Multinational Companies Responsibilities Regarding Consumers Safety

The present study refers to those multinational companies that develop their activities on the global market, and that must abide by the legal regulations and standards that refer to the product and service quality and safety with the purpose to be placed at the top of the preferences of the consumers from everywhere. The analysis of a multinational company belonging to the consumer goods industry, that multinational company that produces foodstuffs as well as non-foodstuffs, represents the case study by means it is intended to point to the complexity of the internal systems to assure and certify the own product quality and safety. The main instrument to collect data has been the interview; it is this way that relevant information for this study has been collected; further on, these information sets have been completed with information sets that have been taken over from different available internal documents. This was the way in which there has been noticed the means by which the multinational company has managed to introduce elements that are related to safety and quality even from the designing and production phases with the help of creativity and innovation since the latter two elements occupy an extremely important place if the company wishes to reach performance; there is more to it as these two elements are continuously granted attention in case of contracting third parties, and then, till the moment in which the products reach the clients and the consumers. With such a purpose in mind, communication is vital, be it about ingredients or about solving crisis since it is the company’s responsibility to strive to keep the good name that has been obtained by means of the own brands no matter where on the earth. The knowledge gathered from the analyzed company could help generate a complex mechanism for adapting to consumer requirements regarding their protection. This new mechanism would be useful for the management team on one side and on the other side, for the governmental and intergovernmental institutions with specific tasks for elaborating specific legislation.multinational companies, innovation, quality, safety, consumers, brands

FOOD QUALITY AND SAFETY: PRACTICES AND CONTRIBUTIONS BROUGHT BY THE CENTRE OF RESEARCH AND ALIMENTARY PRODUCT EXPERTISE

The Romanian School of the Science of Commodities is bringing its contribution to the present activity concerning the transition from the classical approach of the commodity research to the promotion of modern conceptions, which also include the quality assurance, taking into account all the commodities implications, on their whole value chain. The Centre for Research and Alimentary Product Expertise – ASE Bucharest, academic structure with a practical vocation, accredited C.N.C.S.I.S in 2001, represents the continuation of the tradition in a modern tackling of the researches, in order to provide specialized assistance to firms and agencies. The scientific research activity is organized and developed through different financed or non-financed projects and themes within national or local programs.

Considerations regarding the Performance Improvement of the Hospital Healthcare Services from Romania by the Implementation of an Integrated Management System

The continuous quality improvement is an obligatory condition for the achievement and maintaining of the performance in healthcare services. Introducing the concepts of quality improvement in medical practice represents a distinctive component of the hospital reform in Romania. Healthcare quality is a more important principle in sanitary field, because the level of patients ‘knowledge is increasing concomitantly with the technological and therapeutic progresses. The continuous quality improvement is an obligatory condition for the achievement and maintaining the performance in healthcare organization, especially in hospital. The integration of many management systems (quality management, environmental management, security and occupational health management, information security management) and the development of an integrated management model applicable to Romanian hospitals, which have as principal goal to improve the performance of health services, represent a challenge for the Romanian health system. An integrated management system is a logical and systematic managerial approach, which permits taking-up optimum strategic and operational decisions. These decisions take into consideration all the essential aspects which lead to an efficient functionality of health organization, in terms of quality, environment, security and occupational health, and information security.healthcare, hospital, quality, integrated management system

The Relationship Communication Structure - Uncertainty Avoidance Reflected in Romanian Websites Design

As today’s society heads towards digitalization, the virtual environment gains a growing importance. Shaping the e-environment in accordance to the real environment in order to favour the activities and processes going to take place there requires a thorough design. However, cultural attributes of reflected inherently by design play a core part in how the information displayed on websites is perceived. The present paper aims to bring a perspective about transposing the proper communication structure into the website design, from the cultural point of view and from genders point of view, as it resulted from a research of Romanian students from Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies.cultural differences, website design, communication structure, gender cognitive differences, consumer

Genetically Modified Products – Contradictions and Challenges

This paper aims to identify the perception that consumers have about GM products, also taking into consideration the evolution of consumption and production of products based on genetically modified organisms. Therefore, the paper presents both aspects to clarify the concept of genetically modified organism (GMO issues such as typology, national or international regulations regarding this area) and global market development of genetically modified organisms, evolution which is presented by statistical data concerning the whole global area cultivated with genetically modified organisms. The paper has also managed to demonstrate through an exploratory research concerning consumer’s knowledge about GMO products, their attitude about biotechnology applications, the need for GMO-based products for scientific progress, the risks or advantages of genetically modified organisms and the paper has also managed to identify the key GMO-based products and to analyze the GMO Roundup Ready soybean species distribution in supermarkets in Bucharest.Biotechnology, genetically modified products, quality, market, producer, consumer

Claw Morphology Impacts Clinging Performance on Rough Substrates

The digits of anoles and geckos have been extensively investigated for their adhesive pads, which allow them to adhere effectively to smooth surfaces. Many pad-bearing lizards also possess claws, which have been posited as the principal contributor to clinging on rough surfaces. Previous studies have found correlations between habitat use and claw morphology, but whether variation in claw morphology impacts function or not has remained relatively understudied. In addition, it is reasonable to suggest that abrasive wear of the claws may impact clinging ability. I examined both natural and induced variation in the claw morphology of Cuban knight anoles (Anolis equestris) to examine the effects of form and wear on clinging performance on several surfaces of various roughness profiles. I removed the claws of preserved specimens and modified claw morphology using a rotary tool. Claw morphology was quantified via univariate measures typically used in previous work as well as multivariate geometric morphometrics. Results show no effect of claw morphology on clinging on the two smoothest surfaces. However, on the two rougher surfaces, relatively more hooked and long claws induced the highest clinging forces. Additionally, claw wear did not affect induced maximum clinging force. These results suggest that the significance of claw morphology to the clinging ability of lizards may vary with substrate and habitat use. The relative insignificance of claw morphology to clinging on smooth surfaces supports the hypothesis that clinging in lizards with adhesive toe pads is achieved synergistically by both the claw and toe pad across substrates

Exigencies regarding the quality and the innocuity of the nutrient supplements for the sportsmen.

The article presents the results of the researches related to the way of obtaining the nutrient supplements for the sportsmen, as an effort-supportive formula, based on natural ingredients, non-contaminated with substances that could harm the health and the elaboration of the methodologies for discovering and quantifying the forbidden substances in order to test these supplements through specific techniques. Therefore we present, first of all, some of the most important economic and social benefits got after making many researches that could improve the sportsmen’s nourishment, when they are making the maximum effort during both their training and the specific sports competitions but also during the recovering periods. Thus, we have made a documentary presentation for defining the conceptual and operating frame-work relating to the nutrient supplements, their influence and importance in the sportsmen’s nourishment, the general and special classification of the nutrient supplements as well as some possibilities to influence the nutritive value of this kind of food. Last but not least, we are taking into consideration those characteristics that define the innocuity of the nutrient supplements and make them safe for being consumed.Consumer; quality; innocuity; alimentary supplement; nutrient supplement; nutrition; nutrient projection; pureness; safety; security; protection

How to manage and minimize food waste in the hotel industry? An exploratory research

Purpose – The hospitality industry is responsible for significant amounts of waste, more than one-third of which is food waste. Through the comparison between an Italian and a Romanian hotel, this paper aims to provide a better understanding of food waste management trends in the hotel industry as well as to highlight hotel kitchens and hotel food services weaknesses and opportunities to minimize food waste. Design/methodology/approach – In-depth interviews, personal communication and observations were conducted to investigate food service planning, food procurement and food waste management, as well as to better comprehend current individuals’ understanding and attitudes, infrastructures, legislative culture and opportunities either from the managerial and the employees’ perspective. Data were analyzed according to a content analysis approach. Findings – Three critical hot spots emerged from the analysis: prediction and check of guests’ attendance, communication and transparency with local suppliers and among departments within the unit and purchasing frequency and perishable food provisioning. The accurate forecasting of the number of guests and their nationality is fundamental in avoiding food waste at food service, as well as implementing transparency and communication with local suppliers. Originality/value – Although academia and authorities have recognized the crucial importance of food waste management, food waste research in the hotel industry remains under-researched. The present exploratory research contributes to the scarce empirical studies about hotels’ food waste, giving theoretical and managerial recommendations for supporting further studies, highlighting the need for formal deals between hotels and local suppliers (food procurement), as well as the importance of foodnetworks that holds together companies, retailers and charities (food donation)

A new possible way of promoting tourist packages: gamification

Society nowadays is increasingly reliant on technology and the trend for the following years seems to maintain. At the same time, public and private organizations are searching for ways to innovate and optimize their activities and the internet as well as the increased use of electronic devices provide new perspectives for this. Besides the public sector, high ranking companies from domains such as commerce to health or tourism, have started using a new tool: gamification. While some of the first attempts to implement the idea of ‘games’ for selling products go as far back as 1912, the scientific concept of ‘gamification’ is quite new and has just recently been recognized as a study domain. In addition to this, a rising interest in the field is also proven by an increase in number of searches for the term on search engines as well as in scientific databases. From an organizational point of view, through the use of these techniques, institutions can obtain a positive influence on sales, enhanced customer retention, better marketing, improved employee-management communication, overall optimization of activity etc. This paper aims to offer a contribution to the research in the field of gamification, to show some of the revolutionary solutions found by top organizations, based on gaming techniques, and to propose a model for implementing gamification in a tourism organization. The research starts from studying the gamification model implemented by leading tourism platform, Tripadvisor and focuses on building a game-specific architecture that can be applied to Romanian tourism sites, ranging from tourist review sites, such as turistinfo.ro to online tourism agencies. This model includes elements specific to games, and characteristic for the gamification concept, such as: avatar, rewards, challenges, points, badges, leaderboard. The study finishes with opinions regarding the economic and social benefits of implementing gamification as an innovative technique in tourism and conclusions