BUSINESS STRATEGY AND UPGRADING IN GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS: A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FIRMS OF BRAZILIAN ORIGIN

The issue of upgrading in Global Value Chains (GVCs) has been treated in the literature, but there are still gaps to be filled in. One issue that still needs further investigation is the relation of business strategy and evolution of firms in GVCs, known as upgrading in the literature. In this paper, we have the objective of examining the occurrence and quality of upgrading in internationalized Information Technology (IT) firms of Brazilian origin. We employed the multiple case study method researching eight IT firms to study the issue. Different from what is expected, facts presented in the paper imply that although GVCs and upgrading are confirmed as useful concepts, not all the findings the literature presents converge with what this research brings. As for example, results don’t converge with what was found in the literature for clothing. In other results, we confirmed what is in the literature. Most notably, having the evolution in the chain blocked by clients and also competitive marginalization. As any research, this one has limitations, which we list at the end of the manuscript

Public Security, Criminal Policy and Sentencing in Brazil during the Lula and Dilma Governments, 2003-2014: Changes and Continuities

Since mid-1980s crime rates in Brazil started to increase with the transition from military dictatorship to democracy, a period marked by the rise of poverty and hyperinflation. Given levels of police corruption and protection of criminal gangs, trust in the criminal justice system was low, leading to a heightened dependence on private security, gated communities and the politicisation of law and order politics. An impressive punitive turn began at in the 1990s. This paper analysed penal policies under successive left-wing Lula and Dilma governments from 2003 to 2014. During this period the rise of ‘postneoliberal’ and ‘postneoconservative’ politics, led by the Workers Party, developed governmental strategies and initiatives that formulated and legitimized rich and complex expressions of traditionally left-wing politics. Despite the simultaneous implementation of distributive policies, the increase of human development levels throughout the country, the reduction of social inequalities and the redirection of the official discourse of Federal Government security policies towards crime prevention, incarceration rates continued to increase. This article examines why efforts to build an effective public security policy committed to upholding civil rights and improving the control of police and police activities have failed

Implementation of Aspect-oriented Business Process Models with Web Services

In software development, crosscutting concerns, such as security, audit, access control, authentication, logging, persistence, transaction, error handling etc. can be modularized using the aspect-oriented paradigm. In busi- ness process modeling, aspects have been used to reduce visualization complexity, increase reuse and improve model maintainability. There are techniques which address aspects in modeling and implementation phases of business process; however, these techniques adopt different semantic representations, hindering the integration of these phases into the BPM lifecycle. This work proposes an architecture for service discovery capable of selecting web services that implement crosscutting concerns and meet the goals established in the aspect modeling phase, executing them accordingly with a prioritization. A proof of concept to analyze the proposed architecture and generated artifacts was performed. Afterwards, the proposal was evaluated by means of an experiment. The results suggest that the def- inition of an operational goal enables the business spe- cialists to concentrate on the modeling of the aspect without necessarily concerning its implementation, since a proper option for implementation is discovered during the execution of the process

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING: A FUNCTIONAL TRAJECTORY PERSPECTIVE IN RELATED ACQUISITIONS

A substantive body of theory and research on the studies of culture in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) proposes that social differences can create obstacles to achieving integration benefits. In this paper we proposed a learning perspective to analyze the integration process in related acquisitions.  The main objective of the paper is investigate the learning trajectories perceived by the social agents involved in three related acquisitions made by Vale, the first largest iron mining company in the world. The results indicate that learning not only requires the experience embodied in each organizations’ trajectories, but integration of the knowledge contained in each of them.Hay varios datos teóricos y empíricos de la literatura presentes en la cultura de las fusiones y adquisiciones de empresas que sugieren que las diferencias sociales pueden crear barreras para lograr beneficios en el proceso de integración. En este trabajo se propone una perspectiva de aprendizaje para analizar el proceso de integración relacionado con las adquisiciones. El objetivo de este trabajo es investigar las trayectorias del aprendizaje percibidas por los sujetos de la organización que participan en tres adquisiciones relacionadas. Uno de ellos es Vale, la mayor empresa del mundo en la extracción de minerales de hierro. Los resultados indican que el aprendizaje no son sólo experiencias asociadas incrustadas en las trayectorias de las organizaciones, sino que también son conocimientos obtenidos en los procesos de integración.A substantive body of theory and research on the studies of culture in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) proposes that social differences can create obstacles to achieving integration benefits. In this paper we proposed a learning perspective to analyze the integration process in related acquisitions.  The main objective of the paper is investigate the learning trajectories perceived by the social agents involved in three related acquisitions made by Vale, the first largest iron mining company in the world. The results indicate that learning not only requires the experience embodied in each organizations’ trajectories, but integration of the knowledge contained in each of them

Booktube: um gênero discursivo advindo das Tecnologias Digitais da Informação e Comunicação

O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar e caracterizar um gênero advindo das Tecnologias Digitais da Informação e Comunicação (TDICs): o booktube. A classificação do booktube como gênero do discurso é feita com base na organização triádica proposta por Bakhtin (2011), segundo a qual os gêneros são compostos por conteúdo temático, estilo e construção composicional. Para o corpus, foram selecionados três vídeos postados por diferentes canais de booktubers na comunidade YouTube. A análise dos dados mostrou que o booktube é um gênero do discurso que apresenta uma relativa estabilidade em seu conteúdo temático, construção composicional e estilo do gênero; porém, é bastante propício à manifestação do estilo individual de quem o produz

Trauma-Associated Tinnitus: Audiological, Demographic and Clinical Characteristics

Background: Tinnitus can result from different etiologies. Frequently, patients report the development of tinnitus after traumatic injuries. However, to which extent this specific etiologic factor plays a role for the phenomenology of tinnitus is still incompletely understood. Additionally, it remains a matter of debate whether the etiology of tinnitus constitutes a relevant criterion for defining tinnitus subtypes. Objective: By investigating a worldwide sample of tinnitus patients derived from the Tinnitus Research Initiative (TRI) Database, we aimed to identify differences in demographic, clinical and audiological characteristics between tinnitus patients with and without preceding trauma. Materials: A total of 1,604 patients were investigated. Assessment included demographic data, tinnitus related clinical data, audiological data, the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, the Tinnitus Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, various numeric tinnitus rating scales, and the World Health Organisation Quality of Life Scale (WHOQoL). Results: Our data clearly indicate differences between tinnitus patients with and without trauma at tinnitus onset. Patients suffering from trauma-associated tinnitus suffer from a higher mental burden than tinnitus patients presenting with phantom perceptions based on other or unknown etiologic factors. This is especially the case for patients with whiplash and head trauma. Patients with posttraumatic noise-related tinnitus experience more frequently hyperacousis, were younger, had longer tinnitus duration, and were more frequently of male gender. Conclusions: Trauma before tinnitus onset seems to represent a relevant criterion for subtypization of tinnitus. Patients with posttraumatic tinnitus may require specific diagnostic and therapeutic management. A more systematic and - at best - standardized assessment for hearing related sequelae of trauma is needed for a better understanding of the underlying pathophysiology and for developing more tailored treatment approaches as well.Fil: Kreuzer, Peter M.. Universitat Regensburg; AlemaniaFil: Landgrebe, Michael. Universitat Regensburg; AlemaniaFil: Schecklmann, Martin. Universitat Regensburg; AlemaniaFil: Staudinger, Susanne. Universitat Regensburg; AlemaniaFil: Langguth, Berthold. Universitat Regensburg; AlemaniaFil: Vielsmeier, Veronika. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Kleinjung, Tobias. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Lehner, Astrid. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Poeppl, Timm B.. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Figueiredo, Ricardo. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Azevedo, Andréia. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Binetti, Ana Carolina. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Elgoyhen, Ana Belen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Rates, Marcelo. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Coelho, Claudia. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Vanneste, Sven. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: de Ridder, Dirk. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: van de Heyning, Paul. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Zeman, Florian. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Mohr, Markus. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Koller, Michael. The TRI Database Study Group; Alemani

BALANÇO SOCIAL NO SETOR PÚBLICO: UMA ANÁLISE COMPARATIVA NO GOVERNO DO ESTADO DO AMAZONAS

The Social Reporter is the most used by public or private organizations that seek to demonstrate publicly, voluntarily, their social and environmental information and accept the challenge of transparency. In this context the study was to analyze and compare the data published in the Balance Sheet of the state of Amazonas in the years 2010 to 2012, since there are few public entities prepare and publish such a report. The methodology was comparative and quantitative accomplished through a case study in the State of Amazonas, applying the model of IBASE Social Reporter. As a result there has been a growing trend of social indicators, internal, external and environmental, as well as generating a set of data that can assist decision-making in relation to the implementation of investments. It is believed that the model, after adjustments, provide the basis for deployment in other public bodies in order to demonstrate the importance of transparency and social and environmental responsibility towards society.Contexto: O Balanço Social é o instrumento mais utilizado pelas organizações públicas ou privadas que buscam demonstrar publicamente, de forma voluntária, suas informações sociais e ambientais e aceitam o desafio da transparência. Objetivo: o estudo teve por objetivo analisar e comparar os dados publicados no Balanço Geral do Estado do Amazonas nos anos de 2010 a 2012, já que são poucas as entidades públicas que elaboram e publicam esse tipo de relatório. A metodologia utilizada foi comparativa e quantitativa realizada por meio de um estudo de caso no Governo do Estado do Amazonas, aplicando o modelo IBASE de Balanço Social. Resultado: como resultado observou-se uma tendência crescente dos indicadores sociais internos, externos e ambientais, além de gerar uma série de dados capazes de auxiliar a tomada de decisões em relação à aplicação de investimentos. Acredita-se que o modelo, após adaptações, sirva de base para implantação em outras entidades públicas, visando demonstrar a importância da transparência e da responsabilidade social e ambiental para com a sociedade.

Violência contra as mulheres

Este artigo visa analisar a utilização do conceito de patriarcado nas produções científicas brasileiras da área de saúde sobre as violências contra as mulheres e questionar em que medida artigos científicos dialogam ou não com o conceito de patriarcado em Heleith Saffioti. Além disso, ressalta a importância da formação dos profissionais que atendem mulheres vítimas de violência terem uma aproximação teórica dos estudos do patriarcado. O recurso metodológico utilizado foi o da revisão de literatura narrativa na base de dados Scielo e BVS-Regional. A amostra analisada permitiu dizer que, quando as produções científicas da área da saúde abordam o conceito de patriarcado, os achados ganham maior visibilidade do poder dos homens sobre as mulheres, as desigualdades entre os gêneros e a violência como uma construção social, histórica e cultural na sociedade patriarcal.