Browsing by Author "Barna, Cristina"

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Exploring the motivations behind circular social entrepreneurs in Romania
(Springer, 2024-06-01) Zbuchea, Alexandra; Barna, Cristina; Stănescu, Simona Maria; Pînzaru, Florina
The chapter continues previous endeavors of mapping Romania’s circular social entrepreneurial landscape, identifying the Romanian social entrepreneurs’ main motives for adopting circular business models. After mapping the circular social enterprises, a quantitative investigation was developed. Four main dimensions were considered: personal traits, values and attitudes, personal motives, and externally linked motives. Regarding individual characteristics, the most favorable ratings were attributed to vision achievement, perseverance, and proactivity. Conversely, the least favorable assessment was related to the tolerance for ambiguity. When considering values and attitudes, the highest ranking was egoistic passion, while the lowest was associated with a desire for public recognition. In the realm of personal motivations, the most significant values were observed in the need for flexibility and independence, closely followed by a desire for personal security and new financial resources. Intriguingly, external motivations displayed an even balance between social and environmental concerns. For active circular social entrepreneurs in Romania, the primary drivers are rooted in their values and attitudes, with personal motives playing a relatively minor role. Consequently, this study underscores an altruistic profile and an entrepreneurial commitment equally directed toward society and the environment.
Profiling the Romanian woman social entrepreneur: an analysis of the women’s perspective in the social enterprises’ sector
(Universite de Liege, 2024) Barna, Cristina; Rebeleanu, Adina; Zbuchea, Alexandra; Stănescu, Simona Maria
The Romanian social economy includes a diversity of organizations and domains, adopting models of classic social enterprises, hybrid or sometimes even innovative models, many of them being initiated by women. Considering that women are very well represented in terms of gender distribution among social innovators, we propose exploratory research to profile the successful Romanian woman social entrepreneur, paying special attention to the women leading the Romanian emergent social enterprises sector. Our paper includes qualitative research based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with seven key successful women social entrepreneurs, nominated and/or awarded Romanian or European prizes in the field of social economy. Our investigations, also supplemented by a data processing and analysis of the Single Register of Evidence of Certified Social Enterprises in Romania from June 2022 concerning the involvement of women in the management of social enterprises, represent the first approach to this topic, contributing to understanding the profile of the Romanian woman social entrepreneur, and also offering an analysis of the women’s perspective in the social enterprises’ sector.
Roundtable report. Social economy coping with the COVID-19 crisis
(Faculty of Management - SNSPA, 2020) Zbuchea, Alexandra; Barna, Cristina
This report presents an overview of the discussions of the Round Table on Social Economy and the COVID-19 crisis organized on October 16, 2020, by the Center for the Research of Socially Responsible Organizations from the Faculty of Management – National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania, as part of the annual Strategica International Conference. The Round Table had eight panelists, representatives of the academia, research institutes, and social economy organizations from Greece, Poland, and Romania (Bucharest, Galați, Baia Mare, and Timișoara). The main question addressed during the round table was: “What would be the long-term impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the social economy?” But also questions, like “Is COVID-19 crisis an opportunity to scale –up the social economy business models?” or “Has the social economy the potential to bring systemic change in the post-COVID-19 economy and society?”, were explored by the panelists in their debates.Two case studies of social services providers were presented: the Heart of a Child Foundation (Romania, Galați) and the Humanitarian Association Together for Them (Romania, Baia Mare). The representatives of the two organizations presented the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on their organizations and beneficiaries and explained the main coping strategies and results. The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the social services providers but also other types of social economy organizations (e.g., WISEs, cooperatives) was also analyzed by the academics & researchers. Interesting perspectives from Greece and Poland added an international dimension to the Round Table. The new financial resources mechanism designed at the EU level was seen as an opportunity. However, the skepticism on including the social enterprises and the social economy organizations in the supporting schemes (at least in Romania) has been a central point in the discussions. We invite the readers to explore in detail this report, which outlines the main findings of the debates following three dimensions: personal dimension, organizational dimension, and a systemic dimension. During this COVID-19 crisis faced by all of us, the social economy has proved resilience and adaptation. Let us do not forget that the social economy was resilient in economic downturns following the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, too. Therefore, now it is time to make the cause visible to decision-makers for adequate financial and legal support!
Social economy enterprises contributing to the circular economy and the green transition in Romania
(CIRIEC Spain, 2023) Barna, Cristina; Zbuchea, Alexandra; Stănescu, Simona Maria
Recently, there is a new European Union commitment to the potential of the social economy which is a pioneer in job creation linked to the circular economy that will be further leveraged by the mutual benefits of supporting the green transition and strengthening social inclusion. Considering this general context, we propose in this paper an exploratory research aiming to investigate the potential of the Romanian social economy sector as part of a circular economy approach that could advance the green transition in the following years. Our paper is based on the findings of preliminary systematic content analysis for the identification of the social enterprises in Romania which include circular economy and/or green economy in their business model, and on qualitative research based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with the social economy organizations’ managers. We have highlighted five good practice examples (Recicleta, Atelierul de Pânză, Educlick/Reconect, Remesh, and Bio&co Farm), which clearly show that combining the principles of social economy with the ones of circular/green economy is a strategy that might lead to overcoming the current challenges of the society. Our investigations represent the first approach to this topic, aiming to understand the specific challenges of the circular or green economy and social economy models when joining forces together for sustainable development in the context of an emerging social economy, as is the case of Romania.