Romanian Distribution Committe Magazine issue 2 by Beyond Conventional Advertising

Content Index Theodor Valentin Purcărea – Editorial: Being under the pressure, let’s return to knowledge for understanding and assuming the integrative thinking management style

Maria Negreponti-Delivanis - Differences between a normal and a great crisis. A comparison between the one in 1929 and the current one in 2007 (this text is a part of the Introduction of the author’s last book entitled “The lethal crisis”)

Mitsuhiko Iyoda - Global Economic System and Domestic Policy

Riccardo Beltramo - The SCATOL8™: an innovation for shifting from Environmental and Landscape Management System (ELMS) to the Eco-Land-Web-Scape Management System (ELWSMS)

Hélène Nikolopoulou - La praxis de responsabilite comme management d’action-rupture-apprentissage, gouvernance democratique et performance des entreprises

Victor GREU - The information society today and tomorrow – the market, services/products, technologies and standards of communications and IT (CiT)

Stefano Duglio - EN 16001: the Energy Management System. The Italian situation after the first year of its implementation

George Cosmin Tănase, “Trading Area Analysis and the importance of location to Retail Companies”

Irina Stefania Toader - Customer preference for a Romanian Software Company over local competitors on the basis of the economic crisis

Nicolaie Mihaiescu - Friends or false friends

Andreea-Silvia Chițu - Reducing waste. Passive houses

Article Reference Page

EDITORIAL

BOARD

Ion Ababii, Chişinău Nicolae Albu, Brasov Levent Altinay, Oxford UK Kathleen Andrews, Colorado Springs Dan Barbilian, Bucharest Riccardo Beltramo, Turin Richard Beresford, Oxford Uk Dumitru Borţun, Bucharest Leonardo Borsacchi, Turin Mihail Cernavca, Chişinău Ioana Chiţu, Brasov Doiniţa Ciocîrlan, Bucharest Tudorel Ciurea, Craiova Alexandru Vlad Ciurea, Bucharest Maria Negreponti-Delivanis, Thessaloniki Jean-Sébastien Desjonqueres, Colmar Aurel Dobre, Călăraşi Mariana Drăguşin, Bucharest Ovidiu Folcuţ, Bucharest Luigi Frati, Roma, Italy Victor Greu, Bucharest Bernd Hallier, Köln

Sang-Lin Han, Seoul Aurel Iancu, Bucharest Mitsuhiko Iyoda, Osaka Mohamed Latib, Gwynedd Dong II Lee, Seoul Min-Sang Lee, Gyeonggi-Do Claude Magnan, Paris Radu Titus Marinescu, Bucharest James K. McCollum, Huntsville Nicolae Mihăiescu, Bucharest Dumitru Miron, Bucharest Dan Mischianu, Bucharest John Murray, Dublin Hélène Nikolopoulou, Lille Gheorghe Orzan, Bucharest Rodica Pamfilie, Bucharest Iulian Patriche, Bucharest Carmen Păunescu, Bucharest Mircea Penescu, Bucharest Virgil Popa, Targoviste Ana-Maria Preda, Bucharest Cristinel Radu, Călăraşi Florinel Radu, Fribourg Constantin Roşca, Craiova

Scientific Council

Young Editorial Board members

Editorial Board

Vlad Barbu, Bucharest Gabriel Brătucu, Brasov Ion Bulborea, Bucharest Mircea Buruian, Targu Mures Iacob Cătoiu, Bucharest Jean Constantinescu, Bucharest Beniamin Cotigaru, Bucharest Radu Diaconescu, Iasi Valeriu Dulgheru, Chişinău Constantin Floricel, Bucharest Valeriu Ioan-Franc, Bucharest Gheorghe Ionescu, Timisoara Christophe Magnan, Montréal Pompiliu Manea, Cluj Andrei Moldovan, Bucharest Dafin Fior Muresan, Cluj Neculae Năbârjoiu, Bucharest Constantin Oprean, Sibiu

Adalbert Lucian Banyai, Bucharest Dumitru Patriche, Bucharest George Bobîrnac, Bucharest Stefano Duglio, Turin Florian Popa, Bucharest Marinela Hostiuc, Bucharest Dumitru Tudorache, BucharestDarius Ilincaş, London Adrian Lală, Bucharest Ion Smedescu, Bucharest Victor Părăuşanu, Bucharest Irina Purcărea, Bucharest Dan Smedescu, Bucharest Constantin C. Stanciu, New York George Cosmin Tănase, Bucharest Oana Patricia Zaharia, Bucharest

Reviewers

Alexandru Ionescu, Romanian-American University Adriana Bîrcă, “George Bariţiu” University Brasov Nelu Florea, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University Iasi Alexandru Ilie, Romanian American University Ana Ispas, Transilvania University Brasov Irena Jindrichowska, University of Economics and Management in Prague Costel Iliuţă Negricea, Romanian-American University Adina Negruşa, “Babes-Boyay” University Cluj-Napoca Anca Purcărea, Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Monica Paula Raţiu, Romanian-American University Gabriela L. Sabau, Memorial University, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Andreea Săseanu, Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest

Analisa Romani,Turin James Rowell, Buckingham John Saee, Virginia Beach VA Cătălin Sfrija, Bucharest Adrian Socol, Strasbourg Eliot Sorel, Washington D.C. Mihaela-Luminița Staicu, Bucharest John L. Stanton, Jr., Philadelphia Peter Starchon, Bratislava Felicia Stăncioiu, Bucharest Marcin Waldemar Staniewski, Warsaw Vasile Stănescu, Bucharest Filimon Stremţan, Alba-Iulia David Stucki, Fribourg Kamil Pícha, Ceske Budejovice Laurenţiu Tăchiciu, Bucharest Emil Toescu, Birmingham Eva Waginger, Wien Léon F. Wegnez, Brussels Răzvan Zaharia, Bucharest Gheorghe Zaman, Bucharest Dana Zadrazilova, Prague Sinisa Zaric, Belgrade

Editor-in-Chief

Theodor Valentin Purcărea

Executive Editor Victor Lorin Purcărea

Assistant Editors Dodu Gheorghe Petrescu Cătălina Poiană Raluca Gheorghe

Publishing Editors Petruţ Radu Ovidiu Călin

Art Designer Director: Alexandru Andrei Bejan Editorial Office P.O. Box 35-59, 35 Bucharest, România E-mail: office@crd-aida.ro, crd.rcdaida@yahoo.com Website: www.distribution-magazine.ro/, www.distribution-magazine.eu/ Copyright © 2010 Romanian Distribution Committee, Bucharest, Romania Printed at “Carol Davila” University Press, 8 Eroilor Sanitari Blvd., 050474 Bucharest, Romania Tel/Fax: +40 21 318 07 59

Editorial: Being under the pressure, let’s return to knowledge for understanding and assuming the integrative thinking management style

Dear Readers, There have been talks for a long period of time about the necessity of returning to knowledge for understanding, refusing the position of mere spectators to “failures”, consulting and capitalizing on the tradition for wisdom of humankind, enhancing the human quality and assuming the real challenges of the time that has passed. As we are all consumers (the economy depends on our unlimited capacity to consume, being able to rationally choose – which does not necessarily mean that we also do choose rationally – between alternatives depending on the resources), we should all understand, for example, the real impact on the consumer welfare that fair competition has which allows the markets to properly allocate resources (equitable allocation, not just allocational efficiency), valuing alternative ways to educate, well articulated concerning both welfare and participation and the ability to work with other people sharing a similar vision. The year 2009 acknowledged the fact that due to the economic crisis, in general, expenses decrease and the concerns about the financial future increase, certain consumer habits change, and in some cases it is paid more for new desires and priorities, facing the paradox that in difficult times many pay for new considerations about the lifestyle.

In April 2009 we signaled that in the mid-eighties somebody born on our land (Anghel Rugina, who I had the pleasure and honor to meet in 1990), drew attention, among other things, on: the urgent necessity for structural reforms consistent with the general stable equilibrium almost anywhere in the world (the new message of the third revolution in the social economy, considered a better and more accurate replacement of the usual evasive formula of “adequate or suitable social policies”), arguing that we don’t need an open revolution (considered destructive in human terms, non-solving “per se” no social problem), neither the perpetuation of the modern capitalism “status quo” (productive from the economic point of view; destructive, in social terms on the long term) and as to a social economist he is required first of all a critical but fair examination of the actual problems related to existing regime in any country in order to develop a set of objectives actives from the scientific point of view (social virtues) and responsibilities (social troubles). Ten years later, in 1996, the following observation was made that in order to capture the relations of elaborating the policies a framework is needed that will incorporate as many actors as possible involved in the political process, as well as context elements which influences it (interfering, therefore, the political subsystem as a core concept; political subsystems being defined as forums where state and societal actors directly and indirectly involved in the political process come together and interact, political actors distinguishing themselves as their interests are based on material or knowledge – based aspects ). We cannot be consumers informed of knowledge without reflecting upon this knowledge (explicit or tacit), developing critical thinking (reasoning used in developing arguments, productive practicies, appreciation and understanding of the impact on current life etc.), understanding the communication of new knowledge which makes the world permanently transforming. Human interaction, instantaneous or delayed, is the one that makes a better sharing, developemnt and evaluation of knowledge possible. On the other hand, the knowledge transfer also involves learning how it will be obtained and used, also questioning the issue of a „learning curve” of knowledge transfer. In 2005, as you can see on the Romanian Distribution Committee Website, we were pledging for interdisciplinary and inter-institutional researches aiming at a viable enterprise that takes into consideration the fundamental values of sustainable development (the landmarks were the following: the imperative of future design; to keep up with the time of reconstruction, calling for miscellaneous cooperation networks; strengthening the competitive analysis and privileging strategic behavior; scientific research and the new partnership; challenging tomorrow: establishing public-private-citizen partnerships; rethinking the enterprise; a practical approach consisting of testing an innovative partnership; widening the constructive debate; building in terms of knowledge, experiences and interests of the citizens, communities and civil society). Truly concerned with carrying out certain coherent initiatives of building a new partnership, we have even launched the question: But do we really have – in this world that is more and more interconnected – time to think regarding the changes in the consciousness, seeking to understand our fields of expertise and to see “the whole problem”? Because it becomes more and more obvious that our exit from “perplexity” is possible only by working together. As it is well known, it is argued that on the way towards a participatory universe, it must be understood that a plan for the organization should not only be projected and imposed, but it must be allowed to evolve along with the whole team, with everyone who is engaged in collaborating, which involves changing towards a spiritual universe, a way to accomplish change being through cultivating intuition and the consciousness of this intuition.

It is considered that a social system, such as the organization, can be compared with an ecosystem. At the moment, this system is more besieged than ever. How clear it is for us that, provided that “the goal is a strong motivator at many levels” , the results being generated by the equilibrium between “know-how” (applying proper management, knowing that information about successes is much more useful than that about failures ) and “know-why”, we must learn to navigate through the multitude of definitions of the “why”, trying to identify a „strong sense”? What it is truly good and what it is truly bad and if we can hope for a „strategic intuition” in what concerns how and why build the road (while walking on the road) towards what is truly good in relation to the quality of the life of the organization and humankind? Being under the pressure of adequate shaping the organization’s future in this challenging era of choice, complexity, and change, in order to improve the effectiveness of marketing strategies that guide channel selection we need effectively consume, organize, and help make sense of data, using the technology to help create „outside-the-box strategies” and „forward re-thinking”. At the core of business success is customer experience, knowledge being the essence of every positive customer experience and to deliver an exceptional customer experience we have to put knowledge in the hands of our customers and our frontline employees. Today the organization can become more competitive by using new tools (putted together as integrated suites to help advance teamwork and interaction between employers, employees and customers) in order to capture corporate intelligence and to build communities around areas of expertise, facilitating this way faster information sharing (the right information being found quickly). There are talks that managing through actual tough times, facing a complex financial and economic crisis, pressuposes a different approach implying a kind of collective leadership, with a greater personal and professional degree of balance and highly informed inside and outside the organization no matter the geographic locations. The customer becomes more and more competent, wishes realtime solutions, and in order for his needs to be well understood quality information is needed to suit the specific context, considering uncertainty, but adequately managing the probability to capitalize on the opportunity to satisfy him and transforming him in a team member, team which offers the customer the desired solutions or even those he did not think about but he accepts instantly once they are offered by the business supply mechanism which exists precisely to serve the customer. Let’s assume the management style of integrative thinking recommended by the visionary Roger Martin. Theodor Valentin Purcărea

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A NORMAL AND A GREAT CRISIS* ( a comparison between the one in 1929 and the current one in 2007)

Abstract: The crises witnessed by capitalistic

economies may be distinguished into two categories, according to the intensity, the duration and the extent of the disasters caused by them. In what concerns the first category, the normal or current crisis, it is referred to the cyclical fluctuations which are an inherent characteristic of capitalism, fluctuations of private initiative determined by the degree of confidence investors have in the future, that determine, in turn, the intensity of economic activity. It is here that we find the undue excitement and over optimism on the part of investors who are willing to undertake extreme risks, because they tend to overrate future returns on their investments. The current crisis we are facing belongs to the category of great ones and is the second one witnessed by mankind in the last eighty years. The artcle also presents several similarities between the current crisis and the 1929 crisis, such as the moral crisis (characterized by extreme individualism, the pursuit of maximum profit and greed), sky-high remunerations of the golden boys- the managers and bosses of the financial sector â&#x20AC;&#x201C; then and now, or the shift towards right or extreme right wing parties, in both cases.

Key words: current crisis, great crisis, capitalistic economies, the 1929 crisis, duplicated sufferance

a)Normal or current crisis Cyclical fluctuations are an inherent and therefore natural characteristic of capitalism. They are mainly due to the nature of investment expenditure which is volatile, unpredictable and not easily affected by relevant economic policy measures. This volatility is due to the factors determining investment decisions. In capitalistic economies the latter are taken individually by entrepreneurs trying to minimize the danger related to them. This is the reason why before embarking on a new investment, entrepreneurs attempt to predict the demand and prices related to their products, the interest rate , the wage level, the tax rates, the stability of the economy in which they operate. Before any investment decision, there is an attempt to predict future indicators which on one hand determine the cost of the investment and on the other hand its return. The result of comparing the cost and return of an investment leads to the marginal capital return and only if the latter is considered to be satisfactory will the entrepreneur decide to undertake the investment. However, the perception of entrepreneurs

1 Which should be expected to be lower than investment rate of return 2 This is the expected return of an investment. It should be at least equal to the corresponding interest rate. 3 The demand for consumption, the general price level, entrepreneurial profit, workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; remuneration and investment.

concerning the extent of possible dangers and the expected profit related to a specific investment is rarely based on objective criteria. The reason is that the psychological state of investors is subject to often unfounded enthusiasms and unjustifiable disappointments which lead to constant pitches in economic activity. The economy always finds itself on either an upward or downward phase of an imaginary cycle but its activity never follows a straight line. In the upward phase, all the main economic indicators follow an upward path while, during the downward phase a corresponding downward one. Attempting to interpret these fluctuations resulted in the emergence of numerous theories. The prevailing theory however, is the one formulated by J. M. Keynes in his General Theory on Employment, Interest and Money which focuses on investorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; expectations as to the return on their investments. According to this theory, shifts in economic activity originate in shifts in the psychological state of investors who are inordinately affected by optimistic as well as pessimistic perspectives. In any case, the true causes as to when and why the economy passes from the upward to the downward phase of the cycle are rather unclear, especially in the case of really acute crises.

The advent of the crisis is laid out by behaviors during the last stages of the upward phase. These stages are characterized by undue excitement and over optimism on the part of investors who are willing to undertake extreme risks, because they tend to overrate future returns on their investments. As a consequence, they refuse to take into account the unsettling signals already emitted by the economy, more specifically referring to an overabundance of mainly production goods, an increasing rate of production expenditure and an increasing interest rate. Overabundance is the result of overinvestment in previous years, combined with a relative satiation of needs, increasing production expenditure is due to the fact that the economy is approaching or has already achieved full employment, while an increasing interest rate reflects a rising demand for money, as well as the speculative trends inherent in the upward phase. Predicaments are accentuated because a drop in investment goes hand by hand with a restriction of consumption and a decrease in the general price level. In turn, decreasing total demand leads to increasing underemployment and unemployment. Pessimistic forecasts as to marginal capital return are enhanced and lead the economy into the downward phase of the cycle which comprises cri-

sis and depression. All main economic indicators follow a downhill trend during this phase . Fear, disappointment and insecurity concerning the future discourage risk taking, which goes hand by hand with any investment and minimize or even eliminate marginal capital return. This is followed by a sudden acute preference of individuals for liquidity. The significant increase of the demand for money raises its price, that is the interest level, and at the same time leads to a further decrease of marginal capital return. The cycle begins once more when, approaching the end of the downward phase, optimistic expectations are gradually restored again, enhancing marginal capital return under the impact of the exhaustion of stocks, increasing price level, increasing entrepreneurial profit and increasing workers’ remuneration. The economy now enters the upward phase of the cycle. In capitalism therefore, fluctuations of private initiative which are determined by the degree of confidence investors have in the future, determine in turn the intensity of economic activity. Exactly because the existence or nonexistence of confidence depends to a large extent on volatile factors, monetary and fiscal policy measures aiming at having an impact on it, stumble on serious

and sometimes insurmountable difficulties. In spite of the unfortunate effects of the downward phase of the cycle on the quality of life of individuals, the latter is nonetheless viewed as an unavoidable and therefore expected phenomenon. Its advent does not have truly disastrous consequences and in case implies no institutional changes.

Maria Negreponti-Delivanis

See John Kenneth Galbraith (2000), The Great Crash of 1929, (in Greek), chapter 9, Nea Sinora –A. Livanis. Extracts from the similarities between the two murderous crises have already been included in the following articles published by the author : - “Criminal new liberalism and the current crisis”, Komotini Paratiritis, 18/10/2008 (in greek). - “Criminal new liberalism and the current crisis”, Politiki Enimerosi, October 2008(in greek). –Du liberalism au neoliberalisme en matiere economique”, Conference aux etudiants de l’ Universite “Valahia” de Targoviste, dans le cadre de la premiere rencontre du Club des DHC, Targoviste, Octobre 2008, pp. 1-19(in French). Similarities between the current crisis and the great crisis of 1929-1933 have also been noted by Jaques Attali in the case of France, since 2007. Relevant comparisons between the current crisis and the great crisis of 1929-1933 mainly focus on an effort to predict the extent of its consequences, while lacking entirely, in my opinion, of an analysis of its causes, while there lies all interest as to their similarities. With all reservations imposed by comparing the consequences of these two systems or ragbags which may be justified by the numerous ambiguities related to any attempt at defining and specifying the meaning of new liberalism.

b) Great crisis This is by no means the case of crises which could be characterized as great. The current crisis definitely belongs to the category of great ones and is the second one witnessed by mankind in the last eighty years. Exactly because these –for the time being - rare crises are different in many aspects from the cyclical or current ones, their interpretation requires the addition of extraordinary causes to the well known ones which are responsible for the cyclical or current ones. The need for such an interpretation necessarily takes us back to the great depression of 1929-1933, as long as it was the only painful experience of such a great crisis until 2007. Its consequences which persisted up to the end of World War II were altogether tragic. It is enough to mention that the 1933 GDP was by one third lower than the corresponding one of 1929, one out of four workers, or in other words, 25% of the US labor force was unemployed, many people witnessed famine or were afraid that they might . The most problematic phase of the economic cycle which is there to stay, in the case of the great crises, is depression. Apart from its long duration which, in the 1929-1933 crisis is estimated at approximately ten years, we should also stress that economic science possesses of no satisfactory answers either as to the causes responsible for it or as to the measures necessary to deal with it. However, the eventual simultaneous existence of depression and disinflation, or in other words the long term downhill trend of the general price level, could interpret a large part of its consequences. 1.Similarities between the two great crises It is too soon to arrive at fool-proof conclusions concerning the crisis we are witnessing. Relevant estimations which mainly concern its consequences , present it as being just as disastrous as its predecessor by eighty years, while as time goes by, there are increasing predictions that it might result in even more tragic consequences. Among the analysts of the present crisis, some

support that there are no similarities with the 1929-1933 one, while others insist on the existence of such. On my part, and as already mentioned above, I believe that the similarities between these two murderous crises are become absolutely clear if related to the system prevailing in both cases before their emergence, known either as laissez-faire, laissez passer, or as new liberalism . There are obviously important differences between them, which is to be expected if one takes into account the time span between the two, as well as the radical changes which occurred within the general socio-economic and technical environment during this time period. Most important however are their impressive similarities, revealed in the analysis of the socioeconomic circumstances prevailing before the eruption of the two murderous crises, in 1929 and 2007 accordingly. I believe that this similarity is what can support a causality hypothesis between these two factors, namely the socioeconomic environment and the emergence of crises whose intensity surpasses the limits of cyclical fluctuations. This is why I shall proceed to summarize within the frame of the present introduction certain similarities between these two great crises, which I believe to be significant. A system very similar to what is known as new liberalism nowadays was adopted in the 19th century and its consequences, as summarized by the analysts of the time, were as disastrous as those witnessed today by mankind, picking up in intensity since the mid ‘80s .The main idea is the glorification of profit, irrespectively of the methods by which it is pursued, the effort to minimize wages and dissociate them from labor productivity, the enmity towards state intervention in the economy, the encouragement of extreme individualism which intensifies corruption, the degrading and gradual abolition of the rights of workers, the progressive social pauperization and exclusion of a growing social group from the fruits of progress, the elimination of the middle class, the large scale employment of children under 8 years, the all the more frequent and intense eruption of all kinds

8 See J. Marshal (1957), Cours d’ Economie Politique, 3eme edition, chapter III, éditions Genin, Paris. 9 Ibidem, p. 104 10 Le Capitalisme, p. 105 11 See F. Norris (2009), “In finance, wages are due for a fall”, International Herald Tribune, 23/1. 12 See F. Hayek (1939), Profits, Interests and Investment and other essays on the theory of industrial fluctuations, Routledge and Paul Kegan: London. 13 See Milton and Rose Friedman (1980), Free to Choose, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

of crises. The source of all these crises however, is the abolition of all market regulations and the toleration of unrestrained speculation worldwide.In the beginning of the 19th century, pauperization of the working class had reached a climax and was solely due to extreme new liberalism prevailing then, as well as now. The following description of that era could very well refer to today. In short, the prevailing conditions could be described as follows:“Competition among entrepreneurs in the market of goods does not allow the improvement of wages. There is also competition in the labor market, where workers address entrepreneurs individually and with no organization. The working class is paying the price of the competition on which the system is based” . But the pursuit of profit in any way and with any sacrifice in the 19th century – as well as in the 20th and 21th century – degrades morality and all fundamental values of life. This moral crisis which is kindled by extreme individualism, the pursuit of maximum profit and greed, was described in reference to that period – but could very well refer to the present day- by the well known economist Francois Perroux, as follows : “When the civil servant, the soldier, the judge, the priest, the artist, the intellectual is possessed by this spirit – to become rich, to pursue maximum profit -, society crumbles and the economy as a whole is threatened”. Another impressive similarity between the current crisis and the great crisis of 1929, consists of the sky-high remunerations of the golden boys- the managers and bosses of the financial sector – then and now. There is a lot of discussion on these, mainly because of the anger expressed by the public which correctly believes that they are largely responsible for the crisis. These remunerations were extremely high around 1929 and then again from the mid ‘90s to 2006 . The common justification is that investments – or rather speculation- realized in the financial field present high risks due to innovations whose consequences are still uncertain, so that high remuneration is necessary for those

undertaking such extreme risks. Still another similarity worth mentioning between the 1929 crisis and the current one, is the shift towards right or extreme right wing parties, in both cases. The regrettable consequences of enforcing in the 19th century the system which we are suffering again since the ‘80s, caused severe reactions which paved the way for its transformation. Such a transformation is certainly the emergence of an ideology which was exactly the opposite of that advanced by the classical A. Smith, in the face of K. Marx’s Capital, in 1867 as well as J.M. Keynes’ General Theory in 1936. As we know, J.M. Keynes introduces state intervention in the economy, in an attempt to save the capitalistic system which seemed unable to continue operating as before due to its exaggerations. Thus, extreme liberalism whose adoption is considered to be the cause behind the great depression of 1929-1933, as well as World War II, was abandoned after the war, in favor of a mixed system. The latter is still based on individual initiative but is complemented and regulated by state intervention. Thanks to this co-action of individual initiative and the state, Europe – and not onlywitnessed the highest growth rates in its history, combined with more equitable income distribution and greater social cohesion. This period also allowed for the development of the welfare state. During the same time, Europe managed to create its own unique form of capitalism, known as capitalism with a human face, for which it justifiably was extremely proud. The 20th century consolidates the rights of workers, in the aim of reinforcing as much as possible, the worker’s side in labor market negotiations, as long as lacking such support, the worker is at a disadvantage and can very easily become the prey of employers, thus paving the way for all kinds of exploitation. This is how social Europe was born.While all of the above was taking place on the international scene, new liberalists were impatiently waiting for opportunities through which they could

once more impose their fanatical ideologies on mankind. And these opportunities did come, they were plenty, mutually complementary and complex.Indeed, this reversal of mankind through the adoption of an archaic scheme, was significantly aided by the advance of globalization, which was initially imposed by the US and was then extended to the whole world. Globalization was established together with the new stage of capitalistic evolution, namely the stage of new technologies or information technology or services or the immaterial stage of development. The beginning of this new development stage coincided with the collapse of the socialist system. The familiar, to economists, ideas of Friedrich Hayek and nobelist Milton Friedman , true proponent of the first, on the advantages of the free market, embarked on a persistent confrontation to the Keynesian views of the interventionist state, but with a tendency towards exaggeration. For the purest new liberalists, the core of their ideology is not so much the imposition of free international trade or the need to balance all accounts both internal and external, or even the belief in the unfailing invisible hand of the market. On the contrary, the core of the fanatical new liberalist outlook consists of an intense hate towards the state. Thus, the primary objective of new liberalists, who accept with insufficient evidence and no exceptions the absolute supremacy and ex ante greater efficiency of the private sector consists of the minimization, deactivation and neutralization of the role of the state in the economy.However, there never has been and there never will be a neutral state, because the state has always played an important role in the economy. The problem is to be found elsewhere, namely as to whether interventionist state policy benefits those who are in need or, on the contrary, the apparent inaction of the state is detrimental to them. Neutrality, that is nonintervention of the state, has indeed proven to be the strongest political alibi in the aim of favoring the powerful and pauperizing the needy. The disastrous consequences of new liberalism in all sectors of the economy and all

14 On the debate between private and public firms see M. Negreponti-Delivanis, Private and Public Firms, Sakkoulas, Thessaloniki, 1993 (in greek). 15 “The curious capitalist- Justin Fox”, Time, 22/12/2008 *This text is a part of the Introduction of the author’s last book entitled The lethal crisis (in greek

aspects of society, as well as the absolute withdrawal of all moral values, led to its breakdown as in 2007, the world economy entered the second murderous crisis in its history. Back in 1929 as in 2007, the realization of the emergence of this second great economic crisis rapidly leads to a countdown, in the specific form of: • A race for nationalizations , • An invasion of state intervention in the economy through large public projects, • Announcement of strict regulation of the banking sector, • Massive takeovers and nationalization of banks, • Recourse to uncontrollable public deficits, • Reversal to protectionist measures. Thus, in the Davos summit of 2009, occured something which would appear unbelievable a few months before. There is talk of state capitalism. This full scale reversal betrays a shortcoming of economic policy which seems unable to follow the golden mean but on the contrary, especially in turbulent times has the tendency of violently shifting from one extremity, which could be characterized as predatory capitalism to another which among others is currently state capitalism. It goes without saying that the characteristics of state capitalism containing significant elements of exaggeration and panic, do not portray in any sense the views of J.M Keynes who was definitely a proponent of a rapport, cooperation and interrelation between the public and the private sector. To sum up the similarities between the two most important crises in history, the 1929 one and the 2007 one, I consider extremely interesting the answers given to the following question within the frame of a CNN research project in the USA: “Do you believe that the sufferance of 1929 could be duplicated?” – after the conditions then prevailing had been described. About 60% of those asked gave a positive answer!

There is no common domestic solution toward a global crisis. World economy is interlocked each other, however, each country has its own culture, and its economic structure and system are not always the same. Spending plans were not always effective. In an effort to stimulate the economy after the bubble burst in 1990, the Japanese government introduced nine comprehensive and emergency fiscal packages one after another during the period 19922000. The package totals amounted to 122 trillion yen (yen-dollar rate of the period average, 112.9 yen). During the period, economy stagnated and the government mostly financed the budget deficit by issuing bonds. Various causes have been raised in explaining the prolonged Japanese stagnation, however, in my opinion; the following two might be the most important causes . First, many economists and the policy authorities failed to recognize the seriousness of stock adjustment. Many Japanese believed that the real estate prices would always appreciate except perhaps for a short period. But land price continued to decline. As a result, NPLs (nonperforming loans) were increasing until the 2001 fiscal year. The NPL ratio of total credit registered a peak of 8.6 percent at the end of Iyoda, M. (2010). Postwar Japanese Economy: Lessons of Economic Growth and the Bubble Economy, New York: Springer. (See chap. 8, sec.3).

March 2002. Mr. Koizumi took the office in 2001 and his administration tried to resolve the NPL of the banking sector at first. Second, the other possible explanation for the prolonged stagnation is Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s poor adjustment to worldwide globalization. Worldwide globalization connected with information technology demanded changes in the Japanese Labor-Management relationship (life time employment and seniority wage system) and in business strategies (restructuring). Those changes had been needed for a long time. In addition, it was fundamentally difficult for the Japanese government to depart from conventional policies to take on socioeconomic reforms (industries and companies with vested interests developed powerful connection with politicians).

Facing the financial crisis or its effect in 2008,

many countries adopted aggressive fiscal stimulus measures. Among others, growing country, China, used huge spending plans (primarily for the infrastructure, 4 trillion renminbi), which was effective to boost up the economy. After that, some countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom started to take a strong austerity policy to gain the primary balance (keeping the public finance balance excluding interest payments and debt redemption) in 2010. Other countries more or less continued to adopt spending plans. In any case, the worst-off people should be protected by the safety net. In this respect, the author basically shares Rawls’ difference principle . The principle states that social and economic equalities are arranged so that they are to be the greatest benefit to the least-advantaged members of society. We live in an uncertain world and everyone has a possibility to become worse off. The government should give a strong signal and obtain trust among the nation in which people behave. Otherwise an intended effect of the policy will not be achieved by weak expectations. The strong policy stance of the government is important. Global economic system based on market capitalism brings economic instability through international trade and the change of exchange rate under the float. The exchange rate is apt to overreact. Therefore, the public finance policy must consider this situation. Domestic conditions (culture, economic structure and system) vary from country to country. The country that has institutional weaknesses is apt to be involved in greater economic fluctuations. As Soros (1998) mentions “One thing is certain: financial markets are inherently unstable; they need supervision and regulation” (p. 194) . He also recognizes that we do not have a global social system as a countervailing power towards the influence of global economic system. One of the ways to avoid a serious international

effect will be to take controls on the exchange rate and capital transactions one way or another. But this will prevent the development of world economy, being not applicable in principle. Readers of the group of 20 at the Seoul Summit (November 2010) issued the statement, expressing their commitment to “enhancing exchange rate flexibility and refraining from competitive devaluation of the exchange rate.” The country should not try to recover the economy by means of devaluation of exchange rate. Beggar-my-neighbor policy is an example of a fallacy of composition . What we can do for the time being is worldwide cooperation, despite of the difficulty to obtain the cooperation. Various international organizations such as the IMF, WTO, World Bank and OECD have played an important role in the development and the stability of world economy. Further roles are expected, particularly from the IMF. Local monetary cooperation would be also useful such as Chieng-Mai initiative . FRB chairman, Ben Bernanke recently stressed on a structural defect in the International Monetary System; that is a mixture of two types of countries regarding the exchange rate (fixed or less flexible and float) and capital transactions (free and controlled). As an alternative means, he proposed to introduce “an efficient inspection system of countries with current balance surplus” (November 2010). On the other hand, Chairman Jintao Hu of China suggested reforming the system of key currency, dollar, perhaps introducing a common currency such as SDR (Special Drawing Right) of IMF .

Rawls, J. (1971; revised 1999). A Theory of Justice, Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. (See chaps. 2 and 5). Soros, G. (1998). The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Engendered. New York: Public Affairs. (See chap. 8). Beggar-my-neighbor policy is a course of action that is entered into by a country unilaterally in pursuit of its own self interest in international trade even though this might adversely affect the position of other countries. (quoted from Collins dictionary of Economics) Fallacy of composition is an error in economic thinking that often arises when it is assumed that what holds true for an individual or part must also hold true for a group or whole. (quoted from Collins dictionary of Economics) The Chieng-Mai initiative is an agreement by the Ministers of Finance of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), Japan, China, and Korea in May 2005 that calls for the steady cooperation through swap agreements between two countries. (See Iyoda, 2010, p. 138). SDR is a monetary asset held by member countries of the IMF as part of their international reserves. The SDR is valued in terms of a weighted basket of leading currencies: US dollar, Euro, UK sterling and Japanese yen.

The SCATOL8TM: an in from Environmental a Management System ( Eco-Land-Web-Scape Management System (

Riccardo Beltramo, University of Torino, Department of Commodity Science. beltramo@econ.unito.it, http Abstract The perception of the territory trasnlates into landscape a complex combination of culture and sensorial stimuli. The importance of landscape has been highlighted in the european contest by the European Landscape Convention which has been imported in the structure of the EMAS regulation by a group of researchers lead by the author, in order to identify, detect, control and improve environmental and landscape significant aspects. A review of the management model, called ELMS, has been conducted to identify critical aspects, in order to find solutions able to broaden the application of the model. The innovation presented in the paper is a combination of technologies, software and management systems, organized in a new scheme called Eco-Land-Web-Scape- Management System. Key words: Remote sensing, Environmental quality, Landscape, Innovation, Simulation models.

Introduction In 2005, the Department of Commodity Science (DC a research project, to develop the Guidelines for envi and landscape management systems (ELMS). This pr by Regione Piemonte, Assessorato all’Ambiente, ende and it saw the DCS engaging a multidisciplinary team ing with 14 municipalities, in the wellknown territor hills. As final result, Guidelines for designing and im an ELMS has been published: the methodology integ environmental management systems (EMS) by ISO1 EMAS1 standards, and the European Landscape Con (ELC)2. It is useful to identify, keep under control an environmental and landscape aspects related to the a municipalities or group of municipalities.3; it has bro scope of EMS, creating new opportunities for certific In this sense, it is possible to intergate some other fam promote territories, such as UNESCO’s World Herita analysis of the results and of the processes used to ela Guidelines has driven the reseachers to define an imp path, to overcome the weak points and, above all, to solve the problem of data gathering. The evolution of been called Eco-Land-Web-Scape Management Syste WSMS) and it is described in Fig. 1.w

1 The EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) was established by Regulation (EEC) n. 1836/93; revised in 2001, with Regulation (EC) n. 761/2001, and a second time in 2009, is now ruled by Regulation n. 1221/09. 2 The European Landscape Convention is a document adopted by the Committee of Ministers of Culture and Environment of the Council of Europe on July 19, 2000 and signed in Florence on October 20, 2000. In force since 1 September 2006, at the international level, the Convention has been ratified by Italy by Law of January 9, 2006, n. 14 3 R. BELTRAMO, M. QUARTA, SGAP – Sistema di Gestione Ambiental-Paesaggistico: aspetti introduttivi e impostazione metodologica, in Valutazione Ambientale, n 12, Luglio Dicembre 2007, 19-27 and, english version, ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION on line, Riccardo Beltramo, Maria Quarta, The environmental and landscape management system, http://www.enver.eu/vol_12/index_vol_12.html 4 http://www.arduino.cc

nnovation for shifting and Landscape (ELMS) to the

(ELWSMS)

p://web.econ.unito.it/cresta

Breafly, the ongoing activities are focused on: • SCATOL8TM CS) launched is the basis of this evolution, ironmental a complete kit, consisting of roject, funded detection tools, which will ed in 2009 feed, via web, softwares for m and workdynamic modeling and manry of Langhe agement. The prototype of mplementing SCATOL8TM, integrates Argrates the duino4, an open-source elec14001 and tronics platform, with sensors, nvention displays, interactive devices and nd improve PC; activities of • Eco: application of remote oadened the sensing technics, through cation bodies. SCATOL8TM, to monitor mous tool to Fig. 1: The evolution from ELMS to ELWSMS, thanks to SCATOL8® resource consumption and polage Sites. The lution. aborate the • Land: Studying environmenprovement Breafly, the ongoing activities are focused on: tal and landscape evolutions by means of Intelligent Geographic Information Systems, Artificial Neural efficiently • SCATOL8™ is the basis of this evolution, a complete kit, consisting of detection tools, which will Networks, Fractals, Artificial Agents on the basis of information provided or managed by SCATOL8TM. f ELMS, feed, has via web, softwares for dynamic modeling and management. The prototype of SCATOL8™, • Web: The Web is the platform that lets you create Scapes, view maps of landscape-environmental qualem integrates (ELArduino4, an open-source electronics platform, with sensors, displays, interactive ity, store data allowing the study of complex dynamics, to share results with stakeholders, to raise awaredevices and PC; ness, to simulate and manage changes through an organized communication. ™, to monitor resource remote sensing technics, through SCATOL8 • Eco: application • Scape:ofReal landscape and the perception of territorial transformations, create a landscape on the consumptioninternet, and pollution. where quantitative, qualitative, perceptional aspects are assembled and kept in communication, environmental evolutions by means of possible Intelligent Geographic • Land: Studying encouraging a shared and path landscape for continuous improvement, made through the use of dynamic Information Systems, ArtiȚcial Neural Networks, Fractals, ArtiȚcial Agents on the basis of models which, starting from the real, ™lead to the development of future scenarios. information provided or managed by SCATOL8 . • Web: The Web is the platform that lets you create Scapes, view maps of landscape-environmental

• Management: Encourage a shared decision process, using Stella modelling system and making easier the implementation of management software system, introducing user-friendly interfaces. Developing the new scheme, two new research projects have been proposed and approved by national and regional bodies: - a National Research Project, PRIN 2008, entitled “Natural extracts from medicinal plants and textile-dyeing: characterization and innovative uses of nettle, daphne, lavender and chestnut tannin”; -a transboundary regions cooperation project Italy-Swiss 2007-2013, called “V.E.T.T.A. Enhancement of Best practices and transboundary touristic products in mountain areas”. 4 http://www.arduino.cc Both of them cover macroeconomics aspects (local government) and microeconomics ones (interesting for companies or touristic organizations involved in project). The two researches are focused on real cases, on which economists, architects, engineers, naturalists, biologists, landowners and managers, are working together, aimed at improving environmental and landscape quality. The components of the ELWSMS SCATOL8TM Availability of relevant, accurate and up to date information is one of the most important issue for creating an environmental and landscape management system; by definition, it seeks to identify and control significant environmenta and landscape variables, related to the organizations’management operating in connection with the territory and with stakeholders. In carrying out the environmental and landscape system design in different situations, we found that a common element is the lack of data, and an uncertain data quality: a data set must be completed, often through long and tortuous relationships with various entities, each of which has a piece of information. Moreover we recorded asym metric information: information is kept by bodies which provide services but it is not known by those who manage th purchased resources. This is the case of energy or water supply and of waste management. This critic situation has to be resolved in order to avoid the risk of building a management system based on imperfect information. For this reason, the first task addressed is the development of a remote sensing system for environmental and landscape variables under local authorities control. This action is aimed at creating a device to be installed in buildings, directly managed by the local servants, able to detect variables related to managerial and environmental aspects, to store data, to view them on the internet and send alarm if an abnormal event occurs. A similar system, equipped with proper sensors and automatically managed, could also be installed in arduous places, to provide periodical information in relation to the territorial changes that may affect the perception of the landscape. We are working, in particular, on environmental quality, through the creation of a hardware and open source software, as shown in the diagram. SCATOL8TM includes a central unit and peripherals connected to a set of digital and analogic sensors, to detect environmental significant variables. The system is managed by an Arduino development environment, called IDE5. In this way it is possible to supply a real-time archive of environmental data. The system, currently in prototype phase, involves the detection of environmental variables of municipal buildings. The foreseen benefits are, in the short range, a most efficient use of energy resources and, in the medium to long range, improvements for managing and renewing structural building elements, in order to influence landscape preception, thanks to statistical elaboration of time series. Variables have been divided considering Outdoor, Outddor-Indoor, Indoor, Indoor-Outdoor i.e. the environment where the activities generating them are undertaken. Thus, four Arduino’s have been included in SCATOL8TM to monitor process that transform material and energy in environmental aspects, as reported in Figure 2:

5 http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/software 6 I. Gelsomini, F. Pedrazzi, The silence of the lands: applicazioni per la creazione e la condivisione di paesaggi sonori in rete 7 Morten Rømer Jespersen (2001) Soundtrekking Soundscapes (draft), in http:// interact.uoregon.edu/ mediaLit/.../jespersen%20_%20soundtrekkingpdf.pdf 8 http://www.iseesystems.com/

al h

mhe

Variables kept under control by the SCATOL8™ Central Unit PC Server

Indoor-Outdoor

Outdoor

Outdoor-Indoor

Indoor

Outdoor temperature AE.T

Products AEI.P

Smoke detector AI.F

Air emission quality AIE.Qf

Water level AEI.A

Indoor air quality AI.Qa

Water consumption AIE.Ca

Diesel level AEI.Go

Water consumption AI.la

Waste water level AIE.Lf

Gas level AEI.G

Diesel consumption AI.Lgo

Waste water quality AIE.Qs

Snowfall level AE.In

Precipitation level AE.P

Wind speed AE.E

Solar radiation intensity AE.Ir

Eletrical power AEI.Ee

Solid waste quantity AIE.Qr

Web cam AE.W.

S CATO L8 ™ We are working on two prototypes, based wired or wireless the connection between sensors, Arduino’s and central unit, as displayed in the following Figures 3 and 4:

Architecture of the SCATOL8 - Wired Central Unit PC Server

Outdoor-Indoor

Indoor

Indoor-Outdoor

Arduino

Ethernet shield

Outdoor

Multiplexer

Sensors

SCATOL8™ Figure 3: Architecture of SCATOL8™ - wired version. Wireless version will allow a less invasive installation. Drawbacks are represented: • by an increase of complication, due to the adding components to transmit and receive information; • by the potential vunerability to interferences, and • by an higher demand of energy supply.

9 Sandker, M., B. M. Campbell, M. Ruiz-Pérez, J. A. Sayer, R. Cowling, H. Kassa, and A. T. Knight. 2010. The role of participatory modeling in landscape approaches to reconcile conservation and development. Ecology and Society 15(2): 13. [online] URL: http:// www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss2/art13/ 10 By Diana M. Fisher, Modeling Dynamic Systems: Lessons for a First Course, 2nd Edition, 2007 11 Greenberger, M., M.A. Crensen & B.L. Crissy (1976). Models in the Policy Process. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 12 Sandker, M, Spatial Projections of Participatory System Dynamics Modeling - Exploring Oil Palm and Carbon Payment Scenarios in Papua, Indonesia, in www.umr-lisah.fr/rtra-projects/.../Marieke_SANDKER.pdf 13 Robert Costanza, Applications to Landscape Modeling, 2008 ISEE User conference “Making Connections”, Burlington, Vermont (USA) 14 Federico M. Pulselli, Simone Bastianoni, Nadia MArchettini, Enzo Tiezzi, La soglia della sostenibilità ovvero quello che il PIL non dice, Donzelli Editore, Roma, 2007

Architecture of the SCATOL8 - Wireless Central Unit PC Server

Outdoor

Outdoor-Indoor

Indoor

Indoor-Outdoor

Arduino

Ethernet shield

XBee

SCATOL8™ RX

Sensors

n. XBee

Multiplexer

Arduino

SCATOL8™ TX Figure 4: Architecture of SCATOL8™ - wireless version Both of the versions, wired and wireless, will be produced, accordingly to customers’desires. EcoAs previously stated, the retrieval of environmental data was critical due to the pulverization of the institutions and lack of coordinated and systematic accountability, both within and outside local authorities or companies responsible for undertaking services on behalf of the City. We focused, therefore, on the possibility to more easily acquire data on environmental quality. List of variables monitored thanks to SCATOL8™ is included in Table 1, where unit of measurement and the reference of the related undergiong subprojects are speciȚed: Variables Outdoor temperature

u.m.

Subproject Ref. °C

AE.T

Snowfall level

AE.In

Precipitation level

AE.P

Wind speed

m/s

AE.E

Solar radiation intensity

W/m

AE.Ir

Webcam Products

AE.W n

AEI.P

Water level

AEI.A

Diesel level

AEI.Go

Gas level

AEI.G

KWh

AEI.Ee

Electrical power Smoke detector

AI.F

Indoor air quality

AI.Qa

Water consumption

AI.La

Diesel consumption

AI.Lgo

Air emission quality Water consumption

AIE.Qf mc

AIE.Ca

BOD

AIE.Lf

Waste water quality

AIE.Qs

Solid waste quantity

AIE.Qr

Waste water level

While the SCATOL8™ project is developping, some initiatives have been introduced in order to improve communication, such as special procedure to coordinate the skills and methods of communication between the subjetcs who collect and preserve the environmental data. Land LandA set of improving actions has been studied, through actions on Operating Precedures and methodologies, and in relation to support provided by SCATOL8™. At Țrst, without SCATOL8™, improvements are related to the use of the opportunities arising from information systems: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) programs and their evolutions such as Integrated GIS and Intelligent GIS; programs for data analysis and simulation (complex systems, agent-based models, neural networks, etc...).

When SCATOL8™ will be in complete running order, its contribution to landscape evaluation and

management is foreseen in these areas: • At the stage of photography, providing geographic coordinates, altitude, orientation of the camera and all the informations necessary to build and view maps of visual perception; • At the stage of land monitoring, periodically extracting maps of the area under control from Google Earth or surȚng in an easier way using interfaces such as joysticks;

• At the stage of implementation of the Operating Instructions, in particular concerning construction sites monitoring, through a digital camera remote control. Web-Image processing and playback through graphic representations are just some of the aspects that can be dealt with the help of PC. Data obtained with the SCATOL8TM can “feed” appropriate programs, to elaborate selections of images for different audiences, ranging from technical to local tourists. Other experiments show that even linguistic landscapes, cultural landscapes, sound landscapes 6, olfactory landscapes, etc. ... can be mapped and shared over the Internet. Therefore, the Web enables the creation of spatial patterns at different scales, arising from one variable to a combination of them: this offers numberless opportunities for displaying and analysis. Scape-In fact, “There can be as many scapes as there are senses, and with technological enhancement, maybe even more. The scape is spatially relating to particular way of the observer, or the actant to space and time. Thus, a scape is a way to focus on particular aspects of the dynamic relationship between an actant and the environment. Landscapes concerns vision, hearing concerns soundscape, odor concerns smellscape. Scapes can be understood as the spatial configuration of an environment related to an isolated sense of an actant. Since, initially, this scaping is anthropocentric, scapes is a way of considering relationships in the dynamic networking between humans and non-humans “7 Management Knowledge sharing, implementation, system monitoring, target evaluation, decisions to improve performance are all part of the concept of management, so they are reflected in planning, implementation, monitoring and review phases, within a formalized management system. The relationship with the ELC also reinforces the importance of awareness-raising activities to be carried out even outside the organization by involving stakeholders, landscape and environmental aspects. Simulation and knowledge sharing In the case of public administrations, a lor of subjects are involved and only some of them (policy makers and civil servants) are included in the organizational structure, within hierarchical relationships. The most numerous, citizens are organized into formal or informal groups and they express their needs with different intensity and to different directions over time. However, the optimal outcome of an organization, in terms of facing the expressed needs, is influenced by endogenous and exogenous variables and by the abil-

ity to tune the services and the level at which they are provided with the request expressed by the citizens. To achieve a true understanding of the complex dynamics which follow non-linear logics, determining the quality of environment and landscape, has been demonstrated the effectiveness of participatory modeling, which involves building a simulation model through working-group of non experts under the guidance of an expert, explaining and facilitating the translation of instances of stakeholders in the language of the model. The tool we have chosen is the software Stella 8 that showed good quality in the construction of understanding in all kinds of dynamic systems, from the Following the logic of SCADA systems - Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition System, (which uses information and communication technologies to automate the monitoring and control of industrial processes, making available to operators the most important data in an intuitive manner), data are collected, processed and made available As the SCADA systems do, the ELWSMS would run on procedures and on operative instructions related to the ELMS, transformed into “recipes” (set of instructions) aimed at achieving the desired outputs. To do this, we examine the procedures and instructions that make up the document management system, organizing them into primary instructions to a single program. The concatenation of elementary instructions is established with a flow-chart. The system connects with SCATOL8TM, user interfaces and the Internet. The connection between the communication protocols regulating the flow of information between sensors, transmission and reception unit, receiving unit and between the PC and then between the PC and the Web is a complicated issue to address. The system does not operate with the logic of expert systems (except when an event is seen as an alert related to environmental emergencies), expecting to replace humans, but as a tool for data processing and representation, to enable a shared decision-making approaching the different categories of staff. Furthermore, applications’versatility coupled with the Internet websites leads to a wide range of modalities of internal and external communication. The accessibility to the system via Web follows a hierarchical order, regulated by basis of the availability of information. The documents related to the system are made available to those who apply themselves; checklists (useful for documenting the enhancement of activities under the procedures and operating instructions) could be accessible to stakeholders. The incorporation within ELWSM of data collected

from agem action varia

SCAT to EL data, putin Ardu the b tion m Bene in the dissem the sy velop effect progr a mu integ softw the h evolu “acto suppo unde ation mode goals carry In co mode challe relati pects The p SCAT with from simu and d Imple

m the government then will optimize the manment and disseminate awareness of individual ons’impact on the environmental and landscape ables controlled.

onclusion

TOL8TM is the core of the evolution from ELMS LWSMS. It makes easy to acquire and organize thanks to a friendly approach to physical comng and to the experience poured day by day in uino’s open newsgroups. Decisions are taken on basis of data set, in order to manage an organizamatching environmental and economic needs. efits of a quantitative approach are reflected both e daily optimization of gathering, processing and minating information, and in the review stage of ystem, with the possibility to analyze and dep scenarios, through dynamic simulation of the ts of decisions. Nowadays SCATOL8TM’s quick ress are achieved thanks to the contribution of ultidisciplinary team of professionals, joined to grate knowledge through mathematical tools and ware writing. In this apparently artificial system, human and their will are the key-factorsfor the ution of ELMS.process of implementation; • as ors” of the model, the model is used as decision ort and as a research tool to improve erstanding of human behavior in complex evaluns and decision-making • as “agents” in the el, built through a better understanding of their s and behaviors, by ying out steps 1 and 2. 13 onclusion, the approach based on simulation els is useful to guide participants facing the enges set by bio-physical limitations, time and ionships (in other word,s all sustainability ass).14 possibility of collecting data in real time, through TOL8TM, and organize them in strings, together the possibility to import such a data format m Stella, allows to feed a database to perform ulations related to scenarios, in order to define discuss them with the participants. ementation of the system

Following the logic of SCADA systems - Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition System, (which uses information and communication technologies to automate the monitoring and control of industrial processes, making available to operators the most important data in an intuitive manner), data are collected, processed and made available As the SCADA systems do, the ELWSMS would run on procedures and on operative instructions related to the ELMS, transformed into “recipes” (set of instructions) aimed at achieving the desired outputs. To do this, we examine the procedures and instructions that make up the document management system, organizing them into primary instructions to a single program. The concatenation of elementary instructions is established with a flow-chart. The system connects with SCATOL8TM, user interfaces and the Internet. The connection between the communication protocols regulating the flow of information between sensors, transmission and reception unit, receiving unit and between the PC and then between the PC and the Web is a complicated issue to address. The system does not operate with the logic of expert systems (except when an event is seen as an alert related to environmental emergencies), expecting to replace humans, but as a tool for data processing and representation, to enable a shared decisionmaking approaching the different categories of staff. Furthermore, applications’versatility coupled with the Internet websites leads to a wide range of modalities of internal and external communication. The accessibility to the system via Web follows a hierarchical order, regulated by basis of the availability of information. The documents related to the system are made available to those who apply themselves; checklists (useful for documenting the enhancement of activities under the procedures and operating instructions) could be accessible to stakeholders. The incorporation within ELWSM of data collected from the government then will optimize the management and disseminate awareness of individual actions’impact on the environmental and landscape variables controlled. Conclusion SCATOL8TM is the core of the evolution from ELMS to ELWSMS. It makes easy to acquire and organize data, thanks to a friendly approach to physical computing and to the experience poured day by day in Arduino’s open newsgroups. Decisions are taken on the basis of data set, in order to manage an organization matching environmental and economic needs. Benefits of a quantitative approach are reflected both in the daily optimization of gathering, processing and disseminating information, and in the review stage of the system, with the possibility to analyze and develop scenarios, through dynamic simulation of the effects of decisions. Nowadays SCATOL8TM’s quick progress are achieved thanks to the contribution of a multidisciplinary team of professionals, joined to integrate knowledge through mathematical tools and software writing. In this apparently artificial system, the human and their will are the key-factorsfor the evolution of ELMS.

LA PRAXIS DE RESPONSABILITÉ COMME MANAGEMENT D’ACTION-RUPTURE-APPRENTISSAGE, GOUVERNANCE DÉMOCRATIQUE ET PERFORMANCE DES ENTREPRISES by Hélène Nikolopoulou

Résumé

Le but de cet article est de montrer que la praxis de responsabilité, forgée dans les notions aristotéliciennes de médiété/médiation, est un paradigme incontournable du développement durable et de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises (RSE). Car, non seulement il fournit les moyens opérationnels appropriés et aptes à concrétiser dans les faits le bien commun et le développement humain, noyau dur du développement durable, mais il implique également un exercice permanent d’action-rupture-apprentissage et un processus de déconstruction-reconstruction des modes de penser et d’agir, de gérer et de gouverner. L’intégration stratégique, culturelle et structurelle du paradigme de la praxis de responsabilité dans les pratiques managériales permet la performance globale et une gouvernance légitime, démocratique et efficace des entreprises, acteurs-constructeurs du développement durable. MOTS-CLES : Développement humain durable, Responsabilité sociale des entreprises, Droits humains, Démocratie, Management, Gouvernance, Performance.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the responsibility praxis – forged through the

Aristotelians notions of mediety/mediation – is a requisite paradigm of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Not only because this paradigm provides the appropriate and efficient tools to operationalize the sustainable development core principles such as common good and human development, but also because it entails a permanent exercise of actionrupture-learning and a process of deconstruction/reconstruction of the modes of thought and action, management and government. The strategic, cultural and structural incorporation of the praxis responsibility paradigm into the managerial practices improves the global performance and a legitimate, democratic and efficient governance of the firms, considered as the main sustainable development actors-constructors.

KEYWORDS : Sustainable human

development, Corporate social responsibility, Human rights, Democracy, Managemen, Governance, Performance.

INTRODUCTION Les concepts alternatifs de développement durable et de Responsabilité Sociale de l’Entreprise (RSE), apparus en réponse des acceptions étriquées et déformatrices du développement et de la performance, résument la nécessité de concilier les objectifs sociaux, économiques et environnementaux et de valoriser le noyau dur du développement durable qui est le bien commun, le développement humain, les droits humains et la démocratie. Si les années 1970 et 1980 constituent les phases d’émergence et d’élaboration du concept de développement durable en inaugurant la réflexion sur les liens entre protection de l’environnement et développement humain et en avançant le concept d’écodéveloppement, les années 1990 et 2000 constituent les phases de mise en œuvre avec engagements concrets des gouvernements et démarches concrètes des entreprises. Cependant, malgré l’ampleur de ces démarches, les concepts de développement durable et de RSE sont loin d’en finir avec les acceptions réductrices et les modalités d’application à géométrie variable qui caractérisent les politiques des entreprises et leurs pratiques managériales sur le terrain. Ainsi, tantôt le développement durable se cantonne à une simple protection de l’environnement en ostracisant la valorisation du développement humain, tantôt le développement humain s’affiche comme un programme prioritaire de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises mais en conservant la logique gestionnaire et comptable de la performance et la maximisation des profits comme le seul et unique objectif de l’entreprise. C’est d’ailleurs à cause de ces contradictions et incohérences constatées sur le terrain que les concepts de développement durable et de RSE se trouvent placés au cœur des controverses, les uns émettant des critiques sévères du type « contours flous, enveloppe vide, effet de mode, cosmétique », les autres plaidant pour leur qualité de paradigmes alternatifs. Notre propos ici n’est pas de rentrer dans le labyrinthe de ces controverses mais de se concentrer sur les véritables enjeux des entreprises en ciblant notre problématique sur l’effectivité du noyau dur du développement durable tout en mettant l’accent sur les outils conceptuels et opérationnels appropriés et aptes à éliminer les obstacles qui entravent ces effectivités. Ce faisant, nous nous efforçons de fournir les bases solides, universelles et universalisables d’une conceptualisation-opérationnalisation du développement durable et de la RSE.

Notre approche est donc à la fois conceptuelle et praxéologique. Nous passons d’une approche conceptuelle intégrée où bien commun, développement humain, droits humains et démocratie constituent une unité organique à une approche praxéologique en mettant l’accent sur le comment intégrer ces concepts pratiques de façon durable dans les représentations et lignes de conduite des acteurs, dans les choix politico-stratégiques, dans les systèmes de gestion et d’évaluation, dans les structures normatives et organisationnelles, dans le logiciel socioculturel des entreprises. Autrement dit, nous passons de l’intégration conceptuelle du développement durable à l’intégration identitaire durable des finalités du développement, au niveaux stratégique, structurel et culturel de l’action et de l’acteur. Dans cette optique, l’intégration identitaire durable ne peut se faire sans mettre en mouvement un processus de déconstruction-reconstruction des significations étriquées et déformatrices des notions du développement, de la performance et du management mais aussi de la notion de la responsabilité dont l’acception classique ne fixe en son sein, ni les finalités de la praxis humaine, à savoir le bien commun, la justice sociale, la liberté, l’égalité, l’équité, ni les moyens appropriés et cohérents pour les atteindre. C’est dans cette optique praxéologique et devant cette nécessité de déconstruction-reconstruction que nous proposons la praxis de responsabilité comme paradigme d’action-rupture-apprentissage qui, forgé dans les notions aristotéliciennes de médiété/médiation, sert non pas à décrire la réalité ou à se conformer aux normes de la realpolitique mais à transformer les modes de penser et d’agir, de gérer et de gouverner tout en les guidant, en les (re)orientant et en les positionnant résolument dans les finalités de la praxis humaine (1). Appréhendée dans cette triple fonction paradigmatique d’action-rupture-apprentissage, la praxis de responsabilité comporte les ingrédients conceptuels et opérationnels applicables aussi bien dans l’agir individuel et collectif que dans l’agir stratégique-structurel-culturel des entreprises à la fois comme management d’action-rupture-apprentissage, démocratie interne et dialogue authentique (2). Enfin, nous analysons l’apport conceptuel et opérationnel de la praxis de responsabilité au développement durable et à la responsabilité sociale des entreprises autour de trois axes: outil d’effectivité du bien commun et du développement humain, source de légitimité démocratique et de performance globale des entreprises, praxis politique transformatrice universelle et universalisable (3).

1. LA PRAXIS DE RESPONSABILITE COMME PARADIGME D’ACTION-RUPTURE-APPRENTIS SAGE 1.1. LES CARACTERISTIQUES INTRINSEQUES DE LA MEDIETE/MEDIATION Le choix de forger le paradigme de praxis de responsabilité dans les notions aristotéliciennes de médiété/ médiation est justifié par les caractéristiques intrinsèques de ces notions et les significations pertinentes qu’elles dégagent pour la construction de la démocratie et de l’Homme libre comme forme de société et politique de civilisation. Si Aristote dans Éthique à Nicomaque et dans La Politique définit la médiété comme une vertu éthique et une position qui s’éloigne à égale distance de toutes les formes constitutives du vice, il est à préciser que la signification de l’éthique dans la pensée aristotélicienne est foncièrement socio-anthropolitique et intrinsèquement liée aux principes et aux finalités de la praxis humaine regroupées dans le bien commun, à savoir la justice, la bienveillance, la concorde, l’économie comme gestion raisonnable des besoins. Ces finalités constituent des médiétés en soi, c’està-dire des vertus totales qui se démarquent résolument de toute forme de vice, à savoir des injustices, des intérêts auto-centriques, des opportunismes, des rapports de domination, des courses effrénées aux profits. On comprend alors pourquoi la médiété est synonyme d’une position ferme et d’une ligne de démarcation nette qui s’impose contre tous les vices qui, dans la pensée aristotélicienne, sont des voies déviantes qui annulent l’accomplissement du bien commun. Or, la pensée aristotélicienne ne s’arrête pas à une problématique théorique du bien commun sans se penche sur sa concrétisation par les vertus pratiques. C’est là que réside la deuxième caractéristique intrinsèque de la médiété qui renvoie non seulement aux finalités de la praxis humaine mais aussi à une ligne de conduite appropriée pour les atteindre. La médiété devient alors une vertu pratique que les acteurs exercent par leurs choix et leurs actes délibérés, c’està-dire par des choix et actes qui exigent jugement et vigilance et qui restent résolument et durablement sur la ligne de démarcation de la médiété sans concessions et compromissions avec les vices. Dès lors, il est clair que la médiété n’est pas une ligne de conduite qui tente de composer ou de concilier les vices et les vertus mais une ligne de conduite qui rompt définitivement avec le vice et qui est incompatible avec toute forme de déviance. La médiété est donc une ligne de conduite qui intègre organiquement la démarcation, la limite et la rupture mais aussi la réflexivité et l’émancipation. Car, pour pouvoir

acquérir les capacités de jugement et de vigilance et les appliquer dans les différentes situations d’action, il faut s’imposer des auto-limites, des auto-contrôles et des auto-remises en cause. Et ces auto-impositions ne sont pas faciles à mettre en place puisque les tentations des vices sont irréductibles aux comportements humains. C’est dans ces auto-limitations réflexives et émancipatrices que réside la troisième caractéristique de la médiété qui met en exergue une ligne de conduite et de rupture réflexive et émancipatrice. La quatrième caractéristique de la médiété est la dynamique d’apprentissage qu’elle mobilise grâce à l’intégration de la pédagogie de la médiation dont la clé de voûte est la structure ternaire du dialogue. La structure ternaire du dialogue est à appréhender dans le cadre de l’apprentissage paideutique (du grec paideia à appréhender comme une pédagogie des valeurs à vocation socioculturelle) visant à renforcer la capacité de visibilité, d’évaluation et de jugement des avantages vertueux de la prise en compte de l’intérêt de l’autre dans l’intérêt de soi et ce, afin de prendre conscience des méfaits et des effets pervers des vices et de leurs voies déviantes. La structure ternaire du dialogue est une démarche de médiation qui a pour but d’aider autrui à penser et à agir en médiété et pour les médiétés. La démarche de médiation peut se dérouler selon deux modalités: soit elle fait intervenir le médiateur, une tierce personne qui aide les individus à écarter leurs représentations partielles et partiales et à remettre en cause leurs comportements auto-centriques afin d’instaurer ou de restaurer le dialogue; soit, c’est l’individu, luimême, qui s’investit du rôle du médiateur et, dans ce cas, le tiers inclus n’est pas une personne ou une institution extérieure mais c’est la réflexivité émancipatrice de l’individu qui s’active. La médiation est alors un dialogue réflexif tri-directionnel : avec soi, avec et pour autrui. Le dialogue réflexif avec soi est une sorte d’aiguiseur critique qui apprend à se remettre en question et à remettre en question les positions autistes et les représentations étriquées et déformatrices. Le dialogue réflexif avec autrui introduit un mode de rapports relationnels fondés sur la logique de partenaire contre la logique maître-esclave et dominant-dominé. Le dialogue réflexif pour autrui est à la fois un dialogue orienté vers et pour les causes nobles et les finalités de la praxis humaine et un dialogue ouvert sur et pour les autres. Ces caractéristiques intrinsèques du couplage médiété/médiation fournissent les ingrédients conceptuels et opérationnels pour forger la praxis de responsabilité comme paradigme d’action-rupture-apprentissage.

1.2. LA PRAXIS DE RESPONSABILITÉ ET SES FONCTIONS PARADIGMATIQUES La première fonction paradigmatique de la praxis de responsabilité est la conception réorganisatrice de la responsabilité en termes de chaîne d’action but-moyen et de processus de responsabilisation en boucle. L’action responsable est une ligne de conduite intégrant les finalités constitutives du bien commun comme buts en soi et les composants du dialogue tri-directionnel comme modes d’agir et d’interagir. L’action responsable devient ainsi un processus de responsabilisation en triple boucle: la responsabilité de soi (se remettre en question et agir en conséquence), la responsabilité envers autrui (tenir compte des besoins et des aspirations des autres) et la responsabilité pour autrui (œuvrer pour aider l’autre à apprendre à se remettre en question). Cette conception réorganisatrice transforme la conceptualisation et l’opérationalisation de la responsabilité. Contrairement aux conceptions conséquentialistes qui mettent l’accent sur les conséquences des actes indifféremment des buts poursuivis et contrairement aux conceptions déontologiques qui se préoccupent des règles normatives indépendamment des moyens d’action, la praxis de responsabilité met l’accent à la fois sur le choix des buts et sur le choix des moyens. Et cette posture évaluative fait de la responsabilité une ligne de conduite réflexive et émancipatrice qui combat la passivité et le fatalisme, le conformisme et le suivisme a-critique. La deuxième fonction paradigmatique de la praxis de responsabilité est la régulation transformatrice des acteurs responsables et de leurs modes d’agir et d’interagir. En intégrant la médiété/médiation, l’acteur responsable se construit par auto-régulation et auto-transformation et aide les autres à emprunter ces voies. L’agir responsable est un exercice permanent de déconstruction et de reconstruction des règles de conduite que l’acteur de médiété/médiation s’impose dans sa ligne de conduite tout en les transmettant dans les situations d’action dans lesquelles il opère. A ce titre, l’agir responsable est à la fois une pratique régulatrice-transformatrice de l’acteur, une compétence apprenante et un mode d’apprentissage de l’acteur, de l’action et de l’interaction. L’interaction entre les acteurs responsables devient un dialogue authentique, un espace de médiété/ médiation où les acteurs se recentrent sur l’intérêt général. Par « espace de médiété/médiation », nous désignons un mode de rapports relationnels fondés sur sur une ligne de conduite et de rupture commune contre les rapports de domination et les comportements déviants (Nikolopoulou, 2008a). Ainsi constitué, l’espace de médiété/médiation est un pôle

commun de références sur lequel s’alignent une diversité d’acteurs, un espace donc pluriel et enrichi par la diversité mais surtout par la qualité de leurs rapports relationnels et de leurs modes d’interaction et de coopération. Et, dans le même temps, l’espace de médiété/médiation impose une ligne de démarcation et de vigilance contre les déviances et leurs causes profondes, visibles ou invisibles. L’espace de médiété/ médiation est donc une implication active en termes de missions et une activation permanente du dialogue et de la responsabilisation en boucle. L’espace de médiété/médiation conjugue un « espace de discussion » fondé sur l’’inter-compréhension intersubjective » (Habermas, 1987; 1992) et un espace de « communauté critique » qui s’interroge sur les valeurs dominantes (Sandel, 1999), qui agit contre « les monologues parallèles » (Sen, 2006) et qui ne s’effrite pas en groupes d’intérêts additionnés et juxtaposés de type « ensembliste » (Castoriadis, 1996). Cette conjonction, épine dorsale de l’espace de médiété/médiation, se traduit par un espace contextualisé en termes de partenaires et un espace contextualisable puisque les acteurs œuvrent, chacun dans leur périmètre d’action, pour faire du dialogue tri-directionnel une norme dominante et étendre les rapports de partenaire à l’ensemble de leurs interactions y compris dans leurs rapports avec l’environnement. C’est sur cette double qualité contextualisée et contextualisable que repose la troisième fonction paradigmatique de la praxis de responsabilité et sa dynamique d’applicabilité dans les différentes situations d’action non pas comme une recette mais comme une source d’inspiration et d’apprentissage. Cette dynamique est due au caractère universel et universalisable des significations de la médiété/médiation qui sont identiques aux invariants de la démocratie et aux programmes des droits humains. L’acteur responsable s’approprie ces invariants et programmes et il œuvre pour les concrétiser en dépassant les frontières géographiques et les contingences socioculturelles et tout en prenant en compte les besoins diversifiés de l’Homme situé. Grâce à cette triple fonction paradigmatique - conception réorganisatrice, pratique régulatrice et apprentissage paideutique - la praxis de responsabilité peut s’appliquer aussi bien dans l’agir individuel et collectif que dans l’agir organisationnel des entreprises comme modèle de gouvernance orienté vers la concrétisation du bien commun, du développement humain, des droits humains et de la démocratie.

2. LA PRAXIS DE RESPONSABILITÉ APPLIQUÉE DANS LES ENTREPRISES: MANAGEMENT D’ACTION-RUPTURE-APPRENTISSAGE, DÉMOCRATIE INTERNE ET DIALOGUE AUTHENTIQUE 2.1. LE MANAGEMENT D’ACTIONRUPTURE-APPRENTISSAGE La première modalité d’application de la praxis de responsabilité dans les entreprises est la mise en place d’un management d’action-rupture-apprentissage qui consiste principalement à déconstruire la finalité de l’entreprise érigée autour de la maximisation des profits et à la reconstruire en termes de missions actives, vigilantes et pédagogiques de valorisation du développement humain, à commencer par la socialisation, la reconnaissance et l’optimisation des conditions de travail. La mission de socialisation ne se réfère pas à un formatage des comportements ou à une imposition de normes sociales mais à un processus de « construction des identités socioprofessionnelles » des individus (Dubar, 1996). Si la socialisation est une mission importante de l’entreprise c’est parce que les risques de dé-socialisation, de désintégration, de déshumanisation, de crise ou de perte identitaire sont bien réels et l’entreprise peut devenir un « lieu d’accoutumance aux injustices » (Dejours, 1998). La mission de la reconnaissance écarte en principe ces risques puisqu’elle conjugue trois formes: la reconnaissance de l’individu comme personne et acteur, la reconnaissance du travail humain à partir des jugements de beauté et d’utilité, la reconnaissance des résultats du travail accompli en prenant en compte les facteurs-contraintes qui interviennent dans le processus du travail. Cependant, des entraves sur le terrain freinent, voire annulent ces formes de reconnaissance. Hormis la méconnaissance d’autrui et du travail accompli, l’hyperactivité au travail et le manque de temps, l’absence des interactions et de leur qualité, l’obstacle majeur est les rapports de domination car la reconnaissance est perçue comme une perte de pouvoir ou d’autorité de l’émetteur et un gain de pouvoir ou d’autorité du récepteur. La mission de l’optimisation des conditions de travail pourrait remédier à ces entraves puisqu’il s’agit de prendre soin de la santé physique et psychologique des individus ainsi que de la qualité de vie et de la qualité de rapports relationnels au travail. Or, cette mission est loin de s’accomplir efficacement et les démarches du terrain de l’Agence Nationale pour l’Amélioration des Conditions de Travail

(ANACT) montrent que les obstacles auxquels est confrontée cette mission sont nombreux et notamment l’absence de systèmes de régulation démocratique individuelle et collective. Ces multiples entraves des missions de socialisation, de reconnaissance et d’optimisation des conditions de travail mettent en évidence que la valorisation du développement humain doit impérativement inclure les missions de la démocratisation et de la responsabilisation. 2.2. LA DÉMOCRATIE PARTICIPATIVE, DÉLIBÉRATIVE ET AGONISTIQUE Nous arrivons ainsi à la deuxième modalité d’application du paradigme de la praxis de responsabilité dans les entreprises qui est la construction de la démocratie interne et de ses trois piliers fondamentaux, à savoir la démocratie participative, la démocratie délibérative et la démocratie agonistique. Pour écarter les dangers qui déforment le contenu de ces piliers et menacent leur réalisation effective, quelques précisions s’imposent. La démocratie participative n’est pas à confondre avec les démarches du management participatif soft qui consistent à assouplir les systèmes de communication sans remettre en cause les clivages entre pilotage stratégique et services fonctionnels et/ou opérationnels (Reynaud, 1993) et les clivages entre conception et exécution du travail (Linhart, 1994). La démocratie participative est en revanche synonyme d’un réel pouvoir de parole des salariés qui les rend légitimes comme partenaires dans les processus décisionnels et dans l’élaboration des orientations stratégiques et des contrats d’objectifs. Ainsi, la démocratie participative est intrinsèquement liée à la démocratie délibérative. Celle-ci se réalise grâce aux stratégies réflexives de tous les acteurs de l’entreprise et surtout grâce aux systèmes réflexifs de gestion qui diffusent une culture de dialogue authentique et de décision collective contre les décisions unilatérales imposées et contre les injustices quotidiennes vécues, les discriminations professionnelles ou les traitements inéquitables. La démocratie participative et délibérative vont inévitablement de pair avec la démocratie agonistique dont la figure emblématique est la dynamique réflexive de l’action collective, des mouvements sociaux et des contre-pouvoirs, dynamique qui se construit dans et par les contrepropositions et contestations constructives mais aussi dans et par l’actionrupture-pédagogie commune contre les comportements individualistes, fatalistes

et suivistes. Un obstacle majeur auquel bute la construction de la démocratie interne à l’entreprise est la construction et la consolidation de la coopération et de la confiance. Si la coopération et la confiance sont mises en exergue comme « lien social » (Orléan, 1994), il n’en reste pas moins que ces liens sociaux ne se décrètent pas mais se construisent par les acteurs constamment vigilants pour la qualité relationnelle et contre les opportunismes et les rapports de domination. Comme le souligne Friedberg (2008), la confiance constitue « un ingrédient essentiel de la coopération mais elle ne garantit ni la stabilité de la relation, ni la suspension de l’opportunisme irréductible des comportements humains ». La coopération n’est donc pas un état qui s’acquiert une fois pour toutes mais un processus relationnel qui comporte plusieurs états tels que le conflit, le pouvoir et la négociation, la confiance. Or, si la confiance est une relation dans laquelle les jeux de pouvoir sont absents, cette absence est provisoire et les jeux de pouvoir peuvent re-jaillir au gré des vicissitudes de la relation. Un autre obstacle majeur auquel se heurte la construction de la démocratie est la production d’une violence multiforme au travail dont le harcèlement moral est une forme très répandue dans les entreprises. Or, le harcèlement moral au travail ne relève pas uniquement des pathologies managériales, des comportements pervers narcissiques et des comportements du zèle et du culte de la performance étudiés par Hirigoyen (2001) mais aussi d’une « situation sociale et historique où l’individualisme s’affirme et où les institutions et les collectifs ne jouent plus leur rôle de référence et de protection » (Le Goff, 2000). Dans tous les cas, la violence détruit les relations de coopération et de confiance, transgresse les valeurs démocratiques et les règles du bien vivre ensemble (Sanchez-Mazas et Koubi, 2005) et brise la solidarité des collectifs (Dejours, 2007).

2.3. DIALOGUE AUTHENTIQUE ET RESPONSABILISATION EN BOUCLE Pour écarter ces obstacles majeurs de la construction de la démocratie, il est indispensable que les dirigeants s’investissent activement dans la mission de la responsabilisation en boucle, c’est-à-dire activer le dialogue tri-directionnel et le propager comme règle de conduite afin que le fonctionnement global de l’entreprise devienne un espace de médiété/médiation. Car, la mise en place du dialogue tri-directionnel et de l’espace de médiété/ médiation permet de faire fonctionner efficacement les droits piliers de la régulation démocratique et de promouvoir l’intérêt général. Or, l’intérêt général n’est pas une addition d’intérêts auto-centriques et d’arrangements claniques mais une participation égale de tous à la valorisation du développement humain et à la construction de la démocratie interne. Si chacun se campe sur son propre intérêt sans prendre en compte l’intérêt de l’autre dans l’intérêt de soi ou s’il appréhende l’intérêt général selon ses lunettes partiales et partielles ou s’il déforme le dialogue en monologues parallèles, ces comportements portent atteinte à l’ensemble des piliers de la démocratie. L’individualisme grimpant, les relations inter-individuelles concurrentielles, le silence et la peur de perdre son emploi montent en flèche et propagent, au lieu de la culture du dialogue et de la décision, l’inculture de la violence et un climat généralisé de méfiance et de défiance qui amenuisent autant la dynamique de l’action collective que la réflexivité émancipatrice de l’action délibérative. Comme le souligne Rosanvallon (2006), le danger majeur qui menace la démocratie est la défiance qui embourbe l’action collective dans l’impolitique, l’apathie, l’a-critique. Dans ces conditions, une déliance se crée au sein de l’action collective mais aussi entre les autorités décisionnaires et les contre-pouvoirs et cette déliance a comme conséquence à la fois l’hégémonie des décisions unilatérales et l’enlisement des instances de contrôle. La réflexivité émancipatrice ne peut s’activer ni de la part des dirigeants, ni de la part de l’action collective pour faire fonctionner efficacement la démocratie participative, délibérative et agonistique. Par ailleurs, le dialogue en triple boucle est un outil incontournable du management d’action-rupture-apprentissage et une arme essentielle contre toute forme de violence et de banalisation de la violence et ce, grâce au processus de déconstruction-reconstruction. D’une part, le dialogue tri-directionnel ne se contente

pas de propager les vertus de la qualité relationnelle fondée sur les rapports de partenaires mais il s’efforce de déconstruire les sources pathogènes des violences en légitimant les conflits constructifs et en recentrant les conflits décentrés autour des véritables enjeux. Et ce recentrage est d’autant plus utile puisque les expériences du terrain montrent que très souvent les conflits dégénèrent à cause du déplacement et de la perte de visibilité de leurs enjeux initiaux de sens. D’autre part, le dialogue tri-directionnel est une structure agissante et mobilisatrice non seulement contre les comportements narcissiques qui produisent le harcèlement moral et sa banalisation, mais aussi contre les comportements fatalistes et suivistes qui reproduisent, in facto, cette banalisation. Les multiples entraves des missions de valorisation du développement humain ainsi que les multiples difficultés de la construction de la démocratie interne aux entreprises montrent clairement la nécessité de l’intégration du paradigme d’action-rupture-apprentissage non seulement dans la sphère politico-stratégique mais aussi dans la sphère socioculturelle des représentations et des règles de conduite ainsi que dans la sphère structurelle des systèmes de gestion et des méthodes d’évaluation. Car, derrière ces entraves et difficultés se trouvent explicitement ou implicitement une large palette de conceptions déformatrices qui façonnent les pratiques de gestion et leurs instruments. Autrement dit, les missions de valorisation du développement humain ne peuvent s’accomplir effectivement sans déconstruction-reconstruction des pathologies aussi bien managériales que socioculturelles. Les pathologies managériales désignent les pratiques exerçant de fortes pressions aux salariés: surcharge du travail, mutations de postes sans accompagnement de formation, objectifs inatteignables, résultats attendus dans des délais trop courts, prédominance des critères quantitatifs, évaluation individualisée des performances. Ces pathologies engendrent un stress structurel et durable qui a des effets pervers et contre-productifs sur les entreprises et les salariés. Leur déconstruction est donc une priorité stratégique du management d’action-rupture-apprentissage mais cette déconstruction passe nécessairement par une métamorphose socioculturelle cristallisée dans les systèmes de gestion et d’évaluation, à commencer par l’appropriation du travail humain comme droit humain fondamental et bien commun. Il ne s’agit pas d’annuler les systèmes de gestion et d’évaluation mais de renvers-

er leurs pratiques déviantes qui réduisent « le travail en production » en lui ôtant la créativité et l’imagination et de remplacer les « méthodes d’évaluation individualisée des performances par des « méthodes qui favorisent la coopération et la solidarité des collectifs » (Dejours, 2009). A cet égard, le rôle du management d’action-rupture-apprentissage est largement pédagogique et socioculturel. Pour s’attaquer aux pathologies managériales, le passage obligé est un exercice permanent les vertus de l’acteur de médiété/médiation qui ne se réduit pas à un management de proximité physique ou psychologique. Car, ce qui importe c’est de renoncer aux consignes productivistes des dirigeants plutôt que d’être plus disponibles auprès des équipes de travail. Et la responsabilité suprême incombe aux dirigeants qui « doivent encourager les managers à être assertifs et notamment leur permettre de dire « non » à des objectifs inatteignables » (Albert, 2008). En d’autres termes, le management d’action-rupture-apprentissage n’est pas la seule affaire des managers de même que la figure d’acteur de médiété/médiation ne concerne pas que les gestionnaires de conflits. L’exercice durable de la médiété/médiation, figure emblématique de la praxis de responsabilité, s’étend sur l’ensemble des acteurs de l’entreprise et devient une règle de conduite dominante, enracinée dans le logiciel socio-culturel de l’institution et cristallisée dans les systèmes de gestion. C’est par cet exercice durable et généralisé de la médiété/médiation que les acteurs individuels et/ou institutionnels s’approprient les invariants des droits humains comme normes et moyens d’action pour se dés-approprier des significations pathologiques socioculturelles qui sous-entendent et façonnent les pathologies managériales. Il s’agit donc de s’attaquer non seulement aux pathologies managériales mais à toute sorte de pathologies et notamment aux « pathologies sociales » qui, selon Honneth (2007) renvoient à l’ensemble des violations de l’auto-réalisation individuelle et de la reconnaissance, tant dans la sphère de l’amour et des liens affectifs que dans la sphère juridico-politique et celle de la considération sociale. En déstructurant les pathologies tous azimuts et en agissant à la fois sur le plan stratégique-culturel-structurel, la praxis de responsabilité appliquée dans les entreprises fournit les bases solides, saines et durables d’un modèle de gouvernance démocratique, légitime et efficace pour l’effectivité du développement humain et de la performance globale.

3. L’APPORT CONCEPTUEL ET OPERATIONNEL DE LA PRAXIS DE RESPONSABILITE AU DEVELOPPEMENT DURABLE DES ENTREPRISES 3.1. EFFECTIVITÉ DU DÉVELOPPEMENT HUMAIN ET DU BIEN COMMUN Le premier avantage qu’apporte l’application de la praxis de responsabilité dans les entreprises est l’élimination des obstacles qui entravent l’effectivité du développement humain et du bien commun. Ces obstacles puisent leurs sources dans les tensions, les incohérences et les contradictions notamment entre les objectifs annoncés de valorisation du développement humain et le vécu des salariés sur leur lieu de travail, vécu qui illustre plutôt des sentiments de frustration en aval et des pratiques de dévalorisation en amont. Ce qui ressort de façon récurrente des témoignages, qu’il s’agisse de cadres ou d’employés c’est leur sousconsidération à la fois comme personne et acteur dans l’entreprise. Les obstacles de la démotivation, de l’absentéisme, du désengagement et de la de-responsabilisation ne sont que la partie visible de l’iceberg puisqu’en filigrane se profile l’obstacle majeur, celui de l’absence de l’appropriation identitaire du travail humain et de l’Homme au travail comme valeurs en soi et sujets de valorisation. Or, cette appropriation identitaire est le point d’orgue de la praxis de responsabilité puisqu’elle fixe les invariants universels des droits humains et de la démocratie comme finalités et moyens d’action. Pour la praxis de responsabilité, les droits humains ne sont pas uniquement des normes déontologiques mais aussi et surtout des programmes réflexifs d’action-rupture-apprentissage qui déterminent aussi bien les finalités de la praxis humaine que les moyens opérationnels appropriés pour les atteindre. C’est l’intégration stratégique, culturelle et structurelle de ces finalités et moyens dans les lignes de conduite qui transforme les pratiques des acteurs en les responsabilisant afin qu’ils se mobilisent pour transformer les structures normatives et organisationnelles des entreprises. C’est essentiellement grâce à cette appropriation identitaire des droits humains et de la démocratie que la praxis de responsabilité devient un outil d’effectivité du bien commun et du développement humain et un outil d’élimination des obstacles comportementaux qui entravent ces effectivités. Car, cette appropriation identitaire n’est ni une approche d’engagement volontaire, ni une approche de justiciabilité normative mais une ap-

proche constructiviste de changement conjuguant auto-transformation des lignes de conduite et transformation des règles de conduite. Et c’est dans cette « conjonction des régulations transformatrices auto-imposées et hétéro-imposées » que se concrétise la praxis de responsabilité comme « ligne de conduite appropriative des droits humains et de la démocratie » (Nikolopoulou, 2010). D’une part, les démarches d’engagement volontaire restent cantonnées, soit dans une éthique personnalisée des dirigeants sans régulations transformatrices cristallisées dans le fonctionnement global de l’entreprise (stratégique, culturel et structurel), soit dans une éthique formalisée en codes de conduite accompagnés souvent d’un certain nombre de dérives: contenu flou, absence des mécanismes de vérification et d’application, absence d’actions concrètes, mais le plus inquiétant est la transgression des règles universelles reconnues au sein du Bureau International du Travail en matière de droits des travailleurs et de leurs conditions de travail. D’autre part, les démarches de justiciabilité normative, préconisant des sanctions juridiques et légales pour contraindre les entreprises à respecter les droits des travailleurs, ne peuvent à elles seules ostraciser, ni l’hégémonie des logiques marchandes et productivistes, ni les dérives que cette hégémonie engendre sur l’ensemble du fonctionnement de l’entreprise. Car, derrière ces logiques dominantes se trouvent les lobbies dominants et les conflits d’intérêts qui finissent par imposer l’intérêt de l’un sur l’intérêt de l’autre au détriment de l’intérêt général et du bien commun. Et ces logiques dominantes mais insidieuses finissent par imposer un consensus mou qui masque les véritables enjeux des conflits constructifs. C’est pourquoi, la praxis de responsabilité ne se fie ni aux référentiels des normes, certifications, codes de conduite et labels, ni aux lois et règles juridiques mais elle met l’accent sur la conjonction des régulations transformatrices et l’exercice constant d’une ligne de conduite, de vigilance et de rupture contre les conceptions instrumentales qui sacrifient les droits humains sur l’autel de la realpolitique et de la rationalité économique. C’est ainsi que la praxis de responsabilité ouvre une voie pragmatique pour que « l’efficacité raisonnable » gagne du terrain contre « l’efficience rationnelle » (Latouche, 1988) et pour que la performance globale domine la performance unilatéralement économique.

3.2. PERFORMANCE GLOBALE ET LÉGITIMITÉ DÉMOCRATIQUE DES ENTREPRISES La performance globale des entreprises se réalise au fur et à mesure que le gap d’effectivité du développement humain et le hiatus entre objectifs affichés et objectifs atteints se remplissent de la satisfaction partagée des aspirations, celles de l’entreprise à l’égard de la performance de l’individu au travail et celles de l’individu à sa qualité de vie au sein et hors de l’entreprise. Cette satisfaction partagée est un input incontournable de la performance car construite de façon systémique et globale dans et par la valorisation de l’individu/acteur, sa responsabilisation, sa créativité et sa reconnaissance et dans et par la justice procédurale et distributive. Les individus se responsabilisent tout en se valorisant comme personnes et acteurs et la valorisation du développement humain, ainsi produite, se réinjecte dans les entreprises et se traduit en termes de créativité, de reconnaissance réciproque et d’osmose entre le sentiment d’être utile pour soi et le sentiment d’être utile pour autrui. Par ailleurs, des études montrent que la justice distributive et la justice procédurale dans les entreprises ont un impact direct sur la satisfaction et la performance des individus au travail par le sentiment de l’équité qu’elles procurent (Le Flanchec, 2006). D’une part, la justice distributive, axée sur les résultats des processus décisionnels, procure aux individus un sentiment d’équité lorsqu’ils reçoivent des récompenses similaires pour les mêmes efforts. D’autre part, la justice procédurale, axée sur les processus décisionnels, procure un sentiment d’équité par le fait que les individus acceptent les résultats y compris négatifs des décisions mais à condition que les procédures respectent les règles de la justice. Cependant, la performance globale est souvent entravée sur le terrain par les approches comptables et quantifiables du développement humain. Le cas des risques physiques et psychosociaux illustre bien les effets contre-productifs de ces approches qui finissent par engendrer des « coûts préjudiciables tant sur le plan humain que sur le plan économique » (Bartoli, 2003). Des enquêtes réalisées sur le terrain montrent que les interventions des acteurs pour remédier à ces risques souffrent souvent d’un certain nombre de défaillances et d’embûches: soit elles se contentent d’intervenir après des événements plus ou moins tragiques (suicides, accidents), soit elles se livrent à des modifications ultérieures coûteuses en temps, énergie et argent, soit elles peinent à s’accorder sur une ligne de conduite commune à adopter. En se penchant avec un regard analytique sur les causes profondes de ces interventions inefficaces, on peut affirmer que les véritables obstacles se trouvent à plusieurs niveaux : tantôt dans la considération du travail humain et de l’Homme au travail comme un coût à réduire ou une contrainte à gérer, tantôt dans la réticence ou le refus de partager en commun des connaissances et de remettre en cause les structures de pouvoir, tantôt dans l’incapacité de travailler ensemble en concertation, tantôt dans la non-implication des acteurs sur l’ensemble du processus souvent abandonné en phase de diagnostic sans mise en œuvre et suivi. Si la praxis de responsabilité est un vecteur de performance globale des entreprises c’est principalement grâce à sa triple fonction paradigmatique d’action-rupture-apprentissage: l’action intégrant la vigilance, la rupture intégrant la remise en cause et l’apprentissage intégrant le dressage démocratique. C’est dans et par cette triple fonction paradigmatique que sont enrayées les déformations et les déviances qui découlent des acceptions mécaniques, virtuelles et désincarnées de la gestion des entreprises qui, soit restent ancrées sur les impératifs économiques en évacuant le développement humain, soit se

perdent dans les dédales nébuleux des principes universels du développement humain sans pouvoir pénétrer réellement la sphère des finalités avec de véritables stratégies d’intervention, des moyens appropriés, des résultats concrets, cohérents et satisfaisants. L’effectivité du développement humain, du bien commun et de la performance globale est source d’une double légitimité démocratique des entreprises. Il est communément admis que la légitimité n’est pas synonyme de légalité et de droit positif institué mais un parti pris pour les valeurs universelles de la démocratie et des droits humains. La praxis de responsabilité, forgée dans ces valeurs universelles, devient une approche de légitimation des acteurs non pas pour justifier et valider ex post les décisions prises ex ante mais pour métamorphoser les lignes et les règles de conduite. En s’imposant et en imposant des transformations réflexives et émancipatrices, les entreprises gagnent une double légitimité démocratique: un modèle démocratique, légitime et efficace de gouvernance qui ne remet pas en cause les profits comme « régulateur de l’économie » mais les oriente « à des fins de solidarité » (Moussé, 1997) et une légitimité gagnée des entreprises en tant qu’acteurs-producteurs de richesses sociales, humaines, économiques et d’externalités positives injectées sur le système socio-économique et écologique global.

3.3. LES CONCEPTS DE DÉVELOPPEMENT DURABLE ET DE RSE COMME PRAXIS POLITIQUE TRANSFORMATRICE, UNIVERSELLE ET UNIVERSALISABLE Les caps difficiles d’obstacles étant franchis, les concepts de développement durable et de responsabilité sociale de l’entreprise (RSE) se trouvent munis de bases conceptuelles solides et de moyens opérationnels concrets leur accordant le statut de praxis politique transformatrice, universelle et universalisable. articulée autour de trois dimensions à la fois contestatrices et positives : une dimension socio-anthropo-centrique, une dimension axiologique et une dimension téléologique. La dimension socio-anthropo-centrique met l’accent sur la politique de civilisation qui, selon Morin (2002), rompt avec l’acception classique du développement conçu comme « une sorte de machine dont la locomotive serait technique et économique et qui conduirait par elle-même les wagons, c’est-à-dire le développement social et humain ». La posture fondamentale de cette dimension est l’agir socio-politique de l’individu, posture qui rompt avec la dichotomie individuacteur et qui prône la conjonction de la responsabilité sociale et de la responsabilité individuelle de l’individu/acteur entendu comme « animal politique » au sens aristotélicien. Cette conjonction devient possible grâce à la dimension axiologique qui, elle, met l’accent autant sur la réflexivité et l’émancipation comme moteur régulateur de la conduite responsable que sur les valeurs fondamentales et universelles qui, pour les acteurs responsables, ne sont ni négociables au nom des intérêts auto-centriques, ni relativisables au nom de contingences socioculturelles. La réflexivité et l’émancipation interviennent sur un double registre contestataire et positif: interroger et s’interroger (sur) le bien-fondé des normes dominantes et de leurs significations sous-jacentes tout en ayant pour guide, but et moyen d’action, les significations pertinentes des droits humains et de la démocratie. On arrive ainsi à la dimension téléologique qui met l’accent sur la relation fin-moyen mais avec un autre contenu que celui de la conception instrumentale qui, elle, privilégie la cohérence logique entre fin et moyen sans intégrer la cohérence axiologique, c’est-à-dire le parti pris pour les valeurs universelles. En intégrant la cohérence axiologique, le développement durable et la RSE se transforment en chaîne d’action contextualisée dans et par les valeurs universelles et contextualisable au niveau local et global. En articulant ces dimensions de la praxis politique transformatrice, le développement durable et la RSE s’opérationnalisent comme pratiques alternatives qui ne se décrètent pas mais qui émergent dans les situations locales par les stratégies réflexives et émancipatrices des acteurs et qui influencent le logiciel paradigmatique du système global. En revanche, si les objectifs économiques, sociaux et environnementaux ne sont pas transversalisés par les dimensions socio-anthropo-centrique, axiologique et téléologique de la praxis de responsabilité, le développement durable et la RSE risquent de déraper sur des pratiques désincarnées leur ôtant leur caractère de praxis politique transformatrice. La praxis de responsabilité est un paradigme incontournable du développement durable et de la RSE car elle met l’accent sur « la santé durable du développement » (Nikolopoulou, 2009a ; 2009b), à savoir sur la durabilité des bonnes pratiques par l’ensemble des acteurs responsables résolument positionnés pour enraciner les droits humains et les règles démocratiques dans le fonctionnement global des organisations, qu’il s’agisse des entreprises à but lucratif ou des entreprises de l’économie solidaire. Car, même si les entreprises de l’économie solidaire

produisent des biens à utilité sociale, elles ne produisent pas toujours les piliers de la démocratie interne. Les autorités décisionnaires de tout type d’organisation et d’institution, privée ou publique, associative ou économique, sont donc interpellées à s’impliquer activement et durablement dans la création des conditions propices à la concertation, à la coopération et à la co-élaboration des objectifs tout en veillant à ce que ces conditions perdurent dans le temps sans érosions, obstacles et dysfonctionnements. En déplaçant les lignes dichotomiques entreprises privéespubliques, économie solidaire-économie marchande et en créant une nouvelle ligne de démarcation qui interpelle tous les acteurs à des comportements d’action-rupture-apprentissage, la praxis de responsabilité fait de la RSE un « modèle de gouvernance en règle juste » (Nikolopoulou, 2008b) qui déconstruit non seulement les logiques déformatrices de l’économie mais aussi les logiques désincarnées de l’acteur, de la démocratie, des droits humains, du dialogue, de l’intérêt général, du bien commun, de la communauté. CONCLUSION Tout au long de cet article nous sommes efforçés de montrer que la bonne gouvernance des entreprises, à l’image d’un bateau, a pour but, l’effectivité du développement humain et du bien commun et a pour moyens, les compétences-vertus du pilote et la qualité du pilotage, les compétences-vertus des co-équipiers et la qualité du dialogue. Tous ces moyens sont des instruments indispensables à la navigation, non seulement pour arriver à son but mais aussi pour éviter les écueils durant la navigation, écueils parfois visibles mais souvent invisibles qui menacent à la fois le but, le processus et les acteurs de la navigation. Si en revanche, un tel but n’existe pas ou si un tel but existe mais est entravé par des moyens défectueux et inéfficaces, il faut sans aucun doute et sans délai changer de cap, de gouvernail, de pilotage et d’instruments de navigation. Or, ces changements ne se décrètent pas mais se construisent en concertation entre pilotes et co-équipiers et en s’imposant des règles communes. Les règles qui s’imposent de l’extérieur, pour contraindre à une navigation appropriée, sont certes indispensables dans la mesure où elles sanctionnent les déviances, mais ces règles ne peuvent pas, à elles seules, changer le cap, les modes, les outils et les acteurs du pilotage. C’est dans les transformations des comportements que réside l’utilité de la praxis de responsabilité. Ces transformations ne résultent ni de bonnes intentions ni de pratiques occasionnelles mais d’un exercice durable d’action-rupture-apprentissage contre les tentations qui sacrifient la raison du but du voyage pour son plaisir. C’est par cet exercice durable de réflexivité individuelle et collective que les écueils peuvent être visualisés à temps et que les obstacles et les dysfonctionnements peuvent être détectés à fond et en amont. C’est dans l’intérêt de chacun, de tous et de la civilisation humaine. Rappelons, à ce propos, la phrase d’Aristote dans La Politique « celui qui agit dans son propre intérêt, agit dans l’intérêt de l’autre et dans l’intérêt collectif » ou, autrement dit, celui qui agit contre l’intérêt collectif, agit contre lui-même.

En d’autres termes, pour que le développement durable dispose de la qualité de paradigme alternatif digne de ce nom, il faut qu’il fixe durablement les qualités des fonctions paradigmatiques de la praxis de responsabilité, à savoir la conception réorganisatrice, la pratique régulatrice et l’apprentissage paideutique. Le développement durable est un processus long, une construction pas toujours aisée, un changement d’envergure des représentations et des pratiques, un grand pari à relever avec un déplacement des positions égocentriques sur des positions dialogiques. La pérennité de la santé humaine et de la santé de l’entreprise en sont les prix à gagner, de même que la légitimité démocratique des entreprises en tant qu’acteurs-constructeurs du développement durable, du bien commun et du développement humain. La santé durable du développement se construit sur une base dialectique d’élargissement et de rétrécissement, élargir les espaces de discussion et les zones d’apprentissage tout en les rétrécissant sur la trame commune des invariants de la démocratie et des droits humains. Cette base dialectique est la clé de voûte du dialogue authentique qui consiste à assurer le respect inconditionnel de la diversité sur la trame du respect inconditionnel des valeurs universelles et universalisables de la démocratie et des droits humains. L’espace de médiété/médiation et du dialogue authentique est un lieu de vie et non pas de survie, un bio-topos en rupture avec l’utopie (le non-lieu) des déviances, de la dérégulation et des pathologies, qu’elles soient sociales, économiques, politiques, managériales, individuelles, collectives ou organisationnelles. Le non-lieu des déviances est un sablier renversé qui fonctionne à l’envers avec des effets pervers : les déviances deviennent la règle et la « règle juste » devient l’exception. Or, la praxis de responsabilité forgée dans la médiété/médiation ne fait ni des rafistolages ni des compromis avec le sablier renversé mais elle agit énergiquement, définitivement et durablement contre les apparences. Comme disait Aristote dans La Politique « Beaucoup de pratiques d’apparence démocratique sont la ruine des démocraties » et « la meilleure forme de gouvernance est celle qui est fondée sur la vertu de la médiété ». Certes, elle est la meilleure mais elle est à construire et à mettre en application durablement. BIBLIOGRAPHIE Albert Éric (2008), « La gestion du stress devient un facteur de compétitivité », in Le Monde (propos recueillis par Hervé Requillart), 2 octobre. Aristote (1994), Éthique à Nicomaque, Paris, Librairie philosophique J. VRIN. (traduction par J. Tricot, 8ème édition). Aristote (1995), La Politique, Paris, Librairie philosophique J. VRIN. (traduction par J. Tricot, 7ème édition). Bartoli Henri (2003), Éthique et économie: médiation du politique, Paris, UUNESCO Castoriadis Cornelieus (1996), La montée de l’insignifiance. Les carrefours du labyrinthe IV, Paris, Les Éditions du Seuil. Sanchez-Mazas Margarita et Koubi Geneviève (éd) (2005), Le harcèlement. De la société solidaire à la société solitaire, Bruxelles, Éditions de l’Université de Bruxelles. Dejours Christophe (2009), Travail vivant: Tome 2, Travail et émancipation, Paris, Payot. Dejours Christophe (2007), Conjurer la violence: Travail, violence et santé, Paris, Payot. Dejours Christophe (1998), « L’entreprise apprend à tous les salariés à commettre des injustices », in Le Monde, 18 février. Dubar Claude (1996), La socialisation. Construction des iden-

tités sociales et professionnelles, Paris, Armand Colin/Masson. Friedberg Erhard (2008), « Chronique – Du pouvoir à la confiance (et retour) », Le site de R§O MULTIMEDIA, www. recherche-et-organisation.com. Habermas Jürgen (1992), De l’éthique de la discussion, Paris, Les Éditions du Cerf. (traduction de l’allemand par M. Hundyadi). Habermas Jürgen (1987), Théorie de l’agir communicationnel. Tome 2. Pour une critique de la raison fonctionnaliste, Paris, Fayard. (traduction de l’allemand par J-L. Schlegel). Hirogoyen Marie-France (2001), Le harcèlement moral dans la vie professionnelle. Démêler le vrai du faux, Paris, Éditions La Découverte et Syros. Honneth Axel (2007), La lutte pour la reconnaissance, Paris, Les Éditions du Cerf. (traduction de l’allemand par P. Rusch). Latouche Serge (1988), « L’efficacité raisonnable et le piège de l’efficience rationnelle », in Économie et Humanisme, n° 347, décembre 1988-janvier 1989, p. 32-38. Le Flanchec Alice (2006), « Médiation, autonomie et justice procédurale », in Négociations, n° 2, p. 113-126. Le Goff Jean-Pierre (2000), « Un harcèlement moral ambigu », in Le Monde, 28 mars. Linhart Danièle (1994), La modernisation des entreprises, Paris, La Découverte. Morin Edgar (2002), Pour une politique de civilisation, Paris, Éditions Arléa, collection Arléa-Poche. Moussé Jean (1997), « Éthique et profit aujourd’hui », in Revue Française de Gestion, janvier-février, p. 52-58. Nikolopoulou Hélène (2010), « Droits humains, légitimité démocratique et praxis de responsabilité au cœur de la gouvernance alimentaire et agricole durable » (à paraître, Les Presses de l’Université Laval). Nikolopoulou Hélène (2009a), « La gouvernance de médiété pour un développement responsable en liberté, en santé et en équité durable », dans Sanni Yaya Hachimi (dir), Le défi de l’équité et de l’accessibilité en santé dans le tiers-monde. Entre droit fondamental, justice sociale et logique marchande, Québec, Les Presses de l’Université Laval et Paris, L’Harmattan, p. 305-327. Nikolopoulou Hélène (2009b), « Développement Humain et Santé du Développement : une finalité non sécable de la praxis de responsabilité », dans Ion Cucui, Maria Negreponti-Delivanis, Ion Stegaroiu (dir), Mélanges en hommage à Jean-Claude Dischamps, Targoviste, Maison d’édition Bibliotheca, p. 231252. Nikolopoulou Hélène (2008a), « La médiation, nouveau paradigme pour une nouvelle compétence managériale », in Dupuich-Rabasse Françoise (dir), Management et Gestion des Compétences, Paris, L’Harmattan, p. 55-70. Nikolopoulou Hélène (2008b), « Responsabilité Sociale de l’Entreprise et Médiété, modèle de gouvernance en règle juste », in Revue de Droit et de Sciences Sociales, n° 1, p.78-95. Orléan André (dir) (1994), Analyse économique des conventions, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France. Reynaud Jean-Daniel (1993), Les règles du jeu. L’action collective et la régulation sociale, Paris, Armand Colin. Sandel Michael (1999), Le libéralisme et les limites de la justice, Paris, Éditions du Seuil. (pour la traduction française). Sen Amartya (2006), « Us et abus du multiculturalisme », in Courrier International, n° 814, 8 juin.

THE INFORMATIO SOCIETY TODAY AND TOMORROW

THE MARKET, SERVICES/PRODUCTS, TECHNOLOG STANDARDS OF COMMUNICATIONS AND IT (C

Prof. Eng. Ph.D. Victor GREU

Astract The paper is an introduction for an articles series having as theme the role of market, services/products, technologies and standards of communications and information technology in the information society evolution process. Taking into account this process importance, complexity and dynamic, the main structural features as defined by the EU regulations (the novel impact to all spheres of human activity, with specific elements for enterprise and individual), motion forces and evolution trends, in a systemic approach are estimated. There is also presented an important consequences and phenomena series, which, even in a heuristic approach, now are hardly perceived or subliminal, but which could be amplified or refined by the future.

Keywords:

information society (IS), information age, communication and information technology (CIT), broadband, business intelligence, intelligent home, EU regulations on CIT

GIES AND CIT)

1.The actual context – a world where the CIT benefits are becoming ubiquitous, an aisberg with dimensions and layout which today we can hardly imagine The human being ancestral temptation to communicate has generated the communications (the telephony exchange has been the first “computer”) and information technology (CIT) – which, in the last decades of XX-th Century, has become a new industrial revolution, a paradigm with more and more complex implications, having as an essence to promote the information as a supreme value in the new era, so called the information age. The convergence between the communications technology and the information technology is the main feature and a logical necessity of the evolution towards CIT integrated equipments and systems, but this supposes multiple correlations of scientific, technical, financial, commercial and managerial nature. CIT evolutions represent, at planetary scale, such a complex and dynamic reality, so that the standardization efforts (the only mechanism which provides interoperability, efficience and a durable development) are manifestly more and more complicate and difficult. An relevant example is G3 generation of mobile communications, for which the standardization process has lasted for years, while the main standardization centers (ITU, IEEE, ETSI) and also many industry alliances have been implied. As a proof of its importance and complexity, the main features and the general frame of rising the IS is largely reflected in EU regulations [1], starting from its overwhelming role: “the information society is making possible a profound economic and social transformation which is spreading to all spheres of human activity”. This way, a summary of the legislation and policy of EU

includes: EU approach on the information society; Current general legal framework; i2010 strategy and eEUROPE action plans; Radio Frequencies; Network security; Internet; eCommerce; Payment systems; Data protection; Copyright and related rights in the information society. Among the priority policies which are promoted by the EU, the industry received, naturally, an essential role: “create and promote new information society services and products as well as stimulate timely production of suitable and market-driven standards and specifications”. The IS rising impact on companies is eloquently reflected by the statistical data which are requested by the EU to be collected: CIT systems and their usage in enterprises; use of the Internet and other electronic networks by enterprises; e-commerce; e-business processes and organisational aspects; use of CIT by enterprises to exchange information and services with governments and public administrations (e-government); use of CIT and its impact on the environment (Green CIT); barriers to the use of CIT, the Internet and other electronic networks. Even more relevant is the request regarding the education of the individuals as [2]: “Characteristics to be collected for individuals having ever used a computer but not having taken a course (of at least three hours) on any aspect of computer use in the last three years and who have not mentioned as reason their computer skills were sufficient, they rarely use of computers or they engaged in self-study or assistance from others: reason for not having taken a course on computer use: lack of time, course costs, no suitable course on content available”. and scientific. Maybe the most relevant example is just Microsoft and Bill gates, but maybe other “stars” will follow to be counted: the Internet, Google, the mobile phone etc. It would be interesting to observe that, before the appearance of a new technological revolution – which will be probably based on the biotechnologies that we will learn from the “research” mother nature made for millions of years – the essential role in the CIT “explosion” was played by the simple multiplication and combination of the “bricks” made of logical gates (NAND) and generally of transistors. Now we can see something similar in the WEB world and the story will go on (as history repets itself in spirals).

2.The main motion forces The market in general and in the case of CIT in a particular way is generated by human needs nature, which is expressed, from psychological point of view by the Abraham Maslow Pyramid: the needs are growing from base, starting with the physiological ones (eat, drink etc.), continuing with the security, relationship and esteem ones. On top are the personality development ones. This way, starting with the facilities from the “intelligent home”, continuing with the communications services/products (mobile or not), then ending with the “endless” range of the scientific, technical, cultural or entertainment applications (including more than “multimedia”), the main mechanism of CIT developing is generated under the form of offering/consuming the services/products that are “aiming” the human needs. As a consequence, a palette of applicationes, with more and more ”colours”, will link the technologies potential (the industry) with the market needs. The particular features of this old market mechanism is that CIT has a huge potential to generate, as added value, new „desired” services/products from a given state of the art technology. The Internet and the mobile phone content are perhaps the best examples. The research, industry and academia represent the most consistent force, because the technologies these are creating provide the real support of the applications, which in fact go beyond the CIT sphere (as electrical and electronic engineering do) when are combined with or modernize other industries in an interdisciplinary approach which is omnipresent in the information age. Not the last, the standards are the mechanisms of regulation with purpose of enabling efficiency, compatibility and durable development of the technologies. The standards role is also

clearly stated in the EU regulations [1], as mentioned before, in a correlation market – industry, where ETSI is the coordinating third part. The multiplication effect is the mechanism which provides the exponential growing of CIT, because it includes all the above mentioned forces by the loop feed-back action (self-propulsion by profit re-investing in the added values and increasing the range of “desired” services/products). The strategical policies and the tactical decisions, made by the companies and governments are included in this multiplification effect, having the role of amplification factor – as good these orientations are, as high will be this factor. Notice that the bad or lack of decision could lead to factors smaller than unity. The decisions and the added values are now better driven by the business intelligence and computer aided design, where again CIT (with proper information and knowlidge) act as a loop amplifier to optimize the investment. This effect implies many directions: technological, commercial, financial, human and scientific. Maybe the most relevant example is just Microsoft and Bill gates, but maybe other “stars” will follow to be counted: the Internet, Google, the mobile phone etc. It would be interesting to observe that, before the appearance of a new technological revolution – which will be probably based on the biotechnologies that we will learn from the “research” mother nature made for millions of years – the essential role in the CIT “explosion” was played by the simple multiplication and combination of the “bricks” made of logical gates (NAND) and generally of transistors. Now we can see something similar in the WEB world and the story will go on (as history repets itself in spirals).

3.Prominent trends On short term the Broadband CIT services and systems development is the most important phenomenon, having the largest implications. In general, the broadband is a huge driving factor of the IS, not only by the Internet services, but with all its industry implications in CIT (from optical fiber cables or radio links and cells, which will “weave” all the Earth, to the entire range of support products – as CPU, DSP, FPGA, memories etc.), all increasing as speed and bandwidth will grow (usually exponentially) either with Moore Law or whatever will soon replace it. One of the early broadband CIT effects was that the new entered on the market, the cable operators, began to occupy an increasing part of the fix telephony services. A similar effect appeared by developing the IP voice services. The mobile – broadband acces convergence is the dominant trend for the next generation communications, as WiMax, LTE (long term evolution) - G4. In this matter, nowadays complex work of design and standardization is made in order to fundament the new networks concepts, as they must reach revolutionary data speeds of 75-300Mbps and include compatibility with the main previous standards as G2/GSM and G3. The technological research is aiming to increase the processing speed and the integration capacity on the chip. As the

performance limits of the nano – technologies will be reached, the forecasts for the bio – technologies seems to be promising. The interdisciplinary research will further extend the CIT impact on society and a relevant combination is the mecatronics, but the future is characterized by presence of CIT in all the domains, as an ingredient, a link and especially as an applications, services and performance multiplier. Some relevant achievements are first provided in the security sphere (defence, emergency, cryptography, public and individual safety etc.), but these are progressively extended wherever the market needs and the price is affordable. A such example is the GPS 24 satellites system, which, from an initially strategic domain (in the seventies), actually entered in the AVL (automatic vehicle location) and other domestic applications. Developing revolutionary applications – based on state of the art technologies – is covering medical sphere fields (imagistics, nano-surgery, genetic engineering etc.), brain-machine direct communication and also a large diversity of remote services or mobile/distributed systems (home working, e-learning, intelligent home, cloud computing etc). A very special field is home working, which will radically influence the development of information society, because individuals, companies and governments will use software/communications as remote services which will enable not only distant-work, but many

of the social activities and needs (including health care and e-learning).

4.The future that is hidden in the waves and deep of the present Facing such a complex phenomenon, even a heuristic evaluation, on long term is difficult to do, but, on the other hand, the importance and the planetary magnitude of the process lead to a responsible approach, in which all the implications, either positive or negative, must be identified and analyzed (either these are obvious, hardly perceptible or subliminal). Even if the future will less or more validate these aspects, in the information age every “information” must be periodically evaluated and correlated with other “informations”, this way producing a new “information” and aiming to progressively decrease the entropy. As a consequence, the enormous potential of CIT will provide that no planetary information to be neglected – any cm3 of the Earth (including the live world!) will be “clasified”, but equally surprising is that the world is not (yet!) prepared to efficiently, rationally and ethically use and disseminate all the information. In this matter, September 11-th 2001 is a big alarm signal!

5.Replacing conclusions It is worthy to watch the CIT evolutions and the IS rising, in order not to lose anything from what this “vehicle” could bring us and not to miss every “dream destination” to which it could lead us. We believe that CIT can distribute not only the profits from e-commerce, e-banking, business intelligence, e-government and so on, but also the supreme value of the Pyramid, the information and knowlidge which models our personality, stimulates the innovation and multiplies the creating energies. REFERENCES [1] *** 31996Y1212(01) Council Resolution of 21 November 1996 on new policy- priorities regarding the information society [2] *** 32010R0821 Commission Regulation (EU) No 821/2010 of 17 September 2010 implementing Regulation (EC) No 808/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning Community statistics on the information society [3] *** COUNCIL DECISION of 17 November 2003 (2003/840/EC) relating to the conclusion on behalf of the European Community of Council of Europe Convention No 180 on information and legal cooperation on information society services [4] Jan Van Dijk (2006) The Network Society. London: Sage. Second Edition. [5] Yannis Veneris (1990) Modeling the transition from the Industrial to the Informational Revolution, Environment and Planning.

EN 16001: the Energy Management System.The Italian situation after the first year of its implementation by Stefano Duglio

Department of Commodity Science, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Turin, Turin, Italy NatRisk - Research Centre on Natural Risks in Mountain and Hilly Environments, University of Turin, Turin, Italy 218 bis, Corso Unione Sovietica – IT10134 – Turin (Italy) Ph: +39 (0)11/670.57.16 Abstract In July of 2009 the EN 16001 European Standard was issued. This Standard is a reference for implementing an Energy Management System in the organizations. In Italy, this Standard has been implemented by UNI - Italian Organization for Standardization - that is spreading it. After one year of its application, this paper reports the state in the Italian territory, providing some assumptions about what would be the strengths and weaknesses of the energy standard. Keywords: European Standard, energy management, enterprises, strengths and weaknesses

In July 2009 EN 16001 European Standard was published. The Standard governs the so-called Energy Management System, and it was implemented in Italy by UNI - Italian Organization for Standardization, at the end of Summer 2009. The purpose of 16001 Standard is to provide a set of rules to implement a management system that allows to manage energy aspects in the organizations ( ). Like most well-known standard (the ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems or the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System), EN 16001 proposes a systemic approach (based on the logic of the Deming Cycle - PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT) to improve the energy performance over time. It isn’t a novelty. It has long been debated in the international arena. Just for the International Standardization Organization (ISO) is engaged in the drafting of a Standard - ISO 50001 - with international value. In addition, some national institutions of unification, especially in Northern Europe, have already issued on national standards that explicitly attempt to adjust the power management. In this sense, the most significant case is Sweden, which in November 2009 recognized 93 organizations certified by the National Energy Standard SS 627750:2003 ( ). So why is it necessary to adopt an European standard on

energy management? First, a clarification is needed: as all these tools, also the Energy Standard is not a compulsory requirement, but it is a voluntary adhesion. Starting from this premise, it was thought that a rule that “working” on the process, explicitly setting the energy factor, might be of interest to large-size companies and/or with a very energy-intensive processes. Another application field might be the organization of great events that are often temporary and (maybe because of it) energy-intensive. In both cases, the interest could be related to an economic benefit for the organizations: it is important to emphasize that an improvement in the process (in this case with decreasing of the consumption of an importance resource as energy) can lead savings. After one year from the adoption of the standard on energy management system and its implementation in Italy, organizations that have received such recognition are still few. As shown in Table 1 they are 6 and, in particular ( ):

Table 1: Other international standards in the Italian Organization with an Energy Management System (EN 16001) Name ISO 9001 ISO 14001 EMAS Other certifications Comau S.p.A. Yes Yes No Yes Ilsa S.p.A. Yes Yes No Yes Intesa San Paolo No Yes No Yes Irca Rica S.p.A. Yes Yes No Yes M&IT Consulting Yes No No No Nuova Solmine S.p.A. Yes Yes Yes Yes Source: FIRE, Federazione Italiana per l’uso Razionale dell’Energia, Italy Albeit on a small universe, we can do two considerations. The first one is that there isn’t a particularly interested sector than others. The second is that all the companies have a medium - large size business. For example, Comau is a global leader in the fields of aerospace and robotics, New Solmine is the Italian leader in the production and marketing of sulphuric acid and oleum. Intesa-San Paolo is the second most important Italian banking. Consequentially, four (out of six) of the organizations are “Stock Company” (S.p.A.). It is perhaps more interesting to note that all the Italian organizations certified with the UNI CEI EN 16001 have other

certification Standards, in according to internationally accepted standards. You can especially see this factor with the ISO 9001 Standard (Quality Management Systems) and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System). Then, in the field of environmental management, New Solmine S.p.A. is also registered with the EMAS EU regulation (Eco - Management and Audit Scheme). At least in part, the presence of the latter two instruments could maybe explain the present low adhesion to the EN 16001 Standard. Indeed, alongside the classic difficulties that are faced in implementing a management systems, in this case we add the presence of other Standards that deal with environment and with which will certainly need to “talk”. It is now 15 years that organizations are comparing with environmental management systems. These systems are born in order to manage the significant environmental aspects of an organization. If EMAS - its third edition was issued at the end of 2009 - has a recognition in Europe, the ISO 14001 Standard (its last review was in 2004) is applied worldwide and is well established ( - ). In this regard, the following table shows data for ISO 14001 sites and EMAS organizations in Italy ( - ) and to complete reasoning, the organizations certified ISO 9001 (6). In the latter case the division is the latest version of the standard (2000 or 2008), which have been certified.

Table 2: Italian Organization with a Quality or an Environmental Management System Standard Italian organizations ISO 9001:2000 29.334 * ISO 9001:2008 88.677 * ISO 14001:2004 13.414 * EMAS Regulation 1.440 ** Source: ACCREDIA, Ente Italiano di Accreditamento, Italy; ISPRA, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, Italy * last update: November 2010 ** last update: November 2009 As you can see from the data in Table 2, the ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 Standards are an important reality in Italy. For its different level of disclosure of environmental data through the Environmental Statement Document, EMAS Regulation has had less adhesion. In Italy, this instrument of dialogue with the public has brought about that approximately half of the EMAS organizations are public administrations (especially municipalities). In these two schemes the energy is fully part of the broader context of environmental variables. The EMAS Regulation, for example, in its Annex I (Environmental Review) among the issues to be considered part reports the “(vi) use of natural resources and raw materials (including energy)”. Furthermore, in its Annex IV (Environmental Reporting) among the key indicators EMAS shows just the “(i) Energy efficiency” (5). Even the ISO 14001 Standard, in its explanatory Appendix, states that “While no single approach to identify the environmental aspects, the approach selected may, for example, consider: (...) e) use of energy” (4 ). It doesn’t mean that who doesn’t have any management system

on environmental issues automatically decides to implement a system specifically for energy management: in fact, it could be interested in the ISO 14001 Standard. Likewise, those who already own the Standard ISO 14001 (showing some environmental sensitivity) could be considered not useful to add a specific standard for energy, as this subject is already present in environmental management. This was also well aware of the promoters of 16001 Standard. And indeed, noted the relationship between environmental performance and energy, the intention of regulators has been to structure the EN 16001 so you can easily integrate first with the ISO 14001:2004 Scheme. With only some minor differences, the structure of the index of 16001 is the same of the more applied 14001 (8). But even if an organization has an Environmental Management System, it could be difficult to integrate the two models and having also an Energy System. Having the same structure doesn’t necessarily mean a success in the integration of two or more systems. Some authors, for example, have shown how the integration of the two most used systems (ISO 14001 and ISO 9001, that have the same logic of process) can have different degrees of integration. In fact, we can see the existence of the two completely separate systems or the case of two fully integrated systems. ( - ). Integrating two or more systems requires financial and human resources to allow the integration itself is not only “on paper”, but also in deeds. This is being done necessarily with the identification of a team of people who support the “Management representative” in his duties. But you can invest on people who dedicate part of their time (if not all) to the system is difficult to reconcile with the organization of medium-small, where often the same person performs more tasks and must be very flexible. In this sense, one could see a second difficulty in the implementation of the energy system: the Italian production that consists primarily of companies with fewer than 50 employees (81%).

“Trading Area Analysis of location to Retail Com Abstract Retail location is considered to be one of the most important elements in retail marketing strategy, because it is a long-term decision, associated with long-term capital commitment. The selection of retail store locations is one of the most significant decisions in retail marketing, because in store based retailing, good locations are key elements for attracting customers to the outlets and sometimes can even compensate for a mediocre retail strategy mix. A good location therefore can lead to strong competitive advantages, because location is considered one of the elements of the retail marketing mix that is “unique” and thus cannot be imitated by competitors. Keywords: location, strategy, retail, marketing mix, trading area

Location decisions are very complex, due to the large number of factors that have to be considered, and costs associated with, for example, the opening of new stores, can be very high. Site selection is therefore a long term decision that implies long term capital commitment. Once a retail site has been chosen, there is only little flexibility, because this decision usually cannot be changed easily without high losses. Because of its fixed nature, location cannot be changed in the short term, contrary to other elements of the retail marketing mix such as prices, cus tomer service, the product assortment or advertising. These latter factors can be altered if the environment (e.g. consumer behaviour, competition) changes. The main attention in the context of retail location strategies usually focuses on the opening of new stores. However, location decisions relate to the entire physical structure of retail outlets and are thus more comprehensive. The main types of decisions are: (1) the opening of new stores, (2) the extension of floor space of existing stores,(3) the relocation or movement of a store from one place to another within a particular town or area where a better site is available, (4) rationalization decisions, e.g. the closure of individual stores, (5) repositioning of locations,e.g. altering of store image by changing the name or appearance,(6) refurbishment such as improving or updating the physical environment of an existing outlet or (7) altering the product range and assortment (“remerchandising”) to tailor the offer more closely to local customers. The opening of new stores comprises the most complex type of decision, because it is usually the starting point of activities in a specific geographic area. This section therefore focuses mainly on retail location decisions of this type. There are three basic types of locations available for retail stores: (1)solitary sites, (2)unplanned shopping areas and (3)planned shopping districts. Each of the basic location types is associated with specific advantages and disadvantages according to, for example, the size of the catchment area, occupancy costs, pedestrian or vehicle customer traffic, restrictions placed on store operations or convenience of the location.

and the importance mpanies” 1.Solitary Sites (Free-Standing Sites, Isolated Sites) This type of location relates to single, free standing outlets that are isolated from other retailers. They can, for example, be positioned on roads or near other retailers or shopping centres. Such sites are used, for instance, by large store formats in food and non food retailing or for convenience shops. 2.Unplanned Shopping Areas Unplanned shopping areas are retail locations with several outlets in close proximity to each other that have evolved over time. The retail mix is not the result of long range planning and for such locations, there is no centralized management. The main kinds of unplanned shopping areas are (1)central business districts (traditional “downtown” areas in cities/towns), (2)secondary business districts in larger cities and main street or high street locations in smaller cities, (3)neighbourhood districts, and (4)strip or string locations (locations along a street or motorway). 3.Planned Shopping Districts/Shopping Centres Planned shopping areas are retail locations that have been architecturally planned to provide a unified theme for a number of outlets. These sites are developed deliberately and usually have some large, key retail brand stores (“anchor stores”) and a number of smaller retailers to add diversity and special interest. The basic types of shopping centres are retail parks that consist of a purpose built cluster of free standing retail outlets. There are(large)parking facilities and shopping centres that consist of single buildings which are marketed as a unified shopping destination, usually with one name and logo. The retail mix is different from retail parks, as the range of stores is wider and often includes luxury and leisure items as well as clothing, footwear and other typical central location merchandise. Several specific types of retail parks and shopping centres have been developed: (1) neighbourhood or strip/community centres that are typically anchored by a supermarket, (2) power centres that consist primarily of large format retailers, (3) shopping malls that are enclosed, climate controlled and lighted shopping centres (regional or super regional shopping malls), (4) lifestyle centres that encompass an open air configuration of upscale specialty stores, entertainment and restaurants, (5) fashion/specialty centres that comprise mainly upmarket clothing shops and boutiques carrying high quality and price fashion merchandise, (6) outlet centres that contain manufacturers’ and retailers’ outlet stores or off price retailers, and (7) theme or festival parks that typically employ a unified theme carried by the retail outlets, their architectural design and their merchandise and can be anchored by restaurants or entertainment facilities. The decision as to which kind of retail location to select depends on the company’s strategy. It is an integral part of the retail location decision process.

Retail Location Decision Process Retail location decisions typically follow a systematic process that starts with a general assessment of geographic areas and leads to a detailed assessment of specific site characteristics. This process can broadly be described as a three step selection process: 1. Market selection: The first step is the consideration of a region that has potential for a new retail outlet. 2. Area analysis: Within the chosen region, a potentially optimal area for the store is selected. 3. Site evaluation: In the chosen geographical area, the best available site(s) are examined in terms of all features that are relevant to potential store performance. This step concludes with a final decision as to the specific site. Catchment Area The analysis of the catchment area (trading area, market area) of a specific region or a specific site is of high importance in each phase of this retail location decision process. The catchment area is the geographic area that contains the customers of a particular site or region for a company or a group of companies for specific goods or services. Thus, it determines the potential demand at a particular site and, among other factors, influences potential sales and profitability. Usually, the catchment area is divided into three parts. The primary trading area is the zone in which the majority of customers are based. It encompasses 50% to 80% of the customers. The secondary trading area contains about 15% to 25% and the fringe or tertiary trading area includes the remaining customers that shop occasionally at a location as an alternative to local shopping. These catchment area segments are often described in terms of the distance between

customers’ homes or work places and the area or site. Usually,either the linear distance (e.g. concentric circles drawn around a site), the travel distance(by car or public transport) or time distance measures (by car or public transport) are used to delineate trading area segments. Mapping techniques are used to forecast or survey and map such store trading areas. Geographical information systems (GIS) are important support systems for location research and trading area analysis. These are software systems that combine digitalized mapping with key locational data in order to depict trading area characteristics such as population demographics, customer purchase data, competitor locations. Location Assessment Techniques The appropriateness of a specific site is based upon the retailer’s strategy (retail formats, merchandise, pricing strategy, etc.) and is influenced by a substantial number of factors that need to be investigated. A selection of location factors is presented in Figure 1. In order to guide retail location decisions and to assess or forecast the potential sales or profitability of retail stores in a specific region, area or at a specific site, number of techniques have been developed to assess the sites.

FIGURE 1 – Selected Location Factors Managers’ Experience Location is a retail function which requires knowledge and expertise. In practice, managerial experience (“retail nose”) plays an important role in assessing retail locations. For example, rules of thumb are often used as subjective and intuitive guidelines for site assessment. Such rules are developed from knowledge of the company. Location Evaluation Checklists Checklists consist of a number of chosen variables (e.g. location factors) to be considered when evaluating retail locations. One of the first detailed check list evaluation formats was developed by Nelson (1958). Companies select factors that they believe to influence store performance. While some elements of such checklists are common to all types of retailers, each company is likely to have its own list with factors that reflect its particular strategy and situation.

FIGURE 2 – Locational Positioning Figure 2 illustrates linkages between retailers’ strategic positioning, typical locations and major factors that are considered to be important influences and which should be analysed in the context of site assessment. Analogue Method The principle behind the analogue method is that new store sites are compared to existing ones that have many features in common with the new store (e.g. store size, merchandise or location characteristics). The likely turnover and profitability of the new store site are estimated on the basis of sales achieved and profits earned by similar stores in existing areas. Such comparisons can be done by extrapolating own store data or by comparing the new site with existing competing stores (e.g. stores at the prospective location). Knowledge-Based Techniques Knowledge based techniques are the most recent models that have been developed to assess retail store locations. The most important techniques are expert systems or models developed based on artificial intelligence, such as neural networks or computer systems modeling the retail environment and shopper behavior as “software agents” that simulate store performance at prospective locations. Such systems depend heavily on powerful computer capacities and immense data requirements and are still in the development phase. Conclusion and Outlook Location decisions have a major impact on a retail outlet’s success, as location is an important factor in consumers’ store choice. The location decision also has a long term impact as it is not very flexible. Thus,location decisions are of critical importance for retailers’ competitive advantages. To guide and support retail site assessment, the various location assessment techniques have become more and more sophisticated. Such improvements have been triggered largely by advances in computer and software technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence). It should be noted that retail location decisions consist not only of opening new stores, but that monitoring existing stores is of equal importance. This entails, for example, decisions concerning repositioning, relocation or closing outlets. This is important, as retail environments change rapidly (e.g. customer behaviour or competitive structure) and companies must also respond in terms of location decisions. However, retail location decisions cannot be made without taking into account the retail environment in terms of the interests of towns/cities or residents. Establishing a retail store can, for example, influence shopping patterns, traffic and pedestrian flows or the retail structure of a town. A major concern of local communities is out of town vs. inner city retail centres. Also important in this context are business improvement districts (BID). BIDs are public private partnerships(PPP) that comprise property and business owners of a defined area, who try to improve it by collective contributions to the maintenance, development and marketing of their commercial district. To ensure that the specific objectives are met, retail locations are influenced or constrained by local or central government planning policies. Thus,the opening of new stores or even changing or extending existing stores may require planning permission. For example, most European countries have restrictions on setting up large retail formats and out of town shopping centres. The reason for these interventions is the potentially adverse impact of large stores on small businesses and of new shopping centres on old ones. However,local authorities not only restrict retail store settlement. In many city marketing initiatives, an attractive retail mix is known to be one of the key elements of attracting customers to a particular town or city. Local authorities, therefore, try to attract retailers with a good image so that retailers open stores in their towns or cities.

Customer preference for a Romanian Software Company over local competitors on the basis of the economic crisis

by Irina Stefania Toader

Abstract: The paper intends to identify the attributes that conduct customers to choose our software company’s products and services over other major players in the ERP market such as Oracle, Microsoft, IBM and others. The software company is the current year’s leading ERP software producer having a high standard client portfolio. For the purpose of the research a customer satisfaction survey was used; also several interviews with customers and key employees or persons were conducted in order to obtain relevant information for the topic. Moreover, internal materials of the company were used and analyzed. The research paper concluded that The software company’s experience in the field, its employees knowledge and commitment to answer promptly customers’ requests were some of the attributes that helped The software company to

Introduction

become no.1 in the preferences of customers. Also, the company’s customer satisfaction survey showed that most customers feel satisfied with it and they will surely further recommend the company to other clients. My personal experience within the company has provided me with the possibility to notice a very close relationship between the company and its customers, based on which they can provide such good references. However, the company still needs to improve its communication skills, intervention response time and conduct more surveys in the future in order to find out possible reasons for the dissatisfaction of some of its clients. Key words: Software Company, customer preferences, ERP systems

The software company is a Romanian software producer of integrated information systems, which are developed for organizations that run their activity within a slight unstable economic environment and marked by continuous changes in legislation and a high inflation rate. It addresses companies from all activity fields that need an IT tool for the optimization and streamlining of their internal businesses processes.1 The main business solution provided by the company, a Tier 1 information system has managed to place it on top of the Romanian ERP providers, exceeding reputable brands such as Microsoft, SAP, Oracle and others. The company’s client portfolio consisting of over 400 domestic companies and 60 multinational groups, together with the KPMG recommendation2 and numerous positive references from clients, prove the company’s competences in business quality management, thus delivering high standard solutions in terms of implementation, post implementation support and services. However, there are several marketing research companies and clients that argue about the company’s ability to deliver such high quality and flexible solutions – the basic features of a Tier 1 solution, which is the highest position in the ERPs classification.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a closer overview of the actual product quality delivered by the software company and the related customer satisfaction level, thus helping prospect companies or stakeholders understand the company’s quality and performance. Moreover, by interviewing both old and new customers, relevant conclusions can be drawn with regards to customers’ decision to choose this company over competitors on the basis of the current economic crisis. Also, the evaluation of satisfaction and dissatisfaction factors was performed in order to draw a plan of actions for the customer satisfaction improvement and creation of opportunities for solving customer current problems. Research methodology For the purpose of this research, several previous findings were evaluated. Thus, the secondary research activities took place in regular know-how exchanges with associations, journalists / the press (Ziarul Financiar, online press), as well as by evaluating and analyzing other reports and statistics regarding the economy as a whole. Also, apart from the research activities in direct relationship with this report, I with the approval of the company’s marketing manager have interviewed throughout two weeks several old and new customers and key employees that were previously hired by some of the software company’s competitors. Many of these interviews carry relevant information about the topic, which has been integrated in the estimation process and result of the research paper. The data collection was conducted by means of an emailing campaign and completion of an online questionnaire by 100 customers. The questionnaire was short but contained relevant questions that were sent to different management levels ranging from project managers, system administrators up to direct users. The respondents had 15 days at their disposal for the questionnaire’s completion. Out of the 100 customers, almost 50% provided the company with accurately completed questionnaires.

Research findings

As mentioned earlier, the interviews with key employees brought relevant information with regards to customers preference and satisfaction for The software company products, over competitors like Oracle or Microsoft. For instance according to a careful analysis of the activity conducted during the last year, it can be concluded that Oracle managed to hold its position (no. 3) but not to exceed other companies due to the fact that the company tried to gain more market share on the mid size companies market, which was not att all its competitive advantage. As a result of a bad strategy and orientation, Oracle only managed to lower its market position-

ing on the segment, but managed to gain some customers in the public sector. With respect to Microsoft the information also provided the reasons for the company’s low position. Although it plans for the near future to focus on extending the provision ERP solutions, the company hasn’t suceeded to increase too much its brand awareness. Microsoft managed to float under these economic crisis with the help of their partnerships with other regional players. Considering the above information, it is easy to realize that our software company together with its achievemet, experience and positive references in the field was much more appealing for customers. Moreover, Eugen Schwab Chesaru, Managing Director, PAC Romania states: “The economic crisis that began in late 2008 led the company to rethink its entire business strategy in order to adapt their internal processes and solutions to new economic conditions, focusing in particular on solutions able to reduce and control costs of its customers3. As a result, it is clear that the software company focused on adding new solutions to the existent ERP product that it delivers so that the improved one could provide its clients with real time and complete information that is necessary for costs reduction and operational efficiency increase. This strategy has obviously brought the software company much more clients interested in saving their companies from damages inducted by the economic context.

Conclusion:

Considering all the above instruments used for the purpose of this research paper, we can conclude that the software company benefits from a vast expertise and know-how in the ERP systems market. Moreover, the company has also the advantage of having successfully implemented and supported projects for its clients, thus these are willing to further recommend the software company to other potential clients. In addition to all of these, the company’s new strategy and adaption to the current economic crisis requirements have helped it to enlarge its client portfolio and thus become no.1 in customers’ preference over other major market players such as Oracle or Microsoft. However, the company still needs to improve several aspects in order to maintain its position and further enlarge the number of clients. Following the survey answers, it is clear that few customers are not satisfied with the company’s ability to depict needs related to their businesses and thus, develop specific, appropriate adjustments or upgrades for the system implemented. Also, there are customers who feel that the software company should invest in a much efficient intervention (response) time management so that customer needs get prioritized.

Friends or false friends

Nicolaie Mihaiescu

Abstract

Transnational entities dealing with hypermarkets and supermarkets entered Romania starting from middle 90â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and were welcomed here both by authorities and the consumer population .T hey registered huge turnover and this is why they still come to Romania even if now there is a hard competition among them. Romanians considered them friends since they brought with them a modern commerce ,big and attractive selling facilities and a cleaner and modern urban areas. They also offered costumers a large variety of goods. That is one side of the coin. Let us see the other one. Romanian traders and consumer goods producers were not prepared to compete with the big ones coming from abroad and thus collapsed some went bankruptcies and the unemployment grew. Transnational hyper or super markets had bad commercial practice towards their Romanian partners that sold goods to

Friends or false friends? This is the question. Did they come to bring prosperity for this country or for themselves only ? Are they friends indeed ? All these questions are concerning us several years after the honey moon of big hypermarkets presence in Romania ended. The story begun in middle 90â&#x20AC;&#x2122; when Metro stepped firstly on this very young market of a country with a huge potential. Then they all come in a hurry perfectly compared with the famous gold

them imposing taxes, asking for hard discount on prices and other unusual burden. They promise to promote local products but failed to do this at the scale they declared . The hard competition between them and between them and local traders had very bad effects on Romanian home trade which now is almost disarray. Besides a lot of bankruptcies happened due to this uneven competition and the state must cover now all costs. They come here as friends ,we welcomed them as friends but we found that in some circumstances they were false friends and what we have to do is to revised Romanian authorities attitude toward them and to encourage local traders in their effort to compete with this superpowers of commerce.

Keywords: transnational

entity in Romania , hypermarkets, local traders, trade companies bankruptcy, false friends

rush to the American far west. Metro , Carrefour, Billa , Kaufland, Cora, Rewe, Auchan and their associates and also some European discounter are all here. They come in the best moment of their development because before 2007 Romania made great efforts to enter the European market and to become a member of the European community. Under the circumstances Romania was very much open for any kind of concessions and so offered big facilities to the implantation of hyper and super markets to cope with the principles of free goods and capitals movement one of the most important pillar of the European Community.

Despite of the fact that all that big transnational trade companies are considered among the important foreign investors into Romanian economy it seems that in some cases the Romanian economy invests into them because the Romanian governments granted facilities in taxes and other financial obligations that a Romanian retailer has never benefited of. On the other hand, all French firms holding hyper or super markets in their 3-4 years of activity in Romania reported financial loss and so they paid no duties and taxes ( like the one for their profit ), except those connected to the workers income. They did that even if their turnover was by far bigger than in the country of origin. In 20032004 a single Cora hypermarket in Romania counted for around 2-3% of the company world sales. They reported â&#x20AC;&#x153;lossâ&#x20AC;? but still opened new facilities which meant new big money investment . According to a Newsin report citing Nielsen research company ,at the end of 2008 there were 38 hypermarkets (of which Carrefour holds 15) ,123 supermarkets (of which Billa holds 30) 195 discount market (Penny, Plus )and 40 cash and carry (Metro, Selgros and other)all around Romania, in big and small towns. It is possible that less than 2-3 % of them are local companies with Romanian capital. In 2008 the first 3 retailers, Carrefour, Kaufland, Billa hold together about 20 % of the market and their all market margin is still growing. Considering transnational retailers in terms of friends or false friends let us see first the friendly behavior the Romanian authorities extended to them. So we can talk about all kind of support including land acquisition, construction and other kind of authorization required bay local laws. Then it is to say that in many cases, they were given tax facilities. Very important for hypermarket holders was that ,despite the general accepted rules, central or local authorities allowed hypermarkets to be placed inside towns even near the central area or the residential areas something completely forbidden elsewhere. The authorities refrained from taking severe attitude when some nonobservance of rules occurred in

trading or customer protection. One must say that maybe the most important thing for hypermarket companies was the unusual worm reception they were given by Romanian customers all over the country. For Romanian retailers the transnational outlets brought great disappointment and even jeopardize their business. The most important problem was that in the absence of a real support from the authorities, Romanian traders were forced to compete with much more experienced merchants having big money to handle. Now it was proven that this kind of uneven and hard competition lead to many bankruptcies of small and medium local commercial company .This way both Romanian home commerce and Romanian people lost something . Companies lost money and had to cover this by asking for bank loans that require material guaranties and this were not at hand. On the other side the customers were forced to find another source of goods, for instance a hypermarket (!!), when Romanian retailer they used to visit daily disappeared. Unemployment increased leaving on Romanian state the burden to cover it financially. Besides, nowadays Romanian home trade is almost demolished especially in what medium and big shop are concerned and the process is still growing due to foreign presence of which transnational hyper or super market are the most important. Today Romania is populated not only by transnational hypermarkets but also by usual small or big shops specialized in producing and selling food or non food products of all variety of items .All these small companies belong to local people and become partners to hypermarkets either opening small outlets inside their area or supplying goods on contractual basis.

Some analysts say that most of transnational companies at the moment of entering Romanian market shown the willing to promote our products and thus helping local industries. This fact barely happened. They usually bring goods from the country of origin and from stocks under control of their sister located in other European countries. Yet transnational hypermarkets are selling some Romanian consumer goods and they deal with many companies producing or distributing them all over the country. During the last 6-7 month professional associations from commerce and food industry had protested against many bad practice of the hypermarket that asked Romanian supplying companies unjustified and unusual money payments and big price discounts. The clash ended with government intervention and the promise that both sides will try to issue a set of rules for their future good cooperation. We are not the only country having conflicts with these superpowers but so far they were without the contribution or any involvement of the officials like it happened 10 years ago in Poland, Greece, Spain, and Portugal. They are not to blame; they act naturally to maximize their profit . So far it is difficult to say whether transnational entities were friends. But let us take a look to the circumstances where they proved to be friends. First of all, when they come they brought here a piece of civilized Europe something that we sincerely hope to see all around us forever. The way they act from professional point of view was an example to Romanian businessmen. They offered Romanian customer incomparable large variety of consumer goods of high quality in most of the cases. So they are all in line with a perfect ECR (Efficient Consumer Response). They helped to a more rapid money circulation and contributed, even in a small scale, to the efforts of authorities to diminish the power of black market offering something better as alternative. Unfortunately what they get as profit from withdrawing market availabilities went abroad.

These days there are hyper or supermarket in each town of Romania and their good name spread all over the country. And this happened not only due to their high quality service and commodity but also because any implantation of such commercial structure brought along new or repaired streets, new lane and parks, new bus lines some carrying people free of charge, and above all they brought little more order and cleaner urban areas. For many trade specialists transnational hyper or supermarkets were acting on this market more unfriendly then friendly so they provided more disadvantages then advantages to Romanian economy. Ironically this was not due to them entirely. I might say that local or central authorities did a lot of mistakes no matter such mistakes were sometimes on purpose or not. We all were unprepared to cope with the new situation after 1990 and we did not know how to proceed to both stimulate the foreign investment and protect our own traders and economy as a whole. First, we missed to negotiate the most important terms of their status here and now, even not too late, it is quite impossible to radically get rid of all the problems. Second, there were no efforts from the Governments to support Romanian capital and to make local traders strong enough to compete with

Reducing waste Passivehouses 2010 Abstract.

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the concept of reducing waste, as a way of improving the quality of life. I concentrated my paper mainly on the Passive Houses development, emphasizing their implementation into Germany and Romania, by highlighting the different stages of development between the two. I also want to plead for a more eco-friendly environment, and to present alternatives to a more healthy and economical lifestyle, and why not, to make the concept of Passive Houses known for those who did not have the opportunity to hear about it.

Keywords: waste, eco-friendly, passive house, Darmstadt Andreea-Silvia Chitu anh_dre_hea@yahoo.com

1.Introduction

I would begin by putting forth the reason for which I have decided to choose this topic. It is all about my personality and the values that guide me through my existence. Waste can be relative, when evaluated by different people, but seen from a common angle, we all agree that waste is an incentive to improve quality, while we save time and money. Waste is a term present in our daily life. Although we do not use it always as the term itself, the concept is present in both common actions and business environment. The definitions of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wasteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; can be numerous, and can practically cover all the fields from an economically and socially point of view. I have chosen to concentrate my paper upon reducing waste in the real estate sector, focusing on the passive houses concept, that already is a way of living abroad, but not such a well promoted idea inside the borders of Romania.

Fig.1.Waste hierarchy Source: Author:Drstuey, Stannered

2. Reducing waste in households 2.1. Passive houses worldwide

Reducing waste in households is a global problem that we became more and more aware of. There are many ways through which people can considerably reduce waste, like using electricity thoughtfully, reduce the amount of waste they create by buying fewer products and by buying products which last longer or recycling garbage. This of course can be achieved at an individual level, but there are other solutions that can generate a greater impact. To what extent the zero consumption houses concept is familiar to you? Do you really think that this is possible? Our neighbors from Germany and Austria proved us that it is really possible and applicable, by building almost 10,000 such eco friendly houses. Being pressured by scarce resources and by the environmental issues, German architects are in competition to design the most energy-efficient houses. At the end of the 80s, a new type of modern house was promoted: the passive house, concept which complies with the highest standard of energy nowadays, promising to cut energy consumption in buildings by 90%. This concept was firstly introduced by the German physician Wolfgang Feist, and developed later on by Bott, Ridder and Westermeyer architects. Why “Passive House”? The standard has been named “Passive House” because the “passive” use of heat gains – delivered externally by solar irradiation through the windows and provided internally by the heat emissions of appliances and occupants. Passive houses may be imagined as being unattractive, badly shaped buildings, but on the contrary, they sometimes can exceed the design of traditional constructions, with their uniqueness of shapes. They are built based on complex calculations, having in view several variables, like: surface, temperature, geographical area. In 1991, a scientific group was formed, who started to make research, whose result was concretized in the first Passive House in Darmstadt. In order to evaluate its later performance, the house was equipped with highly precise, data recording monitoring devices. The main aspect to focus on was heat conservation, which was so well thought at that time, that it is still used and still works today. Besides the heating aspects, this house offers a high air quality, due to the use of good interior finish materials. Since October 1991, the Passive house in

Darmstadt has been inhabited by four families. In the case of the passive house, higher efficiency leads to higher comfort. “Saving Energy” should not be viewed as a negative, but a rather positive solution for increased environmental protection and increased prosperity. The time to make key improvements is now. Many people worry that alternative equipments are not enough to offer them a harmonious place to live in, but this fear is to be contradicted by real proof. There are several ways of achieve the thermal performances of a passive house, among which I have chosen to mention the following: The use of conventional energy sources such as electricity or fossil fuels is penalized by the cost equivalent to primary energy, while it is the contrary for renewable energy. It is thus a question of conceiving solutions for heating, cooling and domestic hot water that correspond best to renewable energies (including geothermal and solar energy). Also, we can limit the consumption of electricity for lighting by facilitating the natural lighting and considering energy-saving lamps. Studies have shown that for building a passive house, you need a bit more money as for building a conventional one, but, there is the possibility of faster recovery of the investment by reducing the costs for heating during winter and summer cooling with 85%. Also, the monthly expenses for maintenance decrease with 300€, from 400€ in case of a standard house, to 100€. The benefits of living in a passive house are numerous and make you think two times before buying a new house: • Substantial reduction in carbon emissions • Exceptional comfort given by the permanently fresh air in the house • The lack of cold floor and walls during winter • The lack of excessive heat during summer • The absence of dust generator of allergies • Considerably costs decrease

The total costs for finalizing such a project could reach 150,000€, for a surface area between 110 and 150 m² and can vary depending on several variables. Despite its extraordinary results, yet the passive house project is an expensive project for Romanian middle class and it has only reached the prototype stage for now, while in more developed countries, entire neighborhoods are being built. Even a passive house is expensive in terms of construction, people can compensate this lack by cheaper options like putting solar panels on the roofs of the houses or making your roof green.

3. Conclusions

Now, the idea of passive houses has started to conquer the entire world, which is the clear proof that the Passive House concept is a comprehensive approach to cost-efficient, high quality, healthy and sustainable construction. People should start to be more aware of the environment they live in, and create a more healthy and economic place for future generations that are to come. I personally consider living in such a house someday, as it would make me feel at “home”.

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