The Collaborative Economy through the Lens of Sustainable Tourism. A Regional-Centric View

Nowadays the tourism industry faces major changes given the vast possibilities for the development of a collaborative economy in tourism that brings forth a new marketplace where consumers rely on each other -changing renting, swapping, and sharing their accommodation locations. The purpose of the present paper is to answer one of the most important challenges of the City of Brașov in Romania, which is the management of the touristic offer. The paper provides a quantitative-qualitative research approach that analyzes - based on semi-structured surveys with the users of collaborative platforms - the perception of travelers concerning the development of collaborative tourism in Brasov County. The management of touristic offer should take into account the pressure that this new type of renting may be exerting on the local economy, especially considering unfair competition on other segments of the tourist market and the change in the physiognomy of the cities of Brașov County

The Role of Romanian Universities in Increasing Graduates’ Employability. Curriculum Management and Development of Competences Required by the Labor Market

 IT&C instruments have been introduced in teaching and learning in order to facilitate the acquisition of competences and develop abilities for using new media and technologies. They lead to creating the competences which are necessary for a well-trained workforce. The results of a previous study where we wanted to identify the students’ main requests regarding development needs by using new teaching/learning technologies have highlighted the support that students want to receive from universities in finding a workplace. Thus, “84% of students want universities to establish partnerships with private institutions or ask for their support in developing projects in which students could participate as volunteers. 64% of students want the curriculum to be adapted to the employers’ requests and 59% consider it is necessary to include new teach/learn tools in the process of adapting the curriculum” (Butum, Stan & Zodieru, 2015). The present paper develops the idea that students are very demanding with the quality of their studies and they are focusing to obtain “right” skills for the labor market. We want to develop this analysis by approaching the change/adaptation of the curriculum in concordance to the market needs. We also intend to identify the employers’ requests about the young graduates’ competences and abilities and the way the employers perceive the role of universities in building human capital

Developing Global Competences via University Internationalization Activities—A Comparative Analysis of Business Students’ Opinions before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis

For the last two years the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the main activities in higher education institutions (HEIs), including teaching activities and internationalization activities, activities that are directly involved in the development of student graduates’ competences. The present study analyzes the perceptions of students on the results of a university’s internationalization activities, in terms of competences they develop at two different moments in time: before the pandemic and during the pandemic. The research started in 2019, before the pandemic, having as objective to identify how various types of competences are associated with HEIs’ internationalization activities. Once the pandemic started and given the changes in the activities of HEIs, it was of interest to see what the perceptions of students were of the contribution of different HEIs’ internationalization activities to the development of their competences in the new conditions. Therefore, the present research has the purpose of investigating if the perceptions of students on the types of competences the university develops through its internationalization activities before the pandemic are different from their perceptions on the development of the same competences during the COVID-19 pandemic in the conditions of modified international activities. This can help universities to decide on possible changes needed in their activities (given the fast-changing environment) in order to support the development of competences for their students. Two quantitative studies were organized in Romania. The first was conducted in 2019 with 148 students in the terminal year of bachelor studies at a particular business faculty in Bucharest. In order to see if there were shifts in the opinions of students about how the university contributes to the development of their competences in the new COVID-19 context and the new forms in which higher education took place, the research was replicated at the beginning of 2022 with 179 students in the terminal year at the same business faculty. The results show both different and common opinions of the two analyzed groups of students (before and during the pandemic) regarding the role of the business university’s activities in providing specific, generic and global competencies that are demanded in the national and international labor markets. The paper contributes theoretically by extending the HE literature on the developments of skills and competences for students and graduates and also by extending the literature on changes determined in HE by the COVID-19 crisis. The research also has practical implications for universities willing to offer sustainable education by better adapting their strategies for the development of various competences for their students in the continuously changing environment and uncertain situations determined by the COVID-19 crisis, for example, the need for universities to offer special course content, new courses and events focused on the most recent international events in all spheres of activity

Sustainable Knowledge Management and Its Impact on the Performances of Biotechnology Organizations

Starting from the findings of specialized studies on knowledge management in the field of biotechnology, this paper aims to present the factors that underline sustainable performances of Romanian biotechnology organizations. Particularly, descriptive analysis of these factors has outlined a picture of the current situation of biotechnology in Romania. The design of an exploratory knowledge management model for organizations in the biotechnology sector was achieved and validated through a panel data model. Starting from a model of growth based on productivity, capital inflow, and human capital, three statistical hypotheses were validated by a time series data panel regression model using EViews 9.0 software. The data were collected for the enterprises active in the field of biotechnology for a period of nine years. The paper highlights the fact that the economic performance of biotechnology organizations is determined by the flow of capital, productivity, and the workforce. Knowledge-based growth strategies are essential in the econometric model presented. Nevertheless, in terms of knowledge management strategies, the sector has not reached its maturity, and full sustainability is not a norm