Margarida Vicente, José Luís Abrantes and Mário Sérgio Teixeira
The development of innovation capability is an important topic for both managers and academics. However, studies that investigate which elements integrate innovation capability in…
Abstract
Purpose
The development of innovation capability is an important topic for both managers and academics. However, studies that investigate which elements integrate innovation capability in the context of export market are very scarce. Drawing on the resource-based view, the purpose of this paper is to identify important dimensions in order to build a scale to measure innovation capability in exporting firms – the INNOVSCALE.
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on data collected by online questionnaire in a sample survey of 471 exporting manufacturing firms. The results were obtained using structural equation modeling. Statistical tests demonstrate that the scale presents composite reliability as well as convergent and nomological validity.
Findings
The findings reveal that innovation capability is a higher-order construct formed by four dimensions: product development capability, innovativeness, strategic capability, and technological capability. The results also indicate that all four dimensions of the innovation capability scale are positively and significantly associated with export venture performance.
Originality/value
This study develops a new scale, the INNOVSCALE, which is a measure of innovation capability of exporting firms, and tests its impact on three measures of export venture performance, namely financial, strategic, and achievement.
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Pedro Calado, Liliana José Moreira, Sónia Costa, Celeste Simões and Margarida Gaspar de Matos
In this chapter the authors portray the situation of the Roma population in Portugal as a changing picture. They present a description of the social situation and living…
Abstract
In this chapter the authors portray the situation of the Roma population in Portugal as a changing picture. They present a description of the social situation and living conditions of the Roma people of Portugal through the systematisation of the main results obtained from research conducted recently as part of the ‘Strategy for the integration of Roma communities 2013–2020’ and give a detailed analysis of the educational dimension in various levels of education, highlighting a public policy created in 2016, the Operational Program for the Promotion of Education. This programme, inspired by a civil society project and converted into a public policy due to its innovative character, supports Roma students in higher education and is funded by the Office of the High Commissioner for Migration. The authors describe the Roma Communities in Portugal with special regard to their social situation, their culture and language. Then the authors present an analysis about the educational attainment of the Roma in Portugal and the most important policies and support programmes for Roma education, which are considered as the key to the social integration of Roma communities. Finally, they describe some successful programmes: the OPRE, RESCUR and Dreams Teens Programs.
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Susana Margarida Jorge, João Baptista da Costa Carvalho and Maria José Fernandes
Until the end of 1997, governmental accounting in Portugal was characterised as essentially cash-based budgetary accounting, using singleentry as the bookkeeping method. The only…
Abstract
Until the end of 1997, governmental accounting in Portugal was characterised as essentially cash-based budgetary accounting, using singleentry as the bookkeeping method. The only compulsory accounting system was Budgetary Accounting. As many countries all over the world, nowadays Portugal is implementing a reform of the whole governmental accounting, which has as most important innovations the use of double-entry within a system compulsorily integrating accrual-based Financial and Cost Accounting along with Budgetary Accounting (still essentially cash-based). The main purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse the reform and current situation of governmental accounting in Portugal, especially discussing the accrual basis implementation. In particular, it shows that not only governmental accounting reform in Portugal has been going towards international harmonization, but also problems that have arisen are common to others faced by several countries. Perspectives of future evolution are also presented.
Mário Franco, Mayara Nagilla and Margarida Rodrigues
This study aims to analyze how the presence of women is seen in family small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) succession process from the successors' perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze how the presence of women is seen in family small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) succession process from the successors' perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
To do so, the multiple case study method (qualitative approach) was used: five Brazilian SMEs and three Portuguese SMEs, and the data-collecting techniques were the online interview and documentary analysis. Data analysis was through content analysis using NVivo software.
Findings
The empirical evidence obtained led to the conclusion that the natural succession process is predominant in the family SMEs studied here. Although succession planning is present in some firms, these plans are informal and not rigid as regards deadlines. Nor do they present stages and tasks that could be considered as a planned succession.
Practical implications
The study shows that successors do not see gender as a relevant criterion for the choice of successor. It is concluded that women's participation in family SME succession, even to a lesser extent, is still marked by gender inequality. So, this study provides directions to policymakers and researchers to focus on developmental programmes for the presence of women in family SMEs' succession process.
Originality/value
Although some successors consider that these firms' performance may be different due to gender characteristics, others emphasize that management is the same. Therefore, this study provides the futuristic direction to policymakers, researchers and educators for focusing on the enhancement of women entrepreneurs which plays a crucial role in the family SMEs' succession process. Therefore, a conceptual framework is proposed that explains the articulation of different categories to understand the gender perspective in family firms' succession.
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Manuela Ferreira, Margarida Liz Martins and Ada Rocha
– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate waste at a Portuguese university setting in order to suggest improvements on foodservice sustainability.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate waste at a Portuguese university setting in order to suggest improvements on foodservice sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
The work was developed during four weeks in order to allow the evaluation of parameters of an entire menu cycle. The index of waste/consumption (%) was obtained by the ratio between plate waste and the quantity of foods distributed, subtracting the weight of leftovers.
Findings
The average index of waste/consumption was approximately 24 percent, higher in the days with a fish menu, values considered unacceptable. Each canteen user is served with approximately 940 g of foods, from which only 660 g were effectively consumed, corresponding to 80 g of leftovers and 200 g of waste.
Originality/value
It seems possible and desirable to reduce food waste in order to optimize food unit profitability and sustainability. Reducing food waste will contribute to improve foodservice quality as well as consumer's satisfaction. Potential strategies to achieve this goal may include previous booking of meals, to adopt tray less during lunch and additionally analyze the eating patterns for a particular forecasted meal, and then prepare and serve food based on the appropriate forecast.
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In the present-day context of a sharp decrease in economic and ecological resources, planned conservation and community empowerment are key strategies for sustainable heritage…
Abstract
Purpose
In the present-day context of a sharp decrease in economic and ecological resources, planned conservation and community empowerment are key strategies for sustainable heritage management, because of their cost effectiveness, increased preservation of authenticity and socially development. However, there are still very few practical implementations, so the purpose of this paper is to present applied research to real case studies, as well as to demonstrate that preventive-planned conservation is increasingly successful when linked with the empowerment of local communities and users.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes a methodology that focuses on two complementary aspects: planned conservation (material component) – undertaken directly on buildings, through inspection, monitoring, maintenance and repair activities; community empowerment (intangible component) – afforded indirectly to users, through participatory strategies and training in prevention, maintenance and use.
Findings
Based on an estimation of costs, this paper suggests that preventive-planned conservation strategies (pre-damage) can be one-third cheaper than the reactive and interventionist approach (post-damage). Moreover, this study also develops innovative ICT tools for the planned conservation of the built heritage, namely a specifically designed computer software/App (“MPlan”) that can be used to compile maintenance plans.
Originality/value
The case studies are among the first applications of preventive-planned conservation strategies to the built heritage in Portugal. Different types of case studies are provided to better illustrate the methodological approach adopted and the results obtained. Special attention is given to the Romanesque Route, a cultural itinerary with 58 monuments (monasteries, churches, bridges, towers and a castle). illustrated manuals contribute to the empowerment of local communities and users.
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Amanda de Paula Aguiar-Barbosa, Adriana Fumi Chim-Miki and Metin Kozak
The objective of this study was to analyze the evolution of tourism competitiveness over the years, ascertaining the state of the art and the degree of consensus among scholars on…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study was to analyze the evolution of tourism competitiveness over the years, ascertaining the state of the art and the degree of consensus among scholars on its constituent elements to propose an integrative and updated concept.
Design/methodology/approach
A set of 130 definitions on tourism competitiveness formulated between 1999–2018 was analyzed and segmented into three periods, allowing its historical evolution to be ascertained. It is a qualitative and quantitative exploratory research that uses a combination of techniques, namely, content analysis, analysis of co-words and consensus analysis.
Findings
The results indicated a low use of elements such as the quality of life and the environment in the authors' definitions during 1999–2018, although these elements were present in the first concept of tourism competitiveness by Crouch and Ritchie (1999, 2003). Another finding of this study shows a reduction in the analysis of tourism competitiveness based on the supply and demand side. Nowadays, the research tends to turn on the basis of the population directly affected. It also reveals the enrichment of the theoretical corpus with new lines of research arising and new groups of scholars of the subject, consequently a new frontier in tourism competitiveness.
Research limitations/implications
The authors recommend deepening the analysis in each category of conceptual elements of tourism competitiveness to identify the origins of the low consensus. The authors also suggest conducting further research on the largest invisible schools of thought on this subject to understand their relations and perspectives, and thus to advance in the theoretical streams of the field. Finally, it is imperative to develop research on new models and monitors of tourism competitiveness that meet its renewed concept and integrate dimensions to consider the perspective of supply, demand, tourists and residents, as well as not excluding the economic bias but including the social side.
Practical implications
Owing to the fact that monitors of tourism competitiveness have practically no variables related to the social, most of the surveys are carried out from the supply or demand perspective, leaving the resident distant from the process. In this way, the results allow authors to indicate that new models of competitiveness measurement should be formulated based on the vision of the community impacted by tourism, i.e. a new version of tourism competitiveness not based on productivity but rather on the social aspect.
Originality/value
The findings of this study contribute to the field literature by offering an integrative concept of tourism competitiveness based on the elements with a higher level of consensus among researchers. Furthermore, the results accentuate a worrying fact regarding the operationalization of this concept, as the theoretical basis is not expressed in the monitors of competitiveness. Thus, nor it is possible in the management of the tourism industry.
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Sérgio B Gonçalves, Pedro Dantas, Francisco Guedes de Melo, João Gouveia, José Guimarães Consciência, Jorge Martins and Miguel Tavares da Silva
Arthroscopic osteochondroplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that has been used to treat femoroacetabular impingement syndrome, leading to significant improvements in…
Abstract
Purpose
Arthroscopic osteochondroplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that has been used to treat femoroacetabular impingement syndrome, leading to significant improvements in patients’ clinical outcomes and quality of life. However, some studies suggest that inadequate bone resection can substantially alter hip biomechanics. These modifications may generate different contact profiles and higher contact forces, increasing the risk of developing premature joint degeneration. To improve control over bone resection and biomechanical outcomes during arthroscopic osteochondroplasty surgery, this study aims to present a novel system for measuring femoroacetabular contact forces.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a structured design process for the development of medical devices, the steps required for its production using additive manufacturing with material extrusion and easily accessible sensors are described. The system comprises two main devices, one for measuring femoroacetabular contact forces and the other for quantifying the force applied by the assistant surgeon during lower limb manipulation. The hip device was designed for use within an arthroscopic environment, eliminating the need for additional portals.
Findings
To evaluate its performance, the system was first tested in a laboratory setup and later under in-service conditions. The 3D printing parameters were tuned to ensure the watertighness of the device and sustain the intraoperative fluid pressures. The final prototype allowed for the controlled measurement of the hip contact forces in real-time.
Originality/value
Using additive manufacturing and readily available sensors, the present work presents the first device to quantify joint contact forces during arthroscopic surgeries, serving as an additional tool to support the surgeon’s decision-making process regarding bone resection.