Socially responsible behaviour – another approach in the assessment of the performance of the sustainable company

During the last decade, the business community ends especially the companies that activate in the fields responsible for the degradation of the environment, are seen as subjects whose main role is to ensure sustainable development. A company is defined as sustainable if it is socially responsible. Internationalization and the increased business environment complexity in this century justify the international researchers’ orientation to an integrated approach to performance (from an economic, social, environmental point of view), using criteria related to the long term direction of the company and evolved future-oriented models. Social responsibility has become a new landmark in assessing a company’s performance. This paper is the result of a process of investigation, of an analysis of the present framework, and of a bibliographical synthesis in the field of social responsibility and environmental ethics, the criteria for measuring performance in the practice of Romanian entities, in correlation with the evolution of the business environment and to the openness towards global economy. In order to point out the degree of responsibility of Romanian enterprises, regarding the actions for the protection of the environment, we have drawn an empirical analysis on a representative sample of Romanian companies.business community, business environment, environment

Social Responsibility and Environmental Ethics - Elements of the Ecological Culture in 21st Century Organizations: A study on Romanian companies

During the last decade, the business community ends especially the companies that activate in the fields responsible for the degradation of the environment, are seen as subjects whose main role is to ensure sustainable development. They must face growing pressures from the stakeholders, who wish to know their position regarding sustainable development, in its three dimensions: economical development, that generates profits and jobs; social development, as a guarantee for the well-being and for the compliance to human rights; environmental development, which must ensure the preservation of natural resources and the ability of the ecosystem to absorb and tolerate pollution. A company is defined as sustainable if it is socially responsible. This paper is the result of a process of investigation, of an analysis of the present framework, and of a bibliographical synthesis in the field of social responsibility and environmental ethics. First of all, we have made a historical incursion in the problematic of social responsibility of companies, and then we have mentioned the most important challenges that justify socially responsible behavior in today’s world. In order to point out the degree of responsibility of Romanian enterprises, regarding the actions for the protection of the environment, we have drawn an empirical analysis on a representative sample of Romanian companies.responsabilité sociale de l'entreprise; culture pro-responsabilité sociale

La Responsabilité Sociale et L'éthique Environnementale – Éléments de la Culture Écologique dans les Entreprises du XXIe Siècle : L’etude sur les entreprises roumaines

During the last decade, the business community ends especially the companies that activate in the fields responsible for the degradation of the environment, are seen as subjects whose main role is to ensure sustainable development. They must face growing pressures from the stakeholders, who wish to know their position regarding sustainable development, in its three dimensions: economical development, that generates profits and jobs; social development, as a guarantee for the well-being and for the compliance to human rights; environmental development, which must ensure the preservation of natural resources and the ability of the ecosystem to absorb and tolerate pollution. A company is defined as sustainable if it is socially responsible. This paper is the result of a process of investigation, of an analysis of the present framework, and of a bibliographical synthesis in the field of social responsibility and environmental ethics. First of all, we have made a historical incursion in the problematic of social responsibility of companies, and then we have mentioned the most important challenges that justify socially responsible behavior in today’s world. In order to point out the degree of responsibility of Romanian enterprises, regarding the actions for the protection of the environment, we have drawn an empirical analysis on a representative sample of Romanian companies

La Responsabilité Sociale et L'éthique Environnementale – Éléments de la Culture Écologique dans les Entreprises du XXIe Siècle : L’etude sur les entreprises roumaines

During the last decade, the business community ends especially the companies that activate in the fields responsible for the degradation of the environment, are seen as subjects whose main role is to ensure sustainable development. They must face growing pressures from the stakeholders, who wish to know their position regarding sustainable development, in its three dimensions: economical development, that generates profits and jobs; social development, as a guarantee for the well-being and for the compliance to human rights; environmental development, which must ensure the preservation of natural resources and the ability of the ecosystem to absorb and tolerate pollution. A company is defined as sustainable if it is socially responsible. This paper is the result of a process of investigation, of an analysis of the present framework, and of a bibliographical synthesis in the field of social responsibility and environmental ethics. First of all, we have made a historical incursion in the problematic of social responsibility of companies, and then we have mentioned the most important challenges that justify socially responsible behavior in today’s world. In order to point out the degree of responsibility of Romanian enterprises, regarding the actions for the protection of the environment, we have drawn an empirical analysis on a representative sample of Romanian companies

The value - creating financial management

Nowadays, the creation of value represents a new creed for the managers of the great companies, in parallel with constituting a means for the estimation of their success in financial management activities. The paper aims at localizing the concept of the value creation within the modern financial theory, by discussing the origin of value creation for the shareholders, and the modalities of its quantification, by means of indices viewed as performance standards in financial management

Study on the cooperation in research - development – innovation activities in Romanian agriculture

The societal challenges in 2020 horizon are represented by food security, sustainable agriculture and bioeconomy. Romania, as member of European Union, has as objective the competitiveness development in agriculture area, through integration of innovation in business environment. Many research studies proved that the performance of innovation process is directly influenced by the cooperation between business environment, research organizations and other catalytic entities. The paper scope is to highlight the cooperation capacity in the innovation process in Romanian agriculture. The analysis carried out is based on finding answers to the following questions: Which is the level of research - development – innovation (RDI) cooperation in Romanian agriculture? Which are the opportunities for financing the cooperation projects in the 2014 – 2020 period? What is the interest of agricultural entrepreneurs to collaborate with research organizations? The research methodology was based on: documentary analysis, socio – economic investigation and multiple correspondence analysis. The results revealed the existence of a poorly developed network of cooperation between research envirnment and business in Romanian agriculture. The advantages of firms involved in these partnerships consist in access to high quality RDI services (eg. elaboration of soil studies with the latest equipment, by the partner research institutes), transfer of scientific information from the research environment, access to input suppliers networks and customers networks etc. Farmers specialized in different branches of agriculture have common interests in the production area, market and innovation. For example, their interest is to get the higher production in terms of quantity and quality, to charge a price increasingly better and to perform minimal consumption on inputs, with maximum effect in outputs. Cooperation between business and research organisations from agriculture has a very important place at the level of programs and funding measures which are promoted by the European Union. Thus, they stimulate by European funds the partnerships between various categories of economic actors in agriculture and related fields. In the future we believe that there is a high potential for cooperation in this economic field

Empirical study on the identification and analysis of a profile of the agricultural companies

In the current economic environment, marked by a strong instability of the markets, at the real flows and at the cash flows, by significant social changes and with major food price increases, the likelihood of a food crisis is looming more and more obvious. In this situation, in Romania, the agricultural sector can be the engine of economic recovery and the determinant factor in ensuring the food security for our people. In order to streamline this sector, neglected over the past decade, the essential condition is the correct and timely information to investors. They must be given the opportunity and the necessary instrumentation to know the profitability profile of agricultural companies in order to make the best financial decisions. Based on data collected in the agricultural sector companies, listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE), this study aims to identify and analyze a profitability profile (for the three types of return: return on assets, return on equity, return on turnover). In analyzing the profitability profile of the firms, the activity objects of agriculture were taken into account (animals breeding and plants crop), the membership of a particular region of the country and the financial structure chosen by specific values of the financial leverage. Moreover, the influence of these factors on the three types of returns examined was determined and estimated. The study was conducted based on a BSE survey-based of 42 listed companies, based on financial information reported for the financial year 2009. In order to obtain the research results, the data analysis methods used were the multiple correspondence factorial analysis (to obtain the profitability profile) and the linear regression analysis with alternative variables, of the Dummy type (to estimate the influence of the factors on the returns). Data were processed using the statistical tools SPSS 19.0 and SAS 9.2

Analysis of Economic Growth in Tourism Under the Impact of Terrorism and of the Waves of Refugees

Tourism is an extremely complex phenomenon marked by major factors like the terrorist attacks and the refugees’ invasion (the recent waves of migrants). This paper tests by empirical analyses if in the European Union countries, the gross domestic product in tourism reacts to the situations of crisis caused by the terrorist attacks and by the waves of refugees. The techniques used are σ and β convergence tests, combined with the deterministic sensitivity analysis. The sample consists of 26 European Union countries studied between 2000-2015 and 2000-2016, according to the available data. The results prove the prevalence of divergence, explicable by the existence of some countries, in the structure of the groups analysed, which have different contributions of gross domestic product in tourism to their overall economic growth. At the same time, a higher reaction of gross domestic product in tourism per capita is identified under the influence of the number of terrorism victims, compared to the incidence of the variation of the number of refugees. However, it cannot be stated that the two phenome n a lead to the general tendency of decrease of the gross domestic product in tourism per capita. On the contrary, there are occasional regressions of this indicator, which can be correlated only subsidiary with the crisis situations caused by terrorism and the waves of refugee

Empirical study on the solutions for rendering the activities of the Romanian agricultural companies more effective

The characteristics of the current economic environment, where the fight for profit becomes harsher by the day, determine the autochthonous agricultural companies to face significant pressures, generated by the global food market. This is the effect of the compromises made in accepting, both at the level of international legislation and at the level of the final consumer, of synthetic products and genetically modified cultures. Also, the strong specialization completed by the technological and technical “flexibility” of the international companies imposes on Romanian organizations competitive restrictions concerning the sale prices of the products. In this context, a dynamic adaptation of the business plans is necessary, as the competitive market does not allow any deviation from the correct dimensioning of the resources invested into the activity, from the cautious management of the operational activity or the optimum level of work productivity. The present study aims, based on a sample of 40 BSE quoted companies, to analyze the extent to which organizational performance is determined by the volume of the investments, by the size of the stocks, by the degree of integration of the economic cycle, and by the level of work productivity. The specificity of the activity is taken into account in the analysis, as it decisively influences the considered factors. The results of the study reveal a positive association of the degree of integration of the economic cycle with the net profit, while a high weight of the stocks in the total assets determines a decrease in it. Higher productive investments, together with an increase in work effectiveness, imply achieving superior economic benefits. In order to obtain the results of the research, the following tools have been used: the ratio analysis, the multiple correspondences factor analysis, and the multiple linear regression analysis with category variables (ANCOVA). The data were processed using SPSS 19.0 statistic software

Exploratory study of the analysis of the performance of stock exchange quoted companies, per activity fields

In order to support strategic decisions, current and potential investors as well as managers need pertinent information that would reflect a faithful image concerning the financial position and performance of the companies. In their analysis and evaluation, besides financial factors, it is necessary to consider non-financial factors as well. Therefore, the specificity of the activity fields of the companies influence a series of financial indicators, determining different results concerning their performance. The present study aims to analyze the financial performance according to the activity field (agriculture, industry, commerce, and services), quantified by criteria based on traditional financial indicators, respectively stock exchange criteria for the acknowledgement of the global performance by the participants to the capital market. The study also aims identify a performance profile of the companies, according to their activity field and to the performance criteria considered. The target population is represented by companies quoted in the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE). From it, a random sample was extracted of 100 quoted companies, activating in the field of agriculture, industry, commerce, and services, for the fiscal year 2011. The results of the research were obtained after applying the univariate analysis and the multiple correspondences factor analysis, using the SPSS 19.0 statistic software. The results show the existence of differences in what concerns the indicators of financial performance on activity fields. The characteristics of each activity field, as well as the risks corresponding to each of them, influence the traditional indicators, as well as the stock exchange indicators. Each field is characterized by certain performance indicators. Based on the results obtained through the performance profile of the companies according to their activity field, actual and potential investors, as well as the other categories of stakeholders, can make decisions without a complete fundamental analysis. Although the results are a useful means for the stakeholders, they must also take into account the limitations of the current study, which are determined by the degree of representativeness of the sample, respectively by the small number of companies in each of the four activity fields, quoted on the Romanian capital market. As a result of these limitations, future research directions concern the increase of the number of studied companies, by extending the analyzed period and taking into consideration other performance criteria as well, such as those focused on value creation, or related to the cash flow