Papers by Maria Constantinescu
Leadership Challenges - the Good, the Bad and the Hubris
DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals - DOAJ, Oct 1, 2021
Romanian Military Thinking
The Importance of Economic-Financialindicators for the Fulfillment Ofinternational Missions
Defense Resources Management in the 21st Century, 2008
Proceedings of the Conference on Defense Resources Management , 2021
The current strategic security and defense context is characterized by uncertainty and complex ri... more The current strategic security and defense context is characterized by uncertainty and complex risks and threats. The border between conventional and unconventional risks and threats becomes blurred, generating additional challenges in building an appropriate response from the countries, which have to deal with a very fluid environment. The aim of this paper is to outline Romania’s strategic direction in this new and challenging environment, based on the new National Strategy for the Country’s defense.
Challenges of Defining a Country's Military Power
Journal of Defense Resources Management, 2020
The concept of military power seems straightforward, but it is a lot more complex than it appears... more The concept of military power seems straightforward, but it is a lot more complex than it appears at first glance, which has direct implications on defense decisions and analyses. A crucial issue in building a country's armed forces and deciding on its appropriate size/strength derives from the fact that there is only one situation in which a country's military power can be precisely assessed, that is in time of military conflict. Excluding this situation, the best military planners and decision-makers can do in peacetime is try to estimate the required and actual strength of a country's military, an attempt not devoid of challenges. The focus of this paper is to address a few of the issues and challenges encountered in defining the concept of a country's military power.
Journal of Defense Resources Management, 2018
The idea of developing this theme by the team of authors from two prestigious institutions in the... more The idea of developing this theme by the team of authors from two prestigious institutions in the field of military higher education institutions mainly aims at demonstrating the necessity of carrying out general military management studies, emphasizing more eloquently, and on this line of approach, the managerial peculiarities of the military organization as a subsystem of the social system. In addition to the theoretical considerations that will base the choice of pioneering case study by Robert McNamara in the field of defense resource management, it is also highlighted, by developing previous authors' ideas or recent references in the literature, the hypothesis that the army itself, institutionally speaking, has been an authentic model of managerial development.
International conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION
The concept of artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a significant factor for change, ... more The concept of artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a significant factor for change, in the society in general, both in the private and public sectors. It has not been ignored by the military either, as countries throughout the world (from the US to Russia and China) are studying the potential uses of artificial intelligence in a functional context, and its uses in the defense area. The purpose of this paper is to explore the future potential uses and limitations of using the artificial intelligence in the military, with emphasis on the areas of defence planning and defence resources management.
Planning Programming Budgeting Evaluation System as a Decision Support System in Managing Defence Resources
Carol I National Defence University Publishing House, 2016
Measuring Military Power – Approaches and Challenges
Strategic Impact, 2021
Impact strategic, 2016
The Planning, Programming and Budgeting System (PPBS), used for managing defense resources in sev... more The Planning, Programming and Budgeting System (PPBS), used for managing defense resources in several countries, faced throughout its existence both support and fierce criticism.. Over time, the initial system has been adapted and transformed in the US in the form of the Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution System (PPBES), while in Romania it is known as the Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Evaluation System. PPBES can be approached from a restricted perspective as a tool for budget development and management and from an expanded perspective as a decision support system. The intention of this paper is to provide an analysis of the challenges in using PPBES as a tool for managing defense resources, with emphasis on the interactions between strategic planning at the military-political level and resource planning.
International conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION, 2020
The level defence expenditures is a useful indicator for cross-country comparisons and for the an... more The level defence expenditures is a useful indicator for cross-country comparisons and for the analysis of the trends regarding defence expenditures per country, region or groups of countries. Decision makers often refer to past trends for defence expenditures or the level of defence expenditures for a perceived enemy country to justify political decisions. Still, the data regarding defence expenditures should not be considered the ultimate indicator regarding a country’s military strength and decision makers should be aware of the limitations and underlying assumptions of the methods used to quantify defence expenditures. The most used methods of estimating defence expenditures are based on the exchange rates and the purchasing power parity, with several advantages and disadvantages. While these type of statistics do offer a broad image on the defence expenditures of other countries, they are not a substitute for more in-depth analyses regarding the security and defence environment...
Journal of Defense Resources Management, 2011
Assessing the productivity of factors of production has been a key issue for economists for many ... more Assessing the productivity of factors of production has been a key issue for economists for many decades, as the development and well-being of a govenrment sector, industry or company have been very early on linked to the way in which inputs are used in order to produce outputs. In this respect, the main aim is to use the available (and often scarce) resources (human, material, capital, information etc) in the most efficient and effective manner as to generate the most output; in othr words, to optimize te use of resources in order to produce the desired results.
Potential Use of Advanced Distributed Learning for a More Efficient and Effective Training in Regard to Capabilities Based Planning
Capabilities Based Planning is a current concern in all modern defense systems. This concept has ... more Capabilities Based Planning is a current concern in all modern defense systems. This concept has grown steadily in recent years, especially at the politic-military level. Although this concept is already over 10 years old, its implementation faces a series of challenges, related to the fact that a clear and comprehensive understanding of the process is not widespread within all the defense planners, being confined to a more restricted number of people who deal with it on a direct basis. In the same time, the concept of Capabilities Based Planning does not register a higher implementation dynamic because most of those involved in the process do not use the same terminology and do not understand the concept of Capabilities Based Planning in a unified way. All these challenges are enhanced by the fact that currently there is no organized system of education and training to effectively disseminate knowledge and best practices in the field. Through this article I wish to propose some var...
Modelling the Process of Education and Training for Military and Civilian Personnel Within the CSDP
In the context of the dramatic changes in the European security and defence environment, the Euro... more In the context of the dramatic changes in the European security and defence environment, the European Union needs to increase its resolve and determination in ensuring its own security and defence, both in cooperation with NATO but also on its own. The complex framework of the European security and defence, rather generic and flawed by many shortfalls, should be refined and optimized in many areas. A functioning European defence framework, regardless of its final format, can only be build on the foundations of EU institutions manned by military and civilian personnel that use the same doctrines, concepts, definitions, sets and values and mind-sets, related to the common European goals, as an addition to their national cultural values and backgrounds. This requires a decisive reform in the education and training of the personnel working in the various bodies and agencies related to the Common European Security and Defence. In this context, the use of the existent E-Education and e-Tr...
The main purpose of this paper is to underline the main current approaches regarding the economic... more The main purpose of this paper is to underline the main current approaches regarding the economic component of national security, with conclusions focused on the globalization effects on the national economies and the national security of the states. The dynamics of the unfolding political and economic events determines the need for the analysis-further developed in the paper-of the relevant variables and of the way these are involved in the intricate equations describing the current political, economic and social environment. One of the main results of the analysis is that national security represents a goal for any country wishing to provide sustainable welfare for its citizens, and this sustainable welfare cannot be achieved without sustainable economic security and development.
Balanced Scorecard as an Integrated Tool in the Adl Systems Management
Although the presence of natural resources on a country’s territory does not by itself lead to co... more Although the presence of natural resources on a country’s territory does not by itself lead to conflict, in specific situations this may constitute an aggravating factor for the risks pertaining to a country’s national security and long term development. The aim of this article is to outline the links and interactions between the availability of natural resources, their sustainable exploitation and a country’s national security and stability. The topic of the economics of conflict has generated a growing interest in the last 20 years, given the changing nature of the modern conflicts and their underlying economic factors. Some of these conflicts have been shown to be sustained, if not generated, by the availability of lucrative natural resources, leading to their classification as “resource wars”. Following the analysis of the influencing factors, a conclusion can be drawn regarding the need for the countries relying for their economic development solely on the exploitation of natur...
The public perception in Romania regarding the Syrian refugees has dramatically changed within a ... more The public perception in Romania regarding the Syrian refugees has dramatically changed within a few months in the sense of rejecting the idea of receiving immigrants on Romanian territory. In August 2015 the polls indicated that Romanians were in favour of accepting the immigrants, while in September 2015 more than half of the respondents declared they were against receiving refugees. What kind of narrative was used by the Romanian politicians to cover the “refugee/migrant crisis”? This study tried to establish the ways in which social media have been changing Romanian perception related to refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. In this research, we have monitored discourses of xenophobia and poisonings that occurred in the Romanian social media. A few Romanian politicians have aggravated the immigrant related debate via their personal social media accounts. The former Romanian President, Traian Băsescu, was one of them. As the EU public debates on whether the refugees’ quotas shou...
International Journal of Economics and Business Administration, 2016
Considering the volatile political, economic and security present environment, the European Union... more Considering the volatile political, economic and security present environment, the European Union is currently facing more challenges than ever before in its existence. In addition to the challenges deriving directly from its status as a political-economical union of states, the EU is facing increasingly serious security challenges. Some of these challenges are not new, such as those identified in the seminal document "A Secure Europe in a Better World' adopted by EU in 2010 (which singles out five key threats: terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, state failure, organized crime). Other security challenges have emerged more recently, such as illegal migration or the worsening of the relations with Russia. Although the nature of these challenges is related to security and defense, many of them have economic implications and it is the purpose of this paper to analyze the complex interactions between the security and the economic challenges faced by the EU, and also by the individual member countries.
The effects of the economic crisis on European countries has led to serious cuts of the defense b... more The effects of the economic crisis on European countries has led to serious cuts of the defense budgets and a perceived reduction in the EU's ability to provide capabilities required by other allies, especially the US. Cooperation, in the form of pooling and sharing may not be an easy and "ready to use" solution to Europe's defense issues generated by the budget austerity and economic downturn, but it may provide ways to lessen the defense cuts impact on the military capabilities. Nonetheless, the success of the initiative is strongly related to the degree of political and military commitment of the EU countries to put into practice the concept.
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Papers by Maria Constantinescu