Diálogos com a arte. Revista de arte, cultura e educação, nº 6

The journal " Diálogos com a Arte. Revista de Arte, Cultura e Educação " is an indexed annual journal of international circulation, published since 2010, and edited by the School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo (ESE-IPVC) in collaboration with the Center for Research in Child Studies of the University of Minho (CIEC-UM). The journal offers students, teachers and researchers in the arts the possibility of reflecting on both national and international theories and practices about art, culture and education The editorial board defines cooperation as a form of cultural activism that necessitates acting on problems and sharing actions and experiences. Cooperation is successfully accomplished when all the participants’ objectives are shared and the results are beneficial for everyone. This requires constant dialogue and ensuring relations in educational programs, projects, community interventions, artistic and cultural training, and teacher education.A revista “Diálogos com a Arte. Revista de Arte, Cultura e Educação” é uma revista anual indexada, de circulação internacional, publicada desde 2010, e editada pela Escola Superior de Educação do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo (ESSE-IPVC) em colaboração com o Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança da Universidade do Minho (CIEC-UM). A revista oferece a alunos, professores e investigadores no campo das artes a possibilidade de reflexão sobre teorias e práticas artísticas, culturais e educacionais nos âmbitos nacional e internacional. A equipa editorial define a cooperação como uma forma de activismo cultural que precisa de acção sobre os problemas e de partilha de experiências. A cooperação é alcançada com sucesso quando todos os objectivos dos participantes são partilhados e os resultados são benéficos para todos. Isto exige uma diálogo constante e a garantia do estabelecimento de relações entre programas educacionais, projectos, intervenções comunitárias, formação artística e cultural e formação de professores

From commission broker to fee-based adviser - towards the professionalisation of the independent financial advice and planning sector

The idea that the payment of commission to those working within the financial services sector is not in the interests of consumers is gaining ground. Legislation now exists banning the majority of such payments within the financial advice sector. This work considers compliant strategies that might be employed to the benefit of both the adviser community and their clients. To ascertain existing attitudes, beliefs and practices amongst advisers and product providers semi-structured interviews were conducted and the existence or absence of recurring themes analysed using Applied Thematic Analysis techniques. The needs, as opposed to wants of consumers were identified by analysing records of what clients had actually done and comparing these with their original requirements. Analysis showed that product providers’ aims only partly satisfied the needs of consumers and that independent financial advisers are seen as elements of providers’ distribution channels. IFAs espoused the view that they were free from any influence from product providers, without being able to demonstrate what other sources of revenue they had. Furthermore, the income they did receive was usually calculated as a percentage of the value of the investment product sold, both initially and thereafter. Changes in practice are inevitable for to survive as Independent Financial Advisers and Planners there must be compliance with the regulations that a regulator imposes. Commissions, by any name, will ultimately be replaced by a fees-based service. To comply a knowledge of business management, including cost awareness and product pricing, will be vital. Invoicing clients transparently for the entirety of the service will ensure that businesses operate ethically and have long-term futures that are no longer reliant upon product providers. Furthermore, they will be organised around the constituent parts of the title, “Independent,” “Financial” and “Adviser/Planner.” This work points towards a practical solution

White Book on Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine in Europe. Introductions, Executive Summary, and Methodology

The White Book (WB) of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) in Europe is produced by the 4 European PRM Bodies (European Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine - EARM, European Society of PRM - ESPRM, European Union of Medical Specialists - PRM Section, European College of PRM-ECPRM served by the European Union of Medical Specialists-PRM Board) and constitutes the reference book for PRM physicians in Europe. It has now reached its third edition; the first was published in 1989 and the second in 2006/2007. The WB has multiple purposes, including providing a unifying framework for European countries, to inform decision-makers on European and national level, to offer educational material for PRM trainees and physicians and information about PRM to the medical community, other rehabilitation professionals and the public. The WB states the importance of PRM, a primary medical specialty that is present all over Europe, with a specific corpus disciplinae, a common background and history throughout Europe. PRM is internationally recognized and a partner of major international bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO). PRM activities are strongly based on the documents of the United Nations (UN) and WHO, such as the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), the World Report on Disability (2011), the WHO Global Disability Action Plan 2014-2021 (2014) and the WHO initiative "Rehabilitation 2030: a call for action" (2017). The WB is organized in 4 sections, 11 chapters and some appendices. The WB starts with basic definitions and concepts of PRM and continues with why rehabilitation is needed by individuals and society. Rehabilitation focuses not only on health conditions but also on functioning. Accordingly, PRM is the medical specialty that strives to improve functioning of people with a health condition or experiencing disability. The fundamentals of PRM, the history of the PRM specialty, and the structure and activities of PRM organizations in Europe are presented, followed by a thorough presentation of the practice of PRM, i.e. knowledge and skills of PRM physicians, the clinical field of competence of PRM, the place of the PRM specialty in the healthcare system and society, education and continuous professional development of PRM physicians, specificities and challenges of science and research in PRM. The WB concludes with the way forward for the specialty: challenges and perspectives for the future of PRM.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Lending technologies and small, micro and medium enterprise borrowing: evidence from the Eastern Cape province of South

Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) play a major role in contributing to the development of most economies globally. However, such small firms often lack external financing due to their information opacity. Besides, the small firm size nature of most SMMEs impairs their ability to access finance as motivated by the market power theory. In order to address the information asymmetry problem associated with such small firms, financial institutions use different forms of lending technologies as the basis upon which lending decisions are made, that is, whether to loan or not and if the decision to lend is taken, how the intrinsic credit risks are taken into consideration. In the evaluation of the credit worthiness of small businesses, the decision to lend or not depends on soft or hard information acquired through use of a particular lending technology. Many studies in the literature cite access to credit as the main hindrance to SMMEs success. Lending technologies being the conduits transmitting that credit access, the study hypothesises that more emphasis be placed on the relationship between lending technologies and the success of small firms. Success in this case is measured in two ways; the level of SMME credit rationing that small firms endure and the resultant growth of small businesses if they access funding. However, the use of lending technologies as a measure of SMME finance access is missing in academic literature. Specifically, literature on SMMEs in South Africa only narrate the structure of SMMEs and factors affecting SMMEs funding and growth without providing a link on how these eventually influence lending technologies used that determine the lending process. This study therefore traces types of lending technologies used, factors influencing their usage and the subsequent level of credit rationing and growth of small firms. The study uses only formal and registered small firms that are members of the Border-Kei Chamber of Business and Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber and listed in their data bases. The study adopts a mixed methods methodology in a two stage analysis approach. In the first stage, the study identifies types of lending technologies used by funding institutions in the study area and factors lenders take into account in order to extend funding to small vi businesses. Based on interview data gathered from eight financial institutions, the types of lending technologies and factors that influence lending decisions are identified using thematic analysis method. In the second stage, the study then interrogates how lending technologies shape the credit rationing and growth of SMMEs within the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. A sample of three hundred and twenty one (321) randomly selected SMMEs from Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitans in the Eastern Cape Province is used. Data collected from SMMEs using questionnaires has been analysed to reveal the extent of credit rationing and firm growth variations among SMMEs based on the main lender and firm characteristics identified in the first stage. Credit rationing is both dichotomous, by the firm being either rationed or not, and categorical, by forms of credit rationing experienced by firms. The analysis therefore uses a combination of binary and multinomial logistic regression to evaluate effects of determinants of lending technologies on credit rationing of firms. Financial efficiency scores of firms are used as the proxy for growth of firms. The financial efficiency score is preferred because in its derivation several firm activities are incorporated as opposed to using only one growth indicator such as sales volume. The efficiency scores are generated using Data Enveloping Analysis based on selected main activity inputs and outputs of sampled firms. Since efficiency scores of a firm representing growth are a scale dependent variable, a two-way factorial analysis is used to determine the effect of lender and firm characteristics on the firm’s growth. Both the main and interaction effects of the lender and firm characteristics are captured in the analysis of both credit rationing and growth of firms. Results show that four classes of financial institutions financed formal and registered SMMEs. These are commercial banks, government-owned development financial institutions, private-owned development financial institutions and microfinance institutions. In addition, four types of lending technologies have been used to finance SMMEs in which financial institutions consider people, firm and financial information vii factors as pillars of financing decisions. Findings indicate extensive discriminatory credit rationing among SMMEs in South Africa and that growth paths followed by firms vary significantly as a result of these characteristics. The study therefore recommends the implementation of a financing framework model that allocates funds to different company structures based on credit rationing risk profiles of enterprises so as to minimize the extent of inequality exhibited in the South African population structures which have historical differences on the basis of enterprise size, ownership structure and race. The study further recommends matching of types of lending technologies with types of lenders in order to minimize overall industry credit rationing level in the SMME sector as a supplementary funding model. However, this may need further research to evaluate its application. This is important given that financial institutions use different lending technologies at the same time and further, not all financing institutions may use all forms of lending technologies. For example, microfinance institutions may not have the capacity to use venture capital lending technologie

There is a Crack in Everything—Education and Religion in a Secular Age

There are two constants in academic and theological discourse throughout history, they are the debate around secularization and the dialogue concerning the intersection of religion and education. Each age has had its debate about modernizing forces that drive concerns of impending secularization. In this publication this theme is approached from perspectives of teachers, of students, of policy makers and situated in a politico-historical context. Aware of the fact that in today’s plural societies one sacred canopy is non-existent anymore, cracks of the sacred canopy/canopies are described, as well as ‘the light that gets in’, the possible and challenging ways out are roughly sketched. We expect that each of the contributions of scholars of the East and the West, of the North and the South, and their presented examples and case studies, will stimulate the ongoing exploration and elaboration on the relationship between education and religion in todays’ and the coming world – work-in-progress for coming generations

DYNAMIC RESOURCE-BASED VIEW OF ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRM GROWTH An Integrative Theory of Sustainable Growth

This study makes several important contributions to the literature. The proposed theory provides the foundation of a meaningful research program on entrepreneurial firm growth. It helps close the gap between the mainstream resource-based view and entrepreneurship research, adding to the growing body of dynamic resource-based view research. Finally, the study complements the extant literature on firm growth by addressing a main gap in the literature. The proposed theory also has important managerial implications. Practicing entrepreneurs will benefit from using the proposed dynamic resource pyramid as the cognitive foundation for developing their growth strategy. Entrepreneurs should constantly monitor all elements of their resource pyramid and coordinate these resources in such a way as to support firm growth. Sustainable firm growth can only be achieved when growth in every dimension is dynamically balanced and synchronized

A system theoretical approach to the characteristics of a successful future innovation ecosystem

Doutoramento em Gestão IndustrialA presente dissertação examina a relação inovação-indivíduocontexto sob o ponto de vista da teoria de sistemas. O propósito do presente estudo é explorar a “performance” sustentada do ecossistema de inovação onde diversas realidades controversas surgem simultaneamente. A primeira parte da dissertação é uma análise conceptual da inovação, do indivíduo e do ambiente de inovação. A segunda parte considera o método da “Grounded Theory” e o material de investigação obtido das experiências de empreendedores de várias profissões. A investigação empírica da terceira parte explora as experiências relacionadas com inovação-indivíduo-contexto. Como resultado da análise comparativa e contínua dos resultados da investigação e de investigação anterior, um modelo ideal de Círculo Virtuoso de Inovação em Sistemas auto-organizados e autoprodutivos é estabelecido. Os resultados indicam que, apara além da parte visível e tangível da inovação, também a parte invisível e intangível é fundamental na “performance” sustentada da geração de inovação radical e incremental. Um ecossistema de inovação autónomo, que seja autoorganizado e auto-produtivo depende da capacidade intelectual e emocional dos indivíduos. Desviando-se de investigação anterior, o presente estudo descobre a capacidade emocional embebida nos indivíduos como pré-requisito para a inovação. O presente estudo indica que a capacidade humana para tolerar as inconveniências e a frustração, em conjunto com a capacidade para gerar energia cognitiva e emocional para o sistema são os mecanismos que suportam a auto-renovação dos sistemas. È com base nestas capacidades que a reconciliação das realidades controversas relacionadas com a inovação que o sistema é ao mesmo tempo produtivo e criativo e pode simultaneamente gerar inovação incremental e radical. Assim, a gestão permissiva, descentralizada, centrada na pessoa, produtora de energia e da base para o topo resulta na auto-renovação no sistema e a inovação.This thesis examines innovation-individual-context relation within the framework of systems theory. The purpose of this study is to explore the sustainable performance of innovation ecosystem where many controversial realities take place simultaneously. The first part of the thesis is a conceptual analysis on innovation, individual and innovation environment. The second part considers the qualitative Grounded Theory method and research material consisting from innovation experiences of creative and entrepreneurial forerunners of various professions. The empirical research in the third part explores innovation-individual-context related experiences. As the result of the continuous comparative analysis of the empirical research findings and previous research, an ideal model of Virtuous Innovation Circle in Selforganising and Self-productive Systems is established. The findings indicate that apart from the visible and hard side of the innovation ecosystem also the invisible and soft side is pivotal for sustainable performance in generation of incremental and radical innovation. An autonomous innovation ecosystem, which is selforganising and self-productive relies on individuals’ intellectual and emotional capacity. System (like individual, organisation, region or nation), successfully generating incremental and radical innovation, perceives holistically and, apart from being differentiated, utilises interaction in order to complement the specialized knowledge. Deviating from previous research this study discovered the emotional capacity embedded in individuals as a prerequisite for innovation. This study indicates that human capacity to tolerate inconveniences and frustration together with the capacity to generate cognitive and emotional energy for the system are the mechanisms behind innovation and systems’ selfrenewal. It is due to these capacities that the reconciliation of innovation related controversial realities in the system turns possible and the system can be at the same time both productive and creative and it can simultaneously generate both incremental and radical innovation. Hence, the permissive, decentralised, human-centric, energizing, and bottom up management (called management in autonomous innovation ecosystem) triggers both system’s self-renewal and innovation