La función social del lobbismo

En aquest treball es tracten alguns aspectes del lobbisme. El seu origen, la seva expansió, el seu significat i les diverses formes en les que es pot desenvolupar serveixen com a punt de partida. També es descriuen els principals subjectes del lobbisme y els llocs en els que s’ha convertit en un instrument clau. Al llarg de tot el treball, es va descobrint que el lobbisme es realment necessari i eficaç, ja que és l’activitat que permet una defensa legítima dels interessos de diversos col·lectius davant dels poders públics, de manera que civils, companyies y governs facin un apropament de postures a l’hora de legislar. La funció social del lobbisme és el tema sobre el que gira tota la investigació. La seva aportació a la societat passa per ser una eina de diàleg i representació davant del poder i una activitat vital pel benestar de qualsevol democràcia.

Estrategias de marcas del fabricante vs. marcas del distribuidor

La crisi econòmica d’aquests darrers anys ha marcat un important canvi en els hàbits de consum de les famílies espanyoles, aquestes han vist reduït el seu poder adquisitiu de forma significativa, la qual cosa s’ha traslladat directament al consum de productes en els supermercats. Davant aquesta situació, gran part dels consumidors s’han vist obligats a deixar de consumir “marques del fabricant”, i han passat a consumir “marques blanques” o “marques del distribuïdor”, amb la intenció de reduir la despesa familiar, intentant no alterar de forma significativa el seu nivell i qualitat de vida i la seva estabilitat econòmica.

En torno a los efectos de la edad en el aprendizaje escolar de una lengua extrangera

The purpose of this article is to treat a currently much debated issue, the effects of age on second language learning. To do so, we contrast data collected by our research team from over one thousand seven hundred young and adult learners with four popular beliefs or generalizations, which, while deeply rooted in this society, are not always corroborated by our data.Two of these generalizations about Second Language Acquisition (languages spoken in the social context) seem to be widely accepted: a) older children, adolescents and adults are quicker and more efficient at the first stages of learning than are younger learners; b) in a natural context children with an early start are more liable to attain higher levels of proficiency. However, in the context of Foreign Language Acquisition, the context in which we collect the data, this second generalization is difficult to verify due to the low number of instructional hours (a maximum of some 800 hours) and the lower levels of language exposure time provided. The design of our research project has allowed us to study differences observed with respect to the age of onset (ranging from 2 to 18+), but in this article we focus on students who began English instruction at the age of 8 (LOGSE Educational System) and those who began at the age of 11 (EGB). We have collected data from both groups after a period of 200 (Time 1) and 416 instructional hours (Time 2), and we are currently collecting data after a period of 726 instructional hours (Time 3). We have designed and administered a variety of tests: tests on English production and reception, both oral and written, and within both academic and communicative oriented approaches, on the learners' L1 (Spanish and Catalan), as well as a questionnaire eliciting personal and sociolinguistic information. The questions we address and the relevant empirical evidence are as follows: 1. "For young children, learning languages is a game. They enjoy it more than adults."Our data demonstrate that the situation is not quite so. Firstly, both at the levels of Primary and Secondary education (ranging from 70.5% in 11-year-olds to 89% in 14-year-olds) students have a positive attitude towards learning English. Secondly, there is a difference between the two groups with respect to the factors they cite as responsible for their motivation to learn English: the younger students cite intrinsic factors, such as the games they play, the methodology used and the teacher, whereas the older students cite extrinsic factors, such as the role of their knowledge of English in the achievement of their future professional goals. 2 ."Young children have more resources to learn languages." Here our data suggest just the opposite. The ability to employ learning strategies (actions or steps used) increases with age. Older learners' strategies are more varied and cognitively more complex. In contrast, younger learners depend more on their interlocutor and external resources and therefore have a lower level of autonomy in their learning. 3. "Young children don't talk much but understand a lot"This third generalization does seem to be confirmed, at least to a certain extent, by our data in relation to the analysis of differences due to the age factor and productive use of the target language. As seen above, the comparably slower progress of the younger learners is confirmed. Our analysis of interpersonal receptive abilities demonstrates as well the advantage of the older learners. Nevertheless, with respect to passive receptive activities (for example, simple recognition of words or sentences) no great differences are observed. Statistical analyses suggest that in this test, in contrast to the others analyzed, the dominance of the subjects' L1s (reflecting a cognitive capacity that grows with age) has no significant influence on the learning process. 4. "The sooner they begin, the better their results will be in written language"This is not either completely confirmed in our research. First of all, we perceive that certain compensatory strategies disappear only with age, but not with the number of instructional hours. Secondly, given an identical number of instructional hours, the older subjects obtain better results. With respect to our analysis of data from subjects of the same age (12 years old) but with a different number of instructional hours (200 and 416 respectively, as they began at the ages of 11 and 8), we observe that those who began earlier excel only in the area of lexical fluency. In conclusion, the superior rate of older learners appears to be due to their higher level of cognitive development, a factor which allows them to benefit more from formal or explicit instruction in the school context. Younger learners, however, do not benefit from the quantity and quality of linguistic exposure typical of a natural acquisition context in which they would be allowed to make use of implicit learning abilities. It seems clear, then, that the initiative in this country to begin foreign language instruction earlier will have positive effects only if it occurs in combination with either higher levels of exposure time to the foreign language, or, alternatively, with its use as the language of instruction in other areas of the curriculum.

En torno a los efectos de la edad en el aprendizaje escolar de una lengua extrangera

The purpose of this article is to treat a currently much debated issue, the effects of age on second language learning. To do so, we contrast data collected by our research team from over one thousand seven hundred young and adult learners with four popular beliefs or generalizations, which, while deeply rooted in this society, are not always corroborated by our data.Two of these generalizations about Second Language Acquisition (languages spoken in the social context) seem to be widely accepted: a) older children, adolescents and adults are quicker and more efficient at the first stages of learning than are younger learners; b) in a natural context children with an early start are more liable to attain higher levels of proficiency. However, in the context of Foreign Language Acquisition, the context in which we collect the data, this second generalization is difficult to verify due to the low number of instructional hours (a maximum of some 800 hours) and the lower levels of language exposure time provided. The design of our research project has allowed us to study differences observed with respect to the age of onset (ranging from 2 to 18+), but in this article we focus on students who began English instruction at the age of 8 (LOGSE Educational System) and those who began at the age of 11 (EGB). We have collected data from both groups after a period of 200 (Time 1) and 416 instructional hours (Time 2), and we are currently collecting data after a period of 726 instructional hours (Time 3). We have designed and administered a variety of tests: tests on English production and reception, both oral and written, and within both academic and communicative oriented approaches, on the learners' L1 (Spanish and Catalan), as well as a questionnaire eliciting personal and sociolinguistic information. The questions we address and the relevant empirical evidence are as follows: 1. "For young children, learning languages is a game. They enjoy it more than adults."Our data demonstrate that the situation is not quite so. Firstly, both at the levels of Primary and Secondary education (ranging from 70.5% in 11-year-olds to 89% in 14-year-olds) students have a positive attitude towards learning English. Secondly, there is a difference between the two groups with respect to the factors they cite as responsible for their motivation to learn English: the younger students cite intrinsic factors, such as the games they play, the methodology used and the teacher, whereas the older students cite extrinsic factors, such as the role of their knowledge of English in the achievement of their future professional goals. 2 ."Young children have more resources to learn languages." Here our data suggest just the opposite. The ability to employ learning strategies (actions or steps used) increases with age. Older learners' strategies are more varied and cognitively more complex. In contrast, younger learners depend more on their interlocutor and external resources and therefore have a lower level of autonomy in their learning. 3. "Young children don't talk much but understand a lot"This third generalization does seem to be confirmed, at least to a certain extent, by our data in relation to the analysis of differences due to the age factor and productive use of the target language. As seen above, the comparably slower progress of the younger learners is confirmed. Our analysis of interpersonal receptive abilities demonstrates as well the advantage of the older learners. Nevertheless, with respect to passive receptive activities (for example, simple recognition of words or sentences) no great differences are observed. Statistical analyses suggest that in this test, in contrast to the others analyzed, the dominance of the subjects' L1s (reflecting a cognitive capacity that grows with age) has no significant influence on the learning process. 4. "The sooner they begin, the better their results will be in written language"This is not either completely confirmed in our research. First of all, we perceive that certain compensatory strategies disappear only with age, but not with the number of instructional hours. Secondly, given an identical number of instructional hours, the older subjects obtain better results. With respect to our analysis of data from subjects of the same age (12 years old) but with a different number of instructional hours (200 and 416 respectively, as they began at the ages of 11 and 8), we observe that those who began earlier excel only in the area of lexical fluency. In conclusion, the superior rate of older learners appears to be due to their higher level of cognitive development, a factor which allows them to benefit more from formal or explicit instruction in the school context. Younger learners, however, do not benefit from the quantity and quality of linguistic exposure typical of a natural acquisition context in which they would be allowed to make use of implicit learning abilities. It seems clear, then, that the initiative in this country to begin foreign language instruction earlier will have positive effects only if it occurs in combination with either higher levels of exposure time to the foreign language, or, alternatively, with its use as the language of instruction in other areas of the curriculum.

¿Cultura como último recurso para el servicio público? : Uso del término “cultura” en los documentos legislativos e institucionales de la CCMA y la RTVA

En una coyuntura en la que la pervivencia de los servicios públicos (de radiodifusión) es cuestionada a diario, la función cultural de éstos es presentada como elemento diferenciador fundamental con respecto a los medios públicos y por ende, razón para su supervivencia. Esta circunstancia ha propiciado que se haya extendido el uso del término cultura en todo lo relativo a los medios públicos, aunque no se haga explícita su definición. Con este trabajo nos proponemos aproximarnos al uso de “cultura” que presentan los textos legislativos e institucionales de dos corporaciones públicas autonómicas: la CCMA y la RTVA.

El tratamiento informativo en la decisión dela sede olímpica 2016 : Análisis del tratamiento informativo del Jornal Nacional: una aproximación a la espectacularización de la información

Análisis del Tratamiento Informativo del Jornal Nacional en Brasil en la decisión de la sede olímpica 2016. Una aproximación al estudio de las principales tendencias de la Información en TV, análisis de los contenidos informativos de televisión, desde de la perspectiva de la Espectacularización de la Información. Relación Medios de Comunicación y Juegos Olímpicos.

Cross-country differences in disclosure quality: a study of fair value disclosures by european real estate companies

Companies are under IAS 40 required to report fair values of investment properties on the balance sheet or to disclose them in the notes. The standard requires also that companies have to disclose the methods and significant assumptions applied in determining fair values of investment properties. However, IAS 40 does not include any illustrative examples or other guidance on how to apply the disclosure requirements. We use a sample with publicly traded companies from the real estate sector in the EU. We find that a majority of the companies use income based methods for the measurement of fair values but there are considerable cross-country variations in the level of disclosures about the assumptions used in determining fair values. More specifically, we find that Scandinavian and German origin companies disclose more than French and English origin companies. We also test whether disclosure quality is associated with enforcement quality measured with the “Rule of Law” index according to Kaufmann et al. (2010), and associated with a secrecy- versus transparency-measure based on Gray (1988). We find a positive association between disclosure and earnings quality and a negative association with secrecy.

Why not all young firms invest in R&D

This article aims to analyze the different impact that some factors may exert on the probability that a small young firm invests intensively in R&D. Recently, an increasing amount of the literature makes reference to the vital role played by a small number of young firms in generating jobs and increasing efficiency levels. However, not all new firms invest in R&D. Departing from the definition of YICs (firms younger than 6 years old, fewer than 250 employees and with more than 15% of their revenues invested in R&D activities), and with an extensive sample of the Spanish Community Innovation Survey between 2004- 2010, we try to determine: i) those factors that cause firms to become YICs (innovative young small firms) or YNICs (moderately innovative young small firms); ii) what is the difference in the impact of those factors between YICs and YNICs. Our results show that factors such as initial innovation capacity and cooperation in R&D projects enhance the probability of becoming a YIC. Nevertheless, factors such as export potential and market uncertainty may influence the decision to invest moderately and become a YNIC. Keywords: Innovation, Policy, YICs. JEL Classifications: O31, D21

La Memoria en anuncios publicitarios y su posible aplicabilidad en el contexto escolar

La memoria es un proceso psicológico de gran importancia en la adquisición de mensajes publicitarios. Estudios previos han mostrado el valor de la memoria explícita o estratégica y de la memoria implícita. Otra variable que puede afectar al recuerdo es la disponibilidad de tiempo para el repaso de los estímulos presentados. Con el objetivo de verificar el efecto de la codificación y recuperación extrínsecas, así como del tiempo de exposición, se realizó un experimento con 84 estudiantes de Ciencias de la Información, que fueron asignados aleatoriamente a tres grupos. Se les presentó una serie de 30 anuncios publicitarios repartidos en tres listas que diferían en el tiempo de exposición. Los resultados muestran que los primeros y los últimos anuncios son los más recordados y que disminuye el recuerdo de los anuncios presentados en los primeros lugares, a medida que aumenta el tiempo de exposición de los mismos. Se interpretan los resultados en relación con la literatura previa y su posible aplicación al contexto escolar.

El crowdfunding: Claves para la financiación colectiva de un álbum musical en la plataforma de internet ‘Verkami’

El estudio tiene por objeto, la comprensión de la forma en que los artistas llevan a cabo sus proyectos, el conocimiento de las razones del uso del crowdfunding y la importancia de dicha práctica en la viabilidad del proyecto. La obtención de una visión amplia del desarrollo del fenómeno en el ámbito musical de España, atendiendo a las tendencias existentes y a qué tipo de artistas recurren a dicha práctica y el entendimiento del modelo de funcionamiento de ‘Verkami’: sus características, requisitos y los motivos de su elección frente a otras plataformas.

Using MILP to plan holidays and working hours under an annualised hours agreement

Annualising work hours (AH) is a means of achievement flexibility in the use of human resources to face the seasonal nature of demand. In Corominas et al. (1) two MILP models are used to solve the problem of planning staff working hours with annual horizon. The costs due to overtime and to the employment of temporary workers are minimised, and the distribution of working time over the course of the year for each worker and the distribution of working time provided by temporary workers are regularised.In the aforementioned paper, the following is assumed: (i) the holiday weeks are fixed a priori and (ii) the workers are from different categories who are able to perform specific type of task have se same efficiency; moreover, the values of the binary variables (and others) in the second model are fixed to those in the first model (thus, in the second model these will intervene as constants and not as variables, resulting in an LP model).In the present paper, these assumptions are relaxed and a more general problem is solved. The computational experiment leads to the conclusion that MILP is a technique suited to dealing with the problem.

Sistema de gestió Sauleda pastissers

Sauleda Pastissers, és un negoci familiar que es remunta al 1969. A data d'avui la Pastisseria consta de 5 botigues en diferents pobles del Maresme, elcentre de producció està ubicat al Polígon Industrial Sot de les Vernedes de Sant Cebrià de Vallalta que distribueix la producció a la resta de botigues.A part de les botigues, Sauleda Pastissers ofereix servei de càtering per a qualsevol tipus d'esdeveniment. La finalitat del sistema de gestió, que es presenta en aquest projecte final de carrera ésdisposar d'una eina que ajudi a l'organització, producció i control del dia a dia de Sauleda Pastissers.L'objectiu d'aquest projecte és desenvolupar l'anàlisi, disseny i implementació d'un sistema web multi plataforma que sigui escalable per a noves funcionalitats, que cobreixi al màxim, les necessitats funcionals del negoci, des del punt de vista informàtic i que pugui ser accessible per a dispositius mòbils tipus tablet

Sistema de gestió Sauleda pastissers

Sauleda Pastissers, és un negoci familiar que es remunta al 1969. A data d'avui la Pastisseria consta de 5 botigues en diferents pobles del Maresme, elcentre de producció està ubicat al Polígon Industrial Sot de les Vernedes de Sant Cebrià de Vallalta que distribueix la producció a la resta de botigues.A part de les botigues, Sauleda Pastissers ofereix servei de càtering per a qualsevol tipus d'esdeveniment. La finalitat del sistema de gestió, que es presenta en aquest projecte final de carrera ésdisposar d'una eina que ajudi a l'organització, producció i control del dia a dia de Sauleda Pastissers.L'objectiu d'aquest projecte és desenvolupar l'anàlisi, disseny i implementació d'un sistema web multi plataforma que sigui escalable per a noves funcionalitats, que cobreixi al màxim, les necessitats funcionals del negoci, des del punt de vista informàtic i que pugui ser accessible per a dispositius mòbils tipus tablet

El análisis de la comunicación, en todos sus vectores, de la marca Custo – Barcelona, España 2010 – 2013

El present projecte final de carrera analitza dos aspectes importants que influeixen en la societat actual, la Moda i la Comunicació, i intenta ser una eina útil per entendre la relació existent entre tots dos. En concret s’ha realitzat el estudi amb el fenòmen Custo Barcelona en tots els seus aspectes. La considerada firma espanyola ha aconseguit posicionar-se com un referent en innovació, tant en les seves tècniques tèxtils com en termes de marketing i comunicació, i aconsegueix crear un sentiment de pertinença a la marca per l’exclusivitat en les seves accions. D’aquesta manera, podem parlar de “Custofilosofía”.

Lovemarks. Las claves por las que Apple se ha convertido en la marca que más pasiones levanta

En aquest treball es posa en context l'evolució de les marques i els consumidors, la seva relació a través del branding i el branding emocional. Els dos aspectes més importants són l'anàlisi del concepte de Lovemark i de la marca Apple. El treball queda recolzat amb l'elaboració d'una enquesta per confirmar la hipòtesi: "La passió per Apple va més enllà dels productes que llancin".