Romanian universities face the challenge of implementing learning management systems (LMS) while introducing blended learning (BL) in their academic programs. In order to benefit from this educational concept, it is imperative to determine whether the LMS provides added value to the university. After an extensive literature review, we designed a conceptual model for the LMS success, by combining constructs from previous well-established models and adding the user trust dimension. To test this model, we conducted a case study on the premises of the Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics at The Bucharest University of Economic Studies. The network of determinants was examined for validation and relationships, using structural equation modeling. This paper details our findings with regard to the newly tested hypotheses, with an emphasis on the role of the user trust dimension.

The impact that business analytics (BA) has on companies’ performance will cause, in the near future, a significant increase in the demand for specialists in the field. Universities will play an important role in covering the deficit of professionals already reported by companies, provided that their offer is tailored to real market demands and their students are prepared to acquire the appropriate knowledge and skills. This paper proposes a framework for assessing the maturity level of BA in economic university programmes, based on the knowledge and technical skills needed by BA professionals. This maturity framework is applied to Romanian economic study programs to assess their analytical level and to identify their possible development directions. The educational programmes offer is then confronted with the real demand on the Romanian labour market, highlighting the types of jobs needed in the BA field and the related requirements for each of the analytical levels of the proposed model.

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