Annals of “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati Fascicle I. Economics and Applied Informatics Years XXVI – n o 1/2020 ISSN-L 1584-0409 ISSN-Online 2344-441X www.eia.feaa.ugal.ro DOI https://doi.org/10.35219/eai1584040989 The Influence of Management Style and Socio-Cultural Factors on the Education System in the European Union Countries Monica RADUCAN  , Tincuta VRABIE  , Aura COLAN  , Gianina COLAN  , Nicoleta CRISTACHE  , Vasile CRISTIA  ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Accepted April 2020 Available online May 2020 The education system represents an important element in any society, especially in the European Union, because it contributes to the well-being of a type of resource which is essential for development, namely the human resource. The management style represents the way in which the upper, middle and lower level management personnel act in relation to their subordinates. In this analysis we monitored the management style within the European education system, identifying three types of management styles, respectively; participatory (Germany and Sweden), authoritative (Spain, Romania and Greece), and participatory-authoritative (Great Britain, France, Italy). Thus, through this paper, we want to analyze the management styles characteristic of the education system within seven EU countries and to identify the influence which the economic, social and cultural factors have on it. © 2020 EAI. All rights reserved. JEL Classification I21, I25 Keywords: Socio-cultural indicators, Management styles, Educational system 1. Introduction The educational systems in the European Union states are varied and reflect the diverse choices of the society. Despite the differences in terms of organization and financial means, they are based on the common values recognized by the European Education Commission. The option for this research is since there is a pressure on the educational system for performance and finding new ways to increase it. The purpose of this study is, also, to highlight how the management styles are influenced by certain socio-cultural factors and the impact that the management style has, under the conditions of the socio- cultural variables, on the educational system within the European states which are analyzed: Romania, Greece, Sweden, Italy, France, Spain and the United Kingdom. 2. Literature review Management is a discipline centered on people, and the organization`s results are represented by the results of the work managers, of the upper level management, who coordinated the human resource in order to optimize the production (Drucker P., 2011). Empirical management has begun to develop with the division of labor and human life into organized structures. From the need to make the most accurate and appropriate decisions, a manager must remove the empiricism and base his decisions on science, this way appearing the quantitative school. The quantitative school cannot fully explain human behavior or predict the way the human resource is operating within the organization; this being the most pronounced limitation of quantitative thinking. In order to elaborate the decisions, the managers need data, numbers and letters, which they analyze in order to make the best decision. Notable representatives of this school are: A. Kaufman, J. Star, C. Afanisiev, F. Goronzy, etc., all of whom have acquired the features of quantitative thinking (Lazăr I., 2002). The basic features are represented by the use of mathematical and statistical concepts and methods, using mainly the forecasting and organizing functions of the management; also, R&D, production and commercial functions are addressed with priority (Burduș E., Popa I. 2018). The quantitative school appeared through the early 40s, this one using mainly the mathematical and statistical instrumentation in structuring the management concepts, elaborating numerous methods, ideas and concepts through which the efficiency of the carried-out activities can be increased (Burduș E., Popa I. 2018).  ,  ,  ,  ,  Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania,  Altexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. E-mail addresses monica.raducan@ugal.ro (M. Raducan - Corresponding author).