Estrategias de internacionalización de la industria de panaderia en el mercado de la provincia de Shanxi China

China es el cuarto país más extenso del mundo así como el más densamente poblado. En la actualidad, se ha caracterizado por ser una economía con un papel importante en el comercio mundial. Es por este motivo, que en el año 2010 se convirtió en el país con más exportaciones en el mundo, ubicándose en las primeras economías después de los Estados Unidos. Por otro lado, China considera a Colombia como un país influyente en América Latina, lo que posibilita que en un futuro se puedan convertir en socios comerciales. Sin embargo, se debe resaltar que por su extensión, China es un país de diversas culturas por lo que el trabajo “Estrategias de internacionalización de la industria de panadería en Colombia hacia la provincia de Shanxi, China”, se centrara únicamente en la provincia de Shanxi. Dicha provincia es reconocida por su gran abundancia de recursos minerales, adicionalmente, juega un papel decisivo en la red eléctrica del Norte de China y planea convertirse en la base industrial del país por lo que promete un futuro próspero para su población convirtiéndose en un lugar potencial para centrar el trabajo. También, se debe resaltar el auge y crecimiento de la industria de panadería en Colombia ya que no solamente es perteneciente a la canasta familiar sino que es necesario y rentable para los empresarios. Además es una industria que genera productos de alta calidad y con valor agregado. Como toda industria colombiana esta también tienen ciertas falencias entre ellas se debe resaltar la falta de asociación; problemática en la cual se basara este trabajo ya que, como dice Anónimo 2011, “La importancia de su creación radica en que asociados, los panaderos podrían llegar fácilmente a encontrar soluciones a ese bajo consumo o incluso lograr alianzas para una mayor capacitación” y así facilitar la entrada a mercados internacionales. Para mostrar lo anterior, se analizaran 3 casos de empresas Colombianas, que muestran las diferentes etapas para entrar a un mercado internacional. La primera de ella Noel, con su trayectoria en el mercado Colombia, en este momento cuenta con presencia en varios países de Latinoamérica y Norteamérica. La segunda Pan Pa Ya que a través de su técnica de ultracongelación ha logrado conquistar países en Latinoamérica, Europa, Japón, Canadá entre otros. Finalmente se encuentra Ramo, empresa que aún no ha logrado entrar en mercados internacionales, pero se encuentra mejorando sus procesos para internacionalizarse y para llegar a aquellos colombianos que viven en el exterior. Como complemento se busca resaltar la importancia de la asociación y la creación de clústeres de las empresas colombianas para la generación de productos de alta calidad que satisfagan las condiciones requeridas para entrar en nuevos mercados, teniendo en cuenta las pautas necesarias para generar ventajas competitivas y estrategias de internacionalización

Hermanos Rausch: Innovación y Calidad

El caso Hermanos Rausch es una investigación de trabajo de grado de pregrado de la Facultad de Administración de la Universidad del Rosario que pretende identificar las teorías sobre estrategia que se vean reflejadas en cada una de las unidades de negocio dentro de la marca “Hermanos Rausch”, la cual ha tenido a lo largo de sus años a los dos hermanos como cocineros profesionales, administradores y dueños de restaurantes. El proyecto presta especial atención a las decisiones estratégicas en las etapas de innovación, crecimiento, posicionamiento, expansión y renovación. Haciendo especial énfasis en el restaurante Criterión, el cual es la clave del éxito y reconocimiento alcanzado.

Caracterización del talento humano profesional en los laboratorios de salud pública de Colombia, 2014

Las reformas del sector salud y la falta de lineamientos sobre el talento humano han generado una disminución de tan importante recurso. Los laboratorios de salud pública -LSP son la fuente primaria de información para la toma de decisiones en Vigilancia en Salud Pública. Este estudio presenta las características del talento humano de los LSP y su directa relación con el desarrollo de sus funciones misionales. Éste es un estudio descriptivo transversal con encuesta auto-diligenciada aplicado a los 33 LSP del país en el año 2014. En los 33 LSP hay 433 profesionales para la vigilancia en salud pública, en el año 2014, con 143 (33%) de planta y 293 (67%) de contrato y 24% (102) hombres y 76% (331) mujeres. El 94% de los LSP cuenta con coordinador de planta, 52% tiene funciones exclusivas. El 51% (17) de los LSP cumplen con el 92% los lineamientos dados. 7 LSP tiene 1 o menos funcionarios de planta. El talento humano es un factor clave para cumplir con la misión de los LSP y Colombia cuenta con 433 profesionales en los 33 LSP. Se cuenta con epidemiólogo (a) en el 82% y líder de calidad en el 76% de los LSP. El 49% (16) de los LSP no cumplen con la Guía para la organización físico – funcional de los LSP. 23 LSP cuentan con cuatro (4) o menos funcionarios de planta, siendo esto una vulnerabilidad para la capacidad de respuesta del país frente a riesgos en salud pública y emergencias sanitarias.

Poder e influencia en el liderazgo transformacional

Como proyecto de grado, el presente trabajo consiste en una revisión teórica de los conceptos de liderazgo, poder e influencia, junto con las posibles relaciones que entre ellos se pueden presentar. Para ello, cada concepto es definido de manera individual, y con base en ello, se identifica la dependencia que tienen estos conceptos entre sí y la importancia dentro del desarrollo del liderazgo transformacional actual. Para lograr lo propuesto, se llevó a cabo la revisión de una parte de la literatura académica presente en libros, revistas académicas, bases de datos y documentos relacionados con los temas y conceptos tratados. A partir de ello, se entendió la evolución del concepto del liderazgo y los enfoques presentados desde la década de los 1920´s hasta la actualidad, junto con el modelo de rango total y el tipo transaccional y transformacional del liderazgo, para luego definir el papel y la importancia de los conceptos de poder, los tipos de poder, la influencia y las tácticas de influencia, y así, identificar las posibles relaciones que se presentan entre los conceptos y la importancia de estos en el entorno organizacional actual.

A Multi-agent Architecture with Distributed Coordination for an Autonomous Robot

Aquest treball proposa una nova arquitectura de control amb coordinació distribuïda per a un robot mòbil (ARMADiCo). La metodologia de coordinació distribuïda consisteix en dos passos: el primer determina quin és l'agent que guanya el recurs basat en el càlcul privat de la utilitat i el segon, com es fa el canvi del recurs per evitar comportaments abruptes del robot. Aquesta arquitectura ha estat concebuda per facilitar la introducció de nous components hardware i software, definint un patró de disseny d'agents que captura les característiques comunes dels agents. Aquest patró ha portat al desenvolupament d'una arquitectura modular dins l'agent que permet la separació dels diferents mètodes utilitzats per aconseguir els objectius, la col·laboració, la competició i la coordinació de recursos. ARMADiCo s'ha provat en un robot Pioneer 2DX de MobileRobots Inc.. S'han fet diversos experiments i els resultats han demostrat que s'han aconseguit les característiques proposades per l'arquitectura.

Heritage property, tourism and the UK Disability Discrimination Act

Heritage tourism depends on a physical resource based primarily on listed buildings and scheduled monuments. Visiting or staying in a historic building provides a rich tourism experience, but historic environments date from eras when access for disabled people was not a consideration. Current UK Government policy now promotes social inclusion via an array of equal opportunities, widening participation and anti-discrimination policies. Historic environments enjoy considerable legislative protection from adverse change, but now need to balance conservation with public access for all. This paper discusses the basis of research being undertaken by The College of Estate Management funded by the Mercers Company of London and the Harold Samuel Trust. It assesses how the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act has changed the legal obligations of owners/operators in managing access to listed buildings in tourism use. It also examines the key stakeholders and power structures in the management of historic buildings and distinguishes other important players in the management process.

Sociology, Gender and Educational Aspirations: Girls and their Ambitions

This study helps develop an overall understanding as to why some students achieve where others don't. Debate on the effects of class on educational attainment is well documented and typically centres on the reproductive nature of class whilst studies of the effect of class on educational aspirations also predict outcomes that see education reinforcing and reproducing a student's class background.Despite a number of government initiatives to help raise higher education participation to 50 per cent by 2010, for the working class numbers have altered little. Using data from an ethnographic case study of a low-achieving girls school, the author explores aspirations and argues that whilst class is very powerful in explaining educational attainment, understanding educational aspirations is somewhat more complex. The purpose of this book, therefore, is to question and challenge popular assumptions surrounding class-based theory in making sense of girls' aspirations and to question the usefulness of the continued over reliance of such broad categorisations by both academics and policy makers

Managing invasive alien species with professional and hobby farmers: insights from ecological-economic modelling

Biosecurity is a great challenge to policy-makers globally. Biosecurity policies aim to either prevent invasions before they occur or to eradicate and/or effectively manage the invasive species and diseases once an invasion has occurred. Such policies have traditionally been directed towards professional producers in natural resource based sectors, including agriculture. Given the wide scope of issues threatened by invasive species and diseases, it is important to account for several types of stakeholders that are involved. We investigate the problem of an invasive insect pest feeding on an agricultural crop with heterogeneous producers: profit-oriented professional farmers and utility-oriented hobby farmers. We start from an ecological-economic model conceptually similar to the one developed by Eiswerth and Johnson [Eiswerth, M.E. and Johnson, W.S., 2002. Managing nonindigenous invasive species: insights from dynamic analysis. Environmental and Resource Economics 23, 319-342.] and extend it in three ways. First, we make explicit the relationship between the invaded state carrying capacity and farmers' planting decisions. Second, we add another producer type into the framework and hence account for the existence of both professional and hobby fanners. Third, we provide a theoretical contribution by discussing two alternative types of equilibria. We also apply the model to an empirical case to extract a number of stylised facts and in particular to assess: a) under which circumstances the invasion is likely to be not controllable; and b) how extending control policies to hobby farmers could affect both types of producers. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Competitive strategy revisited: contested concepts and dynamic capabilities

Strategy is a contested concept. The generic literature is characterized by a diverse range of competing theories and alternative perspectives. Traditional models of the competitive strategy of construction firms have tended to focus on exogenous factors. In contrast, the resource-based view of strategic management emphasizes the importance of endogenous factors. The more recently espoused concept of dynamic capabilities extends consideration beyond static resources to focus on the ability of firms to reconfigure their operating routines to enable responses to changing environments. The relevance of the dynamics capabilities framework to the construction sector is investigated through an exploratory case study of a regional contractor. The focus on how firms continuously adapt to changing environments provides new insights into competitive strategy in the construction sector. Strong support is found for the importance of path dependency in shaping strategic choice. The case study further suggests that strategy is a collective endeavour enacted by a loosely defined group of individual actors. Dynamic capabilities are characterized by an empirical elusiveness and as such are best construed as situated practices embedded within a social and physical context.

Enacting competitiveness: an empirical investigation

The paper draws from three case studies of regional construction firms operating in the UK. The case studies provide new insights into the ways in which such firms strive to remain competitive. Empirical data was derived from multiple interactions with senior personnel from with each firm. Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews, informal interactions, archival research, and workshops. The initial research question was informed by existing resource-based theories of competitiveness and an extensive review of constructionspecific literature. However, subsequent emergent empirical findings progressively pointed towards the need to mobilise alternative theoretical models that emphasise localised learning and embeddedness. The findings point towards the importance of de-centralised structures that enable multiple business units to become embedded within localised markets. A significant degree of autonomy is essential to facilitate entrepreneurial behaviour. In essence, sustained competitiveness was found to rest on the way de-centralised business units enact ongoing processes of localised learning. Once local business units have become embedded within localised markets, the essential challenge is how to encourage continued entrepreneurial behaviour while maintaining some degree of centralised control and coordination. This presents a number of tensions and challenges which play out differently across each of the three case studies.

Intrafirm causal ambiguity in an international context

This paper examined the incidence of intrafirmcausalambiguity in the management's perception concerning the critical drivers of their firms’ performance. Building on insights from the resource-based view we developed and tested hypotheses that examine (1) linkage ambiguity as a discrepancy between perceived and measured resource–performance linkages, (2) characteristic ambiguity for resources and capabilities with a high degree of complexity and tacitness, and (3) the negative association between linkage ambiguity and performance. The observations based on the explicit perceptions of 356 surveyed managers were contrasted with the empirical findings of the resource/performance relationship derived by structural equation modelling from the same data sample. The findings validate the presence of linkage ambiguity particularly in the case of resources and capabilities with higher degree of characteristic ambiguity. The findings also provide empirical evidence in support of the advocacy for a negative relationship between intrafirmcausalambiguity and performance. The paper discusses the potential reasons for the disparities between empirical findings and management's perceptions of the key determinants of export success and makes recommendations for future research.

The determinants and effects of board nomination committees

This article assesses the corporate governance-related antecedents of nomination committee adoption, and the impact of nomination committees’ existence and their composition on board independence and board demographic diversity. We conducted a longitudinal study of board composition amongst 210 Swiss public companies from January 2001 through December 2003, a period during which the Swiss (Stock) Exchange (SWX) introduced new corporate governance-related disclosure guidelines. We find firms with nomination committees are more likely to have a higher number of independent and foreign directors, but not more likely to have a higher number of female board members. Further, the existence of nomination committees is associated with a higher degree of nationality diversity but is not related to board educational diversity. We also find that nomination committee composition matters in the nomination of independent and foreign, but not of female directors. Our results suggest that understanding different board roles and composition require a multi-theoretical approach, and that agency theory, resource-dependence theory and group effectiveness theory help to explain different aspects of board composition and effectiveness. Finally, the article discusses the concept of diversity and appropriate ways to study diversity in a boardroom context.

Supply management capabilities, routine bundles and their impact on firm performance

Despite the generally positive contribution of supply management capabilities to firm performance their respective routines require more depth of assessment. Using the resource-based view we examine four routines bundles comprising ostensive and performative aspects of supply management capability – supply management integration, coordinated sourcing, collaboration management and performance assessment. Using structural equation modelling we measure supply management capability empirically as a second-order latent variable and estimate its effect on a series of financial and operational performance measures. The routines-based approach allows us to demonstrate a different, more fine-grained approach for assessing consistent bundles of homogeneous patterns of activity across firms. The results suggest supply management capability is formed of internally consistent routine bundles, which are significantly related to financial performance, mediated by operational performance. Our results confirm an indirect effect of firm performance for ‘core’ routines forming the architecture of a supply management capability. Supply management capability primarily improves the operational performance of the business, which is subsequently translated into improved financial performance. The study is significant for practice as it offers a different view about the face-valid rationale of supply management directly influencing firm financial performance. We confound this assumption, prompting caution when placing too much importance on directly assessing supply management capability using financial performance of the business.

La adquisición de las cláusulas interrogativas parciales en el Español infantil: ¿Reglas innatas o fórmulas aprendidas?

Abstract According to Usage-based Theory (Tomasello 2006), children acquire wh- questions by initially producing concrete formula structures that happen to be very frequent in the input. In this research we analyze the wh-questions produced by three Spanish-speaking children (age range: 0;11-3;11) in longitudinal samples of spontaneous speech to determine whether the Usage-based Theory can explain the wh-question acquisition in Spanish. Results show that: i) the first wh-questions are formula, that appeared with few interrogative particles, and that are highly frequent in the input; ii) as the child develops, wh-questions become more complex, in which this structures are produced with more varied interrogative particles and different verbs; iii) the input seems to play a relevant role in the acquisition of wh-questions. Results seem to validate the Usage-based Theory.

Small states, great power? Gaining influence through intrinsic, derivative, and collective power

In recent years, scholars have devoted increased attention to the agency of small states in International Relations. However, the conventional wisdom remains that while not completely powerful, small states are unlikely to achieve much of significance when faced by great power opposition. This argument, however, implicitly rests on resource-based and compulsory understandings of power. This article explores the implicit connections between the concept of "small state" and diverse concepts of power, asking how we should understand these states' attempts to gain influence and achieve their international political objectives. By connecting the study of small states with additional understandings of power, the article elaborates the broader avenues for influence that are open to many states but are particularly relevant for small states. The article argues that small states' power can be best understood as originating in three categories: “derivative,” collective, and particular-intrinsic. Derivative power, coined by Michael Handel, relies upon the relationship with a great power. Collective power involves building coalitions of supportive states, often through institutions. Particular-intrinsic power relies on the assets of the small state trying to do the influencing. Small states specialize in the bases and means of these types of power, which may have unconventional compulsory, institutional, structural, and productive aspects.