Logística inversa en la distribución de productos agroalimentarios

Actualmente existe una conciencia generalizada tanto de la sobreexplotación de los recursos naturales, como de la capacidad limitada de los diferentes ecosistemas para digerir de una manera sostenible todos los residuos, lo que ha servido para que los distintos agentes y la sociedad en general busquen, de forma unánime, un desarrollo sostenible que tenga en cuenta la preservación del medio ambiente (Pérez, A. et al 2004). Esta concienciación de la sociedad ha impulsado a los distintos Gobiernos a promulgar normativas y leyes medioambientales con el propósito de recuperar las materias primas y minimizar los impactos ambientales de los materiales y productos al final de su vida útil. En este sentido, las Directivas promulgadas por la Unión Europea establecen la necesidad de organizar la recogida selectiva de los distintos residuos generados y definen los objetivos de valorización y reciclado; así mismo, establecen las obligaciones de los distintos agentes económicos. Entre estas se encuentra la relativa a Envases y Residuos de Envases, cuyos objetivos principales son, en primer lugar, la prevención y reducción de residuos y, en segundo lugar, la adopción de las medidas necesarias para evitar el abandono y la eliminación incontrolada de estos residuos

El aprendizaje basado en competencias y el desarrollo de la dimensión social en las universidades

El presente artículo trata de dar a conocer las conclusiones obtenidas en un estudio realizado por la Universidad de Deusto sobre la percepción de competencias adquiridas por universitarios egresados, así como reflexionar sobre las posibilidades y los enfoques para desarrollar un aprendizaje basado en competencias con una orientación de formación integral. Este trabajo pretende responder a varias cuestiones. En primer lugar, identificar los ámbitos competenciales de una formación fundamentada en un aprendizaje basado en competencias. El propósito de este enfoque es presentar tres áreas interrelacionadas que configuran un modelo de formación integral del universitario en la actualidad (área de competencia académica, área profesional y área cívico-social). En segundo lugar, se intenta conocer la visión de los universitarios que acceden al mundo laboral sobre la importancia de ciertas competencias, y entender las diferencias existentes en dicha percepción en función de diferentes variables, como son: el sexo, el área de conocimiento de los estudios realizados y el año de egreso, es decir, la perspectiva de aquellas personas que acaban de finalizar frente a las que terminaron antes y, por tanto, pueden tener una mayor perspectiva y un mayor conocimiento de las exigencias del mercado de trabajo.The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it deals with the conclusions of a study carried out by the University of Deusto on the perception of competences acquired by university graduates. And second, it is meant as reflection on the possibilities and approaches that are needed to develop a process of competence-based learning oriented toward integral training. This paper focuses on various issues. On the one hand, it identifies the competence fields of training backed up by competence-based learning. The purpose of this approach is to present three interrelated areas that shape up a training model for the university student nowadays (academic competence field, professional area and civic social area). On the other hand, we try to get to know the opinion of the university students, who access the labour market, on the importance of certain competences, and to understand the existing differences in perception depending on variables such as sex, study area as well as graduation year. Indeed we are interested in the perspective of those persons who have just finished their studies versus that of those who finished them before and may, therefore, have both a wider perspective and knowledge of the labour market demands

Quality management in schools: Analysis of mediating factors

The objective of this study is to contribute to Quality Management Systems (QMS) and their impact on schools in the Basque Country, Spain. Specifically, it analyses two models: the EFQM Excellence Model, which originated in the business world, and the Integrated Quality Project (IQP) Model, which has a humanistic focus and arose from an educational research perspective. To do so, 14 schools were analysed by means of a sample of 315 subjects (42 managers and 273 teachers) who utilise one of these two QMS. The results show that the longer the period of time for which schools had had quality certification, the greater the perception of quality among the teaching staff, regardless of the model used. This leads to the conclusion that having in place a quality model in a school makes the teaching staff more aware of the existence and importance of quality management systems and models and leads them to aspire to higher educational quality.Keywords: assessment methods; education; educational quality; EFQM Excellence Model; quality management systems; quality model

Liderazgo: una clave para la innovación y el cambio educativo

This article constitutes a review under an experiential approach of the leadership impact in education, and especially in the processes of innovation and educational change. It is provided data from studies and experiences with different models of leadership, carried out during these last four decades that allow us to draw some considerations and conclusions. A perspective of leadership that is strongly emerging and that updates the so-called pedagogical leadership highlighted by the movement for effective schools and improvement.Empirical studies are collected in which various leadership models have been applied. Firstly, Fiedler’s situational leadership model, which was widely used in the 1970s and which we have applied in the context of the secondary education reform. A second model examined is Bernard Bass’ Transformational Leadership carried out in two different contexts: in business and in education. A third approach was the one proposed by Kenneth Leithwood and collaborators of what has been called Effective Leadership Practices in Education, a model that has been validated in several countries. Finally, an exploration of emotional leadership is presented, an issue that has been emphasizing the importance of emotional intelligence as one of the variables that best explain the effectiveness and satisfaction of educational leadership.  Este artículo constituye una revisión temática desde el punto de vista experiencial del impacto del liderazgo en el ámbito educativo y muy especialmente en los procesos de innovación y en el campo educativo. Se aportan datos de estudios y experiencias con diferentes modelos de liderazgo, llevados a cabo durante esas cuatro últimas décadas que nos permiten extraer algunas consideraciones y conclusiones. Una perspectiva del liderazgo que está emergiendo con fuerza y que actualiza el denominado liderazgo pedagógico resaltado por el movimiento de las escuelas eficaces y el de la mejora.Se recogen estudios empíricos en los que se han aplicado diversos modelos de liderazgo. En primer lugar, el modelo de liderazgo situacional de Fiedler, muy utilizado en la década de los 70 y que hemos aplicado en un contexto de reforma de las enseñanzas medias. Un segundo modelo examinado es el Liderazgo Transformacional de Bernard Bass llevado a cabo en dos contextos distintos: en el ámbito empresarial y en el ámbito educativo. Un tercer enfoque es el propuesto por Kenneth Leithwood y colaboradores de lo que se ha denominado Prácticas eficaces de liderazgo en el ámbito educativo, modelo que se ha validado en diversos países. Finalmente, se presenta una exploración del liderazgo emocional, tema del que viene enfatizándose la importancia de la inteligencia emocional como una de las variables que mejor explican la eficacia y satisfacción del liderazgo educativo

La función directiva : un problema sin resolver. Tres décadas de formación, investigación y acción

A lo largo de las tres últimas décadas se ha producido una profunda transformación de nuestro entorno social, político y cultural. En coherencia, hemos asistido también a una evolución en la definición de la función directiva y en las expectativas y demandas depositadas en las personas que han accedido a la dirección y ejercido los cargos directivos. Desde su creación, en el año 1971, el Instituto de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Deusto ha mantenido una fuerte convicción respecto a la trascendental importancia del ejercicio de la Dirección para un buen funcionamiento de los centros educativos, adoptando un compromiso de trabajo en la formación, colaboración y asesoramiento para el desarrollo de experiencias con directores y equipos directivos de centros e instituciones educativas. Paralelamente, se ha tratado de desarrollar una línea de investigación sistemática que avalara y aportara un marco de referencia sólido para el desarrollo de dichas experiencias. Resultado de ello han sido un conjunto de publicaciones y encuentros profesionales en torno al tema de la Dirección. Trataremos de recapitular en este artículo los hitos fundamentales que han marcado nuestra experiencia y evolución en el acompañamiento con el que a lo largo de estos años hemos tratado de apoyar al desarrollo personal y profesional de las personas y equipos con los que hemos trabajado._______________________________Our social, political and cultural context has suffered big changes in the last three decades. At the same time we have lived the changes of the headmaster's definition and the evolution of the demands and expectative of the people who develop these jobs. The Institute of Education Science of the University of Deusto, since 1971, has given an enormous relevance to the Scholar Direction, based on the dependence that exists with the good function of the scholar centres. Also, this institution has adopted the compromise of working on appraisal, formation, collaboration and counselling of the headmasters. At the same time they have researched systematically on this field, offering reference marc. A lot of publications and professional meetings are the proof. In this article, the authors summarise the main events in the development of this field of study and research

Modelización del desarrollo económico rural, modelos de crecimiento espaciales

Este trabajo pretende investigar como se comporta un modelo de crecimiento del empleo en un territorio geográficamente cerrado considerando tanto su vertiente espacial, y el efecto de rebosamiento espacial de la variable endógena de empleo, como su vertiente temporal considerando el comportamiento de las variables empleo y recursos en diferentes ejercicios económicos sucesivos. Esto último permite incorporar el efecto de relación temporal entre las variables permitiendo derivar otros indicadores temporales que según el modelo faciliten una explicación del comportamiento del empleo en el tiempo. Para evaluar el modelo se ha tomado como piloto una subcomarca de acentuado carácter rural de Palencia, y se ha utilizado la modelación SUR Espacial

Spatial effects on rural commerce

Commerce in rural territories should not be considered as a needed service, but as a basic infrastructure, that impact not only existent population, but also tourism, and rural industrialization. So, the rural areas need not only agriculture but industry and services, to have a global and balanced development, including for the countryside and the population. In the work presented in this paper, we are considering the formulation of the direct relation between population and the endowment of commerce sites within a geographical territory, the ?area of commercial interactions?. These are the closer set of towns that can gravitate to each other to cover the required needs for the populations within the area. The products retailed, range from basic products for the daily lives, to all other products for industry, agriculture, and services. The econometric spatial model developed to evaluate the interactions and estimate the parameters, is based on the Spatial Error Model, which allows for other spatial hidden effects to be considered without direct interference to the commercial disposition. The data and territory used to test the model correspond to a rural area in the Spanish Palencia territory (NUTS-3 level). The parameters have dependence from population levels, local rent per head, local and regional government budgets, and particular spatial restrictions. Interesting results are emerging form the model. The more significant is that the spatial effects can replace some number of commerce sites in towns, given the right spatial distribution of the sites and the towns. This is equivalent to consider the area of commercial interactions as the unit of measurement for the basic infrastructure and not only the towns

Financial Perspective of EU Agro-Business

This paper intention is to identify descriptive financial patterns associated with the different sectors and countries, which could transition into a model to facilitate the financial analysis of the Agribusiness sector. Only two sectors are going to be considered, primary producers, like farmers, and secondary producers ike the agro-food industry.Which selection will be based on Eurostat NACE classification, focusing on the small and middle small enterprises

Impact of quality management systems in the performance of educational centers: educational policies and management processes

[EN] In this paper, the findings of an I + D + i research are presented. In this study, an analysis was conducted to assess 14 educational centers where in one of two distinct quality systems had been implemented: the EFQM (European Foundation Quality Management) and el Proyecto de Calidad Integrado (PCI)—the Integrated Quality Project—promoted by the Horrêum Foundation (Álvarez and Santos, 2003; Villa and Marauri, 2004). The EFQM was first used by businesses before being recently transferred to the academics. It comprised nine factors that were translated in an educational context: leadership, policy and strategy, people, alliances and resources, processes, impact on people, impact on clients, impact on society, and key impacts of an organization. The first five factors examine the way activities are carried out and improved, and the final four focus on the impact, i.e., the effect of the organization's activities. Improvement is achieved through learning and innovation. The PCI (Muñoz and Sarasúa, 2005) has its educational origins in the Effective School Improvement model. Seven factors are analyzed (Sarasola et al., 2003; Villa et al., 2004): institutional approach, organizational structures, relationships and living together, counseling and tutoring, curriculum, family and the community (Martínez and Galíndez, 2003), and management and services. The study looks at the impact that the two aforementioned quality systems (EFQM and PCI) have had on educational centers. The term “impact” is understood as the changes experienced both inside and outside an educational center. It must be sustainable overtime, considering the changes and effects achieved, as evidence of improvement. The quantitative analysis focuses on two dimensions. The first addresses three key factors of educational policy: educational planning, communication, and support and rewards for teachers. The second comprises three factors linked to management processes in educational institutions: organizational climate, teaching and learning processes, and relationships with the community