The Motivation Factors of Sales Personnel in Financial Institutions

The motivation is an employee＇s internal relationship in the form of behaviour directed towards a specific goal and is manifested as an important factor for overall organisation performance. The goal of any business is to motivate employees to perform work with the maximum results. The work motivation is complex and dynamic feature of human resources and influences to motivation are very broad and diverse. The material forms of motivation are different compensation that employees receive for their work in the company. They appear in the financial and non-financial forms （paid or in the form of various services）. The goal of this research is to identify the main factors of human resources motivation in financial institutions （banks）. The questionnaire will be used as a research instrument and consists of two parts. The first part of the questionnaire will focus on socio-demographic characteristics and the second part concentrates on the motivation variables of material and immaterial character. Applying adequate knowledge discovery research methods will be identified as the main motivation components of selling persons in financial institutions.     

The possibilities of entering new markets for Romanian companies from wood manufacturing industries

Romania has the potential of resources, labor and real capacity to adapt to the gait of a global economic competition. But it required a long term policy and environment which could support this potential value. If not, we will risk turning into a consumer economy, consumption will not be funded on internal production and become supplier of labor services for peripheral. In the context of economic crisis, Romanian furniture retains its significant competitive advantages, including the price in export markets. The most important markets for exporters of furniture from Romania are Ukraine and Russia, markets with great potential, but affected by problems such as devaluing local currencies, and recently, imposing new duties.     

Effective Management of Own Funds in Polish Cooperative Banks

Today cooperative banks belong to the most significant financial institution in the world. Moreover, they can compete with commercial banks. The own funds of the cooperative bank are important in their activity. The main goal of this paper is to investigate how much the level of the own funds of the Polish cooperative banks influenced their efficiency. The research pertained to operating cooperative banks in Poland. The following measures of the efficiency were used in the research： return on Equity （ROE）, net profit, index C/I, and financial margin. The results of the study indicate that banks from the Quartile III （highest aggregate own funds）, had the highest net profits, the highest ROE, the lowest C/I value, the lowest ROE, and the lowest financial markups. On this basis, it remains to be recommended that banks of highest aggregate own funds continue expansion of own funds which will increase lending capacity and subsequently contribute to higher effectiveness.     

Chinese companies＇ outward internationalization to emerging countries： The case of Latin America

This paper aims to review and analyze the literature on the expansion of Chinese firms to Latin America. In order to achieve this objective, it first reviews the literature on the internationalization of Chinese MNCs, the theoretical frameworks discussed in the literature and the principal features of companies from China. Second, it describes the economic and political relations between the countries, specifically the threats and opportunities for Latin America and the trade and investment trends. The review shows that the majority of the current literature on Chinese MNCs has a focus on their expansion to developed countries, on the conceptual framework needed to understand this expansion, and on the competition for foreign investments from developed countries. As a result, the analysis makes evident that research gaps seem to exist in the following areas： （1） the relative value of Chinese companies＇ existing advantages, （2） the sustainability of these advantages once the lead, probably given by OEMs or JVs, had been exhausted, （3） research works based on quantitative and comparative data, （4） the motives for FDI, （5） the entry mode, configuration, control and strategy of Chinese companies investing in Latin America, and （6） the potential opportunities presented to European companies operating in Latin America.     

Defining the Entrepreneurial Capital Construct

The purpose of this paper is to show preliminary results from an international research project on intellectual capital and value creation led by Lappeenranta University of Technology （Finland）. In the case of this paper, results from Italy will be reported and specifically. The Italian analysis focuses on the entrepreneurial capital （EC） and it analyses how large Italian companies develop and enhance this intangible element. The main research question is： What is the current level of EC in Italian organizations and how does it affect value creation.＇？ To this end, the research addressed the different definitions of EC that literature offers. As a secondary step, this paper analysed the variables suggested by previous literature and proposed an original definition for the research project. The definition is that EC is a stock of competences and the personnels＇ attributes related to proactive, risky, and aggressive decision-making and behaviour. This research provides researchers and managers with unique insights into the evolutionary nature of the relationships between distinct 1C variables and draws a picture on the state of art of corporate EC in the selected sample. This research highlights and improves companies＇ abilities to manage their EC. Furthermore, this research will set the agenda for improving the EC practices of Italian companies and will allow future comparison with firms from other countries that are participating in the same project identifying different pathways to success.     

Nonlinearities between oil spot and futures markets： Evidence from intraday data

This paper builds on the literature of the relationship between oil spot and futures prices from the NYNEX market, both in their means and in their conditional volatilities, to investigate whether the association is linear or not. The novelty of this work is based on intraday data from both markets. The empirical findings indicate the presence of nonlinearities both in means and conditional volatilities. Moreover, non-linear causality estimations both in means and in volatilities reveal the presence of bi-directional causality, a fact that provides additional support to the hypothesis that both markets are driven by the same information sets.     

The Hukou and Land Tenure Systems as Two Middle Income Traps--The Case of Modern China

China＇s prevailing hukou （household registration） system and land tenure system seem to be very different in their applications. In fact, they both function to deny the exit right of rural residents from a rural community. Under these systems, rural residents are not allowed to freely exit from collectives if they do not want to lose their entitlements, such as their rights to using collectively owned land and their land-based properties. Farmers are neither allowed to sell their houses to outsiders, nor allowed to sell to outsiders their rights to contracting a piece of land from the collective where their households are registered. For migrant workers from rural areas, it is extremely difficult for them to obtain an urban hukou with all its associated entitlements at an urban locality where they currently work and live. The combined effect of the two systems leads to serious distortions in labor and land markets, resulting in discrimination against migrant workers, sprawling yet exclusive urbanization, housing bubbles, and depressed domestic demand. These distortions further entrench the existing and much widened urban/rural divide. Unless these two systems are thoroughly reformed, the rural residents in Chinese mainland will be trapped in their comparatively much lower income and remain unable to share the gains from the agglomeration effects of urbanization.     

Generational Gap： Intrinsic （Non-monetary） Versus Extrinsic （Monetary） Rewards in the Workforce

Traditionally, organizations assume that compensation/pay and monetary benefits are what all employees need to work harder, be productive, or remain with the company. According to Abraham Maslow, within every person is a hierarchy of five needs： physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs Organizations must be able to identify what employees desire to secure optimum performance and to meet the needs of both employees and employers. This research focuses on the generational gap and the significance of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards in the workforce. The purpose and objective of this research are to test the significance of monetary versus non-monetary rewards among the different generations in the organization. A self-designed questionnaire distributed to a multi-generational group of employees of selected organizations was used to collect the analyzed data. Sixty-five （65%） responses were obtained. Secondary data were used to elucidate the needs in this area of study. Because the workforce is predicted to become more diverse in terms of age, organizations will be unlikely to implement one set of rewards for the multiple generations. This is due to the differing expectations and requirements among the generations. However, the results indicate no significant difference in monetary versus non-monetary rewards among the different generations in the workforce.     

A typologies of traveler in Thailand： Using traveling patterns approach

This research investigates the characteristics of Thai to discern what their traveling behavior patterns. It indicated five different traveling patterns, which were named, ＂Physical action＂, ＂Conservation of nature＂, ＂Service expectation＂, ＂Intend to travel＂ and ＂Obedience of law and order＂. It revealed that their traveling patterns were physically passive, less environmentally aware and knowledgeable, service expected, multi-purpose and short trip, and moderate obedience of law and order. The relation of sociodemographic profile （gender, age, education and income） to their traveling patterns was analyzed using Chi-Square tests. Discriminant analysis was run as a way of examining the accuracy and usefulness of the ecotourist scorecard. Using the concept of a hard-to-soft ecotourist with discriminant analysis, 51.4% was soft ecotourist, 39.3% was medium ecotourist and 9.3% was hard ecotourist. Although not identified, it is likely that there are subgroups （0.3%） within the hard ecotourist with the higher scoring tourists being most active ecotourist. The findings showed that the majority of Thai people tend to be comfortable nature-based tourist with less environmentally aware and knowledgeable. In fact, it could be argued that tourists in natural environments, even if they try to minimize their impact, may cause more environmental damage than tourist on a city tour.     

Board Independence and Internal Committees in the BRICs

To be successful in global markets, companies from the emerging countries need the approval of foreign investors and other stakeholders. In this regard, Brazil, Russia, India, and China （BRIC） have progressively strengthened their corporate governance rules to help their companies overcome the competitors from the old industrialized countries. Directors＇ non-executive qualification, independence, and professional expertise represent basic requirements for effective corporate governance, so they should be carefully considered to guarantee a proper board composition and an adequate establishment of internal committees in listed companies. The paper intends to compare the legislative and regulatory frameworks adopted by the four countries; then it aims at answering to the following research questions by means of an empirical investigation： Have BRIC companies appointed non-executive and independent board members？ What do BRIC companies do in order to assure an effective participation of non-executive and independent board members to corporate governance activities？ Have BRIC companies established internal committees？ The research examines the appointment of non-executive directors and independent directors to the boards of 100 BRIC leading firms, as well as their involvement in internal committees focused on matters requiring motivated and impartial opinions. Although the laws and recommendations seem to favor a general convergence of corporate governance principles among the four BRIC and towards the international best practices, some differences and peculiarities emerge from a firm-level perspective. Indeed, the Indian and the Chinese companies analyzed appear more inclined than the Brazilian and the Russian ones to reassure their international stakeholders about board independence and effective committees.     

Corporate Social Responsibility——From the Perspective of Polish Enterprises

Corporate social responsibility （CSR） is becoming more and more frequently emphasized part of management in the structure of Polish enterprises. These results from the fact that growing awareness of consumers, destructive impact of industry on the natural environment, economic scandals, unethical behavior among entrepreneurs, bring about redefining the principles of a business activity on the market by entrepreneurs. As a result of the above, such values as honesty, trust, or responsibility take on greater importance. Additionally, more and more often, Polish entrepreneurs pay attention to the influence of the company on the environment, the way the stakeholders are treated, while striving to maximize profit. The present paper looks into the subject of social responsibility from the point of view of Polish enterprises. To verify this objective, there was the analysis of the due literature performed, and also carried out the survey among 174 entrepreneurs running their business activity in the area of Southern Poland. The research tool used in the research was the questionnaire （PAPI and CAWI）. In the conducted research, there were factors analyzed referring to knowledge of social responsibility among the people holding both managerial and lower-level positions, in particular opinion, is it important for enterprises to be driven by ethical standards？ How to implement CSR in their structures？ How to understood concept of CSR？ What are the reasons for the implementation of CSR in the strategy of the company？ The considerations （both the theoretical and practical ones） confirmed that the Polish enterprises feel the increased need to implement the activities in the field of social responsibility, which, in the present conditions, constitutes an important part of running a business activity.     

The Impact of Education on Innovative Economy Polish Experiences

Methods and concepts of innovation performance are widely analyzed, discussed, and evaluated. The influence of educational management on the creation of innovative economy is not widely described in literature, however, procedures of innovation performance include the measures of educational elements. The paper discusses the methodology of European Innovation Scoreboard （EIS） and Innovation Union Scoreboard （IUS） in the aspect of education for innovative economy. Educational indicators in EIS/IUS methodology are quantitative and do not include information about the quality of education. Researchers agreed that innovation processes and economical growth require well-educated and skilled workforce and they assume that skilled workers are on output of the educational system. The measurement system of innovations in Europe includes various economical aspects, allows to observe trends and gives opportunity to improvement for countries and is directed on future educational effects. Quantitative indicators allow to observe trends, educational needs, desires of pupils, and their parents. The efficiency of these indicators is presented on the example of Poland. Educational indicators to improve innovation performance should be very synthetic, but cannot lose important information. The article presents author＇s research on graduate career paths and suggests to include elements of this methodology in the measurement system of innovation economy.     

The Impact of Nationalisation on CSR Policy in Citadele Bank and CR Study of the Latvian Retail Banking Sector

The present research paper is dedicated to the analysis of the impact of nationalisation on Corporate Social Responsibility （CSR） Policy in Citadele bank （formerly Parex） and Corporate Responsibility （CR） study of the Latvian banking sector. The goal is to analyse the notion of nationalisation, the history of Citadele bank, and to scrutinise CSR policy and its aspects. Research aim is to explore the impact of CSR activities implemented by Citadele on customers＇ views after the nationalisation of the bank. The research methodology involves the analysis of the existing theoretical literature and a quantitative research method-survey conducted by an international research agency. The article also explores CSR activities of commercial banks in Latvia by applying the comparative method of research.     

Resettlement＇s impact on the domestic economy in lake restoration： a case study of Poyang Lake region

The Chinese government started a take restoration project in Poyang Lake region 10 years ago, and the expost mOnitor of the migrants＇ livelihoods was limited, This paper compares the composition difference of domestic income and domestic consumption between migration and non-migration villages in Poyang Lake region. The results show that the migrants＇ domestic income has increased in the last 10 years, which originated from the tncreasing trend of active and extensive rural labor migration, while the resettlement has not influenced the domestic income significantly. The resettlement stimulates younger farmers to work.far away from home whose wages contribute nearly 80% of domestic income, The resettlement decreases their savings due to higher expenditure of daily life for those who work far away from home, and higher expenditure of food for those who stay at home, losing cultivated lands with irrigation system for vegetable. On the other hand. the increase of rural labor migration leads the migrants who stay at home to have access to more cultivated lands for rice and cotton, and the farmers also apply more fertilizer in the same cultivated land for more agriculture products. The resettlement makes most of migrants spend their savings on the improvement of their housing conditions due to not enough governmental financial support for new building. After the analysis, some factors that influence migrants＇ income and consumption are discussed. The paper may contritbute to the building of Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone.     

Abstract

On Evaluation of Efficiency of Social Rules by Governments during Transitional Period
ZHU Mei-li
In recent years China has worked out many social rules and standards in order to increase social benefit, but security incidents, events of polluting environment and health accidents occur frequently, which shows the social rules and standards fail to work. China is now in institutional transitional period and market mechanism is not perfect. We should pay more attention to efficiency of social rules and standards and set up an index system to evaluate their efficiency.     

Education and sustainable development in Romania and the European Union countries

The sustainable development supposes a development strategy that would ensure the interdependence and complementarily of objectives from the social, economic and environmental fields. The degree of priority established for the three dimensions of sustainable development differs from one country to another, a fact that confers a national and local meaning to this issue. For the Central and Eastern European countries, balanced economic development represents one of the fundamental objectives of the reforms started in 1990. Education represents a priority of any country＇s economic development and an extremely important element of economic growth. This paper presents the characteristics of the Romanian educational system while achieving a comparative analysis regarding different countries of the European Union, both from a quantitative viewpoint （using the main indicators in the education field） and a qualitative viewpoint （using student performances in international evaluations）. In the end, we present some proposals for the improvement of the present state of the Romanian educational system.     

Eco-certification of non-timber forest products in China： addressing income generation and biodiversity conservation needs

Non-timber forest products（NTFPs） can play a key role in sustainable rural development due to their ability to support rural livelihoods while of their role and potential in conservation and development remains weak. Studies have pointed to important knowlidge gaps that may lead to serious exploitation and unsustainable use of the nanral resource ＂NTFP＂ in China. such as（I） lack of basic lknowledge on germplasm and non-existing or incomplete inventory.（2）no in-depth and long-term monitoring and institutional arrangements to ascertain sustainable extraction levels,（3）insufficient market transparency for communities.（4）incomplete knowledge of NTFP domestication and ist effects on product quality and price and the conservation of wild sources, and （5）no existing research on the full length of the commodity chain for major non-timber forest prochucts and the various actors in the chain. remote mountain regions through the sustainable management of NTFPs. The potential and challenges of oraanic,ecological and Fairtrade certification schemes in the context of smallholder farmers are discussed in more detall.     

Generational management in corporate America： The differences and challenges in management of four generations of working adults

There are many differences and challenges that employers face while managing employees in the current work force. Our present day workforce is made up of a diverse group of people： Matures, also known as Veterans （age 55＋）, Baby Boomers （age 45-54）, Generation X （age 35-44） and Generation Y also known as Millennial （age 18-34）. The differences and challenges among these groups will be evident when reviewing recognition and praise, managerial styles, subordinate responses to generational leadership. Companies are stepping back and looking more holistically at how to develop programs and deploy technology that will speak to four distinct generations in the workforce （Sprague, 2008）. Each generation has their own definition of work ethic, responsibility, and performance. The best way to deal with the multi-generations is coming up with ways that make everybody feel like they are members of a team, thus helping them to learn how to develop a better way of communication than what exists between them now. If everybody is a part of a team, then they are all sharing the benefits that the other generations can bring to the table, making them a strong entity. Matures and boomers can become mentors to the X and Y＇s, and the X and Y＇s can then share and impart their knowledge of technology to the Matures and boomers. Companies in today＇s workplace must learn a better way to understand the values of the four generations, for it is very important in understanding and guiding these people in the workplace. Without this proper understanding, the guidance and alliance that managers are hoping to achieve will be even longer in the making and then one, possibly two, whole generations will be gone from the workforce and their knowledge and skill gone as well.     

Knowledge Management and Customer Relationship Management for Accounting Services Companies

By combining the abilities to respond directly to customer requests and to provide the customer with a highly interactive, customized experience, companies have a greater ability today to establish nurture and sustain long-term customer relationships than ever before. The ultimate goal is to transform these relationships into greater profitability by increasing repeat purchase rates and reducing customer acquisition costs. Customer relationship management （CRM） has a significant potential to leverage an organization＇s performance, but it does not come without a clear sense of destination and typically without pain. For the research methodology we use the database of customers of a Romanian accounting services company Vulpoi ＆ Toader Management SRL, which is an important player in this market. The goal of our paper is to find out the link between knowledge management （KM） and CRM for this company and how these ＂innovations＂ contribute to increasing the value of the business.