scholarly journals Enhancing Regional Produce as Green Products for the Global Market: An Exploratory Study in a Portuguese Region

Author(s):  
Marcelo Calvete Gaspar ◽  
Jorge Julião ◽  
Benny Tjahjono

This study focuses on exploring the sustainability characteristics of the regional produce, which comes from the Beiras region of Portugal to support new differentiation claims and forecast its effect on a global mass-market. Considering a Multiple Helix approach, this study aims to examine the role and perception of local academia in relation to this new premise to enhance the dynamic and competitive positioning of such regional produce. To this end, several in-depth interviews were conducted with local researchers and decision-makers, allowing the significance and potential of the proposed green claims to be discussed. Several insights into the subject were developed and new directives were presented. Nonetheless, complementary research may still be necessary to assess the remaining multiple helix actors of the local ecosystem in order to identify and develop the most promising strategies to effectively promote local endogenous produce to a global market.

2013 ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
Yen Nguyen Thi Hoang

This paper focuses on the understanding of service quality in the context of Vietnamese universities. It proposes an approach for measuring the quality of the higher education service provided by universities in Vietnam. Firstly, an exploratory study was conducted. Then, the set of items which were generated became the subject of a questionnaire that was then administered to 675 students of a Vietnamese university to determine the dimensions of higher education service quality in this context. The obtained results permit us to appropriate a measurement scale which is slightly different from the SERVQUAL scale widely known as the standard for measuring service quality. The results also show that tangible elements, responsiveness and assurance seem to be three specific dimensions of the higher education service of Vietnamese universities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony KOLA-OLUSANYA

As soon as decision makers are expected to make differences towards sustainable future, young adults’ ability to make informed and sound decisions is considered essential towards securing our planet. This study provides an insight into young adults’ knowledge of key environment and sustainability issues. To answer the key research questions, data were obtained using a qualitative phenomenographic research approach and collected through 18 face-to-face in-depth interviews with research participants. The findings of this study suggest that young adults lived experiences that play a huge role in their level of awareness of topical environmental and sustainability issues critical to humanity’s future on earth. 


Urban Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Till Koglin ◽  
Lucas Glasare

This paper evaluates the history and cycling accessibility of Nova, a shopping centre established in Lund, Sweden, in 2002. The current situation was also analysed through observation and a literature review. Moreover, the study conducted a closer analysis of the history and role of the municipality based on further literature study and interviews with officials. The conclusion of the analysis indicates poor and unsafe bikeways caused by conflicts of interest between politicians, officials, landowners and the general public. It also depicts a situation in which the municipality’s master plan has been ignored, and, in contrast to the local goals, cycling accessibility at Nova has seen no significant improvement since the shopping centre was first established. The reasons for this, arguably, are a relatively low budget for bikeway improvements in the municipality, as well as a situation in which decision-makers have stopped approaching the subject, as a result of the long and often boisterous conflicts it has created in the past. Lastly, it must be noted that it is easy to regard the whole process of Nova, from its establishment to the current situation, as being symptomatic of the power structures between drivers and cyclists that still affect decision-makers at all levels.


Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 169
Author(s):  
Cristina Lazzeroni ◽  
Sandra Malvezzi ◽  
Andrea Quadri

The rapid changes in science and technology witnessed in recent decades have significantly contributed to the arousal of the awareness by decision-makers and the public as a whole of the need to strengthen the connection between outreach activities of universities and research institutes and the activities of educational institutions, with a central role played by schools. While the relevance of the problem is nowadays unquestioned, no unique and fully satisfactory solution has been identified. In the present paper we would like to contribute to the discussion on the subject by reporting on an ongoing project aimed to teach Particle Physics in primary schools. We will start from the past and currently planned activities in this project in order to establish a broader framework to describe the conditions for the fruitful interplay between researchers and teachers. We will also emphasize some aspects related to the dissemination of outreach materials by research institutions, in order to promote the access and distribution of scientific information in a way suited to the different age of the target students.


Challenges ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
George Xydis ◽  
Luca Pagliaricci ◽  
Živilė Paužaitė ◽  
Vygintas Grinis ◽  
Gyula Sallai ◽  
...  

In an aim to contribute to already existing knowledge upon the subject of smart cities and the public sector’s wider knowledge in Europe, this study investigates the perception by the municipalities and the wider public sector, responsible for implementing smart solutions in the environment. The understanding of the concept of smart cities/villages by municipalities is on a low level due to the fact that the problem is too wide, not well described, solutions even wider, accompanied by the lack of experts able to offer comprehensive solutions to municipalities. The study presents factors according to the current municipalities’ knowledge (environmental awareness, knowledge and prior experience) and the existing market, of whether these factors can be said that affect the acceptance of smart cities. The public is already aware of the smart cities as a general concept, however, the study sheds light upon the established knowledge that the decision makers have in five countries, Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, Lithuania, and Denmark.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 518-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Mullaly

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of decision rules and agency in supporting project initiation decisions, and the influences of agency on decision-making effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach – The study this paper is based upon used grounded theory methodology, and sought to understand the influences of individual decision makers on project initiation decisions within organizations. Data collection involved 28 participants who were involved in project initiation decisions within their organizations, who discussed the process of project initiation in their organization and their role within that process. Findings – The study demonstrates that the overall effectiveness of project initiation decisions is a product of agency, process effectiveness or rule effectiveness. The employment of agency can have a direct influence on decision-making effectiveness, it can compensate for organizational inadequacies of a process or political nature, and it can be constrained in the evidence of formal and effective organizational practices. Research limitations/implications – While agency was recognized by all participants, there are clearly circumstances where actors perceive the ability to exercise agency to be externally constrained. The study is exploratory, contributing to the development of substantive theory. Theory testing as well as a more in-depth investigation of the underlying drivers of agency would be valuable. Practical implications – The study provides executives and individuals supporting the initiation of projects with insights on how to effectively influence the effectiveness of project initiation decisions, and the degree to which personal characteristics influence organizational dynamics. Originality/value – Most discussions of agency has been framed the subject as an executive- or board-level phenomenon. The current study demonstrates that agency is in fact being perceived and operationalized at all levels. Those demonstrating agency in the majority of instances in this study do so in exercising stewardship behaviours. This has important implications for how agency is perceived by executives, and by how agency is exercised by actors at all levels of the organization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Junita Junita ◽  
Zainuddin Zainuddin ◽  
Ibnu Hajar ◽  
Rahma Muti’ah ◽  
Marlina Siregar

This study aims to obtain a concrete picture of the effectiveness of the application of the principles of teacher Islamic communication in fostering the character of tenth grade students of Madrasah Aliyah Negeri Rantauprapat. The communication process in education is not only understood as a one-way knowledge transfer process, however, there must be a serious effort on the part of the educator / teacher, as a communicator, to be able to provide good role models. Qualitative research methods try to understand a phenomenon as the understanding of the respondents studied, with an emphasis on the subjective aspects of one's behavior. Qualitative research provides an opportunity for researchers to understand the way respondents describe the world around them based on the way they think. The researcher tries to enter the conceptual world of the subject under study to capture what and how things happen. Data collection techniques used in this study were interviews in this study researchers used a semi-structured interview (semitructure interview), namely: interviews in the category of in-depth interviews. Data about the application of teacher Islamic communication and the communication character of tenth grade students, data analysis used in this study during the field using the Miles and Huberman Model, namely the activities in qualitative data analysis are carried out interactively and continue continuously until completion, so that the data is already saturated.


2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
Guilia Sinatti

The increased interconnectedness and possibilities for travel and communication that characterise the current, global age have strongly affected scholarly ways of understanding contemporary forms of identification and belonging. Literature on the subject strongly challenges the notion of home as a fixed place, particularly where migration is concerned. The case study of Senegalese migration, however, contrasts this argument. Based upon ethnographic research and in depth interviews with migrants conducted in Senegal and in Italy between 2004 and 2007, this article shows that for many Senegalese the ultimate home still remains strongly identified with the country of origin. Questioned on the issue at stake, Senegalese migrants unanimously express the eventual goal of return to the home-land. The perceived importance of an anchorage in Senegal is expressed even more strikingly than in words, in the practices of migrant investment in housing. Migrants invest massively in the home country, significantly altering the landscape of local cities. This article shows that the intensity and features of construction activities undertaken by migrants in the capital city of Dakar are provoking a veritable process of urban makeover, which is transforming the physiognomy of the built environment. Alongside transforming the landscape of many peripheral neighbourhoods by altering mainstream architectural features of buildings and importing Western styles and taste in local construction practices, migrants are also contributing towards the creation of new symbols of success.


Author(s):  
R. O. Voskanian

The subject of the research is the Russian market of mergers and acquisitions in the period from 2009 to 2019. The author has examined the economic essence of mergers and acquisitions, analysed the number of transactions of both types on the Russian market. The article analyses foreign participation in the Russian market of mergers and acquisitions reveals a tendency to its linear decline from 2011 to the present. Also were identified three sectors of the Russian economy leaders in the number of target companies (banks, agriculture, transport and infrastructure). A conclusion has been formulated on the negative impact of the current economic situation on the Russian and global market for mergers and acquisitions, suggesting a decrease in the number and amount of mergers and acquisitions in the coming years.


Symmetry ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaru Li ◽  
Fangwei Zhang ◽  
Qiang Li ◽  
Jing Sun ◽  
Janney Yee ◽  
...  

The subject of this study is to explore the role of cardinality of hesitant fuzzy element (HFE) in distance measures on hesitant fuzzy sets (HFSs). Firstly, three parameters, i.e., credibility factor, conservative factor, and a risk factor are introduced, thereafter, a series of novel distance measures on HFSs are proposed using these three parameters. These newly proposed distance measures handle the relationship between the cardinal number and the element values of hesitant fuzzy set well, and are suitable to combine subjective and objective decision-making information. When using these functions, decision makers with different risk preferences are allowed to give different values for these three parameters. In particular, this study transfers the hesitance degree index to a credibility of the values in HFEs, which is consistent with people’s intuition. Finally, the practicability of the newly proposed distance measures is verified by two examples.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document