The Relationship between Social Responsibility and Business Performance: An Analysis of the Agri-Food Sector of Southeast Spain

This study aims to contribute to the existing debate on the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) orientation on different measures of business performance through the proposal of a conceptual model. Drawing on stakeholder theory, we conceptualize CSR as a broad and multidimensional construct with seven dimensions: employees, partners, customers, farmers, environment, community, and competition. We also extend the concept of business performance, which includes tangible variables, namely financial performance (FP) and export performance (EXP), as well as intangible variables, namely image and reputation (IR) and the satisfaction of relevant stakeholders (SS). The research context of this study is the agri-food sector in southeastern Spain. This sector has been the focus of attention of numerous researchers due to the relevance that social and environmental aspects have had in its development. To test the proposed model, the partial least-squares technique (PLS-SEM) was applied to data collected by means of a survey from a sample of 107 companies, which represent 81.4% of the turnover of the sector analyzed. The results show that CSR has a positive effect on financial performance, improves the volume and performance of exports, positively affects the corporate image and reputation, and increases the level of satisfaction of relevant stakeholders. Further research should examine the model from the perceptions of other stakeholders (e.g., customers, employees, and suppliers), using a longitudinal research design and exploring other contexts

Application of principal component analysis in phase-shifting photoelasticity

Principal component analysis phase shifting (PCA) is a useful tool for fringe pattern demodulation in phase shifting interferometry. The PCA has no restrictions on background intensity or fringe modulation, and it is a self-calibrating phase sampling algorithm (PSA). Moreover, the technique is well suited for analyzing arbitrary sets of phase-shifted interferograms due to its low computational cost. In this work, we have adapted the standard phase shifting algorithm based on the PCA to the particular case of photoelastic fringe patterns. Compared with conventional PSAs used in photoelasticity, the PCA method does not need calibrated phase steps and, given that it can deal with an arbitrary number of images, it presents good noise rejection properties, even for complicated cases such as low order isochromatic photoelastic patterns. © 2016 Optical Society of America

Aislamiento a ruido aéreo de las fachadas de aulas en centros escolares de la Comunidad de Madrid.

En este trabajo se muestran los resultados de las mediciones acústicas del aislamiento a ruido aéreo de las fachadas de más de 80 aulas de 20 centros escolares, localizados en la Comunidad de Madrid. Las mediciones acústicas se han realizado de acuerdo con la Norma UNE EN ISO 140-5. Medición del aislamiento acústico de edificios y de los elementos de construcción. Parte 5: Mediciones in situ del aislamiento acústico a ruido aéreo de elementos de fachadas y de fachadas. Las magnitudes globales se han obtenido mediante la aplicación de la Norma UNE EN ISO 717-1. Evaluación del aislamiento acústico en los edificios y de los elementos de construcción. Parte 1: Aislamiento a ruido aéreo. Se hace un análisis de los resultados de acuerdo con el factor de hueco, espesor del vidrio, practicabilidad de las ventanas, etc

Influence of loudspeaker directivity on the measurement uncertainty

One of the most significant aspects of a building’s acoustic behavior is the airborne sound insulation of the room façades, since this determines the protection of its inhabitants against environmental noise. For this reason, authorities in most countries have established in their acoustic regulations for buildings the minimum value of sound insulation that must be respected for façades. In order to verify compliance with legal requirements it is usual to perform acoustic measurements in the finished buildings and then compare the measurement results with the established limits. Since there is always a certain measurement uncertainty, this uncertainty must be calculated and taken into account in order to ensure compliance with specifications. The most commonly used method for measuring sound insulation on façades is the so-called Global Loudspeaker Method, specified in ISO 140-5:1998. This method uses a loudspeaker placed outside the building as a sound source. The loudspeaker directivity has a significant influence on the measurement results, and these results may change noticeably by choosing different loudspeakers, even though they all fulfill the directivity requirements of ISO 140-5. This work analyzes the influence of the loudspeaker directivity on the results of façade sound insulation measurement, and determines its contribution to measurement uncertainty. The theoretical analysis is experimentally validated by means of an intermediate precision test according to ISO 5725-3:1994, which compares the values of sound insulation obtained for a façade using various loudspeakers with different directivitie

Corporate social responsibility and export performance under stakeholder view: The mediation of innovation and the moderation of the legal form

Prior confronting findings on the association between corporate social responsibility and profitability show that some aspects remain to be clarified about this binomial. Contributing to this body of research is particularly interesting in the case of the exporters to understand the role that corporate social responsibility may play in improving export performance. This study aims to determine the impact of firms' corporate social responsibility efforts on their export performance by examining innovation and the legal form of the organization as factors that could affect this relationship. Using data from 107 agri-food companies, we found that corporate social responsibility has no direct effect on export performance. However, our results show that innovation serves as a mediator in this relationship. It was also found that companies that adopt associative legal forms (i.e., cooperatives) benefit more from their social responsibility practices than companies that adopt non-associative legal forms.Junta de Andalucia PAIDI 2018 P18-RT-466

Mediciones in situ del aislamiento acústico al ruido aéreo y de impacto entre locales superpuestos.

Se muestran los resultados de las mediciones in situ del aislamiento a ruido aéreo y del aislamiento acústico de suelos al ruido de impactos entre varias decenas de locales superpuestos, mediante aplicación de las Normas UNE-EN ISO 140-4: Medición in situ del aislamiento a ruido aéreo entre locales y UNE-EN ISO 140-7: Medición in situ del aislamiento acústico de suelos al ruido de impactos. Las magnitudes globales del aislamiento a ruido aéreo y a ruido de impactos se han obtenido por dos procedimientos: en dB(A) y mediante la aplicación de las Normas EN ISO 717-1 y EN ISO 717-2. Posteriormente se deducen varias relaciones entre las magnitudes medidas

Comparación de los resultados de las mediciones in situ del aislamiento acústico al ruido aéreo de fachadas, mediante la utilización de los métodos globales con altavoces y con ruido de aviones.

En este trabajo se comparan los resultados experimentales de las mediciones in situ del aislamiento acústico al ruido aéreo de fachadas de recintos, por aplicación en cada uno de los recintos de dos métodos globales de la Norma EN ISO 140-5, Agosto 1998. Se han utilizado como fuentes de ruido un altavoz y el ruido de aeronaves. Las mediciones acústicas se han realizado en 26 dormitorios situados en viviendas de uso residencial privado

La acústica de la iglesia del Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos y su adecuación a la práctica del canto gregoriano.

El monasterio benedictino de Santo Domingo de Silos es un referente mundial en el estudio y la difusión del canto gregoriano. Su origen parece encontrarse en un cenobio visigótico del siglo VII, y alcanzó su configuración plenomedieval en las reformas llevadas a cabo en el siglo XI por el abad Domingo, coincidiendo con el esplendor del canto llano en la liturgia cristiana. Desde entonces, sus edificios han sido objeto de diferentes transformaciones, siendo la más importante la que se produjo a mediados del siglo XVIII, y que sustituyó la antigua iglesia románica por la actual de estilo neoclásico-barroco. En este trabajo se exponen los resultados de un estudio de las condiciones acústicas de la iglesia de la abadía. Dicho estudio está basado en la medición de una serie de parámetros acústicos monoaurales y binaurales, utilizando las tecnologías de medición más avanzadas. A partir de los resultados de las mediciones acústicas se realizan consideraciones sobre la adecuación de las características acústicas del recinto al uso litúrgico-musical para el que está destinado

Phenomenological model of visual acuity

We propose in this work a model for describing visual acuity (VV) as a function of defocus and pupil diameter. Although the model is mainly based on geometrical optics, it also incorporates nongeometrical effects phenomenologically. Compared to similar visual acuity models, the proposed one considers the effect of astigmatism and the variability of best corrected VV among individuals; it also takes into account the accommodation and the “tolerance to defocus,” the latter through a phenomenological parameter. We have fitted the model to the VV data provided in the works of Holladay et al. and Peters, showing the ability of this model to accurately describe the variation of VV against blur and pupil diameter. We have also performed a comparison between the proposed model and others previously published in the literature. The model is mainly intended for use in the design of ophthalmic compensations, but it can also be useful in other fields such as visual ergonomics, design of visual tests, and optical instrumentation