Search results

The purpose of this paper is to support effective business services provision along the life cycle of complex service-enhanced products, such as the case of solar power plants, and to explore collaborative approaches for multi-stakeholder business services.

Design and implementation of adequate collaboration strategies and cloud-based support mechanisms to facilitate creation and management of collaborative networks in this sector. For this purpose, a conceptual framework, a cloud-based platform and a set of collaboration support tools are proposed. Validation is based on a pilot implementation and interactions with a large group of end users.

Validation results confirmed the suitability of the collaborative networks approach in this sector, which often involves multiple small and medium size enterprises.

The interplay between long-term strategic networks and goal-oriented collaborative networks and their interaction with the various phases of the product-services life cycle correspond to a novel approach in this sector, traditionally focused on a sub-contracting model. This opens new opportunities for enhancing the value of complex products through collaborative value-added services. Of particular relevance is also the adoption of collaborative approaches for service co-creation.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

In the twenty-first century, the family has been turning towards a greater plurality of training paths, situations, family and parental arrangements. However, despite changes in legislation, values, representations and practices, the word family remains inexorably associated with the heterosexual bi-parental model. This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge of the family dynamics of non-heterosexual people, mainly concerning the process of transition to parenting, in relation to family changes in Portuguese society. To do so this study aims to analyze four in-depth interviews¹ with young adults, women and men who have a homoconjugality relationship and a project of parenting in mind.

Based on a qualitative methodology the study intends to discuss issues related to the challenge of heteronormativity, equality within the couple, projects and gender representations of parenthood and in particular what it means for the men and women interviewed, to be a father and to be a mother in a same sex couple and how they project themselves as fathers and mothers.

The study discusses all these issues always in relation to the biographical trajectories, the history and life as a couple and the structural and individual resources, such as school and professional qualifications. It also analyzes the main difficulties experienced in revealing their sexuality to the significant others and the difficulties / strategies they anticipate in relation to the parenting project.

The authors conclude that female interviewees show greater independence of a male figure in relation to their parental projects and anticipate less difficulty in their parental skills compared with the gay man interviewed.

To analyze the dynamics of parenting in same-sex couples, this study also points out to the need to construct a model of analysis capable of articulating structural factors, such as job insecurity and heteronormativity, biographies and individual resources and profiles of conjugal interactions.

This study aims to study the impact of earnings quality on firms’ financial performance.

An unbalanced panel data of 237 small- and medium-sized Portuguese companies from the mold industry, using 2010–2018 yearly data was analyzed. While most studies focus only on earnings management when assessing earnings quality, in this study six proxies for earnings quality are used, namely, accruals quality (a proxy for earnings management), earnings persistence, earnings predictability, earnings smoothness, earnings timeliness and earnings conservatism. Moreover, two proxies of financial performance are considered, the return on assets and the economic value added. An econometric model was estimated using either a fixed-effects or a random-effects specification to account for the individual firm-specific effects and ensure heteroscedasticity corrected estimates.

The results show that managers must be concerned with the quality of reported earnings, as it can affect positively firms’ financial performance, especially regarding accruals quality. Persistence, predictability, smoothness, timeliness and conservatism are shown not to exert significant influence on financial performance in the sample.

This work contributes not only as a literature review on these thematic but also to firms’ managers and stakeholders, who have information that helps them select strategies that guarantee earnings quality and improve firms’ financial performance.

This study proposed an econometric model that studies the relationship between earnings quality (using several proxies for it) and financial performance that can be applied to all companies.

Success in the transition between the university and the labor market is an important indicator of the adaptation of newly graduates to the worker’s role in life. This study aims to describe the validity and reliability of the University-to-Work Success Scale based on its internal structure and relationship with measures of career success, protean career orientation and life satisfaction in newly Portuguese graduates.

Using an online protocol, responses were collected from 576 graduates for less than twelve months (74.1% women), aged between 20 and 64 years (M = 25.8, SD = 6.693). Instruments included a socio-demographic questionnaire and measures of transition success, career success and life satisfaction.

The internal structure of the scale was evaluated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses that supported a four-factor hierarchical structure with a good fit. The reliability of the factors evaluated by Cronbach’s Alpha was satisfactory. The scale consists of 29 items divided into four subscales (professional insertion and satisfaction, confidence in the future of career, income and financial independence and adaptation to work).

These results support the use of the scale as a valid and reliable measure to assess success in the transition between university and the labor market in newly Portuguese graduates.

This study is very important because this measure can serve as a basis for both preventive and corrective career interventions and policies. The preventive approach can help graduates in their transition to the labor market by promoting career resources. The corrective approach can include re-evaluating organizational integration practices after employment, with an emphasis on promoting gender equality.

Rapid urbanization and providing pragmatic solutions for its development is one of the fundamental agenda of last decade. The metabolism is one of the latest post-war movements-founded in 1960 by Kenzo Tange where urbanization and city as a process is re-examined within the framework of accelerated modernism and technology vision. This paper discusses Metabolism movement in order to identify crucial intimations of its utopian architectural and urban approaches as a tool for future city. The study examines four initial metabolist city approaches-Plan for Tokyo (1960-62), Clusters/city in the Air (1960-62), Helix city (1961) and Ocean/Marine City (1962) that are designed for post-war Tokyo city in Japan. The study gives modest insight of indentifying city design theory within in a series conception; such as conducting to architectural characteristics regarding urban structure, tectonic vision between land-sea-sky and organic notion (city as process and mega-structuralism). Research method is embodied with examining relevant data of literature data. Upon discussions on theory, study aims to establish an ironic notion of future city by asserting familiar characteristics or variations between four pioneer projects of Metabolist movement.

This study aims to explore demographic market segments’ effect on the relationships between memorable tourism experiences (MTEs), perceived value dimensions and tourists’ behavioral intentions.

The data were collected with an online survey that gathered information on MTEs, economic value, quality value, emotional value, social value and intentions to recommend and revisit. Based on a sample of 1,003 Portuguese tourists, the research model was estimated using partial least squares path modeling.

The results reveal that MTEs have a positive impact on all four perceived value dimensions. Emotional and social value have a positive effect on recommendation intentions. Tourists from different demographic segments exhibit heterogeneous patterns regarding perceived value dimensions’ influence on these individuals’ behavioral intentions. Emotional value has the strongest impact for females, but males are influenced more by social value. Economic value significantly contributes to younger tourists’ recommendation intention, while quality value has the same effect on the 36–45 age group.

This study extended the existing knowledge by confirming heterogeneity among different tourist segments defined by age and gender regarding the relationships between MTEs, perceived value dimensions and behavioral intentions.

本研究旨在探讨人口统计细分市场对难忘旅游体验 (MTE)、感知价值维度和游客行为意愿之间关系的影响。

数据通过在线调查收集。该调查收集了有关 MTE、经济价值、质量价值、情感价值、社会价值以及推荐和重访意愿的信息。研究模型根据 1,003 名葡萄牙游客的样本使用偏最小二乘路径模型进行分析验证。

分析结果表明, MTE 对所有四个感知价值维度都有积极影响。情感价值和社会价值对推荐意愿有正向影响。在游客的感知价值维度对他们行为意愿的影响方面, 不同人口统计背景的群体表现出不同的模式。情感价值对女性的行为意愿影响最大, 而社会价值对男性行为意愿影响最大。对于年轻群体, 经济价值影响其推荐意愿, 而对于 36–45 年龄组的群体, 则是质量价值影响其推荐意愿。

本研究证明按年龄和性别定义的不同旅游群体对于 MTE、感知价值维度和行为意愿之间关系的异质性, 从而扩展了现有文献。

Este estudio buscó explorar el efecto de los segmentos demográficos en la relación entre las experiencias turísticas memorables (MTE, por sus siglas en inglés memorable tourism experiences), las dimensiones del valor percibido y las intenciones de comportamiento de los turistas.

Los datos se recogieron mediante una encuesta online que recopiló información sobre MTEs, valor económico, valor de calidad, valor emocional, valor social, intención de recomendar y de revisita. El modelo de investigación se estimó en base a una muestra de 1.003 turistas portugueses aplicando la metodología de mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLS).

Los resultados revelan que las MTE tienen un impacto positivo en las cuatro dimensiones del valor percibido. El valor emocional y social tiene un efecto positivo en las intenciones de recomendación. Los turistas de diferentes segmentos demográficos exhiben patrones heterogéneos en cuanto a la influencia de las dimensiones del valor percibido en las intenciones de comportamiento. El valor emocional tiene el impacto más fuerte para las mujeres y el valor social para los hombres. El valor económico es relevante para explicar las intenciones de recomendación para el grupo más joven y el valor de calidad para el grupo de edad de 36 a 45 años.

Este estudio amplía el conocimiento existente al confirmar la heterogeneidad entre los diferentes segmentos turísticos definidos por edad y género con respecto a las relaciones entre los MTE, las dimensiones del valor percibido y las intenciones de comportamiento.

Drawing on the resource advantage and organisational learning literatures, this paper aims to investigate the linear, moderated, complementary and non-linear effects of export market exploitation and exploration on export performance.

A quantitative study was performed using an online survey. The final sample consisted of 267 Portuguese export manufacturing firms. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling.

Export market exploitation and exploration is positively and negatively related to export performance in a linear way, respectively. Export market exploration improves export performance under high levels of export market turbulence. Balancing export market exploitation with export market exploration enhances export performance. High levels of export market exploitation provide an additional boost to performance.

This study contributes to a better understanding of how market exploitation and exploration relate to performance in the export context. To enhance export performance, managers should deploy high levels of export market exploitation, pursue export market exploration in dynamic export markets, and maintain a balance between export market exploitation and exploration.

This paper contributes to the export marketing field by shedding light on the complex nature of the relationships among export market exploitation, exploration and performance. Overall, the results provide novel evidence concerning the internal and external contingencies that affect the success of export market exploitation and exploration.

This research aims to investigate post-forest fire perceptions of businesses towards the environment as a stakeholder. Through interviews with affected businesses, the authors aim to understand whether disasters prompt sustainability prioritisation beyond legal or market demands, shedding light on potential shifts in environmental attitudes and decision-making processes.

The authors used qualitative methods to investigate post-disaster shifts in environmental perceptions. Using site visits, preparatory meetings and semi-structured interviews between October 2017 and April 2021, the authors gained insights into destruction, recovery efforts and stakeholder perspectives. Content analysis provided valuable decision-making insights, particularly in understanding the landscape dominated by SMEs reliant on short-term strategies.

Interviews revealed varied perspectives on stakeholder recognition, especially concerning the natural environment. Although some managers promptly acknowledged stakeholder groups, the recognition of the natural environment as one varied. Concerning the natural environment as a stakeholder, responses ranged from ecological acknowledgment to denying its stakeholder status. Despite differing views, many agreed on the forest's importance, especially for resource-reliant industries. The findings suggest that although many decision makers verbally acknowledge the natural environment as a stakeholder, their actions reveal the opposite.

The limitations are the COVID-19 pandemic in the data research phase. The methodology applied (qualitative) can be a limitation in itself and the authors recommend further research, applying mixed or quantitative methods. The research covers one event in one country. It is relevant to test our questions and conclusions in other countries/after other natural disasters. Incorporating other stakeholders' views and exploring alternative theories could enhance understanding and challenge existing results.

This study holds practical implications for understanding the relationship between organisations and the natural environment, particularly in recognising it as a stakeholder. By acknowledging the environment as a stakeholder, organisations can mitigate the effects of future natural disasters, as well as reducing their environmental footprints. Implementing these insights can lead to more informed decision-making processes and contribute to more effective resources and stakeholder management.

Recognizing the environment as a stakeholder fosters environmental consciousness and community engagement. Addressing the natural environment as such enhances the ownership and responsibility of the surrounding natural environment.

The study's originality lies in its exploration of organisational responses to natural disasters, particularly in recognizing the environment as a stakeholder. It offers unique insights into decision-making processes and attitudes towards environmental responsibility, contributing to advancing understanding and informing strategies for sustainable disaster management on a global scale.