Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-02T21:42:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MarceloRM.pdf: 513222 bytes, checksum: fb5d896e21912ea57f2abc16c8012964 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-12 / The people management is a strategic element in organizations. Among the strategies that can be adopted for managing people, the monitoring of organizational climate has been the focus in organizations. In the competitive world, business incubators emerge, with the goal of providing new ventures, means for companies in early life, have conditions to expand, aiding in local and regional economic development. The present study aimed to analyze the organizational climate of three companies of the incubator project of a city in the state of São Paulo and verify the impact that the current climate is causing these developments. The criterion used to selection of the companies was the graduation, ie, companies with longer incubator were chosen and will be ready to leave the project at the end of 2014. This study drew on qualitative and quantitative methods in order to make the methodological process and build the final analysis of the research. As quantitative method one Organizational Climate Scale constructed and validated by Martins et al. (2004) was used and as qualitative method an interview with employees and managers of the companies studied was conducted, with the purpose of collecting information to assist in the study, provide better understanding of the workplace and examine which principal impacts caused by this climate. Was perceived that the companies studied, presents serious problems in their work environment and in turn, this organizational climate has impacted on other variables such as, level of stress, turnover of professionals, professional performance and profitability of these organizations. / A gestão de pessoas é um elemento estratégico nas organizações. Dentre as estratégias que podem ser adotadas pela gestão de pessoas, o monitoramento do clima organizacional vem sendo foco nas organizações. No mundo competitivo, as incubadoras de empresas surgem, com o objetivo de proporcionar aos novos empreendimentos, meios para que tenham condições de expandir, auxiliando no desenvolvimento econômico local e regional. O presente estudo objetivou analisar o clima organizacional de três empresas do projeto incubadora de uma cidade do interior do estado de São Paulo e, verificar os impactos que o clima presente está causando nestes empreendimentos. O critério utilizado para a seleção das empresas foi o de graduação, isto é, foram escolhidas empresas com mais tempo de incubadora e que estarão prontas para deixar o projeto no final do ano de 2014. Este estudo valeu-se de métodos qualitativos e quantitativos para poder efetuar o processo metodológico e construir a análise final da pesquisa. Como método quantitativo foi utilizada uma Escala de Clima Organizacional construída e validada por Martins et al. (2004) e como método qualitativo foi realizada uma entrevista com funcionários e gestores das empresas estudadas, com o objetivo de coletar informações para auxiliar no estudo, proporcionar melhor compreensão do ambiente de trabalho e verificar quais os principais impactos causados pelo clima presente. Percebeu-se que, as empresas estudadas, apresentam sérios problemas em seu ambiente de trabalho e, por sua vez, este clima organizacional vem impactando em outras variáveis como, nível de estresse, rotatividade de profissionais, desempenho profissional e na lucratividade destas organizações.

Den här studie syftar till att skapa en förståelse för hur företag bedöms i urvalsprocessen hos inkubatorer och identifiera de egenskaper som inkubatorerna ser till i bedömningen. En inkubator är ett företag som förser start-ups med lokal, rådgivning och olika typer av tjänster. Entreprenörer med affärsidéer söker sig till inkubatorer för att de behöver hjälp med att iterera och verkställa sina idéer samt utveckla sitt företag. Studiens empiri har samlats in genom sex kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer som har insyn i urvalsprocessen hos en inkubator. Empirin analyseras sedan med hjälp av den forskning och litteratur som finns gällande inkubatorer men även med hjälp av modellen Business Model Canvas. Med hjälp av empirin och teorin i denna studie har det skapats en förståelse för hur urvalsprocessen går till. Studien visar på att alla de som söker sig till inkubatorer är i olika faser och inkubatorerna har olika huvudkriterier. Det gäller därför för företaget att hitta rätt inkubator för just dem. Idén och entreprenören har lyfts som två självständiga delar då det har visat sig att inkubatorer bedömer dessa två delar var för sig. Vi har hittat ett mönster som visar på att det finns två olika urval i urvalsprocessen med en verifieringsfas däremellan. Urvalsprocessen ses även ur ett hållbarhetsperspektiv där det kan konstateras att det inte är en självklarhet att det vägs in i bedömningen av företagen. / This study aims to create an understanding of how companies are assessed in the selection process of business incubators and identifying the qualities that business incubators value in the assessment. A business incubator is a company that provides start-ups with local, consulting and different types of services. Entrepreneurs with business ideas are applying to incubators to get help develop their ideas and their business. The empirical material has been gathered through six qualitative semi-structured interviews with individuals who have an insight into the selection process of a business incubator. The empirical material is analyzed using the research and literature on business incubators, but also using the model Business Model Canvas. With the help of the empirical material and the theory of this study, an understanding has been created for the selection process. The study shows that all those applying to a business incubator are in different phases and business incubators have different main criteria. That’s why the company has to find the right business incubator for them. The idea and the entrepreneur have been raised as two independent parts as it has been found that business incubators assess these two parts separately. We have found a pattern that shows that there are two different selections in the selection process with a verification phase in between. The selection process is also seen from a sustainability perspective where it can be concluded that it is not a matter of course that it is weighted in the assessment of the companies.

The present work was carried out in the Santa Maria technological incubator (ITSM), in order to analyze how the incubation process contributes to the development of the entrepreneurial characteristics, in the perception of TBC managers graduated at ITSM. Thus, the data were collected through semi-structured interviews with nine managers of graduated companies, and the questions during the interview focused on their life history, professional trajectory and incubation process and through the application of the questionnaire developed by Mansfield et al. (1987), on entrepreneurial behavioral characteristics (CCE's), with the same interview respondents.The categories of analysis defined a priori were: Incubation process and Entrepreneurial behavioral characteristics. The categories of analysis defined not a priori, based on the interviewees' reports, were: Influence of family on professional choice and Need for management knowledge. The profile of the managers participating in the survey according to the measurement made from the application of the questionnaire indicates a satisfactory level of development of the CCE’s. Through the analysis of the data collected in the interviews and in the questionnaire, it was possible to evaluate that the objective of the study has been met, since according to the perception of TBC managers graduated at ITSM, the incubation process was decisive for their enterprises sustainability and, in addition, it provided the development of these individuals as entrepreneurs. / O presente trabalho foi realizado na incubadora tecnológica de Santa Maria (ITSM), com o intuito de analisar como o processo de incubação contribui com o desenvolvimento das características empreendedoras, na percepção de gestores de EBT’s graduadas na ITSM. Assim sendo, os dados foram coletados através da realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com nove gestores de empresas graduadas, sendo que os questionamentos abordados na entrevista tiveram foco na história de vida, trajetória profissional e processo de incubação e através da aplicação do questionário desenvolvido por Mansfield et al. (1987), sobre características comportamentais empreendedoras (CCE’s), com os mesmos respondentes das entrevistas. Para a análise dos dados, utilizou-se a técnica de análise de conteúdo das entrevistas, baseada em Bardin (2011), os questionários foram analisados qualitativamente devido ao baixo número de respondentes (nove). As categorias de análise definidas a priori foram: processo de incubação e características comportamentais empreendedoras. As categorias de análise definidas não a priori, com base nos relatos dos entrevistados, foram: influência da família na escolha profissional e necessidade de conhecimento em gestão. O perfil dos gestores participantes da pesquisa de acordo com a mensuração feita a partir da aplicação do questionário aponta um nível satisfatório de desenvolvimento das CCE’s. Através do cruzamento da análise dos dados coletados nas entrevistas e no questionário foi possível avaliar que o objetivo do estudo foi atendido, visto que, de acordo com a percepção dos gestores de EBT’s graduadas na ITSM, o processo de incubação foi decisivo para a sustentabilidade de seus empreendimentos, e, além disso, propiciou o desenvolvimento desses indivíduos como empreendedores.

This research presents the results of a qualitative and quantitative investigation into what factors are present at time zero that increase the probability that a startup will achieve long term sustainability. Survival rates for startups in the United States (U.S.) are disappointingly low and economically inefficient. The data shows that the U.S. clearly lags its peer countries in the survival rates of startups. The U.S ranked an unacceptable 11th of 14 among its peer countries in first-year survival rates in recent years. Startup failure does not only impact the entrepreneur; it also impacts creditors, vendors, community stakeholders, and employees. While it is commonly acknowledged that entrepreneurial businesses contribute to economic growth, the influential impact survival can have on economic growth within the community is often understated. The economic impact of startups on the community makes this area of research even more vital. To avoid failure and improve the sustainability of startups requires an in-depth understanding of the factors that are causal and non-causal to sustainability. While there has been significant investment and support by communities, government, and private foundations, startup failure rates remain virtually unchanged in the last two decades. Despite the many years of research in the field of entrepreneurship, U.S. failure rates within the first five years’ average 53%, regardless of the industry membership or economic cycles. Identifying factors that are causal and non-causal to the sustainability of emerging businesses is crucial to the founders and stakeholders. Within this study, both internal and external factors that may be causal to the macro survival rate of U.S. startups were studied. The external factors were studied quantitatively, using data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) and the Brookings Institute. A protocol of regression analysis and visual analytics were applied to evaluate the quantitative data. It demonstrated that external factors such as the change in real gross domestic product (RGDP), interest rates, and expansion of accelerators have had no significant effect on U.S. macro startup survival rates. Further, the findings confirm that neither geographic location nor industry membership impacted U.S. macro startup survival rates. Internal factors were studied qualitatively, using a grounded theory protocol. The qualitative research did uncover three internal factors that were causal to survival of the startups studied. Those internal factors were:  Career Autonomy – The entrepreneurs motivated by career autonomy were significantly more likely to achieve long-term sustainability.  Allies – The entrepreneurs who identify and utilized allies were more likely to survive.  Purposeful Margin of Safety model – Startups whose founders had a rigorous understanding of the margin of safety (MOS) and its underlying elements of pricing and break-even analysis were more likely to survive. This qualitative study provides significant evidence that, when these three causal factors are present, the likelihood of sustainability is high. These findings extend our knowledge on how to improve the probability of sustainability for the firms. This study demonstrates that the U.S. can and should improve its startup survival rates by focusing on the internal factors that are necessary at time zero to ensure sustainability and survival.

This thesis deals with application of Competitive Intelligence in the environment of business incubators in the Czech Republic. The main goal of this work is to analyze the competitive environment of Czech business incubators and draw conclusions leading to a possible increase of their competitiveness. The theoretical part describes the competitive intelligence including selected analytic methods, the support system for development of small and medium-sized enterprises, the role of the state in their support and aspects of innovative business. The following part deals with characteristics of business incubation, basic division of business incubators and their importance for the development of SMEs. It then describes the history of incubators in the world and the way they operate in the Czech Republic, including description of basic services provided. The practical part analyzes broader competitive environment throughout the country, using Porter's five competitive forces model. Then there is a complete list compiled of all operating and planned incubators in the Czech Republic displayed on a map, divided into different regions. There are six incubators selected for a thorough competitive analysis in the Central region and the city of Prague, which are the regions with the strongest competitive environment in the Czech Republic. Based on results of analyses mentioned above, there is a set of final recommendations on how to increase the competitiveness of Czech business incubators and to get overall improvement in business incubation.

This project deals with comparing types and properties of commercial produced incubators for exotic birds. It searches the best solution from these area. In this project are compars individual components and their choice for realization in this project. Then in this project is solution of regulation temperature and humidity in engineered mechanism and discovered parameters of specifically space. Then is developed solution of thermostat and hydrosatat for this prototype. Temperature is changed by Peltier module, who is involved in correct system. Humidity is regulated by resistor humidifier. Complex system is managed by microcontroler. System communicates with PC via USB interface and Ethernet. Solution of this project is maked functional prototyp.

Innovation entrepreneurship is built not only on a quality idea, but also on the availability of start-up capital and management skills of the idea owner. The insufficient finance often limits the success and growth potential of start-ups. When seeking support to individual business plans, allowing for entry of a business angel could be an option. Business angels are private, mostly experienced investors who invest in SMEs with high growth potential not only financial capital, but also business know-how, contacts and management experience. Thesis evaluates possibilities to use venture capital offered by business angels to support innovative start-ups and on several case studies assesses readiness of innovation and business environment from the investors’ point of view.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka vilka förutsättningar som finns för entreprenörers informella lärande iinkubatorer och att öka förståelsen för hur informella lärandet där kan främjas. Undersökningen har en kvalitativ ansats och datainsamlingen genomfördes med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Sammanlagt utfördes sex intervjuer med entreprenörer som är med i inkubatorer och fyra med anställda i inkubatorer. Resultaten visade olika individuella och kollektiva faktorer som i inkubatorn bidrar till reflektion och erfarenhetsbaserat lärande. Vidare visar studien att inkubatorn bör planera tillfällen för att möten och informellt lärande ska ske. Inkubatorn bör också skapa strukturella och kulturella förutsättningar som till exempel en positiv stämning för att den dialog som bidrar till reflektion och erfarenhetsbaserat lärande ska kunna skapas. En av de viktigaste slutsatserna är att den diskussion entreprenörerna har med andra entreprenörer starkt bidrar till reflektion och erfarenhetsbaserat lärande genom utmaning till reflektion, kollektiv intelligens, erfarenhetsutbyte och återkopplingar. Det är därför väsentligt för inkubatorn att skapa förutsättningar och tillfällen för att möten som bidrar till informellt lärande ska ske. En annan slutsats är att det är viktigt att det stöd entreprenörerna får är anpassat till deras behov. Slutligen bidrar den stödperson (coach eller mentor) de regelbundet träffar starkt till reflektion och erfarenhetsbaserat lärande. / The study’s purpose is to investigate the conditions that exist for entrepreneurs' informal learning in incubators and increase the understanding of how informal learning can be promoted in incubators. The survey has a qualitative approach and the data collection was carried out with the help of semi-structured interviews. A total of six interviews were conducted with entrepreneurs who are part of incubators and four with employees in incubators. The results showed various individual and collective factors that in the incubator contribute to reflection and experience-based learning. Furthermore, the study shows that the incubator needs to plan opportunities for meetings and informal learning to take place. The incubator also needs to create structural and cultural conditions such as a positive atmosphere for the dialogue that contributes to informal learning to be created in incubators. One of the most important conclusions is that the dialog entrepreneurs have with other entrepreneurs strongly contributes to reflection and experience-based learning through collective intelligence, exchange of experience and feedback. It is therefore essential for the incubator to create conditions and opportunities for meetings that contribute to informal learning to take place. Another conclusion is that it is important that the support the entrepreneurs receive is adapted to their needs. Finally, the coach or mentor they regularly meet strongly contributes to their reflection and experiential learning.

Healthcare associated infections (HCAI) are a major problem in healthcare today. Preterm infants have problems keeping their body temperature within normal boundaries due to heat-loss. They therefore need special care that is administered with the help of incubators, which help minimise the heat loss via convection. Within neonatology the incubator has been identified as one of the contributing factors to HCAI due to the warm and humid environment, making it easy to spread nosocomial flora. To assess if the incubator is a factor in the spreading of HCAI this project has focused on ATP+AMP (total ATP) luminescence measurements to find areas in the incubator that are likely to contribute to the spread of HCAI and suggesting solutions to some of these. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is found in both organic debris and bacteria and is therefore a good indicator of a problem area due to organic debris acting as nutrients. Only the incubator box of the Giraffe® OmniBed® incubator was studied. The cleaning process was observed on multiple occasions and together with interviews resulted in a number of 29 hypothesised problem areas, on or within the incubator box, that were measured before and after cleaning. The results show that incubators collect a substantial amount of total ATP during its use. Measurements also show that parts that are cleaned by a disinfector are cleaner than those parts that are cleaned manually. Areas on the main compartment became more contaminated after cleaning which further indicated that the design of the incubator needs improving. It was also concluded that there often was residue from soap left on the surface of the main compartment resulting in inhibition of the total ATP luminescence reaction. This resulted in unrealistic low values due to the inclusion of foam and soap in the sample and as a result 45 out of 570 measurements were excluded. Caution is advised when using the Kikkoman total ATP luminescence method, especially on the main body (chassis) of the incubator. A steam vapour cleaner and flask cleanser brush could be used to better reach and clean areas such as cavities and around the bed heating element. The use of the steam vapour cleaner could also diminish or eliminate the use of surface disinfectant that causes red irritated eyes and dizziness in the cleaning staff. The functionality of the incubator was found to be excellent but major improvements can be made in the incubator design to make the cleaning of the incubator easier. / Vårdrelaterade infektioner (VRI) är ett stort problem inom vården idag. För tidigt födda barn (prematurer) har problem att hålla sin kroppstemperatur inom normala gränser på grund av ökad värmeförlust. De behöver därför särskild vård som ges med hjälp av kuvöser, vilka bidrar till att minimera värmeförluster som sker via konvektion. Kuvösen som används inom neonatologin har identifierats som en av de bidragande faktorerna till VRI på grund av den varma och fuktiga miljön,  vilken gör det lätt för mikroorganismer att föröka sig. För att bedöma i vilken utsträckning kuvösen är en faktor i spridningen av VRI har detta examensarbete genomfört ATP+AMP (total ATP) luminiscens-mätningar för att på så vis möjliggöra identifieringen av problemområden i kuvösen samt presentera lösningar till en del av dessa. ATP återfinns i både organisk materia och bakterier och är därför en bra indikator på ett problemområde på grund av att organisk materia agerar som näringsämne för bakterier. Enbart kuvösboxen tillhörande Giraffe® OmniBed® kuvösen testades i denna studie. Rengöringsprocessen av kuvösen observerades vid ett flertal tillfällen. Tillsammans med intervjuer resulterade detta i 29 förmodade problemområden belägna på eller inne i kuvösboxen. Dessa ställen mättes före och efter rengöring. Studien utfördes på neonatalavdelningen på Karolinska sjukhuset i Solna. Mätningar visade att delar som rengörs med en diskdesinfektor är mindre kontaminerade än de delar som rengörs manuellt. Flertalet områden på karossen blev mer kontaminerade efter rengöring vilket indikerade att utformningen av kuvösen behöver förbättras. Det var ofta tvålrester kvar på ytan av karossen, vilket resulterade i hämning av total ATP luminiscens-reaktion. Detta ledde till orealistiskt låga värden och att 45 av 570 mätningar exkluderades. Försiktighet bör iakttas vid användning av total ATP luminiscens-metoden, med Kikkomans LuciPac Pen, då sannolikheten för tvålrester ökar vid mätningar på karossen i kuvösen.  En ångrengörare och flaskborste skulle kunna användas för att bättre nå och rengöra problemområden, såsom hålrum och runt värmeelementet i botten av chassit. Dessa redskap behöver dock utvärderas i framtida studier. Användningen av ångrengörare kan också minska eller eliminera användningen av ytdesinfektion, som orsakar röda irriterande ögon och yrsel hos städpersonal, om effektiviteten uppmätts hålla sjukhusets krav på renhet. Funktionaliteten hos kuvösen fanns vara utmärkt, men förbättringar behövs i utformningen av kuvösen för att möjligöra effektivare, lättare och bättre rengöring.

The study institution is a non-profit organization with a model developed from the continuous implementation of needs assessments of the families of adolescent parents in Puerto Rico, with the purpose of increasing their social inclusion potential. Addressing social exclusion and stigmatization of adolescent parents is vital because it generates a dual benefit for social interactions and growth. The social inclusion concept used and further elaborated for adolescent mothers is described by researchers as the level of access to engaging with institutions and societal relationships. This program evaluation was developed to understand the outcomes and effectiveness of the organization's social inclusion interventions. There is a gap in knowledge for comprehensive and family-centered adolescent parent's programs related to their potential for social inclusion. Guided by complex systems theory, the key research questions were designed to assess the potential gains in social inclusion characteristics for the organization's participants. The study utilized organizational, administrative data and used a pre- and post-test design with a comparison group. McNemar test findings indicated statistically significant increase for the intervention group regarding their social inclusion (p < .001); while Wilcoxon test findings indicated statistically significant gain in nurturing family environments (p = .006) and socio-economic positions (p < .001). Further research is recommended to assess the life-course protective factors' characteristics and the social inclusion pathways. The positive social change includes further understanding of social inclusion for adolescent mothers and its related ecological perspectives.