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1 – 10 of 12Marina Duarte, Sandra Sofia Caeiro, Carla Sofia Farinha, Ana Moreira, Margarida Santos-Reis, Constança Rigueiro and João Simão
This study aims to explore the alignment between strategic plans of the Portuguese public higher education institutions (HEIs) and their perception of the integration of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the alignment between strategic plans of the Portuguese public higher education institutions (HEIs) and their perception of the integration of sustainability in education and curricula.
Design/methodology/approach
The strategic plans from 15 institutions were selected for content analysis; data about the integration of sustainability in education and curricula, from these HEI, were collected with an online questionnaire (self-report survey). Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed.
Findings
Strategic plans of the Portuguese public HEIs seem to not be sufficiently aligned with self-assessment integration of sustainability in education and curricula.
Research limitations/implications
The classifications used in the content analysis were constructed and revised by the authors to reduce coder interpretation issues and subsequent bias in the results. However, some subjectivity could remain. The analysis of strategic plans and self-report surveys answered by top management, or a technician, does not assess the practices and sustainability implementation in education and curricula.
Practical implications
This study allows the self-report of already-implemented practices to be compared to the planned strategy of HEI governance in Portugal as stated in their strategic plans.
Originality/value
An analysis and respective insights on the lack of connection between strategic planning and self-report practices about sustainability implementation, using Portugal as a case study.
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Marcus Vinicius de Souza Silva Oliveira, João Simão and Sandra Sofia Ferreira da Silva Caeiro
Encouraged by the State, the Brazilian public organizations practice sustainable procurement as one of the strategies to promote sustainable development. Performing them requires…
Abstract
Purpose
Encouraged by the State, the Brazilian public organizations practice sustainable procurement as one of the strategies to promote sustainable development. Performing them requires understanding to manage stakeholders. The purpose of this study is to identify and categorize the stakeholders of Brazilian public organizations’ sustainable procurement system.5
Design/methodology/approach
Preliminarily, the stakeholders were identified in the literature and by interviews with experts. Later, in a multi-case study, it was categorized by the model of stakeholder salience.
Findings
In general, governmental and intra-organizational stakeholders were classified as more salient. However, some stakeholders considered important by literature and experts have been categorized as less salient by organizations.
Originality/value
The proposed categorization is useful for the system comprehension and will serve as a basis for the development of future works, notably those who propose to understand or evaluate the sustainable public procurement (SPP). Additionally, this work aims to enlarge the knowledge and the better practices of SPP in a large emerging South American country, giving its contribution to the transition to more sustainable societies.
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Vítor Hugo Vilar and João Simão
Corporate social responsibility became a core topic in the management and activity of banks. Being a bidirectional, permanent, updateable and universal access communication…
Abstract
Purpose
Corporate social responsibility became a core topic in the management and activity of banks. Being a bidirectional, permanent, updateable and universal access communication channel, the internet contributed to transform the way the organizations report social responsibility to stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to understand how the banks use their web sites to disclose their social responsibility concerns and activities.
Design/methodology/approach
The globe was divided in 11 regions, according to geographic and cultural criteria. Information was gathered from the corporate web sites of the ten major banks in each region, and their contents were analyzed. Geographic patterns and the correlation to universal development indicators were studied.
Findings
The banks disclose on their web sites information on environmental management and socioeconomic programs. Other recurrent themes are the support to education, fight against corruption, workers’ welfare, corporate ethics and the existence of codes of conduct. There are geographic patterns in the quantity and detail of the information provided, as well as in the themes mentioned. The banks located in Europe, the American continent, and Oceania, are those who disclose more information. This confirms that the disclosure of social responsibility by the banks is larger and more detailed according to the development indexes of the country where they operate.
Originality/value
The work studies the disclosure on the internet of information on social responsibility by the banks, being the first work to do it at the world level. This way, it provides a significant contribution to identify the themes that are more often disclosed and to establish comparisons between geographic areas.
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Sal Island has been the object of strong tourism development in the last decades, to the point that Cape Verde is now the African country with the highest relative weight of…
Abstract
Purpose
Sal Island has been the object of strong tourism development in the last decades, to the point that Cape Verde is now the African country with the highest relative weight of tourism in employment and economy. This study aims at knowing: the perceptions of Sal residents towards the environmental, cultural, social and economic impacts of tourism activity; the opinion of the people regarding public information and participation; and possible divergences with the “official” discourse present in governmental strategic plans.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was carried out among a sample of residents and descriptive statistics, t‐student and Pearson correlation were computed to study the existence of relations between the impacts and the demographic characteristics of the respondents (age, education, gender and years living in the area). The most relevant plans concerning tourism activity were object of content analysis.
Findings
Negative social impacts and positive economic ones are well perceived by the residents, especially the improvement of women's situation. There is a lack of public participation in the decision‐making processes. In general, the population supports tourism development, but there are wearing signs that ought to be taken into consideration by planners and decision makers.
Originality/value
It is the first study about the perception of the resident population concerning the tourism development on Sal Island. The information may be relevant to planners and public policy makers to substantiate future decisions.
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Paulo Fuchs, Carlos Raulino, Diogo Conceição, Samara Neiva, Wellyngton Silva de Amorim, Thiago Coelho Soares, Maurício Andrade de Lima, Carlos Rogerio Montenegro De Lima, João Coelho Soares and José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Andrade Guerra
Sustainability is understood as a complex and integrating area, involving the most diverse areas and fields of knowledge. Because of the innumerable socio-environmental challenges…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainability is understood as a complex and integrating area, involving the most diverse areas and fields of knowledge. Because of the innumerable socio-environmental challenges in the current scenario, a sustainable development that finds the necessary changes and advances for communities, industry and the various stakeholders involved is required. In this process of promoting sustainable development, universities stand out for being institutions capable of taking an analytical and questioning look at the directions of the society in which they are inserted and not just helping them to pursue them, serving as a model and living laboratory for the implementation of greener practices in cities. One of the actions that contributes to the consolidation process of a more sustainable university and the development of the green campus is the use of green marketing, understood as a set of all the practices that involve conventional marketing, focused on the search to reduce the negative impact or promote positive effects on the relationship between the institution and the environment. This paper aims, based on the balanced scorecard (BSC), to propose a strategic management tool as support for green marketing strategies, thus promoting, more quickly, the promotion of sustainable development in higher education institutions (HEIs).
Design/methodology/approach
Four universities were chosen, from the literature, in terms of best practices for sustainable development, where the main dimensions used by green marketing were mapped. Based on them, the BSC structure was adapted to enhance its strategies.
Findings
To achieve the objective of this work, this paper proposed an adaptation of the original BSC for better management of green marketing strategies for universities, based on four dimensions: community members, university members, product and strategy.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this paper is to propose a BSC as a strategic management system focused on the green marketing of universities to accelerate the promotion of sustainable development in HEIs.
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Maria Jose Tonelli, Jussara Pereira, Vanessa Cepellos and João Lins
This paper aims to show which factors influence the perception of human resources professionals about managers over 50 years old and which factors guide the age management…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to show which factors influence the perception of human resources professionals about managers over 50 years old and which factors guide the age management practices adopted in the surveyed companies.
Design/methodology/approach
To this end, a survey was conducted with 140 companies accessed from a database of a human resources association. Through the answers obtained through the online questionnaire, an exploratory factor analysis was made with the aid of Software R.
Findings
Thus, it was possible to identify four factors that explain the work posture of professionals 50 years of age and older (company expectations, performance, morality and knowledge and professionalism) and three factors that guide the adoption of age management practices in organizations (recruitment & selection and integration, retention and continuity in the company, adaptation to the needs).
Originality/value
The results suggest that, even considering the high performance of older managers, perceived by HR professionals, the adoption of age management practices is still insufficient, making it difficult for these professionals to enter and remain in organizations. Moreover, it can be inferred that such posture indicates biases of discrimination and age stereotypes.
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Ademir M. Nascimento, Liguang Liu, João Ricardo Cumarú Silva Alves and Pierre Oriá
This paper seeks to analyze the relationship between China and the Northeast region of Brazil, aiming to identify how the renewable energy sector is being developed.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to analyze the relationship between China and the Northeast region of Brazil, aiming to identify how the renewable energy sector is being developed.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyzed secondary data from the official databases from China-Brazil chambers of commerce to establish the main points related to renewable energy in Brazil's Northeast.
Findings
It is possible to notice the main investments, highlighting the wind energy as a more prominent source recently. The authors also point the huge influence from China on Brazil's Northeast energy sector.
Research limitations/implications
It is difficult to identify the amount of Chinese capital due to the large number of mergers and acquisitions that has been taking place in recent years.
Practical implications
Identification of regions that have been receiving investments and the main interests of Chinese investors in the renewable energy sector.
Social implications
Demonstration of how the renewable energy sector has taken an important turn in Brazil due to Chinese investment.
Originality/value
To evaluate a regional consortium, analyzing its strategies for partnerships with China to help each other in global questions, as is the case of renewable energy.
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Jose Favilla, João Paulo Marcicano, Regina A. Sanches and Marcus Olivas Maia
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the suitability of linen in garments for atopic dermatitis (AD) wearers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the suitability of linen in garments for atopic dermatitis (AD) wearers.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 60 garments were tested with four boys (five to eight years old): two with AD and two healthy kids using circular knitting occlusive structure (OS) 28-gauge and non-occlusive structure (NOS) 12-gauge with cotton, polyester staple and linen yarns. Air and water vapor permeability fabric results were analyzed using ANOVA method and occlusive levels correlated with thickness and UPF rates. Skin irritation levels were evaluated with Patient-Oriented SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (PO-SCORAD) self-assessment tool and for body temperature measurements infrared cameras were used. The authors standardized hygiene products; laundry procedures and soaps were previously identified and measured for their pH and skin irritation history with wearers.
Findings
Lower skinbody temperature (−2.6°C-−2.8°C) and PO-SCORAD values (16.1-22.8) during use by AD volunteers suggest promoting both wear tolerance (WT) and NOS preference. Air permeability of 3,222 l/m2s with NOS knitted linen as at least 48 percent higher than tested fibers indicating AD volunteers preference during hot climate (24°C to 37°C and 54 to 69 percent RH). Control healthy volunteers were less sensitive to NOS (−1.3°C-−1.6°C) and hot feeling polyester was detected in use. UPF confirms open loops of NOS (NOS UPF 10-5 vs OS UPF 25-15). Thickness (0.6 to 1.0 mm) and RET values (3.1-3.8) were both without significance for this study.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the experimental character of this study with a reduced group of two AD volunteers, wear test conclusion is limited to these specific boys. Work extension aiming at broad AD wears statistics significance should consider more volunteers.
Practical implications
The study provides specific answers to opening new possibilities for AD wear other than cotton or polyester, both fibers with more availability in the Brazilian garments retail industry that sometimes did not meet their routine needs. This study provides practical daily understanding of correlations of WT and air permeability level of NOS knitted applied to garments in direct contact with the skin in subtropical climates.
Social implications
Both academically and socially, the results can contribute to increasing information related to textile process and practical knowledge of knits to better accomplish AD clothing in subtropical climates. The practical wear test results with AD volunteers also indicate guidelines to parents who were having trouble identifying base layers, fundamental textiles and options for their kids in search of possible relief and well being mainly on hot days.
Originality/value
Circular knitting jersey linen study in direct contact with sensitive skin in a subtropical climate city like São Paulo is unique. The study also considered helping parents of a six-year-old AD boy in attendance to a doctor’s suggestion to find better options of clothings to be used during his daily routines.
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Nathália de Souza Lara, Maísa Mancini Matioli de Sousa, Fernanda Paola de Pádua Gandra, Michel Cardoso de Angelis-Pereira, João de Deus Souza Carneiro and Rosemary Gualberto Fonseca Alvarenga Pereira
The purpose of this paper is to develop a cereal bar supplemented with coffee beverage that has health benefits.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a cereal bar supplemented with coffee beverage that has health benefits.
Design/methodology/approach
Six types of cereal bars containing raisins or prunes with different concentrations of coffee were developed. Acceptability tests and physicochemical characterizations were performed by analysis of moisture, ash, protein, lipids, fibres and carbohydrates. Moreover, the levels of phenolic compounds, the fatty acid profile and the in vitro antioxidant activity were evaluated by the DPPH free radical scavenging and iron-chelating activity methods. The bars were assessed using the check-all-that-apply (CATA) methodology. The phenolic compound and antioxidant activity data were evaluated by analysis of variance. Averages were compared by the Scott–Knott test. To verify the characteristics of the food bar per the attributes cited in CATA, main component analysis was performed using the SensoMaker software.
Findings
The concentration of coffee did not affect the centesimal composition values. The highest percentage of scavenging activity of free radicals was observed in the food bar containing raisins, with a maximum concentration of coffee beverage equivalent to 10 mL. These values were higher in cereal bars containing raisins than in bars containing prunes with the same concentrations of coffee. The acceptance sensory test showed good acceptability ratios, ranging from 74.33 to 85.22 among different food bar formulations.
Practical implications
The bar consisting raisins and 100 per cent coffee presented high values of protection against oxidative stress, phenolic content and satisfying acceptability, thereby making it a novel possible alternative as a differentiated product with possible health-beneficial effects.
Social implications
This paper provides a differentiated product, through healthy ingredients, with convenience of purchase, besides having added value and possible health beneficial effects.
Originality/value
The bar consisting of raisins and 100 per cent coffee presented high values of phenolic content and protection against oxidative stress, as well as satisfying acceptability, thereby making it a novel possible alternative as a differentiated product with possible health-beneficial effects.
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Adriana Rodrigues Silva, Lúcia Lima Rodrigues and Alan Sangster
The purpose of this paper is to interpret the use of accounting information relating to the House of Correction, a public safety institution established in Rio de Janeiro for the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to interpret the use of accounting information relating to the House of Correction, a public safety institution established in Rio de Janeiro for the control of workers under a tutelage system (1831–1864). The aim of the House of Correction was to develop a disciplined workforce of former slaves and other “Free Africans”. Various control and information procedures were put in place to monitor its achievement of this goal.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on historical archival research, mainly conducted at the National Archive of Rio de Janeiro and at the Brazilian National Library. The study uses Althusser’s ideology concept and the Marxist concept of reproduction of labour to show how accounting information enabled the administrator of the House of Correction to exercise control over the “Free Africans” consistent with the ideologies of the period and place.
Findings
The authors find that the House of Correction pursued a policy of ensuring “Free Africans” were docile, obedient and familiar with State ideology.
Research limitations/implications
The research is based on a single case study and it shows the need for both comparative and interdisciplinary analysis in order to increase an understanding of the use of accounting information in ancient prison contexts, as well as in contemporary situations.
Originality/value
This paper extends our knowledge of the use of accounting for the control of workers, who were either captive or repressed due to their ethnical differences; and it shows how ideology can be imposed through the use of accounting information. The authors extend theory by applying the Marxist and Althusserian concept of reproduction of labour to the case of “Free Africans”.
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