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The production structure of farms has a great importance in the context of Romania where there are many mixed farms and most of them have problems of economic viability. Optimization of the production structure is essential in ensuring the viability of farms therefore our study focuses on applying the model of linear programming for the optimization of the production structure. The model was applied to a case study where the optimization was performed from different perspectives by using various economic indicators such as the standard output, gross margin, profit per hectare and production costs. The results have shown that the optimal structure differs depending on the farms' medium and long-term objectives. As a result of the analysis for the proposed scenarios, to increase the efficiency, the use of the category of youth under 1 year old must be abandoned and the cattle for meat category should be developed. Gross margin was found to be the most suitable indicator depending on which the optimal production structure should be modeled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decisions are a result of choices made between several alternatives and will affect all participants in the decision-making process. In this paper we analyze the Monte Carlo simulation as an important management tool in evaluating decisions under risk. The method is particularly useful in simulating decision problems. For example, the profit that could be achieved if a company launches a new product may depend on a number of factors (market share, advertising, production costs, launch costs, the lifetime of the product, etc. The company manager should identify all factors that could affect profit and then to consider the large number of ways in which these factors may interrelate. In such situations it is recommended company manager to divide the problem into smaller parts, asking him to estimate the probability distribution for market share, for advertising, for the cost of launch. Once they were obtained it can be determined their combined effect in order to obtain the probability distribution of profit. Through computer can generate a large number of possible combinations of situations where you choose a particular course of action. Upon completion of the simulation possible combination will be generated mostly while the least possible combination will be generated less frequently. For exemplification we selected a company producing shoes in Cluj market who wants to launch a new model for autumn-winter 2013-2014. In the current period the company has limited production capacity, has a number of additional contracts honored and general economic crisis situation makes money availability to be extremely limited. Accordingly, the company will have to choose a single product to be launched next season. The company will have to decide which of the two new products to be launched on the market: a model of boots for men in business class or a new model of women\'s boots of the same class business. The company is not sure either production costs or sales level. Profit estimate involves going through several phases, and the first of these relates to the identification of factors that may or may influence the profit for both products.

This paper analyses the extent to which aspects contributing to sustainable development are integrated at family farms level. The present research aims to inventory the state of family farms from the Nord Vest development region from Romania, to see how they can contribute to the sustainable development of the area. Another objective is to investigate the availability of the family farm to develop and to identify the variables that can influence this desire, given its role in the existence of the Romanian village. As it was noted from the literature review, family farms have different characteristics from one country to another and even from one area to another, thus requiring different approaches. The characteristics revealed at the level of family farms from the Nord Vest Region outline a low economic viability, which indicates a low probability of economic development in the absence of coherent policies to support them directly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to highlight the importance of performance evaluation from the perspective of work motivation. The research is based on the expectancy theory developed by Victor Vroom and is meant to show that performance evaluation influences one of the factors from the VIE model, the expectancy. The empirical part of the research aims to show the above mentioned in the context of local public administration, namely in the case of the Romanian civil servants from the North-West Region. We have presented the particularities of civil servants performance evaluation in the Romanian local public administration, and its connection to their expectancy and work motivation. The results have shown that civil servants performance appraisal influences civil servants expectancy and this in its turn influences their work motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is part of a broader research on work motivation in the Romanian local public administration, based on Vroom's motivational model. The research has tried to diagnose Romanian local public institutions (city halls in particular) regarding the work motivation level of their civil servants. Since the research was too broad to be presented entirely in this article, the authors will show only the findings obtained in one city hall from a city, county residence. Due to the same reason, this paper refers to just one of the Vroom's model elements (the expectancy) and to one of the aspects that could influence it: the probation period for the debutant civil servants. The probation period is critical in preparing civil servants for their future job and career within the local public administration. That is why it can influence the expectancy of civil servants, which in its turn, (from Vroom's' model perspective) influences work motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]