The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of both the economic and social dimensions belonging to Romania’s metallurgical industry and how they contribute to generating business value. The approach of this subject became of utmost necessity in turbulent times such as the one Romania is facing nowadays

C. R. Popescu

Gh. N. Popescu

V. A. Popescu

English

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113METALURGIJA 53 (2014) 1, 113-115V. A. POPESCU, GH. N. POPESCU, C. R. POPESCUTHE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF ROMANIA’S METALLURGICAL INDUSTRYReceived – Prispjelo: 2013-02-21Accepted – Prihvaćeno: 2013-05-20Review Paper – Pregledni radISSN 0543-5846METABK 53(1) 113-115 (2014)UDC – UDK 669.338.45:65.011:304:62.001.6=111V. A. Popescu, Gh. N. Popescu, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, BucharestC. R. Popescu, University of Economic Studies and University of Bucha-rest, Bucharest, RomaniaThe purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of both the economic and social dimensions belonging to Romania’s metallurgical industry and how they contribute to generating business value. The approach of this subject became of utmost necessity in turbulent times such as the one Romania is facing nowadays.Key words: metallurgical industry, economic, social dimensions, development, competitivenessINTRODUCTIONThe economic and social dimensions of Romania’s metallurgical industry are key elements that make the clear distinction between success and failure in this line of business.There are two major issues that became of great in-terest: on one hand, in terms concerning the economic dimension of the metallurgical industry, the means of perfecting the way to increase Romania’s competitive-ness; and on the other hand, in terms related to the so-cial dimension of the metallurgical industry, the means of raising the employees motivation’s level in this line of work.COMPETITIVENESS – A KEY ELEMENT IN THE GROWTH OF ROMANIA’S METALLURGICAL INDUSTRYDynamic competitiveness, such as the one that can be found in Romania’s metallurgical industry, is associ-ated with the fl uctuating nature of the competitive envi-ronment, which focuses not only on the relationship between the costs and prices, but also on the ability of fi rms to learn, quickly adapt to the market conditions and constantly innovate. The phenomenon of globaliza-tion and the market liberalization were the ones that made the existing boundaries between domestic and in-ternational markets increasingly vague, thus nearly leading to the disappearance of the distinction between national and international competitiveness.Taken as a whole, Romania was one of the European Union’s (E.U.) countries severely affected by globaliza-tion and the market liberalization in terms of competi-tiveness. In addition, nowadays the economic crisis came as a strong shock that weakened furthermore Ro-mania’s economy and its competitiveness.Analyzing Romania’s metallurgical industry, the re-sults show that the disappearance of borders affected the businesses process, which until then was isolated from the international competition through the national demarcations [1]. The competitiveness on the metallur-gical industry in Romania is defi ned as the ability of fi rms to continuously upgrade technological facilities to produce goods, in order to provide the services able to compete at an international level. Domestic companies which, until that moment, were highly competitive and productive found themselves in a great diffi culty. In this situation, one major priority for Romania is to align its own legislation with the E.U.’s standards concerning competition and especially to supervise the appliance of these harmonized rules on the marketplace.Furthermore, one of Romania’s economic priorities is the re-industrialization policy for the year 2013, pre-cisely due to its fundamental role of the industry to bring signifi cant added value, contributing to the coun-try’s prestige [2]. Therefore, the Board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (C.C.I.R.) con-siders that Romania should restart the process of sup-plying industrial equipment to the markets in Central Asia and Africa, where it was a highly appreciated sup-plier.PERFECTING THE EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION SYSTEM IN ROMANIA’S METALLURGICAL INDUSTRYThe motivation of the employee is one of the most important responsibilities that managers face in an or-ganization, stimulating them to fi nd the best ways to make their subordinates to achieve performance at work. However, a fact that is not very often emphasized is that the employees are able to motivate themselves because the motivational processes is initiated and co-114  METALURGIJA 53 (2014) 1, 113-115V. A. POPESCU et al.: THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF ROMANIA’S METALLURGICAL INDUSTRYordinated within the individual. In this context, the managers’ role is to identify as well as to specify the manner in which, by ensuring the organization’s goals, the employees are able to meet their own needs.At a general level, there are several ways in which motivation can be understood and defi ned, in accord-ance with both the physical and the psychological side of the individuals’ actions, such as: (a) motivation can be regarded as the degree to which individuals are en-gaged in a specifi c behaviour in accordance with their desire or choice [3]; (b) motivation should be seen as a process able to trigger, control and maintain human ac-tivities at a physical or mental level [4]; (c) motivation is a set of forces activated by an employee, which initi-ate and direct his behaviour [5]; (d) motivation is a spe-cifi c form of change that appears in the balanced state of the individual, causing a set of actions meant to reduce this change [6].In terms of the work psychology, the motivation is defi ned as the sum of internal and external energies ini-tiating, guiding and supporting the individual’s efforts towards a goal oriented to the organization that will sat-isfy both the organization’s needs and its own ones as well [7]. This defi nition puts an accent on three key ele-ments: the effort, the organizational goals and the ne-cessities of both individuals and organizations.Considering Romania’s past experience in terms of the ways to motivate the personnel activating in the metallurgical industry, the basic issue to be addressed here is that some of the methods have shown good re-sults, unlike others who have increasingly demotivated the employees. In the lines bellow, some of the methods used in the metallurgical industry in Romania are being presented, in order to show which are the best practices that disserve future attention and consideration, as well as which methods should be regarded as not fi t for the purpose of a respectable organization.(A) The fi rst method used in Romania, in the organ-izations belonging to the metallurgical sector is the positive motivation, which aims to increase the efforts and contributions to the organizational objectives based on job satisfaction as a result of the completion of as-signed tasks. This particular form of motivation is based on praise, encouragement, rewards, raises, bonuses, share of profi t, thanks, ceremonies, giving titles, promo-tions, and other alternative elements [8]. Unlike the positive motivation, the negative one refers to increas-ing the personnel’s efforts aimed at achievement and contributions to the organization, but based on decreas-ing job satisfaction [8]. Negative motivation is often based on reprimand, blame, punishment, salary reduc-tions, fi nes, and verbal threats. This method does not act in favour of the development of Romania’s organiza-tions which are in the metallurgical industry fi eld.(B) The second method used in Romania, in the or-ganizations belonging to the metallurgical sector, fo-cused on the source or location of motivation, is the one based on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, also known as direct or indirect motivation [9]. The direct form of motivation can be found in the individual’s needs, case in which the individual loves his work, fi nds it a pro-found source of inspiration and fulfi lment, and moreo-ver it fi ts exactly its skills and competences. The indi-rect form of motivation, which is found in most cases, has its generating source outside the individual, case in which it can be either suggested or imposed. This form is most commonly encountered nowadays, given the specifi cities of the marketplace, and can be (a) negative, if based on the individual’s rejection and hatred towards undesired consequences (such as dismissal, critique, fear of failure or loss of reputation), or (b) positive when the individual is focused on obtaining increased benefi ts (respectively, high salary, promotions, professional prestige, acquiring higher hierarchical positions, obtain-ing special expected facilities) by doing the work suc-cessfully. The method based on extrinsic positive moti-vation acts in favour of the development of Romania’s metallurgical industry, but due to the fact that the incen-tives offered reside on short term in the memory of the individual, they should very often be reinstated and di-versifi ed.(C) The forms of motivation cognitive and affective have their starting point in the nature of the individual’s needs [10]. In this case, (a) the cognitive motivation is based on the desire to know, on curiosity and intellec-tual interest towards a profession, while (b) the affec-tive motivating is determined by the individual’s feel-ings at work and in the company, by its needs to be ap-preciated. This method acts in favour of the develop-ment of Romania’s organizations which are in the met-allurgical industry fi eld.In this case, given the specifi cities of the companies in the Romania metallurgical industry, the forms of mo-tivation presented above refl ect in the best manner which is the key drivers of their ongoing development.CONCLUSIONSConcerning the future of Romania’s metallurgical industry, seen as a perspective of the year 2020, the as-pects that should be taken into account are: (1) any per-son may be motivated knowing the variety of its needs and giving them the opportunity to achieve their per-sonal and business goals; (2) an organization can face the changes required by competitiveness and develop-ment only if the managers make efforts towards increas-ing the satisfaction the employees; (3) there are several motivating factors that may increase the subjective val-ue of work.REFERENCES[1] Legea nr.538/2004 privind modifi carea si completarea Le-gii concurentei nr.21/1996, publicata in Monitorul Ofi cial nr.1130/2004.[2] Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (C.C.I.R.), http://www.ccir.ro/media-si-publicatii-proprii/comunica-115METALURGIJA 53 (2014) 1, 113-115V. A. POPESCU et al.: THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF ROMANIA’S METALLURGICAL INDUSTRYte-de-presa/view/romania-are-oportunitatea-si-capacita-tea-de-a-dezvolta-sectoare-industriale-competitive, acces-sed in February, 2013[3] T.R. Mitchell, Motivation: New directions for Theory, Re-search and Practice, Academy of Management Review, 7 (1982) 1.[4] J. Gibson, J. Ivancevich, J. Donnelly, Management - Prin-ciples and Functions, Homewood, Boston, Fourth Edition, 1989.[5] J. Gibson, J. Ivancevich, J. Donnelly, Organisations, Ho-mewood, Illinois, 1988.[6] Michel, L., Le motivation, Chotard et Associes, Paris, 1991.[7] S. P. Robbins, Organizational Behavior. Concepts, Contro-versies, Applications, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1998.[8] O. Nicolescu, Managerii si managementul resurselor uma-ne, Editura Economica, Bucuresti, 2004.[9] R. Emilian, Conducerea resurselor umane, Editura Expert, Bucuresti, 1999.[10] S. Myeong-Gu, L. Barrett, The role of affective experience in work motivation, Academy of Management Review, 29 (2004) 3, 423-439.Note:  The responsible for the English language translation is the lec-turer, from the Commercial Academy of Satu-Mare, Satu-Mare and The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania

The economic and social dimensions of Romania’s metallurgical industry

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