Romania : Untapped Intellectual and Spiritual Capital 9781846632099, 9781846632082

Citation preview

jocm cover (i).qxd

18/10/2006

11:41

Page 1

ISSN 0953-4814

Volume 19 Number 6 2006

Journal of

Organizational Change Management Romania: untapped intellectual and spiritual capital Guest Editor: Gerald W. Ramey

www.emeraldinsight.com

Journal of

ISSN 0953-4814

Organizational Change Management

Volume 19 Number 6 2006

Romania: untapped intellectual and spiritual capital Guest Editor Gerald W. Ramey

Access this journal online __________________________ 691 Editorial advisory board ___________________________ 692 Guest editorial ____________________________________________ 693 Romania and the Western World from the 1800s George Iacob and Ovidiu Gavrilovici ________________________________

696

Leadership in Romania Ingrid Aioanei _________________________________________________

705

The discourse of Romanian universities Sorina Chiper __________________________________________________

713

Strategic positioning in Romanian higher education Mihai Niculescu ________________________________________________

725

Managing organizational change in transition economies Dan S. Chiaburu _______________________________________________

Access this journal electronically The current and past volumes of this journal are available at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm You can also search more than 100 additional Emerald journals in Emerald Fulltext (www.emeraldinsight.com/ft) and Emerald Management Xtra (www.emeraldinsight.com/emx) See page following contents for full details of what your access includes.

738

CONTENTS

CONTENTS continued

Change in Romanian organizations: a management culture approach Maria Viorica Grigorut¸a˘ _________________________________________

747

Romania’s economic policy: rulers’ wisdom will lead us Sorin Burnete _________________________________________________

753

Romanian managers and human resource management Ticu Constantin, Daniela Pop and Ana Stoica-Constantin ______________

760

Gender discrimination in Romania Prodan Adriana and Irina Manolescu ______________________________

766

Teaching English in post-modern Romanian education Andrei Luminita _______________________________________________

772

Work and education in transition Lupu Olesia and Mitocaru Simona _________________________________

775

Lonely thoughts on the meaning of education Adriana Zait __________________________________________________

780

Message towards mentors (Mesaj Catre Mentori) Ariadna Iftimi _________________________________________________

783

Awards for Excellence _____________________________ 785

www.emeraldinsight.com/jocm.htm As a subscriber to this journal, you can benefit from instant, electronic access to this title via Emerald Fulltext or Emerald Management Xtra. Your access includes a variety of features that increase the value of your journal subscription.

Additional complimentary services available

How to access this journal electronically

E-mail alert services These services allow you to be kept up to date with the latest additions to the journal via e-mail, as soon as new material enters the database. Further information about the services available can be found at www.emeraldinsight.com/alerts

To benefit from electronic access to this journal, please contact [email protected] A set of login details will then be provided to you. Should you wish to access via IP, please provide these details in your e-mail. Once registration is completed, your institution will have instant access to all articles through the journal’s Table of Contents page at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm More information about the journal is also available at www.emeraldinsight.com/ jocm.htm Our liberal institution-wide licence allows everyone within your institution to access your journal electronically, making your subscription more cost-effective. Our web site has been designed to provide you with a comprehensive, simple system that needs only minimum administration. Access is available via IP authentication or username and password.

Your access includes a variety of features that add to the functionality and value of your journal subscription:

Connections An online meeting place for the research community where researchers present their own work and interests and seek other researchers for future projects. Register yourself or search our database of researchers at www.emeraldinsight.com/ connections Emerald online training services You can also access this journal online. Visit www.emeraldinsight.com/training and take an Emerald online tour to help you get the most from your subscription.

Key features of Emerald electronic journals Automatic permission to make up to 25 copies of individual articles This facility can be used for training purposes, course notes, seminars etc. This only applies to articles of which Emerald owns copyright. For further details visit www.emeraldinsight.com/ copyright Online publishing and archiving As well as current volumes of the journal, you can also gain access to past volumes on the internet via Emerald Fulltext or Emerald Management Xtra. You can browse or search these databases for relevant articles. Key readings This feature provides abstracts of related articles chosen by the journal editor, selected to provide readers with current awareness of interesting articles from other publications in the field. Non-article content Material in our journals such as product information, industry trends, company news, conferences, etc. is available online and can be accessed by users. Reference linking Direct links from the journal article references to abstracts of the most influential articles cited. Where possible, this link is to the full text of the article. E-mail an article Allows users to e-mail links to relevant and interesting articles to another computer for later use, reference or printing purposes. Structured abstracts Emerald structured abstracts provide consistent, clear and informative summaries of the content of the articles, allowing faster evaluation of papers.

Choice of access Electronic access to this journal is available via a number of channels. Our web site www.emeraldinsight.com is the recommended means of electronic access, as it provides fully searchable and value added access to the complete content of the journal. However, you can also access and search the article content of this journal through the following journal delivery services: EBSCOHost Electronic Journals Service ejournals.ebsco.com Informatics J-Gate www.j-gate.informindia.co.in Ingenta www.ingenta.com Minerva Electronic Online Services www.minerva.at OCLC FirstSearch www.oclc.org/firstsearch SilverLinker www.ovid.com SwetsWise www.swetswise.com

Emerald Customer Support For customer support and technical help contact: E-mail [email protected] Web www.emeraldinsight.com/customercharter Tel +44 (0) 1274 785278 Fax +44 (0) 1274 785204

JOCM 19,6

692

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 p. 692 # Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD James Barker HQ USAFA/DFM Colorado Springs, USA David Barry University of Auckland, New Zealand Jean Bartunek Boston College, USA Dominique Besson IAE de Lille, France Steven Best University of Texas-El Paso, USA Michael Bokeno Murray State University, Kentucky, USA Mary Boyce University of Redlands, USA Warner Burke Columbia University, USA Adrian Carr University of Western Sydney-Nepean, Australia Stewart Clegg University of Technology (Sydney), Australia David Collins University of Essex, UK Cary Cooper Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster, UK Ann L. Cunliffe University of New Mexico, Albuquerque Robert Dennehy Pace University, USA Eric Dent University of Maryland University College, Adelphi, USA Alexis Downs The Business School, Emporia State University, Kansas, USA Ken Ehrensal Kutztown University, USA Max Elden University of Houston, USA Andre´ M. Everett University of Otago, New Zealand Dale Fitzgibbons Illinois State University, USA Jeffrey Ford Ohio State University, USA Jeanie M. Forray Western New England College, USA Robert Gephart University of Alberta, Canada Clive Gilson University of Waikato, New Zealand Andy Grimes Lexington, Kentucky, USA Usha C.V. Haley School of Business, University of New Haven, USA Heather Ho¨pfl Professor of Management, University of Essex, UK

Maria Humphries University of Waikato, New Zealand Arzu Iseri Bogazici University, Turkey David Jamieson Pepperdine University, USA Campbell Jones Management Centre, University of Leicester, UK David Knights Keele University, UK Monika Kostera Va¨xjo¨ University, Sweden Hugo Letiche University for Humanist Studies, Utrecht, The Netherlands Benyamin Lichtenstein University of Hartford, Connecticut, USA Stephen A. Linstead Durham Business School, University of Durham, UK Slawek Magala Erasmus University, The Netherlands Rickie Moore E.M. Lyon, France Ken Murrell University of West Florida, USA Eric Nielsen Case Western Reserve University, USA Walter Nord University of South Florida, USA Ellen O’Connor Chronos Associates, Los Altos, California, USA Cliff Oswick King’s College, University of London, UK Ian Palmer University of Technology (Sydney), Australia Michael Peron The University of Paris, Sorbonne, France Gavin M. Schwarz University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Abraham Shani California Polytechnic State University, USA Ralph Stablein Massey University, New Zealand Carol Steiner Monash University, Australia David S. Steingard St Joseph’s University, USA Ram Tenkasi Benedictine University, USA Tojo Joseph Thatchenkery George Mason University, Fairfax, USA Christa Walck Michigan Technological University, USA Richard Woodman Graduate School of Business, Texas A&M University, USA

Guest editorial About the Guest Editor Gerald W. Ramey Phd is currently working in the College of Business at Eastern Oregon University, La Grande, Oregon, USA. He worked 25 years previously at Lewis-Clark State College. He is a Fulbright Scholar to Romania at Al.I.Cuza University in Iasi, Romania, and also a Fulbright Senior Specialist

Romania: untapped intellectual and spiritual capital How can we begin to weave the tapestry that is Romania? “I do not crush the miracles” (eu nu strivesc corolla de minumi a lumii). Lucian Blaga, a great Romanian poet and philosopher evolved to a place in life that he wanted simply to accept the mystery. “I do not crush the miracles, the corolla of the world, and I do not kill, with my mind, the secrets, that I met in the way” Perhaps this is Romania. Since, 1999, Gerry has been in a love affair with this country, discovering the hidden talent that for so long, under a brutal oppressive regime was kept from the rest of the world. This journal issue is such a minimal effort to explore the excitement of Romania moving into the future. Despite the futility of daily living that constant oppression creates, there are so many Romanians from several generations that have the faith, the creativity and skills to move forward. Romania has been a country, constantly in the middle (mijloc) that has somehow been able to sustain an identity that is powerful. Her ability to create opportunity for a more effective and efficient global interaction is almost unbelievable. What some would consider a weakness, should be considered strength: that is the complex weaving of state, private and NGO. These interactions are actually a current reality that will not go away and Romania does them well. This issue of the Journal of Organizational Change Management whose philosophy so well fits the changes evolving in Romania, starts with a marvelous piece on Romanian history primarily written by a renowned management historian, George Iacob, from Al.I. Cuza University. The essay, assisted by Ovidiu Gavrilovici, does so much more than place Romania in the middle (mijloc). The second piece was actually a master’s degree thesis from an ELITEC student. This paper does a wonderful job of matching current leadership thinking with both a past and future orientation for Romanian leadership. Ingrid Aioanei really does a brilliant job of creating a model that could well be duplicated in other business and public administration environments. Sorina Chiper, in yet another ELITEC master’s thesis does an excellent job of exploring the Romanian university system as it integrates with the world and most certainly with the rest of Europe. The timeliness of this paper is almost breathtaking, as the “Bologna” conferences are again supposed to be on target this summer. Higher education is but one aspect of a nation’s successful dialogue and interaction in a global community and Sorina discusses well how this is done. At the time of the first call for papers, Mihai Niculescu, was a faculty member at Cuza University. He is currently working on a second doctorate at the University of Cincinnati. His article on the strategic positioning of a specific university within the market place is one of the more quantitative pieces in this issue, however, it is so very applicable to the management of all operational units in higher education all

Guest editorial

693

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 693-695 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708332

JOCM 19,6

694

over the world. We thought, all through the final editing, of numerous higher administrators who should have this report and ask their research officers to replicate the study for their own schools. Dan Chiaburu, currently a management consultant out of Washington, DC, does a remarkable job of discussing a very complicated issue: the successful movement through the chaos and turbulence of a transition economy. While not an attempt to over-simplify, maybe the paper is about the haves and have-nots, about unequal access to powerful political and economic decision making bodies. Maybe. In an analysis of a specific Romania firm, Maria Grigoruta, explores the sometimes trying efforts to overcome and excessively rigid culture and move forward with organizational improvement efforts. Sorin Burnete, a faculty member from Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu, Romania, continues movement from the rigidity of previous times with his extremely well done paper on economic policy. It will not be surprising to see expansions of this paper in future economic publications. Ticu Constantin, Daniela Pop and Ana Constantin do a tremendous job applying a very sophisticated psychological analysis to Human Resource Management in Romania. Continuing with an application of theory to practice, Adriana Prodan and Irina Manolescu do a brilliant job of discussing the very real issue of gender discrimination in Romania. This paper has application in all areas of discrimination, especially with Romania’s projected entry into the European Union (EU) in 2007. Not only specific to their country, this paper should be embraced world wide. Moving into a more personal realm, the short essay on teaching English by Andrei Luminata is yet another look at the transition from excessively rigid conditions to a more open environment. One wonders if the complacency, or the acceptance, or the identity of Miorita comes through in this paper. Still making this very personal, is the essay by Olesiu Lupu and Simona Mitocaru about moving from only skills training to the more open liberal education required for survival in our more and more turbulent world. On a very personal level, but surprisingly pedagogically sound, is the article by Adriana Zait. She uses a very solid model of stages of relationships between students and teachers and discusses, once again, this necessary movement away from excessive and oppressive upper level decision making behavior. And finishing on a typical Romanian poetic note, Ariadna Iftimi inspires us with her walk down the administrative halls of Cuza University. Underneath the murals of Sabin Balasa (see first, www.racai.ro/EUROLAN-2001/page/resources/goodies/balasa/ index.html, and then, www.dindragoste.ro/arta-si-dragoste.php), we feel the history and the importance of our past, we feel our hearts connect with the students we have today and wonder how we continue. Overall, this issue has a plan of moving from history to change to impact. We believe these articles only, a small drop in Romania’s ocean of intellectual and spiritual capital. Gerald W. Ramey and Shari Carpenter Thank you Certainly I thank my family for tolerating my always turbulent schedule: my wife, Marsha; -my adult children- my daughter Jen, her husband Bruce, and two

granddaughters, Tabby and McCamy (what joys); my son, Bill, his wife Marin; and Andy, Marin’s brother. Family is important. Habitat for Humanity brought Marsha and I to Romania for a blitz build in Beius in the summer of 1999. Thank you, we fell in love with Romania. The Fulbright program miraculously awarded me a Fulbright Scholarship! Thank you. I could not have been as involved with Romania with citizens and students were it not for Rector Dimitru Oprea of Cuza University. This man is a marvel. I wish I could work for him all the time. The Administrative Assistant, Cati Targhir, who runs everything for the ELITEC graduate program has time and time again pulled me out of difficulty, thank you so much. My first company workshop included a live translator, Andreea Rosu. She has been a translator for me; both spoken and written so many times I have lost count. She and I have a love of both American and Romanian literature that has fueled a deep friendship. My dear friend (tu prieten al meu) and colleague, Ovidiu Gavrilovici has stimulated my professional and personal life beyond measure. Adriana Prodan, a wonderful faculty member at Cuza University has also blessed me with friendship. At several extended lunch sessions, knowledge and awareness of Romania moving into the future was greatly enhanced by Vasile Isan. And I most certainly could not have completed this project without the assistance of Shari Carpenter, our newest faculty in the College of Business at Eastern Oregon University. Thank you all, it is time to lie this to rest and let the people discuss themselves into the future. Gerald W. Ramey

Guest editorial

695

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm

JOCM 19,6

Romania and the Western World from the 1800s George Iacob and Ovidiu Gavrilovici Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, Romania

696 Abstract

Purpose – In its modernization and European integration effort, from 1859 to the present, Romania went through a series of transitional periods. The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues involved in Romania fighting to regain its identity or in forging a new one. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a cogent but thorough history and examines the relationship of Romania moving into the future. Findings – Europe itself struggles. Identity does not mean “a difference which separates.” The challenge in Europe now is to find and foster “the difference which unifies.” Europe seems to be an “island of necessary stability” for Romania. Europe of the future can be an area of balance and Romania can become a region of balance within the new European Union. Originality/value – The paper presents an overview of Romania and the Western World from the 1800s. Keywords Romania, Eastern Europe, History Paper type Research paper

Romania’s report to the Western World was in the center of a highly disputed debate starting with the second half of the nineteenth century, especially after the Independence (1878). The debate restarted after the Big Union (1918) fueled with various standpoints, often with scientific-level arguments. This issue was almost forgotten during the years of communism, after the Second World War. After 1989, the fall of communism in Romania, the debate restarted heatedly, passionately, and ambiguously, altogether . . . The positions coming from historians, geographers, philosophers, politicians, journalists, sociologists, and writers among others are varied and often contradictory. Ion C. Bratianu, one of the fathers of Modern Romania mentioned on January 10, 1861, at the Representatives’ Meeting (Adunarea Deputatilor): Gentlemen, I’ve been to the West, I’ve spoken with capitalists, I negotiated with them and I was told that until we will have adequate institutions to guarantee for the transactions, they will not invest their capitals here” (Nationalismul Economic. . . 1930, p. 34).

The idea is crystal clear in the 1887 report on the Law for Industrial Promotion: . . . nobody will come from abroad to help us build industries if they will not be attracted by the national policy adopted in our country (Studii Revista De Istorie Nr. 1, 1972, p. 194). Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 696-704 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708341

During the debates on the Law of the mines, Petru P. Carp asserted in the Representatives’ meeting (Adunarea Deputatilor) on April 14, 1895: The modern requirements are pressing. It is no use for maintaining the past, no matter how glorious it may have been. The past is gone. It is no use to close the door to the modern aspirations since the future imposes itself and becomes sheer present (Gane, 1936, p. 136).

Such a statement, even with a political tone, suggests that the Conservative Party was not against modernization, but against the rhythm the liberals were imposing (Iacob, 1996). Similarly, Vasile Lascar, well-known National Liberal Party member, mentioned in the Senate meeting of February 15, 1906:

Romania and the Western World from the 1800s

We don’t have to foul ourselves; we have to double our energy to reach the civilized world; we must try to be equals of the other European countries by any cost (Theodorian-Carada, 1912, p. 1073).

697

Understanding the interdependence between nationalism and modernization, Eugen Lovinescu wrote in 1925: . . . coming via the national idea, the Western civilization expanded without those major reactions characteristic of the revolutionary foreign influences in the organized social bodies” (Lovinescu, 1992, p. 143).

Stefan Zeletin writes along with those who believe in the “burned stages” of adapting Western civilization: Of course, he wrote in The Neoliberalist published in 1927, that all European peoples had to perform the transition from farming to capitalist life. But European nations went through such change over seven centuries or so, while Romanians had to change in four decades. It has to be astute enough in history matters to understand what such a sudden change and adaptation to an opposite way of living means. Indeed, our power of adapting to the needs of the capitalist regime is unique among all capitalist states’ development: it has all the features of a true psychological miracle (Zeletin, 1992, p. 47).

Among the authors of the twentieth century who affirm the idea of “imitation,” Cioran (1990, p. 77) said: If the past century would not have been dominated by a blind thirst for imitation, by the superstition of fashion, of burning stages, of “reaching” the levels of other nations, we would still be the obscure and lamentable people who understood the universe only by folk songs and yelling. Though, the will of having all at once, of becoming ones in the world, shows an immense thirst for history at a people who didn’t have the burning desire to make up with maximum speed and to succeed by jumping.

A major problem that elicited and still elicits debates is the geographic region of Romania; there are various names used: “Balkan,” South-east Europe or Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Carpathian region, Carpathian-Danubian-Pontic (Black Sea) Region and other names as well. Sometimes there were (absurd) situations where Romania was depicted as part of different maps, Northern Romania in maps of Central Europe, and Southern Romania as component of Balkan Peninsula (Giurescu, 1977, p. 17). Of course, one option or another were most often influenced – if it was not a sign of ignorance – mainly by political factors and less so by geographic factors. It is not the object of this essay to detail here these aspects, which deserve a special research. Two arguments, one belonging to a scientist in geography and one belonging to a historian, synthesize the matter. Ion Simionescu wrote in 1937: The Eastern Limit of Central Europe is thought as being the line from Niemen River at Baltic Sea to the Danube Delta, to the South. Romania belongs to this imaginary line tightly linked with the Carpathian Mountains, the Central European major heights. By deep geographic fractures and by the largest river in Europe, Romania is separated by the Balkan Peninsula,

JOCM 19,6

698

even if it is often and unfair represented as being part of it, in many foreign atlases. Our country isn’t part of Central Europe by the geological nature, or by meteorological reasons, but mainly by its historic evolution. Romania is situated at the extremity of Central Europe, like Poland, or a part of Germany. It could not escape Eastern climate influence or the numerous agitated waves of Asian peoples. By any means, physically, biologically and historically, Romania is at the crossroads of Europe.

Forty years later, Giurescu (1977, p. 77) said: . . . from a geographic stand point, the answer [. . .] is clear: Romania belongs to the Carpathian or Carpatho-Danubian area, using the name of Carpathian Mountains – longer than the Balkans – while the states Southern of Danube and Drava Rivers belong to the Balkans. It is worthwhile to add that the name of Balkan comes from the sixteenth century Turks who renamed the ancient name of Haemus of those mountains. So, Romania belongs to the Carpathian Mountains area, as Hungary and Slovakia do. [. . .] Romania belongs, in effect, to the Carpathian or Carpatho-Danubian area, not to the Balkan Peninsula. Romania had intense political, economic, and cultural relationships with the Balkan Peninsula. This is why both Northern and Southern areas of the Danube River can be considered together as a larger unit, the South-East of Europe. [. . .] This is the generic name, South-eastern Europe, for both South and North of Danube river areas – the Balkan Peninsula and the Carpathian or Carpatho-Danubian areas.

In the past few years, there is a new stage of intense European comparison. Adrian Marino (1995) concludes: . . . first of all, we have to acknowledge an elementary proof: the Romanian perception of “Europe” was in the past, and still is, much differentiated. For the Romanians, “Europe is a symbolic notion”. If we take a more careful look at it, into the Romanian public and spiritual conscience, more than one Europe. To the limit, they are, not only once, separated one of another. Sometimes, even contradictory.

Interested by the European integration process, Andrei Marga (Professor in Philosophy, Former Minister of Education, actual Rector of Babes Bolyay University in Cluj, Romania) affirms: Geography and history are indispensable conditions, but European unification being first of all an institutional and cultural process, the European affiliation is judged by taking into consideration the institutions and the culture. Being geographically and historically European does not generate automatically a cultural European realm, as well as a cultural European realm can be found in countries which do not belong strictly geographically and historically to Europe (Marino, 1996, p. 24)..

Octavian Paler adopts a quite similar position: . . . it is clear that Europe does not mean, for us, momentarily, what it means for a westerner or what it could mean naturally, in our representations, if the forced history after Yalta wouldn’t exist. And it is as clear that our re-entry in Europe is a more complicated problem than what it apparently looks like. It reaches far beyond the diplomatic arrangements” (Marino, 1996, p. 226).

In the study “Provincial Europes,” Sorin Alexandrescu (2000, pp. 38-9) offers a “chance” to the “margins” of Europe, too: New Europe is one of endless differences, not of closed blocks, homogeneous inside and opposing each other, such as the West, the East, and Middle Europe may suggest. In this context, the “provincial cultures” may regain their interest, their dignity, and even their right

to exist. The margins become as interesting as the centers. [. . .] Yes, there are plenty of margins of Europe – this is not about minorities but of themselves, too – there are plenty of provincial and regional cultures, creating within the large cultural centers a local real life, pulsating in their modest but tenacious tempo, persisting despite of made, unmade and destroyed history by the powerful, fighting to become themselves, but never succeeding. Forgotten, neglected, and despised European Europes. Such Europes once studied would cure ourselves of our own fears because we would find them again in many others and we would stop identifying ourselves with our fears anymore.

A more recent European reference for Romania belongs to Andrei Plesu (2002, p. 88) who underlines the meaning of the terms used when making reference to the “New Europe”: Characteristic is the fact that there are no proper distinction between “integration” and “unification.” When Vaclav Klaus, the past prime-minister of Czech Republic tried to make the distinction, the community’s conformism felt offended . . . But while “integration” focuses on the common ground of the “parts” of the game, “unification” understands especially the idea of a dramatic separation. You unify what is separated. In reality, though, what is thought as separated cannot be united but with much effort and rather artificially. Integration aims to a whole. Unification presupposes duality. Or, if Europe has a meaning, its meaning is merely its organic integrity, its harmonic diversity of its geographic and spiritual body. [. . .] If it really existed, Europe should not have to be “unified” but only had to be breathed equally, integrated within the parameters of the normality.

The European integration process cannot be described for the historical period from 1800s to the present. During the nineteenth century and between the two World Wars there was no trend of entering Western political and economic bodies, which, if fact did not exist, at those moments. “Integration” was in fact a complex process, which included all social, economic and political aspects of life, having as objective closing the gap between Romania and the Western model. As such, in the modern times and between the two World Wars, the modernization process identified itself with the notion of integration among the civilized European countries. Modernization was the only way for reducing the gap between Romania and the West and for consolidating itself as a state that became independent only at 1878 and finalized its unification only in 1918 (with the unification of Transylvania, as the ancient and majority Romanian province, to Romania). What European integration means now is well known. The major point here is the tight interdependence between integration and modernization. Modernization assures integration, and integration assures the continuation of modernization. Relating to the stages of the European integration process, there is a need to disassociate between the place of the Romanian people and the place of the Romanian state within Europe. We do not need to further demonstrate that Romanians are Europeans, and among the first Europeans in Europe. We need to emphasize Romania’s integration in Europe after the reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza. The year 1918 separates two stages between 1859 (the unification of Moldova and Walachia, to form the first Romanian state) and 1939. These two periods have some common features and traits. December 1989 is another point of inflexion, opening a new stage of the process, with peculiar features, related to the new historical reality of the continent. Even if there are three stages, and the third is separated by an arid 50 communist years of the other two stages, a certain continuity can be perceived in Romania’s effort and its people of reducing the distance to the civilized West, of integrating among the countries and peoples’ of civilized Europe.

Romania and the Western World from the 1800s 699

JOCM 19,6

700

In its modernization and European integration effort, from 1859 to the present, Romania went through a series of transitional periods. The first, starting with the creation of the Romanian modern state, was characterized by the change from feudalism to capitalism. The second, starting with in 1919, was dominated by the economic reshaping from the First World War and by the integration of the Romanian provinces into one Big Romania. The third period follows after the end of the Second World War, including the changes from capitalism to socialism. The fourth period started with the 1989 Revolution and is still ongoing, aiming toward a change from socialism to capitalism. This is mainly an economic perspective, since the economic realities of the transitional periods heavily influenced the rhythm and the duration of each of these periods. The four stages differ in terms of length of time: the first runs over three decades (including here the law on the encouragement of the national industry of 1887); the second runs through 1919-1924, and could be called “the decade of the Union consolidation” (1928-1938); the third stage started in 1945 and ends in 1962 (the ending of agriculture’s forced co-ops); the last stage started in December 1989 and it is still going on. Romania was taking a closer and closer position to the European developed countries in Western Europe. After 1945, during socialism, the orientation was towards “the Great Empire” from the East, that is, the integration within the “socialist camp.” The geopolitical position factors Relative to the geopolitical position there are at least two important criteria; the permanent and the variable factors. Among the permanent factors, geographical references such as the Carpathians Mountains, the Danube River, and the Black Sea are indicative of Romania. The variable factors are, historically determined by the ever-changing size of the country in time, the population and even the neighboring countries. Romania had an extremely unfavorable situation after 1859 as well as after 1945. In the former situation, Romania was a small country surrounded by three empires – Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian. In the latter, Romania was “abandoned” by the West in the zone of influence of the Soviet Union. After 1918, Romania had a favorable position: the tenth country in size in Europe, the eighth in population, surrounded by more neighbors than ever, including Czechoslovakia and Poland. The stage that began in 1989 is also favorable, being, after Poland, the second largest country in Central and South-east Europe and, starting with 2004, a NATO member. The natural resources are among key factors in transitional moments. It is a fact that the modernization costs of Romania came from exports. During the first stage, after the major thirst and the effects of the agricultural reform of 1864, the major exports consisted of wheat and beef. The major investments of the time were directed mainly to the modernization of the institutions, railroad development, and covering the foreign debt. After 1918, Romania passed a difficult period, with no stocks of food, with an agriculture almost annihilated by war, and the oil industry destroyed. It was necessary to heavily import grains, in the beginning. Slowly, starting with 1924, most of the exports were oil (almost 45 percent), grains (45 percent), and wood (approximately 10 percent). A similar export profile is to be found immediately after the Second World War. During the last decade, we face a growing trend of food and oil imports, while wood is still a major component of exports. Relative to material resources, Romania based its exports on raw materials – agriculture, petroleum, and wood – and the actual period is the least favorable.

The freedom to act The freedom to act for a country is a result of internal and external political factors. This balance is even more delicate for small and medium size countries, especially for those positioned in geopolitical areas “at the crossroads” of history. Metaphorically, the four stages outlined until now could be called also as “the time of the done thing,” “the stage of the real independence,” “the time of limited autonomy,” and “monitored independence.” These characteristic features of each stage can be argued and debated. One stage that deserves a more detailed presentation is the great union period. Taking into account the general modernization process of Romania, the importance of this particular stage is evident. The political elites The political elites played an important role during the modernization/integration process (Iacob, Gh., 1998). “Modernizarea Romaniei. Rolul elitei politice”. (“The modernization of Romania. The role of the political elites”) Xenopoliana 6 (1-2). During 1859-1939, 75 percent of those who belonged to the political elite of Romania were graduates from Western European universities. They “imported” the European “civilization.” One common understanding relative to the Romanian development; step-by-step with the European development: the Romanian elites of the time were comparable with other political elites of the continent. After 1945, a new “breed,” a new political class was formed, copying in spirit and shape the Soviet elites, and approved by Moscow. The 1989 “momentum” gave birth to a “hybrid” political class – a mix of members from those who were members of the Academia to felons – long time under the impression “of the balcony” (the symbol of the Romanian revolution, the balcony of the Communist Party buildings, where revolutionaries replaced the communist leaders). This state of the art of the political elites after 1989 brings an important explanation to the uneven evolution of Romania in the last 14 years. Each country’s history is mainly the result of their political elites. This can definitely influence the “social will,” understood as the intensity of the daily action and as an aspiration level for the future manifested by its nationals. After Alexandru Ioan Cuza’s reforms and after the reforms of 1918-1923, the peasants (75 percent of the Romanian population of the time) started to have a vision and a concrete goal. Owning the land and acquiring political rights, the peasants ensured, during each historical stage, the cost of the modernization. Especially the dramatic transition to socialism has to be linked with the sacrifice of the peasants. The hopes for a new future rested with the new workers’ class and with the new intellectuality. After 1989, most of the Romanians hoped not only for a freer but also a better life; many of the Romanians believed Romania would reach Western standards in a few years. A decade later the facts show that apart from those who profited from the revolution (and from the years after), from those who could rapidly adapt to the market economy, a thin layer of a new Romanian middle class, the great majority of the population still waits to have their dream fulfilled in a real manifestation of their “social will.” A security environment Any country, no matter the size, needs a “security environment.” September 11, 2001 proved this once more. Romania, as a small to medium size country needed and still needs an “external protection” which, basically, represents warranties and support in

Romania and the Western World from the 1800s 701

JOCM 19,6

702

view of a potential external threat. Moreover, this external protection creates a safety environment for the foreign capital that is attracted by safety and foreseeable profit. Historically, until the second half of the nineteenth’ century, Romania benefited from France’s protection (until 1870) and Germany’s, as the main member of the “Triple Alliance” (to which Romania adhered in 1883). After 1918, Romania was part of the treaty system signed after the Paris Peace Conference and to other regional treaties (“the small treaty,” “the Balcanic antant”). This network of formal relationships created a stable and a safer environment for Romania during the year between 1859 and 1939. For example, in 1914 approximately 95 percent of the petroleum industry investments were foreign. This changed until 1938, when less than 75 percent was foreign. Between 1944 and 1964, Romania was under Soviet occupation (until 1954), under the “protection” of the Soviet Union, and, during 1964 to 1989, a member of the Warsaw Pact. After the fall of communism in Romania, until May 1, 2004, when Romania joined NATO as a full member, Romania had no real security treaties in place for the first time in modern history. Actual NATO membership is viewed as a support to speed up the modernization trends toward European Union accession and integration processes. Is there a chance, a window of opportunity in a nation’s history? The answer is perhaps yes, if chance is to be understood rather as a series of supporting factors and not by what we simply understand by “luck.” The modernization Era described here may create the impression that Romania had its chance in 1859 and in 1918. In the Second World War, both military campaigns (East and West) were lost, and Romanian lost peace, too. In 1989, Romania faced the only bloody regime change among the other ex-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The change pattern to a new society is rather slow and uneven, maintaining Romanian in the shadow-gray area of European candidate countries. Is this our fate or it is what we are making of ourselves? This essay on the organizational change in a historical perspective cannot and does not wish to clarify all the aspects of the relationship between Romania and Europe or between Romania and the World. However, please note the following points: (1) Romania remains and presents itself as a true member of the European family of countries; other views would simply mean being misunderstood or being wrongfully interpreted; the historical roots as an European country cannot be alienated by the actual lack of economic performances. (2) After the beginning of the Romanian modern state and after the union in 1948, Romania was perceived and was dealt with as a European country with a specific “personality” in the Eastern European region. (3) After 1989, some would have expected a clearer link and connection to the modernization period (1859-1939). Lack of professionalism, political “mumbling,” the primacy of limited interests within the new political elites, as well as a strong media profile induced to Europe and to the World an image fueling a feeling of collective guilt, an “inferiority complex” of the Romanians. The political and economic groups immediately exploited this. The distance and discrepancies to surpass were immense. But other nations – such as Bulgaria – showed more ability and higher national dignity in their process of change during a difficult historical period.

(4) The geopolitical situation, the balance between internal and external factors and the historical contexts heavily influenced modernization and the European integration process. When a favorable context existed (at the beginning of the twentieth century and in the first decade after the First World War), Romania and its political elites proved to act as an equal member in the European region. (5) In order to adequately assess modernization changes, there are some historical determinants of an acute importance: . the Latin origin with a Slavonic component – that distinguishes Romanians of any Romance country (of Latin origin but with German components); . the majority Christian orthodox Religion (the only Christian orthodox Latin country); . the persistence of slavery until the medieval age (over 70 percent of the population of the time); and . the forty years long communist experiment. (6) The question of the individual and the group mentality that fostered or denied Romania’s modernization process. In the West, the new scientific discoveries, economic advances, and social reforms during hundreds of years molded slowly the mentalities of their people. By contrast in Romania and in other countries in development, the mentalities’ change will lag significantly despite the scientific and economic progress, in a climate of uneven change, bribery, black market, improvisation, political protection, and budgetary preferential allocations. These are still operating in any other country, but their level in Romania greatly affects the economy and the social relationships. (7) The present shows that Romania is fighting to regain its identity or to forge a new one. Europe itself, struggles. Identity does not mean “a difference which separates.” The challenge in Europe now is to find and foster “the difference which unifies.” Europe seems to be an “island of necessary stability” for Romania. Europe of the future can be an area of balance and Romania can become a region of balance within the new European Union. References Alexandrescu, S. (2000), Europele provinciale, ˆn ı „Secolul 20”. Europele din Europa (Provincial Europes, in „20th Century” Europes in Europe), nr. 10-12/1999, 1-3/2000, Bucures¸ti. Cioran, E. (1990), Schimbarea la fat¸a˘ a Romaˆniei (The Transfiguration of Romania), Bucures¸ti, Editura Humanitas. Gane, C. (1936), P.P. Carp s¸i locul sa˘u ˆn ı istoria politica˘ a ¸ta˘rii (P.P. Carp and his Place in the Political History of the Country), II, Bucures¸ti, f.e.. Giurescu, C.C. (1977), Probleme controversate ˆn ı istoriografia romaˆna˘ (Debated Problems in Romanian Historiography), Bucures¸ti, Editura Albatros. Iacob, Gh. (1996), Economia Romaˆniei (1859-1939). Fapte, Legi, Idei (Romanian Economy (1859-1939). Facts, Laws, Ideas), Ias¸i, Editura Axis. Iacob, Gh. (1998), Modernizarea Romaˆniei. Rolul elitei politice (Modernization of Romania. The Role of the Political Elite), ˆın ”Xenopoliana”, nr. 6, 1-2, 1998, Ias¸i.

Romania and the Western World from the 1800s 703

JOCM 19,6

704

Lasca˘r, V. (1912), Discursuri politice, adunate s¸i adnotate de M. Theodorian-Carada (Political Speeches Collected and Annotated by M. Theodorian-Carada), II, Bucures¸ti, f.e.. Lovinescu, E. (1992), Istoria civilizat¸iei romaˆne moderne (The History of Modern Romanian Civilisation), III, Bucures¸ti, Editura Minerva. Marino, A. (1995), Pentru Europa (For Europe), Ias¸i, Editura Polirom. Marino, A. (1996), Revenirea ˆn ı Europa. Idei s¸i controverse romaˆnes¸ti. 1900-1995 (Return to Romania. Romanian ideas and Debates), antologie s¸i prefat¸a˘ de Adrian Marino, Craiova, Editura Aius. Nationalismul Economic (1930), Nat¸ionalismul economic s¸i doctrina partidelor ˆn ı Romaˆnia. Rezultatele politicii de la 1859 paˆna˘ ˆn ı 1939 (Economic nationalism and parties’ Doctrines in Romania. The Results of the Politics Between 1859 to 1939), Bucures¸ti, f.e.. Ples¸u, A. (2002), Europa, spiritul critic s¸i imaginat¸ia (Europe, the Critical spirit and the Imagination), ˆın „Dilema”, X, nr. 477/3-9 mai 2002, Bucures¸ti. Simionescu, I. (1937), T ¸ ara noastra˘ (Our Country), Bucures¸ti, f.e.. Studii Revista De Istorie Nr. 1 (1972), Studii. Revista˘ de istorie (Studies. Journal of History), nr. 1, Bucures¸ti, Editura Academiei. Zeletin, S¸. (1992), Neoliberalismul (Neoliberalism), Bucures¸ti, Editura Scripta. Corresponding author George Iacob can be contacted at: [email protected]

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm

Leadership in Romania

Leadership in Romania

Ingrid Aioanei Pontifical Salesian University, Rome, Italy Abstract

705

Purpose – What is leadership, how do Romanians relate to their organization’s leaders, which are the most common leadership behaviors and which leadership style is best for Romania? This paper attempts to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected on actual Romanian leadership and preferences in leadership’s styles. The questions were grouped according to the two major continuums: autocratic style versus democracy style and task orientation versus relationship orientation. Findings – Regarding the autocratic style-democratic style dimension, Romanian leadership leans towards the autocratic style and research results show that leaders in Romania are 55 percent authoritarian and 45 percent democratic. Romanian leaders are inclined towards less involvement of subordinates and frequently retain the final decision. They make use of coercion. The autocratic dimension is slightly higher in state-owned enterprises, due to the strong centralization and to the remains of communism. The research also indicates that men are more task-orientated (71.8 percent) than women (64 percent). Since, Romanian organizational leaders are task oriented (67 percent) and authoritarian (55 percent), the conclusion drawn is that Romanian leaders fit in the “Military Man” pattern. This conclusion was expected because Romanians exhibited a strong dictatorial leadership during communism. However, Romanian leaders of the future will move from the Military Man type to the Academician type, which is still goal-centered, but has a more democratic leadership approach. Results also showed that Romanians would like to have leaders more democratic-oriented (95 percent) than authoritarian (5 percent). This is an important shift. Originality/value – This paper develops a better understanding of Romanian leadership, a subject that has been largely ignored. The paper offers important knowledge and ideas on that which is considered to be organizational leadership in Romania, explaining its roots as well as its behavioral fruits and the contextual environment in which it takes place. Researchers who study organizations may also find the paper a rich source for future inquiry and a confirmation or challenge to their own opinions on leadership in Romania. Keywords Leadership, Democracy, Romania Paper type Research paper

Research now indicates that the leadership is a highly interconnected systemic process. The idea that leadership concepts can exist in a vacuum unconnected to other networked entities and forces is unworkable. Leadership is a complex areas of human behavior about which much has been written. It is no wonder that there are a number of competing theories of leadership. For the reader, normal questions can rise: “Why do we need another study on leadership?” and “If the general settings of leadership are still argued, how relevant is a particular study of Romanian leadership?” An answer to the first question is the more we study the more we have the chance to find a reality which reflects our own leadership context and that fits better with our current situation. Another answer is that Romanian leadership is a rich source. This study will help us combine research findings over Romanian leadership style with theories over Romanian history, culture, political and social environment that explain their leadership preferences.

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 705-712 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708350

JOCM 19,6

706

While worldwide changes are taking place, Romania in its intentions to align to successful economies, has to face different challenges. Romania has to realize that effective leaders are critical for a successful economy. The intentions for this study are a better understanding of leadership issues, the key for Romania’s future development. The purpose of this study is to discover the best leadership behaviors in Romania, and to build a Romanian leadership model. No model or system of leadership style can anticipate the circumstances, and situations in which the leader must influence the actions of others. Therefore, this study is limited because we cannot predict the future, nor can we find a general statement for all possible situations. Any attempt at capturing the totality of societal and organizational behavior and leadership practices in a country like Romania with a sample of 100 respondents has obvious limitations. Diversity in Romania can be explained through the different kind of occupations that Romanian people had to bear during their history: Russian influence especially in the eastern part of the country, German influences in Bucovina due to the Austro-Hungarian occupation, Ottoman occupation with influences that can be seen in the southern part of the country and Hungarian influences in the western part. Other limitations arise out of embedded ness and pervasiveness of culture. Defining leadership A review of the leadership literature quickly reveals a myriad of definitions. The awareness of the complexity relationship, leader-follower-situation is critical. The leader is a person who occupies a position of responsibility in coordinating the activities of the group members in their task of attaining a common goal. Leaders must mobilize their constituents to do something, and induce their willingness to do it. Leaders are those who give credibility to their words by their actions. Leadership is not only about leaders but also about followers. Followers are the mechanism through which common goals are achieved. An adequate analysis of leadership also involves situations; conditions under which leader behaviors are effective. Factors of influencing Romanian leadership The Romanians share an illustrious 1900 year-old history, over which time they have developed a strong cultural identity and a distinct set of common values. This culture is a powerful point of reference for the way many Romanians view themselves. Romanian history was not smooth; it was under different cultural influences and under a permanent political and economical pressure from outside as well as from inside the country. Part of the Romanian history it is characterized by Ottoman occupation, Russian Empire influence, Austro-Hungarian Empire pressure and Latin zone recognition. All these influences create a local psychology having as main characteristics complex and causal understanding, capacity of improvising and finding passenger solutions, creativity and family care. Romanians see their history as a continuous process, disrupted but never entirely interrupted by foreign occupation. They value past experience highly and look backwards for inspiration before taking future action. They cherish certainty, family and religious values. Romanians have always shown themselves as religious people, their attitude towards life is characterized by the idea that God has established their life path and they cannot do anything better besides God’s design for them. They easily fall in this pessimistic attitude in which one’s failure is motivated by the saying

“It was God’s will”. Fatalism’s view is surrounding Romanians when they don’t succeed in their purposes, when their plans fail or even when they loose a soccer game. It can also be observed that in the period after 1989 there are some people, and their number is increasing, which are holding a viewpoint closer to the master-of-destiny one. In order to have a clearer image over today’s Romanian leadership it is important to acknowledge the influences of political, economical, and cultural factors over the leadership process. Romania’s greatest historical curse is that it is settled in a land of inevitable domination and permanent interference of contradictory internationally political streams. Like many Eastern European countries, Romania has made a huge effort to introduce an entirely new socioeconomic system based on private enterprise. Unfortunately, this transformation begins from an extraordinary network of monopolized industries under state control. Protected from significant competition by their monopoly position and guaranteed government financial support, many of those state-owned companies were inefficient. The economic system under communist regime was the command economy where the production of goods and services were all planned by the government for the good of society. While the objectives of the command economy were to mobilize economic resources for the public good, just the opposite occurred. A major exercise in restructuring and liberalization of economy was undertaken from 1989 onwards. Romania developed a market economy where production was determined by the interaction of supply and demand. Confusion in the legal system has deep roots, as Ra˘dulescu-Motru was writing at the beginning of the nineteen century: In Romanian’s mentality things can’t be redressed without a law. Every one of us has as supreme ambition the desire of making a law. No one knows how to manage his own activity, but still, everyone wants to make a law in order to direct everybody’s activity.

Petre T ¸ ut¸ea, a Romanian philosopher and specialist in economic problems stressed the importance of individual freedom and initiative, pointing out the potential that lies in all people. As people began to experience freedom the autocratic leadership style began to lose power. Still, the authoritarian style was well preserved in some systems and especially in state-owned enterprises. The concept of culture, which has become an essential factor in understanding different economic and business environments, impacts leadership behavior. Traditionalism versus modernism The strength of traditionalism in Romania is well known. Traditionalism emphasizes the family, class, revealed truths and reverence for the past. Usually, family-related matters are more important than work matters. Traditions are well preserved and considered a reason of pride. On the other hand, modernism stresses merit, rationality and progress. Even if Romania is marching towards a more developed economy traditionalism is still strong. Idealism versus pragmatism Everyone knows the saying “the Romanian was born a poet.” Romanians have always had a very prosperous, active imagination and a vivid creativity, which allowed a rich

Leadership in Romania

707

JOCM 19,6

708

poetic development. Still this imagination was shadowed and tempered by a practical spirit, which often became pragmatic and less poetic. Collectivism versus individualism Romanians are highly collectivist oriented and some say that this feature is a remainder from the communist period. C. Ra˘dulescu-Motru, a well-known Romanian Philosopher and Psychologist who lived in the nineteenth century said about Romanians: . . .the profession which draws Romanians attention mostly is the one that doesn’t separate him from the crowd. He likes the feeling of being in the middle of the crowd, of speaking and being helped by the crowd.

Power distance Romania has a moderate-to-large power distance dimension. Romanians are accepting the disparities in wealth and authority between high and low status members of a group or organization. Romanians tend to accept centralized power and depend heavily on superiors for structure and direction. Different laws and rules for superiors and subordinates are accepted, more, it is expected that leaders use the privileges inherent in their position to give orders. Uncertainty avoidance Romania exhibits a low tolerance for uncertainty and a preference for certain situations. They are also less comfortable with risk taking and nonconformist behavior. In Romanian organizations there is a high need for written rules and regulations. Therefore, authoritative decision-making behavior is preferable by most subordinates. Improving the quality of life for employees in Romanian organizations implies offering more security, and more task structure on the job. Masculinity Romania is now a moderate-to-high masculine country with important feminine influences. The Romanian woman is going through an emancipation process in order to achieve a social position closer to the men. A popular show “Three-times a Woman” presented by Mihaela Tatu is fully illustrating the idea of the Romanian woman who has to be, at the same time, the perfect wife, mother and career woman. Even with this ongoing woman’s emancipation, Romania has still a relatively high masculinity dimension. Stereotypical leaders An element useful in setting a complete image over the Romanian leadership styles would be the study of stereotypical leaders. In order to do this, we will a leadership model with four styles based on a matrix containing two crucial dimensions: autocratic versus democratic and task orientation versus relationship orientation (Figure 1). We can identify a stereotypical leader for each quadrant and we will call them: military man, politician, academician and clergyman. Military man A military man is a task-oriented autocrat. He is a man of command, always stressing task accomplishment. In achieving his purposes, he exercises a tight control over all

RELATIONSHIP ORIENTATION A U T O C R A T I C

S T Y L E

POLITICIAN

CLERGYMAN

MILITARY MAN

ACADEMICIAN

TASK ORIENTATION

D E M O C R A T I C

Leadership in Romania

709

S T Y L E

processes in the organization, defines and sets goals, controls goal fulfillment and gives rewards and punishments. He acts as the spokesman of the group and does not allow others to have initiative. He is concerned only about results; always asking subordinates to work harder, increase production. Military man always schedules the work to be done; telling others what their tasks are, and emphasizes their first responsibility is to complete their work. Politician The politician is a relations-oriented autocrat. He is always seeking power and esteem. He wants to be known, praised and obeyed. He does not trust people. The politician is interested in having as many followers as possible and this is a strong enough reason to show himself as caring for people and relationships. His subordinates fear to contradict him. This type of leader would never let his subordinates be more clever or competent than he is because then he would consider them as a threat. Organizational goals are taken into consideration as long as they coincide with personal objectives. Academician The academician is a task-oriented democrat. His priority is to achieve organizational goals, striving for consensus. He identifies the task, studies it and after being well acquainted with it starts negotiating with employees about the best ways of accomplishing the tasks. This type of leader is very aware that in order to achieve optimal results, it is essential to obtain employees’ commitment and involvement. Clergyman The clergyman is a relations-oriented democrat. He allows subordinates complete freedom in their work. His priority is to assure a pleasant climate in the organization, good relations between employees and a good subordinate-leader relationship. He stresses the importance of teamwork in achieving the goals. In his decision-making, he strives for consensus. He cares about the people around him. Employees find him reliable and often ask him for help.

Figure 1.

JOCM 19,6

710

Research methods and results Data were collected on actual Romanian leadership and preferences in leadership’s styles. A sample of 100 persons with Romanian citizenship were asked to fill in a questionnaire. In 28 questions, respondents were asked how they felt about their boss and how they view their actual leader-follower situation. These same questions were answered regarding preferred best leadership practices. The sample includes people from 22 to 58 years old, 50 percent above the age of 30 and 50 percent below than 30 years old. Respondents were 61 percent females and 39 percent males. All were employed in Romanian firms: 26 percent in a public institution, 53 percent in private firms and 21 percent in state-owned companies. Most respondents were enrolled in a Master degree program at Al.I. Cuza University, Ias¸i Romania. The questionnaires were evaluated using the program statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The questions were grouped according to the two major continuums: autocratic style versus democracy style and task orientation versus relationship orientation. Regarding the autocratic style democratic style dimension, Romanian leadership leans towards the autocratic style and research results show that leaders in Romania are 55 percent authoritarian and 45 percent democratic. Romanian leaders are inclined towards a less involvement of subordinates and frequently retain the final decision. They make use of coercion. The autocratic dimension is slightly higher in state-owned enterprises, due to the strong centralization and to the communism’s remains. For the last element of our research regarding task orientation versus relationship orientation, research results indicate that Romanian leaders are more task oriented (67 percent) than relationship oriented (33 percent). This is not a surprise given the fact that during communism, the importance of achieving the planned production was stressed. Romanian leaders are more concerned about getting the job done rather than about the needs of their subordinates. This attitude encourages behaviors like “we pretend to be working and they are pretending to pay us.” The research indicates that men more task orientated (71.8 percent) than women (64 percent). What the conclusions can be drawn from the research? Where can we place the Romanian organizational leaders? Since, they are task oriented (67 percent) and authoritarian (55 percent), the conclusion we draw is that Romanian leaders fit in the Military Man pattern. This conclusion was expected because Romanians exhibited a strong dictatorial leadership during the communism. However, times are changing and people apparently starting to see the virtues of democracy; this “fresh breath.” This idea is consistent with the research findings that showed that Romanian leadership has shifted between authority (55 percent) and democracy (45 percent). From this point of view, as democracy behaviors settles, Romanian leaders of the future will move from the Military Man type to the Academician type which is still goal centered, but has a more democratic leadership approach. The second phase of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the Romanian leadership preferences. Regarding the autocratic democratic continuum, results revealed that Romanians would like to have leaders more democratic oriented (95 percent) than authoritarian (5 percent). This is an important shift. Regarding the task orientation versus relationship orientation continuum, the results indicated that Romanians would prefer a leadership style with 60 percent task orientation and 40 percent relationship orientation. However, paradoxically Romanians also want to

be told what to do and want to be closely supervised. How are these autocratic tendencies compatible with freedom they are requested through a democrat styles? Those aspects show that Romanians either do not fully understand the difference between an autocratic leadership style and a democratic one, or they are not ready for the desired participative leadership. It seems that while they agree with some concepts involved in a democratic leadership style, they are neglecting others. The dimension of task versus relationship orientation is difficult to analyze if we are trying to say which of the two is best because, as with some other dimensions, the assumption that seems to be most productive is that both orientations are equally important. In a stable environment, it is safe to be completely task orientated. Still the relationship orientation does not have to be neglected. In a complex, turbulent environment in which technological and other forms of independence are high, the leader has to value relationships and the level of trust and communication that will make joint problem solving and solution implementation possible. Our research indicated a moderate-to-strong task orientation (60 percent) and a large preference for a democratic style (95 percent). Therefore, concluding that Romanian’s prefer an Academician style. What we must remember is not to expect every individual to behave in a manner consistent with those generalizations. Although there is value in making predictions about human behavior based in the patterns we see in different cultures, there is also the risk of doing great harm by stereotyping. Leaders often adapt their behavior to suit their situations. Conclusions This paper develops a better understanding of Romanian leadership, a subject that has been largely ignored. The paper offers important knowledge and ideas on that which is considered to be organizational leadership in Romania, explaining its roots as well as its behavioral fruits and the contextual environment in which it takes place. Researchers who study organizations may also find the paper a rich source for future inquiry and a confirmation or challenge to their own opinions on leadership in Romania. After defining leadership and its related concepts, after becoming familiar with its Romanian features given by Romania’s history, culture, values, political, economic and social context, after further exploration through scientific research, we are able to understand that Romanian leadership and Romanians themselves are very complex and profound. Nicolae Iorga said: There is an authority which can be recognized through fear and another one to which people are looking with love and which is stronger than the other one.

These words are revealing Romanians’ attitude towards authority. Traditionally, leadership behavior has only been considered efficient in Romania only if it was based on direction and authority. Romania’s history is full of examples of powerful, successful leaders like this. Thus, Romanian companies have traditionally searched for leaders who were strong and also addressed Romanians’ national cultural values. Throughout their history, Romanians have been used to dealing with authority in every situation from the family related matters to the battlefield, and now they are carrying the same behaviors in the newborn democratic Romania.

Leadership in Romania

711

JOCM 19,6

712

As we have seen in the research results, Romanians would like a more democratic leadership style in organizations. But are they able to use the work freedom, which goes along with democracy in organization’s best interest? Have Romanians achieved the conscience of the work well done and in time? Are they ready to manage their own resources and bring out the best possible results without being told and scheduled on their activities? It is obvious that progress cannot be achieved without a persevering, continuous and well-organized work. Unfortunately, as we know in Romania the minimum effort law and the expedient law works. People are working not as hard as they should. We are probably still too “contemplative” too “poetic” too “mioritic dreamers”. Romanians will have to value hard work, cherish individual initiative; will have to learn how to use their freedom in order to seek self-development. Romanians have to learn is how to think for themselves without waiting to be told what to do and without expecting others to take decisions for them. The path to a real democratic leadership style is still long and impossible to achieve if these changes do not become reality. One may find these lines too pessimistic. But it is not true. To present Romania’s reality, with its qualities and faults, to admit its weak points, its problems and transition difficulties, its dark sides like corruption, favoritism, means only to admit a reality. And the first step for a country’s progress is to admit who it is and where it is. This paper acknowledges Romania’s reality under the existing leadership perspective. In this way, the first step has been made. What about the rest? It lies in our desire to build a new Romanian Reality, a better one. It lies in Romanians’ peoples willingness to change, to do something better, to built a greater future. It lies in our new generations of leaders able to provide a proper organizational framework for a stable economy. It lies in our hearts. Further reading Dra˘ghicescu, D. (1907), “Din psihologia poporului romaˆn” (“From Romanian people’s psychology”), Libra˘ria Leon Alcalay, Bucures¸ti. Iorga, N. (1972), “Cugeta˘ri” (“Deep thoughts”), Ed. Albatros, Ias¸i. Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, F.P. (1994), Joining Together. Group Theory and Group Skills, Paramount Communications Company, Sacramento, CA. Marino, A. (1995), “Pentru Europa. Integrarea Romaˆniei. Aspecte ideologice s¸i culturale” (“For Europe. Romania’ integration. Ideological and cultural aspects”), Polirom, Ias¸i. Ra˘dulescu-Motru, C. (1990), “Sufletul neamului nostru. Calita˘¸ti bune s¸i defecte” (“Our nation’s soul. Good qualities and faults”), Ed. Anima, Bucures¸ti. Roberts, W. (1987), Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun, Warner Books, New York, NY. T¸ut¸ea, P. (1992), “Iˆntre Dumnezeu s¸i neamul meu” (“Between God and my people”), Ed. Arta Grafica˘, Bucures¸ti. Corresponding author Ingrid Aioanei can be contacted at: [email protected]

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm

The discourse of Romanian universities

The discourse of Romanian universities

Sorina Chiper Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, Romania

713

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the discourse of Romanian universities as a mirror of the reformation process in the national higher educational system. Design/methodology/approach – The focus of this paper is on external and internal communication, on institutional identity and the symbiosis of orders of discourse. The paper highlights the prospective EU integration as a major trigger of change in the Romanian educational system. It then draws upon critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a relevant research approach and presents the results of conducting critical discourse analysis on a corpus consisting of the web site presentation of ten public and private universities, on three faculty and university prospectuses, and one promotional CD. Finally, the paper briefly compares the discourse of Romanian universities with the discourse of universities from the UK, France, Italy and Germany, and suggest lines for improvement. Findings – Romanian society is currently the site of ample reformation and one of the factors that trigger change is the prospective integration in the European Union. In higher education, change is enacted discursively though the emergence of new genres as the generalization of promotion as a discursive practice. The discourse of Romanian universities is heavily colonized by the EU discourse, but factors pertaining to local culture also resurface openly. Discourse is, indeed, a factor of change, but not the only one affecting it. The westernizing of Romanian university discourse needs to be backed up by a westernizing of patterns of thinking and behaving. Originality/value – The paper presents insights into the discourse of Romanian universities. Keywords Universities, Social reform, European Union, National cultures, Romania Paper type Research paper

The Revolution of 1989 marked the beginning of a large-scale process of political, economic and social change. Whereas the impulse of the Revolution was the revolt against communism, lack of individual freedom and poverty, currently the engine of change is the desire to observe European norms and to reach European standards of living. Nothing lasts longer than transition, and at present, Romania is still struggling with ghosts from the past. Despite angry voices claiming that post-Revolution governments have deformed rather than reformed systems and institutions, improvements are visible in many fields, including education. This paper will address the discourse of Romanian universities as a mirror of the reformation process in the national higher educational system. The reasons that have grounded my topic choice are personal: on the one hand, the university is the milieu I am more familiar with and, on the other hand, I am confident that the reformation of Universities plays a crucial part in the large-scale renewal of patterns of thinking and acting, personal, collective values, and lifestyles. Methodology and research My focus will be on external and internal communication, on institutional identity and the symbiosis of orders of discourse. I shall first highlight the prospective EU integration as a major trigger of change in the Romanian educational system; second, I shall draw

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 713-724 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708369

JOCM 19,6

714

upon critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a relevant research approach; third, I will present the results of conducting CDA on a corpus consisting of the web site presentation of 10 public and private universities (Bucharest University (www.unibuc.ro), “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University (www.uaic.ro) of Ias¸i, “Petre Andrei” University of Ias¸i (www.upa.ro), Baca˘u University (www.ub.ro), “Transilvania” University of Bras¸ov (www.unitbv.ro), The West University of Timis¸oara (www.uvt.ro), “Babes Bolyai” University of Cluj (www.ubb.ro), North University of Baia Mare (www.ubm.ro), “Petroleum and Gas” University of Ploies¸ti (www.upg-ploiesti.ro) and “Oviudiu” University of Constant¸a), on three faculty and university prospectuses (The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration in the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Ias¸i, the “1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia and “Lower Danube” University of Galat¸i (Erasmus Student Guide)) and one promotional CD, for the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Ias¸i (Alexandru Ioan Cuza, University of Iasi, 2003.CD- rom). Finally, I will briefly compare the discourse of Romanian universities with the discourse of universities from the UK, France, Italy and Germany, and suggest lines for improvement. The impact of EU integration on national education Romania is the only country in the former communist block that developed economic relations with the European Economic Community in the 1970s. It signed the European Agreement of Association in 1993, started negotiations in 2000, and hopes to become a member of the EU beginning with January 2007. In the prospect of EU integration, Romania will have to ensure increased access to training, and the improvement of educational standards. Currently, Romania applies the transferable credit system and various distance education programs have been developed, to support the European principle of lifelong learning. A national program – CALISRO – has been set up to monitor the quality of higher education. In addition to this, education in the native language is granted to all minorities and a special attention has been given lately to the Rroma community, to increase their literacy and participation in the educational process and civic life. In the near future, the higher education cycles (undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs) will be structured on a scheme of 3-2-3 years, the Diploma supplement will be introduced by 2005, and joint degree integrated study programs will be developed. Also, University Trusts will be founded by 2010, to improve the use of resources, reduce costs, increase institutional collaboration, facilitate student and teacher mobility, organize common admission contests and set up excellence research centers. Theoretical research framework: critical discourse analysis Language plays a more significant role in contemporary socio-economic changes than it did in the past. Therefore, discourse analysis has the potential to contribute extensively to the research of the transformations in current society. One of the latest developments in the study of language is CDA. CDA aims to explore the relations of causality and determination between discursive practices, events and texts, and wider social and cultural structures, relations and processes; to investigate how such practices, events and texts arise out of and are ideologically shaped by relations of power and struggles over power; and to explore how the opacity

of these relationships between discourse and society is itself a factor securing power and hegemony (Fairclough, 1995, p. 133). CDA draws on the shifting relations between discourse elements of different networks of social practices and the re-scaling of discourse practices. One relevant example is the way in which the language of management and marketing has colonized public institutional discourse, a phenomenon that Fairclough has called “marketization.” Private sphere discursive practices have also colonized public orders of discourse, in the process that the same author has dubbed “conversationalization.” As for re-scaling, one could consider the appropriation of the discourse of international and European Union institutions by national institutional discourse. Also, another noteworthy development is the generalization of promotion as a communicative function (Fairclough, 1995, pp. 137-138), which entitles one to label contemporary culture as “promotional” or “consumer’s” culture. The consequence of this phenomenon is the emergence of hybrid genres that incorporate promotional elements in the structure of traditional genres. On the other hand, discursive practices are increasingly instrumental, i.e. meaning is created and manipulated for instrumental effects. In addition to this, the relationship between signifier, signified and referent is on the verge of bankruptcy, because two types of signification now coexist: signification-with-reference and signification-without-reference. If in the former case there is a real object to which the signified is conceptually connected, in the latter case the “object” only exists at the level of discourse. This rupture in signification bears, of course, serious ethical implications, due to the impossibility to distinguish signification-with-reference from signification-without reference and genuine conversationalism from subtle manipulation. Management principles in university discourse Both lucrative organizations and public institutions acknowledge the vital role of communication not only for the success of their operations, but also for their own survival. According to direction and goal, communication can be classified into as external operational; external promotional; internal operational and internal personal. The university external promotional communication is more visible, and, therefore, lends itself easier to be researched. This form of communication recontextualizes basic management principles that operate in the business world, by the inclusion of mission statements, goals and organizational chart in university prospectuses and on web pages. The mission statement and the goals, as text types, feature a typical characteristic of corporate discourse: the use of CBS style (clarity, brevity, sincerity) as the norm for professional communication (Scollon and Scollon, 2001, p. 106). Clarity, brevity and sincerity are indeed topical imperatives in the business world. However, in the Romanian discourse practices, brevity is not always the rule. This is why mission statements tend to be quite long and hard to follow. Reports, operational and strategic plans were more numerous and sophisticated at the end of 2003 and the beginning of 2004, when faculties and universities elected their managerial team for a 4 year mandate. What these documents reveal is that universities are run as businesses, and their public communication covers issues that businesses also make public to shareholders.

The discourse of Romanian universities 715

JOCM 19,6

716

Recently, “Ovidius” University of Constant¸a developed a “Quality Manual” – a pioneering endeavor in Romania that reveals the University’s status as a service provider, its concern for Total Quality Management and its ambition to monitor the teaching process and its deliverables. Intertextuality in university discourse Quality has been one of the key words in the higher education institutions in Western Europe since the 1980s-1990s. In Romania, this preoccupation has come more to the fore with the validation of the Education Law in 1995 and it became institutionalized with the creation of the National Council for Quality Management in Higher Education in 1998. In 1999 Romania signed the Bologna Declaration, expressing its commitment to establishing a European area of higher education and to promote the European system of higher education. The advertising discourse of Romanian universities has internalized the need to adjust to European standards, being thus colonized by the EU educational discourse. University public forms of communication list objectives such as to assimilate Western standards for academic education, as a basis in the formation of professionals capable to respond to the challenge of European integration and globalization of world economy, to participate in inter-university cooperation, both inside and outside Romania, to adjust the curriculum to European standards, to promote a coherent policy at University level in the field of lifelong learning and adult education. These objectives obviously echo the directives of the Ministry and of the European Institutions, as laid down in the Bologna Declaration, and they have been unchallengingly appropriated in the local discourse. At another level, the university discourse intertextualizes the discourse of transition, with its recurrent use of the comparison between the Communist past (before 1989) and the democratic present (after 1989), and of key words such as change, transformation and reform and their synonyms. To give just two examples, the University of Cluj marks the year 1989 as a milestone that brought about the University’s re-entry in the circle of prestigious research and education European institutions, and for Transilvania University of Bras¸ov, 1989 was the beginning of its “redimensioning.” In addition to this, echoes of the communist past resonate in the feeling of pride of belonging to an institution. Loyalty and pride of affiliation are elements of Western corporate culture. Yet, in Romania, the pride of belonging still reminds us of what we were supposed to feel towards the Communist Party. Sometimes one even has the impression that the new discourse has replaced the “wooden language” of communist propaganda by another “wooden language” of reform and European integration, equally rigid and standardized. The self-promotional discourse of some universities boasts, quite unrealistically, about assets and facilities in a tone that echoes the record crops and industrial output reported under the communists. The rhetoric of “1 Decembrie 1918” (University of Alba Iulia, 2003), listing facilities that in reality do not match the labels used to describe them, is a good case in point. There is, therefore, a clash between the projected image and the empirical evidence. Institutional identity One of the roles of the external promotional communication is to create a sense of identity. Guillaume Soenen and Bertrand Moingeon, in the article “The five facets of

collective identities: integrating corporate and organizational identity” (Soenen and Moingeon, 2002, pp. 13-34), distinguish between the professed, the projected, the experienced, the manifested and the attributed identity. The professed identity is a self-attributed identity, the statements used by organizational members to define their collective identity. When the professed identity is communicated to the others, it becomes the projected identity, consisting of communications, behaviors or symbols. The experienced identity is the collective representation of the organization, achieved by its members, as collective cognitive maps, unconscious structures or beliefs. The manifested identity is the organization’s historical identity, visible in its routines, structure, performance level, market positioning and symbolic manifestations. Last but not least, the attributed identity refers to what is known as corporate image – the attributes ascribed to an organization by its audiences. The projected identity of most universities in the corpus is impersonal, distant, settled, and conservative. Contrary to this tendency, the message of the Rector of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University strikes a surprising and stylistically pleasant difference: it has an inviting tone and is formulated as a dialogue between “we” (the University) and “you” (potential students). The institution, therefore, is personalized and featured as a hospitable entity, eager to share knowledge and to benefit from students’ experience and personal qualities, in a win-win partnership. What is more, its identity is constructed as a narrative, as can be seen in the fragment below: “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University is a university that has its own character. It has that kind of pride that makes her different: sober, yet inventive, solid, yet ready to face challenges at any time. Pioneering work is the characteristic feature of this university. In the University of Ias¸i people talk between them: researchers from various fields cooperate and have internationally recognized achievements. Both teaching staff and students are engaged in the process of renewal; the university and the commercial sector are in close contact. In addition to this, Ias¸i is a city of a particularly pleasant patriarchal atmosphere, which attracts students like a magnet. Students are those who lend an air of youth to the university and to the city. “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University is a classical university that will know how to face the challenges of the future.” Translation from www.uaic.ro/default.php?t ¼ site&pgid ¼ 2

The conversationalization of University discourse is a matter of individual choice and personal style. However, I have noticed that there is also a link between the profile of the issuing institution and the type of discourse it projects of itself. Business schools are more prone to adopt self-promotional marketing strategy in their discourse, and they opt for a dialogic discourse that establishes a customer-service provider relationship with prospective students. In another line of thought, in my view, there are instances of clashes between the projected identity (the result of “texts” directed outside the institution) and the experienced identity (affected mostly by deficient internal communication). Whereas the projected identity insists upon the notion of quality and high educational standards, the insider’s view of the teaching activity is not so optimistic. The claims at teaching quality are hardly realistic if we consider the large number of students in a group, the course schedule overlapping, the inadequate learning facilities and the excessive teaching loads. The desire to attract funds from tuition-payer students, to supplement governmental funds, is likely to lead to trade-offs of quality and performance. However, it is hoped that this is just a temporary state, and that the projected image will, eventually, become

The discourse of Romanian universities 717

JOCM 19,6

effective. After all, the educational system is in a process of reformation, and progress depends on steady actions and dedication to improve the status quo. What is mostly needed, is transformational leaders and committed followers, who should be aware of the University’s sense of social mission and be eager to face the challenge of fighting stereotypical thinking and resistance to transformation.

718

The impact of national culture on university discourse Quality in universities is assessed in terms of academic reputation, career opportunities, program flexibility, duration to complete a degree and cost of education (Mazzarol and Soutar, 2001, p. 104). In my corpus, nevertheless, the notion of quality is associated with tradition and the institution’s history. The promotional CD of “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University starts with a historical survey that goes beyond the foundation year (1860) to dwell upon the beginning of high education in Moldavia (the historical province situated in the east) in the seventieth century. The University of Baia Mare, founded in 1991, takes even a longer journey into the past, to the year 1388, when there was a school in the area. Nevertheless, this foundation of quality on long history is not necessarily valid. “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Ias¸i is, indeed, the oldest university in Romania, and the University of Bucharest is the second, but neither is in the top 100 European universities, nor at least in the top 500 world universities. The preference to support the idea of quality in the historical past can be accounted for if we consider the Romanian cultural orientation towards the past and tradition rather than towards the future. This preference is equally evinced by the resurfacing of the cult of the dead in the message of the rectors of “Petre Andrei” and “Transilvania” Universities. There are, however, signs that attitudes are slightly changing. The web presentation of West University of Timis¸oara (in the westernmost part of the country) has a brief historical survey and it defines quality by invoking the good results obtained by the staff upon passing employment selection exams, the numerous prizes that they were awarded, and EU evaluation. Similarly, the web site presentation of “Babes Bolyai” University introduces it as a modern institution that can stand on equal footing with European and American universities given its 1,500 experienced faculty staff and 40,000 students. Another Romanian cultural factor that influences the discourse of universities is low uncertainty avoidance. Universities display a marked concern to outline the legal framework in which they function as institutions. They invariably mention the official documents issued by the Government and/or other national bodies or the University Senate and that have a bearing on their functioning, both in the Romanian version and in the English translation, although this information is obviously irrelevant to the international audience. Ideology in university discourse The basic ideology of higher education is New Liberalism. As Levinson (1999, pp. 2-3) noted, this ideology has a twofold impact on the current trends in education worldwide. First, it has led to the growing influence of market-based ideas in education; second, it has stimulated the politics of diversity and multiculturalism in programs and student profiles.

Universities in western Romania have programs in the native language of ethnic minorities (German and Hungarian), and the University of Cluj especially has a very well articulated linguistic policy, in keeping with all the EU regulations in the field. Also, in compliance with the EU policy and recommendations, Romania now provides University state-sponsored places for members of the Rroma community and undergraduate programs in Rroma language and culture. University discourse has appropriated the ideology of autonomy, flexibility and competition and texts issued by universities instill the belief in progress and social betterment and in the free and equal individual. At the same time they construct an image of the human being as rational and in full control of his or her destiny. However, the belief in the agency of the human subject is subtlety undermined by the use of passive constructions in the representation of the status quo, and especially by the representation of globalization and technological development as a given, as events happening to us. A perfect example is the Rector’s justification for a projected Quality Manual presented on the webpage of the University of Bucharest. The institution “is called” (by whom?) to lead scientific research in Romania, in a time of “rapid innovation in the field of information and communication technologies” of “multi-form globalization,” “development of mass-higher education,” “internal and international competition,” “loss of monopoly” on higher education. To tackle the issue of ideology from another perspective, according to Ron and Suzanne Scollon, the Neo-Liberal discourse is one of the voluntary discourse systems (Scollon and Scollon, 2001, p. 179); it is anti-rhetorical, positivist and empirical, individualistic, egalitarian, public, instrumental and anti-personal, deriving its persuasive power from facts and figures. These features are a faithful description of the new tendencies that university discourse in Romania follows. The operational and strategic plans and the quality manuals of the Academy of Economic Sciences in Bucharest (www.ase.ro) and of the universities in Ploies¸ti, Iasi or Constanta are, beyond doubt, highly documented and they comprise extensive tables with facts and figures about staff, students, facilities, financial management, revenues and expenses. New Terminology The emergence of the public management discourse of educational institutions is, as intimated earlier, a phenomenon linked to the overall restructuring of the Romanian society. The import of discursive practices from the West has been accompanied by an import of genres and terminology. This phenomenon is general in the post-Revolution Romania, and Romanian language has assimilated a large number of English borrowings lately. In many cases such assimilation has been the result of the speakers’ high esteem for the American culture and of their desire to share a part of it. In the case of University discourse, however, the adoption of English words has political motivations. The reform of the educational system is currently perceived as a reform of institutions and as a reform of language. The language innovations illustrate the promise and the commitment to innovation. The vocabulary of reform in education comprises words such as department, training, trainer, coaching, pilot, acquis communitaire, curriculum, syllabus, modul, proiect, leadership, leader, mobilitate, exchange student, visiting professor, competent¸a˘ input, managementul calita˘¸tii, master, oportunita˘¸ti, lifelong learning, and grant.

The discourse of Romanian universities 719

JOCM 19,6

720

As one can easily see, most of these words are borrowings from English and it is only “acquis communitaire,” – also used as “acquis comunitar” – that has been taken from French. At the level of vocabulary, more than at any other level of discourse, one can easily see how language acts as both an instrument and as a reflector of social change, by constructing preferred readings of the reality and by perpetuating these representations and “digesting” them for the public consciousness. Local variations The recontextualization of the neo-liberal discourse is combined with the effects of national and regional re-scaling (Fairclough, 2003). In Moldavia, for instance, the discourse of universities captures one of the local values, namely strong religious feelings. Words such as “spirit” and “spiritual” are frequent in the presentation of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration in Ias¸i, for instance. The influence of the local cultural values causes even instances of slippage from the general ideological framework that the discourse of universities reproduces and reinforces. The “master-of-destiny” vision of the New Capitalism is shattered by phrases such as “a long chain of fortunate or less fortunate events,” (FEAA Prospectus, 2003, p. 6) and many specializations, in the Romanian version, are “destined” to achieve certain goals. Quite surprisingly, the message of the Rector of “Petre Andrei” University ends with the exclamation “So help us GOD!,” which strikes a very discordant note by comparison with the sober, impersonal and formal discourse of the other universities. Local variations can also be perceived in the promises that Universities offer to students and in their goals. In addition to the general promise of employability, equal opportunities and extended access to education for all categories of population, the “1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia aims to preserve and assert the national identity and the unity in diversity of the Romanian culture. The political correctness of these goals becomes apparent if we consider the fact that the University is situated in Transilvania, an area where the ethnic structure of the population is mixed, and where there have been inter-ethnic conflicts. In the same region, “Babes Bolyai” University of Cluj capitalizes on the mixed ethnic population by developing a linguistic policy that is oriented towards multilingualism and multiculturalism. Pitfalls of internal communication The previous sections have demonstrated the current trends in external university discourse, namely the marketization and commoditization of public discourse, the colonization of university discourse by the discourse of corporate management, reform and transition, the discourse of quality and of EU institutions. Whereas this form of discourse has witnessed major developments in terms of accessibility by the public, in terms of content and accompanying graphics, internal communication, unfortunately, lags behind. Inside universities, the sense of collective mission hardly exists, and the University’s vision is little known, or fully ignored. Indeed, there are well written texts targeted towards the “extramural” world but there is little communication and interpretation of the vision inside the institution. The institutions own culture is rather weak, and staff cooperation and dialogue are also low.

As intimated in the Introduction, the current situation of the Romanian society in general is characterized by change (although, as insiders, we might, sometimes, be less aware of the process). Change is prone to facilitate the exercise of leadership, or, to be more specific, of transformational leadership. A transformational leader, in Robbins definition, is someone who “inspires followers to transcend their own self-interest for the good of the organization, and who is capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on his or her followers” (Robbins, 2001, p. 329). This transformation can only occur when there is an atmosphere of mutual trust and when followers are really willing to buy the hope that the leader is selling. Yet, this is not always the case. In an institution such as a university, there are numerous persons of leading potential and of excellent intellectual and professional qualities. Such people are hard to lead, because they have a strong personality and a keen sense of personal worth and, why not, vanity. Despite this, they represent an asset to the institution because they can provide alternative views and alternative solutions, as long as the formal leaders know how to cooperate with them. On the other hand, the internal communication falls behind expectations in what concerns the flow of information. I am mainly referring here to the internal operational communication, because the grapevine (the channel of small-talk) has always been an effective and efficient conveyor of information, gossip or misinformation. A very small percentage of the faculty staff is involved in the decision-making process and usually information, or what represents “news” at a certain moment – be it calls for papers, job vacancies or research opportunities – reaches the persons who are potentially interested in it quite late, too late, much too late, or never. These examples are clear indicators that information is filtered, and that there are many gatekeepers who block its passage. Moreover, it is inevitable that at all levels inside an institution there will be in-groups and out-groups, the former being favored over the latter. Since, our culture is a high-power distance one, in the terms used by Hofstede, direct communication between people at various levels in the organization structure in unlikely to happen. Even if the formal leaders are willing to show concern for their followers, the latter might act as self-filters and, by assuming a too large psychological distance, they prevent solutions from being found and thus perpetuate the status quo. Last but not least, the lack of communication between leadership and followers makes room for the proliferation of small talk, rumors and gossip. Lack of information will breed misinformation, and too little “talk” inside the institution will create too much “small-talk,” which can be detrimental to the institutions’ image and desired atmosphere of trust and transparency. The solution is simple: improved availability and increased use internal communication, more resources allotted for internal marketing, the operation of motivation schemes and the development of a strong institutional culture. Romanian university discourse in a comparative perspective A brief survey of the discourse of universities from the UK, France, Germany and Italy has revealed that it is mostly younger and smaller universities that have developed a promotional discourse and that aim at establishing good contact with prospective students. They are more conversational in style, preserving a degree of formality that is higher in the UK and smaller in Italy. By contrast, the discourse of older universities

The discourse of Romanian universities 721

JOCM 19,6

722

is dry, official, conservative and opaque. In older universities across Europe, one could conclude, the major force that dictates the writing of texts is centripetal, aiming to create homogeneity. Universities in the UK address their various messages and postings to prospective, current, and former students. German university discourse is very dialogical in the case of younger universities, even joking at points. In France, a lot of emphasis is laid on facts and figures, whereas in Italy, university discourse is heavily colonized by the discourse of the EU and of educational reform at national level. This comparative perspective has brought out the quite sober and simple webpage design of Romanian Universities, the little interpersonal dialogue between the institution and prospective or current students, the very meager attempts at constructing texts addressed to alumni and the bombastic claims at quality. What should be introduced, to make these claims sound more realistic, is genuine testimonials of students, both Romanian and foreign, who studied in the respective institution and can assess it and give valuable advice to prospective students. Also, the comparative approach shows that the discourse of Romanian universities is equally, or even more oriented towards internationalization than foreign universities in the above-mentioned countries, by the fact that a significant percentage of the information in Romanian is also available in English. The quality of the translation, however, is not always very high, which damages the image that Romanian universities aim to project. Similarly to French universities, there is a lot of emphasis on facts and figures, and similarly to Italian universities there is intense colonization by the discourse of the EU. Conclusions University management communicates with the public in the same manner as enterprise management and it endeavors to project an image of professionalism. The changes that the Romanian higher education system undergoes are operated “under western eyes,” i.e. with the awareness that they will be assessed by EU evaluators and they will contribute to Romania’s efforts to integrate in the EU. Universities have started to give more attention to their public discourse, which is now perceived as an instrument of attaining competitive advantages, as creator of added value and as the means to construct and promote institutional image and identity. This is a very recent tendency, because only a few years ago, university discourse was mainly factual, informative and very conservative. At the same time, universities are now using discourse to show their participation in and commitment to the process of reformation. University discourse intertextualizes the discourse of EU documents and it is the site of overlapping between the New Liberalism discourse system, the transition discourse system, the strategy and quality discourse system, with local variations in the promises offered to prospective students. Discourse is indeed an instrument of change, but not the only agent that can affect it. Whereas the vocabulary of Romanian universities has been “Westernized,” local practices and mentalities are hard to alter, at least in the case of the generations educated before the 90’s. What is needed, is more realism, enthusiasm and originality, the “westernizing” of the mind and behavior. In an article that set out to compare Romanian and French universities in terms of how they define and assess achievements, Dumitru Zait and Alain Spalanzani

mentioned the fact that the two countries have had convergent developments in their higher education through the influence of French universities over the Romanian academia due to Romanian scholars who studied in France. The present differences between the two systems can be accounted for by the different political and ideological environments in which they evolved after World War II and also by the circumstances in which they were created. French universities have a long tradition, and were set up by genuine aristocratic families, whereas Romanian universities were founded at the end of the ninetieth century, and were heavily influenced by Greeks. The authors suggest that such an influence was not a favorable one. I would not venture to disqualify the Greek influence on the Romanian academia as fully detrimental. However, there are “symptoms” in the university life that could be traced back to Balkan mores: the much commented upon corruption among teaching staff (possibly exaggerated in newspapers but nevertheless, present) and the networks of family connections, all employed by the same institution. The “westernizing” of the mind and practices will mean more concern for research and quality of the teaching act, more accountability on both the students’ and teachers’ part, more commitment to the educational process and better teacher-student communication. The process is still in its inception. Yet the desired integration in the European Union will have to be carried out, at an individual level, by an adaptation or reinterpretation of one’s shifting values, so as to be able to perform on the open educational, industrial, financial or labor market and be able to benefit from all the opportunities available. At another level, improvements are needed in the university’s internal marketing strategies, to foster and reinforce an image of quality, to develop a customer-focused organizational culture that unites employees around a common vision, with an emphasis on building long-term customer relationships. Change is definitely needed, though it is not always welcomed, not is it always easy. As Winston Churchill said, “To improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often”. Universities, if they are committed to quality and perfection, should accept and manage the challenge of change. References Fairclough, N. (1995), “Critical discourse analysis”, The Critical Study of Language, Longman, New York, NY. Fairclough, N. (2003), “Critical discourse analysis in researching language in the new capitalism: over determination, transdisciplinarity and textual analysis”, available at: www.ling.lancs. ac.uk/staff/norman/2003b.doc FEAA Prospectus (2003), 2003 Entry, Agencyone, Iasi. Guillaume, S. and Moingeon, B. (2002), “The five facets of collective identities: integrating corporate and organizational identity”, in Moingeon, B. and Soenen, G. (Eds), Corporate and Organizational Identities. Integrating Strategy, Marketing, Communication and Organizational Perspectives, Routledge, New York, NY. Levinson, M. (1999), The Demands of Liberal Education, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Mazzarol, T. and Soutar, G.N. (2001), The Global Market for Higher Education. Sustainable Competitive Strategies for the New Millennium, Edward Elgar, Northampton, MA. Robbins, S.P. (2001), Organizational Behavior, 9th ed., Prentice Hall, New Jersey, NJ.

The discourse of Romanian universities 723

JOCM 19,6

724

Scollon, R. and Scollon, S.W. (2001), Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford. University of Alba Iulia (2003), 1 Decembrie 1918, University of Alba Iulia, Alba Iulia. Further reading Hofstede, G. (1980), Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Sage, Newbury Park, CA. Zait, D. and Spalanzani, A. (2003), “Reflections interculturelles sur la formation universitaire et la recherche: une comparaison France – Roumanie”, L’Innovation dans l’Europe Elargie Actes de la IXe Conference Internationale du reseau PGV 24-26 septembre 2003, Svishtov, Bulgarie, pp. 438-47. Corresponding author Sorina Chiper can be contacted at: [email protected]

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm

Strategic positioning in Romanian higher education

Strategic positioning in Romania

Mihai Niculescu University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

725

Abstract Purpose – The study presented in this paper is intended to assist the decision-making process in Romanian higher education institutions on topics such as market structure analysis, market segmentation, positioning of the specializations, and the cannibalization between them. Design/methodology/approach – This paper describes a preliminary qualitative study that examines the primary motives that affect choice of specializations before developing and validating a measurement instrument. The objective of the questionnaire was to help managers collect information regarding perceptions on specializations from a pool of 344 students of a major Romanian business faculty. The data were used to generate a perceptual map, which disclosed a three-cluster solution. In a parallel study, an internal analysis of preferences on 1,390 subjects revealed the existence of three market segments: “the pragmatics,” “the sociables” and “the diploma hunters.” Findings – Facing competition, Romanian higher education institutions need to carefully plan their actions, and better manage their scarce resources. Originality/value – This study is one of the few that tried to develop, to reliability test and to validate a questionnaire in the field of higher education, and the first one that has analyzed the positioning of the specializations at the level of a business faculty. Keywords Higher education, Strategic planning, Market segmentation, Romania Paper type Research paper

Higher education – competition and differentiation Some authors note that in the past many institutions of higher education have taken a passive approach to student recruitment. This was not unusual since the demand for places at universities was greater than the universities’ ability to satisfy that demand. Thus, “‘marketing’ the institution to attract better students or increase student enrolments was an unnecessary expense” (Naude and Ivy, 1999). Time passing by, the change of the communist regime in 1989 in Romania with a more democratic one opened new perspectives towards doing business in the education sector, too. As a consequence, higher education suffered in the last decade. Universities in general have experienced an increasing competition in terms of student recruitment and search for financial resources (Wiklund and Wiklund, 1999; Ivy, 2001; Nicholls et al., 1995). Romanian state-owned universities had to expand the number and variety of degree courses on offer to compete with the newly appeared private institutions. In addition to that, changes in technology have lowered the barriers of market entry, leading to an increase in both distance-learning and internet-based courses (Naude and Ivy, 1999). As a result, over a ten-years period (1990-2000) the number of enrolled students raised from 192,810 to 533,152, and the number of higher institutions from 48 to 126. In 1990/1991, there were no private institutions, in 2000/2001 there were 67 of them operating in the higher education sector (Romanian Statistical Yearbook, 2001).

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 725-737 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708378

JOCM 19,6

726

The net result of competition is that all higher institutions are becoming increasingly aggressive in their marketing activities (Ivy, 2001), following the best practices of the private sector. By this moment, a series of studies have already analyzed the strategic planning of the higher education on a country (Tsiakkiros and Pashiardis, 2002), university (Conway et al., 1994; Naude and Ivy, 1999), department (McAleer and McHugh, 1994), and MBA program level (Nicholls et al., 1995). Considered to be the process of matching the school’s activities to the current and emerging environment, strategic planning encompasses three stages (Tsiakkiros and Pashiardis, 2002): (1) strategic analysis; (2) strategic choice; and (3) strategic implementation. The main goal of the process is to create sustainable competitive advantages through differentiation on a more and more agglomerate market, when the students are more and more discriminating between the offers (Nicholls et al., 1995). The literature provides little evidence on strategic planning at the faculty. Owing to insufficient reliability and validity testing of the measurement instrument, the answers are rather incomplete to the following questions: . Which are the main advantages sought by the students when choosing their specialization? . How are the specializations perceived by the students? . Can we speak of competition between specializations? . Is there any consistency between the segments targeted and their product offerings? Trying to answer these questions, the given study is an extension of the research conducted by Kim et al. (2002) and Mauldin et al. (2000). Their research, among other findings (Dudley et al., 1995; Daymont and Andrisani, 1984) revealed that students tend to base their decisions on reasons like financial rewards, quick employment, career opportunities, interest in their field of study, challenge, prestige, the influence of parents, friends and instructors, reputation of the specialization, noting also similarities among the different business majors. Further on, we use such information to develop, to test and validate a practical measurement tool, and to visually represent the perceptions and preferences of the students of a Romanian business school. The study is intended to assist the decision-making process in the higher education institutions on topics like market structure analysis, market segmentation, positioning of the specializations, and the cannibalization between them. The concept of positioning Positioning appears to have evolved from market segmentation, targeting and market structure changes during the 1960s and the early 1970s (Kalafatis et al., 2000). Many practitioners consider positioning the most important task they have (Rothschild, 1987). This also explains the multitude of fields where the concept is implemented: health services (Javalgi et al., 1995), financial services (Young, 1999), education (Ivy, 2001),

retailing (McGoldrick and Ho, 1992), other services (Dibb and Simkin, 1993), FMCG (MacKay and Easley, 1996) or business-to-business sector (Kalafatis et al., 2000), etc. There is a consensus in literature that there are many terms associated with the concept, i.e. positioning, position, product positioning, market positioning, etc. and several definitions attached to it (Blankson and Kalafatis, 1999). For example, Ayer’s Dictionary of Advertising Terms (as cited in Rothschild, 1987) defines it as: The art and science of fitting the product or service to one or more segments of the broad market in such way as to set it meaningfully apart from competition.

Ries and Trout describe and discuss for the first time positioning without trying to define it first. For them, the term does not refer to the product, but to the mind of the prospect. A brand, therefore, has a position only if it has competitors against which to compare itself (Rothschild, 1987), and the struggle to achieve such a distinct position was called “the battle for the mind” (Trout and Rivkin, 2000). Although there are as many definitions as members of AMA, the definition adopted in this paper is provided by Arnott (1993, as cited in Kalafatis et al., 2000). He states that: . . . positioning is the deliberate, proactive, iterative process of defining, modifying and monitoring consumer perceptions of a marketable object. . .

That means it involves decisions at conceptual, strategic and operational levels and involves several activities, i.e. defining the dimensions of the perceptual space, measuring objects’ coordinates within the space and modifying the perceptions of the consumer towards communication (Blankson and Kalafatis, 1999), using one of the strategies discussed by Aaker and Shansby (1982) positioning: . by attribute; . by price/quality; . with respect to use or application; . by the product user; . with respect to a product class; and . with respect to a competitor. In spite of the attention granted to the topic, positioning still “means different things to different people” (Aaker and Shansby, 1982). Method and results In this section, we describe the preliminary study, the participants and the research procedure, implied by both the perceptions, and the preference analysis. Special attention will be paid to the development of the measurement instrument, and to the testing of it, in terms of reliability and validity. Preliminary study A two day preliminary study was conducted on 77 sophomore students. To gather information regarding the most significant factors that influence the choice of major, we split the study in three distinct phases in order to better simulate real conditions.

Strategic positioning in Romania 727

JOCM 19,6

728

(1) The “popularity” test. The students were asked to individually write down, as fast as they could, the first three choices of major criteria that came to their mind. The goal of this section was to reveal the irrational side of the student and the most popular factors by not giving him/her time to think. (2) The rational analysis of factors. At this stage the students were asked to think of the most important three criteria they use to assess the specializations. If one or more criteria have already been presented at the first stage, they should have written down the next important sought benefit. This ten minutes section helped us to establish the rational significant factors the students are aware of. (3) The simulation of the external influence. At the end of the preliminary study, the students were handed a list of 25 rational and emotional factors considered to be important by the researcher. These were developed in a previous session of brainstorming among several assistants at the university. The participants chose maximum five more factors they missed to report in the first two phases. The objective of the last stage was to simulate the external influence of friends and family. The responses were tabulated and the most frequently named factors were used to develop the measurement tool. Subjects and procedure Study 1. Perceptions analysis Subjects. The self-administered questionnaire was filled in by 344 of the 1,480 sophomore students enrolled at a major Romanian business faculty. Out of the 344 surveys, 305 were usable, providing a usable response rate of 20.6 percent. Thus, the number of valid responses was in concordance with the recommendations made by Vandenbosch (1996) for performing an exploratory factorial analysis (i.e. more than ten times the number of parameters), and by Faircloth et al. (2001) for the estimation of a LISREL model (i.e. a minimum of 100 subjects). The majority of the students that completed the 305 valid questionnaires were unemployed (77.6 percent), while the others were employed full-time (6.9 percent), part-time (4.3 percent) or occasionally in activities like promotions, samplings, etc. (11.2 percent). The survey took place after the summer session, and before the last practical placement colloquium in June 2002. At that moment, according to Mauldin et al. (2000) almost 95 percent of the students have already made a decision regarding the preferred major. That means that they have already actively sought for information on the available specializations, and that their perceptions are stable. The main sample did not differ from the subjects involved in the preliminary stages. Procedure. After a short presentation of the problem, the students needed approximately 15-20 minutes to complete the task. They had to rate all the specializations on a single statement before they moved to the next of the 12 statements. Thus, the “halo” of the responses could be eliminated. After the data collection, the reliability and validity (i.e. content, predictive and construct validity) of the questionnaire were tested, and the items which lowered the internal consistency were dropped. For the construct validation, a proposed bidimensional model, obtained through exploratory factor analysis, was

compared with the initial unidimensional model using LISREL 8.53 software. The two dimensions of the proposed model helped us to define the two axis of the perceptual map. The remained items were further analyzed using multidimensional scaling (MDS) and cluster analysis techniques to obtain the perceptual map and the dendrogram. Study 2. Preference analysis Subjects. The preference rankings for specializations of the 1,390 (out of 1,480) students enrolled full-time in the second year of study were obtained from the data base of the surveyed faculty. A statistic shows that 58.7 percent were paying fees, and 41.3 percent were free-attending students; 30 percent of them being males and the total average credit score obtained after the completion of the first year of study being 887. Procedure. We performed a cluster analysis on the list of preferences for a specialization to determine the groups with similar preferences. Finally, we performed an internal analysis of preference on those clusters, as suggested by Malhotra (1996), to obtain the preference map and the market segments. Scale development Though prior studies (Kim et al., 2002; Chonko et al., 2002; Mauldin et al., 2000) developed measurement tools based on the most important factors that affected choice of major, those instruments have never been checked in terms of their reliability or validity. While reliability concerns the random error component, validity concerns the systematic error component of the measurement instrument. The importance of the matter was widely discussed (Jacoby, 1978; Heeler and Ray, 1972), so the scale development was performed following the suggestions of Churchill (1979). Reliability being a necessary – but not sufficient – condition for validity, it was discussed first. Next, the items were checked for content validity on a group of students, and small adjustments have been made. Predictive validity was assessed by computing the correlation between the overall attitude of the subject toward a specialization and the preferences of the subjects for that specialization. At last, structural validation was achieved by fulfilling the two necessary conditions: convergent and discriminant validation (Heeler and Ray, 1972). The first is synonymous with predictive validation, and has previously been assessed. Discriminant validity was tested by comparing two latent construct confirmatory factor analysis measurement models using LISREL 8.53. The 12 real specializations were used in all the surveys. Results Preliminary study The first 12 of the almost 40 factors that affect choice of the specialization encompass 81 percent of the frequencies. These were used to develop 12 statements along a five-point Likert scale. The most important factors revealed by the preliminary study confirmed the existing theory (Mauldin et al., 2000; Kim et al., 2002). In addition to factors like market demand, salary, support of the career path, development of practical skills, or interesting specialization, our study discovered on the third position another important factor that affects Romanian students’ choices: the opportunities to work abroad.

Strategic positioning in Romania 729

JOCM 19,6

730

Reliability analysis An item was dropped from further analysis because of the weak correlation of the item with the total index. As a consequence, Cronbach’s a raised from 0.89 to 0.91. According to Churchill (1979) a reliability of minimum 0.90 is desirable where important decisions are made. A factor analysis with the extraction of the principal components and Varimax rotation on the 11 remained items revealed two factors with eigenvalue greater than 1 that explain 64.81 percent of the overall variance. The two orthogonal factors will be used to define the axes of the perceptual map (see the factor loadings in Table I). Each factor name was based on the characteristics of its composing variables. The first factor was labeled “pragmatic/rational orientation” as this factor was formed by the variables of market demand, salary, development of practical skills, career promotion, specialization reputation, and development of analytical thinking. The factor had an eigenvalue of 5.63, and Cronbach’s a for the variables comprised by this dimension was 0.871. The second factor was labeled “emotional orientation” as this factor was composed of variables related to the development and support of communication and relational skills, creativity, competition spirit and attraction to a particular specialization. This factor had an eigenvalue of 1.25 and the internal consistency of the factor was confirmed by a Cronbach’s a of 0.864. Predictive validity Predictive validation consists of determining the extent to which particular measures correlate, as predicted, with other “criterion” measures (Heeler and Ray, 1972). Though more objective than face validity, in many cases the predictive validity provides little, if any, understanding of the relationship (Jacoby, 1978), if the concurrent criterion is not related to our observation criterion (Heeler and Ray, 1972).

Item

Table I. Factor loadings

1. “There is a high demand for the specialization on the market” 2. “The disciplines are oriented toward the development of practical skills” 3. “The potential salary after graduation of the specialization is consistent” 4. “This specialization facilitates the work abroad” 5. “This specialization develops relational and communication skills” 6. “The specialization develops creativity” 7. “This specialization supports the competition spirit” 8. “I think this specialization is interesting” 9. “This specialization helps me in my career promotion” 10. “This specialization has a high reputation” 11. “Students develop their analytical thinking skills at this specialization”

Factor 1 Factor 2 (eigenvalue ¼ 5.63) (eigenvalue ¼ 1.25) 0.808

0.182

0.721

0.184

0.793 0.421

0.260 0.579

0.140 0.156 0.433 0.482

0.851 0.863 0.731 0.645

0.725 0.773

0.440 0.336

0.581

0.178

In our case, the relationship between beliefs (i.e. the items), attitudes and preferences (i.e. list of options provided as a ranking of specializations, from the most preferred to the least preferred) had already been researched. In the theory of reasoned action, Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) pointed out that the beliefs are at the basis of the attitude formation. To compute an attitude toward an object, these beliefs can be summed up in an index. Further, Bass and Talarzyk (1972) demonstrated a strong relation between attitudes and preferences. Thus, we can verify the predictive validity of our measurement instrument by means of comparison of the index computed for every specialization by every subject with the list of preferences provided by the students. The value of the resulted correlation coefficient was 2 0.515 ( p , 0.01; 2-tailed). The negative sign is explained by the reverse proportionality between the attitude score and the preference. The value is considered to be sufficient for validation since it indicates a medium-high correlation between the two variables. Construct validity If the prior validation procedures rely on exploratory research, we called on confirmatory factor analysis to measure the construct validity (Jo¨reskog and So¨rbom, 2000). A bidimensional latent construct suggested by the exploratory factor analysis was compared with a unidimensional alternative model for each of the 12 specializations to check for discriminant validity using LISREL 8.53. Overall, the average GFI and RMSEA indices were 0.94, respectively, 0.069 for the bidimensional model, compared to the unidimensional values of 0.93 for the GFI, respectively, 0.078 for the RMSEA. It is interesting to note that both models fulfill the construct validation conditions. The GFI, NFI, and CFI score above the desirable value of 0.90 suggested in the literature. A desirable RMR value less than 0.08, and a RMSEA between 0.05 and 0.08 were achieved by both models (Faircloth et al., 2001). The good results of both models can be explained by a high correlation that ranged from 0.58 to 1.00 between the two dimensions. In the case of the specialization of “economics” the unidimensional model performances are as good as those of the bidimensional one. The average correlation of 0.85 indicates the existence of a 32 degree angle between the factors. As suggested by Jo¨reskog and So¨rbom (2000), the x 2 statistic for the two models was compared to assess the superiority of the bidimensional model over the unidimensional one. The x 2 difference test for the two models was significant in 11 cases out of 12 (the x 2 difference ranged between 6.68 and 115.6, 1 df, p , 0.01), the proposed bidimensional model fitting the data better than the alternative model. We achieved the construct validation by obtaining a reliability a of 0.91 and the content, predictive and discriminant validity of the bidimensional model. Perception analysis The students’ perceptions were visually represented on a perceptual map using MDS statistical techniques. The euclidian distance was used as a measure of similarity. It was decided to retain a two-dimensional solution based on the plot of stress versus dimensionality, interpretability of the spatial map, and ease of use criteria. This is graphically shown in Figure 1. The dimensions were labeled “rationality” and “emotionality” as established after the confirmatory factor analysis.

Strategic positioning in Romania 731

JOCM 19,6

Euclidian distance model 1.0 Tourism IntRel

Trade

0.5

EnvironmentEc Economics

732

Manag Marketing

0.0 Statistics Applied Informatics

Banking&SE

–0.5

Finances Accounting

–1.0

Figure 1. Positioning of the specializations

Rational axis

–1.5 –3

–2

–1

0

1

2

Emotional axis

For the perceptual map we reported an R 2 of 0.994, a Young’s S-stress of 0.023, and a Kruskal’s stress of 0.041. All values are within the ranges suggested by Malhotra (1996) and Lehmann et al. (1998) for a good fit of the data. To further assess the validity and reliability of the solution, we followed Malhotra’s (1996) guidelines, and the results supported the first solution. A cluster analysis using Ward’s method coupled with the squared euclidian distance measurement also confirmed the groups on the perceptual map. The axes were rotated to ease the interpretation and a three cluster solution was considered to be most relevant. The clusters could be described as follows: . The first group comprises four specializations: accounting, banking and stock exchange, informatics applied to economy, and finances. This could be considered the rational group, dominated by pragmatism (i.e. high market demand and salary) and scoring medium to low on the emotional dimension (i.e. somehow boring). . The second group consists of five specializations: marketing, management, international relations, trade and tourism and services. This cluster differentiates itself through its high scores on the emotional dimension, (i.e. high levels of perceived communication and creativity) having a perceived moderate orientation towards pragmatism and rationality (i.e. more talk less work). . The third group includes: statistics, environmental economics, and economics. Very homogenous, this group scores low on both dimensions. Preference analysis The rankings of the specializations provided by the 1,390 students to the faculty database were cluster analyzed and used as input data in an internal analysis of preferences. The preference map, representing both specializations and respondent’s ideal points, was obtained by means of MDS procedures using Ward’s method in combination with the squared euclidian distance measure of similarity. Every ideal

point represents the locus of preference of a particular segment of students with similar preferences as shown in Figure 2. The size and academic performances of every segment are shown in Table II. The closer a specialization to an ideal point is the more preferred it is. The values of R 2, stress and S-stress indicate a good fit of the MDS model on the input data (see values in Table II). Segment 1 seems to prefer the specializations perceived to be pragmatic: finances, accounting, applied informatics, banking and stock exchange. In addition to that, this segment has the best academic record. The segment comprising 556 students (i.e. 40 percent) scores in average 923 credits, much over the total populations’ average of 887 credits. Almost as large as the first one, the second segment is more emotional and less rational. The students are also of a lower quality, earning an average of 885 credits. The third segment, representing 24 percent of the total market, has a preference for the emotional side while having the poorest academic performances. The segments that are plotted along the rational axis were also discovered in a parallel conjoint study (Niculescu, 2002). With regard to the utility and importance of the five benefits and 11 levels included in that research, the first segment was labeled

Strategic positioning in Romania 733

Multiple ideal points preference map 2.0

Accounting

1.5

SEG1 Finances

1.0

Applied Informatics

Banking&SE 0.5 Statistics

SEG2 0.0 Mkt

IntRelations

–0.5 –1.0 –1.5 –1.0

Emotional axis

Management

Environmental Economics

Trade Tourism

SEG3

Economics –0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

Rational axis

Segment 1 (SEG1) Segment 2 (SEG2) Segment 3 (SEG3) Total

Size of the segment (absolute)

Size of the segment (percent)

Grade per segment (average number of credits)

556 497 337 1390

40.0 35.8 24.2 100.0

923 885 841 887

Notes: Young’s S-stress – 0.037; stress – 0.090; RSQ – 0.992

Figure 2. Preference map – market segmentation

Table II. Segment descriptives

JOCM 19,6

734

“the pragmatics” the second segment being named “the sociables/the grade hunters” and the last segment was formed of the “diploma hunters.” Besides that, it appears that some specializations compete on two segments (e.g. marketing, international transactions and management attack Segments 2 and 3), thus having a blurry positioning. On the preference map, there are specializations (i.e. statistics, economics and environmental economics) situated far apart from any of the three ideal points. These are the specializations with no demand at all. For example, none of the third year students enrolled at statistics made a first choice for that specialization. They were simply rejected by other specializations due to poor grades. Situations were similar at the other two above-mentioned specializations. Discussion In the communist era, the marketing of a higher education institution was unnecessary due to the lack of competition and a demand above the offer. Nowadays, the situation changes dramatically. To be profitable or at least to avoid bankruptcy, the need for a proper strategic planning is mandatory. Since, the planning process starts with a careful strategic analysis, the research of the market structure, specialization positioning and competition analysis helps the institution to better manage its scarce resources, satisfying the needs and desires of the customer (i.e. student) more efficiently by offering a better value for money. In that context, the study focused on the following goals: . to examine the primary motives that influence the students’ decision on choice of major; . to explore the major dimensions that affect choice of major and propose a model that broads the knowledge regarding the benefits sought by the students; . to develop and validate an instrument for measuring these dimensions; . to analyze the positioning of and the competition between the specializations in a major business faculty; and . to segment the market. In order to help managers to differentiate the offer and to create an attractive position for every specialization, the study developed and validated an 11 item questionnaire that measures the perceptions of the students on the two major dimensions disclosed by the factor analysis: “rationality/pragmatism” and “emotionality/ability development.” This could be used several years from now, if the dimensions remain stable in time, thus, helping managers to control the results of the implemented communication strategies and to examine the changes in students’ perceptions. Direct vs indirect competition If the market is considered to be homogenous, it would be feasible to consider that each specialization is in competition with the others. On a second thought, an analysis of the perceptual map suggests a three cluster solution. The specializations that belong to the same cluster are perceived as being similar, substitutable and in competition with each other.

In terms of management, the perceptual map indicates that many specializations are perceived to be very similar and attack the same segments. In this case, we can speak of cannibalization between the specializations. In the long run, cannibalization misleads the customer and diminishes the market share of all the involved specializations. In our case, this explains why the pairs marketing – management and finances – banking and stock exchanges lost students in favor of other specializations (international relations, respectively, accounting and applied informatics). The situation is somehow similar in the case of statistics, environmental economics and economics. The lack of differentiation between the competing specializations will affect their reputation and market performances. There are two solutions, in order to avoid that: (1) Either the management of the faculty drops several specializations and, by that, succeeds in creating a distinctive image for the remained specializations which will attract the former misleaded students. (2) Or the managing team tries to reposition the cannibalyzing specializations. In this case, communication campaigns emphasizing the differences between specializations must be launched. The specializations become more attractive to different segments by creating such points-of-differentiation, and at the same time will occupy a distinct position in the students’ minds helping them to better discriminate between alternatives. In fact, faculty management decided to apply both solutions. On the one hand, the finances merged with the banking and stock exchanges and the tourism and services with the trade specialization. On the other hand, the remaining specializations will be repositioned to better attack one of the three segments. For example, marketing is now more closely related to the second segment, while management still lies between the second and the third one. Limitations of the study Though the study proves the efficiency of the quantitative and qualitative techniques in the decision process, it has also several limitations, as follows: . when designing the questionnaire, the specializations were not rotated to restrict the anteriority and posteriority effect; . during the survey a face-to-face interview would have been more adequate than the self-administration; . even if we presumed that the students have enough information on the specializations, this is not always the case. There is a tendency to rate higher the familiar specializations; . to ease the interpretation we settled orthogonal dimensions, though there was a significant correlation between them; and . the methods used in this research study – exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, MDS, cluster analysis – have their own limitations. In spite of all this, the study is one of the few that tried to develop, to reliability test and to validate a questionnaire in the field of higher education, and the first one that has analyzed the positioning of the specializations at the level of a business faculty.

Strategic positioning in Romania 735

JOCM 19,6

736

References Aaker, D. and Shansby, J.G. (1982), “Positioning your product”, Business Horizons, Vol. 25, pp. 56-62. Ajzen, I. and Fishbein, M. (1980), Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Bass, F.M. and Talarzyk, W.W. (1972), “An attitude model for the study of brand preference”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 93-6. Blankson, C. and Kalafatis, S. (1999), “Issues and challenges in the positioning of service brands: a review”, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 106-18. Chonko, L.B., Tanner, J.F. and Davis, R. (2002), “What are they thinking? Students’ expectations and self-assessments”, Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 77, pp. 271-81. Churchill, G.A. (1979), “A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 16, pp. 64-73. Conway, T., Mackay, S. and Yorke, D. (1994), “Strategic planning in higher education: who are the customer”, International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 8 No. 6, pp. 29-35. Daymont, T.N. and Andrisani, P.J. (1984), “Job preferences, college major, and a gender gap in earnings”, Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 19, pp. 408-28. Dibb, S. and Simkin, L. (1993), “The strength of branding and positioning in services”, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 25-35. Dudley, S.C., Dudley, L.W., Clark, F.L. and Payne, S. (1995), “New directions for the business curriculum”, Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 70 No. 5, pp. 305-10. Faircloth, J.B., Capella, L.M. and Alford, B.L. (2001), “The effect of brand attitude and brand image on brand equity”, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Summer, pp. 61-75. Heeler, R.M. and Ray, M.L. (1972), “Measure validation in marketing”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 9, pp. 361-70. Ivy, J. (2001), “Higher education institution image: a correspondence analysis approach”, International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 15 No. 6, pp. 276-82. Jacoby, J. (1978), “Consumer research: how valid and useful are all our consumer behavior research findings? A state of the art review”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 42 No. 4, pp. 87-96. Javalgi, R., Joseph, B.W. and Gombeski, W.R. Jr. (1995), “Positioning your service to target key buying influences: the case of referring physicians and hospitals”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 42-52. ¨ Joreskog, K.G. and So¨rbom, D. (2000), LISREL User’s Guide, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL. Kalafatis, S., Tsogas, M. and Blankson, C. (2000), “Positioning strategies in business markets”, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 6, pp. 416-37. Kim, D., Markham, F.S. and Cangelosi, J.D. (2002), “Why students pursue the business degree: a comparison of business majors across universities”, Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 77, pp. 28-32. Lehmann, D.R., Gupta, S. and Steckel, J. (1998), Marketing Research, Addison-Wesley Longman Inc., Boston, MA. McAleer, E. and McHugh, M. (1994), “University departments as professional service firms: implications for planning and organizing”, International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 20-4. McGoldrick, P. and Ho, S. (1992), “International positioning – Japanese department stores in Hong Kong”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 26 Nos 8/9, pp. 61-73.

MacKay, D. and Easley, R. (1996), “International differences in product perception: a product map analysis”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 54-62. Malhotra, N. (1996), Marketing Research – An Applied Orientation, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Mauldin, S., Crain, J.L. and Mounce, P.H. (2000), “The accounting principles instructor’s influence on student’s decision to major in accounting”, Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 75 No. 3, pp. 142-8. Naude, P. and Ivy, J. (1999), “The marketing strategies of universities in the United Kingdom”, International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 126-34. Nicholls, J., Harris, J., Morgan, E., Clarke, K. and Sims, D. (1995), “Marketing higher education: the MBA experience”, International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 31-8. Niculescu, M. (2002), “Studiu conjoint de segmentare a piet¸ei student¸ilor ˆın funct¸ie de avantajele ca˘utate”, paper presented at the International Conference on Globalizarea s¸i educat¸ia economica˘ universitara˘, Sedcom Libris Publishing House, Ias¸i, pp. 161-78. Romanian Statistical Yearbook (2001), National Institute of Statistics, Bucharest. Rothschild, M.L. (1987), Advertising – From Fundamentals to Strategies, D.C. Heath Co., Toronto. Trout, J. and Rivkin, S. (2000), New Positioning – The Latest on the World’s No.1 Business Strategy, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. Tsiakkiros, A. and Pashiardis, P. (2002), “Strategic planning and education: the case of Cyprus”, International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 6-17. Vandenbosch, M.B. (1996), “Confirmatory compositional approaches to the development of product spaces”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 23-46. Wiklund, P.S. and Wiklund, H. (1999), “Student focused design and improvement of university courses”, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 9 No. 6, pp. 434-43. Young, M.R. (1999), “Market structure analysis: a foundation for developing and assessing bank strategy”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 20-5. Further reading Ghose, S. (1994), “Visually representing consumer perceptions – issues and managerial insights”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 10, pp. 5-18. Corresponding author Mihai Niculescu can be contacted at: [email protected]

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

Strategic positioning in Romania 737

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm

JOCM 19,6

Managing organizational change in transition economies Dan S. Chiaburu Washington, District of Columbia, USA

738 Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a personal reflection on the Romanian post-communist transition, using an organization theory-based analytic framework combined with the author’s personal experience. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on the authors’ experience in Romania during the transition (policy implementation, evaluation projects, and research). The experience is captured using concepts from institutional, organizational change, and critical theories. Findings – Transition economies offer unique settings for building theory that describes the dynamic events situated at the boundary between institutions and organizations. Although this potential has yet to be realized, knowledge can be captured by using less conventional research designs, a critical perspective, and creative concepts and approaches. Research limitations/implications – The paper has potential implications for researchers conducting studies in transition economies, or in otherwise dynamic environments. The author provides several examples that are not well explained by existing frameworks and models, and offers suggestions for possible designs that might be more appropriate in transition settings. Practical implications – Both autochthonous and foreign practitioners might find the examples and the analytic framework informative and applicable to the problems they are faced with in transition economies. Originality/value – The paper combines conventional and critical theory-based approaches to the study of the Romanian transition. Authors interested in research at the institution – organization boundary can consider some of the suggested for formalizing their research. Keywords Romania, Organizational change Paper type Viewpoint

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 738-746 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708387

Change is a phenomenon of time, involving both identity and process. A perennial polarity in our culture is between a traditional position suggesting a serene acceptance of what is (as in the traditional poem Miorita) and a modern abhorrence of submission to the same (see also Iacob and Gavrilovici, this issue). The ambition of modern times is, indeed, to understand and control change. Organizational change involves identity and process too, shaped by time. In their effort to capture the principles of organizational change, scientists and practitioners alike build explanatory models, and to the already numerous factors influencing organizational change, and by extension the complexity of the models, history added another one: the transition from one economic, political and social re´gime to another. Models attempting to predict or explain change in transition economies have been proposed both in Romania (Da˘ianu, 2000; Pasti, 1997) and elsewhere (Campbell and Pedersen, 1996; Eyal et al., 2001; Stark and Bruszt, 1998; World Bank, 2002). Some analyses focus on understanding institutional influences (Campbell, 1991), business strategies (Peng, 2003), or organizational change (Newman, 2000) from a traditional perspective. Others attempt to bring new insights by analyzing change from critical or non-traditional points of view (Kelemen and Kostera, 2002; Verdery, 1996, 1999).

My objective here is to examine how the reality of a particular context (i.e. the Romanian transition) requires a combination of conventional analysis with a critical perspective. Researchers from both camps tend to agree that theories validated in stable environments can be underspecified for transition situations. To develop this idea, I first provide a macro-level perspective on the Romanian situation after the fall of communism. Second, using examples and existing research from the Romanian transition environment, I provide some thoughts on how to conceptualize the institution – organization interface. Finally, I discuss the potential contributions of adding a critical perspective when researching transition economies, and propose directions for future research. Romania after communism: templates for economic transition Romania emerged at the end of 1989 after more than four decades of communism. Although the sudden revolution of December changed the political situation, the economy could not be transformed overnight. Romania was dependent on energy-intensive industries, and lacked the appropriate institutions for a market economy, a goal considered desirable by the political e´lites. In search of a macro-level transition model The immediate priority, then, was to find and implement economic development models. Unlike the political options, which converged without difficulty toward democratic solutions, the economic alternatives had to be selected from the available sets of options. With some minor variations, all the governments since 1990 considered that economic deregulation, monetary control, macroeconomic stabilization, a balanced budget and sectorial restructuring, combined with privatization of the state enterprises and nonintervention of the state, would lead to the natural emergence of a market economy. In addition, it was assumed that the market actors will be well-behaved and will generate (and abide by the rules of thus-created) institutions. Campbell and Pedersen (1996) argue that the normative influences from the “world-level actors” such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the European Commission, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) drove such transition countries into mimetic processes to obtain recognition and acceptance. It is indeed possible that the “world-level” institutions proposed such packaged formulas, sometimes in conditions that did not allow any competition (Wedel, 1998). Regardless of the source of the transition economic models, the pace and intensity of reforms depended on the orientation of the ruling coalitions. Social democrats (1990-1996 and 2000-present) favored a gradual approach, combined with significant rent-giving to state companies in exchange for votes. Conversely, center-right parties (1996-2000) focused on rapid price and market liberalization and paid less attention to the high social price of such accelerated reforms. The underlying assumption was, nevertheless, the same: reforms (based largely on privatization) will lead to efficient markets, which will – in turn – generate appropriate governance mechanisms. The alternative perspective, that institutions could in fact (and are indispensable to) create markets, or that preexisting networks can supersede an already weak state, were largely ignored. Between evolutionary and revolutionary models of development Early policies prescribed by international institutions for Romania relied on gradual macroeconomic stabilization, structural adjustment programs and sectorial reforms.

Managing organizational change 739

JOCM 19,6

740

These types of interventions were sometimes at odds with the capability of the existing Romanian institutions to follow such prescriptions, and maintain the required levels of economic discipline. After disappointing initial results, an emphasis on social outcomes and modes of intervention appeared in the World Bank’s conferences and communications. Wolfehson (1997) and Stiglitz (1999) emphasized the importance of enlarging the frameworks and criteria for determining and assessing successful development. It was advocated that, while important overall, economic factors should be balanced by social components. Along the same lines, interventions based on purely economic and top-down policies were deemed insufficient. A better balance in policymaking was sought by: . . . highlighting the interdependence of all elements of development – social, structural, human, governance, environmental, economic, and financial while emphasizing partnerships among governments, donors, civil society, the private sector and other development actors (World Bank, 2001).

This change of direction came after some of the effects of the earlier policies revealed their limitations, both through an assessment of their direct outcomes and through empirical research. In terms of outcomes, the economy contracted, unemployment increased, and social protection degraded. For example, the number of people living below the national poverty line has doubled from 20 percent in the early 1990s to 41 percent in 1999. From another direction, extant research indicated that although economic drivers are important for transition, they are not the only necessary preconditions (Zinnes et al., 2001). Institution building using Western-based templates and structures came also under scrutiny (Campbell and Pedersen, 1996) and researchers analyzing the effect of privatization in the formation of institutions presented unambiguous evidence that markets do not create viable institutions by default (Kogut and Spicer, 2002). After more than fourteen years of transition, social scientists portray a “pseudo-modern” country (Voicu, 2000). In focusing on organizational change, I present several ideas for conceptualizing the institution – organization interface in the Romanian transition environment. By doing so, I attempt to explore the fit of universal theories with the local realities (Clegg and Ibarra-Colado, 1999) of the Romanian transition. I am hopeful that such combination of conventional methods of analysis with a critical perspective will contribute to a dialogue between researchers using different methods. This might facilitate further interaction, a need recognized by researchers from both camps (Jermier, 1998, p. 254; Pfeffer, 1997, p. 188). Modeling the institution – organization interface Organizations exist in institutional environments. These are constraints that are humanely devised and limit human and organizational interactions. The constraints are either formal (laws, rules) or informal (norms, conventions, codes), and have specific characteristic for enforcement. From this perspective, the institutional system defines the incentive structure of societies. Theorists posit that, on one hand, transition economies can experience wholesale change in the formal rules; however, informal constraints survive because they attend to the participants’ exchange needs (North, 1990, p. 91). These differences are important in transition economies, where discourses might be used to legitimate actions that are not aligned with explicit institutional or

organizational objectives (Chiaburu and Chiaburu, 2003) and where informal constraints might be more powerful than formal ones (Kelemen and Kostera, 2002). Owing to the multiple possibilities of conceptualizing the institution – organization interface, I present several suggestions for modeling these dimensions. From one perspective, activity in some of the Romanian institutional domains seems to support the evolutionary position of Campbell and Pedersen (1996). One can find evidence that Romanian organizations were slow to change and the Romanian government protected selected state-owned enterprises, especially early in the transition. Similarly, structures created to encourage change and to privatize state enterprises, such as the State Ownership Funds, seemed a continuation of the old forms of state ownership. Their bureaucratic structures mimic the very bureaucracy they had to change. Conversely, other sectors exhibit patterns of change that are more difficult to understand, suggesting a revolutionary pattern of change, characterized by unpredictability and upheaval. For example, the non-banking financial sector’s “rules of the game” emerged through a bottom-up approach. Regardless of the top-down designed governance mechanisms and technical assistance in creating markets (such as the RASDAQ over-the-counter market, based on its US counterpart, the NASDAQ), market participants were already embedded in closely-knit networks and largely ignored the rules designed for such markets. Thus, in turbulent environments and in the presence of weak institutions, networks of organizations or even isolated but well-connected institutional entrepreneurs emerge to compete, negotiate, set, and many times ignore the rules of the game. The examples above suggest that the institution – organization interface requires not only further investigation, but also a more precise conceptualization. To capture the field situation in Romania and in other transition economies, I offer several suggestions. First, from the institution to the organization level, researchers might conceptualize the institutional environment as regulatory, normative and cultural-cognitive, in order to separate the dimensions (Scott, 2003) and explicate their relationships with the organization. However, such institutional environments need to be differentiated in terms of their formal and informal rules, or in terms of the espoused rules and rules in use. As presented above, although regulations for financial markets were in place since the early 1990s, specific brokerage companies circumvented them. Simplifying, the mimetic processes shaping the organization forms and routines were stronger than the normative ones, a finding that can be captured only by differentiating the types of rules and their acceptance by the players. Second, the weak institutional environments coupled with the existence of preexisting networks lead to the apparition of institutional entrepreneurs and industrial coalitions resulting from the redistribution of assets through mass privatization. This has important research implications, as researchers tend to study generic organizations, without precise identities and histories. However, for many of the organizations in transition economies, the history of the organization is crucial in understanding its subsequent behavior. For example, very dynamic and competitive firms followed vertical integration and product diversification strategies, in an attempt to shape previously inexistent markets, such as financial (banking and brokerage) and consumer goods. Such firms reinvented themselves through mergers, spin-offs and bankruptcies that would be unthinkable of in a stable market. As for some of the individuals involved in these networks, research indicates that:

Managing organizational change 741

JOCM 19,6

742

. . . a small pool of people who are, simultaneously, businessmen, bureaucrats, members of parliament, and representatives of the press are active in policy, government, the economy, and the international arena. [T]hese powerful groups have every opportunity to pursue their private agenda [a]nd undercut legitimate state institutions and governance, especially where the rule of law is weakly developed (Wedel, 1994). .

Thus, while in stable economies the institution shapes organization forms and routines, in transition economies the direction of the influence can be sometimes reversed. Finally, institutional influences should be differentiated in terms of corporate governance and discourse action. Research indicates, for example, that organizational change depends on adopting new practices, which depends on both practice implementation and internalization (Kostova and Roth, 2002). Under specific conditions, however, organizations engage in “ceremonial adoption”. Specifically, organizations might implement practices that are not internalized. As a result, these practices are not sustainable and do not lead to the initially planned outcomes. This is a real possibility in the Romanian transition environment, where defensive strategies, such as decoupling or loosely coupling the internal operations from the institutional environment (Orton and Weick, 1990) can be more frequent. Indeed, research on Romanian educational organizations proposed that they might engage in decoupling as a function of their capacity for change and of their dependence on outdated strategies (Chiaburu and Chiaburu, 2003). Are we too critical or not critical enough? The potential contribution of critical theory Among other covert forms of resistance during communism, Romanian intellectuals disseminated fragments of critical theory texts to shape the emergence of alternatives to the official discourse. Anti-realistic forms of literature and literary critique started to emerge in the 1970s; as these forms became legitimate in the artistic realm, they spilled over onto the social, educational and political domains (Cornis-Pope, 1994), together with translations of authors associated with the Frankfurt School. Romanian communist leaders considered such writings appropriate ideological tools, supporting their efforts to distance themselves from Soviet-type positions and discourses. Diffusion took place through literary journals as well. This indicates the presence of intellectual activities that encouraged a critical apprehension of the sociopolitical environment in Romania. In addition to a continuation based on such historical affinities, critical perspectives (Alvesson and Deetz, 1996) can provide useful perspectives for analyses in transition economies such as Romania for several reasons. The first reason is instrumental. Many of the current frameworks of analysis are limited not only because they are presented as value-free, ideologically-neutral and natural rather than constructed, but also because they sometimes fail to capture important factors from the transition setting. Researchers using both conventional and critical perspectives agree on the need to correctly specify the theories in use, in order to increase the quality of the findings. Critical perspectives can offer the required reflection and contribute to the enlargement or redesign of these frameworks. Second, there is a need to provide alternative methodologies to preserve the diversity of ideas and alternatives and to capture a local reality that would be otherwise ignored. Discussing one of the few models aimed at conceptualizing organizational change in Central and Eastern Europe, Newman (2000, p. 616)

concludes that organizational transformation by indigenous managers will be rare until “the institutional context becomes more predictable”. However, context predictability is also a function of the models and methods used to apprehend or construe the context. Some researchers of the Romanian transition suggest that transition participants understand this context, which can be captured using, for example, inductive approaches (Kelemen, 1999; Verdery, 1996, 1999) or combining case studies with tools that capture the local situation (Chiaburu and Chiaburu, 2003). Such alternatives are oftentimes ignored by conventional researchers. Finally, some researchers argue that critical perspectives and their applications in Central and Eastern Europe can contribute to better findings by challenging the “hegemonistic vision of American management knowledge” (Kelemen and Kostera, 2002, p. 3) and propose alternative perspectives. Alternatively, more precise findings might also result from illuminating the limitations of conventional propositions and their problems of fit with the local context, while remaining for the most part within the boundaries of conventional methodologies and arguments. Describing such transitions is a formidable task, and researchers trying to make sense of and provide solutions for organizational change in such conditions have to walk between two imaginary extremes. One is the autochthonous path of denouncing imported ideas, the other is a route that embraces uncritically Western models and templates. As settling such dilemmas using only ideological arguments is oftentimes difficult, I argue here for a need to evaluate theories and models based on their internal consistency, fit with the field, methodological soundness and inclusion of the local perspective. This approach can provide a proximal context that frames theoretical propositions rather technically, as opposed to a more distal context that presents them ideologically. Such technical perspectives and elaborations could, then, provide material for further ideological debates, if such debates are needed. Quo vadis? New directions for theory and practice Transition economies offer a rich field for deriving insights that can enhance the current level of knowledge related to organizational change and institutional transformation. Now that institutional theory is established, researchers must “tackle the harder and more interesting issues of how institutions matter, under what circumstances, to what extent, and in what ways” (Powell, 1996). Similarly, theorists interested in organizational change can build models that would capture more precisely the dynamics and possible antecedents and consequences of change. The quality of the findings might increase as a function of their appropriateness for the field situation. Therefore, to take full advantage of the dynamics of transition economies, future research might explore alternative positions and concepts, rely on alternative methods and break out of the straitjacket of a formalized research design cycle. Alternative positions and concepts Studies in transition economies (Kostera and Wicha, 1996) indicate that organizations are active, and attempt to influence their institutional environment. The fact that various researchers attempting to make sense of the institutional structures and influences in Central and East Europe and the former Soviet Union have coined new terms, such as “institutional nomads” (Wedel, 2003), “unruly coalitions” (for Romania: Verdery, 1996) and “restructuring networks” (for Hungary: Stark and Bruszt, 1998)

Managing organizational change 743

JOCM 19,6

744

indicates the existence of such alternative concepts, situated at the interface between the institution and the organization. Alternative methods Owing to the complexity of the transition situation, methods are needed to allow the voice of the “subjects” to emerge and to account for the context. Case studies (Kogut and Spicer, 2002) or qualitative research might be useful in generating grounded theories (Glasser and Strauss, 1967). Studies using such methods might uncover discrepancies between theories in use and perception of involved stakeholders (Chiaburu and Chiaburu, 2003; see also Chiper, this issue) or, using institutional frameworks and qualitative methods (Kelemen, 1999) can disentangle managerial perceptions of and reactions to the institutional environment, thus offering possible middle-ground theories. Breaking out of the formal design straightjacket It also appears that the conventional research cycle (conceptualize, design, measure, analyze and report) does not hold very well in hyperturbulent environments. Describing their experiences in capturing organizational reactions to hyperturbulence, Meyer et al. (1993) state: “as our study progressed, one research parameter after another [s]tarted behaving like a variable”; moreover, the operationalization of the dependent variable had to be changed, “as industry restructuring altered the meaning of high performance”. Considering such dynamics, there is a need to approach the problems with more flexible research designs. To conclude, transition economies pose a formidable problem for theory and practice. From a theoretical perspective, researchers have to explicate what drives the transition process and what should be done to design a successful transition. This can be done by testing various models attempting to disentangle the influence of markets and institutions or of the economic and social interventions. Recent research explicated, and to some extent demonstrated, that the naı¨ve assumptions of markets generating required institutional environments do not hold (Kogut and Spicer, 2002). More importantly, then, researchers need to examine the political and discursive aspects of what drives the choice of templates for providing transition models. Such investigations are inseparable from the practical problems of transition. Countries and organizations in transition are composed of people, many of them subjected to policies and bearing their consequences. Traditional researchers are quick to point that organizations in transition economies are using old templates and scripts that do not foster adaptive change and organizational transformation. While this might be accurate, in an attempt to reflect on what researchers should do in such situations, one can also ask: are the organizational science researchers using the appropriate theories to capture the reality of transition economies and propose actionable alternatives? References Alvesson, M. and Deetz, S. (1996), “Critical theory and postmodernism approaches to organizational studies”, in Clegg, S.R., Hardy, C. and Nord, W.R. (Eds), Handbook of Organizational Studies, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Campbell, J. (1991), The Socialist Economies in Transition, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN.

Campbell, J.T. and Pedersen, O.K. (1996), “Theories of institutional change in the post communist context”, in Campbell, J.T. and Pedersen, O.K. (Eds), Legacies of Change: Transformation of Post Communist European Economies, de Gruyter, New York, NY, pp. 3-26. Chiaburu, D.S. and Chiaburu, S.V. (2003), “Institutional influences on Romanian educational organizations change: strategic, evaluative and discursive responses”, South East Europe Review for Labour and Social Affairs, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 85-100. Clegg, S.R. and Ibarra-Colado, E. (1999), Global Management: Universal Theories and Local Realities, Sage, London. Cornis-Pope, M. (1994), “Critical theory and the glasnost phenomenon: ideological reconstruction in Romanian literary and political culture”, College Literature, Vol. 21 No. 1. ˘ ¸ta˘rile postcomuniste. Curente economice ˆn Da˘ianu, D. (2000), ˆIncotro se ˆndreapta ı ı pragul secolului (Where are the Post-Communist Countries Headed to: Economic Trends at the Turn of the Century), Polirom, Ias¸i. Eyal, G., Sze´lenyi, I. and Townsley, E. (2001), Capitalism without Capitalists: The New Ruling e´lites in Eastern Europe, Verso, London. Glaser, B.G. and Strauss, A.L. (1967), The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research, Wiedenfeld and Nicholson, London. Jermier, M.J. (1998), “Introduction: critical perspectives on organizational control”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 43, pp. 235-56. Kelemen, M. (1999), “The myth of restructuring, ‘competent’ managers and the transition to a market economy: a Romanian tale”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 10, pp. 199-208. Kelemen, M. and Kostera, M. (2002), Critical Management Research in Eastern Europe: Managing the Transition, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, NY. Kogut, B. and Spicer, A. (2002), “Capital market development and mass privatization are logical contradictions: lessons from Russia and Czech Republic”, Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 1-37. Kostera, M. and Wicha, M. (1996), “The ‘divided self’ of Polish state-owned enterprises: the culture of organizing”, Organization Studies, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 83-105. Kostova, T. and Roth, K. (2002), “Adoption of an organizational practice by subsidiaries of multinational corporations: institutional and relational effects”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 45 No. 1, pp. 215-33. Meyer, A.D., Goes, J.B. and Brooks, G.R. (1993), “Organizations reacting to hyperturbulence”, in Huber, G.P. and Glick, W.H. (Eds), Organizational Change and Redesign, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, pp. 66-111. Newman, K.L. (2000), “Organizational transformation during institutional upheaval”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 602-19. North, D.C. (1990), Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Orton, J.D. and Weick, K.E. (1990), “Loosely coupled systems: a reconceptualization”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 203-23. Pasti, V. (1997), The Challenges of Transition: Romania in Transition, East European Monographs, Boulder, CO. Peng, M.W. (2003), “Institutional transitions and strategic choices”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 275-96. Pfeffer, J. (1997), New Directions for Organizational Theory, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

Managing organizational change 745

JOCM 19,6

746

Powell, W. (1996), “Commentary on the nature of institutional embeddedness”, Advances in Strategic Management, Vol. 13, pp. 293-300. Scott, W.R. (2003), Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Stark, D. and Bruszt, L. (1998), Postsocialist Pathways: Transforming Politics and Property in East Central Europe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Stiglitz, J. (1999), “Whither reform? Ten years of transition”, paper presented at World Bank Annual Conference on Development Economics, Washington, DC. Verdery, K. (1996), What was Socialism and What Comes Next?, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Verdery, K. (1999), “Fuzzy property: rights, power, and indentity in Transylvania’s decollectivization”, in Burawoy, M. and Verdery, K. (Eds), Uncertain Transition: Ethnographies of Change in the Postsocialist World, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, pp. 53-82. Voicu, B. (2000), “Romaˆnia pseudo-moderna˘” (“Pseudo-modern Romania”), Sociologie Romaˆneasca˘ (Romanian Sociology), Vol. 1 No. 4, pp. 35-69. Wedel, J.R. (1994), “US aid to Central and Eastern Europe, 1990-1994: an analysis of aid models and responses in East-Central European economies in transition”, study papers submitted to the Join Economic Committee Congress of the United States, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, p. 314. Wedel, J.R. (1998), Collision and Collusion: The Strange Case of Western Aid to Eastern Europe 1989-1998, St Martin’s Press, New York, NY. Wedel, J.R. (2003), “Clans, cliques, and captured states: rethinking ‘transition’ in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union”, Journal of International Development, Vol. 15, pp. 427-40. Wolfehson, J.D. (1997), “The challenge of inclusion”, Address to the World Bank Annual Meeting, September 23. World Bank (2001), Comprehensive Development Framework. Meeting the Promise? Early Experiences and Emerging Issues, September 17, CDF Secretariat. World Bank (2002), Transition – The First Ten Years: Analysis and Lessons for Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, World Bank, Washington, DC. Zinnes, C., Elliat, Y. and Sachs, J. (2001), “The gains from privatization in transition economies: is change of ownership enough”, IMF Staff Papers, Vol. 48, pp. 146-70.

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm

Change in Romanian organizations: a management culture approach Maria Viorica Grigorut¸a˘

Change in Romanian organizations 747

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Ias¸i, Romaˆnia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify means and opportunities available to managers in Romanian companies in order to successfully undergo the process of integration in the European Union, by accepting the cultural diversity in the global organization in the twenty-first century. Design/methodology/approach – The objectives have in view the identification of the characteristics of change in Romanian companies by means of the organizational culture, the development of organizational culture in an unstable, changing environment and the identification of the present values and of those desired by the Romanian employees as managers or subordinates. The practical research took place by means of the questionnaire and the interview used for 26 managers with hierarchical positions in various companies in the city of Iasi. During their careers, they attended at least one “organizational development” course, they used questionnaires for 6 subordinates and are in the stage of research for the processes of product change in the management activities of the organization from the perspective of management culture. Findings – In the end, the observations were made on 84 valid questionnaires and they allowed for the discovery of the ways of understanding and expression of the dimensions of organizational culture at the present moment and of the future level desired by the employees, in their relations with their co-workers and with the managers in the analysed companies. Research limitations/implications – The way it was performed, the research allows for a series of common conclusions related to the way in which the management activity is currently conducted, especially in the Romanian companies which functioned under the authority of the state until 1990 and have preserved a series of traditional management mechanisms. Considering the evolution of the Romanian society, the steps that will be taken in knowing and applying the new tendencies and dimensions of management and organizational and individual development, the research will continue in the future, aiming at making suggestions regarding the adjustment capacity of Romanian companies, relating to the organizational culture, among others. Practical implications – In the organizations which were analysed for the research, the paper identified a preoccupation for the aspects connected to the dimensions of organizational culture and an orientation towards individual and organizational change concerning the “acceptance” of a new system of values. Originality/value – The choice of the subjects and the conception of the system of values of the organizational culture led to a certain degree of originality of our research, allowing for the offering of necessary information and resources to the interested parties, as well as for the opening of future ways of analysing the change processes which will occur in the management of Romanian companies. Keywords Organizational change, Organizational culture, European Union, Culture, Romania Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction Organizational culture develops and manifests itself differently in different organizations. One cannot say that one culture is better than another just that it differs in certain aspects. There is no ideal culture, only a good culture, appropriate to

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 747-752 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708396

JOCM 19,6

748

the organization. This means there cannot be a universal recipe for managing the culture of any organization, although there are certain approaches. Culture management refers to the implementation, the refreshment of the existing culture of an organization or the change of an obsolete culture. The approach of organizational culture is be characterized by several general considerations. Considering the previously mentioned aspects, we can conclude that culture management is an analysis and diagnosis problem, followed by the managers’ carrying out a series of adequate interventions, aimed at transforming the organization. 2. Theoretical basis 2.1 Defining organizational culture Peters and Waterman’s (1982) work, In Search of Excellence, uses the term corporate culture, invented in the 1970s. As soon as organizational culture became a fashionable subject, at the end of the 1980s, the management literature also popularized the concept of excellence, as the common way in which the members of an organization think, act and feel (Hofstede, 1996, p. 34). According to the two academics, excellence, superimposes a strong organizational culture. An extremely simple definition is presented by T.E. Deal: the organizational culture is the way things take place in an organization. (Bonciu, 2000, p. 79). Although based on a series of values characteristic to a national culture, organizational culture is made of practices, behaviors and attitudes defined in relation with a series of concrete situations. (Mereut¸a˘ et al., 1998, p. 24). Even if the use of the term culture both for nations and for organizations suggests the two kinds of culture are identical, they are different (Hofstede, 1996, p. 209). Simion Mehedint¸i identifies two types of culture: organic and inorganic. Culture is a sum of presuppositions about the way the world works. It represents a set more or less coherent, more or less articulate, of values, organizational behaviors and practices and of orientation of the organizational behavior. Johns (1998, p. 227) considers that at an informal level organizational culture can be understood as the style, atmosphere or personality of an organization. It includes the shared beliefs, values and hypotheses existing in an organization. 2.2 Analysis and diagnosis of organizational culture Schein (1987, p. 198) suggested the most powerful mechanisms to implement and refresh an organization’s culture are: . what managers seek, appraise and control; . managerial reactions to critical incidents; . deliberate role modeling; and . fair rewarding and promotion criteria. Since, cultures develop over a long time, and are usually deeply rooted, they are also difficult to change. When in the organization there is a weak or weakly supported culture, this presents the opportunity for change. It is hard to for people change attitudes and long held conceptions. All managers can do is to help facilitate behavioral change to reduce the dysfunctional elements in a culture and introduce functional ones.

Organizational culture has history and structure, and that is how it can remain unchanged for a long time despite the coming and going of an employees. It is born out of the experience of the situations when internal and external pressures acting on the organization are acted on. Culture is an integral part of the process of selecting personal options. It influences what the organization feels, its concerns and its ability to deal with problems. Organizational culture is a force that allowed a series of large companies, like IBM, Delta Airlines, Kodak, British Airways to become successful corporations. Culture analysis and management action diagnosis must take place on the permanent basis of observing and studying the behavior that indicates the prevailing norms and values of a society. 2.3 The role of the specialist in human resource management One can distinguish the role of the human resource specialist in supporting and developing the culture management within the organization. The human resource specialist occupies an advantageous position to analyze the existing culture and to produce diagnoses for top management. They can advise managers regarding the setting of the values expected by the employees, the way these values can be communicated to the employees and the way in which behaviors can be changed in order to fit the modified values. One extremely important aspect is that the human resource specialist can project and help implement the change programs, especially those involving education and training, performance management and even initiatives of reward management. In many organizations, the role of the human resource specialists covers the internal consulting regarding the culture management problems, as well as the introduction of new human resource management systems. On a global level, external consultants are still frequently used, since they have a detached, objective opinion, but they operate as part of a team made of management specialists and human resource specialists and not as independent individuals. 2.4 Consulting methods in support of culture management As soon as the elements of implementing, refreshing or changing the organizational culture are set, those who facilitate the culture management program will use consulting methods for these processes. Schein (1987, p. 98) claims process consultancy, suggesting either external consultancy or internal human resource management specialists. The consultancy of the process of implementation, refreshment or change of the organizational culture supposes considerable abilities. It has to set relations with management on all levels. The human resource expert, considered consultant during this period, must observe and analyze the ongoing processes in the organization and to work, to listen to the groups and consult them. 3. Methods and results To support the above theoretical approach, we did a practical study on series of 26 managers occupying different hierarchical positions in the company Antibiotice S.A., Ias¸i. The managers, most of whom attended a professional training course named organizational culture development, were asked to complete questionnaire followed by giving this questionaire to six of their colleagues. We recieved 84 usable questionnaires.

Change in Romanian organizations 749

JOCM 19,6

750

All the subjects were asked to specify: . the dominant values within the organizational culture; . the strong and the weak points of the organizational culture; and . what rapid changes should be done in order to exploit the strong points or to improve the weak points. In the structure of the questionnaire we listed from the beginning a series of 22 values of the organizational culture which may become manifest within the organization and the respondents were asked to select five of these values that they consider to be shared and used most often, describing both the present situation and the refreshed situation they would want in 4-5 years. The employees’ answers were then processed and presented. 4. Discussions Organizational culture is the basis on which a company’s existence is articulated. In the Romanian experience after 1990 some companies started vigorously, but on their way they began to slow the rhythm, and others climbed step by step the way of the success. After a long period when in Romania the phrase – it works anyway became deeply rooted, the companies with a long tradition adopted the – it does not work like this anymore. The managers who understood this began to build a new organizational culture. Within the company SC Antibiotice S.A. there is a harmonious and balanced mixture of the tradition of medicine producer and the orientation towards continuous innovation, towards improved procedures and organizational change. This is how it became obvious that under the present situation many managers and subordinates respect the order and discipline, are interested in assuming responsibility for their actions or decisions, consider quality as very important, show concern for clients’ satisfaction and think that good results are achieved by observing procedures. In a future projection of the organiszational culture values we notice a reversal of the value hierarchy desired by the employees of Antibiotice. S.A. They place first the orientation towards continuous innovation, towards improved procedures, the fair appraisal of individual performances and merit recognition, stimulating team work and they pay a minimum attention to the precise execution of superiors’ orders and to mutual support. It is difficult to achieve a general comparison between the Romanian management and the European one, from the perspective of transformation dynamics, because it is extremely clearly defined by the business environment. The strong points of the researched organization’s management are good knowledge of the local, internal and international business environment, the existence of good training, the experience of the managers, the employee’s managers’ ability to make effective decisions and efforts to adapt to the EU demands. The identified weak points were: the top management’s reluctance to instruction, the lack of knowledge of managerial theory and foreign languages, the absence of effective training, the lack of communication, organizing deficiencies and the reluctance to using the new market study methods. The identified weak points may be cleared by: modifying the tax legislation affecting the business environment, constant improvement, the ministry’s elaborating

sector strategies and supporting successful companies. When a company sends its employees to a professional training course, it does so in order to have better prepared people, who will refine their abilities and discover new skills. If when coming back into the company, the employee sees that he cannot use the acquired knowledge or that he is refused the opportunity of achieving performance, there is the risk of his leaving.

Change in Romanian organizations

5. Conclusions We consider that any one or more of the following approaches can be used to support the management of organizational culture: . the mission details must be in accordance with explicitly stated values; . workshops that involve people discussing the new values and behaviors and their practicing; . educational and improvement programs leading to acquiring new knowledge and abilities; and . performance management programs that ensure appropriate placement appraisals and awards supporting and sanctioning the changed values.

751

These kinds of programs can be used not only to change, but also to refresh a certain culture. Ideally, they are practiced at the level of the whole organization. Operational managers can have a major contribution, first of all by understanding their culture and then becoming involved as much as possible in setting the purposes and the constituents of a culture management program and, lastly, by developing it in their own team, replacing and refreshing the system of organizational values at the level of the entire department. References Bonciu, C. (2000), Instrumente Manageriale Psihosociologice, Editura ALL Beck, Bucures¸ti. Hofstede, G. (1996), “Managementul structurilor multiculturale”, Software-ul Gaˆndirii, Editura Economica˘, Bucures¸ti. Johns, G. (1998), Comportament Organizat¸ional, Editura Economica˘, Bucures¸ti. Mereut¸a˘, C., Pop, L., Vlaicu, C. and Pop, L. (1998), “Culturi organizat¸ionale ˆın spat¸iul romaˆnesc”, Valori s¸i Profiluri Dominante, Editura FIMAN, Bucures¸ti. Peters, T. and Waterman, R. (1982), Search of Excellence, Harper & Row, New York, NY. Schein, E.H. (1985), Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Further reading Armstrong, M. (1987), “Human resource management: a case of the emperor’s new clothes?”, Personnel Management, August. Atkinson, J. (1984), “Manpower strategies for flexible organizations”, Personnel Management, August. Beattie, D.F. and Tampoe, M.K. (1990), “Human resource planning for ICL”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 23 No. 1. Beer, M. and Spector, B. (1985), “Corporate transformations in human resource management”, in Walton, R.E. and Lawrence, P.R. (Eds), HRR Trends and Challenges, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.

JOCM 19,6

752

Beer, M., Eisenstat, R.A. and Spector, B. (1990), “Why change programs don’t produce change”, Harvard Business Review, November/December. Drucker, P.F. (1988), “The coming of the new organization”, Harvard Business Review, January/February. Guest, D.E. (1989), “Personnel and HRM: can you tell the difference?”, Personnel Management, January. Guest, D.E. (1990), “Human resource management and the American dream”, Journal of Management Studies, p. 27. Mehedint¸i, S. (1986), Cultura˘ s¸i Civilizat¸ie, Editura Junimea, Ias¸i. Mintzberg, H. (1973), The Nature of Managerial Work, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. Pascale, R.T. and Athos, A.G. (1981), The Art of Japanese Management, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY. Peters, T. (1988), Thriving on Chaos, Macmillan, London. Peters, T. and Austin, N. (1985), A Passion for Excellence, Collins, Glasgow. Pettigrew, A. and Whipp, R. (1991), Managing Change for Competitive Success, Blackwell, Oxford. Porter, M. (1985), Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, The Free Press, New York, NY. Corresponding author Maria Viorica Grigorut¸a˘ can be contacted at: [email protected]

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm

Romania’s economic policy: rulers’ wisdom will lead us

Romania’s economic policy

Sorin Burnete Lucian Blaga University, Sibiu, Romania

753

Abstract Purpose – To highlight the key-role of macroeconomic management in a dysfunctional emerging market economy. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis – focused on the particular case of Romania, where the transition to market economy is underway – relies on two basic hypotheses. According to the former, the reform programs implemented during the 1990s failed to take into account some fundamental correlations such as the one between reform measures and the real state of the economy (more specifically, the presence or absence of distortions). Another important correlation must exist between various types of macroeconomic policies, whether designed to trigger changes in the real economy (e.g. transfer of ownership, etc.) or aimed at securing macro-stabilization. According to the latter hypothesis, overlooking such correlations will jeopardize both macroeconomic equilibrium and the soundness of future growth. Findings – The data illustrating the evolution of Romania’s economy during 1995-2003 confirm the aforementioned hypotheses. Although the economy started growing at a fairly-high rate after 1999, growth has been mostly immiserizing and hardly sustainable since. This outcome can be illustrated by using well-known models such as Bhagwati’s generalized theory of distortions and welfare and Mundell’s approach of macroeconomic policies under imperfect capital mobility. Originality/value – The use of the “immiserizing growth” concept in depicting Romania’s economic evolution after 2000 is most likely an element of originality. The paper might be valuable for emphasizing the imperfections of the Romanian “government-central bank” tandem. Keywords Economic policy, Emerging markets, Market economy, Macroeconomics, Romania Paper type Conceptual paper

From economic depression to . . . immiserizing growth The evolution of the emerging Central and Eastern European (CEE) market economies during the 1990s confirmed the accuracy of the principle of sub optimality of free trade policy under market imperfections and economic distortions. In Romania, during the first half of the 1990s, output and GDP fell by nearly half their 1989 amounts. Other macroeconomic indices (real wages, productivity, etc.) also recorded sharp reductions. While inflation skyrocketed, the national currency collapsed. Following the rushed liberalization of prices and credit, the economy plunged into morass, heavily suffering from instability and “dollarization” (Burnete, 1999). Eventually, the decline came to an end. In most of the CEE countries, economic growth became prevalent in the second half of the 1990s, except Romania, where recession prolonged until the turn of the century. The first signs of recovery came up in the year 2000: industrial output and exports increased by 8.7 and 21.9 percent, respectively, in comparison with 1999 (Adevarul, 2003a). These signs brought back hope but are there solid reasons for joy? The answer is rather negative. This type of growth is neither sound nor sustainable; it is merely an immiserization caused by an export-biased growth. Immiserizing growth is generally caused by the existence of distortions within the economy

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 753-759 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708404

JOCM 19,6

754

(Bhagwati, 1971). Where such distortions exist, failure by governments to promote optimal (second best) policies will make the country worse off after growth. But even if there are no distortions, immiserizing growth can still be generated (simultaneously or independently), especially in relatively poor countries, by three main factors (Salvatore, 1995): (1) economic growth tends to increase substantially the country’s exports at constant terms of trade; (2) the income elasticity of foreigners’ demand for the country’s exports is low, so that the latter’s terms of trade will deteriorate substantially; and (3) the country is so heavily dependent on trade that a subsequent deterioration in its terms of trade is equivalent to a reduction in the nation’s welfare. All the above factors exerted more or less influence upon Romania’s economy. First, Romanian exports did increase, quantitatively, at unchanged terms of trade, due to the “beggar-thy-neighbor” – type policies, systematically promoted by the authorities; the primary policy instrument used for this goal has been home currency depreciation. Second, the low-income elasticity of foreign demand for Romania’s exports is a fact; the structure of our exports stands proof thereof, so that no further demonstration is necessary; consequently, a substantial deterioration in the country’s terms of trade ensued. Third, Romania’s economy has always been heavily dependent on exports; thus any deterioration in its terms of trade might cause a decline in the country’s welfare. Back to the causes and implications of immiserization, here is an assessment made by the Romanian Central Bank’s experts: The general consolidated budget revenues at the end of the year 2002 amounted to 29.7 percent of the GDP (0.4 percentage points less than in 2001. At the same time, both net foreign direct investment by non-residents as well as portfolio investment declined by 4.4 percent, i.e. by almost one third, in comparison to the year 2001 (Adevarul, 2003b).

These figures clearly point to a crippled growth that neither enhanced the budget revenues nor did it stimulate investment. Yet, they do not explain why the growth was immiserizing. To understand that, one must delve more into the real economy. It is obvious that the budget deficit was kept from rising through monetary measures (that pushed interest rates downward), coupled with foreign exchange “trimmings” (exchange rate differentials between domestic and foreign public debts). But these are mere palliatives. The true reform is still being expected. Endogenous factors have been sluggish In Romania, industrial restructuring has been an ordeal that still drags on. Its causes do not reside in the reform program only; they are deeply rooted in socialist industrialization. If the policy pursued by the communist regime until 1989 was flawed, those who came afterwards were not too inspired either. The newly elected democratic governments were not very successful in their attempt to implement capitalistic mechanisms domestically, in spite of the permissive legal framework that was quickly adopted. The scores of economic strategies formulated during this period only materialized to a small extent. Among them, privatization strategy was the least efficient; it may well be characterized by one word: vacillation. During a first period

(1990-1996), the “fair prices strategy” was followed, claiming that enterprises should be put up for sale at “right” prices. According to this view, companies were worth how much we wanted them to be, not how much the potential buyers were willing to offer for them; sale prices thus resulted from paper calculation rather than market consultation. In a second period (after 1996), the opposite strategy (“sale on 1 dollar”) prevailed. Neither strategy was successful because the problem had been tackled in the wrong way. It is not the high or low price that makes the sale; it’s the viability of the company. A company with no future or whose future is uncertain is not worth even one dollar, whereas a viable one can always sell at a good price. Competitiveness vs real appreciation of the home currency The recent sustained appreciation of the euro against the dollar led to a sharp depreciation of the Romanian currency against the euro, in both nominal and real terms. The tumbling of the lei was determined primarily by the rise in the expected lei-euro exchange rate, which was most likely caused by the change of trend that occurred on the international financial markets at the beginning of 2003 (the sharp appreciation of the euro against the dollar). These developments were reflected by divergent movements of the lei relative to the two major currencies: the soar of the euro led to a rise in the value of the expected lei-euro exchange rate; concomitantly, the fall of the dollar led to a drop in the expected lei-dollar exchange-rate. The divergent movements of the lei are due to the duality of the Romanian exchange-rate regime, adopted after the emergence of the euro; we switched from a dollar-based exchange-rate regime – with the US dollar as reference currency – to a “double-anchor” exchange-rate regime, where the leading role is shared between the euro and the dollar. The above developments placed Romania’s monetary authority in a somewhat awkward situation; the national currency was being caught between two divergent tendencies that were subject to different types of pressures: while most of our export contracts are denominated in euro, an important part of our imports (mainly energy) are invoiced in US dollars. Thus, the “fork-type” exchange-rate regime is not some technocrat’s concoction; it was imposed by reality. The question is: what can possibly happen if the “teeth of the fork” become too far apart? If the appreciation of euro carries on – commented Romanian analyst Daniel Da˘ianu in June, 2003 – the Government and National Bank will have to make their choice: either accept an inflationary skid, or tighten the monetary policy; in the latter case, a rise in interest rates will have an impact upon the real economy: the rhythm of economic growth will fall below the targeted level for 2003 (Adevarul, 2003b). What economists are suggesting is another trade-off: stability vs growth. Like in many other previous situations, we are at a loss as to where we should be headed. Actually, it’s a matter of choice between two evils: one must pick the least one. The monetary solution: a double-edged sword The beginning of the twenty-first century brought about the first economic boom since 1990. After a prolonged depression, signs of recovery finally made their appearance in 2000. Statistics indicate noteworthy improvement of all macro indices: production increased; unemployment has been maintained below a critical level; as concerns exports, they almost doubled. And above all, the increases in production and GDP were

Romania’s economic policy

755

JOCM 19,6

756

accompanied by a constant diminution of the inflation rate. As a consequence, the authorities loosened the monetary policy, with the obvious aim of sustaining the growth trend. After three consecutive years of economic boom, macroeconomic conditions altered. Although the rate of growth never slackened off during this period, the danger of mounting inflation reappeared. The rise in the expected inflation became apparent by mid 2003, when suddenly; the target set by the government (14 percent) began to look much too optimistic. The upward trend in inflation expectations was caused by a bunch of factors. Such a factor was the developments on the foreign-exchange market (previously described). Another factor was the soaring of oil prices internationally, which caused energy prices to rise domestically, in spite of the slight appreciation of the lei against the dollar. Finally, an unexpected increase in the public sector wages – during the first half of the year 2003 – exerted additional pressure on the budget deficit. Under the circumstances, a critical problem for the authorities was to decide whether inflation had to be ignored or fought against. Ignoring the menace of inflation would have meant giving preeminence to other goals, primarily GDP growth. Combating inflation would have implied – almost certainly – retightening the monetary policy. What did the Romanian authorities do in reality? They chose the medium path, so that the solution finally adopted was rather ambiguous. Actually, a mix of policies was applied: on the one hand, interest rates were raised but only slightly, for fear that the growth target might be in jeopardy. On the other hand, the ensuing appreciation of the lei was counteracted by a series of interventions on the foreign-exchange market, aimed at keeping up the value of the European currency. In doing this, the Romanian authorities accomplished almost nothing: the home currency went on tumbling . . . the current account deficit widened . . . the danger of mounting inflation is still present. Economic growth will continue but . . . once again, it’s likely to be immiserizing. As we can see, the monetary “weapon” is always at hand, only . . . it has a double-edged blade: it can be highly efficient under soaring inflation conditions but virtually useless or even harmful when the macroeconomic equilibrium is fragile. Cosmetic changes will not help In Romania, fiscal policy resembles a car rolling on a one-way road. Since, public spending is taboo (the budget deficit must not exceed the fixed target, agreed upon with the IMF), the other component, government revenues is being more intensely used. From a purely Keynesian point of view, it matters less which of the two “pedals” is pressed: the increase in government spending or the alleviation of fiscal obligations. They are alternative measures, with similar effects in the short run: both employment and domestic demand increase. An economy in transition offers excellent conditions for fiscal experiments. Such an experiment would be releasing state-owned companies from their fiscal obligations. Because large state-owned enterprises have systematically refused to pay off their debts to the central budget (let alone their debts to private suppliers, which are even larger), reducing illiquidity within the economy by writing off these debts might appear as an interesting political goal, particularly during the pre election period; actually, it would be as if one “killed two birds with one stone.” On the one hand, the government would be released from a task it will not be able to fulfill: collecting

outstanding debts from bad payers; on the other hand, “cleansing” the state’s enterprises of their fiscal obligations would make them more appealing to foreign investors. For reasons like these, the Romanian Government is about (at the time this paper is being written) to enact a law that should exonerate a number of enterprises from repayment of their budget debts (Adevarul, 2003b). Let’s try to figure out what influence “fiscal cleansing” is likely to have upon the public budget constraint. Let C and G stand for private and government consumption, respectively, and Y, for national income. Assuming interest rates are equal throughout the economy, which means that the government and the private sector borrow and lend money at the same interest rate; the general budget constraint is given by the following equation (Burda and Wyplosz, 2002): C 1 þ G1 þ ðC 2 þ G2 Þ=ð1 þ rÞ ¼ Y 1 þ Y 2 =ð1 þ rÞ

ð1Þ

The left term of equation (1) measures the present value of total domestic spending, while the right term indicates the present value of internal revenues. If government proceeds to a cut in taxes today, without modifying its current spending, it will automatically contract future loans, which means that tomorrow, it will increase taxes. For the private sector this implies more revenues after taxes today and less tomorrow. As long as the interest rate at which government and private firms borrow and lend money is the same, these inter-temporal transfers have no impact. The pubic sector’s loans may be entirely covered by private savings (Burda and Wyplosz, 2002) What happens in case an interest rate differential exists between the private and the public sectors? If the former operates at a higher interest rate than the latter does (r . rG), the combined budget constraint will be (T stands for taxes, rG for the interest rate used by the public sector): C 1 þ C 2 =ð1 þ rÞ ¼ Y 1 2 G1 þ ðY 2 2 G2 Þ=ð1 þ rÞ þ ðr 2 r G ÞðG1 2 T 1 Þ=ð1 þ rÞ ð2Þ The left term of equation (2) measures the present value of the private sector’s consumption, discounted by the interest rate at which individuals may get involved in inter-temporal trade; it represents private welfare. If r . rG, a fraction of the public deficit (G1 2 T1), more precisely the public loans contracted during period 1, will add to the private sector’s welfare, measured by the right term of equation (2). Under these circumstances, a cut in taxes will be equivalent to subsidization by the government of the private sector: the fiscal obligations are being diminished today but tomorrow, they must be repaid at a lower interest rate. The government thus bolsters the private sector by facilitating its access to lower interest rates (Burda and Wyplosz, 2002) But what if the interest rate differential between the private and the public sectors is reversed (r , rG)? Mathematically, the answer is provided by equation (2). If the difference (r 2 rG) is negative, the same fraction of the public deficit will be deducted from the private sector’s welfare instead of being added to it, which means that private welfare will decline. The Romanian economy provides an illustrative example of this phenomenon. Because the interest rate on treasury bonds has always been higher than the average interest rate on bank deposits, the Romanian Government has been able to attract significant amounts of money from the private sector, especially from commercial banks (which would buy a large part of the state-bonds supplied). Yet these funds were inappropriately spent, which means that much too often, they received less lucrative utilizations than if they had been invested by private companies;

Romania’s economic policy

757

JOCM 19,6

758

roughly speaking, most of these funds were refunneled towards the so-called “black holes” (losses-generating sectors). However, the year 2003 discontinued this practice: for the first time, the treasury issued bonds at an interest rate below the average market level, in an attempt to accumulate budget savings (up to an amount of 0.2 percent of the GDP). Although the initiative is commendable, results are unconvincing because the private sector’s reaction was again unexpected. Commercial banks no longer bought these bonds (as they had used to, previously); instead, they increased the volume of bank loans offered to the business sector. Enterprises did not miss this new borrowing opportunity; only, they turned it to their own account. They used the higher volume of loans available to increase imports, thus pressing upon the current account deficit and favoring the re-ignition of inflation. In conclusion, cuts in taxes are unlikely to produce the desired effects, unless they are accompanied by reductions in the average interest rate at which governments borrow and lend money from/to the private sector. Otherwise, “fiscal cleansing” is nothing but a cosmetic exercise: it will provide illegitimate advantages to certain state-owned enterprises (not always legitimately picked), while adding nothing to private welfare. The powerless state: a myth? The impact of globalization will depend on the strength and adaptability of the state (Woods, 2000) Although the people throughout the world are aware of this, the sad part of the story is that in spite of a wise government, results might still be bad. Unfortunately, today, small countries’ fate is much too often, beyond their control. Why? Is the powerless state a myth or a reality? (Weiss, 2002) There is not a general consensus on this issue. Some admit the existence of the myth, others do not. Warnings such as “globalization should not be blamed for bad government” (Soros, 2002) admit the existence of the myth. On the other hand, rhetorical questions such as “Who destroyed Russia?” (Stiglitz, 2003) are suggesting the powerless state is not a myth but a reality. What can we do then? At any event, we should not give up the idea that we have to remain the masters of our own destiny. For this to happen, trust in our leaders is of utmost importance. References Adevarul (2003a), June 11, p. 5. Adevarul (2003b), August 19, p. 5. Bhagwati, J. (1971), The Generalized Theory of Distortions and Welfare; Trade, Balance and Growth, North-Holland Publishing Co., London. Burda, M. and Wyplosz, C. (2002), Macroeconomics: A European Text, All Beck Publishing Co., Bucharest, (Romanian version). Burnete, S. (1999), International Trade; Theories & Policies, Economic Publishing Co., Bucharest. Salvatore, D. (1995), International Economics, 5th ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Soros, G. (2002), On Globalization, Polirom Publishing Co., IASI, Romanian version. Stiglitz, J. (2003), Globalization and its Discontents, Economic Publishing Co., Bucharest, Romanian version.

Weiss, L. (2002), The Myth of the Powerless State, Trei Publishing Co., Bucharest, Romanian version. Woods, N. (2000), The Impact of Globalization, Macmillan Press Ltd, Basingstoke, published in The Political Economy of Globalization. Further reading Adevarul (2003), October 23, p. 11. Balcerowicz, L. (2001), Wolnosc I rozowoj, Compania Publishing Co., Bucuresti, (Romanian Version). Burnete, S. (1998), “The reorientation of Romanian export flows after 1990; a goal of strategies restructuring”, Economic Journal, (Romanian Economic Quarterly), July. Burnete, S. (2001), “Romania’s industrial policy; between the errors of the past and the avatars of the present”, Economistul, No. 70, (Romanian Economic Quarterly). Burnete, S. (2003), “Globalization, an attempt on national states sovereignty?”, Euro Forum, Open Media Press Co. nr. 30. Caves, R.E., Frankel, J.A. and Jones, R.W. (1993), World Trade and Payments, 6th ed., Harper Collins College Publishers, Philadelphia, PA. Da˘ianu, D. and Vraˆnceanu, R. (2002), Romania and the European Union, Polirom Publishing Co., IASI. Markusen James, R., Melvin James, R., Kaempfer William, H. and Maskus Keith, E. (1995), International Trade, Theory and Evidence, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. Mills, J. (1998), Europe’s Economic Dilemma, Macmillan Press Ltd, Basingstoke. Corresponding author Sorin Burnete can be contacted at: [email protected]

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

Romania’s economic policy

759

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm

JOCM 19,6

Romanian managers and human resource management Ticu Constantin, Daniela Pop and Ana Stoica-Constantin Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, Romania

760 Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the role of human resource management (HRM) in Romania. Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes the latest changes and their reflections in research by analysing data collected from an inquiry amongst 558 company managers. The attitudes and facts in HRM are identified, taking into account the characteristics of the firm. Additionally, the HR problems encountered by the managers, the training and consultancy needs and experience of the firms, and the academic background of the experts, are identified. Finally, some trends in HRM politics are revealed. Findings – The outcomes sustain the conclusion that modern HRM in Romania registered an encouraging start after the communist period, but it is still facing important challenges. Originality/value – The paper offers a sketchy picture of the HRM situation in Romania. Keywords Human resource management, Managers, Training, Management consultancy Paper type Research paper

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 760-765 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708413

Changes and challenges in post-communist Romania Until recently, the field of human resource management (HRM) has not formally existed in Romania. Similarly, there have been no different words for leadership and management. The traditional Romanian version for the mentioned concepts is fairly ambiguous – conducere. In spite of the unfamiliarity with the imported terms, Romanian students and managers infer that these concepts are different. In a 1995 research, Gavrilovici (1995, p. 122-3) found that 94.3 percent respondents from a sample of 107 (undergraduate) students, and 93.7 percent managers (N ¼ 16) that. Although leadership and management largely overlap, not all managers are leaders and not all leaders are managers. Do the terms leadership and management have the same meaning? In the literature, one can find authors for whom there is no difference between leader and manager, leadership and management. Groˆholt (1992, p. 81), Director of the Norwegian Center for Leadership Development announces that “in Norway we do not make any difference between the leadership and management – and I do not like this differentiation.” However, many authors separate between the managers, who hold a formal, powerful position, and leaders, whose specificity consists of social influence, persuasion, in a common experience of accomplishing a common goal (Palus and Drath, 1992, p. 109; Gardner, 1990, pp. 1, 3; Rost, 1991). Other authors see other differences. The 1990s brought numerous changes in the Romanian society. Nevertheless, they are not so profound and efficient as many Romanians would like. One of the changes is related to the way organizations are managed. Concepts like management, leadership and HRM have become more often heard amongst the academics and practitioners. The latest theories on leadership and management are acknowledged, discussed and disseminated. Unfortunately, although the contemporary issues in leadership discuss

the problems of team leadership, of leading through empowerment, and of the possible differences in the ways males and females lead, they are perceived by most Romanian managers as being not so important in Romania. The economic problems they face seem to be more important for them than the style of leadership they practice. The fact that a person holds the formal position of a manager represents no assurance that they will be able to lead effectively. And this is a very important issue in the Romanian context. Many of them became managers or received their education in the communist years, a period of time and a culture where the notions of private property and functional economy were not discussed. They were not educated to face the problems that appear in a free economy. In most cases the manager is also the owner of the company. Because the top managers are responsible for all the general strategies the company adopts, they also influence the HRM strategy of the organization. In the rational views of management behavior, the employees were mostly regarded as representing means of production. The managers treated them as an undifferentiated work force. The important aspects of professional improvement were those of increasing the efficiency and the productivity of the employees, while ignoring the development of individual abilities and the employees’ level of commitment to the organization. Characteristics of general and human resource management in Romania Farhad Analoui, Professor of International Management of Human Resources at Bradford University, Great Britain, gives some declarations Capital magazine (February 2004). He indicates that in Romania the management system is a traditional one, based on the old system of centralized management. This management style does not favor the development of HR. He also thinks that Romanian organizations find themselves in competition to catch up with western European companies. Farhad Analoui indicates that an integrated policy of HR does not exist in most Romanian companies. Our empirical experience suggests that Romanian managers do not encourage a modern and appropriate HRM in their companies. The consultants of D&D Research Agency conducted a research regarding the management style in different types of Romanian organizations (Capital, 2001, June). They reached interesting conclusions. The Romanian state companies are characterized by the ability to tolerate uncertainty, and by orientation toward the superiors in order to get their rewards. The private Romanian companies have a management style, which can be characterized by consideration toward the employees. The multinational and international companies from Romania have the most complex pattern of management style, which is characterized by the power to influence others, by the accuracy of predictions, and by integration. The management style of Romanian research and educational institutes is defined by consideration toward the members of the organization and by tolerating freedom. Interact business communications conducted a study in 2002-2003 with regard to the state of training practices in Romanian enterprises and the training needs of employees (Capital, 2004, February). The results suggest that the managers prefer the courses organized especially for their employees because they are adapted to the needs of the organization. An important finding of the mentioned research is that the most often required courses are those in management and those on improving communication.

Romanian managers and HRM 761

JOCM 19,6

762

An inquiry about HRM amongst Romanian managers Goals and objectives The investigation was designed to study Romanian managers’ politics in the area of HRM. We aimed at identifying attitudes and facts in HRM, and we did considering the whole investigated sample, and characteristics of the firm. We aimed at listing problems encountered by the HRM in the investigated firms, the training needs of the firms, services that managers solicited from HRM professionals, and who are the required experts. Finally, we wanted to reveal any trends in the politics of the managers in HRM. Method and sample A questionnaire was administered to two different samples of top managers, primarily from North East Romania, 131 during 1999 and 427 during 2003 (total sample 558). Results General interest for HRM In the 2003 sample of 427 firms, managers do not hire experts in HRM (79.4 percent). They prefer external consulting services (73.1 percent), instead of internal specialists (21.5 percent). Most managers (67 percent) ignore the HRM. Managers explain low interest in consulting and training services by the lack of money (33.8 percent), their belief in the high qualities of their employees (25.6 percent), the existence of internal HRM specialists in the firm (10.5 percent), the peculiarity of the firm (4.5 percent), and lack of importance of the consulting and training services (3.8 percent), the previous negative experience (2.5 percent). Things are better with respect to the training activities, where half of the questioned managers declared that they asked for training services, at least once. Characteristics of the firm as a factor of HRM Do the size of the firm, the type of company activity, and previous experience in HRM influence the politics of the managers in HRM? The relationship between the size of the firm and HR issues. We found some significant differences between firms of different sizes, that indicate large and medium sized firms: . use internal specialists in HRM; . addresses a consulting firm; and . asks for training services. The characteristics of firm activity and HRM. Differences were found between production and service provider firms versus trade and mixed firms with regard to three aspects: the former used to hire a specialists in HRM, used to address to a consulting firms with intent to train their employees. Another difference appears between the production and mixed firms that asked for training services, to the other two types: services and trade firms. Previous experience in HRM. Managers who declare that they will address consulting firms in the future are those, which have done that in the past, and those who have their own HR specialist. Managers who have hired an HR employee and expressed in the research their intention to ask for training services are more

numerous. There are fewer managers with no previous experience in HRM who intend to ask for consulting services. Problems encountered by HRM, from the managers’ point of view In the investigated firms, managers pointed out a number of challenges for HRM, ranked as follows: . bad organization of the work and low motivation of the employees, on the top level; . low training of personnel, general lack of initiative, non-differentiated wage system, and inadequate leadership styles; and . nepotism, low promotion of the organization, and nonexistence of development teams. The training and consultancy needs of the companies The training needs are perceived by managers as follows: the most frequently cited is general training on the job (42 percent), followed, by the job specific technical skills (20 percent), by the need of training in management (8 percent), human resources and interpersonal relations (7 percent), and marketing (6 percent). Finally, among the needs that were cited with low frequency; accountability (3.9 percent), sales (3.9 percent), computer skills (3.7 percent), publicity and promoting firm image (2.9 percent). Very seldom cited were training in legislation and foreign languages. Consulting needs are focused, in the managers’ opinion, on organizing work, personnel selection, promoting the firm image and personnel evaluation. Lower frequency cited needs include improving leadership style, evaluation of motivation, and teambuilding. Required services The managers have required HR professional services that fall into two categories: consultancy and training. Consulting services mainly consisted of professional selection (55 percent), professional evaluation (25 percent) and analysis of organizational climate (8 percent). Training activities already done were more diversified. Managers asked for the following types of training services: technical training specific to firm activity (20.3 percent), accountability (10.1 percent), human resources and interpersonal relations (9.3 percent), sales (8 percent) and management (6.8 percent). Managers do not consider that promoting of company image and improving human relations are important professional training issues. Teamwork, developing initiative, improving leadership style and conflict-solving abilities are extremely rarely cited. Unfortunately, 45.6 percent of the respondents do not specify the kind of training needed. An important number of managers have declared that in the next 12 months they will ask for training services (54 percent), but they have not specified the kind of the service they will need (60 percent). This might suggest that managers from the North East part of Romania do not have a clear strategy of professional development for their employees. The professionals who provide services for the companies We found that only a few of the investigated managers (19.9 percent) hired a person to manage human resources. When they did that, they preferred economists (80 percent), not psychologists (17.6 percent).

Romanian managers and HRM 763

JOCM 19,6

764

Trends in the politics of HRM An analysis of the 1999 and 2003 data showed that the following did not rise: the percentage of managers who hired an HRM specialists, the number of solicitations for HRM problems, the number of declared intentions to ask for HRM services and the option for hired specialists versus for an external consulting firms. According to the expressed intentions of the managers, some of the tendencies manifested during the examined interval (1999-2003) will continue. That means that large firms (high-medium, large and very large) will keep soliciting experts for consulting services, will prefer to have a specialist as their own employee, and will solicit training services, while the smaller ones will continue not to solicit either consulting or training services. As long as the new Labor Law (2003) compels the employers to offer the employees opportunities for professional development, it is expected there will be an extended and in-depth development of training activities. The managers’ expectations towards the consulting/training agencies are mainly focused on the quality and efficiency of the services (55 percent), also, consulting/training firms should better promote themselves (30.3 percent). The managers want financial discounts (10.4 percent), services adapted to the peculiarity of the firm, more practical orientation, and consulting/training firms to be more pervasive in approaching the potential clients. Conclusions HRM does not seem to be one of the priorities of the managers included in the present study. Most of them have never solicited HRM consulting and do not intend to do so in the near future, nor have they hired an HRM specialist. Overall, there is more of a preference for paying an external HRM services than for hiring a company’s own specialist. The academic preferred background of the HRM specialist includes economic studies. The most often required consulting services are those related to personnel selection, personnel evaluation and the analysis of the organizational climate. As for the training of their employees, the managers think that improving job specific technical skills is most important, followed by interpersonal relations, marketing, leadership and promoting the firm image. Taking into account that managers do not really change their leadership behavior and the attitudes toward managing their human resources, the managers at least from the North East part of Romania are pretty resistant to change. One proof is given by the persistence of the managers in their belief that the vitality of the firm depends on productivity, so they insist on developing the job specific technical skills. If we compare the data from the 1999 sample with those obtained from the 2003 sample, we see the 2003 managers declare that they have solicited training services more often. While the requirement for improving management lies at the end of the solicited services, they do not perceive the existence of major problems related to management issues, nor do not want to prepare for potential competitors. The size of the organization and its type of activity bring about some differences. It seems that for large organizations the issue of HRM is more important. They hire more professionals in this field of activity, have solicited consultancy and training services more often and they have a stronger intention to pay for such services in the near future.

Smaller firms seldom ask for this kind of services, but when they do, they prefer external consultancy. The companies that have activities centered on production or service delivery are more concerned with the problem of HRM: they hired more specialists, have solicited more often consultancy services and intend to keep that practice in the near future.

Romanian managers and HRM

References Capital (2001), “Majoritatea managerilor din companiile romanesti au orbul gainilor”, Capital, No. 26, June 28. Capital (2004), “Managerii vor tot mai multe cursuri de formare si perfectionare, dar pe bani putini”, Capital, No. 8, February 19. Gardner, J. (1990), On Leadership, The Free Press, New York, NY. Gavrilovici, R. (1995), “Managerul s¸i liderul – O abordare comparativa˘”, in Stoica-Constantin, A. (Ed.), Eu s¸i psihologia creativita˘¸tii, Editura Performantica, Ias¸i. Groˆholt, P. (1992), “Leadership and creative leadership: some personal reflections”, in Gryskiewicz, S. (Ed.), Discovering Creativity, Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC. Palus, Ch. and Drath, W. (1992), “Leadership development theory and a model for intervention in the development of leaders”, in Gryskiewicz, St. and Gryskiewicz, S. (Eds), Discovering Creativity, Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC. Rost, J. (1991), Leadership for the 21st Century, Praeger, New York, NY.

765

Further reading Capital (2001), “Consultantul ˆın resurse umane ofera˘ servicii pe ma˘sura pret¸ului pla˘tit de manager”, Capital, No. 14, April 5. Caˆrciumaru, I. (2001), “Profiluri psihologice ale managerilor de nivel mediu s¸i superior ˆıntr-o analiza˘ comparativa˘”, Revista de psihologie organizat¸ionala˘, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 83-98. Cascio, W.F. (1998), Applied Psychology in Human resource Management, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Chis¸u, V.A. (2002), Manualul specialistului de resurse umane, Editura Irecson, Bucures¸ti. Gheorghita, G. (1999), “Firmele in expansiune risca sa fie sufocate de propriul personal”, Capital, No. 34, p. 26. Neculau, A. (1981), “Liderul ˆın grupul de munca˘”, in Beniuc s¸.a. (Coord.), M. (Ed.), Psihologia muncii industriale, Editura Academiei RSR, Bucures¸ti. Robbins, S.P. (1998), Organizational Behavior. Concepts, Controversies, Applications, 8th edition, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Zorlent¸an, T., Burdus¸, E. and Ca˘pra˘rescu, G. (1998), Managementul organizat¸iei, Editura Economica˘, Bucures¸ti.

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm

JOCM 19,6

Gender discrimination in Romania Prodan Adriana and Irina Manolescu Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, Romania

766 Abstract

Purpose – A general overview of gender disparity in economic and political areas in Romania is the objective of this paper. Design/methodology/approach – The dynamic perspective of the gender disparity phenomenon is analyzed by means of three main indicators: gender development index, gender empowerment measure and human development index. Findings – One of the great expectations people have from the transition to democratic governments and market economies in Eastern Europe is the increased opportunity for people to participate in and benefit from a society built by them. In a society that values equality to ensure that people have a voice in making decisions which affect them the decisions made are better informed and effective. In the international arena, there is a growing recognition that women’s representative participation in decision making is a fundamental condition of women’s equality in a society that values its members. Originality/value – This paper has application in all areas of discrimination, especially with Romania’s projected entry into the European Union in 2007. Keywords Gender discrimination, Economics, Politics, Romania Paper type Research paper

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 766-771 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708422

Some people have a preconceived idea that women enjoyed a particular prominence under communism both in the workplace and in political life. The reality, however, was that men dominated in government, the party and state enterprises. There were quotas for the representation of women in elected bodies, but this was superficial, as the representatives were, appointed, and the bodies were more or less powerless. Gender equality under communism went unfulfilled, as did the assurance of real power and control. With a national democracy regained and cultural traditions revived, there is concern that, a revitalization of patriarchical values might choke the voices of women. There is also a broader risk that during transition women’s interests will be subordinated to, rather than integrated into, national agendas for change. Under the communist regime, the majority of people possessed no real power. There was little opportunity for women to participate in genuine decision making at any level. This was true in government, work place, in various social organizations and even in personal lifestyle decisions such as money spending, proper upbringing for children or vacation destination. Now, there is the challenge and the opportunity for women to aspire to decision-making positions in all levels of society’s institutions: families, work place and government. The transition has generated an unprecedented phenomenon in Romania: the loss of millions of jobs. Although female participation in the labor force has decreased in Romania, male participation has fallen as well. The losses in wages and in employment among women and men during transition mean that the share of household incomes earned on primary jobs has declined in Romania.

The segregation of women and men into different occupations reflects prevailing gender stereotypes in the Romanian society. These stereotypes define both women and men according to a limited set of expectations, which are particularly confining for women in terms of prosperity and public status. To measure and better analyze the phenomenon of gender discrimination, several measurement tools are employed in this study.

Gender discrimination in Romania 767

Gender disparity measurement tools The dynamic perspective of the gender disparity phenomenon is analyzed by means of three main indicators: GDI (Table I), GEM (Table II) and HDI (Table III). Indicators

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2001

Average life expectancy (years) Women Men Literacy rate (percent) Women Men Adult enrolment (percent) Women Men Earnings Women Men GDI (percent)

69.4 73.4 65.7 96.9 95.3 98.6 61.6 61.9 61.3

69.1 73.1 65.3 97.0 95.4 98.6 62.0 62.5 61.6

69.0 73.0 65.2 97.0 95.4 98.7 62.9 63.5 62.3

69.2 73.3 65.5 97.0 95.5 98.7 63.9 64.8 63.1

69.1 73.3 66.5 98.0 97.1 99.0 69.0 70.0 68.0

70.6 74.2 67 98.8 97.4 99.1 68.5 70 67

3396 4770 0.736

3546 4970 0.737

3267 4690 0.734

3154 4227 0.733

4441 7711 0.769

4313 7416 0.771

Source: National Human Development Report (2001)

Indicators Parliamentary representation index (percent women) Administrative and managerial positions in the public administration and economic units (percent women) Intellectual and scientific jobs (percent women) Feminine population (percent) Active feminine population (percent) Average earned income (percent) GEM (percent)

1995

1996

1991

1998

1999

2001

4.00

5.3

5.3

5.3

9.3

9.9

28.2

29.1

26.0

24.2

26

29

46.2 50.9 46.3 85.5 0.382

49.9 51.0 47.0 83.7 0.402

49.7 51.0 46.5 83.5 0.391

49.7 51.1 47.2 87.1 0.382

56 51.2 46.2 85 0.449

57 51.3 46 85 0.460

Source: National Human Development Report (2001)

Year

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

HDI

0.737

0.738

0.734

0.733

0.772

0.772

0.773

Table I. Gender development index

Table II. Gender empowerment measure (GEM)

Table III. Human development index 1995-2000

JOCM 19,6

768

The gender development index is a sensitive human development indicator that takes into account the gender disparities in the level of income, life expectancy and education attainment. The UNDP Office first introduced it into the development reports in 1995. In comparison with the rest of the world, the gender development index places Romania in the 57th position out of 144 countries according to the United Nations Organization. A country with the smallest GDI/HDI rate is a clear case of high gender inequality. The gender empowerment measure uses specially designed variables for measuring political and economic empowerment on gender basis. GEM index calculation considers into account: . parliamentary representation index; . economic decision power index; and . index of sharing of earned income. In comparison with the 162 countries taken into account, the gender empowerment measurement places Romania in the 58th position. Human development index started to be used in 1990. This index provides more than a hierarchy of different nations per gross domestic product. It also reflects the human welfare: standard of living, health and education. Moreover, it takes into account gross domestic product, life expectancy and education. Education index takes into consideration adult literacy level per gender and gross enrollment rate at all educational levels. An evolution of this indicator in Romania is presented in Table III. Human development index places Romania in 58th position out of 160 medium developed countries. Economic overview Women have been in some ways in a good position to benefit from the economic liberalization of the transition. They are not only educated and experienced in their jobs but are focused in fields of study and business with strong growth potential. From a statistical and economic perspective, gender discrimination in the work place could be assessed. We used labor force indicators for the period 1997-2001. This approach is sustained by the following aspects: . Romanian statistics, especially after 1990, underwent an evolution, which does not allow comparing the figures for the entire period due to changes in methodology. For instance, some economic and labor indicators were redefined between 1990 and 2000 to harmonize them with the international standards. . A huge part of indicators and statistical data necessary for this study up to 1997 did not cover both genders and . A survey of the workforce has been undertaken in Romania starting with 1997, so that the indicators follow the same methodology. This survey supplied a consistent database for this study, especially if we consider the fact that the majority of the data presents the two genders. The report on human development for 2001 places Romania on the 57th position out of 144 countries, according to gender disparity indicator (GD1) of 0.771. The gender

empowerment indicator (GEM) of 0.46 – places Romania in the 53rd position out of 70 countries. The two indicators place Romania within the group of countries with the medium gender gap. This fact will bring a challenge in designing future social policies. Gender discrimination may be also explained in terms of working population structure. The professional status gives an additional insight into the core of this problem. The analysis gives an annual growing disparity of more than 17 percent for women as household workers correlated with a decrease of 4 percent in the number of employed women within 1997-2001. There is a decrease in gender gap in case of employees due to generalized unemployment (male or female). Significant gap between women and men (for instance, household workers and employees) could be explained through gender discrimination on the labor market. Structure of the employed population per gender and field of activity preserves the characteristics emphasized in the structure of the active population per field of activity. The comparison between the structure of employed population per gender and field of activity in Romania with other East European countries is important. Consequently, in comparison to the Czech Republic, where of the entire population employed in agriculture 6.4 percent were men and 3.8 percent women, the structure of population in Romania was 37.7 percent men and 44.1 percent women. The survey of income gender disparity uses average gross salary indicator per field of activity as of October between 1997 and 2001. A relative indicator is used to examine the disparity: the ratio between the average gross salary per female and male employee presented in Table IV. Gender disparity survey of the average gross salaries reflects that women are less paid than men. On an average, we are able to notice that a female employee earns 78.79 percent of a male employee salary. The smallest gap between salaries appears in agriculture. An absolute record was registered in 1998 when an average gross salary in agriculture of a female employee was higher than a male employee. Generally, women are less paid than men in the following sectors: transportation, general services (hotels, restaurants), commerce, banking and financial institutions. The data suggest that during transition the gender gap in wages has been relatively stable or even decreased, a striking result considering that there has been a large rise in overall wage disparity in the same period.

Disparity (F/M)

1996 F/M

1997 F/M

1998 F/M

1999 F/M

2000 F/M

2001 F/M

Agriculture Industry Construction Commerce Hotels and restaurants Transportation and stocking Telecommunication and post offices Banking, insurance and financial services Public Services Education Health and social services Total per economy (percent)

4.65 73.96 36.68 86.52 78.58 36.89 91.01 72.09 84.73 35.75 89.82 78.60

34.91 15.80 38.86 85.21 17.43 84.53 37.68 9Z50 32.23 36.86 91.41 19.01

92.39 74.93 19.96 84.71 78.69 87.95 88.22 38.39 53.43 85.38 55.27 76.02

97.71 10.83 8.62 15.38 74.21 84.29 86.19 39.99 39.05 31.03 35.52 16.19

101.68 71.37 5.89 80.10 74.04 90.90 88.80 91.19 77.90 37.02 86.68 30.07

95.59 72.97 100.90 80.71 88.47 96.84 89.61 90.37 82.05 58.56 32.10 12.86

Gender discrimination in Romania 769

Table IV. Gender disparity of the average gross salaries in the main fields of the national economy in October

JOCM 19,6

770

Obviously, there has been and continues to be a significant occupational segregation by gender. It seems that the segregation is becoming based on the ownership structure of enterprises, with women continuing to concentrate on agricultural (rural household) jobs and men mainly on private sector jobs, including searching employment outside Romania. Women are very active in education, health and social services, and public sector as well as in the hotel and restaurant sectors. Women appear to be less inclined or able than men to move into self- employment, entrepreneurship and tele-working. In many cases, women already have a strong position in the private sector. The data provided by the given study do not manage to offer a sound explanation of the gender disparity in the private sector but to underline their existence. Political overview With the introduction of democratic elections, the number of women in national parliaments has been decreasing constantly in Romania. Recent experience indicates that women who engage in political competition have less chance than their male colleagues of being nominated and eventually elected. They usually make up a smaller share of party members than men do and the representation of women on party executive bodies is less than their share in the membership. It is one thing for women to be elected to parliament and another to rise to senior decision-making positions such as minister, deputy minister or secretary of state. Women ministers can shape decision-making, and can act as important role models in society. For this research, we have used indicators of political representation per gender in Romanian Parliament between 1996 and 2000 (Table V) and in Romanian Government between 1989 and 2000 (Table VI).

Table V. Gender structure of the Romanian Parliameritin 1996, 2000

Chamber of Deputies Senate

1996 F (percent)

M-F (percent)

M (percent)

2000 F (percent)

M-F (percent)

93.0 98.6

7.0 1.4

86 97.2

90.2 94.3

9.8 5.7

80.4 88.6

Source: Adapted from Adevarul (newspaper), November 22, 1996; December 1, 2000

Government

Table VI. Gender structure of the Romanian government between 1989 and 2000

M (percent)

Mnescu (1989) Roman (1990) Stoiojan (1991) Va¨ca´roiu (1992, 1996) Ciorbea (1996) Vasile (1998) Jsa˜rescu (1999, 2000) Na¨stase (2000)

M (percent)

F (percent)

M-F (percent)

86.8 100.0 100.0 95.5 100.0 100.0 90.0 81.5

13.2 0.0 0.0 4.5 0.0 0.0 10.0 18.5

73.6 100.0 100.0 91.0 100.0 100.0 80.0 63.0

Source: Adapted from Adevarul, 1990-2000, Rornania Libera 1990-2000

The data indicate a certain shrinking of the gender representation gap in Parliament. Some politicians or high representatives made every effort to include more women into high politics under the pressure of international political circles. Under no circumstances, a relation could be traced between gender distribution of the entire population, and gender distribution in the Parliament. More female voters do not translate into more female representatives. Low percentage of women involved in the decision-making process at the political and administrative level shows us that there is no fair distribution of the decisional burden, although these rights are guaranteed by Constitution. Nonetheless, the equality of women might be more solidly integrated into the profound changes of the Romanian society. Some researchers note the political transformations envisaged by transition have so far accumulated rather than reduced existing gender inequality. The strategy is to increase the awareness of gender discrimination and to provide instruments for the promotion of female participation in politics and entrepreneurship. There is enough evidence to demonstrate that the full inclusion of women in key power positions is economically efficient as well as socially fair: the equal participation of women in decision-making substantially broadens the pool of human resources which are the foundation of the economy. So far, women are not well represented in all the sectors of the Romanian economy and they are less likely than men to work in the private sector and their own businesses. It requires an environment in which women are encouraged and supported in their efforts, in which women have equitable access to resources and opportunities, and in which pro-active policies and practices are pursued by Governments, businesses and institutions. Reference National Human Development Report (2001). Further reading AMIGO (1996-2000), Comisia Nationala¨ pentru Statistica`, Ancheta asupra fortei de munca˜ in gospoda¨rii, Hong Kong. Anuarul Statistic at Romaˆniei (1996-2001), Comisia Nationala˜ pentru Statistica˜. Enhorn, B. (1998), Gender Equality, Zed Books Ltd, London. INSEE (2001) UNDP – Raport privind dezvoltarea i perfecionarea statisticii pe sexe, Plan de actiune, PNUD, Bucureti. Institutul national pentru statistica¨ i studli economice (2000), Femeile i ba˜rbaii in Romaˆnia, Institutul national pentru statistica¨ i studli economice, Bucureti. Kuniansky, A. (1983), “Soviet fertility, labour force participation, and marital instability”, Journal of Comparative Economics. UNDP (1990-1998), Human Development Report, Oxford University Press, New York, NY. UNICEF (1999), Women in Transition, N.6/1999.

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

Gender discrimination in Romania 771

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm

JOCM 19,6

Teaching English in post-modern Romanian education Andrei Luminita Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, Romania

772 Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore what happened in Romanian education in the post-modern context. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the reactions to the changes in Romanian education. Findings – Post-modernism means innovation. Communication, team work, adaptability, flexibility and problem solving are key skills for the post-modernist workforce and have major implications in the field of education. Originality/value – The paper offers insights into the transition from excessively rigid conditions to a more open environment. Keywords Post-modernism, Education, Romania Paper type Research paper

Post-modernism means innovation. Communication, team-work, adaptability, flexibility and problem-solving are key skills for the post-modernist work-force and have major implications in the field of education. What has happened in Romanian education in the post-modernist context? There were reactions to what happened. The present paper discusses some of them. Most authors agree that post-modernism offers new opportunities, new constraints, greater flexibility, improved responsiveness, speed of change and dispersal of control. Some concepts like globalization, compression of time and space, flexible economies and boundless self have already entered our system. Analyzing the extent to which Romanians perceived, responded and adapted to them, indicates the following: . the impact of the communication approach to teaching was considerable, and it affected the teaching of foreign languages; programs and curricula were changed, foreign manuals and foreign teachers were welcomed on the educational market; and . not everybody felt flattered by this direction- there were also victims of post modernist globalization, who thought that as the gap between the advantaged and the disadvantaged people grew, an international elitisim fed itself from the disadvantaged; in our case, consumers of international values and rules in education.

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 772-774 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708431

We must admit that our present intelectual and social experience concentrate on globalization and cultural diversity. The capacity to exchange information at a planetary level and the access to globally available goods are issues that globalization brings along, but it may also bring compulsory cultural and socio-economic patterns. As Huntingtons indicates in his Clash of Civilizations, in a world where people from Bucharest to Sydney eat Big Macs, wear Benetton clothes, watch MTV or CNN, talk

about human rights and work on their IBM computers, cultural characteristics are in danger, because globalization may actually mean westernization, coca-colanization, McDonaldization, Americanization, but also pularization, glocalization, institutionalization. The anthropologist Marshal Sahlines, states that more often than offering resistance, people incorporate and appropriate foreign influences into their lives; this is true for Romania. In terms of education, the idea of alternative manuals suggested by the Ministry of Education in Romania, a couple of years ago, was a reaction to glocalization. On the one hand, it offered more options to the buyer; in the case of foreign languages, some of the manuals were imported from other countries; on the other hand, people had a very specifically Romanian way of choosing, because of local/internal factors or limitations. An example is the English manuals for high schools. There were at least three alternatives of learning English as a foreign language, from abroad: Oxford, Longman, Heineman, and, of course, some Romanian offers. Schools, groups of English teachers, individual teachers, students or parents chose differently. They followed the money criterion, since the linguistic aspects that they covered were approximately the same, being imposed by the Ministry of Education. The issue of alternative manuals gave birth to debates. Organizations have been changing. Flextime and win/win are two concepts from business that demonstrate this change. Transferred to the field of education in Romania, they meant an opening to multidisciplinary approaches-people trying to develop more flexible boundaries among different fields, but it also meant the introduction of the group-work method of teaching and a more “earner-centered”approach to it-at least for the teaching of English. Another direction of post-modernist change/challenge may be considered one of self and identity or the boundless self as Hargreaves calls it in his book: Changing Teachers, Changing Times: Teachers’Work and Culture in The Post-Modern Age, considering it a paradox, among other six paradoxes of post-modern age, namely: flexible economies, dead certainties, moving mozaic, safe simulation, compression of time and space and, of course, globalization. As far as teachers are concerned, this could degenerate into self-indulgence, having too much expectation about the transformative power of personal knowledge and change, but it can also have positive outputs, because in such a context, the interpersonal satisfaction plays an important role-meaning, among other things, professional collaboration, the need to communicate and to exchange information/experience and also, a happy combination of professional performance with personal emotions. We can say that post-modernist methods almost imposed cooperative learning. More than that, faster communication changed almost everything: it improved decision-making, it meant organizational adaptability, flexibility and openness. However, it could also lead to the inability to maintain quality, to less time for reflexion. At the education level, this may mean superficiality and even losing control. Maybe one of the most important ideas of post-modernism is that of the “continuous transformation model of change” (Fullan, 1991) at the economic level. Transferred to the educational one, it involves a step forward in what managing innovative experiences. In Romania that meant the TEMPUS, SOCRATES, ERASMUS and LEONARDO fever – forced a systematic, goal – oriented approach and sufficient knowledge about institutional dynamics. Therefore, in terms of some scholarly opinion schools should

Teaching English

773

JOCM 19,6

774

become “learning organizations” and adopt those methods that encourage flexibility and continuous learning (Fullan, 1991). Nevertheless, when it comes to people’s understandings about their organizations, in Romania there are all sorts of problems. An important element in this context is the role of group-leaders/team-leaders compared to traditional managers. In project work, for example, teachers have different attitudes, once they accept to take part. They almost change identity in what the relationship with their colleagues and with the authority is concerned, they develop communication, problem-solving and organizational skills, as not to speak of self-confidence that has all the chances to increase. The direction is certainly positive and means a great deal for the teaching of foreign languages in Romania. Post-modernism may also mean a shift from a stability or an established belief system to a plurality of fluctuating truths (Hargreaves, 1994), because of the rapid spread of information, among other things. The general effect for education in this respect may be the fact that there is a tendency to trust traditional knowledge less and to move towards an uncertain type of culture instead. This does not necessarily mean that post-modern Romanian education followed this pattern. There were influences, but they did not go as far. I would say that there still is a nostalgia for the past certainties, for more stable and more predictible curricula. Also there is an awareness at the education level, as well as the political and social level, that the intercultural approach, the flexibility and autonomy of different educational institutions will support the cultivation of diversity and the multicultural direction. Consequently, post-modernism in Romanian education meant, first of all, the attempt to remove old prejudices, habits and curricula, then to cultivate, pilot and adopt recipes from other cultures. References Fullan, M. (1991), The New Meaning of Educational Change, Cassell, London. Hargreaves, A. (1994), Changing Teachers Changing Times: Teachers’s Work of Culture in the Post-Modern Age, Cassell, London. Further reading Duche, G. (2001), “Dialogues culturels et developpement economique europeen.Conclusion de la commision 3”, Management Intercultural, No. 4.

Corresponding author Anderi Luminita can be contacted at: [email protected]

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm

Work and education in transition Lupu Olesia and Mitocaru Simona

Work and education in transition

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, Romania Abstract

775

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the change in attitude towards work among younger generations in Romania. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses work and education in transition since 1989. Findings – In the communist age, work was perceived as a time-consuming activity for students. As a result, in the command economy no job opportunities were offered for this age group. Transition in Romania implied adjustment to the free market economy model, this including the approach to working life and education. At the societal level, job opportunities have been created for the young along with programs that address the needs of this age group by introducing career development skills and entrepreneurial courses into the curricula. Originality/value – The paper offers insights into moving from skills-based training to the more open education required for survival in the more turbulent world. Keywords Education, Training, Youth, Romania Paper type Research paper

Starting with 1989 there has been a change in the attitude towards work among younger generations throughout Romania. Education, as one of the most cherished values of the Romanian society, continues to be regarded as an entrance ticket for a successful career. Every culture creates myths and stereotypes related to its fundamental values. And for the Romanians, education was one of them, as students were expected to dedicate almost all of their time to acquiring a general and mainly theoretical background on almost every aspect of human knowledge and not useful practical training. During the formative stage, parents and the entire Romanian society did not encourage teenagers to work. Work represented a time-consuming activity that prevented the students from focusing on their studies. The curricula reflect this kind of attitude with overloaded timetables and demanding home assignments. At this stage in life, the community disregarded teenagers who worked, considering this an unwilling activity that was a desperate means to overcome a difficult financial situation. Work stood as an undesirable activity for well provided for teenagers. The Romanian as well as other East-European societies assigned a well-defined time for the working life. The structure of the communist economy did not provide any formal job opportunities for teenagers and young adults. An exception to this could be yearly seasonal harvesting campaigns, which were compulsory for 11-24 year olds. The idea was an attempt at establishing a working routine for the young generations; the fact that it was not paid revealed its communist propagandistic character. In addition, the working campaigns ensured free labor force for the agricultural sector during harvesting time. Working opportunities for teenagers were not even considered as being acceptable by the system. Thus, there were no openings designed for those under the age of 18.

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 775-779 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708440

JOCM 19,6

776

Transition in Eastern Europe and in Romania has brought with it profound changes to government, society and individuals. As the neighboring ex-communist USSR-satellite states, our country has implemented a free market economy model for its future development. The 1990s, which brought the collapse of the former system, witnessed radical change in the way of thinking, social behavior and everyday life. Thus, it is not simply that there has been a fundamental reorientation of the political course, but also new ways of working and living have appeared. All these changes have been reflected in the educational reform initiated by the Romanian government back in the early 1990s. This reform started with the thorough redesigning of the national curricula. This led to a greater focus on the increased ability of individuals to make decisions for themselves and shape their own destiny. Even if the teenagers are still expected to dedicate their time to learning activities, a number of non-governmental training programs have been specially tailored and implemented to educate entrepreneurial behavior of the students. A series of education programs have been run in the major high schools focusing on risk and initiative taking. Other programs sought to introduce career development skills by offering workshops and training sessions that prepared students in writing job related letters, applications and interviewing skills. Many non-profits have been working with teenagers and undergraduates in unfolding their voluntary activities. Students have had the opportunity to get in touch with the kind of social work that had not existed in Romania before 1989. This experience helped them in realizing that at this stage, in a free market economy, learning and working could be combined. The idea of work also appealed because they could see the possibility to earn money to meet the needs of a teenager. The world of work helps students enter the society as adults, which brings with it a feeling of substantial independence. This is the time when they start to realize that they could take responsibility for their actions and decisions. However, change has occurred exclusively in the urban area, as here there were more job available for teenagers and undergraduate students. For the segment of undergraduate students a significant change in the employment policy has occurred, that is an increasing number of employment agencies have been providing jobs by means of job fairs. According to the British sociologist Anthony Giddens, in modern societies the concept of work gains a different meaning. Having a job is considered to bring about an improvement of self-esteem (Giddens, 2000, p. 334). Thus, undergraduate students acquire not only a higher level of independence and responsibility that prepares them for the entrance in the working stage but also contributes to the development of their image as socially adapted adults. Work experience has an important significance during this stage; it foreshadows their social identity within their peer groups and offers them a higher financial pool for expenses and leisure activities. Besides, a stimulating societal environment, at the family level the attitude towards working during high school and college years has undergone a significant process of change in the perception of having a job. As long as the young people manage to successfully combine the two activities, parents have started accepting and supporting their children’s decisions. This gradual change is engendered by the increasing level of insecurity in terms of employment and financial stability, affecting Romanians even more dramatically because under the command economy the state guaranteed equal working opportunities for everybody. On the contrary, transition has put forth the idea of risk taking and coping with it but,

in Ulrich Beck’s opinion, the contemporary society develops by means of accepting risks and internalizing them. Moreover, the concept of risk stands as the entrance into modernity (Beck, 1992, p. 19). The overall political and economic instability during transition has resulted in insufficient number of jobs available for recent graduates. The ever-growing threat of unemployment has brought on the significant exodus of highly specialized labor force from Romania to Western countries and North America (e.g. computer programmers went to Germany, Canada and the USA, physicians and science researchers to France the UK). In order to reduce the negative effects of the phenomenon on economic development in Romania there were various programs that imposed a series of measures meant to attract young Romanian professionals back to their native country by offering them new and satisfactory job opportunities. For example, Return to Romania (RTR) Project was launched and supported by the USA former Ambassador James C. Rosapepe in 2001, funded through The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and administered by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX). Its goal was clearly stated in the inaugural issue of the Return to Romania Newsletter (2000) – “to encourage Romanians studying in the United States to return home and find rewarding careers,” believing that it “will greatly multiply the impact of Returnees and allow them to make real, long-term contributions to their home communities.” However, the lack of infrastructure and organizations that create career related events in Romania were some of the main obstacles returnees had to overcome. The aforementioned category of young people caught the attention of civil society while the governmental bodies focused on the whole category of young professionals. One of the most comprehensive measures is the Government Decision on the Approval of the Program for the Development of Entrepreneurial Skills of Young Business People and the Improvement of their Access to Financing – START. It asserted the need of providing a framework, which was meant to increase the integration of the youth in the labor market. Measures have been designed to connect the educational system to the labor market (private enterprises). At this level, entrepreneurial culture has been promoted by managerial training, by the introduction of entrepreneurial courses into the curricula of high schools and universities, and free access to consulting services for start-ups. This governmental program had a counterpart funded by IREX, called “Take Your Chance” Project that sought to make young Romanians earn confidence in starting their own businesses by rewarding innovative initiatives in the business sector. It would be wrong to suggest that there was no concern for on-the-job training before 1989 but these highly technical sessions only tried to catch up with the developments at the national level in each sector. The past decade has witnessed a dramatic change in terms of lifelong training. Traditional schooling tends to leave people with weak organizational and technological skills. The Romanian Western Europe knowledge gap concerns, primarily, skills that can be partially transferred through formal education. Rather, it is knowledge that needs to be transferred through active interaction between teacher and recipients, or by “learning by doing.” Romanians find active support in the workplace and training on the job to be more useful than formal training courses. In some sectors, such as banking, insurance, sales, and education there have also been changes in staff attitudes towards life long training.

Work and education in transition 777

JOCM 19,6

778

Employees have been encouraged to develop much broader understanding of their field of activity. For example, there are specially tailored programs for the continuous improvement of managerial skills, and there has been intensive language training. Shifts of perspective have occurred not only at the societal level but also at individual and psychological level. Before 1989, work and employment were regarded as the logical continuation of the pre-working background because under the command economy people did not have to worry about job security (jobs were offered to everybody). Yet, the system did not allow for any freelance activities and everybody was expected to be formally employed and obediently perform their tasks. The only motivation for being more efficient and innovative relied exclusively on ideological propaganda. In many instances the only incentives to increase productivity of the workforce were the overfulfillment of the five-year-plan or scheduled visits of the party leaders. After the 1989 collapse of the system, the Romanian labor market has been deprived of familiar certainties. In a recent national survey conducted by the Center for Urban and Regional Sociology on the significance of work for Romanians, subjects were asked to choose the meaning work has had for them. The findings revealed that a significant number of people viewed it as an essential thing in making a living. This category assessed their standard of living as being medium to lower; most of them belonging to the generation whose working life had been affected by the transition. They are unwilling to take risks and they fear investing their own money, as they prefer a lower but stable monthly income (The Social Barometer, 2003). The next group perceived work as a time-consuming activity. People with vocational background supported this opinion, as they associated personal welfare with state allowances for them and their children. They have not adjusted to the free market economy and highly competitive labor market; the only category that seemed to have internalized the values of the capitalist society and met the requirements of entrepreneurship-driven culture. They share the basic directions in which the Romanian society is moving and they are ready to change to adopt the values of a market driven society. The respondents belong to the upper middle class, having at least an undergraduate degree. They accept and consider risk as a necessity towards reaching full professional development. Consequently, education, be it formal or informal, had an important impact on the change in the way Romanians think of themselves and their position in society. On the other side, the nostalgic people who do not seem to fit in the new political and economic order are denied access to employment opportunities because of their lack of up-to-date training, knowledge and self-driven initiative. The more equipped individuals are with a proper educational background, the more competitive they prove to be in the pursuit of a professional development. References Beck, U. (1992), Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, Sage, London. Giddens, A. (2000), Sociologie, A 3-a, BIC ALL, Bucuresti. Return to Romania Newsletter (2000), March, available at: www.irex.org/programs/completed/ rtr/newsletter/mar00.asp The Social Barometer (2003), “The significance of work for Romanians”, The Social Barometer, No. 5, p. 11.

Further reading Hota˘raˆre privind aprobarea (2003), “Hota˘raˆre privind aprobarea Programului pentru dezvoltarea abilita˘¸tilor antreprenoriale ˆın raˆndul tinerilor s¸i facilitarea accesului acestora la finant¸are – START”, available at: www.mimmc.ro/legislatie/HG_aprobare_Program_START.doc Corresponding author Lupu Olesia can be contacted at: [email protected]

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

Work and education in transition 779

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm

JOCM 19,6

Lonely thoughts on the meaning of education Adriana Zait Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, Romania

780 Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer some personal thoughts into the meaning of education in Romania. Design/methodology/approach – This paper explores a model of four stages of student teacher interactions and the rigidity of teacher behavior in past times. The model is presented: students as dependent, interested, involved and/or self-directed related to teachers as experts, motivators, facilitators and/or delegators. The paper then expresses the frustrations of modern teaching and the appropriate interactions according to the model. Findings – Although there are some good professors and good students, who understand what education is, what they can offer and can get, as partners in the educational process, their number is too small, and the pace of adapting to the system of the others (new students or young assistants) is too fast. Originality/value – The paper stresses the necessary movement away from excessive and oppressive upper level decision-making behavior in education. Keywords Education, Students, Teachers, Romania Paper type Viewpoint

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 780-782 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708459

Hi, there! I’m Adriana, a Romanian Professor, teaching in the higher education system, the College (we call it “Faculty”) of Economy and Business Administration of the oldest modern Romanian university – the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi. Why on earth would you care to listen to what I say? Maybe because I’m one of those whose hearts should lead this country forward. Every year of my “long” teaching life at the Management-Marketing Department I’ve been asking myself what is our role, particularly my role, in student’s education, regarding changing this country for better. What is or should be the meaning of education? With a small heart, I have to admit I still don’t know, after 14 years; every time I thought I had the answer, something new happened and my answer became wrong. I decided to proceed in a scientific manner using the Romanian dictionary, the French Petit Robert and the American Webster dictionaries. The differences in the definitions were surprising: . DEX (Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language): “education ¼ a body of measures applied in a systematic manner in order to create and develop intellectual, moral or physical abilities in young people or, through extension, the whole society.” . Petit Robert: “education ¼ putting into practice (mise en oeuvre) the appropriate means in order to ensure the training and development of a human being.” . Webster: “education ¼ instruction or training by which people (generally young) learn to develop and use their mental, moral and physical powers; the art of giving such training; a gaining of experience, either improving or harmful.”

Although apparently the core is the same, the differences in meaning are huge, at least to me. The Romanian definition suggests a totally passive and neutral process, without any explicit participation from the subject of the education (the one who’s being educated, after all). The stress goes on the measures, without particularly knowing who decides or applies those measures. The French definition suggests some action, by the mise en oeuvre, still leaving a question mark regarding the subject. Only the American/English definition brings light into the matter: the subject of the education has the main role, he is by all means active – he learns how to develop his abilities and gets experience – positive and negative. Unfortunately, what is happening in Romanian higher education is a cultural confirmation, of the DEX definition. Students are passive subjects in the educational process, waiting to receive, from equally passive professors that set of measures meant to ensure the proper education or rather training for a specific job. Who decides what are the appropriate role of the university in this process. I tried to look in others yards, as well, as a good Romanian. In a series of essays, Herbert Rotfeld, Professor at Auburn University and editor of the Journal of Consumer Affairs (www.auburn.edu/ , rotfehj) raises important questions about education and educators, from the point of view of the American higher education system. I was surprised to see how similar the problems are, regardless of the cultural differences. Professors became trainers rather than educators. I still do not know how higher education should be, how I should be, as part of the system, so I had to explore further. I stopped at Florida A&M University, to think about the educational process presented by Professor Gerald Grow (www.longleaf.net/ ggrow). He suggests that there are four types and four stages of behavior for students and teachers. Students can be dependent learners, interested learners; involved learners and self-directed learners. Professors, can be authority experts, motivators, facilitators and delegators. The authority expert “pours” knowledge into the head of the dependent learner. The motivator coaches the interested student. The facilitator shows the road to the involved student. The delegator engages and excites the self-directed student. While a perfect match is realized between a dependent learner and an authority expert, and between a self directed student and a delegator, there is serious trouble when a dependent learner meets a delegator or a self-directed student meets an authority expert. What kind of students and what kind of teachers do we, Romanians, have, for the higher education system? We did have rather the first stages, then we moved forward, once professors and students traveled abroad, and received new training. The pace for every category was very different, though, and a lot of mismatches were produced. Moreover, rules were sometimes changed during the game, with delegators along the semester becoming authority experts at the exam time. Cultural influences are strong, as well, making us wonder if there is an ideal type of student, or an ideal type of teacher, for a specific culture or moment of a country’s evolution, wondering how could students or professors be motivated to pass from one stage to another. Who defines the goal and the aims of the educational process? With so many questions, I decided to look around for answers. I observed and talked to the teachers, I observed students’ behavior and even made a informal survey (145 students from the marketing specialization were asked to describe the ideal student and teacher.

Lonely thoughts on the meaning of education 781

JOCM 19,6

782

Professors . have so many teaching hours; . work with too many students; . write a lot, books from books and articles from articles and do too much research; . do not really know what their final product is, what kind of education or training they are suppose to offer to students; and . do not care what students think of their course, communication or teaching abilities. Students . do not know why they came to college, why they selected a certain specialization; . do not know what to expect from a university education; . want good grades, even if they didn’t do well on exams, because they loose their scholarship otherwise; . want professors to be really objective but, at the same time, be as understanding; . always have a perfect excuse for not respecting deadlines for projects; . are always in quest of a model a model solution for a problem, a model project for any course subject, a model thesis to get inspiration from. . .; . forgot how to write correctly, how to express in a correct manner, but get really upset when they’re penalized for such not important details; and . are sincerely upset when they have to go to the library and do a bibliography search. Fortunately, there are exceptions – good professors and good students, who understand what education is, what they can offer and can get, as partners in the educational process. I’m just afraid their number is too small, and the pace of adapting to the system of the others (new students or young assistants) is too fast! This is why despite the fact I love my work, my students, my colleagues and my country – or maybe just because of this – I become so pathetic displaying my lonely thoughts on the meaning of education. After so many questions, I feel tired and need to relax. I decide to do this by reading again from Richard Bach’s book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull: Most of the seagulls don’t try to learn anything else but the basic elements for flying – in order to get from the shore to their food and back. For most of the seagulls, flying is not important – just the food matters. But for this seagull – Jonathan Livingston – flying was everything, and not the food.

And I start dreaming again: “ How wonderful it would be to have more students similar to seagull Jonathan . . . ” But suddenly the dream breaks, stabbed by a cold thought: “Maybe if you were, yourself, such a seagull . . . ” Corresponding author Adriana Zait can be contacted at: [email protected] To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

Message towards mentors (Mesaj Catre Mentori) I was thinking of looking at the gate of the spiritual Universe again . . . I touched the cold embroidered handle with my hand . . . And I heard the celestial purling of the authorities who had stepped from there to here, the hopes, the fulminating energies and the sadness of the last touch . . . I pushed the immense metal and glass door with my whole body. It had fit closely and it surrounded me: do you want to pass? I crept, crushed when I closed the scowling gate. A mild white and blue wave woke up all my receivers. Am I my self now? You close me inside yourself like inside of a convent. . . And it’s snowing like in Fulga’s soul. Nothing was like no-one . . . Be like eyes in our eyes . . . I will be. That’s how I started to be my own manager, that’s how the first managerial act was born. I was doing what I knew. Now I know what I’m doing. I now had I wanted. I was, somehow. Now I know my way of being. I was thinking that maybe I could do. I could be thinking of what I could do. I was what I had been. I am what I will be. Let me live once more, the same intense, the first contract with force beyond the rabble. . . All was only marble and Balasa. So many blue tinges were girdling my neurons. I could hear my steps and my dress breathing. I had small insteps and I tip-toed, so that. I could hear myself, with my eyes staring at the blue figure’s eyes and at their Samson’s hair. I was among them myself. How strange! The sky like light blue in which my body fit and Balasa’s blue sons matched perfectly, wonderfully. I thank simply, ethereally, subtly Ovidiu Gavrilovici, Ph.D. faculty at UAIC, Iasi, and the experts in the Netherlands, Dr. Peter Karstanje, NSEM manager, Honorary President of IRMED. Also, I thank Gerry Ramey, Ph.D. who encouraged me to write. (Translated by Camelia Bojescu).

Message towards mentors

783

Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 6, 2006 pp. 783-784 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610708468

JOCM 19,6

784

I stept on the marble steps, I started to count . . . and I felt the light which embodies the colored glass windows. Where should I like first?. . .backwards at the hall with lost fool steps or forwards at the steps one by one?. . .or upwards, through the colored glass windows at the truth in the Light? The strategy of a butterfly. What do you think is hidden in the cobweb of threads, at night, at dawn, on a mulberry tree branch? That’s how I started. That’s how I unwound spirales, codon, after codon, the way the message was in the pre-destiny. And when it ended, I ended, I accepted the memory and still became new. The colors of oxygen in the air, in the blood, in the crystal, in the lightning. It’s the same . . . .and clearly another destiny. Now it’s only Me with myself, I belong to a group, an organizational culture, I elaborate important projects, everything is programmed. I survive by means of adaption. I pay even when I’m breathing. I’m thinking the way and what the others think. I now know to evaluate strategies, how to separate the strong points from the weak points, how to build – up strategies. I know how to motivate my group and how to lead them to fulfill the purposes. . . Ariadna Iftimi Vaslui County Schools’ Inspectorate

Awards for Excellence Outstanding Paper Award Journal of Organizational Change Management

‘‘Actionable knowledge: consulting to promote women on boards’’ Susan M. Adams and Patricia M. Flynn Bentley College, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA Purpose – Describes how actionable knowledge is created to successfully initiate consulting relationships designed to promote changes in the composition of corporate boards and, ultimately, social change to eliminate exclusionary practices that are keeping women from consideration for board seats. Design/methodology/approach – Examines the work of The Boston Club in promoting women on corporate boards to build needed theory to guide change efforts. Findings – Concludes that no one theoretical perspective supplies the necessary guidance. Presents a model that combines psychodynamic, organizational learning, open systems, and critical management studies views. Originality/value – Presents the push/pull approach taken by The Boston Club that addresses perceived social constraints and psychological needs involved in changing behavior to create commitment to adding women to boards. Suggests that the sequencing of push and pull techniques may be an important consideration in designing change efforts. Keywords Change management, Consultants, Knowledge capture, Women www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/09534810510614931 This article originally appeared in Volume 18 Number 5, 2005, pp. 435-50, of Journal of Organizational Change Management, Editor: Slavomir Magala

Highly commended papers Journal of Organizational Change Management ‘‘The HRM project and managerialism: Or why some discourses are more equal than others’’ Frank Mueller, Chris Carter Vol. 18 No. 4, 2005

www.emeraldinsight.com/authors