On the possibility of a public regime in higher education: rethinking normative principles and policy frameworks

The process of reversing a neoliberal regime in highly marketised higher education systems entails the discussion of such a regime’s normative principles and policy frameworks. Little has been said about what decommodification would involve or the implications of such a project for the constitution of a public regime in higher education. Two principles are discussed in this paper to delve into these concerns in detail: institutional diversity and autonomy. In addition, the role of quality policies is considered. In this respect, I critically analyse how the neoliberal regime in higher education has adopted these normative principles and policies. I claim that this regime has defined the content of the boundaries of such elements through a particular understanding of objectivity, neutrality and impartiality. Then, I discuss the plausibility of a public regime in higher education by rethinking these categories, which entails the reconsideration of the relationship between power, knowledge and subjectivity

Towards a co-creation framework in the retail banking services industry: a cross-cultural analysis

An underlying theme in modern marketing is the notion that value is not solely created within the boundaries of the firm, it is created co-jointly with outside parties. This paper aims to study the outcomes of co-creation from a customer perspective. Specifically, it examines the effects of co-creation on customer satisfaction, loyalty and word-of-mouth (WOM) within the banking services industry. Furthermore, we consider potential differences between consumers from Spain and the UK, thus incorporating cross-cultural aspects in our research. The research demonstrates that firms should not only respond to the differences that exist within different cultural contexts and incorporate these in co-creation initiatives; more importantly, firms should undertake co-creation activities themselves as these can result in customers who are more satisfied, loyal to the company and more likely to carry out positive WOM, which can ultimately lead to new customers

The role of social effects and perceived risk in driving profitable online customer interactions

The emergence of online channels has been of special relevance, as it has promoted a more active participation of consumers in the value creation process. In this study, we draw from the Stimulus-Organism-Response model to provide a theoretical understanding of the role played by two critical factors that drive online customer initiated interactions (OnCICs): social effects and perceived risk. In addition, we also investigate their consequences by establishing a direct link between these interactions and customer profitability. Merging longitudinal objective data with subjective data for a sample of 1,990 customers in the financial services and applying Partial Least Squares (PLS), the results reveal that social effects influence perceived risk. Perceived risk consequently promotes the development of OnCICs, while social effects reduce the need for such interactions. In addition, OnCICs help promote high-quality relationships and leads to higher performance

Territoriality and Neoliberalism: the case of the Universidad Estatal de Aysén in Chile

This article reflects on the experience of the Universidad de Aysén as subversity. In order to do that we analyze how the University has translated national policies and local community’s expectations into institutional practices aimed at materializing the territorial project. First, we explore the impossibility of the University become subversity in light of the tensions ensuing from market-oriented policies. Second, we delve into the possibility of the subversity through the analysis of the Social Council. This analysis leads us to conclude that the University has a promise that rests upon the Social Council’s capacity of rethinking the foundational principles of the University

Relationship quality as antecedent of customer relationship proneness: a cross-cultural study between Spain and Mexico

Some factors such as the globalization and the development of information technologies are changing the dynamics of the relationship marketing bases. The new competitive framework defined by the relevance of online channels have caused the way of approaching relationship management with consumers to change. In this context, relationship quality (RQ) allows to understand the proneness of consumers to keep their commercial relations alive. Several are the studies that analyse RQ antecedents, but none has used a comprehensive management approach that includes resources and capabilities (such as market orientation or knowledge management), as perceived by customers, that a company has available for management in order to enhance said RQ in an online context. This work-in-progress aims to analyse the effect of said perceived quality on the consumer’s proneness to maintain the relationship under a cross-cultural context, considering the perceptions of Spanish and Mexican users of online banking services

Analysing relationship quality and its contribution to consumer relationship proneness

Relationship marketing has been the dominant paradigm in the sphere of marketing in the last decades. However, aspects such as globalisation, development of information technologies, or the growing competitiveness pressure have caused the way of approaching relationship management with consumers to change. A consumer feels as the lead character and demands personalised treatment customised to his/her needs and specific characteristics. In this context, relationship quality (RQ) allows to understand the proneness of consumers to keep their commercial relations alive. Several are the studies that analyse RQ antecedents, but none has used a comprehensive management approach that includes resources and capabilities (such as market orientation or knowledge management) that a company has available for management in order to enhance said RQ. Furthermore, we analyse the effect of said perceived quality on the consumer’s proneness to maintain the relationship

Propuesta de implementación del sistema de gestión de seguridad y salud en el trabajo para el campo Yuralpa del bloque 21

Yuralpa Field Block 21 is an oil company (development and production faces) located in Napo and Pastaza provinces; it has a their owns Security and Health programs accomplish with a serial of procedures for their development; however, it is very important to implement a “Management of Security and Health System at Work” that allows the incorporation and unification of all the existing programs with the enterprise policies in accordance with the proper legislation.El Campo Yuralpa del Bloque 21 es una industria hidrocarburífera (fase de desarrollo y producción) ubicada en las provincias de Napo y Pastaza; cuenta con sus respectivos programas de Seguridad Industrial y Salud Ocupacional conjuntamente con una serie de procedimientos para el desarrollo de los mismos; sin embargo, es imprescindible implementar un “Sistema de Gestión de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo” donde se incorporen y unifiquen tanto los procedimientos existentes con las políticas de la operadora, como también con el cumplimiento de la normativa legal vigente

Older drivers, medical condition, medical impairment and crash risk

Producción CientíficaNew evidence has appeared to support the fact that the over-involvement of older drivers in traffic accidents disappears when the low mileage bias is taken into account. As a group, older drivers are as safe as or safer than other age groups, and only low mileage older drivers have a high crash rate. Furthermore, the role of the medical condition of older drivers in traffic accidents, as well as the fitness to drive evaluation, are objects of controversy.We examined all this with a cohort of 4316 drivers attending Medical Driving Test Centres for a mandatory fitness to drive evaluation. Our data shows that older drivers (≥75) have a lower crash rate. Medical conditions that impair fitness to drive, as a tendency, increased with advanced age and with lower mileage group. The multivariate analysis of variance showed that there is an effect (p < 0.0001) of age-range and mileage on the annual crash rate per million kilometres driven, while a medical restriction (“fit to drive with restriction”) has no effect (p > 0.05). Our data suggests that health status is not associated with increased crash risk for the low mileage group, although further studies are needed

Organization of the gene cluster for biosynthesis of penicillin in Penicillium nalgiovense and antibiotic production in cured dry sausages

[EN] Several fungal isolates obtained from two cured meat products from Spain were identified as Penicillium nalgiovense by their morphological features and by DNA fingerprinting. All P. nalgiovense isolates showed antibiotic activity in agar diffusion assays, and their penicillin production in liquid complex medium ranged from 6 to 38 μg · ml−1. We constructed a restriction map of the penicillin gene cluster of P. nalgiovense and found that the organization of the penicillin biosynthetic genes (pcbAB, pcbC, andpenDE) is the same as in Penicillium chrysogenum and Aspergillus nidulans. ThepcbAB gene is located in an orientation opposite that of the pcbC and penDE genes in all three species. Significant amounts of penicillin were found in situ in the casing and the outer layer of salami meat during early stages of the curing process, coinciding with fungal colonization, but no penicillin was detected in the cured salami. The antibiotic produced in situ was sensitive to penicillinaseS

Agresividad vial en la población general

ResumenObjetivosAnalizar la prevalencia y los factores sociodemográficos asociados con la agresividad vial en la población.MétodosSe han realizado 2.500 entrevistas a la población de Castilla y León de entre 14 y 70 años de edad. Se evaluó la agresividad vial en el año previo a la realización de la encuesta utilizando un test de ocho preguntas.ResultadosEl 31,1% refirió haber vivido alguna situación de agresividad vial en el último año, y el 26,8% en más de una ocasión. El 2,6% fueron agresores viales «graves». Entre los conductores, la probabilidad de experimentar agresividad vial aumenta a medida que aumentan los miles de kilómetros conducidos a la semana (odds ratio [OR]=1,52), es menor cuanto mayor es la edad del entrevistado (OR=0,975) y es mayor en los hombres (OR=1,287), en los que tienen estudios universitarios (OR=1,408) y en los que viven en localidades de más de 10.000 habitantes (OR=1,25).ConclusionesLos datos del presente estudio muestran que la agresividad vial afecta a casi un tercio de la población general de Castilla y León, lo que justificaría la adopción de medidas para su prevención y reducción.AbstractObjectiveTo analyze the prevalence of road rage in the general population and the sociodemographic factors associated with this phenomenon.MethodsA total of 2,500 interviews were carried out in the population of Castile and Leon aged 14-70 years. Road rage was evaluated in the year prior to the survey using a test with eight questions.ResultsOne-third (31.1%) of the interviewees reported they had experienced a situation involving road rage during the previous 12 months (26.8% on more than one occasion). Among these episodes, 2.6% involved “serious” aggressors. In drivers, the probability of experiencing road rage increased in line with the number of kilometers driven per week (odds ratio [OR]=1.52), decreased as the age of the driver increased (OR=0.975), and was highest in men (OR=1.287), university graduates (OR=1.408), and persons living in towns with over 10,000 inhabitants (OR=1.25).ConclusionsThe results of this study show that road rage affects almost a third of the general population of Castile and Leon, which would amply justify the adoption of prevention and/or reduction measures