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The purpose of this paper is to investigate workplace learning among municipal officers in the high-learning-demanding organizational context of their work practice in the first year of mandate.

A before-and-after quasi-experimental design was used to assess the effect of time of work practice on learning work requirements. Level of mastery of role-relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSAs) was measured on three occasions (once before and twice after occurrence of work practice), with 126 participants. Associations have been tested between this learning and level of education, previous experience, use of learning strategies at work, population size of municipalities and participatory public planning.

Findings suggest that the municipal officers showed learning of KSAs but no change in their attitude toward public administration. This learning has been positively associated to size of the municipalities, previous professional experience and learning strategies, especially regarding the cognitive strategy “intrinsic and extrinsic reflection”. A possible positive effect of the use of participatory planning on this learning could have been detected if measures were taken after 11 months.

The generalization of findings is limited, as data are restricted to the southern and southeastern regions of Brazil, in municipalities in which mayors belong to a given political party.

The study brought useful information that may contribute to provide some clues, to municipal officers and their parties, on how to accelerate the required learning that should take place right after election.

The practical implications may be cautiously used in organizations in general.

The feasibility of a longitudinal design to measure work-related learning was shown. Options for more comprehensive studies that may better define the phenomenon of workplace learning and identify its relationships with other variables have been demonstrated.

The alternative food markets are growing and despite the evidences of heterogeneity and of organic food consumers’ special features, little has been done to develop a scale to measure loyalty to this market. The purpose of this paper is to propose and validate a scale based on consumers’ loyalty literature and on the particular features of the organic market.

Data from 604 consumers were obtained through a web-based survey, which was used to analyze the structural equation in the AMOS software, in order to validate the proposed scale model.

A one-dimensional validated scale consisting of eight questions and showing high composite reliability level (0.95) was used to measure consumer loyalty to organic food. The herein used sample presented mean True Organic Loyal (4.36) and standard deviation (0.62); these values depict Brazilians high loyalty to this food type.

The research was conducted and validated in Brazil and it can be replicated within the country as well as be transculturally validated.

The main contribution of the current study is the development and validation of a scale named scale of consumer loyalty for organic food. The suggested interpretation ranges from non-loyal to true organic loyal consumers and it helps understanding organic food consumers’ behavior. This research took under consideration consumers of any sort of organic food as well as consumers of regular food markets (farmer’s markets, supermarkets, collective groups, shops and internet).

The aim of this paper is to explore qualitatively and holistically the experience of international students in the context of Portuguese higher education. This paper interrogates the potential that an experience abroad provides for multicultural learning and for enhancing interaction between students with different cultural backgrounds.

To provide depth to the understanding of their experiences abroad, the narratives of 12 international students in Portugal were constructed and analysed interpretatively. The findings presented in this paper result from a solid set of data based on 41 interviews with an average duration of two hours each.

Regarding students’ levels of multicultural contact, the findings presented in this paper are not consistent with previous research literature which indicates a tendency for segregation among international and local students. Aside from one exception, all the interviewed students were rather comfortable to interact with their local peers and even established meaningful friendships with them. Concerning students’ learning throughout the sojourn, the findings indicate that the experience of living in a different country provides numerous opportunities for multicultural learning.

Even though the findings suggest that multicultural learning is part of international students’ lives, it is beyond the scope of this paper to identify institutional strategies to further support students’ learning.

The study adds to knowledge production in the field of multicultural education by bringing data from Portugal, a country seldom approached in the research literature.

Universidad San Francisco de Quito, USFQ, completed an assessment study to understand its performance in sustainability in 2012. This study aims to recognize the limitations of applying a North American rating system considering relevant criteria to a South American university and to emphasize the importance and lack of benchmarks available in the region.

Methodology used for this study is based on the Sustainability Tracking Assessment Rating System (STARS) by AASHE. In December 2013, USFQ joined the Pilot Program that included publicly documenting efforts, sharing feedback and making suggestions for system improvements.

Data collected by USFQ in 2012 and 2013 illustrate how the status of USFQ as a non-residential, teaching university in Ecuador in a developing country had several challenges while using an evaluation system established for universities within a North American system. The limits of assessing sustainability in South America are associated to its geographical location, the number of students and staff that commute to University and the lack of environmental services and certifications available in Ecuador. There are applicability issues with the use of STARS without performance reports from regional peers that can guide the development of relevant benchmarks for future comparability.

Little research has been conducted in the assessment and tracking of sustainability within universities in South America. This paper is one of the first to address the applicability of a North American self-reporting tool to a South American university.

The aim of the paper is to compare consumer acceptance, sensory analysis and volatile compounds of caiman meat with regard to surubí fish and chicken meat.

Caiman tail, chicken thigh and surubí meats' cuts were cooked in a pan with little oil and salt. The affective tests of acceptance (9-points hedonic scale) and preference ranking were evaluated by 80 consumers. Sensory analysis carried out by eight trained panelists described attributes' intensities on an unstructured linear scale (0–150 mm). Volatile compounds were analysed by solid-phase micro-extraction and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry GC–MS.

Caiman meat had good acceptance values of 6–7 (“like slightly” to “like moderately”), being similarly preferred to surubí but less than chicken. The ratings of bitterness, hardness, fibrous appearance, fibrous texture and cohesiveness were higher and raw colour, characteristic flavour and oiliness were lower in caiman's meat than in the others. Caiman meat had lower juiciness than chicken but similar to surubí. Caiman showed lower levels of aldehydes than chicken, lower level of hydrocarbons and higher levels of acids and esters than the other meats. Alcohols, mainly found in caiman and chicken meat, were positively associated to aroma acceptance. Hydrocarbons, mainly found in surubí meat, were positively associated with the characteristic flavour and negatively correlated with aroma acceptance. Volatile composition of meats was related to their sensory attributes and consumer acceptance.

Given that caiman meat showed similar acceptance and preference to that of surubí, it could be considered a good quality meat, helping promote current programmes of sustainable use of natural resources.

This study aims to analyse the setup time management using the single-minute exchange of die (SMED) method in 24 h Emergency Care Units (ECUs).

A total of 1,098 reports in A3 form format were analysed and grouped into analysis categories to evaluate the implications of SMED in managing setup time in the 24 h ECUs. The content analysis was based on Bardin (2011). The findings were grouped into three categories.

The findings demonstrate the contributions of the Lean Healthcare approach in the 24 h ECUs through SMED analysis to reduce setup time in activities characterised as waste in 24 h UPAs.

In this study, data were collected directly from the Good Practices Application, from a specific project conducted in ECUs, which could generate selection bias. Finally, the datas were categorised according to the categories defined a posteriori, which may lead to interpretation bias.

The implications listed from the SMED perspective for setup time management allow us to guide managers, consultants, researchers, and health professionals to provide continuous improvement in 24 h ECUs. The findings can serve as a basis for reducing configuration time in other public and private healthcare service organisations.

SMED applied in 24 h ECUs makes it possible to improve emergency services provided to society and increase the capacity to care for patients and society in general. In addition, reducing costs for health service financiers, such as government and private institutions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that correlates the setup time management of the SMED method in crucial areas of 24 h ECUs, demonstrating opportunities for its application in reducing time in patient journeys. The findings show the benefits of Lean in these environments and highlight several opportunities for applying SMED to reduce setup in activities characterised as waste in 24 h UPA. SMED allows for improved operational excellence in emergency units and enables target opportunities to increase user satisfaction and service capacity.