Izabela Simon Rampasso, Sidney L.M. Mello, Rubens Walker, Victor G. Simão, Robson Araújo, Juliana Chagas, Osvaldo Luiz Gonçalves Quelhas and Rosley Anholon
The objective of this study is to identify research gaps related to skills required for Industry 4.0, considering research in the context of Brazilian undergraduate courses. In…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study is to identify research gaps related to skills required for Industry 4.0, considering research in the context of Brazilian undergraduate courses. In this sense, the question of this study was established: What are the educational gaps related to skills required in Industry 4.0 context, considering considering research in the previously mentioned?
Design/methodology/approach
To answer this question, the ten top work-related skills required for professionals in Industry 4.0 published by the World Economic Forum were used to perform a systematic literature review. From this review, 100 articles were found in the searched databases. From them, 18 were within the research scope.
Findings
Through an analysis of their content, it was possible to verify that, from the 10 skills analyzed, only six were identified in the articles. That is, no research was found for: people management, service orientation, negotiation, and cognitive flexibility. Additionally, there are undergraduate courses that are not considered in current researches and should be analyzed.
Originality/value
The gaps pointed out in this study are relevant to guide future analyzes of the Brazilian educational model and may provide insights for research in other countries.
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Colin Whittle and Lorraine Whitmarsh
In this chapter, we draw on social science theoretical and empirical literatures to discuss the factors that influence buying and using an electric vehicle (EV), as well as how…
Abstract
In this chapter, we draw on social science theoretical and empirical literatures to discuss the factors that influence buying and using an electric vehicle (EV), as well as how adopting an EV can impact on other travel choices or broader sustainability behaviours. We provide an overview of theories of technology adoption, which expose the interplay of individual, technological, and societal factors that dictate how rapidly a technology will spread throughout society. From the empirical literature, we show that far from being a purely economic or pragmatic decision, choosing an EV is also deeply grounded in social, moral and personality factors, such as self-presentation, norms and values, and appetite for risking the novel. Furthermore, since running an EV is not the same as running an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV), we explore how adopters adjust their behaviour to the technology, and also how EV ownership may trigger or undermine broader shifts in lifestyle required to achieve climate change and other sustainability goals. We therefore provide a critical reflection on the drivers, barriers, and behavioural implications of choosing an EV.
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Barbara A. Norgard, Michael G. Berger and Christian Plaunt
Rubens do Amaral, Maria do Carmo de Lima Bezerra and Gustavo Macedo de Mello Baptista
Human actions on natural ecosystems have not only jeopardized human well-being but also threatened the existence of other species. On the other hand, the benefits resulting from a…
Abstract
Purpose
Human actions on natural ecosystems have not only jeopardized human well-being but also threatened the existence of other species. On the other hand, the benefits resulting from a greater integration between the logic of nature and human occupations have been seen as motivating factors for the prevention and mitigation of environmental impacts in landscape planning, since it provides human well-being through the grant of resources, regulation of the environment and socio-cultural services called ecosystem services. This article highlights the relevance of using ecosystem integrity indicators related to the functioning of ecological support processes for landscape planning.
Design/methodology/approach
The research used the photosynthetic performance of vegetation through carbon fluxes in the landscape, defining areas where different approaches to green infrastructure can be applied, gaining over the majority of work in this area, in which low degrees of objectivity on measurement and consequent ecological recovery still prevail. Thus, using the conceptual support of restoration ecology and remote sensing, the work identified different vegetation performances in relation to the supporting ecological processes using the multispectral CO2flux index, linked to the carbon flux to identify the photosynthetic effectiveness of the vegetation and the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI).
Findings
With a study in the Distrito Federal (DF), the results of the different performances of vegetation for ecological support, through electromagnetic signatures and associated vegetation formations, allowed for the identification of hotspots of greater integrity that indicate multifunctional areas to be preserved and critical areas that deserve planning actions using green infrastructure techniques for their restoration and integration into the landscape.
Originality/value
This approach could be the initial step towards establishing clear and assertive criteria for selecting areas with greater potential for the development of supporting ecological processes in the territorial mosaic.
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Biodynamics is a specific form of organic production with spiritual underpinnings. This chapter explores it as a form of rural entrepreneurship using the capitals framework of…
Abstract
Purpose
Biodynamics is a specific form of organic production with spiritual underpinnings. This chapter explores it as a form of rural entrepreneurship using the capitals framework of Bourdieu as a conceptual tool.
Methodology
The chapter draws upon 11 qualitative case studies of New Zealand firms engaged in biodynamic growing methods. Data collected via in-depth narratively oriented interviews inform the chapter, along with other relevant secondary material.
Findings
The chapter suggests that the spiritual underpinning of the biodynamic approach imbues the experience with a form of spiritual capital that is not captured within traditional interpretations of capital. We conceive of this as a form of alternative capital and offer a conceptualisation as an attempt to capture that difference.
Research limitations
This is a niche, small scale, exploratory study limited to one geographic context (New Zealand) at one particular point in time.
Originality/value
This chapter offers a modest expansion to previous conceptualisations of capital in the rural context.
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Electric vehicles are often positioned as a politically easy option for low-carbon mobility, compared to other options, such as cycling, public transit, and walkable communities…
Abstract
Electric vehicles are often positioned as a politically easy option for low-carbon mobility, compared to other options, such as cycling, public transit, and walkable communities. This is difficult to assess confidently, however. The rate of adoption for electric vehicles that will be necessary over the next few decades to avoid the worst consequences of climate change will bring about new political struggles. This chapter uses a political-economic analysis to discuss what these struggles might look like. Using literature on the structure of automobility, along with evidence on the ways which electric vehicles disrupt the existing systems built around private car use, it discusses how a rapid transition to electric mobility will affect the material interests of various groups. One big impact will be on production, where the radical changes necessary to re-tool the auto industry to build electric vehicles will create major risks for car companies and their workers. A second impact will be on infrastructure, where the conversion of parking space into electric vehicle charging stations could arouse local political opposition, particularly in cities. Finally, electric vehicles might conflict with the cultural and symbolic lock-in of conventional vehicles, resulting not only in slower adoption but also the potential for active resistance against electric vehicle policies and infrastructure. Taken together, this implies that electric vehicles will not be a form of low-carbon mobility that is free of political struggle. Widespread electrification of private automobility could be aggressively opposed by powerful groups who have strong economic incentives to do so.
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David N. Nelson, Larry Hansard and Linda Turney
The purpose of this paper is to describe the process and the personnel skills required for converting a non-MARC database file into a MARC file for uploading to both OCLC and a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the process and the personnel skills required for converting a non-MARC database file into a MARC file for uploading to both OCLC and a local catalog. It also examines the various decisions that need to be made when mapping from one file structure to another.
Design/methodology/approach
Applied–Database record conversion.
Findings
While MARCEDIT is a remarkably powerful tool for cataloging and database maintenance purposes, dealing with non-MARC records requires additional programming skills and tools for the successful completion of a file conversion project.
Practical implications
Discusses the importance of converting locally produced databases, especially those with bibliographic content, to national and international standards to significantly increase their discoverability.
Originality/value
Provides an overview of file conversion issues and considerations.
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Oscar Person, Dirk Snelders and Jan Schoormans
Styling is plagued by prejudice in the literature on the management of design – making it a taboo to talk about styling and designers as stylists. At the same time, the ability of…
Abstract
Styling is plagued by prejudice in the literature on the management of design – making it a taboo to talk about styling and designers as stylists. At the same time, the ability of designers to shape the look and feel of products still represents the most defining work of designers. However, reduced to superficial changes in form, styling has been misrepresented as simplistic decoration that is of limited strategic interest for managers of design, especially when compared to the more immaterial (processual) qualities that the discipline has to offer.
In this chapter, we question the validity of the conceptualization above, arguing for a renewed interest in the work of designers as stylists. Building on a general reassessment of style in art and design, we appropriate Ackerman's (1962) work on style for studies on styling and the management of design. In doing so, we propose that styling relates to the problem-solving activities of companies, in which designers create and shape solutions and their expressions. By defining styling along these lines, we account for the ‘‘everyday’’ view that designers (as stylists) shape the look and feel of products, but we no longer disregard the central concern of designers to integrate their decisions on form and function when shaping the look and feel of new products in practice.