Employment Protection, International Specialization, and Innovation

We develop a model to analyse the implications of firing costs on incentives for R&D and international specialization. The Key idea is paying the firing cost, the country with a rigid labor market will tend to produce relatively secure goods, at a late stage of their product life cycle. Under international trade, an international product cycle emerges where, roughly, new goods are first produced in the low firing cost country will specialize in 'secondary innovations', that is, improvements in existing goods, while the low firing cost country will more specialize in 'primary innovation', that is, invention of new goods.

The Construction Of Ethical Competence In The Perception Of Primary Care Nurses


The study intended to understand the perception of nurses of Primary Care Services about the construction of ethical competence on their formation and practices. This is a qualitative study, with an interpretative phenomenological approach and interviews with ten nurses of the community health services of Porto Alegre, RS. The results showed that the interviewed professionals had already experienced situations with ethical conflicts and knew what ethical competence means. The central themes point out three fundamental issues in the construction of the ethical competence: personal values, education and practice. Taking into account that ethical competence is in permanent construction, the study shows the importance to promote organizational and educational activities in a transversal manner, as a tool to cope the moral stress and contribute in improving the quality of care in the primary health attention.


Quand la pornographie fait violence... réflexions sur les méfaits de la pornographie sur la construction de la sexualité adolescente

Dans notre pratique auprès des adolescents engagés dans des agirs sexuels violents, la consommation de pornographie est fréquemment convoquée dans le parcours de ces sujets à la découverte de la sexualité. Si bien sûr, tous les adolescents qui visionnent ces images ne commettent pas de tels actes, ce constat préoccupant nous invite à nous interroger sur les effets ou plutôt les méfaits de la pornographie sur l'investissement du corps sexué et sur la construction de la sexualité. Outre une réflexion sur l'impact de l'image dans son caractère obscène et à la suite des travaux de G. Bonnet (2003, Le Défi à la pudeur. Quand la pornographie devient l'initiation sexuelle des jeunes), nous montrerons en quoi la pornographie constitue une forme de violence, parfois jusqu'au traumatisme. Ce danger auquel les adolescents sont (sur)exposés, notamment par le biais d'Internet, pourrait en effet favoriser un clivage (que nous retrouvons systématiquement dans la problématique des violences sexuelles) entre corps érotique et corps sexué. La consommation de pornographie s'apparenterait davantage à l'incorporation de la sexualité génitale marquant ainsi l'échec de l'introjection de la génitalité au moment de l'adolescence. Ne devient-elle pas alors un ersatz de la pulsion de mort ? en tant qu'elle isole le sujet dans une activité auto-pseudo-érotique, retirant à la sexualité sa fonction de lien et par là même ouvrant le champ au déchaînement de toutes formes de violence.

Study of Iowa's Current Road Use Tax Funds (RUTF) and Future Road Maintenance and Construction Needs, 2006

The 81st General Assembly of the Iowa Legislature, in Section 85 of House File 868, required the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct a study of current Road Use Tax Fund (RUTF)revenues, and projected roadway construction and maintenance needs.

Stronger Communities through Innovation and Creativity, 2006

This FY2007 budget will continue progress toward growing Iowa’s economy, improving student achievement and expanding health care security. With your cooperation last year we enacted the Strong Start program, the Watershed Improvement Review Board, the Iowa Values Fund, Iowa Cares, the Meth Control Act, a balanced budget and other initiatives which made for a very productive session. In a spirit of cooperation we deliver the FY2007 budget at the start of the session to allow more time for your consideration.

Nursing intervention bundle for enteral nutrition in intensive care: a collective construction

Objective The collective construction of a nursing intervention bundle for patients in critical care in the hospital receiving enteral nutrition therapy, supported by evidence-based practice. Method A qualitative convergent-care study with 24 nursing professionals in an intensive care unit of a public hospital in Santa Catarina. Data collection was performed from May to August 2013, with semi-structured interviews and discussion groups. Results Four interventions emerged that constituted the bundle: bedside pH monitoring to confirm the position of the tube; stabilization of the tube; enteric position of the tube; and maintaining the head of the bed elevated at 30° to 45°.
 Conclusion The interventions chosen neither required additional professional workload nor extra charges to the institution, which are identified as improving the adoption of the bundle by nursing professionals at the ICU.

Integrated Materials and Construction Practice for Concrete Pavement: A State-of-the-Practice Manual, 2006

At the heart of all concrete pavement projects is the concrete itself. This manual is intended as both a training tool and a reference to help concrete paving engineers, quality control personnel, specifiers, contractors, suppliers, technicians, and tradespeople bridge the gap between recent research and practice regarding optimizing the performance of concrete for pavements. Specifically, it will help readers do the following:

Assessing the vulnerability of women to sexually transmitted diseases STDS/ HIV: construction and validation of markers

Objective To construct and validate markers of vulnerability of women to STDs/HIV, taking into consideration the importance of STDs/HIV. Method Methodological study carried out in three stages: 1) systematic review and identification of elements of vulnerability in the scientific production; 2) selection of elements of vulnerability, and development of markers; 3) establishment of the expert group and validation of the markers (content validity). Results Five markers were validated: no openness in the relationship to discuss aspects related to prevention of STDs/HIV; no perception of vulnerability to STDs/HIV; disregard of vulnerability to STDs/ HIV; not recognizing herself as the subject of sexual and reproductive rights; actions of health professionals that limit women’s access to prevention of STDs/HIV. Each marker contains three to eleven components. Conclusion The construction of such markers constituted an instrument, presented in another publication, which can contribute to support the identification of vulnerabilities of women in relation to STDs/HIV in the context of primary health care services. The markers constitute an important tool for the operationalization of the concept of vulnerability in primary health care and to promote inter/multidisciplinary and inter/multi-sectoral work processes.


Study of Iowa’s Current Road Use Tax Funds (RUTF) and Future Road Maintenance and Construction Needs, 2006

The 81st General Assembly of the Iowa legislature, in Section 85 of House File 868, required the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) to conduct a study of current Road Use Tax Fund (RUTF) revenues, and projected roadway construction and maintenance needs. With input from Iowa’s cities, counties and other interested groups, the Iowa DOT completed this report for submittal to the legislature.

Study of Iowa’s Current Road Use Tax Funds (RUTF) and Future Road Maintenance and Construction Needs, 2006

The 81st General Assembly of the Iowa legislature, in Section 85 of House File 868, required the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) to conduct a study of current Road Use Tax Fund (RUTF) revenues, and projected roadway construction and maintenance needs.

Construction and validation of nursing diagnoses for individuals with diabetes in specialized care

OBJECTIVE To construct statements of nursing diagnoses related to nursing practice for individuals with diabetes in Specialized Care, on the basis of the Database of Nursing Practice Terms related to diabetes, in the International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP®) and in the Theory of Basic Human Needs and to validate them with specialist nurses in the area. METHOD Methodological research, structured into sequential stages of construction, cross-mapping, validation and categorization of nursing diagnoses. RESULTS A list was indicated of 115 statements of diagnostic, including positive, negative and improvement statements; 59 nursing diagnoses present in and 56 nursing diagnoses absent from the ICNP® Version 2011. 66 diagnoses with CVI ≥ 0.50 were validated, being categorized on the basis of human needs. CONCLUSION It was observed that the use of the ICNP® 2011 favored the specifications of the concepts of professional practice in care with individuals with diabetes.

Three essays in control, entrepreneurship and innovation

One of the key emphases of these three essays is to provide practical managerial insight. However, good practical insight, can only be created by grounding it firmly on theoretical and empirical research. Practical experience-based understanding without theoretical grounding remains tacit and cannot be easily disseminated. Theoretical understanding without links to real life remains sterile. My studies aim to increase the understanding of how radical innovation could be generated at large established firms and how it can have an impact on business performance as most businesses pursue innovation with one prime objective: value creation. My studies focus on large established firms with sales revenue exceeding USD $ 1 billion. Usually large established firms cannot rely on informal ways of management, as these firms tend to be multinational businesses operating with subsidiaries, offices, or production facilities in more than one country. I. Internal and External Determinants of Corporate Venture Capital Investment The goal of this chapter is to focus on CVC as one of the mechanisms available for established firms to source new ideas that can be exploited. We explore the internal and external determinants under which established firms engage in CVC to source new knowledge through investment in startups. We attempt to make scholars and managers aware of the forces that influence CVC activity by providing findings and insights to facilitate the strategic management of CVC. There are research opportunities to further understand the CVC phenomenon. Why do companies engage in CVC? What motivates them to continue "playing the game" and keep their active CVC investment status. The study examines CVC investment activity, and the importance of understanding the influential factors that make a firm decide to engage in CVC. The main question is: How do established firms' CVC programs adapt to changing internal conditions and external environments. Adaptation typically involves learning from exploratory endeavors, which enable companies to transform the ways they compete (Guth & Ginsberg, 1990). Our study extends the current stream of research on CVC. It aims to contribute to the literature by providing an extensive comparison of internal and external determinants leading to CVC investment activity. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the influence of internal and external determinants on CVC activity throughout specific expansion and contraction periods determined by structural breaks occurring between 1985 to 2008. Our econometric analysis indicates a strong and significant positive association between CVC activity and R&D, cash flow availability and environmental financial market conditions, as well as a significant negative association between sales growth and the decision to engage into CVC. The analysis of this study reveals that CVC investment is highly volatile, as demonstrated by dramatic fluctuations in CVC investment activity over the past decades. When analyzing the overall cyclical CVC period from 1985 to 2008 the results of our study suggest that CVC activity has a pattern influenced by financial factors such as the level of R&D, free cash flow, lack of sales growth, and external conditions of the economy, with the NASDAQ price index as the most significant variable influencing CVC during this period. II. Contribution of CVC and its Interaction with R&D to Value Creation The second essay takes into account the demands of corporate executives and shareholders regarding business performance and value creation justifications for investments in innovation. Billions of dollars are invested in CVC and R&D. However there is little evidence that CVC and its interaction with R&D create value. Firms operating in dynamic business sectors seek to innovate to create the value demanded by changing market conditions, consumer preferences, and competitive offerings. Consequently, firms operating in such business sectors put a premium on finding new, sustainable and competitive value propositions. CVC and R&D can help them in this challenge. Dushnitsky and Lenox (2006) presented evidence that CVC investment is associated with value creation. However, studies have shown that the most innovative firms do not necessarily benefit from innovation. For instance Oyon (2007) indicated that between 1995 and 2005 the most innovative automotive companies did not obtain adequate rewards for shareholders. The interaction between CVC and R&D has generated much debate in the CVC literature. Some researchers see them as substitutes suggesting that firms have to choose between CVC and R&D (Hellmann, 2002), while others expect them to be complementary (Chesbrough & Tucci, 2004). This study explores the interaction that CVC and R&D have on value creation. This essay examines the impact of CVC and R&D on value creation over sixteen years across six business sectors and different geographical regions. Our findings suggest that the effect of CVC and its interaction with R&D on value creation is positive and significant. In dynamic business sectors technologies rapidly relinquish obsolete, consequently firms operating in such business sectors need to continuously develop new sources of value creation (Eisenhardt & Martin, 2000; Qualls, Olshavsky, & Michaels, 1981). We conclude that in order to impact value creation, firms operating in business sectors such as Engineering & Business Services, and Information Communication & Technology ought to consider CVC as a vital element of their innovation strategy. Moreover, regarding the CVC and R&D interaction effect, our findings suggest that R&D and CVC are complementary to value creation hence firms in certain business sectors can be better off supporting both R&D and CVC simultaneously to increase the probability of generating value creation. III. MCS and Organizational Structures for Radical Innovation Incremental innovation is necessary for continuous improvement but it does not provide a sustainable permanent source of competitiveness (Cooper, 2003). On the other hand, radical innovation pursuing new technologies and new market frontiers can generate new platforms for growth providing firms with competitive advantages and high economic margin rents (Duchesneau et al., 1979; Markides & Geroski, 2005; O'Connor & DeMartino, 2006; Utterback, 1994). Interestingly, not all companies distinguish between incremental and radical innovation, and more importantly firms that manage innovation through a one-sizefits- all process can almost guarantee a sub-optimization of certain systems and resources (Davila et al., 2006). Moreover, we conducted research on the utilization of MCS along with radical innovation and flexible organizational structures as these have been associated with firm growth (Cooper, 2003; Davila & Foster, 2005, 2007; Markides & Geroski, 2005; O'Connor & DeMartino, 2006). Davila et al. (2009) identified research opportunities for innovation management and provided a list of pending issues: How do companies manage the process of radical and incremental innovation? What are the performance measures companies use to manage radical ideas and how do they select them? The fundamental objective of this paper is to address the following research question: What are the processes, MCS, and organizational structures for generating radical innovation? Moreover, in recent years, research on innovation management has been conducted mainly at either the firm level (Birkinshaw, Hamel, & Mol, 2008a) or at the project level examining appropriate management techniques associated with high levels of uncertainty (Burgelman & Sayles, 1988; Dougherty & Heller, 1994; Jelinek & Schoonhoven, 1993; Kanter, North, Bernstein, & Williamson, 1990; Leifer et al., 2000). Therefore, we embarked on a novel process-related research framework to observe the process stages, MCS, and organizational structures that can generate radical innovation. This article is based on a case study at Alcan Engineered Products, a division of a multinational company provider of lightweight material solutions. Our observations suggest that incremental and radical innovation should be managed through different processes, MCS and organizational structures that ought to be activated and adapted contingent to the type of innovation that is being pursued (i.e. incremental or radical innovation). More importantly, we conclude that radical can be generated in a systematic way through enablers such as processes, MCS, and organizational structures. This is in line with the findings of Jelinek and Schoonhoven (1993) and Davila et al. (2006; 2007) who show that innovative firms have institutionalized mechanisms, arguing that radical innovation cannot occur in an organic environment where flexibility and consensus are the main managerial mechanisms. They rather argue that radical innovation requires a clear organizational structure and formal MCS.

Participation of nurses in the execution of clinical research protocol about technological innovation

AbstractOBJECTIVETo report the nurse's experience of inclusion in interdisciplinary clinical study about technological innovation, involving people with spinal cord injury.METHODDescriptive experience report. The empirical support was based on notes about perspectives and practice of clinical research, with a multi-professional nursing, physical education, physiotherapy and engineering staff.RESULTThe qualification includes the elaboration of the document for the Ethics Committee, familiarization among the members of staff and with the studied topic, and also an immersion into English. The nurse's knowledge gave support to the uptake of participants and time adequacy for data collection, preparation and assistance of the participants during the intervention and after collection. Nursing theories and processes have contributed to reveal risky diagnoses and the plan of care. It was the nurse's role to monitor the risk of overlapping methodological strictness to the human aspect. The skills for the clinical research must be the object of learning, including students in multidisciplinary researches.CONCLUSIONTo qualify the nurse for clinical research and to potentialize its caregiver essence, some changes are needed in the educational system, professional behavior, attitude and educational assistance.