Research Challenges for eLearning Support in Engineering and Management Training

AbstractThis paper analyzes the need for advanced/innovative eLearning type of products intended for lifelong learning and teaching in the engineering and management field. This field is relatively new in Romania and needs modern educational techniques in order to improve the efficiency and quality of graduates for a fast integration in the labour market. The objective of eLearning is to train human resources for education and to raise the quality of student training which will lead to the rise of hiring potential and workplace integration. This raises many challenges and requires studies of national and international interest, training research methodology, and laboratory connections to research centres and networks

Intercultural Education for Creative Entrepreneurship

Intercultural education is specific to the multicultural environment in Europe. The European focus on intercultural education is reflected in the documents, reports and measures taken through various financially supported projects. This article presents a research on the characterization of entrepreneurial potential in the case of an intercultural group of Romanian and Serbian trainees who became the target of a cross-border project between Romania and Serbia. The project, of which the designed Creative Entrepreneurship Training Program is part of, is entitled ‘InclusiveArt – Access to Culture for Disadvantaged Children and Youth.’ It implies a dynamic partnership formed by two NGOs (the Intercultural Institute Timisoara and ‘Nevo Parudimos,’ from Resita), one local public authority (the city of Zrenjanin) and one public cultural institution (the Centre for Fine and Applied Arts Terra, Kikinda). The proposed Creative Entrepreneurship Training Program (created in English) plans to help young potential entrepreneurs from the Banat Area in order to develop disadvantaged communities, by establishing commercially viable (self-sustaining) projects/businesses, based on a creative idea, as well as through the provision of a six-day training course for a group of 40 people aged 18 to 35. The training is delivered by a team of academics and training professionals from the Politehnica University Timisoara and the Intercultural Institute Timisoara, both from Romania. The proposed intercultural education program associated with the project implementation aims to the development of entrepreneurship competencies of young people that will be active in creative industries. The potential entrepreneurship characterization considered entrepreneurial traits, such as concerns, motivations, aptitudes and attitudes, as a result of data processing from a self-assessment test. The research results and conclusions support the definition of the structure, content and the didactic strategy adopted for the intercultural education program implementation

BARRIERS FOR ONLINE AND OFFLINE CORPORATE COMMUNICATION. CASE STUDY: ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION IN TIMISOARA

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The research questions of the present study are: "how can we transmit information from a source to the destination with a minimum of distortions and errors in an organization?" and "how can communication fight against changes and problems in an organization?" The topic is relevant in the pandemic context, where significant changes in organizational communication have been implemented. </p><p><strong>Methodology:</strong> For answering the two research questions, a Grounded Theory approach has been chosen. In the initial phase 15 semi-structured interviews have been implemented on an heterogenous group of employees form the private sector in the Western part of Romania, with a minimum work experience of at least three years. The open coding process with constant comparison of information determined interrelated categories. In the end, based on literature argumentation, the final theoretical model regarding the elements of corporate communication barriers has been delineated.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong> The main findings are: formal communication is considered a communication barrier because it assigns different "tags" to employees in a company. Also, online communication is considered beneficial if offline communication exists. Many respondents believe that communication during the pandemic period made it difficult to understand the message due to a lack of non-verbal communication and active listening.</p><p><strong>Research limitations:</strong> Interviews were only given by employees in large companies (corporations) because in small and medium-sized companies we cannot outline the topic of research.  The limited number of interviews of employees situated in the Western part of Romania limits the generalization of results for other regions. Further studies will focus on larger samples of employees from all the regions of Romania and even abroad. </p><p><strong>Practical implication:</strong> With the help of the qualitative research undertaken, the main communication barriers in large organizations during the COVID pandemic have been emphasized, being a starting point for designing new corporate strategies  to systematicaly eliminate them. </p><p><strong>Originality:</strong> There are no qualitative studies on this topic carried out in the Western part of Romania. The proposed theoretical model represents the basis for efficient corporate communication post COVID decision making and strategic thinking.</p&gt

Surveying workers perceptions in the automotive industry - a preventive tool for monitoring OSH measures

In an efficient OSH management system, it is necessary to approach continuous improvement, being recommended the PDCA system (Plan Do Check Act). In Romania, there is well-developed legislation, who establishes measures and actions in the field of OSH. The companies comply by creating an implementation plan, but most of them remain at this stage, without verifying the degree of implementation, with adaptation/updating of the measures. In this paper, we highlight some reference elements that can be periodically probed, so that the OSH management system can have a prompt and justified improvement reaction. The mode of obtaining this information regarding the implemented measures can be achieved through a periodic questionnaire that diagnoses two relevant aspects: 1. workers’ perceptions - which assess the implementation method; 2. the consequences/accidents - that assess the efficiency of the measures and their application/implementation. The two key elements (perception and consequences) will be used by the questionnaire responding workers after the implementation stage. The profile of these respondents is considered, and depending on their age, function, and level of education, the new applicable measures can be dimensioned. Only through continuous, monitored, and adapted improvement can the most effective measures be implemented, so that prevention fulfils its fundamental purpose, to contribute to the predictability and sustainability of an efficient automotive enterprise