GENERAL ORIENTATIONS OF THE MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY

Romanian public administration and new public management are in need of a series of modernization actions resulted from theoretical progresses on European level whose application proved to have positive effects. Among these modernization actions a focus on the following aspects must be mentioned: Ensuring the proper and transparent information levels and feed-back elements and social responsibility; Encouraging a proactive and prospective professional development; Ensuring of a public administration management which should support: interdisciplinary approach, focus on the quality of the public service, supporting the public-private partnership. Dealing with such priorities can determine the beginning of the public administration’s consecration as a European public administration, based on knowledge, which will have a positive impact on the performance of a nationally representative sector.modernization of the public administration, decentralization, professionalism, social responsibility

Social Responsibility and the Influence of Public Marketing on Solutions in Favor of Local Collectivities

Trying ever so hard to achieve performance, corporations consume natural and human resources, pollute the environment, lobby the adoption of laws that favor them by giving obtaining competitive advantages, and relocate production capacities looking for lower operating costs. The negative impact of corporations on modern societies is softened by what literature calls social responsibility. Although contemporary tendencies do not define social responsibility as a direct mean of marketing or public relations, it has been observed, how companies gain the acceptance of the affected communities by making public the responsibility they are taking. It is interesting to study the way in which, similar to corporations, the public sector influences with its activity the community, as well as the way in which it takes responsibility for this. This paper proposes a study of the role of social responsibility and of the influences of public marketing on the decisions in favor of local collectivities.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); Public Marketing; Sustainable Development; Management Culture

Study regarding the springback of metal sheet parts after bending

Plastic deformation of materials is accompanied by elastic deformation. After the bending process, the elastic deformation disappears and the part is changing its dimensions comparing with those of the tool. The change of bent part’s dimensions due to the elastic properties of material is called elastic springback. It influences the precision of bent parts, especially the bending angle, and this is why its value should be known in order to take the necessary measures in order to reduce or even annihilate its effects. Its value can be determined with analytical relations, from various nomograms or with experimental relations. Because the analytical relations offer results far from reality, this paper proposes a multivariable relation of springback (dependent variable) as a function of several independent variables obtained on the basis of experimental results, in real working conditions and using the method of regression functions. This method is based on simultaneous variation of considered variables, using a limited number of values in the experimentation domain. A split experimental program was used. The obtained relation is true for any combination of values for considered variables, but, from their variation domains, it can be obtained separately the effects of independent variables on dependent variables

Experimental evaluation of Ellis scale for assessment of product's industrial design

The product development team has the task, amongst many others, to conceive the product's industrial design. Because it was proven and acknowledged that product's industrial design plays an important role in its success in the marketplace, the proposed design has to be evaluated based on an objective method. S.R. Ellis has proposed a method with seven criteria. The method was used by some researchers, but it has never been properly evaluated by an independent party. This paper presents the results of a scientific experiment aimed to test Ellis' method

Transverse structure optimization of distributed feedback and distributed Bragg reflector lasers with surface gratings

Two figures of merit for single transverse mode operation and an accurate procedure for calculating the coupling coefficient in distributed feedback lasers with laterally-coupled ridge-waveguide surface grating structures and in distributed Bragg reflector lasers with etched-through-ridge-waveguide surface gratings are introduced. Based on the difference in optical confinement between the pumped and un-pumped regions in the transverse plane, the single transverse mode operation figures of merit are effective and easy to calculate, while the improved coupling coefficient calculation procedure gives experimentally confirmed better results than the conventional calculation approaches, particularly for surface gratings with variable refractive index in the grating areas.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Simulation studies of DFB laser longitudinal structures for narrow linewidth emission

The paper presents simulation studies targeting high-power narrow-linewidth emission from semiconductor distributed feedback (DFB) lasers. The studies contain analytic and numerical calculations of emission linewidth, side mode suppression ratio and output power for DFB lasers without phase shifts and with 1 × λ/ 4 and 2 × λ/ 8 phase shifts, taking into account the grating and facets reflectivities, the randomness of the spontaneous emission and the longitudinal photon and carrier density distributions in the laser cavity. Single device structural parameter optimization is generally associated with a trade-off between achieving a narrow linewidth and a high output power. Correlated optimization of multiple structural parameters enables the evaluation of achievable ranges of narrow linewidth and high power combinations. Devices with long cavities and low grating coupling coefficients, κ (keeping κL values below the levels that promote re-broadening), with AR-coated facets and with a distributed phase-shift have the flattest longitudinal photon and carrier density distributions. This flatness enables stable single-longitudinal-mode operation with high side-mode-suppression ratio up to high injection current densities, which facilitates narrow linewidths and high output powers. The results reported in the paper indicate that Master-Oscillator Power-Amplifier laser structures are needed for achieving W-level high-powers with sub-MHz linewidths because most single-cavity DFB laser structural variations that reduce the linewidth also limit the achievable output power in single-mode operation.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Corrosion Repair of Pipelines Using Modern Composite Materials Systems: A Numerical Performance Evaluation

Pipe corrosion is a frequent phenomenon, and if repairs are delayed it could lead to environmental damage. Drilling activities can expand only when sufficient surface transportation capacity for the produced fluids exists and thus good maintenance of the transportation system is important. Furthermore, the technology presented herein can be easily upgraded as a repair solution for surface casing section below the casing head, which have been repeatedly reported as being highly corroded for older wells. This paper presents the results of the research work carried out by the authors in order to evaluate the design methods of the modern composite material systems used to repair steel pipes carrying hydrocarbons upon which local metal loss defects (generated by corrosion and/or erosion processes) have been detected. The pipe repair technologies consisting of the application of composite material wraps (made of a polymeric matrix and reinforcing fabric) are perceived as being advantageous alternative solutions for substituting the conventional technologies, which require welding operations to be performed in the corroded pipe areas. The performance and the design methods of the composite repair systems have been investigated by evaluating the reinforcement effects (the restoration level of the damaged pipe mechanical strength) generated by the applied composite wraps as a function of their geometry and mechanical properties. To that purpose, numerical models based on finite elements (previously developed by the authors and certified by comparing them with the results of several experimental programs performed within our university) have been used. The calculation methods proposed in literature (among which a method previously proposed by the authors) to define the composite wrap dimensions (thickness and length) for a given pipe have been compared to the numerical results in order to select the most adequate solution for the design of the composite repair system. The influence in the design process of the defect orientation and of its width has also been investigated

Analysis of the photon-photon resonance influence on the direct modulation bandwidth of dual-longitudinal-mode distributed feedback lasers

The paper explores the possibilities to extend the direct modulation bandwidth in dual-longitudinal-mode distributed feedback lasers by exploiting the photon–photon resonance induced by the interaction of the two modes in the laser cavity. The effects on the direct amplitude modulation and on the direct modulation of the difference frequency between the two modes are analyzed using simulation and experimental results. When the photon–photon resonance, which occurs at the difference frequency between the two modes, is properly placed at a higher frequency than the carrier-photon resonance, the small-signal amplitude modulation (AM) bandwidth of the laser can be significantly increased. However, both simulations and experiments point out that a high small-signal AM bandwidth does not lead to a high large-signal AM bandwidth if the small-signal modulation response has significant variations across the modulation bandwidth. The paper shows that a high large-signal AM bandwidth is obtained when the two modes are significantly unbalanced, whereas a high-bandwidth difference frequency modulation can be best detected when the two modes are balanced and the DC bias is properly chosen

The Impact of Board Diversity, CEO Characteristics, and Board Committees on Financial Performance in the Case of Romanian Companies

This paper examines the impact of board diversity, CEO characteristics, and board committees on the financial performance of the companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE). In order to test the influence of these characteristics, detailed data on more than 70 firms are collected by hand, for the 2016–2020 period, and comprehensive regression models are estimated. The findings show that there are positive effects of board diversity especially with regard to the independent board members. In terms of the board committees, the audit committee is found to have a favourable influence. The regression coefficients imply that a 10% increase in the share of independent board members would be associated with a 0.93% increase in ROE. Based on these findings, it can be argued that improving the corporate governance practices of the companies listed on the BSE would increase the performance and the value of these firms