The influence of the supply chain agents on the new product development's performance: an analysis based on the multi-group moderation

Este estudo buscou verificar a influencia dos agentes da cadeia de suprimentos no desempenho do desenvolvimento de novos produtos quando os agentes são analisados em conjunto. A motivação desta pesquisa veio de estudos que alertaram para a consideração da integração da cadeia de suprimentos como um constructo multidimensional, englobando o envolvimento da manufatura, fornecedores e clientes no desenvolvimento de novos produtos; e devido à falta de informação sobre as influencias individuais destes agentes no desenvolvimento de novos produtos. Sob essas considerações, buscou-se construir um modelo analítico baseado na Teoria do Capital Social e Capacidade Absortiva, construir hipóteses a partir da revisão da literatura e conectar constructos como cooperação, envolvimento do fornecedor no desenvolvimento de novos produtos (DNP), envolvimento do cliente no DNP, envolvimento da manufatura no DNP, antecipação de novas tecnologias, melhoria contínua, desempenho operacional do DNP, desempenho de mercado do NPD e desempenho de negócio do DNP. Para testar as hipóteses foram consideradas três variáveis moderadoras, tais como turbulência ambiental (baixa, média e alta), indústria (eletrônicos, maquinários e equipamentos de transporte) e localização (América, Europa e Ásia). Para testar o modelo foram usados dados do projeto High Performance Manufacturing que contém 339 empresas das indústrias de eletrônicos, maquinários e equipamentos de transporte, localizadas em onze países. As hipóteses foram testadas por meio da Análise Fatorial Confirmatória (AFC) incluindo a moderação muti-grupo para as três variáveis moderadoras mencionadas anteriormente. Os principais resultados apontaram que as hipóteses relacionadas com cooperação foram confirmadas em ambientes de média turbulência, enquanto as hipóteses relacionadas ao desempenho no DNP foram confirmadas em ambientes de baixa turbulência ambiental e em países asiáticos. Adicionalmente, sob as mesmas condições, fornecedores, clientes e manufatura influenciam diferentemente no desempenho de novos produtos. Assim, o envolvimento de fornecedores influencia diretamente no desempenho operacional e indiretamente no desempenho de mercado e de negócio em baixos níveis de turbulência ambiental, na indústria de equipamentos de transporte em países da Americanos e Europeus. De igual forma, o envolvimento do cliente influenciou diretamente no desempenho operacional e indiretamente no desempenho de mercado e do negócio em médio nível de turbulência ambiental, na indústria de maquinários e em países Asiáticos. Fornecedores e clientes não influenciam diretamente no desempenho de mercado e do negócio e não influenciam indiretamente no desempenho operacional. O envolvimento da manufatura não influenciou nenhum tipo de desempenho do desenvolvimento de novos produtos em todos os cenários testados.

Brazilian Federal Universities : relative efficiency evaluation and data envelopment analysis

The papers aims at considering the issue of relative efficiency measurement in the context of the public sector. In particular, we consider the efficiency measurement approach provided by Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The application considered the main Brazilian federal universities for the year of 1994. Given the large number of inputs and outputs, this paper advances the idea of using factor analysis to explore common dimensions in the data set. Such procedure made possible a meaningful application of DEA, which finally provided a set of efficiency scores for the universities considered .

Qualidade de vida no trabalho: o caso de enfermeiros dos Hospitais Públicos Walfredo Gurgel e Santa Catarina

The theoretical foundation of this study addresses the construct Quality of Worklife involving pro-active reading organizations in face to social developments of the working class, which is a challenge to the people s management. In this sense, as a contribution to the studies of quality of worklife (QOWL), this study addresses the quality of lifework of nurses at Walfredo Gurgel and Santa Catarina public hospitals. The goal is to make a diagnosis about the quality of lifework of these employees taking as a basis dimensions and performance indicators shown in the model by Fernandes (1996). The research is characterized by field, in a descriptive way. This survey comprised 75 nurses, with 49 by Walfredo Gurgel hospital and 26 by Santa Catarina one. The data collection was carried out through structured questionnaire. The questions were processed in the software Statistic 6.0, with factor analysis and multiple regressions, after the systematization of data. As a result, the most nurses in hospitals are dissatisfied with the quality of lifework, with the highest incidence in Santa Catarina hospital. The variable occupational health assessment was more negative in the hospital Santa Catarina one, whereas in Walfredo Gurgel, was family assistance. The variable guarantee of employment was more positive assessment in two hospitals without, though, implying in high importance on QOWL of nurses. The factor structure and decision showed greater sensitivity to explain the QOWL of nurses, joining 17 variables from 40 of the model. The factor working conditions, joining 6 variables, showed the second highest sensitivity. The compensation factor, gathering 5 variables, showed the third highest sensitivity while image and health factors showed minor importance

Influência dos intermediários de distribuição de produtos turísticos no processo de decisão do meio de hospedagem pelo consumidor

This study examines the complex hotel buyer decision process in front of the tourism distribution channels. Its objective is to describe the influence level of the tourism marketing intermediaries, mainly the travel agents and tour operators, over the hotel decision process by the buyer-tourist. The data collection process was done trough a survey with three hundred brazilian tourists hosted in nineteen hotels of Natal, capital of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The data analysis was done using some multivariate statistic techniques as correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, factor analysis and multiple discriminant analysis. The research characterizes the hotel services consumers profile and his trip, and identifying the distribution channels used by them. Furthermore, the research verifies the intermediaries influence exercised over hotel buyer decision process, looking for identify causality relations between the influence level and the buyer profile. Verifies that information about hotels available on internet reduces the probability that this influence can be practiced; however it was possible identifying those consumers considers this information complementary and non-substitutes than the information from intermediaries. The characteristics of the data do not allow indentifying the factors that constraint the intermediaries influence neither identifying discriminant functions of the specific distribution channel choice by consumers. The study concludes that consumers don t agree in have been influenced by intermediaries or don t know if they have, still considering important to consult them and internet doesn t substitute their function as information source

Fatores que influenciam a aceitação de práticas avançadas de gestão de segurança da informação: um estudo com gestores públicos estaduais no Brasil

This study examines the factors that influence public managers in the adoption of advanced practices related to Information Security Management. This research used, as the basis of assertions, Security Standard ISO 27001:2005 and theoretical model based on TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) from Venkatesh and Davis (2000). The method adopted was field research of national scope with participation of eighty public administrators from states of Brazil, all of them managers and planners of state governments. The approach was quantitative and research methods were descriptive statistics, factor analysis and multiple linear regression for data analysis. The survey results showed correlation between the constructs of the TAM model (ease of use, perceptions of value, attitude and intention to use) and agreement with the assertions made in accordance with ISO 27001, showing that these factors influence the managers in adoption of such practices. On the other independent variables of the model (organizational profile, demographic profile and managers behavior) no significant correlation was identified with the assertions of the same standard, witch means the need for expansion researches using such constructs. It is hoped that this study may contribute positively to the progress on discussions about Information Security Management, Adoption of Safety Standards and Technology Acceptance Model

Treinamento e desenvolvimento de pessoas e a nova gestão pública : o caso do projeto Formação de tecnólogos em gestão pública do governo do Rio Grande do Norte

This thesis aims to identify how civil servants perceive changes made inthe carrying out of their work after their taking part in the Course forTechnicians in Public Management of the Government of Rio Grande do NorteState. As for the methodological procedures, an exploratory-descriptivequantitative research has been carried out through structured questionnaires appliedto 118 civil servants from the first groups of the Course for Technicians, thusshowing a margin of error of 4.18% to 95% of confidence, according to theprocedures of finite sampling. The table processing and analysis rested uponthe Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS and was carried outthrough univariate, bivariate and multivariate techniques with emphasis on thetechnique called Factor Analysis. It was possible to identify that the level ofsatisfaction of the students was high and there was a clear perception by themthat the course assisted to changes in their work. Through Factor Analysis itwas verified that the factors that may be related to changes in the work of thecivil servants are "Contribution to Society", "Efficiency andEfficacy in the Work Environment", "Applicability of Contents"and "Capacitating for Leadership". The conclusion of the studyindicates that the factors obtained are directly related to the basis of thenew public management by means of guidance toward efficiency and efficacy in aperspective of leadership, the contents of the course being thus made into newattitudes toward work which end up yielding better results for society

Síndrome de Burnout : um estudo com guias de turismo regional em Natal-RN

Burnout is a psychological syndrome triggered in response to continuous exposure to interpersonal stressors. It is considered a multifactorial construct, which is commonly characterized by three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, dehumanization, and lack of personal accomplishment.This study aimed to verify if the three characteristics of burnout (exhaustion, lack of dehumanization and personal accomplishment) are present in people working as guides Tourism in Natal - RN. It is a descriptive and quantitative study. 109 subjects were surveyed. Data collection was done through the use of questionnaires, the instrument used was the characterization of the Burnout Scale (ECB) created and validated in Brazil by Trocoli and Tamayo (2000). In order to analyze data we used descriptive statistics, analysis of core measures, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, cluster analysis, multiple discriminant and Spearman correlation. Factor analysis identified four factors that explain 58.3% of the total variance. Those factors were named exhaustion, deception, avoidance, and dehumanization. The reliability of the instrument, as measured by Cronbach's Alpha was 0.918, which is considered excellent reliability. The 109 subjects were grouped into three cluster, which had the deception, avoidance, and dehumanization as discriminant. It is possible to conclude that the characteristics of burnout syndrome are present in the studied population where 19 people are on the high level of burnout, moderate in 32 and 56 in the light. The correlations between socio-demographic variables studied and the dimensions of burnout, were few and weak. The variable leave for health reasons in the study appeared to be related to feelings of exhaustion and avoidance behavior appeared related to younger individuals and who work only in the activity of Receptive Tourism Guide. Verification of the incidence of burnout in individuals surveyed suggest the need to adopt intervention strategies are individual, organizational and / or combined

Acurácia do teste de labirinto no rastreamento de déficits cognitivos em idosos

This study intended to evaluate the maze test accuracy in cognitive deficit screening in elderly with or without neuropsychological pathology. The sample included 40 healthy young (18-25 years old; mean- 21 ± 1.6), 40 healthy old (60-77 years old; mean- 67 ± 5.1) and 18 patients with probable diagnosis of Alzheimer s disease initial stage (52-90 years old; mean- 78 ± 9.2). Data analysis was made using Anova with Tukey s post hoc, multiple linear regression analysis and ROC curve analysis. According to Tukey s test Alzheimer patients spent more time (46843 ± 37926 ms) to execute the test than healthy young (5482 ± 2873 ms; p= 0.0001) and elderly (17978 ± 13700; p= 0.0001); healthy young executed test n lower time (p= 0.035). According to the regression analysis of age, education level and cognitive performance of the three groups, the cognitive performance was the predictor of the execution time. When analyzing young and elderly only age was the predictor and the cognitive performance was the only factor to influence the test of old aged healthy and patients. The ROC curve analysis indicated 72% accuracy for young and elderly and 36% for healthy and elderly patients. The maze execution time represented a better balance between sensibility (75%) and the specificity (61%) was near 13575 ms, indicating that those subjects that execute the maze in a time higher to this value may show cognitive deficit related to the executive function. According to the results it is suggested that the maze test used in this study shows a good accuracy in the cognitive deficit tracking and may discriminate age changes

Fatores da satisfação e fidelidade do cliente: um estudo no varejo de supermercado

This thesis deals with the factors affecting customer satisfaction and loyalty in the supermarket sector. It is adapted a model proposed by Johnson et al. (2001) and included the brand construct as a loyalty of construct antecedent. It is conducted a survey with a sample of 290 customers of a supermarket in Natal city, Brazil, and descriptive and multiple regression statistical analysis. The main findings are that the proposed model is confirmed with quality being the main factor affecting satisfaction, but also in this case the place marketing construct playing a key role on satisfaction. The loyalty model is also supported by this research with the brand construct appearing important for a segment of the customers. This study support the conclusion that customer satisfaction is not the sole or main factor to explain loyalty

Genetic parameters of total milk yield and factors describing the shape of lactation curve in dairy buffaloes

The objective of this study was to apply factor analysis to describe lactation curves in dairy buffaloes in order to estimate the phenotypic and genetic association between common latent factors and cumulative milk yield. A total of 31 257 monthly test-day milk yield records from buffaloes belonging to herds located in the state of São Paulo were used to estimate two common latent factors, which were then analysed in a multi-trait animal model for estimating genetic parameters. Estimates of (co)variance components for the two common latent factors and cumulated 270-d milk yield were obtained by Bayesian inference using a multiple trait animal model. Contemporary group, number of milkings per day (two levels) and age of buffalo cow at calving (linear and quadratic) as covariate were included in the model as fixed effects. The additive genetic, permanent environmental and residual effects were included as random effects. The first common latent factor (F1) was associated with persistency of lactation and the second common latent factor (F2) with the level of production in early lactation. Heritability estimates for Fl and F2 were 0.12 and 0.07, respectively. Genetic correlation estimates between El and F2 with cumulative milk yield were positive and moderate (0.63 and 0.52). Multivariate statistics employing factor analysis allowed the extraction of two variables (latent factors) that described the shape of the lactation curve. It is expected that the response to selection to increase lactation persistency is higher than the response obtained from selecting animals to increase lactation peak. Selection for higher total milk yield would result in a favourable correlated response to increase the level of production in early lactation and the lactation persistency.

Significado do Trabalho e Escolha Acadêmico-Profissional: um estudo com universitários primeiranistas

Relations between the meaning attributed to work by first year university students and their academic and professional choice were analyzed. The participants were 921 students, 17-52 years old (M = 22; SD = 4.9), enrolled in 16 courses common to two college level institutions of the city of Natal, RN, one public, the other private. A questionnaire was designed for collecting data about the academic-professional choice, with open-ended and multiple choice questions. Work meaning was obtained by means of two questions on centrality and two scales pertaining to the Inventory of Motivation and Work Meaning: value and descriptive attributes. A socio-demographic set of questions ended the questionnaire. Data was entered in a SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) database, allowing for the pertinent statistical analyses, such as frequency, t test, chi square, factor analysis, cluster analysis and ANOVA. Results indicated that the decision about academic-professional career was made by the majority of the participants (in first option, N = 921) without the adequate consideration of the socio-professional reality (80.7%) and personal internal resources (98.5%). When considering the second option (N = 654), only the first criterion was taken into account, but only by 12.5% of the sample. The main difficulties faced by students during the choosing process were, then, made apparent in the data. 46.8% of the participants were unsatisfied with the course they had started and were anticipating unpromising perspectives in relation to it. The first year students took work as the second most important aspect of their lives and demonstrated an idealized vision about it. Five patterns of work meaning were identified. In relation to centrality and the value and descriptive attributes, the university students displayed differentiation in the attribution of work meaning according to course and area of knowledge

Estudo das propriedades psicométricas da escala WHOQOLold em idosos da região Nordeste

The population aging process increases the number of elderly people worldwide. In Brazil, a country of continental size, this process began in the 40s and happens with specific features in each of the different region s realities. This way, this thesis aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a elderly s quality of life (QOL) scale, the WHOQOL-old, in a population of the Northeast of Brazil. We sought to investigate the congruence between the content covered by the scale and the ones deemed as relevant by the participants. It aimed also study the validity evidences of the instrument s internal structure. To achieve the research objectives we adopted the design of multiple methods. The research was organized in two studies. For data collection, both studies used a sociodemographic questionnaire to obtain a profile of the participants and the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE), used as exclusion criterion. A number of 18 elderly residents of the cities of Natal-RN and Campina Grande-PB, mean age of 73.3 years (SD = 5.9) took part od the study, They were organized into three focal groups (FG) in witch they discussed about the concept of QOL, what enhance and what hinders QOL. For Study II, a quantitative approach, 335 elderly from Campina Grande responded scale WHOQOL-old. They are between 65 and 99 years (M = 74.17, SD = 6.5). The FG data were analyzed by categorical thematic content. For the data analysis of the WHOQOL-old scale were used exploratory factor analysis and calculation of the Akaike and Bayesian information criteria. The results of both studies were triangulated. According to the discussions in the FG, health and social participation have central roles in quality of life. Social participation is related to all the other QOL s influences raised. The participants indicated the relevance of religiosity and were divided about the importance of sexual activity. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) extracted a model of six factors. Two items (OLD_3 and OLD_9), not loaded on any factor and were excluded. The other items had factor loadings > 0.3. The response categories were reduced from five to three. After the scale changes, the empirical model showed better fit (-2loglikelihood = 8993.90, BIC and AIC = 9183.90 = 9546.24) than the theoretical model (-2loglikelihood = 18390.88, AIC = 18678.88 and BIC = 19228.11). Despite the best information criterion values, the RMESA remained above the ideal (0.06). We conclude that the WHOQOL-old presents psychometric parameters below the ideal when used with the Northeast population, but the improvements made the scale s use acceptable. The WHOQOL-old uses observable variables that matches with the participants' perceptions on quality of life. However, new strategies must be tested for a better sacale refinement

Relação das condições socioeconômicas com as condições de saúde bucal em capitais brasileiras

Despite the improvement of Brazilian s living conditions in recent decades, this improvement occurred in a polarized way between groups of better social position. Then, there is still a health inequity´s panorama in Brazil which encompasses the oral health state. This panorama instigated the attainment of this ecological study that aimed to evaluate the relationship of socioeconomic conditions, and public health policies with oral health status in Brazilian capitals. Thus, we performed factor analysis and linear regression using oral health indicators collected from SB Brasil 2010, of socioeconomic conditions from Brazilian Census 2010 and related to water´s supply fluoridation from SISAGUA. Factor analysis with indicators of living conditions revealed two common factors, economic deprivation and socio-sanitary condition. Economic deprivation showed statistically significant positive correlation with DMFT 12 years (p= 0,03) and mean missing teeth (p = 0,002) and negative correlation with caries-free population (p=0,012). Socio-sanitary negatively correlated with DMFT (p <0,0001) and a positive correlation with caries-free population (p = 0.002). Fluoridated water had a significant association with DMFT (p <0,0001), mean missing teeth (p <0,0001) and caries free population (p <0.0001). Multiple linear regression analysis for the DMFT of capital was estimated by socio-sanitary condition and fluoridation, adjusted by economic deprivation, whereas the model for the mean missing teeth was estimated only by fluoridation and economic deprivation, and finally the model the rate for the population free of caries in Brazilian capitals was estimated by economic and socio-sanitary status adjusted fluoridated water supply. Therefore, factors related to living conditions and public policies are intrinsically linked to tooth decay issues. Thus, actions, beyond dental care assistance, must be development to impact positively in social and economic conditions, especially, between the most vulnerable populations

Prevalência e fatores associados ao risco e a desnutrição em idosos institucionalizados

One of the most important problems in the elderly is a nutritional deficiency. Several physiological changes and the use of multiple drugs interfere with appetite, food intake and absorption of nutrients, which can lead to the risk and malnutrition in the elderly, especially among institutionalized. The present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of malnutrition and risk for malnutrition and its associated factors in institutionalized elderly. The same can be characterized by the type individual, observational and cross-sectional. Obtaining the sample was through the records of individuals of long-stay institutions for the elderly in the city of Natal, RN. The elderly were evaluated through the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and triceps skinfold (TSF) and each senior or caregiver answered a questionnaire about information like type and dietary restrictions, accessibility to food, use of alcohol and tobacco, practice physical activity and appetite. Variables such as age, gender, education, marital status, time that the elderly living in the institution, the reason for the institutionalization and comorbidities were taken from the records of each senior. The frequency of food consumption of various food groups was assessed from the questionnaire frequency of feeding study Health, Wellbeing and Aging (HWA). Data were presented as means and standard deviations, absolute and relative frequencies. To analyze the frequency of consumption, there was a factor analysis with extraction of factors from the principal components analysis with varimax rotation. A bivariate analysis was performed using the chi-square and the magnitude of the effect observed by prevalence ratio (95% CI). The Poisson regression assessed the net effect of independent variables on the two outcomes, considering a significance level of 5%. We studied twelve Homes for the Aged totaling 381 seniors eligible for the study. The prevalence of risk of malnutrition was 46.1% (45.9 to 46.2) and malnutrition was 31.4% (31.2 to 31.5). The risk of malnutrition was significantly associated with the presence of urinary incontinence (RP = 1.444, 1.113 to 1.874) was associated with malnutrition and lack of appetite (RP = 1.757, 1.246 to 2.476), the fact that the individuals do not have access to food outside the institution (RP = 0.565, 0.337 to 0.946), low water consumption (RP = 1.646, 1.101 to 2.459) and dementia (PR = 1.537, 1.072 to 2.204). The high prevalence of malnutrition and risk of malnutrition in the study suggests that we should pay attention to information related to eating habits and the presence of comorbidities, as these can influence the nutritional status of this population

Ambiente institucional e desempenho diferenciado na agropecuária norte-rio-grandense: quais as relações?

This thesis aims to identify how civil servants perceive changes made inthe carrying out of their work after their taking part in the Course forTechnicians in Public Management of the Government of Rio Grande do NorteState. As for the methodological procedures, an exploratory-descriptivequantitative research has been carried out through structured questionnaires appliedto 118 civil servants from the first groups of the Course for Technicians, thusshowing a margin of error of 4.18% to 95% of confidence, according to theprocedures of finite sampling. The table processing and analysis rested uponthe Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS and was carried outthrough univariate, bivariate and multivariate techniques with emphasis on thetechnique called Factor Analysis. It was possible to identify that the level ofsatisfaction of the students was high and there was a clear perception by themthat the course assisted to changes in their work. Through Factor Analysis itwas verified that the factors that may be related to changes in the work of thecivil servants are "Contribution to Society", "Efficiency andEfficacy in the Work Environment", "Applicability of Contents"and "Capacitating for Leadership". The conclusion of the studyindicates that the factors obtained are directly related to the basis of thenew public management by means of guidance toward efficiency and efficacy in aperspective of leadership, the contents of the course being thus made into newattitudes toward work which end up yielding better results for society