From free software to free culture: the emergence of open business

This paper provides an examination of the emergence of open business models — entrepreneurial strategies that take advantage of the ease of digital reproduction to distribute free content, while earning money from the sale of related products and services. Locating the origins of open business in the open source software phenomenon, the authors suggest that the business strategies innovated there have broader economic relevance. Through a case study of the tecnobrega music scene in Belém, the paper illustrates how open business models can be applied to the production of cultural materials more generally

Processo de escolha de bancos de imagens: aplicações no marketing business to business

The general objective of this research is to verify which attributes are most relevant to a stock photography agency that represent the purchaser's standards of choice. For this objective to be accomplished, qualitative interviews with the customers of stock photography agencies had been made in order to raise the attributes considered with relevance in the process of choice for the Brazilian stock photography agency market. The levels of each attribute to be tested had arisen through the mapping of the products and services offered by the competition and the relative weight assigned to each one of the attributes related to the research in the choices for a stock photography agency. A transversal study was made with a sample of stock photography agencies customers from Brazil¿s Southeastern region. For the analysis of this data, a survey method was used, that, according to MALHOTRA (2006: 182), involves a structuralized questionnaire to be answered by an interview that elucidates specific information, in which the questions had a predetermined order. This questionnaire was presented through interviews on the Internet. The method adopted for this analysis was a joint analysis. A sampling of 1000 customer stock photography agencies were selected, which were represented by a didactic book editor, advertising agencies, editorial companies, etc., in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais. They had been obtained by 16 stimulations, or cards, for the application of the companies. Of the sample of 1000 customers of stock photography agencies, 7,8% responded to the research. The attribute most relevant in accordance with the presented results is the availability of images in high resolution for layout. Its relative importance was 40,78%. At the end of the study, the management implications were propitiated to the stock photography agencies managers inabling them to be more competitive.

Barriers faced by the Brazilian business community to access the United States market system

Trade history between Brazil and the United States is long and complicated but it is only in recent years that the trade balance has become more equal in terms of both imports and exports. As Brazil continues to establish its position in the world economy and expand its export market it is only natural that it seeks to increase exports to its single largest trading partner, the United States, and maintain the market share already established. In order to achieve success in these regards Brazil must have a deep understanding of the American political economy system. Part of this entails understanding barriers that must be overcome by Brazilian businesses to access United States markets, particularly the access of certain products at the industry level.

Business To Business (B2B) Service Processes: An Approach To Customer Complaint Process Evaluation Towards Service Excellence

Trabalho de Dissertação que identifica as decisões estratégicas relacionadas com a estrutura de gestão de serviços, no contexto de tratamento de reclamações. Os temas de recuperação de serviços e gestão de reclamações são discutidos e são listadas as melhores práticas com o objetivo de prover qualidade de serviço excelente. Este trabalho apresenta uma revisão da literatura sobre gestão de serviços e sua estratégia, e sobre valor aos clientes e sua satisfação. Qualidade de Serviço, Recuperação de Serviço e Gestão de Reclamações são revistos, também para contextualizar o processo de tratamento de reclamações de uma empresa do ramo industrial em ambiente de negócios entre empresas (business to business), cujos dados foram utilizados para construção do modelo de simulação de um processo de tratamento de reclamações. Os resultados desta simulação, junto com o suporte de um questionário sobre tratamento de reclamações, proveram pontos de reflexão e recomendações sobre desenho da estrutura de serviços e de seu desempenho, voltados para a satisfação dos clientes.

Migração de valor do produto para o cliente: estratégia aplicada ao comércio eletrônico business-to-consumer

Analisa as opções estratégicas para as empresas de comércio eletrônico que vendem produtos e serviços a consumidores finais. Formula um modelo de desenho estratégico baseado em 4 pontos: atenção, confiança, personalização e fidelidade. Aplica o modelo proposto na análise do sucesso do modelo de negócios da empresa Amazon.com.

A construção de uma marca corporativa global no sucesso da internacionalização: um desafio às empresas brasileiras do segmento business to business

Considerando o crescente número de empresas brasileiras que tem investido em unidades operacionais no exterior e a necessidade de criar a identidade de uma corporação transnacional, esta pesquisa objetivou explorar a existência e a influência de um processo estruturado de construção de marca corporativa global por parte de empresas transnacionais brasileiras do segmento business to business. Um estudo múltiplo de casos foi realizado entre cinco empresas significativas listadas no ranking de transnacionalidade. Ao final desta pesquisa, foi possível verificar que embora todas as empresas estudadas afirmarem possuir um processo de construção de marca corporativa global, tal fato não se confirmou. Também verificou-se que o nível de maturidade do processo entre as empresas é diverso, bem como a sua importância no sucesso da internacionalização, diante das características distintas das corporações estudadas. Uma série de dificuldades neste processo, bem como as soluções adotadas e propostas são indicadas. A relevância dos diversos stakeholders no Brasil e no exterior no processo de internacionalização foi analisada, e entre as empresas estudadas não houve uma forte distinção destes no Brasil e no exterior. Verificou-se haver aderência entre os processos espontâneos de construção de marca corporativa das empresas e as linhas de pensamento dos pesquisadores estudados, existindo peculiaridades na maneira em como o processo se estabelece e em como a identidade corporativa se expressa.

The Culture of entrepreneurship: a study of the entrepreneurial motivation and attitudes towards business creation in the UAE in comparison to the US and Brazil

This study demonstrates the cultural dimension and the surrounding environment of different entrepreneurs selected from three countries, the United States of America, the Federative Republic of Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates. The general objective is to understand the difference in the entrepreneurial motives and spirit towards venture creation from the three different countries. After conducting field research and collecting the required data, a deep analysis was conducted to draw a comparison between the three cultures from an individual’s point of view, to help shape a set of proposed recommendations, which could be used to improve the current culture of entrepreneurship in the UAE.

Which strategies can an educational business, such as a kindergarten in Germany, develop to foster employee engagement?

Which strategies can an educational business, such as a Kindergarten in Germany, develop to foster employee engagement? The goal of this master thesis is to identify effective and viable measures to engage employees, that could be potentially implemented in a Kindergarten in Germany. The literature concerning the notion of employee engagement is so inconsistent that even studies about the subject fail to find one common definition and have to acknowledge the variety of existing definitions (IES, 2014, p.52-53). This reflects the youth of the concept, which has only been partially studied by academics and practitioners in recent years. The literature gap about employee engagement concerns many aspects, among which small companies and educational businesses, in particular those focusing on early child development. Considering the low levels of employee engagement in Germany combined with the absence of studies on educational organizations focusing in early child development this master thesis studies engagement in German Kindergärten(s). This master thesis is divided in two parts consisting of a literature review and a case study. The literature review allows to follow the evolution of the concept along the years, while the case study focuses on assessing employee engagement in Montessori Kindergärten(s) in Munich & elaborating potential measures to increase engagement levels. Double sided research was undertaken for this case study. On the one hand a quantitative research was performed, through a survey, in order to uncover which strategies would be viable to foster employee engagement. On the other hand a qualitative research was undertaken, consisting in an internship in a Kindergarten, in order to shed light on how to do so. Findings in the quantitative research indicate overall engagement levels average to low. Results related to specific statements bring out the originality of the educational sector, which is in some aspects intrinsically engaging, similarly to the medical field (Seijts & Crim, 2006). Furthermore low engagement levels led to a conversely high number of positives responses to potential engagement strategies suggesting their potential effectiveness. Findings in the qualitative research are coherent with qualitative results and complement them