Corporate social responsability reporting: The case of Portuguese Hospitals

vThis research investigated Portuguese Hospitals’ Corporate Social Responsibility reporting practices, by analyzing Hospitals’ Annual Reports and websites. The main hospital stakeholders were presented and activities pertaining to each group included. Overall, it appears that there is a lack of strategic CSR reporting on both private and public hospitals. Hospital managers should include stakeholders in their CSR strategy and aim it at shared value creation. Hospitals need to build a stronger relationship with the community and reformulate CSR reporting practices to ensure that the reporting is timely, complete and relevant and is easily accessible by interested parties.

Effects of corporate social responsibility on brand reputation and brand identification with children

This study aims to understand children‟s perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and its effect on the brand, namely Reputation and Identification. Moreover, it analyzes if the use of Cartoons helps to increase these effects. Differences among gender, age and social class, will also be considered. 292 children from the 3rd and 6th grades from 5 schools with different social backgrounds participated in this study. The research made use of a real brand targeting children. Drawings and questionnaires were used as the main research tools. Results suggest that CSR actions have a positive effect on Reputation and Identification and that Cartoons do not lead to greater positive effects.

Ética e Responsabilidade Social Empresarial – A contribuição das empresas na promoção da equidade e da justiça social: análise a partir da experiência de algumas empresas do setor têxtil do Norte de Minas – MG – Brasil

Os efeitos da mundialização do capital e as implicações do neoliberalismo reconfiguraram os mercados e geraram alterações no comportamento dos indivíduos. Esses novos cenários de produção do social alteram as definições dos papéis dos atores tradicionais e conduzem-nos ao questionamento do sentido das suas ações. Assim, interessa-nos, particularmente, analisar a corresponsabilidade das empresas no desenvolvimento social e humano e no processo de transformação social. Essa reflexão obriga-nos a tecer considerações sobre a definição do estatuto económico das empresas e as suas finalidades éticas, ou a articulação entre, por um lado, os constrangimentos de gestão que pesam sobre as empresas a curto prazo e o plano singular e, por outro lado, as suas funções económicas a médio e a longo prazo e o plano do conjunto da sociedade. Esta discussão tem sido feita dentro dos esforços de teorização sobre a “responsabilidade social das empresas” (RSE). O presente estudo busca contribuir para uma discussão sobre o significado desta responsabilidade. Para tal, fizemos um inventário das dimensões associadas na literatura às práticas de RSE a partir das quais construímos uma tipologia das diferentes modalidades de responsabilidade que podem ser invocadas. Procurámos perceber como, e em que medida, as dimensões em que são promovidas como marcas da responsabilidade social das empresas se encontram distribuídas em tecidos económicos comuns, ou seja, tecidos económicos significativos de um ponto de vista intencional ou compreensivo e representativos, ao mesmo tempo, no plano extensivo, de práticas responsáveis nos planos da equidade e da justiça social. Esta orientação justifica-se pelo facto de, para além do conhecimento de práticas emblemáticas, o nosso estudo visa a compreensão de contextos socioeconómicos marcados por grandes disparidades na distribuição dos indicadores de equidade económica e de justiça social e onde, portanto, práticas empresariais responsáveis poderiam ter um significado e um efeito importantes na perspetiva da transformação das situações. Na realização da pesquisa empírica, optámos pela região Norte de Minas Gerais, no Brasil. Optámos, ainda, pelo setor do téxtil, tendo em conta: a sua importância para a região; a sua interdependência entre níveis de responsabilidade diferentes; a grande abrangência das atividades económicas envolvidas; a distribuição da atividade por empresas de diferentes dimensões e escalas e o número importante de trabalhadores abrangidos. Esta escolha do setor e do território possibilitou a consideração de diferentes vetores de análise: os modos de produção; as dimensões de empresas; os níveis de implicação no processo de globalização; os modos de inserção na economia; os setores implicados na cadeia produtiva; os tipos de trabalho – responsável e irresponsável. Neste estudo, procura-se identificar as práticas responsáveis, de acordo com a tipologia que construímos, com intuito de elencar quais têm sido as boas (ou más) práticas das empresas no Norte de Minas na perspetiva da RSE. Isto significa que, em oposição às modalidades de prática que se ajustam à definição de RSE, se perfilam outras que não obedecem aos critérios da certificação, existindo ainda muitas que poderemos considerar de irresponsabilidade, à luz dos valores éticos e de justiça social promovidos pelo label RSE.

Historic and potential technology transition paths of grid battery storage: Co-evolution of energy grid, electric mobility and batteries

Scarcity of fuels, changes in environmental policy and in society increased the interest in generating electric energy from renewable energy sources (RES) for a sustainable energy supply in the future. The main problem of RES as solar and wind energy, which represent a main pillar of this transition, is that they cannot supply constant power output. This results inter alia in an increased demand of backup technologies as batteries to assure electricity system safety. The diffusion of energy storage technologies is highly dependent on the energy system and transport transition pathways which might lead to a replacement or reconfiguration of embedded socio-technical practices and regimes (by creating new standards or dominant designs, changing regulations, infrastructure and user patterns). The success of this technology is dependent on hardly predictable future technical advances, actor preferences, development of competing technologies and designs, diverging interests of actors, future cost efficiencies, environmental performance, the evolution of market demand and design and evolution of our society.

The World Health Organization Multi-Professional Patient Safety Curriculum : implementation of key modules and its impact on patient safety knowledge, skills, and attitudes of medical students at the University of Algarve

ABSTRACT - Objectives: We attempted to show how the implementation of the key elements of the World Health Organization Patient Safety Curriculum Guide Multi-professional Edition in an undergraduate curriculum affected the knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards patient safety in a graduate entry Portuguese Medical School. Methods: After receiving formal recognition by the WHO as a Complementary Test Site and approval of the organizational ethics committee , the validated pre-course questionnaires measuring the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to patient safety were administered to the 2nd and3rd year students pursuing a four-year course (N = 46). The key modules of the curriculum were implemented over the academic year by employing a variety of learning strategies including expert lecturers, small group problem-based teaching sessions, and Simulation Laboratory sessions. The identical questionnaires were then administered and the impact was measured. The Curriculum Guide was evaluated as a health education tool in this context. Results: A significant number of the respondents, 47 % (n = 22), reported having received some form of prior patient safety training. The effect on Patient Safety Knowledge was assessed by using the percentage of correct pre- and post-course answers to construct 2 × 2 contingency tables and by applying Fishers’ test (two-tailed). No significant differences were detected (p < 0.05). To assess the effect of the intervention on Patient Safety skills and attitudes, the mean and standard deviation were calculated for the pre and post-course responses, and independent samples were subjected to Mann-Whitney’s test. The attitudinal survey indicated a very high baseline incidence of desirable attitudes and skills toward patient safety. Significant changes were detected (p < 0.05) regarding what should happen if an error is made (p = 0.016), the role of healthcare organizations in error reporting (p = 0.006), and the extent of medical error (p = 0.005). Conclusions: The implementation of selected modules of the WHO Patient Safety Curriculum was associated with a number of positive changes regarding patient safety skills and attitudes, with a baseline incidence of highly desirable patient safety attitudes, but no measureable change on the patient safety knowledge, at the University of Algarve Medical School. The significance of these results is discussed along with implications and suggestions for future research.

A wave of change: Labor market and social security impacts of the EU refugee inflow

The recent massive inflow of refugees to the European Union (EU) raises a number of unanswered questions on the economic impact of this phenomenon. To examine these questions, we constructed an overlapping-generations model that describes the evolution of the skill premium and of the welfare benefit level in relevant European countries, in the aftermath of an inflow of asylum-seekers. In our simulation, relative wages of skilled workers increase between 8% and 11% in the period of the inflow; their subsequent time path is dependent on the initial skill premium. The entry of migrants creates a fiscal surplus of about 8%, which can finance higher welfare benefits in the subsequent periods. These effects are weaker in a scenario where refugees do not fully integrate into the labor market.

Assessing the role of social networks on migrant labor market outcomes: Evidence from a representative immigrant survey

What role do social networks play in determining migrant labor market outcomes? We examine this question using data from a random sample of 1500 immigrants living in Ireland. We propose a theoretical model formally predicting that immigrants with more contacts have additional access to job offers, and are therefore better able to become employed and choose higher paid jobs. Our empirical analysis confirms these findings, while focusing more generally on the relationship between migrants’ social networks and a variety of labor market outcomes (namely wages, employment, occupational choice and job security), contrary to the literature. We find evidence that having one more contact in the network is associated with an increase of 11pp in the probability of being employed and with an increase of about 100 euros in the average salary. However, our data is not suggestive of a network size effect on occupational choice and job security. Our findings are robust to sample selection and other endogeneity concerns.

Socio-demographic correlates of physical activity of European adults: A cross-sectional study from the European Social Survey

ABSTRACT - Background: From a public health perspective, the study of socio-demographic factors related to physical activity is important in order to identify subgroups for intervention programs. Purpose: This study also aimed to identify the prevalence and the socio-demographic correlates related with the achievement of recommended physical activity levels. Methods: Using data from the European Social Survey round 6, physical activity and socio-demographic characteristics were collected from 39278 European adults (18271 men, 21006 women), aged 18-64 years, from 28 countries in 2012. Meeting physical activity guidelines was assessed using World Health Organization criteria. Results: 64.50% (63.36% men, 66.49% women) attained physical activity recommended levels. The likelihood of attaining physical activity recommendations was higher in age group of 55-64 years (men: OR=1.22, p<0.05; women: OR=1.66, p<0.001), among those who had completed high school (men: OR=1.28, p<0.01; women: OR=1.26, p<0.05), among those who lived in rural areas (men: OR=1.20, p<0.001; women: OR=1.10, p<0.05), and among those who had 3 or more people living at home (men: OR=1.40, p<0.001; women: OR=1.43, p<0.001). On the other hand, attaining physical activity recommendations was negatively associated with being unemployed (men: OR=0.70, p<0.001; women: OR=0.87, p<0.05), being a student (men: OR=0.56, p<0.001; women: OR=0.64, p<0.01), being a retired person (men: OR=0.86, p<0.05) and with having a higher household income (OR=0.80, p<0.001; women: OR=0.81, p<0.01). Conclusion: This research helped clarify that, as the promotion of physical activity is critical to sustain health and prevent disease, socio-demographic factors are important to consider when planning the increase of physical activity.

O sistema prisional português no contexto da segurança pública

In actual context of multidimensional and complex interactions, public safety has been occupying more and more both rhetorical and political agendas and citizen’s concerns. People discuss the causes, crime combat, question the punishment and its implementation as a way of stop the the increasing criminality. Such as public safety, also prisons and prision systems as integral parts in coproduction safety have been taking the center of the discussions, which seeks to realize the preponderance of the portuguese prision system in the context of public safety.

Políticas integradas de protecção e promoção da saúde e segurança do trabalho nas empresas portuguesas

RESUMO - Foi construída uma tipologia com cinco grupos principais de políticas, programas e actividades: A (Higiene & Segurança no Trabalho/Melhoria do ambiente físico de trabalho); B (Avaliação de saúde/Vigilância médica/Prestação de cuidados de saúde); C (Prevenção de comportamentos de risco/ Promoção de estilos de vida saudáveis); D (Intervenções a nível organizacional/Melhoria do ambiente psicossocial de trabalho); E (Actividades e programas sociais e de bem-estar). Foi concebido e desenhado, para ser autoadministrado, um questionário sobre Política de Saúde no Local de Trabalho. Foram efectuados dois mailings, e um follow-up telefónico. O trabalho de campo decorreu entre a Primavera de 1997 e o Verão de 1998. A amostra (n = 259) é considerada representativa das duas mil maiores empresas do país. Uma em cada quatro era uma multinacional. A taxa de sindicalização rondava os 30% da população trabalhadora, mas apenas 16% dos respondentes assinalou a existência de representantes dos trabalhadores eleitos para a S&ST (abreviadamente, Saúde & Segurança do Trabalho). É o sistema de gestão integrado de S&ST, e não o tamanho da empresa ou outra característica sociodemográfica ou técnicoorganizacional, que permite predizer a existência de empresas, mais activas e inovadoras no domínio da protecção e promoção da saúde no trabalho.

Sistema de segurança interna : a unificação do sistema em Portugal

A aceleração do ritmo de mudança verificado nas sociedades atuais, tem sido impulsionado pela globalização, fenómeno decorrente da evolução das tecnologias da informação, das telecomunicações, das comunicações e transportes e do desaparecimento de fronteiras. Viver na “aldeia global” ou à escala global como o previu Marshall McLuhan (1964) no livro Understanding Media, é hoje uma realidade inquestionável. As consequências desta transformação foram múltiplas quer do ponto de vista dos benefícios, quer do ponto de vista dos problemas gerados. No plano da segurança, face ao multiculturalismo envolvido e ao aumento crescente do crime transfronteiriço, tornou-se essencial a partilha de informação a nível internacional tendo em vista o seu combate não só olhando a situação dos cidadãos como a defesa dos princípios democráticos. Realça-se que os progressos tecnológicos e as facilidades que criam aos seus utilizadores, neste caso os criminosos, fazem com que as ações por estes praticadas sejam cada vez mais meticulosas, imprevisíveis, sofisticadas e complexas o que impõe uma resposta correspondente e adequada. Por essa razão, as políticas de segurança existentes mostraram-se insuficientes e esgotadas requerendo novas respostas capazes de produzir os efeitos desejáveis para uma efetiva prevenção da criminalidade. Pelas dimensões que tem vindo a tomar, a criminalidade tornou-se uma preocupação que ultrapassou o domínio da segurança interna de cada país para ser encarada a nível internacional ou mesmo mundial. Para o efeito urge concertar processos e procedimentos securitários agregando vontades que convirjam e defendam a unificação dos sistemas dos países a nível mundial. A verificar-se tal intento, daí resultariam significativas melhorias da segurança a todos os níveis (nacional, internacional e mundial). Além disso também resultariam ganhos em termos de tempo, redução de custos, impacto na qualidade dos serviços prestados, na gestão das pessoas e na eficiência das organizações. Realça-se que a democracia ao promover a dignidade do homem densificando os seus direitos, liberdades e garantias, criou indiretamente condições para que fosse gerada instabilidade e o desenvolvimento de comportamentos criminosos. Importa, portanto, face à situação existente e à previsível complexidade do crime no futuro, estudar profundamente a nova realidade neste domínio, para tomar as medidas preventivas tendentes a reporem a estabilidade e a promoverem a paz social. Foi neste contexto que a presente investigação, desenvolvida no âmbito académico, mas também suportado na realidade profissional, pretendeu refletir sobre o estado da segurança global e dar o seu contributo nesta matéria.

Assessing the role of social networks on migrant labor market outcomes: Evidence from a representative immigrant survey

What role do social networks play in determining migrant labor market outcomes? We examine this question using data from a random sample of 1500 immigrants living in Ireland. We propose a theoretical model formally predicting that immigrants with more contacts have additional access to job offers, and are therefore better able to become employed and choose higher paid jobs. Our empirical analysis confirms these findings, while focusing more generally on the relationship between migrants’ social networks and a variety of labor market outcomes (namely wages, employment, occupational choice and job security), contrary to the literature. We find evidence that having one more contact in the network is associated with an increase of 11pp in the probability of being employed and with an increase of about 100 euros in the average salary. However, our data is not suggestive of a network size effect on occupational choice and job security. Our findings are robust to sample selection and other endogeneity concerns.

The characteristics of social entrepreneurship business models in Portugal

This work project is based on the MIES (Map of Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in Portugal) database and it aims to understand the characteristics of social business models in the context of the portuguese market, by determining whether they follow the proposed characteristics by John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan, and then adding to their matrix. Furthermore, it tries to determine success patterns by comparing a group of successful social ventures with a group of less successful ones, with the objective of increasing the knowledge of social entrepreneurship as it applies to Portugal and provide a framework for future study.