Arianne Soares do Nascimento Pereira, José Morais, Catarina Lucas, Joana Paulo, José Duarte Santos and Fernando Almeida
This study, grounded in social cognitive career theory, aims to investigate the effects of the change to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic on job security and job quality…
Abstract
Purpose
This study, grounded in social cognitive career theory, aims to investigate the effects of the change to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic on job security and job quality in Portugal.
Design/methodology/approach
It adopts a quantitative methodology by conducting a nationwide geographical study. The sample consists of 2,001 employees working in companies registered in Portugal. It explores the impact of the change to remote work on job quality and job security. In addition, it explores the relevance of demographic, organizational and social factors to explain this relationship.
Findings
The findings reveal that the change to remote work has influenced the perception of job quality but not job security. Furthermore, demographic, organizational and social variables are factors that influence this perception.
Research limitations/implications
Implications that digitalization can have on job security and quality, especially among the population with lower levels of education and more precarious working conditions, should be explored. It is also important to replicate this study in other countries, especially in emerging economies.
Practical implications
By investigating job security, the study offers insights into the stability and predictability of employment during crises and disruptive events. By examining job quality, it delves into the multifaceted nature of work satisfaction, including factors like work-life balance, autonomy and fulfilment. Practically, the study provides valuable guidance for policymakers, organizations and individuals navigating remote work environments.
Social implications
Understanding the implications for job security allows policymakers to design supportive policies and interventions to mitigate potential negative impacts on employment stability.
Originality/value
This study uses a sufficiently comprehensive national sample to determine the impact of COVID-19 on employment. It offers both theoretical and practical contributions to increase knowledge about the phenomenon and provides a relevant guide for policymakers to adopt measures to mitigate the effects of the transition to remote work.
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Catarina Lucas and Joana Paulo
The purpose of this study is to present a general review that provides an overview of the concept of sustainability and the effectiveness of mathematics curricula in courses where…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to present a general review that provides an overview of the concept of sustainability and the effectiveness of mathematics curricula in courses where deeper work on economic and environmental sustainability has become central.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative methodology consisting of a review based on a pre-defined systematic method was used to exhaustively search and identify the most relevant answers to the research question: What is the role of mathematics to sustainability? To facilitate answering such a broad question, several concrete questions were formulated. Answers from published and unpublished documents were analysed. The quality of the extracted data was assessed, and the results were synthesized.
Findings
It was concluded that, on the one hand, the discipline of mathematics has much to contribute to solving the problems of sustainability; on the other hand, new mathematics is appearing stimulated by new challenges.
Social implications
This work presents social implications in an innovative way. It allows for an increase in educational sustainability by bringing the academic community closer to the business world and the challenges of society and, furthermore, by having a major impact on the motivation of teachers and students to develop cooperative work within university institutions.
Originality/value
The originality is based on an a priori analysis for the construction and implementation of didactic tools for university teacher training in the area of mathematics within the framework of sustainable development, both economically and environmentally.
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Sandra Rolim Ensslin, Leonardo Ensslin, Lucas dos Santos Matos, Ademar Dutra and Vicente Mateo Ripoll-Feliu
The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to choose a set of scientific articles about performance measurement in public utilities regulation. The method is designed to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to choose a set of scientific articles about performance measurement in public utilities regulation. The method is designed to identify references with high academic relevance in databases accessed via the internet, and, through these articles, to perform a mapping of these publications and conduct a systemic analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is characterized as exploratory and descriptive with a qualitative and quantitative approach. Incorporates an inductive logic, and draws on primary and secondary data sources. The research involves the application of a technical procedure for selection and study of selected articles. To this end, the process selected was the Knowledge Development Process – Constructivist (ProKnow-C).
Findings
The result was a set of 16 renowned scientific articles and, for these papers, the main periodicals, papers, authors and keywords of the topic stood out. The content analysis allowed the identification of highlights and opportunities for future research.
Originality/value
The originality of the paper lies in presenting a structured process for identifying relevant academic articles relating to the research context and, for these articles, find prominences and opportunities for a research theme without similar papers.
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Lucas Maragno and José Alonso Borba
This paper aims to provide an overview of key points pertaining to financial crimes taking place during the single largest fraud scandal in Brazilian history. The authors provide…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an overview of key points pertaining to financial crimes taking place during the single largest fraud scandal in Brazilian history. The authors provide details on how the historic fraud was carried out at Petrobras, as well as an overview of recent anti-money laundering regulation in Brazil.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on an analysis of the scandal and on legal ramifications enacted by the prevailing Public Ministry taking place through the “Lava Jato” operation.
Findings
Fraud perpetrators continue to find new ways to move laundered money into campaign finance. The authors provide details on how the scheme was perpetrated at the placement, layering and integration stages.
Research limitations/implications
This study comprehends the first stage of the Federal Police’s operation, comprising 14 allegations of financial crimes.
Practical implications
A disconnect between regulations in effect and the reality of money laundering in Brazil over several years has failed to impede numerous cases of fraud. However, changes in legislation have allowed state agents to discover cases of fraud, with more and more wrongdoings being investigated.
Originality/value
The Petrobras fraud, individual experiences of organized financial crime and a widespread lack of understanding of how to detect and prevent fraud on this scale.
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Claudio Roberto Ávila da Silva Júnior, Pedro Danizete Damazio, Luiz Carlos Matioli and João Lucas Cavichiolo
This paper aims to presents a counterexample that points to an inconsistency generated by the first- and second-order approximation methods, FORM and SORM, respectively…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to presents a counterexample that points to an inconsistency generated by the first- and second-order approximation methods, FORM and SORM, respectively, procedures for elliptical problems.
Design/methodology/approach
The classical results of theory measure and functional analysis were used.
Findings
The FORM and SORM are known to find solutions in a Gaussian space. This procedure does not satisfy the conditions of the Lax–Milgram theorem and does not assure the existence and uniqueness of the solution.
Research limitations/implications
This paper alerts the engineering research community that uses these methods, initiating discussion and improvement of FORM and SORM procedures.
Practical implications
This paper puts in check the feasibility of using FORM and SORM in engineering problems.
Originality/value
From the moment they were introduced to the engineering and scientific communities, the FORM and SORM were taken as the bases for solving various problems found in the literature and indifferent documents scattered throughout the world over the past 50 years, for FORM, and 40 years, for SORM. Even though it was a very serious fault, at least for elliptical problems, pointed out in this work, it went unnoticed all those years by the research community. Therefore, the contribution of this paper is to present the engineering community that uses FORM and SORM in elliptical problems an unnoticed failure since the introduction of these methods.
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Michel Tavares Quinteiro Milcent Assis, Maria Raquel David Pereira Ventura Lucas and Maria Matos Rainho
The purpose of this work is to study the relationships of trust in a local agri-food supply chain in Southern Brazil. In an unsustainable context, where the number of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this work is to study the relationships of trust in a local agri-food supply chain in Southern Brazil. In an unsustainable context, where the number of mariculturists is decreasing, the authors seek to identify what the factors are and how they contribute to this problem, as well as find solutions aimed at the sustainability of that chain.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors carried out qualitative research with 15 semi-structured interviews that took place in the year 2021. The thematic analysis of the results applied the IRAMUTEQ software and the assessment of the narratives was guided by prior thematic analysis.
Findings
The supply chain under investigation requires better organisation. Communication and interpersonal trust proved important in the relationship between producers and control bodies. The university, as a seed supplier, needs predictability and efficiency to convey inter-organisational trust. Informal relationships are interpersonal and extremely trust-based and inter-organisational trust increases the performance of establishments and promotes the development of innovative structures. Furthermore, in crisis periods interpersonal trust increases.
Practical implications
The results allow policymakers to plan better their actions and build more effective tactics in order to reach sustainable development. This work is also important for stakeholders and managers, as it guides improvements in management, governance and sustainability of agri-food supply chains.
Originality/value
An unprecedented research was done on the studied supply chain, knowing the relationships of trust among them, identifying peculiar partnerships and recognising some constructs and outcomes of trust.
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Guilherme Henrique Vieira Noveletto, Jailson Lana, Raul Beal Partyka and João Roberto Rocha Lemos
This teaching case aims to encourage reflection on the formulation of the strategic repositioning of an automotive dealership.
Abstract
Purpose
This teaching case aims to encourage reflection on the formulation of the strategic repositioning of an automotive dealership.
Design/methodology/approach
Built on the teaching case method, it portrays the situation of the Premium Motors automotive dealership in the face of a strategic repositioning. Management and the board discuss ways to minimize the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on sales figures. The situation presents the possibility of entering a new product segment.
Findings
How to make consumers correctly understand the new positioning? The case is structured to enable reflection and teaching of marketing strategies, with each student having the possibility of putting themselves in the role of company managers. The environment and trajectory are also portrayed, broadening the perception of the studied company and providing devices for solving the emerging problems of the case.
Originality/value
The case becomes a tool to promote knowledge, from the implementation to the management of strategic repositioning. Thus, the teaching notes offer directions on how professors can use the teaching case with their undergraduate and graduate students in disciplines related to strategy and marketing.
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Gustavo Alves de Melo, Maria Gabriela Mendonça Peixoto, Samuel Borges Barbosa, Maria Cristina Angélico Mendonça, Thiago Henrique Nogueira, José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, Luiz Gonzaga de Castro Júnior, André Luiz Marques Serrano and Lucas Oliveira Gomes Ferreira
The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of fuel flow processes in a network of eight gas stations, located in the mesoregion of Alto Paranaíba and Triângulo Mineiro.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of fuel flow processes in a network of eight gas stations, located in the mesoregion of Alto Paranaíba and Triângulo Mineiro.
Design/methodology/approach
Two multi-criteria decision support methods were applied, respectively, of a statistical and mathematical nature, namely, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The research method used was quantitative, with a brief complement of qualitative research, and descriptive in purpose, supported by the inductive method. The data collection stage took place with the support of interviews, with the application of a structured questionnaire, and non-probabilistic sampling, for convenience.
Findings
It was possible to verify that the gas station that stood out the most was station 2 (GS2), which achieved maximum efficiency, a fact that can be justified by the analysis resulting from the application of PCA, as for the product purchase variable (PP), the GS2 is the one that buys the most fuel, and is also the one with the largest storage capacity (C), and the highest volume of product sales (PS), which suggests signs of balance between supply and demand for this station, justifying its prominence.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of the study were related to the DEA technique, which requires a number of variables/indicators three times smaller than the number of DMUs considered, and the difficulty in obtaining financial data on the DMUs analyzed. Considering the security and anonymity of the gas station network, it was not possible to use this data.
Practical implications
The performance assessment of fuel flow processes carried out in this study promotes the efficient use of available resources as well as identifying efficient DMUs that represent benchmarks for improving management processes and performance of inefficient DMUs.
Social implications
From a social perspective, this study promotes the improvement of the quality of flow processes and effective management of the fuel supply chain, ensuring the safe storage and transportation of fuels to customer supply. Performance management in this sector moves other sectors of the economy, since an efficient unit represents a balance between supply and demand, and consequently, boosts the regional economy, promoting economic growth of the population. Hiring qualified labor for this purpose also represents one of the implications of the study. From an environmental perspective, optimizing flow processes generates a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and encourages the formulation of public policies aimed at consolidating sustainable practices.
Originality/value
Performance management applied to the context of the fuel supply chain is a relevant topic that has been little explored in scientific research, with a low level of information detail. This study using the inductive method allows the generalization and replication of this management pattern in other organizations in the sector in order to increase the efficiency of the fuel distribution system, with the perspective of maximizing outputs and reducing input consumption. In this aspect, the study introduces possibilities for advancement in social and environmental perspectives based on the effective management of fuel logistics.
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Jorge Lucas Krenchiglova, Luís Orlando Emerich dos Santos, Diogo Nardelli Siebert and Paulo Cesar Philippi
The main purpose of this paper was to investigate Lattice Boltzmann (LB) models for the bulk incompressible flow past immersed bodies and to find the set of boundary conditions…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this paper was to investigate Lattice Boltzmann (LB) models for the bulk incompressible flow past immersed bodies and to find the set of boundary conditions (BCs) that can be considered suitable for modeling the borders of the numerical simulation domain in such a way as to avoid any effect of these BC on the flow trail that is formed behind the body.
Design/methodology/approach
Three different models of the Lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) and six different sets of BCs are tested. In addition to the classical LBE based on the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook (BGK) single relaxation time collision model, a moments-based model and a model with two relaxation times were investigated.
Findings
The flow pattern and its macroscopic effects on the aerodynamic coefficients appear to be very dependent on the set of BC models used for the borders of the numerical domain. The imposition of pressure at the exit results in pressure perturbations, giving rise to sound waves that propagate back into the simulation domain, producing perturbations on the upwind flow. In the same way, the free-slip BC for the lateral bords appears to affect the trail of vortices behind the body in this range of Reynolds number (Re = 1,000).
Originality/value
The paper investigates incompressible flow past immersed bodies and presents the set of BCs that can be considered suitable for modeling the borders of the numerical simulation domain in such a way as to avoid any effect of these BCs on the flow trail that is formed behind the body.
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Cristina Sofia Coelho, Catarina Pereira Faria, Filipa Oliveira, Carla Vale Lucas, Sónia Vasconcelos and Luísa Soares
Tutoring or mentoring is a form of mutual and informal learning which has distant origins. This is a way of sharing knowledge and experience which has been proved to be extremely…
Abstract
Purpose
Tutoring or mentoring is a form of mutual and informal learning which has distant origins. This is a way of sharing knowledge and experience which has been proved to be extremely useful in educational settings, particularly where there is a peer that plays the role of tutor. Despite its informal characteristic, tutoring should be a structured process, with defined goals and clear roles for both: tutors and tutees, those who benefit from tutoring. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
As this paper aims to explore a pilot project, it was used as a reflexive and practical methodology, in a case study, analyzing the number of participants attending the project as well as the contents of the training course.
Findings
In this first project in a Portuguese university, 35 students attended as candidates to tutor, participating in the training course, showing interest in helping their colleagues.
Originality/value
This proposal for a tutoring program in a public higher institution aims to train college students to help other colleagues, giving academic support, helping in the adaptation to academic context, promoting autonomy in learning, sharing effective strategies and helping in maintenance of positive interpersonal relationships. These aspects are very important to promote academic success in higher education.