Strategic supplier management: from contractual models to engagement partnerships

Nowadays, it is essential to establish a good relationship between a company and its suppliers because otherwise, this relationship cannot last long. In the understanding of recent literature and empirical studies, there is still a lack of collaboration among customers and suppliers. There is a vision for short-term profit in big companies and less attention to the quality of services provided to them. The main objective of this study is to find mechanisms that make companies in the same supply chain thrive together. To this end, 15 companies that provide services to big companies in Portugal were interviewed to assess the problems and needs that exist in relation to this type of customer. The interviewed companies provided valuable information for this study. This allowed the design of two models of good practice in order to support companies in their relations with business partners.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Pereira market scan

The increasing competitiveness of market search related with information needs led to several companies to invest in new forms of decision making and models applied to scientific methods to position them as market leaders and to extract added value. This study was conducted with the propose of developing a market tool to allow a deeper and more pragmatic analysis to clients value and clients life cycle in order to contribute to the competitiveness of companies with relevant outputs and increase the market share of his company in a more conscious, objective way. The findings of this study allowed to quickly identify and to mitigate the type of problems which affect the organization and thus provide benefits to all the stakeholders that are in interaction with organizations.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Management consulting business models a perspective of sustainability

In a world characterised by distorted information, Management Consulting is one of the fastest growing activities that has been questioned since its first appearance. Doubts have been floating around the limits of the industry, the role and utility of its practitioners and the consequent implicit value-added to the clients’ firms. As such the main objective of this research is to investigate the business models of consulting companies to understand the way they operate and how they contribute to attain a sustainable competitive advantage in the industries where they are present. This investigation was done by conducting interviews in 2015 and collecting personal testimonies through from top consultants of eight consulting firms. The findings suggest that all organisations that participated in the research possess a unique combination of interrelated mechanisms and approaches towards organisational structure, clients, consultants and projects, which indicates their concern to maintain and augment a sustained superior performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Genomic Evolution of Two Acinetobacter baumannii Clinical Strains from ST-2 Clones Isolated in 2000 and 2010 (ST-2_clon_2000 and ST-2_clon_2010)

Acinetobacter baumannii is a successful nosocomial pathogen due to its ability to persist in hospital environments by acquiring mobile elements such as transposons, plasmids, and phages. In this study, we compared two genomes of A. baumannii clinical strains isolated in 2000 (ST-2_clon_2000) and 2010 (ST-2_clon_2010) from GenBank project PRJNA308422

Calcific uraemic arteriolopathy - A mini-review

Calcific Uraemic Arteriolopathy (CUA) or calciphylaxis, is a thrombotic disorder of skin and subcutaneous tissue which typically presents with painful purpuric nodules that may progress to necrotic ulcers, and is a severe, life-threatening condition. CUA is an uncommon clinical entity that affects mostly haemodialysis (HD) patients. Although the process of vascular calcification was initially thought to be the result of a passive deposition of calcium-phosphate crystals, current knowledge suggests a distinct mechanism, including cellular activity with differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) into chondrocyte as well as osteoblast-like cellular phenotypes and deficiencies in calcification inhibitors. Although multiple studies suggest a potential relationship between warfarin and CUA, larger prospective studies are needed in order to better evaluate this association, and randomised controlled trials are needed to assess the benefit of distinct interventions in this setting. In this article the topic of CUA is reviewed based on a clinical case of a 65-year-old man undergoing haemodialysis, who underwent an aortic valve replacement one year earlier, receiving a mechanical heart valve, and who has been under warfarin therapy since the

Density functional theory (dft) method and its aplications in materials science

Una breve explicación de lo que es la Teoría del Funcional de la Densidad DFT se presenta en este trabajo. Se exhiben sus ventajas y desventajas. Cómo es mucho más fácil de convertir una función de onda que trata de un problema de muchos cuerpos, 3N variables, a uno con sólo 3 variables, así como, por qué es necesario el uso de aproximaciones. Se demuestra el método de Kohn-Sham como las aplicaciones más comunes de la DFT, y la forma en que se puede implementar de diferentes maneras dependiendo de lo que va a ser investigado. Una breve descripción del formalismo de la teoría también se presenta y tratamos de enaltecer los múltiples usos y aplicaciones de la DFT

Digital transformation strategies: Conversational commerce

With the evolution of technology and the consequent proliferation of the use of the internet for online shopping, and allied to the strong globalization of global commerce, which has online commerce as the highest exponent, it is increasingly difficult for companies to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors, making it fundamental to place consumer satisfaction at the heart of its business. This research intends to analyze how the use of natural language interfaces, together with a system of intelligent recommendation, that is to say, the concept developed by Chris Messina (2015), Conversational Commerce, could be a differentiating factor in the relationship of companies with its consumers, allowing not only to gain a competitive advantage, but to influence company reputation improving the brand image. This research and its results demonstrate that the use of these conversational interfaces, supported by natural language, increases trust and consumer satisfaction, making the purchasing process more fluid, flexible, convenient and fast, thus gaining a market advantage over its competitors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Distinct ubiquitin binding modes exhibited by SH3 domains: Molecular determinants and functional implications

SH3 domains constitute a new type of ubiquitin-binding domains. We previously showed that the third SH3 domain (SH3-C) of CD2AP binds ubiquitin in an alternative orientation. We have determined the structure of the complex between first CD2AP SH3 domain and ubiquitin and performed a structural and mutational analysis to decipher the determinants of the SH3-C binding mode to ubiquitin. We found that the Phe-to-Tyr mutation in CD2AP and in the homologous CIN85 SH3-C domain does not abrogate ubiquitin binding, in contrast to previous hypothesis and our findings for the first two CD2AP SH3 domains. The similar alternative binding mode of the SH3-C domains of these related adaptor proteins is characterised by a higher affinity to C-terminal extended ubiquitin molecules. We conclude that CD2AP/CIN85 SH3-C domain interaction with ubiquitin constitutes a new ubiquitin-binding mode involved in a different cellular function and thus changes the previously established mechanism of EGF-dependent CD2AP/CIN85 mono-ubiquitination. © 2013 Ortega Roldan et al

State of the art of business models: A bibliometric analysis

Various studies have investigated the business model (BM) in different dimensions. However, bibliometric analyses in this discipline are still limited. This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of business model research, identifying the state of the art, trends, and other indicators by analyzing articles published on the Web of Science (WoS) platform from 2017 to 2022. The present study examines the simultaneous occurrence of publications by year, keyword trends, bibliographic coupling, analysis of co-authorship, cities, and institutions, and finds that the literature on business models rapidly expanded between 2017 and 2020. A total of 14,881 articles were obtained as samples. The present study employs VOSviewer software to analyze the data. A considerable amount of literature has been produced on BMs, but researchers have stopped developing further literature which is thought-provoking. Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that there is a need to research BMs in different domains such as sustainability and digitalization.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Too much? The effect of colour saturation and food perception and preference

We are often contacting with chromatic stimuli, either by the objects we see or by everything that nature has been busy painting, such as food. Our first contact with food is through vision, therefore, it makes colour an important indicator for food assessment and selection. This research aimed to study how a specific colour attribute – the saturation – of vegetables/fruits and animal food products, both natural and confectioned, has an influence on their likeability for the products. For this, 32 images of edible and inedible products were taken from the Food-Pics database, of the subset already validated for the Portuguese population. For each image a high and low saturation version was created. Both versions of the 32 images were randomly presented to 48 participants who reported their likeability for the products’ shown. The results reported that colour saturation of foods, but not of objects, significantly affects their likeability for the products. A greater likeability is found for both vegetable/fruit and animal foods that present a higher level of colour saturation, irrespectively of being natural or confectioned products. These findings have major implications for the promotion of healthy and environmentally-friendly food consumption. This can be accomplished by promoting the use of more saturated colours in the communication of organic fruits and vegetables, whereas, in contrast, animal products should be presented with low colour saturation. With this, we can thrive for consumer responsibility and a more sustainable food consumption, by encouraging healthier eating habits and behaviours supporting a more sustainable food production system.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio