Volume 28/2019
The development of a software dedicated to solving fuzzy liniar programs
Authors: Ovidiu GHERASIM, Dorian VLĂDEANU
Abstract: A fuzzy linear program is a linear program in which the input parameters are mathematically modeled with fuzzy numbers. The benefit vector, the unknown vector, the constraint matrix, and the free terms vector composing a fuzzy linear program, all have fuzzy number components. The article develops algorithmic steps with which one can make a software for solving fuzzy linear programs. Even if the triangular fuzzy numbers were used in the example presented, the algorithm is valid for all polygonal fuzzy numbers. In practice elementary fuzzy numbers such as rectangular, triangular and trapezoidal fuzzy numbers can be used; the medium fuzzy numbers such as the hexagonal and octagonal fuzzy numbers or the large fuzzy numbers such as the decagonal, dodecagonal, fuzzy numbers can also be used. By using fuzzy numbers in linear programming, answers are provided to practical problems in a more realistic manner.
Keywords: linear programming; simplex algorithm; triangular fuzzy number
Pages: 5-20 | Full text (PDF)
Methodological aspects regarding the use of triangular fuzzy numbers with associated variable indicators in decision-making
Author: Ciprian Ionel ALECU
Abstract: The efficiency of the decision making process and the proper management of the situations of uncertainty require the intensification of the interdisciplinary theoretical approaches and the adaptation of methods from related fields. Uncertainty is no longer treated only as a factor that generates difficulties, but becomes an instrument in the management strategies, an opportunity for development. At the same time, the advances in the fuzzy theory allow the outline of new horizons in approaching the theoretical concepts in management, the development of existing methods and the outline of new lines of theoretical analysis. The use of fuzzy numbers with associated indicators is becoming increasingly important in developing decision making methods. In this context, the present article proposes the development of triangular fuzzy numbers with variable associated indicators and based upon specific elementary operations. Thus, a new theoretical direction for approaching the decision making processes and specific instruments is proposed, which is much closer to the practical mode, depending upon an index of uncertainty adsorption and management.
Keywords: fuzzy number; associated indicator; decision-making
Pages: 21-32 | Full text (PDF)
Competitiveness of the enterprise: The essence and methods of evaluation
Authors: Elena FUIOR, Tatiana ZAVAȚKI, Ion MAXIM
Abstract: This article is devoted to the analysis of existing scientific approaches to the study of the concept of competitiveness. The features and problems of assessing the competitiveness of the enterprise are indicated. An analysis of the theoretical aspects of the competitiveness of enterprises was carried out; the existing approaches to assessing its competitiveness were investigated. The conceptual, systemic, integrated and functional approaches to assessing the competitiveness of an enterprise are considered. Based on a systematic approach, types of competitiveness are identified. The tasks of forming and developing a strategy to increase competitiveness are identified. The factors of creating a strategy to increase competitiveness and the main provisions of competitiveness as a factor of strategic development are identified. Actual problems related to competitiveness were described, various sets of indicators for assessing the level of enterprise competitiveness are described, a special system of methods for assessing competitiveness is considered. Along with theoretical studies of the essence of competition and competitiveness in the economic literature, the problem of a practical assessment of competitiveness is being discussed. The study of competitors and the conditions of competition is required by the enterprise primarily in order to determine what its advantages and disadvantages are compared to competitors, and to draw conclusions for developing its own successful competitive strategy and maintaining competitive advantages. According to the results of the study, it was found that using an integrated approach to assessing the level of enterprise competitiveness allows you to quickly and more objectively get a picture of the situation of the enterprise. In assessing the relevance of the competitiveness problem at the current stage of management, the authors emphasize the need for widespread use of competitiveness tools, as well as the choice of competitive strategies of an enterprise, while the most important task of managing an enterprise’s competitiveness in a market is to ensure that it is possible to achieve the necessary competitive advantages by various means and methods.
Keywords: analysis; competition; competitiveness; enterprise; methodology; strategy
Pages: 33-50 | Full text (PDF)
Carbon markets and blockchain technology
Author: Aurora Cristiana CIOBANU JESCU
Abstract: The present study analyses one of the mitigation measures that has been proposed first under the Kyoto Protocol and what effects has it had to enhance climate action. Furthermore, we will have a look over the mechanisms that have been developed for this measure to be implemented and what legal issues have appeared. The main question that I will try to answer is if it has indeed had a positive effect and if the greenhouse gas emissions have gone down. If not, can we implement a system that by using blockchain technology we will get the wanted results? By analyzing the legal barriers of applying such a new technology I will try to determine the opportunity of such a measure and the legal frame that should exist for this to function.
Keywords: blockchain technology; carbon market; climate action; greenhouse gas emission; international treaty; mitigation measure
Pages: 51-67 | Full text (PDF)
“New education” and the knowledge society in the context of sustainable development
Author: Brînduşa Mihaela RADU
Abstract: Change in education is an objective necessity, determined by the transformations taking place in society – at a cultural, political, economic, community level, and these things must be reflected in the pedagogical plan. In spite of tensions and multiple conflicts, the priority objective of mankind is increasingly formulated in the notion of sustainable development. Education is trying to respond to the requirements of social development in two directions, that of educational content – which requires curriculum development by infusion, integration of new education and that of the philosophy of education – which concerns the orientation, sizing and rethinking of educational processes. The problems of the world in which we live: the crisis of the environment, globalization, poverty, unemployment, social failure, equality of chances, human rights, democracy have become problems of the education sciences, which have integrated them in what is called the new education. The school is to be the center of change, a change of mentality first, an equally important aspect, but harder to solve than the economic change and reconstruction and the institutions of democracy. The new generation must not only be educated to adapt to the new, but also to anticipate change, to accept it and to actively participate in the process, thus contributing to the construction of the future. The specificity of our world is that it is changing faster and that it puts us in the face of original, unforeseeable and even unpredictable situations.
Keywords: new education; training; sustainable development; knowledge society
Pages: 69-78 | Full text (PDF)
Using second generation wiki-platform in the development of online economic applications
Authors: Alexandru COLEȘNICOV, Ludmila MALAHOV
Abstract: Concept of Web 2.0, also “Participatory Web” or “Social Web”, is known since 2004. The main characteristics of Web 2.0 are wide participation of users in creation of the site content, and great interoperability, i.e., compatibility with other systems. The work discusses the essential aspects of implementation of online economic applications under XWiki. XWiki is a second generation Wiki system with all main features from Web 2.0. We take as an example an application that provides online audit and econometric calculations over the user’s data on a specific enterprise (micro-economic analysis of gender equality on labour market). Calculations include data grouping, statistics, extended Mincer’s equation, Duncan index of dissimilarity, the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition.
Keywords: online economic application; Wiki system; online audit; econometric calculation; gender equality on labour market
Pages: 79-84 | Full text (PDF)
Experience implementing social investment projects supported by the World Bank
Author: Reghina ERHAN
Abstract: The World Bank is an international financial organization established to provide financial and technical assistance to developing or low-income countries. The organization aims to promote sustainable globalization in the interests of all segments of the population, reduce poverty, accelerate economic growth without harming the environment, and create new opportunities forpeople to live fulfilling lives. Throughout its history, the World Bank has been a fairly serious investor in the economies of developing countries, financially supporting a wide range of industries and programs. The Bank focuses on poverty, food supply, agriculture, health, education, environmental problems, and other initiatives. Despite certain successes achieved by the Bank in the implementation of its social programs and projects, its activities are often criticized as ineffective or aimed at supporting countries that do not really need this support. In addition, the World Bank exerts enormous influence over the economies of developing countries through loan conditions, advisory services, technical assistance and policy blueprints, which have similarly been criticized by civil society, academics, and developing country governments. Since the early 2000s, Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, has made significant progress in achieving inclusive growth, averaging 5% annually and reducing poverty from 26% in 2007 to 11% in 2014. During the 26 years of cooperation between the World Bank and the Republic of Moldova, a number of projects in the social-economic fields were launched and successfully implemented, which brought Moldova to a completely different level of development.
Keywords: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development; International Development Association; social investment project; sustainable development; World Bank
Pages: 85-94 | Full text (PDF)
Business management strategies in crisis
Author: Inga ZUGRAV
Abstract: In different concepts, the crisis management is treated as a situation of preventing the insolvency or of managing the company in risk situations. The anti-crisis management is a component part of the management, oriented towards the management of the vulnerability of the company, which consists of several stages, among them are: management during the absence of crisis, identification of the crisis and management of the company during the pre-crisis period, management of the company during the crisis period the management itself during the restoration period. Considering that the company needs a post-crisis strategy. The management as a management system under the market conditions ensures the orientation of the company towards meeting the needs of the market, towards the demands of potential consumers, the organization of those types of activities, which are able to bring the enterprise an efficient result, to prevent or liquidate crisis situations in business. Anti-crisis within the company represents an operating system of measures to reform the entire management system with the identification of probable risks, being a vital method under the current conditions. We mention that the crises in the activity of the enterprise are an objective reality, we suppose that they reflect the inconsistency of the development rhythms of the enterprises with the need to change the development trajectory under the influence of the macrocycles. The cause of the financial crisis in companies is characterized by the non-compliance of the financial-economic characteristics with the parameters of the external environment, which in turn leads to the choice of an incorrect strategy, the inadequate organization of the business and as a result, the poor adaptation to the market requirements. It is assumed that the crisis situations are positive and contribute to the formation of the tools to announce the occurrence of the “weak point” and to develop a “new development stage”. Therefore, the emergence of crises in the activity of the company is one of the conditions for its progressive growth and its renewal.
Keywords: enterprise; financial crisis; financial management; insolvency; risk; stability; strategy; uncertainty
Pages: 95-103 | Full text (PDF)
Economic vulnerability: Concept and indicators
Authors: Mihaela Nona CHILIAN, Mărioara IORDAN, Gabriela CIURARIU
Abstract: The paper addresses the economic vulnerability, in general, and of the households of population in Romania; in particular, from the point of view of the main theoretical approaches and the connections with other economic concepts relevant for the assessment and characterization of standard of living, namely those regarding poverty, well-being, resilience. The analytical approach is based on a relatively expanded system of indicators gathered within a methodology taken from the international literature, adapted by the authors to the limitations posed by the availability of relevant statistical information and data.
Keywords: economic vulnerability; living standard; well-being indicator; exogenous shock; resilience
Pages: 105-117 | Full text (PDF)
Globalization of tourism: Between lights and shadows
Authors: Dorian VLĂDEANU, Ovidiu GHERASIM, Teodor PĂDURARU
Abstract: The article aims at a critical and objective approach upon the relations and their dynamics between tourism and the process of globalization, showing from the very beginning that the globalist valences of tourism are included in the very “genes” of these activities thousands of years old. At the same time, attention is drawn to the fact that the globalization does not stand for “condamnation to welfare”. The dynamics of tourism and the comparative and succinct analysis of the specific aspects of large geographical areas (Europe, Asia, Africa, etc.) is another coordinated approach in this article.
Keywords: tourism; globalization; regional tourism; natural environment; economic environment; crisis; quantitative dimension; tradition; cultural valence; incoming tourism; outgoing tourism; market share
Pages: 119-132 | Full text (PDF)
Relevant elements evolving in mountain tourism
Authors: Vasile AVĂDĂNEI, Ioan SURDU, Lidia AVĂDĂNEI
Abstract: Tourism is the most dynamic area in the tertiary sector of services. It also includes elements of novelty, paradigm shifts and repositions of stakeholders in a very rapid evolution. This is the reason why we set ourselves on resuming ideas formulated in the last 5–10 years and watching how things have evolved in well-established basins. A survey was made of the mountain area of Neamț County and a recent diagnosis was made: investments in accommodation, public catering, community events, the impact of developments in sectors involved in chains (the value chain and the supply chain), how they evolve the agri-pastoral sector as a tourism provider, etc. Interpretations and recommendations have been made in the context of the concept of “Innovation in Services” (supported by the European Commission) 4,5 and “Mountains in the Horizon 2020” (Euromontana Convention Initiative) 6. The center of gravity of the paper is to explore the application of regenerative design for regenerative development.
Keywords: mountain tourism; tourist pool; tourism policy; tourist support services; regeneration
Pages: 133-145 | Full text (PDF)
Air pollution in the context of circular economy in Siret-Prut-Nistru Euroregion
Authors: Alina Georgeta AILINCĂ, Gabriela PICIU
Abstract: As compared with other current societal, economic and political issues, environmental issues have long been neglected. In the context of the need for major changes, the circular economy can be a solution for changing the economic paradigm as well as a response to the reduction of air pollution. Health in the context of lucrative human activities is still second, but the solution could easily come through the transition to the circular model by providing clean air. The European Union has set itself the goal of achieving specific levels of air quality improvement, by reducing risks to the environment and human health since the 1970s, integrating more and more environmental protection requirements into European policies. Thus, the present article tackles the sensitive issue of the air quality by revising the latest EU legislation in the matter, also linking it to a brief analysis of the air pollution in Siret-Prut-Nistru Eurozone (the part that belongs to the Republic of Moldova), and its connection with a series of economic and the health status of the population indicators in the period 2008 2017.
Keywords: Euroregion; air pollution; economic implication; social implication
Pages: 147-154 | Full text (PDF)
Globalization effects on economic and social development of Siret-Prut-Nistru Euroregion
Author: Camelia BĂEȘU
Abstract: At world level, the globalization process has undergone through different stages, existing visible contrasts between different geographical areas within the same country. Globalization is a complex, multifunctional phenomenon which consists of a wide range of socialhuman activities beginning with the internal market to the global one, with the economic and political dimension to the social one, with the internal right to the international rights and relationships, national-state sovereignty to globalization. In the year 2002 there got formed the euro-region “Siret-Prut-Nistru” including 18 districts from the Republic of Moldova and the counties of Iași and Vaslui from Romania. The partners of both countries have taken responsibility in terms of common European values such as economic and social development, democracy, promotion of cultural values and security insurance in this area. The euro-region strategy comprises developing directions of this one – economic, community development, localities’ infrastructure development and environment protection for the next 15 years, respectively. In this context, the globalization level can be appreciated in terms of territorial subsystems are open and they provide access to those involved in as a whole.
Keywords: development; Euroregion; globalization
Pages: 155-162 | Full text (PDF)
Analysis of gender quotas implementation for women empowerment: EU’s and Republic of Moldova’s experience
Authors: Mihail CIOBANU, Eugenia LUCAȘENCO
Abstract: Promoting gender equality and women empowerment has been one of the Millennium Development Goals of United Nations that nearly all world countries committed to achieve by 2015, including EU countries and Republic of Moldova. The slow progress towards this goal made it remain part of the UN agenda for the next 15 years. Due to that, it became necessary to analyze how an instrument like gender quotas can be used as some sort of last resort in this context in EU countries and in the Republic of Moldova. The purpose of the research is to analyze the experience of EU countries and Republic of Moldova on gender quotas as a tool for women empowerment and to see the opinions of employers and employees from Moldova on gender quotas. The research methods applied in the research include: legal analysis, induction and statistical analysis. The results of the survey on the opinions on gender quotas have shown that the views on gender quotas are mostly negative. Employers, even though recognizing their potential utility, have a pronounced reticence towards them, while opinions of employees were divided: some were optimistic and supported the idea, while others were sceptical that gender quotas have some potential for women empowerment and others pointed to other areas, like education, towards which more attention is needed for women empowerment.
Keywords: decision-making; employee; employer; gender quota; international experience; Republic of Moldova
Pages: 163-176 | Full text (PDF)