Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'QCA'

Some people believe that IC densities are approaching the fundamental limits inherent to semiconductor technologies. One alternative to semiconductors is Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA); QCA is a nanotechnology that offers the potential to build denser IC's that switch at higher frequencies and run on lower power. QCA's most basic building block, the QCA cell, is inherently binary; digital circuits are implemented by arranging these QCA cells in pre-defined configurations on a two dimensional plane. This paper proposes a logic formulation that describes arranging QCA cells on a two dimensional plane; it is presented as a set of rules that can be implemented with basic Boolean variables and operators. This Boolean formulation is general and can be applied to any given specification. In addition, an optimization constraint is defined so that the logic formulation will only validate the most efficient QCA cell arrangements. The correctness of the logic formulation has been empirically verified by testing it with a SAT solver. The effectiveness of the minimization constraint in conjunction with the logic formulation has been tested with a Pseudo-Boolean ILP solver.

Semiconductor industry seems to approach a wall where physical geometry and power density issues could possibly render the device fabrication infeasible. Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) is a new nanotechnology that claims to offer the potential of manufacturing even denser integrated circuits, which can operate at high frequencies and low power consumption. In QCA technology, the signal propagation occurs as a result of electrostatic interaction among the electrons as opposed to flow to the electrons in a wire. The basic building block of QCA technology is a QCA cell which encodes binary information with the relative position of electrons in it. A QCA cell can be used either as a wire or as logic. In QCA, the directionality of the signal flow is controlled by phase-shifted electric field generated on a separate layer than QCA cell layer. This process is called clocking of QCA circuits. The logic realization using regular structures such as PLAs have played a significant role in the semiconductor field due to their manufacturability, behavioral predictability and the ease of logic mapping. Along with these benefits, regular structures in QCA's would allow for uniform QCA clocking structure. The clocking structure is important because the pioneers of QCA technology propose it to be fabricated in CMOS technology. This thesis presents a detailed design implementation and a comparative analysis of logic realization using regular structures, namely Shannon-Lattices and PLAs for QCAs. A software tool was developed as a part of this research, which automatically generates complete QCA-Shannon-Lattice and QCA-PLA layouts for single-output Boolean functions based on an input macro-cell library. The equations for latency and throughput for the new QCA-PLA and QCA-Shannon-Lattice design implementations were also formulated. The correctness of the equations was verified by performing simulations of the tool-generate layouts with QCADesigner. A brief design trade-off analysis between the tool-generated regular structure implementation and the unstructured custom layout in QCA is presented for the full-adder circuit.

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Researches has shown that companies in emerging countries often have a lack in basic technological capabilities. The export of football players has played an important role in the export agenda of the country. In addition, there is a need for studies that try to understand the relationship between capabilities and an external variable in emerging countries. This research contributes to overcoming these gaps by advancing knowledge about what technological capabilities are necessary and sufficient for the football club to succeed in exporting, through the application of an innovative method called Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). It is verified that, International Marketing is a necessary condition for success in exporting, as well as, the conjunction of this factor with planning of the development of players or infrastructure or team of professionals, forms three paths that increase the possibility of export success. The research contributes to the theory of technological capabilities by means of the expansion of the domain and by indicating which combinations of factors are necessary and sufficient for the improvement of the export performance.
Pesquisas têm mostrado que às empresas de países emergentes faltam, com frequência, as capacidades tecnológicas básicas. A exportação de jogadores de futebol tem desempenhado importante papel na pauta de exportação do país. Alia-se a isso, a necessidade de estudos que tentem entender a relação das capacidades e uma variável externa, em países emergentes. Esta pesquisa contribui para a superação dessas lacunas pelo avanço do conhecimento sobre quais capacidades tecnológicas são necessárias e suficientes para que o clube de futebol tenha sucesso na exportação, por meio da aplicação de um método inovador chamado Análise Comparativa Qualitativa (QCA). Verifica-se que Marketing Internacional é condição necessária para que haja sucesso na exportação, bem como, a conjunção deste fator com planejamento do desenvolvimento de jogadores ou infraestrutura ou equipe de profissionais formam três caminhos que ampliam a possibilidade do sucesso exportador. A pesquisa contribui para a teoria de capacidades tecnológicas por intermédio da expansão do domínio e por meio da indicação de quais combinações de fatores são necessárias e suficientes para que haja melhora do desempenho exportador.

This thesis is based on promising computing paradigm of reversible logic which generates unique outputs out of the inputs and. Reversible logic circuits maintain one-to-one mapping inside of the inputs and the outputs. Compared to the traditional irreversible computation, reversible logic circuit has the advantage that it successfully avoids the information loss during computations. Also, reversible logic is useful to design ultra-low-power nanocomputing circuits, circuits for quantum computing, and the nanocircuits that are testable in nature. Reversible computing circuits require the ancilla inputs and the garbage outputs. Ancilla input is the constant input in reversible circuits. Garbage output is the output for maintaining the reversibility of the reversible logic but is not any of the primary inputs nor a useful bit. An efficient reversible circuit will have the minimal number of garbage and ancilla bits. Barrel shifter is one of main computing systems having applications in high speed digital signal processing, oating-point arithmetic, FPGA, and Center Processing Unit (CPU). It can operate the function of shifting or rotation for multiple bits in only one clock cycle. The goal of this thesis is to design barrel shifters based on the reversible computing that are optimized in terms of the number of ancilla and garbage bits. In order to achieve this goal, a new Super Conservative Reversible Logic Gate (SCRL gate) has been used. The SCRL gate has 1 control input depending on the value of which it can swap any two n-1 data inputs. We proved that the SCRL gate is superior to the existing conservative reversible Fredkin gate. This thesis develops 5 design methodologies for reversible barrel shifters using SCRL gates that are primarily optimized with the criteria of the number of ancilla and garbage bits. The five proposed methodologies consist of reversible right rotator, reversible logical right shifter, reversible arithmetic right shifter, reversible universal right shifter and reversible universal bidirectional shifter. The proposed reversible barrel shifter design is compared with the existing works in literature and have shown improvement ranging from 8.5% to 92% by the number of garbage and ancilla bits. The SCRL gate and design methodologies of reversible barrel shifter are mapped in Quantum Dot Cellular Automata (QCA) computing. It is illustrated that the SCRL-based designs of reversible barrel shifters have less QCA cost (cost in terms of number of inverters and majority voters) compared to the Fredkin gate- based designs of reversible barrel shifters.

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QCA possui um grande potencial para a construção das novas gerações de circuitos integrados, oferecendo baixo consumo de energia, escalabilidade e alta frequência de processamento. Entretanto, faltam ferramentas de projeto para automatizar etapas como o posicionamento e roteamento de circuitos. Este trabalho apresenta a primeira heurística no esquema de Clock USE capaz de efetuar o posicionamento e roteamento de circuitos combinacionais em nível de porta lógica, por meio da alocação de células QCA. O esquema de clock USE é vantajoso por ser regular7 escalável e universal. O circuito é mapeado em um grafo direto acíclico e posicionado em uma matriz de células QCA. A heurística proposta busca otimizar a area e gerar resultados de forma automatizada em comparação com outros trabalhos7 onde os projetos são feitos manualmente. Os resultados foram validados com o uso da ferramenta QCADesigner.
QCA has great potential for building new generations of integrated circuits, offering low power consumption, scalability and high processing frequency. However, there is a lack of design tools to automate placement and routing of circuits. This work presents the first heuristic in the Clock USE scheme capable of performing the P&R of combinational circuits at the logic gate level, through the allocation of QCA cells. The USE clock scheme is advantageous because it is regular, scalable, and universal. The circuit is mapped to an acyclic direct graph and positioned in an array of QCA cells. The proposed heuristic seeks to optimize the area and generate results in an automated way compared to other works, where the PR are done manually. The results were validated with the use of the QCADesigner tool.

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Este trabalho analisou a combinação de recursos e processos utilizados no desenvolvimento de novos cursos (NSD) de educação executiva, modalidade pós-graduação lato sensu, nas escolas de negócios do Brasil. Para isso foi utilizada a metodologia de análise qualitativa comparativa (QCA), em um estudo de múltiplos casos com uma amostra de 14 instituições de ensino superior. A partir da revisão de literatura conceitual e empírica sobre desenvolvimento de novos serviços (NSD), foi testado o modelo de competência e desempenho em NSD dos autores Menor e Roth, 2008. Os resultados forneceram evidências de que o modelo de competência em NSD identificado na literatura internacional também se aplica ao Brasil. Porém o resultado desse estudo aponta casos contraditórios ao modelo que podem ser base para futuras pesquisas. Em especial pela ausência da dimensão de formalização dos processos de NSD nos casos em questão.

The defects and fault tolerance study is essential in the QCA devices in order to know its characteristics. Knowing the characteristics, one can understand the flow of information in a QCA system with and without manufacturing and operational defects. The manufacturing defects could be at device level or cell level. At the device level, the cell could be rotated, displaced vertically or horizontally, the cell could be missing or the size of the cell could be different. At the cell level, there could be a missing dot, dot could be displaced from its position or the size of the dots could be different. The operational defects are due to its surrounding, such as temperature or stray charge. Each of these defects and fault tolerances can be studies in detail in order to find the optimum working conditions where the information can be safely transmitted to the appropriate locations in the device.The theoretical studies have shown that at absolute temperature and without any defect, the QCA devices are operational. But it is almost impossible to manufacture a perfect or defect free device, and also it is impractical to think about operating a system at absolute zero temperature environment.Therefore, it is important to investigate the fault tolerant properties with defects and higher temperatures to see how far the QCA device can operate safely. Many studies have been done to investigate the fault tolerant properties in QCA devices. However, these studies have not completely exhausted the study of defects and temperature effects. In this study, the dot displacement and missing dots with temperature effects are investigated for the basic QCA devices and a Full Adder. In order to study fault tolerant properties, the existing theoretical model and computer simulation programs have been expanded and used. The defect characteristics have been simulated using normal distribution.
Department of Physics and Astronomy

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências Empresariais
Este estudo versa sobre a temática de Fundos Estruturais, focalizada nos financiamentos enquadrados no QCA III e QREN das candidaturas da Câmara Municipal da Maia. Inicia-se com uma análise descritiva caracterizadora das candidaturas aprovadas e avança-se para a constituição de clusters perspectivando a distribuição do investimento realizado nas freguesias. This study is concerning the topic Structural Funds, focused on Maia town council candidacies financed by QCA III and QREN. It starts by a descriptive analysis of the candidacies approved and advances with clusters constitution evaluating the investment distribution carried out in clienteles. Cet étudie parle sur la thématique des Fonds Structurel, convergé aux finançant des candidatures du conseil municipal du Maia sur potée pour QCA III et QREN. Une primier etape du travail avance avec une descriptive caractérisation des candidatures approuvées et la deuxième etape est relationé avec la constitution de groupes retraité la distribution de l'investissement exécuté par la clientèle.

S’appuyant sur la démarche d’élaboration de questionnaire proposée par Dussault, Valois et Frenette (2007) inspirée par DeVellis (2003), ainsi que sur le processus d’accumulation de preuves de validité préconisé par Downing (2003) et inspiré de Messick (1994), cette étude vise à développer et obtenir des preuves de validité pour un questionnaire de connaissances sur l’asthme. Cette démarche comprend six étapes : 1- détermination de l’objet de mesure à la lumière d’une revue de littérature, 2- génération d’items, 3- détermination d’un format de mesure, 4- vérification de la clarté des items, 5- prétest, 6- preuves de validité. Le Questionnaire de connaissances sur l’asthme destiné aux patients adultes (QCA-PA) a été validé auprès de 101 adultes asthmatiques fréquentant la clinique spécialisée en asthme de l’Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec. Plusieurs éléments de preuves de validité (contenu, processus de réponse, structure interne, relation avec d’autres variables, conséquences) ont été accumulés. Le QCA-PA présente un bon niveau de cohérence interne et est mieux représenté par une structure unidimensionnelle. Utilisé en clinique, ce questionnaire pourrait augmenter l’efficacité des interventions éducatives des professionnels de la santé.

During the PhD Luca Mengozzi studied reactions involving carbocations or carbocationic intermediates to develop new synthetic methodologies, and a new generation of quantum cellular automata (QCA) candidates in the context of the European Project Molarnet. Concerning the development of new asymmetric methodologies, he studied in detail the stereoselective alkylation of aldehydes with isoquinolinium and quinolinium ions generated in situ. These reactions were promoted by chiral secondary amine catalysts and no metals are needed. The first alkylation of acyl isoquinolinium ions with aldehydes was reported and it was applied to the first enantioselective synthesis of 13-alkyl tetrahydroprotoberberine alkaloids. Preliminary tests on resistant tumor cell lines performed by prof. Calonghi revealed promising cytotoxic activities. An asymmetric Pictet Spengler reaction to access 1-allyl isoquinolines was also reported. He studied the activation of carboxylic acids and their alkylation with stable carbenium ions promoted by chiral isothioureas and the development of the first photocatalytic alkylation of aldehydes promoted by iron photosensitizers. He spent five months as a visiting PhD student in Prof. Pericás Research group at ICIQ, Tarragona, Spain. During this period he studied the use of flow chemistry techniques for the synthesis of antiviral agent (-)-oseltamivir. In particular he studied the use of supported organocatalsyts in the enantiodetermining step of the synthetic pathway. QCA are a new paradigm for molecular computation and he worked on the synthesis of new candidates applying the knowledge of the research group on SN1 reactions. Through this strategy a new class of ferrocene guanines conjugates, ferrocene porphyrins, and ferrocene containing aluminium salophen complexes were obtained. The study of their properties on different surfaces that revealed the formation of interesting self-assembled monolayers for both salophen complexes and porphyrins. One paper was published and three are in preparation with our Molarnet partners.

During the PhD Luca Mengozzi studied reactions involving carbocations or carbocationic intermediates to develop new synthetic methodologies, and a new generation of quantum cellular automata (QCA) candidates in the context of the European Project Molarnet. Concerning the development of new asymmetric methodologies, he studied in detail the stereoselective alkylation of aldehydes with isoquinolinium and quinolinium ions generated in situ. These reactions were promoted by chiral secondary amine catalysts and no metals are needed. The first alkylation of acyl isoquinolinium ions with aldehydes was reported and it was applied to the first enantioselective synthesis of 13-alkyl tetrahydroprotoberberine alkaloids. Preliminary tests on resistant tumor cell lines performed by prof. Calonghi revealed promising cytotoxic activities. An asymmetric Pictet Spengler reaction to access 1-allyl isoquinolines was also reported. He studied the activation of carboxylic acids and their alkylation with stable carbenium ions promoted by chiral isothioureas and the development of the first photocatalytic alkylation of aldehydes promoted by iron photosensitizers. He spent five months as a visiting PhD student in Prof. Pericás Research group at ICIQ, Tarragona, Spain. During this period he studied the use of flow chemistry techniques for the synthesis of antiviral agent (-)-oseltamivir. In particular he studied the use of supported organocatalsyts in the enantiodetermining step of the synthetic pathway. QCA are a new paradigm for molecular computation and he worked on the synthesis of new candidates applying the knowledge of the research group on SN1 reactions. Through this strategy a new class of ferrocene guanines conjugates, ferrocene porphyrins, and ferrocene containing aluminium salophen complexes were obtained. The study of their properties on different surfaces that revealed the formation of interesting self-assembled monolayers for both salophen complexes and porphyrins. One paper was published and three are in preparation with our Molarnet partners.

Essa dissertação testa a hipótese de que a ação política empresarial organizada faz diferença nas decisões governamentais e, portanto, que grupos de interesse empresariais seriam relevantes para o sucesso político alcançado por setores econômicos no contexto estudado. A análise avalia deliberações decorrentes do Plano Brasil Maior que afetaram 19 setores organizados entre 2011 e 2014. Dez setores são selecionados para a amostra, contrapondo-se os mais bem sucedidos e os menos bem sucedidos, sendo o sucesso a variável dependente. Como variáveis independentes, elencou-se uma série de possíveis causas que podem ter levado ao resultado de sucesso, sendo metade delas relacionadas a aspectos estruturais dos setores (geração de empregos, faturamento, balança comercial e tipo de setor), e a outra metade relacionada à atividade de lobbying (número de associações representativas do setor, estrutura das associações, número de reuniões realizadas com o governo, ação política através da associação). A análise é realizada através da metodologia de Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), que aponta as variáveis determinantes para o sucesso dos grupos no período mencionado. Os resultados da pesquisa condizem com a hipótese levantada e com parte da literatura sobre grupos de interesse, ao constatar que as variáveis estrutura das associações e ação política através da associação são necessárias para o resultado. Isso quer dizer que variáveis ligadas ao lobbying são essenciais para o sucesso do setor, e que a atividade de ação política empresarial faz diferença.
The dissertation tests the hypothesis that the business political action makes a difference in government decisions - and therefore that the business interest groups would be relevant for the political success achieved by the economic sectors in the context. The analysis assesses deliberations arising from the Plano Brasil Maior that affected 19 organized sectors between 2011 and 2014. 10 sectors are selected for the sample, oposing \"most successful\" and \"less successful\" sectors, as \"success\" is the dependent variable. As independent variables, we list a few possible causes that may have led to the successful outcome, half of which are related to structural aspects of the sectors (job generation, income, trade balance and industry type), and the other half is related to the lobbying activity (number of associations representing the sector, the structure of associations, number of meetings with the government, political action through the association). The analysis uses the Qualitative Comparative Analysis method (QCA), which points out variables which were crucial to the groups success in the mentioned period. The results are consistent with the hypothesis and with the interest groups literature, since variables \"structure of associations\" and \"political through the association\" are necessary for the result. This means that variables related to lobbying are essential to the group success, and that business political action activity makes a difference.

Les fils moléculaires, systèmes organiques conjugués incorporant plusieurs greffons organométalliques, constituent une famille de composés de grand intérêt pour l'électronique moléculaire. Les travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit s'inscrivent dans la suite logique de précédentes études de ces complexes de métaux de transition et constituent une analyse théorique, s'appuyant sur la fonctionnelle de la densité, de l'arrangement structural et des propriétés physiques de nouveaux assemblages moléculaires aux propriétés électroniques ou optiques originales. Ce manuscrit se divise en deux parties distinctes. La première traite de l'emploi des fils moléculaires organométalliques dans le domaine des automates cellulaires quantiques, un nouveau paradigme pour l'électronique fondé sur la localisation des charges de cellules moléculaires comme digit binaire et sur les répulsions coulombiennes comme moyen de transfert de l'information. Le concept, le moyen d'application à l'échelle moléculaire et l'étude de différents composés virtuels y sont développés. La seconde partie porte sur l'introduction de greffons organométalliques au sein de composés ayant des propriétés optiques linéaires et non linéaires et leur influence sur ces dernières. Deux familles de composés ont été étudiés : des systèmes émissifs à base de cycle phosphole et des dendrimères organométalliques à cœur porphyrine
Molecular wires, conjugated organic systems bearing several organometallic fragments, form a family of compounds of great interest for molecular electronics. The research works in this manuscript follow on from previous studies of transition metal complexes and constitute a density functional theory-based analysis of both structural arrangement and physical properties of new molecular devices, with unusual electronic or optical properties. This manuscript is divided in two parts. The first one concerns the application of molecular organometallic wires in the quantum cellular automata field, a new paradigm for electronics based on the charge configuration of a molecular cell as a binary digit and using Coulombic repulsion as an information transfer mode. Both the concept, its application to molecular scale et the study of several virtual compounds are discussed. The second part focuses on the incorporation of organometallic fragments in optical active compounds with linear or nonlinear properties, and the influence of metals on those properties. Two compound families have been studied: phosphole-based conjugated emitters and organometallic porphyrine-based dendrimers

I studien har 12 elevgrupper från 10 kommunala skolor i Malmö studerats statistiskt frånläsåren 2005/06 till 2013/14. Utifrån elevernas socioekonomiska bakgrund undersöktes effekten av skolornas resursutbud för PISA-resultaten i årskurs 9. Genom teorier om skolan som arena för social reproduktion av medelklassens värden, visade analysen att skolan inte uppväger för arbetarklasselever utan eftergymnasialt utbildade föräldrar. Slutsatserna visade att observationsgruppernas höga lärarbehörighet kombinerat med ökad lärartäthet för utsatta elevgrupper, inte ensamt utjämnar bakgrundsrelaterad skolsegregation. Som insatskomplement bör skolornas elevsammansättning ses som en administrativt förändringsbar resurs, jämte utökat arbete för bredare konsensus mellan hem och skola kring utbildningens betydelse och form.
This study carries out a Qualitative Comparative Analysis [QCA] of 12 groups of studentsfrom 10 public schools in Malmoe. Based on students’ socioeconomic background, the study examines the effect of school resources across 9 years of elementary school; on PISA results in grade 9. Using the theoretical framework that school is an institution to promote social reproduction of middle-class values; the analysis demonstrates that school does not compensate working class students. The study's conclusions where that the observation groups generally high teaching qualifications; combined with increased teacher ratio for vulnerable student groups, not alone were sufficient resources to equalize background related school segregation. These need to be complemented with a broader consensus between home and school about the importance of education and its execution. Also the school pupil homogeneous composition should thereto be seen as an administrative opportunity to level the playing field in the present segregated school situation.

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A construção civil busca maior eficiência nas operações e componentes de elevação através da inserção de novas técnicas, novos processos e equipamentos, impulsionada, principalmente, pela necessidade de redução de custos e aumento na produtividade nos canteiros de obras. No entanto as mudanças tecnológicas podem ter custos significativos para os contratantes e implicações para a saúde dos trabalhadores. Visando propor novas abordagens e uma análise dos riscos, através da medição dos agentes causadores de acidentes no trabalho, este estudo avaliou a técnica Fuzzy Sets QCA (fs/QCA) como instrumento para estabelecer relações entre as variáveis – percepção dos técnicos de segurança do trabalho e a conformidade dos equipamentos de movimentação de carga nos canteiros de obras. Foram adotados diferentes procedimentos de pesquisa e a amostra em estudo se refere aos canteiros de obras na Região Metropolitana de Salvador. A pesquisa de campo teve como intuito identificar as situações de risco e boas práticas durante a execução da atividade de movimentação de carga nos canteiros de obras; o levantamento através da aplicação de lista de verificação em 10 canteiros de obras buscou avaliar os equipamentos de movimentação de carga usuais e a conformidade nos canteiros de obras em relação à NR 18. Após a aplicação da lista foi elaborado um novo instrumento de pesquisa – questionário aplicado em conjunto com a lista de verificação em 08 novos canteiros, buscando investigar a percepção dos técnicos de segurança do trabalho em relação aos constructos (cultura de segurança, fator humano, manutenção, treinamento e arranjo físico), bem como a sua relação com a conformidade dos equipamentos de movimentação de carga nos canteiros de obras. Quanto aos principais resultados desta pesquisa, pode-se destacar a necessidade de acompanhamento no recebimento e montagem dos equipamentos de movimentação de carga, uma vez que grande parte dos acidentes ocorridos nos canteiros de obras é proveniente da insuficiência da manutenção periódica dos equipamentos. É possível destacar também a existência de lacunas quanto aos aspectos que podem influenciar na segurança, tais como a compreensão da importância do fator humano e do arranjo físico para os canteiros de obras. Por fim, espera-se que este trabalho colabore como uma ferramenta auxiliar na gestão da segurança do trabalho em canteiros de obras e que o texto ofereça um ponto de partida metodológico para futuras pesquisas quanto à adoção da técnica fs/QCA

Por que mesmo entre os países com condições econômicas semelhantes o nível de desenvolvimento financeiro é tão diferente? Diversas variáveis políticas e institucionais já foram ressaltadas pela literatura, no entanto desconectadas uma das outras. Esse artigo visa contribuir para a questão fornecendo um modelo que analise as principais variáveis de forma concomitante, tornando endógena a interação entre elas. Para tanto, selecionamos uma amostra de países de renda média alta que compartilham de outras variáveis econômicas centrais e utilizamos o QCA (Qualitative Comparative Analysis), como método de análise. O estudo conclui que a estabilidade política é a única condição necessária, porém não suficiente. Entre aqueles países estáveis politicamente foi necessário mais um de dois atributos: um alto grau de proteção aos investidores minoritários ou, surpreendentemente, um regime político autocrático.
Why even among countries with similar economic conditions the financial development level is so different? Several political and institutional variables have already been highlighted in the literature, however disconnected from each other. This article aims to contribute to the issue by providing a model to analyze the main variables simultaneously, making endogenous the interaction between them. To achieve this, we selected a sample of middle-income countries who share other core economic variables and use the QCA (Qualitative Comparative Analysis) as the analysis method. The study concludes that political stability is the only necessary condition, but still not sufficient. Those politically stable countries need another one of attributes: a high degree of protection to minority investors or, surprisingly, an autocratic political regime.

Mestrado em Ciências Empresariais
A crescente procura por produtos de qualidade levou a que os fabricantes intensificassem os seus esforços no desenvolvimento e aplicação de programas de gestão da qualidade, com destaque para a Gestão pela Qualidade Total (GQT). No presente estudo pretende-se demonstrar a relação existente entre as práticas da GQT e a Qualidade do Produto (QP) recorrendo ao método Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). Os resultados obtidos sugerem que o Foco no Cliente e o Compromisso da Gestão de Topo são condições necessárias para a obtenção da QP, e que a Gestão de Recursos Humanos orientados para a Qualidade são uma condição almost always necessary. Na análise de resultados das condições suficientes, verificou-se que a combinação das práticas, Gestão da Qualidade do Design, Compromisso da Gestão de Topo e o Foco no Cliente obtêm o maior grau de consistência (0,97). Por outro lado a, aplicação das práticas, Gestão de Recursos Humanos orientados para a Qualidade, Compromisso da Gestão de Topo e o Foco no Cliente, embora com uma consistência menor (0,95), revelam maior cobertura (0,81). São também consideradas condições suficientes as combinações de práticas que incluem a Gestão de Recursos Humanos orientados para a Qualidade, a Gestão da Qualidade do Design e o Foco no Cliente, com uma consistência de 0,97, e o Uso da Informação Interna da Qualidade, o Compromisso da Gestão de Topo e o Foco no Cliente, obtendo uma consistência de 0,94. Qualquer um destes quatro conjuntos de práticas de GQT pode ser implementado com vista à obtenção da QP.
The increasing demand for quality products has led manufacturers to step up their efforts in the development and implementation of quality management programs, with emphasis on Total Quality Management (TQM). The present study seeks to demonstrate the relationship between Total Quality Management practices and Product Quality (PQ) using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). The results obtained suggest that Customer Focus and Top Management Commitment are necessary conditions to obtain Product Quality, and Human Resources for Quality Management are an almost always necessary condition. Analyzing the results for sufficient conditions, it was found that the combination of practices, Design Quality Management, Top Management Commitment and Customer Focus obtained the highest degree of consistency (0.97). On the other hand the application of the practices, Human Resources for Quality Management, Top Management Commitment and Customer Focus, although with a lesser consistency (0,95), reveal a greater coverage (0,81). Also, the combinations of practices that include Human Resources for Quality Management, Design Quality Management and Customer Focus, with a consistency of 0.97, and the Use of Internal Quality Information, Top Management Commitment and Customer Focus, with a consistency of 0.94, are considered sufficient conditions. Any of these four sets of TQM practices can be implemented to obtaining Product Quality.

The main goal of the thesis has been the study of regional poverty with a multidimensional approach. The existing investigations over poverty are characterized by a remarkable heterogeneity in regard of the application of different methods and approaches. In general, such researches are usually focusing on attributes or deficiencies that individuals share in a given physical unit (country, region, locality). The adoption of a paradigm about poverty implies assuming certain values and visions of the world. Colombia is a country with a particular history, conditioned by the existence of an armed conflict of more than fifty years. This circumstance has been able to affect the development and the growth of regions. Therefore, this factor would be a part of the possible explanation, yet not the only one, of the presence of poverty in different parts of the country. This thesis aims to provide a poverty approach based on three dimensions: economic, institutional and social. The technic Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) will be used to explain which are the conditions that are found in poor regions and which may help to reduce the levels of poverty over time. A static fsQCA and a dynamic fsQCA are formulated in order to observe the evolution of poverty from the causal configurations in each one of the dimensions proposed in this study. It is concluded that the configurations are multi-dimensional and, in many of them, institutional factors such as transparency and the absence of violence in rural areas, play a fundamental role in explaining the phenomenon of poverty.
El objetivo principal de esta tesis ha sido el estudio de la pobreza regional con un enfoque multidimensional. Las investigaciones existentes sobre la pobreza se caracterizan por una notable heterogeneidad en cuanto a la aplicación de diferentes métodos y enfoques. Por lo general, tales investigaciones se centran en los atributos o carencias que los individuos comparten en una determinada unidad física (país, región, localidad). La adopción de un paradigma sobre la pobreza implica asumir determinados valores y visiones del mundo. Colombia es un país con una historia particular, condicionada por la existencia de un conflicto armado de más de cincuenta años. Esta circunstancia ha podido afectar el desarrollo y crecimiento de las regiones. Por tanto, este factor sería una parte de la posible explicación, aunque no la única, de la presencia de pobreza en diversas partes del territorio nacional. Esta tesis pretende aportar un enfoque de pobreza sobre la base de tres dimensiones: económica, institucional y social. Se hará uso de la técnica de Análisis Cualitativo Comparativo (QCA en sus siglas en inglés) para explicar cuáles son las condiciones que están presentes en las regiones que son pobres y qué condiciones permiten reducir los niveles de pobreza en el tiempo. Se formula un fsQCA estático y un fsQCA dinámico con el fin de observar la evolución de la pobreza a partir de las configuraciones causales en cada una de las dimensiones propuestas en este estudio. Se concluye que las configuraciones son multidimensionales y, en muchas de ellas, factores institucionales como la transparencia y la ausencia de violencia en zonas rurales, cumplen un papel fundamental en la explicación del fenómeno de la pobreza.
L'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi doctoral ha estat estudiar la pobresa regional adoptant un enfocament multidimensional. Les investigacions prèvies sobre la pobresa es caracteritzen per la seva heterogeneïtat tant en el mètode de recerca emprat com en l'enfocament de partida. En general, aquestes investigacions prèvies s'han focalitzat en els atributs o les mancances que els individus d'una unitat física concreta comparteixen (país, regió, municipi). L'adopció d'un paradigma sobre la pobresa implica assumir uns valors  i una visió de la realitat concrets. Colòmbia és un país que té una història particular, condicionada de manera decisiva per l'existència d'un conflicte armat que dura més de cinquanta anys. Aquesta circumstància ha pogut afectar el desenvolupament així com el creixement de les diferents regions. Per tant, aquesta circumstància seria, entre d'altres, un factor explicatiu de l'existència de pobresa en diferents parts del territori nacional. Aquesta tesi aporta un enfocament sobre la pobresa que es fonamenta en tres dimensions: econòmica, institucional i social.  S'empra la tècnica d'anàlisi qualitatiu comparat (QCA en les seves sigles de l'anglès) per explicar quines són les condicions que estan presents en les regions que són pobres i quines condicions permeten reduir els nivells de pobresa amb el temps. Es formula un FsQCA estàtic i un fsQCA dinàmic amb la finalitat d'observar l'evolució de la pobresa a partir de les configuracions causals en cadascuna de les dimensions proposades en aquest estudi. La conclusió principal és que les configuracions son multidimensionals i, en molts casos, factors institucionals com ara la transparència i l'absència de violència en les zones rurals compleixen un paper fonamental en l'explicació del fenomen de la pobresa.
Nieto Alemán, PA. (2017). Análisis de los factores del desarrollo regional inclusivo a través de la metodología fsQCA [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/86178
TESIS

This thesis aimed to use three-dimensional quantitative coronary angiography (3D-QCA), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), fluid-structure interaction (FSI) and particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques in idealised and realistic coronary artery models based on data from patients in order to investigate the relation between haemodynamic forces and lesion morphology. The first aim was to assess the effect of lesion severity and eccentricity on important haemodynamic factors including flow recirculation and shear stress using CFD and PIV. The results showed that the extent of flow recirculation is much more sensitive to mild changes in the severity of intermediate stenoses than is peak shear. The second aim was to find the correlation between fractional flow reserve (FFR), a gold standard to measure the functional significance of coronary stenoses, lesion eccentricity and vessel distensibility using 3D-QCA and FSI methods. The results demonstrated that the coronary arteries with similar lesion morphology but different vessel distensibility are likely to experience different FFR. The third aim was to explore the impact of degree of freedom of coronary arteries on important haemodynamic factors. The results showed that modelling of coronary arteries as rigid vessels could result in treating a non-significant lesion as significant because the rigidity assumption overestimates the amount of flow abnormalities in coronary arteries. Overall, the greater the degree of freedom of movement, the lower the maximum wall shear stress (WSS) and the smaller the area of low WSS. Last but not least, the effect of spiral flow on haemodynamic parameters in an elastic model of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) was investigated. The results demonstrated that neglecting the spiral effects of flow in the modelling of AAAs can result in overestimation of wall stress and the artery wall expansion rate.

Political opportunity theory suggests that social movement organizations will increase political action efforts during times of opportunity, such as economic crises. On the other hand, business cycle theory predicts that economic crisis will be detrimental to unions, reducing membership and subsequently dues and power. This dissertation involves historical case studies of innovative and conservative labor unions, comparing organizational behavior during the Great Depression and the economic crisis of 2008. The dissertation also includes a QCA analysis of ten labor unions' political, organizing, and bargaining activity during the crisis of 2008. How do labor unions adjust their organizing strategies during an economic crisis? What tactics do unions use to redefine their role in the economy through social policy? What organizational characteristics define unions' varied responses to the crisis? This research found that characteristics consistent with organizational flexibility were consistent with the ability to identify and respond to the political opportunity present in economic crisis. While some unions decreased bargaining and organizing activity to shift resources towards political activity, this was not always the case. It also contributes a systematic description and analysis of typical labor union political activity. The data suggest that leader-based political action is a primary locus of activity, demanding further investigation into the varied campaigns and strategies unions take. More research is necessary to understand the interaction between the organizational political activity of labor unions and the political beliefs of union members.

Under what conditions has Russia adopted assertive foreign policies towards neighbouring states in order to pursue regional primacy? Scholars usually map Russia’s foreign policy according to theoretical approaches that are generated either from the individual, the state or the structural levels of analysis. However, each of them, taken individually, cannot account for Russia’s foreign policy across space and time. This study analyses the complex interplay between causal factors by developing a neoclassical realist model of Russia’s pursue of regional primacy in the contested neighbourhood with the EU. This study employs fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) at a cross-case level and Process Tracing at within-case level. fsQCA aims to test the explanatory value of systemic conditions such as external pressure in the regional neighbourhood by other regional powers and membership of target states in a military alliance (i.e. NATO); and of domestic conditions such as Russia’s status recognition by the West, and Russia’s state capacity. This analysis is based on 27 cases of Russia’s interaction with post-Soviet states between 1992 and 2015. Process Tracing is employed as a confirmatory method for within-case analysis.The results of the study suggest that Russia was inclined to adopt assertive foreign policy instruments, particularly military intervention, if external pressure from other great powers in a neighbouring country was combined with Russia’s high state capacity to mobilise resources. Due to NATO membership by neighbouring states, Russia resorted to coercive instruments rather than to direct use of force to maintain regional primacy. Finally, from the comparative process tracing, it emerged that, besides international security concerns and domestic constraints related to Russia’s status recognition, the two violent conflicts of Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia/Abkhazia in the 1990s, which were of equal threat to Russia’s regional primacy in the South Caucasus, bore a different ‘iconic significance’ to Russia.

Under what conditions has Russia adopted assertive foreign policies towards neighbouring states in order to pursue regional primacy? Scholars usually map Russia’s foreign policy according to theoretical approaches that are generated either from the individual, the state or the structural levels of analysis. However, each of them, taken individually, cannot account for Russia’s foreign policy across space and time. This study analyses the complex interplay between causal factors by developing a neoclassical realist model of Russia’s pursue of regional primacy in the contested neighbourhood with the EU. This study employs fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) at a cross-case level and Process Tracing at within-case level. fsQCA aims to test the explanatory value of systemic conditions such as external pressure in the regional neighbourhood by other regional powers and membership of target states in a military alliance (i.e. NATO); and of domestic conditions such as Russia’s status recognition by the West, and Russia’s state capacity. This analysis is based on 27 cases of Russia’s interaction with post-Soviet states between 1992 and 2015. Process Tracing is employed as a confirmatory method for within-case analysis. The results of the study suggest that Russia was inclined to adopt assertive foreign policy instruments, particularly military intervention, if external pressure from other great powers in a neighbouring country was combined with Russia’s high state capacity to mobilise resources. Due to NATO membership by neighbouring states, Russia resorted to coercive instruments rather than to direct use of force to maintain regional primacy. Finally, from the comparative process tracing, it emerged that, besides international security concerns and domestic constraints related to Russia’s status recognition, the two violent conflicts of Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia/Abkhazia in the 1990s, which were of equal threat to Russia’s regional primacy in the South Caucasus, bore a different ‘iconic significance’ to Russia.

Les implications financières pour les acheteurs dans les fusions et acquisitions (F & A) ont été un sujet de fascination pour les chercheurs et les praticiens pendant des décennies. Malgré des recherches académique et commerciales approfondies visant à déterminer si et comment les acquéreurs obtiennent des résultats financiers à court et à long terme à la suite des fusions et acquisitions, la clarté de notre compréhension de ces questions demeure difficile à déterminer. Cette thèse de doctorat cherche à apporter plus de clarté à ces questions en examinant les interactions complexes entre plusieurs aspects clés des fusions et acquisitions. Le chapitre 1 examine comment l’expérience des acquéreurs influe sur le rendement à long terme au moyen de décisions clés avant et après la transaction et comment cette influence indirecte diffère dans les contextes nationaux et transfrontaliers. Le chapitre 2 explore les configurations des caractéristiques des transactions et des acquéreurs ainsi que les mécanismes de gouvernance d’entreprise des acquéreurs correspondant aux rendements anormaux cumulés des acquéreurs positifs (CAR). Le chapitre 3 étudie les effets interactifs entre les institutions formelles des pays d’accueil, les caractéristiques des acquéreurs et les mécanismes de gouvernance d’entreprise de l’acquéreur CAR. Enfin, le chapitre 4 examine l’influence des reportages d’affaires sur l’acquéreur CAR
Financial implications for buyers in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have been a topic of fascination with academics and practitioners for decades. Despite extensive business research dedicated toward investigating whether and how acquirers perform financially in the short and long terms following M&A, so far, the clarity of our understanding about these issues remains elusive. This doctoral thesis seeks to bring more clarity to these questions by examining complex interactions among several key aspects of M&A. Chapter 1 investigates how acquirer experience influences long-term performance through key pre- and post-transaction decisions and how such indirect influence differs in domestic and cross-border contexts. Chapter 2 explores the configurations of deal and acquirer characteristics as well as acquirer corporate governance mechanisms corresponding to positive acquirer cumulative abnormal returns (CAR). Chapter 3 investigates the interactive effects among host countries’ formal institutions, acquirer characteristics and corporate governance mechanisms on acquirer CAR. Finally, Chapter 4 examines the influence of business news reports on acquirer CAR

Mestrado em Gestão de Sistemas de Informação
Os smartphones estão a atingir novos recordes de vendas, e o número de aplicações disponíveis nas lojas continuam a crescer tendo atingido um total combinado de 3.4 milhões de aplicações (Statista, 2015), tornando este mercado apetecível para investidores, empresas, e developers. No entanto, de todas estas aplicações, apenas algumas são bem sucedidas. Este estudo baseia-se no conhecimento existente sobre sucesso de aplicações móveis e contribui para o conhecimento propondo uma teoria configuracional para o sucesso de aplicações móveis. Para atingir este objetivo é utilizada a análise comparativa qualitativa, na sua variante difusa (fsQCA), de modo a identificar as condições antecedentes para o sucesso de aplicações móveis. Foram extraídos os dados das 100 aplicações melhores classificadas no ranking da Apple App Store, e os resultados obtidos na análise fsQCA foram os seguintes: (i) aplicação pequena, (ii) baixa pontuação dos utilizadores com muitas línguas suportadas e poucas versões suportadas, (iii) categorias populares com alta pontuação dos utilizadores e poucas línguas suportadas, (iv) categorias populares com muitas versões suportadas e poucas línguas suportadas, e (v) categorias populares com alta pontuação dos utilizadores e muitas versões suportadas, são condições suficientes para o sucesso de aplicações móveis. Curiosamente, uma aplicação pequena é uma condição tanto necessária e suficiente para o sucesso de aplicações móveis.
Smartphones are setting new sales records, and the number of apps available in online stores continues to grow, having reached a combined figure of 3.4 million apps (Statista, 2015), making this a desirable market for investors, companies, and developers. However, among all those apps, only a limited number succeeds. This study builds on the existing knowledge of mobile app success and contributes to enhance the existing literature proposing a configurational theory for mobile app success. To accomplish this, the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was applied to identify the antecedent conditions for mobile app success. Data from the top 100 ranked apps at App Store was collected. The fsQCA results supported the following propositions: (i) smaller package size, (ii) lower user reviews scores with higher languages supported and fewer versions supported, (iii) highly popular categories with higher user review scores and fewer languages supported, (iv) highly popular categories with higher number of versions supported and fewer languages supported, and (v) highly popular categories with higher user review scores and higher number of versions supported, are sufficient conditions for mobile app success. Interestingly, it was found that small package size is both a necessary and sufficient condition for mobile app success.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The thesis contributes a more lucid understanding of the potential for interaction amongst different facets of sustainability in the context of building design, providing evidence that the assimilation of diverse and often seemingly unconnected aspects of sustainability is not the unassuming process implicit in the current sustainability discourse. Working inductively and with a focus on two sustainable principles (the current UK government sponsored sustainability agenda, low carbon design, and an alternative interpretation, adaptable design, whose literature is framed in a sometimes complementary, at others antagonistic fashion to the former), this thesis develops an understanding of interaction in building design processes, using publically available documentary evidence and a comparative case-study approach. The thesis describes and categorises instances of interaction arising in the twenty-three case study building design processes, demonstrating both the empirical existence of interaction and improving the theoretical conceptualisation beyond basic ideas of synergy and conflict. Interaction is noted as arising from both technical incompatibilities and project actors interpretation of the agendas themselves: a socio-technical issue. The thesis distinguishes multiple approaches adopted by design teams to managing the entanglement encountered. Interpreting these interaction strategies in their case context, factors driving the selection of a particular approach are inductively derived and combined to form a tentative conceptual framework. This framework aides a systematic comparison across project cases, facilitated by the crisp set qualitative comparative analysis (csQCA) technique. Projects are described as configurations of the identified conditions and, by operationalizing interaction in a manner consistent with case study observation and the existing literatures of adaptable and low carbon design, assessed for successfulness in reconciling the agendas. The technique identifies three causal pathways to successful reconciliations of adaptable and low carbon design. Finally, the thesis makes a methodological contribution, through an evaluation of the application of QCA to a novel problem space (socio-technical, project-orientated problems of the built environment). Through the richness of documentary data obtained for study, it also demonstrates the potential effectiveness of documents as primary sources in the field of building design, where they are often relegated to a supporting role.

This thesis is an attempt to capture ethnic grievances in relations with regime type and secession. The unit of analysis is Yugoslavia on a regional level; Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Vojvodina. Conditions within these units are traced by applying thorough case-studies and fs/QCA. The truth table solution provided by the fuzzy-sets analysis support that ethnic grievances can determine civil war when appearing together with anocracy as a regime type, and with secession. This would support a claim that studies of civil war and ethnicity should aim to capture the political context in which ethnic grievances appear rather than to base the research on measures of the size of the ethnic groups or degree of diversity.

With its central role in the development of public-private partnership (PPP) contracts, procurement structure has a significant influence on the economic and policy success of privately-financed toll roads throughout their lifecycle. Following a review of PPP fundamentals and the public-policy differentiation between public interest and public objectives, several approaches for establishing the key contract strategies of toll pricing, concession length, and risk mitigation are explored. These underpinnings motivate the central research question: Given specific policy objectives for road pricing, how should public owners select PPP contract strategies which support these outcomes? Through qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), a recently-developed method for evaluating qualitative data quantitatively, patterns of PPP contract strategies which correspond to three common policy objectives--achieving a specific toll rate, managing congestion, and minimizing state subsidy/maximizing revenue--are identified through evaluation of 18 domestic and international projects. Three practical decision-making tools resulting from this work are illustrated through application to current PPP procurements: (1) a traffic-risk worksheet, which provides a rapid estimate of a toll-financed projectâ s viability; (2) analytical QCA results, which offer guidance for structuring PPP contracts based on the desired pricing objectives; and (3) case-library comparisons, which enable drawing parallels between proposed procurements and established PPP projects. Additional insights explore the nature of risk in this study, which concludes with thoughts on the appropriate role of PPPs in infrastructure delivery.
Ph. D.

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CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
O pluralismo relacional ocorre quando empresas derivam o seu significado e suas ações a partir das relações com vários tipos de entidades. Nesse sentido, as pequenas empresas que atuam de forma conjunta, por meio de redes, podem ser influenciadas pelas múltiplas relações no desenvolvimento de estratégias coletivas de responsabilidade social corporativa (RSC), buscando, assim, sanar problemas socioambientais em seu entorno. Dessa maneira, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo geral compreender como o pluralismo relacional influenciava pequenas empresas em suas estratégias coletivas de responsabilidade social corporativa. O estudo focou em pequenas empresas do setor hoteleiro que eram associadas de uma rede. Em relação aos aspectos metodológicos, esta pesquisa teve caráter qualitativo e combinou o uso da análise qualitativa comparativa (QCA) e análise do discurso. Como resultados de pesquisa, concluiu-se que o pluralismo relacional influencia pequenas empresas em suas estratégias coletivas de responsabilidade social corporativa. Esse fato se instala em razão do relacionamento com distintos atores que se detectam dentro da rede, entre todos os associados e também com os que se encontram fora da rede, como Sindicatos de Hotéis, Bares e Restaurantes, entre outros. Outro resultado encontrado refere-se ao fato de que o pluralismo relacional da rede mais a intensidade da relação ou o pluralismo relacional da rede mais a longevidade da relação são potenciais influenciadores das estratégias coletivas da responsabilidade social corporativa. Além da contribuição central, focada no fato de que o pluralismo relacional influencia as estratégias coletivas de pequenas empresas, a tese possibilitou apresentar os aspectos que podem exercer essa influência nas estratégias de RSC das pequenas empresas, que compreendem o pluralismo relacional com diferentes stakeholders, os diferentes tipos de pluralismo relacional, intensidade da relação com os stakeholders e a longevidade da relação com os stakeholders.
The relational pluralism occurs when enterprises derive their meaning and actions from the relationships with various types of entities. In this sense, small companies that work together through networks can be influenced by the multiple relationships in oder to develop of collective strategies of corporate social responsibility (CSR), seeking to solve social and environmental problems in their environment. This way, the present work carried out a review on national and international studies on sustainability, corporate social responsibility, collective strategies, networks and relational pluralism. Then, theoretical relations were established that allowed to test hypotheses whose variables emanated from the literature. Therefore, the general objective of this research was to understand how relational pluralism influenced small companies in their collective strategies of corporate social responsibility. The study focused on small enterprises in the hospitality industry that were associated with a network. Regarding methodological aspects, this research had a qualitative character and combined the use of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and discourse analysis. As research results, it was concluded that relational pluralism influences small companies in their collective strategies of corporate social responsibility. This is due to the relationship with different actors that are detected within the network, among all associates and also with those outside the network, such as hotel, restaurant and restaurant unions, among others. Another finding is that network relational pluralism plus network intensity or network relational pluralism plus relationship longevity are potential influencers of collective corporate social responsibility strategies. In addition to the central contribution, focused on the fact that relational pluralism influences the collective strategies of small companies, the thesis made it possible to present the aspects that can exert this influence in the CSR strategies of small companies, which include relational pluralism with different stakeholders, Different types of relational pluralism, intensity of the relationship with stakeholders and longevity of the relationship with stakeholders.

According to the strategic management, open innovation, and project management literatures, the notion that SMEs can enhance their innovation ability by developing knowledge resources has become important for achieving competitive advantage and long-term survival. Building upon theoretical work on the resource-based view, contingency theory and open innovation literature, this research examines how project complexity contribute to implementation of open innovation practices and involving external knowledge sources in different phases of new product development (NPD). The conceptual model was developed and aims to answer three important questions. RQ1: How complexity contributes in strategic decision for external collaboration in NPD process? RQ2: How external collaboration can improve internal capabilities and reduce the level of project complexity? RQ3: How collaboration with external knowledge source can improve new product performance? This study examines the four open innovation practices: Partnership, Seller/ Buyer agreement, Community and platform, and four knowledge resources: Suppliers, Customers, Universities and Competitors that impact a firm’s innovation process and affects the project performance. The model is tested with data collected from 125 new product development projects in 85 Spanish low knowledge intensive SMEs. The empirical result shows that project complexity contributed to the development of open innovation practices in new product development projects. The result specified that partnership as the dominant mode of open innovation practices will implements in different phases of the projects to reduces the level of project complexity and improve absorptive capacities of the companies. The results also found that to achieve different dimensions of the project performance, the companies have to use different configurational paths to involve external knowledge sources in each phase of NPD projects. Therefore, these findings conclude that implementing open innovation practices and involving external knowledge sources in innovation process, does not follow the same path, where project complexity, internal absorptive capacity and phases of the projects are the factors which make difference in this configurational models. This research has noteworthy implications for both researchers and practitioners by (1) Developing an integrated framework of project complexity in open innovation context. (2) Providing guidelines for low knowledge intensive SME’s in developing open innovation practices in their NPD projects. (3) The open innovation literature needs to consider empirically how knowledge resources involved in different phases of projects and enhance the project performance. (3) Indicating that the configuration of the different knowledge resources in different phases of NPD projects, leads to the different dimensions of the project performance (Speed, Cost, Market and product novelty) for SME in the low- technology industry. Limitations in current research may create avenues for future research in terms of number of companies, methodologies, open innovation modes, innovation types and time.

Molecular-based quantum cellular automata (m-QCA), as an extension of quantum-dot QCAs, offer a novel alternative in which binary information can be encoded in the molecular charge configuration of a cell and propagated via nearest-neighbor Coulombic cell–cell interactions. Appropriate functionality of m-QCAs involves a complex relationship between quantum mechanical effects, such as electron transfer processes within the molecular building blocks, and electrostatic interactions between cells. The influence of structural distortions of single m-QCA are addressed in this paper within a minimal model using an diabatic-to-adiabatic transformation. We show that even small changes of the classical square geometry between driver and target cells, such as those induced by distance variations or shape distortions, can make cells respond to interactions in a far less symmetric fashion, modifying and potentially impairing the expected computational behavior of the m-QCA.

Internal and external migrations are a phenomenon of growing magnitude within the European continent. Most importantly, the last decades have once and for all destroyed the illusion of the transience of immigration settlement, raising concerns on the lack of integration of long term immigrants in host societies. In particular, migrant educational disadvantage is a serious issue in most European countries, as shown by international assessments on students’ competencies. In the last years, public debates have called attention to the need of identifying institutional features able to endow children of migrants with equal chances to succeed in school compared to their native peers. However, empirical evidence on the role of educational systems in worsening or mitigating migrant learning disadvantage is still inconclusive. In this dissertation, I conduct a systematic investigation of whether and why second-generation immigrants experience different achievement penalties in 17 Western European countries. The research design is based on a two-step, mixed methods approach. In the first step I provide a comparative assessment of migrant-specific penalties in educational achievement. The cross-country variability of migrant achievement penalties becomes the explanandum in the second step of analysis, when I assess the role of theoretically relevant characteristics of educational systems as potential explanantes. At each step of the analysis, I rely on methodological triangulation — by using variable-oriented and diversity-oriented methods — in order to improve the overall robustness of the empirical findings. By using the 2006 and 2009 waves of the PISA survey, I analyze the relative disadvantage of 15-year-old students of immigrant vs. native origin in the literacy domains of mathematics, science, and reading. With a novel measure of migrant-specific penalty — revealing the relative of immigrant students within the achievement distribution of comparable natives — I show that second-generation immigrants dramatically lag behind their native peers, despite having been fully exposed to the same educational system. This underachievement can only be partially explained by traditional mechanisms of stratification by social class broadly defined. On the contrary, migrant-specific penalties and socio-economic penalties come forth as two distinct dimensions of educational inequalities. Even if all Western European countries experience some degree of migrant penalties, sharp cross-country differences exist in their intensity. Moreover, as shown with additional analyses on Turkish second-generation immigrants, such cross-country differences cannot be reduced to the different origin compositions of immigrant populations. Moving from four theoretical dimensions (school duration, stratification, standardization, and resources allocation), I identify as potentially relevant characteristics of the educational system: (i) the entry age in the (pre)school system; (ii) the age at which students are tracked into differentiated curricula; (iii) the degree to which second-generation immigrants are marginalized in low-quality schools. After investigating the relevance of these factors with several statistical and set-theoretic methods, I apply fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs-QCA) in order to systematically assess which kinds of educational systems — conceived as configurations of institutional elements embedded in national contexts — bring about severe migrant achievement penalties, and which do not. My findings indicate that several combinations of conditions can alternatively lead to equally severe penalties. In post-war immigration countries, early tracking into differentiated curricula produces severe penalties only when it marginalizes second-generation immigrants in second-tier tracks, and consequently low-quality schools. On the contrary, in new-immigration countries tracking by itself is sufficient to bring about severe penalties, while in Scandinavian countries — where most immigrants speak a language that is very distant from the national one — the decisive detrimental factor is the delayed entry of pupils into (pre)school. In order to avoid severe penalties, educational systems must be designed in a way to include children at a relatively young age. In post-war immigration countries where linguistic distance is low, this element is sufficient to avoid severe achievement penalties, but new immigration societies have more complex institutional pathways, since they combine a not-late entry in the (pre)school system with a late tracking into differentiated curricula and a low degree of marginalization of second-generation immigrants.

In this thesis I aim to examine the influence of institutional conditions on the level of generalized trust in divided societies. I argue through this thesis that institutions in divided societies are an important source of social trust in the long term and can easily destroy the level of social trust in societies if designed ineffectively and prove to be unfair and unequal. In general, the findings suggest that equal and fair public institutions are crucial to the social mechanism of trust. In this thesis I relied on a mixed methods approach based on qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) was used to answer the question of: to what the extent do institutional conditions have an effect on trust, using eight case studies. Regression analysis, backed with the case-study analysis was used to offer in-depth analysis of the case of Lebanon. This thesis provides empirical evidence that institutions have a substantial impact on the level of trust between strangers within a divided society. In this research I have developed a conceptual framework from several relevant bodies of literature, mainly theories of social capital and generalized trust, that have been used as basis for the analysis. The QCA analysis shows that fair institutions with an effective and independent judicial and legal system, and an efficient non-sectarian civil society can maintain the level of generalized trust in divided societies and may contribute to more trust in the society. The QCA also shows that the absence of equality and fairness in formal institutions and the absence of public deliberation and consultation, including civil society, have a greater negative impact on generalized trust in divided societies. I conclude that institutions in divided societies play an important role in maintaining and even building social trust in the long run, but they can also be detrimental to the level of social trust in societies if designed ineffectively and prove to be unfair and unequal. The findings suggest that equal and fair public institutions are crucial to the social mechanism of trust.

À partir d’une analyse quali-quantitative comparée (AQQC-QCA), conçue par Ragin (1987), nous proposons un modèle théorique sur l’émergence et la transmission des pratiques de résistance culturelle des jeunes des quartiers populaires de Medellín (Colombie), Paris (France) et São Paulo (Brésil). Nos résultats indiquent que les pratiques de résistance culturelle hybride de ces jeunes se produisent selon deux scénarios. Le premier (i.e., M[P+A] → R) apparaît lorsque des communautés morales à forte identité collective (i.e., dont les membres ne sont pas nécessairement localisés dans la même zone géographique) se nourrissent des flux d’information de stigmatisation en provenance de la sphère médiatique centrale de la ville (SMCV), et disposent soit de ressources informationnelles offertes par la mise en place de politiques publiques d’intervention populaire, soit d’un accès libre et répandu aux technologies d’information et communication liées à Internet (TICi). Le second (i.e., OA → R), émerge lorsque l’utilisation des TICi par ces jeunes augmente et qu’ils ont la perception que le gouvernement ne s’intéresse pas à eux, à leurs demandes et besoins. Le contexte actuel globalisé d’échanges présentiels/virtuels d’informations a) modifie les réseaux culturels hybrides des communautés morales, et ; b) construit l’expérience urbaine des individus à partir d’espaces publics hybrides. Notre proposition théorique sert, plus largement, à comprendre l’évolution de la « symbole-sphère » des communautés morales périphériques de la ville à l’ère du numérique, ainsi que la nature de l’information développée par Schumann et Logan (2005) et Logan (2012)
Based on a qualitative comparative analysis (QQA), a method developed by (Ragin, 1987), we propose a theoretical model of the emergence of transmission of the cultural resistance practices of the low income youth from popular neighborhoods of Medellín (Colombia), Paris (France) and São Paulo (Brazil). Our results indicate that the cultural resistance practices of this population appears in two different settings. The first one (M[P+A] → R) happens when the moral communities (that is, not necessarily located in the same geographical area) reach a strong cultural identity, feeds on stigmatizing information flows from the central media sphere of the city (SMCV), and have either information resources offered by the set of public policies of popular intervention or widespread and free use of information and communication technologies related to the Internet. The second one (OA → R), occurs when the use of the TICs by this youth wins density following the growing perception that the government is not interested in attending theirs demands and needs. The current context of global exchange of real and virtual information a) modifies the cultural hybrid networks associated with moral communities and b) builds an urban experience of individuals starting with hybrid public spaces. Our theoretical proposition serves a better understanding of the evolution of the symbolosphere of the peripheral moral communities in the cities of the digital age and the nature of the information as developed by Schumann et Logan (2005) et Logan (2012)
A partir de un análisis cualitativo comparado (QCA), método concebido por Ragin (1987), proponemos un modelo teórico sobre la emergencia y la transmisión de las prácticas de resistencia cultural de los jóvenes de barrios populares de Medellín (Colombia), Paris (Francia) et São Paulo (Brasil). Nuestros resultados indican que las prácticas de resistencia cultural híbrida de estos jóvenes se producen en dos escenarios. El primero (M[P+A] → R) aparece cuando las comunidades morales (i.e., no necesariamente ubicadas en la misma zona geográfica) con una fuerte identidad colectiva, se alimentan de flujos de información estigmatizantes procedentes de la esfera mediática central de la ciudad (SMCV), y disponen ya sea de recursos informacionales ofrecidos por la existencia de políticas públicas de intervención popular, o bien de un acceso generalizado y libre a las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación relacionadas con Internet (TICi). El segundo (OA → R) emerge cuando el uso de las TICi por parte de estos jóvenes aumenta y tienen la percepción de que el gobierno no se interesa en ellos, ni en sus demandas ni en sus necesidades. El contexto global actual de intercambio presencial y virtual de información a) modifica las redes culturales híbridas asociadas a las comunidades morales, y; b) construye la experiencia urbana de los individuos a partir de espacios públicos híbridos. Nuestra propuesta teórica sirve, de manera general, para entender la evolución de la “simbolosfera” de las comunidades morales periféricas urbanas en la era digital, así como la naturaleza de la información propuesta por Schumann et Logan (2005) et Logan (2012)
Com base em uma análise qualitativa comparativa ou “Qualitative Comparative Analysis” (QCA), método desenvolvido por (Ragin, 1987), propomos um modelo teórico da emergência e da transmissão de práticas de resistência cultural entre jovens de baixa renda em territórios populares de Medellín (Colômbia), Paris (França) e São Paulo (Brasil). Nossos resultados indicam que as práticas de resistência cultural híbrida desses jovens seguem dois roteiros. O primeiro (M[P+A] → R), quando as comunidades morais (ou seja, não necessariamente localizados na mesma área geográfica) alcançam forte identidade coletiva, alimenta-se de fluxos de informação estigmatizantes oriundos da esfera de mídia central da cidade (SMCV) e dispõem seja de recursos de informação oferecidos pelo conjunto de políticas públicas de intervenção popular, seja de um aceso generalizado e livre as tecnologias de informação e comunicação relacionadas à Internet (TICi). O segundo (OA → R), quando o uso das TICs por esses jovens ganha densidade na medida em que amadurecem a percepção de que o governo não está interessado em atender suas demandas e necessidades. O atual contexto global de troca presencial e virtual de informações a) modifica as redes culturais híbridas associadas a comunidades morais e b) constrói a experiência urbana de indivíduos a partir de espaços públicos híbridos. Nossa proposta teórica serve, mais amplamente, para entender a evolução da “simbolosfera” das comunidades morais periféricas das cidades na era digital e a natureza da informação tal como desenvolvida por Schumann e Logan (2005) e Logan (2012)

[ES] El mercado y las transacciones comerciales se desarrollan en la actualidad en un entorno cada vez más dinámico y cambiante, que obliga a las empresas a adaptarse a expectativas cada vez más específicas y exigentes por parte de los clientes, y a una competencia feroz por mantener y ampliar la ventaja competitiva para poder subsistir. La fidelización de los clientes, y el establecimiento de relaciones comerciales duraderas con ellos a largo plazo es una de las formas más eficientes a través de las cuales las empresas pueden conseguir estos objetivos. Para ello es fundamental tener la mejor información posible sobre los clientes, así como establecer estrategias coherentes para la gestión de las relaciones con ellos. Poner al cliente como foco y centro de toda la cadena de valor de las empresas asegura que, desde la toma de requerimientos para satisfacer las necesidades de los clientes, hasta la provisión de bienes y servicios que satisfagan dichas necesidades, pasando por todas las etapas de su proceso productivo, están diseñadas y orientadas a conseguir la máxima satisfacción del cliente y con ello su fidelidad y una relación comercial duradera y beneficiosa. Las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación (TIC) son clave para cualquier estrategia dirigida a la consecución de estos objetivos, tanto por su potencia en el manejo de la información valiosa de gestión empresarial, como por el cambio cultural que introducen en las empresas que adoptan estos sistemas en su camino hacia la transformación digital. En las últimas dos décadas ha crecido especialmente el interés por una de estas tecnologías, en concreto los sistemas Customer Relationship Management (CRM), cuyo ámbito de trabajo es la gestión de las relaciones con los clientes. CRM nace en los años 70 con el objetivo de automatizar la fuerza de ventas de las empresas, es decir, sistematizar e informatizar los procesos comerciales en tres áreas: ventas, marketing, y servicios. El objetivo primero de CRM era que toda acción emprendida por cualquiera de los agentes de la empresa, en cualquiera de estas tres áreas de gestión de relaciones con los clientes, estuviera registrada y accesible para el resto de los agentes clave de la empresa. Con CRM se conseguía unificar y tener de forma coherente y consistente toda la información de gestión de relaciones con los clientes. El dinamismo y competitividad de los mercados, alentado por la globalización y el acceso a información y mercados diversos y dispersos, ha movido a las empresas a buscar estrategias de gestión que hagan sostenibles en el tiempo sus ventajas competitivas. CRM se ha mostrado como una de estas herramientas más valiosas, aportando expectativas no solo de beneficios de explotación actual por su gestión de la información relacionada con la gestión del conocimiento sobre los clientes, sino también de beneficios a futuro por su directo impacto en los procesos de innovación. Una vez definidos cuales son los beneficios esperados por parte de las empresas que deciden implementar sistemas CRM, se plantea la cuestión de saber en qué condiciones estos beneficios se suelen dar en la realidad. El presente trabajo de investigación ha pretendido comprobar cuáles son las condiciones que pueden hacer que el uso CRM por parte de las empresas venga acompañado consecuentemente de mejoras en los resultados empresariales, de modo que las conclusiones ayuden a las empresas a tomar sus decisiones sobre su adopción de dichos sistemas CRM. La conclusión general del estudio es la confirmación de que una buena cultura de gestión de la relación con los clientes ("customer relationship management") es clave para tener un buen resultado empresarial, ya que está en línea con las teorías modernas del marketing relacional que se enfocan en la gestión centrada en el cliente. A esta relevancia de la cultura de gestión centrada en el cliente, se agrega que el uso de tecnologías CRM puede y de
[CA] El mercat i les transaccions comercials es desenvolupen en l'actualitat en un entorn cada vegada més dinàmic i canviant, que obliga les empreses a adaptar-se a expectatives cada vegada més específiques i exigents per part dels clients, i a una competència feroç per mantindre i ampliar l'avantatge competitiu per a poder subsistir. La fidelització dels clients, i l'establiment de relacions comercials duradores amb ells a llarg termini és una de les formes més eficients a través de les quals les empreses poden aconseguir aquests objectius. Per a això és fonamental tindre la millor informació possible sobre els clients, així com establir estratègies coherents per a la gestió de les relacions amb ells. Posar al client com a focus i centre de tota la cadena de valor de les empreses assegura que, des de la presa de requeriments per a satisfer les necessitats dels clients, fins a la provisió de béns i serveis que satisfan aquestes necessitats, passant per totes les etapes del seu procés productiu, estan dissenyades i orientades a aconseguir la màxima satisfacció del client i amb això la seua fidelitat i una relació comercial duradora i beneficiosa. Les Tecnologies d'Informació i Comunicació (TIC) són clau per a qualsevol estratègia dirigida a la consecució d'aquests objectius, tant per la seua potència en el maneig de la informació valuosa de gestió empresarial, com pel canvi cultural que introdueixen en les empreses que adopten aquests sistemes en el seu camí cap a la transformació digital. En les últimes dues dècades ha crescut especialment l'interés per una d'aquestes tecnologies, en concret els sistemes Customer Relationship Management (CRM), l'àmbit de treball del qual és la gestió de les relacions amb els clients. CRM naix en els anys 70 amb l'objectiu d'automatitzar la força de vendes de les empreses, és a dir, sistematitzar i informatitzar els processos comercials en tres àrees: vendes, màrqueting, i serveis. L'objectiu primer de CRM era que tota acció empresa per qualsevol dels agents de l'empresa, en qualsevol d'aquestes tres àrees de gestió de relacions amb els clients, estiguera registrada i accessible per a la resta d'agents clau de l'empresa. Amb CRM s'aconseguia unificar i tindre de manera coherent i consistent tota la informació de gestió de relacions amb els clients. El dinamisme i competitivitat dels mercats, encoratjat per la globalització i l'accés a informació i mercats diversos i dispersos, ha mogut a les empreses a buscar estratègies de gestió que facen sostenibles en el temps els seus avantatges competitius. CRM s'ha mostrat com una d'aquestes eines més valuoses, aportant expectatives no sols de beneficis d'explotació actual per la seua gestió de la informació relacionada amb la gestió del coneixement sobre els clients, sinó també de beneficis a futur pel seu directe impacte en els processos d'innovació. Una vegada definits quals són els beneficis esperats per part de les empreses que decideixen implementar sistemes CRM, es planteja la qüestió de saber sota quines condicions aquests beneficis se solen donar en la realitat. El present treball de recerca ha pretés comprovar quines són les condicions que poden fer que l'ús CRM per part de les empreses vinga acompanyat conseqüentment de millores en els resultats empresarials, de manera que les conclusions ajuden les empreses a prendre les seues decisions sobre la seua adopció d'aquests sistemes CRM. La conclusió general de l'estudi és la confirmació que una bona cultura de gestió de la relació amb els clients ("customer relationship management") és clau per a tindre un bon resultat empresarial, ja que està en línia amb les teories modernes del màrqueting relacional que s'enfoquen en la gestió centrada en el client. A aquesta rellevància de la cultura de gestió centrada en el client, s'agrega que l'ús de tecnologies CRM pot i deu ajudar a millorar l'acompliment de l'empresa.
[EN] The market and commercial transactions are currently developing in an increasingly dynamic and changing environment, which forces companies to adapt to increasingly specific and demanding expectations from customers, and to a fierce competition to maintain and expand the competitive advantage in order to survive. The loyalty of customers, and the establishment of lasting business relationships with them in the long term is one of the most efficient ways through which companies can achieve these objectives. For this purpose, it is essential to have the best possible information about customers, as well as to establish coherent strategies for managing relationships with them. Putting the client as the focus and center of the entire value chain of companies ensures that, from the study of requirements to satisfy the needs of clients, to the provision of goods and services that satisfy said needs, passing through all stages of its production process, are designed and oriented to achieve maximum customer satisfaction and with it their loyalty and a lasting and beneficial business relationship. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are key to any strategy aimed at achieving these objectives, both because of their power in handling valuable business management information, and because of the cultural change they introduce in companies that adopt these systems on their way to digital transformation. In the last two decades, interest in one of these technologies has grown especially, specifically the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, whose scope of work is the management of customer relationships. CRM was born in the 70s with the aim of automating the sales force of companies, that is, to systematize and computerize business processes in three areas: sales, marketing, and services. The first objective of CRM was that any action taken by any of the company's agents, in any of these three areas of customer relationship management, be registered and accessible to the rest of the company's key agents. With CRM it was possible to unify and have in a coherent and consistent way all the information on customer relationship management. The dynamism and competitiveness of the markets, encouraged by globalization and access to information and diverse and dispersed markets, has prompted companies to seek management strategies that make their competitive advantages sustainable over time. CRM has proven to be one of these most valuable tools, providing expectations not only of current operating benefits due to its management of information related to customer knowledge management, but also future benefits due to its direct impact on processes of innovation. Once the expected benefits of companies that decide to implement CRM systems have been defined, the question arises of knowing under what conditions these benefits usually occur in reality. The present research work has tried to verify which are the conditions that can make the use of CRM by companies consequently accompanied by improvements in business results, so that the conclusions help companies make their decisions about their adoption of such CRM systems. The general conclusion of the study is the confirmation that a good culture of customer relationship management ("customer relationship management") is key to having a good business result, as it is in line with modern theories of relationship marketing that they focus on customer-centric management. To this relevance of the customer-centric management culture, it is added that the use of CRM technologies can and should help improve company performance. An adequate innovation strategy appears as the ideal complement to the strategies for the use of culture and CRM technologies in order to improve business results.
Guerola Navarro, V. (2021). Impacto del grado de implementación del Customer Relationship Management (CRM) y la Estrategia de Innovación en los resultados empresariales. Aplicación al sector vitivinícola español [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/166614
TESIS

La tesis es un compendio de cinco artículos que pretende analizar la importancia del componente emocional (inteligencia emocional, conciencia emocional y estados de ánimo) y la personalidad sobre diversos indicadores de bienestar (satisfacción con la vida, quejas somáticas y estrés) en niños y adultos, mediante modelos lineales y modelos combinatorios o Qualitative comparative analisys (QCA). Parece existir evidencia empírica que apoya la consecución de los objetivos planteados e hipótesis. Tanto el Somatic Complaint List (SCL) como el Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS), presentan adecuadas propiedades psicométricas. Tanto el componente emocional como la personalidad juegan un papel muy importante en diversas medidas de bienestar, siendo el componente emocional más importante que la personalidad. Así mismo, parece que algunos de dichos componentes cambian de valencia en el caso de los adultos respecto a los niños; de igual manera parece que los modelos QCA son mejores predictores que los modelos de regresión lineal.
The thesis is a compendium of five articles that seek to analyze the importance of the emotional component (emotional intelligence, emotional awareness and moods) and personality on various indicators of well-being (life satisfaction, somatic complaints and stress) in children and adults, using linear models and combinatorial models or Qualitative comparative analyses (QCA). There seems to be empirical evidence supporting the achievement of the stated objectives and hypotheses. Both the Somatic Complaint List (SCL) and the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS) have appropriate psychometric properties. Both the emotional component and personality play a very important role in various measures of well-being, being the emotional component more important than personality. It also appears that some of these components change in valence for adults with respect to children; similarly, QCA models appear to be better predictors than linear regression models.

Mestrado em Contabilidade, Fiscalidade e Finanças Empresariais
Este estudo tem como objetivo mapear a aplicação de técnicas de contabilidade de gestão nas 500 maiores empresas portuguesas e estudar a aplicação de uma técnica em específico, o Target Costing. Os dados para este estudo foram obtidos através de um questionário online enviado a controllers e diretores financeiros das empresas. Para análise dos resultados foi utilizada a metodologia Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), com o objetivo de aferir as variáveis que conduzem à aplicação do Target Costing. Com este estudo foi possível concluir que parte das empresas portuguesas que afirmam utilizar a técnica em estudo, não a estão a aplicar de forma correta, sugerindo até que estes se encontrem a utilizar uma outra técnica sem estarem conscientes de tal facto.
This study has the main goal of mapping the management accounting techniques from the Portugal's 500 biggest companies and study the application of one particular technique. The data was collected using an online survey sent to the companies' controllers and CFO's. The tool used to analyze the collected data was Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). The main objective is to assess the causes that lead to the implementation of Target Costing. With this study, I was able to conclude that some Portuguese companies that state they are using Target Costing, in reality they are not doing it in the correct way. The study even suggests that perhaps the companies are using without noticing another similar technique.
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Since the beginning of 2000s, labour migration policy in EU countries has entered a new phase, generally referred to as ‘managed migration’. This features more liberal measures to attract sought after migrants, especially highly skilled workers, and more restrictive measures to deter less welcome migrants, notably low skilled workers. This dissertation explores the extent to which EU Member States have pursued this approach and the causes of its different declinations. The first chapter provides an overview of the managed migration approach in labour migration, and its economic and political rationale. The second chapter reviews the existing scholarship efforts to operationalise migration policy, and presents an original index on labour migration policy openness and decoupling by skill level, tested on 14 Member States. Different patterns of labour migration policy openness and decoupling emerge. The third chapter looks for the causal conditions under which Member States have implemented liberal labour migration policy for highly skilled migrants, for general/low skilled migrants, and have decoupled policies by skill level. It reviews the existing causal explanations, in particular an explanation based on the ‘Variety of Capitalism’ research agenda, and an explanation based on coalitions building by labour market actors. Then, by means of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), it tests a number of conditions, specifically on i. employers’ preferences on migrants’ number and skills, ii. employers’ capacity to affect the policy outcome, and iii. presence of anti-immigration political parties, to find the configurations under which the outcome is present or absent. The fourth chapter explores the causal mechanism associated with the identified conditions with specific case studies, selected on the basis of the QCA results, and notably Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom (typical cases) and Czech Republic (deviant case). The fifth chapter analyses Member States’ behaviour at the EU level, in negotiating and transposing the first EU directive on highly skilled migrants, the Blue Card Directive. It looks for the drivers of Member States behaviour and analyses the interplay between the national and EU dimension of migration policy, and specifically whether the same conditions that explain labour migration openness and decoupling at national level work at EU level.

This research investigates differences in effectiveness of food safety regulation across the EU countries and explains them by differences in domestic governance design. The focus is justified by a pragmatic consideration, inspired by the Institutional Analysis and Development framework (IAD: Ostrom 2005, 2011): although policy effectiveness more directly depends on a wide array of noninstitutional factors, the institutional dimension of governance is the one on which intervention is relatively easier, and that shapes actors’ strategies and endowments. Drawing on this tenet, this work asks which institutional features of the national governance design make food safety regulation effective. Given the configurational nature of institutional effects (Ostrom, 1986), Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is the suitable technique to find out the necessary and sufficient conditions associated with high / low effectiveness of food safety regulation. To emphasize the effects of governance designs, the study narrows on those Member States in which the implementation of the European reform has consolidated (with the Regulation 178/2002). As all the Member States accessing the EU in 2004 and 2007 have this regulatory system still in the making – the Central and Eastern European Countries, but also Malta and Cyprus – this research identifies its scope condition in the EU 15, i.e. the countries that joined the European Union before 2004. Results show that capacity plays a prominent role for an effective response, unfolding its effect in combination with an integrated model of distribution of the regulatory functions.

Mestrado em Gestão de Recursos Humanos
O conhecimento é, no contexto socioeconómico atual, o recurso mais valorizado pelas organizações, sendo essencial para garantir vantagem competitiva sustentada. A gestão deste recurso é levada a cabo pela disciplina da gestão do conhecimento que engloba quatro fases distintas: a criação, a armazenagem, a partilha e a utilização do conhecimento. O presente estudo é focado na terceira fase deste processo ? a partilha ? que é essencial para uma boa gestão das organizações. O presente estudo tem igualmente um foco no setor religioso, pois não existe ainda, do ponto de vista teórico e de gestão, uma teoria compreensiva das organizações religiosas, sendo que o seu estudo é relevante para a gestão. Desta forma, o presente estudo aborda a temática da partilha de conhecimento no setor religioso, tendo como principal objetivo entender como se partilha o conhecimento nas organizações religiosas. Para tal, foram selecionadas as condições Votos, Rituais, Significado e Comunidade, correspondendo as três últimas aos três níveis da teoria da cultura organizacional de Schein, uma vez que a cultura organizacional pode facilitar ou inibir a partilha de conhecimento nas organizações. Os dados das condições selecionadas foram recolhidos através da aplicação de um inquérito por questionário, e posteriormente analisados recorrendo ao software fs/QCA (fuzzy sets Qualitative Comparative Analysis), que permite, mesmo com amostras reduzidas, identificar configurações causais que expliquem um determinado resultado. Os resultados obtidos apresentam configurações causais para todas as partilhas de conhecimento (total, explícito e tácito).
Knowledge is, in the current socioeconomic setting, the most valued resource by organizations, being essential to guarantee sustained competitive advantage. The management of this resource is carried out by the knowledge management discipline, which includes four distinct phases: the creation, storage, sharing and use of knowledge. The current study is focused on the third phase of this process - sharing - which is essential for a good organization management. The current study has an equal focus on the religious sector, as there still isn't, from the theoretical and management viewpoint, a comprehensive theory of religious organizations, so that from a managerial point of view, it is relevant to study them. Thus, the current study addresses knowledge sharing in the religious sector, having the main goal to understand how knowledge is shared in religious organizations. For such, the conditions Vows, Rituals, Meaning and Community were selected. The last three correspond to Schein's organizational culture theory three levels, considering organizational culture can facilitate, or inhibit, knowledge sharing in organizations. The conditions' data were gathered through the application of a questionnaire survey, and posteriorly analyzed using the fs/QCA (fuzzy sets Qualitative Comparative Analysis) software, which allows, even with small samples, to identify causal configurations that explain a certain result. The results obtained display causal configurations for every single knowledge sharing (total, explicit and tacit).
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The main purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between best practice adherence and the ownership status of an eco-labeling organization. The research question that is aiming to answer is what key factors most often explain differences in the level of credibility between for-profit carbon management eco-labels and not-for-profit carbon management eco-labels in transnational environmental governance. The case studies of interest are the two certification agencies Verra and The Carbon Reduction Institute. The issue of credibility of eco-labeling schemes will be looked through a Green IR theoretical perspective and debunked with Neoliberal IR theory. The methods which will be used are Small-N comparison and Qualitative Content Analysis conducted through Index for Best Practices. The data for the study is acquired from the online platforms of the two case studies for investigation.

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Since the recent strengthening of the preventive polices against corruption and the development and coverage of an investigative journalism in corruption cases, the issue has become a focal concern in the Brazilian citizen routine. The advances made, reflect not just the concern about the effects of corruption imposed on the public administration organizations, and on the citizens, but also regarding the legitimacy of the political system. Nevertheless, the corruption is a hidden phenomenon and therefore we do not know enough about the current conditions of the occurrence in this illegal market. The disgruntled citizen claims from the institutions the sanction of the involved in this market. The population's perception about the degree of punitive regulatory agencies is still insufficient. In this sense, it is necessary to know the configurations that trigger the sanction and not sanction legislators involved in corruption. In order to understand if, in fact, there was leniency or not in the conduction of investigative and punitive processes. Thus, this study aims to understand what factors triggered the occurrence of sanctions in corruptions cases, likewise as the conditions which trigger the impasse between the collective act (protecting the accused and consequently protecting the network of involved) in different cases. The cases adopted were: 1) the overpricing of the TRT-SP headquarters' building; 2) the establishment and operation of an illegal gambling market in the State of Goiás and; 3) the editing and not publication of administrative acts in the Senate. I propose a comparative qualitative analysis of the cases using the configurational method. The results presented in this study, do not intend to explain every case of corruption, but contribute to the debate of the subject.
Com o fortalecimento recente dos órgãos de controle, o avanço na adequação da legislação vigente no combate à corrupção e a atuação cada vez mais investigativa da mídia em casos de corrupção, o tema tem ganho destaque no cotidiano do cidadão brasileiro. Os avanços obtidos, refletem não somente a preocupação em relação aos efeitos da corrupção que incidem sobre a administração pública e sobre o cidadão, mas também com relação à legitimidade do sistema político. Apesar disso, por se tratar a corrupção, e outras transgressões às leis, de um fenômeno oculto, pouco se conhece acerca das condições de ocorrência deste mercado ilegal. O cidadão descontente reivindica das instituições sanção aos envolvidos neste mercado. A percepção da população acerca do caráter punitivo dos órgãos de controle é ainda de insuficiência. Nesse sentido, se faz necessário conhecer as configurações que desencadeiam na sanção e não sanção de parlamentares envolvidos em casos de corrupção a fim de compreender se, de fato, houve ou não leniência na condução dos processos investigativos e punitivos. Desta forma, este trabalho objetiva compreender quais fatores condicionam a ocorrência de sanção em casos de corrupção, assim como analisar as configurações que deflagram no impasse entre o agir coletivamente (protegendo o acusado e, consequentemente a rede de envolvidos) ou individualmente dos atores políticos (não protegendo o acusado e, o acusado não protegendo a rede) em diferentes casos. Os casos adotados foram: 1) do superfaturamento das obras do TRT-SP, 2) da criação e funcionamento de um mercado ilegal de jogos de azar no Estado de Goiás e, 3) da edição e não publicação de atos administrativos no Senado. Proponho uma análise qualitativa comparativa entre os casos, utilizando-me do método configuracional. Os resultados apresentados nesta pesquisa, não tem pretensão de explicar todo e qualquer caso de corrupção, mas contribuir para o debate acerca do tema.

Recent developments around the sharing economy bring to the fore questions of governability and broader societal Benefit-and subsequently the need to explore effective means of public governance, from nurturing, on the one hand, to restriction, on the other. As sharing is a predominately urban phenomenon in modern societies, cities around the globe have become both locus of action and central actor in the debates over the nature and organization of the sharing economy. However, cities vary substantially in the interpretation of potential opportunities and challenges, as well as in their governance responses. Building on a qualitative comparative analysis of 16 leading global cities, our findings reveal four framings of the sharing economy: "societal endangerment","societal enhancement", "market disruption", and "ecological Transition". Such framings go hand in hand with patterned governance responses: although there is considerable heterogeneity in the combination of public governance strategies, we find specific configurations of framings and public governance strategies. Our work reflects the political and ethical debates on various economic, social, and moral issues related to the sharing economy, and contrib-utes to a better understanding of the field-level institutional Arrangements-a prerequisite for examining moral behavior of sharing economy organizations.

This research explores new dynamics of integration in Central America through studying the implementation of cross-border development policies. By implementing development policies at the border level, local communities from different countries engage in new forms of social, political and economic cooperation with each other. Therefore, this research explores the causal conditions that .are either necessary or sufficient to create cross-border development policies in Central America. The study included macro and micro context analysis of 20 cities (paired in 10 dyads or cases) across six countries. Furthermore, the research used fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA) in the two-step approach to explain the existence of cross-border development policies. By analyzing cross-border cooperation at two levels, the research found that cross-border policies are created when background contexts (remote conditions) and proximate factors (proximate conditions) interact with each other. Two background or “outcome-enabling” conditions were found in the first-step analysis. Six causal paths were found in the second-step analysis as the result of combining both remote and proximate conditions, complying with the rules of equifinality and conjunctural causation in the two-step approach. The results of the research show that specific political configurations at the macro level are necessary to implement certain types of policies at the border level. This is the area where policy meets politics.

Cette recherche traite de la réactivité des parlementaires français vis-à-vis de leur circonscription.Ce faisant, notre thèse investit l’aspect dyadique de la représentation politique qui a été largementignoré par la littérature française et offre ainsi un nouveau regard sur la variété des activités desdéputés français tant à Paris qu’en circonscription. En s’inspirant des écrits du néoinstitutionnalismedes choix rationnels, notre thèse vise à mettre en lumière les déterminantsinstitutionnels de la réactivité vis-à-vis de la circonscription ainsi que les logiques qui sous-tendentles pratiques de représentation. En surmontant le descriptivisme de beaucoup d’études à ce sujetet à l’aide de solides matériaux empiriques, nous montrons que le territoire d’élection affectegrandement le comportement des députés tant dans le contenu que sur la forme des activités. Lacirconscription et les attentes différenciées des citoyens agissent de manière systématique sur lamanière dont les députés mènent leur mandat
This research deals with French MPs responsiveness. This dissertation studies the dyadicrepresentation in the French Assemblée nationale which was largely neglected by scholars. It givesthus a new insight on the diversity of French MPs activities both in Paris and in their district.Following the arguments of the rational choice new institutionalism, our dissertation aims tohighlight the institutional determinants of MPs responsiveness toward their district and the logicsthat underlie their practices of representations. By overcoming the descriptiveness of many studiesand thanks to original and solid empirical data, we show that the characteristics of the districtstrongly affect both the kind and the content of MPs activities. The district and the various citizens’expectations systematically affect the way French MPs conceive their mandate