Overcoming the objectification of western classical music with the concept of music as a process

Dissertation to obtain the degree of Master in Music - Artistic Interpretation

The impact of national cultures on international marketing strategy and subsidiary performance of portuguese SME’s

The dynamic of the international business and its multidimensional nature requires the understanding of the complexities of different contexts dictated by cultural differences between countries. The purpose of this paper is to study, in depth howsmall and medium-sized companies develop their international marketing mix strategy in their overseas subsidiaries. We use the theoretical construct of Hofstede (1980, 1991) in the dimensions of Power Distance (PD), Uncertainty Avoidance (UA), Individualism (IND), Masculinity (MASC) and Long-Term Orientation (LTO) to assess the cross cultural differences between countries and the business practices to analyze the adaptation or standardization of the international marketing mix strategy of foreign Portuguese subsidiaries. Ourstudy uses an exploratoryand qualitative methodology. We conducted semi-structured interviews in order to achieve a good understanding ofinternational marketing mix strategy of four companies from different sectors. Our results show that the national cultural differences have great influence in the marketing strategy of the subsidiary. The business practices adjustments in the subsidiary company that proved to be necessary conditions for their performance are conducted by the products augmented offerings concerning the characteristics of the product, design and brand name in order to meet the requirements and specificities of the host country of the subsidiary.

The role of cultural mega events in the enhancement of city’s image attributes: differences between engaged and attendee participants

In a time of fierce competition between regions, an image serve as a basis to develop a strong sense of community, which fosters trust and cooperation that can be mobilized for regional growth. A positive image and reputation could be used in the promotional activities of the region benefiting all the stakeholders as a whole. Mega cultural events are frequently used to attract tourists and investments to a region, but also to enhance the city’s image. This study adopts a marketing/communication perspective of city’s image, and intends to explain how the image of the city is perceived by their residents. Specifically, we intend to compare the perceptions of residents that effectively participated in the Guimarães European Capital of Culture (ECOC) 2012 (engaged residents), and the residents that only assisted to the event (attendees). Several significant findings are reported and their implications for event managers and public policy administrators presented, along with the limitations of the study

Transient Spaces: unsettling boundaries and norms at the cultural event Noc Noc, Guimarães, Portugal

Cities are increasingly expected to be creative, inventive and to exhibit intense expressivity. In the past decades many cities have experienced growing pressure to produce and stage cultural events of different sorts and to develop new strategies that optimize competitive advantages, in order to promote themselves and to boost and sell their image. Often these actions have relied on heavy public investment and major private corporation sponsoring, but it is not always clear or measured how successful and reproductive these investments have been. In the context of strained public finances and profound economic crisis of European peripheral countries, events that emerge from local communities and have low budgets, which manage to create significant fluxes of visitors and visibility, assume an increased interest. In order to reflect and sketch possible answers, we look to an emerging body of literature concerning creative cities, and we focus on the organisation of a particular cultural event and its impact and assimilation into a medium size Portuguese city. This paper looks at the two editions (2011 and 2012) of one of such events – Noc Noc – organized by a local association in the city of Guimarães, Portugal. Inspired by similar events, Noc Noc is based on creating transient spaces of culture which are explored by artists and audiences, by transforming numerous homes into ephemeral convivial and playful social ‘public’ environments. The event is based on a number of cultural venues/homes scattered around the old and newer city, which allows for an informal urban exploration and an autonomous rambling and getting lost along streets. This strategy not only disrupts the cleavages between public and private space permitting for various transgressions, but it also disorders normative urban experiences and unsettles the dominant role of the city council as the culture patron of the large majority of events. Guimarães, an UNESCO World Heritage City was the European Capital of Culture in 2012, with a public investment of roughly 73 million euro. By interviewing a sample of people who have hosted these transitory art performances and exhibitions, sometimes doubling as artists, the events’ organizers and by experience both editions of the event, this paper illustrates how urban citizens’ engagement and motivations in a low budget cultural event can strengthen community ties. Furthermore, it also questions the advantages of large scale high budget events, and how this event may be seen as unconscious counter movement against a commodification of cultural events and everyday urban experience at large, engaging with the concepts of staging and authenticity.

Perspectives of the Internal Public in a Cultural Event: the Case of Noc Noc, Guimarães - Portugal

Given the significant impact that cultural events may have in local communities and the inherent organization complexity, it is important to understand their specificities. Most of the times cultural events disregard marketing and often marketing is distant from art. Thus an analysis of an inside perspective might bring significant returns to the organization of such an event. This paper considers the three editions (2011, 2012 and 2013) of a cultural event – Noc Noc – organized by a local association in the city of Guimarães, Portugal. Its format is based in analogous events, as Noc Noc intends to convert everyday spaces (homes, commercial outlets and a number of other buildings) into cultural spaces, processed and transformed by artists, hosts and audiences. By interviewing a sample of people (20) who have hosted this cultural event, sometimes doubling as artists, and by experiencing the three editions of the event, this paper illustrates how the internal public understands this particular cultural event, analyzing specifically their motivations, ways of acting and participating, as well as their relationship with the public, with the organization of the event and with art in general. Results support that artists and hosts motivations must be identified in a timely and appropriate moment, as well as their views of this particular cultural event, in order to keep them participating, since low budget cultural events such as this one may have a key role in small scale cities.

Siderophore Production by Bacillus megaterium: Effect of Growth Phase and Cultural Conditions

Siderophore production by Bacillus megaterium was detected, in an iron-deficient culture medium, during the exponential growth phase, prior to the sporulation, in the presence of glucose; these results suggested that the onset of siderophore production did not require glucose depletion and was not related with the sporulation. The siderophore production by B. megaterium was affected by the carbon source used. The growth on glycerol promoted the very high siderophore production (1,182 μmol g−1 dry weight biomass); the opposite effect was observed in the presence of mannose (251 μmol g−1 dry weight biomass). The growth in the presence of fructose, galactose, glucose, lactose, maltose or sucrose, originated similar concentrations of siderophore (546–842 μmol g−1 dry weight biomass). Aeration had a positive effect on the production of siderophore. Incubation of B. megaterium under static conditions delayed and reduced the growth and the production of siderophore, compared with the incubation in stirred conditions.

Audiologists’ preferences for patient-centredness: a cross-sectional questionnaire study of cross-cultural differences and similarities among professionals in Portugal, India and Iran

Objective Patient-centredness has become an important aspect of health service delivery; however, there are a limited number of studies that focus on this concept in the domain of hearing healthcare. The objective of this study was to examine and compare audiologists’ preferences for patient-centredness in Portugal, India and Iran. Design The study used a cross-sectional survey design with audiologists recruited from three different countries. Participants A total of 191 fully-completed responses were included in the analysis (55 from Portugal, 78 from India and 58 from Iran). Main outcome measure The Patient–Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS). Results PPOS mean scores suggest that audiologists have a preference for patient-centredness (ie, mean of 3.6 in a 5-point scale). However, marked differences were observed between specific PPOS items suggesting these preferences vary across clinical situations. A significant level of difference (p<0.001) was found between audiologists’ preferences for patient-centredness in three countries. Audiologists in Portugal had a greater preference for patient-centredness when compared to audiologists in India and Iran, although no significant differences were found in terms of age and duration of experience among these sample populations. Conclusions There are differences and similarities in audiologists’ preferences for patient-centredness among countries. These findings may have implications for the training of professionals and also for clinical practice in terms of optimising hearing healthcare across countries.

Study of Load Curves Concerning the Influence of Socioeconomic and Cultural Issues

The increase of electricity demand in Brazil, the lack of the next major hydroelectric reservoirs implementation, and the growth of environmental concerns lead utilities to seek an improved system planning to meet these energy needs. The great diversity of economic, social, climatic, and cultural conditions in the country have been causing a more difficult planning of the power system. The work presented in this paper concerns the development of an algorithm that aims studying the influence of the issues mentioned in load curves. Focus is given to residential consumers. The consumption device with highest influence in the load curve is also identified. The methodology developed gains increasing importance in the system planning and operation, namely in the smart grids context.

Cultural Intelligence Scale: Validation in a Multicultural Setting of Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni

Purpose: This work aims at further developing and testing the psychometric properties of the Cultural Intelligence Scale (Ang & Van Dyne, 2006) in an Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Population, including reliability. Design Methodology: The study included 626 participants from 109 different countries that emcompasses 6 continents. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis procedures were carried out in order to test the scale in a multicultural scale of Erasmus Mundus Students. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach Alpha. Results: The scale presents excellent psychometric properties with alpha values that range from .84 to .90. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses demonstrated that the original model of the scale presents an exceptionally good fit. Limitations: The present study was conducted using a convenience sample and online questionnaires that limit its conclusions when we consider the globality of the Erasmus Mundus Students. Research/Practical Implications: This study presents evidence that Ang and Van Dyne’s scale is an adequate measure instrument to assess intercultural intelligence in a multicultural setting of students and alumni. Originality/Value: Multicultural samples and studies are becoming more and more present and relevant; the study of intercultural competences and habilities is becoming increasingly important, and in this task, solid psychometric instruments are of paramount importance. This study presents evidence that Ang and Van Dyne’s (2006) scale is a fairly recent and parsimonious instrument with excellent psychometric properties properties.

Cultural adaptation of websites: a comparative study of portuguese and dutch corporate websites

Master Thesis Presented at Instituto de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto for obtaining the Master’s degree in Digital Marketing under the supervision of Professor José de Freitas Santos

Consciência cultural crítica numa comunidade virtual educativa de línguas

Tese de Doutoramento em Didática e Formação

The role of cultural mega events In the enhancement of city’s image attributes

In a time of fierce competition between regions, an image serve as a basis to develop a strong sense of community, which fosters trust and cooperation that can be mobilized for regional growth. A positive image and reputation could be used in the promotional activities of the region benefiting all the stakeholders as a whole. Mega cultural events are frequently used to attract tourists and investments to a region, but also to enhance the city’s image. This study adopts a marketing/communication perspective of city’s image, and intends to explain how the image of the city is perceived by their residents. Specifically, we intend to compare the perceptions of residents that effectively participated in the Guimarães European Capital of Culture (ECOC) 2012 (engaged residents), and the residents that only assisted to the event (attendees). Several significant findings are reported and their implications for event managers and public policy administrators presented, along with the limitations of the study.

How does gender affect visiting a world heritage site?

To date few studies have been undertaken in Portugal dealing with the attitudes, motivations, and profile of tourists who visit World Heritage Sites. Also, few studies have dealt with destination image (e.g., Agapito, Mendes & Valle, 2010; Lopes, 2011). As far as it is known, none have approached the issue of gender differences in the choice of a Portuguese heritage destination. Since cultural tourism destinations need to differentiate themselves from each other, appropriate market segmentation must be based on a deep understanding of the customers’ motivations and preferences. Keeping in mind results from empirical literature (e.g., Silberberg, 1995; Beerli & Martin, 2004; Richards, 2004; Pérez, 2009; Sheng, Shen, & Chen, 2008), gender seems to be a possible approach to market segmentation, whether for Guimarães or for other cultural tourism destinations around the world. Located in the north-western region of Portugal, Guimarães is a city of strong symbolic and cultural significance, and the nomination of its historical centre as a World Heritage Site in 2001 enhanced its tourism potential. This study analyses the possible relation between gender and attitudes and motivations towards a World Heritage Site, such as Guimarães. Additionally, the empirical approach used in the study tries to capture differences in the perceived attributes of the city. Commonalities and distinctions within and between groups of tourists, by focusing on the specific characteristic of gender, were analysed. The study addressed two main questions: first, whether males and females have similar or different preferences in choosing the city as their destination; and, second, whether there are gender differences in the perception of the attributes of Guimarães. A better understanding of the gendered nature of the destination is a valuable cue for shaping products and services according to visitors’ preferences.