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The purpose of this research project is to focus on the acquisition of a Brazilian state owned energy distribution company by a Spanish conglomerate during the privatization process. It aims to verify if the performance indicators implemented by the acquiring company during the post‐acquisition phase were compatible with the organizational culture (OC) dimensions identified by Hofstede et al. It tries to identify if the values and practices fostered by the company transformation plan (such as democratic management, results orientation and focus on people) were in agreement with the organizational identified culture dimensions.

The methodology used in this study is based on a research design that combined quantitative research with a qualitative exploratory procedure.

Research results indicate the existence of substantial OC differences, as perceived by managers and by the bulk of employees, as shown by the existence of two OC clusters. Moreover, results also suggest the need of improving the coherence between performance indicators and the OC dimensions.

Emerging markets are the growth engines of the world economy. There is increasing evidence that cultural incompatibility is the single largest cause of lack of projected performance, departure of key executives and time‐consuming conflicts in the consolidation of business.

Portugal experienced very destructive earthquakes in the past, such as the well-known “Lisbon earthquake” in 1755. With such in mind, accurate estimates of human and economic losses can play a significant role in providing various societal key players with objective information for response strategies. This paper aims to present the contribution of the most recent study in Portugal (PRISE) concerning comprehensive seismic risk assessment, which can be used as good practice and reproduced in different contexts.

PRISE (earthquake loss assessment of the Portuguese building stock) covered three main lines of research, corresponding to the three components typically considered in any seismic risk assessment study: the characterization of the seismic hazard, the identification of the exposure to earthquakes and loss potential and the vulnerability of the exposed assets. Each of these components has been fully characterized through the collection of census and local data (exposure), used to carry out nonlinear analysis (hazard and fragility).

By involving different research institutions and partners with extensive knowledge and expertise in the earthquake domains, the developed model is capable of producing economic and human earthquake loss estimates in real time (through an innovative Web-based platform) or for specific event scenarios, considering exposed population, residential and industrial buildings. The platform uses open-source tools and hence, it can be reproduced in other countries or contexts.

Research wise, the hazard, vulnerability and exposure models can still be significantly improved, e.g. by adding critical infrastructure (hospitals, school buildings and bridges) or updating the nonlinear models, for more accurate loss predictions.

The findings and loss estimates for different earthquake scenarios show that planned interventions are required. Decision-makers and other relevant stakeholders (Civil Protection) can make use of the developed platform to produce specific estimates, to test the effect of different retrofitting interventions or to plan for emergency scenarios.

A real-time Web-based framework to estimate building damage and economic/human losses because of seismic events has been developed, aiming to provide the Portuguese Civil Protection and other playmakers with a unique platform for planning and preparing for emergency scenarios.

The comparative study between urban regions gathered by the 2010 National Project of Relevant Interest financed by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR – PRIN 2010) re-opened, in Italy, the debate on regional comparison of data, especially the ones of land use monitoring, which are difficult to collect, and to compare. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate some results of comparative studies based on regional and national data sets of land use indicators. Further considerations of land use change (LUC) assessment and its effect on environmental policies extended to the whole metropolitan area of Milan are outlined.

The adopted methodology collects different types of information from the existent databases on land uses/land covers (national/regional) and presents an assessment between the selected case of studies (urban regions), leading a shift from a quantitative evaluation to a qualitative one. A comparative study was conducted applying a geographical and statistical difference of land uses among different time thresholds. Subsequently, a cross-tabulation analysis allows an in-depth LUC analysis for the Milan urban region.

The results of the study display an autonomous pattern for the Milan urban region, which is the most densely populated area in Italy and seems to be the only comparable to other international cases of studies due to its extension and characteristics. Nevertheless, it is not the urban region that is affected by the highest rate of land take, which takes place in the Italian context where densities of settlements are lower and sprawled. According to Soja’s (2011) interpretation, the post-metropolitan condition of Milan seems to be proved.

The study was aimed at creating the first online National Atlas which has been used to overcome traditional problems of homogenization of LUC data in Italy. The quantification and qualification of LUC patterns allow us to understand if, and where, post-metropolis condition occurs. This research gives a clear indication of the kind of ongoing phenomena for policy orientation to planners and administrators, especially the one of the green infrastructure approach at the city-region level to solving the emerging environmental challenges.

This paper aims to develop preliminary damage scenarios for unreinforced masonry buildings located in low to moderate seismic hazard areas in Algeria, taking into account the specific site effects.

Three soil types were considered in this analysis according to the definition of the Algerian seismic code (RPA99/2003). Peak ground acceleration values were assigned to each soil type issued from a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA). To highlight the effect of soil conditions on the seismic vulnerability analysis of masonry buildings, a site vulnerability increment is carried out, and the macroseismic Risk-UE method has been adopted and applied by developing two main seismic scenarios according to both return periods of the PSHA, 100 and 475 years, respectively.

Based on the preliminary results of rock site condition, it can be outlined that the significant damage obtained for different earthquake scenarios discovered a substantial worldwide seismic risk to the building stock of the study area. Once the site effect is integrated into the analysis, more high values of vulnerability indexes and expected damages are obtained. Moreover, it can be concluded that soft soil (S3) is a little bit more influential than stiff soil (S2) on the final vulnerability index compared to (S1). However, the difference between the soil effect S2 and S3 on the vulnerability index can be neglected.

Researchers are encouraged to test the mechanical approaches for more detailed outcomes of a specific building analysis.

This research proves to the Algerian decision-makers that due to the site effects and the vulnerability of the masonry buildings, an urgent intervention program is required even for existing buildings located in low to moderate seismic hazard areas.

Several seismic vulnerability types of research have been conducted in Algeria for the unreinforced masonry buildings in moderate to high seismic areas in which generally the soil effect is neglected. In this context, this research paper proves that due to the site effects and the vulnerability of the masonry buildings, special attention is required even for existing buildings located in low to moderate seismic hazard areas. With this conclusion, the requirement of taking into account the soli effect in the high seismic areas is even more pronounced and should be conducted.

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of spatiotemporal analysis of the 3,506 fire incidents in the city of Manila from 2011 to 2016.

A spatiotemporal and statistical analysis was carried out to determine the pattern of fire incidents in the city of Manila.

Fire incidence in Manila did not exhibit any pattern in terms of time, day of the week or month of the year. However, fire incidence did exhibit a pattern in terms of location. Faulty electrical connections are the major cause of fires throughout the year and throughout the 14 municipalities of Manila. Thus, the null hypothesis stating that spatiotemporal characteristics of cases of fire in the city of Manila do not exhibit a pattern is partially rejected.

Future studies may investigate the influence of building maintenance, government control, and cooking and cigarette-disposal behaviors on fire occurrence. It is recommended that the study be replicated in other cities of Metro Manila.

Based on the causes and the spatiotemporal characteristics of fires, stakeholders (e.g. government, Bureau of Fire Protection, local government units (LGUs), communities and residents) can be informed about how to prevent fires. LGUs and government agencies can utilize the findings of this study in developing fire prevention programs for the municipalities with the highest incidence of fires.

These findings can serve as a basis for policy formulation and as a reference for the allocation of fire prevention resources and for the literature on strategic planning for fire prevention in Manila.

To reduce financial and human losses, managing risks associated with earthquakes is essential in practice. However, in using common risk management methods, experts are often faced with ambiguities that can create profound challenges for risk management. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a logical and straightforward risk assessment model to provide scientific and accurate answers to complex problems. This study aims to recommend an innovative combined method based on the probability-impact (P-I) approach and intuitionistic fuzzy set theory to identify and prioritize the essential earthquake risks associated with worn-out urban fabrics in the context of Iran.

The opinions of 15 experts in the fields of civil engineering and urban construction were gathered during brainstorming sessions. These brainstorming sessions were conducted to determine the probability of risks and the effect of identified risks. After calculating the severity of risks using the P-I approach and converting them to intuitionistic fuzzy sets, the risks were measured and prioritized based on their individual scores.

The study results indicated that risk of damage due to buildings’ age and flooding risk had the highest and lowest priorities in causes of financial damage, respectively. Furthermore, the risk of damage due to building quality (demolition) and building age was the most important. The risk of flooding and damage to communication networks has the lowest importance among causes of fatalities in worn-out urban fabrics.

The study findings and recommendations can be served as a policy and consultative instrument for the relevant stakeholders in the area of urban management.

This study aims to investigate whether the influence of group cohesion on the outcomes depended on the levels of the therapeutic alliance.

Sixteen individuals with a substance use disorder who were undergoing treatment in a therapeutic community responded to therapeutic alliance, group cohesion, craving and outcomes measures after every therapeutic small group session for a period of six weeks. Data analysis was performed using hierarchical linear modeling.

Results indicate that the effect of group cohesion is stronger when there is a high therapeutic alliance between resident and therapist.

Even on group interventions, to enhance group cohesion effects on outcomes, therapists must foster higher therapeutic alliance levels. The findings point out the importance of studying the effect of common factors on outcomes.

This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of the experimental campaigns on Cultural Heritage buildings. By adopting integrated procedures it is possible to limit the invasiveness of the destructive techniques leading to reliable results. The purpose is the proper definition of the structural system, which represents the starting point of the following analysis's phases, not treated in this work. A methodology based on normative references and acknowledged non-destructive and partial destructive strategies has been conceived. The latter aims to an accurate comprehension of the structural information.

An integrated approach for the structural assessment of cultural heritage buildings is presented. The methodology defines an interdisciplinary procedure based on normative references, non-destructive and minor-destructive techniques. A funnel-shaped workflow is developed to characterize the structural system of the buildings. The non-destructive campaigns are widely extended. Then, in-depth analysis concerning partial demolitions and minor-destructive tests are performed. The dynamic identification of the building is executed to detect its global response. The final validation of the assumed mechanical values is obtained by comparing the experimental modes coming from the ambient vibrations and the analytical modes of the structural modelling.

This research belongs to the Protocol signed between the Municipality of Florence and Department of Earth's Science and Department of Architecture of the University of Florence for the seismic vulnerability assessment of relevant and strategic buildings.

The descripted methodology is targeted for monuments and special buildings where the use of destructive techniques is not possible or unrecommended.

Social implications are related to the conservation of Heritage buildings. The latter deals with: (1) risk assessment of the targeted buildings towards different hazard sources (e.g. earthquakes, floods); (2) knowledge path developed through non-invasive diagnostic campaigns oriented to the conservation of the manufact. Furthermore, the paper encourages towards the recognition of non-destructive techniques and ambient vibration tests for the achievement of higher knowledge levels.

This paper defines a funnel-shaped procedure defining hierarchical roles between the different available strategies. The originality of this contribution is firstly related to the methodological flowchart. It is targeted to limit the invasive tests and consequently achieving accurate levels of knowledge. Secondly, some novelty can be found in the adoption of improvement parameters from a regional database adopting a Bayesian approach.