Orientador: Orlando Fontes Lima Junior / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-21T19:33:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ArellanoCaldeiraFranco_Raul_D.pdf: 5808204 bytes, checksum: 88c7a53be46ac9af14d6801a29c00801 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: O objetivo desta tese é descrever, do ponto de vista da logística e em especial de transportes, como os ativos digitais de música são distribuídos pela internet. A metodologia adotada é a do estudo de caso único com abordagem descritiva. Inicialmente, a fim de entender o problema e desenvolver a pergunta da pesquisa, o escopo da descrição foi definido, e a Digital Supply Chain de música digital pela internet/web foi caracterizada. O referencial teórico desenvolveu-se a partir da análise da literatura acadêmica existente, complementada com bases de informação. Em seguida, fez-se um estudo de caso único de um Gestor de Distribuição de Conteúdo (CDN), devido ao fato deste operador central do sistema ser extremo e revelador. Esta pesquisa permitiu descrever com clareza o sistema logístico e, em específico, o de transporte de ativos digitais de música pela internet identificando atores, estrutura, processos, relações, fluxos e características dos transportes deste complexo e novo sistema, antes não verificados pela literatura acadêmica. Também foi desenvolvido outro estudo de caso sobre um e-tailer (loja de comércio virtual pela internet de CDs físicos). A comparação entre os estudos de caso permitiu demonstrar as diferenças entre o comércio de ativos digitais de música pela internet e o comércio virtual de CDs físicos, assim como a evolução deles. O conhecimento de como funciona este sistema de distribuição tem grande impacto não apenas na indústria da música, mas também em todos os setores relacionados com ativos digitais, como filmes, televisão, vídeos, jogos, publicações, educação e softwares, permitindo entender como alcançar sob a ótica da logística e, em especial, de transportes, o mercado potencial de mais de 2,2 bilhões de usuários da internet / Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to describe how music digital assets are distributed through the internet, from a logistics and specifically a transportation point of view. The Single-Case Study methodology was used with a descriptive approach. Initially the scope of the description was defined and the Digital Supply Chain of digital music was characterized in order to understand the problem and develop the research question. Furthermore a theoretical framework was developed based on a literature review complemented with other information sources. Next, a single-case study was developed, due to being extreme and revelatory, of the central operator of this system known as Content Delivery Network (CDN) management company. This research clearly describes the logistics system and especially the transportation of music digital assets through the internet identifying the players, structure, processes, relationships, flows and transportation characteristics of this complex and new system not verified before in the academic literature. A second case-study was developed of an e-tailer (e-commerce retailer that sells physical CDs). The comparison between both case-studies allowed demonstrating the differences and the evolution of the commerce of music digital assets and the sales of physical CDs through the internet. The knowledge of how this distribution system works has a great impact not only on the music industry, but on all sectors related with digital assets like movies, television, videogames, publishing, education and softwares. It allows understanding how to reach from a logistics and specifically transportation, a potential market of over 2.2 billion users of the internet / Doutorado / Transportes / Doutor em Engenharia Civil

Orientador: Roy Edward Bruns / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Quimica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-09T10:57:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SilvaJunior_JoaoVicozo_M.pdf: 455136 bytes, checksum: d8cb42bcd5d75c3d6dd417771ba11425 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: O momento dipolar molecular, suas derivadas e as intensidades fundamentais no espectro infravermelho dos fluoroclorometanos são determinados a partir de cargas e dipolos atômicos QTAIM, e de seus fluxos no nível MP2/6-311++G(3d,3p). A comparação dos momentos dipolares e das intensidades fundamentais no infravermelho calculados usando parâmetros QTAIM com aqueles obtidos diretamente a partir de cálculos MP2/6-311++G(3d,3p) mostra erros rms (root mean square) de 0,01 D e 5,6 km mol, e erros de 0,04 D e 23,1 km mol quando comparados com valores experimentais. As contribuições de carga, fluxo de carga e fluxo de dipolo são calculadas para todos os modos normais de vibração destas moléculas. Uma correlação negativa significativa (-0,92) é observada entre as contribuições de fluxo de carga e de fluxo de dipolo e indica que a transferência de carga de um lado para outro da molécula durante as vibrações é acompanhada por uma relaxação da densidade eletrônica que se polariza na direção oposta. Os modos normais de estiramento CF, CCl e CH destas moléculas mostram ter conjuntos de valores característicos de contribuições de carga, fluxo de carga e fluxo de dipolo. Embora as deformações FCF e ClCCl também possam ser diferenciadas umas das outras a partir dos tamanhos e sinais destas contribuições, algumas deformações HCH têm contribuições que são parecidas com aquelas das deformações ClCCl / Abstract: The molecular dipole moments, their derivatives and the fundamental infrared intensities of the fluorochloromethanes are determined from QTAIM atomic charges and dipoles and their fluxes at the MP2/6- 311++G(3d,3p) level. Root-mean-square (rms) errors of 0.01 D and 5.6 km mol are found for the dipole moments and fundamental infrared intensities calculated using QTAIM parameters when compared with those obtained directly from the MP2/6-311++(3d,3p) calculations and 0.04 D and 23.1 km mol when compared to the experimental values. Charge, charge flux and dipole flux contributions are calculated for all the normal vibrations of these molecules. A large negative correlation coefficient of -0.92 is calculated between the charge flux and dipole flux contributions and indicates that charge transfer from one side of the molecule to the other during vibrations is accompanied by relaxation with electron density polarization in the opposite direction. The CF, CCl and CH stretching normal modes of these molecules are shown to have characteristic sets of charge, charge flux and dipole flux contributions. Although the FCF and ClCCl deformation normal modes can also be discriminated from one another based on their sizes and signs of these contributions some HCH deformations have contributions that are similar to those for some of the ClCCl deformations / Mestrado / Físico-Química / Mestre em Química

This study investigates what three large, multinational hospitality companies do in practice when evaluating and making IT investment decisions. This study was launched in an attempt to 1) learn more about how multinational hospitality companies evaluate, prioritize, and select IT investments in the context of hotel GDS; 2) call attention to an important and costly topic in hopes of improving current practices; and 3) fill a noticeable literary void so that future researchers on IT and hotel GDS would have a foundation and starting point. The perennial question of any business is "How does an organization add value?" Value can be defined from many different perspectives and may result from tangible and intangible factors. Principal stakeholders include shareholders (investors), customers, and employees. Shareholders typically measure value in terms of economic return on their investment based upon some level of perceived risk. For customers, value is assessed in terms of a price-value relationship; that is, how much they received in terms of product and services for the price they paid. For employees, value is measured by salary and by the intrinsic rewards of the job. Yet, one of the most elusive questions with respect to information technology is "How can value be measured?" Hospitality executives are being pressured daily to invest more in information technology (IT) - especially in the area of hotel global distribution systems (GDS), which have become the cornerstone of a hotel firm's IT infrastructure and portfolio. There are a number of sweeping changes on the horizon impacting hotel GDSs and requiring the development of a well-crafted strategy for global distribution systems. These broad changes include bypass theories to remove airline GDSs and travel agents, the introduction of new and emerging player, and innovative approaches to pricing and promotion. Many of these developments offer promise to hoteliers, but they also threaten their control over their customer relationships and their inventory and add to the complexity and cost of distribution. Selecting the appropriate distribution channels is paramount to success and important if hotel firms are to grow top-line revenue and control overhead; yet the number of choices facing hotel executives is overwhelming. They are also at a loss for measuring value derived from IT. One of the greatest issues plaguing the advancement of technology in the hospitality industry is the difficulty in calculating return on investment. Until recently, most technology investment decisions have been considered using a support or utility mentality that stems from a manufacturing paradigm. Under such thinking, business cases could be built around an application or technology's ability to reduce costs or create labor savings. However, management's attitudes towards technology have been shifting in recent years. The more technologically savvy hospitality companies are looking to IT to build strategic and competitive advantages. These types of investments yield results over time, and seldom in the short-run. This is problematic among owners and investors who demand more immediate results. Moreover, it is difficult to quantify and calculate the tangible benefits of technology when it is used for strategic purposes. Today's financial models are inadequate for estimating the financial benefits for most of the technology projects under consideration today. While the hospitality industry has disciplined models and sufficient history to determine the financial gains or success of opening a new property in a given city, it lacks the same rigorous models and historical data for technology, especially since each technology project is unique. Although this problem is not specific to the hospitality industry, it is particularly problematic since the industry tends to be technologically conservative and unwilling to adopt new technology applications based on the promises of its long-term merits if it cannot quantify the results and calculate a defined payback period. When uncertainty surrounds the investment, when the timing of the cash flows is unpredictable, and when the investment is perceived as risky, owners and investors will most likely channel their investment capital to projects with more certain returns and minimal risk. Thus, under this thinking, technology will always take a back seat to other organizational priorities and initiatives. Efforts must be made to change this thinking and to develop financial models that can accurately predict and capture the financial benefits derived from technology. Given the present predicament and difficulties surrounding the current tools, techniques, and measures, executives are faced with an important choice. They can 1) continue to use the present methods despite their shortcomings, 2) dispense with ROI, cost-benefit, and discounted cash flow analyses altogether for IT projects, or 3) develop new methods, tools, and measures that can accommodate the complexities of IT and quantify the intangibles. This study is a call to action in favor of the latter because the measures determine not only which projects will be accepted but also how their success will be evaluated. Having a rigid evaluation process forces executives to identify a project's potential contribution and align the project's objectives with the firm's strategic goals and objectives. Using the co-alignment principle as its theoretical underpinning, this study employs a multiple-case design to investigate the resource allocation processes used with respect to information technology and global distribution systems. It looks at how three leading, multinational hospitality firms address IT project/investment evaluation and decision-making, the measures they use, and the frustrations they encounter. These frustrations include problems that arise from a hotel firm's fragmented ownership as well as from hotel executives' inability to measure the results of IT through definitive cause-and-effect relationships. The results of the study provide affirmation of the co-alignment principle and document linkages and co-alignment between strategy and IT. Clearly, decisions involving IT and hotel GDSs require multivariate measures, multidimensional perspectives, and multidisciplinary involvement. However, research from the marketing discipline is noticeably absent in this area. This study concludes that because IT plays an important enabling role for marketing initiatives and is redefining the supply chain of a hotel firm, marketing researchers can no longer stand on the sidelines. This study also identifies three important constructs, or classes of variables (context, process, and project), the variables comprising each, and their influences on the evaluation and decision-making processes. These findings add to the understanding of IT evaluation, measurement, and decision-making in the context of hotel GDS. This study clarifies the intangible aspects in hopes that useful measures can be developed in subsequent research to quantify and evaluate these costs and benefits. Finally, this study provides a series of prescriptions or recommendations gleaned from the three companies that were the focus of this study in hopes that they will lead to the development of best practices in the hospitality industry. / Ph. D.