Search results
1 – 10 of 12Fernanda Rodrigues, Flávio Antunes and Raquel Matos
The use of building information modelling (BIM) methodology has been increasing in the architecture, engineering, construction and operation sector, driven to a new…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of building information modelling (BIM) methodology has been increasing in the architecture, engineering, construction and operation sector, driven to a new paradigm of work with the use of three-dimensional (3D) parametric models. However, building information modelling (BIM) has been mostly used for as-built models of a building, not yet been widely used by designers during project and construction phases for occupational risks prevention and safety planning. This paper aims to show the capacity of developing tools that allow adding functionalities to Revit software to improve safety procedures and reduce the time spent on modelling them during the design phase.
Design/methodology/approach
To reach this objective, a structural 3D model of a building is used to validate the developed tools. A plugin prototype based on legal regulations was developed, allowing qualitative safety assessment through the application of job hazard analysis (JHA), SafeObject and checklists. These tools allow the automated detection of falls from height situations and the automated placement of the correspondent safety systems.
Findings
Revit application programming interface allowed the conception and addition of several functionalities that can be used in BIM methodology, and more specifically in the prevention of occupational risks in construction, contributing this paper to the application of a new approach to the prevention through design.
Originality/value
This paper is innovative and important because the developed plugins allowed: automated detection of potential falls from heights in the design stage; automated introduction of safety objects from a BIM Safety Objects Library; and the intercommunication between a BIM model and a safety database, bringing JHA integration directly on the project. The prototype of this work was validated for fall from height hazards but can be extended to other potentials hazards since the initial design stage.
Details
Keywords
Raquel Guiné, Mariana Matos, Carla Henriques and Paula Correia
Bread is one of the most consumed foods in the world, and its main function is to provide nutrients and energy for the body. Thus, the purpose of this paper was to raise…
Abstract
Purpose
Bread is one of the most consumed foods in the world, and its main function is to provide nutrients and energy for the body. Thus, the purpose of this paper was to raise awareness about the consumption habits of bread and consumer preferences in the region of Viseu (centre of Portugal), assessing the extent to which the preferences and consumption habits differ based on individual variables.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted by means of a questionnaire by direct interviewing. The questionnaire included sections aimed at gathering information about demographics, consumption habits and preferences related to bread. The sample consisted of 500 consented respondents.
Findings
The results showed significant differences between genders regarding the type of bread eaten: women consumed less wheat bread (52 per cent against 62 per cent; p = 0.029) and less unsalted bread (0.3 per cent against 3 per cent; p = 0.023), but more whole bread (25 per cent against 11 per cent; p < 0.001) and more bread with cereal grains (23 per cent against 11 per cent; p = 0.001), thus revealing a trend for a nutritionally more adequate choice. Accordingly, women valued more the composition of the bread when purchasing it (p < 0.001). It was also observed a trend for a lower consumption of wheat bread among classes with more advanced studies (47 per cent on university graduates against 60 per cent on nongraduates; p = 0.004).
Originality/value
This work is innovative because it was the first time the preferences and consuming habits of a sample of Portuguese population regarding bread were accessed, altogether. The results hereby obtained may be of importance both to understand the nutritional importance of bread in the diet of the Portuguese and also for the industry and manufacturers to better correspond to the buying preferences.
Details
Keywords
Raquel Reis Soares, Ting Ting (Christina) Zhang, João F. Proença and Jay Kandampully
The purpose of this paper is twofold: to examine generational differences in complaint and post-recovery behaviors after service failures and recoveries, and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: to examine generational differences in complaint and post-recovery behaviors after service failures and recoveries, and to investigate the key factors that relate to Generation Y consumers’ responses.
Design/methodology/approach
In a two-stage approach, Study 1 investigates generational differences in the complaint and repurchase behaviors of a vast sample of more than 36,000 customers. Study 2 examines which factors influence Generation Y consumers’ decisions to complain and to repurchase.
Findings
Across four generational cohorts (the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y), consumers in Generation Y are the most likely to complain about service failures and repurchase after a satisfactory service recovery. The service recovery paradox thus is a generational feature. Generation Y’s unique characteristics – being tech savvy, heavily influenced by peers, and untrusting of brands – relate closely to their complaint and repurchase patterns. These prolific users of social media tend to stay with a service provider after experiencing satisfactory recovery but are more inclined to complain.
Originality/value
This study contributes to service management literature by revealing generational differences in customers’ complaint behavior and responses to recovery efforts, while also testing repurchase behavior rather than just behavioral intentions. This study provides valuable insights into the unique factors that influence Generation Y consumers’ complaint and post-recovery responses.
Details
Keywords
Carlos Flavian, Raquel Gurrea and Carlos Orús
The purpose of this research is to analyse the influence of mobile word of mouth (m-WOM), received at the physical store, which “challenges” the consumer's preferences in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to analyse the influence of mobile word of mouth (m-WOM), received at the physical store, which “challenges” the consumer's preferences in a webrooming experience. The impacts of the social relationship between the sender and the receiver of the m-WOM and product category (electronics versus fashion accessories) are examined.
Design/methodology/approach
An online experiment was carried out which manipulated the presence and type of challenging m-WOM, and product category, in a 3 × 2 between-subjects factorial design. The participants were 204 consumers recruited through a market research agency. Their perceptions about the helpfulness of the m-WOM, and their product preferences and choices, were analysed.
Findings
Receiving in-store m-WOM was perceived as helpful by webroomers and affected their preferences and choices. For electronics online reviews posted by anonymous customers were more influential than friends' opinions, whereas the opposite was the case with fashion accessories. The trustworthiness and expertise of the m-WOM source may explain the effects of m-WOM.
Practical implications
m-WOM entails challenges and opportunities for retailers in the omnichannel era. The findings suggest that allowing customers to access m-WOM may be beneficial; however, retailers must consider the type of m-WOM that may be most suitable for their businesses. Recommendations for referral and review sites are also offered.
Originality/value
This study examines the impact of challenging m-WOM on shopping experiences, combining online, mobile and physical channels. The results revealed the importance of the information source and product category in the determination of consumers' perceptions of helpfulness, preferences and choice.
Details
Keywords
Raquel Chafloque-Cespedes, Aldo Alvarez-Risco, Paula-Viviana Robayo-Acuña, Carlos-Antonio Gamarra-Chavez, Gabriel-Mauricio Martinez-Toro and Wagner Vicente-Ramos
This chapter is designed with the aim to determine the influence of sociodemographic variables on the capacity to generate social enterprises, such as sex, the student’s…
Abstract
This chapter is designed with the aim to determine the influence of sociodemographic variables on the capacity to generate social enterprises, such as sex, the student’s country, if only they study or if they study and work, as well as if they participate or direct a social enterprise in university students of Latin American business schools. This research adopted an inductive quantitative approach using a questionnaire. The participants were university students of business schools from Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Second-generation structural equation method (SEM-PLS) was used to analyse the results, using the SmartPLS 3.2.7 software applied to data on 3,739 university students. The results suggest that the entrepreneur role, labour situation, country and sex have a moderating effect in the relation between entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial intention. Also, by using resampling technique Bootstrapping (5,000 times,p < 0.01), significance of the trajectory coefficients (beta) and effect size of the coefficients (beta) were measured to demonstrate significance. Finally, with this research the authors ascertain that entrepreneurial orientation positively influences entrepreneurial intention. thus explaining 42.4% of its variance. This chapter is the first attempt on investigating in university students of Latin American business schools about factors of entrepreneurship orientation and entrepreneurship intention, and has strong potential to contribute to development of policies and strategies to promote the growth of entrepreneurship activities in the universities.
Details
Keywords
Julián Salas and Patricia Lucas
PREVI, Spanish initials for “experimental housing project”, was conceived in Lima in 1967. Among other initiatives, it launched an international architectural competition…
Abstract
PREVI, Spanish initials for “experimental housing project”, was conceived in Lima in 1967. Among other initiatives, it launched an international architectural competition that led to the construction of a 500-unit compound based on proposals put forward by teams such as Atelier 5, Aldo van Eyck, and Íñiguez de Ozoño and Vázquez de Castro. The forty years that have lapsed in the interim and the ongoing transformation of the homes by their dwellers afford an opportunity to reflect on the suitability of the construction technologies proposed in the competition.
Ongoing growth and the rationalisation of construction methods were two of the basic premises underlying the competition. The remodelling that has taken place in the interim stands as proof of the success of the first premise, but the use of traditional techniques to build the additions calls some of the most sophisticated proposals for industrialisation into question.
At the time, the tendency was to rely on large-scale industrialisation, as can be seen in the German and Polish architects' proposals. Nonetheless, many of the PREVI proposals opted for rationalising construction and precasting short series of small elements, rather than huge three-dimensional members. In the situation presently prevailing in Latin America, the viability of some of the technological proposals deployed in the PREVI might be profitably revisited.
Details
Keywords
Filipe AP Duarte, Maria Jose Madeira, Dulcineia Catarina Moura, Joao Carvalho and Jacinta Raquel Miguel Moreira
This paper aims to analyses barriers as a determinant of ongoing or abandoned innovation activities. The literature exploits barriers as the nature of innovation and its…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyses barriers as a determinant of ongoing or abandoned innovation activities. The literature exploits barriers as the nature of innovation and its influence on firm’s. The main focus is the Portuguese SMEs and the impacts that act as barriers in the development of innovation activities.
Design/methodology/approach
The database was obtained through the Community Innovation Survey 2010 (CIS 2010) that was coordinated by EUROSTAT. In this sense, a logistic regression model is proposed, which makes it possible to analyse the relations between three or more variables, depending on whether the relationship is one of dependence or interdependence, thus allowing the application of distinct statistical techniques, using 6,160 firms
Findings
There are several sources of information that are associated with the development of innovation projects.
Practical implications
The importance of barriers to the development of innovation activities, as well as it being a decisive factor in the impediment to and abandon of the same, was noted.
Originality/value
This study also demonstrated that each case is different and that a barrier in one firm can at the same time be a window of opportunity for another firm.
Details
Keywords
Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of…
Abstract
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.
Details
Keywords
Yusi Cheng, Wei Wei and Lu Zhang
This study aims to understand customers’ watching experience with travel vlogs and its impacts on one of the most prominent manifestations of customer engagement behaviors…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand customers’ watching experience with travel vlogs and its impacts on one of the most prominent manifestations of customer engagement behaviors (CEBs) – word-of-mouth (WOM) – and their travel intention. Drawing upon the theory of resonance, this study incorporated both cognitive and emotional aspects of travel vlog watching experience.
Design/methodology/approach
Online survey data were collected from 352 participants who have watched travel vlogs over the past 12 months. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was performed for hypotheses testing.
Findings
The study results reveal positive impacts of source credibility, inspiration, escapism and self-congruence on WOM, which further leads to travel intention. While source credibility is the strongest predictor of WOM, more factors representing the emotional resonance turn out to be the driving factors of WOM.
Research limitations/implications
This study pinpoints the value of investigating audiences’ vlogs watching experience from a CEB perspective within the tourism setting. Future research is encouraged to explore more types of CEBs in the intersection of social media consumption and travel behaviors.
Practical implications
Travel vloggers need to convey their intrinsic passion and enthusiasm to create an emotional connection with the audiences. Hospitality and tourism marketers are recommended to promote products and services by incentivizing audiences to engage with the travel vlogs.
Originality/value
No prior research integrated vlogs watching experiences, engagement behavior and future travel intention in a tourism setting. This study fills this gap and contributes to the literature on customer engagement, media consumption and marketing.
Details
Keywords
Gessuir Pigatto, Raiane Real Martinelli, Timoteo Ramos Queiroz and Ferenc Istvan Bánkuti
This study aims to present a methodological framework to evaluate the relationship between social network centrality, individual competitiveness and network competitiveness.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to present a methodological framework to evaluate the relationship between social network centrality, individual competitiveness and network competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
Tilapia fish farmers in the Canoas I hydroelectric dam (states of São Paulo and Paraná, Brazil) were provided with a roster of all actors in their network and interviewed to obtain information on relational and competitiveness variables. UCINET was used to calculate the degree centrality of each farmer. Seven competitiveness drivers were combined into a single indicator to determine the level of competitiveness. A four-quadrant matrix was constructed to investigate the relationship between degree centrality and level of competitiveness.
Findings
A positive relationship was found between degree centrality and level of competitiveness.
Research limitations/implications
Agents upstream or downstream of fish farming were not interviewed, precluding an in-depth analysis of competitiveness in terms of market structure and market relations. The authors suggest that future studies should investigate the influence of upstream and downstream agents on the social network and competitiveness of fish farmers. It is also important to monitor changes in the level of competitiveness of fish farmers in the event of a national economic crisis.
Originality/value
Development of a novel methodological framework on the basis of two methodologies, social network analysis and competitiveness analysis.
Details