Rubrics » BUSINESSance
Romania’s “Sonderweg” to Illiberal Democracy
In German historiography, there is a current of thought dating to the 19th century regarding a “special path” (Sonderweg) of political development in Germany or German settled areas. Its first incarnation was a positive one, underlying the German aptitude for social reform and development in the absence of dangerous pressures. After WW2, it became a way of explaining the rise of Nazism and retconning it as inevitable, thus making the leap from theory to tool for self-blame. This article argues that Romania is undergoing its own Sonderweg to illiberalism, based on local specificities of a political and structural nature. More
“Unplugged Skills”: The Need to Live beyond Technology’s Limitations
It would seem as if there is an electrical outlet for everything from one’s toothbrush to their car now. Society is in continuous technological progress. Advances in scientific and technical knowledge have extended and improved our lives. Most of us live in comfort only afforded to kings a few centuries ago and with capabilities they could not have imagined. And with all the new technology come new skill sets, new job prospects, and exciting opportunities. We now have the freedom to work from home or from anywhere in the world, as long as we have a computer and a good internet connection. We can run a business online. We can shop online. We can keep in touch with people from thousands of miles away and deliver messages that reach them in seconds. Everything seems to herald in an exciting future. More
The Reconstruction of the National Defense Industry, a Historic Opportunity
Prior to 1989, the defense industry in Romania was an important contributor to the state budget, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars and providing extensive employment. At that time, Romania ranked ninth in the world in terms of export of armament. In the early 1980s, Romania exported arms worth $670 million. More than that, two thirds of the armament and ammunition required by the Romanian Armed Forces were covered by internal production, which is an important security factor in a country’s ability to sustain a prolonged conflict. More
Telecommute and Video Games – On the Future of Work
Today, many new paths are being created towards financial security and professional accomplishments. The market allows for numerous choices. And the effects are seen throughout society. Certain people love jobs which involve a lot of traveling. Some, on the contrary, prefer to be in an office environment. Others want or need to stay at home. Those in the latter category, however, sometimes dread losing their income or are worried that they will miss out on professional achievements. They may even be concerned that society will look down on them for not working, which happens, perhaps more often than previously thought. More
Womenomics – Is It Worth Talking About Gender?
Women Prime Ministers and Presidents are no longer newsworthy. At least not everywhere. Company presidents are so many that, again, the gender of a company’s CEO is not at all a newsworthy issue. At least no one wonders that the Northern countries, Ireland and some of the others have no issues with women in business or politics and generally consider diversity in almost all areas of public life as a norm. More
Starting Up on the Island of Love
Victor Kislyi would for sure have been delighted with current market conditions in Cyprus, but even so, the strong-minded, iron-forged Belorussian young entrepreneur was never short of success. In August 1998 he deployed his units in Nicosia, joined them with home-based brainiacs from Minsk and started a quest to conquer the world with turn-based and real-time strategy warship games. Crown of the jewelry: the 2010 launched World of Tanks. A five-man startup in 1998, Wargaming turned into a four thousand plus employee business with over six million euros in net income. Reason enough for Cypriot authorities to reconsider their stance upon doing international business on the island of love. More
Hyperconnected: Internet of Things, Big Data and the Future of CRM
The way in which devices that we are using on a daily basis are designed with all kind of sensors and connected between themselves and the internet, this is the Internet of Things (IoT). Smartphones, smart TVs, and even having a smart home is pushing us into the future. We are facing a revolution, every app we use, every online search, everything that we are doing that is connected in one way or another to the online environment is building up the IoT, feeding it with information which can, and has already started to be used to predict, improve and innovate. More
Coaching the Business Game
There is a set of conventional attitudes and customs that employees from business environment try to focus on in daily work in order to achieve results. Either they are members of top management or entry-level positions, business comrades are guiding themselves (more or less) by the following principles. More
Ethnogenesis in Davos
The Davos World Economic Forum, established in 1971, is emblematic of our era for its courtship of notoriety, as opposed to the old Bilderberg Group’s more discrete operation, along with a calculated transparency regarding the power of those attending and the topics of high interest on a global level that are discussed (among some trivial diversions). If you are rich and affluent, then you will be present at Davos, and if you are present at Davos, then it is confirmed that you are rich and affluent. The fact that Davos is a phenomenon in itself, which transcends its components, is confirmed by the emergence of numerous events that imitate the Davos style or that take place simultaneously, just three streets away, in the ghetto of the millionaires in the alpine resort, so that the striving classes can also experience a counterfeit Davos for signalling their social status. When the famous Francis Fukuyama and Samuel Huntington were silently confronting each other, the former with the theory of “the end of history” and the latter arguing for “an end of the beginning” (in Winston Churchill’s words) through the clash of civilizations, Huntington was the one proven right by history, not only through the rise of militant Islamism, but also after inventing the atavistic formula of the “Davos Man”. This subspecies of Homo sapiens sapiens has no national loyalties; he is able to consider himself a citizen of the world and to be inclined towards thinking globally and acting in this direction. More
Opportunities for Romania
Just a couple of months ago, after I met an old friend, I came across a paper called ”100 opportunities for Finland and the World”; since then, after reading the pragmatic document, I began promoting it, hoping it would go viral and underscore that Romania has a similar need to the one the Finnish document addresses.. More
Changing for Success
Changes in business can either simply occur, or it can be implemented by people through knowledge, resources and strategy. Waiting for the “perfect” knowledge to make decisions might lead to missing opportunities, as there is no such thing as flawlessness. For each and every instance, one should assess what can be done best and make a decision to empower fellow colleagues or the project team to deal with a particular issue. More
The Romanian Armed Forces’ Endowment Efforts – Better Times on the Horizon?
2016 brought a new stirring to the Romanian political establishment, at least at declarative levels, regarding what may finally become a coherent and sustained effort towards equipping the Romanian Army with modern weapon systems and equipment. This sudden push comes at the eleventh hour, after three years of lethargy and, also, three years of conflict in neighboring Ukraine. More
