O interesse em entender o comportamento do consumidor de Baixa Renda vem ganhando importância nos últimos anos. Este interesse crescente baseia-se no entendimento de que o crescimento futuro das economias e organizações empresariais dependem, cada vez mais, da inserção desses consumidores no processo de consumo. Esta dissertação teve como objetivo verificar se os consumidores de Baixa Renda apresentam diferenças no que se relaciona ao comportamento de lealdade à marca de produto em comparação à marca de varejo. Adicionalmente buscou comparar o comportamento de lealdade à marca de produto e marca de varejo entre os indivíduos de baixa renda e alta renda, e identificar as causas possíveis das diferenças encontradas. Para tanto foi realizada uma pesquisa tipo survey com consumidores de Baixa Renda e Alta Renda através de dois questionários estruturados, um para marcas de produtos (televisores) e outro para marcas de varejo. O processo de análise envolveu testes de proporção de diferenças, de médias e associação e de análise de variância múltipla.Os resultados indicaram que a posição na classe de renda não influenciou, de maneira estatisticamente significativa, o comportamento de lealdade, seja em relação às marcas de produto, seja em relação às marcas de lojas de varejo. Porém o estudo indicou a existência de diferenças significativas no processo de lealdade entre loja e produto, não associadas à renda, que indicam que o consumidor apresenta uma relação mais intensa com as marcas de produto do que com as marcas de loja. Neste sentido, os consumidores que responderam sobre marcas avaliaram melhor os construtos de Valor e Comprometimento, reconhecidos como antecedentes do comportamento de lealdade, do que aqueles que responderam sobre a marca de varejo. Ao final, são apresentadas as contribuições acadêmicas e gerenciais do estudo e sugestões para a realização de novos estudos. / Interest in understanding the behavior of Low Income consumer has been gaining importance lately. This increasing interest is based upon the understanding that the future growth of economies and enterprises depend more and more on the insertion of these consumers in consume process. The aim of this essay was to verify if Low Income consumers present differences concerning loyalty behavior towards the product brand and retail store brand. Moreover it tried to compare the loyalty behavior towards the product brand and retail store brand among people of Low Income and High Income and to identify the possible causes of the found differences . To reach this purpose it was performed a research type survey with Low Income and High Income consumers by means of two structured questionnaires, one concerned to product (television) brands and other concerned to retail stores brands. The analyses process dealt with tests of difference proportion , averages and association and analyses of multiple variance The results showed that the position in the income class had no influence, in a statistically significant way, on the loyalty behavior, either concerning product brands or retail store brands. However the study showed the existence of significant differences in the loyalty process between store and product not associated to income, which show that consumer has a more intense relationship with product brands than with store brands. In this way, the consumers that responded about brands evaluated better the constructs Value and Commitment, recognized as antecedents of the loyalty behavior, than the ones that responded about the retail store brand. At the end, the academic and managing contributions of the study as well the suggestions concerning further studies are presented.

Existem diferentes possibilidades para o crescimento das empresas brasileiras, com destaque para a atuação em mercados populares internacionais. Por um lado, existem empresas brasileiras com habilidades, capacidade de gestão e preparadas para atuar nestes mercados e por outro lado existem enormes mercados populares não atendidos plenamente pelas empresas locais ou multinacionais de países desenvolvidos. Neste âmbito configura-se a tese, visando a responder quais são as dimensões estratégicas críticas para a atuação nos mercados populares internacionais e como os conhecimentos adquiridos no mercado brasileiro impactam a atuação das empresas, com o objetivo central de propor um modelo de internacionalização para empresas brasileiras competirem com sucesso nos mercados populares internacionais. O Brasil tem um histórico de baixa participação nos negócios internacionais, embora este número venha crescendo e foi idenitificado um excelente potencial nos mercados populares internacionais, em especial Argentina, China, Colômbia, México, Índia, Chile, Rússia, Peru, Paraguai, Venezuela, Uruguai, África do Sul, Turquia, Irã, Polônia, Argélia, Arábia Saudita, Indonésia, Tailândia e Bolívia. A partir das análises conceituais das estratégias para mercados de bens populares, combinadas às estratégias de internacionalização, foram definidas as variáveis de análise, considerando os motivos para internacionalizar, escolha dos mercados e segmentos atendidos, assim como as dimensões preços, promoção, canais de distribuição, produtos, inovação e tecnologia, formas de entrada nos mercados selecionados e processos de produção e custos. Outra variável importante são os conhecimentos utilizados pelas empresas brasileiras e impacto na atuação internacional. Foi aplicada uma pesquisa exploratório-descritiva, com abordagem metodológica de estudo de casos múltiplos, com utilização de um roteiro para construção de teoria, com elementos de estudo de caso e Grounded theory. Foi feita análise documental de materiais institucionais e informações publicadas na mídia e foi realizado um levantamento junto a fontes primárias, com entrevistas pessoais em profundidade com 14 executivos das empresas brasileiras selecionadas para o estudo: Natura, O Boticário, AmBev, Embraco, Perdigão e Alpargatas (Havaianas). Após as análises dos casos, conclui-se que os motivos para internacionalização nos mercados populares internacionais estão ligados ao aumento das vendas e faturamento, com vistas ao crescimento de longo prazo. As dimensões estratégicas críticas são a gestão e fortalecimento da marca, para que as empresas possam concorrer com os competidores locais; acesso ao mercado local; mix de produtos que contemple a baixa renda, com opções mais simples e baratas de produtos que as empresas já oferecem no Brasil; inovações em processos para redução de curstos; modelo de negócios bem definido e sustentável; valorização das relações de longo prazo com stakeholders dos mercados populares e fortalecimento das estratégias e cultura da empresa, para que ela não tenha a imagem prejudicada ao atender os mercados populares. Foi possível desenvolver um modelo conceitual geral para atuação das empresas brasileiras nos mercados populares internacionais, com base nestas dimensões estratégicas críticas. Outra conclusão é que os conhecimentos desenvolvidos no Brasil são fundamentais para atuação nos mercados populares internacionais: produtos e mix adequado à baixa renda; distribuição e logística eficiente em locais com infra-estrutura precária e grande capilaridade; domínio de processos e redução nos custos de produção. Foram analisadas seis das mais importantes empresas internacionalizadas do Brasil, que poderão orientar o direcionamento de outras empresas brasileiras, ajudando-as a trilhar o sucesso no âmbito internacional, principalmente junto aos mercados internacionais de bens populares, de forma sustentável e bem sucedida. / There are distinct growth possibilities for Brazilian companies, and one of them is to focus mainly the international low income market operation. On one hand, there are Brazilian companies which do have the skills, the managing capacity and are ready to operate in these markets and on the other hand there are huge low income markets not properly attended by local or developed countries? multinational companies. In the light of this context, this theses aims to answer which are the critical strategic dimensions to perform in international low income markets and how the knowledge acquired in Brazilian market affects these companies? performances, with the main purpose of presenting a useful internationalization model to guide the Brazilian companies about how to compete in international low income markets. Historically, Brazil has a lean participation in international trading; this picture is changing and now an excellent potential has been spotted in low income international markets, specially in Argentina, China, Colombia, Mexico, India, Chile, Russia, Peru, Paraguay, Venezuela, Uruguay, South Africa, Turkey, Iran, Poland, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Thailand and Bolivia. The analysis variables had been defined, considering the motives for internationalization, the markets? choice, attended segments, as well as dimensions such as prices, promotion, distribution channels, products, innovation and technology, the ways to get into the selected markets and production processes and costs. Another important variable to consider is the knowledge used by Brazilian companies and international performance impact. The adopted research has been oriented to exploration and portraying, methodologically approaching multiple cases, building a theory using a script, with case-history elements and Grounded Theory. Documental analysis has been done upon institutional publications and published information, as well as primary sources surveys, by means of directly interviewing 14 managers from the Brazilian selected companies: Natura, O Boticario, AmBev, Embraco, Perdigão and Alpargatas-Havaianas. The cases? analysis showed that the motives for internationalization regarding international low income markets are connected to sales and revenue increasing, aiming long term growing goals. The critical strategic dimensions are: brand administration and strenghtening, providing competitive characteristics, in order to compete with local competitors, local market access, a product mix oriented to low income market, offering plain and cheaper options in comparison to the products already available in Brazil, cost-reducing process innovations, sustainable and well-defined business structure, long term stakeholders relationship valorization, regarding low income markets and strenghtening of the company?s strategy and culture, keeping a good company?s image even seeing it as a low income market oriented company. It has been possible to develop a general conceptual model for Brazilian companies to perform in international low income markets, grounded on these critical strategic dimensions. Another conclusion from this work is that Brazilian developed knowledge is now fundamental to guide the actuation in the international low income markets: products and product mix suitable to low income profile, efficient logistic and distribution structure in regions where it is precarious but capillarity is necessary, full dominion over processes and cost-reduction practices. Six of the most important internationalized companies in Brazil have been focused and analysed, to guide other Brazilian companies in its decision processes, helping them to choose a successful way inside the international environment, mainly regarding the low income international market, in a sustainable and succeeded trajectory.

This study examined how two high schools have successfully increased graduation rates while serving minority-majority and impoverished communities. Data collected for this qualitative, multi-site, case study employed publicly-available archival materials, interviews, focus groups, and observations in leadership meetings to help narrate a story that takes into account the complexities of human relations, specifically those in school settings in an urban school district. Thirty-four participants were selected by the principals at the participating schools and included members of their leadership teams, such as literacy coaches, assistant principals, magnet coordinators, students, parents, security specialists, and guidance counselors. The conceptual framework of the study was based on three research questions. The first question examined the synergistic relationships between the selected middle and the high schools with the purpose of addressing students’ at risk of dropping out factors in the areas of academic engagement, behavior, and attendance. The second question investigated the different types of initiatives enacted to provide support and efforts to engage or reengage students. The third question was used as a guide to observe the effects that the principals have on the work of stakeholders and how they serve their students. This study examined the various ways in which two high schools and their three feeder middle schools combine efforts to reengage students academically and socially. The selected high schools have demonstrated success in graduation rates while serving minority-majority students in areas of poverty, as determined by the high percentage of students qualifying for the Free and Reduced Lunch program. The findings indicate the existence of purposeful collaboration between personnel with an emphasis on programmatic continuum, communication, and other initiatives to strengthen articulation. Further, this study identified various forms of support programs for students to remain engaged or reengage, such as extracurricular activities, mentoring, and expansion of interest-based classes. Lastly, the findings demonstrate that the principals involved in this study clearly established a mission and vision and their leadership teams enact such with a balance between their own initiatives and adherence to the goals of their respective school leaders. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Este projeto de pesquisa teve como objetivo examinar as formas de sociabilidade que adolescentes do sexo masculino vivem na família, no trabalho e na escola e o modo como convivem com a violência presente nos bairros onde residem. Procurou-se ainda examinar quais os projetos de vida que os adolescentes organizam para o futuro, considerando a precariedade das condições materiais em que vivem. Os sujeitos da pesquisa foram dez adolescentes do sexo masculino, na faixa etária entre 16 e 18 anos incompletos, freqüentando o ensino médio em uma escola pública estadual no período noturno, inseridos no mercado de trabalho, de modo formal ou informal, e integrantes de famílias de camadas populares de Ribeirão Preto/SP. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de entrevistas individuais, gravadas e transcritas na íntegra, com roteiro temático elaborado a partir dos diversos aspectos que a pesquisa pretendia examinar. Outro instrumento utilizado para a coleta de dados foi o registro em diário de campo de observações resultantes do contato com os sujeitos em algumas situações na escola e durante as entrevistas. A análise dos dados foi realizada utilizando os referenciais teóricos da antropologia. Os resultados mostraram que os relacionamentos estabelecidos pelos sujeitos com os diferentes ambientes socializatórios tendiam a incutir neles valores como o envolvimento com o trabalho e a honestidade. Nas relações com as famílias, especialmente com os pais, esses valores foram transmitidos tanto por meio de conselhos e orientações mais diretas quanto por modelos de conduta que eram oferecidos como exemplos parentais a serem seguidos pelos filhos. O ingresso no mercado de trabalho, mesmo que não tenha sido totalmente uma resolução dos pais, foi aprovado e encorajado por eles. Por outro lado, os sujeitos inclinavam-se a atribuir esse ingresso mais a uma busca por maior maturidade e autonomia em relação aos genitores. Mesmo que seja uma maturidade relativa e parcial, os sujeitos consideraram que deixaram de ser ?moleques? desde que começaram a trabalhar. A identidade de trabalhador que suas ocupações lhes conferiram se sobrepõe às demais, como a de estudante. Assim, justificaram a freqüência à escola mais ao desejo de conseguirem melhores empregos por meio da escolarização de ensino médio. A indisciplina escolar, considerada comportamento infantil, e a prática de crimes e delitos não foram avaliados como condutas condizentes com a identidade que procuravam estabelecer. Os relacionamentos com os pares, dentro e fora da escola, também foram organizados a partir da identidade de trabalhador, uma vez que os sujeitos procuravam diferenciar-se de alunos indisciplinados, de pessoas que faziam uso de drogas, ou que supunham ter envolvimento com a criminalidade. A violência que os sujeitos descreveram é relacionada à criminalidade urbana, que além dos riscos concretos que pode trazer, também é passível de contaminar a identidade dos sujeitos, que compartilhavam, nos bairros em que viviam, os mesmos espaços com criminosos. A pobreza pode conferir uma identidade negativa aos sujeitos, tanto pela precariedade material que ela acarreta para suas condições de vida, quanto pela exposição à violência, igualando trabalhadores pobres e bandidos. Em seus projetos para o futuro, os sujeitos expressaram o desejo de conquistar condições de vida mais tranqüilas, menos sujeitas à instabilidade que as atuais, marcadas pela pobreza. Por outro lado, essa instabilidade pode também ser atribuída à adolescência, fase na qual os sujeitos viviam, quando os projetos de futuro ainda não eram percebidos de modo claro e o presente podia ser visto como algo transitório. / This research aimed to exam the forms of sociability established by male teenagers in their families, at work and school, and how they live with the violence that takes place in their neighborhoods. The projects of future they elaborate from their precarious conditions of life were also investigated. The subjects of this study were ten male teenagers, from 16 to 18 incomplete years, who were attending a public secondary school in the evening period; presently working, either legally registered or not; and from low-income class families of Ribeirão Preto/SP, Brazil. The datum collect were developed through semi-structured interviews with each subject, that were recorded and literally transcribed. The observation of the subjects at their school and during the interviews was another instrument for this research. The datum analysis was performed through the theoretic references of Anthropology. The results indicate that the relationships established by the subjects with their socialization environments tend to instill in them values such as commitment with work and honesty. In the relationships with their families, specially with the parents, these values were transmitted both through direct advises and orientations, and through models of behavior offered by the parents to their children to follow. The subjects? beginning to work, even if it wasn?t completely a decision of their parents, was approved and encouraged by them. On the other hand, the subjects tended to consider this beginning was mostly a decision of their own, seeking maturity and autonomy from their parents. The subjects mentioned that after they had begun working, they became, even if only partially, ?grown up?. The worker identity established from their jobs tend to outstand from other identities, such as the student one. So, the teenagers justify their attending to school for their desire of getting better jobs through academic qualification. Indiscipline, which is considered a children?s behavior, and crimes weren?t considered proper attitudes for the adult and worker identity that they intend to establish. The relationships with peers, from their school and neighborhoods, were also structured by this identity, once the subjects aimed to differ from ?bad? students, and from people that consumed drugs or were involved with crimes. The violence that the subjects described was connected to urban criminality, which, beyond the concrete damages it can cause, might also interfere in the identity of the subjects, once they shared the same neighborhoods with the criminals. Poverty can offer a negative identity to these teenagers, due both to the precarious conditions of life, and to the exposure to violence that equals poor workers to criminals. In their projects of future, the subjects express the desire of conquering better ways of living, at least more stable than they have in the present, marked by poverty. On the other hand, this instability may be related to the adolescence phase of development in which the subjects were, when future projects weren?t very clear to them and present was perceived as something transitory.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo desenvolver um conjunto de procedimentos metodológicos para análise de peças gráficas de apartamentos de interesse social e aplicá-lo, como pré-teste, em uma amostra sistematizada em banco de dados de exemplares produzidos na cidade de São Paulo, ao longo do século XX. Os procedimentos metodológicos propostos foram elaborados segundo categorias sugeridas em trabalhos de pesquisadores que já desenvolveram metodologias de avaliação, além de outras inseridas por esta pesquisa. A partir desses procedimentos buscamos utilizar as peças gráficas dos projetos explorando as possibilidades de uso da planta como um dos principais documentos em análises espaciais qualitativas. / This research aim is to develop a set of methodological procedures to analyse apartment ground plans for low-income families, and then, apply it as previous test as a sample arranged methodically in a file, whose examples are buildings in São Paulo city throughout the twentieth century. The methodological procedures were elaborated according to suggested categories given by researchers who have already developed assessment methodology besides other ones which have been added by this research. From these procedures we have tried to use the building ground plans observing the possibilities of using the plan as one of the main document about qualitative spacious analyses.

Low-income urban settlements in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) present an extreme case where catastrophic hazards (natural events) and chronic hazards (developed through lack of basic services) overlap. These low-income urban populations often occupy informal settlements that are particularly exposed to natural hazards such as flooding, and their vulnerability also reflects multiple deficiencies arising from their lack of basic services; they accordingly face the greatest challenges to adapt. The research reported in this thesis aims (i) to understand the adaptation processes of the urban poor to flooding; (ii) to develop new knowledge about bottom-up ways in which adaptation to flooding emerges and can be enhanced within households and communities in low-income urban settlements; and (iii) to identify how relevant organizations can contribute effectively to the adaptation process, from a more top-down perspective. The particular case study for the research is located in Dhaka East, where there is both high vulnerability to flooding, and also a significant proportion of the low-income population. The research has adopted a mixed methods approach involving different data collection methods primarily governed by the different scales and actors being investigated, i.e. households, communities and organizations (including government and NGOs). Hence, a questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews and transect walks have all been undertaken. The diverse forms of data deriving from these methods have been integrated using a qualitative form of systems analysis, to understand the relationships amongst the key variables in the vulnerability and adaptation system under investigation. The research has also developed a form of grounded theory on the processes whereby adaptive behaviour is learned and diffused in amongst the population at risk, and how more organizational-level procedures can positively influence these processes, and be improved where necessary. The research contributes to the advancement of knowledge about (a) the vulnerability of urban poor to flooding; (b) the adaptation process of the urban poor to flooding; (c) the role of organizations in affecting both vulnerability and adaptation amongst the urban poor; (d) a research methodology appropriate for exploring such inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary research issues. The study further provides relevant recommendations, based on conclusions from the systems analyses, which are potentially applicable in similar contexts in the LDCs in helping low-income urban populations to adapt more successfully to flooding. Notably, although the research focuses on adaptation of the urban poor to flooding in Dhaka, its conceptual, methodological and research findings are likely to be applicable in other LDCs where the urban poor are subjected to environmental risks.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of extended-spectrum b-lactamase (ESBL)- producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from urinary tract and bloodstream infections in a rural hospital in Manhic¸a, Mozambique. ESBLs were investigated among ceftriaxone-non-susceptible K. pneumoniae clinical isolates recovered between 2004 and 2009. Characterisation of blaCTX-M, blaSHV, blaOXA and blaTEM genes was performed by PCR and sequencing. Epidemiological relationships were established by phylogenetic analysis, repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR (REP-PCR), pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST), whilst plasmid transferability was evaluated by conjugation. In addition,the presence of class 1 and 2 integrons was studied.A total of 19 K. pneumoniae were analysed. The blaCTX-M-15 gene was found in all strains. Other ESBL genes were found concomitantly, including blaSHV-5, blaSHV-2, blaSHV-2A, blaSHV-12 and blaSHV-38. In addition, other b-lactamases such as blaTEM-1 and blaOXA-30 were also detected. REP-PCR identified 15 different epidemiological profiles. MLST analysis also showed great variability of sequence types. The blaCTX-M-15 gene showed a high transfer capacity. The presence of class 1 integrons was high. High levels of multidrug resistance were also found. In conclusion, these data show the dominance of the CTX-M-type ESBL, particularly CTX-M-15, supporting its worldwide dissemination, including in areas with limited access to third-generation cephalosporins. This finding is a matter of concern for clinical management as third-generation cephalosporins are an alternative for treating severe cases of multidrug-resistant infections in this community. / Revisión por pares

[pt] Esta dissertação estuda, sob a perspectiva do marketing, a exclusão da população de baixa renda dos sistemas de trocas comerciais ao longo da história. Usando os três padrões de integração de Polanyi - reciprocidade, redistribuição e troca de mercado - investiga de que forma o pobre se relaciona com a sociedade e como interage no sistema econômico. A análise se concentra na Grécia Clássica, Roma Antiga, Paris Medieval e regiões da Europa Ocidental no início da Idade Moderna. Os resultados sugerem que os pobres sempre estiveram à margem das atividades de marketing, excluídos dos processos de troca, sem possibilidade de manifestar suas necessidades e desejos conforme propõe a teoria do comportamento do consumidor. Sugere também que o marketing, por ter a capacidade de fazer o vínculo entre a micro e macro análise, pode contribuir para o entendimento da exclusão da população de baixa renda dos sistemas de trocas comerciais, tanto em problemas revelados na história quanto em situações contemporâneas. Portanto, o marketing, quando lida com o comportamento do consumidor, produz conceitos e análises que ajudam a olhar o pobre como indivíduo, da mesma forma como considera o consumidor no mundo atual. / [en] Starting from the premise that poverty has always existed and has never been resolved; this dissertation examines, from a marketing perspective, the exclusion of the low-income population from trading systems over the course of history. This paper investigates how the poor lived and interacted with social/political/economic systems, using the exchange patterns of Karl Polanyi: reciprocity, redistribution and market exchange. The following regions and periods are drawn on as examples: Classical Greece, between the fifth and fourth centuries before Christ; ancient Rome, during the first four centuries after Christ; medieval Paris in the thirteenth century; parts of Western Europe in the early modern age, between 1320 and 1420. Initially, the study advances two postulates. First, that by placing marketing in a historical perspective of poverty, an understanding is achieved that until now was considered unlikely or superfluous. Thus, the importance is stressed, not of rewriting history, but of venturing a look at the low-income consumer from the perspective of marketing. This means, specifically, repositioning the poor as the central unit of analysis, following standard practice in the discipline of marketing. Second, it assumes that by giving the poor a voice to manifest themselves as consumers, an imported door is opened to marketing becoming present in studies of poverty. The contemporary, so-called subjective approach, proposes just that and is allied to the multidimensional view of poverty that transcends income in order to identify poverty and exclusion.

Despite the attention given to the role of the housing market in the constitution and duration of low-income minority neighborhoods in American cities, little is known about the inner-workings of the housing market within these neighborhoods. The kind of housing professionals that populate this local economic world, the strategies they develop, both orthodox and unorthodox, especially towards tenants, are deemed of little interest by the dominant perspectives in the field, Human Ecology and Political Economy. The shared intellectual movement behind these two widely different theoretical perspectives is to understand how the city is mapped, how people and activities come to be distributed in space across the city. In this agenda, low-income minority areas are seen as a residual geographical entity, something whose existence is the effect of external forces: real estate brokers who steer households according to race, white ethnic immigrants who flee to the suburbs, white middle-class youths who gentrify the inner-city, downtown elites who disinvest from low-income minority neighborhoods. To focus on local actors of the housing market who operate within low-income minority neighborhoods requires a shift away from the traditional question of spatial distribution. Instead of framing the housing market as a spatial mechanism, this research looks at the housing market as a set of varied economic circuits that plug into a local social life with the goal of extracting money out of a local population's housing needs. In this view, the empirical questions are the variety of economic circuits in which the poor and near-poor minorities are embedded; the economic roles that define these various circuits; the strategies that are adequate, both for housing actors and for the local population; the opportunities for upward mobility and the risks of downward mobility they offer; the experience of hardship that emerges from these circuits. In brief, the key issue is how the different modes of organization of a local housing field (a term more open to variations than "market") participate to the local process of economic differentiation in low-income minority neighborhoods. The process under study can be conceived as the mutual shaping between two linked ecologies (Abbott 2005). On one hand, there are small and independent local housing professionals. For these actors, the issue is: how can they meet the specific challenges and seize the specific profits that stem from the economic project of making money out of the housing needs of poor and near-poor minorities? On the other hand, there is the ecology of the local population living in these neighborhoods. This population is internally differentiated by class and by a myriad of support networks, which may include formal organizations, such as lawyers, community based organizations, religious organizations, or legal aid societies. For this population, the key question is: how to benefit best from the housing field they face with the variety of resources at their hands? The interactions of these two ecologies with the larger regulatory framework shape the economic circuits that make up the housing field in low-income minority neighborhoods. The outcome of such interactive process can be approached from the inside - i.e. the inner-workings of the economic circuits as seen by those who derive money from them. It can also be seen from the outside - i.e. the economic structures that people living in these communities face. For almost three years (2009-2012), I was embedded into an informal group of housing actors operating in central Brooklyn and central Harlem, NY. This group is made of small landlords, larger real estate investors, independent real estate brokers, several housing lawyers and a criminal lawyer, construction workers and handymen, local community leaders, and, more marginally, New York City agents and bureaucrats and tenants. My research is an ethnographic study of this group, which I call "Larry's clique". It yielded three main results. First, the local housing field in low-income minority neighborhoods is segmented between the "housing market" and the "housing game". In the "housing market" economic dynamics fall within the boundary of institutional regulations. Roles and strategies are encapsulated in common terms like "tenant", "landlord", "housing lawyer", "real estate broker" etc. Next to this institutionalized housing market, exists a predatory segment, which, following the people I have observed, I call the "housing game". In this second segment, institutionally-proscribed modes of making money are common, formal economic roles are transformed and new categories emerge such as "the professional tenant", "the foolish landlord", "the predatory machine", "the tenant who plays the game right"; new boundaries between fair and unfair business practices are drawn; and the texture of ordinary economic transactions is not one of middle-class doux-commerce, but one of incivility and verbal violence. Second, the housing game sheds a new light on the local economic life in which poor and near-poor minorities are embedded. I have observed the formation of patrons-clients ties between local housing actors of the "game" and the local population. Patron-clients ties are a classic structure in the social scientific literature. However, it is a vocabulary that has disappeared from the scholarship on the contemporary forms of American poverty and near-poverty. My research brings back this vocabulary. Associated to this form of relation is a particular experience of hardship. The poor and near-poor who come in contact with the housing game experience the world as full of concealed riches that can be unlocked through personal yet distrustful relations of dependency. In this worldview, people shift quickly from being friend to being foe, double-agents are constant worries, simple questions as who works for whom receive unstable answers, and hubristic anger and joy accompany expectations of high rewards, of rainfalls of money, and feelings of being robbed. In this deeply personalistic worldview, something key is obliterated from the eyes of the people: it is the marginality of most of the actors I have observed from larger formal organizations and bureaucracies that chiefly affect the distribution of economic rewards in the housing market. Third, the housing game is not a well-ordered underworld in the tradition of the Chicago School. It is not a sub economic system with its own parallel culture and practices. The real mode of existence of this economic world has much less substance. Economic actors in the housing game are haunted by feelings of inefficacy and amateurism. Beyond the scams, the predatory attempts, the shouts and the insults in Housing Court, beyond the moralizing discourses about who "abuses the system" and who deserves to be "fucked", beyond all this gesticulation, people of the game have the nagging feeling of being stalled. The economic life of the housing game fights by all means necessary the actors' creeping experience of passivity, helplessness, and low self-efficacy - but it is not always successful. The vocabulary of the "game" indicates not only the distance with the institutionalized housing market, but also the dramaturgy of this economic world, the layers of meaning and symbolic practices that cover up, but only in part, the fact that the game does not fully work, does not bring the expected rewards. The concealed riches of the world remain out of reach. The intellectual posture behind this research is the reconstruction of economic categories through intimate ethnographic observations. Such reconstruction requires an epoch (i.e. a suspension) of the common modes of description of economic life inherited from both economics and legal studies and from the regulatory framework that supervises the "market". This research is the occasion, then, to interrogate the place of rich narratives and close descriptions in the study of economic life.

Desde os primórdios da historia o dinheiro vem mudando de forma. Nos próximos anos, as novas tecnologias e as mudanças sociais e econômicas podem fazer com que surjam novas formas de dinheiro e transações comerciais, mantendo-se a tendência de aumento do uso de meios de pagamento alternativos ao dinheiro vivo. Isso vem gerando transformações no ambiente organizacional. Essas transformações geram ameaças e oportunidades, e devem por essa razão serem levadas em conta pelos responsáveis pela construção de estratégias. A falta de acesso da população de baixa renda aos serviços financeiros prejudica o desenvolvimento econômico; por outro lado, as instituições financeiras não têm interesse em atender essa população através de canais convencionais, em função de ser desfavorável a relação retorno versus custos nesse tipo de atendimento. Em paralelo, vem se observando um rápido crescimento no uso de telefones celulares, sendo o acesso aos serviços financeiros através desses dispositivos uma ferramenta para superar a relação desfavorável à bancarização da população de baixa renda. Dado esse cenário, foi objetivo desta pesquisa gerar contribuições ao processo de construção de estratégias para a bancarização da população de baixa renda utilizando dispositivos móveis, permitindo às organizações interessadas aproveitarem as oportunidades e evitarem os riscos disto decorrentes. Do ponto de vista metodológico, esta pesquisa iniciou-se com o estudo da bibliografia existente acerca da utilização de dispositivos móveis para a realização de operações financeiras, além de material cujo conhecimento foi julgado necessário para que se atingisse o objetivo proposto, especialmente literatura envolvendo construção de estratégias e inovação. A esse estudo, seguiu-se um estudo de campo envolvendo profissionais que atuam na área, e dirigentes de entidades que congregam empresas que serão afetadas pelas mudanças no ambiente organizacional. Este trabalho permitiu concluir que a utilização de dispositivos móveis pode ser uma ferramenta viável para a bancarização da população de baixa renda no Brasil e sugere estratégias para as organizações mais afetadas por este processo. O trabalho encerra-se com recomendações para a continuidade de estudos na área, em especial, o estudo dos modelos de negócio adotados para bancarização da população de baixa renda em países com características similares às do Brasil. / Currency has been changing since the beginning of history. Within the next few years, new technologies, as well as social and economic changes may lead to the development of new forms of money and commercial transactions, following the trend of growing use of alternative mediums of exchange other than cash. This has led to changes in the organizational environment. Such changes create both challenges and opportunities, which is the reason why they must be taken into account by those in charge of strategy-building. Lack of access of lower income segments of the population to the financial system hampers economic development; on the other hand, financial institutions are not interested in attracting that public to conventional services, because of the unfavorable relation between their costs and results. At the same time, there has been fast growth in the use of cell phones. Their use as a means to access financial services is one of the tools to overcome difficulties related to the bancarization of poor people. Given this scenario, the objective of this research is to contribute to the construction of strategies that allow organizations to seize opportunities and avoid risks associated with the bancarization of low income population through the use of mobile devices, particularly cell phones. From a methodological point of view, this research began with the study of existing bibliography related to the use of mobile devices in financial operations, as well as other sources that were deemed relevant to the proposed aims, especially literature on strategy-building and innovation. Following that first step, field studies were conducted with professionals from the related areas, as well as members of associations that include companies which will be affected by changes in the organizational environment. This study has led to the conclusion that the use of mobile devices can be a viable tool for the bancarization of lower income population in Brazil, and it suggests strategies for the companies most impacted by this process. This work also sets out recommendations for further study in this field, such as the study of business models for the bancarization of low income population of countries with conditions similar to those of Brazil.