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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact triggered by adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in South America. In order to do this, the case of Chile is considered, as it was the first country in the region to adopt IFRS in full form from 2009.

The authors analyze a sample of 43 Chilean companies. The analysis has two stages. First, the authors analyze if the adoption of IFRS in Chile produced a statistically significant change in the main financial indicators. Then, the authors analyze the market reaction to the announcement of the adoption and implementation of IFRS, by doing an event study.

The authors found that adopting IFRS in Chile produced a statistically significant change in the main financial indicators, except for in leverage and Price-Earnings Ratios. As for the main accounts of the financial statements, the authors found significant differences, with the exception of inventories and current assets. However, after assessing the market reaction to the announcement of the adoption and implementation of IFRS, by studying the events, the authors report neither reward nor punishment by the market.

This paper pioneers the analysis of the impact triggered by adopting IFRS in South America. The authors results apply not only to Chile but also to a number of South American countries since many of these countries share similar characteristics with Chile.

Nosotros analizamos el impacto provocado por la adopción de las Normas Internacionales de Información Financiera (IFRS) en América del Sur. Para ello consideramos a Chile, porque fue el primer país de la región en adoptar IFRS en forma completa a partir de 2009.

Nosotros analizamos una muestra de 43 empresas chilenas. Nuestro análisis tiene dos etapas. En primer lugar, analizamos si la adopción de IFRS en Chile produjo un cambio estadísticamente significativo en los principales indicadores financieros. Luego, analizamos la reacción del mercado ante el anuncio de la adopción IFRS, mediante un estudio de eventos.

Encontramos que la adopción de IFRS en Chile produjo un cambio estadísticamente significativo en los principales indicadores financieros, a excepción de los ratios de apalancamiento y precio-beneficio. Además, encontramos diferencias significativas en las cuentas de los estados financieros, con la excepción de inventarios y activos circulantes. Por otra parte, después de evaluar la reacción del mercado ante el anuncio de la adopción de IFRS, mediante un estudio de eventos, no encontramos un premio ni un castigo por parte del mercado.

Somos pioneros en analizar el impacto provocado por la adopción de IFRS en América del Sur. Nuestros resultados se aplican no sólo a Chile, sino también a una serie de países de América del Sur, ya que muchos de estos países tienen con Chile similares características.

Fillet welding is one of the most widespread types of welding in the industry, which is still carried out manually or automated by contact. This paper aims to describe an online programming system for noncontact fillet welding robots with “U”- and “L”-shaped structures, which responds to the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

In this paper, the authors propose an online robot programming methodology that eliminates unnecessary steps traditionally performed in robotic welding, so that the operator only performs three steps to complete the welding task. First, choose the piece to weld. Then, enter the welding parameters. Finally, it sends the automatically generated program to the robot.

The system finally managed to perform the fillet welding task with the proposed method in a more efficient preparation time than the compared methods. For this, a reduced number of components was used compared to other systems: a structured light 3 D camera, two computers and a concentrator, in addition to the six-axis industrial robotic arm. The operating complexity of the system has been reduced as much as possible.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no scientific or commercial evidence of an online robot programming system capable of performing a fillet welding process, simplifying the process so that it is completely transparent for the operator and framed in the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Its commercial potential lies mainly in its simple and low-cost implementation in a flexible system capable of adapting to any industrial fillet welding job and to any support that can accommodate it.

In this study, a robotic robust system is achieved, aligned to Industry 4.0, with a friendly, intuitive and simple interface for an operator who does not need to have knowledge of industrial robotics, allowing him to perform a fillet welding saving time and increasing productivity.

The objective of this paper is to assess and synthesize the published literature related to the application of data analytics, big data, data mining and machine learning to healthcare engineering systems.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to obtain the most relevant papers related to the research study from three different platforms: EBSCOhost, ProQuest and Scopus. The literature was assessed and synthesized, conducting analysis associated with the publications, authors and content.

From the SLR, 576 publications were identified and analyzed. The research area seems to show the characteristics of a growing field with new research areas evolving and applications being explored. In addition, the main authors and collaboration groups publishing in this research area were identified throughout a social network analysis. This could lead new and current authors to identify researchers with common interests on the field.

The use of the SLR methodology does not guarantee that all relevant publications related to the research are covered and analyzed. However, the authors' previous knowledge and the nature of the publications were used to select different platforms.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper represents the most comprehensive literature-based study on the fields of data analytics, big data, data mining and machine learning applied to healthcare engineering systems.

The concept of sustainable development (SD) is a popular response to society’s need to preserve and extend the life span of natural resources. One of the 17 goals of the SD is “education quality” (Fourth Goal of Sustainable Development [SDG-4]). Education quality is an important goal because education is a powerful force that can influence social policies and social change. The SDG-4 must be measured in different contexts, and the tools to quantify its effects require exploration. So, this study aims to propose a statistical model to measure the impact of higher education online courses on SD and a structural equation model (SEM) to find constructs or factors that help us explain a sustainability benefits rate. These proposed models integrate the three areas of sustainability: social, economic and environmental.

A beta regression model suggests features that include the academic and economic opportunities offered by the institution, the involvement in research activities and the quality of the online courses. A structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis allowed selecting the key variables and constructs that are strongly linked to the SD.

One of the key findings showed that the benefit provided by online courses in terms of SD is 62.99% higher than that of offline courses in aspects such as transportation, photocopies, printouts, books, food, clothing, enrolment fees and connectivity.

The SEM model needs large sample sizes to have consistent estimations. Thus, despite the obtained estimations in the proposed SEM model being reliable, the authors consider that a limitation of this study was the required time to collect data corresponding to the estimated sample size.

This study proposes two novel and different ways to estimate the sustainability benefits rate focused on SDG-4, and machine learning tools are implemented to validate and gain robustness in the estimations of the beta model. Additionally, the SEM model allows us to identify new constructs associated with SDG-4.

The purpose of this study is to draw on terror management theory (TMT) to explore the impact of pervasive mortality cues on consumer behaviour as a result of residing in a community ravaged by escalating violence.

A qualitative analysis of 27 in-depth interviews of consumers living in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico during the height of the Mexican drug war provides insight into their coping strategies and consumption.

Living under such conditions results in unrelenting mortality salience (MS), as well as the adoption of consumption-related coping strategies that can conflict with cultural worldviews and threaten self-esteem. The normalization of coping strategies severely strains worldviews. Consumers manage their ensuing intrapersonal evaluative tension by developing consumption safe havens and through identity fragmentation. Moreover, permanent proximal defences result from persistent MS.

Although cross-sectional and idiosyncratic to the Mexican culture, the findings broaden TMT by suggesting that consumers facing relentless MS experience altered brand meanings and social interactions, as they were reluctant to acquire prestige brands, while indicating an increase in the value placed on relationships over possessions.

Marketers can help consumers alleviate their death-related anxiety by eliminating telemarketing campaigns, promoting online shopping, using unique customer identification numbers and investing in visible security measures such as gates, security cameras, and guards.

This exploratory study provides a preliminary theoretical framework for consumers’ reactions to persistent MS.

The figure of the Castilian knight Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, better known as El Cid, is progressively becoming a frequent topic in metal music. This growing presence has been evident particularly since the explosion of power metal in the late 1990s, and the more recent rise of folk metal, being felt not only in Spanish and Spanish-influenced bands, but also in others with no known links to the Spanish culture. This chapter establishes how the choice of such sources influences the final portrait of El Cid in metal music and the message conveyed to and the effect on the listener. The motivation behind the choices above is explored with a focus on musical, socio-cultural and political–ideological factors.

The main objective of this study was to establish a model of competitiveness factors to measure the value of construction companies adequately.

A theoretical model of four main factors was developed, and they include human capital, ethical values, process innovation and financing. Information was collected from 18 construction companies in the city of Metropolitan Lima, collecting information on each of these factors. Through an analysis of the principal components, the weighting of each factor about the competitiveness of a construction company was determined.

The cost of person-hours, the cost of equipment to execute work, and the cost of materials used are the strongest indicators to measure the competitiveness of a construction company. On the other hand, the number of employees holding university degrees and the number of master builders holding technical degrees in the human capital factor also have a moderate weight in determining the competitiveness value of a company. The indicator of work delivered within the deadline also moderately affects competitiveness. Finally, the monthly debt payment indicator has a very small effect on the company’s competitiveness.

In conclusion, this study provides evidence of a competitiveness model with highly related factors on human capital, process innovation and ethical values as the most important in measuring competitiveness.

El objetivo principal de la investigación fue establecer un modelo de factores de competitividad para medir adecuadamente el valor de las empresas constructoras.

Se desarrolló un modelo teórico de cuatro factores principales, que incluyen el capital humano, los valores éticos, la innovación de procesos y el financiamiento. Se recolectó información de 18 empresas constructoras de la ciudad de Lima Metropolitana, recolectando información de cada uno de estos factores. A través de un análisis de componentes principales se determinó la ponderación de cada uno de ellos sobre la competitividad de una empresa constructora.

El costo de horas hombre, el costo de los equipos para ejecutar obras y el costo de material utilizado son los indicadores más fuertes para medir la competitividad de una empresa constructora. Por otro lado, la cantidad de empleados con títulos universitarios y la cantidad de maestros de obra con título técnico del factor de capital humano también tienen un peso moderado en la determinación del valor de competitividad de una empresa. El indicador de obras entregadas dentro de plazo también tiene un efecto moderado sobre la competitividad. Finalmente, el indicador de pago mensual de la deuda tiene un efecto muy pequeño sobre la competitividad de la empresa.

En conclusión, el estudio proporciona evidencia de un modelo de competitividad con factores altamente relacionados sobre el capital humano, la innovación de procesos y los valores éticos como los más importantes a la hora de medir la competitividad.

In January 2012, the Jane Addams Hull House Association—one of Chicago's largest and oldest social service agencies and arguably its most iconic—announced that it might have to close in the spring due to financial difficulties. Just days later, the 122-year-old organization stunned the philanthropic world when it laid off its employees without notice, declared its intention to liquidate in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and shut its doors forever. In the weeks that followed, more and more people began to ask: What had happened to the board? Had bankruptcy really been inevitable? This case chronicles the organization's final decade and enables students to step into the shoes of the chairman of the board, Steve Saunders, as he led the board through its last two years. Students will examine the roles and responsibilities of effective boards and determine how internal and external factors contributed to Hull House's demise.

After reading and analyzing the case, students will be able to:

• Describe the roles and responsibilities of nonprofit boards

• Determine when the board is not performing its job and what the implications are for the organization

• Evaluate ways in which the board might change in order to do a better job

• Diagnose when external environmental factors threaten the security of a nonprofit and how the board itself might diagnose and work with such threats

Describe the roles and responsibilities of nonprofit boards

Determine when the board is not performing its job and what the implications are for the organization

Evaluate ways in which the board might change in order to do a better job

Diagnose when external environmental factors threaten the security of a nonprofit and how the board itself might diagnose and work with such threats

This study examines the role of universities in the social entrepreneurship ecosystems (SEEs) in Latin America from the perspective of female academic staff, administrators and outreach workers of universities in the region.

Using a qualitative approach, the study scrutinises in-depth interviews conducted with 24 women from eight Latin American universities.

The findings underscore the pivotal role of universities in promoting social entrepreneurship through knowledge generation, entrepreneur training, network enhancement and the promotion of equity. They also highlight the importance of incorporating a gender perspective into university programmes and practices.

The qualitative nature and small, diverse sample of this research inherently limit its scope. However, these limitations arise from the exploratory approach adopted, which was confined to eight Latin American countries. Further comparative studies in different contexts are needed to deepen the understanding of the dynamics involved.

Universities should offer more tangible support and training in social entrepreneurship with a gender focus. Governments can create incentives for universities to prioritise their contribution in this area.

The study emphasises the potential of women-led social entrepreneurship initiatives to generate positive impact, underscoring the need for inclusive supportive environments.

By providing insights on the role of Latin American universities in SEEs from a gender perspective, this study contributes to limited literature on the intersection of social entrepreneurship, gender, higher education and geographic context in the region. The research underscores the need to further explore how gender and regional dynamics influence social entrepreneurial ecosystems.