TDQAS : Training Development Quality Assurance System : clients.

"September 1989."

ANÁLISE DAS MUDANÇAS DOS FATORES DETERMINANTES DA ESTRUTURA DE CAPITAL EM FUNÇÃO DO CICLO DE VIDA DAS EMPRESAS BRASILEIRAS SÃO BERNARDO DO CAMPO

As várias teorias acerca da estrutura de capital despertam interesse motivando diversos estudos sobre o assunto sem, no entanto, ter um consenso. Outro tema aparentemente pouco explorado refere-se ao ciclo de vida das empresas e como ele pode influenciar a estrutura de capital. Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar quais determinantes possuem maior relevância no endividamento das empresas e se estes determinantes alteram-se dependendo do ciclo de vida da empresa apoiada pelas teorias Trade Off, Pecking Order e Teoria da Agência. Para alcançar o objetivo deste trabalho foi utilizado análise em painel de efeito fixo sendo a amostra composta por empresas brasileiras de capital aberto, com dados secundários disponíveis na Economática® no período de 2005 a 2013, utilizando-se os setores da BM&FBOVESPA. Como resultado principal destaca-se o mesmo comportamento entre a amostra geral, alto e baixo crescimento pelo endividamento contábil para o determinante Lucratividade apresentando uma relação negativa, e para os determinantes Oportunidade de Crescimento e Tamanho, estes com uma relação positiva. Para os grupos de alto e baixo crescimento alguns determinantes apresentaram resultados diferentes, como a singularidade que resultou significância nestes dois grupos, sendo positiva no baixo crescimento e negativa no alto crescimento, para o valor colateral dos ativos e benefício fiscal não dívida apresentaram significância apenas no grupo de baixo crescimento. Para o endividamento a valor de mercado foi observado significância para o Benefício fiscal não dívida e Singularidade. Este resultado reforça o argumento de que o ciclo de vida influência a estrutura de capital

Creating and sustaining competitive advantage in collaborative systems:the what and the how

Initially this paper asks two questions: In order to create and sustain competitive advantage through collaborative systems WHAT should be managed? and HOW should it be managed? It introduces the competitive business structure and reviews some of the global trends in manufacturing and business, which leads to focus on manage processes, value propositions and extended business processes. It then goes on to develop a model of the collaborative architecture for extended enterprises and demonstrates the validity of this architecture through a case study. It concludes that, in order to create and sustain competitive advantage, collaborative systems should facilitate the management of: the collaborative architecture of the extended enterprise; the extended business processes and the value proposition for each extended enterprise through a meta level management process. It also identifies areas for further research, such as better understanding of: the exact nature and interaction of multiple strategies within an enterprise; how to manage people/teams working along extended business processes; and the nature and prerequisites of the manage processes.

Earnings behaviour of financially distressed firms:The role of institutional ownership

Using a sample of 859 U.S. bankruptcy-filing firms over the period 1986-2004, we examine the earnings behaviour of managers during the distressed period by looking at sources of abnormal accruals prior to the bankruptcy-filing year. Results show that managers of highly distressed firms shift earnings downwards prior to the bankruptcy filing. We test and provide evidence in support of two potential contributing factors. First, top-level management turnover among distressed firms leads new managers to earnings bath choices during the distressed period. Second, qualified audit opinions exert pressure on managers to follow more conservative earnings behaviour during the distressed period. Evidence is also provided that the management of distressed firms with lower (higher) institutional ownership has greater (lesser) tendency to manage earnings downwards. Results also show that higher institutional ownership mitigates the negative abnormal returns of firms with top management turnover. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that attempts to examine whether institutional ownership relates to market reaction in conjunction with a top management turnover or a qualified audit opinion during the distressed period. Prior studies focused on the investigation of earnings management or institutional ownership (separately) during the distressed period, but did not examine if the effect of institutional ownership on earnings behaviour also influences subsequent returns. Thus, the results of this study should be of interest to analysts, standard setters and regulatory bodies since our results show that management turnover, qualified audit opinions and firm governance mechanisms affect the quality of earnings and the level of abnormal returns. © 2007 Accounting Foundation, The University of Sydney.

Differences between theoretical predictions and operational performance in a stock control application

Over the past decade, several experienced Operational Researchers have advanced the view that the theoretical aspects of model building have raced ahead of the ability of people to use them. Consequently, the impact of Operational Research on commercial organisations and the public sector is limited, and many systems fail to achieve their anticipated benefits in full. The primary objective of this study is to examine a complex interactive Stock Control system, and identify the reasons for the differences between the theoretical expectations and the operational performance. The methodology used is to hypothesise all the possible factors which could cause a divergence between theory and practice, and to evaluate numerically the effect each of these factors has on two main control indices - Service Level and Average Stock Value. Both analytical and empirical methods are used, and simulation is employed extensively. The factors are divided into two main categories for analysis - theoretical imperfections in the model, and the usage of the system by Buyers. No evidence could be found in the literature of any previous attempts to place the differences between theory and practice in a system in quantitative perspective nor, more specifically, to study the effects of Buyer/computer interaction in a Stock Control system. The study reveals that, in general, the human factors influencing performance are of a much higher order of magnitude than the theoretical factors, thus providing objective evidence to support the original premise. The most important finding is that, by judicious intervention into an automatic stock control algorithm, it is possible for Buyers to produce results which not only attain but surpass the algorithmic predictions. However, the complexity and behavioural recalcitrance of these systems are such that an innately numerate, enquiring type of Buyer needs to be inducted to realise the performance potential of the overall man/computer system.

Design of a stock control methodology for use within an oil blending company

The thesis deals with the background, development and description of a mathematical stock control methodology for use within an oil and chemical blending company, where demand and replenishment lead-times are generally non-stationary. The stock control model proper relies on, as input, adaptive forecasts of demand determined for an economical forecast/replenishment period precalculated on an individual stock-item basis. The control procedure is principally that of the continuous review, reorder level type, where the reorder level and reorder quantity 'float', that is, each changes in accordance with changes in demand. Two versions of the Methodology are presented; a cost minimisation version and a service level version. Realising the importance of demand forecasts, four recognised variations of the Trigg and Leach adaptive forecasting routine are examined. A fifth variation, developed, is proposed as part of the stock control methodology. The results of testing the cost minimisation version of the Methodology with historical data, by means of a computerised simulation, are presented together with a description of the simulation used. The performance of the Methodology is in addition compared favourably to a rule-of-thumb approach considered by the Company as an interim solution for reducing stack levels. The contribution of the work to the field of scientific stock control is felt to be significant for the following reasons:- (I) The Methodology is designed specifically for use with non-stationary demand and for this reason alone appears to be unique. (2) The Methodology is unique in its approach and the cost-minimisation version is shown to work successfully with the demand data presented. (3) The Methodology and the thesis as a whole fill an important gap between complex mathematical stock control theory and practical application. A brief description of a computerised order processing/stock monitoring system, designed and implemented as a pre-requisite for the Methodology's practical operation, is presented as an appendix.

Capabilities and competitiveness of Chinese state owned manufacturing enterprises:what has been learned over 20 years and what remains to be learned

Technological capabilities in Chinese manufacturing have been transformed in the last three decades. However, the extent to which and how domestic market oriented state owned enterprises (SOEs) have developed their capabilities remain important questions. The East Asian latecomer model has been adapted to study six Chinese SOEs in the automotive, steel and machine tools sectors to assess capability levels attained and the role of external sources and internal efforts in developing them. All six enterprises demonstrate high competence in operating established technology, managing investment and making product and process improvements but differ in innovative capability. While the East Asian latecomer model in which linking, leveraging and learning explain technological capability development is relevant for the companies studied, it needs to be adapted for Chinese SOEs to take account of types of external links and leverage of enterprises, the role of government, enterprise level management motives and means of financing development.

The servitization of manufacturing:a systematic literature review of interdependent trends

Purpose: The servitization of manufacturing is a diverse and complex field of research interest. The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative and organising lens for viewing the various contributions to knowledge production from those research communities addressing servitization. To achieve this, the paper aims to set out to address two principal questions, namely where are the knowledge stocks and flows amongst the research communities? And what are generic research concerns being addressed by these communities? Design/methodology/approach: Using an evidenced-based approach, the authors have performed a systematic review of the research literature associated with the servitization of manufacturing. This investigation incorporates a descriptive and thematic analysis of 148 academic and scholarly papers from 103 different lead authors in 68 international peer-reviewed journals. Findings: The work proposes support for the existence of distinct researcher communities, namely services marketing, service management, operations management, product-service systems and service science management and engineering, which are contributing to knowledge production in the servitization of manufacturing. Knowledge stocks within all communities associated with research in the servitization of manufacturing have dramatically increased since the mid-1990s. The trends clearly reveal that the operations community is in receipt of the majority of citations relating to the servitization of manufacturing. In terms of knowledge flows, it is apparent that the more mature communities are drawing on more locally produced knowledge stocks, whereas the emergent communities are drawing on a knowledge base more evenly distributed across all the communities. The results are indicative of varying degrees of interdependency amongst the communities. The generic research concerns being addressed within the communities are associated with the concepts of product-service differentiation, competitive strategy, customer value, customer relationships and product-service configuration. Originality/value: This research has further developed and articulated the identities of distinct researcher communities actively contributing to knowledge production in the servitization of manufacturing, and to what extent they are pursuing common research agendas. This study provides an improved descriptive and thematic awareness of the resulting body of knowledge, allowing the field of servitization to progress in a more informed and multidisciplinary fashion. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Cloud adoption:prioritizing obstacles and obstacles resolution tactics using AHP

The enormous potential of cloud computing for improved and cost-effective service has generated unprecedented interest in its adoption. However, a potential cloud user faces numerous risks regarding service requirements, cost implications of failure and uncertainty about cloud providers' ability to meet service level agreements. These risks hinder the adoption of cloud. We extend the work on goal-oriented requirements engineering (GORE) and obstacles for informing the adoption process. We argue that obstacles prioritisation and their resolution is core to mitigating risks in the adoption process. We propose a novel systematic method for prioritising obstacles and their resolution tactics using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). We provide an example to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the approach. To assess the AHP choice of the resolution tactics we support the method by stability and sensitivity analysis. Copyright 2014 ACM.

Restructuring In The Hospitality Industry

In her dialogue entitled - Restructuring in the Hospitality Industry - Elisa S. Moncarz, Associate Professor, the School of Hospitality Management at Florida International University, intends for you to know the following: “Recent years have seen a proliferation of restructurings of major American corporations creating an extremely important issue that has affected U.S. business. This article discusses restructuring issues in the hospitality industry, focusing attention on its causes and motivations, as well as on its benefits and perils. The author considers the impact of restructuring on investors and management while examining recent restructurings involving hospitality firms.” In defining the concept of restructuring, Associate Professor Moncarz informs you, “Restructuring entails the implementation of fundamental and comprehensive modification of a company's operational and/or financial structure.” “It has, indeed, become fashionable to take a company apart and put it back together in a different form,” the author says. Additionally, Moncarz refers to a Wall Street Journal study, dated August 1985, which reveals that nearly half the large American corporations were, or were soon to be restructured in the 1984/85 time frame. There are several distinct types of restructurings and the author wants you to be aware of some of them. “…threats of takeover attempts, the larger part of all restructuring have been initiated willingly in order to expand or divest a company's line of business (i.e., operational restructurings) or redirect its finances (i.e., financial restructurings),” the author reveals. “Two principal types of operational restructurings are mergers and acquisitions [M&A], and divestitures [disposing of unwanted units or assets],” Moncarz further defines the concepts of expansion and divestiture. The author explains several types of financial restructuring sketches used in the hospitality industry, including stock re-purchasing, debt issuances and redemptions, swapping debt for equity, and effective theories of realigning debt through extending loans and/or revising terms. To expand their businesses, Moncarz makes anecdotal reference to several major food and beverage corporations that have successfully employed operational restructuring principles. The author wades into the shallow end of the hostile takeover pool by explaining some of the corporate restructuring concepts used to repel that aggressive technique. Walt Disney Company completely redesigned their entire upper level management structure in a successful effort to thwart a hostile takeover bid by corporate raider Saul P. Steinberg, Moncarz informs. To close, the author touches on leveraged buyouts [LBOs], and stock repurchases to divest unwanted divisions and immobilize hostile takeover attempts. A lengthy table of - Selected Restructurings in the Hospitality Industry [1982 to date of article] – is also included.

Women Hospitality Managers: Perceptions of Gender-Related Career Challenges

In spite of increases in the number of women who are both academically pre- pared and interested in pursuing hospitality management careers, women appear to be leaving the industry at a much higher rate than their male counter- parts. Although women are better represented in lower and middle management than ever before, there has been no corresponding increase in the number of women in top level management positions. The author explores women managers' perceptions of the career-related challenges they confront in hospitality environments and suggests that inadequate access to informal information networks, lack of women mentors, and the impact of unique job characteristics are their most significant concerns.

Extensões na arquitetura SDN para o provisionamento de QoS através do monitoramento e uso de múltiplos caminhos

The substantial increase in the number of applications offered through the computer networks, as well as in the volume of traffic forwarded through the network, have hampered to assure adequate service level to users. The Quality of Service (QoS) offer, honoring specified parameters in Service Level Agreements (SLA), established between the service providers and their clients, composes a traditional and extensive computer networks’ research area. Several schemes proposals for the provision of QoS were presented in the last three decades, but the acting scope of these proposals is always limited due to some factors, including the limited development of the network hardware and software, generally belonging to a single manufacturer. The advent of Software Defined Networking (SDN), along with the maturation of its main materialization, the OpenFlow protocol, allowed the decoupling between network hardware and software, through an architecture which provides a control plane and a data plane. This eases the computer networks scenario, allowing that new abstractions are applied in the hardware composing the data plane, through the development of new software pieces which are executed in the control plane. This dissertation investigates the QoS offer through the use and extension of the SDN architecture. Based on the proposal of two new modules, one to perform the data plane monitoring, SDNMon, and the second, MP-ROUTING, developed to determine the use of multiple paths in the forwarding of data referring to a flow, we demonstrated in this work that some QoS metrics specified in the SLAs, such as bandwidth, can be honored. Both modules were implemented and evaluated through a prototype. The evaluation results referring to several aspects of both proposed modules are presented in this dissertation, showing the obtained accuracy of the monitoring module SDNMon and the QoS gains due to the utilization of multiple paths defined by the MP-Routing, when forwarding data flow through the SDN.

The Importance of Proper Measurement for a Cloud Security Assurance Model

Winner of a best paper award.

Information Security in the Cloud: Should We be Using a Different Approach?

Postprint

A branch and efficiency algorithm for the optimal design of supply chain networks

Supply chain operations directly affect service levels. Decision on amendment of facilities is generally decided based on overall cost, leaving out the efficiency of each unit. Decomposing the supply chain superstructure, efficiency analysis of the facilities (warehouses or distribution centers) that serve customers can be easily implemented. With the proposed algorithm, the selection of a facility is based on service level maximization and not just cost minimization as this analysis filters all the feasible solutions utilizing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique. Through multiple iterations, solutions are filtered via DEA and only the efficient ones are selected leading to cost minimization. In this work, the problem of optimal supply chain networks design is addressed based on a DEA based algorithm. A Branch and Efficiency (B&E) algorithm is deployed for the solution of this problem. Based on this DEA approach, each solution (potentially installed warehouse, plant etc) is treated as a Decision Making Unit, thus is characterized by inputs and outputs. The algorithm through additional constraints named “efficiency cuts”, selects only efficient solutions providing better objective function values. The applicability of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through illustrative examples.