Voice over IP 2.0: an analysis of limits and potential of IP2IP telecommunication

Internet Telephony (VoIP) is changing the telecommunication industry. Oftentimes free, VoIP is becoming more and more popular amongst users. Large software companies have entered the market and heavily invest into it. In 2011, for instance, Microsoft bought Skype for 8.5bn USD. This trend increasingly impacts the incumbent telecommunication operators. They see their main source of revenue – classic telephony – under siege and disappear. The thesis at hand develops a most-likely scenario in order to determine how VoIP is evolving further and it predicts, based on a ten-year forecast, the impact it will have on the players in the telecommunication industry.The paper presents a model combining Rogers’ diffusion and Christensen’s innovation research. The model has the goal of explaining the past evolution of VoIP and to isolate the factors that determine the further diffusion of the innovation. Interviews with industry experts serve to assess how the identified factors are evolving.Two propositions are offered. First, VoIP operators are becoming more important in international, corporate, and mobile telephony. End-to-end VoIP (IP2IP) will exhibit strong growth rates and increasingly cannibalize the telephony revenues of the classic operators. Second, fix-net telephony in SMEs and at home will continue to be dominated by the incumbents. Yet, as prices for telephony fall towards zero also they will implement IP2IP in order to save costs. By 2022, up to 90% of the calls will be IP2IP. The author recommends the incumbents and VoIP operators to proactively face the change, to rethink their business strategies, and to even be open for cooperation.

Os efeitos da descontinuidade das entradas de caixa numa empresa de construção civil de grande porte

Este estudo está inserido num tópico que têm recebido muita atenção por parte da literatura financeira atualmente, principalmente porque, a partir da publicação da lei 11 .308 de 13 de julho de 2007, tomou obrigatorio a puplicação da demonstração do fluxo de caixa, em substituíçaõ da à demonstração das origens e aplicação dos recursos. O fluxo de caixa deve ser tratado como um grande instrumento gerencial que permite identificar a maneira como o dinheiro circula na empresa, ou seja identifica qual é o grau de liquidez, mostrando a posição financeira da empresa de maneira a estabelecer tendências sobre as eventuais sobras ou falta de recursos. A finalidade do fluxo de caixa realizado é mostrar como se comportaram as entradas e as saídas de recursos financeiros da empresa em detenninado penodo. O estudo cuidadoso do fluxo de caIxa realizado, além de propicIar análise de tendência, serve de base para o planejamento do fluxo projetado. O objetivo principal do estudo é fazer uma análise do volume de perdas financeiras ao longo do período compreendido entre 1996 a 2008. As perdas financeiras que nos referimos, ocorreram devido ao atraso de pagamento por parte do cliente gerando a necessidade de aumento do capital de giro, causado pela grande diferença de prazo entre o ciclo de caixa projetado (ideal) comparado ao ciclo de caixa real. O presente trabalho foi realizado em uma empresa de grande porte no setor da construção civil. O trabalho realizado foi o de comparar o ciclo de caixa planejado versus o ciclo de caixa real, determinando assim o montante de perdas financeiras que foi de R$ 48,46 milhões de reais atualizados para o final do período analisado, representando uma redução da rentabilidade em 3,26%. Palavras-chave: Fluxo de caixa. Capital de giro. Ciclo de caixa projetado. Ciclo de caixa real.

Ecommerce as internationalization strategy: an exploratory study based on premium fashion brazilian brands: case study of farfetch

As stated by Hoffmann and Coste-Manière (2012) “The web is a mass medium that contrast completely with the traditional codes of exclusivity associated with the luxury industry, and has long been simply rejected by the luxury industry for being an illegitimate distribution channel.” Meanwhile this market presents an incomparable pace of growth and is gradually changing the existing retailing business model and companies must be aware of this change and capable to adapt to it. The internet and cross-border sales already changed the competition throughout retailing and it will increase even more, so companies must be ready to face it. Internet has shown its great opportunity for all markets, although luxury/premium market is not yet taking the proper advantage of its potential, but the necessity to be an omnichannel business strategy is growing. This paper presents an exploratory research based on a case study of how premium fashion Brazilian brands are using Farfetch, e-commerce, as an entry market strategy and how this affects them. The research question of this study is: How is Farfetch helping on the internationalization of Brazilian premium fashion brands?, and in order to answer it was conducted an in-depth interview with the Brazilian head of business development of Farfetch, apart an extensive secondary data research. As expected the study found a list of trade-offs of using an e-commerce, luxury specialized, with a marketplace approach to the brands willing to internationalize. As stated by Altagamma and McKinsey (2015) study “[...] luxury brands have no choice but to embrace the digital era and become truly omnichannel. This will require them a radical rethinking of both their customer experience of their consumer engagement strategy.” Looking either from the Farfetch point of view, trying to understand why they offer this opportunity to the brands, or also from the brand side if this is a manageable approach. This study presents a contribution for both sides, trying to give tools to the brands on understanding the internationalization reasons and approach, as well as explaining Farfetch business model, and the advantages it can bring to them, at the same time of a general market trend analysis for Farfecth.

Social security effects on income distribution: a counterfactual analysis for Brazil

According to Diamond (1977), one of the reasons for the existence of social security systems is that they function as an income redistribution mechanism. There is an extensive literature that tests whether social security systems produce the desired results in developed countries (mainly for the U.S.A.). Nevertheless, there is not an obvious consensus about this social security property and there is little evidence for developing countries. In this article, we test this property for the Brazilian Social Security System. In addition, we also look at another question which has not been answered yet in the previous literature. Is the trend of social security systems increasingly progressive or regressive? We conclude that the changes in Brazilian Social Security legislation reduced inequality between 1987 and 1996, but only for the elderly. For the other age groups, there is a stable trend. Results for the period between 1996 and 2006 reveal that the Brazilian system is neutral for all cohorts. Therefore, we found out that social security systems are not an effective mechanism for income redistribution, as predicted by previous studies.