Workforce Management to Innovate, as a Driver for Romanian Development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the case of Romanian workforce management as regards the innovation and knowledge transfer from abroad, conducted over twenty years within Romania. Design/approach – As part of this project a large survey is conducted on an annual basis, which aims to track redesigning business processes in terms of workforce management amongst small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with Romanian cultural specificity and the effects of such adoption upon Romanian development. Findings – The paper presents findings from this longitudinal study and discusses these findings in terms of innovation and knowledge transfer and the importance of developing more sophisticated instruments for assessing e-Business maturity amongst SMEs. The research clearly emphasizes the role of adopting an innovative organizational environment as a driver of Romanian development. The initial benefits are take several years for being materialized, after the completion of the first four years of the ten-year project. Originality/value – The importance of the study consists in adding information and acquiring knowledge for the organizations’ benefit, regarding the employment and management of the working force for crating the framework and the environment which encourages innovation in the SMEs. This paper describes the cases of many programs funded by the European Union involved with innovative organizational environment adoption, the transfer of knowledge, the e-Business knowledge to SMEs within major regions. The scope of the research project and its longitudinal nature make the study original. Research limitations/implications – This is a study specific to România.