FOREWORD

In their article called The New Economy Drivers and Disrupters Report. Tracking the Forces Threatening the World’s Hottest Economies published in Bloomberg Businessweek in October 29, 2019, authors Tom Orlik, Scott Johnson and Alex Tanzi say that “twenty years ago, China’s economy was a tenth the size of the United States. In 2019, it is two-thirds as big. In 2039, on the current trajectory, it will be more than 10% bigger. India will have leapfrogged Japan and Germany to claim the No. 3 spot in the global rankings. Vietnam will be closing in on the top 20. Disruptive forces are sweeping the global economy. Populist regimes are throwing out the policy rulebook. Protectionism is deadening the trade flows that drove China’s rise. Automation and the digital economy are boosting productivity for some, eroding old sources of advantage for others. The threat of climate change looms. The path to prosperity followed by such success stories as Korea and Japan is increasingly hard to follow. From Beijing to Brasilia, getting the right mix of smart investment, skilled workforce, innovation capacity and effective governance in place is already tough to do. Combating disruptive forces – which, from protectionism to climate change, threaten an outsize impact on low- and middle-income economies – adds to the challenge.” The same Report says that “the origins of many of the changes sweeping the global economy can be traced to two sources: trade and technology. .....

AN ANALYSIS OF INNOVATION AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES OF LOCAL COMPANIES' DEVELOPMENT: AN EXAMPLE OF AZERBAIJAN

The role of innovation is crucial for countries and businesses to gain competitive advantage. The key to success in the competitive process is to have a culture of innovation. The purpose of this study is to identify the link between innovation and cultural diversity in company management, which is one of the most important sources of competitive advantage, and to explore the role they play in company management. In this regards, a comprehensive review of innovation, cultural diversity and organizational culture has been conducted and links are established. The study concludes that innovation and cultural diversity have a major impact on innovation in companies and services.This study seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the role of local innovation companies in the development challenges and perspectives, while providing insights into the concepts of innovation and cultural diversity. Research work can be considered as a good source for experts, researchers, and scientists working in this field.

INVENTORY CONTROL MANAGEMENT AND REVENUE GENERATING CAPABILITIES OF OIL AND GAS DRILLING FIRMS IN NIGERIA

The critical role of effective inventory control has been much emphasized in the oil and gas industry which is subdivided into upstream and downstream sectors with drilling activities falling within the upstream subsector. In light of this development, this study investigates effective inventory control and effective drilling activities of oil and gas drilling firms as well as its relationship with revenue generating capabilities of oil drilling firms in Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was adopted. Presentation and analyses of primary data collected with questionnaire and testing of the hypotheses were done using percentage and Spearman’s Rank correlation coefficient. The results from the tests with the use SPSS show positive and significant correlation between ineffective inventory management and downtime in the operations of oil and gas drilling with a correlation value of 0.682 with p-value = 0.001< 0.05 which implies that there is 68% relationship between ineffective management and downtime drilling. There is a significant correlation between incessant downtime in operations of oil and gas drilling firms and their income level owing to poorly managed inventory control with a correlation coefficient value of 0.788 with p-value = 0.000< 0.05 which implies that there is 79% relationship between income (profit) level and downtime in drilling operations. Incessant downtime in drilling operations of oil and gas firms as a result of poor inventory control management has significant difference with termination of contract of oil drilling firms with the result the F-cal value as 344.632 while F tabulated value as 3.901 leading to rejection of hull hypothesis. Based on the findings, it was the recommended that oil drilling firms should strengthen their inventory management system for effective and timely work delivery in order to avert downtime, loss of income and termination of contracts. Finally, members of staff of an oil and gas drilling firms in inventory unit should be trained and retrained on regular basis to embrace technological changes in inventory management to improve their performances which would in turn strengthen the inventory management of such firms.

E-EDUCATION IN ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT

This paper discusses the major features of e-learning systems used by higher education institutions. A short historical overview provides the necessary perspectives and introduces the subjects of distance learning and e-learning. Major system features are further analyzed and concepts of content personalization and system standardization are given as technical constructs. Elements of further possibilities are displayed at the conclusion of this paper.

The strategy of promoting and selling medicines on the Romanian market

For the purpose of writing this paper, I was motivated to choose this subject as it is a core part of the pharmaceutical companies' business strategy of promoting medicines. Regarding the importance of the research theme and the business environment, it is crucial that anyone connected to this business should realize the importance of organization, details, good deployment and impact of each event. In this respect, marketing can be seen as a true system of economic activities related to the programming of products and services that have the role of satisfying the requirements of current and potential consumers considerably, but is also linked to prices, promotion and distribution products or services. Having knowledges about how important is the marketing part of pharmaceutical market, taking in consideration the huge budgets that medical and pharmaceutical companies spend on the events organized in this domain, I consider that a company which is able to have a new approach and a new vision for the organization of events and sharing medical education to doctors and medical information to patients will have a big success.

THE ROLE OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN INCREASING SALES IN THE SERVICE SECTOR

This paper’s aim is to explain the role of customer satisfaction in service sector, especially in hotel and bank industries and the ways in which customer satisfaction can be measured and increased. Customer satisfaction is the key factor that determines the future sales of the company. This paper provides detailed information on how customer satisfaction affects and can be increased in bank and hotel industries. In order to explain it, the paper contains information about SERVQUAL Method for explaining customer expectations in five measurements such as reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles; and 5 Gaps regarding hotel industry and Service Profit Chain for bank industry. [Arlen, 2008] The study supports understanding customers, having an individual approach to each of them, keeping good relationships with them and with keeping customer satisfaction in high level increase sales.

THE INFLUCENCE OF CLOUD TECHOLOGY IN TRANSFORMING ACCOUNTING PRACTICES

Cloud is one of the most important developments in information technology in the past decade with significant consequences over the financial reporting for businesses and individuals, as well. It is considered to be indispensable to accountants in the near future and will improve the accuracy of financial information and the business strategy.The most recent developments tend to confirm that cloud computing or cloud technology in accountancy has been transformative in how accountants work on daily basis with their clients and how they communicate the fiscal information to the tax authorities.The aim of this paper is to present some particular aspects of cloud technology in accounting, and how cloud accounting platform could provide an accurate and comprehensive dataset in financial reporting.

The Financial Accountability of e-Government: The Information Transparency of Decision-making Processes in Public Organizations

Effective e-Government can contribute to the modernization of the public sector administration, and increase the efficiency in the activity of governments and national agencies facilitating the participation of citizens in the social and political life.The use of e-Government improves the electronic transactions between government agencies, companies and citizens, in order to improve the quality of the services and to increase the transparency in the public financial sector. The recent reforms in the public financial management are accelerated by new technologies and are creating the premises for a disciplined, transpired and flexible public sector administration.After a presentation of recent views from literature on some main problems of e-government and software services, the research is focused on the development of e-government and public finance administration.

THE EFFECTS OF LABOUR COSTS REDUCTION ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN ROMANIA

This article addresses the issue of changes in tax legislation in our country over the last 20 months, in view of the effect they have on the level of foreign investment. The article presents, besides the actual legislative changes and the evolution registered in this period by foreign investments, also the fiscal pressure in the field of contributions, VAT and corporate income tax. The paper presents an econometric analysis that seeks to highlight the impact of the fiscal pressure of the above mentioned taxes on the FDI level recorded in Romania between January 2017 and August 2018.

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACCOUNTING AND STATISTICS

This article highlights the connection between accounting and statistics. There is a historical connection between these quantitative methods of analysis; taking into account the fact that accounting data on property and wealth were requested in census of the great ancient civilizations. Both statistical and accounting data-setting systems provide a framework to identify, to record, to classify and summarize economic activities of entities.Starting from this point of view, we have tried to understand what kind of connection exists between accounting and statistics in the current historical stage of a conform accounting: is it a univocal relationship (accounting serves to statistics or statistics serves accounting) or is it a bi-univocal relationship of reciprocity? In order to find the answer to this question we considered necessary a theoretical approach to this issue, followed by an applied one.