Economic analysis of occupational risk prevention: a case study in a textile company

Work accidents affect business and society as a whole. Fewer accidents mean fewer sick leaves, which results in lower costs and less disruption in the production process, with clear advantages for the employer. But workers and their households bear also a significant burden following a work accident, only partially compen-sated by insurance systems. Furthermore, the consequences of work accidents to the State and Society need also to be considered. When an organization performs an integrated risk analysis in evaluating its Occupational Health and Safety Management System, several steps are suggested to address the identified risk situations. Namely, to avoid risks, a series of preventive measures are identified. The organization should make a detailed analysis of the monetary impact (positive or negative) for the organization of each of the measures considered. Particularly, it is also important to consider the impact of each measure on society, involving an adequate eco-nomic cost-benefit analysis. In the present paper, a case study in a textile finishing company is presented. The study concentrates on the dyeing and printing sections. For each of the potential risks, several preventive measures have been identified and the corresponding costs and benefits have been estimated. Subsequently, the Benefit/Cost ratio (B/C) of these measures has been calculated, both in financial terms (from the organisa-tion’s perspective) and in economic terms (including the benefits for the worker and for the Society). Results show that, while the financial analysis in terms of the company does not justify the preventive measures, when the externalities are taken into account, the B/C ratio increases significantly and investments are fully justified.

O IMPACTO FINANCEIRO DAS AUDITORIAS DA QUALIDADE NAS EMPRESAS PORTUGUESAS

This paper discusses the main theme the financial implications that Portuguese companies with the implementation and subsequent certification of the Quality System and respective Quality Audits. The literature review shows that companies do not publish financial results on the subject in question, making it necessary to acquire information through a questionnaire. About 126 questionnaires were sent. Our sample is however 32 validados.Pode to complete questionnaires that the top 5 overall benefits or indirect financial benefits for Portuguese companies were, respectively: improving internal organization; improving the company's image; increasing customer satisfaction; continuous improvement in customer service; improving competitive position. In terms of direct financial benefits the 3 main benefits obtained by the companies were: turnover increase; Performance (cost reduction); Increased business productivity. So it is expected to contribute to the knowledge of the impact, notably financial of Quality Management Systems and respective audits in Portuguese companies.

The impact of size and age of the company on assessing financial risk.

Textiles and tourism sectors are two important sectors in Portuguese economy. Its high exposure to both internal and international economy volatility transform the companies operating in these economic sectors especially vulnerable to recent economic crises in Portugal and European Union. The objective of this paper is to evaluate and understand the impact of size and age on the financial health of textile and tourism companies, measured by economic indices. An empirical based model is proposed. Its implications are derived and tested on a sample of 4061 Portuguese companies from textile and tourism sector, during the period 2005-2009. The results conclude that age has a stronger impact on the risk of failure than size. Whereas the effect of age is generally positive regarding the financial health of the company, the effect of size is less clear and depends on the age of the company.

Theory of reasoned action for continuous improvement capabilities: a behavioral approach

The importance of interaction between Operations Management (OM) and Human Behavior has been recently re-addressed. This paper introduced the Reasoned Action Theory suggested by Froehle and Roth (2004) to analyze Operational Capabilities exploring the suitability of this model in the context of OM. It also seeks to discuss the behavioral aspects of operational capabilities from the perspective of organizational routines. This theory was operationalized using Fishbein and Ajzen (F/A) behavioral model and a multi-case strategy was employed to analyze the Continuous Improvement (CI) capability. The results posit that the model explains partially the CI behavior in an operational context and some contingency variables might influence the general relations among the variables involved in the F/A model. Thus intention might not be the determinant variable of behavior in this context.

The impact of improvement of water supply and sanitation facilities on diarrhea and intestinal parasites: a Brazilian experience with children in two low-income urban communities

During the second half of 1986 the impact of the improvement of water supply and excreta disposal facilities on diarrheal diseases and intestinal parasitosis was studied in 254 children up to six years of age from two favelas (shanty towns) of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The estimated incidence of diarrhea was 6.2 episodes/child year and the estimated period prevalence reached 31.0 episode days/ child/ year. The point prevalence of parasitosis was 70.7% (Ascaris lumbricoides: 55.4%, Trichuris trichiura: 19.6%, Giardia lamblia: 17.9%). The estimated prevalence of diarrhea decreased with improvement of water supply and sanitation facilities to 45% and 44% respectively, but no statistically significant impact was observed in the case of parasitosis. School education and weaning practice were found to be other important determinants of diarrhea.

Implementação de sistemas da qualidade numa empresa de transporte rodoviário fraccionado de mercadorias: indicadores de competitividade

A certificação deixou de ser “apenas” uma vantagem competitiva para passar a ser um critério seleccionador de empresas diferenciando-as das concorrentes. O conceito de melhoria contínua subjacente à norma ISO 9001 transmite para o mercado a imagem de empresas capazes de satisfazer e superar as exigências dos clientes, direccionando todos os colaboradores para esse objectivo comum. O sector dos Transportes aderiu em força a esta inovação mostrando interesse em melhorar a qualidade do serviço prestado e dos processos. O objectivo deste estudo é contribuir para a avaliação da implementação do Sistema de Gestão da Qualidade (SGQ) ISO 9001:2008 numa empresa de Transportes rodoviários de mercadorias porta a porta (TRMPP) – também designado por Transporte Fraccionado de Mercadorias. Elaborou-se um questionário a clientes construindo-se os indicadores de forma a identificar pontos fortes e pontos fracos no sentido da melhoria contínua da qualidade. Destacam-se a competitividade relativamente às devoluções, grau de satisfação relativamente à competitividade geral, classificação do serviço prestado pelos motoristas/ ajudantes. Conclui-se que a principal razão que levou a empresa a implementar o SGQ foi a necessidade de responder a alguns requisitos nomeadamente concursos públicos onde implicitamente existem indicadores de satisfação dos clientes e outros de melhoria da qualidade do produto/serviço. Durante o processo de implementação do SGQ, surgiram dificuldades relacionadas essencialmente com o tempo necessário para tratar de burocracias e com os custos da Qualidade. Concluiu-se ainda que a Gestão de topo, os Directores e os Chefes de Secção, são os principais responsáveis pela detecção e correcção de não conformidades, bem como a empresa que implementou novos métodos de motivação dos colaboradores, destacando a formação e a comunicação.

New p-i-n Si : H imager configuration for spatial resolution improvement

Amorphous glass/ZnO-Al/p(a-Si:H)/i(a-Si:H)/n(a-Si1-xCx:H)/Al imagers with different n-layer resistivities were produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition technique (PE-CVD). An image is projected onto the sensing element and leads to spatially confined depletion regions that can be readout by scanning the photodiode with a low-power modulated laser beam. The essence of the scheme is the analog readout, and the absence of semiconductor arrays or electrode potential manipulations to transfer the information coming from the transducer. The influence of the intensity of the optical image projected onto the sensor surface is correlated with the sensor output characteristics (sensitivity, linearity blooming, resolution and signal-to-noise ratio) are analysed for different material compositions (0.5 < x < 1). The results show that the responsivity and the spatial resolution are limited by the conductivity of the doped layers. An enhancement of one order of magnitude in the image intensity signal and on the spatial resolution are achieved at 0.2 mW cm(-2) light flux by decreasing the n-layer conductivity by the same amount. A physical model supported by electrical simulation gives insight into the image-sensing technique used.

Análise crítica ao processo de auditoria da qualidade

Dissertação apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Contabilidade para a obtenção do Grau deMestre em Auditoria Orientada por Alcina Augusta de Sena Portugal Dias

Os benefícios e as dificuldades na certificação da qualidade: Norma NP EN ISO 9001:2008

Dissertação apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Assessoria de Administração

Improving management skills through business simulation

A survey was conducted among students of the Accounting and Administration undergraduate degree at ISCAP – IPP (School of Accounting and Administration of Polytechnic Institute of Porto) in order to understand their perception value of their course Business Simulation (BS). This course is provided in a business environment where students can learn by doing through the management of a company as they were in the real life, but risk-free. The learning tasks are provided in an action-oriented format to maximize the learning process. Students learn by doing a set of tasks every session and have also to produce reports and presentations during the course. BS is part of the undergraduate degree of Accounting and Administration at ISCAP – IPP since the beginning of 2003. The questionnaire we used captured the students’ perception about general and specific skills and competencies considered important for managers and accountants in the real life, about the methodology used in the course, which is totally different from the traditional form, and also about the adequacy of the course included as part of the undergraduate degree. The results showed that students’ perception is highly positive and almost all of them think they improve the skills needed for a job during the course. These results are consistent with [1] Adler and Milne’s research in which the authors found that students agree with the use of action-oriented learning tasks in order to provide them the needed attitudes, skills, and knowledge. The improvement of group skills is the most important issue for students, which can be understandable as BS is the only course from the degree in Accounting and Administration they really have to work in groups.

Inovação no modelo de negócio: o caso do setor grossista alimentar em Portugal

Dissertação apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Contabilidade para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Empreendedorismo e Internacionalização Orientada por Professor Doutor José de Freitas Santos

Fatores influenciadores da gestão da qualidade e independência do auditor: um estudo de caso

Dissertação apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Contabilidade para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Auditoria Orientada por: Doutora Alcina Dias

MASCEM improvement for agent based coalitions

This paper presents MASCEM - Multi-Agent Simulator for Electricity Markets improvement towards an enlarged model for Seller Agents coalitions. The simulator has been improved, both regarding its user interface and internal structure. The OOA, used as development platform, version was updated and the multi-agent model was adjusted for implementing and testing several negotiations regarding Seller agents’ coalitions. Seller coalitions are a very important subject regarding the increased relevance of Distributed Generation under liberalised electricity markets.

Mass spectrometry improvement on an high current ion implanter

The development of accurate mass spectrometry, enabling the identification of all the ions extracted from the ion source in a high current implanter is described. The spectrometry system uses two signals (x-y graphic), one proportional to the magnetic field (x-axes), taken from the high-voltage potential with an optic fiber system, and the other proportional to the beam current intensity (y-axes), taken from a beam-stop. The ion beam mass register in a mass spectrum of all the elements magnetically analyzed with the same radius and defined by a pair of analyzing slits as a function of their beam intensity is presented. The developed system uses a PC to control the displaying of the extracted beam mass spectrum, and also recording of all data acquired for posterior analysis. The operator uses a LabView code that enables the interfacing between an I/O board and the ion implanter. The experimental results from an ion implantation experiment are shown. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tratamento de cor em pós-produção televisiva: o caso da produtora de conteúdos SP Televisão

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Audiovisual e Multimédia.