Dimensões da qualidade em serviços: um estudo no setor de B2C brasileiro

With the focus on quality of services, this work uses a methodology based on questionnaires for evaluating companies and consumers, with the objective of studying the dimensions of quality within the segment of Brazilian e-commerce. The research conducted a study to identify the situation of companies regarding the dimensions of quality and, among costumers, a survey was done to determine their requirements with regard to these dimensions and to identify those dimensions considered as winning factors when making the orders. The results demonstrate that customers consider reliability to be the most important order winner, followed by safety and communications. The study of these enterprises demonstrates that their quality of service is good, however there is a need for improvements in the business processes related to the dimensions of service quality.

The use of presidential executive orders to control the management and administration of the federal government

As long as governmental institutions have existed, efforts have been undertaken to reform them. This research examines a particular strategy, coercive controls, exercised through a particular instrument, executive orders, by a singular reformer, the president of the United States. The presidents studied-- Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton--are those whose campaigns for office were characterized to varying degrees as against Washington bureaucracy and for executive reform. Executive order issuance is assessed through an examination of key factors for each president including political party affiliation, levels of political capital, and legislative experience. A classification typology is used to identify the topical dimensions and levels of coerciveness. The portrayal of the federal government is analyzed through examination of public, media, and presidential attention. The results show that executive orders are significant management tools for the president. Executive orders also represent an important component of the transition plans for incoming administrations. The findings indicate that overall, while executive orders have not increased in the aggregate, they are more intrusive and significant. When the factors of political party affiliation, political capital, and legislative experience are examined, it reveals a strong relationship between executive orders and previous executive experience, specifically presidents who served as a state governor prior to winning national election as president. Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Clinton (all former governors) have the highest percent of executive orders focusing on the federal bureaucracy. Additionally, the highest percent of forceful orders were issued by former governors (41.0%) as compared to their presidential counterparts who have not served as governors (19.9%). Secondly, political party affiliation is an important, but not significant, predictor for the use of executive orders. Thirdly, management strategies that provide the president with the greatest level of autonomy--executive orders--redefine the concept of presidential power and autonomous action. Interviews of elite government officials and political observers support the idea that executive orders can provide the president with a successful management strategy, requiring less expenditure of political resources, less risk to political capital, and a way of achieving objectives without depending on an unresponsive Congress. ^

The use of presidential executive orders to control the management and administration of the federal government

As long as governmental institutions have existed, efforts have been undertaken to reform them. This research examines a particular strategy, coercive controls, exercised through a particular instrument, executive orders, by a singular reformer, the president of the United States. The presidents studied- Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton-are those whose campaigns for office were characterized to varying degrees as against Washington bureaucracy and for executive reform. Executive order issuance is assessed through an examination of key factors for each president including political party affiliation, levels of political capital, and legislative experience. A classification typology is used to identify the topical dimensions and levels of coerciveness. The portrayal of the federal government is analyzed through examination of public, media, and presidential attention. The results show that executive orders are significant management tools for the president. Executive orders also represent an important component of the transition plans for incoming administrations. The findings indicate that overall, while executive orders have not increased in the aggregate, they are more intrusive and significant. When the factors of political party affiliation, political capital, and legislative experience are examined, it reveals a strong relationship between executive orders and previous executive experience, specifically presidents who served as a state governor prior to winning national election as president. Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Clinton (all former governors) have the highest percent of executive orders focusing on the federal bureaucracy. Additionally, the highest percent of forceful orders were issued by former governors (41.0%) as compared to their presidential counterparts who have not served as governors (19.9%). Secondly, political party affiliation is an important, but not significant, predictor for the use of executive orders. Thirdly, management strategies that provide the president with the greatest level of autonomy-executive orders redefine the concept of presidential power and autonomous action. Interviews of elite government officials and political observers support the idea that executive orders can provide the president with a successful management strategy, requiring less expenditure of political resources, less risk to political capital, and a way of achieving objectives without depending on an unresponsive Congress.

Factors affecting the extraction of absorbed dose information in a 3D polymer gel dosimeter by X ray computed tomography (IAEA-CN-96/122P)

Two sources of uncertainty in the X ray computed tomography imaging of polymer gel dosimeters are investigated in the paper.The first cause is a change in postirradiation density, which is proportional to the computed tomography signal and is associated with a volume change. The second cause of uncertainty is reconstruction noise.A simple technique that increases the residual signal to noise ratio by almost two orders of magnitude is examined.

Comparative analyses of change orders costs in transportation construction

Transportation construction is substantially different from other construction fields due to widespread use of unit price bidding and competitive contract awarding. Thus, the potential for change orders has been the main source of unbalanced bidding for contractors, which can be described as substantial increases in work quantity or reasonable changes to the initial design provided by the State Highway Agencies (SHAs). It is important to understand the causes of the change orders as cost related issues are the main reason for contract disputes. We have analyzed a large dataset from a major SHA to identify project related and environmental factors that affect the change order costs. The results of the study can be instrumental in assessing the increased costs associated with change orders and better management measures can be taken to mitigate their effects.

Diagnosis of dominant forcing factors for large-scale vertical velocities during active and break phases of the monsoon

An attempt to diagnose the dominant forcings which drive the large-scale vertical velocities over the monsoon region has been made by computing the forcings like diabatic heating fields,etc. and the large-scale vertical velocities driven by these forcings for the contrasting periods of active and break monsoon situations; in order to understand the rainfall variability associated with them. Computation of diabatic heating fields show us that among different components of diabatic heating it is the convective heating that dominates at mid-tropospheric levels during an active monsoon period; whereas it is the sensible heating at the surface that is important during a break period. From vertical velocity calculations we infer that the prime differences in the large-scale vertical velocities seen throughout the depth of the atmosphere are due to the differences in the orders of convective heating; the maximum rate of latent heating being more than 10 degrees Kelvin per day during an active monsoon period; whereas during a break monsoon period it is of the order of 2 degrees Kelvin per day at mid-tropospheric levels. At low levels of the atmosphere, computations show that there is large-scale ascent occurring over a large spatial region, driven only by the dynamic forcing associated with vorticity and temperature advection during an active monsoon period. However, during a break monsoon period such large-scale spatial organization in rising motion is not seen. It is speculated that these differences in the low-level large-scale ascent might be causing differences in convective heating because the weaker the low level ascent, the lesser the convective instability which produces deep cumulus clouds and hence lesser the associated latent heat release. The forcings due to other components of diabatic heating, namely, the sensible heating and long wave radiative cooling do not influence the large-scale vertical velocities significantly.

Prevalence, Nature, Severity and Risk Factors for Prescribing Errors in Hospital Inpatients: Prospective Study in 20 UK Hospitals

Introduction: It has been suggested that doctors in their first year of post-graduate training make a disproportionate number of prescribing errors.

Obkective: This study aimed to compare the prevalence of prescribing errors made by first-year post-graduate doctors with that of errors by senior doctors and non-medical prescribers and to investigate the predictors of potentially serious prescribing errors.

Methods: Pharmacists in 20 hospitals over 7 prospectively selected days collected data on the number of medication orders checked, the grade of prescriber and details of any prescribing errors. Logistic regression models (adjusted for clustering by hospital) identified factors predicting the likelihood of prescribing erroneously and the severity of prescribing errors.

Results: Pharmacists reviewed 26,019 patients and 124,260 medication orders; 11,235 prescribing errors were detected in 10,986 orders. The mean error rate was 8.8 % (95 % confidence interval [CI] 8.6-9.1) errors per 100 medication orders. Rates of errors for all doctors in training were significantly higher than rates for medical consultants. Doctors who were 1 year (odds ratio [OR] 2.13; 95 % CI 1.80-2.52) or 2 years in training (OR 2.23; 95 % CI 1.89-2.65) were more than twice as likely to prescribe erroneously. Prescribing errors were 70 % (OR 1.70; 95 % CI 1.61-1.80) more likely to occur at the time of hospital admission than when medication orders were issued during the hospital stay. No significant differences in severity of error were observed between grades of prescriber. Potentially serious errors were more likely to be associated with prescriptions for parenteral administration, especially for cardiovascular or endocrine disorders.

Conclusions: The problem of prescribing errors in hospitals is substantial and not solely a problem of the most junior medical prescribers, particularly for those errors most likely to cause significant patient harm. Interventions are needed to target these high-risk errors by all grades of staff and hence improve patient safety.

Motivational factors impacting the productivity of construction master craftsmen in Kuwait

In today's global economic conditions, improving the productivity of the construction industry is becoming more pressing than ever. Several factors impact the efficiency of construction operatives, but motivation is among the most important. Since low productivity is one of the significant challenges facing the construction industry in the State of Kuwait, the objective of this case study is to identify, explore, and rank the relative importance of the factors perceived to impact the motivational level of master craftsmen involved in primary construction trades. To achieve this objective, a structured questionnaire survey comprising 23 factors, which were shortlisted based on relevant previous research on motivation, the input of local industry experts, and numerous interviews with skilled operatives, was distributed to a large number of master craftsmen. Using the “Relative Importance Index” technique, the following prominent factors are identified: (1) payment delay; (2) rework; (3) lack of a financial incentive scheme; (4) the extent of change orders during execution; (5) incompetent supervisors; (6) delays in responding to Requests For Information (RFI); (7) overcrowding and operatives interface; (8) unrealistic scheduling and performance expectation; (9) shortage of materials on site; and (10) drawings quality level. The findings can be used to provide industry practitioners with guidance for focusing, acting upon, and controlling the critical factors influencing the performance of master craftsmen, hence, assist in achieving an efficient utilization of the workforce, and a reasonable level of competitiveness and cost effective operation.

The factors that affect the cost estimation activities in the tender preparation process in the Malaysian construction industry

The possibility of winning the tender is subject to the cost estimation proposed by the contractors compared to the cost estimation prepared by the client’s representative. Studies indicated that one of the construction company failures in the tendering process is due to the uncertain, incorrect, and unrealistic cost estimation. Failure to provide a competitive cost estimation on time is the main reason the contractor is not successful in winning the tender, and will not be considered for the tender evaluation stage. The aim of this paper is to validate the key factors that affect the cost estimation activities in the tender preparation process. This paper describes the results of a pilot study, from a questionnaire survey on the factors that affect the cost estimation activities in the tender preparation process. The study shows the importance of all the factors in the cost estimation activities in the tender preparation process in terms of human factors, working culture, and information technology.

Factors influencing consumer decision in crowdfunding

Crowdfunding é um método recente e emergente de captar dinheiro para desenvolvimento de projetos (tanto orientados a lucro ou não) sem a intermediação tradicional de instituições financeiras, liberando empreendedores de custos, regulações e burocracia associada a essa prática. Além disso, também é um método de pré-testar novos produtos com um público selecionado e entusiasmado. O objetivo dessa dissertação é entender que fatores estão influenciando a decisão do consumidor de investir em projetos. A literatura contribui com: (1) fatores intrínsecos, como desejo de patronagem; (2) fatores extrínsecos, como a apresentação do projeto; e (3) pressão social. Há ainda fatores associados com o nível atual de captação e número de investidores, assim como tipo de projeto envolvido, sendo ele de caridade ou não. Além disso, atitudes também possuem um papel em afetar a decisão de compra. Para responder a pergunta de pesquisa, uma metodologia de duas fases foi usada: uma entrevista de profundidade para capturar intenção de investir e motivação, de forma a construir um processo de decisão que englobasse todas as possibilidades descritas pela literatura. Após essa pesquisa qualitativa, uma pesquisa quantitativa foi feita para validar as informações coletadas pela fase anterior e coletar dados adicionais para gerar uma associação entre intenção de investir e comportamento. Dentre as informações geradas pela fase qualitativa, temos o fato que a maioria dos investidores tiveram como principal motivação a compra do produto sendo oferecido como se eles estivessem participando de uma pré-venda. Entretanto, essa não foi a principal razão para o investidor de caridade. Além disso, os respondentes que pré-compraram os produtos o fizeram para única razão que esses produtos satisfizeram desejos que tinham. Esses desejos variavam, sendo desde saudade de jogos antigos como resolver um problema de organização da carteira. Outra característica da pré-compra foi que eles não investiam valores simbólicos, pela razão que se o fizessem não receberiam o produto em troca. Recompensas tiveram um grande papel em atrair os respondentes para investimento em valores maiores que consideravam anteriormente. Também é verdade para o investidor em caridade, que também doou mais. A fase quantitativa confirmou as informações acima e gerou informação extra sobre as categorias de produto. Projetos de caridade e arte concentraram a maioria dos respondentes que disseram que a principal razão para investir foi basicamente ajudar a desenvolver o projeto sem demandar um produto em retorno. Entretanto, outros projetos como Música também apresentaram altos números de comportamento caridoso, possivelmente por causa do envolvimento emocional com o artista. Outras categorias apresentaram um mix de razões para investir ou enviesado a comprar o produto apenas, o que pode ser explicado pelo efeito de recompensas e pelo fato que essas categorias estão simplesmente pré-vendendo produtos. Essa pesquisa também confirmou as principais fontes usadas para conhecer mais sobre os projetos: recomendação pessoal e blogs e fóruns. Outro resultado dessa fase foi o desenvolvimento de fatores a partir de frases atitudinais que puderam explicar intenção de investir. Seis fatores foram criados: Entusiasmo (por crowdfunding), Exclusividade (compra de recompensas), Caridade (doações pequenas para ajudar o desenvolvimento do projeto), Cautela (similar à difusão de responsabilidade, isto é, espera por mais investidores para dar o primeiro passo), Intimidade (projeto foi recomendado ou há ligação emocional com o criador) e Compartilhamento (compartilhar para ajudar a trazer mais investidores para o projeto). Categorias com alto envolvimento emocional apresentaram associação com Intimidade, como música, filme e tecnologia. Dado o fato que a amostra não continha muitos entusiastas por crowdfunding, esse fator não apresentou qualquer associação com as categorias. Categorias que não entregam produtos em troca, como comida e fotografia, apresentaram altos níveis de associação com o fator caridade. Compartilhamento é altamente associado com tecnologia, dado o fato que essa categoria concentra os respondentes que são mais orientados à inovação e entusiastas sobre o produto, então precisam compartilhar e gerar boca-a-boca para ajudar a atingir a meta de investimento.

Effects of local and regional factors on the fish assemblage structure in Meridional Amazonian streams

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of local, regional and temporal factors structuring fish assemblages in Meridional Amazonian streams during the months of May (rainy season) and August (dry season) of 2008. To accomplish this task, 14 streams located in Serra do Expedito (Aripuanã River basin) were sampled along 30-m stretches. A total of 3,212 specimens distributed among five orders, 18 families, and 55 species were recorded. The fish assemblage structure in the streams presented variation among types of riparian vegetation (local factor) and watersheds (regional factor), but did not present variation between seasons (temporal factor) and stream order (regional factor). Larger streams with margins covered with pasture presented higher species richness and abundance than smaller streams with margins covered with forest. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Competing orders, competing anisotropies, and multicriticality: The case of Co-doped YbRh2Si2

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Occurrence of organochlorine compounds in Euphausia superba and unhatched eggs of Pygoscelis genus penguins from Admiralty Bay (King George Island, Antarctica) and estimation of biomagnification factors

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides are compounds that do not occur naturally in the environment and are not easily degraded by chemical or microbiological action. In the present work, those compounds were analysed in unhatched penguin eggs and whole krill collected in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, Antarctica in the austral summers of 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. The compounds found in higher levels (in a wet weight basis) were, in most of the egg samples, the PCBs (2.53-78.7 ng g(-1)), DDTs (2.07-38.0 ng g(-1)) and HCB (4.99-39.1 ng g(-1)) and after Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA, the occurrence seemed to be species-specific for the Pygoscelis genus. In all of the cases, the levels found were not higher than the ones in Arctic birds in a similar trophic level. The krill samples analysis allowed estimating the biomagnification factors (which resulted in up to 363 for HCB, one order of magnitude higher than DDTs and chlordanes and two orders of magnitude higher than the other groups) of the compounds found in eggs, whose only source of contamination is the female-offspring transfer. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Seropositivity and Risk Factors Associated with Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Wild Birds from Spain

Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic intracellular protozoan parasite of worldwide distribution that infects many species of warm-blooded animals, including birds. To date, there is scant information about the seropositivity of T. gondii and the risk factors associated with T. gondii infection in wild bird populations. In the present study, T. gondii infection was evaluated on sera obtained from 1079 wild birds belonging to 56 species (including Falconiformes (n = 610), Strigiformes (n = 260), Ciconiiformes (n = 156), Gruiformes (n = 21), and other orders (n = 32), from different areas of Spain. Antibodies to T. gondii (modified agglutination test, MAT titer ≥1:25) were found in 282 (26.1%, IC95%:23.5–28.7) of the 1079 birds. This study constitute the first extensive survey in wild birds species in Spain and reports for the first time T. gondii antibodies in the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), short-toed snake-eagle (Circaetus gallicus), Bonelli's eagle (Aquila fasciata), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus), Western marsh-harrier (Circus aeruginosus), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), long-eared owl (Asio otus), common scops owl (Otus scops), Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), white stork (Ciconia ciconia), grey heron (Ardea cinerea), common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus); in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) “vulnerable” Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti), lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) and great bustard (Otis tarda); and in the IUCN “near threatened” red kite (Milvus milvus). The highest seropositivity by species was observed in the Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo) (68.1%, 98 of 144). The main risk factors associated with T. gondii seropositivity in wild birds were age and diet, with the highest exposure in older animals and in carnivorous wild birds. The results showed that T. gondii infection is widespread and can be at a high level in many wild birds in Spain, most likely related to their feeding behaviour.