Online shopping behavior in offline retail stores : strategic value for companies?

In a world where e-tailing and traditional in-store shopping live together and complement each other in several shopping activities (Chu, et. al, 2010), little is known about the possibility of an emerging reality in which online and offline shopping merge into one single phenomenon. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore whether consumers are willing to engage in a shopping behavior inside retail stores in a way that is similar to the one they have when shopping online. Additionally, it sheds light on the strategic value the online-offline shopping holds. To accomplish these objectives, a smartphone shopping scenario is designed to represent a situation that enables consumers to perform in-store shopping tasks in a digital manner, mixing and enhancing the features and benefits of e-tailing with traditional retail store experience. Moreover, a research model, that includes preliminary assumptions and eleven hypotheses to be tested, is designed to fundament the research methodology used. Based on this research model and the smartphone shopping scenario, a survey is conducted in order to collect empirical data on customer’s appraisal of the online-offline shopping process as well as their availability to permit recording their shopping data obtained after performing shopping tasks via smartphone. Furthermore, to access the strategic value of the online-offline shopping process, Resource-based View theory is used in order to identify the existence of possible sources of sustainable competitive advantage. The findings from the research show that respondents value the characteristics of the online-offline shopping process as well as they are willing to permit recording their own shopping data so that they are able to benefit from a contextual personalized shopping experience while shopping in traditional retail stores. The dissertation concludes that because customers value the characteristics of the online-offline shopping process they have a strong motivation to engage in an online-offline shopping behavior. Moreover, since they are willing to trade their shopping privacy for a contextual personalized shopping experience, it is plausible to admit that a strategy based on contextual personalization has potential to be strategic for retail companies. In fact, to generate such a strategy, the customer knowledge generated in the process is argued to be a firm resource that, combined with dynamic capabilities to leverage its utility in providing a contextual personalization experience, is considered to be a source of sustainable competitive advantage meaning the online-offline process has potential to be strategic to retail firms

Eficiência e inovação: a adaptabilidade do profissional de secretariado às exigências do mundo

O presente artigo pretende refletir sobre a importância da função de secretariado nas organizações da sociedade contemporânea, realçando a abrangência e a influência da atividade do Secretariado no processo comunicativo interno das organizações, nas relações interpessoais e no seu contributo para a competitividade das mesmas. Por outro lado, pretende-se ainda apresentar a construção de um glossário diversificado, que verse algumas das áreas temáticas mais importantes para o desempenho da função, ferramenta essa apoiada num suporte informático para consulta on-line, constituindo-se assim como mais uma ferramenta de trabalho que promova a eficiência de cada profissional e a sua permanente atualização

O USO DA ARTE COMO INSTRUMENTO DE INTERVENÇÃO NAS MANIFESTAÇÕES COTIDIANAS DAS EXPRESSÕES DA QUESTÃO SOCIAL

O presente estudo é fruto da experiência oportunizada pelo projeto de extensão Serviço Social Sociojurídico: Núcleo de Atendimento às Demandas de Violência Doméstica e/ou Intrafamiliar. Objetiva discutir acerca das possibilidades de intervenção, para o assistente social, utilizando a arte. Fundamentando-se no potencial sensibilizador desta para que os sujeitos se reconheçam enquanto agentes que reproduzem e fortalecem os processos de violência, mas que também sofrem com a violência estrutural, elemento determinante das relações sociais na sociedade capitalista, manifestada através das expressões da questão social. Os atendimentos, eram realizados a partir de entrevistas dialético-reflexivas. Ao final desse processo identificou-se a necessidade do processo de conhecimento antes de se iniciar qualquer processo de intervenção, para que a partir disto, e com o uso da arte, os usuários possam compreender os processos particulares de uma forma mais ampla, desvendamento as relações de estranhamento entre si e as coisas, no intuito de instigar processos reflexivo

PEANOW Prevalence study of abuse and violence against older women: literature review (Greece)

The present paper objective was to identify, describe and compare the prevalence of older adult’s abuse and neglect studies developed in Greece. Through international databases and reports from Non Governmental Organisations a relevant lack of data on older adult’s abuse and neglect was encountered. The only study found aimed at communitarian setting, identifying a prevalence value of 16.4%. Psychological abuse was prevalent, especially through verbal offensive mistreatment. The major findings related to characteristics of victims and perpetrators came across what has already been found in international literature. Women appeared as a vulnerable group, as well as those older adults aged 70 years or under. The perpetrators were mostly men and were related to the victims, comprehending adult children the majority of the cases. Finally, older person’s abuse and neglect in Greece should be more consistently address, so more recent values and the dynamics of the phenomenon can be known.Daphne III, University of Minho

PEANOW Prevalence study of abuse and violence against older women: literature review (Israel)

The present paper pretends to identify, describe and compare the prevalence studies of elder abuse and neglect developed in Israel. The research method used international databases and specific keywords to develop the research. Results show the dominance of communitarian 2 setting in elderly abuse and neglect studies and a comprehensive approach to specific populations (Arab-Israeli, Jewish). The results indicate lower levels of prevalence of abuse and neglect (2.5% and 0.5%) when local sample are considered, whereas when the national survey is taken into account, higher prevalence indices of abuse (18%) and even higher of neglect (26%) can be observed. Emotional / psychological abuses, followed by neglect, were the prevalent forms of abuse. All instruments employed were purposely designed for the different studies through research of international literature. In conclusion, several characteristics of the abused elders and perpetrators do encountered what has been found in other developed countries revealing that family is probably the primary setting where elderly abuse and neglect takes place.Daphne III, University of Minho