970 resultados para International Coffee Organization (1962- )
Resumo:
Since 1991, policies of economic liberalization in Ethiopia have been effective in releasing the economy from rigid state control. At the same time, they have also exposed Ethiopian people to domestic and international free market competition. In African countries, the retreat of governments from rural development due to economic liberalization policies has led to the re-evaluation of the role of cooperatives. Since 1999, in Ethiopia, several coffee farmers cooperative unions have been established to support peasants who are handicapped by their lack of negotiating power in the global economy. Coffee cooperatives have become market-oriented and are now relatively democratic compared to the former Marxist cooperatives of the previous regime. Thus far, these coffee cooperatives have provided higher profits to coffee farmers than have private traders. The actual volume of purchase, however, is limiteddue to financial constraints. Because of this, the majority of cooperatives continues to rely on conventional marketing channels rather than on unions. Considering their weak financial condition, it is too early to judge the sustainability of the cooperatives because international prices have been high recently, and it is not yet clear how they would survive a downward international price trend.
Resumo:
International input-output tables are among the most useful tools for economic analysis. Since these tables provide detailed information about international production networks, they have recently attracted considerable attention in research on spatial economics, global value chains, and issues relating to trade in value-added. The Institute of Developing Economies at the Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO) has more than 40 years of experience in the construction and analysis of international input-output tables. This paper explains the development of IDE-JETROs multi-regional input-output projects including the construction of the Asian International Input-Output table and the Transnational Interregional Input-Output table between China and Japan. To help users understand the features of the tables, this paper also gives examples of their application.
Resumo:
How are different positions reconciled under decision making by consensus in international agreements? This article aims to answer this question. Consensus rule provides each participant a veto, which risks resulting in non-agreement. Taking ASEAN as a case study of international organizations that have adopted consensus rule as the main decision-making procedure, this article presents the chairship system as an analytical scheme to examine how different positions are or are not reconciled under consensus rule. The system is based on conventional knowledge regarding the chair in international conference, which can be defined as an institution where the role of the chair is taken by one member state in an international organization and plays a role in agenda-setting. The agenda-setting power given to the chair varies across organizations. This article assumes that the chair in ASEAN is given a relatively strong agenda-setting power to enable the chair to reach agreements and bias such agreements in its own favor.
Resumo:
Previous studies in the border-effect literature surprisingly found that domestic border effects are larger than international border effects (e.g., in the United States or Brazil). One interpretation of this result is that these estimates include the effects of producer agglomeration. Therefore, in this study, we estimate those border effects exclusively for transactions for final consumption, in which such agglomeration forces will be weak, in China and Japan. As a result, we found larger international border effects and could not find a significant role for producer agglomeration in the estimates of border effects. We also found that China's accession to the World Trade Organization reduces border effects in trading between China and Japan but does not decrease domestic border effects.
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The potential shown by Lean in different domains has aroused interest in the software industry. However, it remains unclear how Lean can be effectively applied in a domain such as software development that is fundamentally different from manufacturing. This study explores how Lean principles are implemented in software development companies and the challenges that arise when applying Lean Software Development. For that, a case study was conducted at Ericsson R&D Finland, which successfully adopted Scrum in 2009 and subsequently started a comprehensible transition to Lean in 2010. Focus groups were conducted with company representatives to help devise a questionnaire supporting the creation of a Lean mindset in the company (Team Amplifier). Afterwards, the questionnaire was used in 16 teams based in Finland, Hungary and China to evaluate the status of the transformation. By using Lean thinking, Ericsson R&D Finland has made important improvements to the quality of its products, customer satisfaction and transparency within the organization. Moreover, build times have been reduced over ten times and the number of commits per day has increased roughly five times.The study makes two main contributions to research. First, the main factors that have enabled Ericsson R&D?s achievements are analysed. Elements such as ?network of product owners?, ?continuous integration?, ?work in progress limits? and ?communities of practice? have been identified as being of fundamental importance. Second, three categories of challenges in using Lean Software Development were identified: ?achieving flow?, ?transparency? and ?creating a learning culture?
Resumo:
In coffee processing the fermentation stage is considered one of the critical operations by its impact on the final quality of the product. However, the level of control of the fermentation process on each farm is often not adequate; the use of sensorics for controlling coffee fermentation is not common. The objective of this work is to characterize the fermentation temperature in a fermentation tank by applying spatial interpolation and a new methodology of data analysis based on phase space diagrams of temperature data, collected by means of multi-distributed, low cost and autonomous wireless sensors. A real coffee fermentation was supervised in the Cauca region (Colombia) with a network of 24 semi-passive TurboTag RFID temperature loggers with vacuum plastic cover, submerged directly in the fermenting mass. Temporal evolution and spatial distribution of temperature is described in terms of the phase diagram areas which characterizes the cyclic behaviour of temperature and highlights the significant heterogeneity of thermal conditions at different locations in the tank where the average temperature of the fermentation was 21.2 C, although there were temperature ranges of 4.6C, and average spatial standard deviation of 1.21C. In the upper part of the tank we found high heterogeneity of temperatures, the higher temperatures and therefore the higher fermentation rates. While at the bottom, it has been computed an area in the phase diagram practically half of the area occupied by the sensors of the upper tank, therefore this location showed higher temperature homogeneity
Resumo:
La Tesis decodifica una seleccin de veinte proyectos representativos de Sejima-SANAA, desde su primer proyecto construido, la Casa Platform I, 1987, hasta el Centro Rolex, 2010, ao en que Sejima y Nishizawa SANAA- reciben el Premio Pritzker. De los veinte proyectos once son de Sejima: Casa Platform I, Casa Platform II, Residencia de Mujeres, Casa N, Pachinco Parlor I, Villa en el Bosque, Comisara en Chofu, Casa Y, Apartamentos en Gifu, Edificio de equipamientos en la Expo Tokio 96, Pachinko Parlor III; y nueve de SANAA: edificio Multimedia en Oogaki, estudio de viviendas metropolitanas,Park Caf en Koga, De Kunstlinie en Almere, Museo de Kanazawa, Pabelln de Toledo, Escuela de Zollverein, Casa Flor y Centro Rolex. La decodificacin lee la obra de Sejima-SANAA a la inversa para reconstruir, en un ejercicio de simulacin ficticia, una versin verosmil y coherente de los que podran haber sido sus procesos proyectuales; podran, porque los verdaderos son imposibles de dilucidar. Los que se proponen se pretenden exclusivamente verosmiles y plausibles. Con ello se pretende contribuir al entendimiento y comprensin de la arquitectura de Sejima-SANAA y, tangencialmente y en menor medida, a la teora sobre el ejercicio proyectual arquitectnico. La decodificacin se centra en dos aspectos concretos: la forma arquitectnica y el papel proyectual de la estructura portante. Ambas decodificaciones se extienden inevitablemente a otros aspectos relacionados, como, por ejemplo, la naturaleza del espacio arquitectnico. El procedimiento de investigacin parti de una descripcin objetiva y pormenorizada de los significantes formales y estructurales de cada proyecto desde su propia configuracin fsica y geomtrica. Esa descripcin objetiva, llevada al lmite, permiti que afloraran estructuras conceptuales y lgicas subyacentes de cada proyecto. Unida a interpretacin crtica, mediante su relacin y confrontacin con otras arquitecturas y otros modos de hacer conocidos- permiti trazar la reconstitucin ficticia que persigue la decodificacin. Ese trabajo se materializ en veinte ensayos crticos y se acompa de un conjunto de otros textos sobre temas sugeridos o reclamados por el proceso de investigacin. El conjunto de todos esos textos constituye el material de trabajo de la tesis. A partir de ah, con una visin de conjunto, la tesis identifica una trayectoria de estrategias formales y una trayectoria de estrategias proyectuales relacionadas con lo portante. Juntas conforman el grueso de la tesis que se expone en los cuatro captulos centrales. Los precede un captulo introductorio que expone el recorrido biogrfico de K. Sejima y la trayectoria profesional de Sejima-SANAA; y los siguen de unos textos transversales sobre forma, lugar y espacio. La tesis termina con una sntesis de sus conclusiones. Las estrategias formales se exponen en tres captulos. El primero, Primeras estrategias formales agrupa proyectos de la primera etapa de Sejima. El segundo captulo est dedicado enteramente al proyecto de los apartamentos en Gifu, 1994-98, que segn esta tesis, supuso un importante punto de inflexin en la trayectoria de Sejima; tanto el tercer captulo lleva por nombre Estrategias formales despus de Gifu y recoge los proyectos que le siguieron. Las Primeras estrategias formales, varias y balbucientes, se mueven en general en torno a dos modos o procedimientos de composicin, bien conocidos: por partes y sistemtico. ste ltima inicia en la trayectoria de SANAA un aspecto que va a ser relevante de aqu en adelante: entender el proyecto como propuesta genrica en la que, ms all de su realidad especfica y tangible, subyace una lgica, en cada proyecto la suya, extrapolable a otros lugares, otras dimensiones, incluso otros programas: cada proyecto podra dar lugar a otros proyectos de la misma familia. La composicin sistemtica incluye, entre otros, la Casa Platform II, basada en la definicin de un elemento constructivo, y la formulacin de unas leyes de repeticin y de posibles modos de agrupacin. Incluye tambin la Residencia de Mujeres Saishunkan Seiyaku- proyecto que lanz a Sejima a la fama internacional-, que tambin sera un sistema, pero distinto: basado en la repeticin regular de una serie de elementos a lo largo de una directriz generando un hipottico contenedor infinito del que el proyecto sera tan solo un fragmento. La estrategia formal del edificio de Gifu ahondara en la voluntad genrica del proyecto, adoptando la lgica de un juego. El proyecto sera una partida del juego, pero no la nica posible, podran jugarse otras. Esta hiptesis del juego est verificada en El Juego de Gifu que - tras formular el juego identificando sus elementos (tablero y fichas), reglas y procedimientos- juega una partida: la que habra dado lugar al edificio proyectado por Sejima. Gifu extiende el concepto de repetir un elemento constructivo a la de repetir un patrn espacial, lo que conlleva: la desvinculacin entre forma y funcin; y un nuevo concepto de flexibilidad, que deja de referirse al uso flexible del edificio construido para pertenecer al momento proyectual en que se asignan funciones especficas a los patrones espaciales. Esta tesis propone que esa asignacin de funciones sera uno de los ltimos eslabones del proceso proyectual, algo opuesto a la premisa moderna de la forma sigue a la funcin. Las estrategias formales Despus de Gifu tienen tambin lgicas de juego, pero cada estrategia responde a un juego distinto, como dejan entrever sus nombres: Tableros de Juego, que con distintos grados de madurez estara presente en varios proyectos; Elementos de Catlogo en el Museo de Kanazawa; Forma apriorstica, en la Casa Flor y Repeticin de una situacin topolgica, en el Centro Rolex. Todas esas estrategias, o juegos, mantienen aspectos comunes relativos a la forma arquitectnica, precisamente los aspectos Gifu: la repeticin aplicada al patrn espacial, y lo que conlleva: desvinculacin entre forma y funcin y la nueva acepcin de flexibilidad. Tableros de Juego consiste en configurar cada sistema de proyecto (estructura, cerramientos, particiones y mobiliario) eligiendo elementos ofrecidos por una geometra de base, en cada proyecto la suya, en general reticular: intersecciones, lneas, mdulos. Cada sistema se configura, en principio, sin relacin de subordinacin con cualquiera de los dems; cuando esa subordinacin es ineludible, el juego determina que el sistema portante no puede materializar el orden geomtrico de base, lo que se traduce en que no ejerce el papel dominante. Por lo tanto, Tableros de Juego transgrede la lgica de la planta libre moderna: la estructura ni refleja ni revela el orden de base y los sistemas no respetan las relaciones de subordinacin jerrquica y encadenada que aquella determinaba. Esta estrategia de Tableros de juego deriva en soluciones y proyectos formales muy distintos: los proyectos de Oogaki y Park Caf, que presentaran Tableros de Juego incipientes; De Kunstlinie en Almere y la Escuela de Zollverein, que presentaran una consolidacin de esta estrategia; y el Pabelln de Vidrio de Toledo que resultara de la subversin de la estrategia. Este ltimo proyecto, adems, lleva el concepto de repeticin ms all del elemento constructivo y del patrn espacial (que en este caso tiene forma de burbuja) parar acabar afectando a la propia experiencia del espectador, que est donde est, siempre tiene la sensacin de estar en el mismo sitio. Esta tesis denomina a ese espacio repetitivo como espacio mantra. La estrategia Elementos de Catlogo se ilustra con el Museo de Kanazawa. Su lgica parte de la definicin de una serie de elementos, muy pocos, y se basa en el ingente nmero de posibles combinaciones entre s. Gifu habra anunciado el catalogo de elementos en la caracterizacin de sus patrones espaciales. La estrategia Forma Apriorstica se ilustra con la Casa Flor. La decisin sobre el tipo de forma -en este caso la de una ameba- estara al principio del proceso proyectual, lo que no quiere decir que sea una forma arbitraria: la forma de la ameba lleva implcita la repeticin de un patrn espacial (el seudpodo) y una apoteosis del concepto de repeticin que, alcanzando la experiencia espacial, da lugar a un espacio repetitivo o mantra. El Espacio Mantra es uno de los leitmotivs, que se emplean como argumento en la ltima estrategia formal que la Tesis decodifica: el Centro Rolex. Con respecto a la estructura portante, la tesis identifica y traza una trayectoria de cinco estrategias proyectuales: preeminencia, ocultacin, disolucin, desaparicin y desvirtuacin. --Ocultacin, reduce el papel dominante de la estructura. Al principio es una ocultacin literal, casi un tapado de los elementos estructurales, como en Gifu; luego se hace ms sofisticada, como la ocultacin por camuflaje o la paradjica ocultacin por multiplicacin de Park Caf. --La disolucin merma la condicin dominante de la estructura que en lugar de configurarse como sistema unitario u homogneo se fragmenta en varios subsistemas. --La desaparicin se refiere a estructuras que desaparecen como sistemas propios y autnomos, a proyectos en los que la funcin portante es desempeada por otros sistemas como el de las particiones. La desaparicin culmina con la Casa Flor, cuyo permetro ejerce la funcin portante y adems es transparente, est desmaterializado: la estructura se ha hecho invisible, ha desaparecido. --La desvirtuacin se refiere a estructuras que s se presentan como sistemas propios y autnomos, pero dejan de tener un papel preeminente por cuanto no materializan el orden de base: esta estrategia es correlativa a la estrategia formal Tableros de juego. Las conclusiones de la tesis estn en la propia organizacin de la tesis: la identificacin de las estrategias. An as, y como eplogos, se exponen seis. Las dos primeras subrayan el hilo conductor del trabajo realizado, que radica en la cualidad genrica de las estrategias proyectuales en Sejima-SANAA. Las cuatro siguientes dilucidan hasta qu punto hay, en sus proyectos, rasgos o significantes formales y/o estructurales que sean a su vez seales caractersticas del panorama arquitectnico contemporneo; y plantean la pregunta estrella: hay algunos que, apuntando ms lejos, supongan aportaciones originales? --Como aportaciones originales la tesis destaca: la identificacin entre el ideal genrico y proyecto concreto; y la propuesta de un espacio nuevo, hbrido, una suerte de estadio intermedio entre el espacio subdividido y compartimentado de la tradicin y el continuo moderno. --Como sntomas de contemporaneidad se destacan: respecto de la forma, la traslacin de la especificidad formal de la parte al conjunto; y respecto de la estructura, la tendencia contempornea a hacer estructuras cada vez ms ligeras y livianas, que tienden a lo evanescente. sta ltima, la tendencia al evanescencia estructural, podra tener la condicin de aportacin original, no en vano la desaparicin de la estructura lleva la evanescencia hacia sus ltimas consecuencias, y en el caso de estructuras con presencia fsica, hace que dejen de ser el sistema ordenador orquestador del proceso proyectual. ABSTRACT The Thesis decodes a selection of twenty representative Sejima-SANAA projects, from the first one built, the Platform I House in 1987, to the Rolex Center in 2010, year in which Sejima and Nishizawa SANAA- received the Pritzker Prize. Eleven projects are from Sejima: Platform I, Platform II, Saishunkan Seiyaku Womens Dormitory, N- House, Pachinco Parlor I, Villa in the Forest, Policy Box at Chofu Station, Y-House, Gifu Kitigata Apartment, World City Expo 96 Facilities Building, Pachinko Parlor III; and nine from SANAA: Multimedia Workshop in Ogaki, Metropolitan Housing Studies, Park Caf in Koga, De Kunstlinie in Almere, Kanazawa Museum, Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art, Zollverein School, Flower House and the Rolex Center. This decoding reads the Sejima-SANAAs projects inversely aiming to reconstruct', in a fictitious simulation exercise, a likely and coherent version of what her/their projectual processes could have been; could, because the true ones are impossible to explain. The ones proposed here pretend only to be likely and reasonable. By so doing the Thesis tries to contribute to the understanding and comprehension of Sejima-SANAA architecture and, tangentially and to a lesser extent, to the theory of architectural projects exercise. Decoding centers in two specific aspects: architectural form, and projectual role of the load bearing structure. Both decodes inevitably extend to other related aspects such as, for example, the nature of space. The research procedure begun by carrying out an objective and detailed description of the formal and structural signifiers of each project; looking at them from their physical and geometric configuration. Taken to the limit, the objective descriptions allowed the conceptual structures and underlying logics of each project to arise. Together with critical interpretations, which related and confronted them with other architectures and well-known projectual working ways, it became possible to outline and trace the intended fictitious reconstruction decodes. The descriptive analytical work materialized in twenty critical essays, and was accompanied by a set of other essays on subjects suggested or demanded by the research process. Together, all those texts were the material basis on which thesis work was built. Looking at the whole and taking it from there, the thesis identifies two related projectual trajectories: a trajectory of formal strategies and a trajectory of strategies having to do with structural systems and components. Both, together, constitute the bulk of the thesis, as presented in the four central chapters. Preceding them there is an introductory chapter outlining the biographical path of Kazuyo Sejima and the professional trajectory of Sejima-SANAA. And following them there is another one containing transversal texts on form, place and space. The thesis ends with a synthesis on conclusions. The formal strategies are displayed in three chapters. The first one, `Early formal strategies' groups the first phase projects by Sejima. The second one, Formal strategies of Gifus paradigm, is entirely dedicated to the Gifu apartments project, 1994-98, which according to this thesis meant an important inflexion point in Sejimas trajectory; so much so that the third chapter is named `Formal strategies after Gifu' and gathers the selected projects that followed it. The Early formal strategies', diverse and tentative, move in general around two well-known projectual composition methods composition by parts, and systematic composition. This last one systematic composition- begins and leads in SANAAs trajectory an aspect which will remain relevant from here on: the understanding of the project as if it were an specific instance of a generic proposal in which -below and beyond the project tangible reality- there lays a logic that could be applicable at other places, for other dimensions, even with other programs; from each project, other projects of the same family could rise. The set of projects using this systematic composition method include, among others, the Platform II House, based on the definition of a constructive element and of rules having to do with its replicas and their possible groupings. It also includes the Saishunkan Seiyaku Women Residence -project that launched Sejima to international fame- that could also be seen as a system, but of a different kind: a system based on the regular repetition of a series of elements along a directive line, thus generating a hypothetical infinite container of which the project would be only a fragment. The formal strategy of the Gifu apartments building would push further towards the generic project concept, adopting the logic of a game. The project would be a bout, a round, one play, but not the only possible one; others could be played. The thesis confirms this game hypothesis -after having formulated `The Game of Gifu' and identified its elements (board, chips, rules and procedures)- playing the one play from which the building as projected by Sejima would have raised. Gifu extends the concept of repeating a constructive element to that of repeating a space pattern element, and to what it implies: the decoupling of form and function, leading to a new concept of flexibility that no longer refers to the flexible use of the constructed building but to the projectual moment at which the specific functions are assigned to the space patterns. This thesis proposes that this allocation of functions would be one of the last steps in projectual process, quite opposite from the modern premise: form follows function. The Formal strategies after Gifu do also have a game logic; but, as their names reveal, each strategy responds to a different game: Game Boards, present with different maturity levels in several projects; Elements from a Catalogue, in the Kanazawa Museum; Aprioristic Form, in the Flower House; and Repetition of a topologic situation', in the Rolex Center. All of these strategies, or games, maintain common aspects having to do with architectural form; aspects that were already present, precisely, in Gifu: repetition of space pattern units, uncoupling of form and function, and a new meaning of flexibility. -`Game Boards consists on setting up a base geometry -each project his, generally reticular- and give form to each project system (structure, closings, partitions and furniture) by choosing elements -intersections, lines, modules- it offers. Each project system is formed, in principle, with no subordinated relation with any of the others; when subordination is unavoidable, the game rules determine that the load bearing structural system may not be the one to materialize the base geometric order, which means that it does not exert the dominant role. Therefore, Game Boards' transgresses the Modern logic, because the structure neither reflects nor reveals the base order, and because the systems do not respect any of the hierarchic and chained subordination relations that the free plan called for. Game Boards' leads to quite different solutions and formal projects: the Oogaki and Park Coffee projects show incipient Game Boards; The Almere Kunstlinie and the Zollverein School present consolidations of this strategy; and the Toledos Glass Pavilion results from subverting the strategy. In addition, the Toledo project takes the repetition concept beyond that of using a constructive element and a space pattern element (in this case with a bubble form) to end up affecting the personal experience of the spectator, who, wherever he is, feels to always be in the same place. This thesis denominates that repetitive space as Mantra space '. -Elements from a Catalogue is shown with the Kanazawa Museum. Its logic starts from the definition of a series of elements, very few, and it is based on the huge number of possible combinations among them. The Elements from a Catalogue approach was announced in the Gifu project when characterizing its space pattern elements. -Aprioristic Form' is illustrated by the Flower House. The decision on the type of form -in this case the form of an amoeba- would be the beginning of the projectual process, but it does not mean it is arbitrary form: the amoeba form implies repeating a space pattern (pseudopodia) and an apotheosis of the repetition concept: embracing the space experience, it gives rise to a repetitive or mantra space. Mantra Space is one of leitmotivs used as an argument in the last formal strategy Thesis decodes: the Rolex Center. With respect to the Projectual strategies of the load bearing structure, the thesis finds and traces a trajectory of five projectual strategies: preeminence, concealment, dissolution, disappearance and desvirtuacin. --Preeminence is present in Sejimas first works in which she resorts to structures which have a dominant preeminent role in the project in so far as they impersonate the greater scale and/or materialize the base geometric order. In later works that preeminence will be inverted, the projects aiming towards its opposite: lighter, slighter, smaller structures. -Concealment reduces the dominant role of the structure. At the outset concealment is literal, almost hiding the structural elements, as in Gifu; soon it will become more sophisticated, such as the concealment by camouflage or the paradoxical concealment by multiplication in the Koga Park Caf. -Dissolution diminishes the dominant condition of the structure: instead of its being configured as unitary or homogenous system is fragmented in several subsystems. -Disappearance talks about structures that fade away as self referred and independent systems; projects in which the load bearing function is carried out by other systems such as the set of partitions. Disappearance reaches its zenith at the Flower House, whose perimeter functions structurally being, in addition, transparent, immaterial: its structure has become invisible, has disappeared. -Desvirtuacin talks about structures that do appear like independent self-systems, but which that do not longer have a preeminent paper, inasmuch as they do not materialize the base order. This strategy correlates with the Game Boards formal strategy. The thesis conclusions are show by the organization of the thesis itself: its identification of the different strategies. Even so, as epilogues, the thesis exposes six Conclusions. The first two emphasize the leading thread of the work done, rooted in the generic quality of the Sejima-SANAA projectual strategies. The following four expound to what extent their projects show features, or formal and/or structural signifiers, which also are or can be read as characteristic signals of the contemporary architectonic panorama, and raise the key question: aiming farther, may some of them be taken as original contributions? -As original contributions the conclusions highlight: the identification between the generic ideal and the concrete project; and the proposal of a new, hybrid space, kind of an intermediate stage between the traditional subdivided compartmented space and the continuous modern. -As symptoms of contemporaneousness: in relation to the form it highlights the transferring of the formal specificity from the part to the whole; and in relation to the structure, it underscore the contemporary tendency towards lighter and growingly slimmer structures, tending to the evanescent. This last one, the tendency towards structural evanescence, could have condition of being an original contribution, not in vain it carries the structural disappearance towards its last consequences; and in the case of structures with physical presence, it makes them to cease being the ordering system orchestrating the projectual process.
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We present El Viajero, an application for exploiting, managing and organizing Linked Data in the domain of news and blogs about travelling. El Viajero makes use of several heterogeneous datasets to help users to plan future trips, and relies on the Open Provenance Model for modeling the provenance information of the resources
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El panorama global est cambiando, y esto influye sobre la forma en la que entendemos y tratamos de alcanzar un desarrollo humano sostenible. El crecimiento de la poblacin conlleva una mayor presin sobre los recursos, pero tambin supone una mayor cantidad de mano de obra y de talento; la concentracin en reas urbanas est cambiando las dinmicas sociales y desafiando los canales de comercializacin tradicionales, pero tambin genera nuevos mercados y fomenta la innovacin; los cambios en la economa global estn reduciendo los tradicionales desequilibrios de poder entre los pases occidentales y el resto del mundo; y las crecientes interconexiones crean nuevos riesgos pero tambin oportunidades para lanzar iniciativas de alcance global. Todas estas tendencias nos estn obligando a repensar qu es el desarrollo humano y de qu manera deberamos afrontar el reto de la pobreza. Es comnmente aceptado que la globalizacin implica interdependencia y que, para conseguir un desarrollo humano sostenible, la colaboracin entre actores de distintos mbitos es necesaria. Se observa una creciente convergencia de temas, intereses y soluciones en torno al desarrollo sostenible, incluso en diferentes pases y sectores, lo que est facilitando la colaboracin estratgica entre empresas, gobiernos y sociedad civil. Existen pocas duda a da de hoy sobre el papel fundamental que las empresas deben desempear en la transicin mundial hacia la sostenibilidad ambiental y la erradicacin de la pobreza. Las empresas estn evolucionando desde un enfoque tradicional centrado en la maximizacin de beneficios econmicos hacia un enfoque holstico que integra la sostenibilidad y la responsabilidad social como parte del ncleo de negocio de las compaas. En el mbito medioambiental, muchas empresas ya han comenzado a actuar y tratan de reducir sus emisiones, sus desechos y su consumo de energa. Sin embargo la contribucin de las empresas a la reduccin de la pobreza no est tan clara. Actualmente en torno a 1,2 miles de millones de personas viven en situacin de extrema pobreza. La mayora de estas personas an vive en zonas rurales donde la mayor parte de la poblacin activa trabaja en el sector agrcola. Por lo tanto, mejorar las oportunidades y reducir los riesgos de los productores ms vulnerables en el sector de la agricultura puede ser un motor de desarrollo rural y reduccin de la pobreza, especialmente en pases de bajo nivel de desarrollo cuyas economas estn fundamentalmente basadas en la agricultura. Algunas empresas comienzan a incluir a los pobres en sus operaciones como consumidores, proveedores y emprendedores. Esta tesis se centra en las potenciales oportunidades relacionadas con la incorporacin sostenible de los pobres como proveedores de productos y/o de mano de obra. La colaboracin entre empresas y productores vulnerables de pases en desarrollo es un tema relativamente nuevo y todava poco estudiado. La pregunta que gua esta tesis es: Cmo pueden las empresas facilitar la inclusin sostenible en cadenas de suministro de productores vulnerables de los pases menos desarrollados?. Para responder a la pregunta anterior, la autora ha aplicado una metodologa de casos de estudio. Esta metodologa se considera apropiada porque la investigacin sobre cadenas de suministro inclusivas es todava escasa y porque es necesario entender en profundidad un fenmeno de la vida real, y para ello es fundamental conocer su contexto. En primer lugar, se realiza una revisin de literatura para identificar las proposiciones y los constructos tericos que guiarn la posterior recogida de datos. La revisin de literatura se divide en dos partes: una ms general que explora la dimensin social de la sostenibilidad en cadenas de suministro, y una ms especfica que se centra en la incorporacin de los pobres como proveedores en cadenas de suministro. A lo largo de la ltima dcada, ha habido un crecimiento exponencial de los estudios acadmicos sobre la sostenibilidad de las cadenas de suministro, pero la mayora de los esfuerzos se han dirigido hacia la dimensin medioambiental de la sostenibilidad. Por lo tanto la revisin de literatura, que se presenta en la Seccin 3.1 (pgina 35) y que profundiza en la sostenibilidad social de las cadenas de suministro, puede considerarse una contribucin en s misma. Esta revisin de literatura revela que la investigacin sobre aspectos sociales en cadenas de suministro est cobrando impulso en distintas reas de conocimiento, principalmente en los mbitos de investigacin sobre gestin de cadenas de suministro, responsabilidad social corporativa y estudios del desarrollo. La investigacin existente sobre sostenibilidad social de cadenas de suministro se centra en tres temas: aclarar la definicin de sostenibilidad social; analizar la implementacin de estrategias de sostenibilidad social en cadenas de suministro; y estudiar el apoyo de las em presas lderes a proveedores vulnerables para facilitar su transicin hacia la sostenibilidad. Un marco conceptual que resume los principales hallazgos de esta primera parte de la revisin de literatura es planteado en la Figura 7 (pgina 48). No obstante, en el rea de investigacin que est emergiendo en torno a la sostenibilidad social de las cadenas de suministro, los estudios relacionados con la reduccin de la pobreza son an escasos. Adems se aprecia una falta de contribuciones desde y sobre los pases menos desarrollados, as como una clara tendencia a reflejar la visin de las empresas lderes de las cadenas de suministro, olvidando la perspectiva de los proveedores. La segunda parte de la revisin de literatura presentada en la Seccin 3.2 (pgina 51) profundiza en tres lneas de investigacin que exploran, desde distintas perspectivas, la inclusin de los pobres en cadenas de suministro. Estas lneas son Global Value Chains (GVC), Base of the Pyramid (BoP) y Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM). La investigacin en GVC analiza las cadenas de suministro desde la perspectiva de la globalizacin econmica y el comercio internacional, poniendo especial nfasis en las implicaciones para los pases en desarrollo y las comunidades vulnerables. GVC caracteriza las cadenas de suministro segn la forma en la que son gobernadas, las oportunidades de mejora que existen para los productores que forman parte de la cadena y el grado de inclusin o exclusin de las comunidades ms pobres y vulnerables. La investigacin en BoP explora las relaciones comerciales entre empresas y comunidades pobres. La premisa fundamental del concepto BoP es la posibilidad de combinar la generacin de beneficios con la reduccin de la pobreza. La propuesta original es que mediante la venta de productos y servicios a las comunidades pobres de pases en desarrollo, la pobreza puede ser reducida al tiempo que las empresas incrementan sus beneficios, especialmente las grandes empresas multinacionales. Esta idea ha ido evolucionando y, a da de hoy, los investigadores BoP consideran la incorporacin de los pobres no slo como consumidores sino tambin como empleados, proveedores y co-creadores. La investigacin en SSCM ha estado fundamentalmente orientada al estudio de la dimensin medioambiental de la sostenibilidad de cadenas de suministro. Sin embargo, la creciente externalizacin de la produccin a pases en desarrollo y las demandas de los grupos de inters para que las empresas aborden todos los aspectos de la sostenibilidad han llevado a los acadmicos de SSCM a reconocer la importancia de integrar asuntos relacionados con la reduccin de la pobreza en sus investigaciones. Algunos estudios comienzan a apuntar los principales retos a los que se enfrentan las empresas para colaborar con productores vulnerables en sus cadenas de suministro. Estos retos son: falta de comunicacin, altos costes de transaccin y el incremento de la complejidad de las operaciones. Las contribuciones de estas tres lneas de investigacin son complementarias para el estudio de las cadenas de suministro inclusivas. Sin embargo, raramente han sido consideradas conjuntamente, ya que pertenecen a mbitos de conocimiento distintos. Esta tesis integra las aportaciones de GVC, BoP y SSCM en un marco conceptual para la creacin y gestin de cadenas de suministro inclusivas. Este marco conceptual para cadenas de suministro inclusivas queda representado en la Figura 9 (pgina 68). El marco conceptual refleja las motivaciones que llevan a las empresas a colaborar con productores vulnerables, los retos a los que se enfrentan al hacerlo, y los caminos o estrategias que estn siguiendo para construir y operar cadenas de suministro inclusivas de manera que sean beneficiosas tanto para la empresa como para los productores vulnerables. A fin de validar y refinar el marco conceptual propuesto, tres casos de estudio se llevan a cabo. Las cadenas de suministro analizadas por los casos de estudio pertenecen al sector agrcola y sus principales proveedores se encuentran en pases de frica subsahariana. Mltiples mtodos de recoleccin de datos y triangulacin son utilizados para mejorar la fiabilidad de los datos. La autora desarroll trabajos de campo en Senegal, Etiopa y Tanzania. Estos viajes permitieron enriquecer el proceso de recogida de informacin mediante entrevistas semiestructuradas y conversaciones informales con los principales actores de la cadena de suministro y mediante la observacin directa de los procesos y las interacciones entre productores vulnerables y empresas. El Caso de estudio A (Seccin 5.1 en pgina 96) es un caso de estudio nico. Analiza la cadena de suministro local de verduras en Senegal. La organizacin focal es Manobi, una empresa senegalesa que provee servicios de bajo coste a emprendedores locales del sector agrcola. El Caso de estudio A proporciona un interesante anlisis del funcionamiento de una cadena de suministro local en un pas en desarrollo y muestra como la provisin de servicios profesionales puede mejorar el desempeo de productores vulnerables. El Caso de estudio B (Seccin 5.2 en pgina 122) es un caso de estudio nico. Analiza la cadena de suministro global de flor cortada con origen en Etiopa. La organizacin focal es EHPEA, la Asociacin Etope de Productores y Exportadores Hortcolas, cuya misin es promover y salvaguardar la posicin competitiva del sector agrcola etope en el mercado global. El Caso de estudio B ayuda a comprender mejor la perspectiva de los proveedores respecto a los requerimiento de sostenibilidad del mercado global. Tambin muestra cmo la inclusin de los productores en el proceso de desarrollo de un estndar privado facilita su implementacin posterior. El Caso de estudio C (Seccin 5.3 en pgina 143) es un caso de estudio mltiple. Analiza la cadena de suministro global de caf especial con origen en Tanzania. Las organizaciones focales son comerciantes que conectan de manera directa a pequeos agricultores de caf en pases en desarrollo con empresas tostadoras de caf en pases desarrollados. El Caso de estudio C muestra cmo un pequeo agricultor puede proveer un producto premium al mercado global, y participar en un segmento diferenciado del mercado a travs de una cadena de suministro transparente y eficiente. Las aportaciones empricas de los casos de estudio ayudan a validar y mejorar el marco conceptual sobre cadenas de suministro inclusivas (ver discusin en el Captulo 6 en pgina 170). El resultado es la propuesta de una nueva versin del marco conceptual representado en la Figura 40 (pgina 195). Los casos de estudio tambin proporcionan interesantes aportaciones en relacin a la gestin de cadenas de suministro inclusivas y muestran las perspectivas de distintos actores implicados. Esta tesis arroja luz sobre el papel de las empresas en la creacin y la gestin de cadenas de suministro inclusivas llevando a cabo una revisin de literatura multidisciplinar y analizando tres casos de estudio en pases africanos. Como resultado, esta tesis presenta una serie de contribuciones empricas y tericas al mbito de investigacin emergente en torno a las cadenas de suministro inclusivas (Captulo 7). Esta tesis tambin pretende ser til a profesionales que deseen facilitar la incorporacin de los pobres como proveedores en condiciones justas y beneficiosas. ABSTRACT The global outlook is changing, and this is influencing the way we understand and try to achieve sustainable human development. Population growth entails increasing pressure over resources, but it also provides greater workforce and talent; concentration in urban areas is changing social dynamics and challenging traditional marketing channels, but also creating news markets and driving innovation; the global economy shift is rebalancing the traditional power imbalance between Western countries and the rest of the world, making new opportunities to arise; and interconnections and global interdependence create new risks but also opportunities for launching initiatives with a global reach. All these trends are impelling us to rethink what development is and in which way poverty alleviation should be approached. It is generally agreed that globalization implies interdependence and, in order to achieve sustainable human development, collaboration of all actors is needed. A convergence of issues, interests and solutions related to sustainable development is being observed across countries and sectors, encouraging strategic collaboration among companies, governments and civil society. There is little doubt nowadays about the crucial role of the private sector in the worlds path towards environmental sustainability and poverty alleviation. Businesses are evolving from a business as usual stance to a more sustainable and responsible approach. In the environmental arena, many companies have already walk the talk, implementing environmental management systems and trying to reduce emissions and energy consumption. However, regarding poverty alleviation, their contribution is less clear. There are around 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty. Most of this people still live in rural areas where the agricultural sector employs a big part of the active population. Therefore, improving opportunities and reducing risks for vulnerable producers in the agri-food sector can be a primary engine of rural development and poverty alleviation, particularly in the poor, agriculture-based economies of least developed countries. Some companies are beginning to include the poor into their operations as consumers, suppliers and entrepreneurs. This thesis focuses specifically on the potential opportunities related to the sustainable incorporation of the poor as suppliers of products and/or labor. Business collaboration with vulnerable producers in developing countries is a relatively new trend and it is still understudied. The overall question guiding this thesis is: How can businesses facilitate the sustainable inclusion of vulnerable producers from least developed countries into supply chains?. In order to answer the research question, the author has applied a case study research strategy. This methodology is considered appropriate because research about inclusive supply chains is still at an early stage, and because there is a need to understand a real-life phenomenon in depth, but such understanding encompasses important contextual conditions. First, a literature review is conducted, in order to identify the research propositions and theoretical constructs that will guide the data collection. The literature review is divided in two parts: a more general one that explores the social dimension of sustainability of supply chains, and a more specific one that focuses on the incorporation of the poor as suppliers in supply chains. During the last decade, there has been an exponential growth of studies in the field of supply chain sustainability, but research efforts have traditionally been directed towards the analysis of the environmental dimension. Therefore, the literature review presented in Section 3.1 (page 35) that delves into social sustainability of supply chains can be considered a contribution in itself. This literature review reveals that the investigation of social issues in supply chains is gaining momentum and comes from different academic disciplines, namely Supply Chain Management, Corporate Social Responsibility and Development Studies. Existing research about social sustainability of supply chains focuses on three issues: clarify the definition of social sustainability; analyze the implementation of social sustainability strategies in supply chains; and study lead companies support to vulnerable suppliers in their transition towards sustainability. A conceptual framework that outlines the main findings that emerge from this first part of literature review is proposed in Figure 7 (page 48). Nevertheless, in this nascent field of social sustainability of supply chains, studies related to poverty alleviation are still scarce. Moreover, a lack of contributions from and about least developed countries has been observed, as well as a tendency to reflect on the lead firms standpoint, neglecting the suppliers perspective. The second part of the literature review (Section 3.2 in page 51) delves into three research streams that are exploring the inclusion of the poor into supply chains from different viewpoints. These research streams are Global Value Chains (GVC), Base of the Pyramid (BoP) and Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM). GVC research discusses the dynamics of economic globalization and international trade, putting special emphasis in the implications for developing countries and vulnerable communities. GVC characterizes supply chains by the way they are governed, the upgrading opportunities that exist for producers in the chain and the degree of inclusion or exclusion of impoverished communities. BoP research explores trading relationships between businesses and impoverished communities. The core premise of the BoP concept is the possibility to combine profits with poverty alleviation. The original BoP proposition is that by marketing innovative products and services to poor communities in developing countries, poverty would be reduced and companies would increase their benefits, especially multinational companies. This idea has evolved to consider the incorporation of the poor to business activities not only as consumers, but also as employees, entrepreneurs and co-creators. The SSCM school of thought has mainly focused on studying the environmental dimension of supply chain sustainability, neglecting the consideration of the social perspective. However, in recent years, increasing outsourcing of production to developing countries and stakeholders demands for a more holistic approach to business sustainability have led SSCM scholars to acknowledge the importance of integrating poverty concerns in this fields research agenda. Some SSCM studies identify the main operational challenges for companies which engage with vulnerable suppliers in their supply chains: missing communication, higher transactional and operational costs and increased complexity. Contributions from these three research streams are complementary for the study of inclusive supply chains. However, they have been rarely considered together, since they belong to different research areas. This thesis seeks to play a dovetailing role in this scenario by proposing a conceptual framework for creating and operating inclusive supply chains that builds on contributions from GVC, SSCM and BoP research. This framework for inclusive supply chains is depicted in Figure 9 (page 68), and explains the motivations that drive businesses to collaborate with vulnerable suppliers, the chal lenges they face in doing so, and the pathways they are following in order to build and operate inclusive supply chains profitably for both buying companies and vulnerable suppliers. In order to validate and refine the proposed framework, three case studies are carried out. The supply chains analyzed by the case studies belong to the agri-food sector and source from Sub-Saharan African countries. Multiple data collection methods and triangulation are used in order to improve reliability of findings. The author carried out field work in Senegal, Ethiopia and Tanzania. These travels enriched the data collection process, providing semi-structured interviews and informal conversations with the main actors in the supply chains, as well as direct observation of processes and interactions among companies and vulnerable suppliers. Case study A (Section 5.1 in page 96) is a single case study. It analyzes a local supply chain in Senegal providing vegetables to the local market. The focal organization is Manobi, a Senegalese inclusive business which provides affordable ICT services to local entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector. Case study A provides interesting insights into the dynamics of local supply chains and how professional services can help to improve their performance. Case study B (Section 5.2 in page 122) is a single case study. It analyzes a global supply chain with origin in Ethiopia providing cut flowers to the global commodity market. The focal organization is EHPEA, Ethiopian Horticulture Producers and Exporters Association, whose mission is to promote and safeguard the competitive position of the Ethiopian horticulture sector within the global market. Case study B helps to better understand the suppliers perspective regarding global market sustainability requirements and shows how the inclusion of suppliers in the process of development of a private standard has a positive impact in its implementation. Case study C (Section 5.3 in page 143) is a multiple case study. It analyzes a global supply chain with origin in Tanzania providing coffee to the global niche market of specialty coffee. The focal organizations are traders who are directly connecting smallholder coffee farmers in developing countries to coffee roasters in developed countries. Case study C shows how smallholder farmers can supply a premium product and be incorporated in a differentiated market segment through a transparent and efficient supply chain. The empirical findings from the case studies help to validate and refine the conceptual framework (see discussion in Chapter 6). The proposal of a new version of the conceptual framework is depicted in Figure 40 (page 195). The case studies also provide interesting insights related to the management of inclusive supply chains and show the perspectives of the different actors involved. This thesis sheds some light on the role of businesses in the creation and operation of inclusive supply chains by carrying out a cross-disciplinary literature review and analyzing three case studies in African countries. In doing so, this thesis presents a series of theoretical and empirical contributions to the emerging academic field of inclusive supply chains (Chapter 7). This thesis also intends to be useful to practitioners willing to improve the incorporation of the poor as suppliers in fair and profitable conditions.
Resumo:
As empresas que almejam garantir e melhorar sua posio dentro de em um mercado cada vez mais competitivo precisam estar sempre atualizadas e em constante evoluo. Na busca contnua por essa evoluo, investem em projetos de Pesquisa & Desenvolvimento (P&D) e em seu capital humano para promover a criatividade e a inovao organizacional. As pessoas tm papel fundamental no desenvolvimento da inovao, mas para que isso possa florescer de forma constante preciso comprometimento e criatividade para a gerao de ideias. Criatividade pensar o novo; inovao fazer acontecer. Porm, encontrar pessoas com essas qualidades nem sempre tarefa fcil e muitas vezes preciso estimular essas habilidades e caractersticas para que se tornem efetivamente criativas. Os cursos de graduao podem ser uma importante ferramenta para trabalhar esses aspectos, caractersticas e habilidades, usando mtodos e prticas de ensino que auxiliem no desenvolvimento da criatividade, pois o ambiente ensino-aprendizagem pesa significativamente na formao das pessoas. O objetivo deste estudo de identificar quais fatores tm maior influncia sobre o desenvolvimento da criatividade em um curso de graduao em administrao, analisando a influncia das prticas pedaggicas dos docentes e as barreiras internas dos discentes. O referencial terico se baseia principalmente nos trabalhos de Alencar, Fleith, Torrance e Wechsler. A pesquisa transversal de abordagem quantitativa teve como pblico-alvo os alunos do curso de Administrao de uma universidade confessional da Grande So Paulo, que responderam 465 questionrios compostos de trs escalas. Para as prticas docentes foi adaptada a escala de Prticas Docentes em relao Criatividade. Para as barreiras internas foi adaptada a escala de Barreiras da Criatividade Pessoal. Para a anlise da percepo do desenvolvimento da criatividade foi construda e validada uma escala baseada no referencial de caractersticas de uma pessoa criativa. As anlises estatsticas descritivas e fatoriais exploratrias foram realizadas no software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), enquanto as anlises fatoriais confirmatrias e a mensurao da influncia das prticas pedaggicas e das barreiras internas sobre a percepo do desenvolvimento da criatividade foram realizadas por modelagem de equao estrutural utilizando o algoritmo Partial Least Squares (PLS), no software Smart PLS 2.0. Os resultados apontaram que as prticas pedaggicas e as barreiras internas dos discentes explicam 40% da percepo de desenvolvimento da criatividade, sendo as prticas pedaggicas que exercem maior influencia. A pesquisa tambm apontou que o tipo de temtica e o perodo em que o aluno est cursando no tm influncia sobre nenhum dos trs construtos, somente o professor influencia as prticas pedaggicas.
Resumo:
Este estudo trata da comunicao face a face nas organizaes sob diferentes abordagens tericas. Considera a perspectiva da simultaneidade dos meios, j que as empresas utilizam diversos canais para dialogar com seus pblicos de interesse. Leva em conta o fenmeno da midiatizao, que reestrutura o modo como as pessoas se relacionam na sociedade contempornea. O objetivo geral da pesquisa sistematizar papeis potencialmente exercidos pela interao face a face e conhecer algumas circunstncias que envolvem sua prtica nas organizaes. Por se tratar de uma tese terica, a pesquisa bibliogrfica se apresenta como um dos principais procedimentos metodolgicos; anlises de casos empricos e um estudo de caso desenvolvido na Embrapa Pantanal constituem situaes ilustrativas. Conclui-se que a comunicao face a face nas empresas ocorre de forma simultnea e combinada a outros canais de comunicao, porm, ela proporciona resultados prticos e filosficos ainda pouco explorados. rara a utilizao estratgica de contatos presenciais como mecanismo para estabelecer relacionamentos, conhecer as reaes alheias e ajustar a comunicao, aliar o discurso corporativo s prticas empresariais e avaliar o contexto onde se desenvolvem as interaes, o que pode ser decisivo para a comunicao organizacional.