Computational Indicators to Assist Meeting Facilitation

In many group work settings, meetings take up a reasonable amount of time and often do not achieve satisfactory outcomes. One of the techniques that has been introduced to ensure meetings run smoothly and reach their goals places an individual in the role of meeting facilitator. Facilitation involves putting together the meeting agenda, designing meeting dynamics and overseeing the meeting at run time, to ensure goals are met. This may involve intervening or adjusting meeting structure to produce desired results. Thus, a facilitator should be able to act according to perceived group dynamics or problems. In this paper, we investigate information needs during facilitation activities. Based on initial investigations, we describe a meeting support system constructed to aid the facilitator in assessing meeting dynamics and a preliminary evaluation. Our goal is to provide information to the facilitator so he or she can better decide when to act and what to do.     

Analysis of the Visitors of Superagüi National Park,Brazil

The present work consists of the analysis of the visitors' profile of the Superagüi National Park, located on the north coast of the State of Paraná, Brazil. During the season 1998/1999 94 interviews were analysed. It was verified that most of the visitors can be considered as 'ecotourists', because their profile fits the one commonly proposed in literature. Visitors' preferences related to activities and infrastructure and critics are valuable indicators for the park's future management.     

Equity order flow and exchange rate dynamics

This paper contributes to the literature on international portfolio choice in several ways. First, I generalize the model of Dunne et al. (2010) and derive order flow as the result of correlated belief changes by heterogeneous investors. This strategy delivers testable implications for the daily dynamics of stock flows, equity returns, and exchange rate changes. Second, I empirically confirm these conditions using fifteen years of high-frequency data for US stocks and daily data for twenty US bilateral exchange rates. Third, the model relies on differences in the volatility of country-specific shocks to account for the empirical results. It can explain why the ‘portfolio rebalancing motive’ is not important for commodity countries, as well as the asymmetric structure of currency and stock returns.     

Reflexiones teóricas en torno a la propuesta de recuperación del poder de compra del salario mínimo en México

Regarding the recent proposal made by the Mexico City Government about the recovery of the purchasing power of the minimum wage, some reflections on the theories of production and distribution are proposed. We first review the seminal paper written by Cobb and Douglas (1928). Some obstacles in measuring the marginal factor products, and a pair of inconsistencies between the theories of production and distribution on the one hand, and some exercises of quantifying “productivities” on the other hand, are presented. Finally, a model of imperfect competition, which displays the dispute over income between economic agents, is included. One conclusion is that income distribution does not follow a simple rule, but a bargaining process based on market power in a historical context that provides inertia and in which institutions play a key role.     

The Aftermarket Performance of Initial Public Offerings: The Brazilian Experience

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes the behavior of share prices in the first aftermarket year at the moment the company goes public for the first time, specifically in the case of Brazil. First, we present evidence drawn from the international capital markets and how returns may be characterized. Next, we analyze current Brazilian capital markets and returns on shares for 30 companies that went public in the country between January 2004 and July 2006. We found that Brazilian initial public offerings averaged large positive returns both in the short-term and for a one-year period.

RESUMEN. Este trabajo busca evidenciar cómo el precio de las acciones en IPOs tiende a comportarse en el mercado secundario durante el primero año de negociaciones, específicamente en el caso brasileño. En primer lugar, se presentan las evidencias en el mercado internacional de capitales y mostramos que tipo de retornos se suele obtener. Luego, se lleva a cabo un análisis del mercado de capitales brasileño y de la rentabilidad en 30 IPOs, ocurridos entre enero de 2004 y julio de 2006 en el país. Se nota que el desempeño de IPOs en Brasil tiene fuertes tendencias positivas, tanto para el corto plazo como para un año.

RESUMEO. Este estudo analisa o comportamento dos preços de ações no primeiro ano após a abertura de capital de uma empresa, especificamente no caso do Brasil. Primeiramente, apresentamos dados do mercado de capitais internacionais e como os retornos tendem a ser. Depois disto, analisamos o mercado de capitais brasileiro e os retornos das ações de 30 empresas que abriram o capital no país entre janeiro de 2004 e julho de 2006. Constatamos que os lançamentos de ações (IPOs) brasileiros proporcionaram, em média, retornos positivos grandes a curto prazo e também por um período de um ano.     

Regulatory bias in the price structure of local telephone service

This article combines a discrete choice model of demand for residential local telephone access and an optimal price regulation model to estimate the welfare weights that state regulators implicitly place on consumers with different incomes and locations. I find no evidence of a bias towards rural consumers on average, but the relative weight on low income consumers in a geographic area can vary as a function of the proportions of rural and poor population and the political characteristics of the regulator. I also measure the welfare consequences of deviating from total consumer surplus maximization and disconnecting prices from costs.     

Implementing integrated rural tourism: An event-based approach

In the past two decades, community involvement in local policy-making has gained increasing attention as an alternative approach to rural development in the European Union (EU), particularly in the context of the complementary sectors of agriculture such as tourism. Although there is a wide range of integrated approaches to tourism development in rural areas identified in the literature, the event-based approach has not been at the centre of attention so far. This paper aims to fill this gap and reports on the collaborative capacity building of the LEADER¹ Local Action Groups (LAGs) for rural tourism promotion in the context of an innovative, national-level event, the ‘Hungarian Rural Tourism Days’. A mixed-method approach was applied to explore and compare the supply-side views on the successes and failures of the event planning and organisation process and to derive key success factors of the event-based approach to Integrated Rural Tourism (IRT). The results provided evidence on the consequences of the failure to integrate local concerns into the event organisation process and highlighted the critical role of the intermediary management in establishing trust relationships with the rural service providers. Furthermore, it is argued that the major challenge of the event-based approach to IRT rests in the capacity of the stakeholders to collectively plan and implement a marketing strategy at the local level.     

Teacher well-being and innovation with information and communication technologies; proposal for a structural model

The fundamental objective of the study presented in this article is to formulate a theoretical model with an empirical base that identifies the factors associated with the well-being of teachers, when they tackle processes of educational innovation mediated by the use of the information and communication technologies (ICT). Subjective well-being is an area of study of social psychology linked to the studies into “happiness” or “satisfaction with life” and constitutes an increasingly broad theoretical body. A questionnaire was produced, based on the scientific foundations that support the proposed model, and its validity and reliability have been established. The population and sample is made up of 322 teachers from non university centres that carry out innovative experiences with ICT in four Regions of Spain. The results obtained confirm five latent variables that explain the teacher well-being associated with innovation practices in ICT: (1) values/projects, (2) motivation, (3) competences, (4) satisfaction and (5) emotions. An explanatory structural model of teacher well-being is empirically validated. These findings could be of interest in identifying and promoting the relevant keys that help to improve the emotional states of working teachers.     

Disruptive technologies: a business model perspective on cloud computing

A viable business model is crucial for the successful commercialisation of disruptive technologies. The cloud computing industry provides an ideal example for exploring how various elements of a business model contribute to a product's success (or failure). We examine how Amazon.com, Salesforce.com and Siebel responded to the disruptive power of the cloud computing technology. Our findings suggest disruptive technology per se is not the reason for the collapse of large corporations, but rather the failure to adapt or create new business models to incorporate novel technology. Our findings have direct implications for strategic managers and entrepreneurs seeking to leverage disruptive technologies through the right business model.     

Macroeconomic Context,Relationships with Stockholders and Strategic Factors in the Determination of Brazilian Corporations' Performance

ABSTRACT

With the purpose to identify the intensity of the existent relationships in the explanatory topology of corporations' financial performances, comprised by the three dimensions of macroeconomic context, resource management strategies and relationships with stockholders, Brazilian corporations which were active from the year of 1996 to 2000 were analyzed. Based on the understanding of the relationships among the three dimensions previously mentioned, a structural model was adopted and as the methodology for the measurement and analysis of the relationships among constructs, the parameters estimation method used was the Partial Least Squares. As a result, the resource allocation strategies were identified as the critical factor in the performance of the analyzed corporations.

RESUMEN. Las empresas brasileñas de capital abierto fueron estudiadas a lo largo del período 1996 a 2000, con el objeto de identificar la intensidad de las relaciones existentes en la topología explicativa del desempeño financiero de dichas organizaciones, constituida por las dimensiones, el contexto macroeconómico, las estrategias de gestión de sus recursos y su relación con sus stockholders. Cubriendo especialmente la comprensión de las relaciones entre las dimensiones presentadas, adoptamos un modelo estructural y, como metodología de mensuración y análisis de las relaciones entre los constructos, la estimación de parámetros en base al método Partial Least Squares. Como resultado, logramos identificar que las estrategias de asignación de recursos son un factor determinante del desempeño de las organizaciones estudiadas.

RESUMO. Com o objetivo de identificar as intensidades das relações existentes na topologia explicativa constituída pelas dimensões ambiente competitivo, estratégias competitivas, relações com stakeholders e o desempenho das organizações, foram estudadas empresas brasileiras de capital aberto, ativas no período entre 1996 e 2000. Com foco no entendimento das relações entre as dimensões apresentadas, foi adotado um modelo estrutural e como metodologia de mensuração e análise das relações entre os constructos, a estimação de parâmetros pelo método Partial Least Squares. Como resultado, as estratégias competitivas foram identificadas a como fator determinante do desempenho das organizações estudadas.