Business in Romania blog: Doing business in Romania and business issues

Monday, November 28, 2005

Indian IT major Wipro is looking to expand its business towards the East European and Middle-Eastern countries.

A statement from Wipro goes something like: "We are shortly opening, within the next eight to 12 weeks a centre at Bucharest in Romania in East Europe, which will be directed towards servicing the German and French market and we are looking at one more centre at Far-East. I cannot mention that right now but it's at an advanced stage of evaluation, which will be even more cost effective than China".

This is a nice strategy in outsourcing...competing with companies from other countries by moving to that country. This way, you can take advantage of the local benefits and also use the name and expertise behind your well-established company.

This might work if you are Wipro...

Posted by Mihai : 11/28/2005 11:14:00 pm

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Virtual tour of Bucharest

A new website was inaugurated yesterday allowing virtual visits of Bucharest.

The site, www.panoramax.ro/bucuresti presents Cismigiu Park, the Romanian Athenaeum, Revolution Square, Parliament Palace and Constitution Square.

The site is offered by AC Software. The city of Galati, the Prahova valley and Brasov can also be seen soon on the site.

Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 11/24/2005 03:22:00 pm

Monday, November 21, 2005

Radio in your car

One of the best radio stations I found recently is Radio Deea. What is so good about it? Well, one of the most important things is that there are no commercials ! Yes, none. Also, the music is quite ok for driving, is sort of a clubbin' music, more like house. Which is nice for driving.

You can find Radio Deea on 92.1 FM in Bucharest. Also, they have a website (very poor website) at www.radiodeea.ro.

The bad thing is that I didn't manage to find a live broadcast over the web, so I can also listen to it in the office.

If any of you knows about this, please let us know.

Posted by Mihai : 11/21/2005 09:39:00 am

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Consulting...

In Bucharest there has recently been a well-promoted and big-fussed Job fair. You know, that kind of event where 200 companies try to find new employees or at least to enlarge their recruiting database and where young or not-so-young people look for the best-paid and good-opportunity job.

Quite ok, everybody wins, it's a nice event and this things should be done as often as possible.

But...and here comes a big BUT: I was reading today an article about the outcome of the fair, and in the end they summarize the most popular and most offered jobs for young people with no/little working experience. And one of them is ... taaa-daaaam...."Business Consultant" ("Consultant de afaceri" in Romanian).

And it makes me wonder...do these people really know what they are talking about??? I mean, how can you put on the same list and compare a business consultant job with a web designer, a sales representative (we all know what this means in Romania) and even an data center operator.

Where is the fault? Does the company really understand what they want from a business consultant? Do they believe they can train anyone within 1 month in order to do a great job in advicing the client? Or is it just another way of giving a nice name for a job maybe someone will apply for it?

I spent about 2 and a half years doing "consulting", project management and trying to understand the client's needs in a software company. And when I moved to a real management consulting job, I found out that my expertise in the field is quite limited and that this is veeery important. Even more, such a job does not only require experience, but it requires a very analitical thinking, good organizing, good communication skills and so on. And when I say "good", I mean good on a professional scale.

In my job, we are all called consultants, nevermind if it's me or if it's a guy with +20 years of expertise, comming from McKinsey and with a solid MBA behind. But the difference is huge. As in HUGE. Look at how Roland Berger hires its employees...you can't really become a full consultant without several years of solid management consulting expertise.

So, the message is - to both recruiters and candidates -, be careful what you wish for and how you ask for it. You don't want a junior giving advices to your major client. You really don't !

'Cause, as the client says... "I know I'm stupid, there's no doubt about this. But that's why I pay you, to come here and be smart and make me smarter. I can't pay you for being stupid".

Posted by Mihai : 11/19/2005 12:05:00 pm

Friday, November 18, 2005

Radar cameras in Romania

Here is an unofficial list of video cameras with radar capabilities in Romania. I am not sure that this is real and that the police actually usses it, but...anyways, it might be useful.

Take care !

1 Aerogarii stalp consola stanga, intersectia ANTENA 1, aeroport Baneasa, Ion Ionescu de la Brad

2 INMH stalp consola stanga la 50m de intrarea la INMH

3 INMH stalp consola dreapta la 50m de intrarea la INMH

4 Academia Politie stalp simplu 10m pe Erou Iancu Nicolae, in scuar

5 Academia Politie stalp consola colt dreapta, pe DN1 ,cu 25 m inainte de intersectia Gradina Zoologica

6 LUKOIL Otopeni stalp consola partea stanga, la cca 1000m dupa coborarea podului de la centura

7 AGIP Otopeni portal 24m la breteaua de intrare in aeroportul Otopeni

8 Balotesti pasarela existenta in dreptul drumului spre centrul comunei Balotesti

9 Tancabesti stalp AND dreapta, in dreptul statiei particulare de benzina

10 Ciolpani pasarela existenta in dreptul statiei Petrom

11 Barcanesti portal 19m la raspantia cu drumul de centura,intrarea in Ploiesti

12 DN1A Rompetrol stalp consola stanga,pe varianta DN1, in dreptul intersectiei cu DN1 A spre Buftea

13 METRO Ploiesti stalp simplu in scuarul sensului giratoriu de la Metrou Ploiesti

14 Sinaia inters. DN Targoviste stalp consola dreapta, la intersectia cu DN7 Targoviste

15 Sinaia portal 17m la 100m de intersectia cu DN Targoviste, in drepul primelor hale MEFIN

16 Sinaia Ferdinand stalp simplu in centru, bd. Ferdinand (stalp beton, inca nu s-a montat)

17 Sinaia Ferdinand stalp consola la iesire Sinaia, intersectie cu varianta spre gara

18 Busteni stalp consola dreapta, bld. Marasesti, in dreptul drumului spre Gura Diham

19 Azuga stalp simplu dreapta,in dreptul caii ferate (inca nu s-a montat)

Posted by Mihai : 11/18/2005 10:22:00 am

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Richest Romanians

The TOP 300 most wealthy Romanian people has been published again. Without many surprises, the top 10 looks as it follows:

1. Ion Tiriac - 1 billion USD
2. Iosif Dragan - 850 million USD
3. Sorin Ovidiu Vantu - 750 million USD
4. Micula Brothers - 700-750 million USD
5. Paunescu Family - 700-750 million USD
6. Ioan Niculae - 500 million USD
7. Gigi Becali - 400-450 million USD
8. Dinu Patriciu - 400-450 million USD
9. Voiculescu Family - 350 million USD
10. Dan Adamescu - 320 million USD

The cummulated wealth of the 300 is about 16 billion USD, which is about 22% of Romania's GDP.

Posted by Mihai : 11/16/2005 02:57:00 pm

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Move over, India

A nice article discussing Romania's potential in outsourcing, specially in software. Could Romania be the next India for IT? Read more here.

Posted by Mihai : 11/15/2005 11:15:00 am

Six billion euros upgrade of Bucharest

Bucharest needs emblematic buildings, constructed in a new architectural style, to become known among foreign tourists, stated Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu at the "Investment Opportunities in Bucharest" conference.

The Prime Minister has also pointed out urban development projects, including the reconstruction of the Lia Manoliu National Stadium, the upgrade of the capital's city ring, the replacement of old subway cars and creating eight new regional hospitals.

The large investment projects in Bucharest cannot begin without first solving the capital's biggest problem, road infrastructure, stated General Mayor Adriean Videanu, at the conference. According to Videanu, more than half the total investments scheduled by the municipality (approximately six billion euros) will be allocated to infrastructure upgrade.

The City Hall currently has the necessary resources to launch the investment programs.
The contract for the Esplanada could be signed next spring, as the authorities estimate a consultant for the deal should be selected within a week, according to Laszlo Borbely, minister delegate for Public Works.

The 800 million-euro project will be signed with TriGranit, which won the public-private partnership program after a tender. The Esplanada project includes a subway station, office spaces (75,000 square meters), residences (30,000 square meters) and commercial spaces (40,000 square meters).
Within the center, the public authorities will have 30,000 square meters, while space for cultural events, sports or other activities should total another 30,000 square meters. The land on which the project will be developed is owned by the MTCT and has a surface of over 107,000 square meters. Esplanada will be located near the Unirii Square.

Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 11/15/2005 10:42:00 am

Monday, November 14, 2005

Formatting HTML is not that hard

Perhaps all of you are constantly receiving various newsletters, promotion e-mails and so on, either requested or not.

Nevermind the fact that most of them are spam, but sometimes the newsletters are so badly formatted and written that I wonder if these people really sell something, or they just waste their time sending them.

For example, I received today a newsletter promoting the "MONDEN" magazine in Romania. And the e-mail, standard Text e-mail, starts something like this:

"Primul an al epocii MONDENrnrnrnrn La un an de la aparitie, formula editoriala propusa de revista Monden, se dovedeste a fi un succes. Tratarea vietii mondene cu discernamant, separarea kitsch-ului de autentic, sublinierea ideii de lux, au fost principalele criterii ale echipei redactionale. Scopul nostru este acela de a trece dincolo de stralucirea trecatoare a momentului si a extrage lucrurile cu adevarat importante din fiecare eveniment.rn Acum, dupa un an [...]"

What the hell is that MONDENrnrnrnrn ?? Is this the name of the magazine? And why do they write everything on one line? And why do you start your e-mails with no Hello, Hi, Dear..., etc.?

If you don't know HTML or you don't have any communication common sense, why don't you at least hire someone to do this? It is a matter of minutes. Or you can even use a freeware solution that allows you to arrange and format the e-mails in quite a nice manner. At least, go search Google for some tips about addressing an e-mail. Specially if you're planning on actually generating an effect, other than the laughs of the readers.

Posted by Mihai : 11/14/2005 02:14:00 pm

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Dacia to build one more factory

It seems the success of the "boxy Logan" is pushing the marketing guys at Dacia to open a new factor in order to respond to sales from outside Romania.

Dacia is already building the car in Morroco, Columbia and Russia. The next factory could be in Iran, Brazil or China.

Full story here.

Posted by Mihai : 11/13/2005 11:33:00 am

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

RON recovers from Monday's decline

The European currency lost, in yesterday's session, almost one ban compared with the RON, after the two bani appreciation registered on Monday, moving off from the 3.7 RON limit, on a market that maintains its speculative character.

The euro opened yesterday's session at more than 3.69 RON, a level close to the Monday listings, but the sale orders brought a slow decrease of the exchange rate, in spite of some 3.7 RON increase expectations.

The listings slowly lowered to 3.67 RON per euro. According to the dealers, the euro sales came from the same banks that placed purchase orders the day before.

One of the dealers stated that the braking of the 3.7 RON per euro limit is improbable as long as the National Bank of Romania (BNR) still has something to say at this level.

Comparing with the European currency, the domestic currency maintains its winning position at which it started the year, the nominal appreciation situating at 7.1%.

Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 11/09/2005 10:29:00 am

Monday, November 07, 2005

Loudest, fastest ... longest

It seems Manowar is the loudest band ever....they managed to reach 129.5 decibels in a concert in Great Britain (Spectacle of Music Tour, 1994). Before doing this, they announced their intention and asked people to use earphones.

In order to better understand what this means, you should know that sound levels above 85 dB are considered harmful, while 120 dB is unsafe and 150 dB causes physical damage to the human body.

A Boeing taking off makes a sound of about 140 dB at very close range. Windows break off at 163 dB.

On the other hand, Moby has the world's fastest track, called Thousand, reaching about 1015 bpm. What does this mean? Well, usually hip-hop music is played at 70-110 bpm and house music is played at about 140bpm.

Well, the conclusion ? No conclusion, both tracks are brilliant ! :)

That's all, folks.

Update: Another record from the music world... The longest album title is... watch out:

"When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing 'Fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right."

The album was by Fiona Apple in November 999. I bet the cover of the album is veeery interesting....and long :)

UPDATE 2: Here is the cover.

Posted by Mihai : 11/07/2005 04:36:00 pm