Mapping the Supply Chain Digitalization: An Exploratory Bibliometric Analysis

In a global business environment facing more and more risks (recession risk, geo-economic risk, natural risks) digitalization can represent a solution for increasing resilience at the level of the supply chain. The development of new technologies has created the premises for the transformation of traditional logistics chains into digital logistics chains and the pandemic crisis accelerated the process for most companies and institutions. The scope of this paper is identifying the interest in researching the subject of supply chain digitalization. The study is based on a quantitative research method, bibliometric analysis. A query was conducted on the Scopus platform database to identify scientific works (research articles, books, papers presented at conferences) that include keywords specific to our topic, in the title, abstract or body. The results of our study confirm a growing scientific interest for researching the topic of supply chain digitization: from 2002 to February 2023, 913 documents addressing this subject or related issues were identified

Model for Determining the Optimum Location for Performance Improvement in Supply-Chain Strategies

The economic crisis which started in 2007 has caused damaging effects to most international companies. In several EU countries, foreign investments decreased and international companies closed or relocated production and/or distribution centres, due to cost reduction measures. This paper is aiming to demonstrate that applying a performant solution in defining the supply chain strategy can be a low cost process, which can generate positive effects on the sales and revenues. The research objective is to present a concrete solution for redesigning the supply chain, in order to achieve the optimal delivery strategy. The solution implies the use of mathematic methods, for determining the optimum location for placing a central warehouse, in a geographic region. The use of an optimum delivery strategy leads to lower depositing and transport costs, which generates positive effects on sales, by offering more competitive prices on products. The main contribution of the author is the development of a model, used to identify the optimal location for placing a central warehouse

Strategies for Internationalization of Romanian SMEs. Focus on the European Market

The theoretical part of this paper is focused on presenting the main strategies of internationalization that can be used by SMEs in order to diversify their markets and enhance their profitability. The empirical research is aimed at presenting and analysing statistics regarding the performance of Romanian SMEs in relation to the average of overall EU SMEs. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the activity and performance of Romanian SMEs in relation with SMEs from other European countries. A set of concrete recommendations are formulated for creating a better economic and legal environment for small and medium enterprises from Romania that have set the objective of extending on other European markets or are in the process of internationalization of their business

TQM – A Factor for Tourism Competitiveness

In a more globalized world, with the rise of the importance of tourism in the global economy (its share in GDP) and the growing competition on the market of global tourism, providing quality tourist products represent a desideratum recognized by all the actors involved in activities in the field. In this context, the Total Quality Management (TQM) concept should be a very important tool to be used in this sector. The latest report published in 2017 by World Economic Forum was a valuable source of information for the level of quality of touristic services in Romania and a starting point for our research. The objectives of this paper are to examine the present quality of Romanian touristic services, the place of TQM in the business strategy of Romanian companies, the advantages of implementing TQM and the measures proposed to raise the quality of touristic services in Romania. The research methodology is based on a questionnaire applied to 300 employees from the tourism sector in Romania and the results demonstrate the role and importance of TQM in increasing the quality of touristic services in Romania

Spatial Model for Determining the Optimum Placement of Logistics Centers in a Predefined Economic Area

The process of globalization has stimulated the demand for logistics services at a level of speed and increased efficiency, which involves using of techniques, tools, technologies and modern models in supply chain management. The aim of this research paper is to present a model that can be used in order to achieve an optimized supply chain, associated with minimum transportation costs. The utilization of spatial modeling for determining the optimal locations for logistics centers in a predefined economic area is proposd in this paper. The principal methods used to design the model are mathematic optimization and linear programming. The output data of the model are the precise placement of one up to ten logistics centers, in terms of minimum operational costs for delivery from the optimum locations to consumer points. The results of the research indicate that by using the proposed model, an efficient supply chain that is consistent with optimization of transport can be designed, in order to streamline the delivery process and thus reduce operational cost

Incentives for Developing Resilient Agritourism Entrepreneurship in Rural Communities in Romania in a European Context

In a global setting where the requirements for development equally address the economic viability but also social and environmental sustainability, the healthy and efficient growth of rural communities poses substantial challenges. Our paper focuses on specific conditions and constraints that influence the progress of agritourism business initiatives as viable entrepreneurial solutions for self-sustainable rural communities in Romania. To assess the impact of economic, social and tourism-related factors on agritourism entrepreneurship for Romanian counties during 2010–2015 periods, we conducted several Ordinary Least Square regression models. The results emphasize that economic indicators like regional GDP and kilometers of national roads have a positive influence on the number of agritourism business units; also, a positive impact on agritourism entrepreneurship was identified for tourism-related factors like: number of employees and corresponding salaries in tourism, total tourists, share of tourism firms and their turnover in total firms and turnover of the region, as well as preference of tourists for agritourism. The conclusions highlight the direct link between resilient agritourism entrepreneurship and sustainable development of the region and open further research directions