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This essay examines how two Marxist anti-colonial intellectuals from Portuguese India and French India – Aquino de Bragança and V Subbiah – differentially theorized movements for independence from colonial rule. Through the analysis of primary source documents in French, Portuguese, Italian and English, I compare V Subbiah's Dalit, anti-fascist anti-colonial Marxism to Aquino de Bragança's internationalist anti-colonial Marxism. Both theorists' approaches have similarities in (1) theorizing the relationship between fascism and colonialism given that the Portuguese Empire was administered by Salazar's Estado Novo and the French Empire was under Vichy rule, (2) rethinking Marxism to better fit the Global South context and (3) intellectual and political connections to Algeria were critically important for theory and praxis. Despite the distinct geographic and social spaces in which they lived and worked, both produced remarkably similar theories of anti-imperialism.

This paper aims to characterize a sample of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) projects in healthcare settings and discuss some specificities of operational excellence (OPEX) initiatives in hospitals and healthcare organizations in the USA.

A content analysis involving a sample of 23 documents shared by US hospitals was performed in order to achieve the research objectives. Such analysis was based on a conceptual framework developed from the literature review. It was also applied to a quantitative approach, including descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing and correspondence analysis that supported the research.

Most LSSH projects were focused on business transformation and strategic improvements. Simple techniques and tools were predominant such as descriptive statistics, process mapping, 5S and spaghetti charts, usually implemented by Green Belts and Black Belts through the define, measure, analyze, improve and control (DMAIC) method. In addition to the expressive findings reported, these projects' results have been aligned with lead time and operational cost reduction, quality improvement and capacity increase.

The study adds knowledge to the OPEX literature by analyzing the Lean Six Sigma healthcare (LSSH) in hospitals and healthcare institutions in the USA. It also demonstrates that different approaches, such as the kaizen event and DMAIC project show different results according to some techniques and tools applied in the hospital environment.

The empirical evidence presented in this study provides scenery of the LSS practices in the healthcare settings, highlighting the implementation areas, outcomes, tools and techniques mostly used in the North American healthcare institutions.

According to the theory of push and pull factors, the current work aims to present two objectives: (1) to detect what attributes drive senior tourists to travel to the Azores islands, the role played by lecturing activities (LA) as push factors and their influence on the island's offer (pull factors) are analysed; and (2) to understand the personal and contextual barriers of tourists to provide information to the agents who form part of the tourism supply process on the island.

The data has been processed using the statistical package SmartPLS version 26. Using an exploratory methodology based on structural equation modeling (SEM) structural equations applied to small sample sizes, a tentative model has been generated to define the drivers of tourism for elderly people who visit the islands.

The research study reveals that LA are the key factor in completing the offering of tourist destinations in the Azores. Educational packages should be made available to senior tourists. Likewise, several tourism barriers, such as flight times, cost of the trip, concern about the safety of destinations, type of accommodation, language difficulties and medical and health care should also be revised by tourism authorities and flight stakeholders with regard to the Azores Islands.

The reduced sample has made the results impossible to show greater predictive power.

The role played by push factors, such as lecturing or educational activities, and pull factors, such as the tourism offering by the island, allows us to envisage educational packages based on the preferences of senior tourists, such as attending lectures on the history of the Azores, gastronomy (traditional food), active ageing flora, and interesting facts and legends of the islands.

As a push factor, social interaction has become the main motivation among senior tourists. Such tourists have conveyed not only their desire to meet other tourists but also their interest in socialising in tourist activities, relaxing and visiting other new places.

Even though LA are relatively common among university students and those with bachelor's degrees, educational packages for senior tourism are now gaining in popularity. Better socio-economic conditions worldwide and easier access to education for mature people have allowed them to expand their knowledge by travelling to exotic destinations such as the Azores. This paper links that interest with barriers to travel as well as to the Azores' rich touristic offering.

The paper aims to present a literary itinerary inspired in Julio Dinis’ novel An English Family (Uma Família Inglesa) through a comparative analysis of the places identified in the novel and the touristic attraction proposed by Visit Porto website. This novel is representative of the cultural identity and society of Porto city in the 19th century. Developing an itinerary based on this novel can facilitate the reading and understanding of the historical and cultural development of Porto.

This case study is based on the reading of the Julio Dinis’ novel An English Family (Uma Família Inglesa), whose storyline takes place in Porto city, Portugal in the 19th century. It used QGIS v. 3.12 software, a geographical information system to identify the places, to produce the maps and to create the itinerary.

The comparison between the places identified in the novel and the tourist attraction in Visit Porto website revealed that only 6 points in the novel are referenced on Visit Porto website. These points correspond to the ones in the historical city centre of Porto. However, the creation of an itinerary that brings together all the points mentioned by Julio Dinis in his novel, will allow the development of a new touristic itinerary, alternative to existing itineraries in the city and that can be seen as a distinguish offer that allows a different view of the urban space of Porto.

There are some limitations to this study that can be highlighted. First, it was difficult to find the correct location of some points identified in the novel, due to difficulty of finding historical maps with quality of the data. At the same time, as tourist information is dispersed by several sources, and most of those data is not georeferenced, it was time consuming the integration of all the information in the same geodatabase. The choice of the shortest path can also be considered as a limitation, rather than the route followed by the author in the novel, but geographic information systems operates on spatial and temporal scale, which can present a limitation in tourism analysis. In the case of this project, we have chosen the shortest path, assuming that tourist would prefer that.

This research allowed to address two areas of knowledge that are emerging in the study of urban centres as tourist areas: the use of GIS and literary tourism. Despite the fact that there are already articles on this subject, the originality focuses on the approach made around one of the greatest writers of Portugal in the 19th century, allowing to present a tourist itinerary about one of his literary works, and the comparison made between the places identified in the novel and the tourist points identified on the Visit Porto website.

Digital communication supports are a relevant resource for the promotion of citizens’ health literacy. Aware of this reality, in the last quarter of 2019, health professionals of Inpatient Unit A of the Neurology Service of the Coimbra Hospital and University Centre designed the ‘Digital Neuroteca’, which consists of a digital repository with various educational materials in video format, e-books, pamphlets, manuals, infographics, and directories to websites that include credible information, and other content selected by the health team. The selection criteria consider the clarity and credibility of the information in various areas such as risk factors of neurological disease, strategies, and products to support self-care and available resources. Regarding more complex contents, there is a concern to transform them into information accessible to citizens in general. These contents are accessed by patients/caregivers through a tablet/computer, in the presence of the health professional, and can also be sent by email. We got positive results with an increase of satisfaction of those involved – patients, caregivers, and professionals. Health professionals and patients/caregivers reported high satisfaction with the use of this resource given the clarity of the contents, which facilitate understanding and meet their needs, recognizing this tool as an excellent complement to the process of health literacy promotion.

This paper aims to define the efficiency achieved by urban transport companies in Spain concerning the resources they use, considering the type of management used for implementation, public-private, and size.

This study consisted of an analysis of the efficiency of 229 public-private urban transport operators during the period 2012–2021 using Data Envelopment Analysis, the Malmquist Index and inference estimators to determine productivity, efficiency change into Pure Technical Efficiency Change (PTECH), and scale efficiency change.

Based on the efficiency analysis, the authors concluded that of the 229 companies studied, more than 35 were inefficient in all analysed periods. Considering the sample used, direct management is considered significantly more efficient. It cannot be concluded that the size of these companies influences their efficiency, as the data show unequal development behaviours in the studied years.

This study provides arguments on whether there is a significant difference between the two types of management in the urban transport sector. It also includes firm size as a study variable, which has not been previously considered in other studies related to urban transport efficiency. Efficiency should be a crucial factor in determining funding allocation in this sector, as it encourages operators to optimize and improve their services.

This paper aims to highlight the importance of open data and the role that knowledge management and open innovation can play in its identification and use. Open data has great potential to create social and economic value, but its main problem is that it is often not easily reusable. The aim of this paper is to propose a unique identifier for open data-sets that would facilitate search and access to them and help to reduce heterogeneity in the publication of data in open data portals.

Considering a model of the impact process of open data reuse and based on the digital object identifier system, this paper develops a proposal of a unique identifier for open data-sets called Open Data-set Identifier (OpenDatId).

This paper presents some examples of the application and advantages of OpenDatId. For example, users can easily consult the available content catalogues, search the data in an automated way and examine the content for reuse. It is also possible to find out where this data comes from, solving the problems caused by the increasingly frequent federation of data in open data portals and enabling the creation of additional services based on open data.

From an integrated perspective of knowledge management and open innovation, this paper presents a new unique identifier for open data-sets (OpenDatId) and a new concept for data-set, the FAIR Open Data-sets.

Considering the high impacts caused by manufacturers on sustainability, this research aims to analyse how Brazilian manufacturing companies deal with sustainability issues. To do this, sustainability parameters are analysed to verify possible improvement opportunities.

This research uses Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and grey relational analysis (GRA) to analyse data from a survey with Brazilian professionals regarding aspects of sustainability in Brazilian manufacturers. The average score levels and the ranking of these aspects are evaluated.

Through the analysis performed, it was possible to verify that manufacturers in Brazil still have a long path to travel in the search for sustainability. Comparatively, it was observed that practices related to local communities received the lowest scores, on average. In contrast, on average, practices related to productivity and efficiency, occupational accidents and diseases, and compliance with environmental legislation received the highest scores.

The results presented in this paper show that there are several improvement opportunities to be sought by Brazilian manufacturing companies regarding sustainability aspects. Particular attention should be given to local community practices. Besides companies, policymakers can also use this analysis to guide their future actions, encouraging manufacturing companies to better support the local community. Researchers can use the instrument of analysis (TOPSIS and GRA) to analyse other realities and compare them with the findings presented.

The analysis of Brazilian manufacturing companies’ reality regarding sustainability practices and considering a model based on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance (IBGC) is novel in the literature. The use of TOPSIS and GRA, as well as comparing their findings, generated interesting insights for companies, policymakers and researchers. The analysis presented shows the need for more significant concern for local communities and can be used to support further debates and action plans to minimise this gap.

Micro and small enterprises (MSEs) play a crucial role in the development of any country by generating innovative ideas. However, they face inherent restrictions that hinder their innovation capabilities. It is essential to support innovation policies to overcome these barriers and foster innovation. This study aims to explore how innovation policies can reduce barriers to innovation in MSEs using the lens of innovation capabilities.

Through a multiple case study, the authors examined eight MSEs in São Paulo (Brazil) and five in Florence (Italy) to conduct this study. These countries share a similar level of importance when it comes to MSEs.

Current innovation policies could be more effective for MSEs if certain barriers they encounter are faced and resolved, such as limited financial resources and a scarcity of qualified workers. These barriers directly affect two key elements of their innovation capability: financial resources and human resources. Therefore, it is essential to develop innovation policies that target these elements directly to enable MSEs to overcome these obstacles and thrive.

This study aims to enhance the knowledge of how innovation policies can help alleviate obstacles to innovation and how they can influence the various components that comprise the innovation capability of MSEs. This research can be valuable for policymakers as it provides insight into which innovation policies impact each aspect of innovation capability, enabling them to choose the most suitable policy based on the specific needs and local circumstances of the MSEs.

Milton Nascimento is one of the most prolific Brazilian singers and songwriters of all time, an artist who has formed friendships and made songs with a host of Brazilian artists, with international stars from Latin America, and with artists abroad. Milton’s repertoire has made its way into the fabric of musical compilations of Brazilian music for international listeners. Perhaps unbeknownst to these international listeners, Milton, as an Afro-Brazilian artist, reflects a complex and paradoxical relationship to “race” in his music – at times openly touching upon racial themes, even during an area when the government forbade open discussion of racial tension in Brazil – but at times signifying race more subtly, either through subtle references to diversity in Brazil or through the very elements of his music.