Corporate Communication in Romania after the change in social culture since Ceasusescu

Table of Contents

1 Introduction
1.1 Approach and aim of the work

2 Corporate Communications

3 Historical and cultural background
3.1 Economic and media situation during Ceausescu
3.2 The Romanian social culture

4 Changes after the turn in year 1989
4.1 Changes in society
4.2 Changes in economic
4.3 Changes in corporate structures

5 Media an Communication after 1989

6 Corporate Communication today
6.1 Intern
6.2 Extern

7 Conclusion

List of references

1 Introduction

Throughout history, all countries and nations of the world have probably experienced a transformation of society, norms and values through political and cultural changes. Such movements inevitably change the laws and rules, people in the country and working conditions and the economy. The companies often have more opportunities to act independently to lead more marketing, advertising and public relations on an international level and thus become economically interesting. The possible participation in the world market through imports and exports also changes the corporate and economic structures of the countries concerned. Especially in countries with extremely difficult or oppressive political circumstances, there is a high level of social and economic change after the change of government. One such country is Eastern European Romania, which today is one of the most interesting enlargement countries in the EU. (Bidder, B., 2017).

This is also confirmed by the growth figures from 2017 for the third quarter of the Central and Eastern European economy. Romania's economy grew by as much as 8 percentage points year-on-year, placing it in first place with the fastest growing economy in Europe and the highest growth in relative terms worldwide, outperforming China and India. (Bidder, B., 2017).

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Fig. 1: Economic growth in Romania and the euro area as a percentage of GDP 2007- 2017.

This growth is mainly due to the many Western European investors who have recognized Romania's economic growth potential and are therefore expanding their own companies to Eastern Europe or buying up existing companies, thereby expanding the country's economic performance. (geografie-diplom.de, 2018). After Romania was able to free itself from its dictatorial government at the end of the 1980s, there have since been some intercultural, social and economic changes that also contribute to the economic restructuring of Romania internationally and can still be observed today. Germany is also feeling this change and is therefore currently the most important trading partner for Romania. (Bidder, B., 2017).

However, these facts are not only changing economic growth, GDP or other economic indicators, but also internal and external communication channels of companies.

1.1 Approach and aim of the work

The aim of the work is to explain the changes in corporate communications in Romania after the fall of the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, with the help of subsequent social and cultural change. First of all, the historical background of the country and the political situation as well as the cultural mentality as well as country-specific peculiarities will be explained, in order to explain the economic state of the time and the growth that continues to this day. The main focus of this elaboration is to identify the restructuring of companies and their communication tools, which were not present before the turnaround.

2 Corporate Communications

For an appropriate basis for understanding the work, first the term corporate communication and its interpretation will be explained.

The definition of corporate communications is very broad. Basically, it includes all the management processes of an organization that involves messaging, within the organization, and the environment. Corporate communication is an important tool to increase employee identification with their companies. In general, the focus is on the creation and maintenance of trust and satisfaction as well as on the commitment, within the company or to the outside world. (Kügler, J., 2018).

A distinction is made due to the different target groups, in internal and external corporate communication.

Internal corporate communication usually describes the dialogue and the exchange of information within the company or organization.

External communication is directed externally, for example to the public, to customers or to the international market. (onpulson.de, 2018). Therefore, the target groups of external corporate communication can be found on the finance, sales and procurement markets.

Both concepts of corporate communications will be discussed in more detail later in the paper.

In principle many different fields belong to the umbrella term of corporate communication. The responsible areas in a company are mainly advertising, PR, marketing and marketing communication as well as corporate design. Basically, this means, for example, the general internal communication in the company, leadership, lobbying, sales, interaction in social networks and the entire correspondence inside and outside belong. (Kügler, J., 2018).

3 Historical and cultural background

In order to better understand the economic development as well as the international position of Romania, a short insight into the historical development and the resulting culture and mentality of the society follows. Some parts of this elaboration are based on a personal interview with a Transylvanian entrepreneur who was born in Romania and returned to Germany in 1990.

At the time of Caesar, Romania was part of the dominion of the Dacians, who are thus direct ancestors of today's Romanians. Since the Dacian kingdom bordered directly on that of the Romans, it constituted already an economic as well as a military threat at that time and demanded Caesar even then forge conquest plans. About 100 years later, Emperor Tairan succeeded in defeating the Dacians and making Romania part of the Roman territory. This was followed by a linguistic and cultural romanization of the population.

This was followed by many dominions of Romania from different peoples such as the Goths, Huns, Bulgarians, Avars, Pechenegs, Comanes, Tartars, Hungarians and Ottomans. In 1862, the Kingdom of Romania was established, which was internationally recognized in 1878.

After the abdication of King Mihai in 1947, a communist dictatorship followed first under Gheorghe Gheorghiu - Dej and from 1965 under Nicolae Ceausescu. (Heydemann, G., Vodicka, K., 2014).

Under the leadership of Ceausescu, the country was extremely suppressed. The consequence of this leadership was that all organizations in the country, be it the media, companies, the security service, the so-called Securitate and the military, but also the trade, were under the full command of the government and had no independence.

By the end of 1989, the communist leader, with the help of the Romanian military, who allied with the Romanian citizens, could be overthrown relatively quickly, and the dictatorship was therefore brought to an end. People, businesses, the media and everyone else now had access to the West, and the turnaround began. (Botta, M., Interview 2018).

3.1 Economic and media situation during Ceausescu

Under the leadership of Nicolae Ceausescu, the country initially achieved economic growth and modernization. Ceausescu spoke out against the Soviet Union and its invasion and was able to act as completely independent in his government. He initially focused on the West and was able to gain some credit from the western neighboring countries.

However, this demarcation to the Soviet Union and the independence of his leadership led to a kind of megalomania. He titled himself as "Titanium of the Titans" and had, for example, build a huge palace at the expense of the people.

In the early 1980s, the economic boom gradually took a radical turn. In order for the high credits to be repaid to the West, much of the income from agriculture was sold abroad.

The People's Republic of Romania experienced hunger, food shortages and political repression by the Securitate.

Furthermore, the connections to the West were cut off and international trade was no longer possible. In addition, there were few media that were mostly state-owned and used by the regime for propaganda purposes. Listening to non-state media was strictly prohibited and was seen as a betrayal of the homeland. (Botta, M., Interview 2018). The press has been censored and thus the communication is strictly controlled and influenced both within the country and abroad. The citizens were intercepted by the intelligence service and arrested on suspicion of relations or advocacy of the West by using fictitious offenses. Furthermore, the 1974 Law was passed by the Grand National Assembly, and thus the media and journalists had to put their work completely under the Romanian Communist Party and strive to achieve its goals. (Heydemann, G., Vodicka, K., 2014).

Of course, this media control also had an impact on the companies in Romania, which had to rely on the media channels for successful marketing and communication. As the media was used to propagate communist ideologies and propaganda, businesses could only do little advertising, and if so, it was also influenced and subsidized by the government. Advertising from Western Europe was not known and trade in the international market was significantly restricted by the import ban. (Botta, M., Interview 2018).

3.2 The Romanian social culture

The Romanians see themselves today, despite the many dominions of different peoples, as descendants of the Romans. The country name "Romania" contributes to the pride of their origin.

The roots of Romania are clearly Latin, which is also reflected in the mentality of the population. They are friendly, open, spirited, emotional, loud and sometimes chaotic. The family is always a central part of life and influences decisions and personal development into old age. Holidays and celebrations are also very important for the family-oriented Romanians and, of course, must also be integrated into everyday working life.

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