Repositório RCAAP

Tags and keywords, freely chosen by users for annotating resources, offer a new way for organizing and retrieving web resources that closely reflect the users’ interests and preferences, as well as automatically generate folksonomies. Social tagging systems have gained increasing popularity as a method for annotating and categorizing a wide range of different web resources. They also attract researchers in social sciences because they offer a huge quantity of user-generated annotations that reveal the interests of millions of people. To date, the study using digital trace data methods continues to lack a theoretical framework, particularly in social science research. This paper presents a methodology to use big data from Web 2.0 in social research. At the same time, it applies a method to extract data from a particular social bookmarking site (Delicious) and shows the sort of results that this type of analysis can offer to social scientists. The illustration is made around the topic of globalization of agriculture. Using data crawled from a large social tagging system can have an important impact in the discovering of latent patterns, which is needed to provide effective recommendations to different actors. In this paper, a sample of 851 users, 526 URLs and 1,700 tags from the Delicious classification system on the subject of globalization were retrieved and analyzed. Through the analysis, main users and websites around globalization issues in Delicious emerged, along with discovering the most important tags that were applied by users to describe the globalization of agriculture. The implications of these methodology and findings for further research are discussed.

The adoption of business process improvement strategies is currently a concern of most organizations. The quest for the benefits of this improvement on resource optimization and the responsiveness of the organizations has raised several proposals for process improvement methodologies. These approaches differ both in the principles that support them, and in the specific area to which they are intended. However, proposals and results of scientific research on process improvement in higher education institutions, extremely complex and unique organizations, are still scarce. This research project intends to propose the extension of a process improvement model for this particular type of organization. We propose to undertake a review of process areas, goals and practices used in reference maturity models, such as Capability Maturity Model Integration or Business Process Maturity Model, to determine which ones apply to academic organizations and which should be included, adapted or deleted. The resulting maturity model will be further validated in a Portuguese higher education institution. This study is being developed under the University of Algarve Informatics Engineering Doctorate program.

This paper proposes a model to represent people´s work from ontological business transactions according to the concepts of Activity Theory and Enterprise Ontology. With this model we aim at providing a comprehensive and structured modelling approach that, at the same time, avoids excessively detailed descriptions of technology-supported activities. The proposed model is complemented with a set of rules that enables the interrelating transactions described with the Enterprise Ontology language and task descriptions based on Activity Theory. An important benefit of this model is enabling the analysis of manifested contradictions to identify the aspects needing changes within organizational activity systems. The proposed model and rules were applied in a study case.

The forest fires which occurred in the prefecture of Ilia, Greece, in August 2007 resulted in significant losses in forest lands, property and human lives. The citizens behaved as simple spectators of the disaster. Although they could have reacted, they did nothing. The citizens, however, declare that they know what actions they need to take in case of fire. Their information regarding forest fires mainly comes from television and radio, family and friends, newspapers and magazines and education. Indeed, it seems that through interpersonal channels of communication better results are achieved. In confronting forest fires, knowledge alone is not sufficient. In order to effectively confront forest fires, the local population also needs to be trained and organized in a voluntary system of confrontation.

Modern cities have to reconcile the needs of the citizens for green areas considering the evolutionary trends of the city, especially in terms of growth and the required transformation in modern times. The present study attempts to analyze and evaluate the amount and distribution of the existing urban green space and the requirements of those green areas by the public. The green infrastructure of the city of Faro was evaluated with three methods: landscape assessment using modules, spatial assessment using GIS and social assessment using an urban population survey. This research provided indicators and thresholds to be included by policy makers in local regulations about green infrastructure of the city of Faro.

The adverse ecological conditions at the lignite mines of Ptolemaida make the landscape reclamation difficult. The naturally established vegetation and soil properties were studied prior to reclamation. Various forest species were planted to assess the afforestation potential. The natural vegetation was heterogeneous but can be used for the analysis of the site. The soil of the spoil heaps was heterogeneous with unfavourable physicochemical properties. Surface soil temperature was still 24ºC higher in bare soil than in soil covered with vegetation. The most successful species of the afforestation trial were Robinia pseudoacacia and Cedrus atlantica. Covering of fly ash spoils with topsoil presented poor results, while sewage sludge gave a favorable amelioration response in areas with high fly ash content. Topsoil from older stands was the suggested method to establish Robinia pseudoacacia. Reclamation success was dependent on appropriate planning; thus, the new landscape had to be designed in harmony with the surrounding landscape before the start of the mining activity.

The following paper presents a detailed insight about the situation of the forest management in the diversity within the Mediterranean Forests, and their response to different problems, in order to allow the development and application of a forest management model. Therefore, a survey was carried out in several partners’ areas of the PROTECT project (An Integrated European Model to Protect MEDiterranean Forests from Fire). The results provided a comparative analysis between different areas located in the Mediterranean Basin, and the analysis shows that there are several management systems that may be improved with experiences from other countries. Also, there are some common problems which need solutions in the different areas, namely forest fires. This general information also provided a good background for carefully applying and adapting different forests’ management models, both ecological and economically sustainable, in the PROTECT partners, where the problems and agents to be considered are different, giving conditions for the adaptation and development of a common model.

This study investigated the immediate influence of a stress management training on teachers’ and physicians’ motivational (professional objective, intrinsic motivation, efficacy expectancies) and well-being related outcomes (positive well-being, emotional exhaustion, work distress, irrational beliefs) using meta-analytical techniques. In an action-research perspective, the stress management training program was implemented in several groups of physicians and teachers, in Portugal and in Brazil (n=144). It was found that, at all the samples where this intervention was implemented, an increase occurred on all motivational indicators and on positive well-being, and a decrease on negative well-being outcomes; nevertheless, not all obtained results are statistically significant. The largest impact of the implemented training program was at positive well-being at work, with a large effect size (d+=.81), and at the irrational beliefs, with a medium effect size (d+=.61). These results suggest the short-term benefits of this intervention on teachers’ and physicians’ motivation and well-being.

This study investigated the determination of Organizational Culture on the Well-Being at Work and determination on the Subjective Well-being of employees of Public Institutions of Higher Education in Portugal. The final total sample had 635 participants, employees of Portuguese Public Higher Education Institutions. The hierarchical regression shows a significant effect of Organizational Culture on the criterion variable, Subjective Well-Being. By adding Well-Being at Work, it increased the explanatory power of the model. It was still possible to establish a structural equation model, which considers the determination of Support Organizational Culture on Well-being at Work and this on Well-being Professional. These results reveal the importance of organizations implementing a culture of support, particularly in ensuring the Well-being of its employees.

All over the world, the small and medium enterprises are more and more organized in consortia, cooperation networks, joint-ventures and strategical alliances allowing not only the reduction of uncertainty and turbulence of the markets but also the gathering of advantages which may make them more competitive. It is worth considering that the results of these relationships are affected by determinant factors which may inhibit or facilitate the entrepreneurship. Our aim is to evaluate the relationship between some of those determinants, association, inter-company cooperation, innovation in the methods of work and creativity—about the entrepreneurship in 236 small and medium enterprises of the national defence. One of the questions initially posed is if there is a significant relation between corporation, innovative methods of work, creativity and entrepreneurship. Secondly, if being creative is an attribute of the entrepreneur, can it have a mediator effect between innovative methods of work and entrepreneurship? A factorial exploratory analysis was made in main components (varimax rotation) and multiple linear regression. The results show the direct relationship of the evaluated determinants and entrepreneurship and the partial mediator effect of the creativity between the innovation in the methods of work and entrepreneurship. These enterprises may expect to develop new methods of work as a high differential component concerning the competition and the more efficient use of knowledge and of the skills of the people who make part of the work team in order to increase their competitiveness.

Since workforces are ageing throughout Europe, interest in the role of age in the workplace is increasing. Older workers with high work centrality are more likely to negotiate a relational contract and express higher levels of job satisfaction than older workers with low work centrality (Armstrong-Stassen and Schlosser, 2008). This study examines the role of work centrality and valued work outcomes as antecedents of job satisfaction. A cross sectional study using questionnaires was conducted. The sample consisted of 203 Spanish employees (M age = 55.78, SD = 3.01). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses have revealed that job satisfaction was significantly predicted by needed income and work centrality. When work is not an important part of older workers’ lives, they will prefer extrinsic outcomes and will not invest in the relationship with their organization (Grant & Wade-Benzoni, 2009). Implications for research and theory are explored in the conclusion.

This paper intends to undertake an initial/preliminary exploration of the subjective well-being regarding the reception of social care and other domains of life in a group of older people. It is, therefore, a descriptive paper that raises more questions than offers answers. Data was collected in the scope of a larger qualitative research project through the conduction of a focus group with elders receiving some kind of social care. The collected data was analysed according to the basic procedures of Grounded Theory with the help of the software NVivo 9. The results reveal different sources of well-being and ill-being. The former are satisfaction with the social care services, satisfaction with the daily life, and satisfaction with living arrangements. In turn, the latter are dissatisfaction with the Day Care Centre, dissatisfaction with the daily life, dissatisfaction with living arrangements, and transition to widowhood. These results and their implications for social policy and professional practice are discussed in the context of existing literature.

The aim of this study was to examine differences in quality of life and stressful life events, in first and second generation immigrant adolescents living in Algarve. A total of 172 immigrant adolescents participated in the study, completing the kidscreen-52, the stressful and negative life events inventory and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Results suggest that younger immigrant adolescents report more physical well-being and a higher mood level. Concerning gender differences, girls scored higher than boys in physical well-being, mood and self-perception, but no differences were found on the other kidscreen subscales. First generation immigrants scored significantly higher than second generation ones on the general quality of life index, psychological well-being, autonomy, financial resources and school environment. However, the second-generation immigrants did not seem to be more exposed to stressful life events than the first-generation group. When selecting relevant variables for well-being promotion and for intervention, we must consider that immigrants are more exposed to economic vulnerability, may experience difficulties in adapting to a different school context, and are at higher risk of social exclusion.

The student’s transition from secondary school to higher education consists of a series of changes that can have serious consequences if not satisfactorily overcome, including academic failure and college dropout. There are many variables than can influence this process of adjustment to higher education, with a particular emphasis given to social integration, especially because, often, this transition involves a change of residence. Using a sample of 339 students from the University of Algarve, this study aims to deepen our understanding of the relationship between student’s subjective well-being and their social integration in higher education. The results show that the variables of social integration in higher education, interpersonal relationship, personal well-being and emotional balance are predictors of the level of subjective well-being experienced by the students. On the other hand, a significant relation between socio-demographic variables and the student’s happiness was not obtained.

Understanding urban change in particular for larger regions has been a great demur in both regional planning and geography. One of the main challenges has been linked to the potential of modelling urban change. The absence of spatial data and size of areas of study limit the traditional urban monitoring approaches, which also do not take into account visualization techniques that share information with the community. This is the case of the Golden Horseshoe in southern Ontario in Canada, one of the fastest growing regions in North America. An unprecedented change on the urban environment has been witnessed, leading to an increased importance of awareness for future planning in the region. With a population greater than 8 million, the Golden Horseshoe is steadily showing symptoms of becoming a mega-urban region, joining surrounding cities into a single and diversified urban landscape. However, little effort has been done to understand these changes, nor to share information with policy makers, stakeholders and investors. These players are in need of the most diverse information on urban land use, which is seldom available from a single source. The spatio-temporal effect of the growth of this urban region could very well be the birth of yet another North American megacity. Therefore, from a spatial perspective there is demand for joint collaboration and adoption of a regional science perspective including land cover and spatio-temporal configurations. This calls forth a novel technique that allows for assessment of urban and regional change, and supports decision-making without having the usual concerns of locational data availability. It is this sense, that we present a spatial-retrofitting model, with the objective of (i) retrofitting spatial land use based on current land use and land cover, and assessing proportional change in the past, leading to four spatial timestamps of the Golden Horseshoe’s land use, while (ii) integrating this in a multi-user open source web environment to facilitate synergies for decision-making. This combined approach is referred to as a regional-spatial-retrofitting approach (RSRA), where the conclusions permit accurate assessment of land use in past time frames based on Landsat imagery. The RSRA also allows for a collective vision of regional urban growth supporting local governance through a decision-making process adhering to Volunteered Geographic Information Systems. Urban land use change can be refined by means of contribution from end-users through a web environment, leading to a constant understanding and monitoring of urban land use and urban land use change.

India has in the last decade become of the fastest growing entrepreneurial landscapes in the world. With a total population of almost 1.2 billion inhabitants, it has developed from a rural economy into a highly competitive market. This study analyses the spatial configuration across the country from a regional perspective, offering an assessment of the spatial autocorrelation of business as to understand the spatial configuration of what I define as a regional-spatial business landscape. In this study, the patterns of distribution of all the registered Indian businesses are assessed counting a total of 6500 registered businesses from 1850 to 2010, which were geocoded and imported into a Geographic Information System environment. A geostatistical analysis is conducted measuring business growth and performance at a national level by means of a Global Moran’s I calculation and followed by assembling a Local Getis-Ord for regional assessment of correlation of road networks. These local spatial statistics reveal clustering of hot spots within threshold distances of road concentrations, suggesting a positive relation between location of businesses and concentration of road networks. The agglomeration of Indian businesses becomes defined by the importance of road infrastructures to allow commutes and interaction of businesses. As a result, it becomes possible to see that India’s business landscape is far from homogenous, and responds well to Weber’s theory of industrial agglomeration, while predicting possible interfirm collaboration. These business hubs in the business landscape are assessed at national level through spatial autocorrelation and then regionally diagnosed by identifying hot spots of business location given business density, and bringing to light the precise location of India’s business hubs from a spatial business landscape perspective at present.

Urban sprawl and growth has experienced increased concern in geographic and environmental literature. Preceding the existence of robust frameworks found in regional and urban planning, as well as urban geography and economics, the spatial properties of allocation of urban land use are still far from being completely understood. This is largely due to the underlying complexity of the change found at the spatial level of urban land use, merging social, economic and natural drivers. The spatial patterns formed, and the connectivity established among the different subsets of land-use types, becomes a complex network of interactions over time, helping to shape the structure of the city. The possibility to merge the configuration of land-use with complex networks may be assessed elegantly through graph theory. Nodes and edges can become abstract representations of typologies of space and are represented into a topological space of different land use types which traditionally share common spatial boundaries. Within a regional framework, the links between adjacent and neighboring urban land use types become better understood, by means of a KamadaKawai algorithm. This study uses land use in Lisbon over three years, 1990, 2000 and 2006, to develop a Kamada-Kawai graph interpretation of land-use as a result of neighboring power. The rapid change witnessed in Lisbon since the nineties, as well as the availability of CORINE Land Cover data in these three time stamps, permits a reflection on anthropogenic land-use change in urban and semi-urban areas in Portugal’s capital. This paper responds to (1) the structure and connectivity of urban land use over time, demonstrating that most of the agricultural land is stressed to transform to urban, gaining a central role in future. (2) Offer a systemic approach to land-use transitions generating what we call spatial memory, where land use change is often unpredictable over space, but becomes evident in a graph theory framework, and (3) advance in the geovisual understanding of spatial phenomena in land use transitions by means of graph theory. Thus, the structure of this combined method enables urban and landscape to have a better understanding of the spatial interaction of land-use types within the city, promoting an elegant solution to rapid geovisualization for land-use management in general.

The challenge of measuring at municipal level tourism density has been a daunting task for both statisticians and geographers. The reason of this is enforced by the fact that administrative areas, such as municipalities, tend to be large spatial administrative units, sharing a large demographic asymmetry of tourist demand within the municipality. The rationale is that geographic characteristics such as coastal line, climate and vegetation, play a crucial role in tourist offer, leaning towards the conclusion that traditional census at administrative level are simply not enough to interpret the true distribution of tourism data. A more quantifiable method is necessary to assess the distribution of socio-economic data. This is developed by means of a dasymetric approach adding on the advantages of multi-temporal comparison. This paper adopts a dasymetric approach for defining tourism density per land use types using the CORINE Land Cover dataset. A density map for tourism is calculated, creating a modified areal weighting (MAW) approach to assess the distribution of tourism density per administrative municipality. This distribution is then assessed as a bidirectional layer on the land use datasets for two temporal stamps: 2000 and 2006, which leads to (i) a consistent map on a more accurate distribution of tourism in Algarve, (ii) the calculation of tourism density surfaces, and (iii) a multi-locational and temporal assessment through density crosstabulation. Finally a geovisual interpretation of locational analysis of tourism change in Algarve for the last decade is created. This integrative spatial methodology offers unique characteristics for more accurate decision making at regional level, bringing an integrative methodology to the forefront of linking tourism with the spatio-temporal clusters formed in rapidly changing economic regions.

Consumption values have received little attention in the tourism literature, comparing to such determinants of the consumer behavior as motivations, pull and push factors, satisfaction, quality, or destination image, etc. This study attempts to analyze consumption values and their types, and the influence that they have on the destination decision making and, particularly, on the destination choice. Current work brings new insights about the role of consumption values in detrmining preferences toward tourist destinations. Study findings justify the multidimensional nature of the consumption value, and demonstrate that every value dimension has a certain degree of importance for a tourist, which, to a big extent, can determine the destination choice.

Nowadays brand personality is admitted to be one of the essential parts of brand strategy. It has also become a popular aspect of destination branding due to the fact that destinations are constantly competing for visitors attention in various ways. The term of branding has been first applied to marketing of services or places since the 1990’s. Later on it was broadened and utilized by specialists in the field of tourism marketing. Tourism brand personality is a relatively new one and there are only few works devoted to brand personality of countries as tourism destinations. Keeping in mind the novelty of the research area, this study was planned as exploratory in nature. The stated goal of the research is: to identify the brand personality attributes ascribed to Portugal by the Russian-speaking market and compare the possible existing differences of attributes among the subgroups of the study (actual visitors and possible future visitors). The results of this research might be interesting to the local officials and to business representatives as it highlights the main attributes of Portugal brand personality from the Russian speaking people’s point of view.