Una Aproximación Histórica a la Gestión de la Calidad: El Caso de la Real Fábrica de Tabacos de Sevilla

La influencia que ejerce la calidad sobre los sistemas de control de gestión es un aspecto poco estudiado desde una perspectiva histórica. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar este aspecto de la gestión para el caso de la Real Fábrica de Tabacos de Sevilla (RFTS) durante la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII a partir de la información obtenida del Archivo Histórico Nacional y del Archivo de la Fábrica de Tabacos de Sevilla. Se señalará la importancia del control disciplinario de la calidad de los productos y procesos productivos. El trabajo pone de manifiesto que, al menos en parte, es posible explicar la contabilidad de la RFTS en los términos definidos por el enfoque foucaultiano. Palabras clave: contabilidad, calidad, fábrica, Foucault.ABSTRACTThe influence of quality assurance in management control systems is an aspect that has not been studied in detail from a historical perspective. The objective of this study is to analyze the management of quality using the case of the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville, during the second half of the 18th century, drawing on information from National Historical Archive and the Archives of the Tobacco Factory of Seville. A notable feature is the importance of the disciplinary system as a mechanism to improve the quality of products and production processes. The aim of the work is to show that, at least partially it is possible to explain the accounting of the RFTS based on the foucaultian perspective

Prioridades competitivas y sistemas de información en la empresa manufacturera española del siglo XVIII: análisis de un caso

A lo largo de esta década, investigadores pertenecientes a diversas áreas de especialización han sugerido la importancia de diseñar un modelo integrado de indicadores del rendimiento de las innovaciones tecnológicas, similar al conocido Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan y Norton, 1992), que pudiera complementar, cuando no sustituir, al actual modelo imperante; éste descansa, principalmente, en indicadores financieros y variables macroeconómicas, no siempre fácilmente interpretables por las empresas adoptantes de las innovaciones. El nuevo marco conceptual de referencia, según se sugiere en la literatura, debería buscar el alineamiento entre los objetivos estratégicos empresariales, relacionados directamente con sus prioridades competitivas, y los parámetros de medición del cumplimiento de dichos objetivos y prioridades. En dicho marco, la información utilizada por los sistemas de contabilidad para la toma de decisión, o contabilidad estratégica, se ha mostrado particularmente útil, tal y como se desprende de los resultados de diferentes trabajos empíricos recientes. El objetivo de este artículo es poner de manifiesto que la utilización de estos sistemas de información integradores no constituye, necesariamente, una novedad en todos sus aspectos (en contra de 10 señalado por Atkinson et al., 1997, entre otros), como demuestra el análisis del sistema de información para la dirección empleado en el siglo XVIII en la Real Fábrica de Tabacos de Sevilla, la mayor planta manufacturera europea en aquel momento. A lo largo de este artículo iremos describiendo, a partir de la información archivística existente, cómo la estrategia empresarial establecida para esta organización condicionó el diseño, seguimiento y control de sus procesos productivos y cómo se buscó el alineamiento entre la estrategia de la empresa, la estrategia de operaciones y el sistema de información para lograr la consecución de una rentabilidad sostenida

Accounting quality in railway companies during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the case of Spanish NORTE and MZA

Prior literature studying railway accounting during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries defends the thesis of lack of reliability of accounting figures. This prior research, which mainly studies the cases of the United Kingdom and the United States, offers mixed views on the causes, or simply accepts this thesis without providing conclusive evidence, as is the case of historical research in Spain. We provide novel evidence on the quality of railway accounting and contribute to this prior debate by (1) analysing the accounting for two material accruals: depreciation and prior period adjustments; (2) studying the persistence of earnings and its components, and (3) analysing how accrual accounting affects persistence. These analyses are conducted for the period 1856-1939 for the two major Spanish railway companies (MZA and NORTE). The reported evidence suggests that earnings are highly persistent. However, we show that there are significant differences across firms and that these differences are particularly obvious when analysing the adjustments for prior period earnings. Overall, our evidence does not support the thesis that accounting was underdeveloped, but rather, that managerial accounting choices lowered accounting quality.We acknowledge financial assistance from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion) (ECO2013-48328, ECO2016-77579). CAM (H2015/HUM-3353), the Catedra UAM-Auditores Madrid, Spanish Railway Foundation, and 6th ed. AECA Research Grants (2015-2016)

Una Aproximación Histórica a la Gestión de la Calidad: El Caso de la Real Fábrica de Tabacos de Sevilla: Towards Historical Perspective of Quality Management: The Case of the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville

The influence of quality assurance in management control systems is an aspect that has not been studied in detail from a historical perspective. The objective of this study is to analyze the management of quality using the case of the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville, during the second half of the 18th century, drawing on information from National Historical Archive and the Archives of the Tobacco Factory of Seville. A notable feature is the importance of the disciplinary system as a mechanism to improve the quality of products and production processes. The aim of the work is to show that, at least partially it is possible to explain the accounting of the RFTS based on the foucaultian perspective.La influencia que ejerce la calidad sobre los sistemas de control de gestión es un aspecto poco estudiado desde una perspectiva histórica. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar este aspecto de la gestión para el caso de la Real Fábrica de Tabacos de Sevilla (RFTS) durante la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII a partir de la información obtenida del Archivo Histórico Nacional y del Archivo de la Fábrica de Tabacos de Sevilla. Se señalará la importancia del control disciplinario de la calidad de los productos y procesos productivos. El trabajo pone de manifiesto que, al menos en parte, es posible explicar la contabilidad de la RFTS en los términos definidos por el enfoque foucaultiano

Impact of contact with business reality on academic performance in cost accounting

En los últimos años se observa cada vez mayor falta de motivación y menor rendimiento en los estudiantes de Contabilidad de Costes (CC). Con este trabajo se propone adaptar la metodología docente aplicada en el aula a los estilos de aprendizaje de los alumnos. Este estudio comprende dos cursos académicos (2018/2019 y 2019/2020), diferenciados en dos fases. En la primera, se lleva a cabo la revisión de la literatura, así como el análisis de los estilos de aprendizaje de los alumnos de CC en el curso 2018/2019. Los resultados obtenidos nos indican el tipo de metodología docente a introducir, que en este caso consiste en la realización de tres actividades con el propósito de acercar a los alumnos a la realidad empresarial de forma conexa al avance en los contenidos del programa de la asignatura. En la segunda fase, se analiza si las calificaciones medias de los estudiantes de CC del curso 2019/2020 tras la realización de estas actividades (grupo experimental) son mejores respecto a los alumnos que no las realizaron (grupo de control). Los resultados obtenidos no evidencian que el rendimiento de los alumnos del grupo experimental sea mejor que el del grupo de control, afirmación extensible al caso de los alumnos con preferencia de aprendizaje kinestésico.In recent years, there has been an increasing lack of motivation and lower performance in Cost Accounting students (CC). With this work it is proposed to adapt the teaching methodology applied in the classroom to the learning styles of the students. This study comprises two academic years (2018/2019 and 2019/2020), differentiated into two phases. In the first, the literature review is carried out, as well as the analysis of the learning styles of CC students in the 2018/2019 academic year. The results obtained indicate the type of teaching methodology to be introduced. This methodology consisted of carrying out three activities related to business reality and related to progress in the contents of the subject's program. The second phase, it is analyzed whether the average grades of the CC students in the 2019/2020 academic year after carrying out these activities (experimental group) are better compared to the students who did not carry them out (control group). The results obtained do not show that the performance of the students in the experimental group is better than that of the control group, a statement that can be extended to the case of students with kinesthetic learning preference.Universidad Autónoma de Madrid CEE_002.19_IN

¿Qué factores afectan a la supervivencia y éxito empresarial de las pymes en épocas de crisis?

En España, las pequeñas y medianas empresas (pymes) suponen más del 90% del tejido empresarial. Por ello, entender la evolución económica de España y sus retos exige comprender los desafíos a los que se enfrenta la pyme. La actual pandemia originada por la COVID-19 ha impactado económica y socialmente a las empresas. En este complicado contexto en el que estamos inmersos, nos planteamos si las pymes españolas podrán adaptarse al futuro deviniente y seguir contribuyendo positivamente en la economía española y europea, como sucedió tras la crisis económica de 2007. Una crisis puede afectar en mayor o menor grado a una compa- ñía en función de diferentes factores y circunstancias. Este trabajo presenta una revisión de la literatura sobre las variables que han influido en la supervivencia y éxito empresarial de las pymes en épocas críticas. Para llevar a cabo el objetivo y sintetizar de manera sistemática las publicaciones previas, se utiliza la metodología de snowballing, propuesta por Wohlin (2014), y las directrices propuestas por Keele (2007).2021-2

Expression and Cellular Immunogenicity of a Transgenic Antigen Driven by Endogenous Poxviral Early Promoters at Their Authentic Loci in MVA

CD8+ T cell responses to vaccinia virus are directed almost exclusively against early gene products. The attenuated strain modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) is under evaluation in clinical trials of new vaccines designed to elicit cellular immune responses against pathogens including Plasmodium spp., M. tuberculosis and HIV-1. All of these recombinant MVAs (rMVA) utilize the well-established method of linking the gene of interest to a cloned poxviral promoter prior to insertion into the viral genome at a suitable locus by homologous recombination in infected cells. Using BAC recombineering, we show that potent early promoters that drive expression of non-functional or non-essential MVA open reading frames (ORFs) can be harnessed for immunogenic expression of recombinant antigen. Precise replacement of the MVA orthologs of C11R, F11L, A44L and B8R with a model antigen positioned to use the same translation initiation codon allowed early transgene expression similar to or slightly greater than that achieved by the commonly-used p7.5 or short synthetic promoters. The frequency of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells induced in mice by single shot or adenovirus-prime, rMVA-boost vaccination were similarly equal or marginally enhanced using endogenous promoters at their authentic genomic loci compared to the traditional constructs. The enhancement in immunogenicity observed using the C11R or F11L promoters compared with p7.5 was similar to that obtained with the mH5 promoter compared with p7.5. Furthermore, the growth rates of the viruses were unimpaired and the insertions were genetically stable. Insertion of a transgenic ORF in place of a viral ORF by BAC recombineering can thus provide not only a potent promoter, but also, concomitantly, a suitable insertion site, potentially facilitating development of MVA vaccines expressing multiple recombinant antigens

Characterisation of the Hamamatsu photomultipliers for the KM3NeT Neutrino Telescope

[EN] The Hamamatsu R12199-02 3-inch photomultiplier tube is the photodetector chosen for the first phase of the KM3NeT neutrino telescope. About 7000 photomultipliers have been characterised for dark count rate, timing spread and spurious pulses. The quantum eÿciency, the gain and the peak-to-valley ratio have also been measured for a sub-sample in order to determine parameter values needed as input to numerical simulations of the detector.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the funding agencies: Agence Nationale de la Recherche (contract ANR-15-CE31-0020), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Commission Europeenne (FEDER fund and Marie Curie Program), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), IdEx program and UnivEarthS Labex program at Sorbonne Paris Cite (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02), France; 'Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics' funded by the Initiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association, Germany; The General Secretariat of Research and Technology (GSRT), Greece; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Universita e della Ricerca (MIUR), Italy; Agence de l'Oriental and CNRST, Morocco; Nederlandse organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), the Netherlands; National Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS), Romania; Plan Estatal de Investigacion (refs. FPA2015-65150-C3-1-P, -2-P and -3-P, (MINECO/FEDER)), Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence and MultiDark Consolider (MINECO), and Prometeo and Grisolia programs (Generalitat Valenciana), Spain.Aiello, S.; Akrame, SE.; Ameli, F.; Anassontzis, EG.; Andre, M.; Androulakis, G.; Anghinolfi, M.... (2018). Characterisation of the Hamamatsu photomultipliers for the KM3NeT Neutrino Telescope. Journal of Instrumentation. 13:1-17. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/13/05/P05035S11713Adrián-Martínez, S., Ageron, M., Aharonian, F., Aiello, S., Albert, A., Ameli, F., … Anghinolfi, M. (2016). Letter of intent for KM3NeT 2.0. Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics, 43(8), 084001. doi:10.1088/0954-3899/43/8/084001Adrián-Martínez, S., Ageron, M., Aharonian, F., Aiello, S., Albert, A., Ameli, F., … Anvar, S. (2014). Deep sea tests of a prototype of the KM3NeT digital optical module. The European Physical Journal C, 74(9). doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-014-3056-3Adrián-Martínez, S., Ageron, M., Aharonian, F., Aiello, S., Albert, A., Ameli, F., … Anton, G. (2016). The prototype detection unit of the KM3NeT detector. The European Physical Journal C, 76(2). doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-015-3868-9Herold, B., Kalekin, O., & Reubelt, J. (2011). PMT characterisation for the KM3NeT project. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 639(1), 70-72. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2010.09.018Timmer, P., Heine, E., & Peek, H. (2010). Very low power, high voltage base for a Photo Multiplier Tube for the KM3NeT deep sea neutrino telescope. Journal of Instrumentation, 5(12), C12049-C12049. doi:10.1088/1748-0221/5/12/c12049Mollo, C. M., Bozza, C., Chiarusi, T., Costa, M., Capua, F. D., Kulikovskiy, V., … Vivolo, D. (2016). A new instrument for high statistics measurement of photomultiplier characteristics. Journal of Instrumentation, 11(08), T08002-T08002. doi:10.1088/1748-0221/11/08/t08002Adrián-Martínez, S., Ageron, M., Aiello, S., Albert, A., Ameli, F., Anassontzis, E. G., … Anton, G. (2016). A method to stabilise the performance of negatively fed KM3NeT photomultipliers. Journal of Instrumentation, 11(12), P12014-P12014. doi:10.1088/1748-0221/11/12/p12014Lubsandorzhiev, B. K., Vasiliev, R. V., Vyatchin, Y. E., & Shaibonov, B. A. J. (2006). Photoelectron backscattering in vacuum phototubes. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 567(1), 12-16. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2006.05.04

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Towards historical perspective of Quality Management: The case of the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville

La influencia que ejerce la calidad sobre los sistemas de control de gestión es un aspecto poco estudiado desde una perspectiva histórica. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar este aspecto de la gestión para el caso de la Real Fábrica de Tabacos de Sevilla (RFTS) durante la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII a partir de la información obtenida del Archivo Histórico Nacional y del Archivo de la Fábrica de Tabacos de Sevilla. Se señalará la importancia del control disciplinario de la calidad de los productos y procesos productivos. El trabajo pone de manifiesto que, al menos en parte, es posible explicar la contabilidad de la RFTS en los términos definidos por el enfoque foucaultiano. Palabras clave: contabilidad, calidad, fábrica, FoucaultThe influence of quality assurance in management control systems is an aspect that has not been studied in detail from a historical perspective. The objective of this study is to analyze the management of quality using the case of the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville, during the second half of the 18th century, drawing on information from National Historical Archive and the Archives of the Tobacco Factory of Seville. A notable feature is the importance of the disciplinary system as a mechanism to improve the quality of products and production processes. The aim of the work is to show that, at least partially it is possible to explain the accounting of the RFTS based on the foucaultian perspective