A globalização e a intensa competitividade dos mercados, as altas taxas de obsolescência dos produtos e as mudanças rápidas nas demandas dos consumidores têm forçado as empresas a repensarem seus processos de negócios e assim superarem os desafios para sua sobrevivência. O processo de desenvolvimento de produto é tido como um processo de negócio chave para qualquer empresa que queira ser competitiva. A formalização do processo de desenvolvimento de produtos não garante por si só a vantagem competitiva de uma empresa, mas sua ausência é, sem dúvida, um fator de desvantagem. Apesar de não existir um processo padrão a ser seguido nessa área, existem estudos e propostas para isso, tanto de cunho mais acadêmico, como comercial. As empresas, principalmente brasileiras, por não possuírem uma cultura forte nessa área, tendem a adaptar seus processos, ou adotar o padrão proposto pelo mercado dentro da cadeia de suprimentos que está inserida. Essa pesquisa apresenta um estudo desenvolvido dentro de uma cadeia fornecedora do setor automotivo, onde é analisado o grau de alinhamento dos processos de desenvolvimento de produtos de empresas desse setor, em relação a dois modelos referenciais, a saber: o Modelo Unificado de PDP proposto por Rozenfeld et al. (2006) e o modelo APQP adotado pelo mercado. O processo de comparação foi realizado identificando os modelos de PDP utilizados pelas empresas e em seguida comparando as fases e etapas presentes nos dois modelos referenciais. Quatro empresas da cadeia automotiva pesada, de implementos rodoviários, foram estudadas. A pesquisa revelou um alto grau de alinhamento com o modelo de mercado APQP e um bom alinhamento com o modelo acadêmico, evidenciando um grau de maturidade dessas empresas. / The globalisation and the intense competitive markets, the high rates of obsolescence of products and the quick changes in consumer demands have forced companies to rethink their business processes and thus overcome the challenges to their survival. The developing product process is taken as a business process key to any company that wants to be competitive. The formalization of the development products process not in itself guarantees the company competitive advantage, but his absence is undoubtedly a factor of disadvantage. Even if there is a standard procedure to be followed in this area, there are studies and proposals for this, both of spilling more academic, and commercial. The companies, mainly Brazil, for lack of a strong culture in this area, tend to adapt their processes, or adopting the standard proposed by the market within the supply chain that is inserted. This survey presents a study developed within a chain supplier of automotive sector, where we examined the degree of alignment with the development products process of companies in this industry, regarding two benchmarks models, namely the Unified PDP Model proposed by Rozenfeld et al. (2006) and APQP Model adopted by the market. The comparison process was made identifying the PDP models used by companies and then comparing the phases and stages in two benchmarks models. Four companies in the automotive heavy chain, implements road, were studied. The survey revealed a high degree of alignment with the model of market APQP and a good alignment with the academic model, showing a degree of maturity of these companies.

Akamu is a lactic acid bacteria fermented cereal-based food that complements infant diets in most African countries. Uncontrolled fermentation increases the variability in quality and safety of akamu. This study was aimed at the controlled fermentation of akamu with selected lactic acid bacteria (LAB), investigation of the probiotic potential of the LAB and the effect of variation in production method on the product quality and sensory properties. PCR-DGGE analysis of traditional akamu samples revealed LAB community dominated by Lactobacillus fermentum, L. plantarum, L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and L. helveticus. Isolated yeasts were Candida tropicalis, C. albicans, Clavispora lusitaniae and Saccharomyces paradoxus. The isolated Lactobacillus plantarum strains (NGL5 and NGL7) fermented irradiated ground maize slurries and produced significant levels of lactic acid (>73 mmol L-1) and low pH ≤3.63 displaying inhibitory activity against Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis NCTC 5188, Escherichia coli 1077 (NCTC 11560), Bacillus cereus NCIMB 11925, Staphylococcus aureus NCTC 3750 and Listeria monocytogenes NCTC 7973 in MRS agar and E. coli 1077 in maize slurry fermentation. Viability of both strains of L. plantarum at pH 2 after 3 h was reduced from ≥8.26±0.05 to ≤4.94±0.49 Log10 CFU mL-1 while incubation in 0.3% bile allowed growth to 5.73±0.13 and 7.93±0.12 Log10 CFU mL-1 after 6 h for NGL5 and NGL7 respectively. Auto-aggregation of the L. plantarum strains at 37oC (≥25 after 5 h) correlated with adhesion to hydrocarbons (<15, 26, 33 and 64% for Hexane, Hexadecane, Ethyl acetate and Chloroform respectively). The strains failed to exhibit gelatinase or haemolytic activity but adhered to porcine mucin (OD403 nm ≥0.63 with viability ≥6.52 Log10 CFU mL-1) and Caco-2 cells (≥5.13 Log10 CFU mL-1). The ash, mineral (Ca, K, Mg, Na, S and Zn), IDF, SDFP and TDF content of the L. plantarum fermented ground maize slurries were significantly (p≤0.05) higher than that of the traditional akamu but the peak and final viscosities (139.5 and 68.5 cP respectively) were significantly (p≤0.05) the least. The aroma, appearance, colour, flavour and texture of the resultant porridges were liked moderately by 75% of the assessors. This study demonstrated that fermentation with the L. plantarum strains would contribute towards product safety and the L. plantarum strains possessed some probiotic potential that could be beneficial to the consumers particularly in those developing countries were the main staple foods are fermented cereals.

Business-to-Business (B2B) beskriver relationen mellan två företag där ett företag säljerprodukter eller tjänster till ett annat företag. I dagens konkurrenshårda marknad gäller det för ett företag att ständigt sträva efter att ligga ett steg före för att öka chansen att överleva. Dessutom kan dagens kunder söka och jämföra det de vill ha med bara ett klick på internet vilket leder till att företag förväntas att ständigt förbättra och utveckla sina produkter för att tillfredsställa sina kunder. Syftet med detta arbete är att ta reda på vad kunderna anser är viktigt vid val av leverantör och om miljöaspekten är avgörande för kunden vid val avleverantörer. En litteraturundersökning som kompletterades med en enkätundersökning genomfördes för att få svar på vilka av de fyra aspekter (kvalité, miljö, service, pris) är avgörande vid val av leverantör. Gruppen har använt sig av ett företag inom textil- och konfektionsbranschen som utgångspunkt för vilka företag enkäterna skulle skickas till. Undersökningen baseras främst på företag inom hotellbranschen i områdena Göteborg, Borås, Varberg och Falkenberg. Gruppen har använt sig av enkäter där deltagarna tillfrågades hur avgörande aspekterna kvalité, miljö, pris och service är vid val av leverantör av arbetskläder. Resultatet av litteraturstudien visar att kvalité och service är avgörande vid val av leverantör i ett B2B sammanhang och att pris inte är lika avgörande. Resultatet av enkätundersökning visar att samtliga hotell som deltog i undersökningen anser att det mest avgörande vid val avleverantör är kvalité och näst viktigast är miljö. Service och pris hamnade på en tredjerespektive fjärde plats i rangordning. / Business-to-Business (B2B) describes the relationship between two companies where one company sells products or services to another company. In today's highly competitive market, businesses are forced to continually improve and develop their products in order to satisfy their customers. In addition, today's customers can search and compare what they want just with just one click on the internet, which means that companies are expected to constantly improve and develop their products to survive in the highly competitive market. The purpose of this work is to find out what customers consider important in choosing a supplier and whether the environmental aspect is crucial for the customer in choosing suppliers. A literature study supplemented with a survey was conducted to find answer on which of the four aspects (quality, environment, service, price) is crucial in selecting a supplier. The group has used a company in the textile and clothing industry as the starting point for which companies the questionnaires were to be sent to. The survey is primarily based on companies in the hotel industry in the areas of Gothenburg, Borås, Varberg and Falkenberg. The group has used questionnaires where participants were asked how crucial aspects of quality, environment, price and service are when choosing a supplier of work clothes. The outcome of the literature study shows that quality and service are crucial in choosing a supplier in a B2Bcontext and that price is not as crucial. The results from the survey indicate that all hotels participated in the survey find that the most crucial in choosing a supplier is quality and the second most important is the environment. Service and award ended in a third and fourth place in ranking.

Diversos negócios hoje são suportados por sistemas de software. Acredita-se que o uso de Arquitetura de Software é fundamental para atingir alcançar as metas de negócio e qualidade. Visto que o conjunto de requisitos que levou à construção de uma determinada arquitetura pode mudar, tal arquitetura pode tornar-se inadequada. Em diversas situações é preciso conviver com os sistemas existentes, portanto é preciso alterá-los para as novas necessidades. Manutenção de sistemas usando técnicas de evolução arquiteturais tem se mostrado um eficaz caminho para alterar um sistema à nova situação. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar um método para manutenção de sistemas de software usando técnicas arquiteturais de forma a convergir mais rapidamente à adequação da arquitetura destes sistemas. Algumas técnicas do método incluem avaliação de arquitetura de software, levantamento de riscos, provas de conceito construtivas e destrutivas e métricas estáticas e dinâmicas de software. O método proposto foi aplicado em contextos de laboratório e da indústria, permitindo a verificação de pontos fortes e críticos para realizar seu refinamento e tais aplicações são também relatadas neste trabalho. Embora as aplicações do método proposto tenham sido diferentes, tanto no objetivo principal quanto no desenrolar das atividades, seus resultados foram considerados bastante satisfatórios, tanto no contexto de ensino quanto no contexto de indústria. / Several business today are supported by software systems. It is believed that the use of software architecture is fundamental to achieve the business goals and quality. Since the set of requirements that led to the construction of a given architecture may change, such an architecture may become inadequate. In many situations we must live with existing systems, so we must change them to meet the new needs. Systems maintenance using architectural evolution techniques has proven to be an effective path to take a system to the new situation. This works goal is to provide a method for maintenance of software systems using architectural techniques in order to converge more rapidly to match the architecture of these systems. Some techniques used in the method include software architecture evaluation, risks survey, constructive and destructive proofs of concept, static and dynamic software metrics. The proposed method was applied in contexts of laboratory and industry, allowing the verification of strengths and critical points to guide its refinement and such applications are also reported in this work. Although the applications of the proposed method has been different in both the main goal and the conduct of activities, their results were considered very satisfactory, both in the education and the industry context.

Submitted by Alisson Mota (alisson.davidbeckam@gmail.com) on 2015-06-24T21:17:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Silvino Francisco da Silva Filho.doc: 4714496 bytes, checksum: 49114af18bc6fa7c6b773c1c90cee9bf (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br) on 2015-06-26T17:45:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Silvino Francisco da Silva Filho.doc: 4714496 bytes, checksum: 49114af18bc6fa7c6b773c1c90cee9bf (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br) on 2015-06-26T18:02:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Silvino Francisco da Silva Filho.doc: 4714496 bytes, checksum: 49114af18bc6fa7c6b773c1c90cee9bf (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-26T18:02:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Silvino Francisco da Silva Filho.doc: 4714496 bytes, checksum: 49114af18bc6fa7c6b773c1c90cee9bf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-06-16 / In the modern world is more and more above all intense the search that you/they make the companies to reach full efficiency, resulting in stable processes, improving the quality of the product with significant cost reduction. However, even in spite of such efforts, a concern to disturb such organizations is materialized in the occurrence of defects (scrap) that, it demands like this the reality, they should be minimized, in other words, they ought to reduce their percentile of occurrence. The procedure methodological employee in the work, was DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve e Control).This work, therefore, he/she has as objective evaluate a model of process administration implanted in a company of the Industrial Pole of Manaus - PIM. The development of this work was due to the need of reducing the index of defects and to stabilize the process of a certain department producing CRT. This inconvenience made possible the use and application of the tool Six Sigma as main allied in the resolution of the problems. With it was possible to define, to measure, to analyze, to get better and to control the process, denominated DMAIC. In the sequence, the model was evaluated taking into account some relevant variables (temperatures and specifications), that were analyzed to verify the acting of the process in relation to the quality of the pieces. The result shows that the quality of the pieces presented after the implantation of the tool in the process was satisfactory. Six Sigma is very much used tool by the company studied in all their departments to reaching their goals, such that the research allowed one to conclude that the tool is revealed useful to the significant reduction of the percentile of scrap. / Modernamente é cada vez mais intensa a busca que fazem as empresas para atingir plena eficiência, resultando em processos estáveis, sobretudo melhorando a qualidade do produto com significativa redução de custo. Contudo, mesmo a despeito de tais esforços, uma preocupação a inquietar tais organizações encontra-se materializada na ocorrência de defeitos (scrap) que, assim exige a realidade, devem ser minimizados, ou seja, terem reduzidos seus percentuais de ocorrência. O procedimento metodológico empregado neste trabalho foi o DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve e Control). Este trabalho, portanto, tem como objetivo avaliar um modelo de gestão de processo implantado em uma empresa do Pólo Industrial de Manaus – PIM. Ademais, o desenvolvimento deste trabalho se deu em função da necessidade de reduzir o índice de defeitos e estabilizar o processo de um determinado departamento produtor de CRT. Essa inconveniência possibilitou o uso e aplicação da ferramenta Seis Sigma como principal aliada na resolução dos problemas. Com ela foi possível definir, medir, analisar, melhorar e controlar o processo, denominado como DMAIC. Na seqüência, o modelo foi avaliado levando em consideração algumas variáveis relevantes (temperaturas e especificações), que foram analisadas para verificar o desempenho do processo em relação à qualidade das peças. Os resultados mostram que a qualidade das peças apresentadas após a implantação da ferramenta no processo foi satisfatória. O Seis Sigma é uma ferramenta muito utilizada pela empresa estudada, em todos os seus departamentos para atingir suas metas, tendo a pesquisa permitido concluir que a ferramenta revela-se útil à redução significativa do percentual de scrap.

Diversos negócios hoje são suportados por sistemas de software. Acredita-se que o uso de Arquitetura de Software é fundamental para atingir alcançar as metas de negócio e qualidade. Visto que o conjunto de requisitos que levou à construção de uma determinada arquitetura pode mudar, tal arquitetura pode tornar-se inadequada. Em diversas situações é preciso conviver com os sistemas existentes, portanto é preciso alterá-los para as novas necessidades. Manutenção de sistemas usando técnicas de evolução arquiteturais tem se mostrado um eficaz caminho para alterar um sistema à nova situação. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar um método para manutenção de sistemas de software usando técnicas arquiteturais de forma a convergir mais rapidamente à adequação da arquitetura destes sistemas. Algumas técnicas do método incluem avaliação de arquitetura de software, levantamento de riscos, provas de conceito construtivas e destrutivas e métricas estáticas e dinâmicas de software. O método proposto foi aplicado em contextos de laboratório e da indústria, permitindo a verificação de pontos fortes e críticos para realizar seu refinamento e tais aplicações são também relatadas neste trabalho. Embora as aplicações do método proposto tenham sido diferentes, tanto no objetivo principal quanto no desenrolar das atividades, seus resultados foram considerados bastante satisfatórios, tanto no contexto de ensino quanto no contexto de indústria. / Several business today are supported by software systems. It is believed that the use of software architecture is fundamental to achieve the business goals and quality. Since the set of requirements that led to the construction of a given architecture may change, such an architecture may become inadequate. In many situations we must live with existing systems, so we must change them to meet the new needs. Systems maintenance using architectural evolution techniques has proven to be an effective path to take a system to the new situation. This works goal is to provide a method for maintenance of software systems using architectural techniques in order to converge more rapidly to match the architecture of these systems. Some techniques used in the method include software architecture evaluation, risks survey, constructive and destructive proofs of concept, static and dynamic software metrics. The proposed method was applied in contexts of laboratory and industry, allowing the verification of strengths and critical points to guide its refinement and such applications are also reported in this work. Although the applications of the proposed method has been different in both the main goal and the conduct of activities, their results were considered very satisfactory, both in the education and the industry context.

This study develops two researches to examine the influence of green concept on performance. The research I focuses on firm level. The research II focuses on consumer level. In the research I, the results show that (1) green learning-orientation is positively associated with proactive green innovation capability, (2) green learning-orientation is positively associated with firm performance, and (3) proactive green innovation capability is positively associated with firm performance. Thus, companies that are pioneers in green learning have the ability to enhance their innovation capability in terms of processes, products, and services and increase their performance. Additionally, proactive green innovation capability is also an important source of performance. In the research II, the results show that (1) green product quality is positively associated with green customer satisfaction and green customer loyalty; (2) green corporate image is positively associated with green customer satisfaction and green customer loyalty; and (3) green customer satisfaction is positively associated with green customer loyalty. The results indicate that green product quality can bring about green customer satisfaction and green customer loyalty. Additionally, green corporate image can contribute to green customer satisfaction and green customer loyalty.

Context This thesis verifies a method developed on alignment issues in different data points and is useful to validate the method in those data points. To find the alignment/misalignment problems occurring within the stakeholders in a company is done through surveys using Hierarchical Cumulative Voting (HCV). This paper presents a case study to explain the importance of alignment between the stakeholders to achieve quality. Time, scope and cost are given higher priority leaving quality as it is hard to measure. To maintain quality in a software product is a major challenge in most of the software organizations. Stakeholders play a major role in software development. Without the alignment and common understanding between the stakeholders, it is highly difficult to achieve successful software project with good quality. The reasons for misalignment/alignment between the stakeholders are being explained clearly in this thesis based on the interviews and the survey conducted in software development companies under the novelty of case study. Objectives To evaluate the usefulness of alignment approach in different data points, to achieve product quality, for understanding the reasons for misalignment and to provide common approach for aligning we need to know the actual aligning priorities given by the stakeholders. We have one method for aligning and we want to see how actual alignment is different in different data points. To find the reasons for different stakeholders’ groups focusing on different quality attributes and to manage quality that helps in aligning quality requirements in future. Methods In order to know the importance of quality, prioritization of requirements and about the alignment problem we have conducted the literature review. To understand the problem and to know the reasons for misalignment in the companies we have conducted a case study in which we interviewed 8 employees from a company and to know the individual ranking of quality attributes we also made use of surveys in which 17 individuals from two companies had participated. Results We have identified the reasons for misalignment using interviews in one company and the individual priorities given to different quality attributes through surveys in two different companies. The qualities are prioritized by the stakeholder groups in the surveys and these are used to calculate the alignment/misalignment between the groups using spearman rank correlation which pointed that there are some disagreements between the stakeholder groups. Conclusions This paper explains the results obtained from a case study for determining the alignment/misalignment between different stakeholder groups and the reasons for this situation. Through surveys we found that there is a strong disagreement between the stakeholders in one company and partial agreement in the other company with respect to priorities they assign to individual qualities and the reasons behind this are obtained through interviews. The reasons for misalignment are lack of common understandings between the stakeholders, less discussion on quality requirement, undocumented priorities, no importance given to quality and others. / This Thesis work is about Software Product Quality and how it is achieved through alignment between the people in understanding the requirements. / 0763138272, 0739849383

Product quality is an often-overlooked factor in the financial analysis of video games. Quality measurements have been proven to work as a reliable predictor of sales while also directly influencing performance in financial markets. If markets are efficient in reflecting new information, perception of video game quality will lead to a rational response. This thesis examines the market reaction to this information set. The release structure in the video game industry allows for a direct observation of the isolated quality effect through third-party reviews. These reviews form an objective measurement of game quality without having other revealing characteristics, as all other information is released prior to these reviews. The possibility to exploit this unique case motivates the analysis through multiple empirical designs. Results from a multivariate regression model show a statistically significant positive effect of higher quality on short-term returns over all models. The release of a lower quality game reduces returns only for high-profile games. Both of these results are confirmed by the results from a rules-based trading strategy. These effects subside in the face of longer holding periods and higher exposure. This thesis finds sufficient evidence that video game quality should be an important factor in the analysis of video game companies. At the same time, these effects are only persistent in the short-time validating an efficient response to new information by financial investors.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地域研究) / 甲第24255号 / 地博第308号 / 新制||地||119(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院アジア・アフリカ地域研究研究科グローバル地域研究専攻 / (主査)教授 河野 泰之, 教授 長岡 慎介, 教授 D'SOUZA Rohan Ignatious / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Area Studies / Kyoto University / DGAM