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1 – 10 of 60Stênio de Sousa Venâncio, Swami Marcondes Villela, José Luís da Silva Pinho and José Manuel Pereira Vieira
The purpose of this paper is to construct a numerical model for the numerical analysis of the hydraulic transient profile in Trabalhador channel for filling and emptying maneuvers…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to construct a numerical model for the numerical analysis of the hydraulic transient profile in Trabalhador channel for filling and emptying maneuvers and to determine the water level in time. Model results support operational managers in the decision-making process.
Design/methodology/approach
Physical data were provided for the construction and calibration of the numerical model. The equations of Saint-Venant were approximated by a finite difference scheme and the numerical model was written in Fortran. The results of filling and emptying of the channel simulations were compared with the measured water levels.
Findings
Measured water levels and those simulated by the numerical model have shown good correlation. The time recorded for the filling and emptying of the canal was also close between the measured and simulated data. The simulation design flow pointed to inundation in the channel banks. Simulation water levels were slightly higher than those measured.
Research limitations/implications
In this model, the combination of canals and pressure conduits was not considered.
Practical implications
The findings confirm the measured time for filling and emptying of the canal, as well as inundation of canal banks for the maximum design flow. These results help in the management process.
Originality/value
This paper presents a numerical model for hydraulic transient analysis in channels with good agreement with the field data.
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Christian Julmi, José Manuel Pereira, Jack K. Bramlage and Benedict Jackenkroll
Although the literature shows that ethical leadership reduces the risk of burnout, research still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the mediating effects between ethical…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the literature shows that ethical leadership reduces the risk of burnout, research still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the mediating effects between ethical leadership and burnout. As media reports on working conditions in the academic context often tie the problem of unethical leadership practices to illegitimate tasks, this study focuses on illegitimate tasks as a mediator between ethical leadership and burnout.
Design/methodology/approach
The research model is tested using structural equation modeling and data from 1,053 doctoral and postdoctoral students in randomly selected German state universities.
Findings
The results significantly support all hypothesized effects, showing direct correlations between (1) ethical leadership and illegitimate tasks, (2) ethical leadership and burnout facets and (3) illegitimate tasks and burnout facets. The relationship between ethical leadership and burnout is thus partially mediated by illegitimate tasks.
Practical implications
The authors recommend three major fields of action for practice. These fields comprise (1) the leadership situation, (2) the leader and (3) the follower.
Originality/value
The presented model is the first that connects the relationship between ethical leadership and burnout with illegitimate tasks and looks at ethical leadership from a stress-as-offense-to-self (SOS) perspective.
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Douglas Legramante, Ana Azevedo and Jose Manuel Azevedo
This paper aims to analyse the factors that influence the satisfaction and intention of continuity of use, of teachers and students, regarding using Moodle in undergraduate…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse the factors that influence the satisfaction and intention of continuity of use, of teachers and students, regarding using Moodle in undergraduate courses in one Campus at the Federal Institute of Rondônia in Brazil. The starting point was an integration of DeLone and McLean's Information Systems Success Model (ISSM) with Davis' Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research approach was adopted. After the definition of the hypotheses, data were collected through self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaires were designed to measure the five constructs: Quality of Information (QI), Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), Perceived Usefulness (PU), User Satisfaction (US) and Behavioural Intention to use (BI) that make up the conceptual model of the study. The data were analysed based on 144 valid questionnaires. The technique of maximum likelihood estimation was adopted in the data analysis through structural equation modelling (SEM).
Findings
The results confirmed six of the nine hypothesised relationships. QI positively impacts PEOU and US. PEOU positively impacts PU, which in turn positively impacts US and BI. Similarly, US positively impacts Moodle's BI. It was also evidenced that PU is the strongest predictor of US.
Practical implications
These results can help educational institutions, managers, administrators and designers of e-learning systems to develop strategies to increase Moodle's user satisfaction.
Originality/value
This study provides insights into the perception of students and teachers regarding the use of Moodle. A model that integrates constructs from two models widely used in research related to e-learning (TAM and ISSM) was used in a developing country context. This is important, given cultural differences and social idiosyncrasies in different contexts, particularly in an educational institution in the Amazonia region in northern Brazil.
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Jesús Manuel Fernandez Oro, Andrés Meana-Fernández, Monica Galdo Vega, Bruno Pereiras and José González Pérez
The purpose of this paper is the development of a CFD methodology based on LES computations to analyze the rotor–stator interaction in an axial fan stage.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is the development of a CFD methodology based on LES computations to analyze the rotor–stator interaction in an axial fan stage.
Design/methodology/approach
A wall-modeled large eddy simulation (WMLES) has been performed for a spanwise 3D extrusion of the central section of the fan stage. Computations were performed for three different operating conditions, from nominal (Q_N) to off-design (85 per cent Q_N and 70 per cent Q_N) working points. Circumferential periodic conditions were introduced to reduce the extent of the computational domain. The post-processing procedure enabled the segregation of unsteady deterministic features and turbulent scales. The simulations were experimentally validated using wake profiles and turbulent scales obtained from hot-wire measurements.
Findings
The transport of rotor wakes and both wake–vane and wake–wake interactions in the stator flow field have been analyzed. The description of flow separation, particularly at off-design conditions, is fully benefited from the LES performance. Rotor wakes impinging on the stator vanes generate a coherent large-scale vortex shedding at reduced frequencies. Large pressure fluctuations in the stagnation region on the leading edge of the vanes have been found.
Research limitations/implications
LES simulations have shown to be appropriate for the assessment of the design of an axial fan, especially for specific operating conditions for which a URANS model presents a lower performance for turbulence description.
Originality/value
This paper describes the development of an LES-based simulation to understand the flow mechanisms related to the rotor–stator interaction in axial fan stages.
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Diversified trading networks have recently drawn a great deal of attention. In the process, the importance of diversity has perhaps been overemphasized. Using the trade in port…
Abstract
Diversified trading networks have recently drawn a great deal of attention. In the process, the importance of diversity has perhaps been overemphasized. Using the trade in port wine from Portugal to Britain as an example, this essay attempts to show how a market once dominated by general, diversified traders was taken over by dedicated specialists whose success might almost be measured by the degree to which they rejected diversification to form a dedicated “commodity chain.” The essay suggests that this strategy was better able to handle matters of quality and the specialized knowledge that port wine required. The essay also highlights the question of power in such a chain. Endemic commodity-chain struggles are clearest in the vertical brand war that broke out in the nineteenth century, which, by concentrating power, marked the final stage in the transformation of the trade from network to vertical integration.
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The purpose of this paper is to draw on available data regarding the historical event of the major Lisbon earthquake of 1755 in order to understand the governance structure that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw on available data regarding the historical event of the major Lisbon earthquake of 1755 in order to understand the governance structure that was set to rebuild the city of Lisbon, as well as to elaborate on Max Weber’s theory of authority.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study aims to extend our knowledge on the role of leadership in organizational transformation, by examining the authority structure of governance in the aftermath of a major catastrophic event, using the study of an extreme case to generate new management theory.
Findings
The study founded evidence that the successful rebuilding of Lisbon after the earthquake was accompanied by a certain kind of governance structure that included an authority structure that simultaneously incorporated Weber’s authority types of charisma, tradition and rationality; and there was a clear distinction between the roles of each kind of authority, as well as the inviolable respect and sacredness of each other’s terrain that seems to lead to that effectiveness.
Research limitations/implications
It is possible that the historical conditions in which this social transformation took place might not be repeatable in today’s context, but the analysis of such an extreme case of destruction and rebuilding evidences that the “atomistic” approach of Max Weber on authority can be enriched with a “molecular” approach that, at the same time, helps to further develop the concept of “shared leadership” by analyzing it from a Weberian point of view.
Practical implications
Today’s organizations should analyze their governance structure and management staff from a “molecular” Weberian perspective, if they want to achieve major transformations.
Originality/value
The study further develops Max Weber’s theory of authority and discusses it regarding a “shared leadership” perspective.
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Jose Manuel Diaz-Sarachaga and Joana Longo Sarachaga
The purpose of this paper is to analyze how sustainability was operationalized in the Spanish universities through plans and actions that contribute actively to the achievement of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze how sustainability was operationalized in the Spanish universities through plans and actions that contribute actively to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic search and content analysis served to examine information available on websites belonging to the 76 universities listed in the Conference of Rectors of the Spanish Universities (CRUE).
Findings
The participation of Spanish universities on initiatives focused on sustainability is very limited, highlighting the negligible role of private institutions in which topics like sustainability and the 2030 Agenda/SDGs were scarcely addressed.
Originality/value
The study outlines the actual extent of the inclusion of sustainability in particular co-curricular actions toward the SDGs in the CRUE. The findings enable to define a long-term sustainability road map for the Spanish university system.
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Joao Carlos Marques Silva and José Azevedo Pereira
This study has used public sources, interview with one of the case protagonists.
Abstract
Research methodology
This study has used public sources, interview with one of the case protagonists.
Case overview/synopsis
This business case portrays the problems that an energy producing company faced in Portugal, in its transition from being a public company to becoming privatized. The Portuguese Government issued EDP with generous subsidies to guarantee its future profits and privatization success, but a few years later, after EDP was fully privatized, there was great political pressure to downsize such subsidies. The case describes the main steps taken by EDP from its creation and privatization, culminating at the end of 2017, where it was heavily criticized by media and political parties due to a high value of subsidies that had been granted to the company by the Portuguese Government in the past, while it was still a public company, and the renegotiation of those same subsidies after it had been privatized. EDP’s President António Mexia was under police investigation due to having led the renegotiation talks in 2007, and it was feared that EDP’s investors could refrain from investing in the company. Should EDP campaign to clear its good name, or would it be better to let the matter fall with the passing of time? Could the share value be affected? Should EDP prepare itself for loss of revenue due to an eventual downsizing of the subsidies?
Complexity academic level
This study covers energy sector, privatization issues and government support. The relevance of this study is good for use in Business Schools and MBA courses.
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Joao Carlos Marques Silva and José Azevedo Pereira
The essence of discounted cash flow valuation is simple; the asset is worth the expected cash flows it will generate, discounted to the reference date for the valuation exercise…
Abstract
Theoretical basis
The essence of discounted cash flow valuation is simple; the asset is worth the expected cash flows it will generate, discounted to the reference date for the valuation exercise (normally, the day of the calculation). A survey article was written in Parker (1968), where it was stated that the earliest interest rate tables (use to discount value to the present) dated back to 1340. Works from Boulding (1935) and Keynes (1936) derived the IRR (Internal Rate of Return) for an investment. Samuelson (1937) compared the IRR and NPV (Net Present Value) approaches, arguing that rational investors should maximize NPV and not IRR. The previously mentioned works and the publication of Joel Dean’s reference book (Dean, 1951) on capital budgeting set the basis for the widespread use of the discounted cash flow approach into all business areas, aided by developments in portfolio theory. Nowadays, probably the model with more widespread use is the FCFE/FCFF (Free Cash Flow to Equity and Free Cash Flow to Firm) model. For simplification purposes, we will focus on the FCFE model, which basically is the FCF model’s version for the potential dividends. The focus is to value the business based on its dividends (potential or real), and thus care must be taken in order not to double count cash flows (this matter was treated in this case) and to assess what use is given to that excess cash flow – if it is invested wisely, what returns will come of them, how it is accounted for, etc. (Damodaran, 2006). The bridge to the FCFF model is straightforward; the FCFF includes FCFE and added cash that is owed to debtholders. References: Parker, R.H. (1968). “Discounted Cash Flow in Historical Perspective”, Journal of Accounting Research, v6, pp58-71. Boulding, K.E. (1935). “The Theory of a Single Investment”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, v49, pp479-494. Keynes, J. M. (1936). “The General Theory of Employment”, Macmillan, London. Samuelson, P. (1937). “Some Aspects of the Pure Theory of Capital”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, v51, pp. 469–496. Dean, Joel. (1951). “Capital Budgeting”, Columbia University Press, New York. Damodaran, A. (2006). “Damodaran on Valuation”, Second Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Research methodology
All information is taken from public sources and with consented company interviews.
Case overview/synopsis
Opportunities for value creation may be found in awkward and difficult circumstances. Good strategic thinking and ability to act swiftly are usually crucial to be able to take advantage of such tough environments. Amidst a country-wide economic crisis and general disbelief, José de Mello Group (JMG) saw one of its main assets’ (Brisa Highways) market value tumble down to unforeseen figures and was forced to act on it. Brisa’s main partners were eager in overpowering JMG’s control of the company, and outside pressure from Deutsche Bank was rising, due to the use of Brisa’s shares as collateral. JMG would have to revise its strategy and see if Brisa was worth fighting for; the market implicit assessment about the company’s prospects was very penalizing, but JMG’s predictions on Brisa’s future performance indicated that this could be an investment opportunity. Would it be wise to bet against the market?
Complexity academic level
This study is excellent for finance and strategy courses, at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Company valuation and corporate strategy are required.
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