Page 149 - Proceeding 2015

FLORESCU Margareta and POTCOVARU Ana-Mădălina
FAMP
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT’S INFLUENCE ON THE FREEDOM OF THE DECISION-MAKING
CCASP
PROCESS IN LOCAL COLLECTIVITIES IN ROMANIA

1. INTRODUCTION

In a certain country, region or even small communities there are very different levels of local develpment,
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 11 TH ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
therefore the type of management used can vary significantly. A local community can have more
attributions given as part of the governments' decentralization process, but unfortunately, this is not the
case of Romania, where small local communities and even full large municipalities are bounded to the
decisions taken far away in some cases, by the central government, these decisions having a great

influence on their strategic management and somewhat limits their ability to make quick and necessary
decissions.

Outside the capital, Bucharest, the other major cities of Romania that will be analysed here are Cluj,

Timisoara and Iasi, all of them being the main cities in different parts of the country, cities that attract a
large chunk of the investments made in those certain regions and also the most skilled labor force.
Furthermore, these large cities have one more thing in common and also an advantage over the medium

30 th – 31 st October 2015 ”Strategic Management for Local Communities” Bucharest attribute that is capable of generating employment, innovation and sustained economic development.
and small ones: the existance of clusters or geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, an

Clusters represent (Porter, 2010) a new and different way for a state, region or city to develop and employs
some new roles for companies, governments and local governing institutions in enhancing
competitiveness, in order to be able to attract a larger number of companies in their own cluster. Other

decisions made by the central or local government that are capable of influencing the development of a
certain city or region are taken in areas like: budget's size and percentage made available for development
and infrastructure projects, long-term investment programs that are designed according to the economic

needs of the companies involved in the local economy, waste and environment management plans that
can create an increased quality of life for the people living there, public safety plan, long-term financial
schedule and development plan (Sztando, 2013). One of the most important fact that a community can

pose as better than other is their ability to attract a larger percentage of european funds based on the
development of accurate plans and projects, these funds being used mainly for large utility or

infrastructure projects that would otherwise be dalayed or finished in a lot longer period.

Unfortunatey, there are a lot of downturns that reside from the fact that the cuntry is lacking a strategic
development plan at the central government level (as said before, Romania has limited decentralization,

with the most important decision being made in the capital, even though the regions or cities on which
they apply are hundreds of kilometers apart), the lack of clear facts and directions in the process of
strategic planning at local level, with the only motivation being to gain access to some European funds,

poor undestanding by the local decision-making individuals of the advantages implied of strategic

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