Financial inclusion is a measure of the ability of a population to make use of financial services. High rates of financial inclusion in a country are empirically correlated with high levels of economic development in that country; low rates of financial inclusion are correlated with low levels of development. Thus, policy makers are generally agreed that one method to increase economic development is to increase the level of financial inclusion. Not all attempts to increase financial inclusion are successful. Initiatives to improve financial inclusion can fail when policy makers or financial service providers have incorrect perceptions about financial inclusion. They may have incorrect perceptions about the purposes and beneficiaries of financial inclusion, or incorrect perceptions about how technology can encourage financial inclusion. This thesis investigates the perceptions of Pakistani bankers about financial inclusion in Pakistan. A survey of 125 Pakistani bankers was conducted. The results of the survey show that while bankers want to improve financial inclusion, they have perceptions that limit their effectiveness in reaching this goal. First, bankers’ perceptions of the actual financial inclusion levels in the country are higher than generally accepted empirical measures. Second, their perceptions about the reasons for financial exclusion are limited to socio-economic factors like low income and education of people. Finally, they have limited appreciation of the role that technology can play in elevating the level of financial inclusion. Bankers show more interest in customer-facing technology than in back-end technical infrastructure, thus limiting the scalability and interoperability of their systems. Our guidance to policy makers is to address these perceptual problems through education and through government-backed technical infrastructure programs, thus better enabling the banking industry to improve financial inclusion in Pakistan.

Financial inclusion is a measure of the ability of a population to make use of financial services. High rates of financial inclusion in a country are empirically correlated with high levels of economic development in that country; low rates of financial inclusion are correlated with low levels of development. Thus, policy makers are generally agreed that one method to increase economic development is to increase the level of financial inclusion. Not all attempts to increase financial inclusion are successful. Initiatives to improve financial inclusion can fail when policy makers or financial service providers have incorrect perceptions about financial inclusion. They may have incorrect perceptions about the purposes and beneficiaries of financial inclusion, or incorrect perceptions about how technology can encourage financial inclusion. This thesis investigates the perceptions of Pakistani bankers about financial inclusion in Pakistan. A survey of 125 Pakistani bankers was conducted. The results of the survey show that while bankers want to improve financial inclusion, they have perceptions that limit their effectiveness in reaching this goal. First, bankers’ perceptions of the actual financial inclusion levels in the country are higher than generally accepted empirical measures. Second, their perceptions about the reasons for financial exclusion are limited to socio-economic factors like low income and education of people. Finally, they have limited appreciation of the role that technology can play in elevating the level of financial inclusion. Bankers show more interest in customer-facing technology than in back-end technical infrastructure, thus limiting the scalability and interoperability of their systems. Our guidance to policy makers is to address these perceptual problems through education and through government-backed technical infrastructure programs, thus better enabling the banking industry to improve financial inclusion in Pakistan.

A inovação tornou-se uma das principais fontes de vantagem competitiva diante da concorrência, identificada como a transformação do conhecimento da empresa em novos produtos e processos. Ressalva-se que as organizações, que gerenciam seus conhecimentos e conseguem combiná-los e compartilhá-los entre os seus colaboradores, adquirem benefícios, como aumento da competitividade; auxílio na tomada de decisão; melhoria no atendimento das expectativas dos clientes e melhoria da eficiência nas operações. Com base na revisão da literatura sobre os temas de conhecimento e inovação tecnológica e desempenho em periódicos de impacto, conforme o Scopus, foi definido o objetivo geral desta tese, ou seja, avaliar se a inovação tecnológica é uma variável mediadora entre a capacidade de conversão do conhecimento e o desempenho das Instituições de Ensino Superior do Sul do Brasil. A pesquisa foi quantitativa, de caráter exploratório e descritivo e com levantamento do tipo survey, com um corte transversal. A população foi formada por professores pertencentes ao quadro permanente dos PPGs das IES do Sul do Brasil. A amostragem foi probabilística de dois estágios. A coleta de dados foi realizada através de um questionário disponibilizado eletronicamente via o Google Doc’s®. Os resultados obtidos sustentaram as hipóteses formuladas para esta tese. Pode-se verificar que as dimensões da conversão do conhecimento têm impacto positivo na inovação tecnológica. Assim, como constatou-se que a capacidade de conversão do conhecimento se relaciona positivamente com as inovações tecnológicas. Também pode ser averiguado que as inovações tecnológicas se relacionam positivamente com o desempenho das IES. Destaca-se a relação positiva entre a capacidade de conversão do conhecimento e o desempenho das IES. Importante destacar o achado desta tese relacionado à divisão do construto desempenho, em intelectual e tecnológico. Por fim, foi elaborado o modelo teórico completo incluindo variáveis de controle. Para estudos futuros, sugere-se a aplicação do instrumento de pesquisa validado, em outras Instituições de Ensino Superior do País. Sugere-se também analisar as barreiras e facilitadores da conversão do conhecimento em relação às inovações e transferências tecnológicas, comparando os antecedentes, consequências, mediadores e moderadores da inovação e desempenho. Por fim, recomenda-se realizar estudos longitudinais que permitam examinar as variáveis de controle para todas as Instituições de Ensino Superior brasileiras e a evolução dos PPG’s desde o início do seu funcionamento. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-04-17T12:49:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Marta Elisete Ventura da Motta.pdf: 1473599 bytes, checksum: 04ba5389a6659d7dcd8ca1add194d3d7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-04-17T12:50:39Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Marta Elisete Ventura da Motta.pdf: 1473599 bytes, checksum: 04ba5389a6659d7dcd8ca1add194d3d7 (MD5) / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-04-17T13:47:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Marta Elisete Ventura da Motta.pdf: 1473599 bytes, checksum: 04ba5389a6659d7dcd8ca1add194d3d7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-04-17T13:47:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Marta Elisete Ventura da Motta.pdf: 1473599 bytes, checksum: 04ba5389a6659d7dcd8ca1add194d3d7 (MD5) / Innovation has become a major source of competitive advantage in the face of competition, identified as the transformation of enterprise knowledge into new products and processes. Caveat-if organizations that manage their knowledge and can combine them and share them among your employees, acquire benefits such as increased competitiveness; aid in decisionmaking; improvement in meeting the expectations of customers and improved efficiency in operations. Based on the review of the literature on the topics of knowledge and technological innovation and performance in impact journals, according to Scopus, was defined the general objective of this thesis, i.e. assess whether technological innovation is a mediator variable between the ability of converting knowledge and performance of higher education institutions in the South of Brazil. The survey was quantitative, exploratory and descriptive character and with lifting of the survey type, with a cross-section. The population was formed by teachers belonging to the permanent staff of the IES South – Brazil. The two-stage sampling was probabilistic. The data were collected through a questionnaire available electronically via Google Doc's ®. The results supported the hypotheses formulated for this thesis. You can check that the dimensions of conversion of knowledge have positive impact on technological innovation. So, as it was found that the capacity of knowledge conversion relates positively to technological innovations. Can also be verified that the technological innovations relate positively with the performance of institutions of higher education. Highlight the positive relationship between the ability of converting knowledge and the performance of institutions of higher education. Important to highlight the findings of this thesis related to Division of performance construct, in technological and intellectual. Finally, the complete theoretical model including control variables. For future studies, it is suggested the application of validated research instrument, in other universities in the country. It is suggested to also analyze the barriers and facilitators of knowledge translation in relation to innovations and technological transfers, comparing the antecedents, consequences, mediators and moderators of innovation and performance. Finally, it is recommended to carry out longitudinal studies that examine the control variables for all Brazilian universities and the evolution of PPG's since the beginning of its functioning.

[pt] O paradigma de desenvolvimento sustentável traz para as empresas dois grandes desafios: por um lado, gerar inovações necessárias à existência humana sustentável e, por outro, vencer resistências da sociedade quanto aos novos produtos e serviços. Partindo-se do pressuposto de que futuras tecnologias e inovações tecnológicas impulsionarão negócios mais sustentáveis, propiciando às empresas novas opções de criação de valor, o desafio é descobrir de que maneira as empresas que atuam em ambientes cada vez mais complexos possam incorporar a visão de sustentabilidade econômica, social e ambiental - igualmente complexa - em suas estratégias tecnológicas. Nesse contexto, o objetivo da tese é desenvolver e validar um modelo conceitual de gestão estratégica da tecnologia para empresas que buscam pautar sua atuação nos princípios do desenvolvimento sustentável e que desejam incorporar as variáveis sociais e ambientais, além das econômicas, às suas estratégias tecnológicas. Conceituam-se, inicialmente, desenvolvimento sustentável na perspectiva de negócios, abrangendo responsabilidade social empresarial e sustentabilidade corporativa, que, juntamente com inovação tecnológica, são considerados os focos do novo modelo. Em seguida, apresentamse as bases conceituais para a construção da grade analítica que norteou o desenvolvimento e a implantação do modelo, que compreende o referencial sociotécnico, as abordagens de planejamento adaptativo e de aprendizagem organizacional e modelos de gestão tecnológica. Por se tratar de um caso empírico de aprendizagem organizacional e planejamento adaptativo, baseado em projeto de pesquisa-ação em uma empresa de energia de grande porte, acredita-se que a disseminação do modelo proposto possa contribuir para importantes mudanças organizacionais em relação às atuais práticas de gestão tecnológica na indústria, tão centradas ainda nas questões de curto e médio prazos e nos retornos econômicos dos desenvolvimentos tecnológicos. / [en] The sustainable development paradigm presents a challenge to companies that conduct cutting edge research and endeavor to create new, distinctive and products and services. It also challenges the markets and society for which new products and services are destined and which cultural value systems and political frameworks shape. Based on the fact that future technologies will stimulate more sustainable business, the challenge of really integrating sustainability thinking into business processes is significant. The central question is how companies can capture the business potential of sustainable development and integrate economic, social and environmental criteria into their strategic decisions, particularly those related to technological management. In this context, the thesis provides a conceptual model of strategic management of technology towards corporate sustainability, arguing that the integration of sustainability thinking, as an opportunity, into research and development - R&D and innovation processes is in its best business interests. The thesis provides an understanding of sustainable development thinking in business, and discusses the contribution that sociotechnical, adaptive planning and organizational learning approaches can make towards an effective implementation of sustainable technology development in business context. A conceptual model is proposed and validated through a twoyear long research-action project carried out within a large energy company in Brazil - Petrobras. Like many others action research projects, it is situationally unique, but the general elements of the model and the methods used can be replicated by companies of other industrial sectors. It is also believed that dissemination of the proposed model can contribute to important organizational changes related to current technological management practices in industry.

In order to ensure the Earth’s future prosperity and welfare gender inequalities need to be tackled and our marine environment needs to be safeguarded. In this thesis we therefore evaluate the possible effects of a blue economy on gender equality in the Republic of Seychelles. Using a qualitative methodology, we have conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with a total of 35 respondents. These including people working at grassroots level, in non-governmental organisations and within the governmental bodies in Seychelles. In order to assist the collection and analysis of the data, we developed a theoretical model portraying in what ways the blue economy can affect gender equality in the country via three main components; maritime sustainability, technological innovation and new market and job opportunities. The empirical results demonstrate that the blue economy framework through these three components can affect gender equality, both in the short and long-term. If proven to be inclusive and implemented in the correct way, our findings portray that the blue economy will offer many opportunities. This affecting gender equality in diverse ways, with our main results showing that the concept will (i) help single mothers through factors such as increasing food security, water quality and new job opportunities; (ii) encouraging women to enter into more technological and/or male dominated fields; (iii) motivating boys to remain in school or help dropouts to venture into more practical fields. / För att säkerställa jordens framtida välstånd och välfärd måste ojämlikheter mellan könen åtgärdas och vår marina miljö skyddas. I denna uppsats så utvärderar vi därför de möjliga effekterna av en blå ekonomi på jämlikheten mellan könen i Republiken Seychellerna. Via ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt genomförde vi 21 semistrukturerade intervjuer med 35 respondenter. Dessa inkluderade individer som arbetar på gräsrotsnivå, i icke-statliga organisationer och inom de statliga organen i Seychellerna. För att förenkla insamlingen och analysen av data utvecklade vi en teoretisk modell som visar på vilka sätt en blå ekonomi kan påverka jämlikheten mellan män och kvinnor i landet via tre huvudkomponenter; marin hållbarhet, teknologisk utveckling och nya marknads- och arbetsmöjligheter. De empiriska resultaten visar på att en blå ekonomi kan, genom dessa tre komponenter, påverka jämlikheten mellan män och kvinnor på både kort och lång sikt. Om konceptet implementeras på rätt sätt samt inkluderar hela befolkningen, tyder våra resultat på att en blå ekonomi kommer erbjuda många möjligheter och påverka jämlikheten mellan könen på olika sätt. Våra huvudsakliga resultat visar att konceptet kan (i) hjälpa ensamstående mödrar genom att öka livsmedelsförsörjningen, kvaliteten på vatten och erbjuda nya arbetsmöjligheter; (ii) uppmuntra kvinnor att gå in i mer tekniska och/eller mansdominerade yrken; (iii) motivera pojkar att stanna kvar i skolan eller hjälpa de utsatta att hitta arbete i mer praktiska områden.

En analysant les évolutions récentes de l'industrie du médicament, cette thèse apporte de nouveaux éléments, théoriques et empiriques, sur les mécanismes de transformation des industries de hautes technologies. Nous cherchons à comprendre pourquoi l'introduction de discontinuités technologiques ne conduit pas forcément au changement de l'industrie, et comment la logique dominante peut être remise en question. Pour répondre à cette problématique, nous utilisons une approche qualitative. Nous interrogeons des experts de l'industrie du médicament, et analysons onze études de cas d'entreprises de biotechnologies et de bioinformatique. Notre première contribution théorique est de proposer le concept de logique dominante pour compléter les travaux sur le cycle de vie des industries. Nous argumentons que les discontinuités technologiques sont une condition nécessaire, mais pas suffisante, du changement de phase d'une industrie. Le concept de logique dominante permet de prendre en compte les schémas généraux de création et de capture de valeur qui contraignent la stratégie des firmes évoluant dans l'industrie. Notre seconde contribution théorique est d'identifier quatre mécanismes de remise en cause de la logique dominante d'une industrie :nouvelles propositions de valeur, alliances avec de grandes entreprises d'autres industries, orchestration de réseaux, et portefeuilles de business models. Notre troisième contribution est managériale. Nous proposons un outil de la conception de la stratégie d'entreprise afin d'articuler promesses et risques, moyen et long terme. Enfin, notre quatrième contribution s'adresse aux managers et dirigeants de l'industrie du médicament. Nous leur suggérons quatre pistes de réflexion pour concevoir la stratégie de leur entreprise. / In analyzing recent developments in the drug industry, this thesis brings new elements, both theoretical and empirical, on mechanisms for the transformation of high-technology industries. We seek to understand why the introduction of technological discontinuities does not necessarily lead to change in the industry and on how the dominant logic can be questioned. To address this problem, we used a qualitative approach. We interviewed drug industry experts, and analyzed eleven case studies of biotechnology and bioinformatics companies. Our first theoretical contribution is to propose the concept of dominant logic to complete research on industry life cycle, where we argue that technological discontinuities are a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to change the industry. The concept of dominant logic allows taking into account the general schemes of value creation and value capture that constrain the strategies of the firms that are in the industry. Our second theoretical contribution is to identify four mechanisms of challenge to the industry's dominant logic: new value propositions, alliances with large diversifying entrants, orchestration of networks, and portfolios of business models. Our third contribution is managerial. We offer a tool for the design of corporate strategy. This tool allows articulating promises and risks, medium and long term. Finally, our fourth contribution addresses managers and leaders of the drug industry. We suggest four ways of thinking about the design of their corporate strategies.

Submitted by Rayssa Belke Silva (ra_belke@hotmail.com) on 2018-01-17T12:34:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_RayssaBelke_VF.pdf: 1991164 bytes, checksum: 903e9c2f4673da811e575ed8b30509f3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2018-01-19T16:43:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_RayssaBelke_VF.pdf: 1991164 bytes, checksum: 903e9c2f4673da811e575ed8b30509f3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-30T12:50:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_RayssaBelke_VF.pdf: 1991164 bytes, checksum: 903e9c2f4673da811e575ed8b30509f3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-11-22 / Purpose - The objective of this work is to identify and analyze the role of innovation, in particular the use of information technology, in the marketing actions of the shopping malls and to evaluate its strategic role in the differentiation of the enterprises given the high competition of the market. Methodology - The methodology used in this research had qualitative approach with an exploratory character to obtain and analyze the data. It should be emphasized that the data were obtained through individual interviews based on a semi-structured questionnaire. In addition, a documentary survey was carried out by means of the analysis in the financial reports of the company. Findings - The final considerations demonstrate that innovation as a strategy of competitive advantage is still far below its potential in the two malls research objects. The shopping center model itself, in the cases examined, continues with a traditional bias and with structural gaps that are directly related to its difficulty adapting to technological advances and modifying its business strategy. Limitations - The main limitation of the research is the generalization from the analysis of two cases of application of information technology in marketing actions in Brazilian shopping centers. In addition, the innovations studied have specific characteristics, which could be characterized as experiments rather than current practices. Practical contributions - From these results, one can see that there is a broad field of development and solidification of marketing actions that involve IT innovation in shopping centers. However, in order to be successful, it is necessary to be preceded by some pre-requirements, such as improvement in the relationship between shopkeepers and administration, formalization of marketing planning, training of mall marketing teams and diversification of actions. Originality - This is one of the few study studies that evaluates the application of technology in promotional actions in Brazilian shopping malls / Objetivo – O presente trabalho tem como objetivo identificar e analisar o papel da inovação, em particular do uso de tecnologia da informação, nas ações de marketing dos shopping centers e avaliar o seu papel estratégico na diferenciação dos empreendimentos dada a alta concorrência do mercado. Metodologia – A metodologia utilizada nesta pesquisa teve abordagem qualitativa com caráter exploratório para obtenção e análise dos dados. Destaca-se que os dados foram obtidos por meio de entrevistas individuais fundamentadas em questionário semiestruturado. Além disso, foi realizado um levantamento documental por meio da análise nos relatórios financeiros da empresa. Resultados – As considerações finais demonstram que a inovação como estratégia de vantagem competitiva ainda está muito aquém do seu potencial nos dois shopping centers objetos de pesquisa. O próprio modelo de shopping center, nos casos examinados, continua com um viés tradicional e com gaps estruturais que estão diretamente relacionados a sua dificuldade em se adaptar aos avanços tecnológicos e modificar a sua estratégia empresarial. Limitações – A principal limitação da pesquisa está na generalização a partir da análise de dois casos de aplicação de tecnologia da informação em ações de marketing nos shopping centers brasileiros. Adicionalmente, as inovações estudadas possuem caráter pontuais, que mais poderiam ser caracterizadas como experimentos do que práticas correntes. Contribuições práticas – A partir desses resultados, pode-se perceber que existe um campo amplo de desenvolvimento e solidificação de ações de marketing que envolvam inovação em TI em shopping centers. Contudo, para que tenha sucesso, é necessário que seja precedido de alguns pré-requisitos, como a melhoria na relação entre lojistas e administração, formalização do planejamento de marketing, capacitação das equipes de marketing dos shoppings e diversificação das ações. Originalidade – este é um dos poucos estudos que avalia a aplicação de tecnologia em ações promocionais nos shoppings centers brasileiros

Submitted by Estagiário SPT BMHS (spt@fgv.br) on 2012-01-17T14:45:14Z No. of bitstreams: 1 1424288.pdf: 3705274 bytes, checksum: 28416cca24f56c6b424917a293c83419 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Estagiário SPT BMHS (spt@fgv.br) on 2012-01-17T14:45:45Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 1424288.pdf: 3705274 bytes, checksum: 28416cca24f56c6b424917a293c83419 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Estagiário SPT BMHS (spt@fgv.br) on 2012-01-17T14:45:53Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 1424288.pdf: 3705274 bytes, checksum: 28416cca24f56c6b424917a293c83419 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-01-17T14:46:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 1424288.pdf: 3705274 bytes, checksum: 28416cca24f56c6b424917a293c83419 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / The main objective of the study was to understand effectiveness instruments of public financiai subsidies at APL Eletroeletrônico of Santa Rita do Sapucaí, MG by Financier of Studies and Projects (Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos - FINEP) focusing the engine company of APL, Linear - Equipamentos Eletrônicos S/A. In This study, the principal models on regional development: Local Productive Arrangements (APLs) and Growth Poles were emphasized, because both of them characterized the studied region. The Technological Innovation Law (Lei da Inovação Tecnológica - LlT), which is the main supporter of APLs in Brazil, also was described, as well as financiai agents, the current mechanisms and financing instruments of FINEP and how they are available. Based on the established public policies, by the Federal Government and by the Ministry of Science and Technology (Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia - MCT) to which FINEP is linked. The study analysed, the context of the APL Eletroeletrônico of Santa Rita do Sapucaí in the case of Linear company through the public financing instruments established for the development of above-mentioned APL. As conclusion to the raised initial question on research it can be understood if there was effectiveness with the public instruments of financing of FINEP on development of APL Eletroeletrônico of Santa Rita do Sapucaí. / O objetivo principal do estudo foi compreender a efetividade dos instrumentos públicos de subsídios financeiros aplicados no APL Eletroeletrônico de Santa Rita do Sapucaí, MG, pela Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP), focando a empresa motriz do APL, Linear - Equipamentos Eletrônicos S/A. No estudo foram identificados os principais modelos de desenvolvimento regional, porém foram enfatizados os modelos de Arranjos Produtivos Locais (APLs) e Pólos de Crescimento, pois são os que mais caracterizam a região estudada. Também foram descritos a Lei da Inovação Tecnológica (LlT), os principais incentivadores de APLs no Brasil, ou seja, os agentes financeiros, bem como os atuais mecanismos e instrumentos de financiamentos da FINEP e como os mesmos são disponibilizados. Baseado nas políticas públicas traçadas, tanto pelo Governo Federal, como pelo Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia (MCT), ao qual a FINEP se vincula, pode se analisar, no contexto do APL Eletroeletrônico de Santa Rita do Sapucaí, na figura da empresa Linear, a efetividade desses instrumentos de financiamento público estabelecidos para o desenvolvimento do referido APL. Finalmente, como conclusão e em resposta à questão inicial levantada na pesquisa, pode se compreender se houve efetividade dos instrumentos de financiamento público da FINEP no desenvolvimento do APL Eletroeletrônico de Santa Rita do Sapucaí.

O papel da inovação na promoção do crescimento econômico vem sendo estudado cada vez mais e já é reconhecido como um importante elemento para auxiliar no crescimento econômico dos países. Nesse contexto, há também o desenvolvimento do papel das instituições de ensino superior (IES) na promoção das inovações das empresas. As IES, por seu turno, são consideradas um repositório de conhecimento que podem contribuir com as empresas no processo de aprendizagem e de inovação por meio de relações de cooperação, colaboração ou interação. O presente trabalho propôs-se a resgatar os conceitos fundamentais envolvidos nessa temática – inovação, Sistema Nacional de Inovação (SNI), interação universidade-empresa (IUE) e estado da arte da inovação no Brasil – e ainda avaliar o impacto da relação existente entre IES e empresas. Em outros termos, propôs-se a analisar os impactos e efeitos da interação universidade-empresa (IUE) sobre os resultados de inovação e sobre o desempenho da firma, com foco na busca de evidências sobre o Brasil. Para analisar tais resultados em comparação às empresas que não adotam a IUE, será aplicado o método econométrico Propensity Score Matching (PSM), baseado em algoritmos de pareamento de indivíduos (no caso, empresas) pertencentes a grupos distintos, cujo objetivo é julgar os efeitos de determinado tratamento. O método foi aplicado aos microdados da Pesquisa de Inovação Tecnológica (PINTEC) do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). Os resultados dos PSM foram todos positivos, indicando que a IUE é benéfica. Todavia, apenas em parte o resultado foi significativo. / The role of innovation in promoting economic growth is being studied more frequently and is already recognized as an important element to assist the countries’economic growth. In this context, there is also the development of the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) role in the promotion of companies’ innovation. The HEIs, in turn, are considered a repository of knowledge, which can contribute for companies in their process of learning and innovation through cooperative, collaborative or interactive relationships. This study seeks to rescue the main concepts involved – innovation, National Innovation System (NIS), University-Industry Interaction (UII) and the state of art innovation in Brazil – and to evaluate the impact of the relationships between HEIs and companies. In other words, it was proposed to analyze the impacts/effects of the university-industry interaction (UII) on the results of innovation and on the firm’s performance, focusing on the search of evidence about Brazil. In order to seize the effects of the UII on the results of innovation and on the firm's performance in comparison to the companies that do not have a UII, the econometric method was applied, Propensity Score Matching, based on matching algorithms of individuals (in the companies case) belonging to distinct groups, whose objective is to judge the effects of a particular treatment. The method was applied to the microdata from the Survey of Technological Innovation (PINTEC) of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The results of the PSM were all positive, indicating that SUI is beneficial. However, only in part the result was significant.

The growing interest and access to massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) has opened up significant new scope for educational methodologies, from standard language teaching options through to formalising the skills that a ‘player’ develops through their quests and other activities. This scope is extensive and has created numerous opportunities for innovation both within education and the world of work. This is evidenced by the increasing presence of educational establishments in the virtual world, with Second Life being the most popular for conventional educational purposes. In Second Life and many other realms participants are earning some income and in some cases enjoying a reasonable living from online activities, while developing their skills base. These MMORPGs may open opportunities for promoting language acquisition provided this is located within a suitably attractive realm; ‘players’ would then engage in activities that would contribute to their abilities to use the indigenous languages in everyday life. This article explores how such a system could be developed and the likely contribution it could make to promote a multilingual environment at school and post school levels. Further, it will identify the implications for the future of teaching and learning through the harnessing of MMORPGs.