to
ensure the adequate infrastructure, which includes the
creation of optimal conditions in space conducting the
course.
Figure 5: The deciding
eciding factors for choosing the Continuing Education
Organization WEAKNESSES
Excessive range of courses.
courses Continuing Education
- 45% of students (Figure 6) were informed online about Organizations
rganizations have a large portfolio of courses in
continuing education programs offered on the market various fields. Organizations
anizations develop current and
and 25% from other students. required courses at a time, but it depreciates over time
and if not recovered amounts invested,
invested failures may
occur in the programs.
Small promotional budget. Such organizations
have limited budgets for promotion and then they have
458 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
to turn to another kind of advertising (hidden): to launch children drop out of education programs, regardless of
a new type of program mass-media is invited to present the initial training phase in which they are located.
the moment as an event. Fluctuations in the number of participants. There are
times when the number of students is too large or, on
OPORTUNITIES the contrary, is reduced.
Economic climate. Labour market is in a
continuous process of change, individuals are forced to
constantly improve training, to adapt to the CONCLUSION
requirements of the employer. Most typical example is
the labour market in Romania: in the early 1990 was a Upon completion of this work were the following
severe shortage of people trained in economics, law; conclusions:
currently in the labour market in these sectors of activity - Continuing Education Organizations operate
reached saturation which can be seen as an opportunity like a business, the ultimate goal being the
for Continuing Education Organizations to launch profit.
training programs, retraining, specialization. - Continuing Education Organizations activity is
Demographic changes. Increasing the number of influenced by supply and demand in the market.
families with one child and two income sources may be - Continuing Education Organizations programs
perceived as opportunities for Continuing Education must promote and make known to as many
Organizations. Such families will be willing to invest in fields as possible.
ongoing training process. Continuing Education Organizations have dual role
Technology. Communication Technology facilitates in the labour market, current economic conditions,
link between program participants and organizers in this human resource training and retraining. Eg: Under
regard can be considered the Internet that provides European Union legislation in force any housing should
possibilities for distance learning. Another opportunity be assessed in terms of energy. This can be done by an
in terms of technological developments is that new energy audit.
methods and production techniques occurring that A person can be energy auditor if he go through a
require additional expertise and staff when operating in training course and obtain a certificate of professional
these sectors need continuing training courses in this certification granted by the Ministry of Tourism and
respect specialization. Regional Development. The course can be done by any
Political conjuncture. Legislative framework that graduate of a technical university, but professional
provides some ongoing training opportunities for those certificate holders get only the one who has a civil
interested. In support of Continuing Education engineer diploma. For this reason some Continuing
Organizations comes also the European Union law Education Organizations accepts only graduates of the
which financing programs in different fields for Faculty of Civil Engineering. By obtaining a certified
different social groups. In this respect there are professional energy auditor a person receives an
programs for women managers. Due to globalization additional specialization or in some cases retraining.
occurred courses held by University or Upon completion of this work we have highlighted the
nongovernmental organizations in different countries. role that continuing education has in adult life and in
Another institution that supports continuous training future we will track and analyze trends and changes
programs is the World Bank that provides grants emerging on educational services market.
(Dupta, P., Ruset, V. and Mihartescu, A., 2003).
References
THREATS
Competition activity. A competitor launches on 1. Dupta, P., Ruset, V. and Mihartescu, A. (2003), “Aspects
of management of Services Organizations providing
market a new course with a different structure, with a continuing education in”, Scientific Proceedings for 6 th
different content. Launch will be accompanied by an International Symposium in Management, Mirton
aggressive campaign to promote the courses. Publishing, Timisoara, pages 400-408
Competitor activity can be regarded as a threat when 2. Dupta, P., Ruset, V. and Mihartescu, A. (2003),
they promote a higher rate and by whom it is offered - “Guidelines on promoting strategic marketing services
provided by Continuing Education Organizations”,
an organization under the aegis of local and foreign Scientific Proceedings for 6 th International Symposium in
University, in collaboration with the organization Management, Mirton Publishing, Timisoara, pages 179-
publicly acknowledged. 191
3. Memorandum on lifelong learning (2001), National Centre
Demographic changes. Aging population and Leonardo da Vinci.
increasing number of elderly people is a threat, because 4. Action Plan on Adult Learning, Communication from the
this audience is not interested in continuing education Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the
courses. These people may be concerned that much of European Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions, Brussels, 2007,
information programs. Another threat is the annual birth 5. http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/adult/com558_en.pd
rate lower and number of students, a growing number of f
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS ACQUIRED IN HIGHER
EDUCATION IN THE FIELD OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT
This paper presents a comparative study of knowledge and skills acquired by students in various universities in the country and
abroad. The study is focused on the knowledge of project management in construction field as a constant concern, both budgetary and
private sector, for development of the new projects. Project management in construction is an important issue for the project
developer. Due to low level of implementation of the concept of project management in construction companies in Romania is the
question of the project manager skills and graduates competencies received in the Romanian university, towards EU standards. The
paper highlights a fundamental research that consists of analysis, processing and assimilation of bases knowledge found in
international used. We collect data from educational curricula of various universities from Romania and abroad for realized a
qualitative and quantitative comparison of skills and knowledge in the field of project management in construction. There is a direct
link between the level of knowledge and skills received in the university and the degree of implementation of project management
concept in construction companies, the efficiency and control in running the project. The paper emphasizes the differences between
skills required and received by graduates in the field of construction project management.
management. For those we have taken in analyzing the From curricula of the universities studied, these
number of teaching hours and number of ECTS-credits courses were considered relevant for training in project
for the Bachelor Degree programs. management at Bachelors Programs:
To highlight research results, we used statistical Economy and legislation in construction;
processing, to have a real basis and uniform use and Management of Construction Works;
interpretation of available data. Project Management;
According to Construction Extension to the Quality Management;
PMBOK® Guide (2007), there are thirteen Process Computer Aided Project Management;
groups and Knowledge Areas applicable for Special problems in construction work.
construction projects: Project integration management, We notice a difference in the duration of studies for
Project scope management, Project time management, Bachelor’s degree, at universities in Romania the study
Project cost management, Project quality management, duration is eight semesters and for those in Germany
Project human resources management, Project and Austria are six semesters. Thus, the total number of
communications management, Project risk management, credits according to the Bologna agreement is 240
Project procurement management, Project safety ECTS-credits for eight semesters and 180 ECTS-credits
management, Project environmental management, for six semesters.
Project financial management, Project claim In Table 1, we centralized data collected from the
management. The last for are specific for construction studied universities curriculum. These data include the
unique project management. number of hours for lecture and seminar / project, total
hours completed and credits earned at these disciplines.
Table 1: Hours and ETCS-credits for selected lecture from different Technical University at Bachelor degree
Total Total %
No. Technical University – Faculty / Specializations # Sem. C S/P Credits
hours credits Credits
“Politehnica” University of Timisoara - FMPT / Economy 8 119 84 203 15 240 6,3%
1 engineering in constructions
“Politehnica” University of Timisoara -Faculty of Civil
8 42 42 84 7 240 2,9%
2 Engineering / Civil Engineering
“Politehnica” University of Timisoara - Faculty of Civil
8 42 42 84 7 240 2,9%
3 Engineering / Civil Engineering in German/English leanguage
Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi - Faculty of Civil
8 98 56 154 11 240 4,6%
5 Engineering and Building Services / Civil Engineering
Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi - Faculty of Civil 8 98 56 154 11 240 4,6%
6 Engineering and Building Services / Civil Engineer in English
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - Faculty of Civil 8 182 168 350 30 240 12,5%
7 Engineering / Economy engineering in constructions
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - Faculty of Civil 8 70 56 126 12 240 5,0%
8 Engineering / Civil Engineering
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - Faculty of Civil 8 84 42 126 10 240 4,2%
9 Engineering / Civil Engineering in English language
Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest - Faculty of
8 86 58 144 12 240 5,0%
10 Civil , Industrial and Agricultural Buildings / Civil Engineering
TU Munchen - Faculty of Civil Engineering and Surveying /
6 84 56 140 12,5 180 6,9%
11 Civil Engineering
12 TU Gratz - Faculty for Civil Engineering / Civil Engineering 6 91 70 161 12 180 6,7%
In the last column is calculated the share of credits of hours in the field of Construction Project
in total credits of these selected courses to obtain Management varies between 84 and 161 hours, this is
Bachelor degree. much reduced compared to specialization Economy
Figure 2 present a graphical comparison for all Engineering in constructions.
training hours with training in the field of Construction Also notice that the number of those hours at the
Project Management at various universities, for Civil Technical University of Munich and Graz is similar or
Engineering or Economy engineering in constructions even higher than those in Romania, although the
specialization. bachelor study program is 6 semesters and not as in
Following the analysis, results that the greatest Romania 8 semesters.
number of hours for training in Construction Project
Management is for specialization of Engineering
Economy in constructions, with the largest number of
hours at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - 350
hours. At Civil Engineering specialization the number
Comparative Study of Knowledge And Skills Acquired in Higher Education in The Field of Construction Project
Management 461
Total training hours for specialisation in PM Share credit for the PM training, of total
for Bachelor's degree credits for Bachelor's degree
400 14,0%
12,5%
350
350 12,0%
300
10,0%
250
8,0%
Percent
Hours
2,0%
50
0 0,0%
University University
“Politehnica” University of Timisoara - FMPT / Economical “Politehnica” University of Timisoara - FMPT / Economical
Engineering in Construction Engineering in Construction
“Politehnica” University of Timisoara -Faculty of Civil “Politehnica” University of Timisoara -Faculty of Civil
Engineering / Civil Engineer Engineering / Civil Engineering
“Politehnica” University of Timisoara - Faculty of Civil “Politehnica” University of Timisoara - Faculty of Civil
Engineering / Civil Engineer in German/English Engineering / Civil Engineering in German/English
Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi - Faculty of Civil Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi - Faculty of Civil
Engineering and Building Services / Civil Engineer Engineering and Building Services / Civil Engineering
Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi - Faculty of Civil Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi - Faculty of Civil
Engineering and Building Services / Civil Engineer in English Engineering and Building Services / Civil Engineering in English
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - Faculty of Civil Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - Faculty of Civil
Engineering / Economical Engineering in Construction Engineering / Economy engineering in constructions
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - Faculty of Civil Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - Faculty of Civil
Engineering / Civil Engineer Engineering / Civil Engineering
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - Faculty of Civil Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - Faculty of Civil
Engineering / Civil Engineer in English Engineering / Civil Engineering in English
Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest - Faculty of Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest - Faculty of
Civil , Industrial and Agricultural Buildings / Civil Engineer Civil , Industrial and Agricultural Buildings / Civil Engineering
TU Munchen - Faculty of Civil Engineering and Surveying / Civil TU Munchen - Faculty of Civil Engineering and Surveying / Civil
Engineer Engineering
TU Gratz - Faculty for Civil Engineering / Civil Engineer TU Gratz - Faculty for Civil Engineering / Civil Engineering
Figure 2: Total training hours of specialization in PM for Bachelor Degree Figure 3: Share credit for the PM training, of total credits for Bachelor's
Degree
In Figure 3, we present the share of credits obtained Table 2: Hours and ETCS-credits for selected lecture from different Technical
at these courses of the total number of credits for the University at Master Programs
Bachelor study program. We found that this ratio varies # Total Cred Total %
MASTER PROGRAMS C S/P
between 2.9% and 6.9% for foreign universities for Sem hours its credits Credits
Civil Engineering specialization. In Romania, Economy Gheorghe Asachi
Engineering in constructions specialization put more Technical University of
Iasi - Construction 3 168 168 336 29 100 29,0%
emphasis on training in Project Management Management and Special
Construction, reaching a maximum of 12.5%. 1 Technology
Analysis of education plans, it follows that training Technical University of
is mainly in construction management, law and Civil Engineering
Bucharest - Technology 4 112 84 196 19 120 15,8%
legislation and information systems for project and construction
management. These are the basic disciplines of 2 management
construction management but covers only part of the Technical University of
Project Management area. Civil Engineering
4 420 392 812 85 120 70,8%
Bucharest - Construction
Courses such as, Cost planning & time scheduling, 3 Project Management
Project management, Project controlling in construction TU Gratz - Construction
works, Staff Management, Cost Accounting, etc. are Management and Civil 4 329 301 630 65 120 54,2%
generally conducted in the Masters degree programs, 4 Engineering
focused on construction management.
For comparative research Master Programs, we Table 2 shows four Master Programs in Construction
analyzed four specialized Master's programs in Management or Construction Project Management
construction management from three universities, two specialization. The Master Programs are organized into
from Romania and one in Austria. 3 or 4 semesters and is seen a high share of training
courses in project management.
462 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
“Politehnica” University of Timisoara has no such a The quantitative and qualitative comparative
Master Program. analysis, performed between curricula for educational
Figure 4 shows the quantitative analysis of the programs for Bachelor and Master degree can draw the
number of hours of specialization in Construction following conclusions:
Project Management Master at these four programs. For Bachelor’s degree, at Civil Engineering
specialization, in Romania the number of hours for
Total training hours for specialisation in
PM for Masters degree Project Management knowledge is less than or about
Hours
1000 equal to that of aboard universities in Europe, although
812 the duration of study is increased by 2 semesters;
800
630 Knowledge received in these courses have a
600 restricted area knew enough in terms of knowledge of
400
336
Project Management. This has significant effects on the
196 professional skills of the graduates in the coordination
200
of construction projects;
0
For Master Programs, note that not all universities
Masters programs in Romania have specialized programs in Construction
Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi - Management or Project Management;
Construction Management and Special Technology
The Masters Programs analyzed from Romania
Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest - correspond quantitatively but with the exception of
Technology and construction management
Construction Project Management Program from the
Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest -
Construction Project Management Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest,
TU Gratz - Construction Management and Civil
offers no solid theoretical and practical knowledge in
Engineering the field of Project Controlling, Cost Management.
These shortcomings of the educational system are
Figure 4: Total training hours of specialization in PM for Master Degree evident in construction companies in Romania by the
lack of project control phase;
It shows a variation between 196 hours and 812 Successful implementation of the concept of project
hours. The maximum number of hours is at the management in construction companies requires a major
Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest - change of work and financial accounting system on
Master Program: Construction Project Management. projects for Romanian companies, especially for cost
Share credit for the PM training, of total management and project controlling.
credits for Masters degree These fundamental changes in the system of work,
80,0%
70,8% often with additional cost to change software systems,
70,0%
superior training and a higher workload of the
54,2%
60,0%
employees. For this reason there is a rejection of the
Percent
50,0%
employees for increased efficiency based on a
40,0%
30,0%
29,0% rigorously controlling.
20,0%
15,8% For increased competitiveness in Construction field
10,0% is required to improve basic and specialized training in
0,0% universities by increasing the level of professional
Masters programs practices in Project Controlling. This can be done
Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi - including the translation of reference works in the field,
Construction Management and Special Technology
which in Romania is not yet known.
Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest -
Technology and construction management
TU Gratz - Construction Management and Civil 1. PMI (2007), Construction Extension to the PMBOK®
Engineering Guide Third Edition, Project Management Institute,Inc. ,
Penssylvania.
Figure 5: Share credit for the PM training, of total credits for Master Degree 2. Harris, F. and McCaffer, R. (2003). “Modern
Construction Management”, Blackwell Science Ltd,
ISBN 0-632-05513-8, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA
Figure 5 shows the percentage share of credits obtained 3. http://www.bv.tum.de/index.php/studium/studiengaenge/
from these courses in total credits for Master Program. bauingenieurwesen
4. http://portal.tugraz.at/portal/page/portal/f2000/lehre/co
Fro Bachelor's Programs, where the share is between nt_lehre_bachelor
2.9% and 12.5%, Master Programs with Management
specialization, have values between 15.8% and 70.8%
of total credits.
CONCLUSIONS
IMPLEMENTING INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOLS AS A CURRICULAR
REFORM
The paper demonstrates the importance of the International Summer Schools organized by the universities in the field of
curricular reform and internationalizing curricula. The paper is based on the experience of “Petru Maior” University in organizing
International Summer Schools. The progress realized with these summer schools determined the University to equate the courses of
the school with practical activity from curricular courses
France), “Alecu Russo” State University (Bălţi, in order to develop specific skills relevant for specific
Moldova), “Babes Bolyai” University (Cluj Napoca), professions (Stark and Latuka, 1997).
“Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Police Academy (Bucharest), These two dominant models, which were
“Lucian Blaga” University (Sibiu), “1st December 1918” adopted in the past, are a mirror of the traditional
University (Alba Iulia), University from Oradea, separation between the technical and the humanist
“Ştefan cel Mare” University (Suceava). The selection profiles. In the same order of ideas, the goal of the non-
of the participants was made similar to the one of the university institutions has been to offer a wide specter of
summer school from 2008, on the basis of the articles vocational education, either to qualify students for a
sent by the candidates upon the theme of the summer specific occupation or to prepare them for a profession,
school, so there were declared admitted a number of 25 the purpose of the university has been to provide
students. education at a boarder and more general academic level
On the period of the venue of the courses of the (Kyvic and Skodvin, 2003).
summer school there were organized the following Meanwhile, this evident delimitation between
workshops: “Responsibility and liability in the area of the disciplinary model, principally adopted by the
rural development”, “The impact of the economic universities, and the vocational model applied in the
environment on the quality of the academic system”, area of non-university institutions has been blurred;
“The liability of the legal person in the context of practically every category of entities applies, more or
codification activity of law”, “The liability of the public less from both models. This option was generated by the
institutions and public authorities regarding the need that existed within the universities to prepare or at
treatment of personal data”, “Responsibility and liability least to guide the students in the future career and not
in the European Romania”. just on the theoretical field.
Students` interaction with juridical The implementation of the summer schools is,
practitioners and theoreticians created a positive impact in our opinion, a very good solution in the reformation
in pursuing a career in law. of the curriculum because it answers to the directives of
The students gained a serial of general the Bologna Declaration regarding the encouraging of
competences: mobility, employability and achieving of general
- Shaping a professional profile of the graduate competences in the career that the student will choose.
comprising the development of thorough knowledge, We consider that the element of novelty and
competencies and cognitive abilities in the area of law the arguments that we brought to support the content of
- Acquiring the knowledge of fundamental the implementation of summer schools as a
theoretical and applicative methods (Konx, Moynihan componential element of the university curriculum,
and Markowitz, 2003) should represent a preoccupation of lege ferenda even in
- Acquiring and developing managerial skills the project of the Law of the national education, which
in the area of national and European public is in this period in public debate.
administration The novelty that asserts consists in the
- Mastering the legislative technique and the particularity that links the knowledge of the student
quick access to law gained in a creative and voluntary form in symbiosis
- Acquiring the practical competencies and with the future professional evolution which is wanted
abilities necessary in courts to be a real success. Even if the eligibility and the
- Promoting the interdisciplinary of those participative form are not mass phenomena, on the
subjects that overlap or intervene in the activity of contrary, a restrained one, through attitude and
lawyers selection, it has the goal to select elites or at least
- Knowledge of fundamental comparative law leaders of a certain profession. Through the renunciation
concepts at a rigid frame in the favor of a creative one it selects
The students gained also specific competences: for itself the most acclimatized ones through a
- Ability to work as a team continuous self-discovery and the harmonization with
- Acquiring practical knowledge for building a the professional challenges which interfere at a time in
good human resource the system. The quest and the discovery come by itself
- Promoting and evaluating applicative and thereby the innovator spirit is stimulated.
researches
- The efficient use of information, data 5. Conclusions
processing and the knowledge of the work technologies
provided and processed on the computer (Markowitz, Summer schools stimulate the creativity and
2004) the involvement of the students in activities that can
- Drafting studies, reports, projects and help to their professional forming. The advantages that
learning the methodologies for an objective evaluation this form of schooling produces represent a form of the
followed by the creation of the applicative frame students` practice with obvious better results.
The graduates of the courses showed an All these advantages represent sufficient
important interest in the performing of other mobility, arguments in order of the implementation of the summer
so 30% of the students were also admitted within the schools as a curricular reform.
project of Erasmus mobility. An illustration of the model proposed by an
Also, 25% of the graduates of the summer international summer school:
school were hired in positions of juridical specialty and Transfer curriculum:
the ones who didn’t graduate yet in Law Offices.
Driving force
4.2. The outcomes of the International Summer
Schools for the University
International Universal
Competiti-veness Employabi-lity
mobility participation
Encouraging the mobility of students in the
European space helped the participating teachers from
different universities to interchange experiences and to
concentrate their attention on the common points
necessary to the professional formation of students.
Content
Thanks to the great results obtained by the
students that followed the courses of the summer school,
“Petru Maior” University assimilated the performing of
the summer school with the mandatory practice within
the year. This situation was encountered at “Babes- Multi-disciplinary
Market relevance
Bolyai” University as well. knowledge
466 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Pedagogy
Aims
References
ASSOC. PROF. Valentina OARGA PH.D., ASSOC. PROF. Valentin MUNTEANU PH.D.
1
West University of Timişoara, Romania, Economics and Business School, valentina.oarga@yahoo.com
2
West University of Timişoara, Romania, Economics and Business School, valentin.munteanu@feaa.uvt.ro
The aim of the paper is to present arguments regarding the necessity of teaching controlling in economic higher education in Romania
and the controller’s competences and importance within a company and the courses offered in this field. The paper is significant
because is presents an absolute novelty, the West University of Timişoara being the only university in Romania teaching controlling.
Controlling is a management instrument. The controlling activity is performed by the controller, together with the manager. The
controller provides the manager information necessary for making decisions, participates to planning and elaborates controlling
reports. The paper’s theoretical and practical basis is represented by the approaches of the specialists Horvath, Eschenbach, Mann
and Mayer. In addition, it is linked to my doctoral thesis (Oargă), among the first ones in Romania on controlling. By presenting the
essence of practical controlling, this paper is also connected to our recent paper (Bibu, Oargă - MTC 2009 - Greece) – Operative
controlling in Romania – practical aspects. The approach is practical and the procedure comparative. The research method is the
interview taken to practicing controllers and to the coordinator of the postgraduate course project. The interview is conducted
through a free answers questionnaire. This method is the most appropriate because information is obtained directly from the source.
Results: the importance of controlling activity and the need to elaborate controlling courses. Paper development plans: the
elaboration of operative and strategic controlling courses and cooperation with foreign universities. Limits: the absence of controlling
tradition in Romania and the confidentiality of controllers. Importance for professors and researchers: the paper is among the first
papers which offer information regarding the controller’s role and competences. Importance for students: the motivation to become a
controller. Importance for practitioners: highlighting their role within the company. Progress: pioneering activity in controlling
research in Romania. The paper is original, the first one in Romania where the existing controlling courses and the controller’s
competences are studied in parallel, aimed at the correlation with the Romanian job market. This paper offers a vision in an
absolutely new field for Romania: controlling. Key words: controlling, controller, competence, planning, reports.
communication skills, because his daily activity 2007 – March 2008 and December 2008 – March 2009.
involves talking to people, to the top management The average number of students was 25, and all of them
members, with the sales department, the design completed and graduated the course. The diploma
department or with the production staff. The controller issued at the end of the course is granted under the aegis
must be able to understand the real dynamics of the of the competent minister.
entire company, not just one activity sector. This is A comparative analysis of the number of practicing
necessary because he will develop a global solution, not controllers from the total number of the students
a specific one.” (National Courier - 18.10.2007). revealed the fact that, out of a total number of 25
Although some perceive the controlling department students, 4-6 were already practicing controllers in
as being focused on restructuring, layoffs and cost various multinational companies with subsidiaries in
reduction, it does not have a negative role in any Timisoara or in other cities from Romania. Therefore,
company, on the contrary. Although the solutions 20% - 25% of the students are controllers, which
developed following audits sometimes involve demonstrates both the existence of this profession on the
unpopular measures – personnel or cost reductions, the job market in our country and the need for their training,
activity of this department is actually focused on finding for the development and extension of the courses
the appropriate measures which can be taken in order to offered in this domain.
avoid situations with severe negative effects for the The portrait of the controller, drawn up based on the
company in question. In fact, the task of controlling is to discussions with 13 controllers from Timisoara, Sfantu-
identify solutions to company problems and present Gheorghe – Covasna County, Lugoj – Timis County,
them to the management, which takes the final decision Oradea, Deta – Timis County, Arad and Bucharest,
(Eschenbach, 1996). revealed the following aspects:
These arguments lead us to the conclusion that it is • from the point of view of training, the controllers
essential for Romanian higher education institutions in need a theoretical basis in this field;
the economic field to train controlling specialists, in • another necessity is the presence of specialist-
order to meet the requirements of the Romanian job practicing controllers, who can complete the
market. Although this profession is not yet listed in the necessary theoretical basis with knowledge,
COR (Romanian Occupational Classification), the examples and solutions taken from the practical
controlling position exists on the Romanian job market experience of the companies;
since 1990. • teaching general management elements is also
justified, because the manager and the controller
CONTROLLING COURSES OFFERED BY THE form the team which performs the controlling
WEST UNIVERSITY OF TIMISOARA - activity;
ROMANIA • other disciplines which need to be taught are
economic analysis and economic-financial analysis,
Based on the results of the interviews I conducted cost management, operational management.
personally with practicing controllers from companies During the period of the three postgraduate courses,
in Romania, we have managed to sketch the portrait of between 2006 - 2009, the structure of the course was
the Romanian controller, including its tasks, continually improved and adapted to the specific
competencies and responsibilities. The postgraduate requirements of this profession. The development and
courses and master programmes offered by the West systematisation of the courses offered was assisted by
University of Timisoara – Romania are based on this specialists in the field – practicing controllers and
portrait. The interest for controlling started in 2002. consultants working in this field, from Romania and
This is the only university in the country where abroad: Vienna and Budapest, as well as by professors
controlling is studied as a discipline imposed by the from the Faculty of Economics and Business
requirements of the Romanian job market. Administration – West University of Timisoara –
The disciplines are entitled “Controlling – Profitable Romania, with extensive experience in this field.
Business Management” and “Controlling in SMEs”, and We mention below some of the companies which
they are part of the master programmes “Business have a controlling position or department: Continental
Financial Administration” and “Entrepreneurial from Timisoara, Duna Pack Rambox from Sfantu
Management”. Moreover, since 2006, the Faculty of Gheorghe – Covasna County (Oarga, 2001), Plastor
Economics and Business Administration within the from Oradea, Draexlmaier from Timisoara, Alcatel from
West University of Timisoara, through the CECIDD Timisoara, Novar and Mondial from Lugoj, Braun
(the Continuous Education and Distance Learning Union and Contor Group from Arad, E-On Gaz from
Centre) has been coordinating the postgraduate Timisoara, Zoppas Industries from Timisoara etc.
specialisation course entitled “Controlling – A Modern (Oarga, 2006). There are also consultancy companies in
Management Sub-system”. The course has a duration of this field, in particular in Bucharest. Some of these are:
four months and is addressed to all those who want to Contrast, Horvath & Partners, Ensight, which conduct
learn about this new field, but also to specialists in the project-based activity and focus mainly on the
field. The course was already completed three times, in implementation of controlling in large companies. The
the periods November 2006 – March 2007, November implementation is preceded by a series of courses in the
Controlling – Reality in Practice and Necessity in Economic Higher Education in Romania 469
field, aimed at facilitating the access of those involved study and analysis of controlling reports in specially
to the controlling activity, of specialists and employees, designed amphitheatres, where each student was able to
to the basic controlling elements. As far as we now, see the documents in the SAP system.
only operative controlling is implemented in Romania,
with a few rare exceptions. Therefore, the structure of PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
the postgraduate courses focuses mainly on the
characteristics of operative controlling.
The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
Those employed in the position of controller must of the West University of Timisoara, and in particular
have a university diploma in economics, as well as good the Management Department, intends to:
knowledge of management, accounting, familiar with
• develop an educational grant – research project, in
the use of controlling instruments, methods and
order to create a master programme in the field of
techniques; they must have good English skills (German
controlling;
is considered an advantage, because most of the
• extend the existing postgraduate course to one
companies which have implemented a controlling
year, to include operative and strategic controlling
system come from the German area); good computer
courses in the syllabus and invite more practicing
skills (Word, Excel), as well as communication skills;
controllers to share their knowledge;
diplomacy, seriousness, discipline, resistance to stress,
adaptability, focus on target achievement, synthesis • collaborate with renowned universities in the field,
capacity and analytical thinking (Oarga, 2003). After such as the Economic University in Vienna, the
employment, the controller is sent to specialisation Austrian Institute of Controllers and the Corvinus
courses in the country where the head office of the University in Budapest, in order to correlate the
company is located. He receives a controlling manual, curriculum of the West University with that of
which helps him assimilate the organisation and renowned foreign universities;
development of the controlling activity. The software • taking into account the fact that the professors with
system used is SAP, which includes a controlling experience in the field from the Faculty of
module. The controlling activity is based on the Economics and Business Administration are
elaboration of controlling reports, which entails the use members of the International Controllers'
of the SAP software system. Association, we intend to create a working group of
Taking into account all these aspects, the structure of controllers in Timisoara, in order to connect young
the postgraduate course organised by the West Romanian practitioners, which activate in
University of Timisoara focused on the following multinational companies, with Romanian and
disciplines: introduction to controlling, operative foreign professors;
controlling, strategic controlling, cost calculation, • collaborate with the “Controller Magazin”
controlling implementation, controlling in the practice magazine from Germany.
of corporation subsidiaries – practical simulation, The West University in Timisoara is the only one in
organisational management, cost management, Romania which teaches controlling at the level of
economic analysis, economic-financial analysis, postgraduate and master courses. We believe that this
operational management. discipline is absolutely necessary in the Romanian
As you can see, 50% of the course is represented by economic higher education, one strong reason being the
theoretical and practical aspects of controlling. Besides fact that the university curriculum of the Romanian
experienced professors from the Faculty of Economics economic higher education must be correlated with that
and Business Administration, the course was also taught of foreign universities.
by two specialists: a controller - consultant, manager of
a consultancy company based in Vienna, who graduated References
specialised courses in Vienna, and a controller -
specialist with experience abroad, in Italy and in various 1. Eschenbach, R. (1996), Controlling, Schäffer – Poeschel Verlag,
companies from Romania, who was asked by various Stuttgart.
2. Mann, R. and Mayer, E. (1996), Controlling. Profitable enterprise
head-hunting companies to occupy controlling positions management, All, Bucharest.
abroad. We benefited from the support of these 3. National Courier, 18.10.2007
specialists, which we consider to be a strong point of the 4. Oargă, V. (2006), Controlling – A Management Tool. Controlling
courses offered by our university, since practical in Romania, Augusta, Timişoara.
5. Oargă, V., Molnar, R. (2001), Controlling – Introduction to
knowledge is absolutely vital in this field. In addition, Controlling, Brumar, Timişoara.
the exiting logistic support facilitated the 6. Oargă, V. (2003), Controlling, Mirton, Timişoara.
implementation of the practical courses, through the
THE EFFECTS OF THE EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY
Abstract
The classic vision assumes the evaluation of an activity based on the effects registered by it alone. This modality is used mostly in the socio-cultural
area where the human lays in the centre of the activity, being both object and subject. In this paper we will try to present some of the most important
effects of the education activity. The authors are professors of management and economics for years, one of them having his Ph.D. thesis on
educational systems. We evaluate the results of changes induced by educational activity on individual as: to consider any expenses made for the
educational system as a measure of its usefulness, to evaluate the effects is to take into consideration the potential value growths of the human capital
as a result of the higher education, to study the economical growth registered by a country in a well determined period and how much is education
responsible for this growth, to evaluate the investments’ profitableness rates evaluation in the higher educational system and to to quantify the
education effects. There are used statistical methods resulting in much more accurate results, allowing higher education institutions to draw more
realistic conclusions regarding the actual perception of the higher education market. A first social effect has been attested by several studies and
specialty researches over fertility. So, it was determined that education strongly influences the fertility in a family. Another social effect of education
is related to the labour force market. The labour conditions are usually more convenient for a higher education graduate meaning that his
relationship with the superiors is based on a greater trust than in the situation of an uneducated person. The third type of educational social effects
refers to the individual’s behaviour improvement. More specific, education can improve the individual’s abilities to make decisions, to be more
innovative, to quickly adapt himself to the technological and social changes, to encourage technical progress etc. Another type of educational social
effects is related to the healthier behaviour of the higher education graduates. The fifth type of social effect is represented by the dimension of inter-
human relationships. Such effects are represented by the satisfaction offered by the participation to different activities together with the colleagues,
by the encounter with the eventual life partner etc. In our opinion, this paper is definitely important for higher education practitioners and policy
makers because it is a unique study based on the effects of education activity.
the primary educational cycle). Contrariwise, they will example, Constructions) trained for an adverse job on
gain great wages if they know English or if they know the labour market to have at a certain moment a greater
how to use a PC (knowledge they learned during the wage than a humanist faculty graduate (for example,
high-school or university). This is why the effects of Philology), trained for an occupation for which there is
the educational activity will differ accordingly to the always an extra labour force.
considered educational level, as long as the percentages - The graduate’s future job.
of people who are able to reach superior educational This can generate various effects, both financial
levels diminish. (incomes) and non-financial. It is possible for a higher
The analysis of the educational effects must education to lead to a very willable job, that does not
be made according to several aspects. In the following provide special incomes, but it offers another type of
we will concentrate our attention on the typology of the satisfaction (social status, prestige etc.). For example,
educational effects and the evaluation mode. the Governmental or academic positions are often
occupied by persons who earn money from other
1. The typology of the educational effects activities and therefore they are not interested of the
According to the specialty literature, there incomes provided by these positions.
are more types of effects (benefits) of the educational - Discrimination or
activity: cognitive or affective, quantifiable or non- subjectivism, which does not allow the productivity to
quantifiable, economical or social. reflect in the high incomes. The affinity of some
Obviously, some of these types of effects are employers towards a certain kind of employee can
easier to identify than others. The economists, from generate different effects, at the same higher education
their wish to judge everything from the cost-benefit level. This way, the less favoured ones will have to
point of view, tend to observe only the economical work harder in order to obtain the same incomes or
effects. That is why they see education as an they will have to accept smaller salaries at the same
investment in the human capital where time and productivity level.
financial expenses are made in order to gain education - Other factors that influence
that will grow the individual value on the labour the incomes belong to the individual area: health,
market and eventually, the income. motivation, ability, social status, intelligence etc. It is
The human capital theory starts from the quite obvious that a healthy individual will obtain
idea that the quality and quantity of education gained during his life a greater income than another individual
by an individual contribute to the increase of its value with a lower health stage, given the conditions of the
and its working productivity; in the end, this same superior educational level.
productivity growth leads to greater incomes. Of Besides these quantifiable effects (that adopt
course, the human capital of an individual also depends the form of incomes), there are several other social
on other, extra-educational factors. For example, the effects that are hard to identify and once identified,
fact that a higher education graduate has a bigger wage harder to evaluate.
than a high-school graduate does not have to lead us to These effects are complementary to the
the idea that by graduating a faculty we will economical ones and, as Adam Smith said, they
necessarily have a greater wage. contribute to the understanding of the “private life’s
It is possible for a faculty graduate to be daily duties” by all the members of the society. The
more motivated than the high-school graduate and social effects (and generally speaking, the non-
thanks to these qualities he could obtain a greater quantifiable effects) manifest at two levels: the
income even if he did not graduate a higher education individual level and the society level as a whole. We
institution. That is why the evaluation of education have to notice that the effects at the collectivity level
from the income point of view was made given the are the synergetic result of the individual effects.
ideal conditions where the other factors that affect the A first social effect has been attested by
incomes were considered as constant. These conditions several studies and specialty researches over fertility.
given, from the older analysis made by G.S. Becker to So, it was determined that education strongly
the most recent made by F. Palafox, we reached the influences the fertility in a family. More precisely,
same result: if any other factors remain constant, the education can increase the age of marriage or of the
higher educated persons will earn more during their first birth.
lifetime. This is due to the action of at least three
Even so, in real life, the income-education factors:
correlation presents certain lacks. These lacks are - The increase of the opportunity
represented exactly by the extra-educational factors cost of the time meant to child
that influence the incomes level. Among these, we can care;
mention: - More efficient contraceptive
- The conjuncture on the methods;
labour market that can influence the incomes earned by - Changes in the life style.
different persons, no matter their level of education. It Still, a bigger income means that the family
is possible for a technical faculty graduate (for can allow more children maybe with a greater attention
The Effects of The Educational Activity 473
for their growth. Although they may seem distinct, the expending public and private funds on education is not
social life offers various examples for each of the two to be measured by its direct fruits alone. It will be
arguments. At a worldwide level in a family with a profitable as a mere investment (on. in human capital)
high income there is a reduced number of children but to give the masses of the people much greater
with a great level of the care expenses for each of opportunities than they can generally avail themselves
them. Such studies have been made by D.H. Sullivan of… And the economic value of one great industrial
and T.M. Smeedling (1997) for the developing genius is sufficient to cover the expenses of the
countries as well as by R. Herrnstein and C. Murray education of a whole town … One new idea adds as
(1994) and R. Haveman and B. Wolfe (1995) for the much to England's productive power as the labour of a
U.S.A. hundred thousand men.” Other social effects of
Another social effect of education is related education refer to corruption, bureaucracy, society
to the labour force market. The labour conditions are division, society development and inequality etc. All
usually more convenient for a higher education these areas can be ameliorated with a superior
graduate meaning that his relationship with the education level.
superiors is based on a greater trust than in the After an analysis of these social
situation of an uneducated person (Meer and Weilers, effects, we can conclude that life satisfaction can
1996). This kind of non-salary benefits (work possibly grow given the conditions of a superior
conditions and climate, personal status, promoting education level. Still, the reality is much more complex
possibilities) has a greater importance for the higher and controversial. This way, J. Hartog and H.
education graduate, sometimes as big as that of the Oosterbeek, by separating the intelligence level from
wage. the education level, discovered the education’s benefic
The third type of educational social effects effects over the health, happiness and welfare degree
refers to the individual’s behaviour improvement. More for different persons from Holland. In the health area,
specific, education can improve the individual’s the less educated persons had almost six times greater
abilities to make decisions, to be more innovative, to chances to have a precarious health, in comparison
quickly adapt himself to the technological and social with the higher-educated persons. The situation was
changes, to encourage technical progress etc. To almost the same in the case of the happiness degree,
support this, we can point out a study realized in the and the persons who did not benefit of a higher
U.S.A. in 1987 by G.D. Wozniak, referring to farmers. education had almost five times more chances to be
This way we got to the conclusion that the quick unhappy. In spite of all these, the conclusions of the
adoption of modern technologies in this area is two authors do not match A. Clark’s. The latter
influenced by the educational level. realized a similar study in Great Britain and he
Another type of educational social effects is concluded that the higher educated persons are not
related to the healthier behaviour of the higher necessarily happier, healthier or richer than the
education graduates. Therefore, Sander (1995) uneducated persons. In his opinion, over a certain level
observed a decrease of drugs and cigarettes of education, school can have adverse effects over the
consumption in the case of higher educated persons. analyzed dimensions (health, happiness and welfare).
These effects are especially attributed to education 2. Evaluation modality of the educational
because people tend to consume various goods when effects
they have great incomes obtained as a result of their Another important aspect referring to the
higher education level. At the same time, according educational effects is their evaluation modality. A
J.R. Behrman, the effects of education are also benefic first quantification modality is known as “the
over criminality, environment protection and family incidental method”. As we have already mentioned, the
structure. Indeed, the amplitude of the educational differences among the individuals having identical or
social effects is very high; an idea also suggested G.S. different education levels are not exclusively due to the
Becker. educational system. The real problem, from the point
The fifth type of social effect is represented of view of the education benefits, is represented by the
by the dimension of inter-human relationships. Such measure in which the changes of an individual are due
effects are represented by the satisfaction offered by to the educational system. This involves a certain
the participation to different activities together with the evaluation before and after the graduation of an
colleagues, by the encounter with the eventual life educational institution, so that the changes that
partner etc. occurred can be identified and evaluated. In essence,
Lastly, another type of social effects is the “incidental method” represents the evaluation of an
represented by those directly encountered by the individual’s qualities and abilities before an
society in its whole. These effects refer to the impact of educational experience and at the end of it. By
the higher educated persons over the social welfare and comparing the final level with the initial one can easily
work productivity of all the members of the society, notice the effect (benefit) of the educational system
including those who did not benefit of education, a fact over the individual. Despite all these, the observed
that is admitted by the American economist Alfred effect can still not be completely the result of the
Marshall : „We may then conclude that the wisdom of educational system. This way, significant changes can
474 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
appear at the individual level as follow the normal - The fifth modality to
maturation process (a process which takes place both quantify the education effects presented H.R. Bowen is
when the education exists and when it doesn’t), some to find the subjects’ opinion regarding their own
special family conditions or as a result of the economic university experience. He concluded that “experience
life. That is why we have to take into account some is far from generating a point of view, especially that
other extra-educational factors as well, factors that the subjects did not entirely pay the educational costs.
influence the changes occurred at the individual level. The favourable reaction of the analyzed subjects can
Starting from this idea and having another be explained only through the fact that something
evaluation optic for the education effects, H.R. Bowen, valuable (the education) was assimilated by a great
in his work „Investment in Learning”, discussed the majority of”.
issue regarding the changes suffered by an individual, Each of these methods can be applied both
as a result of the educational process. H.R. Bowen at pre-university and university level. The problem is
presents five different modalities to evaluate these that although some benefits are hard to evaluate, this
changes: doesn’t have to lead to the idea that they cannot be
- the first quantification measurable and therefore that they are not important
modality is that to consider any expenses made for the from the social and economical life point of view.
educational system as a measure of its usefulness The effects regarding the social-cultural area
(„...the expenses made in the university education must (and especially the educational area) are very complex
not be made but in the measure that the students, their in comparison with those from the economical area.
families and the civil society as a whole consider that This is due to their very different typology, the
the results will justify the efforts made”); multitude of plans they manifest on, the great time
- Another modality to interval they are registered on etc. In the future works,
evaluate the effects is to take into consideration the it will be interesting to analyze some of the aspects that
potential value growths of the human capital as a result regard the education effects: the contribution of
of the higher education. Although it may seem quite education to the economical growth, the relationship
disgusting, the individuals are evaluated through their between education-economical growth and the
lost in case of death or incapacity. Bowen describes the interdependence of education with the society’s
quantification modality of the individuals lives by modernization process.
suggesting that if it is possible to determine the point
from which the lives of the higher education system References :
graduates are more “valuable” than the high-school
1. Bates A.W., Poole G. (2003) – „Effective Teaching
graduates’, then, by summing up all the faculty
with Technology in Higher Education : Foundations
graduates one can establish the incidental value of the for Success”, Jossey-Bass
graduates’ lives, thanks to the higher educational 2. Becker G.S. (1964) – „Human Capital : A
system; Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special
Reference to Education”, Colombia University
- A third evaluation modality
Press, New York
of the higher education’s effects presented by H.R. 3. Behrman J.R., Stacey N. (1997) – „The Social
Bowen is represented by the study of the economical Benefits of Education”, Ann Arbor, Michigan
growth registered by the U.S.A. in a well determined University Press
4. Jeffrey B., Woods P., Hannay A. (2003) –
period and how much is education responsible for this
„Successful School: A Framework for Creativity,
growth; Quality and Effectiveness”, RoutledgeFalmer
- The fourth modality refers 5. Paton R. (2003) – „Managing and Measuring
to the evaluation of the investments’ profitableness Social Enterprises”, Sage Publications
6. Sullivan D.H., Smeeding T.M. (1997) –
rates evaluation in the higher educational system. The
„Educational Attainment and Earnings Inequality in
disadvantage of this method is represented by the fact Eight Nations”, Luxembourg Income Study Working
that it only takes into consideration the individuals’ Paper nr 164. Luxembourg
incomes or incomes growth as a result of graduating a 7. Wankat Philip (2001) – „The Effective, Efficient
Professor: Teaching Scholarship and Service”,
higher educational institute;
Pearson Allyn & Bacon
ASPECTS OF METHODOLOGY APPLIED IN PROJECT PRESENTATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION
The paper deals with the necessity of introducing new methodologies and materials in project presentation in higher education to facilitate the
development of new competences in the area of tourism. This has been an area of interest for many researchers such as Gheorghilas A. (2005), Pelpel
(1993), who were aware of the importance of good management skills. The methodology involved the observation of the management used by
students in the presentations of their projects relating to tourism potential of certain areas. We considered the following aspects: the use of multimedia
technologies, the quality and management of materials used, the discourse etc.The methodology involved the observation of the management used by
students in the presentations of their projects relating to tourism potential of certain areas. We considered the following aspects: the use of multimedia
technologies, the quality and management of materials used, the discourse etc. We concluded that the students who implemented in the management
of their presentations modern technologies and materials are capable of dealing with more complex projects as opposed to those who approach the
same task traditionally. They can apply for projects related to the assessment of product potential, design and sale of product. These results will
encourage us to implement this methodology in other specialty areas that students study.
This research has been applied on a number of students at Dimitrie Cantemir University in Târgu.Mures, Faculty of Geography, Specialty – Tourism.
Its results will help teachers emphasize not only on knowledge but also on skills that will enable students become better professionals in their future
jobs.
Key-words: methodology, management, project presentation, skills
2.1. Types of projects according to achieved general framework as well as the approach on
objectives the topic.
• Assessment of results.
• constructive project type, involving the following:
elaboration of a poster, photograph presentation, herbs, 2.3. Assessment of results
rocks, minerals, seeds collection, prototype model or This stage contains the following: presentation,
mould construction, article writing or magazine analysis, comparison, project assessment
editing, etc. The stages of a project aim to guide students in
• problem-solving project type, involving the two directions, equally important from a
following: solving a problem (preventing landslide, methodological and a practical point of view: data
management works on an eroded, polluted or flooded collection and project completion.
area, protecting an endangered species of plant or Special attention should be given to content, as
animal, etc.) the constitutive elements should be approached in a
• learning project type, involving the following: logical sequence specific to geographical studies.
improve a technique or learning procedure (use of The project is assessed as a whole, then the
dictionary, search for a bibliography on a certain topic, approach, the presentation and the final achievements
etc.) are assessed. Project assessment depends on content of
presentation, scientific accuracy and management of
2.2. Stages of project work presentation.
Content of project
• establishing area of interest: the teacher The tourist phenomenon in a certain area
suggests a topic for the project and the (country, region, physical and geographical unit, etc.)
students choose subjects within the area of the chosen by a students for their project should be closely
topic. It would be ideal for students to identify related to the elements of the geographical space
the problem-solving situations in the (natural and social environment). Furthermore,
environment and propose projects to solve students should choose specific topics such as: analysis
them of tourist potential (types of tourist resources and
• establishing working teams: an ideal working categories of resources), tourist infrastructure
team comprises 2-5 members, according to (accommodation, recreation treatment), tourist
the topic of the project, participants’ circulation (tourist numbers, hotel occupancy or tourist
experience or type of objective. The higher season), types and forms of tourism, certain strategies
the number of members, the less actively for promoting and optimizing the tourist product.
involved they are; however, the quality of the The management of presentation should
project might increase. consider the efficiency of the oratorical style as well as
• establishing initial premises – theoretic the use of auxiliary material. These aspects can be
framework, methodology, general data approached by considering a set of three indexes
regarding the research; relating to the following: content (reaching objectives,
• • programming work stages and organizing and selecting essential elements of the
responsibility distribution according to content), action (knowledge of content, quality of
objectives, time boundaries, space, available methods, techniques and procedures, adequate
means, degree of project difficulty; students sequencing of activities, adequate organizing of the
decide on sequence, length and content of work space, presentation skills such as drawing and
each stage; keeping audience attention, accessibility of discourse,
• identifying and selecting material resources: scientific accuracy, quality of auxiliary materials,
identifying documentation (course books, management of auxiliary materials and keeping within
maps, magazines, people or institutions), time boundaries) and assessment (self- evaluation
situation analysis (problem, material during class debate, positive response to group
preparation, proposals, selection of optimal observations and suggestions).
solution, etc.). Each of the indexes mentioned is graded and the final
• Actual research-Material and project building quality of the project is assessed by summing the
Each student has to go through the above- results obtained.
mentioned stages to finally finish the project.
When the area of interest and the specific 3. CASE STUDY
topic has been established, students have to
consider the type of information they want to The activity during the seminar is centered in
focus on in order to provide solutions to the certain cases on students’ elaboration of a semester
problem selected; students should set a project that will synthesize the activities developed
number of key questions on which to focus during the seminars as well as the acquired knowledge.
the content of the project. The answers to Project assessment relies on elements of content,
these questions help students clarify the adequate sequencing of the specific stages a
Aspects of Methodology Applied in Project Presentation in Higher Education 477
geographical study requires (document gathering, field matter that students have in their curricula, including a
data) and management of presentation. The following foreign language. In that case, however, more attention
methods were used in project presentation: oral will be given to language aspects and style.
presentation accompanied by teaching materials in In order to evaluate the methodological
electronic format or paper based format (maps, approach in project elaboration and presentation, the
sketches, brochures, posters) aided by adequate observation sheets were applied to a number of 56
computer programmers. students at the Faculty of Tourism Geography,
The assessment of project management is ‘Dimitrie Cantemir’ University of Tg.Mures, Romania.
based on an observation sheet completed by the
teacher, the teaching assistant who works with students Project evaluation was based on a pre-
during the practical applications (seminar or determined scoring comprising a maximum of 30
workshops) and students. The observation sheet points, the largest share of 20 points being assigned to
contains elements referring to the content of the action, while the assessment and content each got 5
project, the methods and the auxiliary materials used in points.
presentation. The projects were classified into 4 categories
according to the score obtained as follows:
Table 1: Observation sheet – Management of presentation unsatisfactory (below 9 points), satisfactory (9-14
Observations points), good (15-24 points) and very good (25-30
Methods used points).
Expository methods
Methods of reality exploration and its
substitutes CONCLUSIONS
Methods based on action
Efficiency of oratorical style Teaching methodologies are characterised by
Logic of presentation an accelerated transition from what some people all
Addressing content elements traditional teaching towards modern teaching. The
Use of adequate language project represents a teaching technique as well as a
Stating clear objectives self-education technique that enables students to
Detailing engage into a research activity based on practical
Time boundaries objectives resulting into a concrete final product:
Argumentation models, materials, objects, equipment, installations,
Auxiliary material used theme albums, etc. These products are the result of
Teaching techniques and applicability research and planning activities, practical individual or
Expressivity of teaching techniques group activities characterised by originality and utility.
Management of visual material The project, which is considered to be a time-
consuming activity, combines scientific research with
The importance and necessity of adequate practical activities. For students, it represents an
assessment has become so obvious that one frequently efficient way of integrating research in everyday life.
mentions ‘evaluation assisted learning’ (Bernard
Maccario, 1996). Project work helps students develop References
reproduction and production skills on the basis of
known information and a certain algorithm (creating a 1. Champy, P. et Étevé, C. (dir.) (1994). Dictionnaire
tourist advertisement, a brochure, a tourist product encyclopédique de l’éducation et de la formation, Éditions Nathan,
etc.). Observation and analysis of presentations place Paris.
students in a new context where they need to appeal to 2. Dulamă Maria Eliza (2000), Strategii didactice, Editura
Clusium, Cluj Napoca.
a set of resources such as declarative knowledge, 3. Dulamă Maria, Roşcovan Serafima ( 2007), Didactica
procedure knowledge, attitude, automations or Geografiei, Bons Office, Chişinău.
schemes, all being integrated and not juxtaposed 4. Gheorghilaş, A., (2005), Geografia turismului internaţional,
(Dulamă Maria Eliza, 2007). Editura Universitară, Bucureşti.
5. P. Pelpel, P.,(1993), Se former pour enseigner, Dunod, Paris.
What makes the methodology of project work 6. Radu, I.T. (1981), Teorie si practica în evaluarea eficientei
even more effective is its applicability to any subject învatamântului, Editura Didactica si Pedagogica, Bucuresti.
CURRICULA DESIGN BASED ON COMPETENCIES IN ROMANIAN HIGHER
EDUCATION
Abstract: With the Bologna Declaration, educational systems of a great number of European countries are living a changing process,
with the common goal to create a European space for higher education in order to enhance the employability and mobility of citizen
and to increase the international competitiveness of European higher education. In our paper we propose a new vision on
competencies system design in Romanian higher education. We explain how educational system can be transformed and adapted
based on companies’ requests and also on European educational requirements. Other objectives of our paper are to define the basic
competencies of graduated students after Bologna process, to define the competencies required by employers to graduated students
and to classify general competencies for each year of study. This new vision and competencies design are able to harmonize academic
requirements and labour market demands in Romania with European space in the context of labour migration in Europe.
Keywords: educational system, competence, higher education, curricula design, companies’ competencies demand, labour migration
2nd year: cognitive competence (level 2), personal An orientation of Romanian higher education
competence (communication and social behaviour), system to memorize instead of independent
professional competencies (ability work at school, at work;
educational institution, lead and guide the educational Low abilities on communication and
process, to achieve educational standards, to ensure presentation;
quality of education); Actual curricula on higher education system
3rd year: creative competencies and personal are not oriented on actual labour market
competence (communication and social behaviour – problems.
level 2); A new curricula re-design in all higher education
Master program system must take account on this problems derived from
4th year: action competence, personal competence labour market requirements and to improve Romanian
(communication and social behaviour – level 3) and educational system.
assessment competence
5th year: personal competence (creativity, 5. CONCLUSIONS
responsibility, honesty, ability to work in changeable
world), assessment competence (level 2), organizational
Romanian educational system faces new challenges
competence (ability make vision, plan, organise,
and requirements due on labour market demands, on
coordinate, motivate, control)
side, and another side due on Romania integration in
Doctoral program European Union. Free labour mobility in Europe
6th year: Teaching competence (Communicate requires a common knowledge base and common
Knowledge, Synthesize Knowledge, Apply Engineering competencies for all educational system graduated
Education Principles to the Solution of Instructional or
students.
Curricular Problems); Counselling competence:
In our paper we propose a new vision on
(Engage in Professional Development, Think Critically
competencies description, based on study-cycle (licence,
and Reflectively) master and doctoral studies) and inside every cycle a
7th year: Supervision competence (Think Critically competence description for every study year, which
and Reflectively, Participate Actively in Professional
should be applied in Romanian higher education system.
Community, Engage in Professional Development),
Scholarship competence (Research, Publications References
(conceptual, quantitative, qualitative), Presentations, 1. Allen, J. and Ramaekers, G. and van der Velden, R., (2005),
and Grant Work) Measuring competencies of higher education
8th year: Scholarship competence (Research, graduates,Open Access publications from Maastricht
Publications (conceptual, quantitative, qualitative), University urn:nbn:nl:ui:27-13568, Maastricht University
2. Fullan, M. and Stiegelbauer, S.(1990), The new meaning of
Presentations, and Grant Work), Leadership and educational change. Teachers College Press, New York:
Professional Involvement competence (Explain and 3. Hopkins D., (2007), Sustaining leaders for systemic change
Critique Education Policy) in Developing Sustainable Leadership, ed.by B.Davies
Labour migration became more and more 4. Lizzio, A. and Keithia, W. (2004), “Action Learning in
Higher Education: an investigation of its potential to
important in Romania and also in whole Europe. The develop professional capability”. Studies in Higher
existence of a common competencies system can insure Education, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 469-488
a free mobility and equal chances to hair for any 5. Polo-Garrido F.and Sarasa C. P and Seguí-Mas E., (2008)
graduated student in Europe. - Competencies And Knowledge’s Evaluation In Accounting
And Audit: A Study On The Business Administration’s
Also Romanian academic system does not Bachelors Of The Universidad Politécnica De Valencia,
respond adequate to labour market needs and ICERI Proceedings, IATED, Madrid, p. 367-376
requirements. 6. Roman, M. (2008), Romanian Higher Education: Present
A survey organized in 2010 on Romanians and Perspectives, Synergy, Vol.4, no 2, pp. 9-27
7. Southworth G., (2007), Leadership succession in
employer show that the main problems on curricula Developing Sustainable Leadership, ed. By B. Davies
design in higher education system (especially in 8. *** Tuning Educational Structures in Europe, (2006),
economics) are: (General_Brochure_final_version_EN(1).pdf)
A diminishing of theoretical knowledge for 3- 9. *** Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the
Council (2008)
years graduated students, due on reduction of 10. *** European Commission (1999), Bologna Declaration,
study years number from 4 or 5 years to 3 Brussels, Belgium.Author, A. and Author, B. (year), Book
years; Title, Publisher, City.
The level of practical knowledge are even
Acknowledgements:
worst for 3-years graduated students, due on This research was supported by grant no. 1829 / 2008, “The effects of
very low periods allocated in higher education labour force migration and of the demographical structures changes
curricula for practical stages; on the dynamic of economics” Financed by National University
A low ability to work in condition of Research Council (CNCSIS).
pressure;
COMPETENCE BASED CURRICULA DESIGN FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
Abstract: The main objective of the research is to improve the quality of graduates’ education through better correlation of the
curricula with employers needs. Prior work: the paper continues the work as part of “Techniques of Comparative Evaluation of
University Qualifications in Romania” PN2 Contract number 91/047/2007 coordinated by ASE Bucharest. Design: Data was collected
based on semi-structured interviews through direct discussions, over the phone and e-mail. The sample consists of 22 professors from
two Faculties (that teach both technical and economic subjects), and 23 employers. Results: based on interviews content analysis we
identified the competences perceived by the professors and required by employers. Most of the employers carefully select competent
graduates that exhibit both attitude and will to get involved in the organization. During the apprenticeship period, these candidates are
trained by the organization on specific tasks and procedures. Implications: the comparative analysis revealed a series of differences
and the need to harmonize and adapt the curricula to market requirement through the development of existing collaborative and
cooperation mechanisms between University and Industry. Value: the paper highlights the main differences between the competences
perceived by the professors, required by employers, and proposes a series of recommendations towards the harmonization of such
discrepancies to the academic staff and top management of Faculties and University.
Key words: Transformational leader, university
Training means used by the employer performance products, services and production systems
Data was collected based on semi-structured GC6 – Ability to understand, use, and correlate basic
interviews through direct discussions, over the phone knowledge within the context of production and business
and e-mail. systems
DATA ANALYSIS Longitudinal Competences
The sample consists of 22 members of staff from LC1 – Self-assessment, critical thinking, creativity and
two Faculties (that teach both technical and economic system thinking ability (ability for personal and professional
subjects), and 23 employers. development)
Table 1 exhibits the name, activity classification, LC2 – Communication, moral, ethic and effective behaviour
location and number of employees for some of the within team and interpersonal relations (role competences)
Companies employing graduates. LC3 – Ability to learn and develop independently and
Table 1: Distribution of Responding Companies assume responsibility (role competences)
CA No.
Locat The employers’ answers regarding perceived
Name EN of
ion required competences is summarised based on the
code employees
E-on Distribution 1 Iaşi 4 interview structure exhibited previously.
Moldova 0 Cerna 1 Positions opened for graduates within the firm
ELECTROALFA 2 vodă 0 The main positions opened by the employers for
INTERNATIONAL SRL 7 Botoşa 5 graduates of engineering economics specialization
Italprint SRL 3 ni 0 include a wide array of jobs:
CocaCola HBC 5 Roma 7 Engineer in several departments such as Sales,
PETRA SRL 1 n 7
Purchasing, Maintenance, Production, Marketing
Infinity Mode 330 Baia 2
PRESTIGE 1 Mare 00
Key account executive
RESIDENCE 413 4 Power Engineer
Electra SRL 00 Personal assistant, coordinating production,
5 purchasing, logistic
Iaşi 80 Production planning, Product Design, quality
2 8 control, Technology Design
640 00 Production Manager
2 Engineering Economist for Production planning
000
Engineering Economist for Cost Calculation and
SIRETUL Pascani 1 Paşcan 3
Aurora Tg. Frumos 391 i 84
Analysis
ANGELA International 1 Tg.Fru 4 The competences required by the employer
Confectii Integrate 520 mos 00 During the interviews, many employers’
Moldova 1 Iaşi 2 representatives complained that they perceived a
IaşiTex 520 Iaşi 5 constant decrease of the graduate’s knowledge and
1 Iaşi 5 abilities, across most of Romanian Universities.
413 46 Whilst various employers required specific
1 6 competences that would best serve their company, many
413 00
complained that most of the graduates they interviewed
do not have the willingness and desire to work.
The members of staff that were interviewed consist There are basically two groups of competences
of professors and associate professors, from two required from the graduates of engineering economics
Faculties, that teach both engineering and economic specialization:
subjects to Engineering Economics specialization. Soft skills (working with the computer, use of MS
Table 2 exhibits a summary of competences Office software, reasonable command of a foreign
expressed by the academic staff from the sample. language – especially English or German – stress
management, time management, promptness in solving
Table 2: Required competences, as perceived by the academic
staff tasks and problems, adaptability and flexibility) and,
General Professional Competences
Managerial skills – required for the daily operation
of the business. These can be further learned and honed
GC1 – Ability to identify target customers and their needs
GC2 – Ability to design entire or parts of business and
“on site” on a continuous basis if the graduate has
production systems making full use of the graduate’s technical, reasonable knowledge and willingness to work, and
technological, economic and managerial knowledge include:
GC3 – Ability to organize and manage production and Teamwork and ability to negotiate
business systems through integrative use of the graduate’s Ability to make decisions and flexibility
technical, technological, economic and managerial knowledge Networking and relational ability
GC4 – Ability to generate and maintain the ensemble of Administration of human and material resources
relationships that connect the productive and business systems to Focus for work improvement
the Romanian and international technologic, socio-economic,
Ability to organize, coordinate and lead
informational dynamic environment
GC5 – Ability to innovate in order to develop high
Exploratory Study of Students’ Satisfaction Regarding Acquired Competences 485
Excellent knowledge of specific technological information and knowledge for the graduate to be able
processes to find a job in either technical or business side of the
Ability to lead specific technological processes enterprise.
General technical knowledge, which also includes a Whilst the curriculum is very good and well
good understanding of diagrams and schema, technical balanced, including all the important courses, the
documentation and applicable prescriptions difference is made by the way information is
Quality control, process measurement, testing, data transmitted. Teaching should focus on case studies and
gathering and analysis, interpretation of results and practical projects that would require critical thinking,
information reporting to management because many graduates do not know how to put into
Ability to learn the use of new specialized software practice the knowledge acquired.
such Technical Design, LECTRA, ERP, SAP, etc. Curricula should include more practical applications
Basic knowledge in accounting and finance from sales, law, quality control and certification such as
Basic knowledge of specific legislation ISO 9000, ISO 18000, etc.
Knowledge of international trade. Teaching should include practical simulations on
Employer’s comments regarding the level of production planning, scheduling, specific materials
competences acquired by the graduates consumption, cost calculations and analysis.
The overall message that came from employers is The universities should balance the provision and
that the graduates’ acquired competences are about demand of specific qualifications of graduates on the
average. There is also an acute lack of proper “In job market.
company practice” during university training, especially A former student form 8 years ago, now working in
for engineers. However, those that get a job according to top management said
their speciality pursue a constant positive evolution “Talking about me, the fact that for 5 years I learned
based on their willingness to improve and learn on the very hard and graduated with excellent good grades, in
job and beyond. It all depends on attitude, personal the end I did not feel that I’ve got many things left. I do
involvement, ambition, and ability to seek information, feel very sorry regarding the practice. If I had gone and
the courage to make quick decisions and take seriously involve myself during the in-company practice,
responsibility for the results. I would have learned much more than theory that you
Whilst having an average positive bias, the may forget in a couple of weeks after you passed the
comments from different employers vary according to exam”.
the specific evolution of the graduate on the job. Employer’s interest and involvement in graduate
Acquired knowledge is sufficient for the “apprentice” employment
position, and subsequently he or she must work hard Many employers provided practice places for some
and learn specific information and skills for the graduates and provide them access to the production
company, such as design software, working procedures, line. They consider that only thus they would really
legislation, etc. It would take for a good candidate about work on the production line, show interest and take
3 to 6 months on the job to learn and specialize in order responsibility for their work. Thus, they will acquire and
to blend in the company culture. improve their practical experience on technical and
Employer’s comments regarding the adequacy of managerial issues.
the Curricula to the job market requirements Companies also reported:
Overall comments stated that curricula provide a Employment of engineering economist graduates for
good theoretical coverage. However, all employers Marketing, Design and Quality Control Departments.
stated that the learning process should be restructured as Invitation for interviews with the best graduates
it will not resume to teaching, taking notes and making from Bucharest and Iasi Universities on Power
summaries and abstracts followed by learning and Engineers. However, a multinational company rarely
assessment. Whilst the subjects are updated and hires young graduates, because it does not want to
interesting, most of them lack the practical part where invest in their initial formation and training.
the student learn how to apply it in a real company. Sponsors of various Exhibitions, Conferences and
Most of the recommendations refers to the practical Student Competitions, scholarships, allowances for
side of learning, and include: internships, and bursaries based on contract granted to
The laboratories and practical training on the selected students from the final years of study
technical side should use the same equipments that exist Cooperation with AJOFM (County Agency for
in the industry now. Even if most of the graduates have Finding Employment) to facilitate employee jobs
a good theoretical knowledge that allows them to learn Training means used by the employer
quickly the practical skills required for the job, the use Most companies recognised that they seek people
of same or very similar equipments and software would that have experience, because training implies
ease the integration and adaptation process from consumption of resources and a low efficiency and
graduate to employee. effectiveness of the employee during the
The university curricula should be restructured as to accommodation period. It would also implies that an
provide a further increase of practical applications. experience worker would have to invest time and energy
The double specialization provide especially for the during the “apprenticeship” of the graduate.
ambitious and perseverant students sufficient
486 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
All companies have training programs specific for should be carefully analysed by the academic staff and
the job. On a yearly basis, the companies plan and top management of Faculties and University.
budget the training needs that will be approved by the
HRM Department. References
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academics, are more broad and general, in order to Education, Tulcea Romania, Ed. Performantica, pp. 367-372.
express a comprehensive training of the graduates as 9. Spircu, L. and al. (2009), “Competence-Oriented Approach of
compared with the employers, that expressed a much Academic Education, Practical Aspects”, in C. Rusu (editor),
narrower view, which resides from their particular Proceedings of The 6th International Conference on Management of
Technological Changes, Ed. Performantica, Vol. II, pp. 363-366.
context of the business and industry of their company.
The third important difference dwells in some implicit
requirements of the employers regarding moral and
ethical behaviour of the graduate, and therefore not
explicitly expressing such requirements. However, they
specifically required language competences, which
academics implicitly assumed as existing in graduates, as
they have language classes during university training.
Another key difference regards the practical skills of
the graduate. As implicitly resulting from the “General
Professional Competence” list, it is consistently required
by all employers.
All these differences need to be harmonized through
the adaptation of the curricula to market requirements
and use of collaborative and cooperation mechanisms
between University and Industry. The key
recommendations made by the employers are under the
heading “Employer’s comments regarding the adequacy
of the Curricula to the job market requirements” and
METHODOLOGY OF DRAWING UP THE CURRICULA BASED ON THE
EDUCATIONAL SKILLS
Tiberiu RUSU 1, Lia CHIOREAN 1
1
. Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
No. 15, Constantin Daicoviciu Street, 400020 Cluj-Napoca
Fax:0264-401280, e-mail: Chiorean.Lia@staff.utcluj.ro
Abstract: In the Bologna vision, the curricula must develop new skills for the bachelor graduates. In favor of establishing the skills a
graduate should have, the Department of Environmental Engineering within the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca has drawn up
and distributed to the business agents a questionnaire in which the activities a graduate should carry on are highlighted..The practical
application has been made for the specialization of Engineering and Environmental Protection in Industry. The questionnaire has
been completed by 28 businesses agents and the Environmental Protection Agency in Cluj. The results have been centralized and
processed, establishing the minimum skills required on the labor market. Finally, these skills have been included in the subjects
foreseen in the curricula, in accordance with the ARACIS rules regarding the quality of education
Abstract: Studies aimed to identify degrees of necessary competencies in different educational domains have been performed in the last decade. We
continue the attempts to identify acquired competencies needed in the B.A. cycle, inside several faculties and specializations from Romanian
universities. The opinions of teachers involved in the educational process, along with those of their students, are analyzed together; from their
opinion, classifications of educational units, and also of acquired competencies, are obtained. For the economic B.A. studies in the Romanian higher
education system, a mixture of necessary competencies is identified.
Keywords: acquired competencies, mixture, satisfaction index
INTRODUCTION finishing B.A. year (3rd year of studies, except for the
Medical faculty) have been investigated.
At the European level, studies aimed to identify degrees
Another objective was to investigate a panel of teachers
of necessary competencies in different educational
from several Romanian universities, about:
domains have been conducted in the last decade (as for
a) The existence of specific goals concerning realizing
example in the framework of TUNING Project [1], [2]).
competencies during the educational process;
In the past years we studied the satisfaction level
b) The correlation between the disciplines of study and
attained by the graduates of several specialties in
the labor market demands;
Romania [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]. The opinions of teachers
c) The evaluation of time proportion allotted to
are now confronted with the opinions of students from
practical knowledge transmission;
the finishing year of the B.A. cycle.
d) The opinion about dynamicity of the taught
We present below some of the activities performed in
discipline and its adaptability to “new” appeared
2009 in the framework of the research grant PN II 91-
knowledge.
047/18.09.2007, under the supervision of the National
This investigation was performed in five major
Committee for Programs Management.
Romanian universities. Only in the Academy of
OBJECTIVES Economic Studies a number of 217 teachers covering 91
disciplines of study have been asked for their opinion.
This work continues the attempts to identify acquired
competencies needed in the B.A. cycle, inside several METHODS
faculties and specializations from Romanian
The data processed were obtained from two special
universities. The opinions of teachers involved in the
designed questionnaires, called “Student” res.
educational process, along with those of their students,
“Teacher”. Both contain questions related to 15
are then analyzed together.
particular competences.
The main objective is to identify a mixture of
In the “Student” questionnaire the respondent is asked
competencies resulting after comparing the opinions of
to rate the importance that he/she is attaching to the
the two interviewed populations.
acquisition of the respective competence for the
Under scrutiny are the opinions of students and teachers
profession, according to the scale:
about necessary/acquired competencies from the three
main groups: Extremely Impor- So and Poor Not at all Cannot
1) Instrumental, which refer to those cognitive abilities important tant so import. important evaluate
that suppose: a) the capacity of understanding and 1 2 3 4 5 6
manipulating ideas and concepts, b) methodological Another information obtained from this questionnaire is
capacities of time organization, learning, decision an evaluation made by the student concerning the level
making, and solving practical problems, c) technical attained due to faculty activities, according to the scale:
abilities, d) informing and linguistic abilities;
2) Inter-personal, which suppose: a) capacities of Very High Very Cannot
high enough Medium Low low evaluate
expressing personal opinions, and of critical analysis,
1 2 3 4 5 6
and b) abilities concerning teamwork (interdisciplinary
included); For a pair of responses given by the same student to the
3) Systemic, which refer to: a) knowledge of system questions regarding a particular competence c, a
analysis techniques, b) capacity of managing projects, c) satisfaction value in the range [0, 1] could be attached,
capacity of adapting to new situations, and d) rapid according – for example – to the rules specified in Table
insertion on the labor market. 1 below.
This investigation was performed in 35 faculties from
nine major Romanian universities, covering the
economic, the technical, the pedagogical and also the
medical domain. A number of 2207 students from the
490 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Table 1. Values of the satisfaction index In Figures 1 and 2 below we present, as examples for
Very High Very the first stage, the evaluated importance given by
Medium Low
high enough low
students from different educational units to the
Extremely competence “Capacity for applying acquired knowledge
important 1 0.75 0.5 0.25 0
in practice”, res. the satisfaction index computed for the
Impor-
tant 0.75 0.75 0.5 0.25 0 same competence. In the same figures the ordinate axis
is reserved for the ordinal dispersion of the responses,
So and so 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.25 0
allowing a better visual comparison.
Poor
import. 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0 Figure 1. Importance attached to “Capacity for applying acquired
knowledge in practice” by students
Not at all
important 0 0 0 0 0 0.6
Dispersion
1 above). This will be called the satisfaction index. 0.4
- Evaluated importance,
CI_MRK
UB_PSY
- Satisfaction felt by the subject. 0.2
The teachers were asked, by the “Teacher” question- 0.40 0.50 0.60
Importance
0.70 0.80 0.90
e.g. [8] – that the ordinal dispersion decomposes into a -0.50 -0.40 -0.30 -0.20 -0.10 0.00
Satisfaction
0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40
competencies acquired during the higher education Use of a second natural Is of medium importance and
process presented in Table 2 below. (Negative values language in profession should be medium stimulated
Table 3 (continued)
are emphasized.) Use of computer and other Is very important and should be
Table 2. Satisfaction values on educational domains IT&C devices stimulated
Domain Capacity of using information Is very important and should be
Competence c from alternative sources stimulated
Econ. Techn. Pedag.
INSTRUMENTAL TYPE Capacity of making Should be highly stimulated
Capacity for analysis and independent decisions
synthesis 0.14 0.14 0.06 INTERPERSONAL TYPE
Capacity for organizing and Teamwork in profession Should be medium stimulated
planning activities 0.05 0.06 -0.09 Interdisciplinary teamwork Should be weakly stimulated
Capacity of acquiring SYSTEMIC TYPE
fundamental knowledge 0.15 0.16 0.07 Capacity for applying acquired Should be highly stimulated
Use of a second natural knowledge in practice
language in profession -0.12 -0.34 -0.23 Ability to learn and to do Should be highly stimulated
Use of computer and other research independently
IT&C devices 0.15 0.02 0.14 Ability to adapt to new context Should be highly stimulated
Capacity of using information Is highly necessary and should
from alternative sources 0.23 0.13 0.21 Ability to work independently be stimulated
Capacity of making Capacity to respect high Is very important and should be
independent decisions 0.08 0.15 0.03 standards stimulated
INTERPERSONAL TYPE Capacity to elaborate and Should be medium stimulated
Teamwork in profession 0.26 0.43 0.11 manage projects
Interdisciplinary teamwork -0.04 0.09 -0.21
SYSTEMIC TYPE
Similar mixtures of competencies that should be
Capacity for applying acquired developed for a particular faculty can be obtained.
knowledge in practice -0.24 -0.13 -0.15
Ability to learn and to do The opinion of teachers about the dynamicity of their
research independently 0.11 0.05 0.12 discipline of study and its adaptability to “new”
Ability to adapt to new context -0.01 0.04 -0.06 appeared knowledge is presented in Figure 3.
Ability to work independently 0.06 0.06 0.05
Figure 3. Dynamicity of the discipline
Capacity to respect high
standards 0.06 0.07 -0.02
Capacity to elaborate and
manage projects 0.11 0.20 -0.01
This paper is aimed at discussing the modern concept of curriculum internationalisation in the context of an increasingly global
world, including an increasingly global academic environment. The curriculum internationalisation regards the process of integrating
an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of higher education. In Romania curriculum
internationalization is still a debated subject. The paper disseminate a part of “IDEI 1224”& “Parteneraite 92116” national research
projects dedicated to a more enlarge vision of learning environments including equality of chance, management of diversity,
intercultural dialogue and sustainable higher education development. Within this framework we plan to focus also on the idea of
curricula design with a possible application on the Faculty of Business Administration where all the topics are taught in foreign
language (SELS/FABIZ). The first two authors are teaching at this faculty. We intend to do an analysis of what curriculum
internationalization is for the students at the Faculty of Business Administration from the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies
and how this is applied European faculties and worldwide. The purpose behind this study is to see to what extent curriculum
internationalisation is put into practice. Internationalisation of curriculum is somehow linked to transnational education.
Transnational education, on the other hand, means getting a foreign qualification without leaving the residence country. Both these
educational realities are on the increase in today’s globalising environment. All universities need to define it for teaching, research
and community activities. Internationalization is needed to prepare graduates for the international labour market. An
internationalized curriculum could provide a means to develop global perspectives and skills in the home country, while making the
teaching-learning process more relevant for international purposes. According to our knowledge Romanian studies dedicated to
curricula design have focused on the internalization of curricula and on transnational education. So from this point of view our
approach has an originality value.
Nevertheless, there is great variation in the size and • more practical classes;
number of the programmes from one higher education • questionnaire regarding the subjects to be studied;
institution to another. Politehnica University of • elective courses.
Bucharest offers courses in foreign languages only in
Asked whether they believed that universities of the
the above-mentioned specially-designed faculty.
same type in Europe (e.g. Business Administration,
There are no tuition fees for foreign students of
Economics, Engineering etc.) provide the same basic
Romanian origin and this has helped to attract a
qualification, the respondents gave a positive answer
significant number of them to the faculties of Academy
(43%) to the same extent to which they gave a negative
of Economic Studies and Politehnica University from
answer (43%) at BAES. The remaining 14% declared
Bucharest. Moreover, there are many scholarships
they have no knowledge on that. For PUB, the 41%
offered to such students. This is the case, for instance of
were positive answers, 38% were negative, the
students from the Republic of Moldova, who are of
remaining meaning they do not know 21%.
Romanian ethnicity, but not only. Foreign students now
Asked whether the differences in the academic
account for about 4% of the university student
curricula across different European universities are
population in the Academy of Economic Studies.
generated by the local culture differences, 43%
Similarly, and 3% in Politehnica University of
respondents from BAES gave a positive answer, 37%
Bucharest. These figures are very important in finding
gave a negative answer, while the remaining 20% did
out the dynamics of the number of foreign students
not know what to say. For PUB, 70% were positive
choosing the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies
answers, and 13% negative, while 17% did not know
and Politehnica University of Bucharest for higher
what to say.
education studies, but also for assessing the needs for
Around 89% of the BAES respondents and 90% of
curricula internationalisation in such institutions.
the PUB respondents agreed that universities of the
same type should award equivalent degrees and
A CASE STUDY ON CURRICULA diplomas that are acknowledged everywhere in Europe
INTERNATIONALISATION IN ROMANIA and in other parts of the world. Those who did not agree
(6% for BAES and 5% for PUB) said that such degrees
A survey comprising 35 students coming from the and diplomas should be awarded provided that the level
Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (BAES) and 25 of preparation is the same.
students from Politehnica University of Bucharest was Surprisingly, 57% of BAES respondents and 50% of
conducted in the first quarter of 2010. The average age the PUB respondents have not heard of
for the respondents coming from BAES is 19.5 years. internationalization of curriculum/curricula, which gives
All respondents are first year students and their studies an idea of how this concept is being promoted in our
take place in English. The average age for the country and/or university. Approximately 31% BAES
respondents coming from PUB is 22.7 years. and 25% PUB have come across this concept, while
Respondents are first year students (16%) and fourth 11% BAES and 25% PUB do not remember whether or
year students (84%) and their studies take place in not the concept is familiar to them. Those who said they
English. have come across the concept gave different
Asked whether the academic curricula in their interpretations of it:
university are designed in order to be compatible with • comparing and analysing a certain subject in
those of similar universities in Europe, 34% said they various institutions
are, 37% said they are not, while the remaining 29% did • standardisation, uniformisation including however
not know what to answer. For PUB, the shares were cultural differences
30%, 40% and 30%. • the same curricula for all countries in order to make
The items, in the students’ opinion, that different it easier for students to go study abroad
universities across Europe should provide in their • offering perspectives for studying abroad, teaching
academic offer in order to ensure comparability and in foreign languages etc.
compatibility are: • including international information and examples in
• the same subjects taught and the same teaching the curricula
techniques • the same curricula around the world
• use of internationally recognized books • a set of common subjects and examinations.
• development of business, management, marketing,
accounting, mathematics, law, political science,
finance and economics skills
• leveling of the education system in Europe
• the use of a foreign language for teaching
Asked whether these meanings can be found among
• the same information should be presented, but the the educational offer of their university, an amazing
teaching methods should be adapted to the share of 63% of the BAES respondents said they do not
environment and mentalities of that country know, while 26% admitted that the university offers
• better established education standards indeed curricula internationalisation as seen through
Internationalisation of Curricula 495
their eyes, while 11% said they cannot find such London School of Economics have a double degree
features in their university. programme in Russia.
For PUB 45% had no knowledge, 20% knew about The Stockholm School of Economics has a branch in
such measures in the university and the remaining 35% St. Petersburg and the University of Oslo’s Centre for
could not find such features in the university. Medical Studies is based in Moscow. The British Open
Those giving a negative answer justified it as University has 80 business-training centers in Russia.
follows: The University of Southern Queensland and Far
• countries and particular experiences of universities Eastern National University in Vladivostok have a
are too much different to make them adopt the same partnership relation for program delivery. The Pune-
standards; based International Institute of Information Technology
• it is technically too difficult to make all universities (India) plans to offer its master and doctoral courses
change their curricula for a standardised one; within the newly established Russian-Indian Centre for
• no update of curricula and no similarities; Advanced Computer Research in Moscow.
• too many constraints for certain subjects. The University of Indianapolis has been active in
Greece for more than thirteen years. Its educational
Analysing the results obtained in BAES and in PUB
offer ranged in the beginning of its functioning from an
we can state that internationalization of Romanian
articulation arrangement whereby students can start
higher education curricula has been particularly
their studies in Athens to programmes completed in the
successful in the disciplines of business and economics
United States of America. Later on, the cooperation
and engineering so far, but there is much more to be
evolved into a campus based in Greece, called the
done.
University of Indianapolis, Athens.
Moreover, a stronger promotion of benefits to study
Laureate Education (formerly Sylvan), a private
in our country plus a more active recruitment of foreign
company, owns part or all of the Universidad Europa de
students need to be implemented alongside with
Madrid in Spain, Les Roches and Glion Hotel School in
curricula internationalisation efforts. Curricula
Switzerland, and the L’ecole Superieur du Commerce
internationalization should meet the needs of Romanian
Exterieur de Paris in France.
and foreign students alike. In this respect, both
Apollo International offers courses in the
universities are active promoting their studies abroad.
Netherlands, and Raffles La Salle (Singapore) signed an
They both attend international educational fairs and
agreement with Middlesex University to offer bachelor’s
exhibitions.
and master’s programmes in the fields of fashion and
design.
CURRICULA INTERNATIONALISATION. In Bahrain, the University of Hanover (Germany)
EXAMPLES OF BEST PRACTICES has been planning an affiliation with a new Euro
University.
The world economies are facing other challenges, An American University was been established in
particularly those pertaining to whether a country can Egypt more than 80 years ago. However, there are other
attract and retain qualified knowledge workers for a newer cooperation programmes such as the German
rapidly changing knowledge industry. Universities are University in Cairo and the L’Université Française
seeking to develop better connections and relationships d’Egypte, which have been established in the past 6
with society and the economy while maintaining at the years, and a new British University is under
same time the quality level of the academic offer. This development.
is a reality for Romania and for other countries as well. Such partnerships, be them local or foreign, differ as
The process of curricula internationalization is far as their types as concerned. This is the best proof
underway in most of the countries of the world, illustrating the creativity and diversity of new
especially in developed and developing countries. collaborations. For instance, the American University in
Poland will establish a private medical institute in Egypt is franchised to offer the distance MBA program
Israel in order for students to study there for 3 years of Heriot-Watt University from the United Kingdom.
before moving to the Medical University in Gdansk for U.S. colleges and universities as well as private
3 more years of clinical study. At the end of the studies, companies are undertaking hundreds of initiatives and
the students then return to Israel for an internship. partnerships, whose purposes are the delivery of cross-
There are major economic reforms undergoing in border education courses and programmess. Probably, it
Russia and they have important implications for the is the most active and innovative nation in worldwide
higher education sector as well. Many higher education programme and mobility provider.
institutions operate programmes abroad. George Washington University has seriously been
It is the case of the Moscow International Slavonic considering a South Korean branch because the
Institute and the Moscow State University of Industry. government of the latter has changed its regulations to
Moreover, Russia is the country where joint and double permit foreign education providers. There are many
degree programmes, twinning, and franchise other U.S. universities that established cooperation
arrangements have been established and operate well. relations with Korean institutions and companies.
For instance, The Higher School of Economics and the Syracuse University and Sejong University in Seoul
496 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
offer an MBA programme that was specifically courses; interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary or cross
designed for Korean students. disciplinary programmes; delivery of programmes or
Duke and Purdue Universities are other examples of courses with an international, intercultural or
MBA programmes providers in Korea. Also, Stanford comparative focus etc.
University delivers online graduate and postgraduate Irrespective of the form under which this concept is
courses, using alumni as local tutors. Other U.S. higher analysed, there is still need for improvement in the
education institutions finance similar cross-border Romanian higher education practices in this respect.
activities many other countries like China, India, There are examples galore of how such practices exist in
Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, other countries and they can represent starting points for
and the Middle East. For example, the University of more such projects in our academic environment.
Missouri at St. Louis helped to establish the Gulf
University of Science and Technology, the first private References
university in Kuwait, and the Modern College of
Business and Science in Oman. 1. Altbach, P.G. and Knight, J. (2007), “Internationalization of
Higher Education”, Journal of Studies in International
Education, fall-winter, 290-305.
2. Adams, M. (1992),” Cultural inclusion in the American college
classroom”, in: L. L. B. Border and N. Van Note Chism (eds.),
Teaching for diversity: New directions for teaching and learning:
Vol. 49, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco 5-17
3. Bremer, L. and van der Wende, M. (1995). Internationalizing the
CONCLUSIONS curriculum in higher education: Experiences in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands: Nuffic, Amsterdam.
Delia TĂNASE-ROBESCU1
1
“Politehnica” University of Timişoara, Department of Foreign Languages, delia.tanase@cls.upt.ro
The present paper gives primacy to digital competences regarded as crucial competences that mediate overlapping of both discipline-
specific competences and linguistic competences in dynamic learning environments, capable of empowering future engineers with
valuable functional/transversal competences that successfully help them face the currently emerging socio-professional challenges.
especially when the secondary education language is specialism specificity and the stage of socio-
different from the higher education language; secondly, professional training oriented towards the
university language programs should be flexible enough development of techniques of written and oral
to showcase intra-disciplinary competence transfer and communication required by the current professions.
integrated learning experiences (task conception and At this stage of research the author’s interest is
assignment should give students the opportunity to focused on pinning down engineering students’
deploy intra-disciplinary competences with a view to functional competences in relation to the stage of
enhancing their flexibility in balancing and mixing specialised training which requires most customized
discipline-specific competences and linguistic input.
competences so that the target language becomes a Similarly with the previous research, the principles
mediating tool for the accomplishment of specialism- underlying the author’s view build on the currently
specific tasks); thirdly, the flexibility of foreign emerging approach to foreign language teaching – the
language curricula in terms of learning support action-oriented approach (the Common European
upgradability is vital given the short ‘life expectancy’ of Framework of Reference for Languages 2001) –
the learning materials used in LSP seminars (foreign centred on the development of the language user’s
language curricula should be flexibile enough to allow a functional competences in a given field of activity and
regular insertion of updated learning supports that keep on the user’s social interaction, the European
up with the rapid technological changes characterizing employment strategy advocating European citizens'
our globalised work environments). increased employability through acquisition of mixed-
The above criteria have further shaped a fertile nature functional competences (cf New Skills for New
mindset for the conception of a matrix-shaped common Jobs: Anticipating and matching labour market and
framework for foreign language teaching in Romanian skills needs, (2008), acknowledging that “across sectors,
technical universities in terms of three touchstones: the generic skills such as problem-solving and analytical
context of language use (specifying the professional skills, self-management and communication skills,
area in which the user will function, analysing the ability to work in a team, linguistic skills and digital
learning/teaching situation), formulating more specific competences are more and more valued on the labour
engineering student-oriented language competences and market”), last but not least awareness of idiosyncrasies
identifying possible stages in the linguistic training of the Romanian higher education as emphasised by
program and describing the content of each stage. Vasiu et al. (2006), such as the Romanian students’
Briefly put, the observations of the Common increased interest in e-learning and preferred topics for
European Framework of Reference for Languages online delivery.
(CEFR, 2001) with respect to the occupational domain Three sensitive issues related to language teaching
(cf. CEFR, 2001: 48) are also applicable in the special for specific purposes, namely the rapid outdatedness of
purpose language teaching, whereas the identified traditional LSP learning materials, students’ insufficient
engineering student-oriented competences fall into exposure to quality LSP instruction in traditional
specific linguistic competences (e.g. adjectives learning environments and students’ insufficient
describing shapes, dimensions, verbs describing stages motivation, or even worse, demotivation, which is a
of a process, faults, equipment maintenance), cross-curricular teaching challenge nowadays, and the
sociolinguistic competences realizing work-generated outcomes of an interuniversity cooperation project – the
socio-cultural interactions (e.g. business etiquette, non- LLP project ViCaDis, (http://www.vicadis.net/) – have
discriminating and non-sexist language, establishing sparked and empirically validated the prioritization of
international contacts), functional competences digital competences.
overlapping discipline-specific competences (e.g. Emphasizing students' digital literacy in achieving
expressing numerical information in percentages, better academic performance and advancing information
assessing equipment reliability), generic competences and communication technologies as well as social
(problem-solving skills) and digital skills (e.g. software as instructional methods, the ViCaDis virtual
widgetizing, podcasting) and enabling achievement or learning campus has showcased the piloting of a web-
simulation of practical actions characteristic of based Technical English Course designed as an add-on
engineering environments. e-learning support envisioned to tackle and overcome
Equally important in the advanced common the above-mentioned LSP pitfalls. Students were
framework is the stage-based framework for the assigned both individual tasks (creating one’s own entry
engineering students’ linguistic training consisting of blog to speak about technical problems/faults, uploading
the stage of general training (intended to homogenize newly-encountered technical terms and their definitions
the group level, with specific emphasis on general in the Technical English Glossary, uploading recordings
communication), the stage of specialised training with of one’s own web-based interaction in a distinct blog)
two components: the stage of initiation into specialised and team tasks (creating wikipages on topics such as
communication (vocabulary/structures characteristic of IPhones - advantages and disadvantages, GPS accuracy
the general technical discourse) and the stage of further enhancement, Deutsche Telekom’s acquisition of
development of the technical and specialized domain- Greece’s OTE, etc., preparing PowerPoint presentations
related communication in close relation to the on subjects related to company structure, development
Prioritizing Digital Competences in Engineering Students' Foreign Language Curriculum 499
and research projects), which were successfully carried Built by students, therefore quite time-saving for
out with various (a)synchronous e-learning tools. teachers, who can allot more time on students’
Students’ achievements, active involvement, and monitoring and ensuring that functional competences
feedback retrieved in pre and post-piloting such as online research skills, linguistic skills, analytical
questionnaires have clearly pointed to blogging, wiki- skills, and problem-solving skills are thoroughly
page and glossary developing as effective enablers of practised, blogging creation showcases permanent
mixed-nature competences merging engineering field- language immersion that students cannot enjoy in
specific competences, linguistic competences and traditional learning environments. Furthermore, it
generic competences. The blogging creation, for allows them to choose the research content according to
instance, has generated a genuinely meaningful learning their language proficiency, therefore it is more effective
network whose content was built, upgraded, owned and than a mixed-ability-oriented traditional lesson.
shared by students and only ‘shadowed’ by the teacher Blogging creation also comes as the perfect
in terms of content, language accuracy and space incentive for students demotivated by the content
constraints and has provided a stimulating and thought- suggested by teachers or for internet-addicted students
provoking content (ViCaDis’ Technical faults blog has who have forgotten the pleasure of book reading,
had 299 total visits) in which students developed, turning their addiction into a positive goal-oriented
upgraded and exchanged technical fault-related action.
knowledge and concepts, practised and developed
technical fault-related language and applied and Wikipage creation
developed analytical and on-line research skills. The
screenshot below extracted from a long chain of blog Wikipage creation stands as a highly effective
entries providing pertinent explanations/solutions to a
alternative to traditional learning supports whose
large variety of technical faults (browsers, smartphones,
upgradability cannot keep pace with the rapid
operating systems, hardware, software bugs, backup
technological progress and economic changes
issues, credit card cloning, car manufacturing, aviation, characterizing current socio-professional environments
naval disasters, etc.) is a case in point: whereas such environments feature real-time
upgradability with easily-upgradable web-based content.
Supporting real-time upgradability, ease of content
adjustment according to engineering students’ actual
interests, wikipages not only overcome this major pitfall
of paper-printed learning supports but they also enable
“active, social, contextual, engaging and
‐
student owned” learning experiences (Wikis in Higher
Education, an exploratory report issued by the
University of Delaware (2008)) and, more importantly,
they are highly interactive and collaborative learning
facilitators. Additionally, wikis are team work-
supporting environments that allow teachers a better
supervision of each team member’s contribution to the
final output.
Figure 1
Blogging
Figure 2
Glossary creation
500 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Widgetizing References
The wealth of technical concepts can be 1. Arnó Macià, E., Soler Cervera, A. & Rueda Ramos, C. (2006),
complemented by widgets as regular providers of Information Technology in Languages for Specific Purposes:
updated specialism-related knowledge. In terms of Issues and Prospects, Springer, New York.
2. Chester, S. (1987), Use of Computers in the Teaching of
knowledge updatedness and easy access, they seem to Language, Athelstan Publications, Houston.
be the most efficacious tools given the high number of 3. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:
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ge=en.
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9. Tănase-Robescu, D. & Pop, M. (2010). “Developing a Common
availability, whereas creating podcasts can be a very Framework for Foreign Language Teaching in Romanian
attractive form of project-based learning in which Technical Universities” in Uzunboylu, H. (Ed.), conference
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outcome which involves the student’s taking
responsibility for managing his/her own professional
development.
WORKPLACE ORGANIZATION OBJECT OF STUDY FOR STUDENTS OF INDUSTRIAL
ENGINEERING
The purpose of this paper is to present the importance of introducing the discipline of study ,,Workplace organization'' for students
who study in industrial engineering field. Given the experience of overseas universities regarding the introduction of the discipline of
study in the curriculum for industrial engineering and the results of researchs for this paper are the foundations to achieve the
structure of ,,Workplace organization’’ university course. This paper is framed in the curricula design topic because it highlights the
change curricula for industrial engineering. The researchs for this paper are made with the aid of students and teachers from
Technical University of Iasi and University of Galati,also with aid to ten companies from our country. The main method used is
questionnaire. The results were processed using Microsoft Excel program. Following the interpretation of the questionnaires were
obtained the results: 70% of students want to learn more about workplace organization and 90% of teachers believe it would be useful
to introduce such a discipline of study in industrial engineering curricula. By introducing this universitary course, the universities are
preparing specialists in workplace organization domain and will be made new researchs, that may lead to optimization of production
processes, so it has applicability in industry. With results this paper is original and in this way are open new research directions for
placing the workplace organization as a subject of study in technical universities.
Object of research
INTRODUCTION
This research highlights the need to introduce a
In recent years, the romanian higher education course with the object of study organization of the
system adapts to the type Bologna and produce various workplace and aims to end development of program that
changes in the curricular areas including specific underpin to this. course.
engineering studies (Lixandru B., 2005). Research objectives are:
Contemporary society requires a reform of - highlighting the need for introduction of a
engineering education to keep pace with the market technical university curriculum, an orderly with object
economy (Zajda, J.and Macleans, A. 2010). centered on the organization of the workplace.
- presentation of students desire to obtain
information on the organization of the workplace
GENERAL INFORMATION
- highlighting the effectiveness of teaching a course
about workplace organization
Fundamentals of engineering education will not - developing a program that underlies teaching this
change but the skill set of engineering graduates must be course
more comprehensive than it is today ( Galloway P., Based on the following objectives were formulated
2005). the following general hypothesis: organization of the
Engineer exceeds the technology boundaries and workplace as a discipline is an area of interest for
must give up at his narrow specialization which students of industrial engineering and contribute to
becomes dangerous and need to acquire knowledge in complete a twenty one century engineer.
various fields (Stefan I.,2008) Were established following secondary hypotheses:
One of these fields of study is also the workplace 1. Industrial engineering students have basic
organization, that gathers information from other fields knowledge about concepts specific to the study of
such as ergonomics, economics, sociology, anatomy, workplace organization.
science systems and central object of study is human- 2. Industrial engineering students want to attend a
machine-environment system (Timofte G.,2009) course on workplace organization.
Departments and research centers in foreign 3. Teachers say the effectiveness of teaching a
universities are focused on the workplace study. course on workplace organization.
Analysing the romanian university courses which 4. Employers recruiting engineers beginners who
prepare the future engineers concluded that there are have knowledge in various fields including in the field
few chapters which refer to concepts in this area, but of labor organizing.
when the young engineers coming in factory encounter 5. Employers believe that engineers are trained in
specific problems of labor organization. organizing the workplace.
From this idea started this work and to demonstrate
the need the introduction of this new discipline in the
curriculum of technical universities have done the next Research methodology
research.
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
502 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The research was conducted during March- 8. Choice items and prepare A questionnaires
December 2009 to Technical University of Iasi and 9. Choice items and prepare B questionnaires
University of Galati. 10. Choice items and prepare C questionnaires
Methodology used : documentary analysis method in 11. Sending by e mail B questionnaires to firms
preparation of research and investigation by chosen for implementation research.
questionnaire method. 12. Organizing a meeting with students from
The tools used: questionnaire, mini grid test Technical University Iasi: application of knowledge
anonymous with the aim to check secondary hypothes verification test, film presentation and application A
with number one and informal meetings. questionnaires.
It was elected as a working tool questionnaire 13. Organizing a meeting with teachers from
because it offers advice, one image of the object Technical University Iasi: the C questionnaires
investigated. application.
Operationalization of concepts was achieved through 14. Organizing a meeting with students from Galati
three questionnaires were designed to test the University: application of knowledge verification test,
assumptions and highlight research results. film presentation and application A questionnaires.
The first questionnaire is designed to emphasize 15. Organizing a meeting with teachers from Galati
students' desire to meet new information on workplace University: the C questionnaires application.
organization and has been applied to a group of 50 16. Collate the results after application of A, B, C
students from industrial engineering after prior questionnaires .
presentation of a film with ten minutes during which has 17. Analysis and verification of final results
presented that can study a course on workplace 18. Organizing informal meeting with the twenty
organization. teachers: development of programs that underpin to
The second questionnaire B is designed for course support and vote for it.
companies from our country, who are recruiting
engineers specialized in industrial engineering and is RESULTS
designed to highlight if specialization in organizing the
workplace is important for them.
The results were processed using Microsoft Excel
These questionnaires were sent to 50 companies in
program.
the country by e mail but only ten were returned.
After applying the test to check students basic
The third questionnaire C is for teachers who teach
knowledge about the organization of the workplace
specific subjects of industrial engineering and is following results were obtained - Figure 1.: -80%
intended to present the opinion of teachers on the obtained marks between 1 and 5; 18% have obtained
introduction to this subject in university curricula.
marks between 6 and 8 and 2% were obtained marks
To establish course program has made an informal
between 9 and 10.
meeting at the Technical University of Iasi, where
Analyzing these results it is concluded that the
participating teachers who completed and C
nomber one the secondary hypothesis was disproven, so
questionnaires. students have not a basic knowledge about the
The target population of the present research is the organization of the workplace.
people and legal persons and consists of three samples:
- Sample 1 consists of fifty industrial engineering
students at four-year study, which thirty of the
Technical University of Iasi and twenty at the
University of Galati.
- Sample 2 consists of ten companies in our country,
which recruits engineers specialized in industrial
engineering.
- Sample 3 consists of twenty teachers who teach
specific industrial engineering objects, fifteen from the
Technical University of Iasi and five from the
University of Galati .
Effective implementation of research was done after
the next project:
1. Choice of research topic
2. Documentary analysis of the area of workplace
organization characteristic study
3. Identify research objectives
4. Formulating hypotheses
Figure 1: Marks obtained by students test of knowledg
5. Practical research planing
e in the field of workplace organization
6. Developing tests for students
7. Preparing students film presentation
Workplace organization object of study for students of industrial engineering 503
Table 2: Percentage
ercentage responses to the B questionnaire
Question a) The b) The c) The
Version percentage Version percentage Version percentage
of for a) of for b) of for c)
response response response
1. Engineers yes 90% no 10% - -
will be
recruited
from
graduates of
famous
universities
in Romania?
2.At theoretical 20% practical 20% both 60%
employment Figure 4: Beginer: engineers have basic knowledge
young
engineer on the workplace.organization
should have
knowledge:
504 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
After applying the questionnaire type C in sample Sometimes formulating questionnaire items is not
3were obtained the results presented in Table 3: very clear, which is why it is possible that subjects not
Table 3: Percentage responses to the C questionnaire have understood exactly the each item.
Question a) Version
of response
The
percentage
b) Version
of response
The
percentage
Another source of error for the present research can
1. Workplace organization yes
for a)
60% no
for b)
40%
be and how the data were collected, some subjects
occupies an important place in
industrial engineering?
initially refusing to participate in research, which may
2. Research in this field opens yes 70% no 30% lead to complete questionnaires at random without
new horizons?
3. Believe that students have yes 20% no 80% reading the items carefully and especially without
knowledge about organization
of the workplace? understand it.
4. Are useful for students yes 100% no 0%
informations about workplace
organization? DIRECTION FOR FUTURE RESEARCHS
5. Agree to introducing a yes 90% no 10%
workplace organization
course in the technical
universitary curriculum Even if the study was limited by certain factors,
achieved the main aim and opened new horizons for
The results represented in Figure 5 confirm research field.
hypothesis number three, namely that 90% of teachers Researchs can be extended to all technical
agree to introducing a workplace organization course in universities in our country, or may conduct a study on
the technical universitary curriculum the introduction of a master form focused on workplace
organization domain.
CONCLUSIONS
Following the discussions were at a meeting of This paper was realized with the support of BRAIN
teachers from two technical universities to set up this “Doctoral scholarships as an investment in intelligence”
discipline as to have the status of the optional subject project, financed by the European Social Found and
and have the following structure: Romanian Government.
1. Generalities about the workplace organization
2. Analysis workplace organization in ergonomic,
References
economic and systemic terms.
3. Serving workplace organization
1. Galloway ,P. (2008), Inginerul secolului XXI.Reforma educatiei
4. Workload in domeniul ingineriei, Editura Agir, Bucuresti, ISBN: 978-973-
5. Specific methods of organizing the workplace 720-161-4, pages 91-102.
6. General elements of work protection and safety. 2. Lixandru, B. (2005), Curriculum scolar si strategie didactica,
Following the analysis and interpretation of results, Editura Augusta, Timisoara ,ISBN: 973-695-150-2, pages 15-20.
3. Stefan, I. (2007), Inginerul de la roata la inteligenta artificiala,
the general conclusion is that this study confirmed the Editura Performantica, Iasi, ISBN: 978-973-730-425-4,pages 120-
general assumption. 124
Research has made a number of methodological 4. Timofte, G. (2009), Organizarea locului de munca in industria
limitations that have affected the validity of results constructoare de masini, Editura Tehnica-Info, Chisinau, ISBN:
978-9975-63-298-0, page 3.
which will be presented in the following rows. 5. Zajda, J.and Macleans, A. (2010),The politics of education
First it was noted that a small number of subjects reforms, Publisher: SPNL, Dordrecht –Netherlands, page 132.
used, making the results may not be representative of
the population from which were extracted the samples.
TARGETED CURRICULA FOR FOODSERVICE MANAGEMENT BS DEGREE IN
ROMANIAN UNIVERSITIES
Iuliana VINTILA1
1
Dunarea de Jos University Galati, email vintilaiuliana @yahoo.com
The objectives of the present paper research are to identify the core competencies cluster correlated with the professional skills
criteria for the different level of BS Certification in the Hospitality Industry, Food Service Management, Art Culinary Program. The
research investigate the competencies level achieved from the employer and educational services provider point of view, with a 4-
point Likert scale and formulate a improved targeted curricula for the 3 BS certifications in the framework of Food Service
Management Specialisation. Hotel and restaurant management education provided by the Romanian colleges and universities must be
adapted at the international requirements and the present study research has a theoretical implication generated by the original
model of experimental protocol in the competencies investigation. The practical implication of the present research has multiple
targets– academics, researchers, and heads of the Foodservice Management specialisation, National quality assessors of Educational
Ministry and Romanian Food Service Industry Federation. The personal contribution is related with the main expertise of the author
and the key results issue by the multi-factorial research conducted in the framework of the AMPOSDRU Project DOCIS. The
originality of the paper is generated by the novel vision in the formulation of the competencies based on a multiskill professional
cluster, adapted to the actual Romanian Educational Standards, validated in the National Consortium both by the academics and
professionals of the hospitality industry.
Key Words: Curricula, Competencies, Skills, Foodservice Management BS, Educational Standards
1: Not Yet Meeting the Standard. Did not achieve the The results revealed an important lack of performance in the
basic professional skills and abilities due to inadequate curricula
minimal required competency.
at the actual requirements of the Romanian Food Service
2: Progressing. Additional training needed. Requires Industry. The most part of the competencies best evaluated are
close supervision. not constructed and correct defined in the higher study cycle and
3: Proficient Achieved competency. Considerable skill. are based on the personal education received in family (skills 4,
5, 8) or as a result of personal hobbies (skill 3). In this
Can perform task with limited supervision.
circumstance, the performance of the education BS cycle must
4: Exemplary. Excellent skills. Can perform task be improved in the near future in order to provide an adequate
with no supervision level of competencies requirements by the Food Service
The same rating scale were used by 5 educational Industry.
service providers of the specialization, in order to The present paper research create an example of
evaluate the level of graduating student’s competencies Food Service Management Curricula, based on the
portfolio. Data are presented as average points for each results of the conducted BSGSQ, which might be
10 criteria of basic competencies evaluation. Correlation validated by the national consortium and the
between the two evaluations systems was performed autonomic universities with specialization in this
using Pearson’s product moment correlation. The model field.
analysis of variance was carried out in order to compare
the perception of competency degree of the graduating Food Services Management Curricula
students from the employee and the educational
provider point of view. As the results of p-Value under Restaurant (Food Service) Management
0.8 targeted curricula with new defined 6 competencies Program (Table 2) provides students with targeted
were described and an e-database for BS candidates’ use management skills including cost control,
was presented. The validation of the improved curricula restaurant operations, guest services, leadership,
was realized by consensus procedure in the National legal regulations, catering, technology and
Consortium created with the participation of the personal development to pursue a career in the
academics and professionals of the industry. food service industry. The food service industry
includes careers in restaurants, hotels, resorts,
KEY RESULTS cruise ships, schools, hospitals, festivals, meetings
and special events.
The evaluation of the BSGSQ results showed a 2.92
mean level of the competencies portfolio (Table 1),
which reflect a mediocre quality of the professional
qualification of the BS Romanian Graduate Students. Table 2 Skills Certificates in Food
The standard deviation on the appreciation Likert scale Services Management
of 4-point have the highest value in the case of 2, 7 and
9 occupational skills, which are view as the most Skill Certificate – Dining Room Educational
important professional qualities in the food service Manager (Maitre d’hotel) Standard in
industry career. The best levels of competencies are Credits Unit
achieved for the Computers, Telecommunications and Introduction to Hospitality Industry 1
Databases using Skills, followed by the Safety and Hygiene and Food Safety 3
Hygiene skills. Restaurant and Events 4
Management
Table 1 Means and standard deviations of the occupation skill evaluation on the Managing Guest Relations 4
4-points Likert scale
Professional skills criteria Mean S.D. Total Credits Required: 12
(1)Communication Skills as an 3.1 1.1 Skill Certificate – Chef Manager
Employee Food Safety in Catering 1
(2)Employability and Career 2.9 1.2 Basic Gastronomy 3
Development Skills
Front Office Operations 3
(3)Computers, Telecommunications 3.7 0.5
and Databases using Skills Managing Guest Relations 3
(4)Practice Skill to ensure a Safe and 3.6 0.6 Principles of Promotion and Selling 3
Healthy Work Environment Event Catering Management 3
(5)Ethics Principles in the Work Place 3.6 0.9
Total Credits Required: 16
(6)Cost Controls abilities 3.2 1.0
(7)Professional Food Service Industry 2.8 1.2 Skill Certificate – Special Event
Knowledge Manager
(8)Safety and Hygiene Techniques 3.6 0.5 Introduction to Hospitality Careers 1
skills Restaurant and Banquet 4
Management
(9)Basic Food Preparation Skills 3.1 1.2 Catering and Event Management 4
Principles of Marketing 3
Principles of Promotion and Selling 3
Targeted Curricula for Food Services Management BS Degree in Romanian Universities 507
Objectives/Purpose:
The paper wants to investigate if there is a direct relation between organizational stress as a cause of resistance to technological
change and the level of education of the interrogated respondents in order to find different methods for overcoming resistance to
change. A part of the survey will analyze if the persons with post university degree are less resistance to technological change than the
ordinary university graduates.
Prior work:
Previous studies, published in international conferences ISI indexed, with following theme:
- “Project Orientated Problem Based Learning – School Science Teaching by Project Orientation - Improving the Transition to
University and Labor Market for Boys and Girls - POPBL Implementation in Romanian Schools”;
- “Overcoming Resistance to Technological Changes in Romanian Organizations”.
Design/Methodology/Approach:
The research methodology contains a survey applied to 57 respondents from 43 Romanian companies that are dealing with
technological change. The questionnaire is applied to top and middle management from functional departments from organization
directly involved in technological change. The questionnaire information is quantitatively analyzed in SPSS, and qualitatively in
MAXQDA.
Results:
Development a curricula design in higher education, by better understanding of resistance to technological change in organization,
from top and middle management involved.
Implications:
The quality of higher educational system has important implications in development of future top and middle managers that will be
facing with technological changes during their professional activity after graduation. Resistance to change, an implicit effect that
might occur in every change, can be overcome by proper educational programs.
Originality/Value:
Research methodology applied to a new identified challenge.
Keywords:
higher education, competences, resistance to change, change management, post university degree, organizational stress.
Acknowledgements:
This paper was realised with the support of BRAIN “Doctoral scholarships as an investment in intelligence”, project financed by the
European Social Found and Romanian Government.
top management
economics
companies, identification of change reactions and 12.5
engineering
Count
10.0
overview feasible ways to overcome negative effects of 7.5 1 economical
resistance to new equipment implementation. 5.0
7
engineering
others
The purpose of the present paper is to investigate all 2.5
middle management
the educational point of view, how the competences
gained through educational system influence the 12.5
1
Count
10.0
resistance to change of the graduates, that finally 7.5 5
2
4
makes the difference between success and failure of a 5.0
2.5
change, especially in these days when it is very 0.0 2 1
important to find the proper solutions in crisis situation. university Postgraduate
Education
Competences, defined by American Heritage
Dictionary of the English Language as “the state or
employee
12.5
quality of being adequately or well qualified; ability” 4
Count
10.0
or “a specific range of skill, knowledge, or ability” 7.5 6 7
5.0
might have a direct influence on stress in organization, 2.5 4
with direct impact on resistance to change, important 0.0 1
university Postgraduate
element in the success or failure of a change process in
organizations and this what we want to investigate Figure 3 – Structure of the sample by education type, respondent position in
organization and education level
through this survey.
The objectives of this survey are:
METHODOLOGY 1. Investigation of a direct relation between
organizational stress as a potential cause of resistance
The survey is based on a questionnaire, applied to 57 to technological change and the level of education of
respondents from 43 small, middle and large the interrogated respondents, directly involved in
companies from Romania (12,28% of respondents are change;
from small firms, 45,61% from middle organizations, 2. Overview feasible ways to overcome negative
42,11% from large organizations). The respondents effects of resistance to technological change, including
have different position in their organizations (top organizational stress;
managers – 21,05%, middle managers –36,84% and 3. Drawing suggestion for educational system to
supervisors – 42,11%). improve curricula according to the requirements from
As organization type, 64,91% of the companies have organizations.
production activities, 26,32% have commerce activity
and 8,77% services. The survey has been simultaneous analyzed under
The sample is balanced if we consider the educational two aspects:
level and educational background of the respondents (see - At personal level, importance granted from the
figure 2). respondent when he/she is confronted with a new
Education_type
equipment implementation - on a scale from 1 to 5 (1
economics = the least important, 5 = very important);
engineering
economical
- At organizational level, importance observed by the
engineering
others
respondent inside the company when a new equipment
is implemented, on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 = the least
30
being one of them. This affirmation is available both at If we analyze the answers after educational
personal and organizational level. background of the respondents, we notice that those
how have both economical and engineering studies feel
less stressed out about the technological change than
the other categories, with significant differences.
4.5
4.5
6.8
team members change
• Facilitation and support
6.6
• Negotiation
importance quotient
• Cooperation
6.4
• Cooptation
6.2 • Manipulation
• Coercion
6
• Financial stimulation
5.786
SUGGESTIONS FOR CURRICULA IMPROVEMENT
5.8
University Postgraduate
Education Taking into consideration the measures that the
Figure 7 – Fear of stress associated with change (opinion about respondents consider that are appropriate to be
organization) by education level implemented in their organization in order to increase
512 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
the level of stress generated by the technological 11, Issue 2 July 2008, pages 211 – 219
5. Cobzaru, A. – “Organizational stress on crisis”,
change, we suggest that:
“Organization needs towards master curricula”,
- Introduction in university curricula of more „Modern Approaches In Organisational Management
practical classes, especially on fields requested by the And Economy 2009 – Third Edition” International
companies and this curricula to be updated Conference, 12-13 November 2009, Bucharest,
Romania
periodically;
6. Cobzaru, A. – “Dealing with stress at work on crisis”
- Students should be involved in projects where Conference on Management of Technological Changes
they are encouraged to work as a team, developing in MTC 2009, 3rd-5th September 2009, Alexandroupolis,
this way abilities like team work, communication, Greece, Volume I1, pg. 437-440;
7. Jaba, E., Grama A. – Statistical Analysis with SPSS
conflict management, cooperation, negotiation;
for Windows, Polirom Publisher, 2004;
- Periodical visits of the students in different 8. Rusu, B.; Teodoreanu, M; Zvâncă, G; Rusu, C.;
organization in order to be familiarized with Carcalete, P.; Voinea, D.– “Quantitative Analysis of
companies’ environment, reducing in this way the great the Results of POPBL Project Implementation in
Romania” – QMHE2008, Tulcea, Romania, IDS
stress generated by the graduation and the difficulty of Number: BIK04, ISBN 978-973-730-496-4, pg. 271-
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10. Selye (1975). Confusion and controversy in the stress
- Permanent communication between universities field. 1. pp. 37–44.
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International Conference, 12-13 November 2009,
Bucharest, Romania
CONCLUSIONS 12. Timu, G. – “The Role Of Non Formal Education:
Case Study MBA” Conference on Management of
The answers from personal level are according with Technological Changes MTC 2009, 3rd-5th September
2009, Alexandroupolis, Greece, Volume I1, pg. 383-
the answers registered at organizational level (with 386;
small exceptions), meaning that the respondent have a 13. Waddell, Dianne; Sohal, Amrik S. – “Resistance: a
pretty objective view on what is happening in their constructive tool for change management”,
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Romanian Organizations”, Conference on
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must be implemented in organization. 89832-7-4, pg. 557-560;
15. Zvâncă, G; Rusu, B.; Rusu, C.; Teodoreanu, M;,
Voinea, D.; Carcalete, P.; Condurache, Gh. – “POPBL
Even if these categories register a resistance to Implementation in Romanian Schools” – QMHE2008,
change, we may consider it a positive resistance, an Tulcea, Romania, IDS Number: BIK04, ISBN: 978-973-
alarm signal that announce that there is a problem in a 730-496-4, pg. 303-308;
16. Zvâncă, G. - “Overcoming Resistance to
change phase and the data must be reconsidered. Technological Changes in Romanian Organizations”,
„Modern Approaches In Organisational Management
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3. Brenner E., Niehs, J. – “Curricula Development based
on Learning Outcomes – An Austrian Case”,
Implementing Competence Orientation and Learning
Outcomes in Higher Education, © Krems, July 2008
4. Bruckman, John C. – “Overcoming Resistance to
Change: Causal Factors, Interventions, and Critical
Values”, The Psychologist-Manager Journal, Volume
SECTION V: ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
514 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Business Games and the Training of Master Students 515
The analysis of the perception of managers of small and medium-sized business on the usefulness of business games in their professional
training. A presentation of the way in which business games can contribute to the high level training of students participating in the
masters programme “Management and Business Strategies”.
Several studies developed by Feinstein (2001), DATA OBTAINED FROM RESEARCH ON SMEs
Posch, Rosemann and Bielski (2001), Ellington (2001), IN BRAŞOV COUNTY
Feinstein and others (2002), Grisoni (2002), Armstrong
(2003), Faria and Wellington (2004), Euler and Hahn The research was based on a number of 15
(2004), with Sloane and Dilger (2005), Eysenck and hypotheses.
Keane (2005), Selten, Abbink and Cox (2005) show that Hypothesis No. 1: "Employees of companies in
the use of business games has taken an unmatched Brasov county know “very little” or “little”
proportion. terminology of specialized computer systems for
This is teaching and training method (that has business management." The most common response
already entered routine) for future managers who are was "unknown" or "little known" for simulation
currently enrolled in universities. All Faculties of management concepts simulator business, global
Economics organize training sessions through business competition, management, expert system, MIS, MRP,
simulations. DSS, ISS, ERP, SAP, SOA.
Bennis and O'Toole (2006), Peach, Mukherjee, and There were three exceptions, the most common
Hornyak (2007), Greenberg and others (2007) and response was "known" for: dashboard, ICT and CRM.
Whetten (2007), Lainema & Lainema (2007), Yourstone Hypothesis No. 2: "Businesses in Brasov county
and others (2008), Tempel & Walgenbach (2008 ) employees know "very little" about the concept of
Adekola and Sergi (2008), Thompson and Fandt Purdy business games" was confirmed, as the most common
(2008), Gomes De Oliveira Lisboa, and Yasin (2008) – response (rate of 32, 53%) was "very little known
point out that management simulations were extended about”.
worldwide. They are especially preferred by the Hypothesis No. 3: "Very few companies in Brasov
Chinese, who have repeatedly won international county have used a business game." Hypothesis was
competitions. confirmed: 89.91% of employees inquired answered
Today, worldwide, there are thousands of business "NO" (the company where they work) never used a
games. Most of them are used in universities to prepare business game.
students for future job requirements. Other games are Hypothesis No. 4: "Businesses in Brasov county do
used by large companies, especially multinationals, as a not use a specialized computer system for business
form of employee training and as recruitment tool for management as they consider it unnecessary."
selecting future quality managers. Hypothesis was confirmed (the most common response
was "unnecessary" rate of 15.82%).
OBJECTIVES Hypothesis No. 5: "Most employees of companies
from Brasov county want to change / improve existing
computer system." 60.12% of employees surveyed have
The main objectives of the paper are: responded positively and thus hypothesis was
a. a presentation of key data of both quantitative confirmed.
researches [Antonoaie, DC 2009] on games promoting Hypothesis No. 6: "There is a "very low" chance that
SME business in the county of Brasov; in the near future companies in Brasov will use a
b. an analysis on how the business game "Global business game." Hypothesis was confirmed because the
Management Challenge (GMC)” has been question "On a scale of 1 to 5, what are the chances that
implemented in companies whose staff attended the your company will employ a business game in the near
game and how efficient this was. future?" the highest number of points was obtained by
Therefore, based on these analysis, the paper "very small chance” (98 points).
presents how the course will introduce a special Hypothesis No. 7: "In general, employees from
"business games" (or "business simulation") subject in Brasov county businesses do not know what amount
the curricula of students in the Masters course
516 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
would be allocated for participation in a business f. "It is not easily accessible" - 32.03% of
game." Hypothesis has been confirmed (most respondents agreed.
respondents did not answer or had answers like "I would g. "It is not relevant to my current tasks" - 28.74% of
not allocate any amount", "not necessary", "I am not respondents agreed.
part of management", "zero lei", "I have no idea", “do h. "No concrete results / concrete application" -
not know "). 12.55% of respondents agreed.
Hypothesis No. 8: "In general, employees from i. "Too much time" - 30.38% of respondents agreed.
Brasov county businesses know the benefits of j. "It's not relevant to the accumulation of
participation in a business game." Hypothesis has been knowledge" - 12.05% of respondents agreed.
confirmed as follows [figure 1]: k. "I believe it is unnecessary for me to attend” -
a. "It is a good method of training" - "agree": 19.92% of respondents agreed.
56.72% of respondents, "total agreement": 18.69%. l. "There is no specialty technical support" - 34.51%
b. “Participants will develop their ability to make of respondents agreed.
decisions under pressure" -"agree": 49.17% of m. "Poor quality simulation" - agreed 19.43% of
respondents, "total agreement": 16.61%. respondents agreed.
c. "It combines theory and practice very well" -
"agree": 50.65% of respondents, "total agreement": Hypothesis no. 9
20.92%.
d. "Participants will be able to identify more easily 50
30
20 improve their overall computer system once a year or
10 less."
0
a b c d e f g h i
Hypothesis was confirmed, as for the question "How
often does your company improve computer systems
"agree" "total agreement"
(hardware and software)?" the most common responses
Figure 1: Hypothesis no. 8. The Answers. were: "once a year - 33.43% and "rarely "- 32.22%.
Hypothesis No. 13: “Brasov County businesses
Hypothesis No. 9: "Employees from Brasov county employees would generally prefer to take part in
businesses, identify several reasons, in general, for not business strategy oriented business games".
participating in a business game", has been confirmed Hypothesis was confirmed: on the question "If you
as [figure 2]: ever consider using a business game, you would like it
a. "costs too much" - 38.69% of respondents agreed. to focus mainly on ...” the most common response was
b. "There are other training methods" - 43.70% of "business strategies"(28.06%), followed by
respondents agreed. "marketing"(26.87%) and "all functions of a business”
c. "I consider it an unrealistic simulations" - 14.79% (25.07%).
of respondents agreed. Hypothesis No. 14: "In general, the employees of
d. "I do not know the concept" - 17.32% of Brasov County businesses would like to participate in a
respondents agreed. business game". Hypothesis was confirmed. When
e. "I have never thought about it until now" - 12.55% asked "Did you attend a game company?" the most
of respondents agreed. common answer was "yes" rate of 62.76%.
Business Games and the Training of Master Students 517
Hypothesis No. 15: "The main reason why - have a better understanding of management
employees of Brasov County businesses have not functions;
attended a business game is the general lack of - make decisions faster;
information." - plan their day to day activities more effectively;
Hypothesis was confirmed. - have a better understanding of the processes within
When asked "Have you ever considered participating the organization and their role in the organization is
in a business game, yet you have not participated, what better defined.
was the reason?", the most common answer was "no Among the companies participating in the GMC,
information" at a rate of 29.85%, followed by lack of 43% participated once, 35% twice, 12% - 3 times and
time "- 28.06% and" other reasons "- 25.37%. 10% - 4 times.
We guarantee the results of research, conducted on Which means that the business game is very
sample of 335 businesses, with a probability of 95%, interesting and worthwhile to attend several times (each
according to statistical assumptions. time it is a new experience and an opportunity for
acquiring knowledge and new capabilities).
DATA OBTAINED FROM THE RESEARCH Regarding the time participants have spent reading
CONDUCTED ON PARTICIPANTS IN THE GMC the competition manual, averaged over a week (time
BUSINESS GAME available for providing the decisions necessary to
conduct a 66-stage game) results are as follows: 27%
spent between 1 to 1.5 h, 26% < 0.5 h, 25% between 0.5
Four primary efficiency indicators were constructed - 1 hour, 12% between 1.5 - 2 h and 10% over 2h. This
for each item separately, as "effect / effort. All reports means that 51% of players have spent less than one hour
have shown effectiveness and the maximum efficiency per week reading the manual.
of activities performed. On reading other materials accompanying the
Four efficiency indicators were calculated, using the competition, which could help participants in making
formulas below: decisions (e.g., work management, marketing, business
strategy etc.), 30% of people allocated to this activity
item_response
Indicator 1: = 0.638334667 ∈ under 0, 5h, 21% between 0.5 h - 1h, 24% between 1 h -
time_reading_manual 1.5 h, 25% between 1.5 h - 2h.
(0.6000 to 0.6500] ⇒ effective activity In conclusion 49% of respondents spent over an hour
for additional reading materials, which means that they
item_response were aware that the game is complex and requires
Indicator 2: = 0.656650889 ∈
time_readi ng_materia ls expertise in various fields.
(0.6500 to 0.7000] ⇒ effective activity 12% of the businesses that have participated in less
than 5 stages of competition, 31% between 5 to 10
item_response stages (2 phases or 2 participations), 24% from 10 to 15
Indicator 3: = 0.664302444 ∈
time_decis ion_making stages (3 phases or 3 participations), 16% from 15 to 20
(0.6500 to 0.7000] ⇒ effective activity stages ( 3 phases or 4 participations) and 17% over 20
stages (3 phases or 5 participations) [figure 3].
item_response
Indicator 4: = 0.624575111 ∈
number_stages_played 35
(0.6000 to 0.6500] ⇒ effective activity 30
25
20
Economic efficiency of the implementation of a [%]
15
business game in SMEs in Romania is illustrated, 10
firstly, by the results obtained by participants in the 5
game. 0
At the same time it should also be noted that such [<5] [5-10] [10-15] [15-20] [>20]
1. "I have more varied knowledge” - 69% observations students make during the game itself will
2. "Make decisions faster” - 68% also be recorded. Similar studies carried out in
3. "I plan ordinary activities better” - 64% American universities will form the basis for the forms.
4. "I work better in a team" - 63% By participating in the games, the students will gain
5. "Better understand current tasks - 55% important abilities, skills and knowledge to help them
6. "My role is better defined in the organization - perform better at their future employment. At a global
53% level, business games are considered a very good
7. "I am better organized" - 53% training method, the most modern, and managing to
8. "Better understand the functions of management” combine theory and practical application. Participants
- 45% will develop their ability to make decisions under
9. "Better understand the processes within the pressure, be more competitive, perform better in a team
organization” - 33% environment and will generally be more motivated to
Note that the highest percentage of "total agreement" improve their activity.
(33%) was for the statement, "I have more varied After analyzing the results over 3 years (and
knowledge", which shows that business games are a analyzing feedback from the students) are convinced
good way of training. that this course, with the necessary modifications and
Also, the questionnaire asked respondents to express improvements will become mandatory and can be
their degree of agreement / disagreement on the reasons introduced even in the third year (for the bachelor
for no longer participating in future business games, 13 degree).
items were proposed for examination. Also, we are considering developing a software
Rating reasons, in order to express the degree of independently from the GMC, more specifically, to
agreement (including total agreement) is as follows: create a business game, with our colleagues from the
- other reasons - 85%; Faculty of Mathematics-Informatics, University
- lack of funds - 76%; Transilvania of Brasov. All the prerequisites for this
- cost too much - 69%; endeavor exist.
- requesting game too - 69%;
- there are other training methods - 65%; References
- lack of time - 55%;
- consume too much time - 46%; 1. Antonoaie, C. (2009), Contributions to the improvement of
- is not relevant to current tasks - 37%; enterprise management using games. PhD thesis, Faculty of
- I never thought until now - 35%; Economics and Business Administration, Babes-Bolyai University in
Cluj-Napoca.
- no concrete results / apply - 21%;
2. Aldrich, C. (2008), Learning by Doing. A Guide to
- it is not easily accessible - 17%; Comprehensive Simulations, Computer Games, and Pedagogy in e-
- not obtain satisfactory results - 13%. Learning and Other Educational Experiences, Pfeiffer Wiley, New
York, p. 43-45.
3. Eckerson, W. (2003), Smart Companies in the 21st Century: The
CONCLUSIONS: BUSINESSES, THE BUSINESS Secrets of Creating Successful Intelligent Business Solutions, WA:
GAME AND THE TRAINING OF MASTER The Data Warehousing Institute, Seattle.
4. Elgood, C. (2009), Using Management Games, Gower Press,
STUDENTS Vermont, USA, p. 36-38.
5. Ivan I. Visoiu, A. (2005), Economic Base Models, Ed ASE
Bucharest.
We believe that implementation of business games
6. Kankaanranta, M., Neittaanmaki, P. (2006), Design and Use of
for SMEs in Romania is a requirement for businesses to Serious Games, Springer Finland, University of Jyvaskyla, p. 47-49.
adapt to modern training methods. 7. Kerr, A. (2006), The Business and Culture of Digital Games.
This will clearly lead to increased efficiency in small Work Game and Play Game, John Wiley and Sons, Brussels, p. 24-28.
8. Kreitner, R. (2001), Management, Houghton Mifflin, 8th Edition,
and medium enterprises in the future.
New York, p. 98-99.
Moreover, it is imperative for SMEs to improve their 9. Laudon K., Laudon, J. (2007), Management Information
system and have specialized business management Systems. Managing the Digital Firm, 10th Edition, Pearson Prentice
software, to keep up with the changing competitive Hal, New York, p. 103-106.
10. Noran, O.S. (1997), Business Modeling, Griffith University
environment.
Press, New York (http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/).
The results from both surveys will serve as teaching 11. Turban, E., Aronson, J., Liang, TP., Sharda, R. (2007),
material for a course entitled "Business Game and Free Decision Support and Business Intelligence Systems, 8th Edition,
enterprise", which we want to introduce in the Pearson Prentice Hall, Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River,
New Jersey, p. 92-98, 139-150, 165-170.
curriculum of the Faculty of Economics, University
12. Turban, E., Leidner, D., McLean E., Wetherbe, J. (2008),
Transylvania of Brasov, initially as an optional course Information Technology for Management. Transforming
for students for "Management and Business Strategies Organizations in the Digital Economy, 6th Edition, John Wiley and
(Masters level)". Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, p. 457-462.
To analyze the data gathered, over the course of a
semester, from the students participating in the
"Business games" course, we will employ forms that
will be filled out at the end of every lecture. The
COUNSELING PROGRAM PREPARATION FOR ENTREPRENEURS AND MANAGERS ON THE SMES
CENTER REGION – ROMANIA
G. BOARESCU1
“Petru Maior” University of Tirgu – Mures, ROMANIA email: geta@upm.ro
More then ever, during the economical crisis, the entrepreneurs should to be more inventive, more flexible and they should fight for
their companies in order to increase the competitiveness, as a condition to survive. The (entrepreneurial) education doesn’t mean only
curricula development, but an entire Educational Plan that should comprise - beyond the curriculum - a compulsory training and
counseling module dedicated to the self-development. This paper aims to point out the entrepreneurial educational and training needs
in order to create an adequate counseling program for selected groups of the entrepreneurs and managers on the Romanian SMEs of
Center Region. Many people are not aware about the extent of their entrepreneurial potential (they can only guess, based on their
thoughts, behavior or results), so an assessment phase is absolutely necessary. The entrepreneurial development training has to be
based on the diagnosis of the entrepreneurial personality characteristics. The psycho-sociological approach is the most accurate way
to investigate the educational and training needs for the managers and entrepreneurs, according to the nature of the psycho-
pedagogical intervention used in training and counseling. The research is based on surveys and multiple case studies on over 250
managers and/or entrepreneurs of Romanian SMEs of Center Region. The major part of the investigated entrepreneurs has bachelor
or master degree. In despite of their instruction level, they have serious personal development needs. They also demonstrate a certain
necessities for education, information and entrepreneurial / managerial skills and competences development. The study results are
useful in order to create an efficient and targeted training and counseling program. Also, might be a resource for the subjects in order
to improve their self knowledge about own entrepreneurial personality and to act accordingly regarding the necessary attitude
modification, creativity, innovation capacity and competitiveness. There are many assistance programs for entrepreneurs, but often
the curriculum does not match all and/or real educational needs. The study aims to create the basis of necessary, sufficient
educational and development support, in order to supplement the individual missing skills, knowledge, abilities, competences or
information on the entrepreneurial and/or managerial activity.
Counterfactual thinking; decision making and risk taking; entrepreneurial personality; locus of control
This paper represents a part of an extended research The target group description
within the “ASIC” project that aims to improve the
adaptability and the competitiveness of the employers / The target group has the following characteristics:
employees of 254 SMEs of Romanian Central Region Gender:
(Mures, Harghita and Covasna counties). 78,54% - mail;
In order to identify the most appropriate way to 21,46% - female
assist them, an important preliminary research Position: 94% - managers as well as entrepreneurs;
intercession was made, aimed to find out the real Age:
assistance needs for the SMEs and for entrepreneurs / 35,45% - 41-50 years old
managers. The “assistance needs” refers to identify both 31,36% - 31-40 years old
the educational (curricula support) and counseling for 21,82 % - 51-59 years old
personal development as competitive entrepreneurs / 5,91% 25-30 years old
managers. 4,55 over 60 years old
0,91% - 18-25 years old
Objectives Residence:
85,19% urban
This paper will mainly focus on the identification of 14,81% rural
Education:
counseling needs that will substantiate the most accurate
71% - academic education and post university
counseling and assistance plan for the entrepreneurs /
graduates
managers: a counseling module dedicated to the self-
26% - high school and pre university graduates
development, based on the real needs discovered by
research. SMEs’ activity field
27% - trade
23% - industry
Design, methodology, approach 15% - general services
14% - constructions
The psycho-sociological approach was chosen to
investigate the educational and training needs for the
managers and entrepreneurs, according to the nature of
the psycho-pedagogical intervention used in training
and counseling. The research is based on surveys and Some relevant opinions of the target group
520 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The major motive at first start of the company According to the results,
77% - independence • In spite of high level of education (over 70%
23% - area’s opportunities of the respondents have bachelor and master
21% - professional fulfillment / prosperity degree), only 30% of them have successfully
19% - financial security carried out and implemented an EU financed
4% - social prestige project;
2% - tradition • 10% - unsuccessful applications;
• over 30% have no initiative to try to apply in
The target group’s perception about the state and spite of being informed about the business
public institutions supportiveness (fig.1): opportunities behind the financing offer;
.
• only 9% are willing to learn the project
The governmental and local authorities’ supportiveness management and / or to ask for specialized
regarding SMEs in your opinion is:
60.00 assistance on the field of EU financing.
52.34
50.00
42.99
20.28 25.81
from the non-entrepreneurs; a class of descriptors was
20.00
used, as follow:
10.00
4.15
1.38
Initiative
0.00
Very low Low Acceptable Good Vey good Accomplishments needs
Figure 2: Own company performance level perceived Self efficacy, self confidence and locus of
control
The factors perceived as determinant for the current Risk taking
level of performance in the company. Decision making, ambiguity tolerance
Proactive attitude
What factors are determinant for the current level of performance in
your company?
Counterfactual thinking
Self perceived creativity
Poor knowledge in business administration 4.99 Necessity for Autonomy
,
No foreign language known 4.19
Ambiguity tolerance correlates positively with business that should be financed. They got scared about
creativity and leadership style and negatively with risk “how” before knowing “what” is the money offer for.
aversion (non-entrepreneurial trait). Most part of the promoting actions on this matter is
Almost 80% of our target group shows risk aversion, practically in vane because doesn’t mach the real
having a strong feeling of discomfort when they have to informational and assistance needs.
decide based on lack of information. Issues that 20% Counterfactual thinking: This trait differentiates
tolerate the ambiguity that strongly relate to the between entrepreneurs and non entrepreneurs.
entrepreneurial personality. Counterfactual thinking evince that less than 50%
All the same, 35% of the subjects declare that their percent of the target group has this trait. (fig. 8). The
decisions are correct, in spite of diminished information real entrepreneurs are not hunted by remorse or regrets
level. There is a 15% discrepancy here, due probably to and much less ruminations for their failures by
the same difference between new problem solving and
routine. This is a good predictor for the entrepreneurial
personality. According to this parameter, once again,
our target group contains about 20% skilled
entrepreneurs and is consistent with the risk taking
predictor previously described (fig.7).
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the benefits that they generate using multimedia tutorials in the process of education and
especially higher education. One of the major objectives of the paper is to make a pertinent analysis that has a multimedia tutorial
both classical and educational process at the distance. Multimedia tutorial may seem a trivial matter. But its impact in the educational
field is very important. The paper underlines its link with distributed learning, using modern techniques of communication between
teachers and students remote from each other. It is based on how it is used in e-learning concept based multimedia elements on how
concepts can be related to Web 2.0 and Web 3.0. Another area in which the paper refers is the one related to research conducted in
training on the web or WBC. This work requires an interdisciplinary approach, the design of such works contribute to pedagogy and
computer science with other disciplines, such as systems theory and cognitive psychology. The paper refers to other achievements in
this field with customization to e-learning, but clearly distinguishable from this area both by way of achievement and by the use. The
paper is the result of a long period that was studied the impact that it presents these types of tutors both in the educational process of
education and living at a distance. This paper is based on research undertaken by the author for many years on the educational
process and its results show both in writing and graphic methods, the advantages of this technology on how to teach the students and
the impact of the multimedia tutorial to the teacher. The paper wants to have an impact on teacher-and traces suggesting some
guiding lines on the form of a multimedia tutorial so they have maximum efficiency. Areas on which work has an impact is that of
computer programming. Impact on student refers to how it uses multimedia tutorial as how to use current technologies so that it's
easier to learning. Opinion paper refers to all persons in the education process. The original sample from the solutions it proposes.
Work emphasize that learning systems via the Internet will become instruments of personality and creativity training users. The
training is personalized and distributed collaboration will streamline all human activities, including research, in the society based on
knowledge of the beginning of this century..
practical, being mentioned only when absolutely The WAVE (waveform) format is developed by
necessary to explain a situation applied; IBM and Microsoft. It is supported by all computers
d) In general, if software is permanently installed, in running Windows, and by all the most popular web
the tutorial makes reference to how the elements are browsers. Sounds stored in the WAVE format have the
using multimedia software; extension .wav.
e) A minimum of IT resources and documentation MP3 files are actually MPEG files. But the MPEG
(hardware / software and knowledge), time and format was originally developed for video by the
motivation are the only things necessary to acquire a Moving Pictures Experts Group. We can say that MP3
tutorial. files are the sound part of the MPEG video format. MP3
is one of the most popular sound formats for music
STEPS TO ACHIEVE A TUTORIAL recording. The MP3 encoding system combines good
compression (small files) with high quality. Expect all
your future software systems to support it. Sounds
Usually there are several steps to be followed in creating
tutorial [5]: stored in the MP3 format have the extension .mp3, or
1. establishment subject educational process that we .mpga (for MPG Audio). The AIFF (Audio Interchange
File Format) was developed by Apple. AIFF files are
will treat in the tutorial;
not cross-platform and the format is not supported by all
2. determining the target audience, whose address
web browsers. Sounds stored in the AIFF format have
tutorial. Be determined level of difficulty of the
the extension .aif or .aiff.
subject and estimated time of browsing. Although
they are not essential in terms of the tutorial itself,
they are still important because affects the degree of Multimedia video format
motivation to learn. Preferably a short tutorial that
covers a smaller topic, a tutorial that shows many The AVI (Audio Video Interleave) format was
things, but it requires an investment in effort / too developed by Microsoft. The AVI format is supported
long; by all computers running Windows, and by all the most
3. type of technology used. Creation of a tutorial that popular web browsers. It is a very common format on
shows a software application requires complex IT the Internet, but not always possible to play on non-
elements, for presentation its components; Windows computers. Videos stored in the AVI format
4. compiling, structuring and placing information in have the extension .avi.
the tutorial; The Windows Media format is developed by
5. tutorial test, and correct any mistakes conceptual Microsoft. Windows Media is a common format on the
and / or implementation that may arise Internet, but Windows Media movies cannot be played
on non-Windows computer without an extra (free)
MULTIMEDIA component installed. Some later Windows Media
movies cannot play at all on non-Windows computers
Multimedia is everything you can hear or see: texts, because no player is available. Videos stored in the
Windows Media format have the extension .wmv.
books, pictures, music, sounds, CDs, videos, DVDs,
The MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) format
Records, Films, and more. Multimedia comes in many
is the most popular format on the Internet. It is cross-
different formats. On the Internet you will find many of
platform, and supported by all the most popular web
these elements embedded in web pages, and today's web
browsers have support for a number of multimedia browsers. Videos stored in the MPEG format have the
formats. The support for sounds, animations and videos extension .mpg or .mpeg.
The QuickTime format is developed by Apple.
is handled in different ways by different browsers. Some
QuickTime is a common format on the Internet, but
elements can be handled inline, some requires a plug-in
QuickTime movies cannot be played on a Windows
and some requires an ActiveX control. Multimedia
elements (like sounds or videos) are stored in media computer without an extra (free) component installed.
files. The most common way to discover the media type Videos stored in the QuickTime format have the
extension .mov.
is to look at the file extension. When a browser sees the
To achieve multimedia tutorials we can use both
file extensions .htm or .html, it will assume that the file
Internet or INTRANET technologies based on what I
is an HTML page. The .xml extension indicates an
mentioned above. We can this depending on various
XML file, and the .css extension indicates a style sheet.
Picture formats are recognized by extensions like software technologies used. For image processing can
.gif and .jpg. Multimedia elements also have their own use the software like: Photoshop, Corel Drow, open
source products, like GIMP. To achieve animation we
file formats with different extensions.
can use FLASH product or software that captures the
screen image like Camtasia. About Camtasia software
we will write some words in the section “Video
Tutorials” of this paper.
Multimedia sounds format
Streaming Application
Create Tutorials With Multimedia Elements, Used In The Education Process In Higher Education 525
Development and growth opportunities for the Video tutorial is one of the important factors which
acquisition of video equipment has allowed the can improve the educational process. As we said in the
development of online educational resources. Making conclusions of this work, the video tutorial has a strong
interactive distance courses become a reality. Following impact on students. It can exist in two modes: video
a multimedia technology developed recently, namely tutorial can exist as a separate entity with no text. In this
streaming technology. Streaming data is transmitted in case several independent tutorials treat a particular
the form of streams, referring to the ability topic. Video tutorial appears in a website or a
an application to play synchronized media data streams presentation topic is presented in the context of web
in a continuous manner, while those streams are page or slide presentation. In both cases the video
transmitted to the client through a data network. tutorial is done with specialized software in this case.
Streaming media data divided into packets whose size is By offering audio-visual demonstrations, the teacher
suitable for transmission from one server to the client. can employ a video tutorial to develop a particular skill
Thus a user can view the package, uncompress the or strategy. Thus, video tutorials can be used as a
receive the second and third, without waiting for the end medium to encourage students to learn independently
of a transmission. outside the regular classroom schedule. The audio
explanation, and the visual demonstrations become
achievable goals that the learner can reach by
understanding and applying a similar process to produce
their own project. The video tutorial resources may used
to engage learners to explore their technical skills.
Exposure to software operation in the target language
might empower students to become familiar with the
target technical lexical items thus enabling them to
discuss their difficulties with their teacher or peer.
Hence the teachers’ role becomes one of facilitator or
guide when a student needs further assistance, and their
oral interaction has the potential to change from
language learning to purposeful communication
exchange whereby problem-solving is the focus.
Figure 1 Streaming Application
Video tutorials are not a new concept, emerging the Figure 2 Camtasia Studio
late 1960s,when Bandura, first commented on the issue
of self-modeling [2]. Since then, video modeling has After recording a screen activity, Camtasia stores the
been described as “instructional videos” or “video production on its editing working environment. During
tutorials.”Most video tutorials are produced as a strategy the editing stage it is possible to add narration or music,
to promote guidance in developing new skills and photos or other movie elements. Finally the finished
abilities, for example, to improve teacher training [3] or video tutorial is saved either on a CD or DVD and can
to prepare medical students for their internship also be uploaded on a website for online access (see
experience [4]. Also video tutorials have been used to Figure 2).
assess their effectiveness in improving students learning
efficacy [1].
526 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
CONCLUSIONS
Figure 3: Main Factors of Multimedia Tutorials Figure 5: Difference between normal learning process and multimedia
tutorial learning process
Larisa BUGAIAN
PhD, Technical University, Republic of Moldova,
lbugaian@hotmail.com
In a society based on knowledge, universities should correspond to the future needs of social and economic environment of the
country. The environment in which the university graduates will get a job is continuously changing, therefore is necessary to make an
effort in order to estimate and adjust the study programs offered by universities. A fresh engineer should get the necessary theoretical
and practical knowledge for conducting a technological process and, in the same moment, should have enough managerial knowledge.
Discussions with managers show that it is very important that a manager is developed in a universal manner. Professionals appreciate
a lot programs that develop skills for teamwork and effective communication, analytical skills and knowledge, decision making skills
and solution provision in wide range of managerial activities corresponding to business environment. Nowadays an engineer should be
educated through a combination of engineering and managerial competencies. All educational plans and university study programs
should be developed considering the social and economic requirement for the above mentioned competencies. Competencies that
reside from entrepreneurial education become very important in a society based on private property. Such questions as „What is the
content of courses that contributes to such an education? What is the best manner of lecturing such disciplines?” are actual even today
in the academic environment. It is necessary to rethink all educational plans and study programs at all university levels. In order to
perform these tasks it is necessary to explore the social and economic environment. The manner of lecturing should be made more
active and energetic by modern approaches; the method of lecturing professor-student should be avoided. The students should be
exposed to business case studies and motivated to find solutions to the problems that may occur in business practice. The study
programs for technical students should be focused toward entrepreneurial innovations. The studies should be oriented towards a
managerial career. The program designed in the proposed manner will prepare an engineer empowered with abilities for solving a
range of problems related to management, marketing, organizational behavior, communication and efficient negotiation, etc.
students must be encouraged to discuss and evaluate scientific and teaching activities of the business
these options. In this case the teacher must change their disciplines, as well as the technical.
traditional role which has pending the course, the role of Network for dissemination of methodology and
knowledge transfer in the role of facilitator of teaching practices. The idea of formation of such
discussion, so the benefit of the course is to facilitate networks is not new, but cases of practices implemented
knowledge transfer lecturer - student and student - in Moldova are very few. We give examples only
student. conference of some higher institutions. This would be a
Methodology and teaching techniques of good practice organizing conferences, the workshops
entrepreneurial disciplines not differ for Cycle I and under the aegis of the Development of Small and
Cycle II university, but the complexity of the issues Medium Enterprises (DSME). Creating and inter-
analyzed and discussed to advance from Cycle I to university projects is a very valuable experience in
Cycle II. improving teaching methods and techniques, change of
Knowledge and teacher’s experience. Unfortunately, opinions, finding and applying the best international
few teachers who take entrepreneurship courses have practices. Such an international project TEMPUS EU-
practice of creating and managing businesses. It is supported current is implemented by the Technical
understandable; it is very difficult to attract teaching University of Moldova, to achieve which are 5
persons who manage business activity. That’s why, it is universities from the country: SUM, CCUM, AESM,
very important to stimulate the different preparation ASUM, and S.U. Comrat.
methods involving businessmen with entrepreneurial
experience for students. SUCCESS FACTORS AND BEST PRACTICES
It is easier to attract people who have recently
started your business because in this case, is being
Assessment criterion of success is the significant
carried out a successful process of both parties. Young
involvement of students in university courses both
entrepreneur can challenge a specific case study focused comprehensive training to prepare future entrepreneurs
on the issues they face, thus learning from teachers and
and managers. This training would give fruit in the
students. This environment may continue and if
formation of new enterprises, particularly of those
someone of students then will have internship at the
innovative, by gaining the skills, business management,
firm.
by contributing to the technical and managerial
Cooperation between universities and enterprises. innovative processes in existing companies and
An efficient approach requires a gain of both parties: organizations. Upon graduation of higher education
teachers and students contribute to the transfer of
institutions the graduates should be permitted to enter
theoretical knowledge for entrepreneurs, and they in
on businesses to manage their own company or become
turn - with practical knowledge transfer. For a more
a good manager in managing a business. They should
positive effect of cooperation we should be geared to
make these moments as instructed by the accumulation
long-term, involving entrepreneurs and business leaders of theoretical knowledge and practical business and
as leaders in the internship and individual works. Their managerial skills. In other words they must be prepared
experience can be used to develop case studies,
for future creative work, technical innovation and
enterprise data - from developing issues and practical
management. Obviously, that this term is relevant not
problems. It is very welcome when curricula are
only for private sector activity, but also for public. The
established and discussed with experienced
society needs managers with a creative approach,
entrepreneurs. The enterprise can benefit from innovative and to all public stations.
collaboration from students involved in research and The number of entrepreneurial managerial-oriented
innovation activities, market research, marketing
courses is important, but it is very essential quality of
activities, etc. Taking into account these basic reasons,
training, the final product quality, theoretical and
can create close cooperation between SMEs in different
practical knowledge that it endorses the student. An
business fields. important factor of success is essentially the extent of
Mobility of teachers and researchers. Mobility of learning how traditional pedagogy was substituted with
teachers and researchers from top institutions and
a prevalence of balanced pedagogy managed by the
companies all left to be desired. Basically very few
creativity oriented substantially characteristic of a new
entrepreneurs give their consent to take courses at
managerial culture. Tests are, but there is much to do in
university, where pay is too low compared with the
this direction. Of course many barriers are present:
efforts that have made them. In addition, a number of bureaucracy, organizational inertia, conflicts between
not too many teachers fail to create a successful teaching and research work, low pay etc. In this context,
business. A good way is to attract entrepreneurs and
there are positive changes. More young graduates with
managers to take part-time courses. Another case would
new visions are convinced that modern theory and
be to attract teachers with appropriate knowledge and
practice are not on different sides, they go together, are
skills in practical work to be exercised corporate
combined in a modern environment that leads to
practical activities or as a trainer and consultant. success. Many managers are convinced that they need
Achieving such cooperation is very important for good school management, come to take master's degree
530 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
after several years after graduation of Cycle university master's studies necessary to have such structure of
license. Many of them studies having technical profile disciplines as masters to be convinced that they acquire
studies, come to master courses in economics and those skills and abilities needed to care profession he
management. Requirements to increase the number and desired, can tend to the managerial hierarchy in which
quality of economic and managerial disciplines come the manager dreamt coming to studies.
increasingly from the world of business is very good. Entrepreneurial and managerial training relevant to
Studies degree is just a little expensive. The quality of the proposal is:
master studies depends on the quality of tomorrow’s • In order to initiate the perspective of employment
national economy. We must learn from other countries and business Cycle I own all specialties license must be
that succeed better in this area. introduced to basics of entrepreneurship subjects;
• For Cycle II interdisciplinary masters courses
CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING OF BEST should be introduced that would generate innovative
PRACTICES FOR TEACHING MANAGEMENT business ideas, should stimulate the use of new business
COURSES opportunities;
• Interdisciplinary subjects for masters should
stimulate learning to grow their business;
There are several situations that require resolution:
• Approach to know what to do, must be
• The amount of hours with economic and
supplemented by practical actions addressing how to do;
managerial guidance in the total hours of instruction;
• Training of technical objectives must be oriented
• Expanding the staff shares would give greater
effect compared with traditional teaching? to action and forming of creative skills training;
• How to attract business and training • Teaching traditional “passive” management
disciplines of education should be changed in active
experience with specialties benefit to both parties,
training.
business and students?
• What teacher, technical or economic
discipline, takes courses in entrepreneurship and References
management education?
• How to form the professor teaching skills and 1. Torben Bager. Entrereneurship teaching and training in
Denmark: overview and policies. Erenet profile vol.II, no
entrepreneurial / management?
4, P. 3-8.
• How to merge rational training of managerial 2. Sanja Pfeifer. Report from the Harvard Business School.
and technical skills to students? Erenet profile vol.II, no 4., P. 47-50.
• How to find the optimum combination 3. Rusu B., Condurache Gh, Rusu C., Voicu M. Competences
of higher education - survey of final year students of
between the accumulation of theoretical knowledge and
engineering - economic specialization. Proceedings of the
that practice? 5th International Seminar on the Quality Management in
There are also other lines of discussion: Higher Education, 12-14 June, 2008, p.1-6.
• What is the strategy of teaching in this area?
• Understanding the need for cultural change, pass
from bureaucratic management to managerial way of
administration;
• Necessity for social responsibility in both
organizations, public institutions and in private ones;
• Developing of an action program with multiple
tasks optimum combination of traditional teaching
practice merge, teaching technical subjects involving the
accumulation of entrepreneurial skills, gaining technical
skills of traditional and new elements of innovative,
creative;
• Involvement of landowners, entrepreneurs,
managers in forming training plans and programs of
study;
• Attracting owners, entrepreneurs, managers to
contribute practical knowledge, experience and financial
resources to compensate for contacts with students,
professors and researchers.
CONCLUSIONS
Abstract: Nowadays the schools are becoming more businesslike on the labor market. That is why it is very important to adapt it to the
new economic environment. We are facing a profound economic crisis and it is crucially that the return to economic growth will not
result in future shortages of enterprise educated engineers. On one hand the phenomenon might appear due to the declining interest in
mathematics and physics amongst secondary school students (which is more or less the problem of higher education institutions), but on
the other hand it might appear due to the misunderstanding of the enterprise and entrepreneurial education, and we speak here about the
technical universities in Romania in general. That is why, our first aim is to try to give a clarification of the terms involved, in order that
higher education institutes could build proper strategies; the second aim is to outline some guidelines on the ways to achieve enterprise
and entrepreneurial education to the graduates.
which a given High Education Institution offers to Employability – as defined by the model depicted in
students. figure 1 represents something that would be essential to
Looking at the issue of engagement in employability all graduates.
from the students’ point of view, means taking into Generic employability skills (including enterprise
account how students reason in attributing value to their skills) are [1]:
higher education experience. - imagination/creativity
The issue of student engagement in employability is - adaptability/flexibility
therefore manifold – it depends onn the effectiveness of - willingness to learn
program design, implementation and delivery,
delivery which in - independent working/autonomy
turn depends on support and agreement from both - working in a team
management and academic staff. Just as crucially, - ability to manage others
students’ perceptions of how employability is delivered - ability to work under pressure
pressur
to them, ultimately determine
mine whether they will engage - good oral communication
with the program or not. - communication in writing writin for varied
The design of teaching and learning for purposes/audiences
employability therefore needs to offer an experience for - attention to detail
students, which allows them to see their employability - time management
as part of their core activities in higher education
educat [3]. - assumption of responsibility
bility and for making
In [4] and [5] are proposed some models going some decisions
way towards including all the necessary elements to - planning, coordinating and organizing
organi ability
ensure a graduate achieves an optimum level of The
he following two skills, which employers
employ have
employability. consistently named as important in graduate recruits
The USEM account of employability [6], is probably must be also included:
the most well known and respected ted model in this field. - ability to use new technologies
USEM is an acronym for four inter-relatedrelated components - commercial awareness
of employability: understanding, skills, efficacy beliefs
and metacognition (i.e. “cognition about bout cognition", or
"knowing about knowing”, which includes knowledge
about when and where to use particular strategies for
learning or for problem solving; writings on
metacognition can be traced back at least as far as De
Anima and the Parve Naturalia of the Greek philosopher
Aristotle)..
The USEM model forms part of a large body of
research-based
based scholarly work on employability.
However, this strength could also be perceived as a
weakness, in that it does not assist in explaining to non-
non
experts in the field, particularly the students themselves
and their parents, exactly what is meant mean by
employability. Figure 1. The EDGE model for employability developed in [7]
The most recent articulation of the employability
definition incorporates two important additional new
ENTERPRISE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN
elements: “satisfaction” and “success in the chosen
HIGHER EDUCATION
occupation. Satisfaction stems from the recognition that
from an individual’s perspective
spective a person may be
successful in his chosen occupation but not necessarily It is very important to recognize the distinction
satisfied. between “enterprise“ (or enterprise skills) and
Employability represents “a set of skills, knowledge, entrepreneurship.
understanding and personal attributes that make a In the most recent meaning of the term [8],
person more likely to choose and secure occupations in enterprise
nterprise supports the recognition of new market
which they can be satisfied and successful” [7]. opportunities as well as develops the opportunity to
This definition has been used as a starting point from change and develop at the individual, business and
which to develop a new theoretical and practical industry/sector levels.
framework for employability, called “The Key to This includes the exploration of new ideas and
Employability” model or the EDGE model, which developments from a corporate perspective (as
provides a clear,
ar, visual answer to the simple question of entrepreneurship, i.e. the term applied to describe such
what employability is, in a way that is easily accessible individuals, who are recruited
uited into or develop within
to both practitioners and students (figure 1.). existing businesses to perform the entrepreneurial role)
role
as well as the creation of new ventures, social programs
and the exploration of new opportunities.
opportunities
Entrepreneurial education for engineers 533
“Enterprise skills”, are defined in [8] as “the skills, on and adapt to opportunities, circumstances and
knowledge and attributes needed to apply creative ideas contexts [9].
and innovations to practical solutions”, which would
include skills such as “initiative, independence, WAYS TO IMPLEMENT THE CONCEPTS IN
creativity, problem solving, identifying and working on HIGHER EDUCATION
opportunities, leadership, acting resourcefully and
responding to challenges”. To find the ways of implementing the employability
Entrepreneurs want to engage in establishing new
an the entrepreneurship is becoming enormously
businesses. In order to do this, they need a particular
important, not just because of the state administration
and distinctive set of personal qualities and skills. Not
pressure on higher education institutes to demonstrate
all students and graduates would need to or even want to
their avowed commitment to these issues, but also
develop these to the same extent. because of the need to respond to the demands of
Being entrepreneurial seems to involve many of the students, parents and employers.
enterprise skills, but also something extra – the ability to
There are a number of responses that higher
generate creative ideas, take risks in implementing them
education institutes can adopt in this respect.
and be motivated to get them off the ground.
One could be to embed employability, including
However, entrepreneurship is not for everybody. In
“enterprise skills” as a fundamental component of
fact, some employers would not want employees with academic provision at all levels. This clearly makes
entrepreneurial flair – they do not want graduates, sense as a strong case can be made of the need for all
taking risks with their businesses and ultimately their
students and graduates to have access to opportunities
profits.
that will enhance their employability. It is also possible
Becoming an entrepreneur is not just about having
to identify methods by which such an objective can be
the right set of skills, but requires particular personal
achieved: for example, through work placements,
characteristics, including risk-taking propensity, which student projects with employers and career development
cannot be taught in a proper sense, but can be
related activities.
encouraged and supported.
It will also be essential that Higher Education
A key differentiator between entrepreneurship and
Institutions quality review processes reflect this strategy
enterprise education lies in the pedagogical approach
and that clear messages are provided to course
adopted [8]. Entrepreneurship education might, for developers about expectations of how employability
example, use traditional didactic approaches to the including “enterprise skills” need to be embedded in
teaching and learning of business ideas generation,
their programs, and how they can show where they are
business planning and the new venture creation process.
embedded and which activities relate to the
In contrast, enterprise education takes a more creative,
development of these skills.
innovative pedagogical approach that utilizes
Enterprise education encompasses a range of
experiential action learning methods. The scope and changes in educational practices as well as the nature of
practice of enterprise education is much broader than the teacher-learner relationship. Enterprise educational
entrepreneurship education, which is overly focused on
restructuring involves two dimensions:
how to start a business.
- changes in the curriculum
The role of the teacher/lecturer and the teaching
- changes in the techniques of teaching and
environment are of great importance when introducing
learning
enterprise education. Unlike traditional didactic Compared with traditional didactic educational
learning, enterprise education focuses on the process. methods, enterprise education shifts learner expectations
This can often be difficult for a teacher/lecturer who has
and can require teacher input to explain the processes
been accustomed to directing the learning process.
and issues involved.
The challenge for the teacher/lecturer is to develop a
It is important to recognize that enterprise
teaching style that encourages learning by doing, education is very much about reshaping and
exchange, experiment, positive mistake-making, renegotiating the terms and conditions of the whole
calculated risk-taking, creative problem-solving and
teaching and learning experience. The pace, methods,
interaction with the outside world. Students and pupils
tools and ways of working are changed for both teacher
also need to learn to adapt to this distinctive approach to
and learner. Traditional techniques of teaching and ways
teaching and learning, which requires interaction and
of working do still have a role to play. The balance of
independent thought. power between teacher and learner remains a constant
Entrepreneurship education advocates self- zero sum co-dependent relationship of equals. Using
employment and promotes new business start-up. The
techniques of enterprise education in no way diminishes
subliminal message is a libertarian one which argues
teachers authority or standing and equally, nor does it
that the state can only do so much and that the private
diminish students’ quest to learn.
sector and individuals are best placed to create wealth,
Entrepreneurship needs to be considered separately.
as well as to deliver innovation and change. In contrast, Entrepreneurship will be important to some
the emphasis of enterprise education pedagogy is on the students, and it is essential that for those students,
freedom of the individual to change, grow, develop, act
534 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The degree in I7 – The level of involvement of regarding the need for entrepreneurial education, to
which universities the teaching staff is growing; determine the level of the differences from the point of
are willing to I8 – The level of expenses view of needs, attitudes or opinions between different
Q3
form regarding an entrepreneurship is categories of students and professors, the distributed
entrepreneurs. very high especially in private questionnaire was anonymous, the researchers assuring
universities..
the respondents of the confidentiality of the information
they have provided. The focus was not on a particular
The descriptive quantitative research, the results of category of respondents, as we tried to catch certain
which are presented in the present paper, had as purpose realities with the purpose of identifying the causes of the
to describe and evaluate the coordinates regarding the deficiencies declared at the level developing a business,
level of knowledge of the concept of entrepreneurial as well as to formulate proposals in this field. From this
education between teaching staff as well as students. point of view, the researchers based their opinions on
Taking into consideration the location of the full confidence shown by the respondents who, thus,
development the research has been made in the field, assured them of their full cooperation.
and in what concerns the frequency of development, the
research has been made on occasion.
Right after setting up the objectives we aimed to CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS
define the hypothesis of the selective scientific research
presented in table 1, respectively to anticipate the The actual state of knowledge of entrepreneurial
answers to the matter under investigation. education and the perspective on the level and
One had into consideration when formulating the growth of entrepreneurship education
hypothesis the pieces of information and conclusions
taken from the previous exploratory research. A first objective of our research was to obtain
In order to set the sample we used the method of information that would give us an image of the actual
random sampling, which was based on a fixed sample state of knowledge and the need regarding
with restrictions (taking into consideration the entrepreneurial education.
organizational restrictions, we decided upon a sample of Within the frames of this objective we followed the
650 respondents). We can state that the sampling opinions of respondents that clearly state the fact that
method consists of a combination between the multi – entrepreneurship education has been growing
stages sampling method and that of the non- dramatically over the past years and is expected to
proportional stratified random sampling. Thus, for the continue growing. However, entrepreneurship remains
purpose of our research the following steps have been primarily elective. Entrepreneurship still tends to be
taken. offered in stand alone courses, rather than being
- The basis for sampling has been defined and integrated across the curriculum. A greater critical mass
constituted using a number of 1200 students and 100 of entrepreneurship faculty, research and course
teaching staff. material is needed.
- From the sampling basis we have eliminated all the Data processing leads to the conclusion that most of
students that have high level of absence as well as the respondents (47, 7%) agree to the fact that
the associated teaching staff. entrepreneurial education is important and 33, 2%
- The remaining subjects for each stratum have been express their total agreement towards our affirmation.
randomly selected until the size of the sample has This situation would make us point out the importance
been reached. of this subject in relation to business environment, in
A limit of the research derives from the choice made different ways of business development, as well as in
in completing the size of the sample, namely our choice strategic planning of curricula. Neutral opinion have
for the non-proportional version. Regarding this aspect, 6,5 % of the respondents, while 12, 5% expressed
we would like to argue that, even if, by using the non- disagreement and only 1 respondent (0, 9%) expressed
proportional alternative the subjects of the sample do total disagreement towards the upper affirmation.
not correspond to the statistic realities in what regards
their weight on the total number of students in Sibiu, we The average of the obtained responses (total
started from the hypothesis that certain strata, agreement – 5, agreement – 4, neutral – 3, disagreement
consequently that of the young students that have a – 2, total disagreement – 1) is 4, 14 and is situated in the
career ahead have a larger importance in the context of „agreement” zone, so that the hypothesis advanced
research, each of those having its own conceptions and before the research (I1 – Most professionals agree to the
perceptions. importance of entrepreneurial education in business
One must also specify that the basic objective of the development ) is confirmed. When a business is being at
selective scientific research has been to develop and test start up, regardless of its type, managers need to know
the instrument of research and not the precision of the the fact that being an entrepreneur is a full combination
estimates. of several factors among which is entrepreneurial
Considering the purpose of the completed selective education. In order to survive as an entrepreneur one
scientific research, that of capturing the existing realities must be able to develop a business with all its’
in the perception of students and teaching staff components. Entrepreneurial education is the only one
The Importance of Education and Knowledge Based Management in Entrepreneurial Activities 537
that can offer solid information, influencing the The second major objective of our research refers to
behaviour and decisions of the ones implementing it. A certain realities in Romanian universities regarding EE.
good idea is the door to success but entrepreneurial In order to reach this objective, we have placed in our
education is the key that opens it. questionnaire three questions. For starters, we intended
In the same time, within this objective, we followed to identify the degree in which have or intent to include
the attitude of respondents regarding the degree in EE courses in their curricula. The information obtained
which they consider that entrepreneurial education has shocked us. Most of the organizations included in
contributes to the improvement of the organizational sample (70%) do not have implemented courses of
performance in changing conditions. entrepreneurship within their curricula, only 20% of
The information obtained revealed the conclusion them declare they have some, and 10% consider they
that most respondents (50,0%) consider the fact that cannot state whether they have or not such courses.. The
entrepreneurial education and knowledge based hypothesis is in this way confirmed.
management sustains performance in change, 19,1% Another aspect of the research is the way
appreciate as useful such concepts, but not entrepreneurship is taught. Even though students and
indispensable and many respondents, (over 30%), teaching staff are not able to appreciate the percent,
consider such a these concepts not important. As a most of them state that entrepreneurship courses are
conclusion, the hypothesis (I2 – Most managers consider taught as stand alone subject, not integrated within the
that EE contributes decisively to the improvement of curricula and with different frequency. But another
organizational performance in changing conditions ;) is aspect is shocking: the number of respondent that show
confirmed. interest for these stand alone courses – more that 50 %
Still, we consider that this conclusion cannot be of the respondents never visited the entrepreneurship
generalized, because almost half of the respondents do course due to facts like lack of time, lack of interest
not consider as significant the level of knowledge because they don’t come with credit points or weekend
obtained from entrepreneurial education. position within schedule.
To be more detailed, we tried to establish the link As a consequence, the hypothesis we have
that exists between the students’ attitude regarding formulated before our research (I4– Most often
entrepreneurial education and the way they have stabile entrepreneurship is usually taught as a stand alone
professionalized working places. subject) is again confirmed
We have observed the fact that the percent of We can also see the high percentage of those not
students that consider EE sustains performance in taking interest in concept like entrepreneurial education
conditions of change - 75% in work in organizations or and this is especially due to the way this is taught. It is
run their own business and only 29, 5% only study. not well integrated throughout the curriculum, with the
As a conclusion, the research proves that most of the exception of the institutions that have been teaching for
students that have been working for some time or even longer periods of time. Until there is enough focus and
run their business consider entrepreneurial education critical mass of entrepreneurship knowledge and
important and a factor that contributes to a better material within an institution, it is difficult to leverage
activity. into other courses. A common path of evolution appears
In a competitive economy, characterized by to be: one or more faculty teaching entrepreneurship,
permanent changes, the role of entrepreneurial growing into a small group, creation of a department
education is to form entrepreneurs that gain success in and, in some cases, a centre.
their activity, that lead great business and even create
working places. As a general conclusion, we can state the fact that
It is true that the concept of entrepreneurship is often changes in business environment and competition
mistaken with SME (small and medium size generate different types of business. Any decision
enterprises). It is a common confusion that leads due to regarding an entrepreneurial activity must be based
the fact that SMEs’ are a visible sector of the economy especially on preparations. And this can only be
all over the world and especially all over Europe. obtained through formal education. This is a sufficient
These are not often growth oriented and the mistake reason to deeply study this field, to undertake research
is often due to the lack of a clear definition of and to develop material in order to better integrate
entrepreneurship. entrepreneurial education into higher education
We consider that the initial role of entrepreneurial curricula. We simply don’t know if a great idea is
education, especially in change and crisis is to be enough to survive in a changing, volatile business
regarded as a „compass” for individuals seeking their environment but what we know for sure is that the
way, implementing their ideas and leading others. future is unpredictable and the only way to consolidate
one’s position on the market is through strong
educational background.
The general conclusion of our scientific, selective
The degree in which universities include research is that most of the questioned subjects don’t
entrepreneurship courses in their curricula have access to entrepreneurial education..
538 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Abstract: The article highlights the aspects of organizational process redesign in research innovation activity in educational establishments and
research. Need to redesign is supported by: integration issues in European research programs and exploitation of research results at the level of
applied. Organizational process redesign in research innovation activity seeks major improvements on time, cost, quality, methods of implementation
and technology transfer. The article highlights the role of competitive analysis in decision making in research and innovation. Competitive analysis
are developed in accordance with multidimensional diagnosis. Benchmarking shows the close link between the concept of reengineering and Total
Quality Management concept. Performance evaluation of research innovation means to assess efficiency of this activity. In this sense indicators
should be indicators of process and no input / output.
nature of the problems they face. From the multiple The study of the evaluation of the research-
forms of the innovational management we mention: innovation activity from the perspective of the
- Elaboration and application of company global organizational processes spotlighted the followings:
strategies and politics with a pronounced Up to a certain economical ceiling specific to each
innovational dimension – strategic options related to country and organisation, the public financing of the
the organization, renewing and modernization; research and innovation is indispensable;
- Development to the superior management of the Over this ceiling, the private financing is essential
approaches and behaviours with an innovative for the increase of the economic performances;
character; A second economical ceiling can be over passed
- Diversifying and application on a scale as large as with mixed financings – public-private but into the
possible of the methods and techniques of context of the “right place and moment”.
stimulation and amplification of the creativity; Comparative studies between EU countries
- Proliferation of the partial innovative strategies demonstrated that the direct values of the innovation
(renewing of products, technologies, knowledge, performance indicators, as well as the aggregate
equipment). indicator based on which the European hierarchy is
Innovations based on knowledge are different of made are not enough to make an orientation toward the
other types by the number of their beneficiaries and by most adequate specific measures necessary to a state.
the achieving time, usually very long. There is a time Innovation comparative studies and those based on
between the apparition of a new knowledge and the indicators can determine the orientation toward the most
technology that uses it. We have to add the time until it adequate measures in good practice conditions.
arrives to be delivered on the market as products, Re-design of the organisational processes in the
processes or services. Two complementary research-innovation activity redefine the value, blocking
characteristics follow from here and they need to be on the market the competitors who cannot reproduce the
mentioned: business efficient model.
-Innovation based on knowledge is a controllable References
process because it is the result of conscientious, 1. Arnold J. , (1997), Existenzgrűndung. Von der Idee zum Erfolg, 3.
Auflage, Max Schimmel, Wűrzburg.
consequent searches; 2. Badea Gh. , (2009), Contributions towards the application of
-Innovation based on knowledge depends on the study reengineering in the comparative study of the research – innovation
of the market needs. activity in Romania and European Union, Politehnica University,
Motivation of innovation is justified by the fact that Bucharesti
3. Champy J, Reengineering Management, (1995), Harper Business
this one is one of the functions specific to the initiative Books, New York,.
in business, whether if it comes of an existing firm, a 4. Edquist C., (2005),Systems of Innovation. Perspectives and
public institution or a new business of family. When the challenges . In: Fagerberg J, Mowery D.C, Nelson R.R. The Oxford
innovation is understood as the effort to produce an handbook of innovation . Oxford University Press.
5. Hammer M., (1990),Reengineering Work:Don’t Automate,
important change, focused on a certain aspect in the
Obliterate, Haward Business Rev., p.104-112.
economical or social potential of an organisational 6. Hammer M., Champy J., (1993),Reengineering the Corporation:
structure, we deduce the strong intrinsic raisons A manifesto for Business Revolution, Harper Business Books, New
maintained by the extrinsic conditions and factors which York, ISBN 0-06-662112-7.
7. Hauschildt J., Chakrabarti A., (1988), Arbeitsteilung im
influence it.
Innovationsmanagement – Forschungsergebrisse, Kriterien und
Modelle, in zfo, 57, 378 – 388.
5. CONCLUSIONS 8. Johansson J.H, (1994), Business Process Reengineering, Ed.
John Wiley&Sons, London.
9. Johnston, R., Bate, D., (2003),The power of strategy innovation,
Re-design the organisational processes in the Ed. American Manag. Association, U.S.A.
research-innovation activity represents a necessity 10. Macharzina. K., (2002), Unternehmungsführung, Das
internationale Managementwissen. Wiesbaden, S.207.
sustained by the issues of the integration of research 11. Ojasalo, J.,(2008), Management of innovation networks:a case
programs and themes in the European research study of different approaches, European Journal of Innovation
programs and capitalization of the research results et the Manag., Vol. 11, no. 1, p.51-86.
level of the applicant unities. Re-design of the 12. Per Sundström, Zika-Viktorsson, (2009), Organizing for
innovation in a product development project: Combining innovative
organisational processes has in view to obtain major and result oriented ways of working, A case study, Inter. Journal of
improvements regarding the cost, quality, modalities of Project Management, Vol.27, no. 8, p. 745-753.
implementation and technological transfer. 13. Zait D., Velicu S., Corabieru P., Corabieru A., Vasilescu
The decisions in research and innovation are based D.D.,(2008),Tendences and solutions regarding the development of
the metallic products for auto-vehicles, Metalurgia International, vol.
the competitiveness studies elaborated in concordance XIII, nr. 12, Ed. Stiintifica FMR, p. 76-81, ISSN 1582-2214.
with multidimensional diagnosis. Evaluation of the
performance of the innovation –research activity means
the evaluation of the efficiency of this activity through
indicators. For the increase of the evaluation relevance it
is necessary that the process indicators weighting is
greater than the inlet/outlet indicators weighting.
PRACTICE – THE LINK BETWEEN EDUCATION AND PRODUCTION
Objectives: This article presents some proposals on improving the productive practice of the students attending licensed university lectures and from
a questionnaire addressed to the 4th students from the Faculty of Civil Engineering from Cluj.
Prior Work: The questionnaire observed the elements regarding the students’ interest on productive practice, feedback on how the productive
practice is being done in the present, testing some of the authors’ proposals on productive practice, students’ proposals on productive practice.
Approach: The technique chosen was that of the questionnaire in order to obtain the point of view of those who benefit from this practice, as well
free discussions with the students who attended the practice hours.
Results: Creating proposals to improve the way the productive practice is being done by the student.
Implications: The proposed model will increase the chances for the students and companies to get to know each other with implications on knowing
the employability chances for the graduates.
Value: Formulation of proposals for doing the productive practice in the first 4 years of university study cycle.
made led by a tutor (practice responsible person) who
leads the works and guides the students in preparing the
plans.
INTRODUCTION
The second stage of the practice is carried out
at the end of the third year having also a total of 120
The legal framework for conducting the hours and is named Productive Practice. Students who
productive practice of students is represented by Law have completed the third year of study, have already
no. 258/2007, regarding the practice for pupils and another vision on the field of construction (as they are
students in all educational units, both undergraduate and studying a range of specialties as well implementing
university level. In the context of the law, productive methods and technologies) and, in this context,
PRACTICE is defined as the activity done by pupils and productive practice should have an important impact on
students according to the curriculum in order to verify students starting with knowing the working
the applicability of the theoretical knowledge acquired conditions and how the company is organized to
by them during the training program. Organizing and understanding the materials engineering and of the
conducting the practice is performed under a related equipment.
collaboration framework contract or under an agreement
concluded between the organizer and the practice
partner. QUESTIONNAIRE – ASSESSMENT OF
In case of universities, the organizer is the HOW PRODUCTIVE PRACTICE IS DONE BY
institution itself and practice is being done using a STUDENTS
syllabus. The curriculum includes both the number of
hours necessary to conduct the practice as well the form To get an accurate picture of traineeships and
of evaluation, grading and crediting. In the curriculum is to improve any weaknesses, a 16 questions
also specified the practice period. questionnaire was initiated at department level,
According to art. 9 of Law no. 258/2007, the questions divided into 3 sections for students. The
practice included in the curriculum is compulsory and is questionnaire addressed the fourth-year students in
a graduation condition. particular because they have already the experience of
the practice program which they attended.
The first set of questions referred the
HOW THE PRODUCTIVE PRACTICE IS DONE
importance of productive practices and how companies
TODAY
should be selected for conducting the practice.
Another set of questions referred to the
In order to propose an improvement in practice students' opinion on how the productive practice is
during the faculty years, we must start with a brief being done.
overview of how the practice is done today. And in the third part of the questionnaire, the
Practice in the Faculty of Civil Engineering questions were related to the person questioned, his/her
from Cluj-Napoca is divided into two. First stage of gender and background.
practice is carried out at the end of the first year having After the results of the questionnaire were
a total of 120 hours and is called Topographic centralized, some conclusions may be presented through
Practice. The purpose of this stage of practice is to a graphic presentation as follows:
familiarize students with the topographical equipment The first set of questions referred to the
and, furthermore, to survey and create plans with importance of the productive practice, and where and
benchmarks or contour lines of the specified areas. how students would prefer to do the practice.
In general, for this kind of practice, teams are Regarding the students’ opinion towards the
544 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
role of productive practice, the answers were divided reached at question number 10 which refers to how the
approximately equal between: practice activity is being done and
an at question number
- It offers the opportunity to know future 15 which refers to the field where they would like to do
potential employers the stage of practice (production, design, research, and
- It helps with getting familiar with the real education). For question
uestion 12, the option which is chosen
working environment more often by the students is the number 3 in which
- It helps in understanding ng some notions students believe
eve that during practice activity they should
explained in classes. participate, through visits, to as many works related to
Regarding the practice venue (Which is the the field they are preparing for, and for question 15 they
MAIN criterion by which you would prefer to choose have chosen design as field for their practice.
the company/institution where to do the practice?) and
the type of company where they would like to do the FU
practice, most of the answers were ‘at companies with a 8
reputation’.
The second set of questions referred to the 6
duration of practice and the type of practice (production,
design etc.) and, from the third set of question, it was 4
taken into account the students’ background (urban or
2
rural) in order to highlight how much the students are
informed about what awaits them after graduation, 0
respectively the percentage that will choose design,
1 3
execution or research. first chart from Picture 1 refers 5 7
to the results obtained from male ale individuals with an
urban background (MU), the second chart from Picture
2 refers to the female individuals with an urban 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DA NU
background (FU) and the third chart from Picture 3
refers to male individuals with a rural background
(MR). For two of the questionnaire
nnaire questions, students Picture 2
had to choose all the options they considered to be
necessary and thus two charts were made (Picture 4 and In chart 3, the maximaima are also reached at
Picture 5) to highlight the effectiveness of their question number 1 which refers to the level of practical
participation in the stage of practice as well the degree applicability of the subjects studied during faculty, on a
of their involvement
lvement in the activities of their host scale from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high), and at question
institutions during practice. For the remaining questions number 12 which refers to the field the students go to
from the questionnaire, the students had to choose the after
er graduation, production or continuation of studies,
main advantage, criterion, quality etc. referring to the and at question number 16 which is asking them to
stage of practice and the way this is done. specify if they know or not a certain company where
In the chart from Picture 1 and in the chart they could do their practice. In case of the first question,
from Picture 3, we notice that the maxima are reached to the answer was rated 4 which shows that the subjects
question number 11 which refers to the practice during studied during faculty have a high practical
the faculty years. According to the chart, the majority of applicability. In case of the question 12, most answers
the students gave a negative answer on the duration of were 1 meaning production, and the answer for question
practice considering that the number of practice hours 16 was the negative one, most of them having no
proposed in the curriculum is not enough. knowledge of companies where they could coul do their
practice.
MU
15
10
5
0
1 3 5
7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DA NU
Picture 1
References
Iuliana DIMOFTE
iuliana@doipitici.ro
The aim of the present paper is to present the modality of improving the students' professional level by doing practice in firms. The main
objective is to raise the students professional level by their searching of possibilities to increase the work productivity in a clothes factory.
The possibilities of increasing the work productivity were approached within a case study.The students achieve a study , starting from the
influence framework:machines, human resources, production process, work process. The students identified ways of improving the
production and work processes in the textile factory.They estimated the increasing of the work productivity in the firm . By this study the
students will have the possibility to apply the theoretical issues learnt during the classes, to develop their creativity , to know the firm and
the workteam , and to find a job in the firm. The effects of applying the improving work measures proposed by the students to raise the
work productivity in the firm are: increasing the work productivity, improving the communication within the firm, raising the employees
professional level.
Key words:students, firm, work productivity, production process, work process
work. Figure no. 1 shows the matrix of influences:
machinery, human resources, production process, the
INTRODUCTION work process. The following abbreviations were used:
M- machinery, HR - human resources; PP - production
In the current context of Romanian education, higher process; WP - work process.
professional training of students is a necessity in order To generate new growth of labor productivity in the
to integrate them in a dynamic and competitive society. company, the students have used the following stages of
The purpose of this paper is to present how to improve research methodology: data collection necessary for the
the professional training of students through practice in research of the labor productivity growth in the clothing
companies. Raising students' training is done by their company; the analysis and interpretation of data
research of the possibilities of increasing labor collected; developing solutions for labor productivity
productivity in a clothing company where the students growth in manufacturing; implementing solutions for
went for practice and training. labor productivity growth in the company.
Following research conducted in business, students In identifying solutions to increase labor productivity
have identified measures to improve production process students have completed an analysis of the production
and working in a clothing factory. There was estimated process, labor process and identified a need for
a labor productivity growth in the manufacturing improvement and improvement measures; they have
clothing company in study. analyzed the possibilities of applying improvement
measures, implementation of improvement measures
CASE STUDY and discussed the effects of measures to improve the
“Conf” company.
The Company in question is a private clothing
company in Romania, the company’s main activity is Collecting data on technical facilities
the production of garments, especially shirts for men.
The dominant work system is lohn. Collecting data on technical facilities existing in the
Privacy considerations have led us to use a symbolic company was conducted through interviews with 8
name ‘Conf” for the company in study. heads of department and the consultation of the
Nationally and internationally there is a decrease in company’s documents of Business Technology.
production and export, particularly in the clothing Information obtained indicates an average equipment
industry. Currently, managers of companies in the company, with opportunities to increase labor
clothing industry are facing a fierce battle to maintain or productivity by increasing the degree of automation
gain markets for their products. To survive in this machinery, particularly in the production sections.
competitive climate, the company will be forced to
adopt solutions to increase labor productivity, improve Collecting data on machinery locations
communication within the company, by strengthening
team work, raising employee training. Obtaining information on machinery location was
In this company a total of 12 students from the obtained using observations and consultation of the
University Department of Textiles carry out their company’s documents of Business Technology.
productive practice. It was observed that there is a good location of
To raise the level of student training, company machinery products in the region II where assembly is
management asked them to find solutions to increase carried out on large parts of clothing products.
labor productivity in the company. It was found that the location of the machines is done in
For this task, students conducted a research on the order of technological operations. Based on
possibilities to increase productivity in the company and observations made in the company and on the
conferred the influences from matrix analysis: consultation of the technological processes for cutting,
machinery , resources, process manufacturing, process manufacturing and finishing of "the men shirt " , there
548 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
were represented the machinery locations. It was noted that the supply of materials at the
The area where small parts processing is carried out workplace is done manually in all production
machine location was found on operation. departments.
Based on the data obtained, a chart analysis of the
overall data of the technological process was made. Collecting data on machinery maintenance
Collecting data on material flow
Getting information was achieved through individual
Data collection was conducted through interviews interviews with 3 heads of department and head of the
with heads of departments, applying a questionnaire to company driver, observations and documents
obtain information on the logistics activities of technological research .
transportation and storage of materials in The most frequent causes of disturbing the sewing
manufacturing, consulting technological documents and machines are the small key misuse (70%) and their wear
observations. The questionnaire was applied to a (30%).
random sample of 20 people from business management
departments. 20 responses were obtained. Responses Collecting data on quality control
validated (20) were statistically processed using
computer application Excel. Collection of information was achieved through
It considers that inadequate transport. Transport in individual interviews with one quality control manager
the job is done with push-chairs, between jobs using and five heads of production lines, technological
trolleys and desks interoperable, between departments is observation and the consultation of the company’s
done by electric cars and transport trucks. It was found documents of Business Technology.
that storage of raw materials is carried on the shelves It was found that in all operations of sewing
with containers. Storage of finished products shall be in technology the technological control is carried out.
finished products warehouse on pallets, in boxes, It was found that the most common manufacture
containers and mobile media (hangers). Due to mainly error is the failure to complete the correct stitch on
working in the lohn system, storage within the different parts of the men shirt.
companies is short, stocks of finished products are
inexistent. There were identified the processes and Collecting data on job organization
product flows.
To gather information, there were conducted
Collecting data on human resources flow personal interviews with 5 heads of section,
Collection of information was achieved through observations and the consultation of the ”Conf”
observation and consultation of documents of Business company’s documents of Business Technology.
Technology. It was found that: simple automatic sewing
It was noted that the location of jobs in various machines used only to achieve the hem stitching and the
sections are performed in continuous flow. inclosing of the back of the shirt in the inset; the simple
It was found that an employee serves sewing machine, sewing machines do not have additional facilities, the
except for tandem automated sewing buttons and sewing head, tops sewing machines do not have
buttonholes, where an employee serves both machines. additional features (different shapes extension) to
reduce time for achieving technological operations;
Collecting data on technology flows there are no humidification and air conditioning systems
in the company.
Data collection was done through observation and
the consultation of the ”Conf” company’s documents of Collecting data on human resources
Business Technology.
There was identified a continuous stream of To collect information an interview conducted with
production of shirts for men and blouses for women. the human resources manager of the "Conf" company,
Although the main type of business organization of observations and technological research of the "Conf
production is wide range production, the company “company documents.
produces garments in short series, too. The observations showed that there was a long
period of time taken to achieve product processing
operations of the collar on men shirt (8.68 min). It was
Collecting data on supply, delivery and internal noted that the implementation for the phase” application
transport back on the collar “(1.59 min) is lost for organizational
reasons. To measure time to achieve the phase
Data collection was done by instant observation and "application on the back of the neck" has used timing
the consultation of the company’s documents of process of working time(Pașa,2003).
Business Technology. It was found that there are fluctuations in
There was found an automatic loading machinery for employment in the ”Conf” company .
stacking of material at the borings table.
Raising Students’ Professional Level by Doing Practice in Firms 549
To raise the level of training of employees, the analysis allows the identification of the following
company has organized training programs such as the improvement needs: technical facilities, circulation of
professional qualification- level 1. materials, movement of human resources, supply,
delivery and transport, equipment maintenance, job
Data collection on information management organization, human resources, production and storage
facilities, work process.
Collection of information on information
Elaborating solutions to increase labor productivity
management was achieved through observation and
consulting company documents.
Students find these solutions to increase labor
In the "Conf" company there was noted the existence
productivity in the company: acquisition of simple
of large amounts of technical information on raw
automatic sewing machines, the purchase of a
materials, control, design and technological design,
computerized transport system, buying software to store
launching in manufacturing, delivery orders,
raw materials, acquisition conveyor belt to supply jobs,
manufacturing and finishing products.
purchasing additional facilities for the sewing head , the
Observations made in the company show that there is
purchase of sewing operations, counter extensions to
an enterprise-wide computerized system.
rear inset, slit the sleeve performance on the men shirt,
improving the system of rewards and wages, purchase
Collecting data on production and storage spaces
of humidification systems and air conditioning in
departments, organizing training courses for the
Collecting data on production and storage facilities
professional training of employees.
was done by observation and consulting company
Implement identified business improvement
documents.
measures to boost productivity by 27% and labor
The technique used to gather information was by
savings of 8.5 staff as a result of time savings achieved.
using a video camera recording in the location of the
polling machine clothing companies(Pașa,2003).
Implementation of solutions to increase labor
The observations showed that the company has linear
productivity
processes of producing garments.
In the company there were identified a stock of raw
The following steps are suggested for the
materials and a warehouse for finished products.
implementation of solutions: measures to improve
planning, identifying and studying job offers, setting
Collecting data on the work process
human resources, material and financial resources
needed to implement solutions, determining the human
Data collection on the work process was done by
and economic potential available to the company,
observation and consulting the company’s documents.
preparing the workspace for implementing solutions,
In order to obtain data on time spent to achieve the
staff training for work in new conditions resulting from
sewing operations, there have been used methods of
solutions; moving from manufacturing companies, trade
recording time: the timing of working hours, working
fairs, exhibitions and similar companies that have
time and time for using the machine, instant
machinery and equipment transport systems; purchase
observations on working time and time for using the
equipment, transportation systems, humidification
machine, filming work processes(Pașa,2003). There
systems and air conditioning facilities as well as
was made a schedule for the analysis of the employee’s
additional equipment; assembly machinery, transport
work, to study the work process operations from the
system, humidification systems and air conditioning
simple sewing operations(Rusu,1980). It was noted that:
facilities in wards and additional equipment, technical
the useful operating time of the production phase of the
and organizational measures to increase labor
sewing machine for the” behind the front collar
productivity, operation of machinery, transport system,
application” means 31% of the total time of execution;
installations, conduct training courses for employees;
the share of transport time benchmarks in their
evaluation of implementation solutions; correcting
processing operations, the manufacture of shirt men,
failures reports .
representing 27% of the total stitching, time processing
Applying research methodology leads to these
about 71% and 2% during control.
effects: increased labor productivity by 27%, relative
economy of 8.5 staff, higher quality of processing their
parts and assemblies, reducing stress on the side of the
Analysis and interpretation of data collected in the
employees, raising employee motivation, reduce staff
“Conf “ company
coming and going in the company, reducing employees
To determine the need to improve production process claims, raising employee training, improving
and working in the company in order to increase labor communication within the company.
productivity, there have been identified and analyzed
the strengths and weaknesses of the company. Data Conclusions
550 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
M HR PP WP
Figure 1: The matrix of the influences of the M, HR, PP, WP, used for the
study of the possibilities to raise labor productivity
ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE
KNOWLEDGE BASED SOCIETY
1. European and national premises regarding business object. The university is led by the teaching
knowledge based society staff, by self-management and not by professional
The European leaders have met in Lisbon in 2000, management. From this perspective the university is
announcing their intention to make Europe the "most not an entrepreneurial or management organization.
competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy in The entrepreneurial character is given by the
the world" by 2010 (A. Toffler, 2006). Lisbon Strategy management style used and also by entrepreneurial
highlights the current priorities at EU level: Investment activities undertaken to fulfil the mission of education.
in research; Science and innovation; The development
of a competitive business environment; Labor market 3. Entrepreneurship aspects in the study cases
adaptation according to the demographic challenges reported in EUEREK project
and energy policy and climate changes. Romania's The attitude and activities of entrepreneurs arise from
National Strategy for CDI is set in the National innovation and risk taking if we expect further
Research, Development and Innovation Plan for 2007- benefits. The funding is the key indicator in the
2013 (PN II), approved by HG 475/2007. In PN II management of any business activities because any
vision, the role of the national system of CDI is to innovation requires risks taking and has an economic
develop science and technology to increase economic dimension. Universities are institutions that advance
competitiveness, improve social quality and knowledge their reputation and their wealth (patrimonial and
accumulation of recovery potential. human) by creating and disseminating knowledge. If
the innovations that universities bring and the assumed
risks lead to a faster creation of knowledge and to their
2. The university seen as an entrepreneurial transfer in economic and social practice, then their
organization that provides education, research and entrepreneurship contributes towards the knowledge
facilities for students based society. Any organization with adequate incomes
Integration of research along with education in the hard compared to the needs and the aspirations has a
core of academic mission was called "the first minimal motivation to engage in risky innovations. In
university revolution" (Etzkowitz, 2003, quoted by this case, if a university is not authorized to retain and
Mircea Miclea in Higher Education in Europe, manage autonomous their own generated revenues, it is
UNESCO CEPES Vol. 31, no. 2 July 2006 p. 104) . not an economic incentive to supplement the budgetary
The new universities were already moving towards the allocations through the sale of academic services. The
second revolution that tends to transform universities financial constraints and opportunities are the key
into genuine business providers of education that can factors of the entrepreneurial activity orientation. In
perform research and develop economic activities such this respect, the case studies reported in the countries
as facilities offers for students. These new changes are participating in EUEREK suggest that severe financial
characterized by expressions such as "the constraints may inhibit creative entrepreneurship
entrepreneurial university," “academic capitalism", because many innovations require initial investment
"intellectual entrepreneurship". Clearly, the university and some financial risks that institutions with limited
as a public utility institution with the mission to resources are not willing to take. Typically, any
provide education can be seen in terms of organization additional income arising from research and teaching is
and management as an enterprise with a specific cashed at the university central level and not at the
552 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
level of university’s faculties, departments or work being research oriented) has led to permanently
teams. Such arrangements do not encourage financial balance, despite the constraints of public
entrepreneurial behaviour at individual level or financing and entrepreneurial activities which are
working group’s level in the university. Governments assumed. This, in part because of the reserve held from
can stimulate entrepreneurial behaviour of universities the income surplus obtained following the variety of
by the mechanisms used for allocating resources. If income generating activities. In 2004, the accumulated
they are allocated for the academic services provided, reserves held attained almost 40% of revenues. Even
for the aspirations and achievements in research or for so, the university could not afford taking significant
student’s recruitment, the higher education institutions risks. In Nottingham University the financial strategy
are encouraged to be oriented to the specific market and the internal allocation of resources are closely
and entrepreneurial behaviour. aligned with the management strategic objectives. The
The major financial indicators for assessing the strategic objectives to increase disposable incomes for
potential of the business activities of the universities Nottingham University leads to initiate the following
are: the source of incomes (public represented by entrepreneurial activities:
budgetary allocations and private represented by for - funding of voluntary in advance retirement plan of
their own incomes), the mechanisms by which incomes staff who contribute less significantly to revenues
are received, the procedures for allocating resources growth of university;
within the institutions. - initial funding of those teaching positions that can be
The entrepreneurship dimension in universities can be auto-financed through results of educational processes
measured by their entrepreneurial behaviour. Five and through research findings;
different categories of entrepreneurial behaviour can be - the coverage of at least the costs of providing
observed in the EUEREK project research services to sponsors and other customers;
- private universities that have the advantage of the - use of a part of university invested capital in projects
new entrants into higher education (English associated with the process of teaching, research and
universities have private profile and are similar to the social facilities in order to improve and maintain the
U.S. universities where governing organisms are pace of development in the future.
similar to corporate management boards); - increasing the proportion of foreign students who pay
- institutions highly involved in terms of full school fees.
entrepreneurship stimulated by government initiatives; - finding and developing opportunities for exploitation
- major independent institutions involved from the through government authorities and organisms the
entrepreneurial perspective but not directly stimulated research results obtained by teaching staff;
by government initiatives; - funding allocations to departments based on the gains
- small departments, faculties and research centres; made by these for university, meaning practicing an
- education with the help of associate teaching staff, incentive funding at departmental level, depending on
research and counselling by involving each individual the incomes generated.
academic staff. These income generation strategies are accompanied
In 2004, the institutional case studies had very different by procedures for internal allocation of resources
income profiles. Budget income reached rates of 70% including:
in universities in Finland, Poland, Spain to 0% in - The installation of a new integrated funding and
private universities from Moldova, Poland, Spain and acquisitions system for university to streamline the
UK. Study fees are complementary to state budget financial processes;
funding in these extreme cases ranging from over 90 - Registration of all facilities at direct costs of
per cent in the private universities in Poland and Spain acquisition, including cost of long-term maintenance;
to zero in Finland and Sweden. The percentage of non- - The distribution of equipment obtained through
government source of income from research ranges grants based on a formula (proportional);
from over 60 per cent in one of the UK (Nottingham) - The selective limitation of cover vacancies ensuring a
institutions to zero in some Moldovan and Polish balance between the need to reduce costs and finding
universities. These differences depend on the different the source of financing by the academic staff and
legal and political situation of universities in these related activities (through self-funding or other explicit
countries. For example, in Finland and Sweden the resources);
educational activities of universities are still regarded - The consideration of internal model for allocation
as a public service and they are not allowed to charge functions of the available resources.
fees for any of their regular teaching activities, In their own/internal model of resources allocation at
although recent changes in their legal status now the University of Nottingham, the departments
permit universities to charge some fees for courses that (faculties) receive their gross income from which they
are not part of their mainstream academic work. At the have to pay their costs proportionally to: (1) their
other extreme, the private universities in England, consumption of utilities (energy, maintenance, library
Poland, Spain and Moldova are almost entirely and other important services), (2) their own share in the
dependent on student fees. The financial strategy of strategic budget managed by university. The purpose of
private university in Nottingham (characterized as this work style is to increase transparency of costs for
Entrpreneurial Activity of Higher Education Institutions in The Context of Knowledge Based Society 561
the education services provided, so that the years, transforming the campus. Key developments
individualized services for departments and faculties to include new academic centres of excellence, student
be more effective and efficient. Nottingham University social facilities, and improved teaching spaces and one
is recognized as a research-oriented university always of the largest student residences project in the UK with
trying to transfer innovations into commercial products 3385 new rooms. The latest phase of building has
by investing in selling of intellectual property rights resulted in a further 963 ‘eco friendly’ rooms which
obtained. Basic strategy is to create and transfer have won a number of environmental awards. The
knowledge to students and commercial exploitation of revolving credit facility (together with the University’s
their intellectual property. The importance of research own resources) will be used to drive the next cycle of
is demonstrated by creating the Office for Research capital investment at Lancaster. Future plans include:
and Innovation Services, which has 45 employees. The further development of the Lancaster University
entire entrepreneurial activity research is valued at 222 Management School, new facilities for the Lancaster
million per year which is approximately half of total Institute of Contemporary Arts, new facilities for the
revenues. About 15-20 million of the revenues from School of Health & Medicine, new sporting facilities.
entrepreneurial research are from industry. University Lancaster University was the first UK University to
holds equity capital or is a partner in 27 satellite float a Debenture on the stock exchange and launched
companies (spin-out companies). This holding of its £35 million First Mortgage Debenture Stock in
corporate shares expresses explicitly an entrepreneurial April 1995. This was to fund capital investments on
behaviour. the campus which included an extension to the existing
Lancaster University, which represents an illustrative Library and the creation of the Ruskin Library. Around
case study for entrepreneurial behaviour, has £45 million will be spent on redeeming the outstanding
announced plans to refinance its 1995 Debenture 9.875% debenture, including compensation to the bond
Stock. The redemption will be effected through a new holders for redeeming the bond early. The existing
facility agreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland bond is due to mature in 2025.
(RBS). The University has also secured credit
approved terms from RBS for a revolving credit 4. Financing and entrepreneurial activity aspects of
facility to support its ongoing Capital programme. universities in Romania
Officials of university (Professor Paul Wellings, Vice Nowadays, in order to be considered prestigious
Chancellor of Lancaster University universities, they should be aggressive, innovative,
http://domino.lancs.ac.uk/info/lunews.nsf/r/8cf2) proactive and responsive to the needs of individuals
commented that the refinancing would give Lancaster with interest in education (students, employers, local
greater flexibility to pursue its strategic plan. It seams communities etc.). This means that along with
that this refinancing will give Lancaster opportunities education and research, an entrepreneurial university
to invest further in exciting new projects to improve should be deeply involved in economic and social
the student experience, boost research and maintain development of the region and country becoming an
excellent teaching. On the other hand, executive agent for promoting the concept of knowledge based
directors (Sarah Randall-Paley, Lancaster’s Director of economy. University entrepreneurship has promoters
Finance both inside and outside the university. Outside the
http://domino.lancs.ac.uk/info/lunews.nsf/r/8cf2) said university: first, the government imposes, using public
that the timing of the refinancing was a prudent move funding, the involvement of universities in the
for the University. Current rates of interest are economic and social development and on the other part
currently low, much lower than when the University the economy expects knowledge profit-making to
issued its bond 14 years ago so it makes sense for increase its competitiveness on market. Within the
Lancaster to make an arrangement which will result in university: first, students as customers or consumers of
both better terms and in greater flexibility to realise its services of higher education requires a better quality of
strategic objectives. Lancaster’s financial security the educational process and a greater awareness of their
places the institution in the top group of UK social and learning needs, and on the other hand,
universities. Over the past 7 years the University’s academic departments and colleges have become more
compound annual growth rate has averaged 9.3%, aware than ever that their reputation depends on the
research income has increased by 68% and dependence relevance of their work in the eyes of those who have
on HEFCE funds has fallen to 29% as income streams interest in the educations mission (stakeholders). In this
have diversified. In 2007, the University’s credit rating context, universities are focused on the following
was raised to 'A' from 'A-' by Standard & Poor's aspects: the reaction of universities on the specific
Ratings Services. The new rating reflects the markets in which they operate; the diversification of
University's underlying strengths especially its financial resources types; the expansion of
reputation for teaching and research, consistent overall entrepreneurial activities and the stimulation of
student demand and strong financial performance entrepreneurial attitude in the academic departments;
relative to its peers. Lancaster is one of only a few UK encouragement of an entrepreneurial culture within the
Universities to have a public credit rating. More than organizational culture; promoting academic
£300m has been invested into the estate over the last 5 entrepreneurial governance. The three specific and
554 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
interrelated markets in which universities operate and be followed through legislative changes concerning the
in which academic competition occurs are: A market of rules of the universities and faculties own
consumption of higher education (learning and incomes. Investing in corporate ownership could be a
teaching, research and services / facilities for first entrepreneurial activity.
students); A market of universities prestige reflected
by ratings and rankings; An academic labour market 5. Conclusion
in which academic staff competes. If a university is not authorized to retain and manage
The competition is manifested more strongly on the autonomously its own generated revenues, it does not
higher education consumption market. In post- have an economic incentive to supplement the
revolutionary Romania this may be analyzed on the budgetary allocations through the sale of academic
universities entrepreneurial feedback. To the culminant services. Governments can stimulate entrepreneurial
rising demand for higher education recorded behaviour of universities by the mechanisms used for
immediately after 1990, universities reactions were: allocating resources, and this research is aimed at
• Growing number of new universities and raising awareness of the authorities.
increasing the number of faculties and departments
under their control. If in 1990 there were no private REFERENCES
1 Baunol, W., Litan, R. and Schrann, C. (2009) Capitalismul bun,
universities, at the end of 2005 were registered and capitalismul rău şi economia dezvoltării şi a prosperităţii,
accredited 49 private universities where the number of Editura Polirom, Iasi
state-funded ones has doubled. On average, annually, 2 HEFCE (2007) Funding higher education în England: How
they were set up about 4 public and private HEFCE allocates its funds.
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2007/07_20/
universities. For example, Babes-Bolyai University 3 Lancaster University
(BBU), Cluj grew departments and faculty from 7 in http://domino.lancs.ac.uk/info/lunews.nsf/r/8cf2
1990 to 20 in 2005. 4 Miclea, M. (2006) Institutional Approaches to
Entrepreneurialism: Reflection on the Case of Babes – Bolyai
• The Exponential growth of the number of University in Cluj – Napoca, Higher Education in Europe
university programs of study (specialization). For Review, UNESCO CEPES Vol. 31, no. 2 July 2006
example, the BBU has seen an increase of the 5 Sandgren, A. and Stromqvist, G. (2006), Human Resources and
specializations from 19 in 1990 to over 100 in 2005. Entrepreneurial University: The cases of Finland, Spain,
Sweden and the UK-, 14 December 2006 European Universities
• Diversification of ways of knowledge for Entrepreneurship – their role în the Europe of Knowledge
delivery. Thus, by 2005, new methods such as distance (EUEREK)
education (distance-learning courses), e-learning 6 Shattock, M. (2008), Entrepreneurialism in Universities and
the Knowledge Economy, Maidenhead: SRHE/Open University
(combined web-based learning) and interactive Press.
learning in front (face to face interactions) were 7 Toffler, A. and Toffler, H. (2006) Revolutionary Wealth,
applied for 26 specializations on more than 4,000 Knopf, New York
university students. 8 Williams, G. (2008) Finance and entrepreneurial activity in
higher education in a knowledge society
In conclusion, at the institutional level the
entrepreneurial response to increasing social need for
academic education in Romania was the establishment
of new universities, the establishment of new faculties,
developing new specializations and diversification of
teaching-learning methods and assessments. Another
aspect characterizing the situation of state-funded
universities in Romania is the employment of budget
allocations procedures also for university own revenues
derived primarily from tuition fees. This limits the
eagerness for entrepreneurial behaviour and creative
allocate limited resources to cover the needs of
students in the educational process line (techniques and
methods of learning), research (research centres) and
institution facilities (sports, leisure, accommodation
facilities). Any surplus from universities or faculties
own revenues (from study fees) can not be recovered
even by saving instruments and are allocated by
redistribution to cover financing needs of faculty with a
deficit due to the low number of students. In these
conditions is at least inappropriate even morally wrong
that the income-generating faculties cover the deficits
of those faculties without any income from study
fees. The example of strategy for internal allocation of
financial resources at the University Nottingham may
THE THEORETICAL AND THE EMPIRICAL. A SUSTAINABLE JOINT OPTION IN
TRAINING THE ECONOMISTS OF THE FUTURE
Teodora DOGARU,
1
Assist. ph.d student “Ioan Slavici” University Timisoara, ddteo@yahoo.com
The main objective of our study is improving economic teaching features by combining training empirical aspects with
theoretical ones. Therefore, introducing small restricted key elements from research and business in higher education is necessary.
establishing innovative and interactive approaches for industrialized activities, programming or secretarial
the enrichment of higher economic education. aptitudes. Also, judging the European funding
Our analyses on this matter regards a comparison possibilities, especially for less developed regions,
within EU Member States between a state developed entrepreneurial initiatives and research activities are
strongly on structural funding, Spain (joined EU in strongly supported for a sustainable development of the
1986), and a less developed country in process of socio-economic environment. Therefore, in our opinion,
building its economy with European funds, Romania. restricted research elements and managerial aspects are
The study regarded two regions, Galicia (one of the less a priority in the improvement of present higher
developed regions of Spain) and 5West Region of economic education of future economists.
Romania (one of the strong economic developed regions
of Romania). The two types of studies: opportunity and Future economists – a necessary human resource for
pre-feasibility were made in parallel for the two regions. economic development
Certain aspects of the conclusions regarding the higher
economic education were used in order to formulate In the context of a complex economic system and an
possible ideas for a sustainable development of the urge for sustainable development entrepreneurship is
higher education for future economists. one of the key elements of present economic
The comparison between the two general environment. New innovative efficient economic
opportunity studies for the higher economic education activities together with strong structural investment are
of the Spanish and Romanian regions analyzed for 2007 required. The EU promotes cooperation between the
revealed similarities for the subjects studied in the first Member States and the future ones in order to enhance
two years. Disciplines, considered to be one of the the sustainable development and achieve a higher
available resources, such as Accounting, Mathematics, regional cohesion between powerful economies and
Microeconomics, Introduction in Law or Statistics, were less developed ones. In addition to these issues, an
included in both curricula with similar approaches, yet investment in human resources – such as future
different methodologies and teaching methods. economists – is required in tight connection to efficient
Conclusions formulated were suggesting an financial support.
exchange of best practices between the two systems by The EU distributes the European budget for its main
exploiting their curricula’s strengths of interactive objectives through European project funding. One of
empirical teaching methods and practical methodologies these structural funds orientations is towards
that allow the students to develop an independent entrepreneurship, seen as a main opportunity for
approach of studying (the Spanish curricula) and strong innovation and sustainable investment. Studies upon
theoretical bases of the subjects (the Romanian different European economies show an urge for new
curricula). The estimated efficient results would be the innovative and feasible business ideas which not only
establishment of a basic entrepreneurial sense of future are contributing to the sustainable development but also
economists. create strong cooperation roots between countries.
Another comparison between the analyzed subjects Also, there must be considered a connection
was the use of material resources such as infrastructure, between business opportunity cooperation and the
and the provenience of the funds (European funding), required economic skills and competencies. These
their use and efficiency. business possibilities must be seen as a source of
The two type of studies made in the view of orientation for the higher economic education curricula
establishing possible sustainable ideas for innovative as well.
approaches of the higher economic education for both According to European reports over the successful
regions, revealed a high investment possibility for implementation of European projects, cross border
5West region in educational infrastructure which could cooperation is a solid effective way to develop
also constitute an interactive environment for the raise entrepreneurial actions and enhance European
of efficiency in implementing new elements concerning cooperation. Our study over the Romanian-Serbian
methodologies and methods. Adequate infrastructure cross border cooperation potential, cooperation between
elements developed for the academic needs of the SMEs and new entrepreneurial activity ideas constitute
beneficiaries could raise the efficiency of the empirical a high qualitative source for the development of both
study. Also, for Galicia, there is a medium level interest regional economies. Extrapolating, future economists
for internationalization of this higher education branch and their empirical training are the key element of such
which could enrich the cooperation level of the actions. The economic development status of the two
European educational systems. This last matter could considered regions, Timis County and South Banat
benefit at raising the education level of the mass labor District represented the starting point of successful
force, the immigrants, leading to higher qualifications. practices of entrepreneurial opportunities for future
According to our labor market research, on a sample economists. Also, it is necessary to consider previous
of thirty different European job descriptions, concerning cooperation actions as well, as past European project in
the main competences required for future economists, it fields such as education, business and research are the
has been shown that most employment possibilities are groundings of strong cooperation roots between the two
referring to managerial knowledge, know-how, countries, which led to successful practices.
The Theoretical and The Empirical. A Sustainable Joint Option in Training The Economists of The Future 557
The economic status of Timis County between 2004 noticed a constant number of students. Therefore, it can
and 2006 has been characterized by a growth tendency be stated that the tendency strongly influence the
of gross investments in secondary and tertiary fields. In economic system by a drop in competences and the
2004 they amounted 2 908 million USD while in 2006 level of employment and training.
they reached a threshold of 4 538 million EUR. One of In South Banat District the main economic sectors of
the main factors that contributed to this development development are: industry, agriculture, constructions,
was the European funding, in extension PHARE funds. manufacturing, commerce, catering, tourism,
These funding sources developed mainly the communications, local residence services, financial
regional industrial level, where the main investments are services. The major party of economic development is
in manufacturing, which represents about 50% of total made of industry and agriculture, while the priority is
investments in 2004. This amount increased by the development of the tourism.
approximately 16% in 2005 followed by a slight At territorial level there is 8232 registered firms, of
downward trend. The following volume investments are which 6 089, and 73, 97% work at economic level, with
those in transport, storage and communications. They an infrastructure of 12 093 shops. Registered firms can
fluctuate from one year to another, falling to 470 million also develop private companies – 88, 13%.
USD in 2005 and increased unexpectedly with 609 According to the information recorded in the
million RON in 2006. An interest in the development of Companies register of Information Unique System of
transport and communications infrastructure can be Chamber, in the active companies structure, most are
observed as well. A final matter concerns the wholesale small enterprises 93,95%, then middle enterprises
and retail. Investments in this area are increasing 4,98% and large enterprises 1,07%.
vigorously during the period. Thus, in 2004 they were Most of companies are focused on activities of
estimated at approximately 421 million USD following commerce 56%, industry 14,52%, financial services,
in 2005 the amount of 547 million USD and in 2006 and only 10,21%, agriculture 7,23%, constructions
reached 874 million USD. Therefore, investments 3,56%, communications 3,22%, Human resources
represent one of the main areas of activity propitious to services 2,51% and other areas 2,72%.
the development of SMEs In the structure of total income of the region,
Moreover, in manufacturing it can be observed an industry is 56, 17%, then agriculture with a percentage
increase of approximately 28% from 2004 to 2006, from of 16, 4% and commerce with 15, 4%.
EUR 6.767 billion to 8.086 billion USD in 2006. In the Of a total of 74 492 employees, in economic and
investment area is highlighted a sharp increase in the non-economic areas there are 78, 4% employees and
regional turnover by 60% in 2006, reaching 2.277 21,6% independent shops. The biggest number of
billion USD, up from 1.422 billion USD in 2004. In employees is in manufacturing 22068, agriculture 7 192
addition, the wholesale trade and retail growth is about and commerce 4875. Pancevo town employs the biggest
27% in 2004 from a total of 5.982 billion USD, number of employees in economy 22685, then follows
amounting to 8.594 billion USD in 2006. This increase Vrsac town 9 311 and Kovin 3 471, Alibunar 2 701,
aims in particular SMEs, their development and Kovačica 2.369, Bela Crkva 1.883, Plandište 1.743 and
organization manner in Timis County, in extension 5 Opovo 571.
West region. In the register of National Labor Service, Pancevo
Related to the mentioned above analysis on the office has 41 938 unemployed persons and 47 102
SME’s structure there is a tendency of segmentation of persons looking for a job.
the services and industrial sectors through majority In agriculture the SWOT analysis made revealed
presence on the SME market in the three areas of several conclusions that indirectly affect the economic
activity covered by this study. Thus, in the training. The strengths concern satisfactory quality of
manufacturing sector we amount a number of 3910 the products, excellent offer, market information
SMEs of which 2329 up to 1581 with 9 employees and systems, origin products, trade experience and
a maximum of 49 employees. productive capacity. Yet, weaknesses connected
In the infrastructure area there is the same tendency indirectly to the lack of managerial knowledge stressed
of division, the SMEs are reaching a total of 904, in disorganized production, lack of standards in
comparison with middle enterprises that only reach the production, poor storage facilities for agricultural
threshold of 763. In the trade area there can be products, inadequate ways of distribution, uncontrolled
highlighted a number of 7423 micro enterprises, 6654 production, lack of classification in quality and deficient
middle enterprises and about 766 large enterprises, idea trade marks.
that supports the fact that the trade area can be one of Through innovative entrepreneurial activities and
the main cooperation lines between the two regions adequate economic training certain opportunities can be
analyzed in the study. used: promotion (fairs, exhibitions), EU market entry,
At educational level, overall there is a supported export of finished products than raw materials,
downward tendency of the training level, the only stage satisfactory transport facilities for products, existence of
of education with a number of pupils / students in subsidiaries, record producer conveniences, society – in
relative increase being special education and higher close relationships with major markets, possibility of
education. In extension, in high school there can be exportation, specific supply, reintegration of economy,
558 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
CONCLUSIONS
ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION BY LEARNING ORGANIZATION ENVIRONMENT
The paper objective is to describe the context, advantages and potential of entrepreneurship education using the learning organization
environment in technical universities. After a short overview of the learning organization concept we formulate its main advantages
for the entrepreneurship education by the description of a particular skill unit that consist of: principles of openness and team
learning enabling the empowerment of new ideas, principles of leadership and team motivation factors and social skills development.
An education marketing research is presented (research scenario and results). This skill unit consistency was determined by
considering students positions/arguments (market research with master students) and also, the trainers ideas (from the master
program and from the ResEUr project meetings). The proposed skill unit is part of an innovative entrepreneurship education program
that can be followed by young academics and researchers that want to be qualified and certified at the EU level and not only at the
national level (by their Romanian diploma).
Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Education, Learning Organization, EU-Entrepreneur-Researcher, Leadership, Motivation, Openness,
Social Skills
Success factors % of
1. THE LEARNING ORGANIZATION importance
1. Top management support 20
2. Supporting organizational
In the years ’90 Peter Senge defined learning infrastructure 17
organization as one entity “where people continually 3. Positive learning culture 15
expand their capacity to create the results they truly 4. Young developers 13
desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking 5. Realistic planning 6
are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and 6. No idea 13
where people are continually learning to learn together.”
Some marketing studies at the European level (1998, Considering the learning organization environment
research with 200 companies (Messnarz et. al., 1999); there can be identified some failure situation as: you
2002, research with 128 multinational firms (O’Keeffe recognize that for the implementation of a new product
and Harrington, 2001); 2003, research with 59 or new processes you lack specific skills and have no
networked European organizations (Biro et. al., 2002), chance of acquiring them in time; you recognize that
(Feuer et. al., 2002), (Feuer et. al., 2003)) showed that departments inside the company have the knowledge but
the success of an innovation or improvement is not just do not want to share it with other departments; you
dependent on the correct technical approach. A lot of recognize that your competitors have formed a group to
learning strategy related aspects influences the success share knowledge and jointly compete against you on the
(Table 1). The studies identified that the first 3 success market; you recognize that some of your management
factors are 58% influenced by human/organizational staff does not fully understand the mission; you
factors. Beside top management support the study recognize that someone in your organization bought a
outlined a positive learning culture (learning from knowledge management system but none uses it etc.
mistakes, team learning, knowledge sharing etc.) and a Also, there are some typical examples of success:
supporting organizational infrastructure which helps you linked in time yourself to experience partnerships
with the implementation of the learning organization and training networks and can react on the market
(O’Keeffe and Harrington, 2001). immediately with any skills required; you manage that
Also, human skills are considered as complementary knowledge and team learning is used in a synergy
set needed in addition to employees/unemployed approach between the departments and teams; you were
qualified processes to be successful on the market. The the one who formed the group that jointly learns and
presented ideas underline the organization environment shares knowledge and collaborates against your
importance for the professional skills development and competitors; you ensure that the mission is a goal which
for the entrepreneurship behavior development, too. A binds everyone to a big picture; you analyze the core
learning organization (Messnarz et. al., 2001), knowledge (the one that differentiates you from the
(O’Keeffe and Harrington, 2001), (Gemünden and competitors) and build all knowledge management
Ritter, 2001), creates a positive learning culture and strategies around that core (equal of realistic and not
enables team learning and synergy exploitation in an holistic knowledge management) etc.
organization. By team learning, knowledge is spread Learning organizations benefit from an information
much more quickly and a high level of a skilled human and communication technology infrastructure enable
force is maintained. learning processes, spread/share of knowledge and team
Table 1: Success Factors Influencing the Implementation of Innovation and communication better (O’Keeffe and Harrington, 2001).
Improvement (from a sample of 151 multinational organizations)
560 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
3.2. Research Results and Comments considering the learning organization environment
characteristics. The learning organization concept was
Started from the skill unit definition and description first presented. In the second part, there have been
that is the result of many ResEUr virtual meeting and described the Research-Entrepreneur skill card that will
two project reunion (Maribor, Nov. 2009; Grenoble, be used for the training materials development. Then,
March 2010) we have tested the interest of the master the results of an education marketing research that show
students (from the Politehnica University of Timisoara the master students (from UPT-MPT) interest for the
Romania, Management Faculty, UPT-MPT) for ResEUr training program and having benefits from the
entrepreneurship training programs and for having learning organization environment were presented.
benefits from the learning organization environment These research were gained in the context of the project:
offer by the university. A structured questionnaire has Certified EU Researcher – Entrepreneur (503021-LLP-
been built (with closed and open questions) base on the 1-2009-1-BE-LEONARDO-LMP), founded with
described skill card and it was distributed to the second support from the European Commission. The
year of study master students (96 students fill in the presentation of this paper is connected with dEUcert
questionnaires, from a total of 152 students). The project: Dissemination of European Certification
sample main characteristics that were consider for the Schema ECQA, 505101-LLP-1-2009-1-AT-KA4-
responds analysis and conclusions formulation was the KA4MP that was funded with support from the
professional status: employee or unemployed master European Commission, also. The paper and
students. The data process has been done using the communication reflects the views only of the author,
SPSS program. In Figure 2 are presented the most and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any
relevant research results regarding the learning use which may be made of the information contained
organization benefits for entrepreneurship development, therein.
as they were expressed by the master students. In
generally, master students are (much, very much) References
interested on the proposed subjects. 85.7% of
unemployed students appreciate promoting and 1. Biro, M., Messnarz, R. and Davison A. (2002),”The Impact of
implementing the UPT-MPT learning organization National Cultures on the Effectiveness of Improvement methods - The
principles. Mater students are much (42.9% unemployed Third Dimension, in Software Quality Professional”, American
Society for Quality, vol. 4, issue 4, 35-47.
and 38.4% employed students) and very much (35.7% 2. Feuer, E. and Messnarz, R. (2002), “Best Practices in E-
unemployed and 42.5% employed) interested in Commerce: Strategies, Skills, and Processes”, Proceedings of the
implementing equitable principles of leadership and co- E2002 Conference, E-Business and E-Work, Novel solutions for a
workers motivation in their working environment (in the global networked economy, Smith, B., S. and Chiozza, E. (Eds.), IOS
Press, Amsterdam, Berlin, Oxford, Tokyo, Washington.
organization where they work or study). Master students 3. Feuer E., Messnarz R. and Wittenbrink H. (2003), “Experiences
are much (50% unemployed and 43.8% employed With Managing Social Patterns in Defined Distributed Working
students) and very much (35.7% unemployed and 41.1% Processes”, Proceedings of the EuroSPI 2003 Conference, 10-12 Dec.
employed students) attract of knowing the multicultural 2003, FTI Verlag.
4. Gemünden, H., G. and Ritter, T. (2001), “Inter-organisational
collaboration in innovative teams. Master students Relationships and Networks”, Journal of Business Research, vol.
recognize as important (50% unemployed and 41.1%) 2/2001, 23-28.Messnarz, R., Stockler, C., Velasco, G. and
and very important (42.9% unemployed and 34.2% O'Suilleabhain, G. (1999), “A Learning Organisation Approach for
employed students) the business communication Process Improvement in the Service Sector”, Proceedings of the
EuroSPI 1999 Conference, 25-27 October 1999, Pori, Finland.
competencies development in association with their 5. Messnarz, R., Nadasi, G., O'Leary, E. and Foley, B. (2001),
technical expertise. Master students are very much ”Experience with Teamwork in Distributed Work Environments”,
interest (57.1% unemployed and 58.9% employed Proceedings of the E2001 Conference, E-Work and E-commerce,
students) about emotional intelligence skills Novel solutions for a global networked economy, Smith, B. S. and
Chiozza, E. (Eds.), IOS Press, Amsterdam, Berlin, Oxford, Tokyo,
development as a key success factor of their career. Washington.
Master students have much interest (71.4% unemployed 6. O'Keeffe, T. and Harrington, D. (2001), “Learning to Learn: An
and 42.5% employed students) in personal development Examination of Organisational Learning in Selected Irish
in relation with social responsibility skills development. Multinationals”, Journal of European Industrial Training, MCB
University Press, vol. 25, Number 2, 3-4.
Students recognize that social responsibility has to be 7. ResEUr project, (2009), Certified Research-Entrepreneur,
reconsidering from the individual level to the 503021-LLP-1-2009-1-BE-LEONARDO-LMP)
organizational level and they enjoy very much (57.1% 8. Senge, P., M. (1990), “The Fifth Discipline”, Century Business,
unemployed students and 42.5% employed students) the London.
idea of being part of a training program in the field of
social competencies development in association with an
entrepreneurial behavior.
3
Constanţa DUMITRIU1 Iulia Cristina TIMOFTI,2 Gheorghe DUMITRIU
1
“Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacău, , dumitriuconstanta@yahoo.com
2
“Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacău, iulia.timofti@ub.ro
3“Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacău, dumitriu@ub.ro
Abstract
The study aims the identification of progresses recorded among students during the training program for didactical career. The
study has implications upon more dimensions of training for didactical career: to future teachers - the directions and the level of
developing capacity and mechanisms of cognitive control; to us, professors, and to mentors of didactical practice – the study
recommends new educational strategies for progressive training of professional competences.
Keywords: initial training, student’s responsibility, personal working strategy, self-evaluation capacity, meta-cognitive competences.
This work was supported by CNCSIS –UEFISCSU, project number 834/2009 PNII – IDEI code 496/2008
role it has the reporting to referential systems that degree, 3 – adequate, 4 – in a large degree, 5 – in a
defines his role, his tasks and the activity’s directions, very large degree.
by becoming aware of his progress and acquisitions, For example, dimension 1 includes the
by reporting to the learning activity’s exigencies and indicators regarding the student’s responsibility in the
behavior in the group. initial formation for the didactical profession (“I
Thus paralleling the evaluation that the understood my responsibilities in TTD”; “I
teacher does as a part of the didactic intercession, he manifested real interest for the knowledge given by
has to form in a systematic manner in students the the teacher and classmates”, “I wanted to confront
metacognitive and self-evaluation abilities. my personal experience with the one of my colleagues
The acquisitions take shape in the formation from my group”, “I contributed in an efficient
of the decoding abilities of the cognitive task, of the manner in the informing and the progress of other
previous experience, of evaluation and the reporting colleagues”, “ I formed cognitive, methodological,
of the requirements to one’s own possibilities, to evaluative,psychosocial, communication, managerial,
reflect on the knowledge acquired, of ways to solve technical competences that are necessary in the
the problems and the solutions found, to analyze the future profession”).
difficulties that he encounters and his own way of Dimension 2 – Personal work strategy –
solving them, to self-adjust and to make efficient his includes indicators regarding the elucidation of the
own activity. ways of information and documentation (“ I was
preoccupied to elucidate the ways to inform myself
Research methodology based on the bibliography”), using some efficient
Starting from this theoretical premises and techniques for intellectual work (“I applied the
from the fact that we notice in practice the lack of techniques of intellectual work that I obtained in
valid instruments in the formation process that can solving real tasks”), the effort and the interest in
facilitate the progressive, systematic formation in the making a systematic study (“I showed interest for
students of the abilities and competences of self- actual problematic situations”, “I made efforts to
evaluation, metacognitive, so we want to adapt such a select, in every study or paper, the essential aspects
grille (Peretti, 1998) to identify the progress made by that have to be remembered and made accessible”, “I
the students during the program of psycho was strict in the method of analysis of a problem,
pedagogical training for the didactical career. task, activity”), the participation to lectures, seminars,
The objectives aim: consultations (“I participated to lectures and
The elaboration, the pretrial and the seminars through clear and concise interventions”,
validation of a questionnaire of self- “I participated to the consultations made in order to
evaluation regarding the progress made by elucidate some aspects regarding the elaboration of
the students; the projects, portfolio).
The analysis of the difficulty categories that Dimension 3 – The participation to group
the students have to face in the objective use /team activity – includes 10 indicators from which we
of the self-evaluation criteria of the progress exemplify: the subject’s role in solving conflicts (“I
recorded during the formation program. knew how to solve the group/team conflicts”),
Proposing some formative strategies of initiative in the group (“I took initiative or I gave
educational intervention. efficient suggestions for the team activity”), active
Participants listening (“I listened carefully to the objections given
The research was made in 2010 on a sample by my team mates”), the preoccupation for a positive
of 118 students, second year that attend the psycho climate (“I tried to eliminate the intellectual
pedagogical training program that belongs to the obstacles or any other obstacles that decelerated the
Teachers Training Department (TTD) University of progress in realizing the group’s tasks”, “I made in
Bacau. The sample is structured as it follows: 62 useful time concessions that were fortunate for the
participants are students in Letters, 56 are students in group’s life”), centering of the team mates on solving
Engineering; 29 are males and 89 are females; 104 the task (“I helped my team mates to become aware of
participants are between 20 and 23 years old, and 14 their positions and expectations, in searching for
participants are over 23 years old; 62 come from solutions”; “I have been preoccupied by increasing
towns and 56 from villages; 116 have no teaching my team mates’ motivation for the group/ team
experience and 2 have a 2 year teaching experience. work”), the self-adjustment of one’s own
Methods and instruments
The research methodology included the Intercession for professional formation (“I corrected
elaboration, pre-trail and validation of the “Inventory certain tests that are included in the portfolio after
regarding the progresses made during the initial the seminars’ debates and elucidations”; “I have
formation program” (IPPFI). The questionnaire is taken without difficulties the role to draft and
structured on three dimensions and 30 indicators, the presents rapports regarding the group activity”).
answers are formulated on a scale with 5 intensity
degrees, 1 – in a very small degree, 2 – in small Results
Researches regarding the progresses recorded among students during the initial training for the didactical profession 573
The validation of the questionnaire meant consistency coefficient is 0,86, very well; thus we did
the study of a statistical point of view of the not eliminate any item, each item being a good
corresponding scales to the three investigated component of the scale (table 3).
dimensions. We calculated the interitems correlations
on these scales (SPSS Program, Cronbach’s Alpha) Table no. 3. Dimension 3 – RELIABILITY
and the internal consistency coefficient on total scale. ANALYSIS
Thus, at Dimension 1 – The student’s R E L I A B I L I T Y A N A L Y S I S
responsibility in the initial formation for the S C A L E (A L P H A)
didactical career – the value of the internal Reliability Coefficients
N of Cases = 118.0
consistency coefficient is 0,82 thus we did not N of Items = 10
eliminate any item, each being a good component of Alpha = .8629
the scale (chart 1)
Table no. 1. Dimension 1 – RELIABILITY ANALYSIS The interitems correlations that we obtained
when we validated the questionnaire have good and
very good values and they prove the consistency in
RELIABILITY ANALYSIS measuring the investigated aspects.
S C A L E (A L P H A) Next we calculated the scores per items and
N of Cases = 118.0 N of Items = 10 per dimensions and we obtained the following results:
Reliability Coefficients
Alpha = .8223
Table no. 4 The scores per items and per dimensions
documents emphasize their tendency to over-evaluate professional training, the formative value of
themselves in most of the cases without objective suggested educational strategies.
raporatation to standards and criteria.
References:
Conclusions 1.Altet, M. (1996), «Les compétences de l’enseignant-
professionnel: entre savoirs, schémas d’action et adaptation, le
The interitems correlations obtained at the
savoir analyser » en: Perrénoud, Ph. (Eds), Former des enseignants
validation of the “Inventory regarding the professionels; pérspectives en éducation, De Boeck Université,
recorded progress in the initial formation Paris, Bruxelles.
program” (IPPFI) have good and very good 2. Flavell, J.H. (1979), „Metacognition and cognitive monitoring:
A new area of cognitive developmental inquiry” American
values and they are an argument to affirm
psychologist, 34, 906-911.
the items’ consistency in measuring the 3. Peretti, A.de, (coord.), 1998, Éncyclopédie de l’évaluation en
investigated aspects, respectively the formation et en éducation, Guide pratique, E.S.F., Paris.
students’ ability to appreciate the 4. Tremblay, M-C. (1998), « Élaboration d’une grille d’auto
évaluation: instrument de réflexion sur son enseignement», en:
responsibility of the involvement in the
Mesure et évaluation en éducation, vol.21, No.2, pp.37-63.
professional formation program, their 5. Wolfs, J-L. (1996), „Analyse de pratiques ėducatives visant a
personal work strategy, the participation at faire participer l`apprenant `a l`ėvaluation diagnostique, au pilotage
the group/ team activity. et a la rėgulation de ses apprentissages » en : Grėgoire, J. (ėds.),
Ėvaluer les apprentissages. Les apports de la psychologie
The application of this research instrument
cognitive (pp.175-187). De Boeck & Larcier S.A.
emphasize the personal evolution of the
structuring of self-evaluation and
metacognitive abilities of the students, future
teachers, their opinion regarding the taking
of the responsibility in the formation
program, the personal strategy used in
documentation, in solving theoretical and
practical problems, the level of the
psychosocial habilitation for the
participation at team activities.
In trying to correct some manifested
tendencies of over-appreciation (and seldom
of sub-estimation) we have to increase the
share of the interactivity at lectures and
seminars, the making of situations in which
the students can practice self-control and
self-appreciation, autonomous learning,
based on understanding, reflection,
metacognition, to develop their ability to
know their own performances, of their
strong and weak points;
The long observation and the analysis of the
educational practice, discussions with the
teachers that are on different steps of
professional development, show the
application of the metacognition in an
intuitive, empirical manner in certain points
of the didactical intercession, especially in
the final stage, evaluation.
That is why the systematic reporting to
standards and criteria in all the evaluation
forms the elaboration of real, operational
instruments that trains students to become
acquainted with the analysis of their own
cognitive activity, of the mechanisms and
the way they function represent directions in
which we will develop future investigations.
The paper distinguishes itself from the other
studies through: clarifying the key-concepts,
validating the instrument for researching the
progress of student’s behaviour during the
THE ETHICAL DIMENSION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION
Maria-Ana GEORGESCU1, Emilia HERMAN2
1
“Petru Maior” University of Tg. Mures, Romania, maria_ana_georgescu@yahoo.com
2
“Petru Maior” University of Tg. Mures, Romania, emilia_herman@yahoo.com
In the present society of consumption, education must be regarded not only as a desirable good but as an investment. Between several other
dimensions, we consider that entrepreneurship education (EE) must have an ethical one, in total agreement with sustainable development. We
carried out a research regarding the conduct in the entrepreneurial activities concerning Social Corporate Responsibilities. It led us to the
conclusion that the entrepreneurial behaviour is situated between the selfish economic interest and the pure ethical values.
Keywords: entrepreneurship education, business ethics, social responsibilities of the companies
some administrative rules would risk being and society, but also the awareness of the necessity of a
counterproductive and would not serve the final new perspective in their unrolling, direction that needs
purpose. Despite all these aspects, the European to be included in the entrepreneurial education;
legislation imposes more and more rules of the game, - It involves solutions to a striking problem on a global
certain standards that are measured by extra-financial level: to assure a durable and sustainable development,
rating agencies. In order to get a good score, a company oriented towards the future generations, that needs to
is audited both from a managerial performance and constitute a preoccupation for us;
business behaviour perspective, as well as from the - It starts from the premise that economic interests,
perspective of social programmes, developed for the social and environmental aspects may be harmonized in
employees and for the community. More and more a strategic vision of the business environment, also
companies, being aware that this sort of approach can necessary on a national level.
bring them benefits both by creating a competitive
Research design:
advantage and by promoting a positive image and a
good relationship with all the partners, have included We designed a descriptive study, carried out by means
social responsibility in their development strategy. of a sociological questionnaire, applied in the Mureş
‘The positive connections between the social county (between the 4th and the 19th of May, 2009), on
performance and the financial one become more and 500 subjects.
more obvious, especially in the light of intangible The selection method: Not having a patterning base, a
active’s growing importance, like reputation, brands and list of the companies, we proceeded to the selection by
information’ (L. Oprea, 2005, p. 56). quotas. The criteria behind choosing the subjects were:
Often, in the Romanian literature, all four dimensions the persons needed to come from private companies/
are treated like obligations, even if ethical and enterprises, not from budgetary/public units; the
philanthropic responsibilities are not named like that, position in the company had to represent each one of the
but assumed aspects. We may observe that only categories - owners/entrepreneurs, managers/directors
economic and law-respecting responsibilities are, for the and employees; not more than five persons from the
moment, compulsory, for they depend on constraints same company were to be questioned.
that are external to the companies, and the next two, The questionnaire contains a number of 25 items, of
being at their latitude, represent voluntary, discretionary which we present a selection. In the elaboration of the
aspects, and not obligations. questionnaire we introduced a type of questions which,
In accordance with the Romanian Explicative apart from the data collection from individuals, are
Dictionary (1998, p.706), ‘obligation’ implies being informative for the mass of subjects.
obliged, while ‘ethical and philanthropic responsibility’
escapes the imperative aspects. From this point of view, Data interpretation
CSR is situated on a middle position between purely Here is a selection of questions and results based upon
economic, selfish interest and completely uninterested which we illustrated the statistic description of realities
ethical values. It is the expression of a rational interest, regarding the CSR on the level of regional
of the ethical theory’s practical manifestation, entrepreneurship; based on these realities, we can draw
respectively of the moral behaviour in business, on out – at least partially – these aspects.
which the community has a word to say. Q1. The structure of the investigated group contains
Having in mind that the four dimensions can be attained three categories of persons: owners, managers and
not only by the big corporations but also, under multiple employees, the last category representing the majority
aspects, by the smaller ones and, simultaneously, that of subjects, respectively 40,6 %.
the number of small and middle enterprises has grown
in the Romanian economy, while former big industrial
platforms or agricultural enterprises have collapsed, we
also applied the concept of social responsibility in
studying their behaviour, even though they are not
corporate.
Fig.4 The reflection of the CSR’s dimensions Fig.6 Measures to protect the environment
Q12. Mentions 9 reasons for which a company would
Q9. Asks the subjects whether, when the companies are assume social responsibilities by requesting multiple
promoting new products/services, they also take into choices. The first place, in accordance with the answers,
consideration possible aspects of impact on the natural is occupied by the company’s desire to create a good
and social environment. The partial measure in which reputation, a good image, an aspect not directly linked
the impact upon the community and on nature is to the economic aspect but facilitates the attraction of
considered is defining (43 % of the answers) for the customers and bigger sales.
promotion activity that the companies unfold.
We are working on development of entrepreneurship potential of contemporary youth through creation special educational programs
on the basis of conducted research data. Keywords: entrepreneurship potential, business behavior, educational program
conversation about the structure (composition) of the imagination, as the role of images of the desired future
potential, rather than quantity and quality of its in the regulation of man behavior is sufficiently high.
characteristics. This hypothesis is the main investigation Understandings of personal destination,
aspect of our research. implementation of it into life have been a leitmotif of
Our interest is based on the attempt to comprehend humanistic science for many years. J.-P. Sartre has put
the phenomenon of entrepreneurial potential, to clarify forward the “design” theory of individual development,
its nature, essence and content, to identify its’ according to which the individual is not given initially,
differences from other types of potential. but designs, assembles, and “totalizes” himself through
Systematization and analysis of studies of his subject activity. The similar views shares Prof. P.
entrepreneurial potential gives us an opportunity to Barron, who offers design and functional approach as an
make the following conclusions: alternative to the theoretical and personal, and Prof. S.L.
1. Study of potential is conducted in a context of its’ Rubinshteyn. In recent years, much attention is paid to
displaying in activity, with analyzing of its various self-determination, self-development and the term “self”
properties and characteristics. is defining as special feature of human nature.
2. The potentials’ research can be divided into three To prevent of the transformation of the future project
approaches: additive-, system- and activity-based. into a scheme it’s important to include motive power.
Various types of potential have been studied: The future project will become more real and possible
management potential, leadership potential, professional for implementation after detailed examination and
potential, creative potential and entrepreneurial recreation in the imagination. Its exteriorization from
potential. the general scheme into bright image can determine
3. The entrepreneurial potential is studied with the thoughts, deeds and actions of person. There are several
various components filling, depending on the points of studies that confirm the necessity of special work with
view of the authors. the ideas of human about self future. The most common
4. Analysis of theoretical and empirical research are techniques, which are based on work with the
works identified the entrepreneurial potential as an images of achievement (M. Sparks), techniques of
integrated phenomenon, which differs not by the active imagination for creation of depiction of future
depiction of its components, but mostly by the peculiar “Myself”(R. Assagioli), techniques of creative
structure, which is considered as an extent of imagination as a tool self-development (T. Youmens);
entrepreneurial activity and business success. techniques of design of human future (F.A Meldzhes).
The term “business behavior” is used mainly as a The technique considered in this paper, is self future
synonym for entrepreneurial behavior or building, i.e. deliberate allocation into the future. Self
entrepreneurship. A person with expressed business future building is a process of visualization of own
behavior possesses the entrepreneurial spirit and future opportunities, transferring anticipate future
effectiveness in business, which contributes to building patterns into psychological present. Designing the future
a career in the modern economy. realized by using the following procedures:
The question of formation of preparedness of young interpretation of emotional conditions, review of past
people to practical entrepreneurial activity is discussed decisions, self future building, plan building as a
in great number of researches, most of which are made temporal organization of future activities, repetition of
in the frames of traditional approach. In the project the future, for example with use of role-play.
approach, which we develop and implement, the priority The inclusion and implementation of these concepts
is given not for acquisition of specialized knowledge, into the educational process involves modification of the
skills, and creation of conditions for the development of traditional educational format, which should be linked,
abilities which, in turn, provide the exteriorization of firstly, with the permanent inclusion of choice
knowledge and skills important for realization in work possibilities into standardized educational process and,
process. In this case the main task of education is to secondly, with targeted development of methods of self
create conditions for the development of future building inside entrepreneurial activities.
entrepreneurial-minded person who will be able to build Project’ methodology. Experimental design was
and implement a project of his (her) life, not just as based on the method of cross-sectional survey with a
through traditional education, find only his (her) own pilot (businessmen) and control (managers) groups and
place inside life perspective. forming experiment with samples of young people
The main conceptual idea of forming business (experimental and control) of different Russian regions.
behavior is based on the concept of readiness to choice The research included two steps. On the first step in
under uncertainty. The optimal choice depicts through order to identify peculiarities of entrepreneurial
harmonization of the inner spheres “want-can-exist- potential we have used ideographic method which
need”, implies the formation of the basic mechanisms of helped to identify the characteristics perceived by the
active self-determination, and, as a result, actualization entrepreneurs. To establish the peculiar characteristics
of entrepreneurial potential. We have developed the of the content of entrepreneurs’ and managers’
basic tool for research which is the technique of self potentials we used nomothetic methods. In order to
future development. It is based on methods of active identify the structure we used correlation analysis.
Research of Entrepreneurship Potential and Development of Business’ Behavior on A Labour Market 573
On the second step the formation of business entrepreneurial activity, as well as similar and
behavior has been carried out with use of the technique distinctive features of the owners and managers.
of self future building. Thus, we ensured the We have found out that entrepreneurs and managers
development inside person that active principle, which tend to represent themselves as firm of purpose and
determines his (her) life in general. The results were persistent, autonomous and active, creative and
recorded before and after realization of potential pragmatic people who are willing to update their
activation program and formation business behavior. capabilities. They were characterized by expressed
Methods of mathematical statistics have made it motivation to success achievement, combined with a
possible to identify reliability of differences in disposition to reasonable risk-based assessment of the
expression of potential components and structural situation and careful calculation. They described
features in the solution of the first research question and themselves as persons able to concentrate on the main,
the effectiveness of the formative influence – in the to see the new and rapidly absorb it.
second part of the experiment. Also there were detected the distinctive
psychological characteristics of entrepreneurs-owners
Level III Results, implications and value versus managers. Owners of business were
characterized by a highly expressed dominance of
values, work-related in comparison with other areas of
Participants. The experiment was conducted in
educational institutions – the Ural-Siberian Institute of life, in contrast to managers who were characterized by
Business and the Institute of Management and Business, the harmony of values. Owners were characterized by
pronounced internality of responsibility, and managers
Ural State University named after A.M. Gorky
were characterized by combination of externality in the
(Ekaterinburg). All participants of educational programs
failures and internality in resolving exactly future
were engaged in entrepreneurial or management
problems. Owners evaluated the success of their
activities in the Urals region and were students of
Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. professional activities through objective criteria for the
operation of business (profit), in contrast to managers
The whole number of participants was 126 persons
who were attracted to the evaluation subjective indexes
(women – 69, men - 57). Among them 49 business
of career success (experience, education level, etc.).
owners aged from 21 to 47 years, 77 top managers and
Thus, the results of ideographic research led to the
middle managers aged from 25 to 45 years. Forming
experiment was carried out in primary secretion of distinctive psychological characteristics of
(Mezhdurechensk vocational school #16), secondary entrepreneurs as a specific professional group, produced
by themselves and in the semantics of their language
(Khanty-Mansiysk College of Service and Technology)
forms.
and higher (Russian State Vocational Pedagogical
Now we are going to overview the most
University) education institutions. The whole number of
characteristic features of the content of entrepreneurs’
participants was 107 persons (women – 62, men - 45).
Among them 27 university students, 43 college potential, as a result of nomothetic experiment. In the
students, 37 vocational school students aged from 16 to field of personality we have found that entrepreneurs
were characterized by restrained inclination for risk,
20.
expressed emotional stability, independence,
Instruments and key results. We used the following
dominance, authoritativeness, highly flexible behavior,
instruments to get an empirical data: 1) the technique of
the tendency to innovation, low interest in social
self-description (essay with the following content
analyses; 2) Cattell's 16 Personality Factor Test (Form standards and reduced moral regulation of behavior. In
A); 3) Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) by Everett the sphere of self-consciousness we have found the
internal locus of responsibility and its dependence on
L. Shostrom; 4) the method of value orientation
the situations of success and failure, high self-esteem
assessment by M. Rokich; 5) J.B. Totter’s Locus of
and self-efficacy, optimistic assessing of them,
control scale; 6) G.Y. Ayzenk’s test of intellectual
abilities; 7) test of intellectual lability. All tests have adequately increased level of pretentions. In the field of
been adapted to Russian language and social and motivation there were distinct motive for achieve with
orientation on the concrete result, the priority of such
cultural aspects.
values as personal independence, success, career,
The research results have been worked up by means
education, welfare and wages and a lesser extent family,
of mathematics and statistics analyses: Parameters of a
friends, hobbies as well as a discrete attitude towards
central tendency and dispersion, correlation and equality
analyses. For getting of quantitative results tools of time of their own lives, focusing attention on the future
StatSoft ink. – SPSS 11.5 and Statistika 6.0 for than the past and present. In the cognitive sphere there
were high level of intelligence, aptitude for abstract
Windows have been used.
thought, developed combinatorial capacity, high liability
The first empirical task was to identify the structure
and organization of thought processes, lack of
of the entrepreneurial potential. Solution of this task
inclination to "jam" in the task-solving, the combination
allowed allocating of the content of the characteristics,
realized by the representatives of practical of creativity and a pragmatic orientation in the analysis
of the situation.
574 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The established features of entrepreneurs are The experimental data on the content and structure
consistent with research data of P.V. Bershakov, G.S. of the entrepreneurial potential gives an opportunity to
Doolin, E. Dyachkov, V.G. Zazykin, V.N. Markov, predict the random, rather than the spontaneous
Baron, Baum, Gaglio, Katz, Kizner, Markman and development of this characteristic of modern youth. The
provide the basis for researching such abilities as an results of the study are the scientific basis of designing
invariant psychological characteristics. Also we can innovative educational programs, as well as changing
mark some differences, for example the attitude towards the traditional educational process in order to create
risk. We have found out that successful entrepreneurs sustainable business behavior among youth.
possess readiness towards risk in a certain sentence, but Another conclusion is that development of
try to overcome situations, characterized by high level entrepreneurship and business education needs a
of uncertainty and large amount of different scientific understanding, empirical research and
consequences. psychological support not fragmentally, but
The decision of the following task – the analyses of systemically and regular in Russia and other countries.
structure of entrepreneurs’ potential led to definition of The theoretical base of the peculiarities of depiction
the following special tendencies. We have found a close and activation of entrepreneurial potential and business
connection between indicators of all spheres of potential behavior formation is interesting both for researchers
(excluding intellect) and age, gender, education, social and for the administration of the educational
status characteristics. Also there are high internal institutions. Understanding of need of new programs
responsibility for life events (internality) and low development and the transformation of the existing
legibility in means of goal excess (dominance of normative education format enables specialists to
instrumental values); there is an un-inclusion of general control the quality of training.
intellectual capacities into the structure of potential, that The practical contribution of the research is
gives an opportunity to research personal and determined by the possibility of harmonization the
intellectual potentials as independent phenomenon. labour market and social and educational policy, but
Received data creates the ideal image for which we need most importantly, by the desire of youth to sustainable
to move through postpone tasks solution in the process implementation of business behavior and strengthening
of formation of business behavior among youth. their own capabilities in all conditions, including the
In accordance with all above conclusions we have instability and uncertainty. Such results will give an
made a decision to start the process of potential opportunity for effective managing of professional
activation and forming of business behavior among resources, which are major sources of socio-economic
students with by means of including into educational development.
process the choice activity and direct development of The research possesses an initiative character; it was
students’ activity in self future building in further planned and carried out personally by the authors. The
entrepreneurial activity. To research the factors of design of the experiment is an original one. Developed
potential we have used the same instruments as with and tested educational program is based on the author's
entrepreneurs earlier. As a result we have got changes idea of inclusion in the learning process of the activity
only in two spheres: self-actualization and personality. of self future building.
So, as a result of participation in the program of
activation of entrepreneurial potential and formation of References
business behaviour in students group in the sphere of
self-actualization we have found the increasing of 1. Bershakov, P.V. (2000), Entrepreneurial potential of
behavioural flexibility, sensitivity to oneself, specialists: evaluation and use (on an example of the
spontaneity in self-expression, readiness for a contact organizations of “Gazprom” system), Academia,
and creativity. In the sphere of personality we have Moscow.
2. Busygin, A.V., (2001), Entrepreneurship, Academia,
found the increasing of responsibility (Factor G), Moscow.
courage (Factor H), practicalness (Factor M), flexibility 3. Druker, P., (1992) Market, Academia, Moscow.
(Factor Q1) self-sufficiency (Factor Q2), self-control of 4. Dulina, G.S., (2004), Social and psychological aspects of
behaviour (Factor Q3) in accordance with Cattell's 16 entrepreneurial personal potential, Academia, Moscow.
5. Markov, V.N., (2000), “Potential of personality”, in:
Personality Factor Model. Psychology world, Volume 1, pages 250-262.
Inside others measured factors we haven’t found any 6. Hizrich, R., (1994) “Psychological portrait of
reliable differences. The comparison analyses have been entrepreneur”, in: Business for everyone, Volume 37-38,
conducted by means of Mann Whitney U-factor. The page 14.
structure of students’ potential posses less number of
connections between components, and we consider it as
one of the most important difference in comparison with
entrepreneurial potential of businessman. So, we found
out the way of activation of the level of depictions of
important factors in behaviour, but the formation of its
special structure which we call entrepreneurial potential
is our further task.
ASSESSING ENTREPRENEURIAL CAPACITY IN ROMANIA: RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS ON PERSONAL COMPETENCIES
Abstract: The paper presents the research methodology and results on personal entrepreneurial competencies leading to business performance and
development in four Romanian NUTS Regions, as part of a larger research project, CE@ANPART, on developing entrepreneurial capability and
competitive human capital in Romania for the innovation and knowledge-based economy and society. Key entrepreneurship competencies leading to
business success – amongst which this paper reports on personal competencies – were analyzed against typical competencies described by the
literature to determine entrepreneurial (continuing) education and training needs at national level.
Keywords: entrepreneurship, personal competencies, research methodology.
• Social Competencies - Social Awareness (Empathy, “entrepreneurial spirit” in the four Romanian
Service
ice orientation, Developing others, Leveraging participating NUTS Regions within a context in which
diversity, Political awareness), Social Skills respondents' perceptions and interpretations have been
(Influence, Communication, Leadership, Change the driving forces for performance and development
developm of
Catalyst, Conflict management, Building bonds, the companies they created.
Collaboration and cooperation, Team capabilities);
• Practical/Professional Competencies - The ability to RESULTS ON PERSONAL COMPETENCIES
recognize and analyze market opportunities, Focus
on performance (Flexible strategic orientation, The data analysis conducted with the MindJet
Effective organizational skills, Demonstrate
MindManager software for each of the four data sets,
behaviors and attitudes required for working with
reflecting the central tendencies of respondents'
others, Effective communication ion and negotiation,
perceptions, determined strengths and weaknesses
we in
Effectively learning from and in business
rapport with the traits indicated by the literature as
interactions), Knowledge Management, Marketing, indicators for success. Following, the authors will stress
Financial management, Human resources out the potential weaknesses at personal level in terms
management.
of (continuing) education and training needs to
The questionnaire used pre-coded
coded closed questions
improving personal entrepreneurial
epreneurial competencies.
for reasons related to data collection and processing.
rocessing.
For the N-EE Region the results are presented in
The “entrepreneurial” variables were designed as
(Figure 1).
ordinal while and the demographic data were defined as
nominal. To measure the intensity of the ordinal type
variables a six point Likert scale (in Huţu,
ţu, 2001) was
used, as following: “1” = “to a very little extent” to “5” 1-3 3-3,5 3,5-4 4-4,5 4,5-5 5
= “to a very large extent”, and with “0” = “I do not
understand the question / I cannot answer the question”.
For consistency, all questions begin with the formula:
“To what extent ...?”
The questionnaire was administered as following:
• Each grant partner had distributed, clarified all
aspects of how to fill in the forms and collected the
questionnaires directly from the respondents in the
respective Regions after a period that ranged ra
between 1 day and 30 days;
• The grant coordinator had supervised the
administration of questionnaires, centralized and
performed data processing and analysis.
Non-probabilistic
probabilistic sampling was used because the
target population – successful entrepreneurs, or
equivalents, such as managers, or entrepreneurs to be –
was not appropriate for probabilistic sampling, either
dimensionally, or structurally. The sampling
methodology was based on a mixture of Henry’s types
(1990): convenience, typical cases, critical cases, and
“snowball”. 150 successful entrepreneurs were targeted
in each of the four NUTS Regions participating in the
study, with response rates as follows: N-E E Region – 67
(44.67 %); N-W Region – 100 (67%), W Region – 100
(67%); Central Region – 34 (22.67%).
Due to sampling limitations the elitist, acquiescence
and save face type of errors related to certain variables
were unavoidable.
Statistical data processing was performed using
STATISTICA software. Complete statistical summaries
were issued for individual
ividual variables as well as for the
categories and sub-categories
categories of the identified key
entrepreneurial traits. Further, the MindJet Figure 1: Results on Personal Competencies in the N-E
N Region
MindManager software was used to create
“entrepreneurial profiles” by Regions. It can be observed that elements of personal
Despite the previously mentioned limitations,
limitation the competency, critical for entrepreneurial behavior – self-
present research had identified profiles of the confidence, self-control,
control, optimism, innovation,
Assessing Entrepreneurial Capacity inn Romania: Research Methodology ad Results onn Personal Competencies 577
References
Abstract: The paper presents the research methodology and results on social and practical/professional entrepreneurial competencies
competen leading to
business performance and development in four Romanian NUTS Regions, as part of a larger research project, CE@ANPART, on developing devel
entrepreneurial capability and competitive human capital in Romania. Critical social and practical/professional
practical/profession entrepreneurial competencies
leading to business success were analyzed against typical competencies described by the literature to determine
determ entrepreneurial (continuing)
education and training needs at national level.
Keywords: entrepreneurship, social competencies, practical/professional competencies.
higher level. Most of all, leveraging diversity is a trait competencies that are needed in order for the
especially supportive for development entrepreneurial
entre entrepreneur to succeed, but more general
gene and suitable
innovation. for social duties, so not critical for the entrepreneurship
The results concerning social entrepreneurial processes. The other traits tested showed average scores.
competencies in the N-W W Region are summarized in The scores of the tested social entrepreneurial
Figure 2: competencies in the Central Region are presented in
Figure 4. This Region presented only “political
awareness” at the alarm limit, while three content-
content
1-3 3-3,5 3,5-4 4-4,5 4,5-5 5
traits reflecting
social Figure 4: Results on
entrepreneurial
preneurial Social Competencies in
the Central Region
competency tested
average, with three
RESULTS ON
elements related to PRACTICAL/POR
the entrepreneurs’ FESSIONAL
capacity to leading COMPETENCIES
people below alarm
limits: political The analysis
awareness, capacity of
to influence others practical/professi
and leadership. onal
These elements are competencies in
critical for entrepreneurial businesss performance and the N-E Region,
need to be at the core of future entrepreneurial training based on the
and development programs in this Region. It should also MindJet
be underlined that none of the social elements scored MindManager
high in this Region. software, is
The analysis of the respondents’ answers on social socia presented in
entrepreneurial competencies in the W Region is Figure 5. It
presented in Figure 3. should be
observed that
1-3 3-3,5 3,5-4 4-4,5 4,5-5
critical elements
for the
Figure 3: Results on Social effectiveness of the entrepreneurial behavior – the
Competencies in the W Region ability to recognize and analyze market opportunities
and business marketing;
rketing; focus on performance through
In this case too, teamwork, effective communication and negotiation, as
political awareness well as learning and knowledge management; human
and the ability to resources management; financial management – scored
influence others, this moderately, while only flexible strategic orientation and
time in conjunction effective
tive organizational skills, traits that should be
with the ability to
t be a present in relation to any effective management
change catalyst, were processes, are better represented. Flexible strategic
at the edge of alarm orientation though could grant a high potential for
level. To compensate, entrepreneurial development.
there can be remarked
a high capacity to
empathize with others, 1-3 3-3,5 3,5-4 4-4,5 4,5-5 5
6. In this
case, all
elements of Figure 7:
entrepreneu Results on
rial Practical/
practical/pr Professio
ofessional nal
competenci Competen
es tested cies in the
average, W Region
with two key clusters that scored at or under the alarm level:
1) a focus on performance, with the critical components of Data
flexible strategic orientation, demonstration of appropriate processin
behaviors and attitudes required for working with others, g of
effective practical/p
communication rofessiona
and l
negotiation, entreprene
learning and urial
knowledge competen
management, cies in the
and 2) financial Central
management. Region
These has led to
elements, the results
critical for the depicted
efficiency and in Figure
effectiveness of 8. The
the Central
entrepreneurial Region
business recorded
management average
and leadership scores,
processes, have excepting
to be the respondents’ concern for organizational
organizatio effectiveness /
considered as “effective
ffective organizational skills”,
skills” which scored above the
focal for the average. In this Region too, the practical/professional
p
development of entrepreneurial competencies must become the focal point of
(continuing) the future (continuing) education and training programs
education and aiming at developing entrepreneurial capacity.
training
programs in CONCLUSIONS
this Region.
It should be noticed that, due to above mentioned errors,
1-3 3-3,5 3,5-4 4-4,5
the reported results were considered as potentially not
582 The 6th International
International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
supportive for entrepreneurial behavior from 3.5 points below, It must be stressed out that probably the single most
with the average considered at 3.5 – 4 points on the 5 point important entrepreneurial competency, the ability to recognize
Likert scale. and analyze market opportunities, scored at best average, fact
fac
which could be critical for the entrepreneurial development of
1-3 3-3,5 3,5-4 4-4,5 4,5-5 5
all Regions participating in the research, especially in crisis.
Consequently, the weak ability to recognize and analyze
market opportunities, along with weak focus on performance,
with critical
cal accents on flexible strategic orientation,
teamwork, effective communication and negotiation, effective
learning and knowledge management, and in conjunction with
weak social skills, mainly in the areas of leadership and
change, should be focal elementss of the development of
entrepreneurship (continuing) education and training programs
aimed at building entrepreneurial capacity in Romania as a
key factor for overcoming the present economic crisis.
References
Mihaela KARDOS
"Petru Maior" University, Faculty of Economic, Juridical and Administrative Sciences, Tg Mures, mihaela_kardos@yahoo.com
Abstract. The paper aims to highlight some guidelines regarding entrepreneurial policy at European level, expressing its vision and approach in
close connection to business and education environment, offering a perspective on the possibilities of designing and implementing such a policy in
less experienced countries in UE, the new member states, which lack a clear strategy in developing entrepreneurial skills in schools/universities
or in supporting entrepreneurial initiatives. The paper focuses on making a comparison about the entrepreneurial behaviour between citizens in
old and new member states, in order to identify in studies regarding entrepreneurship from older member states the most successful directions in
entrepreneurial policy, best adapted to the local specificity, experience and cultural background of new UE member states. As methodology, the
comparative analysis of case studies, the synthesis and the logical deduction are used. Being based on a complex multi-country study of
entrepreneurial attitudes and policies in EU, the results of the paper create direct implications for both policy makers and academics, offering
some key issues, useful in shaping an entrepreneurial policy at national level for new member states (e.g. Romania), with specific references to
the educational system.
Key Words: entrepreneurial policy, entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurship, economic development
there are certain characteristics common to mentioned less frequently than in 2004, it is still twice
entrepreneurial behaviour, including willingness to the average of the EU-15.
assume risk, taste for independence and self-realization. Self-fulfilment and independence are still the main
(Hyrsky, 2001) reasons to think about branching out on one’s own,
Entrepreneurship is about people, about their choices while NMS citizens also appreciate the prospect of a
and actions to start or run a business, their involvement better income.
in a strategic decision-making process. Of concern is the reduction in the attractiveness of
Entrepreneurship is crucial to competitiveness. New becoming an entrepreneur, down three points to 30% in
entrepreneurial initiatives contribute to productivity EU, although there has been no change in the NMS and
growth, increase competitive pressure, forcing other it can be seen that the younger citizens are more
firms to react by improving efficiency or introducing attracted to self-employment throughout Europe.
innovation. Increased efficiency and innovation in If half of the Europeans have not even thought about
companies strengthens the competitive power of an starting-up a business, then the need to examine the role
economy, as a whole, providing benefits to consumers. of education becomes paramount, the number of
Entrepreneurship unlocks personal potential, people entrepreneurial courses that have been followed and the
having different criteria in their career choices, such as role played by education generally in developing
security, independence, diversity and interest in their entrepreneurs.
work tasks. Many people have chosen to become Regarding entrepreneurial education, there is a
entrepreneurs as a mean of self-fulfilment (freedom, considerable discrepancy among the 27 EU Member
independence and challenge). States, both in the higher education sector and in the
Entrepreneurship can also play a positive role in level of diffusion of entrepreneurship education. The
providing effectively health, education and social care number of universities offering entrepreneurial courses
services. Entrepreneurship can occur in any sector or varies considerably from one country to another. For
type of activity and contributes to economic growth and instance, in Finland, Spain and Great Britain more than
social cohesion, stimulating jobs creation and half of all higher education institutions offer at least one
integrating unemployed or disadvantaged people. course in entrepreneurship, ranging from undergraduate
level through to PhD.
ENTREPRENEURIAL ATTIDUDES AND The spread of entrepreneurship is particularly weak
EDUCATION IN OLD AND NEW MEMBER in some member states that joined EU in and after 2004:
STATES e.g. countries with less than 20% of universities offering
entrepreneurial education are Poland, Lithuania,
As diversity is one of the most important principles Romania and Bulgaria.
in European Union, the same way we can consider the With education being one important factor in
approaches toward entrepreneurship, from country to developing the entrepreneurial mindset, the other
country. But, we can identify common features for older necessity is the willingness to take risks. The fear of
member states, more developed and new member states, bankruptcy and the uncertainty of income are the top
which have experienced the transition from centrally two fears.
planned economy to a market oriented one, in which the In terms of problems that might stop someone
concept of entrepreneurship developed differently from deciding to take the entrepreneurial road, the lack of
EU-15. As time passes, there is a tendency in reducing finance is seen as the main problem, then complex
the gaps between the two groups of countries belonging administrative procedures, the risk it might fail and the
to EU. difficulty to obtain sufficient information on how to
To retain its competitiveness, Europe needs start a business.
entrepreneurs. In this regard, according to the Flash Insight in the determinants of entrepreneurship is
Eurobarometer on Entrepreneurship from 2007, crucial for shaping public policies and the assessment of
completed with data of the same survey in 2004, it is a their merits.
positive sign that over half of 15-24 year-olds are likely Entrepreneurs operate in diverse national and local
to follow an entrepreneurial route in the future. Still, if environments and they are themselves very different and
they had the choice, almost a majority of Europeans very diverse in nature, this is why policies and
would opt for employee status (51% in EU-15 and 47% educational programs addressing their needs must take
in NMS). full account of this diversity and must fully respect the
As there has been no dramatic increase in the desire principle of subsidiarity.
for EU citizens to become entrepreneurs, it is necessary
to look at why people prefer to be employed. Firstly, DIRECTIONS REGARDING
Europeans like the idea of a fixed income, hinting at the ENTREPRENEURIAL POLICY AND
need for security (29% in EU-15 and 37% in NMS). Job EDUCATION
stability is also considered important (23% in UE-15
and 32% in NMS). The topic of entrepreneurship has lately gained
In the NMS, there is still a worrying about lack of significantly better position in public policy. Also,
finance for self-employment. Although this was entrepreneurship joined the key competences required
Entrepreneurial policy and Education in European Union: from Old to New Member States 585
for lifelong learning, which aims to encourage and Linz (Austria), improving inter-disciplinary cooperation
facilitate reforms in education and training systems. between students in different fields, with a view to
At European level and especially in the NMS, the developing technical innovation and turning it into a
entrepreneurship development requires first that the viable business idea; An “Entrepreneurial University” -
importance of entrepreneurs is recognized by society. Technical University of Munich (Germany), where
The general climate in society should lead individuals to students of all disciplines are encouraged to think and
consider starting their own business as an option and to act in an entrepreneurial way or the Practice Enterprise
acknowledge that SMEs contribute substantially to Project, at Turku University of Applied Sciences
employment growth and economic prosperity. (Finland), where entrepreneurship is taught by way of a
For enabling such an environment, it is therefore practical project: a simulated enterprise created and run
essential that the entrepreneurial spirit and the by mixed teams of students from different disciplines.
willingness to take risks to be applauded and The issues of competences must be correlated with
encouraged. Particular attention should be paid to future the unexploited potential for research and innovation,
entrepreneurs, especially young people and women. that is why it is important to better integrate potential
NMS’ residents should be more aware that an entrepreneurs into the research communities and to
independent activity is an interesting professional option promote links between universities and entrepreneurs.
and should be offered the opportunities to acquire As the lack of finance is seen as the major problem
necessary skills to turn their ambitions into successful for potential entrepreneurs, this should be regarded as a
professional careers. priority, although current economic situation brings
The role of education in creating an entrepreneurial more problems regarding the opportunities of finance.
culture must be enhanced. Starting at an early age, Success of entrepreneurs depends on facilitating access
school education should stimulate young people in the to finance, especially venture capital, micro credit and
awareness of entrepreneurship as an option for their on implementing a supportive legal and business
future and help them be more creative, have greater environment.
confidence in what they undertake. Universities should Possible market failures in terms of SMEs financing
integrate entrepreneurship as an important part of the must be identified and corrected to further develop the
curricula. European risk capital markets and develop new products
The educational system must develop a new and services. Also, many entrepreneurs need guidance
generation of entrepreneurs, with specific characteristics regarding the advantages and disadvantages of different
such as responsibility, spontaneity, adaptability, forms of financing.
foresight, initiative and spirit of management, which In order to reduce the burden represented by
allows them to identify and implement appropriate regulatory and administrative obligations, another
strategies. These personal skills must be cultivated and concerning issue for entrepreneurs, the principle "Think
developed starting from primary school level, secondary Small First" should be applied. Government should
schools to high schools and universities. respond to the needs of SMEs and facilitate their life,
The range of curricular areas must include exposure encouraging especially access to online administrative
to business environment and actual contributions to services and solutions such as "one stop shop", allowing
support it, e.g. by introducing schemes based on applied them to save time and money, to devote resources thus
practice, such as micro firms created and led by released for innovation and job creation.
students, which is an effective tool for developing Another important part of modelling the
entrepreneurial skills. This kind of project is a real entrepreneurial culture regards the possibility for honest
opportunity for students to acquire basic business skills, entrepreneurs who went bankrupt to receive a second
but also to develop personal qualities and generic skills chance. This is because bankruptcies are responsible for
such as creativity, confidence, teamwork, responsibility approximately 15% of all company closures. The stigma
and initiative, which become increasingly important for of failure is still present and society underestimates the
everyone in today's knowledge society. commercial potential of those who try their luck again,
Besides educational courses taught in universities, many hesitating to do business with a company
there are some examples of good practice in the field, previously faced with bankruptcy.
which could be used as potential models for less It is therefore important to display a positive attitude
experienced countries, presenting different programs in society towards entrepreneurs who want to restart a
aiming to promote entrepreneurial skills and initiative, business, providing, for example, information
such as: The Entrepreneurship House at Grenoble campaigns, limiting to one year the duration of all
universities (France), promoting the dissemination of judicial procedures for liquidation of an enterprise in
entrepreneurship at a regional level, bringing together case of non-fraudulent bankrupt and ensuring that those
different universities and the local community; Dynamic who retry their luck are treated equal.
Entrepreneurship (Poland), a nation-wide Entrepreneurs should be encouraged to take more
entrepreneurship program, offering to all higher advantage of the single market opportunities, through
education institutions teaching tools and material with a appropriate information, a better representation of their
view to disseminating entrepreneurship education in the interests in area policies and by facilitating access to
country; Innovation Lab at Johannes Kepler University patents and trademarks.
586 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
A harmoniously functioning internal market creates The results clearly state that focus should given to
a competitive environment in which entrepreneurs are policy area regarding financing entrepreneurial
able to benefit more from globalization, opening new initiatives, reducing the burden of administrative
opportunities for knowledge and innovation. procedures and regulations, promoting a supportive
Entrepreneurs should be supported to fully benefit from policy for possible failures, all within the framework of
these opportunities, through information on business educational system pro entrepreneurship by curricula,
opportunities, costs and risks implied by coming into trainings, and programs.
contact with several different national legal systems. More specifically, some guidelines for
Entrepreneurs must be supported and encouraged to entrepreneurial policy and education refer to:
take advantage of growing markets inside, but also • ensuring political support for entrepreneurship
outside EU. Emerging markets represent an unexploited education at the highest level;
potential, creating important new business opportunities • launching national strategies for entrepreneurship
for both companies in the old Member States and the education, covering all stages of education, by
new Member States. involving all stakeholders: public administrations,
SMEs can also benefit from public support in the businesses, schools, students, etc. and promoting
form of advisory and network-building services, entrepreneurship education at regional level;
including assistance for defending against unfair • encouraging the mobility of teachers and
commercial practices. recognizing the role of educators other than
Promoting the upgrading of skills and all forms of teachers (practitioners, entrepreneurs, students) and
innovation is necessary for development of providing for all these specific entrepreneurial
entrepreneurship. Investment in research and training through innovative methods;
participation in programs to support research and • increasing coherency between funding programs
development, clustering and active intellectual property used to support entrepreneurship education;
management should be encouraged. • supporting the use of practice-based pedagogical
Environmental challenges must be transformed into tools whereby students are involved in a concrete
opportunities, providing more information, expertise enterprise project;
and financial incentives for full exploitation of new • building common platforms of existing programs,
"green" markets opportunities and greater energy projects and teaching material for entrepreneurship,
efficiency, partly by implementing environmental in order to help sharing and dissemination.
management systems in SMEs. All these are particularly important for those who
shape the future entrepreneurs, especially policy makers
CONCLUSIONS and schools/universities.
Alina LUCA
1
"Gh. Asachi" Technical University Iasi, Romania, email :alisluca@yahoo.com
OBJECTIVES:
Promoting innovation activities as part of an entrepreneurial culture and also as a result of a systematic activity;
PRIOR WORKS:
Entrepreneurial culture in Romania is considered unimportant and innovation is considered an accident, the result of chance and not
a continuous activity supported. The study aims to promote research development and innovation as part of tertiary education. The
paper is especially important in terms of transition to the Bologna system education, the tertiary education need to adapt to labor
market needs, in conditions which require the market ever more an interdisciplinary education so that graduates are competitive not
only in Romania but also in the EU labor market. In Romania systematic innovation activity is addressed in a very small way for all, it
is considered a chaotic, random, which belong to chance, that’s why the work has pioneering value. The paper identify the place and
role of entrepreneurship education in the Romanian higher educational system, identify measures to promote innovation as an
organized activity, and ways for to increase the number of graduates with entrepreneurial initiatives, the number of innovative
companies and the volume of private funds allocated to innovation.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
The survey is conducted by research in 50 SME's from Iasi, in four public universities ("Gh. Asachi" Technical University Iasi,
"Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University Iasi, "Ion Ionescu de la Brad" University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Iasi,
"Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy) and also in two private universities ("Petre Andrei " University Iasi and "
Spiru Haret" University Iasi). The research was based on questionnaires differentiated application-level for top-level management
and non-management and also interviews with teachers and with students in above mentioned Universities). Data processing was
performed using SPSS 1.0 software for statistical analysis.
RESULTS:
1. identify the place and role of entrepreneurship education in the Romanian higher educational system.
2. identify the implications of these positions
3. measures to promote innovation as an organized activity
4. increasing the number of graduates with entrepreneurial initiatives, the number of innovative companies and the volume of private
funds allocated to innovation.
IMPLICATIONS:
The study could influence the university curriculum by adapting it to the requirements of business environment. Research becomes an
activity that focuses not only on new discoveries, but also on innovation as a systematic activity with immediate application in
economics. Legislature could develop a number of incentives that encourage private financing of innovation activity, passing from the
implementation phase to the innovation with clearly defined objectives to achieve goals led to a particular company. Having a strong
entrepreneurial culture, graduates of higher education would no longer appeal to their qualification unsuitable jobs, and they would
start their own business. Knowing the benefits of the innovation process and knowing how to do it, these companies would become
very short time innovative SME's.
ORIGINALITY VALUE:
Pioneering work has value because in Romania systematic innovation activity is addressed in a very small way for all. It is considered
a chaotic, random, which belongs to chance.
KEY WORDS:
innovation, entrepreneurship, higher education
What's missing? No country can not waste human educate. So Americans have learned that innovation is
talents and un-identifying the intellectual potential is a education and that produces wealth. It is important that
great loss. Besides that is invested financial resources, Romanian entrepreneurs to learn and innovate, because
human and material both from state and from citizens innovation will lead to added value for them first. Then
to education and teaching, which in the end not they will provide jobs and prosperity for the
produce an added value, these resources are not even communities they belong and consequently the stability
recovered to the end of cycle. A consequence of this is where they can live and work. After that, their children
that in Romania, the most important part of the can grow and educate so that can rely on they at a time.
graduates are employed at a lower level of training Otherwise, companies will be momentary, businesses
compared to their level of training or even works in the will have a short-lived, employees will be dissatisfied
other fields of activities. From here two assumptions and hence a high fluctuation of staff often highly
can be drawn: either the economy is evident in an qualified, so an unstable society in which young’s will
inability to retrieve these graduates, or the educational definitely want to emigrate will start.
system produces specialists in areas that are not Romania's current policy in research,
requested by the real economy. Ultimately this leads to development and innovation must follow the targets set
a waste of resources, but maybe properly guided, these by the Lisbon European Council. For this, formation of
graduates can become a base for recruiting of those a new mentality on innovation and development
who have creative and innovative potential. process by implementing this process in the economy
as result of creative intellectual activity is a necessity.
According to experts CREST, low staff
salaries and inadequate equipments from RDI field,
have increased flow of external migration of young
researchers, especially to USA, which has increased
the average age of staff in the RDI of Romania.
Entrepreneurial culture in Romania is
considered unimportant and innovation as part of this
Fig.2- HR involvement in RDI graduates 6 culture is less important. But if those who now work on
inappropriate posts in other countries but with higher
wages compared with Romania, would start a small
business in Romania for the first time and implements
their ideas would produce more added value?
Considering that most of those who migrate are often
highly qualified finally, we could say that we could
successfully compete with most developed countries in
Fig.3- Patents applications submitted to the EPO (Romania, 0.4 per terms of technology in the EU (Germany, Austria,
1000 inhabitants) France). But the entrepreneurial culture of innovation
History has shown that economic activity not only dependents on training received by
development can not guarantee a continuous individuals in different schools, but all this also
development if the production is concentrated on short depends on the political environment, on the system of
time profit. It is advisable to invest in innovation taxes and also by the level of economy.
especially if the economy is in stagnation or decline. So, the problem is that, in Romania, the
It is very important to promote innovation as part of an culture, even if it is considered residual variable of
entrepreneurial culture. Through knowledge and self- social and economic sciences can not be ignored
knowledge, economic agents succeed to be proactive, however. The education received by individuals, for at
to anticipate changing and to adapt to the market least 45 years, under which they must not have any
trends. ideas for the party-state can not be wiped out. And
The emergence of SME’s led to especially can not ignore the fact that 20 years young
diversification of human needs; on the other hand also people have not received any form of entrepreneurial
SME’s will have to satisfy a part of these new needs. education or received only bits. There was inoculated
SME’s will have to go further, and to assign new the idea that business is not for everyone, and even less
valences to the resources that become more limited innovation. Why?
(even exhausted). This transformation of limited
resources so as to meet the unlimited needs is possible 2. Research methodology
through creative innovation. The survey was conducted by research in 50
In Romania, innovational activity is SME's from Iasi, in four public universities ("Gh.
considered a chaotic, random, based on chance activity. Asachi" Technical University Iasi, "Alexandru Ioan
According to Peter F. Drucker innovation should be a Cuza" University Iasi, "Ion Ionescu de la Brad"
continuous, systematic. Entrepreneurial spirit in University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary
America at least, is not born spontaneously, but Medicine Iasi, "Grigore T. Popa" University of
Medicine and Pharmacy) and also in two major private
6
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
Study Regarging The Marketing Performance Metrics for Management Master Programs 589
universities ("Petre Andrei " University Iasi and " Spiru intensity of business, the fact that 98% of firms that
Haret" University Iasi). operate in this area have a turnover under 2 million
The research was based on questionnaires euro.
differentiated application-level for top-level This is due to the fact that innovative
management and non-management and also interviews activities are considered both by business and also by
with teachers and with students in above mentioned academics as being exceptionally rare, and not as the
Universities. Data processing was performed using possible activities that is learned and carried out
SPSS 1.0 software for statistical analysis as in figure 2. systematically. From the surveyed students, only half
believe that the educational system offers sufficient
opportunities those with high innovative potential.
From the research I noticed that no
universities funded by neither the budget, nor those
private are not give the importance of education or
spirit of innovative entrepreneurship, creative, with
important consequences on living standards and
employability of the workforce. So, that means that
Romanian higher education is not focused on
innovation and on entrepreneurial culture, and now that
is a problem.
Fig. 2- SPSS using
SWOT Analysis entrepreneurship education in tertiary
3. Interpretation of research results education of Iasi Municipality revealed:
Daniel MICU1, Anca Alexandra PURCAREA2, Liliana IFRIM3, Catalina DARABAN4, Bianca PRISECARIU5
1
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Management Department, Ph.D. Candidate, daniel@troutandpartners.ro
2
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Management Department, Industrial Management Chair, apurcarea@gmail.com
3
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Management Department, Ph.D. Candidate, lilianaaa2002@yahoo.com
4
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Management Department, Ph.D. Candidate, cmcalaras@yahoo.com
5
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Management Department, Ph.D. Candidate, biancaprisecaru@gmail.com
The objectives of this paper is to determine what are the goals and associated marketing performance metrics that management
master programs have to take into consideration when developing their strategic marketing plans and tactical marketing activities.
This paper is based on our extensive research on marketing performance measurement. The measurement of marketing activity has
become critical in our days, especially for practitioners responsible for developing and implementing marketing strategies and plans.
Unfortunately, for far to long marketers have not been held accountable for demonstrating how marketing activities add value and
help organizations achieve their objectives. In order to achieve the objectives of this study we have conducted a national survey based
on the CATI (Computer Aided Telephone Interview) method. Based on the above mentioned research method, we have identified the
marketing performance metrics that have to be considered when developing strategic marketing plans and tactical marketing
activities. The results of this study can be used by the administrative staff of management master programs when develop the
marketing plans to promote their master programs. This study is entirely original in its attempt to establish the link between marketing
performance metrics and marketing plans for management master programs.
and (b) 607 respondents from Bucharest, Brasov, Cluj, quality prevailing) and after words (Table2 and Table
Constanta, Craiova, Iasi and Timisoara. 3).
Data collection technique - Computer Aided Table 2: Benefits Sought by Companies
Telephone Interviews (CATI). 1st place 2nd place 3rd place
Fieldwork - January – February 2010. Improvement of
4. RESULTS professional 94,1% 5,4% 0,5%
4.1. Type of Master Program Preferred performance
Tacking into consideration the fact that Romania is Obtaining a
4,4% 30,2% 65,4%
now part of European Union and the access to foreign Diploma
universities and programs is easier that ever, we’ve Networking 1,5% 64,4% 34,1%
decided to investigate the preferred program based on
Table 3: Benefits Sought by Individuals
the country of origin and the benefits associated with this type of
program (Table 1). 1st place 2nd place 3rd place
Table 1: Type of the Master Program Preferred based on country of origin Improvement of
Abroad Romania DK/NA professional 81,2% 15,5% 3,3%
Companies 87,30% 18,50% 1,00% performance
Individuals 26,50% 73,50% 0,00% Obtaining a
11,0% 38,1% 50,9%
Diploma
Among the major benefits of a Master Programs Networking 7,7% 46,5% 45,8%
held abroad are the following:
The professors are experienced in international Although the figures are pretty similar, companies
markets/multinationals and up to date trends; are putting more emphasize on improvement of
The students have backgrounds in different cultures; professional performance and on (business)
Multicultural dimension of the approach given by networking, while obtaining a diploma is the 2nd major
the international level of communication between goal of individuals.
professors and students which implies a wider area of
4.3. Indicators of a High Quality Master in
understanding the processes and the mechanisms from
Management Program
the business environment; A high quality Master in Management Program
A diploma offered by an international institution is comes to most respondents as a mix of different
perceived as more credible and has a better recognition aspects whose actions converge on the idea of value. In
on the labor market; this respect, the value of such a Master program is
The international environment is perceived as ‘real’ given by the following factors which refer to its
and represents a substantial change in attitude, working intrinsic characteristics:
style, networking and better career opportunities. Course dynamism & interactivity – dynamism
On the other hand, the benefits of a Master during courses and ‘learning by doing’ generates a high
Programs held in Romania are perceived to be: level of students’ involvement in the program and has a
It is more accessible both in terms of admission and direct impact on students’ satisfaction.
price; Professors – should have a sound academic and
It offers the opportunity to attend the courses while especially practical background so the delivered
having a job, and consequently to put immediately into information to be understood, both theoretical and
practice the knowledge acquired and to exploit the practical, and not cut off from reality, from what is
networking, if possible, through immediate cooperation currently happening on the market.
in business; Students – the competence of the students (work
No extra costs for traveling and accommodation experience and dedication) is the source of valuable
abroad are necessary. interaction within the group. The stricter the admission
4.2. Motivations and Benefits Sought criteria, the more obvious the fact that valuable
The findings related to motivations and benefits students will be involved in the Master program.
sought at a Master in Management program can be The criteria that are take into consideration when
classified in the following way: evaluating a Management Master program and their
Basic Level (Rational Level): knowledge & relative importance are presented in the table bellow
know-how in business/management, networking, (Table 4).
Master diploma;
Intermediate Level (Practical Level): high Table 4: Criteria for Program Evaluation & Importance
budgets and not knowing the offers (Table 5). Companies Individuals
For the individuals – lack of time (reason Internet 78,00 % 80,40%
mentioned by almost half of respondents). This is Specialized magazines 42,40 % 49,90 %
followed by lack of interest and not being useful for the Graduates 33,70 % 21,30 %
field of activity (Table 6). Leaflets & Boklets 26,30 % 14,70 %
Table 5: Barriers Behing Program Attendind & Acquisition - Companies Fellows from other
14,10 % 4,10 %
Companies companies
Not relevand for the company/field of Fairs & Exhibitions 14,10 % 9,40 %
36,50%
activity Business Partners 11,20 % 3,30 %
Insufficient budget 15,10% Fellow co-workers 9,30 % 6,30 %
Don't know the offers 14,00% Newspapers 8,80 % 15,20 %
Didn't make a decision yet 11,60% TV/Radio 7,30 % 30,50 %
Not necessary for the employees 10,20% Universities 6,80 % 8,90 %
Use of other types of programs 8,10% Friends 3,90 % 23,60 %
The employees attend a Master program on
3,20% Other 14,60 % 4,30 %
their own
Other reasons 4,20% It is important to highlight here the importance of
graduates for both companies and individuals. They are
DK/NA 8,80%
perceived as a reliable source of information and
powerful influencers. The management has to take this
element into account when developing marketing
programs on short, medium and long term (e.g. better
capitalization of the existing graduates for up selling
and cross selling; provide active support to develop a
strong Alumni and increase pride within graduates).
Table 6: Barriers Behing Program Attendind & Acquisition - Individuals
Individuals 5. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR
Don't have time to attend such a program 49,30% FURTHER RESEARCH
Not interested/doesn't need a Master Based on the findings of this research, we can
20,70%
program draw the conclusion that for a successful Management
Not useful to the field of activity 16,90% Master program, a number of issues are critical: (1)
Expensive 8,00% course dynamism and interactivity; (2) high quality
Don’t know the offers 5,60% faculty with relevant academic background and
Studied enough/have enough knowledge business experience; (3) focus on relevant practical
3,30% managerial aspects; (4) up to date information and
background
Other reasons 2,30% rigorously selected students. All the strategic and
tactical marketing programs have to address these
DK/NA 1,90%
issues and reflect them in all the elements of the
4.5. Decision Making Process marketing mix ((re)developing and adapting the Master
In most companies, the Human Resources program, proposing the optimum price for prospects,
Manager usually puts fort the consideration for an attracting the right prospects, selecting the target
594 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
market and target audience and choosing the best 2. Hayes, T.J. (1989), "How students choose a college: a
qualitative approach", Journal of Marketing for Higher Education,
media mix for communications).
Vol. 2 No.1, pp.19-27
Further research is needed to understand more 3. Kotler, P., Levy, S.J. (1969), "Broadening the concept of
thoroughly the relationships between marketing marketing", Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33 No. January, pp.10-15
practices, relative emphasis on faculty effort in certain 4. Miller, P., Lamb, C.P. Jr, Hoverstad, R., Boehm, E.G. (1990),
"An approach for identifying benefit segments among prospective
areas, school characteristics and performance.
college students", Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, Vol. 3
No.1, pp.49-65.
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1. Churchill, G.A. Jr (1991), Marketing Research: Methodological No.5, pp.34-9.
Foundations, 5th ed., Dryden Press, Chicago, IL, 6. Wiseman, F., Billington, M. (1984), "Comment on a standard
definition of response rates", Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 21
No. August, pp.337.
ABOUT THE DIVERSITY OF UNIVERSITY ORGANIZATIONS.
LEARNING ABOUT MANAGING DIFFERENCES. A CASE STUDY
Marius MILCU1
1
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania, marius.milcu@ulbsibiu.ro
Currently, professional organizations are marked by a growing diversity of members. The high work mobility is the main reason for
these situations. In some organizations are working together people of different ages, education levels, nationalities and races. The
organizations from academic field are basically characterized by a great diversity. This diversity proves to be sometimes hard to
accept, often inducing a certain psychological distance between the members of the organization. Time does not seem to solve this
problem. In this context, the management of differences is a priority component of any organization. The Universities management
needs to recognize these problems, to invest in research and their appropriate management, to enhance institutional performance.
Key words: Individual, social, ethnic and racial differences, academic environment, diversity, psychological distance
the opportunities for progress that would entail those Goals which we propose are related to developing and
situations, which would condemn the organization to implementing a specific program managing the
stagnation and, so, to involution? differences in academic context.
In this context, a wiser approach would be that of
controlled stimulation of diversity and heterogeneity, METHODOLOGY
generating oppositions and conflicts and, implicitly,
social and economic progress. Their development
The methods used are:
should be stimulated, and their evolution channelled the experiment;
along a particular direction, ascending and tension- the sociometrical technique;
accumulating, which should reach a climax, of high
the systematic observation;
tension, at some particular time and in some particular
data analysis;
space, (pre-established, anticipated with maximum
case study.
precision), but also an equally well-directed solution.
These methods were combined in an experimental
At first sight, organizational therapy, based on design that allowed the gathering of information highly
controlled stimulation of differences and oppositions significant to the studied organization and abolishing the
may seem (and even be, actually), extremely dangerous
intervention of random variables.
for the stability of an organization. This therapy might
The experimental group comprises 98 people from
quickly generate neurotic anxiety, frustration, and
the university (professors, lecturers, assistant university)
alienation of the members of the organization, when
with age between 25 and 60 years. All these people
irresponsibly and excessively used. But, considering the work in various departments of the university.
fact that, practically, the stressful, crisis situations are The experimental tasks: The individuals respond to
intermittent rather than permanent, that they do not
a questionnaire on educational values (moment T0).
represent a constant in organizations, we think that such
After processing the results, subjects are given
shortcomings are very unlikely to appear.
information obtained in order to realize the differences
between them in terms of educational values (moment
STABILITY VS. INSTABILITY IN MODERN T1). They are involved in a brief experiment based on
ORGANIZATIONS. AVOIDING THE TENDENCY the monitoring of interactions that are established
TOWARDS STABILITY between them (moment T2).
At this point, individuals respond again to the
Following the results of research on conflicts in questionnaire on educational values (moment T3). At
groups and organizations, we estimate that the the end of the experiment, individuals are presented
formation of professionals, specialists in triggering, with results from the second application of the
controlling and solving crisis situations, in capturing questionnaire (moment T4). We expect a significant
and constructive directing of the individual and social decline of the differences between them (from moment
energies released by them, would serve for minimizing T0 to moment T3).
the above risks and maximizing, thus, the opportunities
for progress, and for transforming the organization into RESULTS
an extremely dynamic, flexible structure, easily
adaptable to the evolution of the society as a whole,
even if agitated enough on the inside. It would be The results of our research showed a large ambiguity
preferable for such a team of specialists not to be in perceiving differences and various degrees of
differences acceptance of the studied organization.
associated in any way to the respective organization, but
These parameters are significantly different depending
rather to represent an external, really independent
on hierarchical levels where participants are situated.
structure.
In this way, the idea we are trying to promote is that Being made in a university, the results of this research
of avoiding, at any cost, the tendency to equilibrium - are valid only in the academic environment.
Only that organization which is “wide-open to value
characteristic of any organization, but in various
fields and representations of most of its members”
degrees-and of stimulating change by manipulating
(Lemaître, 1984) becomes powerful.
differences, oppositions and conflicts among the
The development of a culture of the organization
members of the group/organization, which increases,
from our point of view, the opportunities of social and (that is, of the whole, not of its components) must be
economic progress. based on this perspective for exploiting differences
existing among the systems of representations,
ideologies, beliefs, mentalities, and not on reducing
OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH them (Milcu, 2006). The included subsystems will
adopt, consequently, wider perspectives for work,
Research indicates various degrees of acceptance of unifying perspectives, based on what Sherif calls
individual, social, ethnic and racial differences. The superordinated goals.
purpose of this study is to identify how differences are It has been experimentally demonstrated that the
perceived and managed among the university personnel. superordinated goals contribute to reducing conflicts
About The Diversity of University Organizations. Learning about Managing Differences. A Case Study 597
among compartments. But “these superordinated goals and control (preponderantly informal) exerted by the
cannot be reached merely by verbal manipulation or by group upon its members.
a consensus regarding some abstractions” (Sherif, Avoidance of placing the individual in free
1979). This means identifying values around which interactive situations is thus required, for the simple fact
there is agreement between services (be that only that the individual-already in a state of dissonance-will
partial), these services to be then offered an operational sacrifice the interests of the group in favor of the
definition referring to the actions to be carried out. assertion of his own beliefs, opinions, mentalities,
These preferential attitudes that the organization ideals, irrespective of the consequences resulting from
ranks highest must be defined collectively during a such an action. And all these for the obvious purpose of
debate in which all departments are involved. If not, redressing the equilibrium/ consonance among the
they will nor recognize their points of view in the final cognitive elements initially perceived as being in
definitions that will thus lose their consensual relations of marked incompatibility.
significance. If, on the contrary, the pressure exerted by The research results are significant for the
a functional department comes to the fore, to impose on organizations management, but also for human
all the others its own vision on the problems under resources practitioners and all personnel of the
discussion, the efficiency of the organization will be organization. The design used for research can be useful
considerably diminished. for researchers investigating other similar phenomena.
Most certainly, the phenomena mentioned above Managing differences becomes possible and even
(the existence of many systems of representations, beneficial to the organization.
ideologies, beliefs, mentalities, professional values, etc.) The originality of this study comes from the
cannot totally disappear. However, as we have experimental design, the methods used, the managerial
underlined, this diversity may have not only negative perspective of our research, the opportunity for
effects, but positive, synergetic ones, too, if the exploiting differences in academic organizations.
interventions of the leadership have a regulating role. Developing an organizational therapy based on
For example, the agreement of several departments exploiting differences is a unique approach in the field.
concerning some particular problem, which, at first We intend to extend this model approach for other
sight, is a positive aspect, often has negative economic and professional organizations.
consequences, in a longer perspective, because it does
not encourage the evolution of the organizations but SELF-EVALUATION QUESTIONS AND
leads to stagnation (Milcu, 2005). EXERCISES
Therefore, the existence of a diversity of functional
departments and, implicitly, of systems of
• Define organizational diversity. Enumerate the
representations, ideologies, beliefs, mentalities, must
consequences of diversity upon some
neither be neglected nor incriminated because,
organizational phenomena and processes.
approaching a problem in such varied ways, sometimes
• Interpret the real possibilities of leveling values
even opposing ones, ideas and solution-providing
in groups and organizations.
strategies, wholly unexpected, extremely valuable, may
arise. Hidden, latent, up to now, problems of the • Define organizational culture. Analyze the
organization come to the surface to be approached from impact of the micro-cultures of the groups /
new angles of vision (Milcu, 2006). The organizational included compartments and the culture of the
creativity is thus activated. organization.
“It is necessary that, in some manner, the relation to • Define personalization of groups / organizations
the values of each group/department should not be and comment on the implications of this
discordant, liable to generate very strong contradictions phenomenon upon the organizational climate.
in the collective compartments addressed” (Sainsaulieu, Identify the positive, beneficial dimensions and
1987). The coexistence of differences becomes thus the destructive ones of the phenomenon.
more beneficial to the organization than conformism • Document the opportunity of forming internal
and sharing of values. specialists in processes of negotiation.
• Document the opportunity of hiring external
specialists in processes of negotiation.
CONCLUSIONS AND INTENTIONS
• Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the
two options.
Any group / organization contains - by its very
• Referring to a group or organization that you
structure, by its systems of statuses and roles- the germs
know well, opt for one of the available choices.
of conflicting relations. But they are not necessarily
Justify your choice.
explosive, destructive, and, by adequate management,
• Document the constructive role of organizational
they can be converted into a factor of progress,
micro-cultures.
maintaining the group in a state of high social
activation, of positive agitation and tension. The only • Analyze the mechanisms by which the
problem is, in the context mentioned, that of supervision organization can stimulate the creativity of social
actors.
598 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
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THE NEGOTIATION IN EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.
AN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH
Marius MILCU1
1
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania, marius.milcu@ulbsibiu.ro
Abstract: Different organizational cultures, like as personality styles of managers are true viruses affecting the negotiation’s
efficiency within and between educational organizations. Negotiation styles used by managers from different levels of educational
organizations are very different and sometimes unpredictable and inefficient. Being deprived of an adequate education in this sense,
these managers often work even against the interests of their organization.
Key words: Academic environment, educational organizations, negotiation skills, experimental research design
• the study group (SG) - is composed of nine school the highest group G1 and values of the skills inventory
directors; resulting from these negotiations) is a positive one.
• the highest group / level (G1) - includes two In order to observe if and in which measure the
representatives from the Ministry of Education; changes of the independent variable reflect on the
• the superior group / level (G2) - composed of two dependent variable, we calculated the regression
general inspectors; coefficient. Its value is negative (-0.266), meaning that
• the equal group / level (G3) - three directors from between two variables is an inverse relation. It shows
various schools in the area. that an increase of one unit on the SRSPV scale leads to
- Experimental tasks: All research subjects will changes in - 0.266 negotiations scale with the G1 skills
complete a questionnaire on the representations, inventory to group SG.
stereotypes, prejudices, values compared with other In other words, to negotiate with the hierarchical
existing professional groups. Group members are highest group / level, the negotiator study group tends to
invited to give scores (1 to 5) of specific skills that are approach the SRSPV values of the considered group,
more or less required in their work. Same task is to be strongly distancing themselves from their baseline,
done (referring on the given group) by the other groups which is somewhat predictable, superior group is highly
involved - one equal and two superiors. After this stage, valued, as embodying the attributes of power, decision
all research subjects will complete a questionnaire on authority, functional autonomy. Further, this change
the representations, stereotypes, prejudices, professional results in a very different valuation of the specific skills
values in relation to other groups. Assuming that required in work activity, significant removal of the
between these groups assessments differ significantly, requirements contained in the mandate of the negotiator.
one member of each group will be mandated to An overview of negotiation at the moment T1 shows
negotiate with others to establish a single list. Following that it is most effective (100%) when we talk about
a further application of the questionnaire (SRSPV), then hierarchical skills, very effective (70%) if it is about
we proceed to the actual negotiation with each group individual skills, efficient (50%) if we negotiate social
delegate. After another application of the questionnaire, skills, less efficient (37.2%) for professional skills and
negotiator returns to the group in question and presents very little effective (33%) for the physical ones.
the results of negotiation. Let’s see how the things are regarding the
negotiations with G2 (the superior group).
Questionnaire In order to reject the null hypothesis it is useful to
calculate the correlation coefficient between the
The method chosen to implement is the self- considered variables. As its value is 0.575 at a
administration. To measure the independent variable, significance level of 0.01, the two variables (values of
we developed a list of necessary skills for optimal the SRSPV of the SG negotiator questionnaire at the
performance of work tasks and defects that are time T2 and the ones resulting from skills inventory
detrimental. To measure the dependent variable, the negotiation with the superior group G2) are closely
questionnaire was made up considering the qualitative related. To perceive the change which occurs in the
aspects of concrete relations established in the work dependent variable when the independent variable is
activities. It’s not so much about the real objectives of changing with one standard deviation, the regression
the work, but especially about the subjective ones, coefficient was calculated.
perceived by research subjects, or more specifically Regression coefficient’s value is negative (-1.233),
about images, beliefs which the four studied groups so between the variables there is an inverse association.
have built over time and which were subsequently So if the SRSPV scale of SG group increases with one
reinforced by social norms. unit, skills inventory scale negotiation with superior
group G2 is increasing with -1,233. In other words, the
Processing and interpretation of results negotiator SG shows a much stronger tendency to reject
the values and assessments negotiator G2, taking
During subsequent negotiations, the SRSPV of the distance from G2 values of skills Inventory.
involved individuals has changed more or less Compared to the negotiation process between SG
significantly. Basically, the validation of study and G1, where there is a certain tendency to
hypothesis (influence of the independent variable on the approximate the skills inventory values to the superior
dependent variable) refers to the study group negotiator group, in the negotiation SG with G2 the regression
behavior (SG). This is the reason why the coefficients of coefficient values are definitely higher (by approx. 5
correlation and regression have been calculated. times); taking less distance of the SRSPV SG negotiator
The nature of existing relations between the two values in the two research moments (T0 and T2), it
variables is shown by the correlation coefficient. As you results that we assist to a much stronger differentiation
can see above, it has a value of 0.701 at a significance of the two skills inventories of the negotiating groups.
level of 0.01, so the correlation between the two Regarding the negotiations with the highest group
considered variables (SRSPV questionnaire values the research hypothesis is valid.
obtained in the immediate prospect of negotiating with But it is necessary that these considerations based on
quantitative analysis and detailed data are accompanied
The Negotiation in Educational Organizations. An Experimental Approach 601
the reasons for disengagement of SG negotiator. This is hierarchical level. We estimate a maximum efficiency
really due to the fatigue felt of successive negotiations, of negotiation in this situation. Obviously, in both cases,
meaning the physical and mental energy spent by the the question of acceptance of such negotiator remains,
negotiator? In this case, we can not venture to define which would require significant efforts from those who
some strategies; these could be fictional, without real authorizes it, which should not be impossible.
support. But if the situation is simply due to changes in In this context it would be advisable to hire a
the value of SRSPV as the statistical evidence shows, professional from outside the organization, but this
conclusions that can be drawn are shocking. What the approach would have to face, certainly, some ethical
organizational leadership has to do in a conflict context and even financially obstacles, because unions could not
would be simply choosing its delegate to the negotiating understand the need to import a specialist who would be
table as a person who does not belong to a superior paid from the funds of union contributions. Thus, in an
level, but an absolutely equal one. The difficulty and unexpected way, the acceptance of an outside negotiator
duration of most negotiations in multiple and very could drive a virulent opposition and rejection reactions
different organizations is understandable in these from employers, but especially from the mass trade
circumstances. The negotiator, mandated by the union. Certainly, a cautions and intelligent approach of
management, is always an organizational member of the the situation, based on a brief explanation and
staff (executives, engineers, accountants, etc.). clarification campaign among union members, would be
It remains doubtful the opportunity to choose a likely to eliminate or reduce the unwanted reactions.
person from outside, meaning not associated in any
Skills No. of items Negotiated points Gained points Lost points Negotiation efficiency %
Physical 4 3 1 2 33
Individual 11 5 3,5 1,5 70
Social 7 4 2 2 50
Professional 9 4 1,5 2,5 27,2
Hierarchical 3 2 2 - 100
Fig. 1. Negotiation SG - G 1
Skills No. of items Negotiated points Gained points Lost points Negotiation efficiency %
Physical 4 4 1 3 25
Individual 11 7 2 5 28,5
Social 7 3 2 1 66
Professional 9 5 3 2 60
Hierarchical 3 1 - 1 0
Fig. 2. Negotiation SG - G 2
Skills No. of items Negotiated points Gained points Lost points Negotiation efficiency %
Physical 4 2 - 2 0
Individual 11 8 - 8 0
Social 7 1 - 1 0
Professional 9 6 2 4 33
Hierarchical 3 - - - -
Fig. 3. Negotiation SG - G 3
The concept of corporate governance to China has deep historical roots. The process of the Dong-Zhang system in the Ming dynasty is a direct
attempt of the Chinese culture to deal with the innate dilemma of management of the relationship between corporate owners and their hired
corporate managers. This paper briefly explores the historical development of corporate governance in China, and outlines the dilemmas faced
by corporations and the Chinese investor in relation to issues of governance. Findings indicate that some progress has been made in development
and promotion of legislation to ensure more transparency and representation of stakeholder needs. At the same time, weak implementation and
supervision of existing legislation as well as cultural strengths and drawbacks of Confucianism have limited progress in governance initiatives.
From an historical point of view, issues related to Researchers also documented how Dong-Zhang
corporate governance, especially rights and relations were impacted by managers’ ethical standard,
responsibilities of owner and manager and the decision defined by morality, loyalty and belief. Tu (2003) and
making process, have been explored in China long Zhang (2004) maintain that, hundreds years before the
before corporations existed in North America. The concept of corporate governance was introduced in
Dong-Zhang System, widely used by banking businesses Western business systems, the Chinese business
(or “Jin Shang”) in Shanxi province, was widely known community had identified and understand the problem
by contemporary Chinese during the time of the Ming of conflict of interests among stakeholders as business
(1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties [3]. Being grew and to develop solutions.
the first one to introduce paper money in the world, Jin
Events in the forms of social turmoil, wars, and
Shang once was very successful and dominated economic events in the last two centuries caused
financial service sector in ancient China. “Dong” is the disruption to the evolution of economic and market
Chinese word for owner or investor, and “Zhang” is for
development in China. Ideas of corporate governance
the executive manager. Tu (2003) discovered ancient
shifted radically after communist took power when
literatures that document the relationship between
everything was owned by the state. Important economic
owner and manager according to Dong Shan principles
and governance decisions were made by government
in ways very similar to modern management structures. and party officials. But after more than two decades of
Key principles included the following: market reform started in early 1980s, China has come to
realize that there needs to be a decision process with
1. The manager has the authority to make non-
supporting organizational structure within the
strategic decisions and to ensure undisrupted daily
corporation in order to ensure long term prosperity and
operations of the firm. He has limited liabilities for avoid the type of scandal modeled by Greencool in an
the long term success of the firm. investor-driven market context.
2. The owner has the authority to make major
decisions such as business expansion, promotion In mid 1990s, researchers and government officials
and firing, and distributing dividends as well as started exploring the concept of corporate governance.
sharing profit among employees. The owner has In September 1999, the Communist Party’s 15th Central
unlimited liability for firm’s well being. Committee adopted a decision that calls for “strategic
3. The owner could not borrow or remove assets from adjustment” of the state sector. The decision identifies
the firm without an agreement from the manager. corporate governance as the core of modern enterprises.
Since then, according to professor Tong Lu, director of
The Dong-Zhang relationship can be viewed as a Chinese center for Corporate Governance at Institute of
primitive governance contract between business owner World Economics and Politics of Chinese Academy of
and manager. It resembled the structure of the Social Sciences, more than 1200 large SOEs have
relationship between owners and managers in modern diversified ownership through public listing, and 80
corporations in its most simple form and included some percent of small and medium sized corporations have
reward and control elements strikingly similar to current been transformed into non-state owned enterprises (Lu,
Board mechanisms. For example, researchers 2003).
documented an incident illustrating a conflict of interest
between the manager and the owner in the largest bank Beyond the restructuring and redesign of the form of the
at that time. In this case, the managers secretly set up corporations, a legal framework driving preferred
accounts for customer lending and personal profit taking governance processes has also been established. The
without reporting the structure to the owner. To deal Chinese national legislature passed the Company Law in
with such problem, the owner invented a mechanism 1993 and the Security Law in 1998, both of which
similar to today’s stock option. outline legal requirements related to corporate practices.
In 2002, the Code of Corporate Governance was
The intent and effect of this approach created a common formulated in accordance with these laws and other
ground of interests between the manager and the owner.
604 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
relevant regulations. It serves as a standard for This model applies to private sector and some
evaluating corporate governance practices of listing collectively owned enterprises, where government had
companies. While practice within the majority of no ownership. This is the fastest growing sector in
Chinese corporations still lags behind the overall vision China’s economy. According to Chen and Huang, the
captured in these legal initiatives Li (2000), all listed most important feature of private enterprises is that, the
companies are required to act in spirit of the code to ownership is concentrated in one or two primary owners
improve corporate governance and their relatives. A survey in 2000 (Wang, 2003)
revealed that 66% of the shareholding of these
Corporations and Governance Models in China
companies are predominantly concentrated in one
China is in a transition from planned economy primary owner. Close family members retain another 17
represented by state ownership to market economy percent of the ownership. Companies falling into this
characterized by private enterprises. As a result, there category may see the ownership diversified to a degree
are various forms of corporate ownership concurrently after the company goes public, however the founding
existing, each featuring unique corporate governance family still retains absolute control (Wang, 2003).
practices. Chen Jia Gui and Huang Qun Hui (2001)
developed three general categories based on the Internally, these companies are controlled by a small
distribution of shareholding. These are briefly described core made up with family members. Although many of
below. the larger private companies have established
governance mechanisms such as boards of directors and
State-centric model advisory boards, offices of the CEO, and board
Corporations using this model include commercial meetings, they can still be characterized as closed
institutes wholly owned by the state but yet to be organizations with family members in key positions on
incorporated, incorporated companies wholly owned by the board and in management. Key business decisions
the state, and incorporated enterprises partially owned are made exclusively by these personnel. To a large
by the state. The predominant feature of this model is degree, the family centric governance model is an
high concentration of state ownership. The ownership is effective solution to the problem of motivating the
vested in the State-Owned Assets Supervision and management team, as conflict of interest between
Administration Commission, an administrative arm manager and owner rarely occurs within a family.
under the State Council of China. What is unique in Although this model of governance does not reflect
China is that shares owned by the state, typically modern standards under current legislation and world
making up half or more of the total shares of the practices, given the current transitional situation in
corporation, are not allowed to circulate on the equity China which lacks a fully implemented rule of law and
market. This essentially limits any shift in ownership of effective norms and standards for proper governance
the corporation and puts the State in a dominant conduct, it plays a positive role from the perspective of
shareholder position with regard to governance profitability of the firm.
decisions.
Corporation-oriented model
From a governance perspective, transition from SOE
toward a more market-oriented structure has had The “legal person” in this model is in a form of legal
strategic – and frequently negative – implications for person institutions, investment agencies, banks or
shareholder influence. During the transition, power investment funds that become the predominant
traditionally commanded by the state is shifted shareholders of the firm. A legal person share is a form
downwards to the managers, who in turn take control of of institutional shareholding in which the legal person
the firm (Li, 2000). This leads to the situation where key institution effectively functions as a holding company.
managers are not separated from the decision making Among publicly traded firms, legal person holdings of
function of the board. In many cases, overlap of shares make a significant portion of the investment
management team and board becomes very common market (18% in 1992) and that percentage is increasing
(Chen and Huang, 2003). Externally, the function of at a fast pace, with growth to 28% in 1998 (Chen and
government as the largest shareholder commands the Wang, 2001). The trend to legal person shareholding
power of assigning management personnel, of will exceed state shareholding in the foreseeable future.
approving major business decisions, and of controlling
business activities in accordance with government Compared with the state centric model, legal person
regulations and policies. The structure of governance shareholders potentially play a more proactive and
has the appearance of external influence, but the effective role on the board. This is because the objective
processes of governance maintain the reality that the of the legal person is to maximize the return on
corporations remain arms of the State for policy and/or investment. Additionally, Chinese law prohibits legal
personal privilege advantage. person shares from being traded. Holding companies
-centric model who invest in such shares are forced to focus on long
term financial performance instead of short term gains.
Externally, the legal person centric model relies more on
Current Dilemmas of Corporate Governance in China- Part I - 605
the market as a control mechanism, in contrast to state mostly of current or past senior managers. Xie Qi Hua,
centric model that relies on government regulation and the president and CEO is also the Chairwoman of the
economic policy (Chen and Wang, 2001). Board. China Chengtong Group, a company once
directly under the Ministry of Goods and Material and
Joint Venture model
later dissolved, has a board composed of general
Li and Wu (2005) identify another form of governance managers of member companies associated with the
model widely adopted by joint-venture firms. A joint holding company (China Newsweek, 2004).
venture is a strategic partnership or alliance between
State Council is aware of this dilemma. Since the
foreign corporations and domestic companies. It is an
establishment of China’s securities regulator, the China
independent institution and maintains a status similar to
Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), more than
state or privately owned enterprises. The governance
300 laws and directives concerning the securities and
structure of typical Chinese joint ventures features a
futures market have been issued. The State-Owned
board that is comprised of management personnel from
Assets Supervision and Administration Commission
parent companies. The chairman and members of the
(SASAC) has also generated a number of initiatives to
board are assigned by foreign and domestic partners
address the problem:
after negotiation. The distribution of control is tied to
their proportion of investment. It is very rare that the
board has external members. Because of this, major 1. SASAC has undertaken to assign external directors
decisions and business execution of a joint venture firm and independent directors to a small number of
can not be realized without approval of senior pioneering companies. They have also issued a
management of parent companies. Lack of regulation that over 30% of the board members
independence of the board from influence and direction must be independent (China Newsweek, 2004).
from the parent companies are the main characteristics
of this model. 2. SASAC has transformed a number of SOEs into
State Invested Corporations (SICs). For historical
Dilemmas of Corporate Governance in China
reasons, SOEs were nominally associated with
Lack of governance structure government bodies. As a result of the frequent
conflicts between policy goals and financial goals,
A survey by the State Development Planning the process of decision-making was heavily
Commission of the State Council in 2004 (CENET,
influenced by bureaucrats and often was not in the
2005) revealed that only 31.7% of the large state owned
best interest of the firm and its shareholders. The
companies have established formal governance
new structure of SICs is designed to focus the
structures and processes, including shareholder
management decision-making directly on the
meetings, boards of directors, advisory boards and financial output of the firms.
executive management bodies. More significantly, over
30 percent of the companies surveyed do not have a
Lack of a strongly developed legal foundation is the
governance structure in any form. The rest of companies
main difficulty in successfully executing these
in the survey reported incomplete governance structures.
initiatives. Because SASAC is a government arm, the
Without the requisite structures to carry out mandated
governance structure and processes imposed by it
legislation, the promulgation of new rules and policies continue to be haunted by problems similar to those it
cannot lead to any shifts in present governance patterns has attempted to solve. As a government body, SASAC
at an operational level.
itself has to take into consideration the social
Single dominant-person boards and close ties implications of the decisions the SICs take (Su, 2005).
between government and the corporation One solution is the State Assets Law formulated in 1993
but yet to be approved by the legislature. This
The dominance of the Board by a single individual legislation will clarify the relationship between SOEs
playing both the role of CEO and Chairman of the privatized under the new economy and their former
Board is very common among large corporations State owners. The Chinese government and business
previously owned and managed by the government leaders are fully aware of the importance of this law as
during the planned economy era. During the reform, the the concept of “rule by law” becomes more widely
heads of the company, typically the government accepted. The State Assets Law is intended to be the
appointed President or the Party Secretary, constitution guiding the reform of SOEs and its
automatically become the Chairman of the Board while governance structure and process (Su, 2005).
their operating titles changed to CEO or general
manager. Because the reform shifted government power Concentrated Ownership Structure
downwards to the manager and a more autonomous
A related problem for China’s corporate governance
decision-making status was granted, these personnel
development is the highly concentrated ownership
enjoy enormous power and effectively take control of structure in Chinese companies (Cha, 2001; Doe and
the Board and the company (Lin, 2004). For example, Chan, 2001; Lin and Tang, 2001; Tam, 2002; Tenev and
Baosteel Group, the largest steel maker in China and a
Zhang, 2002; Wei, 2003). Current legislation limits the
Fortune 500 company, is governed by a board composed
606 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The concept of corporate governance to China has deep historical roots. The process of the Dong-Zhang system in the Ming dynasty is a direct
attempt of the Chinese culture to deal with the innate dilemma of management of the relationship between corporate owners and their hired
corporate managers. This paper briefly explores the historical development of corporate governance in China, and outlines the dilemmas faced
by corporations and the Chinese investor in relation to issues of governance. Findings indicate that some progress has been made in development
and promotion of legislation to ensure more transparency and representation of stakeholder needs. At the same time, weak implementation and
supervision of existing legislation as well as cultural strengths and drawbacks of Confucianism have limited progress in governance initiatives.
one hundred and fifty thousand for the period of 1988- must exercise judgment, and place the society
1992, and to three hundred and ninety thousand for above the company.
1993-1997. This is an astonishing increase of corruption 2. A good manager promotes a corporate culture that
cases in a country where offenders are subject to severe is built around the sense of collectivism. He treats
punishment including the death penalty. The continued his subordinates as co-workers. And to some
growth of corruption and the parallel increase in degree, he must act as servant and role model to the
profitability and apparent effectiveness of Chinese group because he holds power that can greatly
corporations begs the question: how is it possible in a influence the behavior of his employees.
situation of high corruption and lack of apparent modern 3. A good manager actively advocates civil ethics,
governance structures for corporations to achieve the dissolving tension within the organization and
levels of success that are to be found in today’s China? among competitors. The market economy to which
China is exposed is characterized by fierce
Confucian ideology competition in many ways new to the Chinese. Not
only rival companies are competing for a better
The answer to the phenomenal growth in the face of position on the market, but also employees within
limited governance structures and processes paralleled the organization are competing for promotion and
by increasing corruption may lie in both the strengths career prospects. Consequently, social harmony
and the weaknesses of Confucian ideology greatly valued by the tradition is being threatened.
The manager is responsible to maintain harmonious
Despite changes of dynasty once every few hundred relations among people and among organizations.
years, the political structure of government and Chinese
society has remained very stable since the Han dynasty The impact of such overriding traditional “governance”
(BC 140 – AC 220). The success of traditional Chinese philosophies may provide one explanation for the
political structure may be attributed to fact that success of Chinese corporations without the externally
government at all levels is guided by Confucian generated checks and balances associated with modern
philosophy, which defines rules for ethical and moral Western governance practices. The China Manager
conduct of those who are in power. Confucian Network (2003) compared decision making process
philosophy is built around a set of ethical relationships: used by American managers and their Chinese
relations between a person and family members, counterparts in joint ventures. The authors point out that
geographical locations, business and career, and the traditional Confucian philosophy advocates a “middle
material world. It assigns strong emphasis to harmony path” approach when it comes to making decisions that
among these elements. Confucian ideology requires affect interests of multiple stakeholders. By taking the
those who command power affecting the balance of “middle path”, stakeholders are able to make
relations to be responsible for maintaining harmony. compromise and eventually to reach a consensus. In
Personal interests in principle must give way to the well contrast, managers of American companies tend to
being of the people and society. As such, a set of moral make decisions on an individual basis. Unilateral
and ethical standard are imposed on these individuals. decision and decision by vote are common practices
adopted by American companies. This may explain the
The selection of government official is based on the necessity of proper corporate governance structure for
evaluation of moral standards guided by Confucian American (and Western in general) firms because such
ideology, through national exams and interviews as well governance structures and processes provide a
as through internal promotion. Despite the fact that mechanism of check and balance in order to reduce the
China has been ruled by communist ideology for half a possibility of inappropriate or incorrect decisions. For
century, the ancient traditions have not lost their roots. Chinese companies, to a certain degree, a culture of
Similar to government officials, managers of State consensus and group-based decision making process
Owned Enterprises are selected primarily based on their provide a substitute of check-and-balance.
moral and ethical behavior. Although owners and
managers of private enterprises do not go through this The drawback to this approach to decision-making is a
process, their behavior is heavily influenced by the much longer response time, low efficiency, and less
tradition as well. concern for stakeholders not perceived to be “part of the
In mid 1990s, researchers and government officials Ren family”. (Tam, 2002). It is these interested parties,
Wu (2005) summarized three traits of this phenomena: including both minority shareholders and broader based
stakeholders, who increasingly bring allegations of
1. A good manager must have the spirits of taking corruption against those who make decisions in favor of
responsibility to maintain the well being of the internal interests and parties. In a world of increasing
country, or in Chinese “Yi Tian Xia Wei Ji Ren”. wealth and investment interest, a movement away from
He is required “to worry before people start to the Confucian-driven approach toward a more
worry, and to enjoy after people have enjoyed”. As formalized legal approach appears inevitable. Indeed,
a manager he will focus on profitability of the since the establishment of China’s securities regulator in
company, but when conflict of interests arises, he 1992, more than 300 laws and directives concerning the
Current Dilemmas of Corporate Governance in China- Part II - 609
securities and futures market have been issued. (Lin, have they had to sacrifice their lives to defend their
2004) faith, or to assume its expansion. On the negative side,
there is a lack of “absolute truth” around such issues as
The requirement for the development of a more stealing or lying in Chinese culture. This lack of
legalistic approach highlights one of the weaknesses of absolute and clear directive has lead to an absence of a
the Confucian orientation. While Confucianism social norm of generalized trust. As the result, corrupted
provides a strong philosophical support for morality in a managers can be tempted to place their personal
general sense, it does not provide the clear and interests before the interests of shareholders and the law
uncompromising sets of standards and rules which other when they believe they have a good chance of not being
more structured and constraining philosophies do. The caught. Yan (2004) suggests that the introduction of
rule of law, for example, is still a new concept in China. clear standards and structures associated with modern
The traditional governance structure is rule by arbitrary governance can add the stability and clarity necessary to
decision by individual managers or officials (Bond, move this element of Chinese culture forward in a
1986). The lack of concrete codes by which individuals positive manner. Though lacking in philosophical depth,
can be judged allows the concept of morality to be the regulations slowly and clearly being developed and
interpreted in vastly different ways by individuals at disseminated by the governing bodies in China can
different levels of corporations. Rampant corruption serve as a surrogate substitute for the missing clarity of
may be attributed less to the lack of strong moral belief, the more general nature of Confucian philosophy. This
and more to a lack of codes of ethics and behavior that may provide the beginning of trust sufficient to bring
clearly spell out right and wrong and which provides more Chinese and foreign partners together around
clear guidance to behavior. Yan Xiaokai (2004) corporate dealings across cultures and businesses.
suggests that religion is a critical factor contributing to Conclusion
ethical standards associated with the success of western Corporate governance is a new concept in China, having
corporations. Yan suggests that a lack of religious been introduced very recently during market reform,
tradition in China and as associated scarcity of especially around the privatization of State Owned
prescriptive ethical guidelines may have hindered the Enterprises. The government of China fully recognizes
development of market economy. He proposes that, in a at some level that effective corporate governance is
successful market economy, religion plays a critical critical to the success of the reform and is putting great
role, termed “the third party function”. To reach a deal effort on establishing effective legal frameworks to
between the buyer and the seller, a “third party” is clarify expectations and enforce quality governance
needed to play the role of arbitration when conflict processes. Although governance structures of various
arises. The currency of such arbitration is trust. Without forms have been rapidly established, their effectiveness
trust, there would not be market trade and there would remains questionable due to resistance both from the
no modern enterprises. Within the basic Christian corporations who would be governed and those who
doctrine, the admonition that a person shall not lie and would enforce governance. It will clearly take time and
steal lays a foundation for the development of such increased depth of understanding for corporations to
trust. The Confucian tradition provides only general adopt effective western style governance practices.
guidelines and a philosophy of relationship, forcing
individuals to develop their own set of relative Although the reform has been going on for over two
behavioral guidelines. decades, the process of change has may well be said to
Although Confucian ideology has dominated Chinese emulate the general principles of Confucianism outline
culture for over two thousand years, and has above. There has been no guiding ideology and the
successfully set the moral and ethical standards that strategy of the reform has not been clearly articulated.
have clearly facilitated the success of the Chinese The “market economy” is more of an objective than a
civilization and economy, it lacks the clear ethical strategy. The path of evolution in corporate governance
standards, with implications for immediate and/or has been mostly a copy of the existing Western system.
eternal reward and punishment that many religions He Ai Guo (2001) suggests that importation of the
possess. To ordinary Chinese people, there is no sense Western system is only one of many options. An
of belief that violating general Confucian moral rules alternative may be to explore approaches more in
will bring ultimate and inescapable punishment. Various keeping with China’s traditional approach to life,
religions have been practiced by Chinese through out including a system based on Confucian moral
history, such as Buddhism and Islam, but they never philosophy. He Ai Guo argues that copying Western
reached a status similar to Christian or Jewish religions systems without adaptation could lead to a loss of
in Western civilizations. culture and identity as a Chinese nation, and a nation
On the positive side, Confucianism has spared the without a strong culture and value orientation will not
Chinese Emperors the dependence on a State church for succeed in global competition. He calls for the business
the justification of their power. Absence of state religion and government to pay more attention to tradition when
has brought the benefit that China did not suffer the formulating the strategy of reforming corporate
religious wars that ravaged Europe. The Chinese have governance and to attempt to develop an approach
never had to face the option "believe or die", neither
610 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
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(http://www.iwep.org.cn/cccg/pdf/Corporate%20Governance%20in
%20
China%20%20Prof.pdf)
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGERIAL AND ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS IN A
MEDIUM SIZE BUSINESS ORGANIZATION
Abstract: In order to improve the management and human resource adaptability to the organizational changes in a medium size firm,
researchers proposed a project, which implementation leaded to the development of the managerial and entrepreneurial abilities of 30
operational managers, by teaching them to become trainers. These trainers developed than the professional skills of the employees.
The new training methodology used by the analyzed firm could be regarded as a model for any economic organization in Romania in
order to surpass the economic crises.
Key words: development, entrepreneurial, managerial, skills, organization.
(mentioned at 1) and created a general feeling of • The growth of the managerial and entrepreneurial
belonging to the culture of the organization. abilities for 30 operational managers;
More, the project improved the skills of the • The integration of the target groups in the culture of
employees by re-qualifying them, thus helping them to the company and the development of the culture
adapt to the changes that have appeared after the centered on permanent learning;
technological novelties that have appeared in company. • The development of a new training methodology,
The first specific objective of the project was to involving a target group in the training of the other.
teach 60 employees to use machine tools with numerical
control and 30 operational managers to become trainers 12
Marks
Initial evaluation
6
that have occurred in the organization, in the field of Final evaluation
4
production. They were trained to use machine tools with
numerical control, so that they assimilated the use of 2
Initial evaluation
6
both the employees and the company, thus avoiding Final evaluation
4
many of the possible problems that might appear when
hiring or transferring or when discovering a poorly 2
trained employee. 0
Initial evaluation
better manage their time at work. 6
Final evaluation
When the courses finish, the members of the second 4
company. 8
Marks
Initial evaluation
6
Final evaluation
2.2. Results of the project 4
Figure 1 demonstrates the growth of the managerial 3.3. Recruitment and selection of the target groups
abilities for a subgroup of 15 operational managers.
Figure 2 indicates the growth of the entrepreneurial The purpose of the activity is to identify the right
abilities for the same subgroup. people to train the target groups and the most indicate
The 15 operational managers, students of the other students, according to the organizational goals.
subgroup obtained similar marks (see figure 3,
respectively figure 4).
3.4. Actions meant to prepare the professional
training
3. THE MAIN ACTIVITIES NECESSARY FOR
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION In the beginning of the activity an analysis of the
skill training needs of the target group was undertaken,
The main activities necessary for implementation are using the questionnaire method. The analysis was at the
presented in figure 5. basis of the elaboration of the course curriculum and of
The project unfolded for 12 months. the adaptation of the contents to the training needs.
The next step was to plan the professional training
activities in terms of time and space and to make sure
that they would go well, according to the course
curriculum.
The organizational skills of the project team
members and the experience of the two organizations in
project management guaranteed the success of the
activity.
• The people from target groups 1 and 2 (60 operative acquired a high level of theoretical and practical
employees and 30 operational managers) involved in knowledge in the field, a high degree of
the permanent training process improved their responsibility and complete personal autonomy.
attitude and entrepreneurial role. Once this project is • At the end of the project, the firm has 90 people with
unfolded, the human resource experienced a strong a high level of professional training. 30 will
feeling of belonging to the organizational culture. contribute to the improvement of the managerial
• After the courses, the operative staff became the skills of the organization and 60 to the improvement
chance to be promoted, by occupying training of the technical skills. Thus, skilled employees for
positions, becoming team leaders, etc. 60 jobs will be guaranteed.
• At the end of the project, the organization has 90 By training the employees of the medium size firm,
competitive people, able to contribute to the the professors participating in the project improved their
achievement of the company goals: the growth in the managerial skills and especially their interpersonal
labor productivity, the decrease in the number of skills, as the nature of the training is different from
customer complaints, the increase in the quality of student training in universities.
the products. The new training methodology used by the analyzed
• Moreover, the project stimulated lifelong learning. firm could be regarded as a model for any economic
• The training courses for target group 2 – the 30 organization in Romania. The researchers hope that the
managers at the operational level – contributed to training procedure will be adopted by other firms, in
their managerial competences, raising their order to surpass the economic crises.
importance in the organization. After the Among the conclusions that were derived after the
implementation of the project, they became able to implementation of the project, we mention the necessity
effectively train the operative staff. Operative of the project development by developing the target
managers became more competitive and this will group over average management, as an important link
increase their chances to evolve in their career, this between the superior management of the company and
being a strong motivational element. the operational levels of the organization.
• Taking into account the fact that the training
program firstly implied the training of the managers References
from the operational level (target group 2), and then
their active involvement in the training of the 1. Cătoiu, I. - coordinator (2002), Cercetări de marketing,
operative staff (target group 1), the basis of a new Editura Uranus, Bucharest.
2. Dessler, G. (2001), Management. Leading People and
teaching methodology is laid. This is applicable after Organizations in the 21st Century, Second Edition,
the end of the project, but also by other Prentice Hall, New Jersey
organizations in the area. 3. Gill, J. and Johnson, P. (1991), Research Methods for
• The implementation of the project improved the Managers, Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd, London
4. Niculescu, M., Dumitrascu, D. and Moraru, G.M.
managerial skill of the groups. (2009), “Project Management of Staff Skills
• Up to the present, professional training at this firm Development at SC COMPA SA”, in: D.M. Duşe, P.D.
has been done only for the operative staff, briefly Brîndaşu and L.D. Beju (eds.), Proceedings of the 4th
International Conference on Manufacturing Science and
and not in a very effective way. For the first time,
Education – MSE 2009, Vol. II, University “Lucian
the project includes the operational managers in the Blaga”, Sibiu, pages 193-196.
professional training programs. There were courses
designed especially to develop managerial and
entrepreneurial skills (organizational culture,
modern systems of process improvement, time
management, communication, development of
entrepreneurial skills).
• Managers from target group 2 acquired skills that
will enable them to manage the organizational
processes and coordinating-training skills of the
human resource. Assimilating modern methods of
communication in this age of the internet and
acquiring at the same time didactic and pedagogical
skills necessary for the transfer of knowledge to
subordinates, they will become important links in
the organizational structure of the firm.
• Managers from target group 2 demonstrated and
improved their professional training skills even
along the project, as they actively participated to the
training of target group 1.
• Training as operator on machine tools with
numerical control, the members of target group 1
STUDY FOR IDENTIFYING THE TEACHING NEEDS FOR DEVELOPING
ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS
Entrepreneurship is often seen as an exploitation of market opportunities that exist. Thus an operation is most often associated with
management and / or productive inputs combination. So entrepreneurs see change as a model and as something healthy. This defines
entrepreneur and entrepreneurship system: it always seeks change, responds and operates as an opportunity. So entrepreneurs see
change as a model and as something healthy. This defines entrepreneur and entrepreneurship system: it always seeks change,
responds and operates as an opportunity. The survey questionnaire is designed on three main objectives namely: entrepreneurial
motivation, analysis of the types of knowledge and skills necessary to manage small and medium business, educational aspects that
help the entrepreneur. This questionnaire is intended to analyze the training needs for business skills development at small and
medium businesses. In terms of skills needed for starting and coordinating business, according to the respondents seem to be able to
implement competitive strategies, capacity management of business processes, professional knowledge for managing business
processes, capacity conflict resolution and negotiating capacity, based on questions and answers. All these elements are a good
information source for establish some potential elements that could be introduced in the high level studies curricula for developing in
the future new entrepreneurial skills to the graduate from our fields of interest.
with successful management of time, the questionnaire General aspects that help in the present and future
was designed to have a minimum number of questions activity
and answers that do not require much time to think. 60
Thus was conceived the idea of a minimal number 50
53,33
important". 10 10
13,33
entrepreneur. More than half of respondents, namely A 16.67% difference in the ability of business
57%, acknowledged that the career of entrepreneurial process management is located in the right major and
studies / courses attended, experience, study visits have important items, having the advantage of by those who
largely supported them and a rate of only 3% believe consider this very important skill. 56.67% of those who
that these things have helped little (figure 4). run a business estimated to be very important ability to
manage business process (figure 7).
Support me
Small proportion Neutral Large extent Very large extent
Management of the business process skills
3%
17%
23% 56,67
Very important
40,00
Important
Medium 3,33
57%
importance
Figure 4: Study support in entrepreneurship activity
50,00
Very important
36,67
Important
Medium 13,33
67%
importance
Figure 5: The positive influence of the studies on the entrepreneurship activity
Higher education has and will have a major role in a country’s economic growth because it contributes to human capital
development, fields of expertise being directly correlated with actual and dynamic requirements of labor market. Also it can be said
that the challenges of higher education are not just creating career opportunities for graduates and mitigation up to eliminate
discrepancies that exist between the skills acquired by graduates and job requirements in which they engage. In today’s global
economy, in continuous dynamics, is not anymore sufficient to prepare graduates for careers, but they have to be able to create their
own jobs. Thus, entrepreneurial education takes on new values, making it imperative that it be given careful consideration, to exist a
scientific approach to academic training actions, so that profession and specific entrepreneurship processes to run properly,
efficiently and effectively. The paper presents a research regarding entrepreneurial education need in technical higher education.
sustaining the marked political desire for an increased Therefore, entrepreneurship education should be
active role on behalf of the universities with respect to considered both as a method of learning and a content of
promoting societal growth through cooperation and learning.
participation in the development of patents or new The concepts we use in our paper are internal
products, nor with respect to the establishment of new entrepreneurship, which deals with entrepreneurial and
businesses or innovative development of existing. The enterprising behaviour, and external entrepreneurship,
realisation of these objectives would presuppose a closer which is about doing business.
interaction between the private and public sector and the Moreover, we consider that internal entrepreneurship
system of higher educations. There is much to suggest in education is about learning to become entrepreneurial
that such an interaction might lend a country, a region, and external entrepreneurship is to understand
all three stakeholders some ”sustainable competitive entrepreneurship and become an entrepreneur.
advantages” on a international scale. Therefore, a strategic thinking in entrepreneurship
The institutions of higher education and the education and teaching at university level ar trebui sa
universities, are thus intended to play a highly central tina cont de urmatoarele:
part in this innovative and entrepreneurial process – in 1. The point of departure for planning and implementing
society at large and in the individual region. This has of education and entrepreneurship teaching is the
resulted in a need to apply a new perspective on the role connection of purposes, objectives and target group.
of the universities and on the learning objectives the Depending on the target group, these actions will be
universities should comply with. This also entails new focused on teaching about or in entrepreneurship;
requirements to the implementation of the most 2. According to the purposes and the objectives,
advantageous learning processes. Figure 3 presents the education and teaching in entrepreneurship approached
new perspective on the role of the universities, on as science and/or art depending whether those will be
learning and learning objectives. about or in entrepreneurship;
3. Teaching about or in entrepreneurship should be
based either on management and/or entrepreneurial
Enterprising theory, which must be reflected in the choice of
behaviour didactics and pedagogical methodology.
4. For teaching being suitable, either for auditorium or
practice, the purposes and the objectives must be taken
in account (transition from “Ivory tower” to
Societal change Increased attention “Entrepreneurial university”);
and growth and capacity for 5. According to the influence exerted by purposes,
objectives and target group, the teaching should be
stimulation handling possibilities
planned from individual academic competences to
development of communicative, social and networking
competences.
Taking in account the role of the universities, as
Entrepreneurial Reflective Learning starting point for the development of new knowledge,
university action these must be consolidated through the ”triple-helix”
philosophy, which is an spiral type model of innovation
Figure 3: The new perspective on the role
that describes mutual relations in many different points
universities of the process of accumulating knowledge.
The”triple-helix” model of university-industry-
Thus, entrepreneurship has been declared the most government relations is a neo-evolutionary model of
significant driver in the future development of material innovation process being a model for the analysis of
societal welfare. innovation in the knowledge based economy.
Businesses, organisations and the individual person The model integrates activities from three
should be motivated for – and develop competence in – "institutional spheres": the universities, the business
perceiving new possibilities through reflective action sector, the public sector. The first category is composed
and hence participate in the creation of change and of universities that develop their educational programs
growth in society. aimed at training new skills for future graduates.
This capacity and inclination for change and The second category consists of decision makers in
innovation is thus conceived as an important human industry (entrepreneurs, investors, managers,
trait. A trait in international research has come to be executives).
known as „enterprising behaviour”. The third category consists of policy makers in
In summary, entrepreneurship education is seen here legislative and executive institutions of the state, which
through three aims that are learning to understand regulates the legal conditions for the industry, research
entrepreneurship, learning to become entrepreneurial centers and universities, public funds for R & D and
and learning to become an entrepreneur. education.
Entrepreneurial Education Need in Technical Higher Education 621
entrepreneurship, which is targeting the business Entrepreneurial spirit must determine, in turn,
environment. entrepreneurial behavior, converging toward
Internal entrepreneurship is seen as skills and entrepreneurial initiatives.
attitudes, being associated with features such as For this, entrepreneurship education offered to
initiative, responsibility, teamwork skills. students and graduates of technical universities should
External entrepreneurship is associated with the be based on a variety of educational systems, namely,
business environment and is best materialized in entrepreneurial education modules with optional
collaboration between universities and business disciplines, business education modules, such as
environment. learning by doing on projects and masters of
Responses show that respondents perceive the two entrepreneurship education.
forms of entrepreneurship as being necessarily linked. According to the proposed research, entrepreneurial
Interaction is often based only on visits into businesses education program must be endorsed by a range of
environment. disciplines whose common goal is the creation and
These visits, presentations of business environment development of skills and competencies in the people
are important, but not decisive, in that it can not be willing to create their own business directed to:
automatically regarded as an educational activity. • knowledge: Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship,
Professional orientation, practice, traditionally, from Management, Marketing, Finance, Legislation,
technical universities are not satisfying entrepreneurial Production and logistics management, Negotiation,
needs of students and master students. Many responses, Managing people, Control
unfortunately, does not mention whether students, • attitudes: initiative, independent spirit, motivation,
master students, plays an active role in these activities. determination, self-confidence, realism, receptivity
Answers from entrepreneurs respondents showed to new, perseverance, adaptability, responsability,
that entrepreneurship education should be implemented tenacity, enthusiasm
in the form of projects, which to be focused on method, • skills to identify opportunities, organize, plan, lead,
rather than on content and to be implemented using analyze, evaluate, negotiate, work individually and
various forms of collaborative teaching. in teams, make decisions, control
In projects, the student has its own clearly defined After analyzing the business needs of the students,
role, combining in the most favorable internal and master of technical universities, we identified the
external entrepreneurship. following educational module consists of the following
Master students respondents estimated that optional disciplines presented in table 9.
entrepreneurship education is best implemented by the Table 9: Entrepreneurial Educational Module
dedicated days and individual projects and less as part Entrepreneurial Educational Module
of teaching current activity. 1. Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship
First, students and master students respondents made 2. Psychosocial Processes in Entrepreneurship
clear the kind of themes that can integrate into their 3. Fundamentals of Legislation
current activity, regardless of subject matter (such as 4. Investment and Financing Analysis
entrepreneurial skills or business knowledge and 5. Fundamentals of Management
6. Fundamentals of Marketing
professional).
7. Managing people
Although present in the curriculum through several 8. Production and Logistics Management.
disciplines, entrepreneurship education is not yet well
integrated in current education and still not enough. The suggested module create an improved awareness
On the other hand, the results of entrepreneurial of the reality of studying in progressive technical
education are difficult to assess. Difficulties in assessing universities; but perhaps more importantly, it will
are similar to the overall assessment of education and provide students with the awareness, interests and
teaching work, to the difficulties in assessing preparation for self-employment as a career alternative,
entrepreneurial education, like failure forecasting that which will ultimately move technical universities
students will become entrepreneurs in the future or not. graduates from job-seekers to job-creators.
It has been found that is difficult to assess the objectives
of internal entrepreneurship. References
Entrepreneurship education outcomes are usually
assessed quantitatively depending on the grades, the 1. Dreisler, P.; Blenker, P. & Nielsen, K. (2003),
number of students interested, as how positive is Promoting Entrepreneurship, - Changing Attitudes on
feedback and the time granted to discussions about Behaviour, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise
Development, Vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 383-392, Birmingham
different business topics addressed. 2. Etzkowitz, H. et al. (2000), The future of the university
Therefore, entrepreneurship education should and the university of the future: evolution of ivory tower
primarily develop an entrepreneurial spirit, by to entrepreneurial paradigm, Research Policy, vol. 29:
understanding the notions of responsibility, value added, 313-330
3. Fiet, J. O. (2000), The Theoretical Side of Teaching
innovation, change, risk taking. Entrepreneurship, Journal of Business Venturing, vol.
16: 1-24
ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION IMPACT ON ENTREPRENEURIAL
COMPETENCIES AND INTENTIONS DEVELOPMENT
Entrepreneurial education is vital for achieving a more efficient and performing future economy and focuses on developing
entrepreneurial competencies. The paper presents a methodology for assessing the entrepreneurial competencies that lead to the
development of entrepreneurial intentions. The research highlights the need to introduce entrepreneurial education modules in
universities, especially technical ones.
person to obtains and uses together to provide peak mentally representation, its system of values or own
performance in any given area of responsibility. conception about the performance achieved.
In fact, in the competency based training, all three
factors - knowledge, attitudes and skills must be Table 1: Entrepreneurial competencies
addressed and taught effectively and integrated. Knowledge Attitudes Skills to...
Entrepreneurial competencies include those clusters Entrepreneurship Initiative identify
Management Independent spirit opportunities
of linked knowledge, attitudes and skills that an Marketing Motivation organize
entrepreneur must be achieved through training and Finance Determination plan
management development to enable him to produce Legislation Self-confidence lead
peak performance, to maximize profit while running a Production and Realism analyze
business or an organization. logistics Receptivity to new evaluate
Based on various studies about entrepreneurship, it management Perseverance negotiate
can be considered that entrepreneurial competence is Negotiation Adaptability work individually
composed of the following structural components: Managing Responsability and in teams
knowledge, attidudes and skills (figure1). people Tenacity make decisions
Control Enthusiasm control
Wants
(attitudes)
METHODOLOGY
∆ =
· (4) Next, were determined through testing,
testing the skills
Where ∆ is the change in outcome for individual i, levels, needed too develop entrepreneurial competencies,
competencies
is a dummy variable equal to 1 if respondent i which for the subjects from group Ge is represented in
attended the entrepreneurial education program and 0 figure 3.
otherwise, and is an error term.
estimator
.
In the paper are only presented the results for the After graduating the entrepreneurial education module
group Ge. - the final moment - the measurements were repeated for
both groups. In figure 4 it can be seen how knowledge
level has improved.
0 50 100
0 50 100
Entrepreneur… 63.2 16.114.9 Poor
48.3 14.928.7
Marketing Entrepreneur… 19.5 50.6 27.6 Poor
48.3 21.819.5 Satisfactory
66.7 21.8 9.2 21.8 44.8 29.9
Legislation Good Marketing 27.6 47.1 23.0 Satisfactory
10.3
70.1 12.6
75.9 16.14.6 24.1 35.6 26.4
Very Good Legislation 14.937.9 34.5 Good
Negotiation 69.0 24.1 4.6
57.5 26.4 13.8 19.536.8 32.2
Negotiation 27.6 42.5 28.7 Very Good
Control 74.7 20.7 3.4
31.0 34.5 26.4
Figure 1: Knowledge level for Ge group
Control 25.3 42.5 28.7
Figure 4: Knowledge level afterr graduating the entrpreneurial module, for Ge
Thus, in figure 1 is revealed the knowledge level group
identified as being necessary for the development
devel of
entrepreneurial competencies, for Ge group at the initial In figure 5 is presented the knowledge level at the
moment, before graduating the entrepreneurial
entrepren time considered final, final after graduating the
education module. entrepreneurial education module.
module Also, after graduating
After testing the subjects from the two groups,
groups there the entrepreneurial education module, it has been
were obtained data on the attitudes levels, which are determined the skills level, which, as is seen in figure
f 6,
deemed essential for the formation
mation of entrepreneurial has improved considerably.
competencies. In figure
igure 2 these data are represented for These determinations were performed also for the
subjects in the group Ge, at the initial moment. reference group Gr, which has not followed an
626 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
entrepreneurial education module, but the current Initiative -9,195 3,45 0,002 5,743
curriculum. Independent -8,047 -3,448
3,448 1,153 10,342
Analyzing the data for the reference group was spirit
necessary in order to eliminate errors due to the fact that Motivation -4,599 3,448
-3,448 -4,597 12,644
Determination -6,897 0 -2,299 9,196
the entrepreneurial competencies level is improving also
Self- -12,645 4,598 -5,747 13,794
after following the existing curriculum. confidence
Next were determined and the differences
and
Realism -10,344 3,447 -6,897 13,794
and also difference-in-differences
differences estimator δ.
δ Receptivity to -3,45 1,149 -6,892 9,193
new
0 50 100 Perseverance 9,197 -5,748
5,748 -13,792 10,343
Adaptability 2,299 1,149 -4,597 1,149
Initiative26.425.3 40.2 Never Responsability -6,894 1,149 -1,148 6,893
23.032.2 40.2 Tenacity -12,645 2,299 -5,746 16,092
Motivation 17.229.9 49.4
19.531.0 47.1 Sometimes Enthusiasm -18,391 0 -4,598 22,989
Self-confidence 21.827.6 44.8
20.724.1 46.0 Often Table 4: Difference-in-differences
differences estimator δ for skills
Receptivity…17.236.8 43.7
21.831.0 42.5 Never Sometimes Often Always
Adaptability 24.131.0 35.6 Always
23.032.2 41.4 Identify -44,825 14,941 8,045 21,839
Tenacity 20.732.2 44.8 opportunities
16.1
25.3 54.0 Organize -34,482 1,149 10,345 22,988
Figure 5 Attitudes level after graduating the entrpreneurial module, for Ge
Plan -35,632 4,598 12,644 18,39
group Lead -32,184 3,448 13,795 14,941
Analyze -37,931 10,346 6,896 20,689
Evaluate -33,333 4,597 9,193 19,543
0 50 100 Negotiate -31,035 6,896 11,494 12,645
Work -28,736 8,046 6,896 13,794
Identify… 29.926.4 37.9 Make -37,932 6,897 14,944 16,091
Never decisions
28.728.7 35.6
Plan 24.132.2 36.8 Sometimes Control -9,886 -0,002
0,002 5,75 24,138
28.732.229.9
Analyze 27.631.0 36.8 Often Conclusions
27.633.3 35.6
Negotiate 25.334.5 32.2 Always
29.928.732.2 Through research one can see thathat the knowledge level
Make decisions 27.634.5 35.6 necessary to develop
velop entrepreneurial competencies
20.728.7 46.0 increased
ed significantly after graduating the
Figure 6: Skills level after graduating the entrpreneurial module, for Ge group
entrepreneurial education module,
module being significant the
shift from poor category to other categories.
Table 2: Difference-in-differences estimator δ for knowledge Therefore, for significantly impr
improving the
Poor Satisfactory Good
Very entrepreneurial competencies, especially of the students
Good from technical universities, which lead to the
Entrepreneurship -50,575 1,149 31,035 18,391 development of entrepreneurial phenomenon,
phenomenon is
Management -36,781 4,599 13,789 18,393 important to develop entrepreneurial education modules.
Marketing -33,33 3,448 20,687 9,195
Finance -51,724 1,149 26,437 24,138
Legislation -55,171 1,151 26,435 27,585 References
Production and -60,921 0,002 32,182 28,737
Logistics 1. Leuven, E., M. Lindahl, H. Oosterbeek and D. Webbink
Negotiation -60,924 1,152 34,483 25,289 (2007) , The effect
fect of extra funding for disadvantaged
Managing -41,378 4,598 17,239 19,541 pupils on achievement, The Review of Economics and
people Statistics 89(4), 721-736
Control -65,518 2,299 36,781 26,438 2. Finez, F.H (2008), Three steps methodology to measure an
individual’s personal competences for entrepreneurship
In table 2 are presented the values of difference-in-
difference towards a “particular” business
ness idea, Journal of
differences estimator δ for knowledge and in table
t 3 are Technology Management & Innovation, 2008, volume 3
presented the values of difference-in in-differences 3. 3.Feinstein, A. H., Cannon, H. M. (2002), Constructs of
estimator δ for attitudes. Simulation Evaluation, Simulation & Gaming,
Gaming 33(4), 425–
440
The values of difference-in-differences
differences estimator δ for
skills are presented in table 4.
Abstract
This paper try to establish if the current higher education system is updated to companies needs considering variables like
criteria of rating the employees, period and frequency of training etc. The authors are professors of SMEs management for years, the
leading researcher being also a well known international specialist in SMEs. The research is based on a series of complex and periodic
studies of more than 1000 SMEs and on a study regarding efficiency of educational process in a university. By observing the changes in the
recent 3 years, the authors determined a particular evolution of training in SMEs that can be linked with the perception of higher education
system. There are used statistical methods resulting in much more accurate results, allowing higher education institutions to draw more
realistic conclusions regarding the actual perception of the higher education market. This paper is useful for academics and top
management of universities because it offers an insight of the level of trust in higher education from mangers and entrepreneurs. In our
opinion, this paper is definitely important for higher education practitioners and policy makers because it is a unique study linking training
needs in Romanian SMEs with the higher education system.
Table 4 Status of the job graduates who have worked in the postal and
Status Number of %
graduates
telecommunications (9.8%), tourism (5.5%) and
Employee 265 86,3% media and culture (5%). Unfortunately, students are
Family worker 2 0,7% not interested to work in education area.
Entrepreneur 11 3,6% Table 6: Industry
Unpaid family worker 5 1,6%
Industry Nr. of graduates %
Free lancer 4 1,3%
Banking and financial 66 21.5%
Others situations, as: 20 6,5% services
- collaborator 5 1,6%
Professional Services 59 19.2%
- promoter 1 0,3%
(Research, IT, legal services)
- project manager 1 0,3%
Commerce 55 17.9%
TOTAL 307 100%
Trade Postal and 30 9.8%
d. Type of job contract telecommunications
Most graduates employed during faculty had Tourism 17 5.5%
Media and Culture 17 5.5%
regular job contracts (71.7%) or with a specific Transport 12 3.9%
time frame (10.7%). This is a positive aspect to Property Services 6 2.0%
show an actual interest from companies to attract Industry, energy, gas, water 5 1.6%
Construction 4 1.3%
students to work under fulfilling legal conditions. Public Administration 2 0.7%
Some of them are still under probation (3.3%), Nonprofit sector 2 0.7%
which is justifiable considering the fact that some Education 1 0.3%
Health 1 0.3%
respondents are newly employed in organizations. Others, of which: 30 9.8%
A significant percentage of respondents (10.7%) - Insurance 6 1.95%
-Communication/ Advertising 5 1.63%
represent students which work without legal - PR
2 0.65%
contract. TOTAL 307 100%
e. Type of activity 2. Situation in SMEs
Of the 307 graduates who worked during faculty, Besides graduates’ point of view, we consider
much worked in marketing (16.9%) and sales important to present the entrepreneurs opinion,
(18.2%). The next field where students were also. This is done by analyzing criteria of rating the
considered competitive by qualified employers was employees and the level of training for the
finance was being employed, and banks and personnel.
insurance companies (12.7%), respectively. See a. Criteria of rating the employees in small and
Table. 5. We can notice the diversity of activities, medium-sized enterprises
confirming the fact that one of the main strengths With regard to the features of employees that the
of economic faculties are appropriate for different entrepreneurs/decision-makers in SMEs consider to
area of socio-economic activities. be most important, the survey results indicate that
Table 5 Type of activity most companies emphasize the importance of
Type of activity Nr. of graduates %
Accountancy 18 5.8% experience (57.51% of the companies), responsible
Research / Development 2 0.6% attitude (56.87%) and knowledge and skills
Finance 39 12.7% (53.69%). Other criteria considered include:
Marketing 52 16.9%
Human Resources 14 4.5% commitment to the company (52.50% of the
Sales 56 18.3% SMEs), professional competence (48.59%),
Production 4 1.3% consciousness (42.13%), intelligence (27.48%),
IT Services 15 4.9%
Others, of which: 107 34.6% resistance to effort (26.57%), level of education
- Customer Relations 17 5.5% (16.65%), proper conduct (15.38%), foreign
- Logistics 10 3.3%
- Public relations 10 3.3%
languages (11.83%) and references (9.92%). This
- Counseling 8 2.6% situation is illustrated by the chart in Figure 1.
-Communication// Advertising 7 2.3%
- Administration 5 1.6% 57.51% Experience
- Secretary 5 1.6% 56.87% Responsible
- Insurance 4 1.3% 53.69% attitude
- Media 3 1.0% 52.50% Knowledge and
TOTAL 307 100% skills
48.59% Commitment to the
f. Correspondence between their 42.13% company
Professional
academic field and job 27.48%
competence
26.57% Constientiousness
There can be noticed equilibrium between 16.65%
academic field and job, 49.5% of graduates 15.38%
Intelligence
were indicated most frequently by companies in the Considering the size of SMEs (Table 11), the
Southwestern Region (67.91%, 21.27% and following aspects were identified: the proportion of
29.10%, respectively); SMEs focusing on the companies that do not require experience,
knowledge and skills of the employees are more knowledge and skills, commitment to the company
frequent in the Western Region (61.33%) and less and resistance to effort increases in direct
frequent in the Central Region (40.68%); proportion to the size of the company; the
references were mentioned more frequently by percentage of companies that require
companies in the Southwestern Region (21.27%) conscientiousness and a proper conduct from their
and less frequently by companies in the employees is in reverse proportion to the company
Northeastern Region (2.67%);intelligence is more size; small companies require more frequently
frequently appreciated by SMEs in the Southern references (12.22%), intelligence (29.17%),
Region (32.31%) and less considered in the responsible attitude (62.78%), education (18.06%),
Southeastern Region (22.08%); the responsible foreign languages (12.50%) and professional
attitude is a requirement in 66.10% of the competence (56.39%).
enterprises in the Central Region and in 48.18% of Table 11 Employee assessment criteria depending on
the companies in the Northwestern Region; the company size
Size of the company
companies that stress the importance of Features of employees
commitment are more frequent in the Central considered by entrepreneurs as Microe Small Medium-
being most important nterpri enterp sized
Region (64.41%) and less numerous in the Western ses rises enterprises
Region (45.33%); the level of education is Experience 56.72% 57.78% 62.99%
considered more important by SMEs in the Knowledge and skills 50.34% 58.61% 60.63%
Southwestern Region (29.10%) and less important References 9.31% 12.22% 6.30%
by the companies in the Southern Region (6.15%); Intelligence 28.28% 29.17% 20.47%
conscientiousness is a feature required more
Responsible attitude 54.48% 62.78% 53.54%
frequently by companies in the Northeastern
Region (48.66%) and less frequent by companies in Commitment to the company 49.31% 54.72% 64.57%
the Western Region (36.00%); resistance to effort Level of education 16.90% 18.06% 12.60%
is mostly required by SMEs in the Southern Region Foreign languages 11.90% 12.50% 11.81%
(43.08%); a proper conduct is more frequently Professional competence 44.31% 56.39% 51.18%
sought for by companies in the Northeastern Conscientiousness 45.00% 41.11% 34.65%
Region (23.53%) and less frequently by SMEs in
Resistance to effort 26.38% 26.39% 29.92%
the Southeastern region (9.09%).
Table 10 Differentiation of employee assessment criteria by Proper conduct 20.34% 9.44% 8.66%
development region
Features of SMEs grouped by development region The analysis of companies by sectors of activity
employees
considered
(Table 12) reveals the following significant aspects:
by Nort Sout
So
Sout
We
Nort Ce Buc the decision makers in tourism companies require
entrepreneur heas heas hwes hwes nte hare
s as being t t
uth
t
st
t r st to a greater extent a responsible attitude (60.00%),
most
important
commitment to the company (60.00%), education
Experience
58.2 49.3
56.
67.9
41.
51.8
61.
55.1
(20.00%), foreign languages (32.00%), professional
92 33 02
9% 5%
%
1%
%
2%
%
2% competence (60.00%) and a proper conduct
Knowledge 56.1 55.8 50. 52.2 61. 50.0 40. 55.9 (24.00%), but the companies in this sector require
630 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
acting in the Romanian sanitary field concerning the - the development of an organizational culture
personnel (Voinea and Pamfilie, 2009): oriented towards quality.
- the specialists’ competence; The most important role in this continuous medical
- the availability of the medical personnel for long education for the personnel of the sanitary system
working hours; belongs to professional organisations, which are the
- personnel trained for different branches of activity regulating authorities to be found at the basis of the
in the field, who contribute to the development of pyramid of the process of continuous medical
the capacity to solve complex problems; education ( fig. 1).
- an important share is consisted of young CNFPA
specialists, who are able to adapt more quickly to
the new requirements in the context of Romania’s
integration within the EU. Ministry of
Using the results of the SWOT analysis Health
performed, we can also highlight the fact that at the
level of medical investigations laboratories there have
Specific legal
been concerns for improving the quality of services
framework
provided.
Thus, especially after Romania’s accession to the CME
European Union, the focus has been on the increase in
the requirements regarding the compliance with the Professional organisations =
assessment criteria for quality, defined by the Regulating authorities
application rules stipulated by the framework contract
at the section “quality of medical services”. This has Fig 1. The pyramid of the continuous medical education process
generated the involvement of institutions from the
sanitary system in the implementation of a quality At this moment in Romania, there is a great focus on
management system that is able to meet the the continuous training programmes for the medical
requirements of standards ISO 9001:2008, ISO 17025 personnel that are organised by the Ministry of Health
and ISO 15189:2007 and the more responsible and the National Centre for Adult Training and
application of the quality control procedure for medical Professional Development with trainers accredited by
services (Sorescu et al, 2009). the Ministry of Health. In this context several types of
Under these circumstances, it has been programmes have been developed in terms of
increasingly admitted that the performances of a continuous training programmes for the personnel of
medical laboratories largely depend on the medical laboratories, organised with the assistance of
competences of human resources, their degree of the Association for Quality in Laboratories
involvement and awareness regarding the achievement (CALILAB), a non-profit independent professional
of objectives. association, whose main objective is to improve the
An essential objective for any medical laboratory quality of services provided by medical laboratories
is represented by meeting the performance standards (Sorescu et al, 2009).
established for its employees. One efficient solution for In order to achieve this objective, CALILAB
reaching this goal is to train, participate in continuous cooperates with other professional organisations in the
training programmes and continuous medical sanitary field in Romania. We could mention: the
education. Professional Body of Biochemists, Biologists and
A continuous training programme in the medical Chemists from the Romanian Sanitary System, the
field envisages (www.cnfpa.ro): Board of Physicians, the Professional Body of Nurses
- the improvement of individual, team and and Midwives, the National House of Health
organisation performances regarding the quality Insurances, the National Accreditation Body – RENAR
of the services, the speed of work and the overall and many other institutions. The main services offered
productivity; by CALILAB refer to:
- the assurance of maximum quality for the services - the training, preparation and professional
provided by the medical laboratories, which go to development of the personnel from medical
various categories of customers. investigations laboratories;
- the improvement of the exploitation flexibility by - organisation of assessment schemes of the
enlarging the qualification range of the employees; competences of medical investigations
- attracting quality personnel, offering them training laboratories.
professional and personal development
opportunities in order to improve competences and THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY USED
enlarge the qualification field, thus making it
possible to reach a higher work satisfaction; In order to achieve the research objective, we did
a study in cooperation with the Association for Quality
Comparative Analysis of Human Resources in Universities and Smes: The Case of The Bucharest Academy of conomic
Studies 633
in Laboratories – CALILAB, between 2007 and 2009, The analysis of the professional training situation
and we used the observation and the questionnaire as of the 100 persons under study has revealed that all the
research methods. We applied them on a sample of 100 persons completed long term specialised higher
persons who completed higher education studies - education studies of 4 or 5 years.
biochemists, biologists and chemists – employees of
medical laboratories from Romania. Research results regarding the participation of the
The observation took place based on the criteria personnel in professional development programmes
defined by the professional and scientific committee of
the above-mentioned association, while the According to the Romanian regulations regarding
questionnaire was made up of questions referring to: the functioning of medical laboratories and the internal
- the type of higher education studies graduated (long rules of the professional organisation, as regulating
term or short term studies); authority for the professions, the non medical
- the type of professional development programmes personnel with the right to exert the profession can
graduated (postgraduate studies, master studies for work in medical laboratories provided they participate
specialisation, further studies, others); in professional development programmes. This
obligation refers to the completion with a certain
- doctoral studies graduated/ underway; frequency of postgraduate studies, master programmes
- the results of the annual monitoring of the and specialised workshops.
minimum number of credits for the persons under According to the study conducted, all the 100
study (hours of continuous medical education) persons graduated from professional development
between 2007 and 2009 performed by the courses that are authorised by the professional
professional organization – the regulating authority organisation in charge (the Professional Body of
for the profession. Biochemists, Biologists and Chemists from the
Romanian Sanitary System. It was revealed that 80%
RESEARCH RESULTS of the non medical personnel under study with a degree
Following the processing of the data collected in biology, chemistry or biochemistry graduated from a
using the questionnaire and the observation, we specialised master programme in the field of medical
obtained the results presented below. laboratory. Figure 3 presents the research results of
Research results concerning the type of higher continuous training programmes graduated by the
education studies graduated categories of persons under study (biologists, chemists
In the medical laboratories from Romania and biochemists).
physicians and laboratory nurses work together with
non medical personnel – biologists, chemists and
45
biochemists, who have the right to exert the profession 40 postgraduate studies
only after graduating from long term higher education
35
studies (4-5 years of higher education studies) or upon 30
specialised master
graduation of the first two education cycles of Bologna programmes
25 professional
system (bachelor and master), with specialisation 20 development courses
studies in the field of the medical laboratory. 15
other continuous
The questionnaire sample was 100 persons for the training programmes
10
research conducted between 2007 and 2009. They all 5
have the right to exert the profession and work in 0
medical laboratories in Romania: 45 biologists, 36 biologists chemists biochemists
chemists and 19 biochemists. Figure 3 – The weight of medical laboratory personnel who
graduated from different professional training programmes
The weight of non medical personnel under study Research results regarding the participation of the
personnel in doctoral higher education programmes
19% Biochemists
Over the last years, the organisations and
professional associations from the field of medical
45% Biologists
investigation laboratories in Romania have promoted
and have been actively involved in the implementation
of continuous professional development programmes
for the medical personnel. This process has been a lot
36% Chemists
helped by the adoption of regulations in the field,
especially after Romania’s accession to the European
45.00 36.00 19.00 Union.
Fig 2. The weight of personnel under study Under the circumstances of these concerns, the
personnel working in the medical laboratories has been
634 The 6th International Conference Management of Technological Changes
increasingly interested in medical education while personnel, especially after Romania’s accession to the
being aware of its importance for the improvement of European Union, with beneficial implications as
the quality of services provided by these laboratories.
laboratories concerns the quality of services provided by these
Thus, the research results obtained from the sample laboratories.
highlighted the fact that 41 % of the non medical The study offers information
on on the situation of the
personnel working in medical investigations continuous medical education of the personnel in
laboratories have graduated or will graduate doctoral medical laboratories – critical factor for the
higher education studies (fig. 4). improvement of the quality of services provided by
Doctoral studies
such laboratories. The research results may represent
non participation in
the starting point for more elaborate researches
doctoral studies regarding this topic, thus facilitating a better
argumentation of the policies and strategies
implemented by the bodies that have responsibilities in
the field of assurance and improvement of medical
participation in services quality.
doctoral studies
41.00 59.00
REFERENCES
The aim of this paper is to present the diversification strategy as a potential option of development for universities and to demonstrate
the applicability of the diversification star method in adopting decisions at a strategic level.
The applicative aspect is represented by a case study on the diversification strategy of the economic specializations at the Faculty of
Economic, Law and Administrative Sciences at “Petru Maior” University of Tîrgu Mureş.
Therefore, we have carried out a preliminary investigation in order to set the necessary efforts for the implementation of a new
specialization through the diversification star method. The points of this star represent the influence factors and by means of a mathematical
calculation algorithm this method provides information on the effort of implementation of a new specialization.
The defining feature of this paper is the novelty character, because the university diversification strategy has not been a scientific
analysis subject. In writing this paper we have used the date that we got through the group technique, focus group, underlining in this way the
participation character of the method. An advantage of this paper is the integrating character of the data used from the pre-university and
university environment.
In conclusion, the diversification star method is efficient, reliable, original and can be successfully applied in the defining process of
the educational offering at any university.
Information and 8
as the existing situation at “Petru Maior” University,
Product
documentation
6 the idea of introducing the following specializations
4 emerges: Marketing, Economic Informatics,
Facilities
2
0
Educational International Affairs, Agroalimentary Economics.
tehnology
B. Demand
Geographical Human Demand can be defined by high school
position resources
graduates who want to attend higher education studies.
Scientific
research In order to foresee future demand we have made the
following steps:
1. We have carried out a statistics on the existing
specializations at the high schools in the Mureş County
and the number of places for each specialization. The
data have been taken from the site of the Ministry of
Fig. 2. Diversification star Education, Research, Youth and Sport, the most places
are offered at: Mathematics-Informatics, Mechanics,
Chapter 3. Case study on the diversification Philology, Commerce and Nature Sciences.
strategy of the specializations in the economic field 2. We have applied the questionnaire to a sample
at the Faculty of Economic, Law and of 75 pupils in the Mureș County in order to find their
Administrative preferences regarding the specializations they would
like to enrol in at “Petru Maior” University. The
Taking into consideration the proposed questionnaire can be found at the following link:
objective, the diversification of the specializations in http://www.tfaforms.com/150955
the economic field at the Faculty of Economic, Law
and Administrative Sciences, we have carried out a
research applying the diversification star method.
The proportions of the economists market as
any other market, imposes an evaluation of the
situation from the point of view of two major
dimensions: supply and demand.
A. Supply
In order to make a complex analysis of supply
a statistics of the economic specializations within the
universities in Romania has been used.
Statistics on the universities having an economic
profile in Romania
According to G.D. no. 749 on 24th June 2009
on the approval of the Classified list of the domains,
the structures of the higher education institutions and
the specializations/university study programmes at a Fig. 3. The options of high school pupils
Bachelor level that are accredited or authorized to
function on a temporary basis organized by these, there 3.1. Applying the diversification star method
are 62 universities with economic authorized domains
having 23 distinct specializations. The diversification star method may be
According to the statistics the most common applied in any field of activity and any organization
specialization at the level of the universities in where the implementation of an efficient management
Romania is Accounting and Bookkeeping Information strategy is wanted.
System, this being found at 54 universities. For the 1. The first stage has consisted of forming a 20
following 9 specializations in the classification the people focus group made up of the main responsibility
situation is as follows: Finance-Banking – 46; factors in the university: rector, didactic vice rector,
Economy of Commerce, Tourism and Services – 43; dean, didactic vice dean and members of the didactic
Management – 42; Marketing – 36; Economic staff from the Faculty of Economic, Law and
Informatics – 18, Business Administration – 15; Administrative Sciences.
International Business – 12; Economics and 2. The second step had been the identification,
together with the main responsible people in the
Assessing the Role of Organization′s Culture Characteristics in the Project Managers′ Performance 637
8
International Business
Agroali Information and documentation
7
Product (engleză)
Internat Marke-
6
Marketing (zi)
Manage mentary
5
Clients
Agroalimentar Economy 100,09
Geographic position Human Resources
are necessary regarding the following diversification a potential option of development for universities
factors: in enlarging their educational offering; this method
Geographic position because the didactic activities can be also generalized at the level of all faculties
are exclusively performed on the premises; in Romania.
Scientific research includes the same domains as
the full-time specialization;
The curriculum, the product is almost identical
with the full-time one.
Big efforts in implementing are necessary for the
following diversification factors:
Different educational technology based on E-
Learning;
The clients will not be only last year high school
graduates located only in the influence area of the
university. Bibliography:
• Agroalimentary Economics–
100.09 units 1. Ioan Gh. Roşca, Societatea cunoaşterii, Editura Economică,
Bucureşti, 2006
For diversification with the Agroalimentary 2. Liviu Marian, Business Management Strategies, 2009, Petru
Economics specialization, extremely small efforts are Maior University, Tîrgu-Mureş
necessary in: 3. Ovidiu Nicolescu, Strategia Universităţii, Metodologie şi Studii
Geographic position because the didactic activities de caz, Editura Economică, 2007 ,Bucureşti
4. Shattock.M., Managing Successful Universities, Society for
are mainly performed on the premises. Research Into Higher Education&Open University, New York,
Big efforts in the implementation are necessary in: 2003\
Providing the didactic staff with knowledge in this 5. http://www.upm.ro/conducerea/docs/plan_operational_2009.pd
field. f
6. http://www.upm.ro/conducerea/docs/plan_strategic_de_dezvolt
Endowments, because the new specialization are_2008-2012.pdf
implies the existence of some laboratories, 7. http://www.edu.ro/index.php/legaldocs/12390\
technologies and specific equipments; 8. http://admitere.edu.ro/2009/
As for product, new subjects in this domain need
to be introduced and the environment for the
practical study and research needs to be provided.
Chapter 4. Conclusions
The paper explores and analyzes the key driving factors that shape the future of Romanian higher education, with a focus on those
factors that build the entrepreneurial process throughout the university and sustain its performance and maturity on long term. A
PESTEL analysis was performed and individual interviews and focus groups sessions were conducted with professionals and experts
from academia and industry, with the purpose of better understanding the market trends and its dynamics and acting upon them. The
changing factors identified help universities ensure a better link between their educational offer and the labour force market needs
and demands. This will also lead to the need for universities to focus more on developing competences and not qualifications.
market in Romania as well as the labour force market (investments), budget pressures for
trends. A PESTEL (Political, Environmental, Social, students.
Technological, Economic, Legal) analysis was Policies Stable: EU guidelines, international
performed and individual interviews and focus groups trends: e-learning & open software for
sessions were conducted with professionals and experts public institutions;
Unstable: political context (changing
from academia and industry, with the purpose of better legislation & policy).
understanding the market trends and its dynamics. The Culture Internet generation;
group’s work adhered to a precise, predefined Internet as a knowledge database;
framework established by research coordinator, which System reluctance to new technology-
consisted of: an introduction that defined the object of based teaching (traditional teaching).
analysis and the main concepts used; a description of the Environment Dynamic changes in the global
present situation of the educational system; an analysis warming;
of the key developments as they appear today; an Diversification of energy resources.
identification of the major forces (changing factors)
likely to impact on future developments; and, finally, Socio-demographic factors
challenges for the future of higher education.
The sample consisted of 53 representatives with Demographic decrease (decreasing birth rate,
managerial positions from universities (rectors and vice- migration). High decrease in the number of world
rectors form eight public universities across the population as a consequence of decreasing the birth rate
country), companies (entrepreneurs and managers from will lead to diminishing of the student population --
various industries such us: tourism, commerce, oil, regardless of the learning cycle they pursue: bachelor,
banking, etc.), research institutes (of the labour market), master’s program, or doctoral studies-- that are enrolled
students, NGOs, ministries (representatives from the in the formal learning and lifelong learning programs. In
Ministry of Education, Ministry of Economy, and addition, the phenomenon of migration of active
Ministry of Labour). The interviews (face-to-face population will lead to diminishing of the employment
meetings) were conducted between June 2009 and rate in our country and this will continue in the years to
December 2009. Four focus group sessions were come (more than 2 mil. of the active labour force from
organized during the same period of time. Romania migrated during 2000-2009 abroad).
One additional point that is worth mentioning is that Poor access to education and low accessibility. This
although the focus groups followed a set pattern, the is a factor highlighted by students living in the rural
authors were free to choose their own hypotheses and areas or coming from families with low income per
frames of analysis. capita. The access to education, including to higher
education, and its accessibility become dependent on the
CHANGING FACTORS level of income per capita and the overall wealth of the
family. Such as, ensuring the equal access to education
The PESTEL analysis conducted for higher for all those interested in learning represents a major
education by using an interdisciplinary team of experts challenge for universities.
from academia and industry highlights important trends Students’ increasing interest to get employed during
and dynamic changes for the both educational and studies. Academics report that more and more students,
labour markets, as discussed below. Table 1 summarizes regardless of the learning program they are enrolled in,
the key influencing factors for the future of higher are interested to acquire work experience during studies
education in Romania. A good understanding of the and get employed faster, the education being completed
impacts that these factors will have on the future society simultaneously with the work process activity.
represents an important issue as it will help universities Nevertheless, employment during the bachelor program
build their maturity and be sustainable on the market is not always to the students’ advantage when it comes
regardless the competition that appears or evolves. to their preparation for work and life. Universities
should take into consideration all these trends and act
Table 1: Key Influencing Factors
Changing Description proactively by offering trans-disciplinary educational
factors programs that meet employers’ demands.
Technology Pace of development: new
technologies; Technological factors
Pace of implementation: hardware
infrastructure, software applications.
Society Changing needs and interests of
New alternatives to the traditional educational
students; system. Thanks to the new technologies available and
Changing teaching methods; enhanced ways of communication, the rise of the
Dynamic changes of labour force number of universities that offer on-line, long-distance
market demands. and other off-campus learning programs (it is known
Economy Financing; that there are universities that offer solely on-line
Power of purchase; learning), on one hand, and the rise of competitiveness
Crisis: cost cutting pressures from foreign universities which offer equivalent
Driving Factors for Enhancing Entrepreneurial Process and Building Maturity in Romanian Universities 641
learning programs, on the other hand, represent other Political and legal factors
provocations that higher education in Romania should
take into consideration. Changing and apparently non-conforming
Increasing the role of research and development. legislation. The discrepancies and current deficits of
Representatives from the business environment believe legislation in the field of education have as direct
that the technological changes will be possible only with consequences a relatively low correlation between
the joint effort from both the academia and businesses university’s educational offers and the demands of the
towards intensifying their role in research, development labour force market. In addition, a defective and
and innovation and enhancing their contribution to inefficient qualification system is sustained on the
society development. labour market in Romania.
Poor and generally unprofessional involvement of
Economic factors policy makers. Both academics and policy makers are
aware of the fact that the ineffective correlation,
Miss-consideration for some branches of economy. regarding the content of the educational act, between the
Business people observe a dramatic decrease of the three learning cycles (bachelor, master, Ph.D.), on one
interest given by the educational system (Ministry of hand, and improper competences and qualifications
Education) to some industries, such as: metallurgy, developed by various educational programs and forms
chemistry, petroleum etc., which will jeopardize further of education, on the other hand, will further deepen the
subsistence of adherent specializations offered by discrepancy that exists between the Romanian higher
universities, and furthermore, subsistence of these education system and European or international one, as
branches of economy in the future. well as will further nurture non-performance.
Development of the services. Business people Budgetary policy. The budgetary policy will
believe that the services development, inclusive of determine financing of universities based on new
industrial type ones, will lead to the rise of demand for criteria, such as: the type of learning program (on-
labour force having acquired inter-disciplinary and campus, on-line, long-distance), the R&D results, the
cross-sector knowledge and competences. This trend is industry – universities link and collaboration and its
already visible in some branches of economy, like: outcomes, etc. Increasing of the autonomy of
renewable energy, bio-chemistry, informatics, etc. universities will attract a new policy for schooling, in
Local development. Economy development at local terms of tuition fees, number of students enrolled in
and regional level, as a result of new technologies different learning circles, number of scholarships
penetration, and the increased access to information will granted by government, a loan system for students to
lead to rethinking the role of universities in these areas, complete their studies, etc.
this meaning enhancing collaboration with local Decentralization of the educational system. This
communities with the purpose of solving specific policy generates the need to regulate new types of
problems raised by these regions. education (e.g., long distance, on-line), accessible to
Expansion of the universities networks/ fusion of those students or adults who work and are interested in
universities. Academics are more and more aware of the completing their education. The need to offer
fact that creation of university networks, particularly alternatives to all those interested in learning appears
partnerships developed with companies, NGOs, civil and should be considered.
society, will facilitate the know-how transfer, but will
also enhance mobility for all faculty members, Environmental factors
researchers, and students. Fusion of universities will
allow building some administrative, organizational, and Increasing the amount of pollutants. This will lead
financial structures that sustain the educational to an increased need for appropriate technologies that
programs extended among the partner organizations and help ensure environment protection and reduction of
recognize the competences acquired. pollutants in atmosphere, soil, or water. The assurance
High relevance of entrepreneurial education. Both of environment protection will put to question the
academics and business people on one hand, and necessity to carefully consider the balance between cost
representatives of the ministries alike, on the other hand, – competitiveness – medium and long term impact.
believe that the sustained efforts to implement radical Business people suggest that restructuring of the
structural changes in higher education, as regard: the educational offer of higher education by taking into
practice stages for students, internships, simulations, account the requirement of environment protection,
experiential learning, extra-curriculum activities, inclusive of by creating new learning programs and
highlights the necessity to recognize the value-added by specializations focused on this area, is an important
entrepreneurial education to all learning cycles and all issue to be reflecting on. In addition, creation of spin-
fields of specialization. In addition, a strong(er) offs in the fields of renewable energy, eco-friendly
involvement of the companies in reinforcing the transportation means, “passive” buildings, satellite
entrepreneurial process in universities is highly villages etc. with the expertise provided by universities
recommended. are also to be considered.
642 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Starting from the European and the Romanian policies on entrepreneurship, we will analyse the initiatives taken by a private
university from Romania for developing entrepreneurial capacities and mindsets through entrepreneurship education
projects. We will refer especially to the concept of entrepreneurship education, defined by the European Commission. Based
on the Criteria for good practice in delivering entrepreneurship education, developed in European Commission documents,
we will evaluate the quality of higher university projects in the field.
The paper presents the initiatives taken by the “Petre Andrei” University of Iasi in the field of entrepreneurship education.
The case study will present the project “Regional Cooperation for Entrepreneurship Excellence”, (CREA) financed by the
European Social Fund.
The paper will provide a concrete example of a good practice project regarding the involvement of a higher education
institution in entrepreneurship education in Romania. The added value is given by the most important dimensions of this
project: multidisciplinary collaboration, interactive learning approaches, trainings adapted to different target groups.
However, the benefits of entrepreneurship education joined the EU in and after 2004. However, it is
are not limited to start-ups, innovative ventures and new questionable whether Business Schools are the most
jobs. Entrepreneurship refers to an individual’s ability to appropriate place to teach entrepreneurship: innovative
turn ideas into action and is therefore a key competence and viable business ideas are more likely to arise from
for all, helping young people to be more creative and technical, scientific and creative studies. So the real
self-confident in whatever they undertake. The Bologna challenge is to build inter-disciplinary approaches,
process can have a positive effect on the way making entrepreneurship education accessible to all
entrepreneurial knowledge is spread. The 46 Bologna students, creating teams for the development and
signatory countries met in London in May 2007, and exploitation of business ideas, mixing students from
recommended such measures as the recognition of non- economic and business studies with students from other
formal learning, the development of flexible curricula to faculties and with different backgrounds.
accommodate student and staff mobility, and enhanced In Romania, there is as yet no general framework or
university-employer collaboration in innovation and any other kind of guidance in the Ministry of Education
knowledge transfer. for entrepreneurial education in universities. In the
absence of such a framework, individual universities
However, the benefits of entrepreneurship education are have developed “embryos” of entrepreneurial education
not limited to boosting start-ups, innovative ventures wherever there were professors interested in teaching
and new jobs. Entrepreneurship is a competence for and supporting this kind of initiative.
all, helping young people to be more creative and self- Most of the specialised classes are taught at Master's
confident in whatever they undertake. rather than undergraduate levels. There are no
The Recommendation of the European Parliament and Entrepreneurial or Business Management Departments.
the Council of 18 December 2006 on Key Competences
for Lifelong Learning identifies the “sense of initiative In the same time, the demand for learning about
and entrepreneurship” as one of eight key competences entrepreneurship is increasing. However, there is a
that should be put across at all stages of education and shortage of human resources and funding for this type of
training. education; therefore it is not possible to meet this
demand fully. Action-oriented teaching is labour-
Entrepreneurship education should not be mistaken with intensive and costly, and requires specific training.
general business and economic studies; its goal is to Developing and delivering entrepreneurship is
promote creativity, innovation and self-employment, significantly affected by the internal organisational
and may include the following elements: structure of an institution. Faculties and departments
• developing personal attributes and skills that form the tend to work quite separately, with many obstacles for
basis of an entrepreneurial mindset and behaviour students who want to move and for teachers interested
(creativity, sense of initiative, risk-taking, autonomy, in establishing cross-disciplinary courses. A rigid
self-confidence, leadership, team spirit, etc.); curriculum structure is often an impediment to inter-
• raising the awareness of students about self- disciplinary approaches.
employment and entrepreneurship as possible career
options; As regards current teaching methods, there are a
• working on concrete enterprise projects and activities; wide range of techniques to supplement lectures as the
• providing specific business skills and knowledge of most basic teaching tool. However, there seems to be a
how to start a company and run it successfully. gap between the methods actually used and those that
are viewed as the most effective and appropriate.
At higher education level, the primary purpose of Using experience-based teaching methods is crucial
entrepreneurship education should be to develop to developing entrepreneurial skills and abilities.
entrepreneurial capacities and mindsets. In this context, Traditional educational methods (like lectures) do not
entrepreneurship education programmes can have correlate well with the development of entrepreneurial
different objectives, such as: thinking.
a) developing entrepreneurial drive among students There is a need for more interactive learning
and trainees (raising awareness and motivation); approaches, where the teacher becomes more of a
b) training different target groups in the skills they moderator than a lecturer. Crossing boundaries between
need to set up a business and manage its growth; disciplines, and multidisciplinary collaboration, are
c) developing the entrepreneurial ability to identify essential elements in building enterprising abilities.
and exploit opportunities. Getting real entrepreneurs involved in teaching can
make up for the current lack of practical experience
Currently the teaching of entrepreneurship is not yet among professors. Although entrepreneurs and business
sufficiently integrated in higher education institutions' practitioners are generally involved in teaching, there
curricula. Available data show that the majority of are few examples of entrepreneurial practitioners
entrepreneurship courses are offered in business and engaged in the full curricula experience. Most
economic studies. The diffusion of entrepreneurship is frequently, they come to give short presentations to
particularly weak in some of the Member States that
CREAting New Opportunities in Entrepreneurship 645
students (e.g. as personal testimonials or guest lecturer) Development. This project is implemented between
or as judges in competitions. December 2008 and November 2011.
The strength that gives higher education institutions
an innovative capacity, and hence entrepreneurial In 2008, “Petre Andrei” University of Iasi applied
potential, is their autonomy. While diversity is richness, for a European Social Fund project called “Regional
institutions and educators will gain from exchanges and Cooperation for Entrepreneurship Excellence” (CREA).
mutual learning, open sources of information, examples The main objective of the CREA project is to promote a
of good practice across Europe. Coordination is needed positive attitude toward entrepreneurship, to create and
at the policy-making level to ensure that all higher reinforce businesses in the North-East Region of
education institutions are given the necessary incentives Romania through support, guidance and counselling
and opportunities to take on this challenge. activities and also through training activities for
entrepreneurs and for persons who intend to start a
At their level of responsibility, higher education business. Also, the project will develop interregional
institutions could: activities for promoting the entrepreneurial culture in
• set up a strategy and an action plan for teaching other three development regions of Romania.
and research in entrepreneurship, embedding practice- Every year, the project offers 13 training sessions in
based activities, and for new venture start-ups and spin- 6 counties of the North-East Region (Suceava, Botoșani,
offs; Iași, Bacău, Neamț, Vaslui). These trainings are:
• create an entrepreneurship education department, 1. Management functions and responsibilities
which would serve as an entrepreneurial hub within the 2. Improving Business Performance
institution and spread the teaching of entrepreneurship 3. Trading in other EU Regions
across all other departments; 4. Performance Management
• offer an introduction to entrepreneurship and self- 5. Human Resource Manager
employment to all undergraduate students during their 6. Marketing Manager
first year. In addition, give all students the opportunity 7. Supply Chain Management
to attend seminars and lectures on this subject; 8. Business Planning and Business Objectives
• set up incentive systems to motivate and reward 9. Managing Change
faculty staff in supporting students interested in 10. Training Champions
entrepreneurship, and acknowledge the academic value 11. Training for Trainers
of research and activities in the entrepreneurial field; 12. Business Start up and Consolidation
• develop clear institutional rules about intellectual 13. Job Change Training
property; In every county there is a Centre of Entrepreneurial
• award academic credits for practical work on Excellence, offering services of counselling and
enterprise projects outside the established courses. guidance for future entrepreneurs.
After the first year of the CREA project, the
Through appropriate methods of delivery, participants in the trainings carried out in the 6 counties
programmes and courses should be geared to the of the NE region of Romania were very satisfied by the
acquisition of generic and horizontal skills, aiming to quality of the programs. We evaluate the impact of the
make trainees: criteria for good practice in delivering entrepreneurship
− more creative/innovative; highly motivated; pro- education in ensuring qualitative trainings.
active; self-aware; self-confident; willing to challenge; 1) The purpose of the course/programme is precisely
− better communicators; decision-makers; leaders; defined, being linked to the delivery of the expected
negotiators; networkers; problem solvers; team players; outcome (definition of objectives, and capacity to
systematic thinkers; measure outcomes related to those objectives).
− less dependent; less risk averse; able to live with Each of the 13 trainings has clear objectives. All
uncertainty; capable of recognizing opportunities. participants at the trainings are filling a questionnaire in
order to evaluate the quality of each session.
Taking into the account a few indicators, as:
Good practice criteria in delivering - a) number of persons who want to participate in the
entrepreneurship education – the case of the CREA training, and/or rate of increase in the number of
project participants; even if in the project proposal we estimated
at every training programme in every county a group of
10 participants, in the first year, the average was 25.
This paper presents the initiative taken by the “Petre
Andrei” University of Iasi in the field of - b) diversity of participants (from different fields of
entrepreneurship education. study and activity) – participants in CREA trainings are
employees from SMEs, managers, future entrepreneurs
The case study presented is the project “Regional
(especially students), unemployed persons.
Cooperation for Entrepreneurship Excellence” (CREA),
- c) percentage of former trainees who would recommend
financed by the European Social Fund through the
the trainings – over 90% of participants in the CREA
Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources
trainings in the first year declared that they will
646 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
recommend these trainings; now we are having the communication with these guests can continue after the
proof that they have done it, as the number of training, as a “mentoring” activity.
applications for the second year’s trainings is 5) Young entrepreneurs (for instance, alumni who have
increasing. started a company) and experienced business people are
- d) percentage of trainees participating in trainings who involved in courses and activities, and contribute to their
believe that they have made a significant difference in design. Practical experience, by means of trainees
the way that they think about entrepreneurship (change cooperating with enterprises and working on concrete
of attitudes) – the feedback from the questionnaires enterprise projects, is embedded in the programme.
shows that the trainees are encouraged by the 6) Trainings and activities are part of a wider
information from trainings to start or improve a entrepreneurial programme, with support mechanisms
business. for trainees’ start-ups in place and actively utilised.
e) perception of trainees of their own confidence and All the trainers of the CREA project offer post-training
ability to start a company (before the course, and after) support to the trainees, using IT methods or through
f) number of business plans written (which should take direct meetings. The teams of the Centres of
into account the rate of success, e.g. the rate of Entrepreneurial Excellence support the trainees in
companies started) – after the first year of the project opening new businesses, with information regarding the
the Centre’s teams will survey this item. legal framework, information regarding the business
2) There is a balance between the theoretical and environment, access to databases, etc.
practical aspects. Teaching makes use of interactive and 7) Exchanges of ideas and experience between trainers
pragmatic methods; active self-learning; action-oriented and trainees from different regions and countries are
pedagogy; group work; learning through projects; sought and promoted, to encourage mutual learning and
student-centred methods; learning by direct experience; to give an international perspective to programmes,
methods for self-development and self-assessment. courses and activities.
Delivery is through mechanisms that maintain the Every year, a Forum of professional development is
motivation of students at a high level. organised within the CREA project, which ensures a
The CREA trainings’ related methodology: frame of communication between trainers, participants
a) Focus on high-potential, dynamic, innovative in the CREA trainings, business people from the NE
entrepreneurship as a distinct segment of the small region, local authorities.
business sector.
b) Blended learning plus textbook. Traditional As a general conclusion, entrepreneurship is
classroom workshops combined with additional web- increasingly relevant to the economic output and job
based tools and materials and the ‘paper’ textbook, creation in both developed and developing countries.
which is in high demand among trainees. Higher education establishments can become promoters
c) Focus on the local business environment. All cases, of a qualitative entrepreneurship education in Romania
tools, business environments reflect current Romanian especially in order to develop entrepreneurial capacities
market conditions, and are therefore more attractive to and mindsets, emphasizing multidisciplinary
trainees. collaboration.
3) Activities and events are organised to improve the
students’ ability to work in a group and build a team References
spirit, and to develop networks and spot opportunities.
Most of the assessments made in every training session 1. Commission Communication (2006), “Fostering
are realised by teams of trainees. They work together entrepreneurial mindsets through education and learning”,
during the training but also during the days between COM (2006) 33 final, European Union, Brussels
sessions. Thus, they have the opportunity to find 2. Commission Communication (2010), “Cohesion policy:
Strategic Report 2010 on the implementation of the
common business interests, to develop new skills (as programmes 2007-2013”, COM(2010)110 final, European
team work, communication abilities) and to overpass Union, Brussels
their own barriers in identifying new business 3. European Commission (2008),” Entrepreneurship in
opportunities. higher education, especially in non-business studies”,
European Union, Brussels
4. European Union (2003),”Green Paper: Entrepreneurship in
4) Different guest lecturers are involved (e.g. experts on Europe”, European Union, Brussels.
patent law, company financing, etc.). A close 5. Kuratko, D.F. & Hodgetts, R.M. (2004),”Entrepreneurship:
relationship is in place with the local entrepreneurial Theory, process, practice”, Mason, OH: South-Western
College Publishers
environment, and educators are part of relevant
networks (formal and informal). There is a collaborative
approach with the real business practice and industry.
Almost every trainer has one or two guests from the
business area, such as top managers, bank managers,
with an important expertise in the local and regional
business from the North-East region. The
ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AND NEW COLLABORATIVE METHODS.
CASE STUDY MBA “ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT”
The objectives of the communication are the analysis of entrepreneurial study programs in the Romanian higher education system, the
presentation of the vision and the objectives of the Romanian-German MBA program “Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Management”, the characteristics of the teaching technologies for the objectives of the program, the performance indicators of the
program and the future directions and the integration of a MBA program in collaborative networks and company clusters. There is
presented the conception which represented the basis for the development of this MBA program and the way this conception was
integrated in its curricula. It is analyzed the target group of potential candidates for the program as well as the level of the selection
criteria. The team teaching method consisting in the involvement of two professors, one from Romania and one from a Western
country, in each of the 20 modules of the program, represents the main success factor in reaching the objectives of the program.
Starting from the expectations of the market economy towards the entrepreneurial study programs (a concept which is described and
analyzed in the paper), we make an analysis of the degree of penetration of such programs in the university curricula. There are
pointed out the expectations of such a study program related to the Romanian economy, the new methods of development and
promotion of regional know-how and the experience of other countries in this field. For the position of the MBA program on the
Romanian study program market, there are analyzed the performance indicators and the characteristics of all existent MBA programs
on the market. There are presented the methods and instruments of promotion by pointing out the alumni association of the program.
Based on this, there are proposed new validation ways of the training-formative methods in a knowledge based society, by pointing
out the importance of the intellectual capital of the program. It is also proposed a new way of positioning the entrepreneurial study
programs in the new collaborative structures such as the economic clusters and organizations networks, which represent the main
pillar of the regional sustainable development. The case study is a pioneer in the Romanian entrepreneurial study programs because
of the teaching method and the German teaching language.
1999). In case of focusing on results, alumni networks 3. CASE STUDY: MBA PROGRAMM
have to define and commonly agree very clearly on the “ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION
desired results. All resources of the network have to be MANAGEMENT”
used for these results. They have to correspond to the According to the expectations of the entrepreneurial
expectations of the members of the network in order to education and collaborative learning methods presented
motivate them. The network management has to be above, we expose in the following the experience of the
focused on a low number of themes, but centralized in MBA program "Entrepreneurship and Innovation
terms of results. It is very important to remember that a Management" conducted in partnership by the Academy
network is successful only if the strengths of each of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania and the
member can be developed in order to achieve the University of Applied Sciences, Gelsenkirchen,
objective of the network (Grünhagen, M., Koch L., Germany. The program addresses to a niche market of
Saßmannshausen S., 2005). When capitalizing the business people in Romania, for the teaching language
opportunities one needs to take into account the for most of the modules is German. Only three of the
following aspects: the identification of synergy effects modules take place in English language. Because of
among the objectives that cannot be reached this, this MBA Program is unique on the Romanian
individually, extending the efficient usage of resources market for postgraduate education. Although the
to the entire network, the reduction of costs, building program is relatively young (being at the fifth series of
new cooperation relationships and learning master students), it obtained a well-defined position on
opportunities. We take into consideration the fact that the post-academic training market in Romania, and in
developing the skills of the ideal network management 2007 was accredited by FIBAA International
is based on the following elements: management’s (Foundation for International Business Administration
social skills as neutrality, trust, objective orientation; Accreditation – member of the AMBA consortium) and
methods as conflict solving, presentation, creativity and in 2008 it was nationally accredited by ARACIS.
mediation techniques; organizational methods as time There are some specific elements which customize
management, self-management, work methods, project the program in comparison to the offer of the Romanian
management; expertise as the knowledge of the regional EMBA and MBA programs (there is a total of nine
structures, technical and organizational expertise. MBA programs on the Romanina market). The target
We will further take some examples that illustrate group for the program are people who have already
the importance of entrepreneurship and networking in graduated, who have good knowledge of German and
the academic environment that is focused on the English language and who are motivated to gain
fundamental and applied research. At Munchen significant professional progress in national
Technical University there are circa 20,000 TUM multinational or transnational companies, executives on
Alumni in the “KontaktTUM” network and 7000 in the a top and middle management level or future
faculty specific networks. Here we discover a Corporate entrepreneurs, who have opened or plan to start a
Partner list of TUM that includes Audi, BMW Group, business. The program aims to develop entrepreneurial
Degussa, EON Energie, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Gate thinking and action; the creation of systematic, rigorous
Garching, Lufthansa, McKinsey&Company. In UK the and knowledge founded working methods related to a
University of Cambridge has a network of entrepreneurs strategic vision; training and encouragement of
in residence and visiting with leverages external leadership skills and teamwork, with emphasis on
network of 200 entrepreneurs. The University includes a complementary team members.
Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL), whose The program is structured in two parts: one
main objective is to share best practice with the wider individual study part for each module and a presence
community through networks and collaboration. part accompanied by two Professors/ Trainers (a
In USA the Entrepreneurship Center at MIT assists German one and a Romanian one for each module),
MIT students, alumni and colleagues in accessing which operates in team – teaching system for 24 hours
networking opportunities technologies and resources. during the week-end on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Members of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center The content of the curriculum is divided into three
community form a global network to actively advise and categories on a rate of approx. 1/3 each; first category
assist each other for mutual benefit, enabling them to set includes basic subjects – which aim to present to all
and meet their highest expectations. At Stanford participants the basic concepts and tools of
University are available several networks, among them management, the second category includes disciplines
Mayfield Fellows Program alumni and BASES of construction and development of entrepreneurial
entrepreneurship student alumni, etc. At the London innovation, and the third category includes disciplines
Business School the Strategic Partners Network which aim to develop specific skills of an entrepreneur
Members, including Ernst & Young, ensure that the by stimulating team work and leadership abilities.
program can continue to support its teaching, research The pedagogical aspect of the program is based on
and business creation activities with a powerful network the particularities of an adult training process. The team-
of contact, funding and expertise. teaching training system allows the stimulation of the
participation during classes. The module starts with a
period of 4 weeks of individual training, during which
650 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Ioan POPA1, Dorel Mihai PARASCHIV2, Mihaela Gabriela BELU3, Cristiana TUDOR4, Roxana VOICU DOROBANTU5,
Claudia Adriana LANGA6
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania
1
ioan.popa.rei@gmail.com, 2dorelpar@yahoo.com, 3mihaelabelu2000@yahoo.com, 4cristianat@gmail.com
5
rovodo@yahoo.com, 6claudia_langa@yahoo.com
Abstract: This paper critically analyzes the role that MBA programs play in the development of entrepreneurial activities in the
Romanian business environment. It analyzes the impact of these MBA programs on business practices and performance and the
measure in which they accomplish teaching entrepreneurship and transferring knowledge and innovation to enterprises. We conclude
that entrepreneurship is a rapidly expanding and evolving aspect in MBA programs that requires proper support and development.
This article is trying to demonstrate that building entrepreneurial skills in Romania involves using best business practices combined
with adequate research, teaching tools and knowledge-transfer activities. The article proves that there is still room for improvement in
view of generating business initiatives and entrepreneurial activities. Professors should therefore incorporate and acknowledge in
their courses the specific needs of the business environment.
Only recently, higher education was seriously taken Most countries in Eastern and Central Europe have
into consideration as a tool for teaching and promoting gone through a difficult process of transition from the
entrepreneurship. In Western Europe, due to the security communist centrally planned economies to a liberalized
welfare system, people become risk adverse. Education market economy. The same happened in Romania,
does not help them become entrepreneurs, but reinforces having significant impact on the businesses, which are
the risk adverse attitude by emphasizing the need to now more mature; they use modern business techniques
secure a future job. There is a growing concern that and they have changed their approach on the market. In
many of the skills and qualities associated with 1990, Romania was facing a huge need for business
entrepreneurs are suppressed by the traditional formal people with a professional training, able to face the
education system (Chamard, 1989). challenges of the global and competitive economy. As
This type of education system has worked for the market for such education programs was basically
decades, but now globalization accompanied by the unoccupied, many institutions offering business training
rapid change in technology has forced the stakeholders have entered it.
to rethink the underlying concepts. The market is now more and more competitive, with
In order to learn, Europe should take a look at the new programs being established almost every year.
experiences in United States of America, Canada and
other countries, but not import them directly, yet adapt RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS
and set up appropriate models. USA have the longest
history in teaching entrepreneurship, as the first
One would expect that many of the programs in
graduate course of entrepreneurship was offered at Romania would offer entrepreneurship training in a
Harvard University in 1948 (Katz, 2003) by professor country where the markets are not mature and
Miles Mace.
individuals can find opportunities and exploit them by
In Europe, entrepreneurship began to enter the
starting up new businesses easier than in more
curriculum in the last ten years, except for a limited
developed countries. Unfortunately, there is no
number of institutions that started earlier (Twaalfhoven specialized entrepreneurship program offered by any of
and Wilson, 2004) and has not reached the same status the business schools or other higher education
as in North America.
institution present in Romania.
At the level of education providing institutions there
Therefore we have then proceeded in identifying the
are significant differences as the differences found in
business schools and the number of MBA and EMBA
the case of the training providing companies relating to
programs that offer entrepreneurship courses in their
size (Olaru M, Albescu F et al, 2009). curriculum.
The research methodology consisted in drafting a
MBA PROGRAMS TRENDS WORLDWIDE AND comparative analysis having as source the results of
IN ROMANIA questionnaire based surveys conducted on MBA and
EMBA graduates in 2008 (500 questionnaires sent, out
The most known product of management education of which 300 questionnaires filled-in), 2009 (357
is the MBA (Master of Business Administration), which questionnaires sent, out of which 250 questionnaires
has been occupying a central role in the business filled-in), 2010 (375 questionnaires sent, out of which
school’s teaching portfolio. 300 questionnaires filled-in) by Ziarul Financiar.
MBA identifies itself with professionalism and most We present below the details of the programs for
of the times it is seen as a pre-requisite in order to which a significant number of questionnaires were
access a top management position. received filled-in by the respondents.
However, there is debate if MBA is the best
education for managers. Mintzberg and Gosling argue Table 1: MBA and EMBA programs that teach entrepreneurship courses
that the MBA education has remained the same since Program name Study Tuition Entrepre
period neurship
the 1950’s: “the fundamentals – the focus on business
course
functions and on analysis and technique – have not
EMBA ASEBUSS 20 months 21,500 EUR Yes
changed. It might not be unfair to conclude that we now EMBA CEU Business Starting 2010 the program will be
educate managers with the 1908 product that uses a School no longer offered in Romania
1950s strategy. Perhaps it is time for a radical revision MBA City University of 18 months 8,000 EUR No
beyond the current borders of the MBA.” Seattle
As traditional business programs have been MBA DeSales University/ 18-48 15,600 EUR No
intensely criticized for the above reasons business Romanian American months
schools have created and introduced in their curriculum University
entrepreneurship programs. MBA Fine University of 2 years 10,000 EUR No
Business schools face the challenge of preparing the Wales
students and building the necessary skills that are MBA INDE/CNAM Paris 2 years 4,400 EUR Yes
needed in a changing economy, where entrepreneurship MBA The Open University 2.5 years 13.600 GBP No
Business School/CODECS
is vital.
PMBA Project & Process 18 months 19,800 EUR Yes
Entrepreneurship Education in MBA Programs in Romania 653
and to start up their own business. The most frequent that started up their business in a comparison for the last
way to do that was by establishing a consultancy three years.
business in a related field to the one they have We conclude that entrepreneurship is a rapidly
previously worked in and for which they had the expanding and evolving aspect in MBA programs that
necessary expertise. requires proper support and development. The article
In the same survey, it was determined that the most proves that there is still room for improvement in view
frequent industries in which the graduates established of generating business initiatives and entrepreneurial
new businesses were consultancy, training, IT and activities. Professors should therefore incorporate and
distribution. acknowledge in their courses the specific needs of the
business environment.
FURTHER IN-DEPTH RESEARCH ON THE The authors would like to undertake a more in-depth
IMPACT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP research on the impact of entrepreneurship education on
EDUCATION ON GRADUATES EVOLUTION the career evolution of the graduates and we have
defined the directions of research.
Starting from this basic survey we would like to
conduct in the future a more in-depth survey that could References
answer to the following questions:
- Is there any evidence that entrepreneurship 1. European Commission Enterprise and Industry Directorate
General (2008), Entrepreneurship in higher education,
education contributes to risk-taking and the
especially within non-business studies, European Commission
formation of new ventures? Are the graduates Website
that took entrepreneurship classes more likely to 2. Chamard, J. (1989) “Public education: its effect on
start new business ventures than the ones that entrepreneurial characteristics”, Journal of Small Business
andEntrepreneurship, 6, 1989, pp. 23–30.
did not,?
3. Karlan, D. and Valdivia, M. (2006) “Teaching
- After establishing the personal characteristics of entrepreneurship: impact of business training on microfinance
graduates and considering other environmental clients and institutions”, Yale University Economic Growth
factors, is the entrepreneurship education going Center Discussion Paper No. 941; Center for Global
Development Working Paper No. 108
to increase the probability of an individual to
4. Katz, J.A (2003), “The chronology and intellectual
start up a business? trajectory of American entrepreneurship education 1876-1999”,
- Has the entrepreneurship education any Journal of Vusiness Venturing, Vl.18, No.2, Elsevier, pp. 283-
significant impact on the income of the 300
5. Mintzberg, H. and Gosling, J. (2002) Educating managers
graduates?
beyond borders, Academy of Management Learning and
- Is entrepreneurship education bringing more job Education, pp. 64–76.
satisfaction through greater income or other 6. Olaru, M, Stoleriu, G. and Langa, C.A, (2009) “Supplier
motivators? performance assessment methods used by the Romanian SMEs in
relationship with the requirements of the ISO9000 model of
- Is entrepreneurship education contributing to the
quality management”, 6th International Conference on the
growth of firms, especially small and medium Management of Technological Changes, SEP 3-5, 2009
sizes enterprises? Alexandroupolis, Greece, (IDS Number: BMO94, ISBN: 978-
- Another key aspect is related to the transfer of 960-89832-8-1
7. Olaru, M. Albescu, F. Paraschiv, D. Stoleriu G. Langa, C.A.
technology from the university to the private
(2009) “Performance assessment of the training service
sector and the promotion of technology based providers in Romania related to the criteria of the common
firms and products. The promotion of quality assurance framework”, Amfiteatru Economic, Vol. XI,
technology based firms and products has No. 26
8. Twaalfhoven ,B and Wilson, K (2004), “Breeding More
already been pre-validated through the basic
Gazelles: The Role of European Universities”, European
research described above as a large part of the Foundation for Entrepreneurship Research
graduates that started their business chose as 9. Van der Sluis, J. , Van Praag, C.M, and Van
industry the IT industry. Witteloostuijn A (2006), “Why are the returns to education
higher for entrepreneurs than for employees?”, IZA Discussion
The research would be based on a questionnaire that
Paper No. 3058
will be sent to MBA and EMBA graduates of each 10. Van der Sluis, J. and Van Praag, C.M (2007) “Returns to
programs, without a focus on the graduates of the Education for Entrepreneurs and Employees: Identification by
current academic year. The results will be analyzed Means of Change in Compulsory Schooling Laws” IZA
Discussion Paper No. 3058
comparing the answers of different generations of
11. Van Praag, C.M and Versloot, P. (2007) “What is the
graduates, isolating the economic environment factors value of entrepreneurship? A review of recent research” Small
that had an impact on the decision of the graduates to Business Economic 29 (4), 351-382
start up or not a business. 12. “Top MBA 2008”, Ziarul Financiar, 19th March 2010
13. “Top MBA 2009”, Ziarul Financiar, 24th March 2010
CONCLUSIONS 14. “Top MBA 2010”, Ziarul Financiar, 25th March 2010
We conclude that the Romanian higher education
market lacks specialized entrepreneurship courses and
that only a limited number of business schools offer
entrepreneurship courses in their MBA programs. We
can observe a trend of decreasing number of graduates
THE STRATEGIC ANALYSIS MODEL FOR
A FLEXIBLE VIRTUAL RESEARCH CENTRE
Liliana Georgeta POPESCU1, Paul Dan BRINDASU1, Livia Dana BEJU1
1
"Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu, Department Manufacturing Technologies, email: dan.brindasu@ulbsibiu.ro
The present work tries to clear multi-disciplinary approach involving not only the technology-oriented aspects but also the socio-
organizational and legal issues. The study is conceived to build a comprehensive scenario, to find and clarify the strategic options and
to indicate in terms of organizational development, in order to develop a new model of a research centre.
scale ranging from 0 (unimportant) to 4 (extremely relative strength, relative strength ratio is calculated as
important). These entries are stored in three matrices follows [2]:
which underlying the calculations. Positions are stored
in a simple matrix (denoted 1MAO first matrix, actors x
objective), the projection is the combination resulted by
multiplying the actor position and the storage in the
position matrix (called 2MAO) and the influence matrix Standardized coefficient of relative strength determines
is stored in the direct influence matrix (called MID - a first measure of actor's power. Further, these
figure 3). coefficients are applied to matrix 2MAO to get a new
matrix denoted 3MAO. The new matrix contains an
Univ.
MEC
Intr.
CC
C
Part.
aggregate factor, which includes the position, the
© LIPSOR-EPITA-MACTOR
MDI
importance (salience) and the power, which is
Univ. 0 4 2 3 2 3
MEC 4 0 1 4 1 0
calculated according to the formula:
Intr. 4 1 0 4 0 1
CC 4 4 4 0 4 4
C 4 0 0 4 0 3
Dezv. Part
Dezv. N.P.
FIP
Inch. Cont
Label
Resp. Part
Fond
Absolute sum
Part. 3 1 1 4 3 0
2MAO
Figure 3: Direct influence matrix -MID
© LIPSOR-EPITA-MACTOR
MEC 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 6
2MAOa,i = positiona,i * a projectiona,i Intr. 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 27
MIDa, b = influence a, b CC 4 2 1 4 4 3 4 22
C 1 1 4 1 4 1 1 13
Part. 3 1 2 4 0 4 4 18
Dezv. Part
Dezv. N.P.
FIP
Inch. Cont
Label
Resp. Part
Fond
Absolute sum
Number of agreements 15 11 11 16 12 13 19
Number of disagreements 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1MAO Number of positions 15 11 11 16 12 13 19
MEC 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 3
Intr. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 3MAO (Figure: 7) matrix is used to extract a set of
CC 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 aggregated values, such as mobilizing factor (Moba),
C 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7
Part. 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 6 which describe the involvement of an actor and its
Number of agreements
Number of disagreements
6
0
5
0
4
0
5
0
3
0
6
0
6
0
availability to commit its forces to control various
Number of positions 6 5 4 5 3 6 6 aspects, such as agreement coefficients (Agi),
disagreement (Disagi), indicating various controversial
Figure 4: Matrix 1MAO
issues.
The first step is to consider the influence exercised
Dezv. Part
Dezv. N.P.
FIP
Inch. Cont
Label
Resp. Part
Fond
Mobilisation
indirectly through actors. Consequently, the matrix of 3MAO
direct and indirect influence (MIDI) is calculated and
includes for each pair of actors, direct influence, plus all Univ. 1,6 2,4 0,0 2,4 0,0 0,8 1,6 8,8
indirect influences from every actor. This is calculated
© LIPSOR-EPITA-MACTOR
MEC 0,8 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,8 3,4 5,0
Intr. 4,4 4,4 4,4 4,4 4,4 3,3 4,4 29,5
using the formula: CC 4,4 2,2 1,1 4,4 4,4 3,3 4,4 23,9
C 1,1 1,1 4,2 1,1 4,2 1,1 1,1 13,7
Part. 3,4 1,1 2,2 4,5 0,0 4,5 4,5 20,2
Number of agreements 15,6 11,1 11,9 16,7 13,0 13,7 19,2
Number of disagreements 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0
Degree of mobilisation 15,6 11,1 11,9 16,7 13,0 13,7 19,2
Univ.
MEC
Intr.
CC
Part.
Ii
MDII
© LIPSOR-EPITA-MACTOR
Univ. 14 9 7 14 9 9 48
Figure 7: Matrix 3MAO
MEC 10 9 7 9 7 9 42
Intr.
CC
10
19
10
10
8
8
9
19
8
10
8
11
45
58
The graphic of net distances between actors has been
C 11 9 7 10 9 10 47 used to recognize potential alliances that can be
Part. 12 9 8 12 10 11 51
Di 62 47 37 54 44 47 291 developed in the same time, taking into account the
divergences and convergences between actors. Input
Figure 5: Matrix of direct and indirect influence (MIDI)
data compiled through the software Mactor show:
- Dominant actors (quadrant I), which have a strong
These values are used to calculate the global influence
influence on others without being influenced by them
(Ia) and dependence (Da) for each actor, which is the
are represented by partners;
sum of rows and columns of matrices MIDI:
- Bridge players (quadrant II), which are both very
influential and powerful influence in our case are
represented by the research centre;
Using these values and comparing them with influence
and dependence of the other actors, to standardize the
658 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
References
Over 15 years ago the Department of Management UPB started collaboration with Washington State University materialized in
the development of a “Center for Business Excellence” with training and consultancy as main activities. Experience gained in face to
face relations with businesses was used in writing case studies. In the last 3 years the Department of Management – PUB, has
designed documentation in order to establish a Faculty of Engineering and Business Management. For this we have to identify and
develop the most appropriate model for designing Case Studies based on the Romanian entrepreneurs profile in terms of behavior and
decision making. Research was conducted on the basis of observation, statistical analysis of interviews during business consulting
sessions, the comparative analysis of statistical data taken from various publications. Originality value consists in writing and
teaching Case studies examples of Romanian business people support entrepreneurship training specifically related to the original
Romanian business culture. By this method forms the solid skills in identifying, generating alternatives and real situations resolve
native on what is learned in school. Case studies are a portfolio of experiences that have the power to form a way of thinking.
January 2003, states the necessity to support the economical specific culture and experience in
entrepreneurial force, as effective as possible. Because accordance with Romanian regulations. These Case
the entrepreneurship dynamics is lower in EU (Romania Studies are used in entrepreneurial training graduate and
included) than in US, to build an entrepreneurship- postgraduate programs.
favorable environment in Romanian universities was a
top priority. Consequently, starting with the academic USES OF CASE STUDIES
year 2005-2006, new academic curricula are in place. In
the area of entrepreneurial education, it is significant to Case studies are particularly useful in depicting a
mention, that the new curricula contain courses of holistic portrayal of a client's experiences and results
entrepreneurial education in all Romanian leading
regarding a program. For example, to evaluate the
universities (Table1).
effectiveness of a program's processes, including its
Table 1 Entrepreneurship subjects in Romanian top strengths and weaknesses, evaluators might develop
universities’ curricula C, Scarlat, E.J. Rozell, (2010)
Entrepreneurship
cases studies on the program's successes and failures.
Nr University Faculty Case studies are used to organize a wide range of
subject
1.
University of Administration
Entrepreneurship
information about a case and then analyze the contents
Bucharest and Business by seeking patterns and themes in the data, and by
Economics & Small business further analysis through cross comparison with other
University “A.I.
2. Business start-up and
Cuza” of Iasi
Administration administration cases. A case can be individuals, programs, or any unit,
University Economics & depending on what the program evaluators want to
3. “Babes-Bolyai” Business Entrepreneurship examine through in-depth analysis and comparison.
of Cluj Administration
Academy of
Economic Business Entrepreneurship DEVELOPING A CASE STUDY
4.
Studies of Administration Culture
Bucharest
University
The history of case study research is marked by
Electrical periods of intense use and periods of disuse. The earliest
5. “Politehnica” of Entrepreneurship
Engineering
Bucharest use of this form of research can be traced to Europe,
predominantly to France. The methodology in the
It is interesting to mention the case of University
United States was most closely associated with The
“Politehnica” of Bucharest, the oldest and largest
University of Chicago Department of Sociology. From
technical university in Romania, where the course of
the early 1900's until 1935, The Chicago School was
Entrepreneurship is offered to engineering students
preeminent in the field and the source of a great deal of
(since 2000).
the literature.
The research process started back in 2001 when first
There are several examples of the use of case
research project (EDUCAT) was designed. The
methodology in the literature. Yin R., (1994), listed
EDUCAT Project has identified requirements of the
several examples along with the appropriate research
labour market regarding the creation of the managerial-
design in each case. There were suggestions for a
entrepreneurial side of the graduates of engineering
general approach to designing case studies, and also
education, showing the necessity of transforming the
recommendations for exploratory, explanatory, and
classical university into an entrepreneurial university
descriptive case studies.
Clark B. R., (1998). This does not mean changing the
In exploratory case studies, fieldwork, and data
mission of the university, but changing the curriculum
collection may be undertaken prior to definition of the
and, above all, changing the methods of teaching. An
research questions and hypotheses. This type of study
almost unique experience within University
has been considered as a prelude to some social
“Politehnica” of Bucharest is the “Center for Business
research. However, the framework of the study must be
Excellence”: it was the very first small business
created ahead of time. Pilot projects are very useful in
development centre in Romania, which served as kernel
determining the final protocols that will be used. Survey
for a national entrepreneurship development network. In
questions may be dropped or added based on the
2006 the Centre for Business Excellence (CBE) has
outcome of the pilot study.
celebrated 15 years of activity. Over years, it got
Explanatory cases are suitable for doing causal
recognition and prestigious awards as The Project of the
studies. In very complex and multivariate cases, the
Year Award 1997 (National Association of Management
analysis can make use of pattern-matching techniques.
and Technical Assistance Centers from USA); The
In 1988 Yin R. and Moore conducted a study to
European Enterprise Award (Romania, 2008) for the
examine the reason why some research findings get into
Business Plan Contest “Investing in Entrepreneurial
practical use. They used a funded research project as the
Education” open to students since 2001. The Project
unit of analysis, where the topic was constant but the
“Investing in Entrepreneurial Education” was nominated
project varied. The utilization outcomes were explained
for the European Enterprise Awards 2008/2009
by three rival theories: a knowledge-driven theory, a
(Prague, May 2009).
problem-solving theory, and a social-interaction theory.
CBE offered up a nursery for Case Studies in
management and business, based on Romanian
Case Studies – Modern Entrepreneurship Education Tool in Universities 661
Knowledge-driven theory means that ideas and are taught how to use Excel in solving these problems,
discoveries from basic research eventually become thus enhancing an important transferable skill.
commercial products. Problem-solving theory follows The lecture material is delivered in class using the
the same path, but originates not with a researcher, but university's upgraded IT network. This is particularly
with an external source identifying a problem. The helpful in explaining graphs and Excel spreadsheets as
social-interaction theory claims that researchers and the students can observe the lecturer doing the
users belong to overlapping professional networks and calculations in front of them. Potential problems can
are in frequent communication. arise here if the IT back-up is not adequate.
Descriptive cases require that the investigator begin The module is integrated into the degree programme
with a descriptive theory, or face the possibility that in two ways. First, the choice of topics caters to the
problems will occur during the project. special needs of students reading Economics, Financial
Case studies have been increasingly used in Economics, and Business Economics with Marketing
education. While law and medical schools have been degree schemes. Secondly all students who take this
using the technique for an extended period, the module must continue with the second module which
technique is being applied in a variety of instructional takes a more formal, conventional approach. Student
situations. Management Department within University feedback as well as the examination results, were very
POLITEHNICA of Bucharest act as a School of encouraging. The main issue for using this approach in
business being most aggressive in the implementation of more advanced modules is finding suitable case studies
case based learning, or "active learning". Management, since the theoretical development depends crucially on
Marketing, Operations, Finance, and Information suitable case studies.
Systems, courses are designed around cases that
encompass those disciplines, but are presented in an CASE STUDY AS A TOOL USED FOR
integrated manner. The students are therefore made ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION
aware of the interrelatedness of the various disciplines
and begin to think in terms of wider problems and An example of a case study that was presented to the
solutions. students and which is relevant for entrepreneurship in
outsourcing IT organizations is an IT organization
USING CASE STUDIES IN EDUCATION specialized in offshore software development services
and telecommunications, with more than 8 years of
The "European Economical Perspective” course experience.
proposed to be for the first exposure to University Sources of data collection in IT organization are:
Politehnica for students reading for the Master in direct observations, documents analysis, Yin (1994),
Business Engineering and Management program. Hence assessments, lessons learned, improvement suggestions.
many of the students on this module will be taking it as In this study there were identified strategies,
a "taster" of economics. Most of the students on the approaches, and actions to illustrate how successful
course will not have studied economics before. Thus the entrepreneurs deploy a range of entrepreneurial skills
course must serve several objectives which are not easy and knowhow. Above all, the entrepreneurs are seen to
to reconcile. It must motivate those students who “taste" have the capacity to innovate processes.
to continue with Economics. It must be accessible to Since January 2007, Romania is a member of the
students who have not studied economics before. European Union, offering access to a better and wider
Finally, it must be sufficiently interesting to those market. There are more players and stronger players on
students who have studied economics at school.The IT market, new technologies are having
course attempts to meet all these objectives by an transformational impacts on all industries, markets are
unusual approach. First it is based entirely on case more open and free, and customers are more
studies. The lecturer develops each of the cases himself. demanding. Many IT organizations are being forced to
Thus to illustrate principles of investment the following offer what customers demand and more, they have to
two case studies are used: a historical one of early respond to customers unexpressed expectations B.
merchant ventures in 17 and 19 century, including the Prisecaru, (2009).
formation of the London Stock Exchange (Late 1600) In time of crisis, this makes the difference between
and the modern stock market. The material is presented success and failure, in a competitive world. For this
as a set of "stylized facts". Then the simplest economic reason the IT organization offered its customers support
analysis is used to "explain" the facts. In this way, for the telecommunications projects and also a support
students are motivated by understanding the power of case management tool that allows the customers to have
economics to explain social phenomena such as trade real time access to all the support processes.
and exchange, merchant ventures and the stock market, The purpose of this tool is to manage the process for
and modern factories. An explicitly numerical approach receiving, documenting and resolving customer issues in
is adopted whereby students learn the problem solving telecommunication support projects.
power of economics and management. All the solutions are kept in a knowledge base of the
Instead of formal proofs, simple numerical examples tool that can be used, besides best practice in telecom,
are used to illustrate important economic ideas. Students as:
662 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
- guideline for a general case management process that • “The European experience shows that within the
can be used in any support process; university education and the exploration work, the
- guideline for customer relationship management in following skills and competences should be developed:
support processes; o prediction of trends and abilities of dealing
- guideline related to how to organize, plan, staff, with unpredictable development of the events;
schedule and manage telecom support service project; o team work and ability of working with nets of
- basis for establishing and maintaining the project teams;
capability baseline in telecom support. o leadership;
Some important advantages also offered to the o communication skills, including the use of
customer in the support process are: foreign languages;
- improvements that are identified and implemented as o excellent abilities to apply the use of the
necessary; information technology in the field in which the
- all the records are maintained in the support case student is being educated;
management tool database. The case log can be o being familiar with the law in the field of
accessed secured with a login ID/password; intellectual possession (also including the
- support case management tool is backed up daily; problems)”.
- all cases are retained for a minimum of 5 years. • “The training for Entrepreneurship must continue
- case management is conducted globally by engineers through life. It must cover the full range of knowledge:
organized into Emergency, Level1 Support and Level2 knowing how to behave, how to handle knowledge, how
Support functions. to learn, knowhow, and how to innovate, do good and
Also, engineers have expertise in recovery and crisis lead others. This is the challenge of Europe.
management. Their tasks are, in order of their priority • Our training system must be one which will
(from high to low): encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation.
- to restore service as quickly as possible by whatever This will enable us to create an economy which is truly
means available; working for the people.”
- to protect their customer’s networks from a re- • As individual entrepreneurs, the students should
occurrence; follow their wishes, they should be able to use the
- to document the incident and collect data to support possibilities for their achievement and believe in the
subsequent causal analysis. possible success.
In order to reflect a commitment to certain major
accounts it is recommended to define certain programs References
such: Silver, Gold, Platinum Premium. These customer
sites are identifiable by the support case management 1. Clark, B.R. (1998,) Creating Entrepreneurial Universities:
tool. Organisational Pathways of Transformation. International
Association of Univesities and Elsevier Science, Paris and
The preferred method for engineers to gather data Oxford
about the customer’s network is by remote access. If 2. Danalache, F. (2005), Human Resource Management,
such access is controlled, the engineer shall contact the Printech, Bucharest Romania. Pp26
Level1 Support or Service Center (where applicable) for 3. Danalache, F. (2009), HOW TO VALUE OPPORTUNITIES
LIES INTO ECONOMIC CRISIS, ICMIE International
the required details such as addresses and passwords. Conference, PUB, Romania
Providing a complete and concise summary of the 4. Ernst & Young, Romania Business Passport, 2008 edition,
customer's original issue helps build a high quality Ernst & Young Romania, 2008
database of case resolutions that can be queried in the 5. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM,. GEM – Romania
2007, Available at: http://www.gemconsortium.org
future. 6. Scarlat, C., Rozell, E. and Scroggis, W.A. (2010),
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMANIAN
SUMMARY ENTREPRENEURIAL PROTOTYPE, UPB Buletin
7. Prisecaru B., Niculescu C., Danalache F. and Persideanu
V., (2009), THE CHANGE OF ORGANIZATIONAL
Young people need somebody to make them believe CULTURE FOR PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, MTC
in their own creative forces, they should be educated to International Conference, Alexandroupolis, Greece
8. Yin, R. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods
realize and use the local resources as a foundation for (2nd ed.). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publishing
the creative values.
• With their self-assurance, young people can become
more productive, can improve the workplaces and can
take responsibility in their local community.
• The education plays an important role in the
development of the attitudes, working habits and
activities which improve the abilities for cooperation,
creativity and innovation of children and young people,
i.e. it is capable of stimulating the development of their
entrepreneurial activities.
THE GROWTH OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN A DOWN ECONOMY THROUGH
HIGHER EDUCATION AND EUROPEAN FINANCE IN SIBIU
The present article analyses entrepreneurship in a down economy with the opportunities and disadvantages that come out of this situation.
The article shows a research based on a survey made on a sample of one hundred SMEs in Sibiu district, having as main objectives: the
employees’ level of professional training, the entrepreneurs’ availability and opening to thorough training, the used type of leadership, the level
of knowledge on European funds.
stubbornness to start a business from nothing and to closer to the qualification they have. Thus, even in time
make it profitable. of crisis, labour turnover is favoured.
The information technology and communication In terms of business stability, of the 100 managers,
field is a point of interest for many optimistic, confident only 15 plan to do employments in May, while 38 think
and brave young people, and who have chosen recession to diminish their activity for 2010. Entrepreneurs who
as the moment to start-up their own business. have chosen to reorient their business towards more
Specialists recommend young entrepreneurs to profitable fields, as a solution to overcome the
orient towards the fields that require a relatively low recession, 19 of the companies being in such a situation,
starting capital. Those who choose to start a business have chosen to send their employees to requalification
should aim the services area, because it is cheaper, but and retraining courses.
at the same time they should offer more accessible, Regarding the knowledge on leadership, less than
“low-cost” type prices than the traditional suppliers. half managers, more exactly 44 managers have attended
It must be had in view, though that situational leadership courses. Situational leadership is
entrepreneurship is no longer practiced from the desire one of the most useful discoveries in leadership and it
to make money, future entrepreneurs are creation, refers to the fact that the leading style is, in fact,
thinking “outside the box” entrepreneurs, who will not flexible, adaptable to situations. It is not just a
start a business just for the money. fashionable word within organizations; it is quite a
However, there still are businesses that require practical solution, by its simplicity itself. 24 managers
initial significant investment and one of the have not attended leadership courses, but are familiar
characteristics that differentiate the recession with the term, being aware of the fact that a leader’s
entrepreneurs from the previous generations is their success is 100% the success of his team or of the group
bigger appetite for risk. he leads. For the rest of 22 managers, there still is the
During crisis, it is easier for entrepreneurs to build confusion between management and leadership and the
up a better working team, because there are better belief according to which the company’s manager is
available candidates on the market, with unexaggerated automatically the leader.
wage claims. Another advantage of the recession The access to European funds is one of the biggest
entrepreneur is that it is easier to motivate valuable opportunities during recession. An important objective
people within an entrepreneurial business. of the conducted research has been to test the
knowledge and information on structural funds and
3. THE SMEs ANALYSIS IN THE COUNTY OF project management.
SIBIU Entrepreneurs complain that they do not have
financial resources to achieve their set objectives. Non-
In order to see the evolution of the entrepreneurship reimbursable funds are a good opportunity to implement
sector in Sibiu district, we have conducted a research the investment plans and to meet the objectives in a
based on a survey made on a sample of one hundred shorter time.
small and medium enterprises. The main objectives are Structural funds are post-adhesion funds fuelled
the employees’ level of professional training, the through the European Union’s budget, whose purpose is
entrepreneurs’ availability and opening to thorough to give support to the member states. Investments in
training, the type of leadership employed, the level of education, research, agriculture, infrastructure, SMEs
knowledge on European funds. development and measures for the rural areas
In Sibiu district, there is a relatively high level of development are sustained. A special attention is given
unemployment, 8,6%, with a number of 15.965 to less developed regions in order to consolidate the
unemployed people, Sibiu district ranking 28th place in economic and social cohesion within the European
the country with regard to the unemployment rate for Union.
February 2010, according to the statistics from the Nevertheless, Romania is facing a low rate of
national Agency for Employment. Because of the high structural funds’ absorption, until the end of February
rate of unemployment, it is not very difficult for this year, our country had absorbed only 2,2% of the
entrepreneurs to find labour force. European funds available before 2013.
First we tried to identify the employees’ training level. From the interviewed companies, all managers
Of the 100 interviewed managers, a high percentage, answered that they are aware of the structural funds,
namely 76 managers have answered that the employees European money and they vaguely know how this
from the organisation they lead are overqualified for the money can be spend, but only 69 of them have actually
work they do, the employer being tempted to choose a attended a course on project management, and 57 have
better CV. Only 24 believe that each employee should sent their employees to such training courses. But very
only be qualified for the job he does. The 76 admitted few, namely 2 companies, have used European money
that the tendency to choose better skilled employees to train employees. The rest of the managers blame it on
than the job they do is not necessarily an advantage as the excessively stuffy files that have to be filled in, on
the rate of promotions is low in this period of crisis, the complicated procedures.
employees get stuck on the post and are tempted to A number of companies, from different areas of
change their work with another which they consider activity, 18 in number, which had projects approved by
The Growth of Entrepreneurship in A Down Economy Through Higher Education and European Finance in Sibiu 665
the authorities to get European funds, were forced to up their own business, are information technology and
abandon them from lack of orders and the possibility to communication fields.
get the necessary co-financing. For the private After processing the questionnaires
entrepreneurs, depending on the type of project, as administrated on a sample of 100 respondents, managers
specified in the guidebook, co-financing can go from of small and medium enterprises, the following
30% to 50%. conclusions arise: overqualified and not necessarily in
If in the public sector, the first problem that public the field they operate personnel, a tendency to dismiss,
authorities are facing when accessing structural funds due to the great number of companies that consider to
refers to the lack of trained personnel which would diminish their activity, part of the entrepreneurs have
accomplish projects and to be paid accordingly, chosen to reorient the business towards more profitable
entrepreneurs are confronted with the lack of money activities as a solution to overcome recession, almost
necessary to contracting a consultancy company. half of the managers graduated from situational
Companies also charge an excessive politicization leadership courses.
of the structures that manage European funds, blocking With regard to the knowledge about the
positions, firing officials and the unduly long delay of European funds, more than half of the managers
making the payments to beneficiaries. Other managers graduated from a project management course, few of
state that another cause of the low level of absorption is them, however, actually attracted European money,
the very long duration to evaluate projects, which has mostly because of the problems related to co-financing,
generated a significant difference between the economic but this intention exists for the future, especially in
situation from the moment of approving the file and the human resources.
moment of elaborating the business plan. This research increases the awareness of
Asked if in the future they plan to access funds and entrepreneurs for the importance of high education as
in what field, the great majority, more exactly 41 life learning organisations.
answered that they plan to invest in employees in the Among the main recommendations that we
sense of getting them trained in the project management have suggested to the entrepreneurs from the private
field, 18 of them want to invest in technology and the sector, there were the partnerships and scientific
rest state that they do not have the necessary funds yet collaborations with the different institutions and
to insure the co-financing part, waiting for conditions to universities in the country and from abroad, the
improve to contract some bank loans necessary to the participations in training courses on the issue of
implementation of the project. structural funds and European research programmes. On
Part of the entrepreneurs answered that the the other hand, universities should insist more on
development through accessing structural funds is a developing the young peoples’ entrepreneurial spirit
quite sudden one and that they do not feel ready yet for while still in college.
such an expansion, maintaining the small size of the It should be insisted more on a direct contact
enterprise often having certain advantages, such as the between universities and the private sector. Under the
quick answer to clients’ requests and the clients’ context of new technologies development (especially
possibility to talk to the company’s manager himself. information technology) and intensifying the global
They hardly accept to take big risks, having a more economic competition, the European society wants a
cautious attitude in making decisions. more dynamic and competitive knowledge-based
Overall, we found a very weak link between economy. In this new context, education, research and
industry and academia, the number of research contracts innovation are the foundation of economic development
between companies and universities is quite small, two and of the society in general, and the role of the
contracts of 100 companies, companies accusing the universities is becoming increasingly important. In order
lack of funds to finance research or they are simply to successfully fulfil this role, universities need to
unaware of the situation. achieve high integration with the economic and social
environment, to become more and more open to society
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: and its needs and to respond effectively to the rapid
changes in the external environment.
Although we are facing a worldwide economic Partnership, exchange of experience, mobility
recession which, as Ovidiu Nicolescu says, firstly – are trends which lead to a knowledge-based economy.
affects the weaker ones, namely the SMEs, the retired A motivation for universities is to adapt to the labour
and the “employees used to it” from the population, market needs and to those of the society, and for the
there are however people who find opportunities in the companies – to build managerial know-how and to
crisis periods, which identify themselves as future adapt to new information technologies.
entrepreneurs, part of them being employed at big
companies and being unsatisfied with their current
position within the company.
The main fields of activity, aimed by many
optimistic, full of confidence and courage young people
and who have chosen recession as the moment to start- References
666 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The paper presents the results of a study conducted in 2009, by “Hermann Oberth” Faculty of Engineering from Sibiu, Romania. The
results of this research are useful both for the management of the faculty and for the employers because it answers two questions: “do
students’ working expectations really fit in today business life?” and “has the working environment a proper image among the future
workforce market?”. This research is an extension of a study conducted by the faculty for the first time in 2007 with the purpose to
find out more about the professional experiences and expectations of today’s young people in Romania - the future workforce for
various organizations.
Do we know if our students working expectations do For both studies (the one conducted in 2007 and the
really fit in today business life? Do the employers know one conducted in 2009), the same self-completion
if their working environment has a proper image among questionnaire has been administered to a representative
their workforce clients? In order to find the answers at sample of students from the forth and the fifth year of
these two questions, the department of Economic studies from all current specializations of the Faculty of
Engineering from “Herman Oberth” Faculty of Engineering, Sibiu. In 2007, 461 out of a total of 620
Engineering of Sibiu conducted two marketing research and in 2009, 315 out of a total of 661 questionnaires
studies among the faculty’s last year students. The first were collected and validated.
study was conducted in January 2007 and the second At the time when the studies were conducted, the
one in January 2009. interviewed students were enrolled at the following
The detailed results of the study conduced in 2007 main fields of study: Computer Science and Information
were presented in the paper "Today’s Students - the Technology, Engineering and Management, Electric
Workforce of Tomorrow. Professional Expectations of Engineering, Electronic Engineering and
Last Year Students from “Hermann Oberth” Faculty of Telecommunication, Machine-tools and Production
Engineering, Sibiu, Romania”, published Conference Systems, Industrial Engineering, Mines, Oil and Gas;
Proceedings – volume I of the 6th International Environmental Engineering, Transport Engineering . In
Conference on Management of Technological Changes, each of these main fields of study, the students could
Alexandroupolis, Greece, 03-05 September 2009. choose between one or more specializations.
In this paper we present the conclusions that came Most of the respondents were men (72% in 2007 and
out from the second study, concerning the professional 64% in 2009); in 2007 – 60% of them lived in Sibiu city
expectations of last year students (the fourth and the and in 2009 – 48% lived in Sibiu city; the majority of
fifth year of studies) regarding their future interaction the students, even if they were in the last year of their
with the labor market. university studies, they still used to live together with
their parents (in 2007 – 59% and in 2009 – 62%).
Research Objectives The main reasons the students decided to sign up at
"Hermann Oberth" Faculty of Engineering is the chance
The scope of the two studies was to gather to find a job after faculty graduation and the passion for
information about the students’ professional experiences the specific field of study.
and their professional expectations and to see if
students’ habits, opinions and perceptions are changing PROFESSIONAL EXPECTATIONS OF LAST
over time and what are the differences in this regard, YEAR STUDENTS
between one generation and another.
The results of the two studies are useful both for the At graduation, about 70% of the students would like
employers in crafting their long term human resources to work as an employee in a company. For the others the
strategy and for faculty management in developing long alternative of starting a business is much more attractive
term relationships with different players from the (Figure 1).
business environment.
100%
30.20% 29.20%
100%
11. 2 % 14 . 6 %
Other attributes
16 . 1%
16 . 5%
to provide long term employment
50% 4 0 . 1%
4 3 . 5% to provide opportunities to make career
12 . 4 % to not bind me with contractual stipulations
12 . 1%
2 0 .2 %
13 .3 % to have professional employees
0%
2007 2009
Figure 1: “Which of the following alternatives would you choose immediately
after graduating the university?” (Base: all respondents, single answer)
Figure 4: When thinking of a company you would like to work in, what is the
Although the majority of the respondents stated that most important attribute you would consider?
(Base: all respondents, single answer)
they would like to work in a private company, the
percentage of those who preferred to work in a public In most students’ opinion, the ideal job is the one
institution increased with 109% in 2009 compared with that provides them, first of all, a high income, followed
2007. An explanation for that could be the current by career opportunities and pleasure of doing the
economic-financial crisis that affected the private sector specific tasks. This opinion seems to remain unchanged
more than the public sector (Figure 2). over the time (Figure 5)
100%
2007 2009
100% 81.1%
2007
75.2%
62.5% 83.1%
2009
64.4%
50.8%
50% 33.7%
50%
16.1% 35.9%
58.6%
2.8% 3.8%
29.5%
0% 49.2%
friendly working
young staff
to have time for
opportunities
trainings
conditions
high income
opportunities to
attractive
working
environment
him/herself
work
career
assert
Compared with 2007, in 2009 there is an increase of
14% in the number of the students who would prefer to Figure 5: When thinking of a specific job you would like to have, what are the
work in large firms instead of working in small 3 most important attributes you would consider?
companies (Figure 3). The explanation for this can be (Base: all respondents, multiple answers)
0%
More than 40% of the students (both in 2007 and 2007 2009
interview. At the same time, around 30% of the students regarding both the practical experience received during
consider facts like “to be well prepared for the job the seminars and laboratories as well as the faculty’s
interview” and “team-work experience” as being effort to facilitate the relationship between students and
appreciated by the employers when recruiting new staff firms is not very favorable. At the same time, quite a
(Figure 7). high percentage of respondents believe that many jobs
are still got through "candidate’s acquaintances and
100%
relationships”.
2007 Table 2: The percentage of students’ who agree with various statements
77.5%
(Base: all respondents)
2009
Statements 2007 2009
“I had enough practical
50%
77.9% 44.4%
experience during the laboratory 19 % 25%
classes”.
36.2%
34.3%
27.3%
39.5%
22.2%
13.0% 13.7%
“Faculty facilitates the
39.3% 33.2%
30.6%
9.1% 7.8%
8.3% 8.6% relationship between students and 36 % 49%
companies”.
26.5% 6.3%
10.4%
0%
“It is important for students to
driving license
the job interview
foreign language
experience
relationships in
good grades in
postgraduate
additional
team work
computer
trainings
knowledge of
least 1year
studies
the field
practical
faculty
close
companies”.
“Theoretical knowledge is
65 % 78%
important in getting a job”.
“It is important to have a career
Figure 7: In order to be successful at a job interview, the candidate must have 81 % 95%
/ must be …? center in the faculty”.
(Base: all respondents, 3 answers possible) “Most jobs are take based on
candidate’s acquaintances and 49 % 68%
On a 1 to 5 scale, where 1-very important 2 relationships”
important 3-indifferent; 4-least important, 5-not at all
important, the students have been asked to rate the About 30% of the total respondents (30% in 2007
issues they consider as being mostly appreciated by the and 33% in 2009) had thought of starting their own
employers when thinking of their employees. business when graduating (Figure 8).
From the students’ point of view, those employees
who know at least one foreign language, have computer
100%
knowledge and are able to works without exceeding the N o , 30% N o , 33%
deadlines established for various tasks are the ones that 50%
are mostly appreciated by their employers. Y es , 70% Y es , 67%
0%
Table 1: The percentage of students who considered different
2007 2009
aspects regarding the employees as being very important / important
for the employers (Base: all respondents)
When thinking of their employees, the
employers consider the following issues 2007 2009 Figure 8: Have you ever thought to start your own business?
(Base: all respondents, single answer)
as being the very important / important
... to carry out the job tasks , even if
76 % 90% Although for many students the idea of starting a
these tasks are not clearly defined
… not to exceed the deadlines set for business is attractive, most of them did not take any
91 % 94% initiative in this direction mainly because of lack of
different tasks
… to be creative and to be able to find financial resources and/or because studies were still
86 % 93%
solutions in order to solve various tasks considered a priority (Figure 9).
… to be willing to work overtime 59 % 63%
… to take initiative and to come up
73 % 81% 2007 2009
with proposals for improvement
… to permanently improve their 100% 70.2% 68.6%
86 % 87% 38.8% 41.9%
knowledge 50% 22.8% 21.9% 18.5% 16.2%
… to know to work on computer 87 % 93% 0%
… to have writing communication
56 % 66% lack of financial bureaucracy lack of knowledge school on the
skills resources on the approaches forefront
…to have verbal communication skills 83 % 92%
…to know how to integrate into the
team and resolve conflicts that may 86 % 90% Figure 9: What prevented you to start your own business?
occur (Base: respondents who thought of starting their own business, multiple
answers)
…to know at least one foreign language 87 % 95%
A career center in the faculty is considered by the
students as a very useful office providing them updated CONCLUSIONS
information about the labor market and facilitating the
relations with different employers. Their point of view
670 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to build a formal model of a document management system in companies, based on document workflow, and
financial legislation for management and monitoring company’s activity. Our major objective is to develop a web based document management
solution focused on workflow management system (WfMS) approach and collaborative document. We used workflow decompositions and several
document templates.
method for storing, locating and keeping track of relationship with employees, business partners, state
information that is valuable to a business" Drupal bodies, labor and social direction, until the merger or
(2010). liquidation of the trading company. They can give a
After an introduction we present some proper solution for optimize document workflow based
considerations about document management systems on creative solutions.
and web based management systems. We proposed a Our solution is based on Vanderfeesten and Reijers
web based management systems for managing and (2005) model and use Organization structure in
developing entrepreneurship skills, using a multi-tier hierarchical decompozition, according to real model.
architecture and workflow decompositions. We describe For Roles level we propose tree levels: system
XML schema for managing documents and workflows administrator, which manage the user groups and
in companies. Last section is concerned about employers. User groups are define based on managerial
conclusions. piramid and comapanies features.
The system is developed by using multi-tier
architecture and it is formed by EnDoM client, the
DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND EnDoM server, the repository, and other components:
WEB BASED DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT Web browser and Web server, the Relational Data Base
Management System (DBMS). Main propose was to
Document Management Systems (DMS) has wide develop a Web based document management for
functionality by using meta-data, as a pieces of managing several companies’ documents, focused on
information that describes the content of the document, workflow decompositions and state legislations and
(author's name, date of creation, summary and subject). templates available.
These Meta-data is used to classify documents into The Client EnDoM provides the facilities for
useful groups to facilitate its retrieval at later stages. identifying and authorizing the user (by account and
Document Management Systems can transform the password), DTD selection, and query composition and
workplace into a paperless office, by storing all the refinement. We define a XML schema and we used
required documents in electronic, easy to manage several templates for official documents and some
formats, because managing the documents electronically samples for internal companies’ documents, which form
will be much easier and cost effective. DMS basic process automation layer. The EnDoM client
functionality involve: document creation, version communicates with the EnDoM Document Manager to
control, security, document sharing, collaborative load the list of available DTDs.
editing, workflow support and flexible search facilities. Also it access Document tree and Document
Nowadays we have different open source Document template and communicates with the Web Server to load
Management Systems which satisfy these requirements the selected DTD. The metadata and the DTD tags are
in higher or less degrees. Software selection depends on used to compose/decompose the documents based on
the particular needs of the organization, specific levels of sub-workflows. The system can produces the
workflows and the information management HTML index of the retrieved documents including the
environment Tawileh (2007). link to the corresponding XML files, together with
Web Based Document Management (WBDM) information about the XSL file-sheet used to visualise
includes designing and implementing a cost-effective and browse them. User’s identification process (logons
online document based system to maintain vital records and passwords) can offer web access to the information
at web hosting sites using online based document and they are able to retrieve it (figure 1).
management. Web-based document management
companies provide administrative, backup, security, XML and workflow
software upgrades, systems and database administration,
hardware support and training. Internet access is
The document space consists of XML files, linked
available anywhere that has a secure connection.
with a relational database is used to store metadata on
Users can manage a search and retrieval process,
the documents, Document tree and Documents template.
using previously established indices and document Different Document Type Definitions (DTDs) are used
identification with management, infrastructure and to define the structure of different document types. For
support. Transmission to and from web based document
each DTD we have a table in the EnDoM database
management servers usually employs Secure Socket
whose attributes correspond to metadata and particular
Layer (SSL) solutions ManHub (2009) .
tags of the DTD that identify items for which searching
the database is more efficient than searching the
EnDoM A WEB BASED DOCUMENT document space Aversano et all (2001).
MANAGEMENT SOLUTION We offer examples of such attributes: title, author,
creation date, source, destination. An additional table in
EnDoM Architecture the EnDoM database associates each document to the
template and a set of its keywords (if its are available).
Our students study document flow in companies At the first level a class of documents (a DTD) is
since the founding of the company, monthly reporting, selected and a database query on the discriminative tags
Entrepreneurship Skills Development for Document Management 673
EnDoM
EnDoM Server
Client
Web Document Document Information
Server Generator Manager Manager
Web
Browser
DBMS
</Partner Details>
</Company template>
Figure 2: Workflow decomposition
where, W represents the Workflow and S1, S2, …, Sn The solution was developed by multi-tier
the sub-workflows. A disjunction of its sub-workflows is architecture, using web based document management
a workflow. W = S1 ٧ S2 ٧ … ٧ Sn and Krishna et all workflow decompositions.
A finite number of applications of above set of rules The document tree follow the organizations structure
on a set of sub-workflows is also a workflow [10]. and document template offers a flexible manner to
Based on it we developed XML schema which develop and manage companies’ documents, accoording
linked DTD to sub-workflows (Figure 2). with current requirements from state and government.
Document flow is an important aspect of workflow We mention several features: support for virtual
driven execution of business processes. But document team efficiency, user and document centered, support
flow and processing is not the complete workflow. We users location and time independency, platform
create a document centric, based on Krisnan et all sub- independent, efficient group interaction, allow users to
workflow decomposition (Figure 3). These schema can concentrate on the content, document management
full workflow functionality and support execution of facilities.
workflows for business processes. Our solution uses modular approach, and the
Within documents there are interdependencies document type definition files describe the structure of
among sub-documents, sharing and concurrent updates the documents and all metadata that can be added to
to documents, and restricted access to documents. In them, according with international standards, and
order to facilitate the combined workflow and document financial requirement.
flow oriented business processing, we have an EnDoM
has been proposed in this paper. Linked stream are ACKNOWLEDGMENT
choosing according to sub-workflow.
For instance partners documents are available to
This work was supported by Romanian National
trade workflow (for creating, update, modifying) and
Authority for Scientific Research under the grant no.
can be seen by other departments. Synthesis accounting
PN2 92-100/2007 SICOMAP.
documents can be generated and updated by accounting
manager, but can be visible from several departments
members. REFERENCES
We try to develop students skills for economic and
legislation knowledge, ability to elaborate several 1. Aversano, L., Canfora, G., De Lucia, A., Gallucci, P. (2001)
Integrating Document and Workflow Management Systems,
companies’ documents, based on current legislations Proceedings of the IEEE Symposia on Human-Centric
and state requirements. Computing Languages and Environments (HCC’01), 0-7695-
These documents focused on modern technology 0474-4/01
and XML approach using public organizations 2. Bannan, J., (1997) Intranet Document Management: A Guide for
Webmasters and Content Providers, ISBN: 0201873796,
templates and specific terms, law, legal or economic. Addison-Wesley, Boston, USA.
The students can be able to manage this documents, and 3. Drupal, I. (2010) Content Management System,
use their meaning and can make decisions based on http://www.drupal.org, accessed 8 March.
knowledge of these terms quantified indicators. 4. Krishnan, R., Lalitha M., Karlapalem, K., (2008) XDoC-WFMS,
An XML Document Centric Workflow Management System,
Our major target is to develop some templates for International Institute of Information Technology, Gachibowli,
different documents started with beginning companies’ Hyderabad, INDIA available at: www.iiit.net.
documents according with CAEN, end ending with 5. ManHub (2009), www.management-hub.com, last
specific documents clearing companies. retrieve:23.12.2009
6. Preece,J. Rogers, Y., Sharp,H., Benyon, D., Holland, S.,
We propose several templates for accounting, Carey T., (1999) Human computer Interaction, Addison
inventory procedures, job description and annexes Wesleey.
according to specific activities. Students use these 7. Reijers, H.A. , Rigter, J.H.M. and van der Aalst, W.M.P.( 2003)
documents template and can update them and create The Case Handling Case. Int. Journal of Cooperative
Information Systems, 12 (3): 365-391,.
own company documents according to given task: 8. Tawileh, A. (2007) Free and Open Source Document
company’s activity, number of employers and their Management Systems, , Levien, R.E., "The Civilizing Currency:
tasks, business partners and specific events in Document and Their Revolutionary Technologies", Xerox
companies’ development. Corporation, Rochester, NY.
9. Vanderfeesten I. and Reijers, H. A. (2005) “A Human-Oriented
Tuning of Workflow Management Systems”, W.M.P. van der
CONCLUSIONS Aalst et al. (Eds.): BPM 2005, LNCS 3649 2005, Springer-
Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, , pp. 80–95.
10. Workflow Management Coalition (2009) WFMC Home Page:
EnDoM offer a simple and extensible solution for http://www.wfmc.org. The Workflow Reference Model
Document Management System, with a modular (WFMC-TC-1003), last retrieve: 20.12.2009
approach based on document types and user interfaces
particularized on roles/rights and document types in
order to facilitate further development of the system in
such a manner that it could handle more document
types. Students can develop entrepreneurship and
document management skills using this prototype.
INDIVIDUAL VERSUS COLLABORATIVE DECISION FOR ANALYZING COMPANIES
PERFORMANCE
Absteact::This paper presents a research in enterprise architecture and enterprise applications systems using blended e-learning,
based on collaborative business (BISCOL) framework. We use knowledge transfer model for studying interaction between novices and
experts in collaborative team. Our target was to guide participants for elaborate several mini-decision support for evaluate companies
performance, based on periodical results from accounting balance score chart and profit and loss account. Our experimental results
addressed on Maier approach and the role of human computer interaction in knowledge positive and negative transfer between novice
and expert.
Keywords: knowledge transfer, collaborative decision, company performance
• The language/action model is a “social” individual’s causes is linked with specific emotions and
approach that has been applied to the design of can be classified in one of categories: ability, effort, task
computer-mediated conversations for people interacting difficulty, or luck Weiner (1985). Because the
with other people. motivational sequence can be triggered by one’s own or
• Group communication has different properties by other’s behavior, the emotions that result from ability
and processes than painted conversations. or effort attributions can be directed at the self (inner-
• Computer-mediated communication is directed) or at others (other-directed). Other-directed
compared with face-to face communications and so new emotions are of particular interest in knowledge transfer
social protocols need to be established to compensate. as other-directed emotions result in either pro-social (i.e.
• Computer system designed to support group receive knowledge) or anti-social behavior (i.e. resist
working need to consider the importance of informal knowledge). Other-directed emotions examples are
group working practices. envy and scorn that are linked to ability attributions and
Maier and Lehner characterized in detail the main result in anti-social behaviors. Pro-social behaviors
differences between novice and experts. They classified motivate effort attributions, which have been linked to
into four types: syntactic, semantic, schematic and admiration and gratitude Weiner (1986).
strategic knowledge. Syntactic knowledge is language We adapted McKay-Nesbitt et all (2008) model of
units and rules combining language units. Semantic knowledge transfer from expert to novice as a solution
knowledge is mental model of the major locations, which has been integrated organizational theory and
objects and actions in the system. Schematic knowledge attribution theory. This model describes a process that
is based on such categories of routines based on results in the creation of new knowledge by knowledge
function. Strategic knowledge is formed by techniques transfer from an expert to a novice. Knowledge
for devising and monitoring plans Maier and Lehner ownership, ability, and motivation are identified as
(2000). The main differences between novice and antecedents to expert knowledge sharing. If experts are
experts are Lehner and Maier (2000): to share their knowledge, they must feel that the
• Syntactic experts have automated their knowledge belongs to them rather than to the
syntactic knowledge to a great degree than novices. organization to which they belong.
• Semantic experts have a more integrated model
of the programming knowledge than novices.
• Schematic experts have a much higher Antecedent Antecedent
Cooperation for Novice
repertoire of categories for types of routines than for Expert
novices. Sharing Receiving
• Strategic experts have much better at
decomposing their programming goals into plans and Motivation of Knowledge
exploring more solution alternatives.
Negative transfer the novice appropriating their
knowledge of natural language in attempt to understand Knowledge Affect Action
how business information systems work. Positive Ownership
transfer occurs when users are faced with a task similar Knowledge Knowledge
to one that has been faced with a task similar to one that Ability Shared by Received by
has been done before. Programmers are able to use this Expert Novice
knowledge and solve the problem more easily than if Motivation
they had not that experience Preece et all (1999). For
example heaving learnt how to use an EAI or EAS
New
software it may be easier to learn a similar type of EAI
Knowledge
or EAS system. Negative transfer can occur when learn
different types of languages (functional and procedural
aso). Figure 1: Knowledge transfer between expert and novice
effort, admiration results and this admiration will lead to • Novice as a learner that has rudimentary
the pro-social behavior of receiving new knowledge. If theoretical knowledge and no practical knowledge
an expert were perceived as attributing their expertise to (work skills) or experience in the subject-matter area.
ability, a novice is likely to envy the expert and consider • Practitioner, which is a learner who has basic
them to be arrogant. The experience of envy would to advanced theoretical knowledge but rudimentary
result in the anti-social behavior of resisting knowledge. practical knowledge or experience in the subject-matter
McKay-Nesbitt et all observations conclude that area.
attribution-affect-action sequence predicted by • Expert, who had advanced knowledge in both
attribution theory explains the novice’s motivation to theoretical and practical (work experience) fields of the
receive or resist knowledge Weiner (2006), Weiss, subject-matter area Szulanski (2000).
(1980). Basic interaction in collaborative teams is In our framework students are novice, they become
cooperation between members. In this case expert as practitioner after they pass the stage of basics
owner can shares knowledge with novice only if he/she evaluations, practitioners with a high level of practice
has ability and motivation to give it as shareable and business information systems knowledge (members
knowledge. If novice is well motivated he/she can be of EAI or ERP companies or tutors) and experts
affect by expert and has pro-social behavior novice (professors or IT companies’ experts). IT experts from
action can receive expert knowledge. This process can companies have two major roles in this process:
be direct and reverse to other team members in order to practitioner actors involved Worked-Based Learning in
create new knowledge. Train-Based learning and experts involved in learning
by training process and also in learning by working
Collaborative decision in analyzing companies’ process. They also collaborate with professors in
performance evaluations process and in learning process with ideas
and solutions for e-Learning improvement and
We study opportunity to learn and practice based on knowledge management. ERP and EAI systems were
training and working in several EAS, ERP and EAI integrated in our framework as collaborative issues of
systems. These systems have not such decision support drill-and-practice support Rusu et all (2007).
systems. Basic targets of blended e-learning BISCOL Students make this decision support systems (DSS)
framework are Rusu et all (2007): individual or in 3 member team or 5 member team. In
• Opportunity to learn and practice based on both situations we have an expert in team. Student’s
training and working in several EAI and ERP systems; objectives were focused on company’s performance
• Ability to work in team and follow project analysis, based on DSS, which was created to solve:
management plan; balance sheet correlations, accounting group’s
correlations, companies’ performance, financial
• Support for long-term competence
indicators, alternatives for improving company’s
development;
strategies.
• Abilities to work in ERP development teams
Our method was focused on blended e-learning and
according to skills and abilities, based on individual
we have analyzed the differences between novice and
results
experts based on Maier approach: syntactic, semantic,
• Possibilities to learn and compare several EAI
schematic and strategic. We tried to follow both positive
and ERP solutions and establish criteria for comparison
and negative transfer from novice to experts, ability to
analyses or EAI /ERP performance and/or EAI/ERP
work in team individual results, possibilities to compare
selection;
several business decision support solutions and establish
• Enhanced collaboration through companies and criteria for comparison analyses, performance and
universities, based on learning by training and learning selection.
by working in them projects; We follow evaluation results in individual and teams
• Opportunity to communication collaborations solution and also needs, individual and group
and experience exchange between students and perception, transferable skills features. We use
practitioners, students and experts, experts and questionnaires to have some feedback results from
practitioners; novice and expert knowledge transfer. We evaluate
• Critical thinking and abilities to identify several novice perceptions from 45 novice involved in 3
roles and responsibilities in group team; member team and 36 novice involved in 5 member
• Dissemination of relevant internal and external team, and 63 novice which studied in individual
knowledge and practical solution. manner, guided by an expert. The results can be
Another important feature of the framework is the analyzed and linked with novice perceptions and
Learning by Training module, based on structure and positive transfer (flexibility, better time management,
training technique in the case of the software training relevant to the learner's needs, efficiency,
engineering workforce. The authors have meticulously innovative practice) or negative transfer (individualized
divided the Learner role into eight sub-roles that follow learning, autonomy for studies, content quality, no
the Learning through Training paradigm and have added value, other). If we analyze all of those features
identified three learner competence levels: we observe that in almost all situations the results
678 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
obtained with 3 member team is better than 5 member negative and positive transfer between novice and
team (Figure 1). experts. By grouping members in three or five we offer
opportunity to change role from wildcard to recorder,
Team 5 m em ber reporter, monitor, or leader and study decisions dynamic
other Team 3 m em ber evolutions using individual and group questionnaires
individual and individual evaluation. We use mix collaboration
inovative practice between companies, university and participants, based
on blended e-learning solution.
content of quality
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
ef f iciency
This work was supported by Romanian National
responsibility f or studies
Authority for Scientific Research under the grant no.
PN2 91-049/2007 SIDE.
autonomy f or studies
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5 member team. Same percent we have for better time Feldmann, and W. Müller (Eds.): LSO 2001, pp. 37 – 51.
management and training relevant to the learner's 7. Preece,J. Rogers, Y., Sharp,H., Benyon, D., Holland, S.,
needs (62%) for 3 member team and 58% respectively Carey T., (1999) Human computer Interaction, Addison Wesleey,
57% for 5 member team. Individualized learning has 8. Rusu, L., Arba, R., Mureşan L., (2008) “Business Information
Systems in a CSCL Environment”, in Proceedings of the E-Learning
only 38% but highest value for teams (58% and 54%). 2008, IADIS Multiconference on Computer Science and Information
Systems, 22-25 July 2008, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, vol 1, Ed.
CONCLUSIONS IADIS Press , ISBN: 978-972-8924-58-4, pag. 185-191
9. Szulanski, G. (2000) “The process of knowledge transfer: A
diachronic analysis of stickiness”, in Organizational Behavior and
Major target is to develop critical thinking and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 82., pp. 9-27.
abilities, to identify several solutions for students’ skills 10. Wang, I. and Yonggu C. (2000) Web-Based Adaptive
Collaborative Learning Environment Designing
in companies’ management and strategic decisions, 11. Weiner, B. (1985) “An attributional theory of achievement
based on individual and group solution for each case motivation and emotion” in Psychological Review. Vol. 92.. 548-573
study presented. Performance evaluations identified 12. Weiner, B. (1986) “An attributional theory of motivation and
several roles and responsibilities in group team, emotion”, in New York: Springer-Verlag.
13. Weiner, B. (2006) “Social motivation, justice and the moral
dissemination of relevant knowledge using decision emotions” .in Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey.
support systems and practical solution. 14. Weiss, C. (1980) “Knowledge creep and decision accretion”.in
Students have opportunity to learn and practice Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, Utilization. Vol. 1. 381-404.
based on training and working, develop ability to work
in team, improve skills and abilities, examine and
improve competences in decision support systems,
support for long-term competence development,
evaluate based on individual or group results. The DSS
results can be used by students as reference in credit
decisions, projects management plans, fusion or
crashing decisions. We identify several features of
DEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN UNIVERSITIES
The objectives of this paper consist in revealing the main benefits of entrepreneurship education and the means to stimulate entrepreneurial
knowledge and skills among students. The study is a result of analyzes in previous work for a project regarding the development of the
entrepreneurship culture and entrepreneurial education through adequate curricula and, in particular, by the activities during management
project course and seminars. The researches are founded on the surveys on students from different specialties in economics and engineering. As
result of these researches, through analyzes realized among students, it has been formulated some conclusions regarding the impact of specific
courses on the entrepreneurship education. Also, they reveal the effects in starting their own business. The study offers indications about the
impact of curricula and knowledge obtained in business courses, as well as the teaching methodology on future involvement of students in new
ventures. It reveals, in the same time, the shortcomings of higher education in development of entrepreneurial skills. This study highlights the
aspects that motivate students in entrepreneurial education and, also, the correlation between entrepreneurship education and improved
academic performance.
on graduates by comparing them with a matched sample
1. INTRODUCTION of non-entrepreneurship University of Arizona business
graduates from 1985 through 1998, presented in
Everywhere in the world, we can speak nowadays november 2000. The study also evaluates the effect of
about an entrepreneurial thinking, an action-oriented the Berger Entrepreneurship Program on technology
transfer from the university to the private sector, the
kind of thinking, focused on innovation. The
effect of the program on private giving to the business
entrepreneurship, as creative and innovative way to
college, and the pedagogical effect of the
generate and accelerate progress, can be a mean to
entrepreneurship curriculum on other disciplines in the
recovery the world economy confronted with big
challenges. These entailed researches about the college (Charney and Libecap, 2000).
development of entrepreneurial education, especially at Other previous researches indicate that
entrepreneurship education can enhance an individual’s
universities level.
level of self-efficacy (Bandura 1986; Hollenbeck and
In this context, the objectives of this paper consist in
Hall 2004; Wilson et al 2007).
revealing the main benefits of entrepreneurship
There have been developed also studies regarding
education and the means to stimulate entrepreneurial
knowledge and skills among students. the relationship between entrepreneurial intention of
In order to accomplish these objectives of this study, students and attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived
behavioral control (Kolvereid 1996; Kreuger et al 2000;
the authors combined a comprehensive desk research
Douglas and Shepherd 2002; Souitaris et al 2007, Basu
with surveys and experiences of the participating
and Virick, 2008).
students and alumni of the project management
Dyer (1994) and Wilson et al (2007) argued that
seminar’s history. Two questionnaires were designed to
capture the perceptions of students and alumni regarding entrepreneurship education can also increase students’
interest in entrepreneurship as a career.
the role of knowledge, of the higher education for
All over the world, in the last decade of the
business engagement.
20th Century, a series of countries, like Australia, Brazil,
India, Southern Korea, England, Ireland, France,
2. ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN
Germany, Holland, have started entrepreneurial
DIFFERENT CULTURES
education programmes at the university level. But, in
the same, this trend can be identified in countries in
We can talk about an entrepreneurial education in
transition to a market economy, being started, also, in
universities for the first time in Japan in 1930. Much
Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland,
later it could be identified in USA, starting from 1984, a
Slovakia, Slovenia and the Baltic countries, Poland,
proliferation of this kind of education, today being
world leader with over 500 programmes (from 800 in Czech Republic (Szabo, 2007).
the entire world) of entrepreneurial education which are In Europe, the interest for this subject is renewed by
the declarations and reports of the European
applied in different universities. There are a large
Commission regarding the role of education in fostering
number of papers in this field, revealing the major role
the entrepreneurial mindsets (COM, 2006)
of entrepreneurial education.
In Romania, unfortunately, for a long time, there
The earliest studies about the impacts of
entrepreneurship education were evaluations of Small was paying only a reduced attention to the
Business Development Centers conducted in the 1970s entrepreneurial education at universities level. For many
years, training in entrepreneurship took the form of
and early 1980s and referenced in the 1985 article by
disparate courses offered by the Chambers of
Chrisman, et. al (1985). A reference study in this field is
Commerce or other governmental or regional agencies.
the report that evaluates the effect of the Berger
Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Arizona
680 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
different specialties in economics, science and science, to participate in a master degree program as
engineering. associate students and to be paired with business
The focus group from Economics Faculty comprises students in the development of a business plan.
two categories of students: the students at The evaluation of an entrepreneurship program,
Entrepreneurship study program and the students from besides the apropriate inputs, the content of the
other specialties in economics. Similarly, the curriculum, teaching methods, quality assurance, has to
engineering students are divided in two categories: those consider, also, the results.
who are students at Engineering and Management Based on the analysis of the students who attended
program and those from specialties with no economical these courses, the authors distinguished and classified
previous background. them in two categories:
One of the goals of the survey is to identify the potential entrepreneurs: students who plan to
perception of the students regarding the project-based start a company within a year;
seminar and the teaching approaches, whether they can non-entrepreneurs: students who do not plan to
be an answer for the entrepreneurial education. It seeks start a company.
also, to reveal, their attitudes, motivations related to Table 1: Structure of surveyed students
entrepreneurship, as well as the barriers in starting a
S tu d e n ts/ P o t e n t ia l N on-
business. S p e c i a lt y en tre p re n e u r s en trep ren eu rs
E n tre p r e n e u rs h ip 76 % 24 %
During the teaching years, the authors observed, at O th er E con om ics 36 % 64 %
the beginning at the entrepreneurial courses, that almost E n g in e e rin g a n d
M anagem ent
29 % 71 %
Higher education has and will have a major role in a country’s economic growth because it contributes to human capital
development, fields of expertise being directly correlated with actual and dynamic requirements of labor market. Also it can be said
that the challenges of higher education are not just creating career opportunities for graduates and mitigation up to eliminate
discrepancies that exist between the skills acquired by graduates and job requirements in which they engage. In today’s global
economy, in continuous dynamics, is not anymore sufficient to prepare graduates for careers, but they have to be able to create their
own jobs. Thus, entrepreneurial education takes on new values, making it imperative that it be given careful consideration, to exist a
scientific approach to academic training actions, so that profession and specific entrepreneurship processes to run properly,
efficiently and effectively. The paper presents a research regarding entrepreneurial education need in technical higher education.
entrepreneurship, which is targeting the business Entrepreneurial spirit must determine, in turn,
environment. entrepreneurial behavior, converging toward
Internal entrepreneurship is seen as skills and entrepreneurial initiatives.
attitudes, being associated with features such as For this, entrepreneurship education offered to
initiative, responsibility, teamwork skills. students and graduates of technical universities should
External entrepreneurship is associated with the be based on a variety of educational systems, namely,
business environment and is best materialized in entrepreneurial education modules with optional
collaboration between universities and business disciplines, business education modules, such as
environment. learning by doing on projects and masters of
Responses show that respondents perceive the two entrepreneurship education.
forms of entrepreneurship as being necessarily linked. According to the proposed research, entrepreneurial
Interaction is often based only on visits into businesses education program must be endorsed by a range of
environment. disciplines whose common goal is the creation and
These visits, presentations of business environment development of skills and competencies in the people
are important, but not decisive, in that it can not be willing to create their own business directed to:
automatically regarded as an educational activity. • knowledge: Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship,
Professional orientation, practice, traditionally, from Management, Marketing, Finance, Legislation,
technical universities are not satisfying entrepreneurial Production and logistics management, Negotiation,
needs of students and master students. Many responses, Managing people, Control
unfortunately, does not mention whether students, • attitudes: initiative, independent spirit, motivation,
master students, plays an active role in these activities. determination, self-confidence, realism, receptivity
Answers from entrepreneurs respondents showed to new, perseverance, adaptability, responsability,
that entrepreneurship education should be implemented tenacity, enthusiasm
in the form of projects, which to be focused on method, • skills to identify opportunities, organize, plan, lead,
rather than on content and to be implemented using analyze, evaluate, negotiate, work individually and
various forms of collaborative teaching. in teams, make decisions, control
In projects, the student has its own clearly defined After analyzing the business needs of the students,
role, combining in the most favorable internal and master of technical universities, we identified the
external entrepreneurship. following educational module consists of the following
Master students respondents estimated that optional disciplines presented in table 9.
entrepreneurship education is best implemented by the Table 9: Entrepreneurial Educational Module
dedicated days and individual projects and less as part Entrepreneurial Educational Module
of teaching current activity. 9. Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship
First, students and master students respondents made 10. Psychosocial Processes in Entrepreneurship
clear the kind of themes that can integrate into their 11. Fundamentals of Legislation
current activity, regardless of subject matter (such as 12. Investment and Financing Analysis
entrepreneurial skills or business knowledge and 13. Fundamentals of Management
14. Fundamentals of Marketing
professional).
15. Managing people
Although present in the curriculum through several 16. Production and Logistics Management.
disciplines, entrepreneurship education is not yet well
integrated in current education and still not enough. The suggested module create an improved awareness
On the other hand, the results of entrepreneurial of the reality of studying in progressive technical
education are difficult to assess. Difficulties in assessing universities; but perhaps more importantly, it will
are similar to the overall assessment of education and provide students with the awareness, interests and
teaching work, to the difficulties in assessing preparation for self-employment as a career alternative,
entrepreneurial education, like failure forecasting that which will ultimately move technical universities
students will become entrepreneurs in the future or not. graduates from job-seekers to job-creators.
It has been found that is difficult to assess the objectives
of internal entrepreneurship. References
Entrepreneurship education outcomes are usually
assessed quantitatively depending on the grades, the 1. Dreisler, P.; Blenker, P. & Nielsen, K. (2003), Promoting
number of students interested, as how positive is Entrepreneurship, - Changing Attitudes on Behaviour,
feedback and the time granted to discussions about Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development,
Vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 383-392, Birmingham
different business topics addressed. 2. Etzkowitz, H. et al. (2000), The future of the university
Therefore, entrepreneurship education should and the university of the future: evolution of ivory tower
primarily develop an entrepreneurial spirit, by to entrepreneurial paradigm, Research Policy, vol. 29:
understanding the notions of responsibility, value added, 313-330
3. Fiet, J. O. (2000), The Theoretical Side of Teaching
innovation, change, risk taking. Entrepreneurship, Journal of Business Venturing, vol. 16:
1-24
THE IMPACT OF IMPLEMENTING NATIONAL RESEARCH GRANT SYSTEM (PNCD),
OVER ACADEMIC AND SCIENTIFIC PERFORMANCE OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
C.E. SERBAN1, C.M. VASILE2, C. CIORA³, M. BADILEANU4, C. SIMA5
1
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, claudiaserbanos@yahoo.com
2
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, cristina.ase@gmail.com
³ The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, costinciora@yahoo.com
4
CEIS Bucharest, badmarina@yahoo.com
5
CEIS Bucharest, sima60cristian@yahoo.com
The practical nature of the current paper is to demonstrate how PNCD implementation at national level, within the university environment,
actually affected or not the key elements involved in assessing university professors both as academicians and researchers. Usually university
leadership believe that increasing research grant applications and funding, and enhancing research performance, are one and the same thing.
Unfortunately this is an error, for many disciplines, and the present obsession with research income is doubtful – for example that grant income is
not an accurate indicator of research performance and quality.
KEYWORDS: academic efficiency, national research, professors, researchers, research grant, survey
in research grants) and Section II – Personal Opinion school. The interest over research grants, for those who
(impact over personal academic career from did not receive yet a PhD diploma, more precisely for
participating in research grants; considerations related to participating in research grants with the business
acceptance of research grants with the business environment is quite low: only 6.35% of them having
environment; quantitative and qualitative improvement already participated in this type of research grants.
in number of publications after participation in research Among respondents who already participated in national
grants). As an informational highlight, we may add that research grants (CNCSIS competition), the answers
all fundamental data are contained within specific regarding the recognition of research grants with the
questionnaires filled-in during the research time-interval business environment are as follows: 33.78% would
(January-March 2010), while any other statistical and agree with an assessment based solely on research
forecast indicators for the surveyed data are available at grants with the business environment, while a crushing
request. percentage of 66.22% disagreed with an evaluation
exclusively-based on this type of projects, because they
The research methodology presented herein is
consider that research projects with businesses are
sound and reliable mainly due to the approach given to
mainly consultancy services and not at all genuine
difficulties raised by the research topic, and secondly
research activities. Of those who participated in research
due to the structure and content of the statistical
grants with the business environment, 54.55% consider
instrument used – the questionnaire. Therefore, the
that research themes for these grants approach aspects
reliability of data collected throughout the questionnaire
related to research activities, while 45.45% consider that
has been proved and such information is also available
these themes are related to consulting services. This
at request. The two sections have not only collected
percentage is very high, and shows a visible and actual
significant data, but also created a meaningful
academic reality. Among respondents who took into
dependence between real data and personal opinion of
consideration the impact of projects in which they have
each academician/researcher regarding the topic. We
participated and stated this “is very important” for their
therefore centralized all data and generated separate and
academic and research careers, only 14.29% believe that
cross – references over the sample.
the degree of originality of research projects with the
business environment is “exclusively research”.
RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT & IMPLICATIONS
VALUE & RELEVANT CONCLUSIONS
The scope of our research is to evaluate the
opinion of academicians (no matter the age, academic
The key contribution of the paper is brought by
rank and scientific title), in matters of both professional
the fact that it is the latest study made in Romania,
and scientific benefits obtained after participating in
based on personal opinion of academicians and
research projects. That is why our survey consists in a
researchers, mainly focused on impact of the research
sample of 150 university professors and researchers
grant system PNCD over academic efficiency, making
from public and private universities, with specializations
possible both the improvement of university
on economic fields in higher education. Survey
management mechanisms and national research policies.
participants have been differentiated by age as follows:
In retrospective, national research grants have
64.08% from total participants are less than 30 years,
been implemented within the academic environment and
17.48% are between 30 and 40 years, and 13.59% are
considered as promotion criteria, since the year 2005 (at
between 40 and 50 years. As professional status, the
this point, their existence was almost unknown to
participants were distributed as follows: 45.63% junior
professors and researchers). Also, 2005 has been the
teaching assistants, 18.45% assistant professors and
first year in which a national competition for research
5.83% university professors. Also, 61.17% from the
grants was organized by Romanian governmental
total number of survey participants did not receive yet a
bodies, that is: CNCSIS (The National Council for
PhD diploma, but they are currently registered as PhD
Scientific Research in Higher Education) and ANCS
candidates. Throughout the PhD fields of research we
(The National Authority for Scientific Research).
find: accounting (23.30%), management (20.39%),
Though, one aspect should be emphasized: before the
finance (19.42%), economic and management
implementation of these research projects in
information systems (10.68%) and economic and
universities, the previous system of research involved
financial analysis (9.71%).
research themes set at the level of various faculty
departments throughout a simple verbal and written
STATISTIC RESULTS & INTERPRETATIONS manifestation consisting in each member saying a
research title/theme to be carried out. Given such a
Correlating responses to questionnaires, we context, in many cases the research activity only
discovered some behavioral patterns and reached a formal status, or the result of the research
correspondences amongst respondents. Thus 69.7% of activity generated publications (articles or books) where
those younger than 30 years have already participated in the information was no more than literature review in
research projects. This highlights the interest for the research field (such printed materials usually ended
research grants, as early as from the period of their PhD as manuals for students within those faculties and
The impact of implementing national research grant system (PNCD), over academic and Scientific
performance of university professors 689
universities). We also mention the fact that at that point research over the quality of the academic profession
in time, the announced departmental research plans within the present Romanian university environment
were rarely, or never, verified as in matters of their and it is a study emphasizing the opinion of
completion degree, while there was no official research academicians regarding the utility of participating in
methodology to be followed. Nowadays, most of the research grants. Our study aims at three important
public universities hold specific evaluation procedures aspects linked to the academic environment: the quality
and have set up research departments which have the of the didactic profession; the degree of international
mission of managing the existing research projects and transparency; and the self-financing capacity of higher
the results of already conducted research activities. In education institutions (all these aspects are seen through
relationship to the existence of such research the light of implementing promotion criteria referring to
departments in institutions of higher education, research grants). The first and maybe the most important
universities also created academic evaluation aspect, the one referring to the quality of the profession
departments based on the following laws and is being analyzed from the point of view of scientific
regulations: Ministry’s Orders no. 5098, 5099, 5100 and contributions, both before- and after- participating in
51018, provisions which impose also an evaluation of research grants, and by assessing the degree of increase
professors, performed by the students. This new in the quality of teaching performances for professors
evaluation procedure was meant to asses both quality of involved in this study.
research for a professor in a specific field, and also get a Regarding the quality of research activities, the
clear view over the quality of teaching activities in the most common opinion in our survey, coming form
university. The quality of such evaluations is naturally participants in research grants, is that national
dependent on the image and reputation of the institution. governmental authorities for scientific research
Therefore we are forced herein to alarm over the (CNCSIS, ANCS, CNMP), have not paid to much
important role of ARACIS in the process of identifying attention to the quality of the research activities (during
any abnormal behavior within such evaluation the first years of grants financed from budgetary
procedures. Trusting an institution of higher education, sources; the interval 2005-2009), neither have they
even at a minimum level, where such evaluations are efficiently managed the degree of national scientific
conducted only superficially, automatically generates a transparency. This situation has been considered normal
high degree of risk for all parties involved. A part of by now, due to the fact that it was the beginning of a
these issues are currently beginning to emerge at the national campaign which in turn has lead to obvious and
surface, as we assist at a total lack of trust in the quality qualitative results, as for example: a hierarchy for
of research, in the academic profession, and the PhD existing national scientific publications, the ISI
title. indexation of some Romanian publications and the
Our analysis shows that even if there is an spectacular increase of ISI publications belonging to
official methodology for verifying the publication Romanian researchers.
portfolios (or list of publications) belonging to Within a study referring exclusively to
university professors and researchers, altogether with university professors, performed by The Bucharest
the existence of governmental bodies at the level of Academy of Economic Studies, there is shown that the
ministries (for offering academic titles) and which are total number of articles in journals indexed ISI
characterized by meetings at large time-intervals, the Thomson, has increased from 9 articles in 2006 to 209
permanent lack of time, as well as the high volume of in 2009. In the same period, we can also observe that
paperwork, all these lead to some contexts when more than 90% of these articles have been published in
scientific titles are offered without any real grounds. national journals accepted for indexing by ISI Thomson,
This is the case of many academic promotions made starting 2008. These national journals have 0 ranking
especially by private universities where the academic (scientific impact) based on statistical data provided by
evaluation departments are only set because they must CNCSIS. The situation is probably similar for all
exist, or are inexistent. This is why we also set an alarm economic/business universities in Romania. In such a
over this context, as there is a necessity for a control context, the next step (as CNCSIS states in its latest
body for the activities for the already mentioned press communicates) is to carefully follow the
governmental bodies, and this in turn should not have as implementation of international standards for research
members any colleagues of the ministerial bodies, but quality. This in turn involves setting both a new
only technicians appointed as to randomly evaluate the evaluation procedure for research outputs (and not only
quality of the bodies’ works. This in turn, would lead to the financial aspects of the grants, as proceeded by
a higher degree of prudence in evaluation and the now), and clearly defining a specific number of ISI or
elimination of “confuse” situations. reference publications (national and international) for a
From all of our literature review, it resulted that specific field of activity. Therefore, we must state that
this paper is the most recent Romanian study of this currently there are fields of research, as the one of
type, due to the fact that it analyzes the impact of accounting, where the reference publications are not
necessarily indexed ISI. That is why we consider that all
8 upcoming regulations in the field of research must be
Ministry’s Orders no. 5098/ 3.10.2005; 5099/ 3.10.2005;
conducted on the basis of consultancy offered by
and 3548/06.04.2006 (more details in references).
690 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
specialists in various fields of activity, or by considering have a well-established financial target for the
existing procedures used by prestigious universities in management of a research institution. Setting a
the European Union. According to our study, after the minimum amount for the total value of a research grant
implementation of research grants, the participation rate with the business environment, altogether with the
for academicians, has increased in the case of fluctuation of this minimum value (which varied from
international conferences (before: 20,39% and after 3,000 euro, to a current minimum of 10,000 euro, in a
participation in grants: 22,33%), while the attendance at time interval of only one year), has determined
national conferences, even if currently still consistent, is managerial bodies of many institutions to accept such
recording an ongoing decrease (before: 57,28% and research contracts in which overheads have a substantial
after: 55,34%). In the opinion of our respondents, this proportion out of project’s total value. Our research
evolution is due to the offer of better-ranked and better- study has only emphasized the obvious real facts: that
indexed publications within international conferences, the average number of persons who are members in
this in fact being their first selection criteria for a such research grants (with businesses), has increased
conference. Relatively all of the respondents consider directly proportionate with the increase in the minimum
that their professional prestige is directly linked and requested value for such a project. This is why we
almost exclusively dependent on the fact that one of strongly consider (in the context in which such research
their papers is accepted for publishing. This context has grants are maintained within academic evaluation
also been observed by organizers of scientific criteria), that it is necessary regulations should exist
conferences in our country, and nowadays we observe a regarding the maximum number of members for this
trend in promoting international conferences with a type of grants, and also to be compulsory that the results
“well-ranked” publishing offer. Also, referring to of the research contract to be disseminated throughout
scientific articles published before and after publications or conferences on the same research theme
participating in research grants, we observe a decreasing as the contract. If contrary, there is the imminent risk for
trend: from 52,42% publishing rate before participation this type of research grants will be transformed into a
in grants, to a 50,49% rate of publishing after process of only “raising” money from members to get
participation in research grants (in respondents’ opinion the project accepted, without any relevance to the
this is a situation generated by an effective participation research field or to the quality of researcher.
in research grants that have no connection whatsoever
with their individual research fields).
Regarding the acceptance of research grants References
with the business environment in academic evaluation
criteria, and/or setting them as “equal” to the 1. Armstrong, J. and Carbone, R. (1982), “Evaluation of
national/international research grants, we must state that Extrapolative Forecasting Methods: Results of a Survey of
this was the actual rescue for many academicians which Academicians and Practitioners”, Journal of Forecasting,
did not succeed in receiving national or international Vol. 1, pp. 215-1217.
2. Conway-Jones, D. (2004), “Research and Development
financing for research. In order to resemble a Deliverables under Government Contracts, Grants,
competition, the research institutions accepted a simple Cooperative Agreements and CRADAs: University Roles.
written acknowledgement at the moment of obtaining Government Responsibilities and Contractor Rights”,
the research contract throughout which it was stated that Computer Law Review and Technology Journal, Vol. IX,
pp.12-19.
there was an auction for obtaining the financement 3. Goldsworthy, J. (2009),” Research Grant Mania”,
contract with a certain company (the research grant). Of Monash University Faculty of Law Legal Studies
course the mechanism for an authentic auction is a more Research Paper No. 2009-06, Australian Universities
complex one, and normally a Tender Book would have Review, Vol. 50 (No. 2), pp. 17-24.
4. Marginson, S and Considine, M. (2000), The Enterprise
been requested in the name of the institution, as well as University, Cambridge.
payment of a warranty at subscription into the 5. Ordinul 5100 si 5101 - pentru cercetator stiintific gradul 1
competition, so on. All these are elements about which si cercetator stiintific gradul 2; Ordinul 5098/ 3.10.2005 -
nobody asks anything, with the only consolation that pentru aprobarea Sistemului de evaluare privind
conferirea titlului de profesor universitar; Ordinul 5099/
access to public research funding is anyway limited and 3.10.2005 - pentru aprobarea Sistemului de evaluare
the success rate is very low. In perspective, by privind conferirea titlului de conferentiar universitar;
maintaining all these alternative paths, by avoiding the Ordinul nr.3548/06.04.2006 de completare a Ordinelor nr.
rule, and continuing to accept for evaluation research 5098, 5099, 5100 si 5101 din 3.10.2005 (web source:
www.edu.ro, consulted on the 1st of February 2010).
grants with the business environment (and here many
academicians and researchers consider these are mostly,
if not exclusively, consultancy services) will only
continue to diminish quality in research and higher
education and further open many gates to persons with
the least interest in research. Moreover, there is a high
risk for research contracts in which the company may
not even exist. By accepting such research grants with
the business environment, have had and will continue to
A COMPARATIVE STUDY REGARDING STUDENTS’ ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS
Our paper aim is to identify and compare the students’ behaviour, the similarities and differences regarding entrepreneurial spirit and education.
The present higher education system in Romania is not based on many studies regarding entrepreneurial students' spirit and skills in order to be
able to promote independent thinking, creativity, a spirit of innovation. Thus, we are interested in identifying the types of students based on their
field of study. We have studied in previous papers the students' perceptions who are attending courses on management and tourism field. The
results obtained point out the students’ need and desire to develop their entrepreneurial abilities and as the knowledge acquired during faculty
period is insufficient, this deficiency can be remedied through the introduction of the entrepreneurship education into the university curricula.
The study is important as a contribution to the research of the entrepreneurial education, which is very important for the development of
economic higher education. Our study points out and compares the spirit, the preferences and the needs for entrepreneurial education of the
students attending different economic specializations in order to propose appropriate curricula.
consideration the fact that they are attending different RESEARCH RESULTS
courses based on different curriculum,
riculum, but all of them
could have the opportunity after the graduation to In order to find out if there is a need and desire
initiate their own business and become entrepreneurs. among students to develop the entrepreneurship
Under these circumstances, through this research, we education within or without the university curricula, we
want to identify if they are characterized by similar used a set of 13 questions
estions and we compared the results
entrepreneurial skills,
lls, if they need different training in obtained by the students from Accountancy and
entrepreneurship or if they could follow the same computer science administration (ACSA),
(ACSA) Finance and
curriculum for bachelor level on Entrepreneurship. Banks (FB) on one hand and students from Business
Administration (BA) and Commerce, tourism and
METHODOLOGY services economy (CTSE) on the other hand.
To the subject the intention to start up a personal
Sample. We used two types of statistical surveys. university the
business after graduation from university,
One is based on random sampling,, respectively distribution obtained for the two groups of students is
stratified random survey,, the other one is based on non- presented in Figure 1.
random sampling, respectively the quota survey. survey
According to C.A. Moser, regarding the selection of the 75%
layering factors (the closest linked to the research 80% 62%
subject), we chose as the two layers of the survey the 60% 38%
specializations attended by full-time time students, 40%
25% Yes
respectively Accountancy and computer science
administration, Finance and Banks, Banks Business 20% No
Administration and Commerce, tourism and services 0%
economy.. We pursued to select the subjects using a BA&CTSE ACSA&FB
quota of 30% of the total number of the general
population, on each year of study and respectively, on Figure 1 Students’ distribution regarding the intend to start
sta a business
each specialization. The general population and the
sample on allocated layers and quotas are illustrated in Based on the distribution from Figure 1, there could
Table 1. be noticed differences between the two types of
students: thus students from BA&CTSE are more
Table 1 Population and sample
interested to start their own business after graduation,
Number of students
75% of them have chosen the answer ‘Yes’
‘Ye and a lower
Layers (Specialization) General Sample –30 percentage, 62%, belongs to the students from
population % quota
ACSA&FB. Students from BA&CTSE are more open to
Accountancy and computer the idea to start a business only then those from
197 59
science administration ACSA&FB.
Finance and Banks 310 93 To the following question: If you had started up a
Commerce, tourism and pla both groups of
business, would you do a business plan?
236 71 students have responded in a high percentage that they
services economy
Business administration 238 71 would elaborate a business plan, in 97% BA&CTSE and
Total 981 294 94% ACSA&FB. The answers to this question are
presented in Figure 2.
Questionnaire. In our study we used a quantitative
method – a questionnaire with 13 questions, excepting 97% 94%
the identification questions (4). It contains only closed 100%
questions. We use in the questionnaire a measurement
method: the respondents have either to rank a set of Yes
50%
values or to choose one value/item at the expense of 3% 6%
another in a forced choice format. The questionnaire No
items are built on 5 points-Likert
Likert scale from 1 (Total 0%
agreement) to 5 (Total disagreement). BA&CTSE ACSA&FB
Procedure. The questionnaire was developed in
Romanian and self-administered
administered and it took Figure 2 Students’ distribution regarding the intend to do a business plan
approximately 5 minutes on average to complete.
We analysed data collected by descriptive statistics, To the question: If you had started up a business,
using indicators as weighted arithmetical mean, absolute it would be…,, there are not significant differences
and percent frequencies. Responses of the questionnaire between the two groups of students analysed, as it could
were coded
ed and entered into the SPSS and most of the be noticed in Figure 3. Most of them, more than 80%,
analyses used SPSS. answered that they would choose
oose a personal idea, and
then secondly they would continue the family business
A Comparative Study Regarding Students’ Entrepreneurial Skills 693
and the lowest percentage of them considered that their percentages to the same items. Regarding other
business would be a franchise.. The distribution based characteristics, students from ACSA&FB have chosen
on the students’ answers is shown in Figure 3. different items compared to students from BA&CTSE.
In order to identify the most important
86%
84% characteristics and to rank all characteristics based on
100% the answers obtained, we have calculated the weighted
80%
60% arithmetical mean for each of them. The results are
40% 11% 6%3%
10% presented in Figure 5.
20% BA&CTSE
0%
ACSA&FB 6.0 4.9
5.95.6
5.85.2
5.55.1
5.14.74.43.6
3.9BA&CTSE
3.9
3.8
5.0
4.0 1.6
1.6
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
The present higher education system in Romania has not yet been able to promote independent thinking, creativity, a spirit of
innovation and motivation in setting a challenging and achievable goal. Our paper aims to examine the students’ need and importance
of entrepreneurship education. The study results should be helpful in order to design a specific curricula dedicated to the students who
intend to start their own business or to elaborate a module with courses and practical activities outside the basic curricula. We have
focused our paper on diagnosis of Accountancy and computer science administration, and Finance and Banks students’ preferences
and needs regarding entrepreneurship education.
According to C.A. Moser, regarding the selection of the 21.0%, “agreement” – 55.3 %, “indifferent” – 21.1 %
layering factors (the closest linked to the research and only 2.6 % of the students selected “disagreement”.
subject), we chose as the two layers of the survey the To the question: What do you consider necessary
specializations attended by full-time time students, for a successful business? -“An“An MBA to a Romanian
respectively Accountancy and computer science university would be useful.”, using 5-points
5 Likert-type
administration and Finance and Banks.. We pursued
purs to rating scales, it obtained a score of 2.07, and this
select the subjects using a quota of 30% of the total indicates that the students agree with this statement, the
number of the general population, on each year of study options being: “total agreement” – 22.4 %, “agreement”
and respectively, on each specialization. The general – 53.3 %, “indifferent” – 19.0 % and 5.3 % choosing
population and the sample on allocated layers and “disagreement”.
quotas are illustrated in Table 1. For the following question: After graduation from
university do you intend to pursue master courses?,
courses?
Table 1 Population and sample 97.4 % of the total number of subjects answered
Number of students positively and only 2.6 % of them answered negatively.
Layers (Specialization) General Sample –30 As to the question: The knowledge acquired
population % quota during faculty period is sufficient to start up a
Accountancy and computer
successful business?, using 5-points
points Likert-type
Likert rating
197 59 scales, it obtained a score of 3.07 which indicates that
science administration
the respondents are indifferent to this statement, the
Finance and Banks 310 93
percentage for each option being:
eing: “total agreement” –
Total 507 152 6.6%, “agreement” – 32.2%, “indifferent” – 15.1%,
“disagreement”- 38.8 %, “total disagreement” – 7.3 %.
Questionnaire. In our study we used a quantitative According to the answers, the highest percentage is
method – a questionnaire with 13 questions, excepting recorded by the students’ perception that after
the identification questions (4). It contains only closed graduation they will not have ave enough knowledge in
questions. We use in the questionnaire a measurement order to start a successful business. The distribution
method: the respondents have either to rank a set of results based on the students’ answers is shown in
values or to choose one value/item at the expense of Figure 1.
another in a forced choice format.
Procedure. The questionnaire was developed in
38.8
Romanian and self-administered
administered and it took 32.2
40
approximately 5 minutes on average to complete. 35
30
We analysed data collected by descriptive statistics, 25 15.1
20 6.6 7.3
15
using indicators as weighted arithmetical mean, absolute 10
5
and percent frequencies. Responses of the questionnaire 0
were coded and entered into the SPSS and most of the
analyses used SPSS.
RESEARCH RESULTS
In order to find out if there is a need and desire Figure 1 The students’ distribution based on knowledge after graduation (%)
among students to develop the entrepreneurship
education within or without
hout the university curricula, we To the question: Do you think it is necessary the
used a set of 13 questions. academic education include some entrepreneurial
Regarding What do you consider necessary for a aspects or courses?, from the total number of
successful business? -“An “An MBA to a European respondents, 78% answered “Yes”, 4 % - “No” and 18
university would be useful.”, using 5-points
points Likert-type
Likert % - “I don’t know”.
rating scales, it obtained a score of 2.0, which
whi indicates Asked if There are courses (or courses
that the respondents agree with this statement, so: “total components) in the university curricula
curricul that can be
agreement” – 16,4%, “agreement” – 68,4%, education? 75.7
considered forms of entrepreneurship education?,
“indifferent” – 13,8% and only 1,4% of them chose % of the total number of students answered “Yes” and
“disagreement” and there was no answer to “total 24.3 % of them - “No”.
disagreement”. Regarding the question: Would you participate in a
As for What do you consider necessary ecessary for a education? from the total
module of entrepreneurship education?,
successful business? -“An “An MBA to an American number of respondents the majority, respectively 71.7%,
university would be useful.”, using 5-points
points Likert-type
Likert selected “Yes” and 28.3 % of them - “No”. The
rating scales, it obtained a score of 2.05, indicating that distribution of this question, shown in Figure 2,
the subjects agree with this statement, the percentage for emphasises the student’s interest for entrepreneurship
each option being ass follows: “total agreement” – education.
Students’ Preferences and
nd Needs Regarding
Regardin Entrepreneurship Education 697
students answered “Yes”, so they understand the More than 70% of the students would participate in
meaning and importance of a business plan in starting a module of entrepreneurship
ntrepreneurship education and 75.7% of
up a business and only 5.7% answered „ No”. them regarded that there are courses (or courses
Concerning Ranking
anking the characteristics of a components) in the university curricula that can be
successful entrepreneur according to their importance considered forms of entrepreneurship education.
education
important) the
(1- the most important, 8 – the least important), Regarding the courses included in this module of
results, taking into considerations only the first scale (1-
( entrepreneurship education,
ucation, 94.7% of the students
the most important), are illustrated in Table 4. considered that they should include mostly case studies
and practical examples,, so they need tools in order to
Table 4 Characteristics of a successful
ul entrepreneur know how to start up a business.
Risks taking 97.4% of the respondents answered positively to
Creativity 22.4% 6.6%
capability master education after graduation from university, the
Courage 15.1% Adaptability 3.3% students from both specializations would like to attend a
Theoretical Continuing master course in the same percentage.
25.0% 3.3% To the question - What do you consider necessary
knowledge education
for a successful business?,, the majority of the students
Practical appreciated that an MBA to an EuropeanEu university
21.1% Traditionalism 3.3%
experience
(84.9%), an American university (76.3%) and a
Romanian university (75.7%) would be useful to them
In order to identify the most important characteristic in order to be well trained in initiating and developing a
and to rank all characteristics based on the answers successful business.
obtained, we have calculated the weighted arithmetical All these results point out the students’ need and
mean for each of them. The results are presented in desire to develop their entrepreneurial abilities and as
Figure 5. the knowledge acquired during faculty period is
insufficient; this deficiency can be remedied through the
introduction of the entrepreneurship education into the
university curricula.
References
The paper objectives are: to identify, analyze and structure in a database, using key group criteria, the main national facilitators for
entrepreneurship focusing on particularities of the West Region of Romania. The target groups chosen to achieve these objectives are:
top graduated and post graduated students, Ph.D students and young researchers. The research is based on an exploratory study
using as a tools for research: case studies, databases from institutions at regional, national and European level, IT instruments and
techniques necessary for design and completion of the database. Consequently, our purpose is to identify, analyze and structure the
main facilitators for building a database of facilitators accessible and updated permanently that will be part of an entrepreneurial
center digital library. The research results will be extended to EU level and will have the possibility of inter-correlation with other
databases for increasing the number of potential beneficiary. The research approach will have a positive impact upon the young
entrepreneurs. The identification, analyses and structure of the relevant regional entrepreneurial facilitators based on key criteria, the
design and use of the created database with the possibility of extension, correlation and update will addressed especially to
postgraduate students, young researchers and other entrepreneurs, too.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Facilitators, Education, Research, Database.
References
of the Romanian employee from the public universities’ were 209 respondents to the questionnaire, from 9
administration and analyzing the Romanian cultural universities, in the period of April-May 2008.
specificity elements (the last aspect is only partial
presented in this paper). RESULTS
Research hypotheses are:
I1. The employees from the universities’ This study emphasized the following data regarding
administration aim firstly to security. the cultural specificity dimensions, with direct input in
I2: The Romanian employees, especially those who the motivational plan:
work in the public system, want free time for their a) for masculinity-femininity (in percents, for
personal life. favorable opinions and averages obtained for the
I3: The Romanian employees are preoccupied, on a items that reflect masculine and respective, feminine
higher level, in personal relationships, in developing values – for allowing comparisons, we take into
harmonious work relationships. consideration a 1 to 5 scale, where 5 indicates the
I4: The Romanian employee from the state own emphasis of masculine or feminine values):
administration system confers a higher importance at • acknowledge for the attained performance
satisfying the self-esteem needs. (important and very important for 91.2% of
I5: The poor content of employees’ work, the low respondents; m=4.29);
advancement opportunities and the low wages lead all to • advancement opportunities (important and very
the decrease of the granted importance to the important for 84.6%; m=4.23);
professional fulfillment needs. • relationship / good communication with the other at
the working place (important and very important for
The research methodology 94.7%; m= 4.39);
• possibility to choose a certain living area (important
For studying the cultural differences, a variety of and very important for 68.9%; m=3.94).
instruments were elaborated by famous researchers b) for uncertainty avoidance (favorable opinions – the
(Geert Hofstede, Shalom Schwartz, Ronald Inglehart, averages are calculated for a powerful control of
Charles Hampden-Turner and Fons Trompenaars etc.). uncertainty, on a 1 to 5 scale):
One of these instruments, elaborated as a consequence • perception of the stress level: 2.9% always, 18.7%
of the collaboration between Geert Hofstede and usually, 58.9% sometimes, 19.1% rarely, 0.5% never
Michael Bond, which allowed the analysis of cultural (m=3.04);
differences on the basis of five cultural dimensions was • perception of the health status: 12% very good, 45%
updated and published in 2008 (VSM 08), following the good, 36.4% so so, 5.3% poor, 1.4% very poor
collaboration among Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede, (m=2.39);
Michael Minkov and Henk Vinken, who emphasized • perception of the fact that manager may be
two new cultural dimensions (monumentalism-self- competent, even if he has not answers to all
effacement and indulgence-constraint). This is the used subordinates’ questions: unfavorable (strongly disagree
instrument in the present paper, according to the above and disagree) 29.3%, irresolute 19.6%, favorable
mentioned arguments. (strongly agree and agree) 51% (m=2.73);
Therefore, the demarche is quantitative dominant. • respecting the rules, no matter of conditions:
The major data collection technique is the favorable (strongly agree and agree) 55.4%, irresolute
questionnaire-based-on inquiry. We chose to use a 24.4%, unfavorable (strongly disagree and disagree)
validated instrument (VSM 08), recommended for an 19.2% (m=3.5).
ethic approach. The major data processing techniques These scores, for a correct interpretation, should be
were statistic analysis and qualitative analysis. compared with scores obtained on equivalent samples,
administrated in other countries. In the absence of these
Sampling data, we realized comparisons with the forecasts
provided Hofstede and with results obtained in other
The above mentioned instrument was used in order researches regarding the Romanian cultural specific
to identify the need-motivation relationship at the (Luca, 2005; Voicu&Voicu, 2007; Neculăesei,
employees from the public universities’ administration Tătăruşanu, 2008). For Romania, the cultural
from Romania. The sample was an un-probabilistic one, characteristics (a relative high uncertainty avoidance
which included the employees from the financial- and an almost balanced mix between masculine and
accountancy departments. An important role in choosing feminine values, with regional variations) indicate
the sample was played by the accessibility and the fact security, affiliation and consideration as appropriate
that human resources from the universities’ motivating manners, fact that results from our study,
administration benefited by an extremely reduced too. We have to take into account the sample specific:
attention from the part of the Romanian researchers; this 56.5% from the respondents are older than 40 and
fact offered us the opportunity to provide interesting 92.8% have a feminine gender (categories where
information to the managers of these institutions. There security needs are more emphasised). This reality is also
confirmed by the answers to the item regarding job
Societal Needs – Values. Motivating The Romanian Employee from The Public University Administration 705
safety, that gained the following results: for 61.7% from exclusivist environment, due to the quality of people
the respondents it is extremely important, for 32.5% who develop research and education activities here, with
very important, an average importance for 3.8%, less personalities with broad experience, and this fact is
important for 1% and with no importance 0.5%, with an valorised by the employees from the administration
average of m=4.55 (the highest score). field.
The self-actualization needs, with an equal score as
STUDY RESULTS INTERPRETATION, FROM the esteem ones, have a pretty high score if we take into
THE BASED ON NEEDS MOTIVATIONAL account that, most times, it is impossible for the
THEORIES PERSPECTIVE administration employees to be creative, to reach their
superior levels of competence. The job content is poor,
Processing the questions’ outcomes that provide data considered as “a source of maintaining bureaucracy”,
regarding the employees’ needs in connection to leisure the employees being constraint to fulfil routine tasks
time, rewards, desire for a group belongingness, social that often consist in respecting the law in a field or
status, relationships with the hierarchical superior and another (acquisitions, wages, accountancy etc).
peers, work content, responsibilities, performance- The ERG theory, elaborated by the C.P. Alderfer
recompense relationship, carrier, we got results which researcher, compressed the five steps of the Maslow’s
we analyse from the perspective of three famous needs pyramid to three levels as following (Zorleţan, et
motivational theories that base on the human needs al., 1998):
study while explain the employees’ motivation for - the existence needs (E) are those that refer to support
performance: A. Maslow’s theory, C.P. Alderfer theory human existence, survival;
and two factors theory of F. Herzberg’s. - the relatedness needs (R) refer to relationships with
The hierarchy of needs theory elaborated by social environment;
Abraham Maslow presents successively the types of - the growth needs (G) refer to development of the
needs people have, from inferior needs – concrete, individual potential and include self-appreciation and
continuous and powerful– to superior ones – less self-actualization.
evidently and promptly in manifestation. For our analysed sample, the obtained scores on
The averages of the gathered scores, obtained needs categories, emphasised by the ERG theory, are
following the study’s data processing, in accordance presented in table 3.
with the classified types of needs upon Abraham
Maslow’s theory, are presented below (Table 2): Table 3: Existential, Relatedness and Self-Actualization Needs
Needs types Cumulated average score
Table 2: Employees Types of Needs – classification upon A. Existence needs: 888
Maslow’s theory Relatedness needs: 845
Cumulated Growth needs: 874
Types of Needs
average score
1. physiological needs 907 We noticed that existence needs (those which refer
2. security needs 947 to leisure time, earnings, job safety) are more important
3. group belongingness need 904 for the questioned employees, the obtained score
4. esteem need 842 average as a result of answers’ processing being the
5. self-actualization needs 842 highest (888). The relatedness needs (refer to social
group belongingness, esteem of relatives, friends,
In the above mentioned table, it may notice that the hierarchical chief) are located on the next step, with an
security needs are prioritised for the employees of the average score of 784. To support this hierarchy of needs
Romanian public university administration. This aspect, we mention the Geert Hofstede’s researches that
of stability and job safety, is actually the major concluded the security needs were dominant within the
motivation of those who decide to work for the public society, in countries with high uncertainty avoidance as
sector. Even if the wages level is low, providing a Romania is (Hofstede, 1996). Growth needs raise a high
partial covering of basic needs, the employees prefer importance, as well; the situation is explained by the
these jobs due to the psychological comfort they used to environment these employees work in, their level of
have in the communist period, when the state ensured education, and the reduced satisfaction level of the first
working places by the repartition system, the two types of needs. The university managers may use
“confrontation” on the market with other candidates different methods to motivate employees as
being unnecessary. The obtained scores reflect, as well, acknowledge the employees’ work, offer a richer
the fact that employees grant a higher importance to the content to work and open the opportunity to the
belongingness needs, to the desire of working in a employees for reaching their superior limits of
comfortable environment, which offers the opportunity performance.
to create friendship relationships, to belong to a certain Another theory that fundament our results’ analysis
social category. In our opinion, universities were always was the two factors theory of the F. Herzberg
considered as a place where employees are proud to researcher. According to this theory, there are two types
work in, because that confers them a certain society of factors that affect job satisfaction: hygiene factors
status, respected by the others. It is considered as an (related to work conditions, benefits, social status etc)
706 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
and motivator factors (related to work content: under survey. In this context, we consider that a higher
responsibility, carrier, fair evaluation of performances level of wages would bring a plus in the employees’
according to their level). If they are present, the first motivation from the universities’ administration, fact
factors eliminate the dissatisfaction, but only the second demonstrated by their preoccupation in satisfying basic
category creates work satisfaction (Zorleţan etal., 1998). needs. As well, planning the employees’ carrier is an
The hygiene and motivator factors are presented important element that may be used in motivating these
with types of needs and cumulated scores in table 4: employees for a high performance. Even if it looks
surprising, the administrative personnel from the
Table 4: Hygiene and Motivator Factors at the Employees from the Romanian Romanian public universities needs an enrichment of
University Administration
Factors that determine Cumulated work content (by job enrichment) for being motivated
satisfaction/dissatisfaction in work average for outstanding results of the done work.
score As regards for practical importance, we remark the
Hygiene factors: 869 utility of this study for the public university managers in
Motivator factors: 863 the motivational field, because it enlightens an
unexplored area of motivational researches, brought by
the university administration employees under survey. It
In the above presented table, the hygiene factors are may be valorised by decision takers for improving
left part grouped and the motivators are right parted. employees’ performances due to an appropriate
The average of the two types of factors, that reflects motivating manner. As well, it provides a practical
employees’ needs, is higher for the hygiene factors approach pattern of a motivational study, which also
(preoccupation for leisure time, job safety, maintaining keeps notice on the cultural implications. The VSM 08
good relationships with the chief and social status). instrument is applied for the first time in Romania,
Relating to these factors, we may observe that the investigating simultaneously both needs and values.
questioned employees want security, esteem of friends In the theoretical field, it valorises the needs-values
and relatives but also time for their personal life. Job relationship, bringing arguments in favour of opening
security is the acutest experienced need of this study’s possibility for a correlative use of data collection
participants, that supposes its lack leads to instruments regarding the above mentioned ones. The
dissatisfaction, but when it is settled (by lows, study is also based on concepts and theoretical
regulations, as the case of public institutions’ constructions/developed theories in the motivational
employees) it does not create work dissatisfaction. field. (Maslow, Alderfer’s, Herzberg).
The employees are less preoccupied, as well, for
relationships with peers, having the need to make References:
friends at the working place.
The motivator factors’ scores indicate needs related 1. Bilsky, W, Koch, M., 2009, On the content and structure of
to the granted importance to work content, values: universals or methodological
artefacts?,http://miami.unimuenster.de/servlets/DerivateServlet/
acknowledgment for high performance and desire for Derivate-1802/Bilsky_Koch.pdf, accessed on April 14;
having a carrier. These factors are in connection with 2. Hofstede, G., Managementul structurilor multiculturale, 1996,
work satisfaction. The growth of satisfaction may take Editura Economică, Bucureşti
place, according to the research data, by employees’ 3. Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G.J., Minkov M., Vinken H., Values
Survey Module 2008 Manual, 2008,
involvement in their work decision making process, http://stuwww.uvt.nl/~csmeets/VSM08English.doc;
providing advancement opportunities, acknowledgment 4. Hofstede, G., Cultural dimensions,
of realised efforts and awards for high performances. 1. http://www.geerthofstede.com/geert_hofstede_resources.shtml;
5. Luca, A., 2005, Studiu despre valorile şi comportamentul
românesc din perspectiva dimensiunilor culturale după metoda
CONCLUSIONS lui Geert Hofstede, www. i-interact.ro
6. Maslow, A.H., 2007, Motivaţie şi personalitate, Editura Trei,
Data analysis reflects the importance of Bucureşti;
physiological needs for the employees of the Romanian 7. Neculăesei, Tătăruşanu, 2008, Romania – Cultural and Regional
Differences, Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii „Alexandru Ioan
public university administration (a low wage level Cuza” din Iaşi, Tomul LV, Editura Universităţii „Al. I. Cuza”,
determines a high preoccupation for these needs), the Iaşi;
job safety, but also the prestige conferred by the 8. Schwartz, S., 2009, A Proposal for Measuring Value
institutions they work for. As well, the employees give Orientations across Nations, chapter 7, pp. 267-268,
http://unjobs.org/authors/shalom-h,-schwartz;
attention to the human resources quality at job, 9. Voicu, B., Voicu, M., 2007, Valori ale românilor 1993-2006,
superiors’ attitude, and even to the self-actualization Institutul European, Iaşi;
need, being creative and valorising their potential. The 10. Zorleţan, T., et.al., 1998, Managementul organizaţiei, Editura
“job-description” elements are impediments in Economică, Bucureşti.
valorising the whole employees’ potential.
The study is a stage within an ample research,
which also aims a detailed analysis of cultural
specificity elements, but also to provide
recommendations regarding the employees’ motivation
HUMAN RESOURCES – THE MOST VALUABLE SCIENTIFIC POTENTIAL IN THE
TEXTILE RESEARCH ACTIVITY
The economic and social development, determined by the unprecedentedly evolution of the developments from science and technology make the
organizations preoccupied by the performance increasing to rapidly respond to the requirements of the internal and external environment.
”From science to industry and on the market, too” represents the present desideratum in the national and European scientific research. The
paper presents aspects regarding the current situation in the field of European and national T&C industry, from the human resources training
point of view, action directions that ANCS strategy applies for the stimulation of the scientific training activity of the researchers and for the
promotion of entrepreneurship culture in the research and education system.
TEXTILE & CLOTHING INDUSTRY AT As the European textile and clothing industry
NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LEVEL changes, the necessary qualification and skills of
employees must also evolve. Industrial reality is
Unlike certain industries in Europe, textile and characterized by:
clothing industry is a global leader in using technology,
process and product innovation, including the creation • fast transactions on international markets
of fashion and other innovation activities (non- effected by actants on niche markets at global
technological ones). Also, the European textile level;
machinery manufacturers are also world leaders and • accelerated cycles of innovation and
the European fashion industry enjoys a global product/design research/development;
predominance, while the "technical textiles" sector is • high-performance production facilities to
equally known for its pioneering role. Recognizing the achieve an efficient and diversified range of
important contribution of industry to the economy, products;
creativity and creating jobs in the enlarged EU, • closer collaboration with suppliers and
EURATEX elaborated the European Technology consumers;
Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing, a • utilization of a wider range of materials
strategic document which sets the directions for this (textiles and non-textiles)
domain development until 2020. With a total of • use of marketing ,various end markets and
approx. 110,000 companies in the EU, of which 95% distribution modalities.
are SMEs, textile industry covers a fascinating For succeeding this transformation, the industry
industrial landscape, creating a multitude of industrial needs first class human resource. Therefore, it must
products for different customers, using many processes ensure that workers have superior knowledge and that,
and related technologies, which are highly specialized young professionals, well trained, found in textiles and
and applying advanced knowledge. clothing attractive working conditions. Universities and
other centers of higher education and advanced
technological know-how shall train their graduates so
Aspects regarding the evolution directions of the
that they perfectly combine scientific and technologic
European textile industry
excellence with skills in industrial applications.
According to WTO Director General, Mr. Pascal
The Technology Platform has defined a Lamy, “Europe has made strong efforts to make
common approach based on three major industrial innovation and professional training. Future of Europe
trends on the long term, to shape the structure, in the international division of labor is based on
activities and overall competitive position of the quality, on value-added technology”.
European textile and clothing industry in the future
years:
Aspects regarding the textile-clothing industry from
• the transfer from fiber, filament and fabric Romania
goods to special products made by high-tech
flexible processes; The textile-clothing industry is a dynamic sector
• the establishment and development of textiles within the national economy with a high level of
as a material chosen by many industrial sectors performance:
and new application domains; - it employs a significant workforce, mainly
• the end of mass production era of textiles and women;
moving to a new era of products made in - it contributes to social stability, being
accordance with customer requirements and represented in all counties of Romania;
customized, of intelligent concepts in terms of - it has an important share in the export of
production, logistics, distribution and services. national economy;
- it contributes with a positive balance to the
foreign trade balance of the country.
708 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The garment industry has also an important place at analyzed period, reaching on June 30, 2009 the level of
international level, placing Romania on the first 255,700 persons, with 20% less, as compared to June
position in the hierarchy of clothing suppliers for the 30, 2008. This tendency was especially felt in the
EU market within the central and South-Eastern textile industry, where the reduction was of about.
European countries. 25%.
Under the difficult conditions presented, the
Main comparative advantages of the T&C industry training of human resources is the major objective for
from Romania increasing the competitiveness of the sector.
long tradition of economic branch as a T & C staff structure and skill demand in the EU
supplier of consumer goods to the population countries
and specific products on external markets;
Performs a surplus of products that rely on At European level, concerns for promoting
export; knowledge and innovation and job creation are found
Skilled labor force, obtainable at competitive in the most strategic documents, starting with the
prices: Lisbon strategy and continuing with the Community
national network of important Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion and the Bologna
professional training: 5 universities with Process. The European Employment Strategy and the
faculties of textile industry – garments Integrated Directory Guidelines for the Development
in Iasi, Sibiu, Arad, Oradea and recently and Employment 2005-2008 include measures to adapt
in Bucharest; education and training systems as a response to new
many training centers of foremen demands on skills, expand and improve of investment
and technicians; in human capital, being at the same time in accordance
5 research-development institutes with the third thematic priority as part of the National
and societies; Strategic Reference Framework 2007-2013, according
low costs for job creation; to which "the development and more efficient use of
Production capacities that can be modernized human capital from Romania require the support of
with a low investment effort and immediate education and training system for providing flexible
effect; and better quality education and ensuring that
The existence of a real competitive education provides knowledge and skills necessary for
environment due to the large number of a modern and growing economy”.
economic agents in the field; The distribution of T&C employees in the EU
favorable geographical position to the main shows that 61% are employed in the manufacturing
sale and supply markets; activity, 13% in administration and management, in
Aspects regarding the economic indicators obtained technology research and product development -about
in the textile-clothing industry in Romania in the 10%, quality control-5%, 4% in marketing activity, the
first half of 2009, as compared to the same period of remaining of 7 % being represented by other related
2008 activities.
Achievements of the first half of 2009 A recent study elaborated by EURATEX in
situated, except the production of yarns, fabrics and 2008 shows that approx. 81.2% of European
socks, over the values achieved in the same period of companies in T&C carries out technologic research
2008; thus, the production of knitwear has registered a activity; divided on sub-domains, the highest
growth of approx. 40%, for textile garments an percentage is recorded in the sub-domain of technical
increase of approx. 34%, and for leather and footwear textiles, followed by the textile processing, indoor
approx. 25%. Regarding the production of textile textiles and garments. EURATEX emphasizes that a
fabrics, there is a slight reduction of approx. 5%; the solution to save the European textile industry is
significant decrease was recorded in the manufacturing represented by the technical textiles, which by their
of yarns (-20%). These issues highlight the fact that at scientific and innovation potential may contribute to
least in the first half of 2009, even in the difficult the increasing of Europe's competitiveness on the
conditions of economic and financial crisis, the light global market.
industry enterprises from Romania have managed to In terms of the distribution of employees
achieve positive indicators. according to their level of training there is emphasized
In terms of the evolution of export and import the fact that 27.3% have general technical knowledge,
in light industry, there is a reduction of approx. 18- 10.4% have general administration knowledge, 7.9%
20% of export of products made by the Romanian are graduates of specialty higher education, 7 % are
economic agents, in all the light industrial sub-sectors. management graduates, and only 0.7% have the
Imports recorded the same downward trend. postgraduate training: doctoral, master, specialization
The evolution of the number of employees in scholarships. As compared to the developing regions of
the light industry (textile-clothing and leather- the European Union, the highest percentage is
footwear) shows a reduction of this indicator in the recorded, according to EUROSTAT, in the countries of
Human Resources – The Most Valuable Scientific Potential in The Textile Research Activity 709
North-Western Europe -16%, followed by the South Post secondary 40,75 48,54 11,4 11,56
countries - 5% and Eastern countries -5.4%. schools, of which in
According to studies elaborated by the light industry 0,164 0,239 0,077 0,01
EURATEX, the number of people with specialized Foremen schools, of 4,534 6,319 1,172 1,339
higher education necessary for the European T & C which in the light
industry in future years is estimated at approx. 330,000 industry 0,054 0,136 0,029 -
employees, which demonstrates the urgent need to Students Graduates
increase the specialized activity and specialty Technical higher 178,2 188,6 24,75 23,94
professional training. education
In terms of the skills needed for the T & C Specialty higher 0,959 0,659 0,524 0,255
education
staff, these are considered most important: research Note: the students attended the day courses of the state
activity, entrepreneurial knowledge, IT skills, universities. The private universities have no specialties in the light
leadership, communication and foreign languages industry.
skills. Table 2
Foremen 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
schools / / / / / /
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Pupils 106 47 29 29 54 136
(persons)
Graduate 37 45 - 29 - -
s
(persons)
It is revealed that in 2008/2009 school year,
the number of pupils enrolled in specialized vocational
schools accounted for only 8.7% of the total students
who attend courses of this type; also the number of
those attending post-secondary specialized schools, as
well as those attending foremen schools represent only
Figure 1: Qualities required of graduates 2% of all the persons included in this type of
Comparative aspects regarding the structure of education. A comparative analysis of the percentage of
T&C personnel in Romania graduates / students enrolled, it is noted that the values
According to the Statistical Yearbook 2009, in are in all cases sub-unitary; in the 2008/2009 school
2008 the staff in the production activity represented year there were no graduates of schools for foremen in
87% of all the personnel in the textile industry, of the field. The lack of young personnel with technical
which approx. 68% having attended intermediate production training negatively affects the
education, and 32% higher education, the specialty competitiveness of the sector. In terms of the number
technical domain being predominant. The same of students enrolled in higher specialty education, the
indicators, reported for the manufacturing clothing situation is not much different, so only 0.35% of
industry, registered in 2008 the level of 88.6% students from technical higher education faculties
personnel in the manufacturing activity, of which 75% attend the faculties in the filed; in 2008/2009 academic
having intermediate education and 25% with higher year, only approx. one third of the enrolled students
education, the specialized technical training have graduated.
representing only about 50%. It is thus revealed that These statistics data highlight the urgent need
both textile and clothing industry have a lack of to develop training tools and human resource from the
personnel with higher education and specialized post- textile and clothing domain in order to develop
university studies (PhD, candidates for a doctor’s practical skills for increasing the access to modern
degree, MA). An alarming situation at national level is education and training.
observed from the comparative analysis of the number Government policies to support human resource
of graduates in comparison to the number of pupils / development
students from specialized pre-university/university According to the National Strategy, in the
education (Table 1) post-accession period, the aim of RDI policies is
Table 1 mainly the human capital and material basis
Type of education Pupils Graduates development in order to achieve the critical mass and
(thousand (thousand pers) the necessary facilities able to provide an increased
pers.) contribution of the domain to economic
2007/ 2008/ 2007/ 2008/ competitiveness increasing, and to its connection to the
2008 2009 2008 2009 European research area. Generally, the Romanian
Industrial schools, of 211, 3 181,0 130,8 110,6
research system is under reformation and
which in
the light industry 21,08 15,75 14,42 10,89 reconstruction of the capacities for research, being able
to understand the human, material and especially
institutional capabilities.
710 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
The increasing of the efficiency and research activity, in postdoctoral activity, the
effectiveness of research-development is inextricably adaptation, orientation and correlation of the
linked by the ensuring of a high qualification and curriculum content with the requirements of the
professional probity personnel. To achieve this goal, economic environment, considering the major
The National Agency for Scientific Research problems of the society: sustainable development,
constantly seeks for the growth of human resource quality assurance, sectorial, rural, regional
quality and quantity from the RD system. As a result of development
policies promoted in this purpose, the following The performance indicators of the research
indicators were obtained: activity from the textile-clothing industry demonstrate
- 4.89 research personnel/1,000 employees, as the efforts and actions taken to strengthen the sector's
compared to an average of approx. 13.80 at the position on the Romanian and European research
EU -27 level (2006); market:
- 3.52 researchers/1,000 employees (2007), as - there was a total of 50 RD projects in the period
compared to an average of approx. 5.6 at the EU- 2006-2008 as part of the National R&D Plan and over
27 level (2006), 10.7 in Japan and 9.3, 30 in the European research programs: FP6, FP7,
respectively in the U.S.A. Leonardo da Vinci, Bilateral Cooperation, COST
At the end of 2008, it was revealed a majority share of Action etc.
about 44% of researchers in technical sciences and - a total of over 70 patent applications were recorded;
engineering (in the textile-clothing and leather- - there were achieved remarkable results at
footwear industry, the number of researchers was 100), international Exhibitions of Inventions: 2 OMPI
which is a favorable prerequisite for sustaining the awards, 17 gold medals, 20 silver medals, special
process for a faster introduction of advanced awards;
technologies in the economic sectors. - there were organized over 50 scientific and
The participation in European research exhibition meetings: conferences, symposia, profile
projects within FP7 is an extremely important objective fairs, with the participation of the economic agents in
for the textile research activity in Romania and EU. the sector, business environment, research
Approx. 83.7% of the European companies in the field environment, professional, government associations;
participate in research projects consortia financed from - there are highlighted specialty publications with
European funds. For Romania, this indicator is at a tradition: Industria Textila magazine- CERTEX
lower level (10%), requiring further actions to Publishing House, ISI Thomson rated since 2007.
stimulate the participation of the Romanian companies
in the research activity, carried out at national and Conclusion
European level. The European textile and clothing industry has a long
The evaluation indicators of the RDI systems tradition as regards the management in innovation,
of Romania, according to the National Plan, obtained fashion and creativity and continues to represent one of
during 2007/2008 are listed in the table below: the main industrial sectors of the European economy.
Table 3
In 2009, as a result of the financial and economic crisis
Crt. Indicator MU 2007- effects, the textile industry from EU and Romania
No. 2008 registered negative indicators in the majority of sub-
1 Scientific papers published number/year 2065 domains, which requires action directions able to lead
in ISI-WoSci rated to the overcoming of the economic crisis effects.
magazines The strengthening of efforts for human
2 Romanian magazines number 54 resource training represents one of the priority
which are ISI rated objectives. In this sense, the government policies
3 National patents submitted number 54 which support human resource development aim at the
4 International patents number 6 development of human capital and material basis for
submitted
research, in order to achieve the critical mass and
5 Number of transferable number/year 307
products
necessary facilities able to ensure an improved
6 Participation in thousand 159 contribution to the increasing of the economic
international RD projects Euro competitiveness.
7 Number of doctors in number 399 INCDTP contributes by the activity it carries
sciences out to the human capital development from the RDI
8 Number of SMEs which number 642 system and economic environment in the field, being a
successfully accessed dynamic actor at the national and European level.
funds by the National Plan References
9 Number of scientific parks number 4 18. The Ministry of Education, Research and Innovation,, The
National Agency for Scientific Research, (2009), “Governmental
INCDTP involves in projects which have themes policies for RDI in Romania”, year IV, no.1 Bucharest., pages 18, 20
19. Walter, L., Chen, H. (2008), “Industry Survey on Higher
focused on the development of institutional, Education”, Seminar on Higher Textile Education, Brussels
organizational framework which shall ensure the 20. Statistic Yearbook 2009
increasing of the involvement of T&C specialists in the
A SOCIOCULTURAL-HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON ENTREPRENEURIAL
LEARNING: THE CASE OF A NOVICE ENTREPRENEUR
Michael WILKINSON1
1
Kellogg College, University of Oxford, UK, cyril.wilkinson@kellogg.ox.ac.uk
1.INTRODUCTION to target support. Proposed actions were refined further
in Commission Communication “Fostering
On 25 May 2004, Erkki Liikanen (then the Entrepreneurial Mindsets through Education and
Member of the European Commission responsible for Training” (COM (2006) 33 final).
Enterprise and the Information Society) speaking at an
extraordinary meeting with the Employers’ Group of 2. THE KEY PROBLEM
the European Economic and Social Committee held in
Brussels said: “As you know, entrepreneurship and How well European Union states are rising to
small businesses are – particularly for the European the educational and training challenges of the Charter
economy – a key source of jobs, business dynamism may be judged by referring to Good Practice reports
and innovation. Some 25 million SMEs in Europe published by the Commission. While this research
provide more than two-thirds of total jobs in the private does not aim to thoroughly evaluate these reports they
sector. This means SMEs employ more than 100 are thought to provide some indication of progress at
million people. Our most dynamic SMEs account for least in the view of the Commission. Taking as an
around 80% of new jobs created … building a culture example, the 2008 Good Practice report described ten
of entrepreneurship cannot be achieved overnight. initiatives, it is said, worthy of particular note. Two
Our recent and forthcoming initiatives signify the start offer formal training in creating business plans and
of an invigorated programme of work for another promotes University start-ups. One combines
entrepreneurship and competitiveness.” (Enterprise the training of teachers in entrepreneurship with
Connections, 2004). Liikanen’s statement was made in presentations to students and the award of “start-up
the context of the European Charter for Small scholarships”. Two offer young enterprise
Enterprises. This initiative emerged from the programmes. Four offer formal courses in school-to-
European Council Meeting held in Lisbon in 2000, work transition. If these projects are typical they
which declared entrepreneurship to be a crucial highlight an emergent problem. The main intention of
element in achieving Europe’s desire to become, within this part of the Charter is to secure a wider circulation
a decade, the most competitive and dynamic of entrepreneurial knowledge to develop entrepreneurs,
knowledge-based economy in the world. that is, to promote their entrepreneurial learning.
The Charter was approved by EU leaders at In specifying the form an entrepreneurial
the Feira European Council on 19-20 June 2000. In its learning curriculum might take, the Commission insists
first key line of action, the Charter enjoins Member that: “national and regional authorities can arrange
States and the Commission to support education and awareness campaigns, offer training material, organize
training for entrepreneurship (Commission of the training modules for teachers and, together with
European Communities, 2000). This aspiration has business organizations, involve entrepreneurs in
been given detailed expression first in a Green Paper teaching programmes.” (COM [2004] 70 final p8).
“Entrepreneurship in Europe” (Commission of the Precisely what these learning materials might
European Communities, 2003), with its associated be, these campaigns and modules contain, and
programme of wide consultation, and second in an practicing entrepreneurs contribute, is only gradually
Action Plan issued by the Commission on 11 February becoming apparent. In summary, from Good Practice
2004 (COM [2004] 70 final). reports it seems that most of the formal learning
Each year, since 2006 under the Lisbon interventions offered concern the learning of business
Reporting regime, a Statement of Good Practice among skills. Important for anyone contemplating a business
member states has been published. Two of the five career, these skills are not, of course, uniquely
strategic policy areas addressed in the Action Plan entrepreneurial in character. Much of the informal
concern entrepreneurial entry and the education and learning centers on the supposed reflective practice that
training of entrepreneurs.“Fuelling entrepreneurial occurs when people watch others and copy what they
mindsets” envisages ensuring “high quality do or when they themselves have a simulated
entrepreneurship education for pupils throughout the experience. Again, it is far from clear what the
EU” (COM [2004] 70 final p8). It proposes to entrepreneurial content of these watch-and-learn and
benchmark student enterprises, presenting case studies simulation strategies might be. Over the last two
and evaluations of good practice. Further, it intends decades the focus of entrepreneurship inquiry has
“to insure that all pupils leaving the educational system moved away from specifying the characteristics, traits
have had access to entrepreneurship courses” and that and functions of the archetypal entrepreneur to a more
entrepreneurship is integrated into all school curricula. fruitful consideration of the entrepreneurial process
The Commission will use its experience in these (Bygrave & Hofer, 1991; Outcalt, 2000; Shane &
respects to determine future educational objectives and Venkataraman, 2000; Jackson et al, 2001). At the
712 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
centre of this process is learning. This is where the learning theory generally. It means that hitherto
key problem for the European Commission’s venture intractable problems confronting attempts to reconcile
in entrepreneurial education and training arises. We behaviourist and cognitive perspectives may be abated.
simply do not know why and how entrepreneurs learn. Interestingly, some eighty five years ago Vygotsky was
What is more, entrepreneurship research stands apart similarly motivated (see Vygotsky, 1998). Disquieted
from contemporary learning theory with the in his own day by the fragmented state of psychology,
consequence that an answer to these crucial questions he developed a sociocultural-historical theory of
seems unlikely any time soon. human mental functioning that synthesised and
augmented existing descriptions. In doing so he was,
3.RELEVANT LEARNING THEORY for example, able to reconcile phylogenetic evidence
within an ontogenetic modelling – an achievement
The literature of learning is replete with a vast which overcame narrowly conceived behavioural and
array of theories purporting to explain and predict cognitivist preoccupations of the time (Wertsch, 1985).
learning behavior (see, for example, Kearsley, 2009). In brief, Vygotsky’s view was that learning
While indicative of the centuries-old struggle to processes are socioculturally and historically mediated
understand the nature of learning, such lists do not help through a range of psychological tools, including other
the researcher to locate entrepreneurial learning in a human beings, and that our learning predicament is a
distinctive tradition. Indeed, this theoretical transitional process towards fulfilling our potentials.
abundance and its attendant overlaps, repetitions and It is a process producing outcomes as actions
contradictions present major challenges for the observable by behaviourists while simultaneously
researcher. allowing human beings to master their own natural
A promising attempt at synthesis is afforded psychological functions of perception, memory and
by Greeno & Moore (1993) and by Greeno et al attention (Kozulin, 1999; Kozulin, Gindis, Ageyev &
(1996). These authors identify two hitherto Miller, 2003). It is not possible to do further justice to
dominating approaches to the study of learning: the Vygotskian and post-Vygotskian learning theory in
behaviourist/ empiricist approach and the such a short paper as this. Stetsenko & Arievitch
cognitive/rationalist approach. For different reasons, (2004), for example, provide, inter alia, a useful
they find both turns seriously wanting. It is noted that summary of Vygotsky’s work as this has developed
behaviourists traditionally rely on the principal that all into its emergent form as Cultural-historical Activity
we can know of human processes, including learning Theory (CHAT). At the heart of CHAT is ‘the
processes, is what we can deduce from observing dialectical unity of intersubjective and intrasubjective
human actions. A key problem with this view is that processes as being rooted in material processes of
human behaviours may, or may not, reflect intentions production and as playing an indispensible practical
and it ignores human abilities to talk back, change role in collective social life and human development’
mind and lie. What we see people do is not necessarily (Stetsenko & Arievitch, 2004, p 498).
an indicator of the mental processes they have 4. RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY
followed. Cognitivists, in contrast, hold that we can The paper reports briefly the outline of an
only understand the intentions leading to human inquiry into how and why people choose to act
actions by studying what happens for the human being entrepreneurially and why and how they learn to be
mentally. This focus on internal mental processes entrepreneurial. The wider project of which this is
suffers, for the present, from our limited understanding only a small part seeks to answer these questions with
about how biological causes might lead to respect to novice entrepreneurs, those who have
psychological effects. This may not be an irredeemable already achieved some entrepreneurial success and
flaw since, at least theoretically, it may yet be possible those who are publically recognized as virtuosi
to understand how the biological functions of the (experts)9. By way of illustration, the critical case of
human brain produce psychological consequences. one novice, Steven, is reported here. The research
However, even if this can be achieved, the cognitivist design employed is that of a restricted ethnography by
approach will still tend to maintain the false Cartesian case study over a nine month period (April – December
dichotomy that is the separation of mind and body 2004) capturing a corpus of understanding about a
considerations. novice’s entrepreneurial learning consisting of four
Grenno & Moore (1993) and Greeno et al data sets of written, spoken, observed and reflexive
(1996) think that the situative perspective can come to texts. Qualitative analyses proceeded according to the
provide a synthesis of behaviourist and cognitivist standards specified, inter alia, by Brown & McIntyre
analyses. While the former perspective studies (1993, pp 51-53). These constitute evidential
processes of activity though ignoring their content, and narratives of the values and power relationships at play
the latter studies the content of activities tending to
neglect processes that transform contents, other than 9
Following Flyvbjerg (2000, p 171, note 11), Bourdieu’s term “virtuoso” is
those of individual agents, a situated view can supply preferred to the Dreyfus & Dreyfus term “expert” since the latter is redolent of
an analytic-rational decision making characteristic of low-level, rule-based
missing evidence thereby linking the two in a unified stages of learning. (Bourdieu, 1977; Dreyfus & Dreyfus, 1986). Bourdieu’s
and extended framework. This insight is important for use of “virtuoso”, in contrast, goes far beyond such constraints, and processes
of attainment are far different.
A Sociocultural-Historical Perspective on Entrepreneurial Learning: The Case of A Novice Entrepreneur 713
in a novice’s learning to act entrepreneurially. Steven starts of his schooling, he has achieved creditable
was chosen as a subject for research because of his results in formal assessments and now holds a post-
novice status and because he suffers from dyslexia: a graduate qualification relevant to his chosen calling.
condition that might be thought to limit his learning How does Steven learn to act as an entrepreneur and
capabilities. In these terms he appears to represent a where is his learning going?
critical case. While other narratives of entrepreneurial Steven’s learning appears to be situated in the
learning have been offered, (e.g. Rae, 2005; Rae & context of his daily experiences strongly mediated by
Carswell, 2000, 2001; Cope & Watts, 2000; Cope, his personal inheritances and current practice: “I think
2003(a) & (b), 2005) this research is important as the its important to learn from the past … got to learn the
first phronetic10 study of the phenomenon. past to see the future … I look at friends and think I
Consequently it is the first attempt, outside the limits of knew you two years ago and now you are here, what
“normal” epistemic science (as the term is used by happened [in those intervening years] there must have
Kuhn, 1996, p 10) to focus on the ethics of the been a mode, a direction you chose …for me I’ve
entrepreneurial learning situation. It is claimed that always looked at my past, its motivation, of where you
such an approach affords insights into entrepreneurial want to go … some say it’s a negative I say it’s a
learning hitherto unrevealed by, and probably positive even if you’ve got a negative experience in
incapable of disclosure through, epistemic or technical your life you got to make it a positive… I think you’ve
inquiries. Such is the power of the particular, a got to understand what went wrong to turn it around to
phronetic social science demands and produces, that make it work next time. It might be some thing small
significant fresh knowledge is provided of value for that’s happened it might be that little small thing that
practitioner development, pedagogic interventions and will trigger something in the future … [does the future
policy making at the micro and macro levels11. repeat the past] yeh, I suppose so yer got ter it might be
5. KEY RESULTS & ANALYSIS something relevant, something he said and you might
The qualitative methodology employed in this say if I go that route again I’d be screwed and what
research necessitates the disclosure and critical analysis might I have done looking back then I don’t do that
of texts. Inevitably, the page length limit imposed by again I go this way and change my mistake”.
Seminar organizers does not permit an adequate Steven’s learning is strongly informed
reporting of the results and analysis phase of the by instrumental concerns:“it’s getting people to say
research12. In place of the usual disclosure of results how they will do it, it needs to be practical, the
and analyses I have, therefore, been obliged to restrict practical will aid them to be entrepreneurial…”…
myself to the principal findings of the inquiry. classroom learning isn’t that important”.
At the time of data collection Steven, a 22 Steven’s learning strategy is often by trial and
year old Englishman, was operating a series of internet error. . “Learning by trial … you learn by trial and
based business ventures called DWOT Enterprises. error … why did I make a mistake … [I analyse]”
His biography reveals a young life beset from the start “…. I learn by error but if I look at it [differently] I can
by physical danger, and by learning incapacities partly avoid that error…”.
traceable to the dislocating effects of prolonged 6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
hospitalization (to correct congenital heart problems) For Steven, this research identifies three main
and partly, perhaps, from the late diagnosis and learning characteristics. His learning is situational, it is
treatment of dyslexia. Ameliorated in some respects instrumental and it proceeds through trial and error.
by his membership of a caring family with close Steven learns environmentally, that is he
parental and sibling ties, and by good friends, these draws information/ knowledge from his physical,
critical features continue to dominate much of Steven’s social and psychological contexts. These information
thinking and behaviour. On first acquaintance Steven flows are located across wide dimensions of space
presents as a focused and strongly committed person, time. He not only relies on information/ knowledge
forthright but rather opinionated with a touch of from the now of his current predicament but also from
arrogance. He rejects formal teaching, and many his inheritances personally (his own ancestors) and
teachers because of, as he sees it, a lifetime of bad culturally (socially received and transmitted
educational experiences. Yet, and despite the fits and knowledge). This is not to suggest that the flow of
information is one way. On the contrary, learning
10
environmentally is accompanied by internalizations
A phronetic social science derives from Aristotle’s intellectual virtues
(Aristotle, 1953/2004), where, in contradistinction to the virtues of epistemé
that, when Steven acts upon these understandings,
and techné, a science is practiced which is ‘deliberative about values with themselves produce environmental changes. Stetsenko
reference to praxis. It is ‘pragmatic, variable, context-dependent and & Arievitch (2004) capture the essential Vygotskian
orientated towards action’. It is also ‘based on practical value-rationality’
(Flyvbjerg, 2001, p 57). A phronetic social science also focuses on the point in this observation. They say ‘by explicating the
particular of which a critical case study is an exemplar.
11
principal ontological unity of inter-individual and intra-
Such policy decisions are made both at the macro-level of economic
management and at the micro-level of the firm. In this research, unless individual processes as being mutually dependent poles
otherwise stated, references to policy making and policy makers refer to on the continuum of purposeful transformative practice
decision taking at the macro-levels of local, national and international interest.
12
This is not a casual observation, nor is it a plea to allow an unnecessarily
and as both having a specific place and role within this
prolonged discussion. It goes to the heart of what a qualitative methodology is practice…’ we can perhaps avoid the false Cartesian
about and makes adequate reporting impossible.
714 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010
dichotomies that have hitherto permeated our 8. Commission of the European Communities, (2006),
“Communication: Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets through
understanding of learning processes. Though not a new
Education and Training” COM (2006) 33 Final
view, we have here the possibility of completing the 9. Cope JP (2003a) “Towards a Dynamic Learning
Hegelian cycle from the thesis of behaviourism and the Perspective of Entrepreneurship” (Lancaster University
antithesis of cognitivism to the synthesis of a Management School Working Paper – LUMSWP 2003/079)
republished (2005) at Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice (Vol. 29,
sociocultural-historical learning practice.
Iss. 4) (pp 373 – 397)
Steven’s instrumental learning seems 10. Cope JP (2003b) “Entrepreneurial Learning and Critical
consistent with his individuality, his entrepreneurial Reflection: Discontinuous Events as Triggers for ‘Higher-level’
self. He has learned to value particularly those things Learning” Management Learning (December) (pp429 – 450)
11. Cope, JP & Watts, G (2000) “Learning By Doing – An
that supply the means to achieving something else.
Exploration of Experience, Critical Incidents, and Reflection in
We can explain this practice in Vygotskian terms by Entrepreneurial Learning” International Journal of Entrepreneurial
recognizing that Steven values the meditational artifact Behaviour & Research, (Vol 6 Iss 3) (pp104-118).
because of its potential for directly linking him, the 12. Dreyfus, HL & Dreyfus, SE (1986) Mind Over Machine,
the Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of
subject, to the objective outcome he seeks. Indeed, he
the Computer (Oxford: Basil Blackwell)
may value the mediating artifact higher than the object 13. Enterprise Connections (2004) “Liikanen Gust of
because, as an entrepreneur he sees it as the means to Honour” Enterprise Connections: Newsletter of the EESC
recombinations that can produce new outcomes. For Employers Group (Brussels) No 10 (june) (p 1)
14. Flyvbjerg, B (2001) Making Social Science Matter
the entrepreneur getting the result and quickly moving
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
on to the next opportunity to recombine demands 15. Greeno, JG, Collins, AM & Resnick, LB (1996)
placing a higher value on the means to do so. “Cognition and Learning” Chapter 2 in Berliner, DC & Calfee, RC
A great deal could be written about Steven’s (Eds) Handbook of Educational Psychology (New York: Simon &
Schuster-Macmillan)
tendency to learn by trial and error. Though widely
16. Greeno, JG & Moore, JL (1993) “Situativity and
practiced by entrepreneurs, acting by trial and error is a Symbols: Response to Vera & Simon”Cognitive Science, 17, pp49-60
chance thing from which we can merely learn the 17. Jackson, WT, Gaster, W & Gaulden, C (2001) “The
randomness of outcomes. Continuing Saga of Searching for the Entrepreneur: A
Historical Perspective” (Texas: University of Texas published at
The importance of this work stems from our
http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/Research/2001/ASBE/55asbe01.htm
current ignorance about the process allied with our extracted 25/11/2002
preparedness to spend considerable sums on learning 18. Kearsley, G (2009) “Explorations in Learning and
interventions for which we have no satisfactory basis Instruction: The Theory Into Practice Database at
http://tip.psychology.org/index.html (last downloaded 23/04/2010)
for believing that they can succeed. This case, together
19. Kozulin, A (1999) Vygotsky’s Psychology: A Biography of
with others reported in the wider research, provides Ideas (Boston,MA: Harvard University Press)
valuable evidence of why and how entrepreneurs 20. Kozulin, A., Gindis, B., Ageyev, V. S., & Miller, S. M.
learn at different stages in their development. It is the (Eds.). (2003). Vygotsky's Educational Theory in Cultural Context.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
first time a sociocultural - historical interpretation of
21. Kuhn,T (1996) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
entrepreneurial learning has been offered. (Chicago: Chicago University Press)
At present entrepreneurs proceed like those 22. Outcalt C (2000) “The Notion of Entrepreneurship:
Historical and Emerging Issues”, Digest (No 00-4 CELCEE
mechanically gifted steam locomotive engineers of the
Kaufman Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership), September
nineteenth century. Without any adequate theory about 23. Rae, D (2005) “Entrepreneurial Learning: A Narrative-
heat cycles, still less scientifically gathered data, they based Conceptual Model” Journal of Small Business and Enterprise
forged ahead by trial and error to produce a viable Development (Vol. 12, No. 3) (pp 323 – 335)
24. Rae, D & Carswell, M (2000) “Using a Life-story
engine. Now that we understand heat cycles
Approach in Researching Entrepreneurial Learning: the
theoretically and empirically we can produce far better Development of a Conceptual Model and its Implications in the
engines. Once we understand entrepreneurial learning Design of Learning Experiences” Education & Training (Vol. 42 No.
theoretically and empirically how much better our 4/5) (pp 220 – 227)
25. Rae, D & Carswell, M (2001) “Towards a Conceptual
practice will be.
Understanding of Entrepreneurial Learning” Journal of Small
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[2004] 70 final
Index 715
Index
Butilcă D., 147
Buzdugan M.-I., 531
A
Abrudan M.-M., 167 C
Agoston S., 3
Aivaz K., 439 Calcan G., 63
Akkasoglu G., 375 Candea D., 339
Albu A., 7 Candea R. M., 339
Albu C., 489 Capatina A., 235
Albu D., 7 Caraiane A., 11
Albu E., 331 Cătană E. L., 67
Albulescu C., 699 Cepturean E., 627
Amariei C., 11 Ceptureanu E., 627
Anagnoste S., 3 Chiorean L., 487
Anastasiu A., 15 Chirugu M., 351, 501
Anastasiu L., 15, 413, 543 Cicea C., 471
Andronic B. C., 363 Cicortas A., 397
Antonoaie D.-C., 515 Ciobanu R. M., 71
Antonoaie N., 515 Ciobotaru D., 371
Ariton D., 381 Ciora C., 687
Ariton V., 381 Ciplea S., 15
Arsenie P., 423 Ciuhureanu A., 535
Ateșoae R., 643 Cobzaru A., 509
Avasilcăi S., 19, 23, 47, 483, 575, 579 Coconu N. C., 271
Comaniciu C., 551
Condurache G., 71, 483
B Constantinescu D., 75
Bacali L., 23 Constantinescu R., 75
Bacali L., 19, 47 Conţiu L. C., 691, 695
Bacanu B., 27 Corăbieru A., 539
Baciu C., 31 Corăbieru P., 539
Badea V., 11 Corodeanu Agheorghiesei D. T., 231
Badileanu M., 687 Corodeanu Agheorghiesei D-T., 79
Baias F., 405 Costescu I. A., 83, 87
Balan C., 443 Costin M., 543
Baltes N., 535 Cotoi E., 67
Barsan E., 423 Covrig M., 123
Baruch Y., 55, 393 Cozminca I., 159
Batrinca G., 35 Crețu I., 91
Băleanu V., 39 Cristache N., 95, 183
Beju L. D., 655 Cristache S. E., 151
Beju L. D., 389 Crişan A., 401
Belu M. G., 651 Crişan E., 147
Benta D., 675 Crişan L., 401
Berariu C., 475 Curaj A., 99
Bertea A., 43 Curtu I., 103, 405
Bertea A-P., 43
Boarescu G., 519 D
Bocănete O. I., 135
Bodea A., 19, 23, 47 Dadarlat A. M., 107
Boier R., 385 Dadarlat D. A., 107
Bondrea I., 523 Damian R. M., 111
Bordean I., 367 Dan M. A., 135
Borza S., 523 Danalache F., 659
Borzea A., 431 Daraban C., 591
Botezat A., 443 De Almeida N. N., 291
Brindasu P. D., 389, 655 Dimofte I., 547
Bucur A., 251 Dobre E., 551
Bucuroiu R., 279 Dobre M. M., 551
Bugaian L., 51, 527 Dobrin C., 471
Bui H. T. M., 55, 393 Dobriţă A., 279
Bunea-Bontas C. A., 59 Dogaru T., 555
Burdușel E. N., 251 Domşa J., 409, 413
716 The 6th International Seminar Quality Management in Higher Education – QMHE2010