Understanding and Managing Challenges to the Romanian Companies During Transition

The paper starts by analyzing the major problems that occur during the transition period in Romania, both at the macroeconomic and at the macroeconomic level. We draw on information obtained from our consulting work, from direct contact with managers participating in educational and training programs, and from published data. In the course of analysis we advance and discuss two theses regarding the challenges facing Romanian companies during transition: (1) in the post- 1 989 Romania, the managerial deficiencies are more severe than the resource shortages, and (2) the restructuring of Romanian companies should be achieved by a process of human resource centered organizational change. The two theses lead us to propose a particular approach to deal with these challenges: focusing on people, as the most valuable resource of the organization, and properly handling the relationship between the strategy and the cultural dimension of the organization.