Information flows and environments in business contexts: the meat sector case of Salmanca/Spain

Organizational environments are related to hierarchic levels existing in a determined organization, and they influence in the formal and informal flows origin and in their monitoring and/or extinction. Informational environments are a result of organizational environments, of which focus is information and knowledge. Information flows are a fundamental element to informational environments, in a way that there´s no informational environments if there´s no information flows. Informational flows are natural reflections from their environments, in terms of content and in the way they occur. This qualitative and quantitative research was developed in three stages, in a way to allow the comprehension of the phenomena related to information and knowledge environments and information flows that occur in the meat sector from the Province of Salamanca, Spain. We used Laurence Bardin´s ‘Analysis of Content’, more specifically the ‘Categorical Analysis’ technique to data analysis. As data collection procedure we accomplished a field research, applying a questionnaire as an intentional sample of the meat industries segment from the Province of Salamanca, Spain. From data tabulation and analysis, we infer that information environments and flows are relevant to these companies business development, as well as we emphasized the need of information and knowledge management deployment, in a way to insure organizational processes quality, industrial chain production and companies competition to conquer potential markets.

Curso de pedagogia da Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de Salamanca/Espanha (2010): uma chave para reflexões

This was part of the post-doctorate study developed at the Faculty of Eucation in the University of Salamanca - Spain in 2010 with the Professor José Maria Hernández Díaz, who teaches the subject “History of Education” at the Pedagogy course provided by the institution. The objective of this reflection is to present some characteristics of that course, in order to highlight some of its peculiarities, and also indicate some similar issues when compared to Brazilian courses, thus producing a research useful for comparison and deepening of teacher’s training. The method was based on quali-quantitative nature (WOODS, 1996; BESSON, 1995): participant observation (EZPELETA; ROCKWELL, 1986; KETELE; ROEGIERS, 1993) and a questionnaire application (HEGENBERG, 1976; BOOTH; COLOMB; WILLIAMS, 1995) to the first and third classes in 2010, which resulted in a total of 99 students: 17 male and 82 female. This comparative information evinces the feminisation in that course, establishing direct relationship with Brazilian research. Another data, which has not yet been duly checked in Brazil, concerns the intellectual/social role of women in the classroom. Although this data is especific from that school environment, it is an important key-point for teachers’ training and teaching. The potentiality of this reflexition is exactly on this point.