Alina Mihaela Dima

Trends in the internationalization of European higher education in a convergence perspective

Abstract The paper proposes several indicators for the degree of convergence in the internationalization of European higher education, based on previous research on the topic and on the availability of data in the large repositories, such as Eurostat. Starting from longitudinal data series built using the values of the selected indicators in 2015; we have grouped European higher education systems in clusters, based on their similarity, that is, potential for medium term convergence. These findings may serve as a guiding methodology for further, more detailed investigations on convergence and divergence of higher education systems in Europe. The main limitations arise from the availability of data, more specifically from the lack of in-depth data collection at the European level.

Factorial Analysis of the Correlation Between Competitive Strategy and Company’s Characteristics: The Case of Romanian Business Environment

The cutthroat market competition for gaining competitive advantage and, implicitly, extra profits often makes companies intervene in competition mechanisms by closing deals or initiating anticompetitive practices. In order to avoid falling under the incidence of competition law, companies should apply a competition strategy and a competition audit. Our paper sets as a general objective the analysis of how companies on the Romanian market know, understand, and apply the coordinates of a competition strategy. Specific objectives target the factorial analysis of the influencers of the business strategy of the considered companies. For the factorial analysis, we have performed nonparametric tests of the answers given by 425 managers of companies on the Romanian market to certain questions in the questionnaire, in order to assess the importance of specific factors (company size, experience in the market, etc.) on the tested aspects regarding the business and, respectively, competition strategy and the risk of getting involved in anticompetitive behaviors.

AN ANALYSIS ON THE LINK BETWEEN EMERGING MARKETS MNES' REPUTATION AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Purpose of this chapter – The chapter analyzes the link between cultural factors, corporate reputation, and social responsibility, considering the case of emerging markets MNEs.Design/methodology/approach – On data provided by the Reputation Institute, applied to the cultural clusters of Europe, we analyze, using multivariate linear regression, whether the inclusion of cultural dimensions as femininity and hedonism has a significant influence on corporate reputation, as one tends to strengthen corporate social responsibility, while the other is more connected with customer focus.Findings – Our conclusions point to the fact that, despite its many cultural clusters, Europe should be regarded, from the point of view of multinationals, as a homogenous region, where one corporate social responsibility strategy may well suit all markets.Research limitations/implications – Including inside data from multinationals may be a sound continuation of the study.Practical implications – The chapter guides multinationals into using cultural indexes when assessing the impact of their actions on their reputation, as perceived by consumers.Social implications – The findings influence CSR, as a component of reputation, making corporations rethink their CSR policies in the light of culture-mediated perceptions.Originality/value of chapter – The chapter looks at reputation and CSR from a novel perspective, that of cultural factors, and their impact on consumer perception.

ANN Model for Corporate Credit Risk Assessment

The paper proposes decision tools to be used by commercial banks in order to classify the companies applying for credits in good and bad creditors, based on the number of days of delay in payment. Probit regression and neural networks, applied to a sample of companies which delayed or not their credit reimbursements are used to orient the decision taken by the bank, consistent with its priorities, of either minimizing the risk, or enlarging the customer base.

Multivariate Analysis of EU Convergence in Higher Education Services

The paper analyses the evolution of convergence in higher education during 2002–2013, based on previously used macroeconomic and transition indicators: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, Research and Development (R&D) investment level, government expenditure on education (% of GDP), share of exports of high-tech in total manufactured exports, costs of exploiting intellectual property. We resort to cluster analysis to identify and characterize main groups of higher education systems in Europe. Using forecasting techniques for the 2014–2020 period, we foresee the dynamics of the previously outlined clusters, and the perspectives of convergence in the near future. We analyse the factors facilitating or inhibiting convergence, and the necessary exchanges between groups of countries which are mostly prone to harmonization. The paper integrates previous studies of the authors regarding European level convergence, bringing together best practices and strategies to achieve convergence not only regionally, but also within the European higher education sector.

The Relationship Between Competition Policy and Innovation in the European Business Environment

Competition is an essential element in the efficient functioning of markets. It brings important benefits to the consumer by encouraging companies to innovate, in order to provide consumers the best goods and services at the best possible price. In the European Union, this process should contribute to the national competitiveness and EU global competitiveness. Competition policy provides instruments to encourage and improve the competitive process, and to ensure consumers to enjoy the benefits of that process. These aims are achieved in practice through competition law and enforced by competition authorities. Companies should be stimulated to innovate but innovation could stimulate to exceed the limits of competition law. Appropriate information and prevention instruments at the national level could increase the corporate responsibility and promote competition culture inside the company.

Companies Predisposition to Horizontal Agreements Modeled by Neural Networks

The paper advances a method of predicting, based on their market share and turnover, which companies in a given market would be subject to hard-core agreements between competitors, which break the provisions of the competition law. We track the correlations between the market share, turnover and anticompetitive behaviors, and we construct a neural network model to discriminate between companies not entering anticompetitive agreements, and companies, which are vulnerable to this kind of anticompetitive practices. The conclusions can be extended to various sectors of activity and to various company sizes.

The Romanian strategy on the road to adopt the euro: lessons from Hungary and Slovenia

The monetary union undoubtedly brings about economic benefits to its members and fosters harmonious and powerful exchange partnerships, but there is, of course, a tradeoff for all these. Thus, the adoption of the euro poses some challenges that do not outweigh the benefits stemming from it, but certainly make the timing of taking this step towards the absolute economic and monetary union an essential issue. This paper presents the benefits and challenges that come along with the adoption of the euro, underlining that each country has to take advantage of its derogation clause and make sure that giving up their national currency for the stable and powerful euro does not lure them into a painful economic trap. The Maastricht requirements are analysed by emphasising the aspects related to the Romanian economy. The comparative analysis between the Hungarian and Slovenian cases may serve as guidelines in the economic preparation of Romania for European Monetary Union (EMU) accession.