Knowledge Society and Geography: A Theoretical Approach

The transition process between information and knowledge is faster and so the inputs that influence social and political practises. The dissemination of information is now determinant in terms of territorial competitiveness and both public and private sector take large benefits when the data-information- knowledge value chain repeats itself trough space and time. Mankind depends nowadays on the creation and diffusion of good and reliable information. Speed is also important and the greater the speed, the faster the opportunities for global markets. Information must be an input for knowledge and obviously for decision. So, the power of information is unquestionable. This paper focuses on concepts like information, knowledge and other, more geographical and tries to explain how territories change from real to virtual. Knowledge society appears on an evolutional context in which information dissemination is wider and technological potential overwrites traditional notions of Geography. To understand the mutations over the territories, the causes and the consequences emerges the Geography of the Knowledge Society, a new discipline inside Geography with a special concern about modern society and socio-economical developing models.

A Responsabilidade social empresarial na indústria de elevadores

Dissertação de Mestrado Apresentado ao Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Empreendedorismo e Internacionalização, sob orientação da Mestre Anabela Ribeiro

A DCAP for the social and solidarity economy

This article presents a work-in-progress version of a Dublin Core Application Profile (DCAP) developed to serve the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). Studies revealed that this community is interested in implementing both internal interoperability between their Web platforms to build a global SSE e-marketplace, and external interoperability among their Web platforms and external ones. The Dublin Core Application Profile for Social and Solidarity Economy (DCAP-SSE) serves this purpose. SSE organisations are submerged in the market economy but they have specificities not taken into account in this economy. The DCAP-SSE integrates terms from well-known metadata schemas, Resource Description Framework (RDF) vocabularies or ontologies, in order to enhance interoperability and take advantage of the benefits of the Linked Open Data ecosystem. It also integrates terms from the new essglobal RDF vocabulary which was created with the goal to respond to the SSE-specific needs. The DCAP-SSE also integrates five new Vocabulary Encoding Schemes to be used with DCAP-SSE properties. The DCAP development was based on a method for the development of application profiles (Me4MAP). We believe that this article has an educational value since it presents the idea that it is important to base DCAP developments on a method. This article shows the main results of applying such a method.

Proposta de implementação da responsabilidade social numa empresa de engenharia e construção

Este estudo tem como finalidade analisar a possibilidade de implementação e integração do sistema de gestão da responsabilidade social numa empresa de engenharia e construção, de acordo com a norma NP 4469-1 (2008). Um dos objetivos deste trabalho é explorar uma das atividades fundamentais para o crescimento da economia: a construção. Esta funciona como barómetro da economia nacional, ou seja, movimenta vários setores importantes na sua cadeia de produção, contribuindo na criação de riqueza como também de emprego. Como consequência das mudanças na economia nos últimos anos, o comércio nacional transformou-se em comércio globalizado, tendo como mercado não só um país mas o mundo inteiro. As empresas veem isso como um desafio, independentemente da sua dimensão. A redução de custos e a diferenciação não podem ser a única fonte de competitividade. A recente situação de instabilidade económica mundial impulsiona as empresas a inovarem na sua imagem para com os stakeholders e, assim, garantir o seu desenvolvimento e sustentabilidade financeira. A temática da Responsabilidade Social Empresarial (RSE) surgiu da necessidade de existir um espírito empresarial responsável, ao encontro do conceito de desenvolvimento sustentável (Baylis e Smith, 2005). Apesar da ampla divulgação da noção de responsabilidade social das empresas, não se verifica, no entanto, uma definição exata da mesma, pois o tema tem sido abordado de diversas formas e tem dividido opiniões ao longo dos anos. A responsabilidade social é, assim, um fruto da gestão das organizações e das profundas críticas sociais, legais, éticas e económicas, inspiradas nos parâmetros da obtenção de valor social (Parra, 2003). A sustentabilidade revela uma mudança de paradigma do mundo empresarial, na medida em que as empresas devem adotar práticas socialmente responsáveis, que integrem de forma voluntária as preocupações ambientais, sociais e económicas no desenvolvimento das suas atividades operacionais e das suas interações com as partes interessadas.

Determinants of venture capital and private equity investments in renewable energy: A cross-country study

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

A technology diffusion perspective of Enterprise Resource Planning across European Small and Medium Enterprises: from determinants to Use to Value

Tese apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Doutor em Gestão de Informação

Social media: The new tool in firms’ marketing strategies

In this work project we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of social media as a marketing tool. Four international cases were analyzed to provide anecdotal evidence of how social and viral marketing have been used by four firms in very different industries. We reviewed empirical evidence on the topic to discuss the main components of viral marketing. We concluded that positive (electronic) word of mouth, short response time and seeding through high network value customers are the main drivers of the success of a viral marketing campaign. We also conducted a study of the Portuguese telecommunications industry, in particular, the mobile segment. We found that the three main players operating in this market have been using social media successfully as a marketing tool in a strategic approach to the 14-25 years old segment.

Optimal choice between even- and uneven-aged forestry: the case of non-industrial private forest owners

An infinite-horizon discrete time model with multiple size-class structures using a transition matrix is built to assess optimal harvesting schedules in the context of Non-Industrial Private Forest (NIPF) owners. Three model specifications accounting for forest income, financial return on an asset and amenity valuations are considered. Numerical simulations suggest uneven-aged forest management where a rational forest owner adapts her or his forest policy by influencing the regeneration of trees or adjusting consumption dynamics depending on subjective time preference and market return rate dynamics on the financial asset. Moreover she or he does not value significantly non-market benefits captured by amenity valuations relatively to forest income.

Comprehensive income: evidence from Portuguese listed companies on reporting choices and value relevance

This work project aims at analysing choices related to Comprehensive income (CI) of Portuguese listed firms and understanding the reasons behind them. Additionally, it studies the relevance of CI versus Net Income (NI). It was found that firm’s size and volume of Other comprehensive income (OCI) are positively related with the choice for separate statements while smaller firms with positive NI and negative OCI tend to disclose less information about taxes. The value relevance of CI proved to be superior to that of NI but OCI seems to have no incremental value relevance.

Ethical consumption (in)decisons

Consumers’ indecisions about the ethical value of their choices are amongst the highest concerns regarding ethical products’ purchasing. This is especially true for Fair Trade certified products where the ethical attribute information provided by the packaging is often unacknowledged by consumers. While well-informed consumers are likely to generate positive consumer reactions to ethical products and increase its ethical consumption, less knowledgeable buyers show different purchasing patterns. In such circumstances, decisions are often driven by socio-cultural beliefs about the low functional performance of ethical or sustainable attributes. For instance, products more congruent with sustainability (e.g., produce) are considered to be simpler but less tasty than less sustainable products. Less sustainable products instead, are considered to be more sophisticated and to provide consumers with more hedonic pleasures (e.g., chocolate mousse). The extent that ethicality is linked with experiences that provide consumers with more pain than pleasure is also manifested in pro-social social behaviors. More specifically through conspicuous self-sacrificial consumption experiences like running for charity in marathons with wide public exposure. The willingness of consumers to engage in such costly initiatives is moderated by gender differences and further, mediated by the chronic productivity orientation of some individuals to use time in a productive manner. Using experimental design studies, I show that consumers (1) use a set of affective and cognitive associations with on-package elements to interpret ethical attributes, (2) implicitly associate ethicality with simplicity, and that (3) men versus women show different preferences in their forms of contribution to pro-social causes.

Does companionate love express itself unequally in different organizational forms (private companies, hybrid and non-governmental organizations)?

Although, the word “Love” in organizations is seen as a rare concept, but it has gained importance in management theoretical foundation. This study seeks to explore the companionate love in distinct of organizational forms (Private companies; Social organizations; NGO and IPSS) through interviews. The results propose that it is a tensional concept with a complex dynamic: tension of personal behavior, tension of professional behavior; tension of individual impact and tension of community impact. The love dynamic has common points to all organizations, but its expression depends on the specific form of the organization.

Screening primary-care patients forgoing health care for economic reasons.

BACKGROUND: Growing social inequities have made it important for general practitioners to verify if patients can afford treatment and procedures. Incorporating social conditions into clinical decision-making allows general practitioners to address mismatches between patients' health-care needs and financial resources. OBJECTIVES: Identify a screening question to, indirectly, rule out patients' social risk of forgoing health care for economic reasons, and estimate prevalence of forgoing health care and the influence of physicians' attitudes toward deprivation. DESIGN: Multicenter cross-sectional survey. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-seven general practitioners working in the French-speaking part of Switzerland enrolled a random sample of patients attending their private practices. MAIN MEASURES: Patients who had forgone health care were defined as those reporting a household member (including themselves) having forgone treatment for economic reasons during the previous 12 months, through a self-administered questionnaire. Patients were also asked about education and income levels, self-perceived social position, and deprivation levels. KEY RESULTS: Overall, 2,026 patients were included in the analysis; 10.7% (CI95% 9.4-12.1) reported a member of their household to have forgone health care during the 12 previous months. The question "Did you have difficulties paying your household bills during the last 12 months" performed better in identifying patients at risk of forgoing health care than a combination of four objective measures of socio-economic status (gender, age, education level, and income) (R(2) = 0.184 vs. 0.083). This question effectively ruled out that patients had forgone health care, with a negative predictive value of 96%. Furthermore, for physicians who felt powerless in the face of deprivation, we observed an increase in the odds of patients forgoing health care of 1.5 times. CONCLUSION: General practitioners should systematically evaluate the socio-economic status of their patients. Asking patients whether they experience any difficulties in paying their bills is an effective means of identifying patients who might forgo health care.

Oximetry alone versus portable polygraphy for sleep apnea screening before bariatric surgery.

BACKGROUND: Screening for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is recommended as part of the preoperative assessment of obese patients scheduled for bariatric surgery. The objective of this study was to compare the sensitivity of oximetry alone versus portable polygraphy in the preoperative screening for OSA. METHODS: Polygraphy (type III portable monitor) and oximetry data recorded as part of the preoperative assessment before bariatric surgery from 68 consecutive patients were reviewed. We compared the sensitivity of 3% or 4% desaturation index (oximetry alone) with the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI; polygraphy) to diagnose OSA and classify the patients as normal (<10 events per hour), mild to moderate (10-30 events per hour), or severe (>30 events per hour). RESULTS: Using AHI, the prevalence of OSA (AHI > 10 per hour) was 57.4%: 16.2% of the patients were classified as severe, 41.2% as mild to moderate, and 42.6% as normal. Using 3% desaturation index, 22.1% were classified as severe, 47.1% as mild to moderate, and 30.9% as normal. With 4% desaturation index, 17.6% were classified as severe, 32.4% as mild, and 50% as normal. Overall, 3% desaturation index compared to AHI yielded a 95% negative predictive value to rule out OSA (AHI > 10 per hour) and a 100% sensitivity (0.73 positive predictive value) to detect severe OSA (AHI > 30 per hour). CONCLUSIONS: Using oximetry with 3% desaturation index as a screening tool for OSA could allow us to rule out significant OSA in almost a third of the patients and to detect patients with severe OSA. This cheap and widely available technique could accelerate preoperative work-up of these patients.

Patients who attend a private practice vs a university outpatient clinic: how do they differ?

Although interpersonal continuity is commonly assumed to be essential for care, some patients prefer to attend a university outpatient clinic where physicians change regularly and interpersonal continuity of care is not ensured. The aim of this exploratory study was to evaluate the differences between patients attending a university outpatient clinic and patients frequenting a private practice, explore their patterns of care-seeking and their understanding of continued care. We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients attending the university medical outpatient clinic (OC) in Lausanne, Switzerland and ten randomly selected private general practices (PP). Eligible patients were >30 years, Swiss nationals or long term residents, with one or more chronic conditions and attending the same practice for >3 years. They were asked to complete a questionnaire on sociodemographic data, use of medical resources and reasons for choosing and remaining at the same practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a randomly selected subset of 26 patients to further explore their preferences. 329 patient questionnaires were completed, 219 by PP and 110 by OC patients. OC patients tended to be of lower socioeconomic status than PP patients. The main reason for choosing a PP were personal recommendation, while a higher percentage of patients chose the OC because they could obtain a first appointment quickly. A higher percentage of PP patients accorded importance to physician communication skills and trust, whereas a higher percentage of OC patients favoured investigation facilities. Qualitative data suggested that although OC and PP patients reported different reasons for consulting, their expectations on the medical and relationship level were similar. Our study suggests that the two groups of patients belong to different social backgrounds, have different patterns of care-seeking and attach importance to different aspects of care continuity. However, patients' expectations and perceptions of the physician-patient relationship are similar.

Social trust : a public good?

Combining theories on social trust and social capital with sociopsychological approaches and applying contextual analyses to Swiss and European survey data, this thesis examines under what circumstances generalised trust, often understood as public good, may not benefit everyone, but instead amplify inequality. The empirical investigation focuses on the Swiss context, but considers different scales of analysis. Two broader questions are addressed. First, might generalised trust imply more or less narrow visions of community and solidarity in different contexts? Applying nonlinear principal component analysis to aggregate indicators, Study 1 explores inclusive and exclusive types of social capital in Europe, measured as regional configurations of generalised trust, civic participation and attitudes towards diversity. Study 2 employs multilevel models to examine how generalised trust, as an individual predisposition and an aggregate climate at the level of Swiss cantons, is linked to equality- directed collective action intention versus radical right support. Second, might high-trust climates impact negatively on disadvantaged members of society, precisely because they reflect a normative discourse of social harmony that impedes recognition of inequality? Study 3 compares how climates of generalised trust at the level of Swiss micro-regions and subjective perceptions of neighbourhood cohesion moderate the negative relationship between socio-economic disadvantage and mental health. Overall, demonstrating beneficial, as well as counterintuitive effects of social trust, this thesis proposes a critical and contextualised approach to the sources and dynamics of social cohesion in democratic societies. -- Cette thèse combine des théories sur le capital social et la confiance sociale avec des approches psychosociales et s'appuie sur des analyses contextuelles de données d'enquêtes suisses et européennes, afin d'étudier dans quelles circonstances la confiance généralisée, souvent présentée comme un bien public, pourrait ne pas bénéficier à tout le monde, mais amplifier les inégalités. Les études empiriques, centrées sur le contexte suisse, intègrent différentes échelles d'analyse et investiguent deux questions principales. Premièrement, la confiance généralisée implique-t-elle des visions plus ou moins restrictives de la communauté et de la solidarité selon le contexte? Dans l'étude 1, une analyse à composantes principales non-linéaire sur des indicateurs agrégés permet d'explorer des types de capital social inclusif et exclusif en Europe, mesurés par des configurations régionales de confiance généralisée, de participation civique, et d'attitudes envers la diversité. L'étude 2 utilise des modèles multiniveaux afin d'analyser comment la confiance généralisée, en tant que prédisposition individuelle et climat agrégé au niveau des cantons suisses, est associée à l'intention de participer à des actions collectives en faveur de l'égalité ou, au contraire, à l'intention de voter pour la droite radicale. Deuxièmement, des climats de haute confiance peuvent-ils avoir un impact négatif sur des membres désavantagés de la société, précisément parce qu'ils reflètent un discours normatif d'harmonie sociale qui empêche la reconnaissance des inégalités? L'étude 3 analyse comment des climats de confiance au niveau des micro-régions suisses et la perception subjective de faire partie d'un environnement cohésif modèrent la relation négative entre le désavantage socio-économique et la santé mentale. En démontrant des effets bénéfiques mais aussi contre-intuitifs de la confiance sociale, cette thèse propose une approche critique et contextualisée des sources et dynamiques de la cohésion sociale dans les sociétés démocratiques.