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The construction industry’s business model is mainly based on the interaction among the architecture office, the engineering office and the construction company. The performance and practices of architects’ offices, unlike those of the other actors, are difficult to characterize and there have been few studies on these issues. To better understand architects’ performance, the purpose of this paper is to develop a benchmarking tool based on real practices identified by managers of Chilean architecture offices.

The research method includes a complete literature review, followed by a study of a sample of nine Chilean architecture offices, with whom a series of four workshops was developed, to establish both performance indicators and relevant management practices. Finally, these metrics were applied in an architectural office as a pilot case.

Four management dimensions were defined: client management, external coordination, internal organization and human resources. Key performance indicators were divided into process, financial and quality indicators. The workshops carried out with the architectural offices demonstrated the relevance of benchmarking tools such as the one developed, which enables the systematic measurement of both management practices and performance indicators.

Although there have been several efforts to create benchmarking tools for the construction industry, few efforts have focused on architecture offices. Therefore, this research aims to explicitly identify management practices that can be used for this type of organization and to coordinate among multiple actors to find the best way to measure their performance, other than the fulfilment of schedules and budgets.

“Dora! Dora!” squealed my 18-month-old son from his stroller on the crowded subway platform. I scanned the crowd but could not locate the source of his excitement. Then a young girl turned her back to us and I saw on her purple backpack the face of “Dora the Explorer,” whose name had made its way into my son's small vocabulary. This scene could have easily taken place in any city or town in the US; young children of all ethnicities are familiar with Dora's animated television program. Worldwide, parents have spent over $3 billion on Dora the Explorer merchandise since 2001, and most products feature English and Spanish phrases (Jiménez, 2005). And Dora is not alone: her show was just the first in a recent wave of animated educational children's programs featuring Latino main characters and dialogue in Spanish.

The primary aim of this study is to create a comprehensive model quantifying the maturity levels of key determinants crucial for the sustained success of public sector entrepreneurship (PSE) [social entrepreneurship (SE)]. By integrating social, organizational and technological elements with Max-Neef's human needs, the model offers a holistic perspective for SE measurement. Notably, it emphasizes Max-Neef's existential needs (being, having, doing, interacting) to analyze variables crucial for sustainability, from diverse perspectives within SE.

This study presents a quantitative approach to develop a maturity model for assessing SE based on Max-Neef's human needs. The model integrates social, organizational and technological dimensions, using K-means algorithm for data processing. A panel of experts assigns weights to variables, and the maturity levels are adapted from the Capability Maturity Model. Data from 47 SEs in Ecuador's Zone 6 inform model construction, validated with two textile sector SEs. The methodology comprises three stages: variable selection, model construction and nonprobabilistic sample validation in Zone 6.

The research yields a maturity model enabling the quantification of PSE entrepreneurship maturity over time. It incorporates social, organizational and technological variables with Max-Neef's human needs, providing a broader perspective for SE evaluation. The model allows assessing the maturity level of each determinant, performance per variable in a Likert Scale, and facilitates comparisons between individual entrepreneurship and the overall population or sample. Visualization is enhanced through a color scale based on the Capability Maturity Model.

Limitations may stem from the nonprobabilistic convenience sample used for validation, potentially affecting the generalizability of findings. The model's application is specific to Zone 6 of Ecuador and may require adjustments for broader contexts. Although the K-means algorithm aids data processing, its limitations should be considered. Future research could explore the model's applicability in diverse geographical and sectoral settings for a more comprehensive understanding.

This research has led to the development of a model that quantifies the maturity level of key determinants crucial for the long-term sustainability of PSE. This model integrates elements from social, organizational and technological dimensions, offering a comprehensive framework for assessing SE.

This model offers valuable insights for the development and sustainability of social entrepreneurship by providing a structured approach to measure and enhance key social, organizational and technological determinants. By integrating Max-Neef's framework of human needs, the model helps social enterprises better align their efforts with fundamental human needs, ensuring that initiatives not only address societal challenges effectively but also contribute to long-term social well-being. This approach encourages the development of more resilient and impactful social enterprises that are capable of adapting to diverse socioeconomic contexts.

The model's uniqueness lies in its integration of social, organizational and technological variables with Max-Neef's human needs, offering a nuanced assessment of PSE entrepreneurship determinant factors from a human perspective. By applying existential needs (being, having, doing, interacting) as analysis levels, the model provides a distinctive and insightful approach to evaluating the impact of key variables. Its value lies in identifying strengths and weaknesses in each entrepreneurship, guiding support strategies and informing discussions for constructing effective public policies.

The purpose of this paper is to stabilize the type-2 Takagi–Sugeno (T–S) fuzzy systems with the sufficient and guaranteed stability conditions. The given conditions efficaciously handle parameter uncertainties by the upper and lower membership functions of the type-2 fuzzy sets (FSs).

This paper reports on a relevant study of stable fuzzy controllers and type-2 T–S fuzzy systems and reported that the synthesis of controller for nonlinear systems described by the type-2 T–S fuzzy model is a key problem and it can be resolve to convex problems via linear matrix inequalities (LMIs).

The multigain fuzzy controllers are established to improve the solvability of the stability conditions, and the authors design multigain fuzzy controllers which have extensive information of upper and lower membership grades. Consequently, the authors derive the traditional stability condition in terms of LMIs. One simulation examples illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of the derived stabilization conditions.

The uncertain MIMO nonlinear system described by Type-2 Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model, and successively LMI approach used to determine the system stability conditions. The proposed control approach will give superior fault-tolerant control permanence under the actuator fault [partial loss of effectiveness (LOE)]. Also the controller robust against the unmeasurable process disturbances. Additionally, the statistical z-test are carried out to validate the proposed control approach against the control approach proposed by Himanshukumar and Vipul (2019a).

The purpose of this study is to analyse Peruvian cuisine in the context of visitors’ overall experience, focusing on the loyalty of tourists in terms of gastronomy, their satisfaction with the destination, and the overall image.

Data were obtained from tourists who visited Lima (Peru). Structural equation modeling was used to verify the hypothesized relationships.

The results obtained confirm that satisfaction and appreciation, such as quality, have a positive influence on tourists’ loyalty and, therefore, they recommend and express their desire to come back to this destination. The traditional gastronomy of Lima stands out as a prominent factor on overall experience.

This paper helps the managers of cities in their decisions to improve the satisfaction and seek loyalty of those who visit a city, emphasizes the role of gastronomy.

The results obtained in this research can be used for the establishment of new strategies for the promotion of the destination in terms of tourism and traditional food.

The gastronomy in Lima, (Peru) is recognized worldwide, as well as a stimulus for tourism because it increases the number of visits to the destination. Several studies carried out in these types of destinations have shown the existence of a relationship between gastronomy, overall experience, satisfaction and loyalty. However, there are no previous studies carried out in Lima that sustain this relationship. This work makes a contribution that completes the academic literature on the study of the emotional bonds between Peruvian gastronomy and the tourist who visits it and its behaviour.

The paper aims to present a literary itinerary inspired in Julio Dinis’ novel An English Family (Uma Família Inglesa) through a comparative analysis of the places identified in the novel and the touristic attraction proposed by Visit Porto website. This novel is representative of the cultural identity and society of Porto city in the 19th century. Developing an itinerary based on this novel can facilitate the reading and understanding of the historical and cultural development of Porto.

This case study is based on the reading of the Julio Dinis’ novel An English Family (Uma Família Inglesa), whose storyline takes place in Porto city, Portugal in the 19th century. It used QGIS v. 3.12 software, a geographical information system to identify the places, to produce the maps and to create the itinerary.

The comparison between the places identified in the novel and the tourist attraction in Visit Porto website revealed that only 6 points in the novel are referenced on Visit Porto website. These points correspond to the ones in the historical city centre of Porto. However, the creation of an itinerary that brings together all the points mentioned by Julio Dinis in his novel, will allow the development of a new touristic itinerary, alternative to existing itineraries in the city and that can be seen as a distinguish offer that allows a different view of the urban space of Porto.

There are some limitations to this study that can be highlighted. First, it was difficult to find the correct location of some points identified in the novel, due to difficulty of finding historical maps with quality of the data. At the same time, as tourist information is dispersed by several sources, and most of those data is not georeferenced, it was time consuming the integration of all the information in the same geodatabase. The choice of the shortest path can also be considered as a limitation, rather than the route followed by the author in the novel, but geographic information systems operates on spatial and temporal scale, which can present a limitation in tourism analysis. In the case of this project, we have chosen the shortest path, assuming that tourist would prefer that.

This research allowed to address two areas of knowledge that are emerging in the study of urban centres as tourist areas: the use of GIS and literary tourism. Despite the fact that there are already articles on this subject, the originality focuses on the approach made around one of the greatest writers of Portugal in the 19th century, allowing to present a tourist itinerary about one of his literary works, and the comparison made between the places identified in the novel and the tourist points identified on the Visit Porto website.