This paper explores the Romanian enterprises preparations for the adheration to the European Union. It is based on an investigation among twenty executives in which they describe their measures to deal with the changes induced by the adheration. We analyze their perception about the main opportunities and threats regarding the adheration and their preparation for the integration. We conclude that most of the strategies reflect a passive attitude of the executives and they were elaborated in a certain hurry.adheration, strategy, expectations and executives

Ramona Dumitriu

Razvan Stefanescu

English

Research Papers in Economics

THE ANNALS OF "DUNÃREA DE JOS" UNIVERSITY OF GALAŢI        
FASCICLE I - 2006, Economics and Applied Informatics, Year XII, ISSN 1584-0409 
This paper was recommended for publication by Prof. Paraschiv VAGU, PhD 
 
 
 
POSTADHERATION STRATEGIES  
OF THE ROMANIAN COMPANIES 
 
Ramona DUMITRIU* 
Răzvan ŞTEFĂNESCU** 
 
„Dunarea de Jos” University Galati  
*ramona_dumitriu@yahoo.com 
** rzvn_stefanescu@yahoo.com 
 
 
This paper explores the Romanian enterprises preparations for the adheration to 
the European Union. It is based on an investigation among twenty executives in 
which they describe their measures to deal with the changes induced by the 
adheration. We analyze their perception about the main opportunities and 
threats regarding the adheration and their preparation for the integration. We 
conclude that most of the strategies reflect a passive attitude of the executives 
and they were elaborated in a certain hurry. 
 
Keywords: adheration, strategy, expectations and executives 
 
 
1. Introduction 
At the middle of 2006, the possibility of 
Romania to adhere to the European Union 
(E.U.) was quite clearly outlined. Inherently, 
to such an event there are associated 
significant opportunities and threats for the 
Romanian enterprises. The theory of 
management recommends for this kind of 
situations to be conceived special strategies 
by which to be fructified the opportunities 
and to face the threats [1; 5]. In a certain 
measure, the integration process will depend 
on the way these strategies will be elaborated 
and applied.  
 
For the study of the strategies elaborated by 
the Romanian companies regarding the 
adheration there were used results from a 
bigger investigation realized in the period 
July – August 2006 on a group of twenty 
Romanian executives [9]. These managers 
are, alone or together with some relatives, 
owners of the companies they administrate, 
thus having no boundaries in the strategies 
elaboration.  
 
The sample is reduced in size, so the results 
of the investigation cannot be generalized for 
the whole community of Romanian 
executives. However, the information we 
obtained may offer signs regarding the 
circumstances in which the Romanian 
companies elaborate their adheration 
strategies. In the investigation there were 
used both questionnaires and interviews that 
allowed to the executives to offer 
explanations regarding some aspects of their 
preparations for the adheration. 
 
In order to describe the post-adheration 
strategies of the Romanian companies we 
will approach the following themes: 
  The adheration opportunities; 
  The threats associated to the adheration; 
  The preparations for the post-adheration 
phase. 
 
2. Opportunities of the adheration  
According to the customs union theories, the 
adheration to the European Union will offer 
significant possibilities for the new markets 
penetration to the Romanian companies [2; 
3]. Moreover, it will open new perspectives 
of cooperation with the European companies 
and opportunities of modern technologies 
acquisition. In the same time, it is expected 
that, under the impulse of integration, to 
decrease in a significant way the corruption THE ANNALS OF "DUNÃREA DE JOS" UNIVERSITY OF GALAŢI        
FASCICLE I - 2006, Economics and Applied Informatics, Year XII, ISSN 1584-0409 
  20 
and the bureaucracy from the public 
administration, that will stimulate the 
economic activity. 
During the investigation the twenty 
executives were interrogated regarding six 
expected opportunities of the adheration: 
a.  The cooperation with companies from 
the European Union; 
b.  The possibility of penetration on the 
European markets; 
c.  The possibility of getting modern 
technologies; 
d.  The corruption decrease; 
e.  The decrease of the bureaucracy from the 
public administration; 
f.  The economic growth. 
 
a.  The cooperation with companies from 
the European Union. From the 
investigation it resulted that more than 
half of the executives expect an increase 
of the chances of association with 
European partners (Table 1). In the phase 
of interviews these presented some 
strengths that could attract the foreign 
companies: the already formed clients, 
the favorable placement of some points 
of sale, the good relations with the local 
authorities a.s.o.  On the other hand, the 
skeptic managers in this matter consider 
that in the activity of the companies they 
administrate there are no elements that 
could attract the foreign companies. 
 
Table 1 – Opinions of the executives regarding the chances of association with partners from 
the European Union 
 
Variants of 
answer 
Significant 
decrease 
Significant 
increase 
No significant 
changes  No answer  Total 
Number of 
answers  - 11  9  -  20 
Weight  -  55 %  45 %  -  100 % 
 
b.  The possibility of penetration on the 
European markets. The twenty 
executives were questioned regarding the 
impact of the adheration on the chances 
of the companies they manage to enter in 
the European markets. From the answers 
of the managers it resulted that 70 
percent from them do not expect 
significant changes (Table 2). In the 
interviews they offered different 
explanations for their skepticism: lack of 
financial resources, obsolete 
technologies, lack of information about 
the European markets a.s.o. On the other 
hand, the managers confident in the 
increase of the chances of penetration on 
the European markets count on the 
advantage of some low costs and on the 
possibility of association with foreign 
partners. 
 
Table 2 – Expectations of the executives regarding the impact of adheration on the 
chances of the companies to penetrate on the markets from the European Union 
 
Variants of 
answer 
Significant 
decrease 
Significant 
increase 
No significant 
changes  No answer  Total 
Number of 
answers  - 4  14 2  20 
Weight  -  20 %  70 %  10 %  100 % 
 
c.  The possibility of getting modern 
technologies. Our investigation revealed 
that 75 % from the managers consider 
that the adheration will increase their 
chances of modern technologies 
acquisition (Table 3). They explained 
their optimism by the international trade 
intensifying that would follow the 
adheration. On the other hand, the 
managers that do not expect significant 
changes consider that in the present the 
acquisition of modern technologies from 
the European Union is quite easy. 
 THE ANNALS OF "DUNÃREA DE JOS" UNIVERSITY OF GALAŢI        
FASCICLE I - 2006, Economics and Applied Informatics, Year XII, ISSN 1584-0409 
  21
 
Table 3 – Expectations of the executives regarding the impact of adheration on the 
possibility of modern technologies acquisition 
 
Variants of 
answer 
Easier 
acquisition 
More 
difficult 
acquisition 
No significant 
changes  No answer  Total 
Number of 
answers  15 -  5  -  20 
Weight  75 %  -  25 %  -  100 % 
 
d.  The corruption decrease. The results of 
the investigation indicated that 70 % 
from the executives anticipate after the 
adheration a significant decrease of the 
corruption (Table 4). They count on a 
direct intervention of the E.U. institutions 
that would force the Romanian 
authorities to fight actively the frauds 
from the economic activity. On the other 
hand, the managers that don’t expect 
significant changes have the conviction 
that the Romanian authorities would 
succeed to cheat the E.U. institutions, by 
only simulating the fight against the 
corruption.  
 
Table 4 – Expectations of the executives regarding the impact of adheration on the 
corruption 
 
Variants of 
answer 
Significant 
decrease 
Significant 
increase 
No significant 
changes  No answer  Total 
Number of 
answers  14 -  6  -  20 
Weight  70 %  -  30 %  -  100 % 
 
e.  The decrease of the bureaucracy from 
the public administration. Our 
investigation revealed a dispersion of the 
opinions regarding the impact of the 
adheration on the bureaucracy from the 
public administration (Table 5). The 
main reason is that in the present the E.U. 
is perceived as a bureaucratic 
organization. For 45 percent from the 
executives the bureaucracy from the 
Romanian public administration is more 
harmful than the one from the E.U. 
institutions, while 35 percent consider 
that the bureaucracy of European type 
will be more difficult to surpass than the 
one of Romanian type.   
 
Table 5 – Expectations of the executives regarding the impact of adheration on the 
Bureaucracy from the public administration 
 
Variants of 
answer 
Significant 
decrease 
Significant 
increase 
No significant 
changes  No answer  Total 
Number of 
answers  9 7  4  -  20 
Weight  45 %  35 %  20 %  -  100 % 
 
f.  The economic growth. All the twenty 
executives consider the adheration will 
stimulate in a significant way the national 
economy of Romania. They expect this 
evolution to lead to a fast increase of the 
available incomes of population, implying a 
demand increase for the companies products. 
3. Threats associated to the adheration  
The adheration of a country  to a customs 
union may lead to an increase of the 
competition for the domestic producers, as an 
effect of removing the tariff barriers for the 
imports from the Union countries. Moreover, 
it is expected that after the adheration the 
labor force to imply higher costs and be more 
difficult to find. Besides these aspects, it is THE ANNALS OF "DUNÃREA DE JOS" UNIVERSITY OF GALAŢI        
FASCICLE I - 2006, Economics and Applied Informatics, Year XII, ISSN 1584-0409 
  22 
appreciated that the acquis application will be 
quite expensive. 
 
In the investigation we approached four 
possible threats: 
a.  The increase of the competition; 
b.  The increase of the expenses with the 
staff; 
c.  The difficulties in recruiting the labor 
force; 
d.  The costs for the acquis communitaire 
accomplishment. 
 
a.  The increase of the competition. Our 
investigation revealed that 75 percent 
from the executives expect that after the 
adheration the competition for the 
products of the companies they 
administrate will significantly increase 
(Table 6). They explained they expect 
that the European companies to enter in 
a large number in all the fields of the 
Romanian industry. On the other hand, 
the managers who don’t anticipate 
significant changes regarding the 
competition explained that the 
companies they administrate have in 
their fields of activity (hotel activities, 
trade with office items, fitting out, 
production of footwear and trade with 
cars) significant advantages in 
comparison with the foreign 
competitors. Some of them even 
expressed the hope that the adheration 
would bring a real protection against the 
imports from the South - East Asia, 
while others count on a discrete support 
from the Romanian authorities against 
the European competitors. 
 
Table 6 – Expectations of the executives regarding the impact of adheration on the 
competition 
  Variants 
of answer 
Significant 
decrease 
Significant 
increase 
No significant 
changes  No answer  Total 
Number of 
answers  - 15  5  -  20 
Weight  -  75 %  25 %  -  100 % 
 
b.  The increase of the expenses with the 
staff. For 80 percent from the executives 
the adheration would lead to a 
significant increase of the wages for the 
Romanian workers (Table 7). They 
consider as unavoidable the lining up of 
the wages from Romania to those from 
the E.U. In exchange, the managers who 
don’t anticipate important changes think 
that there won’t be significant increases 
of the wages in the lack of the 
corresponding increase of the labor 
productivity. 
 
Table 7 - Expectations of the executives regarding the evolution of the wages from Romania 
after the adheration 
Variants of 
answer 
Significant 
decrease 
Significant 
increase 
No significant 
changes  No answer  Total 
Number of 
answers  - 16  4  -  20 
Weight  -  80 %  20 %  -  100 % 
 
c.  The difficulties in recruiting the labor 
force. Our investigation revealed that 50 
percent from the executives consider 
that after the adheration the recruitment 
of the labor force will become more 
difficult for the companies they 
administrate (Table 8), especially 
because of the labor force migration that 
will increase after the adheration. On the 
other hand, 45 percent from the 
managers don’t expect significant 
changes because, in their opinion, the 
migration phenomenon arrived to a 
saturation level and there must be taken 
also into consideration the incoming 
labor force from the poorer countries 
than Romania. 
 THE ANNALS OF "DUNÃREA DE JOS" UNIVERSITY OF GALAŢI        
FASCICLE I - 2006, Economics and Applied Informatics, Year XII, ISSN 1584-0409 
  23
Table 8 - Expectations of the executives regarding the impact of adheration on the 
labor force recruitment 
 
 
Variants of 
answer 
Easier labor 
force 
recruitment 
More 
difficult 
labor force 
recruitment 
 
No significant 
changes 
 
No answer 
 
Total 
Number of 
answers  - 10  9  1  20 
Weight  -  50 %  45 %  5 %  100 % 
 
d.  The costs for the acquis communitaire 
accomplishment.  Our investigation 
revealed that 55 percent from the 
executives expect that the acquis 
communitaire accomplishment will 
suppose medium costs, while 35 percent 
expect quite large costs (Table 9). From 
the interviews it resulted that all the 
managers are sure that the companies 
they administrate will be able to face 
these costs.  
 
Table 9 - Expectations of the executives regarding the costs of the acquis communitaire 
accomplishment 
 
Variants 
of answer 
Very large 
costs 
Quite 
large costs  Medium costs  Low costs  No 
answer  Total 
Number of 
answers  - 7 11 2  -  20 
Weight  -  35 %  55 %  10 %  -  100 % 
 
4. Preparations for the post-adheration 
phase 
 
At the moment of the investigation nineteen 
from the twenty executives declared that 
they had elaborated a strategy of integration. 
The manager who didn’t do this mentioned 
that, in his opinion, the evolution post-
adheration of the business environment is 
unpredictable, making useless any strategy. 
Our investigation revealed that 70 percent 
from the managers took into consideration 
the elaboration of an integration strategy 
only in 2006 (Table 10).  
 
Table 10 – Answers of the managers regarding the moment of integration strategies 
elaboration 
 
 
Variants of 
answer 
Integration 
strategy 
elaboration 
in 2005 
Integration 
strategy 
elaboration 
in 2006 
No elaboration 
of an 
integration 
strategy 
 
Total 
Number of 
answers  5 14  1  20 
Weight  25 %  70 %  5 %  100 % 
 
Taking into consideration the serious 
changes that adheration would bring, the 
time horizon of a year for the elaboration of 
most of the strategies is quite short and it 
doesn’t allow too much time for the foreseen 
measures implementation [4; 6; 8]. We can 
make a connection between this situation 
and the fact that 60 percent from the 
executives became convinced only in 2006 
that Romania would adhere to the E.U. latest 
at First of January 2007 (Table 11). 
  THE ANNALS OF "DUNÃREA DE JOS" UNIVERSITY OF GALAŢI        
FASCICLE I - 2006, Economics and Applied Informatics, Year XII, ISSN 1584-0409 
  24 
Table 11 - Answers of the managers regarding the year when they became convinced that 
Romania will adhere to the E.U. latest at First of January 2007 
 
Variants of 
answer  2004 2005  2006  Total 
Number of 
answers  1 7  12  20 
Weight  5 %  35 %  60 %  100 % 
 
From the interviews it resulted that the so-
called post-adheration strategies are quite 
simple, reflecting passive attitudes against 
the changes from the business environment 
that are induced by the adheration. None of 
the managers intend to make major 
investments, technologies updating or 
reorganizations of the companies’ activities 
until these changes appear. 
 
5. Conclusions 
In this paper we approached some aspects of 
the post-adheration strategies of the 
Romanian companies: opportunities, threats 
and preparations. We used the results of an 
investigation done in the period June – 
August 2006 among twenty executives. 
 
Regarding the opportunities of the 
adheration, we questioned the managers 
about the cooperation with companies from 
the E.U., the possibilities of penetration on 
the European markets and getting modern 
technologies, the decrease of the corruption, 
the bureaucracy from the public 
administration and the economic growth. We 
found out that, in majority, the executives 
are confident in the chances of association 
with partners from the E.U., of modern 
technologies acquisition, of corruption 
decrease and of benefiting from the 
economic growth. On the other hand, the 
managers are quite skeptic regarding the 
penetration on the markets from the E.U. or 
the decrease of the bureaucracy from the 
public administration. Concerning the threats 
associated to the adheration, the managers 
answered to the questions about the increase 
of competition, the expenses with the staff, 
the difficulties in recruiting the labor force 
and the costs for the acquis communitaire. 
Our investigation revealed that, although 
most of the managers pay a special attention 
to these threats, none of them consider these 
could lead to the end of their companies’ 
activity. 
The analyze of the practical aspects of the 
strategies managers prepared for the 
adheration revealed a passive attitude, the 
managers waiting for the impact of the 
adheration on the business environment to 
be seen, before introducing major changes in 
the activity of the companies they 
administrate. Moreover, many post-
adheration strategies were elaborated in a 
hurry, because most of the managers became 
convinced only in 2006 that Romania would 
adhere to the E.U. in 2007.      
 
References 
  ANSOFF, Igor H. (1968), Strategia 
aziendale, Elas Kompass, Milano; 
  DĂIANU Daniel (2002), România şi 
Uniunea Europeană, Editura Polirom, 
Iaşi; 
  DIACONESCU Mirela (2004), Economie 
europeană, Ediţia a II-a revăzută  şi 
adăugită, Editura Uranus, Bucureşti; 
  COLE Gerald A. (2004), Management: 
teorie şi practică (2004), Editura Ştiinţa, 
Chişinău; 
  JOHNSON Gerry, SCHOLES Kevan 
(1993), Exploring Corporate Strategy – 
Text and Cases, Third Edition, Prentice 
Hall, New York;   
  PRISECARU Petre (coordonator) 
(2004), Politici comune ale Uniunii 
Europene, Editura Economică, 
Bucureşti;  
  SIMON Herbert A. (2004), 
Comportamentul adminstrativ: studiu 
asupra proceselor de luare a deciziilor   
in structurile administrative, Editura 
Ştiinţa, Chişinău; 
  ŞTEFĂNESCU Răzvan, DUMITRIU 
Ramona (2006), Romanian Executives 
Preparations for the European Markets’ 
Integration, Conference “The Future of 
Europe: Challenges and Opportunities”, 
Bucharest. THE ANNALS OF "DUNÃREA DE JOS" UNIVERSITY OF GALAŢI        
FASCICLE I - 2006, Economics and Applied Informatics, Year XII, ISSN 1584-0409 
  25
 

România şi Uniunea Europeană, Editura Polirom, Iaşi;  DIACONESCU Mirela (2004), Economie europeană, Ediţia a II-a revăzută şi adăugită, Editura Uranus, Bucureşti;

Postadheration Strategies of the Romanian Companies

http://www.ann.ugal.ro/eco/Doc%202006/4.%20OK%20Ramona-dumi-stef%202.pdf

Postadheration Strategies of the Romanian Companies

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Research Papers in Economics