Search results

The purpose of this paper is to optimize a mixed juice made from Brazilian Cerrado fruits (cagaita, mangaba and marolo).

The juices were evaluated by rheological, physical, physicochemical, nutritional and sensory acceptance analyses. The mixture design is a widely used tool for product optimization, allowing the determination of factors, combinations and levels that provide best responses.

The results show that using mangaba pulp negatively contributed to juice acceptance, but resulted in the highest ascorbic acid content. The treatments produced using cagaita and marolo pulps presented a greater acceptance by consumers, and contributed to higher antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds content. The juice prepared with a mixture of equivalent quantities of the three fruits had the highest β-carotene and lycopene contents.

This research has shown that different fruit combinations can improve sensory and nutritional characteristics, adding value to the final product.

The processing of mixed juices could increase population access to the nutrients present in Brazilian Cerrado fruits, given that they are seasonal and perishable fruits.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the development of new food products based on Cerrado native fruits, however information on the chemical and nutritional characteristics, rheological behavior, and sensory attributes of the derivative products are still limited, resulting in a lack of scientific investments in this area. In addition, it is necessary to optimize the developed products to offer the consumer a unique product, combining the characteristics of two or more fruits, which adds value to the final product.

The purpose of this paper is to provide background information on a rarely studied response capability of communities across the USA, local, mostly volunteer search and rescue (SAR) teams.

Information on local teams was collected from January 2005 until February 2006 through internet searches, online SAR organization lists, and by e‐mailing a survey to local teams. A smaller, previously used database was used to verify the final list of teams and 57 new teams were added in this manner. An SPSS database was created using all the fields collated from the survey.

It was found that there are 1,150 teams in the USA, which range from one team per State to 79 teams in California. Local SAR teams had a quicker response time than federal teams, while maintaining better equipment and training than emergent volunteers. These teams, unlike the federally funded US&R teams, rely mostly on donations and community fundraisers to continue operating.

Missing data were the most consistent problem faced. Web sites, web links and e‐mail addresses often had expired or did not contain the right information, some teams existed without having a web site (and therefore were not included in the database); also response to the e‐mail survey was low.

Integrating interested local SAR teams into official multi‐organizational disaster and emergency responses could provide valuable additional resources to emergency and incident managers, would allow for better funding for local SAR, and could facilitate recognition to these often overlooked teams.

This paper provides preliminary information on local SAR teams in the USA.

“Suitable for MBA, Executive MBA, GEMBA, and executive education programs, this case uses CEMEX, a global cement producer based in Mexico, to set the stage for unfolding an analysis of a growth through acquisition strategy. It offers a discussion about the firm's overall strategy to acquire on a global scale instead of growing organically and provides an opportunity to introduce basic financial, marketing, and operational terms that can be explored in subsequent classes. The material includes a PMI process that further allows discussion on that technique.

The case opens with a conference call and another barrage of questions for CEO Lorenzo Zambrano about his bid to buy the Australia-based Rinker Group in October 2006. Until this point, CEMEX has had a long-standing habit of buying businesses in emerging markets; this acquisition would be a departure from that strategy. If the deal goes through, it would be the single largest acquisition in CEMEX's history, and it would be among its few forays into a developed market other than the neighboring United States. The company has grown exponentially and successfully. Why would this effort be any different? Was the acquisition a good idea or not? And if it was, how would Zambrano and his leadership team convince Wall Street and others of that?”

Literature has suggested that the agenda of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an extension of corporate governance (CG) and would be under the responsibility of the board of directors. In this sense, the authors seek to understand the perception of board members on the CSR issue.

Exploratory survey with 128 Brazilian board members was carried out. The authors looked at their perception about the incorporation of CSR in business agendas and on what they consider when deciding on issues related to CSR.

The results show that board members understand the organization more as an entity that has a social role to play than something that simply acts pragmatically. This position is reflected in their decision-making processes rather than in the values and beliefs of the controllers’ majority shareholders, which consider what creates long-term value for organizations. The directors seek to create and maintain value for organizations for them to operate sustainably.

This research contributes to structuring boards. When choosing board members, having only technical requirements is no longer sufficient; their psychological profile and history also need to be taken into account. It also contributes to the drafting of CSR policies by showing what board members think of CSR and how they make decisions.

This study focuses on understanding how the director as an individual observes CSR. Much has been studied about CG, CSR and board members; however, little is known regarding the opinion of board members with regard to CSR. The authors are suggesting an approach to the singularities of directors as another direction in governance research.