Gestão da satisfação e fidelidade do cliente: um estudo em uma instituição de ensino superior

This Master of Science Thesis deals with the customer satisfaction and loyalty focusing on a private higher education institution in Belém city, Brazil. The literature review focuses on costumer satisfaction and loyalty concepts and theory, models of quality managing systems and methodologies of costumer satisfaction measurement. The research was a survey with a random stratified sample of 329 undergraduate students of Business Administration at the Faculdade do Pará , in the morning and the night periods. The data analysis was made through the descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The main findings are that the model was satisfactory and the main factors affecting Satisfaction to the School were Best Professor Didatics (beta=0.297), Courses Contents (beta=0.280), Clerks Sympathy (beta=0.201), and Number of Students in Classroom (beta=0,187) with a adjusted R2 = 0,47. The main factors affecting School Loyalty with an adjusted R2 = 0,43 were School Image (beta=0.383), Affective Commitment (beta=0.255), and Satisfaction with Professors (beta=0,218). The findings suggest also that may be differences between the set of students and those that complain for something

Fatores da satisfação e fidelidade de clientes: um estudo no setor de telefonia móvel celular

This thesis deals with the factors affecting customer satisfaction and loyalty in the mobile phone telecom sector. It is adapted a model proposed by Johnson et al. (2001) of quality and loyalty antecedent factors. It is conducted a survey with a sample of 385 customers of mobile phone telecom sector in Teresina city, a capital of a Northeastern State of Brazil, and descriptives and multiple regression statistical analysis. The main findings related to satisfaction are that quality and service price are the significant factors affecting it. Regarding loyalty, satisfaction, image, affective commitment, and calculate commitment are the significant factors to explain it. The overall model used fairly explain the satisfaction and loyalty outcomes

Fatores que afetam a satisfação e a fidelidade do cliente: um estudo com compradores de automóveis

This thesis presents a contribution to the study customer satisfaction models, analyzing the relationship between antecedent variables satisfaction and customer loyalty, through a survey with car s buyers in Natal. The theorical survey is focused in concepts of customer satisfaction and loyalty, and in the customer satisfaction index models. For the field survey, was applied a questionnaire, based on the Norwegian Customer Satisfaction Barometer (NCSB), considered by Johnson et al. (2001), with 106 customer of concessionary Fiat, the Pontanegra Automóveis. The main results obtained by the multiple regression analysis reveal that, considering the Fiat, the satisfaction is influencing by reliance degree in the firm seriousness and by complaining handling, the loyalty is influenced by possibility of again pay the same value if was again buy a car, the satisfaction degree with a car, affective commitment relationship firm customer of the own car and the complaining handling. Considering the concessionaire, the satisfaction is influenced by reliance degree in the firm seriousness, ability degree of the concessionaire in delivery service and by complaining handling, already the loyalty is influencing by possibility of again pay the same value if was again buy a car, affective commitment relations to be concessionaire s customer, by calculate commitment in relation the economic loss of bought this car of this firm and complaining handling

Educação do empreendedorismo: um estudo em instituição de ensino superior

This Thesis deals with entrepreneurship on higher education undergraduate programs. The main objective is investigating the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in terms of entrepreneurial attitudes and behavior. The study is done on a University that has an entrepreneurship education program on a Business Management undergraduate program. It is conducted a survey using a questionnaire on the Business Management undergraduate students resulting in a random stratified sample of 264 students. The entrepreneurial attitudes variables used are those found on the entrepreneurship literature. The entrepreneurial behavior variables are typical entrepreneurial situations like a decision on how to apply money and if the student would leave a good job to open his or her own company. It is applied multiple regression, cluster, bivariate and chi-square analysis. The main findings are first that it was not found a strong relationship between the entrepreneurial attitudes variables found on the entrepreneurship literature and the behavior situation proposed, with a multiple regression adjusted r2 = 0,30. Second, there is no statistically significant difference among the students comparing different years of the undergraduate program. Finally, the entrepreneurship education in this research appears to be effective in change attitudes toward entrepreneurship but not in changing entrepreneurial behavior. The main theoretical implication is that the entrepreneurship education on higher education level could be effective to change attitudes but changing behavior could goes beyond the possibilities of education on a usual university environment

Avaliação de programa de ginástica laboral e desempenho funcional: um estudo em empresa distribuidora de energia elétrica

This thesis treats of a avaliation of a laboral gimnastics program of a electrical energy enterprise from Rio Grande do Norte. The leading aim of this work is to analyse the laboral gimnastics program with emphasis on functional performing and personal changes of staff of different categories. The work shows two divisions: at first, it was carried out the bibliographic study approaching the concepts and historic about the ergonomy and the main focus of study, the laboral gimnastics , performing factors and lifestyle.The second time , it was carried out the field study where was used a questionnaire to a 160 staff population which participate of laboral gymnastics program; then the data were analysed through three statistics analyses: multivaried__ clusters, qui-quadrado and multiple linear regression. The results aim to the confirmation that the laboral gymnastics program developed two years ago on enterprise proposes to the white-collar and operational workers an improving on their functional performing and also, to the changes in some aspects of lifestyle, like the food, leisure and stress level. In conclusion, it was checked that the investiment in life quality programs offer benefits both to the staff and the enterprise which will account with good services and satisfaction of customer. Therefore, it was concluded that the laboral gymnastics while a ergonomic tool and a physical activity, it is an investiment which needs more and more to be strengthened and inserted by many segments of society

Gestão de satisfação e fidelidade do cliente: um estudo com turistas em hotéis

This Thesis deals with a study on customer satisfaction and loyalty focusing on a model of factors antecedents of customer satisfaction and loyalty. The model is based on a Satisfaction Index model adopted in Norway developed by Johnson et al.(2001) and the service quality drivers from the literature. It is surveyed a sample of tourist in Natal. It is used a survey questionnaire applied at the airport in the departure moment of the tourist. The final sample results on 198 cases. Is is used a multiple regression analysis as the method to verify the factor affecting satisfaction and loyalty. Two models arise from the analysis. The first model concerning satisfaction results with cleaness and hygiene of the bathroom, leisure facilities, employees promptness, and price as the significant factors affecting satisfaction. The model has a R2 of 0.6430 and the also check in service, cleaness of the apartment and the hotel in general, bedroom setting have colinearity with some factors entering the model. The loyalty model results with satisfaction, affective commitment as the main factors affecting loyalty, with a R2 0.5396, and also image has collinearity with satisfaction. A small part of the sample has complained and this factor was not considered in the models. The results are consistent with the literature in term of quality as the main driver of the satisfaction and that it is not the only one factor to explain loyalty

Cultura organizacional orientada à qualidade: um survey nas concessionárias automotivas brasileiras certificadas com a ISO 9001

The study aims identify the existence of quality culture in Brazilian automotive dealerships with ISO 9001, motivated by this research problem: exist a quality culture in this dealerships, which facilitates the adoption of quality practices supported by ISO 9001? For referencing, the theoretical review was written in five themes: organizational culture, quality culture, total quality management, ISO 9001 quality management system and the Brazilian automobile industry. As regards the methodological aspects, the research has an applied nature, with a quantitative approach, being exploratory in their objectives, and bibliographic, documental and survey as technical procedures. The organizations participating in the study were all Brazilian automotive dealerships certified with ISO 9001. The research intended cover all the 80 active dealers with ISO 9001 certification identified by the Brazilian Committee for Quality (ABNT CB-25). The survey recorded participation of 32 companies (response rate 40%). The questionnaire was sent to seller managers, formatted into five sections: 1) introductory message 2) manager profile, 3) reasons for implementation and benefits generated by ISO 4) adoption levels of quality practices and 5) diagnosis of organizational culture. The questions contained in sections 2 and 3 were structured in multiple choice, and in the remaining sections were structured in Likert 5-point scale. The statistical method used (data analysis), was the descriptive statistics, for data representation in frequency percentage (FP) and standard level (SL). The results showed that the interviewed dealerships have an organizational culture with very high levels of prevalence in "outcome orientation" and "attention to detail" cultural dimensions. In addition, about the other two dimensions considered conducive to quality (innovation and teamwork/respect for people), both observed high prevalence. Based on the present results, concluded that the organizational culture of Brazilian dealerships with ISO 9001 are quality oriented, being conducive to adoption of quality practices supported by TQM Systems. However, it is important to mention that the quality culture identified is not sufficiently developed to adopt quality practices at optimal levels, which sets up an unfavorable scenario to deals with highly rigorous customer

Gestão ambiental e competitividade: um estudo sobre os fatores que afetam a decisão de compra de produtos orgânicos na cidade de Teresina-PI

The organic products represent one of the main trends of alimentary consumption in the new century. In Brazil, the answer is already well representative which it becomes the country, as a great consuming and exporting market of products of LVF type. The objective of this research was to investigate the factors capable to influence the food consumer in its purchase decision of organic products in the supermarkets of Teresina, capital of Piauí State. The methodology was exploratory and descriptive, using survey, with closed and opened questions in 542 interviewed. The questionnaire was based on projected scales to evaluate the factors that can influence the purchase decision of organic products, whose variable had been grouped in the following groups: behavior, knowledge, interest, competitiveness, importance, barrier and profile. The used statistical techniques were descriptive analysis and multiple regression analysis. The results demonstrate interest of the population in paying more for the organic product, due to better quality of life, however it lacks to one better spreading and greater sensitization to attract these consumers. Some recommendations and proposals are presented after the results, as suggestions for future research

Gestão de satisfação e fidelidade do cliente: um estudo dos fatores que afetam a satisfação e fidelidade dos compradores de automóveis

This Master s thesis presents a discussion on customer satisfaction models investigating the relations of antecedent variables service quality, price index, complaint handling, image, affective and calculative commitment, with satisfaction and loyalty. The scope of the research is the influence of service dimensions in the car buyer s satisfaction and loyalty. A sample of 91 customers was surveyed among new cars buyers of one brand in Natal city, Brazil, and the data was analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The literature review covers subjects such as customer satisfaction, management system, customer satisfaction measurement index models. The main findings suggest that satisfaction with the car brand is mainly influenced by customization of the service, time for accomplishing servicing, and the way the dealer handle complains. Regarding the dealer itself the main variable related to satisfaction is also time for accomplishing servicing. Considering customer loyalty, the customer satisfaction with the dealer explain strongly the loyalty with the brand/manufacturer. Also, the satisfaction, affective commitment and complains handling were found related to loyalty, as the stronger variables explaining the loyalty variance. One main conclusion is that service provided by dealers is one key factor influencing the customer satisfaction and loyalty in auto industry

Controle adaptativo robusto para um modelo desacoplado de um robô móvel

This thesis presents a new structure of robust adaptive controller applied to mobile robots (surface mobile robot) with nonholonomic constraints. It acts in the dynamics and kinematics of the robot, and it is split in two distinct parts. The first part controls the robot dynamics, using variable structure model reference adaptive controllers. The second part controls the robot kinematics, using a position controller, whose objective is to make the robot to reach any point in the cartesian plan. The kinematic controller is based only on information about the robot configuration. A decoupling method is adopted to transform the linear model of the mobile robot, a multiple-input multiple-output system, into two decoupled single-input single-output systems, thus reducing the complexity of designing the controller for the mobile robot. After that, a variable structure model reference adaptive controller is applied to each one of the resulting systems. One of such controllers will be responsible for the robot position and the other for the leading angle, using reference signals generated by the position controller. To validate the proposed structure, some simulated and experimental results using differential drive mobile robots of a robot soccer kit are presented. The simulator uses the main characteristics of real physical system as noise and non-linearities such as deadzone and saturation. The experimental results were obtained through an C++ program applied to the robot soccer kit of Microrobot team at the LACI/UFRN. The simulated and experimental results are presented and discussed at the end of the text

Identificação fuzzy-multimodelos para sistemas não lineares

This paper presents a new multi-model technique of dentification in ANFIS for nonlinear systems. In this technique, the structure used is of the fuzzy Takagi-Sugeno of which the consequences are local linear models that represent the system of different points of operation and the precursors are membership functions whose adjustments are realized by the learning phase of the neuro-fuzzy ANFIS technique. The models that represent the system at different points of the operation can be found with linearization techniques like, for example, the Least Squares method that is robust against sounds and of simple application. The fuzzy system is responsible for informing the proportion of each model that should be utilized, using the membership functions. The membership functions can be adjusted by ANFIS with the use of neural network algorithms, like the back propagation error type, in such a way that the models found for each area are correctly interpolated and define an action of each model for possible entries into the system. In multi-models, the definition of action of models is known as metrics and, since this paper is based on ANFIS, it shall be denominated in ANFIS metrics. This way, ANFIS metrics is utilized to interpolate various models, composing a system to be identified. Differing from the traditional ANFIS, the created technique necessarily represents the system in various well defined regions by unaltered models whose pondered activation as per the membership functions. The selection of regions for the application of the Least Squares method is realized manually from the graphic analysis of the system behavior or from the physical characteristics of the plant. This selection serves as a base to initiate the linear model defining technique and generating the initial configuration of the membership functions. The experiments are conducted in a teaching tank, with multiple sections, designed and created to show the characteristics of the technique. The results from this tank illustrate the performance reached by the technique in task of identifying, utilizing configurations of ANFIS, comparing the developed technique with various models of simple metrics and comparing with the NNARX technique, also adapted to identification

Dinâmica da Plasticidade Sináptica em neurônios do hipocampo durante ciclos de sono: um estudo computacional

Several research lines show that sleep favors memory consolidation and learning. It has been proposed that the cognitive role of sleep is derived from a global scaling of synaptic weights, able to homeostatically restore the ability to learn new things, erasing memories overnight. This phenomenon is typical of slow-wave sleep (SWS) and characterized by non-Hebbian mechanisms, i.e., mechanisms independent of synchronous neuronal activity. Another view holds that sleep also triggers the specific enhancement of synaptic connections, carrying out the embossing of certain mnemonic traces within a lattice of synaptic weights rescaled each night. Such an embossing is understood as the combination of Hebbian and non-Hebbian mechanisms, capable of increasing and decreasing respectively the synaptic weights in complementary circuits, leading to selective memory improvement and a restructuring of synaptic configuration (SC) that can be crucial for the generation of new behaviors ( insights ). The empirical findings indicate that initiation of Hebbian plasticity during sleep occurs in the transition of the SWS to the stage of rapid eye movement (REM), possibly due to the significant differences between the firing rates regimes of the stages and the up-regulation of factors involved in longterm synaptic plasticity. In this study the theories of homeostasis and embossing were compared using an artificial neural network (ANN) fed with action potentials recorded in the hippocampus of rats during the sleep-wake cycle. In the simulation in which the ANN did not apply the long-term plasticity mechanisms during sleep (SWS-transition REM), the synaptic weights distribution was re-scaled inexorably, for its mean value proportional to the input firing rate, erasing the synaptic weights pattern that had been established initially. In contrast, when the long-term plasticity is modeled during the transition SWSREM, an increase of synaptic weights were observed in the range of initial/low values, redistributing effectively the weights in a way to reinforce a subset of synapses over time. The results suggest that a positive regulation coming from the long-term plasticity can completely change the role of sleep: its absence leads to forgetting; its presence leads to a positive mnemonic change

Análise de desempenho de sistemas de comunicação sem-fio para monitoramento de unidade de produção de poços petrolíferos terrestres

The greater part of monitoring onshore Oil and Gas environment currently are based on wireless solutions. However, these solutions have a technological configuration that are out-of-date, mainly because analog radios and inefficient communication topologies are used. On the other hand, solutions based in digital radios can provide more efficient solutions related to energy consumption, security and fault tolerance. Thus, this paper evaluated if the Wireless Sensor Network, communication technology based on digital radios, are adequate to monitoring Oil and Gas onshore wells. Percent of packets transmitted with successful, energy consumption, communication delay and routing techniques applied to a mesh topology will be used as metrics to validate the proposal in the different routing techniques through network simulation tool NS-2