Institutions de microfinance et prêteurs informels de l’agriculture familiale en Côte d’ivoire : de la cohabitation à la fusion

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Branding Hotels

[Excerpt] The hotel business has become a business of brands. Price Waterhouse Coopers estimates that there are over 300 hotel brands today with no one brand dominating the market. Every major brand management issue (brand extensions, global brand expansion, re-branding, un-branding, co-branding, brand portfolio development, brand acquisitions, new brand development, etc.) is being explored. An understanding of the competitive context and intra-and inter-brand dynamics will help owners, operators, asset managers, suppliers and litigators, as well as new entrants into the business make better and more informed brand management decisions.

Gestão da cadeia de suprimento e vantagem competitiva: uma análise em setores industriais a partir da visão relacional

This work has as its main purpose to investigate the contribution of supply chain management in order to obtain competitive advantage by companies from the textile industry and from Ceará footwear industry, focusing its analysis mainly in the interorganizational relations (dyadic). For this, the theoretical referential contemplates different explanatory streams of the competitive advantage, detaching the relational perception of the resources theory, as well as, the main presuppositions of the supply chain management which culminates with the development of an analysis sample that runs the empirical study; the one which considers an expanded purpose of the supply chain which includes the government and the abetment institutions as institutional environment representatives. Besides supply chain management consideration as a competitive advantage source, the work also tried to identify other possible competitive advantage sources for the companies of the investigated sectors. It represents a study of multiple interpretive cases, having four cases as a total; meaning two cases in each one of the sectors, which used as a primary data collecting instrument a semi-structured interview schedule. Different methods were used for the data analysis, the content analysis and the constant comparison methods, the analytical procedure originated from the grounded theory research strategy, which were applied the Atlas/ti software recourse. Considering the theoretical referential and the used analysis sample, four basic categories of the work were defined, including its respective proprieties and dimensions: (1) characteristics concerning to the relationship with the supplier; (2) the company relations with the government; (3) the company relations with the abetment institutions and; (4) obtaining sources of competitive advantage. In general, the applied research in the footwear sector revealed that in the relationships of the researched companies related to its suppliers, there is a predominance of the partnership system and the main presuppositions of the supply chain management are applied which contributes for the acquisition of the relational competitive advantage; while in the textile sector, only some of these presuppositions are applied, with little contribution for the relational competitive advantage. The main resource which was accessed by the companies in both sectors through its relationships with the government and the abetment institutions are the tax incentives which, for the footwear companies, contribute for the acquisition of the temporary competitive advantage in relation to the contestants who do not own productive installations in the Northeast region, it also conducts to a competitive parity situation in relation to the contestants who own productive installations in the Northeast region and to the external market contestants; while for the companies of the textile sector, the tax incentives run the companies to a competitive parity situation in relation to its contestants. Furthermore, the investigated companies from the two sectors possess acquisition sources of the competitive advantage which collimate with different explanatory streams (industrial analysis, resources theory, Austrian school and the dynamic capabilities theory), although there is a predominance of the product innovation as a competitive advantage source in both sectors, due to the bond of these with the fashion tendencies

Modelo institucional do processo de estruturação de empresas de desenvolvimento de software: um estudo de múltiplos casos

Some authors have shown the need of understanding the technological structuring process in contemporary firms. From this perspective, the software industry is a very important element because it provides products and services directly to many organizations from many fields. In this case, the Brazilian software industry has some peculiarities that distinguish it from other industries located in developed countries, which makes its understanding even more relevant. There is evidence that local firms take different strategies and structural configurations to enter into a market naturally dominated by large multinational firms. Therefore, this study aims to understand not only the structural configurations assumed by domestic firms but also the dynamic and the process that lead to these different configurations. To do so, this PhD dissertation investigates the institutional environment, its entities and the isomorphic movements, by employing an exploratory, descriptive and explanatory multiple cases study. Eight software development companies from the Recife's information technology Cluster were visited. Also, a form was applied and an interview with one of the main firm s professional was conducted. Although the study is predominantly qualitative, part of the data was analyzed through charts and graphs, providing a companies and environment overview that was very useful to analysis done through the interviews interpretation. As a result, it was realized that companies are structured around hybrids business models from two ideal types of software development companies, which are: software factory and technology-based company. Regarding the development process, it was found that there is a balanced distribution between the traditional and agile development paradigm. Among the traditional methodologies, the Rational Unified Process (RUP) is predominant. The Scrum is the most used methodology among the organizations based on the Agile Manifesto's principles. Regarding the structuring process, each institutional entity acts in such way that generates different isomorphic pressure. Emphasis was given to entities such as customers, research agencies, clusters, market-leading businesses, public universities, incubators, software industry organizations, technology vendors, development tool suppliers and manager s school and background because they relate themselves in a close way with the software firms. About this relationship, a dual and bilateral influence was found. Finally, the structuring level of the organizational field has been also identified as low, which gives a chance to organizational actors of acting independently

Sustentabilidade das empresas associadas à REDEPETRO-RN

The present study investigated the management of social, environmental and economic sustainability practices employed by 72 oil companies in Rio Grande do Norte state in Brazil associated to Joint Business Network for Enhancing the Competitive Ability of Suppliers of Goods and Services to the Gas and Oil Industry in Rio Grande do Norte (REDEPETRO-RN). Thus, our investigation aimed to determine the extent to which sustainability practices of companies associated to REDEPETRO-RN are developed through their own efforts or influenced by the Triple Helix interorganizational arrangement (governamental organizations, education and research institutions, and industries). The research instrument used was a questionnaire in order to map and characterize the sustainability practices. The research subjects were business owners and managers. The data collected supported the descriptive, correspondence and correlation analyzes. Were identified a greater emphasis of the companies surveyed in developing sustainability practices and greater economic influence of business organizations in the construction of sustainability status. It was concluded with confirmation of thesis of the REDEPETRO-RN arrangement exhibits the characteristics and functioning of a common Interorganizational Cooperative Arrangement, not those of a triple helix interorganizational arrangement, given that the influences exerted for the development of social, environmental and economical sustainability on the part of teaching and research institutions, and government and business organizations do not interact with one another sufficiently to create a virtuous circle of cooperation among the associated companies. By contrast, the Interorganizational Cooperative Arrangement plays an important role in strengthening the competitiveness of companies affiliated to REDEPETRO-RN, by combining different competencies in an attempt at supporting the adoption of sustainability practices, a role reinforced by the scope of PETROBRAS, which, due to its economic importance, has considerable weight in the managerial decisions of associated companies

Inserção de fornecedores locais como fonte de desempenhos em custos de transação e legitimidade: estudo de caso na cadeia produtiva do petróleo e gás do Rio Grande do Norte

The inclusion of local suppliers in production chains has considerable impact on its performance, but most notably in its main actors. The results of this process may be of different kinds and can be analyzed from economic or institutional approaches. This study aimed to verify the existence of different performances of Petrobras due to the inclusion of local suppliers in the oil and gas production chain in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, from the viewpoints of transaction costs and the Institutional Theory. In order to this, were made the characterization of the PROMINP, the description of its actions and results, the mapping of its institutional context of reference, and identification of results obtained by Petrobras in terms of transaction costs and legitimacy. The theoretical framework is based on authors dealing with industrial concentration, as like Marshall, Krugman, Porter and Schmitz, from the sociological perspective of neoinstitucional theory, as like DiMaggio and Powell and Scott and Meyer, and transaction costs, as like Williamson. This is a qualitative research, with data collection done by consulting secondary fonts and semi-structured interviews with nineteen actors of three groups, namely: actors involved in actions of the program, representatives of enterprises and representative of Petrobras. To analyze the content was used the Suchman s model (1995) for categories associated with strategies of legitimation and fourteen variables associated with the three variables assets specificity, bounded rationality and opportunism (Williamson, 1995, 1989) in the case of transaction costs. The results indicate that PROMINP has achieved its objectives by encouraging the increased participation of local companies in the oil and gas production chain, reflecting in the economic development of the state. The Redepetro/RN, fostered and built upon the interaction of the participants, is presented as a solution of continuity to the participation of enterprises in the chain, after the closure of the actions of the program. PROMINP demands responses to coercive, legislative and regulatory pressures of the organizational field, whose institutional context of reference is wide. From the point of view of legitimacy, through strategies to gain cognitive legitimacy and maintaining pragmatic legitimacy, Petrobras can manipulate the environment, ensuring the compliance of the constituents to their technical and institutional demands. Enterprises, in turn, respond to the demands through compliance with technical demands, mainly through the certification of processes, and cultural changes. There aren t clear gains related to the transaction costs, however, gains in legitimacy can be seen as a cumulative capital that can serve as a competitive differential that generates economic gains. In terms of theoretical findings, it was found that, due to its explanatory power for actions that are difficult to explain only in economic terms, Institutional Theory may be used as theoretical support concurrent with other theories. TCE model has limitations in explaining the program actions. In the case, it s emphasized that Petrobras doesn t seek only economic efficiency, but has in its mission the commitment to social development.

Sobre (vivência) e mortalidade de pequenos negócios: o caso de mercados varejistas potiguares

This paper‟s starting point was the objective of understanding the relation between the reasons pointed out by small businesses owners for the continuity or shutdown of their businesses, and the reasons presented by the Environmental Theories. The paper discusses the Environmental Theories understand that it is supported by a systemic metaphor speech, discussing the theme in terms of organizational survival and mortality . The text reviews the literature showing the changes in the administrative thinking regarding the organization versus environment relation, and presenting general ideas about the micro and small businesses. In methodological terms, the qualitative approach was used in the research. Regarding the data collection technique, an in-depth thematic interview was used. It was carried out considering the elements of the techniques of life history and oral history, always giving priority to real world related narratives told by the interviewed subjects. The empirical corpus of the research was made up of seven owners of small retail businesses in two Potiguar cities: Natal and Mossoró. The interpretative and analytical process focused, at first, on the reflexive dialogue with each one of the owners‟ professional life history and business management experience, constituting the first level of analysis: reflections on individual narratives; and, afterwards, the interpretative process was developed through the analysis of all the subjects‟ statements, identifying the recurring themes and constituting the second level of analysis: reflection on the totalizing narrative. The themes identified in the totalizing narrative, that refer to the continuity of the businesses are: evolution, control, fidelity, liking what one does for a living. The themes that came up as reasons for shutdown are: lack of empathy with the business, lack of evolution, competition problems, suppliers and the government. The text synthesizes its comprehensions affirming that the reasons associated with continuity and shutdown of small markets, for this group of owners specifically, come up as a permanent tension between the volunteerism (quite human) and the determinism (systemic). The tension is shown in testimonies that at the same time evoke the organicist systemic logic through the themes evolution/no evolution, and also counterpoints with themes related to the interested human action, based on desires, feelings and personal convictions such as: liking what one does/ lack of empathy. As for the reflexive dialogue between the postulates of the Environmental Theories and the narratives, the results make it possible to affirm that, differently from the tension expressed by the subjects while talking about their reasons, the reasons associated with survival and mortality of businesses according to the Environmental Theories are theoretically polarized, seeming to preach options that are stagnated and shaping towards the subjects involved in the organization-environment relation

Aplicação de um value stream map nos serviços após venda automóvel

O projeto desenvolvido tem como objetivo principal a melhoria da eficiência na prestação de serviços de reparação de chapa e pintura na Caetano Auto Colisão, através da aplicação de ferramentas associadas à filosofia Lean. Apesar das ferramentas e técnicas lean estarem bem exploradas nas empresas de produção e manufatura, o mesmo não se verifica em relação às empresas da área dos serviços. O Value Stream Mapping é uma ferramenta lean que consiste no mapeamento do fluxo de materiais e informação necessários para a realização das atividades (que acrescentam e não acrescentam valor), desempenhadas pelos colaboradores, fornecedores e distribuidores, desde a obtenção do pedido do cliente até à entrega final do serviço. Através desta ferramenta é possível identificar as atividades que não acrescentam valor para o processo e propor medidas de melhoria que resultem na eliminação ou redução das mesmas. Com base neste conceito, foi realizado o mapeamento do processo de prestação de serviços de chapa e pintura e identificados os focos de ineficiência. A partir desta análise foram sugeridas melhorias que têm como objetivo atingir o estado futuro proposto assim como tornar o processo mais eficiente. Duas destas melhorias passaram pela implementação dos 5S na sala das tintas e pela elaboração de um relatório A3 para o centro de lavagens. O projeto realizado permitiu o estudo de um problema real numa empresa de serviços, bem como a proposta de um conjunto de melhorias que a médio prazo se espera virem a contribuir para a melhoria da eficiência na prestação de serviços de chapa e pintura.

Utredning av förfrågningsunderlag gällande byggandet av trästomme med fokus på offentlig upphandling

In the mid 1990s a previous prohibitions against multi-story buildings higher than two floors with a wooden frame was changed. Today multi-storey buildings are being built in Skellefteå, Sundsvall, Växjö, and Stockholm with others. Despite this only one of five houses being built today has a wooden frame. Since the municipality is a key force to get projects with wooden frames, this papers purpose is to improve tender document for the opportunity to submit bids and building with wooden frames. To help us forward with our work three questions were formulated. 1) What is the basis from a wooden constructions company perspective, of which they determines if they can place a bid or not? 2) What is the difference between tender documents made by a municipality compared to a private buyer? 3) How can tender documents be improved to create an opportunity to place a bid containing an alternative frame system? To answer these questions a literature study was carried out. The literature study is the basis of this paper. To obtain empirical data a document analysis of tender documents was carried out. The result of the study shows that wood frames are hard to adapt to an already finished technical specification, or to a tender document containing an extensive technical specification. To obtain alternative solutions, the buyer should focus on object design, form and function, or a general technical specification. Instead the technical specifications should be drawn up by the supplier, or in collaboration with them. The tender evaluation should be made by the most economically advantageous rather then the lowest price. Then the buyer can evaluate the offers against each other, rather then choosing the lowest price. This also gives the possibility for suppliers to make a bid containing an alternative solution. As a continuation of this paper, we recommend a study on which impact a general technical specification has on the project final cost.  Furthermore a study exploring which possibilities partner procurement can have alternative solutions in the Swedish procurement act. This report deal exclusively with how tender documents should be formulated. Life cycle analysis, carbon dioxide emissions and strength calculations will not be executed. 

Melhoria do processo de lavação das rolhas de cortiça

O presente trabalho, realizado na empresa Amorim & Irmãos, S.A. teve como principal objetivo a avaliação e otimização da lavação de rolhas de cortiça técnicas, designadas por Twin Top®, em termos do perfil de consumo de reagentes químicos e do desenvolvimento da sua brancura. Para tal foi desenvolvida uma metodologia de análise de brancura de rolhas Twin Top® que serviu de base para a determinação de uma gama de brancuras aceitável. Para além disto, efetuou-se a avaliação do processo de lavação atualmente praticado e apartir do qual se realizaram os ensaios de otimização a nível laboratorial e piloto. Foram aplicados diferentes métodos de análise tais como, UV-Vis, FTIR-ATR, RMN e brancura ISO. Tendo como base de análise os espetros de refletância difusa de espetroscopia de UV-Vis foi proposta uma metodologia de determinação da brancura de rolhas Twin Top® a 457nm, adoptando as condições da Norma ISO 3688, aplicada na indústria da pasta e papel. De seguida, aplicando o método anteriormente definido, analisaram-se 1000 rolhas Twin Top® de lavação branca. Sendo que os resultados demonstraram que para rolhas dentro de especificação a brancura ISO deve estar entre os 30 e 35%. Foram ainda analisadas rolhas de diferentes classes visuais e provenientes de várias máquinas de lavação da fábrica para determinar possíveis diferenças. Para proceder à avaliação da lavação existente analisaram-se as colas usadas na produção das rolhas, um grânulo de cortiça e a matéria seca do efluente de lavação por FTIR-ATR e RMN. Desta avaliação resultou a presença de compostos de cortiça e cola degradada no efluente de lavação. Determinou-se a concentração dos reagentes intervenientes no processo que se mostraram de acordo com as especificações indicadas pelos fornecedores. Para a otimização da lavação combinou-se o peróxido de hidrogénio e hidróxido de sódio em diferentes quantidades, concentrações e diferentes tempos de reação o que permitiu identificar a melhor alternativa à lavação convencional. Assim existem duas propostas que devem ser tidas em consideração: uma em que a lavação mantém a mesma sequência da convencional e em que se altera o local de adição dos reagentes, que deve ser o mais próxima e direta possível das rolhas, e a outra em que se reduz o tempo do processo em 29,3 min, que compreende apenas uma oxidação e em que a quantidade de reagentes aplicada corresponde à soma dos volumes de reagentes das três oxidações do processo convencional.

Selling customer value in B2B markets - Case KONE JumpLift

Skepticism of promised value-added is forcing suppliers to provide tangible evidence of the value they can deliver for the customers in industrial markets. Despite this, quantifying customer benefits is being thought as one of the most difficult part in business-to-business selling. The objective of this research is to identify the desired and perceived customer benefits of KONE JumpLift™ and improve the overall customer value quantification and selling process of the solution. The study was conducted with a qualitative case analysis including 7 interviews with key stakeholders from three different market areas. The market areas were chosen based on where the offering has been utilized and the research was conducted by five telephone and two email interviews. The main desired and perceived benefits include many different values for example economical, functional, symbolic and epistemic value but they vary on studied market areas. The most important result of the research was finding the biggest challenges of selling the offering which are communicating and proving the potential value to the customers. In addition, the sales arguments have different relative importance in studied market areas which create challenges for salespeople to sell the offering effectively. In managerial level this means need for investing into a new sales tool and training the salespeople.

Cost efficient supply processes for the Compact Slim Elevator Door

The aim of this thesis was to observe possibilities to enhance the development of manufacturing costs savings and competitiveness related to the compact KONE Renova Slim elevator door. Compact slim doors are especially designed for EMEA markets. EMEA market area is characterized by highly competitive pricing and lead times which are manifested as pressures to decrease manufacturing costs and lead times of the compact elevator door. The new elevator safety code EN81-20 coming live during the spring 2016 will also have a negative impact on the cost and competitiveness development making the situation more acute. As a sheet metal product the KONE Renova slim is highly variable. Manufacturing methods utilized in the production are common and robust methods. Due to the low volumes, high variability and tight lead times the manufacturing of the doors is facing difficulties. Manufacturing of the doors is outsourced to two individual suppliers Stera and Wittur. This thesis was implemented in collaboration with Stera. KONE and Stera pursue a long term and close partnership where the benefits reached by the collaboration are shared equally. Despite the aims, the collaboration between companies is not totally visible and various barriers are hampering the development towards more efficient ways of working. Based on the empirical studies related to this thesis, an efficient standardized (A+) process was developed for the main variations of the compact elevator door. Using the standardized process KONE is able to order the most important AMDS door variations from Stera with increased quality, lower manufacturing costs and manufacturing lead time compared to the current situation. In addition to all the benefits, the standardized (A+) process also includes risks in practice. KONE and the door supplier need to consider these practical risks together before decisions are made.

Organizational responses to technological discontinuities: the case of the American College of Radiology (ACR)

A long history of organizational research has shown that organizations are affected significantly by changes in technology. Scholars have given particular attention to the effects of so-called disruptive or discontinuous technological changes. Studies have repeatedly shown that established, incumbent organizations tend to suffer deep performance declines (and even complete demise) in the face of such changes, and researchers have devoted much attention to identifying the organizational conditions and processes that are responsible for this persistent and widespread pattern of adaptation failure. This dissertation, which examines the response of the American College of Radiology (ACR) to the emergence of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging technology (NMR), aims to contribute to this well-established research tradition in three distinct and important ways. First, it focuses on a fundamentally different type of organization, a professional association, rather than the technology producers examined in most prior research. Although technologies are well known to be embedded in “communities” that include technology producers, suppliers, customers, governmental entities, professional societies, and other entities, most prior research has focused on the responses and ultimate fate of producers alone. Little if any research has explored the responses of professional organizations in particular. Second, the study employs a sophisticated process methodology that identifies the individual events that make up the organization’s response to technological change, as well as the overall sequence through which these events unfold. This process approach contrasts sharply with the variance models used in most previous studies and offers the promise of developing knowledge about how adaptation ultimately unfolds (or fails to). Finally, the project also contributes significantly through its exploration of an apparently successful case of adaptation to technological change. Though nuclear magnetic resonance imaging posed a serious threat to the ACR and its members, this threat appears to have been successfully managed and overcome. Although the unique nature of the organization and the technology under study place some important limits on the generalizablity of this research, its findings nonetheless provide some important basic insights about the process through which social organizations can successfully adapt to discontinuous technological changes. These insights, which may also be of substantial relevance to technology producer organizations, will also be elaborated.

Dinâmicas sócioeconômicas na prática dos feirantes agricultores familiares de Chapecó-SC

This thesis deals with the insertion of family farmers market that act as market traders in the city of Chapecó, state of Santa Catarina. In order to trust, reciprocity and relations of time and space dynamics present in the practice of open-air market is analyzed. From understanding the outdoor market as an extension of the activities of farms, a form of local construction market, we need new ways to evaluate the inclusion of family farming in trade. In this regard, the importance of local markets characterized by autonomy in the food hegemonic system. To this end, it uses what the peculiarities present in the practice of street fairs, its historical development, the number of farmers who act as market participants, the number of traders in the city and its surroundings, the diversity of products offered, the marketing channel access by traders and market relations farmers who act as market participants. Finally, based on the responses of suppliers and content analysis, it was possible to show how present in the social dynamics of free trade: the trusted face to face representations, reciprocity and relations of time and space between the co-present agents in the market dynamics of family farmers fair. For the study context, these representations show how important non-economic values that help build identities that relate to the strategies of social reproduction and overcoming dominant market model.

Modelo para formação dinâmica de rede de fornecedores em empresas estendidas

Supply chains have become an important focus for competitive advantage. The performance of a company increasingly depends on its ability to maintain effective and efficient relationships with its suppliers and customers. The extended enterprise (i.e. composed of several partners) needs to be dynamically formed in order to be agile and adaptable. According to the Digital Manufacturing paradigm, companies have to be able to quickly share and disseminate information regarding planning, designing and manufacturing of products. Additionally, they must be responsive to all technical and business determinants, as well as be assessed and certified for guaranteed performance. The current research intends to present a solution for the dynamic composition of the extended enterprise, formed to take advantage of market opportunities quickly and efficiently. A construction model was developed. This construction model consists of: information model, protocol model and process model. The information model has been defined based on the concepts of Supply Chain Operations Reference model (SCOR®). In this model is defined information for negotiating the participation of candidate companies in the dynamic establishment of a network for responding to a given demand for developing and manufacturing products, in seven steps as follows: request for information; request for qualification; alignment of strategy; request for proposal; request for quotation; compatibility of process; and compatibility of system. The protocol model has been elaborated and inspired in the OSI, this model provides a framework for linking customers and suppliers, indicates a sequence to be followed, in order to selecte companies to become suppliers. The process model has been implemented by means of process modeling according to the BPMN standard and, in turn, implemented as a web-based application that runs the process through its several steps, which uses forms to gather data. An application example in the context of the oil and gas industry is used for demonstrating the solution concept.