Jose A.D. PINTO, Paulo B. COIMBRA and Carlos F.L. ANTUNES
Empirical rules and experimental evidence are not capable of dealing with both geometric complexity and nonlinearities to design a sufficient accurate, reliable and affordable…
Abstract
Empirical rules and experimental evidence are not capable of dealing with both geometric complexity and nonlinearities to design a sufficient accurate, reliable and affordable electrical device. To minimize this gap and to achieve an high performance level in the industry design of an electromagnetic device two CAD packages (electromagnetic CAD package and thermal CAD package) working in parallel processing should be used. In this paper these two packages have been used separately. The finite element technique is used to solve the heat conduction problem in complex devices of arbitrary shape with imposed boundary conditions. As an application example, the steady‐state temperature distribution will be produced for an high voltage cross‐linked polyethylene insulated power cable. The results are discussed and the importance of such a study as an aid to improve the life expectancy of high voltage power cables is pointed out. Finally, several conclusions are suggested to increase the power cable current transmission capacity.
Helena Valente, Daniel Martins, Marta Pinto, José Luis Fernandes and Monica J. Barratt
Recent studies have shown that people who attend electronic dance music events and use drug checking services (DCS) are a predominantly white male, highly educated middle-class…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent studies have shown that people who attend electronic dance music events and use drug checking services (DCS) are a predominantly white male, highly educated middle-class population. However, there is still a lack of data beyond sociodemographic characteristics that must be addressed. This paper aims to describe the drug use patterns and protective behavior strategies (PBS) used by testers and nontesters at Boom Festival 2018 and analyze the relationship between these behaviors and the decision to use the DCS.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an exploratory research based on a cross-sectional design using baseline data collected at the Boom Festival from testers (N = 343) and nontesters (N = 115).
Findings
Nontesters presented, in general, slightly higher frequencies of use for most drugs, whereas testers tended to adopt PBS more frequently. Moreover, testers planned their drug use more often than nontesters and set more limits on the amount of drugs they used in one session. Both of these behaviors work as predictors for using the DCS.
Practical implications
Our data suggest that DCS might not be easily accessible to all people who use drugs, reaching almost exclusively highly educated people that already apply several harm reduction strategies. Actions should be taken to promote service accessibility.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to compare the demographics, drug use and PBS adoption of DCS users with nonusers who attended the same festival.
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Alejandro Adrian Cuadra-Peralta, Constanza Veloso-Besio, Jose Iribaren and Rodrigo Pinto
Interventions to develop leadership have attracted the interest of both the professional world and academia. The latter through review papers has highlighted the need to…
Abstract
Purpose
Interventions to develop leadership have attracted the interest of both the professional world and academia. The latter through review papers has highlighted the need to incorporate organizational performance outcomes when evaluating the effectiveness of programs for leadership development, because they have been particularly scarce. Keeping this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of an intervention aimed at direct supervisors, on the basis of social skills and transformational/transactional leadership, in order to improve organizational climate (OC) perception and objective outcomes of organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was used, with no quasi-control group. Intervention was applied to all direct supervisors (n=8) of a private company in the industrial sector, with national implementation. The intervention covered a period of two months, with a total of eight sessions. The frequency of the intervention was a weekly session of 90 minutes each. The impact was measured in their direct subordinates (n=34). The outcome variables were OC perception and various indicators of organizational performance.
Findings
The results showed a statistically significant increase, moderate-to-high magnitude (dMR=0.38-1.21), in most sub-dimensions of OC. The various organizational performance indicators (e.g. volume of sales, positioning of the company, etc.) also showed improvements.
Practical implications
Results suggest that the authors’ intervention program, based on social skills and leadership, aimed to develop leadership, has an effect on organizational efficacy outcomes, such as OC perception and organizational performance. The implications of this study’s findings for HR managers are that there is a direct relation between improvement in outcomes associated with organizational effectiveness and the training of direct supervisors; this is because the leadership in the levels that deal directly with workers is responsible for carrying out the main tasks of the organization.
Originality/value
The overall objective of this research was to analyze the effectiveness of an intervention aimed at direct supervisors, on the basis of social skills and transformational/transactional leadership, in order to improve OC perception and objective outcomes of organizational performance.
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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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Helder Pinto and Rui José
Ideally, a pervasive location‐based system should allow mobile users to go anywhere and benefit from personalized and pro‐active services tailored for their current activity…
Abstract
Ideally, a pervasive location‐based system should allow mobile users to go anywhere and benefit from personalized and pro‐active services tailored for their current activity. However, existing location‐based systems are still far from this vision, as they are either aimed at very specific activities or too generic to provide real value to specific user activities. The objective of this work is to identify and characterize the most fundamental challenges involved in the design of pervasive location‐based systems. The approach is based on the idea that such challenges will correspond to the key design tradeoffs for location‐based systems. Building on what is believed to be the high‐level requirements for a truly pervasive locationbased system, this paper proposes a design space with four design dimensions: functional scope, added‐value, pro‐activity, and adaptability. After analyzing a representative set of location‐based systems under that design space, the combinations between functional scope and any of the other dimensions are identified as the main contradictions in the design of such systems. The paper finally discusses the research challenges associated to the identified tradeoffs.
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This chapter contrasts two “careers in dope” (Waldorf, 1973), one a Hispanic crack dealer and the other a White trafficker of powder cocaine. The first dealer worked openly on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter contrasts two “careers in dope” (Waldorf, 1973), one a Hispanic crack dealer and the other a White trafficker of powder cocaine. The first dealer worked openly on the street, in the urban style; the latter dealt indoors, exclusively through networks of kin and friends, the only way to sell drugs in the suburbs. This chapter seeks to establish “suburban” drug sales as a particular modality, with dynamics specific to its context.
Methodology/approach
Two in-depth case cases are examined. They are drawn from a larger set of oral interviews that explore the life histories of drug dealers, with an emphasis on how they sold marijuana and cocaine, and how and why they quit selling.
Findings
First, the suburban style of drug sales has much to do with the mitigated risks White people face as dealers. Second, suburban dealing illuminates the limits of conventional economic theory to explain drug dealing universally.
Originality/value
Because suburban drug deals happen among friends and kin relations they are never anonymous. Making sense of economic transactions among intimates raises a number issues fundamental to economic anthropology: the ambivalence of gifts in socialeconomic relationships, and more generally the integration of economic phenomena in social dynamics.
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José Mourato, Luís Pinto Ferreira, José Carlos Sá, Francisco J.G. Silva, Teresa Dieguez and Benny Tjahjono
This study aims to improve the reception and positioning of materials in the warehouse, as well as the internal logistics of a bus manufacturing company by acting upon the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to improve the reception and positioning of materials in the warehouse, as well as the internal logistics of a bus manufacturing company by acting upon the processes of supply line management.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on the action research methodology which, through a practical approach, intends to generate transferrable knowledge to other organizations whose situations are similar to that of this study. The practical actions and the knowledge acquired co-create the changes needed for the improvement processes.
Findings
Through these improvements, it is possible to standardize supply and eliminate the retention of picking carts on the line, simplify the management of materials provided in supermarket boxes, improve the control of materials and facilitate the process of picking and materials storage. A kanban card-based supply system was also expanded to the bus assembly line, allowing more control over valuable materials.
Originality/value
This study has demonstrated how the implementation of lean techniques on a bus assembly line can lead to increased consistency of supply to the line and improved working conditions, both in the production and warehouse areas. Furthermore, it has set a new standard of the internal logistics processes and the inclusion of process recording in the working instructions.
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Nuria García Rodríguez, M. José Sanzo Pérez and Juan A. Trespalacios Gutiérrez
This study aims to examine the marketing/R&D relationship under different relative dependence situations. Specifically, its basic objective is to analyse if the effect that the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the marketing/R&D relationship under different relative dependence situations. Specifically, its basic objective is to analyse if the effect that the climate between these departments exerts on new product development performance is moderated by the dependence perceived by these areas.
Design/methodology/approach
The interfunctional climate was measured through six key variables of relationship marketing: cooperation, communication, trust, commitment, social satisfaction and conflict. To do this, the R&D directors of 178 Spanish innovative firms were surveyed. A sample of 345 products (177 successes and 168 failures) was been obtained.
Findings
The results derived from a multisample analysis allow the conclusion that in those situations of high dependence the creation of a satisfactory climate is specially important for the development of affective bonds, such as trust and commitment among the functional areas.
Originality/value
The novelty of the research lies in the use of the relationship marketing approach to investigate industrial intra‐functional relationships and their influence on a new product performance. Furthermore, the inclusion of dependence as a possible moderator of that influence represents an added value of the study.
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B.F. Giannetti, Feni Agostinho, C.M.V.B. Almeida, Marcos José Alves Pinto Jr, Maritza Chirinos Marroquín and Medardo Delgado Paredes
The study of sustainability within universities is recognized as essential for debates and research; in the long term, the “sustainable university” concepts can contribute to…
Abstract
Purpose
The study of sustainability within universities is recognized as essential for debates and research; in the long term, the “sustainable university” concepts can contribute to sustainability from a larger perspective. This study aims to propose a conceptual model for evaluating the students’ sustainability considering their interactions with the university and the environment. The proposed model is titled Sunshine model. It is applied to students of the La Salle University, Peru.
Design/methodology/approach
The model combines academic performance, happiness and the ecological footprint to quantify university students’ sustainability. A structured questionnaire survey was elaborated and applied to get the raw data that feeds the three methods. The students’ average grades evaluate academic performance. Happiness is quantified by the happiness index method, and the ecological footprint is measured by the demand for food, paper, electricity, transport and built-up areas. Results are evaluated under both approaches, overall group performance and clusters.
Findings
The proposed model avoids misleading interpretations of a single indicator or discussions on sustainability that lack a conceptual model, bringing robustness in assessing students’ sustainability in universities. To have a low ecological footprint, the student needs to need up to 1 planet for their lifestyle, be considered happy with at least 0.8 (of 1) for happiness index, and have good academic performance with at least a grade of 7 (of 10) in their course. Regarding the case study, La Salle students show a high academic grade degree of 7, a high level for happiness index of 0.8 and low performance for ecological footprint by demanding 1.8 Earth planets, resulting in an “environmentally distracted” overall classification for students with 2019 data. From a cluster approach, 81% of evaluated students (n = 603) have low performance for ecological footprint, whereas 31% have low performance for indicators of recreational activities of happiness. Changing lifestyles and making more recreational activities available play crucial roles in achieving higher sustainability for the La Salle students.
Research limitations/implications
The happiness assessment questionnaire can be subject to criticism, as it was created as a specific method for this type of audience based on existing questionnaires in the literature. Although it can be seen as an important approach for diagnoses, the proposed model does not consider the cause–effect aspect. The decision-maker must consider the sociocultural aspects before implementing plan actions.
Practical implications
University managers can better understand why university students have high or low sustainability performance and provide more effective actions toward higher levels of students’ sustainability.
Originality/value
The proposed model, Sunshine model, overcomes the single-criteria existing tools that access the sustainability of universities. Rather than focusing on university infrastructure, the proposed model focuses on the students and their relationship with the university.
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Nuria García Rodríguez, M José Sanzo Pérez and Juan A. Trespalacios Gutiérrez
The purpose of the present study is to analyze the role the existing trust between marketing and R&D plays on a new product development performance. As trust determining factors…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present study is to analyze the role the existing trust between marketing and R&D plays on a new product development performance. As trust determining factors four key variables of relationship marketing have been considered: satisfaction, cooperation, communication and conflict.
Design/methodology/approach
The R&D directors of 178 Spanish innovative firms were surveyed. A sample of 345 products (177 successes and 168 failures) were obtained. To estimate the model proposed a structural equation analysis was used.
Findings
The success of an innovation is especially favored by the existence of affective bonds among the participants. In this respect, the existing trust between marketing and R&D, directly, and the satisfaction of the areas with the relationship, indirectly through the former, are essential determinants of a new product performance.
Originality/value
The novelty of the research lies in the use of relationship marketing approach to investigate intra‐functional relationships and their influence on a new product performance.