Released in two languages (primarily in order to facilitate international comparability and research), the book „From crisis to competence” represents a collection of material arising from the practical experiences of the food industry in Europe. Beyond evident contributions (such as: a case collection of proactive ideas along similar lines that have emerged from market participants and institutions both in Germany and elsewhere; working material for universities with a collection of literature and a chronology based on the history of ORGAINVENT GmbH Deutschland), the book also constitutes an endorsement of our liberal civil society (the private initiative taken by the proactive lead actors of the industry as a solution during the initial phase of the crisis, and the extension of this chain of responsibility made at it’s own expense by ORGAINVENT that is making available material and sources in a way that might not be possible for other market participants), and a real offer of a common platform for dialogue to all of the partners in the market, inspiring this way further market innovations.

Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier (www.crd-aida.ro/activitiespartnership/sanabuna-2011/), is Managing Director EHI Retail Institute (former EuroHandelsinstitut), President of EuCVoT (European Competence Center for Vocational Training for Retail), President of the European Retail Academy (ERA), Chairman of the Advisory Board of EuroShop (world’s largest capital goods show in the retail sector), Member of the Board of AIDA Brussels, Member of the Astana Economic Scientists Club, Member of the Advisory Board of “Transparent Food”, Trustee of EHI Retail Institute at GLOBALG.A.P., and President of the Supervisory Board of ORGAINVENT GmbH.

Structure

Professor Dumitru Miron and Professor Levent Altinay are distinguished Members of the Editorial Board of the Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine, and of the Holistic Marketing Management Journal of the Management-Marketing School of the Romanian-American University.

As this year marks the 40th anniversary of introducing Marketing Education in Romania, we take this special opportunity to outline both, the unique historic role that the Marketing Department of the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest has played in the introduction and developing of Marketing Education in Romania, and the Contribution brought in the last eight years to recognizing Marketing as a distinct Academic Specialization, in providing a first-class Marketing Educational Environment and direct access for businesses to qualified labour, which led to a considerable impact on the Economic and Social Field.

Three years ago, Professor Ion Smedescu, Founding Rector of the Romanian-American University chose the same day as Father Staniloaie, the 5th of October (1993, namely 2008), to step on the path of eternity. Former student of the „Christian love Theologian” – Father Staniloaie, Professor Ion Smedescu often mentioned Father Staniloaie, speaking of the misterious beauty of a wonderful landscape and the necessity of the conscious sens of the ordinance, of the beauty, in order to perform a task the right way, in joyful communion.

Professor Ion Smedescu (we can see Rector Ion Smedescu next to His Beatitude Teoctist, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church on the occasion of the Consecration of the Romanian-American University Chapel, in 2007) was constantly pleading for opening the eyes for truth, the good and the beautiful in an effort to shape minds and characters, the education of intelligence being connected to finding the truth and intelligence being strongly related to moral education. He used to state that he learned from his Great Teachers that there is always the need for moderation (as a rational attitude towards pleasure), courage (as a rational attitude towards pain), justice (as respect towards the man) and  the feeling of justice, of lawfulness, education meaning first of all respect.

In Professor Ion Smedescu’s opinion,the number one priority has always represented the student-centred issue. Besides, at the Scientific Session of Romanian-American University teaching staff, a dissertation (I. Smedescu, T. Purcarea – “A Modern Approach of Teaching Marketing. Concept, Knowledge and Skills”, based on a Course Program in English: „Marketing. Concept, Knowledge and Skills. Course Program”, that Professor Smedescu worked on between March-May 2004) was presented, on May 28, 2004, Professor Ion Smedescu approached for the first time the issue of student-centred education, being convinced that it is meant to allow students to achieve educationals potential at a maximum level and access to the marketing managers class able to anticipate the changes and and use competitive advantage, integrating competences and marketing knowledge in solving specific problems.

Professor Ion Smedescu widely opened up the gates of knowledge management and innovation, always doing what he thought best and without experiencing any fear, his intuition giving birth to the Romanian – American University, a great service provided to the future generations. Professor Ion Smedescu lived with intensity, making a constant and coherent effort to transpose in the academic landscape powerful ideas specific to the „cultural architect” that is his beloved „Marketing”, advocating „intelligent growth”.

And as well all know Professor Ion Smedescu, did set himself as a standard (Link), bringing all of them renewed trust, hope and inspiration, year by year.

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Professor Bernd Hallier, PhD, is Managing Director EHI Retail Institute (former EuroHandelsinstitut ), President of EuCVoT (European Competence Center for Vocational Training for Retail), President of the European Retail Academy (ERA),  Chairman of the Advisory Board of EuroShop (world’s largest capital goods show in the retail sector), Member of the Board of AIDA Brussels, Member of the Astana Economic Scientists Club, Member of the Advisory Board of “Transparent Food” (the core relevance of transparency as a critical success factor and the need for the delivery of appropriate support by research has been emphasized in the Strategic Research Agenda/SRA of the European Technology Platform “Food for Life” from where this proposal evolved; it utilizes its links with the European-wide network of more than 30 National Technology Platforms to link up with stakeholders of the food chain including industry, consumers, research and sector representatives of different European countries),Chairman of the Board of the Orgainvent (the largest German labelling organisation in the beef sector; the purpose of Orgainvent business is the “development and coordination of identification, assurance and merchandise management systems between the agricultural industry and the food retail trade”), Trustee of EHI Retail Institute at GLOBALG.A.P (a private sector body that sets voluntary standards for the certification of production processes of agricultural products around the globe; serves as a practical manual for Good Agricultural Practice – G.A.P anywhere in the world; the work of the Board and Committees is supported by FoodPLUS GmbH, a non-profit limited company based in Cologne, Germany, fulfilling a secretariat function for GLOBALG.A.P.; financial and legal ownership and responsibility for FoodPLUS GmbH is held by the EHI Retail Institute).

Professor Bernd Hallier began many years ago a fruitful collaboration with the prestigious Professor Klaus Toepfer (former Federal German Minister for Environment,  former director of the United Nations Environment Program UNEP and initiator of the Kyoto Protocol), and with Dr. Angela Merkel (today Chancellor of the Federal Republic, and who pushed “environment” to become a high political issue during the EU-Presidency of Germany, in 2007).

The beginning of May 2011 marked the quarterly Working Session of the Executive Board and Scientific Council of Romanian Scientific Society of Management (SSMAR, www.ssmar.ase.ro/) whose works, carried out at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, were opened as usual with traditional professionalism and elegancy by its devoted President, Professor Constantin Rosca. On the occasion  of these works, the following phases of the model to analyze data from COMOR project have been validated, and specific aspects about SSMAR’s Journal of „Business & Leadership” have been discussed in order to advance the knowledge and practice of business and leadership education and nurturing the shared understanding and implementation of business and leadership skills. Some organizational problems were also discussed: changes in the composition of the Executive Board (www.ssmar.ase.ro/pdf/Organigrama%20SSMAR.pdf ); welcoming new Honorary Members of SSMAR: Professor John L. Stanton, Chair, Department of Food Marketing (the first endowed chair in food marketing in the USA), Saint Joseph’s University’s, Philadelphia (Diploma awarding ceremony was held on the 11^th  of May, 2011 at the Romanian-American University, see photo below); Professor Nancy Papalexandris, Marketing and Communication Department, Director of Master’s Program in Human Resource Management, Athens University of Economics and Business; Professor Emeritus Ion Bulborea, Romanian-American University (Diploma awarding ceremony was held on 11^th  of May, 2011 at the Romanian-American University, see photo below). The participants at the mentioned works demonstrated commitment and passion in ensuring the necessary flexible process for planning sequential adequate stages of acting according to the challenging objectives set.

The attached photo portrays the moment when Professor Bernd Hallier received the Diploma of Honorary Member of SSMAR – on behalf of the President of SSMAR, Professor Constantin Rosca – from Professor Theodor Valentin Purcarea,  Vice President of the Scientific Council of SSMAR, and Management-Marketing Chair holder of the Romanian-American University.

The second photo presents a moment from the discussions on the occasion of the working meeting (from left to right: Professor John Stanton, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, USA; Professor Theodor Valentin Purcarea; Professor Bernd Hallier).

A picture including some of the participants at the Annual Meeting 2011 of ERA can be seen at: http://www.european-retail-academy.org/

The new Honorary Member of SSMAR, Professor John Saee, is Chairperson of Global Divisions, Association of Management and International Association of Management (2002-Present), and Editor-in-Chief (2003-Present) of the International Association of Management Journal, USA (Journal of Management Systems, Association of Management’s Flagship Publication – USA ranked GLOBALLY as a 1^st tiered refereed Journal with global ranking of 6 in 2003). He is Member (2001-Present) of CNRS, France’s National Academy of Scientific Research, International conference committee member (2004-Present) – European Conference on Knowledge Management, and International conference committee member (2009-Present)  – Refereed International Conference on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management & Organizational Learning, and won an award for best research paper from Emerald Group of Publishing in the USA.

Professor John Saee has earned an international reputation for his achievements as author (more 200 publications internationally), displaying an interdisciplinary approach to research domain, and his wide-ranging research publications and interests reflect a broader consideration of business discipline, including: Corporate Strategy, Organizational Behavior, Leadership, Global Ethics, International Negotiations, Management Education, International Business, Entrepreneurship, East and West cultural studies, Foreign Direct Investment and Knowledge Management. He is a noted scholar who enjoys international recognition and serves as an editor of several major international academic journals whilst having so far been invited as a distinguished keynote speaker and chair/reviewer at major international refereed conferences.

Professor Saee has also provided managerial consultancies including executive management training to a number of institutions both in Australia and in Europe including Carrefour, the world second largest chain of Retail stores and Auchan – Europe’s second largest chain of Retail stores. He is also a Member of the Editorial Board of the Scientific Review of the Romanian Distribution Committee. In fact, Professor Saee has been (1990-Present) invited reviewer for leading journals and reviewer for refereed international conferences, held in the USA, Europe, Asia/Australia, including Harvard international conference, Academy of Management, Oxford international conference, Internationalising Entrepreneurship Education, AoM/IAoM international conference, International Conference of Federation of Business Disciplines of America, Academy of International Business, Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM), European conference on Knowledge Management, European Academy of Management. Western Academy of Management and Economic and Business Society International.

Professor John Saee received a Ph.D. from the University of Technology, Sydney, a Master of Commerce from the University of New South Wales, and a B.A. from Flinders University, South Australia. He is currently Professor of International Business, Corporate Strategy and Management as well as Academic Director – Doctoral Program at the Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship – the Faculty of Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology. His previous academic appointment at the Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship – the Faculty of Business and Enterprise included Academic Leader – International Business, European/Italian and Asian/Japanese Studies Academic Groups. Professor Saee has been invited (1990-Present) as a speaker and trainer at a number of workshops/forums and international conferences, including the UNESCO, Australian Institute of Management, Australian Tourism Training Authority and 3M Australia, Auchan and Carrefour.

In the last 20 years, Professor John Saee has held senior academic positions at University and Business Schools including France where he has until recently held the positions of Chair Professor of International Business and Strategy and Academic Director – MBA and MIB postgraduate degree programs at a leading French Grande Ecole (Elite University). Due to his senior academic appointments, Professor Saee has actively been involved in policy making decisions at the university, faculty and school levels.

Professor John Saee was also instrumental behind the globalisation of business education in Australia, Asia and Europe. As a leading senior academic at an Australian university and French elite university, he was instrumental in the design, development and launch of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs both onshore and offshore, including, Hong Kong, Malaysia and China, Scotland, Korea and France. He has delivered seminars and courses in a number of countries including Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Romania, Scotland, Germany, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Lithuania. For his outstanding contribution to research and teaching excellence as well as the promotion of international education and culture throughout the world, Professor John Saee has received an excellence award from the Romanian-American University.

Professor Jon Saee’s recent books have been used as text book and scholarly research books in numerous countries around the world:

Contemporary Corporate Strategy: Global Perspectives, Taylor & Francis Group, Routledge, August 2007 (within the context of undergoing cultural and mindset shift paradigms whilst developing corporate strategies that are increasingly attuned to the highly competitive and dynamic business realities arising from globalizing national economies around the world; over twenty research papers examining various aspects of corporate strategy in different national and international settings);

The Global Business Handbook: The Eight Dimensions of International Management, Gower Pub Co, Feb 18 2009, co-author (based on the structure of the very successful IESEG International School of Management’s programme on international management; considering cultural, social, geographic and legal factors in doing business across borders, by thinking globaly and acting localy);

Managerial Competence Within the Tourism and Hospitality Service, Taylor & Francis Group, Routledge, 1 edition, Oct 17 2006 (examining the cross-cultural implications of planning: workplace communication, recruitment/promotion, induction, training, supervision, industrial relations, management of change, customer service, financial management and marketing; an excellent balance of theory and practical application, taking an innovative angle on the analysis of the host countries managers, undergoing culture shock);

Managing Organizations in a Global Economy: An Intercultural Perspective, Thomson South-Western, Feb 10 2004 (providing the latest conceptual tools and practical applications on the aspects of cross-cultural management, while recognizing the growing importance of cultural diversity in most modern organizations around the world, in terms of clientele, human resources, and ownership, this text provides the latest conceptual tools and practical applications on the aspects of cross-cultural management; examining many of management’s most vital topics including globalization, worldviews, managerial communication, organizational culture, leadership, motivation, negotiation, conflict, and ethics while also emphasizing the cross-cultural dimensions important in managerial success).

A new book of Professor John Saee – „China and the Global Economy in the 21^st Century, Routledge-Taylor and Francis Group of Publishing” – is to be published in the USA, UK and Canada simultaneously. Othervise, Professor John Saee has been (2008-2009) invited member of the Selection Committee for review of manuscripts for presentation plus Chair of the China’s competitiveness main track at Harvard International Conference, venue Harvard University, Boston, USA.

Professor John Saee has held membership of the following academic and professional associations:

• Associate Fellow – Australian Institute of Management (AFAIM) Member – European Academy of Management Member – European Knowledge Management Association Member – Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management Member – Academy of International Business

• Member- Business and Economic Society International Member – Association of Management/International Association of Management Member – Federation of Business Disciplines – USA Member – International Management Development Association Member – SW Academy of International Business.

Professor John Saee has also been acknowledged in other ways such as:

• Invited as the distinguished keynote speaker at a major refereed 5^th International Scientific Conference on Business and Management in Vilnius (2008);

• Invited as the distinguished keynote speaker at a major refereed international conference on Business and Management 2006 held in Lithuania in October 2006 and my speech which I delivered was titled: Integration of Eastern and Central European Economies in Transition into Contemporary Global Economy (2006);

• Invited as the Stream Chair – International Management, at the Australian and New Zealand Academy (ANZAM) international conference (2006);

• Member of the International Scientific Committee of the refereed International Scientific Conference on Business and Management (2005-Present);

• Outstanding Award for his paper from the prestigious international conference, namely, Business and Economic Society International – USA held in Island of Rhodes – Greece (2004).

It is worth mentioning the link between some key words highlighted by Professor John Saee, as Editor- in- Chief, Journal of Management Systems, USA, such as Entrepreneurs, Ethics, Moral philosophy, Globalisation (in 2009, while approaching ethical challenges confronting entrepreneurs within contemporary global economy – in search of a new world ethics), Lisbon Agenda, R&D expenditures, institutions (in 2010, while approaching the link between public policies for R&D and the R&D performances, at national level, in EU-27) and, his pledge some years ago for developing a theoretical framework concerning the use of internal marketing as a vehicle for the successful implementation of quality management.

Today, at the very beginnig of 2011, under the pressure of generating new knowledge in the actual economic climate of uncertainty,  SSMAR is happy - paraphrasing Henry Ford - to salute the beginning of coming together of Professor John Saee, and to express the conviction of the progress of keeping together and of the success of working together.

SSMAR has assumed an important role in a responsible way, continuing to significantly contribute to the proper understanding of the manager’s personal development  in the context of the interaction between the managerial culture, the workplace culture and the surrounding culture (along with an accelerated evolution related to the continuous pressure to develop strategies and embrace management practices able to ensure organizational effectiveness).
The debates have emphasized, among other aspects, the importance of the quality of team relations, as well as the quality of the network in initiating partnerships, along with establishing a fluid and flexible process for planning sequential stages, of a supportive organizational culture, developing a high research potential via learning experiences based on projects and workshops conducted by excellent managers who aim high but at the same time pay a lot of attention to details.

As a conclusion, the participants’ demonstrated committment actually confirming  Peter Drucker’s words, namely:  Unless „commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.” SSMAR has set up rigurous plans and carries them out step by step.