Myth and Society: Functions, Uses, and Abuses of Myth in Society

In this work, I will discuss the integral role that myth has in society and then, after presenting several examples of this thesis, I will examine how the integral nature of myth lends itself to certain societal abuses. These abuses often result in unjust social constructs that eventually become attributed to the myth. I would like to proceed in defense of myth; that is, that these constructs are not to be attributed to the myths themselves, rather, society has taken myth and applied it to suit its purposes, ignoring the context in which the myths originated. Hopefully this will raise society's current attitudes toward myth to a level of respect, and will also help to clear myth of its reputation as the origin of injustice and domination.

Stranger in a Strange Land: The struggle for cultural and personal identity in Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

In order to explicate Murakami's version of the official culture, I have analyzed the novel with the works of several different theorists. Primarily, I drew my own understanding of the official culture from Raymond Williams's examination of culture in Marxism and Literature. His terminology became helpful in writing about the operation of the System and the Town, though it did not define that operation precisely. Williams's work also introduced me to the theory behind the official culture's manipulation and exclusion of historical aspects in order to create their "official" version of history, from which the official culture draws its identity. For further analysis of the treatment of history, I turned to Friedrich Nietzsche's On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life. Though it examines the official culture's manipulation of history in a much more in-depth manner, it seems to have influenced Murakami's treatment of individual memories and cultural histories. For instance, the herd ofunicoms in the End of the World resembles Nietzsche's description of the ''unhistorical herd," or has the potential to resemble it. With these theories I was able to access the mechanisms of cultural control that Murakami depicts in the form of the System and the Town, and from there I was able to develop a model for how the narrator struggles to subvert that control. Both sides of that struggle are depicted and re-imagined many times throughout Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

A internacionalização da publicidade brasileira - 1970/2002

O processo de globalização da economia tem moldado um cenário complexo e desafiante para o setor publicitário brasileiro. A fusão e incorporação entre agências, com a absorção de muitas por grandes grupos de comunicação, é uma das mais visíveis transformações estruturais desde a década de 1980. O presente estudo investigou as seguintes questões: o impacto da internacionalização da publicidade brasileira nas relações entre as agências, anunciantes e veículos de comunicação; como as agências brasileiras têm ajustado seu modo de operação e competição, visando vantagem competitiva e lucratividade; as alternativas de continuidade das agências brasileiras diante da transmissão do poder aos sucessores legais e das propostas de fusão ou incorporação de grupos estrangeiros. Este estudo se insere na linha de pesquisa "Estudos da Cultura e do Consumo", desenvolvida pelo CECC - Centro de Estudos da Cultura e do Consumo, da EAESP/FGV.

Política cultural do Brasil no exterior e o processo de integração internacional: o caso do Mercosul

Nesta dissertação se propõe a analisar a política cultural do Brasil no exterior e em especial sua participação no processo de criação do Mercosul Cultural. O presente ensaio verifica até que ponto o Brasil conta com uma política cultural no exterior que possa realmente promover difundir e intercambiar a cultura brasileira em âmbito internacional. Buscou-se dentre os vários modelos existentes de política pública marcos teóricos que pudessem servir como parâmetros na análise da política cultural externa brasileira, utilizando-se principalmente as fases de uma política pública e o modelo ótimo normativo de Dror. De maneira geral o autor procurou examinar ao lado da análise da política cultural do Brasil no exterior o processo de integração internacional e a participação do Brasil na globalização enfatizando a cultura como fator fundamental no processo de regionalização promovido atualmente pela Argentina, Brasil, Paraguai e Uruguai.

Transição cultural : divergências diante da formação de uma nova identidade : estudo de caso da Companhia Siderúrgica de Tubarão - CST

The employees' partlclpation in the cultural transltIon process occurred in Companhia Siderúrgica de Tubarão (CST) was helpful in the identification of the group of measures that started to be managed in order to be established in the run of the control assumption. The company, in order to acquire proper features, had to change prior values, behaviors and identities through strategies shared by ali the organization members, thus, creating a new culture. The CST was seen as a company controlling and coordinating a group of people. It counted on vertical hierarchical leveis, departments and authority relations. It was neve r taken into account that the company could have its own personality, like each person that worked there. Before getting through this cultural transition process, that extremely changed its values, the company had a dominating culture, with a centralized administration. This way, it influenced the conduct of ali its members, in a controlling environment. When the company realized the necessity of investments in cultural changing programs, in order to eliminate the pathologies and disfunctions that were hitting its business structure, causing damage to productivity and to the quality of the results, it condensed energies in one direction implementing the participation of ali its leaderships as implementing and multiplier elements to orientate and facilitate the achievement of its goals. Trying to understand better the influences suffered by the changes brought by globalization and privatization, some theorical and operational concepts of culture and identity were developed in this study, mainly in the first chapters. In the research extension, several aspects of this complex anthropological and sociological concept of culture were managed, such as affectiveness, cognitive process, valuation process and everything that could be related to or that give elligibility to this concept and to the phenomenon this concept will consist in.

"Marketing glocal": marketing global com estratégias locais como vantagem competitiva de mercado

The objective of this dissertation is to explore and deeply study the concepts about Glocal Marketing, explaining this recent phenomenon, highlighting the importance and the influence of local culture on the marketing mix of global organizations, in order to have successful commercialization of their products and services in different markets. Searching for a better understanding of Glocal Marketing became extremely important in the XXI Century, since there is an increase in the number of global companies which want to explore new markets in order to survive and remain in the highly competitive market. Concepts of Globalization, Marketing, Glocal Marketing, Culture are defined and explored. Also, the influence of culture on consumer behavior and on the marketing mix of global organizations is analyzed. The Hofstede¿s cultural typology is explained and it is used to give the reader an overview and a better understanding about the cultural influence in the acceptance of new products in new markets. The relationship between culture and marketing mix is discussed, as well as the importance of standardization versus customization of the marketing mix among countries with high cultural differences. The methodology is composed by descriptive research and a case study about a global organization, the Coca-Cola Company. Therefore, this dissertation aims to show and exemplify how the Coca-Cola Company applies glocal strategies on its marketing mix as a way to establish a competitive advantage in the market.

A aplicação do conceito de universidade corporativa para a formação de gestores do sistema federação das industrias do estado do Paraná

Devido à globalização dos mercados e da produção, ao acirramento da concorrência e das disputas de mercados, às aceleradas transformações científicas, tecnológicas e sociais e ao advento da economia baseada em conhecimento, as organizações se vêem permanentemente desafiadas a desenvolver novas competências de forma a criar vantagem competitiva sustentável. Com este fim estão implantando infraestruturas de aprendizagem próprias, para o desenvolvimento profissional e educação continuada de seus funcionários, com foco nas necessidades essenciais da organização e alinhamento com a estratégia de seus negócios - são as chamadas Universidades Corporativas, U.C .. A aplicação do conceito de U. C. a uma organização, requer a existência de um ambiente empresarial que esteja preparado para desenvolver a cultura permanente de aprendizagem. Fator essencial neste processo é o comprometimento e envolvimento dos gestores da organização cujo papel é o de construir o ambiente da aprendizagem, criando os espaços e os canais para o exercício da construção coletiva de novos conhecimentos e práticas organizacionais. Este estudo visa verificar a apl icabilidade do conceito de U.C. ao Sistema Federação das Indústrias do Estado do Paraná, tendo utilizado na pesquisa, como sujeitos de analise os gestores da Instituição e como método de anál ise de dados o método distanciaI. O nível de satisfação aos indicadores util izados na pesquisa efetuada com os gestores do sistema, infere que estes aval iam que existe um ambiente organizacional predisposto à aplicabil idade do conceito de U.C. no Sistema FIEP.

Transformações sócio-econômicas e os seus impactos no modelo de capacitação de pessoas da Internacional Serviços Aduaneiros LTDA

o presente trabalho propõe uma reflexão que gira em torno de três variáveis: a cultura, as pessoas e a capacitação. A adoção de novas práticas de aprendizagem tem como principal obstáculo à cultura não somente na organização, mas também no seu entorno onde está inserido. Diante da realidade de um mundo globalizado e multicultural, a investigação demonstra que a missão da capacitação é de promover aos indivíduos um comportamento proativo, gerando mais autonomia e responsabilidade pelos resultados que exigem criatividade e visão em longo prazo. Esse estudo pretende verificar a eficácia dos métodos aplicados na empresa em questão quanto à política de capacitação de pessoas, desenvolvendo profissionais proativos, criativos, flexíveis em atendimento ao mercado atual. A pesquisa será do tipo exploratória, descritiva e explicativa e realizada por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica, pesquisa de campo e estudo de caso, sendo neste último, abrangendo todos os funcionários da Internacional Serviços Aduaneiros Ltda.

Entrepreneurship failure: is culture to blame?

Apesar de Empreendedorismo e Cultura serem tópicos com extensa literatura na área de estudos de Administração de Empresas, existe relativamente pouca pesquisa na influencia que a Cultura exerce no Empreendedorismo. O principal objetivo deste trabalho é investigar a influencia da cultura no índice de fracasso do empreendedorismo. Através de uma abordagem de correlação, utilizando 40 países da database do Hofstede (2001) de trabalhadores da IBM e dados presentes na database do Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). Os resultados desta análise sugerem que Individualismo VS. Coletivismo é a única dimensão cultural significativa quando se discute os efeitos da cultura no índice de fracasso do Empreendedorismo.

Cultures at work: the case of italian expatriates in Brazil

Esta tese de mestrado tem por intenção entender quais são as mais importantes diferenças culturais para os expatriados Italianos que trabalham no Brasil e aprender as implicações práticas para o ambiente de trabalho. O método utilizado foi qualitativo, com 23 entrevistas em profundidade com expatriados italianos de nível médio ate top management, com experiência de trabalho no Brasil. Os resultados indicam que os expatriados Italianos experimentam dificuldades com as diferenças em termos de comunicação, distinção entre as esfera profissional e privada, distancia do poder e planejamento. Em contrapartida, outros fatores como a discriminação positiva para os estrangeiros, diferenças em geneder equality e masculinidade, assim como com a atitude positiva dos workplaces e uma economia em crescimento, todos influenciam de maneira positiva a experiência do expatriado. Enfim, algumas sugestões práticas sobre os efeitos das diferenças culturais e sobre a estruturação de um possível cross-cultural training são expostas.

Business diplomacy: the compass rose of foreign markets

With transnational corporations (TNCs) around the world today numbering over 60,000 and more than 800,000 affiliates working abroad, it is easy to understand how modern day international business could have transformed into a major global player serving at the axis of politics, social and environmental responsibility. Additionally, with accountability to a large variety of both public and private stakeholders, all exerting significant power and influence, today’s global corporate structure is reinventing modern international relations, and in some cases, dominating it. (Muldoon 2005) This transformative nature of globalization today can also serve as a source of friction among this growing chorus of players and is bringing irreversible change to these relationships and how they impact and influence business around the world. (Muldoon 2005) From the largest to the smallest international corporation seeking to expand into new international markets, the challenges that come with corporate ambition can mean the difference between success and failure and they find a home at the intersection of international relations, diplomacy and economics. To successfully navigate these challenges, especially in emerging economies, a company must now factor in more than just the “bottom line” and address complex issues that include human rights differences, environmental regulations, labor rights and values of each country. (Henisz, 2014) Combined with modern-day mobility achieved through technology and the Internet, corporations today have a great capacity to reach targeted audiences and establish a presence, but it is this same technology that also allows for immediate response to any corporate action. This constant, 24-hour news cycle, where everyone is made to be a real-time reporter through social media, has created a situation that demonstrably necessitates the ability to not only 3 respond immediately, but also to have real-time understanding of the challenges faced by a corporation as it looks toward global expansion. International Business Diplomacy, or simply Business Diplomacy as it will be referred to in this paper, combines all of these nuanced factors into a relatively new discipline that offers companies looking to expand into new markets, guidelines and directives so that they can more strategically map corporate direction, limit risk and achieve their objectives. This paper will examine the history of diplomacy and how the concept of statecraft became intertwined with the increasing globalization of business. Following a scholarly examination of how modern Business Diplomacy came into being, and the unique challenges that come with its application, particularly the liabilities needed to be overcome, this paper will apply the concept to the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer, tracking its strategic emergence from a small, regionally focused aircraft producer to global leader in the regional and executive jet market platforms. It will then examine Embraer’s entrance into the Chinese market, where the company suffered from several missteps and eventually had to refocus its business model from commercial to executive jets. Finally, as globalization continues to “emancipate international business from its institutional and social constraints,” (Muldoon 2005) this paper will address how the relatively new and emerging discipline of Business Diplomacy is continuing to mature and grow in stature and influence through the proposition of a new challenge or “liability” that corporations must also overcome as they expand into new markets. Through the analysis of Embraer in China, this paper will introduce the Liability of Governance to the lexicon of Business Diplomacy and propose specific steps that a company can undertake to avoid it.

Citizens and the future of multilateralism in a polycentric world at 2030: the perspectives of emerging countries for the trading system: the impasse of WTO, the trends of mega agreements, the logic of value chains and the advent of consumers concerns on international trade

A new paradigm is modeling the World: evolutionary innovations in all fronts, new information technologies, huge mobility of capital, use of risky financial tools, globalization of production, new emerging powers and the impact of consumer concerns on governmental policies. These phenomena are shaping the World and forcing the advent of a new World Order in the Multilateral Monetary, Financial, and Trading System. The effects of this new paradigm are also transforming global governance. The political and economic orders established after the World War and centered on the multilateral model of UN, IMF, World Bank, and the GATT, leaded by the developed countries, are facing significant challenges. The rise of China and emerging countries shifted the old model to a polycentric World, where the governance of these organizations are threatened by emerging countries demanding a bigger participation in the role and decision boards of these international bodies. As a consequence, multilateralism is being confronted by polycentrism. Negotiations for a more representative voting process and the pressure for new rules to cope with the new demands are paralyzing important decisions. This scenario is affecting seriously not only the Monetary and Financial Systems but also the Multilateral Trading System. International trade is facing some significant challenges: a serious deadlock to conclude the last round of the multilateral negotiation at the WTO, the fragmentation of trade rules by the multiplication of preferential and mega agreements, the arrival of a new model of global production and trade leaded by global value chains that is threatening the old trade order, and the imposition of new sets of regulations by private bodies commanded by transnationals to support global value chains and non-governmental organizations to reflect the concerns of consumers in the North based on their precautionary attitude about sustainability of products made in the World. The lack of any multilateral order in this new regulation is creating a big cacophony of rules and developing a new regulatory war of the Global North against the Global South. The objective of this paper is to explore how these challenges are affecting the Tradinge System and how it can evolve to manage these new trends.

Gestão híbrida em cooperativa de crédito: uma análise a partir do interesse, participação, satisfação e expectativa dos cooperados da COOPERUFPA

The globalization of markets has confirmed for the processes of change in organizations both in structure and in management. This dynamic was also observed in credit unions because they are financial institutions and are under the rules of the Brazil´s Financial System. Given the context of organizational changes in the financial capital has played the traditional management reform is urgent. In organizations credit unions, given its dual purpose, because in the same organizational environment and capitalism coexist cooperative whose logics are antagonistic, but can live through the balance between instrumental rationality and substantive rationality in credit unions. Based on this concept a new form of management should be thought to be able to accommodate the demand of cooperative, community, government and the market. Hybridization has been observed in management practices` COOPERUFPA into dimensions financial, social and solidarity participation with a trend in paradigmatic form of hybrid management, in that it directly or indirectly affect the management decisions in the credit union. The hybrid management is a trend that has been setting the basis for societal transformation, so that credit unions promote actions of welfare oriented cooperative members and the community around the same time that attend the dynamics of market globalization. These actions, in the context of hybrid management should be implemented by COOPERUFPA from the sociability of the remains and the wide diffusion of solidarity culture between cooperative partnership as a way to recover their participation in trade relations, financial and the social collective developement. For the members of COOPERUFPA financial interest is evidenced in greater relevance for the social interest given its dominant relationship as "mere customer" of the credit union, however, the proactive participation of the life of the cooperative credit union is one of its expectative among of participation of to share power in decisions by general meetings. This passivity`s cooperator of the COOPERUFPA in defending the ideals overshadowed the spread of cooperative principles and values of cooperation among them. Thus his conception for COOPERUFPA in the financial dimension, social and solidarity democracy, performed transversely. The COOPERUFPA for not developing an education policy for the cooperation among its members, contributed to a process of collective alienation of cooperative ideals, since the cooperative do not understand the reality that surrounds them as members of an organization whose mission is to social and financial sustainability of its members

Effects of Hormonal Supplementation on Nuclear Maturation and Cortical Granules Distribution of Canine Oocytes During Various Reproductive Stages

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Vitrification with DAP 213 and Cryotop of Ex Situ and In Situ Feline Cumulus-Oocyte Complexes

This study was undertaken to compare cryotolerance, in terms of viability and resumption of meiosis after warming and culture (24 and 48 h), of ex situ (isolated) and in situ (enclosed in the ovarian tissue) feline cumulusoocyte complexes (COCs) vitrified with DAP 213 (2 M DMSO, 1 M acetamide, 3 M propylene glycol) in cryotubes or Cryotop method. Ovaries were harvested from 49 pubertal queens. of each pair of ovaries, one was dissected to release COCs randomly divided into three groups: fresh COCs (control), ex situ COCs vitrified with DAP 213 and Cryotop. The cortex of the other ovary was sectioned into small fragments (approximately 1.5 mm3) and randomly assigned to be vitrified by DAP 213 or Cryotop. After warming, ex situ and in situ (retrieved form vitrified ovarian tissue) COCs were matured in vitro. Viability of oocytes was highly preserved after warming and culture in all treatments. Proportions of oocytes surrounded by complete layers of viable cumulus cells were remarkably decreased (p < 0.00001) in both vitrification procedures compared to fresh oocytes. Resumption of meiosis occurred in all treatments. After 24 h of culture, results were similar in ex situ and in situ vitrified oocytes regardless of the vitrification protocol used (range 29-40%), albeit lower (p < 0.05) than those of fresh oocytes (65.8%). After 48 h of culture, ex situ oocytes vitrified with Cryotop achieved the rates of meiosis resumption similar to fresh oocytes (53.8% vs 67.5%; p > 0.05) and ex situ and in situ oocytes vitrified with DAP 213 showed similar rates of resumption of meiosis. These findings demonstrated that DAP 213 and Cryotop preserve the viability of ex situ and in situ oocytes, but cumulus cells are highly susceptible to vitrification. However, the capability to resume meiosis evidences that feline immature oocytes vitrified as isolated or enclosed in the ovarian cortex have comparable cryotolerance.