The Challenge of Ensuring Business Security in Information Age

Every day, thousands of businesses rely on the services and information ensured by information and communication networks. As the dependence on information systems grows, so the security of information networks becomes ever more critical to any entity, no matter if it is a company or a public institution. The asymmetrical threat posed by cyber attacks and the inherent vulnerabilities of cyberspace constitute a serious security risk confronting all nations. For this reason, the cyber threats need to be addressed at the global level. Given the gravity of the threat and of the interests at stake, it is imperative that the comprehensive use of information technology solutions be supported by a high level of security measures and be embedded also in a broad and sophisticated cyber security culture. This paper provides arguments regarding the need to implement coherent information security policies at national level, based on cooperation between public and private sectors and in coordination with international initiatives in the field. Since information security is vital for developing and running an efficient business, this study may constitute a strategic approach to improve the information security posture of Romanian organizations.information security; information security risk management; security threats; confidentiality; integrity; availability.

Modelling a Trusted Mechanism for Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge sharing has been identified as a major focus area for knowledge management. Efforts are made with a view to identify the most effective ways to share knowledge, as a step towards improving organizational performance. In this striving, various factors have been identified as impediments for knowledge sharing, including inadequate organizational structures, sharing unfriendly organizational cultures, and denominational segregation. Related problems may occur when information systems, such as intranets, distributed libraries, document management systems, or groupware applications, are introduced to support knowledge sharing. The extensive use of the IT&C has only added new questions on how to address issues of trust within the present knowledge -rich environment. This paper proposes a new way of approaching knowledge sharing in the context of information and communication technology development. The study provides an overview of the manner and extent in which information assurance concepts of integrity, authenticity, availability, non-repudiation and access-control may be employed to ensure a trusted and effective knowledge sharing process.knowledge sharing; sharing policy; access control; trusted knowledge sharing; barriers in knowledge sharing.

Managing and measuring performance in organizational development

The purpose of this study is to contribute to our understanding of the effects of implementing optimized solutions to increase the performance of a company. Based on a sample of 1442 small companies, the design of a linear model of optimization was selected because of the limits of the model of organizational development in Romania and the perspective on the market value of firms, which, in fact, is the most eloquent result of management’s actions. Research results reveal that successful performance management is important for the survival and success of any organization in today’s environment, which is highly competitive and continuously evolving. As expected, the management of an entity goes beyond time, and the role of the leader of the future is to ensure the long-term growth of shareholders’ wealth and the prosperity and well-being of the company he or she leads. Finally, our conclusions show that this model is valid and can be used to produce and implement organizational change in Romanian companies

THE CLIMATIC CHANGES INFLUENCE ON ROMANIAN AGRICULTURE SECTOR

Nowadays the entire world is confronting with different serious problems: economic crises, climate changes, increase of the population and many others. The accelerate rhythm of climate changes in the last years strongly affects the agriculture system. In this paper we will focus on the evolution of mean temperature and its effects on agriculture. The continuously global warming generates extreme meteorological phenomena, especially floods and heavy rains that destroy the crops. We will also analyze the existing situation in Romania related to agriculture risks (influenced by meteorological phenomena), the modalities that the Romanian Government and the insurance companies come to help the agriculture companies to decrease the exposure to specific risks. In conclusion, we will present pertinent solution for agriculture system in order to manage the delicate problems caused by climatic changes in Romania

CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA USED AS BASIS FOR AN EFFECTIVE MUNICIPAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

The immediate reality reveals a significant difference in terms of practical use between public and private property management. It can be noticed that the emphasis is placed to a higher extent on the private property management, which is more profit-oriented, compared to the public property management, driven by the public sector’s purpose to achieve the welfare of its citizens. However, during the last years, the interest in assets management has grown also at municipal level. The motivation for applying a strategic municipal property management comes from the necessity to mach the municipal long-term needs for their own use of properties, as well as to use their properties in order to attract investment and promote sustainable socio-economic development of their cities and regions. Referring to the Balkan area, a lack of strategy can be noticed with regard to the real asset management of municipal properties. In order to support the efforts of the municipalities in articulating real asset strategies, a project on “Municipal Property Management in South- Eastern Cities (PROMISE)†is carried on (2009-2012), supported by the ERDF within the South-East Territorial Co-operation Programme. It is expected to contribute to supporting urban environmental sustainability improvement through regeneration programmes, to promoting economic sustainability via the encouragement of innovative investments, to facilitating social sustainability through urban social infrastructure development, as well as to improving social services and social cohesion policies. This paper, derived from the above mentioned project, emphasizes the importance of using the most suitable classification criteria in order to ensure an effective municipal property management. In the beginning a comprehensive international literature review and a structured conceptual clarification are provided, referring to papers like those by Jolicoeur and Barret (2004) and Musil (2006) as having had an important contribution to this topic. Then, specific classification criteria in the case of Romania are pointed out, followed by a discussion on features of assessment extracted from the evaluation practice. The results may contribute to the identification of reliable variables that can be used as a starting point for the strategic management of municipal properties. Keywords: municipal property, classification criteria, strategic management

Analytical Modelling of Share Price Value Using Computational Intelligence Methods

The liberalization, volatility and high competition of financial markets are all factors that expose companies to new risks and challenges, requiring a continuous innovation of models, techniques and tools for managing share price value and other related risks. This paper provides a model to implement a subsystem that should support the management decision on the trading segment of its own shares, based on intelligent agents with regards to identifying, collecting, structuring and updating data instruments, with analysis mechanisms of the main price and volatility indicators. Our conclusion is that the use of computational intelligence methods in modeling of share price value is both a requirement and an option in managing financial-foreign exchange risks, given that companies are subject to a wide range of risks and volatility is the defining feature in which they operate