Papers by Liviu Warter, PhD
M.G. Buta (Ed) Bioetica de frontieră: libertatea firescului și firescul mărturisirii , 2024
M.G. Buta (Ed) Bioetica de frontieră: libertatea firescului și firescul mărturisirii , 2024
M.G. Buta (Ed) Bioetica de frontieră: libertatea firescului și firescul mărturisirii , 2024
The Christian truth in medical practice, 2023
Journal of Intercultural Management and Ethics
The Holocaust signifies an immense human failure. Historians are now very open to the way other d... more The Holocaust signifies an immense human failure. Historians are now very open to the way other disciplines can illuminate areas of the past and of past behavior. The difference between historical and intercultural approaches is less problematic than it once was, due to recent research regarding national cultures and cultural dimensions. We consider that intercultural analysis has a great deal to offer to Holocaust studies. Indeed, the intercultural issues have received relatively little attention in relation to the study of the Holocaust. A classical taxonomy-perpetrator, victim, bystander-has long dominated studies of the Holocaust, genocide, and other mass atrocities. We specifically chose to study these aspects, from the point of view of the interculturalist, and show that a person is not by nature-born or preordained-to be one or the other. A person becomes a perpetrator, a victim, or a bystander. Our paper reveals that individuals behavior depends on cultural values (especially uncertainty avoidance and collectivism) and cultural practices (languages, felt and attributed identities, interpretations of history), which affect the ideology of the majority. This article investigates the connection between cultural dimensions and human behavior using intercultural analysis. Thus, an intercultural perspective suggests that cultural dimensions influence behavior.
Social Science Research Network, Oct 16, 2017
During the last decades, the corporate world has witnessed a significant rise in the number of cr... more During the last decades, the corporate world has witnessed a significant rise in the number of cross border mergers and acquisitions (M&As). In cross border M&As, not only different corporate cultures collide, but also different professional and national cultures. The purpose of Cultural Due Diligence (CDD) is to get a coherent image of the intercultural challenges of the M&A in order to be aware of the intercultural risks and opportunities. This article aims to reveal the perception of managers involved in the pre-M&A stage on the soft risks factors that need to be investigated during CDD. This study proposes an appraisal of the most important intercultural issues that need to be considered in M&A. Our contribution to the intercultural aspects of M&A literature consists in improving the current understanding of Cultural Due Diligence content.
In order to invest there are some incentives needed, including among them, certainly, the ones di... more In order to invest there are some incentives needed, including among them, certainly, the ones discussed and analysed in the scientific literature such as: specific earning chances (expectations) of each participant (wage, profit, dividend, budget revenue, etc.), potential investor's general or current state, etc.. Less visible incentives from complex areas not obviously related to the investment are, however, less considered. Among these could be incentives arising from inherited or education and culture transmitted philosophy, generally regarding earnings, business and investment.We notice these incentives in case of FDI in different shades and intensities.Investor's decision to acquire, sell or to carry out projects in a particular area, region or country is not only due to purely economic, commercial or financial reasoning. In such operations, meeting among businessmen, managers and other professionals in the field is, first of all, meeting in specific circumstances, amo...
Journal of Intercultural Management and Ethics, 2022
The Holocaust signifies an immense human failure. Historians are now very open to the way other d... more The Holocaust signifies an immense human failure. Historians are now very open to the way other disciplines can illuminate areas of the past and of past behavior. The difference between historical and intercultural approaches is less problematic than it once was, due to recent research regarding national cultures and cultural dimensions.
We consider that intercultural analysis has a great deal to offer to Holocaust studies. Indeed, the intercultural issues have received relatively little attention in relation to the study of the Holocaust. A classical taxonomy—perpetrator, victim, bystander—has long dominated studies of the Holocaust, genocide, and other mass atrocities. We specifically chose to study these aspects, from the point of view of the interculturalist, and show that a person is not by nature—born or preordained—to be one or the other. A person becomes a perpetrator, a victim, or a bystander.
Our paper reveals that individuals behavior depends on cultural values (especially uncertainty avoidance and collectivism) and cultural practices (languages, felt and attributed identities, interpretations of history), which affect the ideology of the majority.
This article investigates the connection between cultural dimensions and human behavior using intercultural analysis. Thus, an intercultural perspective suggests that cultural dimensions influence behavior.
People are all influenced by the cultures in which they grew up and the societies in which they l... more People are all influenced by the cultures in which they grew up and the societies in which they live. Cultures shape our expectations, values, beliefs, and goals. Scholars and practitioners too, are modeled by their culture and society, which in turn, influence their activity. Scholars avoid some research areas due to ethical principles or choose others based on their values or political adherence. Ideological principles span a wide range of concerns, including socioeconomic structures, race relations, gender issues, social philosophies and customs, religions, morality, equality, freedom, and justice. This article is based on the outcomes of World Values Survey, (waves 5, 6 and 7). The focus of this research is Romania. It approaches the perceptions on science and technology from a cultural point of view, with a special emphasis on religion. The study detected significant differences between the perception of Romanians during the last decades. It also highlighted the public perception on universities. The results of the study have implications for science educators regarding science‐related social controversies, particularly issues related to religion. Our contribution to the culture and innovation literature consists in improving the current understanding of the nexus between culture, science and technology in Romania.
Understanding National Culture and Ethics in Organizations, 2020
This chapter intends to reveal the leading questions regarding doing business in Eastern Europe. ... more This chapter intends to reveal the leading questions regarding doing business in Eastern Europe. The chapter uncovers the most important cultural issues applied to business ethics in order to improve the knowledge concerning business in Eastern Europe. We envisage, also, the nexus between intercultural elements and business ethics issues. This chapter aims at practitioners and management scholars, serving as a starting point for deepening the understanding of cultural and ethical issues in Eastern Europe . After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the economic, social, and political conditions have changed radically, especially in Europe. During the last two decades, Europeanization has become an attractive research area and an integral part of the study of European Union (EU) politics. National cultural values provide a context for discussing ethics and ethicality, but not an explanation of why there are differences in ethical values. The organizational culture is quite homogeneous among ECE countries, but the national cultures remained different. Organizational cultures in ECE are characterized by: highly centralized structures, dislike of uncertainty, preferences for formality and strong collectivist attitudes. Professional ethics is not a special type of ethics but the application of ethical judgment in professional practice. This application can be difficult in business settings as conflicting demands can arise. In areas where professional practitioners are employed, there is potential for a conflict.
Understanding National Culture and Ethics in Organizations, 2020
M&A is a way to survive and succeed in a competitive global environment as a consequence ... more M&A is a way to survive and succeed in a competitive global environment as a consequence of new political, monetary and regulatory issues. The complex phenomenon that M&As represent has received consistent attention from the research community over the last 30 years. Mergers and acquisitions are a strategic choice to grow quicker, enter new markets and maximize companies’ capabilities which otherwise would not have been possible. Within the automotive industry this phenomenon has been seen repeatedly with examples like the Mitsubishi - Daimler, Jaguar - Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, Seat-Volkswagen, Daewoo-General Motors and Land Rover -Ford. Although M&A activity has trended directionally consistent with automotive assembly volume, there are some failure cases within automotive industry M&As (e.g. Rover-BMW). In this chapter, the focus is on the intercultural issues of the M&A phenomenon. The underestimation of the cultural factors has significant impact on why M&A operations sometimes fail to achieve the pre-defined goals. It is of vital importance for the automotive companies to understand and be aware of these intercultural issues in order to be successful in their merger or acquisition. The phenomenon of merger and acquisition within the automotive industry needs further research and discussions due to the fact that some strategic alliances and M&A proved to be successful (e.g. Skoda - Volkswagen) and others not (e.g. Rover- BMW).
Nowadays companies involved in M&As face many significant challenges because of turbulent environ... more Nowadays companies involved in M&As face many significant challenges because of turbulent environments and a competitive global economy. Among these challenges are intercultural issues in decision making. This means that top managers with different mental models (caused by different backgrounds, including cultures, and experiences) and decision power interact in the M&A processes. Mental models include knowledge, values, beliefs, emotions, norms, goals. While there have been a number of studies on the effect of decision making on the outcomes of M&As, the role of intercultural issues in decision making has been neglected. Research on decision making is at the present time undergoing rapid changes due to the fact that decision making occurs in dynamically changing contexts. From previously being much focused on models and approaches with an origin in economy, much of the present day research finds is inspiration from interdisciplinary approaches concerned with incorporating more of t...
European integration influences the way universities operate. Today the activities of a universit... more European integration influences the way universities operate. Today the activities of a university are interrelated with market values: individualism, competition, innovation, and efficiency. Faculties, departments and academic units in universities are shaped by the new liberalist policies and managerialism by the top university management. The culture of universities has been viewed as much more complex than that of other organizations, despite the fact that this topic has been neglected in academic management debates until recently. Universities possess a number of organisational culture types. These ‘subcultures’ within the organisation are an outcome of the staff involved in a variety of disciplines and departments. The necessity of analysing the culture of university is acute nowadays because an organization cannot be lead without being aware of its values. Only being acquainted with the culture of the university, it is possible to change, transform or modernize it. The powerf...
The banking sector turmoil has produced important structural changes, and generated significant o... more The banking sector turmoil has produced important structural changes, and generated significant opportunities for banking institutions to initiate mergers and acquisitions. Notwithstanding, many of them fail to anticipate strategic aspects that could affect the outcomes of such transactions. This is a well-established fact, but the main reasons for it are less comprehensible. M&As within the banking sector are not a completely new phenomenon but the new wave of M&As in this sector has brought a lot of attention to these deals. For example, in 2014, CIT Group Inc's acquisition of OneWest's ($21.8 billion in assets), and BB&T Corp's acquisition of Susquehanna Bancshares Inc's ($18.6 billion in assets). This paper contributes to the management literature by analyzing the motives behind cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) for international banks in order to get an understanding of why they find it necessary to merge and/or take over other banks and the key reasons whereby banks' M&As can go wrong.
M&A is a way to survive and succeed in a competitive global environment as a consequence of new p... more M&A is a way to survive and succeed in a competitive global environment as a consequence of new political, monetary and regulatory issues. The complex phenomenon that M&As represent has received consistent attention from the research community over the last 30 years. Large scaled M&As between automotive manufacturers, like the Daimler-Chrysler merger, the alliance between Renault and Nissan and the acquisition of Volvo by Ford, have attracted significant attention in the last decades. However, apart from this considerable interest, the findings on the general performance of automotive M&As are inconsistent and contradictory. This paper is focused on some critical success factors in automotive M&As like the connection between pre-acquisition and post-acquisition processes, turnover of key people etc. The phenomenon of merger and acquisition within the automotive industry needs further research and discussions due to the fact that some strategic alliances and M&A proved to be successf...
The dead body persists into the post modern era as a “troubling object for the subject”, one that... more The dead body persists into the post modern era as a “troubling object for the subject”, one that Western culture has parried through autopsy a practice that would seem to be most objectifying and empirical. Death and dying are profound individual events which are strongly influenced by culture and particularly by religion. The underestimation of the cultural factors may have a significant impact on forensic pathologists’ practice who might fail to achieve their professional goals. Therefore it is important for the forensic pathologists to understand and be aware of various intercultural issues which may arise in their current practice. The understanding and awareness of cultural differences have to be built and developed in order to avoid cultural conflicts and clashes. In this paper, the focus is on the intercultural issues linked to autopsy: religious and cultural factors, attitudes, values,
Mergers and acquisitions are a strategic choice to grow quicker, enter new markets and maximize c... more Mergers and acquisitions are a strategic choice to grow quicker, enter new markets and maximize companies’ capabilities which otherwise would not have been possible. Within the automotive industry this phenomenon has been seen repeatedly with examples like the Mitsubishi - Daimler, Jaguar - Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, Seat-Volkswagen, Daewoo-General Motors and Land Rover -Ford. Although M&A activity has trended directionally consistent with automotive assembly volume, there are some failure cases within automotive industry M&As (e.g. Rover-BMW). In this paper, the focus will be on the intercultural issues of the M&A phenomenon: attitudes, cultures, values, tradition etc. The underestimation of the cultural factors has significant impact on why M&A operations sometimes fail to achieve the predefined goals. It is of vital importance for the automotive companies to understand and be aware of these intercultural issues in order to be successful in their merger or acquisition. The understand...
This article aims to offer a more holistic understanding of the perception of managers involved i... more This article aims to offer a more holistic understanding of the perception of managers involved in the post-M&A stage on the importance of acquiring synergistic effects in different organizational functions. This study attempts to take stock of the most important organizational functions that need to benefit from synergistic effects in the post-M&A stage. This study followed a quantitative approach by using a questionnaire. The study used newly generated numerical data, obtained by converting the levels of perception using the Likert scale. The population of this research consisted of managers from different countries who experienced firsthand the M&As and post-investment intercultural integration processes. The data was based on one data collection round. The mail survey targeted mainly Romania and other Eastern European countries. Four basic items, i.e. management, finance, production, and human resource management) are the starting point to extracting a dimension and the componen...
The impact of racist ideologies has been devastating to humanity. It has been the basis of the Na... more The impact of racist ideologies has been devastating to humanity. It has been the basis of the Nazi ideologies and of the programs to exterminate Jews and other "inferior peoples". Tolerance is arguably important in itself: it enables people to lead the lives they want without social and legal disapprobation, which brings about happiness. Nevertheless, tolerance is also related to economic outcomes. This paper is based on World Values Survey: Round Six - Country-Pooled Datafile Version (Inglehart et al., 2014) (WVS). There are four main questions: Would not like to have as neighbors: People of a different race, Would not like to have as neighbors: Immigrants/foreign workers, Would not like to have as neighbors: People of a different religion, Would not like to have as neighbors: People who speak a different language. The responses are aggregated on four variables: Education (country specific), Size of town , Age (decoded ranges from V242 Age), Region (decoded from County) The results of this research confirm to a large extent the previous research. The employed survey shows that in Romania there is a certain percentage of the population that are intolerant towards people of a different race, immigrants/foreign workers, people of a different religion, and people who speak a different language. Our contribution to the culture and tolerance literature consists in improving the current understanding of the nexus between them in Romania.
The banking sector turmoil has produced important structural changes, and generated significant o... more The banking sector turmoil has produced important structural changes, and generated significant opportunities for banking institutions to initiate mergers and acquisitions. Notwithstanding, many of them fail to anticipate strategic aspects that could affect the outcomes of such transactions. This is a well-established fact, but the main reasons for it are less comprehensible. M&As within the banking sector are not a completely new phenomenon but the new wave of M&As in this sector has brought a lot of attention to these deals. For example, in 2014, CIT Group Inc’s acquisition of OneWest’s ($21.8 billion in assets), and BB&T Corp’s acquisition of Susquehanna Bancshares Inc’s ($18.6 billion in assets). This paper contributes to the management literature by analyzing the motives behind cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) for international banks in order to get an understanding of why they find it necessary to merge and/or take over other banks and the key reasons whereby banks...
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Papers by Liviu Warter, PhD
We consider that intercultural analysis has a great deal to offer to Holocaust studies. Indeed, the intercultural issues have received relatively little attention in relation to the study of the Holocaust. A classical taxonomy—perpetrator, victim, bystander—has long dominated studies of the Holocaust, genocide, and other mass atrocities. We specifically chose to study these aspects, from the point of view of the interculturalist, and show that a person is not by nature—born or preordained—to be one or the other. A person becomes a perpetrator, a victim, or a bystander.
Our paper reveals that individuals behavior depends on cultural values (especially uncertainty avoidance and collectivism) and cultural practices (languages, felt and attributed identities, interpretations of history), which affect the ideology of the majority.
This article investigates the connection between cultural dimensions and human behavior using intercultural analysis. Thus, an intercultural perspective suggests that cultural dimensions influence behavior.
We consider that intercultural analysis has a great deal to offer to Holocaust studies. Indeed, the intercultural issues have received relatively little attention in relation to the study of the Holocaust. A classical taxonomy—perpetrator, victim, bystander—has long dominated studies of the Holocaust, genocide, and other mass atrocities. We specifically chose to study these aspects, from the point of view of the interculturalist, and show that a person is not by nature—born or preordained—to be one or the other. A person becomes a perpetrator, a victim, or a bystander.
Our paper reveals that individuals behavior depends on cultural values (especially uncertainty avoidance and collectivism) and cultural practices (languages, felt and attributed identities, interpretations of history), which affect the ideology of the majority.
This article investigates the connection between cultural dimensions and human behavior using intercultural analysis. Thus, an intercultural perspective suggests that cultural dimensions influence behavior.
Europe is the most diverse cultural continent in the world. Five of the six possible models of organizing a nation state are to be found in the EU. Bridging these differences is a political and intellectual challenge of unique proportions. The way Europe is trying to bridge the value differences between nation states without imposing one model is a laboratory for solving similar challenges for a globalizing world.
This study uncovers the most important intercultural aspects for the European Union integration. It envisages, also, the relationship between intercultural elements and EU performance.
This study sought to summarize the findings from the intercultural research on EU and to suggest new research directions.
The leading questions that should be answered are: “Which are the intercultural particularities in EU?”, “What is the relationship between intercultural elements and EU performance?” and “How to be successful in EU integration?”.
The relationship between intercultural elements and EU performance is a key topic in literature in last decades. Despite the advances, important research gaps and paradoxes remain.
Through our analysis, we have shown some different intercultural factors that may shape the EU.
Mergers and acquisitions are a strategic choice to grow quicker, enter new markets and maximize companies’ capabilities which otherwise would not have been possible. Within the automotive industry this phenomenon has been seen repeatedly with examples like the Mitsubishi - Daimler, Jaguar - Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, Seat-Volkswagen, Daewoo-General Motors and Land Rover -Ford. Although M&A activity has trended directionally consistent with automotive assembly volume, there are some failure cases within automotive industry M&As (e.g. Rover-BMW). In this chapter, the focus is on the intercultural issues of the M&A phenomenon. The underestimation of the cultural factors has significant impact on why M&A operations sometimes fail to achieve the pre-defined goals.
It is of vital importance for the automotive companies to understand and be aware of these intercultural issues in order to be successful in their merger or acquisition.
The phenomenon of merger and acquisition within the automotive industry needs further research and discussions due to the fact that some strategic alliances and M&A proved to be successful (e.g. Skoda - Volkswagen) and others not (e.g. Rover- BMW).
Intended primarily for managers, ethics and intercultural management scholars and business owners, this book reveals some leading questions in business research, linking ethics and national culture, with a particular emphasis on Eastern European countries. The main questions that should be answered are: 'Which are the cultural particularities in Eastern European countries?' & 'What is the relationship between ethics and national culture in Eastern European countries?' and 'How to be successful in business in Eastern European countries?'
The volume’s approach to culture and ethics leads to unique and new perspectives on the Eastern part of Europe. By improving our understanding of the relationship between business ethics and national culture, the book contributes to the integration of theories, concepts and results from different research traditions and in this way helps to better our understanding of management.
After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the economic, social, and political conditions have changed radically, especially in Europe. During the last two decades, Europeanization has become an attractive research area and an integral part of the study of European Union (EU) politics.
National cultural values provide a context for discussing ethics and ethicality, but not an explanation of why there are differences in ethical values. The organizational culture is quite homogeneous among ECE countries, but the national cultures remained different.
Organizational cultures in ECE are characterized by: highly centralized structures, dislike of uncertainty, preferences for formality and strong collectivist attitudes.
Professional ethics is not a special type of ethics but the application of ethical judgment in professional practice. This application can be difficult in business settings as conflicting demands can arise. In areas where professional practitioners are employed, there is potential for a conflict.
The M&A reasons are the result of globalization, of the need of growth and of achieving synergies. Most of the professionals consider that M&A is one of the most significant business phenomena in the past decades, but warn about the dangers of M&A.
The most challenging part of the M&A process is the integration of two entities that present different organizational and national cultures. This monograph emphasizes the relationship between culture, post-merger integration processes, and M&A performance.
This monograph exerts to find an explanation for M&A performance in terms of the impact that cultural differences have on the post-merger integration process. It emphasizes the role of post-investment monitoring and intercultural synergies achievement.
This monograph offers an extensive insight of the M&A process inasmuch as M&As are a complex domain demanding an interdisciplinary approach.
This book is seeking to deepen the apprehension of the impact of cultural differences on M&A performance.
M&A performance can be characterized by ambiguity of the concept and a lack of concurrence on measurement procedures.
This monograph reveals that cultural synergy can be produced by similarities in organizations but at once by differences. The empirical results deliver contradictory outcomes. Intercultural synergy might be highly significant after the merger or on the contrary have an insignificant effect on firms’ performance or even a negative impact. The findings regarding the cross-cultural integration aspects are contradictory and the relation between M&A performance and intercultural synergy is still to be refined.
The findings of this book suggest that intercultural synergy is a significant and controversial issue of cross border M&As. Some inconsistent results suggest the need for further research on post-merger integration.
The main goal of this book is to uncover intercultural issues that managers encountered during the post-investment phase and they should have discovered during the pre-investment phase. Intercultural synergy has a strong impact on M&A. Both national and organizational cultures are determinants for maximizing the intercultural synergy.
This monograph integrates the research on national, organizational and professional culture, into a theory of M&A performance and outcome. It investigates not only the outcomes and intercultural synergy but also the perception on these issues.
In the area of intercultural management, this book reveals that the culture clusters make for a very helpful and strong tool. It appears that national culture might influence perceptions on M&A in some culture clusters much more than in others.
M&A professionals may benefit from a deeper understanding of cultural values that shape the post-merger integration process and implicitly the M&A performance. The companies that minimize the importance of post-investment monitoring expose themselves to a higher risk of failure.
The expectation of the author of this monograph is that the conclusions would help forewarn M&A scholars and practitioners of the need to thoroughly understand the cultural issues influencing the post-M&A processes.
This monograph will be useful for academic researchers, postgraduate students, for MBA/Executive Education and for practitioners.
Cultural differences among negotiators are a constant in international business negotiations. Mergers and acquisitions negotiations are very complex to manage because a large number of factors influence the negotiation process and can lead it either to failure or success.
This article aims to reveal the perception of managers involved in the pre-M&A stage on the main cultural issues during the negotiation process.
This study proposes an appraisal of the most important intercultural issues that need to be considered in the pre-M&A stage. The article takes into consideration not only the national culture but also the professional culture.
Our contribution to the intercultural aspects of M&A literature consists in improving the current understanding of the intercultural negotiation process.
Despite continued global uncertainty, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) remain essential instruments for growth initiatives in the coming years.
This study is based on an intercultural approach on the differences between companies. The study focuses on the perception of managers from different cultural clusters, involved in M&A.
It was performed a factor analysis for the following items: Management, Company values and practices, Finance, Production, Human resource management. The resulting factor is Organizational functions and core values. This issue has been explored by only a limited number of studies in the strategic management field.
A better understanding of the cultural differences between the companies before the merger/acquisition regarding the organizational functions and the core values will make future M&As less problematic.
This article demonstrates that managers perceive in a different matter the importance of the organizational functions and the core values. The outcomes of this study reveal that top managers consider Human resource management as the most important and Finance as the least important.
Notwithstanding most of the existing literature, this study distinguishes between the organizational function but introduces them in the same analysis with the core values.
Our contribution to the strategic management literature consists in improving the current understanding of the perception of the cultural differences between the companies before the merger/acquisition.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are both aspects of strategic management, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or new location, without creating a subsidiary, other child entity or using a joint venture.
If both strategic fit (synergy potential) and organizational fit factors (cultural differences) are taken into account, M&A performance is higher.
Our study focuses on the perception of managers from different cultural clusters, involved in M&A. Using factor analysis there were uncovered three main factors of goals of M&A: Responsibility, Strategy and Business Value. The goals of M&A taken into consideration are: Joint vision achievement, Strategic goals achievement, Improving business processes, Increasing employee satisfaction, Increasing customer satisfaction, Adding value to society, and Shareholder value added. This topic has been investigated by only a limited number of studies in the strategic management field. The understanding of Responsibility, Strategy and Business Value in M&A will make future M&As less problematic.
This study underscores the influence of managers’ culture on the goals of M&A. In this article, we aim to answer the questions “What are the main goals of M&A?”, “What is the impact of culture on the goals of M&A?” and “Which are the underlying factors of the M&A goals”.
Our contribution to the strategic management literature consists in improving the current understanding of the goals of the M&A processes.