Artificial Intelligence is expected to influence the biggest change in the history. Adapting to the new socio-economical behavior requires resources, energy, and focus. This paper examines essential insights gathered from decision-makers in Romanian SMEs regarding the role of Artificial Intelligence in business development. While it is still hard to estimate the whole impact of AI in the economic environment, some aspects are already concerning decision makers in companies. We argue that, while managers increasingly recognize the strategic potential of AI, its implementation remains constrained by organizational barriers and resistance to change. For this reason, our research focuses on respondents who are familiar with both the opportunities offered by AI and the internal challenges that hinder its adoption, aiming to highlight the gap between awareness and effective integration.

Social enterprises activate at the intersection of business and social and environmental responsibility. Data-driven decision-making becomes an essential factor for reaching this equilibrium. This paper explores how digital transformation connects with knowledge management to develop the strategic skills for informed decision-making, optimizing operations, and measuring impact. Employing both qualitative and quantitative methods, we map the current digital landscape of these organizations. Findings indicate that while digital tools like CRM systems, e-commerce platforms, and social media enhance visibility and efficiency, strategic adoption is hindered by financial constraints, digital literacy gaps, and inadequate integration of knowledge management practices. The paper uses quality engineering tools to identify root causes of digital adoption barriers, including human factors, process inefficiencies, technological limitations, and financial constraints; prioritizes the significant limitations that most delay digital transformation; and classifies digital products into basic needs, performance enhancers, and future innovations, helping social enterprises phase their digital adoption journey. The findings indicate that business analytics (BA) tools strengthen an enterprise’s knowledge base, simplifying real-time decision-making, while knowledge management creates the conditions for successful digital transformation. The study proposes a strategic pathway for digital transformation that balances short-term progress with long-term objectives, harmonizing social, environmental, and economic outcomes.

Global industry is transitioning from the paradigm of Industry 4.0 to the human-centered visions of Industry 5.0 and the emerging Industry 6.0. In this context, adaptability, ethical governance, and intelligent human–technology collaboration becomes strategic imperatives. This article addresses three guiding questions: how leadership must evolve, which competencies are critical for future workforces, and how production systems can be designed to remain both sustainable and antifragile. Drawing on a narrative meta-synthesis of 23 peer-reviewed studies selected for their direct analysis of Industry 5.0 and 6.0 transitions and complemented by five additional publications used specifically to construct the CALE framework, the paper traces the evolution of production system management and workforce requirements. Findings reveal a clear shift from efficiency-oriented models toward collaborative, systemic, and ethically anchored leadership. The main contribution is the CALE framework (Competencies, Adaptability, Leadership, and Ethics) proposed as an integrated model for assessing organizational readiness in the transition to Industry 6.0. Beyond synthesizing literature, the paper offers a practical conceptual roadmap to evaluate maturity, support workforce development, and align technological adoption with human-centered values and long-term sustainability goals.

Motivation has been a topic of debate over time, leading to the development of various motivational theories that assist in identifying employees' needs and provide valuable insights for management strategies. In all organizations, regardless of their field, motivating employees is a primary concern for managers as they seek effective techniques to engage their teams, foster creativity, and enable individuals to perform at their best. This focus on motivation aims to enhance efficiency and improve the overall quality of work. In the field of education, achieving high performance necessitates a well-trained, competent, and dedicated teaching staff, as the quality of instruction is a key factor in improving student outcomes. This paper aims to provide a conceptual framework for analyzing teachers' motivation in technical pre-university institutions in Romania. To gain a thorough understanding of this concept, a literature review will be conducted, encompassing books, professional articles, and relevant studies. Through exploratory research, the study will focus on how teachers' motivation in pre-university settings can be harnessed to support institutional objectives.

The European VET landscape is very variate where member states adapted their approach to the economic and social reality. However, there is a tendency towards creating a more unified, cohesive European VET system. In the current geopolitical and economic landscape, the E.U. must reassess its VET strategy to address the challenges posed by Asian countries, which benefit from more efficient productivity due to lower production costs, easier access to raw materials, and a large, readily available workforce. This work highlights that the transition towards a coherent European system of education and professional training can be implemented with the systems already in operation. Vocational education and training are adaptable, evolving to meet the unique goals and needs of each organization or community they serve. This article aims to develop a shared framework, while still allowing for national adaptations to meet specific national and regional needs and characteristics like traditional skill and competences, natural and human resources. When aiming to implement a high-performing VET system, it must be tailored to the specific sectoral context and target group. Additionally, sustainability should be guaranteed through a plan that allows all partners to actively contribute to the adjustments and enhancement of the educational model by clearly defining their roles and input.

The paper deals with the notion of aggregate batch used in flexible manufacturing systems and presents the way in which the size of the preparation-completion costs that occur when the flexible manufacturing system has to pass from one processing state to another, in order to process the parts included in the batch, vary according to the size of the aggregated batch. The affinity coefficient was used to express the size of the setup cost.

The integration of quality management systems (QMS) within modern health systems isessential for ensuring superior patient care and operational efficiency. This study explores theimplementation of QMS through the strategic application of intellectual property (IP) principles,highlighting how these principles can drive innovation, maintain high standards, and protectproprietary medical advancements. By examining various healthcare organizations, the researchelucidates the methods through which IP-centric strategies enhance QMS. Intellectual propertyframeworks enable healthcare institutions to safeguard innovations, incentivizing continuousimprovement and adherence to best practices. The study delves into the correlation between robustIP protections and the successful implementation of quality management protocols, presenting casestudies and data that underscore this relationship. Additionally, it considers the role of IP in fosteringa culture of excellence, where novel approaches and technologies are systematically integrated intoeveryday medical practices, thereby improving overall service quality. Findings demonstrate thathealthcare organizations leveraging IP principles within their QMS achieve higher compliance withregulatory standards, better patient outcomes, and sustain a competitive edge in the rapidly evolvingmedical landscape. This research underscores the criticality of adopting IP-informed qualitymanagement systems to not only uphold care excellence but also to foster an environment conduciveto continuous innovation and strategic development.

The purpose of the article is to present the role that employee courage plays in the organizational context and the way in which it contributes to the achievement of the organization's professional objectives, both from a managerial perspective and from the perspective of team members. The article is a study of the specialty literature on the determining role of courage in the leadership process. At the same time, the characteristics of the right team are presented in relation to the four components of courage so necessary in contemporary society.

For decades, leading and managing civic organizations has been challenging because membership has been stagnant, and there is often no real leverage to get members to participate actively. As such, clubs which are formed to serve local communities have searched for new members who will become active in the affairs of those clubs, making it easier on leaders to effectively run these organizations. This study hypothesizes that an individual’s level of religiosity, as measured by a developed scale, can be used, with expectations related to opportunities for service, to predict his or her level of participation. A questionnaire administered by online or paper survey to 17 Georgia (USA) Kiwanis clubs produced 313 usable responses, and analysis of these data indicate that higher levels of religiosity can predict better meeting attendance and higher participation in club service projects. These data also show that highly religious individuals join Kiwanis clubs expecting a variety of service opportunities and seem to find opportunities more appealing than they had anticipated. These findings suggest that clubs seeking new members who will be active might invite individuals in the local community who live out their religious beliefs in observable ways.

This study aims to examine the sustainable development performance of European Union countries for the years 2018, 2019, and 2020 by the Entropy-based COPRAS Method, one of the hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques. The weights of the criteria has been calculated by the entropy method. The performances of countries have been measured via the COPRAS Method. Some selected sustainable development indicators, which are available for all the European Union countries, have been used. The most important criterion by the Entropy Method is the Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions for all years studied. Sweden has the best sustainable development performance by the COPRAS Method in all the years studied. Croatia was the country with the worst performance in 2018 and 2019, but Malta is in 2020. Some policy recommendations to increase sustainable development performance have been presented at the end of the study It should be noted that these findings do not indicate a cause-and-effect relationship among the variables. When criteria and years change, the ranking may also change. In order to explore why some countries perform better than others, some new studies using econometric methods can be implemented.