Integrating Corporate Social Responsability Programs into the Ethical Dimension of the Organization

The purpose of this paper is to indicate the need to integrate corporate social responsibility programs into the global ethical vision of organizations. Such an approach requires the definition of the corporation in relation to the moral values it assumes and the ways in which moral values occur within the organization. On this foundation, the authors examined the various implications that moral values have on the initiation and conduct of corporate social responsibility programs.corporate social responsibility, business ethics, organizational behavior, organizational theory.

Exploring the Potential of Mentoring Programs for Public Sector Management

A major challenge facing Romania, as a new member of the European Union (EU), is the implementation of Public Administration Reform. Among the significant supporting initiatives it can mention the project Young Professionals Scheme launched in 2003 that includes mentoring as a basic component of training Romanian public managers under this scheme. On the other hand, an extended documentary research on recent international approaches of mentoring in public sector allowed us to note a considerable gap relative to other sectors and relative to the situation of implementing government mentoring programs in EU countries and in other countries such as USA, Canada, or Australia. Against this background our paper attempts to point out why and how mentoring programs could and should be used not only as a component of initial training of public managers, but also as a current managerial practice for ensuring continuity and sustainability of the reform in Romania.public administration reform, civil service, public manager, mentoring, government mentoring programs.

HAITI: MUCH ATTENTION, NO RESULTS. WHY DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE DOESN’T WORK

The present paper is an excerpt, with little adaptation, from the master thesis: “Project management’s contribution to international cooperation. How to make things work: ODA in Haiti” wrote under the coordination of Prof. Dr. Horst Brezinski from Technical University Freiberg Bergakademie and Prof. Dr. Eng.. Sabina Irimie from University of Petrosani, while benefiting from an Erasmus study scholarship at the first mentioned institution. It presents the case of Haiti, a small country facing big challenges and enjoying plenty of international attention especially due to the recent earthquake that struck the country at the beginning of 2010. The SWOT analysis inside the paper offers a detailed view of Haiti’s actual situation, identifying in the same time its problems and the variables that should be taken into consideration when designing programmes and projects targeting Haiti’s development

Adapting through personal development

Purpose – The paper aims to reveal and discuss the recent growing interest for personal development that seems to outline an emerging study field, and especially a flourishing industry of training business, but with many different approaches more or less related to individual needs and perceptions. Methodology/approach – After synthesizing of SciVerse Hub statistics on publications and research areas referring to personal development, we review few conceptual approaches and we present the main results of a study of individual perceptions on this. Findings – A growing number of subject areas addresses related issues of personal development, especially social sciences, business and management. The results of study showing that respondent’s perceptions on personal development reflect rather a limited understanding of the concept. Research limitations/implications – The study has a limited research area (a number of 163 Romanian students), making difficult generalization of results. Practical implications – Organizations are groups of individuals performing economic activities, so that any organizational capability depends on individual capabilities and willingness of self-change that is personal development's essence. Originality/value – The paper provides an evidence-based overview about interests for personal development and discusses some implications and results of a study on individual perceptions within a group of Romanian master students in Human Resource Management

Adapting through personal development

Purpose – The paper aims to reveal and discuss the recent growing interest for personal development that seems to outline an emerging study field, and especially a flourishing industry of training business, but with many different approaches more or less related to individual needs and perceptions. Methodology/approach – After synthesizing of SciVerse Hub statistics on publications and research areas referring to personal development, we review few conceptual approaches and we present the main results of a study of individual perceptions on this. Findings – A growing number of subject areas addresses related issues of personal development, especially social sciences, business and management. The results of study showing that respondent’s perceptions on personal development reflect rather a limited understanding of the concept. Research limitations/implications – The study has a limited research area (a number of 163 Romanian students), making difficult generalization of results. Practical implications – Organizations are groups of individuals performing economic activities, so that any organizational capability depends on individual capabilities and willingness of self-change that is personal development's essence. Originality/value – The paper provides an evidence-based overview about interests for personal development and discusses some implications and results of a study on individual perceptions within a group of Romanian master students in Human Resource Management

Risk of Slipping Industrial Landfills

Due to the high rate of industrialization, urbanization and development of the road network, hydrotechnical constructions, etc., larger areas of agricultural and arable lands are affected, some of these being removed from the economic circuit. Due to the magnitude of the involved volumes, industrial waste has lately become a threat to all the components of the environment. In Romania, 90–95% of the total quantity of the produced industrial waste are stored, but only 24% of them have an environmental clearance certificate. The action of the climatic factors increases the risk of the occurrence of some landslides, which leads to the deterioration of the ecosystems and the risk of pollution, the loss of stability, the destruction of some historical objectives. Thus, the risk analyses represent the support for the decision-making process in taking solid measures, meant to lead to the limitation and diminution of the danger of slipping and losing the stability of these deposits. However, the implementation of the measures is based on a systemic model, supported by the concept of risk. This chapter presents the definition and classification of environmental risks, the risk assessment methodology and a risk analysis for waste in a mining area in Romania

Creating Competitive Advantage in Coal Mining Industry in Romania: A New Challenge

AbstractAs we know, human society is closely linked to the provision of energy sources. Crises lately manifested globally in oil and natural gas price movements for these resources, coupled with increasing demand for them led to a rethinking of national strategies for the exploitation and utilization of resources. One of the objectives of any industrial policy is to use comparative and competitive advantages due to the existence of natural internal resources and an appropriate level of qualification, experience and tradition of labor in the sectors of mining and exploitation of these resources, which requires judicious exploitation and search processing of the corresponding starting materials. The paper aims diagnosis of the current situation in the mining industry in Romania, especially coal, accompanied by an assessment of the competitive potential of this industry and its determinants. Conclusions and proposals provide general guidance on key factors and key considerations that may be relevant when considering the difficult issues inherent officials balancing process exploitation of valuable mineral resources - to long-term needs of the country, now and in the future

Smart strategies for the transition in coal intensive regions

The TRACER project supports a number of coal-intensive regions around Europe to design (or re-design) their Research and Innovation (R&I) strategies in order to facilitate their transition towards a sustainable energy system. The TRACER consortium consists of different target regions: South East Bulgaria, North West Bohemia - Czech Republic, Lusatian Lignite District - Germany, Western Macedonia - Greece, Upper Silesian Coalfield - Poland, West Region, Jiu Valley - Romania, Wales – UK, Kolubara - Serbia, Donetsk - Ukraine. Core activities of TRACER include the implementation of an EDP (Entrepreneurial Discovery Process) to mobilise a wide range of stakeholders in each target region to develop an appropriate governance structure and to bring regional stakeholders together to discuss and agree on a shared vision and priorities for coal transition. R&I strategies, industrial roadmaps and decision support tools will be developed jointly with key stakeholders of the TRACER target regions. Further TRACER activities include the identification and analysis of best practice examples of successful and ambitious transition processes in coal intensive regions, a detailed assessment of social, environmental and technological challenges, the elaboration of guidelines on how to mobilise investment as well as dedicated activities to stimulate R&I cooperation among coal intensive regions in Europe and beyond

Economic, Energetic, and Environmental Impact Evaluation of the Water Discharge Networks from Mining Works

Sustainable development represents an optimistic scenario for the evolution of contemporary civilization. The object of this paper is to define certain evaluation criteria regarding the performances of water discharge networks from mining works, and propose a method for aggregating the specific indicators for monetary costs, energetic costs, and environmental impact-related costs. The global pollution index (GPI) represents a method for assessing environment health status or pollution levels. The GPI quantitatively expresses this status based on its index, which results from a ratio between the ideal value and the given value of certain quality indices that are considered specific for the analyzed environmental factors at certain moments. The proposed method in this paper tries to perform a synergistic aggregation of the balance sheet of harmfulness and classic balance sheets for matter and energy for an industrial process

MENTORING IN PUBLIC MANAGEMENT: CONCEPTUAL AND PRACTICAL APPROACHES AT THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

The paper aims to highlight the important role that mentoring can play for public sector management in general, and for implementing Public Administration Reform in Romania in particular. An extended documentary research of recent international literature and practices that address this topic allowed us to observe a considerable gap relative to the approaches of mentoring in management of other sectors. Moreover, a gap appears also if when comparing the situation of implementing government mentoring programs in European Union countries and in other countries with a more consistent tradition in mentoring such as USA or Canada. Thus, by presenting some conceptual models and programs of reference in the countries last mentioned, our paper tries to contribute in reducing this gap, both at theoretical and practical level