ISO 9001 and organizational excellence models in small and medium sized enterprises: current state and comparative analysis

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand the current state of quality management practices in Small and Medium Enterprises. The main concepts of Quality Management and its practices in Small and Medium Enterprises were reviewed from the literature in order to understand the key practices in these organizations, and a data analysis on their use was performed. Design/methodology/approach - Analysis was performed by consulting and understanding the evolution of Organizational Excellence Models and Quality Management Systems. This research incorporates data since the beginning of the 90's from the last century and allows us to comprehend how these models and management systems have evolved and if there is any correlation between the adoption of each one of them- evaluation of interdependencies. Findings - The findings suggest that while the number of ISO 9001 certified companies has increased over the years, the number of organizations accessing Business Excellence frameworks have been decreasing. The available data suggests that Small and Medium Enterprises seem to follow these trends. It is particularly noticed that there is a considerable gap between Small and Medium Enterprises and Large Enterprises in the usage of Business Excellence frameworks. Originality/value - This article offers a global perspective of the current state in the use of ISO 9001 and Organizational Excellence Models by Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME's).INCT-EN - Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia para Excitotoxicidade e NeuroproteçãoThis work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2019

Small and medium enterprises pursuing organizational excellence: a toolkit for improvement

Purpose - This paper presents the development of a new organizational excellence tool specifically for use by small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) while implementing business excellence models. A literature review was conducted to analyse the current state of business excellence models and their content and application around the world, including the identification of key principles that drive their creation and implementation. In this paper, we present a framework that has been validated by an Expert Panel of Organizational Excellence Professionals, considering the unique characteristics of SME and their industry contexts. It is hoped that this toolkit will allow these companies to strive for organizational excellence through a framework that is better suited to their context and needs. Design/methodology/approach - An initial extensive literature review was conducted on the topics of Excellence Frameworks, Excellence Programs, Excellence Awards and the different contextual environments between LE and SME. Based on the literature review, we began by reviewing several scientific articles aimed at understanding the different contexts of LE and SME. From this point of view, and with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises, we emphasized the themes that offered a better fit to the needs of these organizations and that, as a result, should be integrated into this framework. The Quality and Organizational Excellence Framework for Small and Medium Enterprises (QOE-SME) was built based on the weaknesses and shortcomings found in the use and implementation of SME's excellence models. The model was then validated by a group of quality experts through an online survey. This group was chosen based on criteria for reaching out to people who, in both academia and industry, have carried out significant and appropriate research in the field of organizational excellence and/or in the field of quality promotion and superior performance in SME. Findings - Organizational excellence programs have created a catalyst and frameworks for improved success and productivity within large organisations. However, small and medium-sized organizations often try to achieve the same results using these same structures. However, evidence suggests that some of these frameworks are seen as unrealistic and difficult to implement. These implementation levels and records of positive implementation of OE models in SME are still small. The question is seen by both practitioners and researchers because of the various implementation difficulties faced by SME. Such perceived difficulties contributed to the development of the QOE-SME Framework.INCT-EN - Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia para Excitotoxicidade e NeuroproteçãoThis work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020

DAS RAZÕES LITERÁRIAS E SOCIAIS AS QUAIS ÚRSULA, DE MARIA FIRMINA DOS REIS, FOI INVISIBILIZADA

Maria Firmina dos Reis, mulher, negra e de classe pobre, emerge no campo literário do século XIX, desafiando os padrões ditados pela classe dominante, lançando-se como a primeira mulher afro-brasileira a falar do negro na literatura. Tendo em vista esses aspectos literários e sociais, bem como a condição sociocultural de Maria Firmina dos Reis, o presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar as motivações que tornaram Úrsula, de Maria Firmina dos Reis invisibilizada e maldita pela crítica literária do período, considerando a proposta antiescravista instituída em sua narrativa, do mesmo modo que o seu lugar de fala frente aos contextos e discursos patriarcais e racistas do período

Unidade e diversidade nas imagens nacionais em Meu querido canibal, de Antônio Torres

O presente trabalho procura da conta a forma como as imagens que fixam a idéia de nação são deslocadas pelo imaginário contemporâneo. Estas imagens serão analisadas na obra Meu querido canibal, de Antônio Torres, especificamente a partir da terceira parte da narrativa. O estudo fundamenta-se em dois marcos teóricos: a) no conceito de imaginário de Gaston Bachelard, segundo o qual o imaginário é a faculdade de deslocar imagens; e b) no conceito de nação como uma construção discursiva, segundo Stuart Hall. Objetiva-se analisar de que modo as imagens que representam a idéia de nação são problematizadas na narrativa contemporânea pela dialética identidade/alteridade que dilacera o discurso da unidade nacional

Correlations between Risk Factors for Breast Cancer and Genetic Instability in Cancer Patients- A Clinical Perspective Study

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Molecular epidemiological studies have identified several risk factors linking to the genes and external factors in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. In this sense, genetic instability caused by DNA damage and DNA repair inefficiencies are important molecular events for the diagnosis and prognosis of therapies. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze correlation between sociocultural, occupational, and lifestyle risk factors with levels of genetic instability in non-neoplastic cells of breast cancer patients. Total 150 individuals were included in the study that included 50 breast cancer patients submitted to chemotherapy (QT), 50 breast cancer patients submitted to radiotherapy (RT), and 50 healthy women without any cancer. Cytogenetic biomarkers for apoptosis and DNA damage were evaluated in samples of buccal epithelial and peripheral blood cells through micronuclei and comet assay tests. Elder age patients (61–80 years) had higher levels of apoptosis (catriolysis by karyolysis) and DNA damage at the diagnosis (baseline damage) with increased cell damage during QT and especially during RT. We also reported the increased frequencies of cytogenetic biomarkers in patients who were exposed to ionizing radiation as well as for alcoholism and smoking. QT and RT induced high levels of fragmentation (karyorrhexis) and nuclear dissolution (karyolysis) and DNA damage. Correlations were observed between age and karyorrhexis at diagnosis; smoking and karyolysis during RT; and radiation and karyolysis during QT. These correlations indicate that risk factors may also influence the genetic instability in non-neoplastic cells caused to the patients during cancer therapies

Evaluation of PIK3CA mutations in advanced ER+/HER2-breast cancer in Portugal – U-PIK Project

Background: Around 40% of ER+/HER2-breast carcinomas (BC) present mutations in the PIK3CA gene. Assessment of PIK3CA mutational status is required to identify patients eligible for treatment with PI3Kα inhibitors, with alpelisib currently the only approved tyrosine kinase inhibitor in this setting. U-PIK project aimed to conduct a ring trial to validate and implement the PIK3CA mutation testing in several Portuguese centers, decentralizing it and optimizing its quality at national level.Methods: Eight Tester centers selected two samples of patients with advanced ER+/HER2- BC and generated eight replicates of each (n = 16). PIK3CA mutational status was assessed in two rounds. Six centers used the cobas®PIK3CA mutation test, and two used PCR and Sanger sequencing. In parallel, two reference centers (IPATIMUP and the Portuguese Institute of Oncology [IPO]-Porto) performed PIK3CA mutation testing by NGS in the two rounds. The quality of molecular reports describing the results was also assessed. Testing results and molecular reports were received and analyzed by U-PIK coordinators: IPATIMUP, IPO-Porto, and IPO-Lisboa.Results: Overall, five centers achieved a concordance rate with NGS results (allele frequency [AF] ≥5%) of 100%, one of 94%, one of 93%, and one of 87.5%, considering the overall performance in the two testing rounds. NGS reassessment of discrepancies in the results of the methods used by the Tester centers and the reference centers identified one probable false positive and two mutations with low AF (1–3%, at the analytical sensitivity threshold), interpreted as subclonal variants with heterogeneous representation in the tissue sections processed by the respective centers. The analysis of molecular reports revealed the need to implement the use of appropriate sequence variant nomenclature with the identification of reference sequences (HGVS-nomenclature) and to state the tumor cell content in each sample.Conclusion: The concordance rates between the method used by each tester center and NGS validate the use of the PIK3CA mutational status test performed at these centers in clinical practice in patients with advanced ER+/HER2- BC

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016