Filipa Oliveira and Tânia M.G. Marques
This work aims to study the relationship between individuals' love of money and their propensity to engage in unethical behaviour.
Abstract
Purpose
This work aims to study the relationship between individuals' love of money and their propensity to engage in unethical behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a questionnaire, with the final sample consisting of 297 Portuguese individuals. The hypotheses were tested using linear regression models.
Findings
The results demonstrate that there is no significant relationship between the love of money and the propensity to engage in unethical behaviour. However, there was a significant relationship between the level of budgeting and the propensity to engage in unethical behaviours – for those individuals who have a greater ability to manage their money are less likely to engage in behaviours unethical. The existence of a significant relationship between the “evil” factor and the propensity to engage in unethical behaviour was also validated, which demonstrates that when individuals both associate negative feelings with money and consider love of money to be the “root of evil”, then they are less likely to be involved in unethical behaviour.
Originality/value
This work contributes theoretically and empirically to a better understanding of individuals' attitudes towards money and their propensity to engage in unethical behaviour. The results are of particular academic and organisational relevance due to the implications for human resource management.
Objetivo
Este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar as relações entre o amor ao dinheiro dos indivíduos e a sua propensão para o envolvimento em comportamentos não éticos.
Design/metodologia/abordagem
Os dados foram recolhidos através de questionário, sendo a amostra final composta por 297 indivíduos portugueses. As hipóteses foram testadas através de regressões lineares.
Resultados
Os resultados demonstram a não existência de uma relação significativa entre o amor ao dinheiro e a propensão para o envolvimento em comportamentos não éticos. Contudo, comprovou-se a existência de uma relação significativa entre o nível de orçamentação e a propensão para o envolvimento em comportamentos não éticos, à medida que os indivíduos apresentam uma maior capacidade para gerir o seu dinheiro, apresentam um menor propensão para se envolverem em comportamentos não éticos. Também se validou a existência de relação significativa entre o fator maléfico e a propensão para o envolvimento em comportamentos não éticos, demonstrando que quando os indivíduos associam ao dinheiro sentimentos negativos e que consideram o amor ao dinheiro como a raiz da maldade apresentam menor propensão para o envolvimento em comportamentos não éticos.
Originalidade/valor
Este trabalho contribui teórica e empiricamente para melhor compreender as atitudes dos indivíduos perante o dinheiro e a sua propensão para o envolvimento em comportamentos não éticos. Os resultados são de especial relevância académica e organizacional devido às implicações na gestão de recursos humanos.
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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.
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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…
Abstract
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.
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Ana Cristina Oliveira, Félix Neto, Filipa Teixeira and Ângela Maia
Ambulance personnel face a diversity of stressful events that could be potentially traumatic, putting their health and well-being at risk. The purpose of this paper is to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
Ambulance personnel face a diversity of stressful events that could be potentially traumatic, putting their health and well-being at risk. The purpose of this paper is to explore, from this group perspective, sources of stress, coping strategies and support measures.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors interviewed 14 ambulance workers of Portuguese Red Cross local structures from the north of Portugal. Data were analyzed according to thematic analysis procedures.
Findings
The authors identified three themes: operational and organizational factors, control and predictability; anticipating scenarios, focusing on procedures and dealing with reactions; and from undervalued support to support as routine. Dealing with human lives, the unpredictability of calls and working under pressure are the main sources of stress, causing, in some of them, insomnia, fatigue, anxiety and intrusive thoughts. Road accidents, situations involving children and cardiac arrest are the most distressing events. During events, they cope focusing on technical procedures, but after them they prefer to talk with colleagues and seek support from family and friends. All participants emphasize the inexistence of structured support measures.
Practical implications
It is important to develop support measures tailored to ambulance personnel’s needs, leading to enhancements of theirs work performance, health and well-being.
Originality/value
Contrarily to most of the studies that explore mostly PTSD and/or burnout, the authors explored, from the perspective of professionals, other dimensions such as sources of stress, coping strategies and support measures, adopting a qualitative approach, which has been rarely used.
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Ana Oliveira, Filipa Teixeira, Félix Neto and Ângela Maia
Being a first responder involves facing a wide variety of stressful situations that could affect health and well-being. Peer support appears as a beneficial strategy to deal with…
Abstract
Purpose
Being a first responder involves facing a wide variety of stressful situations that could affect health and well-being. Peer support appears as a beneficial strategy to deal with work-related stress. Despite this support approach have been implemented in a variety of contexts, these interventions must to be adapted to specific needs. In this sense, the aim of this study was to explore, from a first responders' perspective, what they think about peer support and how it can be put into practice
Design/methodology/approach
The authors interviewed in-depth 14 first responders of Portuguese Red Cross branches from the north of Portugal. Data was analyzed according to Thematic Analysis procedures.
Findings
The authors found two main themes: (1) a valuable, sustainable and ongoing support and (2) overcome barriers and rooted resistances. Participants highlighted the importance of peer support along the Red Cross path, and as daily routine. Moreover, they considered that peers should have some personal characteristics, skills and training in order to provide support to colleagues more effectively. Additionally, they made suggestions to overcome some anticipated barriers.
Practical implications
By considering mental health and well-being of workers, a priority and by being developed based on international recommendations and professionals testimonies, peer support appears as a valuable tool possible to be implemented and able to tailor the emergency branches' needs.
Originality/value
This is the first qualitative study about the first responder's perceptions of peer support.
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Luis M. Camarinha-Matos, Ana Ines Oliveira, Filipa Ferrada and Victor Thamburaj
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…
Abstract
Purpose
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/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
Validation results confirmed the suitability of the collaborative networks approach in this sector, which often involves multiple small and medium size enterprises.
Originality/value
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.
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Maria Filipa Mourão, Ana Cristina Braga and Pedro Nuno Oliveira
The purpose of this paper is to use the kernel method to produce a smoothed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and show how baby gender can influence Clinical Risk…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use the kernel method to produce a smoothed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and show how baby gender can influence Clinical Risk Index for Babies (CRIB) scale according to survival risks.
Design/methodology/approach
To obtain the ROC curve, conditioned by covariates, two methods may be followed: first, indirect adjustment, in which the covariate is first modeled within groups and then by generating a modified distribution curve; second, direct smoothing in which covariate effects is modeled within the ROC curve itself. To verify if new-born gender and weight affects the classification according to the CRIB scale, the authors use the direct method. The authors sampled 160 Portuguese babies.
Findings
The smoothing applied to the ROC curves indicates that the curve's original shape does not change when a bandwidth h=0.1 is used. Furthermore, gender seems to be a significant covariate in predicting baby deaths. A higher value was obtained for the area under curve (AUC) when conditional on female babies.
Practical implications
The challenge is to determine whether gender discriminates between dead and surviving babies.
Originality/value
The authors constructed empirical ROC curves for CRIB data and empirical ROC curves conditioned on gender. The authors calculate the corresponding AUC and tested the difference between them. The authors also constructed smooth ROC curves for two approaches.
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Cláudia Barbosa, Filipa Borrego, Teresa Costa, Ana Ferreira, Madalena Martins, Susana Moreira, José M. R. C. A. Santos and José Avelino Silva
This chapter addresses the profession of research management and administration (RMA) in Portugal. It starts with a brief outline of the national research and innovation (R&I…
Abstract
This chapter addresses the profession of research management and administration (RMA) in Portugal. It starts with a brief outline of the national research and innovation (R&I) ecosystem that contextualises the development of the profession. The RMA community is characterised and the expectations for the future of the RMA profession are summarised using data collected through a national online survey. It is posited that RMA in Portugal is an emergent career having developed key traits of a profession, namely common interests and practices, a concern with deepening specialised knowledge and skills, the existence of an organised network of practitioners, the offer of academic qualifications and training in the area, and the integration in international RMA communities of practice. Nevertheless, future developments in the European Research Area (ERA) are identified as a critical milestone that will influence the development and formal legislative institutionalisation of the RMA profession in Portugal.
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Ana Filipa Duarte, Inês Lisboa and Pedro Carreira
This study aims to study the impact of earnings quality on firms’ financial performance.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to study the impact of earnings quality on firms’ financial performance.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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.
Research limitations/implications
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.
Originality/value
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.