Franciane Mendonça dos Santos, José Augusto de Lollo and Frederico Fabio Mauad
The purpose of this paper is to estimate quick and low-cost processes for surface runoff potential on the basis of natural environmental attributes.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to estimate quick and low-cost processes for surface runoff potential on the basis of natural environmental attributes.
Design/methodology/approach
An approach based on the natural environmental attributes and on the Cook’s method was used for maximal peak flows of surface runoff, as well as for assigning weights to the considered attributes. Used attributes are as follow: steepness, bedrock (lithology), soil (texture, genesis, thickness, and permeability coefficient), drainage density, and favorable features to surface storage.
Findings
Using natural environmental attributes from previous available studies, adapted from different scales, the authors obtain a low-cost potential surface runoff chart, which can be useful for planning, impact and hazard analysis, and decision purposes in an area without large financial resources, like small communities in developing countries. Despite the common scarcity of data in these communities, often regional basic studies of soil and bedrock are available, making this kind of analysis possible.
Originality/value
The highlights are quick and low-cost procedures in characterizing the natural environment for planning activities, providing the basis for further detailing, which focus on solving local problems. This approach to runoff estimation allows for the definition of the criteria, considering the potential geodynamic processes. Thus, this kind of study may be very useful for land use planning in developing countries.
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José Augusto Campos Garcia, Ala Arvidsson and Patrik Jonsson
In this paper, we investigate the coevolution of the supply network and procurement strategies in the context of semiconductors and electronics for the automotive industry over…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, we investigate the coevolution of the supply network and procurement strategies in the context of semiconductors and electronics for the automotive industry over 3 decades. We aim to explain how procurement strategy interrelates with changes in supply network structure and what the implications of a hub-centric structure network structure are for procurement in supply.
Design/methodology/approach
We collected in-depth primary and secondary data that stretched back to 1996 from a leading automotive European original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and its network. Using social network analysis (SNA), we identified OEMs’ procurement focus and mapped the evolution of the supply network, the links in the network, and the environmental forces impacting the strategies and the network.
Findings
Our findings describe the supply network for semiconductor and electronic components to the automotive industry. The findings suggest that a focus on cost can lead to a Tier 1-centric network structure with many tiers that can fail to assure supply or capture innovation when the external environment is marked by high uncertainty. In such situations, increasing complexity by creating more links in the network can improve transparency and contribute to supply assurance and innovation.
Practical implications
The findings indicate that managers should consider the role of the supply network in selecting their strategy to attain objectives of cost, innovation, and supply assurance.
Originality/value
This paper presents empirical-based insights into the automotive semiconductor and electronic component supply chain (SC), the unexpected implications of hub-centric supply networks, and the use of SNA in the SC in context.
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Manuel Alonso Dos Santos, Orlando Llanos Contreras, Ferran Calabuig Moreno and Jose Augusto Felicio
This paper investigates the influence of firms' communication in terms of family firm identity and country-of-origin on consumer response.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the influence of firms' communication in terms of family firm identity and country-of-origin on consumer response.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-supplied online experiment in Chile and Spain is employed using as dependent variables brand trust and intention to buy. The experiment includes the following factors: family firm identity (family vs non-family), country of origin (national vs foreign) and as a manipulation check (type of product: hedonic vs utilitarian).
Findings
The results indicate that communicating the family firm identity increases brand trust and purchase intention. Consumers show higher scores on trust and purchase intention when exposed to national country of origin products. The effect of the variability on the dependent variables is greater when the family firm identity is communicated. Trust and purchase intention are different in Chilean and Spanish consumers when the family firm identity is combined with a national country of origin cue.
Originality/value
This article contributes to family business theory by exploring how to capitalize on the family firm identity component in brand communication. It also contributes to the theory of corporate brand identity by proposing a communication model oriented toward consumer behavior. It also examines firms' communication (family firm identity and country-of-origin) on consumer.
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Ilse Maria Beuren, Leandro Politelo and José Augusto Sousa Martins
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between family ownership and the performance of Brazilian companies listed on BM&FBovespa. It also provides a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between family ownership and the performance of Brazilian companies listed on BM&FBovespa. It also provides a comparison with the results of Shyu’s (2011) survey conducted in Taiwanese companies.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 187 Brazilian companies were surveyed, of which 120 were classified as family owned, considering the family participation in the capital and in the board of directors. As in Shyu’s (2011) study, three variables of performance, two of accounting and one of market, and seven variables of control were considered. Simultaneous equations were used to analyze the relationship between family participation and corporate performance, the test of mean was used to compare performance and other variables between family- and non-family-owned companies, and a graphical analysis was used to verify the extent to which family involvement contributes to better performance.
Findings
The results show that family-owned companies have lower performance compared with non-family-owned companies. They indicate a positive relationship between family participation (ownership) and performance of the company. They also reveal that the performance of family-owned companies is maximized when family involvement reaches 60 and 70 percent.
Originality/value
The survey conducted on Brazilian companies shows results that are partially consistent with those observed by Shyu (2011) in Taiwanese companies. Similarities were found in the relationship between family involvement and the performance of the company. However, the results differ with regard to the performance of family- and non-family-owned companies and the optimal level of family participation that can maximize performance.
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Afonso Carneiro Lima, José Augusto Giesbrecht da Silveira, Fátima Regina Ney Matos and André Moura Xavier
To analyze capital budgeting practice in a group of small cotton ginning firms in Brazil. The study aims at describing how investment decision-making in the agribusiness context…
Abstract
Purpose
To analyze capital budgeting practice in a group of small cotton ginning firms in Brazil. The study aims at describing how investment decision-making in the agribusiness context may be influenced by heuristics and by the business setting.
Design/methodology/approach
This research adopted an exploratory and qualitative approach in gauging the practice of capital budgeting in Brazilian cotton ginning firms and discussing actual managerial decision-making. Data collection involved interviews with managers of ten different firms and a further content analysis was performed.
Findings
Results reveal a practical managerial approach aimed at ensuring satisfactory net operating results in the short run. Sophistication in capital budgeting is not considered as essential, as institutional and strategic environment influences directly affect impose high risks. Investment decision-making is highly influenced by managerial experience.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the chosen research approach, results may lack generalizability. However, in addressing a specific sector in a specific location, one can identify and craft strategies in response to managerial needs more effectively.
Practical implications
The paper clarifies how heuristics, managerial experience and the institutional context may influence investment decision-making in cotton ginning operations. It also suggests how actions aimed at evaluating risk and improving the screening of investment perspectives could contribute to improve investment decisions.
Originality/value
The paper provides an in-depth perspective in addressing the practice of capital budgeting in the context of a specific activity and describing key issues related to it.
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Franciéle Carneiro Garcês-da-Silva, Dirnele Carneiro Garcez and Leyde Klebia Rodrigues da Silva
This chapter historicizes the social construction of racism in Brazilian society and its relation to the development of the library and information science (LIS) field. It is a…
Abstract
This chapter historicizes the social construction of racism in Brazilian society and its relation to the development of the library and information science (LIS) field. It is a theoretical-reflective research built on the scientific literature of the field of LIS and related areas that aims at reflecting on social justice in Brazilian libraries and creating strategies to confront institutional racism. The authors develop five main points to understand Brazilian racism: the myth of racial democracy, structural and institutionalized racism, the whitening ideology, whiteness, and the epistemicide of black knowledge. The authors then discuss racism and the promotion of white supremacy in library teaching and professional action in libraries. Black US American and Black Brazilian Librarianship movements show that the activism and political action of black librarians advance the development of informational counter-narratives. Finally, the authors recommend three strategies for social, racial, and informational justice in the LIS field: including ethnic-racial studies in basic university courses curricula; building diverse, inclusive collections that account for ethnic-racial themes and authors; and considering “Pretuguese” keywords while indexing, in order to counter exclusion and promote epistemic repair. The authors conclude by advocating for these strategies to steer LIS professional and educational spheres toward contributing to forward an anti-racist society.
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On 1 January 1929, Augusto César Sandino wrote his now famous declaration that aptly summarizes both the Sandino and the Frente Sandinista de Liberatión Nacional (FSLN, the…
Abstract
On 1 January 1929, Augusto César Sandino wrote his now famous declaration that aptly summarizes both the Sandino and the Frente Sandinista de Liberatión Nacional (FSLN, the Sandinista National Liberation Front) positions on the issue of foreign domination. He issued the statement in response to a letter from the officer commanding American forces in Nicaragua, Admiral D. F. Sellers. When Sellers suggested that Sandino's resistance would serve “no useful purpose,” Sandino replied:
The purpose of this chapter is to characterize knowledge organization (KO) as a field that is affected by geographic and diachronic variations in such a way that the recognition…
Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to characterize knowledge organization (KO) as a field that is affected by geographic and diachronic variations in such a way that the recognition of a slanted KO could be considered an ethical option in the KO theory and practice. KO can be considered a dynamic social product that reflects a construction that is altered in space and time. Slants are inherent to any organization of knowledge and are manifested in multiple dimensions. There is a need to find a balance between the respect for the local specificities and the necessity of global access to information. Conceptual and terminological time and space slants in KO are presented. Examples of possible day-by-day searches are analyzed in order to evidence the different cultures that are involved in the different social-linguistic characteristics. The recognition of time and space as operational axes for an ethical approach to a slanted KO is important because: (a) it tries to intervene in represented and possibly disseminated biases that are practiced so far; (b) it recognizes the coexistence of diverse groups and communities, with local characteristics, meanings, and idiosyncrasies, that will need to communicate with each other in global information systems of information; and (c) it can promote an intercultural ethics of mediation, culturally warranted, in order to avoid cultural damages and to guarantee that descriptions can reflect the past while keeping an eye in the future, based on KOS whose functionality remains over time.