[pt] A presente dissertação busca aprimorar o aproveitamento da frota de cabotagem de petróleo e derivados da Petrobras a partir de um novo modelo de custos e de uma ferramenta operacional de decisão de abastecimento das embarcações. Dada a indisponibilidade de estrutura para abastecer em 59 dos 73 pontos operacionais do país, é usual a necessidade de desviar as embarcações da rota de transporte para abastecer. Até o momento, a decisão de onde abastecer os navios da frota não era apoiada por nenhuma ferramenta e havia pouca transparência a respeito dos custos incidentes para os tomadores de decisão. O trabalho consiste em uma pesquisa ação conduzida no contexto de prática das áreas de programação e operação de navios da empresa. A análise inclui uma modelagem de custos, desdobrada em um produto tecnológico englobando um simulador e uma ferramenta de apoio à decisão de quanto e onde abastecer. A dissertação também traz uma proposta de fluxo de decisão padronizado, que aplicado nas rotas realizadas de 2017 demonstra um potencial de economia de 14,8 milhões de reais no ano, sem necessidade de investimentos. Foram analisadas 6.318 escalas de 114 embarcações para a verificação de aderência do fluxo proposto. Apesar da proposta indicar um número maior de operações e maior volume total de abastecimento, a redução de custos é verificada pela eliminação de escalas exclusivas para abastecer. Caso se opte por habilitar o porto de Suape para abastecimentos de navios, é possível estender as economias a pelo menos 4 milhões de reais anuais adicionais. / [en] The main goal of this dissertation is to improve the usage of Petrobras crude oil and oil products short sea fleet through a new cost model and an operation decision tool regarding its refueling activities. Currently, it is common practice to deviate the ships from their transportation route to refuel, given the lack of refueling structure in 59 of the 73 ports and platforms in which the short sea fleet operates. Until this moment, the refueling decision wasn t supported by any tool and there was little transparency regarding the cost impact to the decision makers. This action research is conducted within the context of practice of the ship operations and ship scheduling areas. This works contributions include a refueling cost model, that is later unfolded in a technological product that includes a Decision Support Tool that helps to decide when and which Fuel Oil quantity to refuel. The dissertation also designs a standardized decision flow, that results in a 14,8 million Reais yearly saving potential when applied to the 2017 routes, no investment needed. To verify the adhesion of the proposed flow, 6.318 port calls made by 114 vessels were analysed. Despite the larger number of refueling operations and total fuel quantity proposed, the cost reduction is verified due to the elimination of the port calls made exclusively for refueling. If the option is made to enable refueling activity in the port of Suape, it is possible to further increase the yearly savings in at least 4 million Reais.

El objetivo general de la investigación fue analizar como la implementación del software SAP B1 influyó en la reducción de costos operativos de importación de la empresa Comercial Colride S.A.C. en el año 2017. Para la investigación se utilizó el método deductivo-explicativo, sobre una muestra conformada por quince trabajadores del área de importaciones de la empresa Comercial Colride S.A.C. The general objective of the research was to analyze how the implementation of SAP B1 software influenced the reduction of import operational costs of Comercial Colride S.A.C. in the year 2017. For the investigation the deductive-explanatory method was used, on a sample conformed by fifteen workers of the area of imports of the company Comercial Colride S.A.C.

The current research of slack-performance relationship pays attention mainly to a set of overlapping slack natures, such as being sticky or liquid, without sufficient consideration of variables related to the internal structure of a given organization. I posit that this weakness may prevent us from further understanding how different slack resources (the slacks) influence firm performance. Moreover, the research on slack-performance relationship has pay insufficient attention to firm's performance in terms of corporate social responsibilities or CSR. Combining the transaction cost theory of the firm with a perspective of international strategy (Taylor, Beechler, & Napier, 1996), I propose a new model explaining how organizational-structure-related variables may interact with the slacks and influence firms' corporate social responsibility. In the study, I propose that with the international strategy, the positive relationship between liquid slack of a given MNE and its corporate social performance will become stronger. Meanwhile, with the international strategy, the negative relationship between the sticky slack of a given MNE and its corporate social performance will become weaker. After analyzing data from publicly listed US firms (2000-2012), I obtain evidence supporting the importance of organizational integration structure for understanding slack-performance relationship. The results show that the international strategy has negative effects to moderate the relationship between the slacks and corporate social responsibilities. Keywords: Sticky slack, Liquid slack, Corporate social performance, Corporate social irresponsible, International strategy

Business Intelligence (BI) is the set of methodologies, practices and capacities focused on information management that allows companies to make better decisions. The practice of BI is developed through IT systems and an in-depth knowledge of the company’s “core business”. This article seeks to make an assessment of the difficulties, costs and benefits that are taken into account before acquiring a BI tool.Among the difficulties is the adaptation of complex information, the deficient data entry, the privacy problems. Related to costs, the costs of licensing and acquiring a tool are developed, as well as those derived from the adaptation of personnel to these solutions. Likewise, regarding the main benefits, the control of the activities, the improvement in the productivity of the collaborators, the technological support to reach the objectives, the promotion of a data-oriented culture and the improvement in the decision-making are exposed. In this way, it shows the challenge that companies in the information age, where knowledge has become a source of competitive advantage for the market and in which people are prepared to achieve success. / El Business Intelligence (BI) es el conjunto de metodologías, prácticas y capacidades enfocadas al manejo de información que permite tomar mejores decisiones a las empresas. La práctica del BI se logra desarrollar a través de sistemas de tecnologías de la información y de un conocimiento profundo del core business de la empresa. El presente artículo busca hacer una evaluación de las dificultades, costos y beneficios que se toman en cuenta antes de adquirir una herramienta de BI.Entre las dificultades se plantea la adaptación de información compleja, el deficiente ingreso de datos, los problemas de privacidad. Respecto a los costos, se identifica los costos de licenciamiento y adquisición de una herramienta, así como los derivados de la adaptación del personal a estas soluciones. Asimismo, en cuanto a los principales beneficios se expone el control de las actividades, la mejora en la productividad de los colaboradores, el soporte tecnológico para alcanzar los objetivos, el impulsar una cultura orientada a datos y la mejora en la toma de decisiones. De esta manera, se muestra el desafío que enfrentan las empresas en la era de la información, donde el conocimiento se ha convertido en una fuente de ventaja competitiva para destacar en el mercado y que solo aquellas que estén adecuadamente preparadas podrán lograr resultados superiores.

Despite constituting a sheer 2% of the world’s surface area, South Africa (SA) is the third most biologically diverse country in the world and this makes the country part of the 17 member countries that make up the ‘Megadiverse Countries’(Sandwith, 2002; Nel & Driver, 2012). Besides its exceptional levels of endemism, according to Boshoff, Cowling and Kerley (2000), three of the 25 internationally recognised biodiversity hotspots are found in SA namely the Cape Florist Region, the Succulent Karoo and the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany centre of endemism. The Baviaanskloof is a very popular tourist destination, which falls within the Cape Floristic Region) ‘biodiversity hotspot’ in the Eastern Cape Province (Myers, 1988; Crane, 2007). Its high biodiversity, numerous archaeological sites, pristine environment, low crime rates, absence of malaria and easy of accessibility, makes it a perfect destination for recreationists (Clark, 1999; Boshoff et al., 2000). The Baviaanskloof was declared a ‘mega reserve’ under the Cape Action for People and Environment (CAPE) programme (CSIR, 2000). It consists of privately-owned farm land and a nature reserve called the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area (BWA). In order to properly manage, conserve and utilise the rich natural resources of the Baviaanskloof, its benefits need to be clearly documented and demonstrated. The aim of this study is to determine the recreational value of the Baviaanskloof, and this was achieved using non-market value technique, namely the travel cost method (TCM). The TCM is used to value recreational assets via the expenditures on traveling to the site by recognising that visitors to a recreation site pay an implicit price – the cost of travelling to it, including access fees and the opportunity costs of their time (Baker & Ruting, 2014). This method is mostly used to estimate use values for recreation activities and changes in these use values associated with changes in environmental quality/quantity. The greatest advantage of the TCM is that valuation estimates are derived from real economic choices made by individuals in real markets, whereas its inability to estimate non-market values is its major weakness which only limits its application to recreational studies. In estimating the recreational value of the Baviaanskloof, data from 328 respondents were used. Five econometric models, namely, a standard Poisson specification, a Poisson specification adjusted for truncation and endogenous stratification (TES Poisson), a standard negative vii binomial model (NB), a negative binomial model adjusted for truncation and endogenous stratification (NBTES), and a generalised negative binomial with endogenous stratification (GNBES) were used to estimate the recreational value of the Baviaanskloof. Crucially, all the five models simultaneously established income and total costs to be statistically significant in determining the number of trips to the recreational site according to a priori expectations. The GNBES model was observed to have the best fit of the data than the other four models after an examination of goodness-of-fit measures in conjunction with the number of statistically significant variables per model. Of the 328 respondents surveyed, on average, visitors to the Baviaanskloof are mostly male, highly educated individuals, receiving gross annual income of ZAR436 372 (USD30 451.64) and 39.87 years of age. The mean travel cost was estimated to be ZAR1 433.56 (USD100.04) and each travelling party consisted of 4.09 people on average. Using estimates from the preferred GNBES model, the study estimated consumer surplus per trip for a recreationist to the Baviaanskloof to be ZAR1 759.32 (USD122.78). When this value is multiplied by the average annual trips a person takes to site, a value of ZAR2 445.46 (USD170.66) for consumer surplus per person is produced. Further aggregation of this value across the population (i.e. 18 500), of recreationists to the Baviaanskloof per year gives total consumer surplus of ZAR3 157 210 (USD220 321). The study concludes that the Baviaanskloof has a significant recreational value which can further be increased if policymakers take actions to, inter alia, upgrade infrastructure, budget more money for conservation and market the nature reserve in unexploited markets. Since the non-use values were not taken into account and also the impact of on-site sampling on the data set, the recreational value of the Baviaanskloof should be carefully considered in any management or conservation project. More studies of this nature are greatly needed to allow for more comparisons and increase credibility of the results of environmental valuation studies in SA.

Esta investigación se basa en un diagnóstico del sistema contable del proceso productivo.Se ha verificado todo los elementos que han intervenido en el proceso para determinar adecuados centros de costos. This research is based on a diagnosis of the accounting system of the production process. All the elements that have intervened in the process have been verified to determine appropriate cost centers.

La presente tesis propone el desarrollo de un “Sistema de control de costos de alimentos y bebidas”, y que muestre como esta incide en la gestión empresarial de un restaurante,específicamente trataremos de determinar políticas y normas dentro del área de alimentos y bebidas teniendo como finalidad el logro de un mejor desempeño, agilizar procesos y sobre todo optimizar costos influyendo de manera positiva en su gestión. The present thesis proposes the development of a "System of control of food costs and drinks ", and that shows how this affects the business management of a restaurant, specifically we will try to determine policies and norms within the area of food and drinks with the purpose of achieving better performance, streamline processes and above all optimize costs, influencing its management in a positive way.

The aim of the diploma thesis was the assessment of financial support´s influence on representative agricultural company management, the evaluation of the management structure on the grounds of discovered results and the proposal of measures leading to improvement.

Com a reestruturação do setor elétrico brasileiro ocorreu a abertura no mercado de energia elétrica, a criação das figuras do consumidor livre e produtor independente e o surgimento de novas alternativas de fornecimento de energia aos consumidores do Grupo A, grupo conectado a alta tensão que compreende os níveis de 230 kV até 2,3 kV, composto basicamente por consumidores industriais. De acordo com a regulamentação atual, uma planta industrial pode ser atendida através da distribuidora local, do mercado livre, de fonte convencional ou incentivada e da autoprodução. No atual contexto de mercado faz-se necessário analisar qual a alternativa que melhor se adapte ao perfil da planta industrial e também represente economia na fatura de energia elétrica. O presente trabalho apresenta uma metodologia para avaliação destas alternativas, que permite comparar os custos com energia, auxiliando à tomada de decisão. Para a aplicação da metodologia, foram realizados estudos de caso que englobam diferentes consumidores do Grupo A, visando a economia e eficiência energética para o consumidor. / With the restructuration of the Brazilian electrical sector, came the opening of the electric energy market, the creation of characters such as the free consumer and independent producer, and the appearance of new supplying alternatives of energy to Group A consumers, a high-tension group which comprehends the levels from 230 kV to 2,3 kV that is composed basically of industrial consumers. According to the current regulations, an industrial plant can be attended through the local distributer, in the free market, of a conventional or motivated source and through auto-production. In the present market context, it is necessary to analyze which alternative adapts better to the industrial plant profile and also represents economy in the monthly electric bill. This work presents a methodology to evaluate these alternatives, allowing the comparison of the energy costs, thus helping the decision process. In order to apply the methodology, case studies involving different consumers of Group A, were conducted aiming at the economy and energetic efficiency for the consumer.

This overarching chapter for a PhD by publication brings together a programme of research that commenced in 2000 and includes a series of eight publications (from 2006-2014) that have been selected to demonstrate the development of a theoretical framework and research methods to explore the relationship between the needs, costs and outcomes of child welfare services provided to vulnerable children and their families. The findings provide an insight into how children s social care services can be provided as effectively and efficiently as possible. Along with an understanding of how and when support and services are, or can be, provided to vulnerable children and their families, in response to their specific needs and circumstances and consequently transform children s lives by improving outcomes.