Shahrazad Hadad

Knowledge Economy: Characteristics and Dimensions

Over the past several decades, the theme of knowledge economy (KE) has become increasingly important, being seen as a source of economic growth and competitiveness in all economic sectors. As a consequence of this development, the author provides evidence that scholars and commentators have pleaded in favor of using modern resources which enrich knowledge-based-economies, such as investments in ITC educated and skilled workers that can facilitate the creation and dissemination of knowledge; an adequate innovation system able to embrace the globalized knowledge stock, grasp it and adjust it to particular regional/local conditions; up-to-date information infrastructure enabling communication, information delivery and handling of information and knowledge.

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.

Strategies for developing knowledge economy in Romania

Abstract The present paper delves into the specifics of knowledge economy with a particular focus on Romania. In the first part, it identifies knowledge economy characteristics and pillars and it analyses them as compared to levels exhibited by countries in the European Union. In the second part it argues for the strategies that could be used for enhancing knowledge economy in Romania. In order to do so we used the Delphi method and we identified 25 experts in the knowledge economy/management field coming from internationally renowned companies, universities and ministries located in Romania, to whom we sent invitations for participating in our Delphi survey that lasted one month. Out of the 25 experts, 10 answered positively and during the research we had an attrition rate of 90%. The experts delivered their opinions on the measures to be adopted in order to increase education and learning, ICT and innovation as building blocks of knowledge economy. Findings reveals that knowledge economy can be developed by adopting measures such as: devising a governmental program that will sustain the development of knowledge repositories at the level of technological clusters, industry associations and other professional organizations by providing financial assistance for hardware acquisition and software development in order to facilitate knowledge transfer; Governmental program for the financial support of schools’ investments in hardware and educational software and the training of staff for the use of ITC in teaching and learning, etc.

Analytic hierarchy process analysis for choosing a corporate social entrepreneurship strategy

Abstract After conducting an extensive analysis of both the specialised literature and practice and identifying three types of corporate social entrepreneurship in my PhD thesis titled “Corporate social entrepreneurship - the new paradigm of reshaping and rethinking business”, I decided to determine which of the three approaches is mostly suited for the Romanian market. The three types of corporate social entrepreneurship: corporate social entrepreneurship as local development tool, corporate social entrepreneurship as market development tool, and corporate social entrepreneurship as transformational innovation tool were organised as the alternatives of a carefully constructed hierarchy having as criteria: return on investment (which does not necessarily refer to the money that the company invests in the strategy; the term is derived from sustainability and scalability), degree of novelty, pre-entry knowledge and interest in solving the communities’ social problems. The questionnaire constructed based on the hierarchy using analytic hierarchy processes was distributed to experts (business developers) coming from the following industries or sectors: beverages, IT, banking, furniture, and automotive. The research reveals which is the approach most likely to be employed by Romanian business developers. The results may be inferred to the sum of businesses represented by the expert business developers who were part of the research.

Civic Engagement Index (CEI) - the case of liberal arts universities from Romania

Abstract We have arrived to a moment in history when the society we are living in is confronted with different sets of problems: hunger, crime, economic crises, natural disasters or cataclysms, and various human rights violations. At the moment the most appropriate way to solve these problems still lies with the organisms of the nation state. As such, the lack of civic sense and the increasing political apathy will only allow these problems to grow out of proportions. We are of the opinion that most of them can be counteracted if we try to educate the civic sense in people. By civic sense or engagement we understand a type of orientation towards being involved in social groups according to democratic principles. It is said the post-socialist countries are particularly threatened by the lack of civic engagement on behalf of their citizens that have reached the point where they take democracy for granted. This is why we explore the role played by universities in developing and shaping this civic attitude amongst young people. In order to do so, we resorted to questionnaires applied in liberal arts universities in Romania. These universities have a special relation to democratic principles, national pride and the perpetuation of the nation state as an ideal for its citizens and because of this we believe they represent a proper starting point for the current investigation. The areas that are targeted through the questionnaire are the following: the academic environment, the methods through which civic values are instilled in the hearts and minds of the students, and the institutional and personal factors that determine faculty to introduce civic values in their academic environments. Using the results we create the Civic Engagement Index (CEI) that can be used as a valuable benchmarking mechanism for those universities that are trying to enhance their civic engagement activities. Finally, we test the hypothesis that certain universities fail to create civic-oriented graduates and we propose ways in which the organizational culture could be transformed into a more supportive one: civic participation guides, civic responsibility classes, and service learning classes for faculty members to increase their openness towards the promotion of civic values.

Social Entrepreneurship Across the European Union: An Introduction

Social entrepreneurship has become an indispensable part of the economy and it is now regarded as the driving engine of social economy. The present chapter presents a short introduction into social entrepreneurship (key definitions, concepts and theory) in order to create the setting for detailing the emergence and development of social entrepreneurship in various countries within the European Union. The next sections provide insights into the scale and legislative, social and economic framework regarding social entrepreneurship at the level of the European Union and across some of its member states in an attempt to establish whether social entrepreneurship is harmonised both from the standpoint of regulatory bodies and practitioners. Moving on, we get the readership familiarised with different initiatives of social entrepreneurship at academic level but also at the level of practitioners and regulatory bodies. The closing section presents one case study from a European country in order to improve the understanding of the idea and the implementation of social entrepreneurship in the European Union and to underline the potential challenges that might arise within this context.

European Union Between the Big Bang and the Big Crunch

As the European Union (EU) has been shaken by various challenges such as the economic and immigration crises, Euroscepticism, Brexit, the raise of extremist parties, we consider timely a short overview on the political, social, and economic contexts that lead to the creation of the EU, and on its predecessors. The present chapter provides insights into the enlargements of the EU and it lays the foundations that lead to the current situation in the EU by shading light on the multi-layered causes and consequences of UK leaving the EU. Reflections are made on the clash of national and supranational entities and on political regimes and parties that dominate the EU stage as of the 2014 elections.