Plano de negócios para a inovação, fabrico e comercialização de biscoitos portugueses, envolvendo a componente empresarial e social do empreendedorismo

O empreendedorismo tem-se assumido cada vez mais como uma área impulsionadora do desenvolvimento económico dos vários países. O empreendedor tem-se mostrado como um indivíduo capaz de forçar este desenvolvimento através da implementação das suas ideias e projetos criativos e/ou através da sustentabilidade em áreas menos desenvolvidas. De notar que o empreendedorismo atua nas mais diversas áreas, desde a tecnologia, passando pelo turismo, agricultura, atividades industriais ou até mesmo ao nível da responsabilidade e atuação social. Não é portanto, um veículo de desenvolvimento de países ricos ou pobres, desenvolvidos ou em vias de desenvolvimento, é sim, um meio de alcançar mais e melhores resultados, funcionando como força motriz igualmente importante, em grandes metrópoles ou em meios locais rurais. Para que os projetos de empreendedorismo avancem (ou não), é essencial saber reter do plano de negócio a sua real utilidade. Esta ferramenta ao serviço do empreendedor visa ajudar na tomada de decisão, tornando todos os elementos direta ou indiretamente ligados ao projeto, efetivamente visíveis, para que seja viável analisar o seu impacto. Deste modo, pretende-se com esta dissertação dar resposta a questões relacionadas com a viabilidade económico-financeira do projeto em estudo, procurando impulsionar a economia local e nacional através da recuperação e valorização de biscoitos nacionais. É também intuito incluir a perspetiva da Responsabilidade Social neste projeto, para que haja um real intercâmbio de saberes com a comunidade.

Corporate social responsibility

There is general consensus nowadays that CSR is not just altruistic do-gooding but rather a way for both companies and society to prosper. Companies themselves increasingly recognize that their sustainability depends on their willingness to assume responsibility for social and environmental issues. Academic research has, in the past, tried to theorize exactly how CSR improves business, employee satisfaction and productivity. However, few studies have a) separated the different effects of internal CSR and external CSR and b) studied these effects in times of internal organizational distrust. Hence, this paper examines the relationship between each type of CSR with two outcome variables related to employee attitudes: affective organizational commitment (AOC) and turnover intentions (TI). Furthermore, it investigates whether organizational distrust works as a moderator in each of these relationships by testing the hypothesis using a sample of 212 employees from a company that is currently going through a moment of internal crisis. Findings suggest that although all variables are strongly correlated, distrust works as a moderator for external CSR but not for internal CSR. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings conclude the paper.

Social impact bond feasibility study AEIPS intervention

AEIPS is a Portuguese social organization promoting the integration of people with mental health illnesses and/or substance abuse in the community through the intervention model Housing First. The philosophy of Housing First aims at lifting people out of their homelessness status by providing instant access to individualized and permanent housing as well as support services. Housing First projects from all over the world have proved very positive results in terms of residential stability and community integration of its participants. This feasibility study evaluates the suitability of using a Social Impact Bond to fund the Housing First intervention of AEIPS in Portugal.

Validation of a brief form of the Perceived Neighborhood Social Cohesion questionnaire.

The aim of this study was the validation of a brief form of the Perceived Neighborhood Social Cohesion questionnaire using data from 5065 men from the "Cohort Study on Substance-Use Risk Factors." A 9-item scale covering three factors was proposed. Excellent indices of internal consistency were measured (α = .93). The confirmatory factor analyses resulted in acceptable fit indices supporting measurement invariance across French and German forms. Significant correlations were found between the brief form of the Perceived Neighborhood Social Cohesion questionnaire, and satisfaction and self-reported health, providing evidence of the concurrent validity of the scale. Perceived neighborhood social cohesion, and depression and suicide attempts were negatively associated, sustaining the protective effect of perceived social cohesion.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Oil and Gas Industry: Environmental Management Systems as a Source of Sustainable Development

The environmental aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) expressed through the process of the EMS implementation in the oil and gas companies is identified as the main subject of this research. In the theoretical part, the basic attention is paid to justification of a link between CSR and environmental management. The achievement of sustainable competitive advantage as a result of environmental capital growth and inclusion of the socially responsible activities in the corporate strategy is another issue that is of special significance here. Besides, two basic forms of environmental management systems (environmental decision support systems and environmental information management systems) are explored and their role in effective stakeholder interaction is tackled. The most crucial benefits of EMS are also analyzed to underline its importance as a source of sustainable development. Further research is based on the survey of 51 sampled oil and gas companies (both publicly owned and state owned ones) originated from different countries all over the world and providing reports on sustainability issues in the open access. To analyze their approach to sustainable development, a specifically designed evaluation matrix with 37 indicators developed in accordance with the General Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines for non-financial reporting was prepared. Additionally, the quality of environmental information disclosure was measured on the basis of a quality – quantity matrix. According to results of research, oil and gas companies prefer implementing reactive measures to the costly and knowledge-intensive proactive techniques for elimination of the negative environmental impacts. Besides, it was identified that the environmental performance disclosure is mostly rather limited, so that the quality of non-financial reporting can be judged as quite insufficient. In spite of the fact that most of the oil and gas companies in the sample claim the EMS to be embedded currently in their structure, they often do not provide any details for the process of their implementation. As a potential for the further development of EMS, author mentions possible integration of their different forms in a single entity, extension of existing structure on the basis of consolidation of the structural and strategic precautions as well as development of a unified certification standard instead of several ones that exist today in order to enhance control on the EMS implementation.

Construing social dimensions of personality development: nurses as educators

A convenience sample of twenty registered nurses was recruited from two' general hospitals and two community college nursing schools. Kelly's (1955) Personal Construct Theory provided the theoretical framework to discover how nurses perceived themselves as educators. The nurses completed a self-administered Self-Perception Inventory (Soares, 1983) to determine their perception of self as nurse and ideal self as nurse. In an interview, each of the nurses constructed a rank-order repertory grid adapted from Kelly's (1955) Role Repertory Construct Test. Twelve constructs derived from the Self-Perception Inventory (Soares, 1983) were ranked according to a list of ten elements common to a teaching situation. Rank order correlations among the constructs were determined with Spearman's rho. Using a dependent samples t-test, significant differences were found between perceptions of current and ideal self for staff nurses. Significant differences were also found between nurse educators' perceptions of self and ideal self as nurse. No significant differences were determined in perceptions of self as nurse and ideal self as nurse between the staff nurse and nurse educator groups with an independent samples t-test. However, observations of single constructs revealed that although several constructs are shared between the groups in the perception of self in a teaching situation, both groups hold constructs that operate exclusively in their separate domains. The nature and strength of the relationships between the common and unique constructs are different for each group. Nurses I self-perceptions appear to be influenced by the historical development of nursing, role socialization during nursing education, social expectations and gender issues in the health care system.

Impact of social constructs on administrator understanding of social justice

Educational administrators are expected to relate social justice considerations to their actions and to the theoretical foundations of their practice. At the same time, social constructs-including those related to administrative practice, social justice, and societal norms-are important in helping administrators understand, frame, and describe administrative issues. Furthermore, as part of socially constructed language, these constructs represent discursive practices and accepted ways of knowing, valuing, and experiencing the world. Drawing on the multidimensional methods of critical discourse analysis as articulated in the writings of Michel Foucault, Norman Fairclough, and Allan Luke, and using deconstruction as a strategic device for reading and interpreting texts, this exploratory qualitative study examined how administrator knowledge, values, and experiences impact their understanding of social justice within the context of delivering social justice for students who experience bullying. Study findings reveal that school administrators interpreted social justice as equitable distribution, action, and results; fairness; and equity. Constructs embedded in these interpretations assumed common things such as universal acceptance of norms of social relations and conveyed administrator intent to secure the kind of social relations that enabled individuals to enjoy greater equality within existing social arrangements.

The Mirror Room Project: A Critical Ethnographic Program Evaluation of a Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Based Youth Development Program

Amongst a host of other benefits, proper physical education has the possibility to create a safe place where responsibility can be transferred from the teacher/facilitator, to the student. This is especially true with an underserved population. This critical program evaluation of the program CHARM was done for the purpose of program improvement. This research was a place for participants to share their experiences of the program. The participants were 5 underserved youth, 5 undergraduate students, 3 teachers and 1 graduate student. Observations, interviews, and document analysis were used to gather data. Data was analyzed using a first level read-through, and two second-level analyses. Summaries were written, and cross-case analyses were completed. The main finding of the research was the development of a Handbook, which is a guide to running the program. Secondary findings include issues of program structure, goal setting, meaningful relationships, roles, SNAP, and an outlier in the data.

Repertory grid adaptations in detecting connotative trends and social behaviour problems in education

Please consult the paper edition of this thesis to read. It is available on the 5th Floor of the Library at Call Number: Z 9999 E38 K66 1983

The Social Enterprise as an Alternative Work Option for Persons with Developmental Disabilities: A Case Study of Staff Perspectives at Common Ground Co-operative

Traditional employment options for persons with developmental disabilities are lacking. Employment options available for persons with developmental disabilities are reflective of the medical and social model perspectives of disability; with segregated and supported employment reinforcing the idea that persons with developmental disabilities are incapable and competitive employment missing the necessary accommodations for persons to be successful. This study examined social enterprises as an alternative employment option that can balance both medical and social model perspectives by accommodating for weaknesses or limitations and recognizing the strengths and capabilities of persons with developmental disabilities in the workplace. Moreover, this study is part of a broader case study which is examining the nature and impacts of a social enterprise, known as Common Ground Co-operative (CGC), which supports five social purpose businesses that are owned and operated by persons with developmental disabilities. This study is part of the Social Business and Marginalized Social Groups Community-University Research Alliance. To date, a case study has been written describing the nature and impacts of CGC and its related businesses from the perspectives of the Partners, board members, funders and staff (Owen, Readhead, Bishop, Hope & Campbell, in press & Readhead, 2012). The current study used a descriptive case study approach to provide a detailed account of the perceptions and opinions of CGC staff members who support each of the Partners in the five related businesses. Staff members were chosen for the focus of this study because of the integral role that they play in the successful outcomes of the persons they support. This study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase five staff members were interviewed. During this stage of interviews, several themes were presented which needed to be examined in further detail, specifically staff stress and burnout and duty of care for business Partners versus the promotion of their autonomy. A second phase of interviews was then conducted with one individual participant and a focus group of seven. During both interview phases, Staff participants described an employment model that creates a non-judgemental environment for the business Partners that promotes their strengths, accommodates for their limitations, provides educational opportunities and places the responsibility for the businesses on the persons with developmental disabilities cultivating equality and promoting independence. Staff described the nature of their role including risk factors for stress, the protective factors that buffer stress, and the challenges associated with balancing many role demands. Issues related to the replication of this social enterprise model are described.

Explaining voice behaviour: The roles of personal resources, social interdependence, and supervisor leadership style

This study contributes to current research on voice behaviour by investigating several under-explored drivers that motivate employees’ expression of constructive ideas about work-related issues. It draws from the concept of psychological climate to examine how voice behaviour is influenced by employees’ (1) personal resources (tenacity and passion for work), (2) perceptions of social interdependence (task and outcome interdependence), and (3) supervisor leadership style (transformational and transactional). Using a multi-source research design, surveys were administered to 226 employees and to 24 supervisors at a Canadian-based not-for-profit organization. The hypotheses are tested with hierarchical regression analysis. The results indicate that employees are more likely to engage in voice behaviour to the extent that they exhibit higher levels of passion for work. Further, their voice behaviour is lower to the extent that their supervisor adopts a transformational leadership style characterized by high performance expectations or a transactional leadership style based on contingent rewards and contingent punishment behaviours. The study reveals that there are no significant effects of tenacity, social interdependence, and behaviour-focused transformational leadership on voice. The findings have significant implications for organizations that seek to encourage employee behaviours that help improve current work practices or undo harmful situations.

Destigmatizing Child and Adolescent Mental Health through Group Chat: A Workshop to Support the Emotional and Social Needs of Youth

The purpose of this project was to raise awareness surrounding child and adolescent mental health in an effort to reduce preconceived stigmas in relation to this specialized field. This project presented a literature review of the current state of child and adolescent mental health in Canada today, including the prevalence and several treatment options for young people confronting mental health challenges. Consideration of the powerful role of the education system upon youth with mental health issues became evident, specifically regarding early identification and prevention. A needs assessment was conducted to gather feedback from the clinical practitioners of a Section 23 classroom within a Southern Ontario hospital. This assessment was used to develop an informational and pedagogical workshop resource to extend practitioner understanding of this pertinent issue and support the social and emotional needs of young people confronting mental heath challenges. Results of the assessment indicated the significant need for such a workshop resource, and these responses were used to guide the development of Group Chat: A Workshop to Support the Emotional and Social Needs of Youth. The latter was subsequently presented to participants, whereby evaluative questionnaires indicated the efficacy and usefulness of this workshop resource to both practitioners and students alike.

Intertemporal Social Evaluation

Intertemporal social-evaluation rules provide us with social criteria that can be used to assess the relative desirability of utility distributions across generations. The trade-offs between the well-being of different generations implicit in each such rule reflect the underlying ethical position on issues of intergenerational equity or justice. We employ an axiomatic approach in order to identify ethically attractive socialevaluation procedures. In particular, we explore the possibilities of using welfare information and non-welfare information in a model of intertemporal social evaluation. We focus on the individuals’ birth dates and lengths of life as the relevant non-welfare information. As usual, welfare information is given by lifetime utilities. It is assumed that this information is available for each alternative to be ranked. Various weakenings of the Pareto principle are employed in order to allow birth dates or lengths of life (or both) to matter in social evaluation. In addition, we impose standard properties such as continuity and anonymity and we examine the consequences of an intertemporal independence property. For each of the Pareto conditions employed, we characterize all social-evaluation rules satisfying it and our other axioms. The resulting rules are birth-date dependent or lifetime-dependent versions of generalized utilitarianism. Furthermore, we discuss the ethical and axiomatic foundations of geometric discounting in the context of our model.

A Comprehensive Analysis of the Legal Issues Relating to Nominee Directors

Dans la foulée des scandales financiers ayant secoué le milieu des affaires ces dernières années, l’efficacité des pratiques de régie d’entreprise, et, en particulier celles liées à l’indépendance des administrateurs, a été passée au crible. L’administrateur désigné par une partie pour la représenter est un type d’administrateur que l’on rencontre fréquemment au sein des conseils d’administration des entreprises. Toutefois, l’on peut se questionner sur l’indépendance réelle de ces administrateurs, considérant leur loyauté envers la personne les ayant désignés, laquelle détient habituellement un intérêt à titre d’actionnaire ou de partie prenante dans l’entreprise visée. En outre, alors que les principes légaux requièrent que les administrateurs agissent dans le meilleur intérêt de l’entreprise, la réalité pratique est parfois toute autre: aux prises avec les instructions ou les souhaits de la personne les ayant nommés, les administrateurs désignés se retrouvent placés en situation inhérente de conflit d’intérêts. Ce texte vise à offrir une analyse détaillée au sujet de l’administrateur désigné et du conflit d’intérêts résultant de cette double exigence de loyauté. L’objectif est de présenter un examen approfondi des diverses difficultés résultant de la nomination d’un administrateur désigné ou associées à celle-ci, ainsi que des réponses judiciaires et législatives liées à cette problématique. Cette réflexion mènera à une exploration de certains systèmes législatifs et légaux, en particulier ceux du Royaume-Uni, de l’Australie et de la Nouvelle-Zélande, afin d’obtenir une meilleure compréhension et d’offrir une perspective éclairée quant aux enjeux analysés par la présente.

Pratiques associatives et construction d'un espace social citoyen à Trou du Nord (Haïti)

Ce mémoire traite de la construction d’un espace social citoyen à partir de l’analyse du travail d’intervention de deux organismes locaux situés à Trou du Nord (Haïti). Il s’agit d’explorer les manières dont les membres se représentent et s’approprient leur statut de citoyen. Pour mettre l’emphase sur les mécanismes associatifs et sociaux qui interviennent dans la construction de ce que nous nommons "espace social citoyen", nous avons mené une recherche qualitative dont la charpente interprétative est conçue avec l’aide des outils théorico-pratiques de la politique de participation (Barber, 1997) et l’intervention sociale collective (Lamoureux, 1991). Nous avançons l’hypothèse centrale que les pratiques associatives sont le vecteur de la construction d’un espace social citoyen à Trou du Nord. Cette hypothèse centrale est soutenue par deux hypothèses opératoires portant sur les conditions d’exercice de citoyenneté et l’affirmation individuelle de l’appartenance des membres à l’espace commun. Nous avons recueilli quatorze entretiens semi-directifs effectués avec les membres de l’Assemblée Populaire Veye Yo Trou du Nord (APVT) et du Rassemblement des Militants Solidaires de Trou du Nord (RAMSO). Les résultats de la recherche indiquent que les membres de ces deux organisations manifestent une grande volonté de contribuer au développement de leur localité et au «mieux-être» de la population. Leur implication directe dans les affaires politiques et sociales s’accompagne des exigences pour que l’État prenne en charge ses responsabilités vis-à-vis de ses citoyens. Cette liberté d’action repose sur le partage de leurs expériences individuelles et sur une grande connaissance des divers aspects des réalités locales auxquelles sont confrontés quotidiennement les citoyens. Ces deux groupes sont conçus comme des espaces de sociabilité, des lieux publics et dynamiques issus de l’activité commune et des divers types d’interactions au niveau local. Toujours d’après l’analyse, les membres de ces deux groupes interviennent sur un problème d’ensemble collectif au niveau local sans pour autant négliger leurs propres intérêts. Ils s’inscrivent dans le jeu de marchandage électoral et apprennent à leurs membres à se comporter comme une communauté d’intérêts et d’actions, elle-même inscrite dans l’ensemble des interactions, des processus et des dynamiques de résolution des problèmes au niveau local. Un tel constat vient à la fois valider certaines de nos hypothèses tout en révélant les limites de l’idée de la construction d’un espace social citoyen. D’une part, la volonté de contribuer au «mieux-être» de la population, la nécessité de prendre la parole, d’exprimer les problèmes collectifs et individuels, le souci d’avoir un contrôle sur l’action des dirigeants élus sont autant d’enjeux qui leur ont permis de passer de leur vécu particulier à une vision plus large des intérêts collectifs et à la définition des tâches qu’ils estiment correspondre au rôle citoyen qui leur incombe. D’autre part, leur positionnement dans le champ politique notamment au moment des élections les fait apparaître comme des groupes partisans, c'est-à-dire qu’ils ne sont pas toujours dans la construction de l’intérêt général. Nous concluons que ce double aspect s’avère nécessaire aussi bien à la construction de l’espace social citoyen qu’au fonctionnement démocratique au niveau local. Car, en plus de se définir comme citoyens et d’affirmer leur appartenance communautaire, les membres développent les capacités critiques face aux gestes et actes posés autant par les dirigeants locaux que par l’État haïtien lui-même. Ils acquièrent aussi les habilités de participer, même dans les interstices, aux jeux sociopolitiques faisant partie du processus de renforcement de la citoyenneté et d’un système démocratique en construction.