SMEs DEVELOPMENT IN ROMANIA THROUGHOUT THE 21ST CENTURY

The theme of this article was chosen because it is very important to be able to determine the way in which certain factors might influence the performance of a firm. The impact that the business environment in Romania and the EU have upon the SMEs in our country represents an area of high interest. The profound changes in our economy and society since 1989 have triggered an ample process of moving from a centralized economy to a free market economy and now an emerging market economy, that has been liberated from the past under these new principles. The new role of the state in the economy and society has led to the reconsiderations of some categories and concepts, such as efficiency, cost effectiveness, price, risk and even business failure, that cannot be measured at a macroeconomic level and then at a firm level, but the other way around. Under these circumstances the firm becomes the core cell of the economy, that is influenced by all of the market specific factors such as uncertainty and risk. The fundamental problem of the existence, operation and development of the firms under the complex conditions of the market economy is the unfolding of an efficient and profitable activity. The reasoning of this research is based on the need to respond to the issues, that most SMEs in Romania confront themselves nowadays. Managers are forced to find solutions to relaunch the business. The profound changes in our economy and society have triggered an ample process of moving from a centralized economy to a free market economy, that has been liberated from the past under these new principles. The creation of this new economy involved privatizations of state owned companies, restructurings, liquidations, insolvencies but at the same time the emergence of new firms. Economic agents gained full autonomy, passing the entire responsibility of decision-making at a microeconomic level. The development of more and more SMEs and start-ups in Romania, offers the possibility of a professional and social fulfilment, for a significant part of the population, especially for its most active and innovative segment, which drives the economy of our country nowadays.