Eduardo Castro e Costa, José Pinto Duarte and Paulo Bártolo
In this paper, the authors aim to address the potential of mass personalization for ceramic tableware objects. They argue that additive manufacturing (AM) is the most adequate…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors aim to address the potential of mass personalization for ceramic tableware objects. They argue that additive manufacturing (AM) is the most adequate approach to the production of such objects.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors review the manufacturing of ceramic tableware objects, both traditional techniques and AM processes, and assess which available AM technologies are suitable for the research purpose.
Findings
The authors consider binder jetting and material extrusion as the most suitable processes for the production of ceramic objects to be integrated into a mass personalization system of ceramic tableware.
Originality/value
This paper provides an original overview of traditional and innovative techniques in ceramic manufacturing, exposing not only its differences but also its commonalities. Such overview supports the conceptual design of original equipment.
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Avi Friedman, Aaron Sprecher and Basem Eid Mohamed
The concept of employing web-based configuration systems towards mass customization of housing has been implemented by some prefabricated housing companies around the globe, and…
Abstract
The concept of employing web-based configuration systems towards mass customization of housing has been implemented by some prefabricated housing companies around the globe, and has become a challenging research area in the last few decades as an outcome of advancements in communication and design technologies. Different methodologies have been employed with the aim of efficiently engaging future homebuyers in the design of their homes. The thrust of this paper is to systematically formalize an advanced configuration system for mass customization of prefabricated housing for a company operating in the Canadian market. The focus is on one floor bungalows which are common within the Province of Quebec. Such housing models targets a specific market sector; elderly couples seeking retirement homes, with the aim of improving affordability through maintaining particular design and production qualities.
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Jamal Al-Qawasmi and Karim Hadjri
The influence of digital media and information technology on architecture is increasingly evident. Architectural design, practice, fabrication and construction are increasingly…
Abstract
The influence of digital media and information technology on architecture is increasingly evident. Architectural design, practice, fabrication and construction are increasingly aided by and dependent on digital technology. The proliferation of computers and telecomputing in design education and practice has resulted in a major paradigm shift and a reorientation in theoretical and conceptual assumptions considered to be central to traditional design education and practice.
The purpose of this article is to discuss issues raised at The 1st World Conference on Intellectual Capital for Communities in the Knowledge Economy: Nations, Regions and Cities…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to discuss issues raised at The 1st World Conference on Intellectual Capital for Communities in the Knowledge Economy: Nations, Regions and Cities, which took place in Paris, June 20, 2005.
Design/methodology/approach
The conference was structured into four sessions: intellectual capital and the knowledge economy; intellectual capital for nations; intellectual capital for regions; and looking at the future.
Findings
Finds that there is a gap that must be addressed. There are very few actual case studies that articulate how a knowledge economy is nurtured and operates on a regional and local basis.
Originality/value
This article is based on the first conference, which was a remarkable convocation and springboard event and will be of interest to those in the field of intellectual capital.
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Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
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…
Abstract
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.
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This chapter explores the origins, development, and organization of the main Portuguese capitalist groups throughout the fascist dictatorship, the Carnation Revolution, and the…
Abstract
This chapter explores the origins, development, and organization of the main Portuguese capitalist groups throughout the fascist dictatorship, the Carnation Revolution, and the neoliberal European integration until the onset of the financial crisis of 2008. The Portuguese experience confirms that, far from the usual neoliberal view that presents the process of accumulation and concentration of capital as the result of fair market mechanisms, large capitalist groups emerge as a combination of three factors: privileged access to finance, State protection, and family inheritance. Furthermore, it is argued that, if capital is considered as embodiment of power relations and not as factor of production, the link between concentration/accumulation of capital and economic growth is appropriately lost. Concentration strategies can have a detrimental effect on the economy. In Portugal, the dominance of these large economic groups contributed to the development of a rentist economic structure that was contrary to the goals of productive and economic development.
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Fernando Almeida and José Duarte Santos
This short communication aims to explore and synthesize the main effects of COVID-19 on the labor market in Portugal regarding the dimensions related to job security and…
Abstract
Purpose
This short communication aims to explore and synthesize the main effects of COVID-19 on the labor market in Portugal regarding the dimensions related to job security and unemployment.
Design/methodology/approach
Field research is used to identify and understand the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to the labor market in Portugal. Data from the National Institute of Statistics of Portugal are analyzed and compared with artifacts published in the field, which allow us to explore the impact of this phenomenon from multiple perspectives.
Findings
The findings indicate that the impact on the labor market is very asymmetric regarding geographical regions, sectors of activity, age groups and the nature of labor ties. The most touristic regions and those with a strong dependence on the exterior are the most affected. Young people and women with unstable employment relationships and in temporary work situations are also particularly vulnerable.
Originality/value
This study focuses on an emerging area with a strong impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labor market. This study seeks both to identify challenges in the Portuguese labor market and to discuss measures that should be taken to mitigate their effects, such as reforming the social security model, the role of teleworking or the more balanced development of the territory.
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Giovanni Cláudio Pinto Condé, José Carlos Toledo and Mauro Luiz Martens
The purpose of this paper is to test and develop a method for generation and selection of six sigma projects. This is done by testing the use of the generation and selection…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test and develop a method for generation and selection of six sigma projects. This is done by testing the use of the generation and selection method for six sigma projects (GSM_SSP) in a Brazilian manufacturing industry with the participation of managers, aiming to gather the user’s perspective and improvement opportunities for the approach itself.
Design/methodology/approach
The work adopts the action research (AR) approach once the researchers were busily involved in the training, implementation and use of the GSM_SSP. The intervention was performed in on a series of 15 workshops, with a group of managers, during six months.
Findings
The application of the eight steps of the GSM_SSP approach assisted the company’s management team to generate nine project candidates and also to select three six sigma projects. This study also finds and discusses barriers and lessons learned used to improve the GSM_SSP.
Research limitations/implications
This study presents an example of how six sigma project generation and selection has been applied to a manufacturing industry by adapting AR to the process using the eight steps of GSM_SSP, demonstrating how the management team was involved. This study should be replicated in different companies because AR is limited in its generalization.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first use of AR methodology in six sigma project selection. This study contributes a method that can generate and select six sigma projects. In doing so, the research offers a simple approach that can be used by managers. In addition, the steps of the approach before selection were explored.
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Friederike Fleischer and Ivette S. Sepúlveda Sanabria
According to the Colombian Labour Ministry, in 2015, 750,000 persons officially worked as household employees. Ninety-eight per cent of these employees are women who tend to live…
Abstract
According to the Colombian Labour Ministry, in 2015, 750,000 persons officially worked as household employees. Ninety-eight per cent of these employees are women who tend to live in Bogotá’s (southern) urban fringe and travel to the city’s wealthier north on a daily basis. Yet public transportation in the Colombian capital is subject to stratification. Besides overcrowding and delays, petty crime and sexual harassment, fringe areas remain underserved. Based on ethnographic data, in this chapter, the authors discuss findings from a 3-year research project on female household employees’ subjective experience of space. Specifically, the authors explore their capacity (motility) to be mobile. This perspective breaks with the limits of bounded categories such as ‘urban’, ‘neighbourhood’ or ‘class’, to highlight their situational and spatial mutability. Moreover, an investigation of motility includes people’s potential to move as well as their subjective experiences of mobility. The research shows how gender intersects with local labour regimes and infrastructure to negatively affect women’s mobility. Urban stratification is not only a question of locale of residence and access to services, but importantly (re)produced in the household employees’ subjective experience of their daily commute, which they describe as suffering. In their limited spare time, female household employees abstain from travelling, effectively curbing their active appropriation of urban space. The research thus illuminates how spatial, social and economic dimensions mutually interact to impact on the women’s lives and possibilities.
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Managerial discourses tend to portray work-related mobility practices in a positive light, presenting mobility assignments as a place of stimulus and differentiation. A conception…
Abstract
Purpose
Managerial discourses tend to portray work-related mobility practices in a positive light, presenting mobility assignments as a place of stimulus and differentiation. A conception of mobility as an opportunity, may contrast, in specific economies and business settings, with lived personal experiences. This article reports the results of a three-year study, aimed to question how multinational companies (MNCs) located in a small and developing European economy (Portugal) are building talent pools for expatriate assignments. Interaction effects, as proposed by the job demands-resources (JD-R) theory, are considered as lens to understand the interplay of company expatriate policies, willingness profiles and psychological contracts of expatriates. By using a Portuguese sample, the study examines whether prior findings in mature economies and consolidated MNCs can be generalized to less developed international business settings.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-year study, encompassing 24 expatriate cases observed in five multinational firms born or located in Portugal. Two techniques of empirical data collection were used: statistical sources and documental analysis and in-depth interviews. A total of 37 interviews were conducted, both in-person and remotely, of which 13 were with company managers and representatives, and 24 with expatriates (as defined and referred like this by the companies under study).
Findings
Heterogeneous company policies, ranging from juvenile, functionalist to more dynamic and flow-based approaches, are presented as qualifying resources of willingness levels and psychological contracts of expatriates. Observed interaction effects between policies, willingness and psychological contracts, empirically mirrored in three profiles (conformist, protean and disrupted expatriates) suggest that incentive effects (emanating from company policies) and job demand-resource balance, factored as terms of social and economic trade, are non-linear and asymmetric, influencing firm propensity to succeed while using international work to support company expansion goals. As job resources, expatriate policies are presented as operating as pull or push factors: functionalist HR approaches seem to act as push factors generating more conformist or compelled willingness profiles.
Research limitations/implications
Generalization of study's outcomes has limitations. Future studies are encouraged to use comparative and longitudinal research designs. Furthermore, future research should include business expatriates with entry-level positions, and increase the number of interviewees, as results can also be considered as limited by sample size.
Practical implications
It is suggested that further strategic work is needed to present expatriation development value, formally screen and consider willingness level as selection criteria, and enlarge the pool (from internal to external) of candidates, in peripheral economic settings such as Portugal. A shift to more dynamic and job resource-dense policies are suggested as beneficial, as pathway to optimize social and economic value from expatriation assignments and work experiences.
Originality/value
By putting the interplay between macro and micro-level processes into perspective, the study provides empirical evidence on how company expatriate policies have come to promote unforeseen differentiation of employee willingness and psychological contracts at the heart of MNCs. This is particularly relevant in developing economies such as Portugal, challenging the need to build talent pools for international work assignments. Empirical data illustrating company policies interactive effects with different willingness profiles and psychological contracts of expatriates is provided.