The scientific research is very careful supervised to national level, institutional and individual, products and services, a mean of preparing human resources highly qualified and as a source of prestige for countries, institutions and persons. Banks and generally the whole banking system must be in a permanent relation with the world system of knowledge, and not only in the sense of taking over, but also to assure a permanent increase of it. The contribution of banks to the growth system of knowledge is achieved mainly through the scientific research. At least a part of the human capital which works in a bank can and must participate to discover new knowledge in the banking area, being based quantitative and qualitative collected information from the respective bank. The aim of research activity in the banking area is contributing through its results to the growth of the belief in the banking system in ensemble, and particularly at the respective bank. The aim of research activity in the banking area is contributing through its results to the growth of the belief in the banking system in ensemble, and particularly at the respective bank.banking scientific research, educational reform, bank management, research department

Grigore LUPULESCU

Ioan NISTOR

English

Research Papers in Economics

 Year VII, No.7/2008                                                                                             35 
Today, advanced societies are 
defined through the society's collocation 
based on knowledge whose definition 
involves besides other things, the 
production of knowledge, of know-how 
and the realization of expertise. 
The scientific research is 
represented by the total amount of the 
planned facts and the actions whose aim 
is to discover new knowledge. Its product 
is the science - an ensemble of human 
knowledge about the nature, society and 
the thought and it's made up of objective 
relations and rules, experimentally 
certified. 
The researching activity 
represents a discreet observation, an 
attentive examination of some 
phenomena, processes and facts within 
certain areas. 
The scientific research is a 
human complex activity, profitable but 
very expensive for the society. This 
activity became a preoccupation not only 
for those who practice it but also for   
those who enjoy its results. That's why 
the research is very carefully supervised 
at a national, institutional and individual 
level, products and services, a way of 
preparing highly qualified human 
resources and as a source of prestige for 
countries, institutions and persons. 
Especially after World War II the 
scientific research became one of the 
main and essential instruments used by 
most of the states of the world  for the 
assurance of sovereignty, independence 
and economic, social and cultural 
progress. It's a major national initiative 
supported by public backgrounds 
(governmental), by private institutions 
and from charitable sources. 
As an answer to the needs of 
perfecting and rising material production 
of the economy in general and the 
development of the spiritual life of the 
society, the scientific research is unfurled 
today compliant of clear and realistic 
programs, conceived by the best 
specialists, which are chosen from the 
most intelligent and competent minds of 
the nation. 
Today the research activity 
represents the most important lever to 
improve living standard, health, culture 
and generally the richness of a nation. In 
a close future, the determinant factors in 
dividing countries in rich or poor, strong 
or weak, will be less the natural funds, 
the size of the population or territory, but 
more and more the preparation, 
education and the professionalism of the 
citizens of that country, their capacity of 
creation, discover and development. 
 The  Romanian  scientific 
research is in a crisis which becomes 
deeper and deeper because of post 1990 
governments’ unequivocal lack of 
interest. There is an extremely big risk 
regarding the possibility of degradation 
below the limit of the system's critical 
table (2/3 of research workers leaving 
from 1989 within the year 2000, due to 
diminished budgetary backgrounds from 
1.400 millions in 1989 to 150 millions in 
2000) what drives to the necessity to 
decide for a deep and quick reform on 
behalf of the authorities. 
To further argue for the above 
stated facts, it's enough to remind that 
with 3,14$ in 1998 and 1,83$ in 1999 
expenses per inhabitant capita for the 
scientific research, Romania doesn't find 
its place even in the category of weakly 
 
BANKING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN ROMANIA - 
BETWEEN NECESSITY AND REALITY 
 
Prof. Ioan NISTOR, PhD  
”Babeş-Bolyai” University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 
Lect. Grigore LUPULESCU, PhD Student  
”TITU MAIORESCU” University, Bucharest, Romania36                                                                          Finance – Challenges of the Future 
developed countries (which actually 
allocate between 50-100$, expenses for 
the scientific research on inhabitant 
capita). 
 The educational reform and the 
reform of scientific research have a 
crucial importance, being the most 
powerful in order to decrease the 
distances and to compress the time. 
Banks and generally the whole 
banking system must be in a permanent 
relation with the world system of 
knowledge, and not only in the sense of 
taking over, but also to assure a 
permanent increase of it. The 
contribution of banks to the growth of the 
knowledge system is achieved mainly 
through the scientific research. 
In our opinion the scroll of 
scientific research activity in a bank 
contributes through its results to the 
growth of the role of banks’ public utility 
in a economy, even at national or world 
level. 
The scientific research in the 
banking area can be made by banks 
easier, that one of "producers of financial 
information". Thought can be emitted on 
the collected financial information: it can 
generally underline some major decisions 
for a bank or a society. 
 The  research-development 
represents the nucleus of responsibilities-
processes for the production of cognition 
even for one bank. 
  The research activity in the 
banking area represents a fine 
observation, an attentive examination of 
the banking phenomena and processes. 
The aim of research activity in 
the banking area is contributing through 
its results to the growth of the belief in 
the banking system as a whole, and 
particularly within a respective bank. 
  What could the production of 
cognition in the banking area mean? 
An answer to such a question 
can be offered, identifying the essential 
problems of a bank and the environment 
they are having for their activity. 
Currently we are witnessing   
some quick and extremely frequent 
changes of political, social, economical, 
of settlement and technological factors 
which give another dimension to the 
market competition, to the management 
of banking competition. They determine a 
permanent accommodation of the banks 
to the dynamic changes from the 
business environment, a deep mutation 
in the sphere of general and 
departmental management of banks, in 
fact, a change of optics and managerial 
behavior. 
         If,  not  that  long  ago 
Romanian banks managers were 
tempted to dedicate themselves to 
solving some insular problems and very 
quickly, such as to attract immediate 
funds for credit, measuring all the 
seasonal movements of customers’ 
deposits, the evolution of the immediate 
liquidity of the bank, the liquidity (of 
market) of portfolio guarantees, the 
solving, for the moment of positions 
considered false credits found out hard-
set, the achievements of banking 
prudence requirements asked by BNR, 
currently optics must be totally changed. 
  Not so long ago the banking 
domain was appreciated as being 
relatively static and it determined the 
bank's managers to be preoccupied just 
by a budget and a portfolio of clients, 
respectively of products and banking 
services to assure a comfortable support 
of income, with a reasonable cost, 
specific to a time limited horizon, and 
less about the control of the market risk, 
specific to an institution of dynamic 
credit. The banking environment is 
currently the subject of some continuous 
and quick changes, determined by  the 
impact of the political, normative, 
economic, technological, environment 
factors produce and nevertheless that of 
competition and competitiveness. 
Hereupon, usually the banking 
management, especially banking team 
managers who want to be successful, will 
have to define some long-term strategies 
and politics, to proceed to frequent 
incorporations of operational decisions, 
current, for strategic ones, specific to 
long-term plans. Once the bank decided 
what market to operate on, what mission  Year VII, No.7/2008                                                                                             37 
and strategic objective to assume, it must 
define its own banking politics, to take 
immediate decision regarding the 
expected profits and risks assumed to 
realize those objective. This "risk-profit" 
ratio must be defined, and reached so 
that to maximize the market value of the 
bank, its owners fortune. 
By the short presentation made 
above to the banks and the environment 
in which they unfurl their activity, results 
plenty clear the priority objective of the 
banking scientific research, to talk about 
production of knowledge in this area. 
The complexity of the banking 
activity, its importance as role and 
functions in an economy, enforces in our 
opinion as any other bank, no matter 
what size, segments of activity etc to 
organize a department of implemented 
scientific research, department that 
would in fact be the vanguard of all other 
organizational structures of the bank. 
  At least a part of the human 
capital which works in a bank, can and 
must participate to discover new 
knowledge in the banking area, being 
based on quantitatively and qualitatively 
collected information from that very   
bank. 
 We are sure all the banks have 
and work valuable peoples, some of 
them with velleities towards the scientific 
research. But they face sometimes a rigid 
framework to promote their ideas 
because there is no organized framework 
to promote new ideas, no internal 
reglementation for taking over, to verify 
and to implement these valuable ideas. 
  The bank's needs to 
permanently  maintain itself in the 
evolution process of the society in 
general, exists, and we also have the 
people to realize them; there also are 
financial possibilities to sustain   
expenses( with phenomena research, 
banking processes),but in exchange 
there isn't a very important thing - general 
management's will to create the 
organizational framework to develop 
them. 
The support of these assertions 
is based also on the practical experience 
in the banking domain with 
preoccupations in the scientific research 
area. 
  According to this, in the year 
2000, under direct coordination of the 
bank the proposal to found the service 
called "Scientific Reseach". The proposal 
is motivated by the fact that the main 
force of BNR, in our opinion, has been 
and still is the capacity of work. There are 
valuable workers, well prepared, with lots 
of novel ideas, who unfortunately 
encounter a rigid framework of promoting 
their ideas. The foundation, under direct 
coordination of the management of the 
bank of a service called for example " 
Scientific Research" or "Novel Ideas", in 
which a true scientific research of the 
bank is deployed, receive and analyze 
materials from the workers with new 
ideas, and the authors of the valuable 
materials who find applicability in the 
banking practice are awarded from a 
fund of recompenses constituted for this 
scientific research. 
Those who lead the destines of 
this service can launch themes of 
research for the workers that want to do 
the research job in the banking area, with 
the specification from the beginning of 
the quantum of the material stimulants. 
  This way, the workers with 
fondness for scientific research and with 
the natural desire to earn as much as 
they can, have an organized framework 
of scientific research created towards 
they will focus their efforts to improve the 
banking activity, giving up to the extra-
banking activities, with the condition that 
the material stimulant to draw in such a 
job. 
  We consider that the banks 
have the financial power and the 
necessary human resources to deploy a 
scientific research at the highest level 
which should maintain high ratings in the 
national and international banking 
system. 
  The proposal didn't find the 
agreement as it was expected, but in 
exchange, paradoxically, almost the 
whole management of the BCR in the 
year 2000, published individually to 38                                                                          Finance – Challenges of the Future 
diverse publishing houses, scientific 
works from the banking area without 
pointing out the must of a research 
implementation at the level of every 
station of the bank. 
 The explanations of this lack of 
echo to such a simple proposal, but 
extremely useful and interesting one for a 
bank, especially for a big bank as BCR, 
remains a mystery. 
The organization and 
deployment mode of the scientific 
research department in a bank depends 
on its size, of managerial team 
competence and also of the bank's 
culture and scientific research. 
 We mainly recommend that the 
organization of scientific research 
department to be done in a functional 
manner, being subordinated to the 
general direction of the bank, the checker 
of administration could be one of the 
managers of this department.  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure no 1.  The organization of the scientific research department 
 
  Workers from operative 
departments of the bank could work in 
the scientific research department, and 
also scientific researchers to be part of 
this department only. 
The department can assume the 
direct coordination concerning the 
perfecting professional preparation of the 
workers. The manager of the department 
can also launch strict research necessity 
themes of the bank, but also general 
themes regarding the study of the 
banking phenomenon useful for the 
general management proposing the 
strategy for the future of the respective 
bank, but also some external factors of 
the bank. 
The attributions of the scientific 
research department, in our vision, would 
be the following: 
1. the research of banking 
phenomenon in the current context of the 
market and its tendencies emits its own 
judgments. 
2. the permanent pursuit of 
updating bank's internal working norms 
with the in force legislation so that these 
norms to correspond to the intellective 
capacities of the workers (to be explicit, 
clear and intelligibly to everybody, 
without having the possibility to multiple 
interpretation. 
3. a cultivation of bank's culture 
within workers' area by dint of courses of 
perfecting, of positive attitude, of the 
education etc. - which values are part of 
the investments in the human capital; 
4.the launch of scientific 
research themes with an applicability 
character, having a content resulting from 
bank's long and medium term strategy, 
training as many as possible workers 
with inclination to the scientific research 
work in finding solutions; 
5.the permanent accommodation  
of internal cession model of profitability, 
General Direction 
Administration 
Control 
Branch A  Branch B  Branch C  Branch D 
Scientific Research  Year VII, No.7/2008                                                                                             39 
depending on the user's information's 
needs (general management) 
continuously researching with needs of 
information. 
   Scientific  research  department 
can contract research themes even for 
the external users of the bank, 
contributing this way to the bank's 
incomes growth, and especially of its 
image, the rising of the belief in the 
respective bank. Bringing its contribution 
to the improvement and trust assurance, 
the scientific research department will 
contribute this way to the growth of 
bank's market price. 
To strengthen, the humanity 
owes its survival to the scientific 
research. Why wouldn't a bank survive 
always doing also high level scientific 
research? Even if in an isolated case a 
bank would disappear if it made scientific 
research this would have happened 
when the general management had 
ignored its results. 
In our opinion all the expenses 
with this scientific research department 
will be insignificant comparing to hate 
gains, especially long-term gains of that 
bank. 
 In some situations the costs for 
these scientific researches are 
substantial and the results of the 
research are irrelevant. This 
phenomenon appears frequently, but the 
question is how much will cost us the 
total absence of scientific research? For 
the bank one of the answers to this 
question could be - the bankruptcy.
 
 
 
A. Ardelean,E.M. Dobrescu, 
A.Pisoschi 
Evaluarea activităţii de cercetare ştiinţifică, Ed.C.H. Bech, 
Bucureşti 2006 
 
Gr. Lupulescu 
 
Revista băncii (Banca Comercială Romana) nr. 4/2000 
 
****  Eurostat, Institutul Naţional de Statistică al României. 
 
****  Raport privind evaluarea Institutelor de Cercetare ale 
Academiei Române, 1995, 1997 
 
 
 
       
 
 
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Banking scientific research in Romania - between necessity and reality

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