The subject of my diploma work is the {\clqq}EU Structural Funds and priorities of financing South Bohemian Region``. The thesis are focused on the South Bohemian Region and its unused potential and primary objectives that need to be targeted and that could be funded from actual programme period 2007 - 2013. Obtaining these financial sources should lead to further developement of the region as a whole and finaly improve the life of the South Bohemian citizens. The theoretical part of the thesis define the basis and main purpose of the economic policy and social cohesion in its entire context. Programme tools that can help to implement projects supporting the development a strengthening the competitiveness of the region are further defined. The aim of this study is to evaluate the possibilities that the South Bohemian Region can use for obtaining financial sources from structural funds alocated by the EU for the Czech Republic on individual priorities, which were evaluated as important and were stated in the basic, medium-term document - Regional Development Programme (PRK). The evaluation shows that the South Bohemian Region in its basic document (PRK) has defined a priority, which corresponds with the intentions of the European Community, which can be documented by the fact that especially in these areas European Union intend to provide its help. This is a good chance for the Region to fulfill the strategic goals and measures of the region. These goals are met largely through thematic operational programs that are available in current programming period and that correspond with the area of the financial support in the Czech Republic. Solving environmet problems can be given as good example how the EU funds are used. It was confirmed that priority issues can be successfully financed from the operational program for selected areas of environment according to priority axes. Programs in the total volume of 50,6 milliards CZK have already been approved for Czech Republic, 4 milliards CZK were allocated to the South Bohemian Region., It is apparent that the proportion is equivalent to the size of the region. Sufficient use of European financial sources significantly helps to fulfil the goals of the Regional Development Programme.

Text in Afrikaans / This thesis deals with the nature and operation of liens in South African law. Whereas enrichment liens are classified as real rights, debtor creditor liens are not (sometimes they are referred to as personal rights). The South African law of lien is principally founded on Roman Dutch law and is similar to Dutch law before the enactment of the current Burgerlijk Wetboek (BW). In Dutch law the BW specifies which persons have a lien and under what circumstances. In South African law a creditor can establish a lien against an owner who has a duty to perform in terms of an agreement between the parties or, in the absence of such an agreement, on the basis of unjustified enrichment. My research has shown that a lien is not a subjective right but a capacity vested in a creditor by operation of law. It empowers him to retain an owner’s (debtor) thing until the creditor’s claim against him has been discharged. Extra-judicially the lien holder can rely on his lien or he can raise it as a defence against the owner’s rei vindicatio. The categorisation of liens as either enrichment liens, or debtor creditor liens is at the most an indication of the different sources of the creditor’s right to which the lien is accessory. In Dutch law liens are classified as verhaalsrechten on the owner’s estate. These rights (verhaalsrechten) are further classified as specific opschortingsrechten. A lien is therefore a capacity granted to certain creditors by law to retain an owner’s (debtor) thing. Regarding the operation of liens against third parties (derdenwerking), Dutch law distinguishes between a third party with an older right to the thing and a third party with a later right to the thing. In South African case law derdewerking (real operation) of liens is often used to explain the fact that the lienholder may, in the absence of an agreement with the owner, retain the owner’s thing until his claim against the owner has been discharged. In South African law a lien is a defence to the owner’s rei vindicatio. Reliance on real operation (derdewerking) is often a means of explaining that a lien exists against an owner with whom the creditor had no agreement. Real operation, however, refers to the question against whom other than the owner the lien may be enforced once its existence has been established. A lien can be enforced against the creditors of the owner (debtor), the curator of the debtor’s insolvent estate, heirs, mortgagees and servitude holders. In Dutch law the BW grants preference to liens. Owing to the particular provisions of the Insolvency Act 24 of 1936 liens in South African law enjoy preference above other secured creditors of the insolvent owner (debtor). / Hierdie proefskrif handel oor die aard en werking van retensieregte in die Suid- Afrikaanse reg. Verrykingsretensieregte word algemeen as saaklike regte bestempel en skuldeiser-skuldenaar-retensieregte nie. Laasgenoemde word soms as persoonlike regte tipeer. Die Suid-Afrikaanse reg insake retensieregte is hoofsaaklik op die Romeins-Hollandse reg geskoei en stem in ‘n groot mate ooreen met die posisie in die Nederlandse reg voor die inwerkingtreding van die huidige Burgerlijk Wetboek (BW). In die Nederlandse reg bepaal die BW uitdruklik watter persone in watter omstandighede ‘n retensiereg het. In die Suid-Afrikaanse reg kan ‘n skuldeiser ‘n retensiereg vestig teen ‘n eienaar wat prestasiepligtig is op grond van ‘n ooreenkoms met die skuldeiser of, in die afwesigheid van ‘n ooreenkoms, op grond van verryking. My navorsing toon dat ‘n retensiereg nie ‘n subjektiewe reg is nie, maar ‘n terughoudingsbevoegdheid wat deur regswerking totstandkom. Dit stel die skuldeiser in staat om die eienaar (skuldenaar) se saak te hou totdat die eienaar voldoen aan die vorderingsreg wat die skuldeiser teen hom het. Die retensiereghouer kan buitegeregtelik daarop steun, of dit as ‘n verweer teen die eienaar se rei vindicatio aanwend. Die kategorisering van retensieregte in skuldeiser-skuldenaar-retensieregte en verrykingsretensieregte is hoogstens aanduidend van die verskillende ontstaansbronne van die vorderingsreg waartoe die retensiereg aksessoor is. In die Nederlandse reg word retensieregte in die BW as verhaalsregte op die eienaar se boedel geklassifiseer. Hierdie verhaalsregte word uitdruklik as besondere opskortingsregte getipeer. ‘n Retensiereg is dus ‘n terughoudingsbevoegdheid wat deur die objektiewe reg aan sekere skuldeisers verleen word. Ten aansien van die derdewerking van retensieregte tref die Nederlandse reg ‘n onderskeid tussen ‘n derde met ‘n later reg op die saak en ‘n derde met ‘n ouer reg op die saak. In die Suid-Afrikaanse regspraak word “derdewerking” dikwels aangewend om te verklaar waarom die retensiereghouer ‘n eienaar se saak mag terughou totdat hy vergoed is vir uitgawes wat hy aan die eienaar se saak aangebring het, terwyl hy geen ooreenkoms met die eienaar gehad het nie. In die Suid-Afrikaanse reg is ‘n retensiereg ‘n verweer wat teen die eienaar se rei vindicatio geopper kan word. Die beroep op “derdewerking” is dus dikwels die kapstok om te bepaal of ‘n retensiereg teen die eienaar geopper kan word, terwyl dit eintlik verwys na die afdwingbaarheid van ‘n bestaande retensiereg teen ander persone as die eienaar. ‘n Retensiereg kan teen skuldeisers van die skuldenaar, die kurator van die skuldenaar se insolvente boedel, erfgename, verbandhouers en serwituutgeregtigdes afgedwing word. In die Nederlandse reg verleen die BW voorkeur aan retensieregte. Vanweë die besondere bepalings in die Insolvensiewet 24 van 1936 geniet retensieregte in die Suid-Afrikaanse reg ook voorkeur bo ander versekerde skuldeisers van die insolvente eienaar (skuldenaar). / Private Law / LL.D.

In this thesis, titled Project management and implementation of its methods in the realization of selected operational programs, focuses on South Bohemian region, evaluated its potential funding priorities that need to be addressed and to which can be obtained financial support for the programming period 2007-2013. Also focus on private and public entities of South Bohemian region, on areas in which most financial benefit from EU funds are used and the problems associated with them. The theoretical section defines the regional policy of the European Union, the basic meaning and the main purpose of the economic and social cohesion. Also focuses on regional policy in the Czech Republic itself, the operational programs for the programming period 2007-2013 for the Czech Republic and the issue of project management. The aim of this study is to evaluate the implementation process of selected operational programs and using project management methods to develop a proposal for the management company for their solution. The evaluation shows that the South region in its founding document Regional Development Programme has defined those priorities which reflect the intentions of the European Communities, which can be documented by the fact that in these areas is to aid in the European Union intended. So there is enough space on which to set strategic goals and measures to meet the region. Likewise, the results of the survey show a large activity in drawing financial resources from the EU. Also show some problems and obstacles associated with requests for financial support from EU funds. Overcoming these problems and obstacles could open the possibility of utilization of resources and finances small businesses and entities for which it was still unrealistic.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-07-02Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:13:25Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 lima_fpo_me_bauru.pdf: 454929 bytes, checksum: 25cf40e2b3ae2b2f1732342607410f42 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente estudo propõe-se a apresentar uma abordagem metodológica para analisar como os fatores posicionais influenciam as prioridades competitivas de uma empresa focal e dois atores que fazem parte da rede de empresas do setor metal-mecânico da região de Bauru - SP. Consubstanciado na teoria das redes, pressupõe-se que o ambiente em que as organizações operam é estruturado por vínculos produtivos, de negócios, de inovação tecnológica, de cooperação e de coordenação estabelecidos entre os atores, inclusive no que se refere aos seus aspectos qualitativos. Dentro do campo da teoria, há uma crescente preocupação em se compreender como a posição estrutural e relacional, entre os atores econômicos de uma determinada rede, possa influenciar o desempenho e o comportamento estratégico de manufatura das organizações. Com o passar dos tempos e a globalização, configura-se uma profunda necessidade de mudanças estrutural e arranjos organizacionais, tais como redes horizontais e verticais entre empresas e a conseqüente criação de novos modelos conceituais, para a gestão e avaliação de desempenho organizacional. A conseqüência de toda essa mudança é o conjunto de oportunidades que surgem para as empresas e fornecedores de insumos, a partir dos fatores posicionais: estrutural e relacional, dos atores de uma rede de empresas do setor metal-mecânico. Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo, propor uma abordagem para analisar como os fatores de posicionamentos (estrutural e relacional) influenciaram as prioridades competitivas de uma organização focal. A questão central a que este trabalho remete é saber como os diferentes posicionamentos dos atores influenciam as prioridades competitivas da empresa focal de uma rede de empresas do setor metal-mecânico. A partir de uma abordagem teórica, sugere-se uma exemplo de caso empírico com o intuito de avaliação em caráter... / The present study is a proposal of approach in order to anlyse how positional factors influence competitive priorities of a focal company in a net of enterprises of metal-mechanic sector in Bauru (SP) region. Embodied in the theory of networks, it is assumed that the environment in which organizations operate is structured by productive relationships, business, technological innovation, cooperation and coordination established between the agents, including with respect to its qualitative aspects. Within the field of theory, there is a growing concern to understand how the structural position and relationship between the economic agents of a given network, can influence the performance and strategic behavior of manufacturing organizations. As time passes and with globalization, there is a deep necessity of structural change and organizational arrangements, such as vertical and horizontal nets between enterprises and the consequent criation of new conceptual models to administration and performance evaluation of the organization. The consequence of all this change is the number of opportunities arising for companies and suppliers of inputs, from the positional factors: structural and relational, the agents of a companies network in the metal-mechanical industry. It is presupposed in this research that the concept of operation strategies has mainly focused tanglible aspects in the context of unit of interprise analysis, without worrying about untangible aspects in the context of analysis of enterprise nets. This work will present approach of position factors analysing (structural and relational) in relation to competitve priorities (quality, trust, flexibility, speed, cost and innovation) of a focal company of metal-mechanic sector and justify the qpplication of this methodology in a net of companies of metal-mechanic sector. From a theorical approach, it is suggested an example of empirical... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:50:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4429.pdf: 1848342 bytes, checksum: ac07344aee69b02dcb784e0f64d66c14 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-01 / Apparently, the small wood furniture factories have an outdated organization of production, however, they are active in the market for quite some time. In order to understand how the manufacturing strategy of small wood furniture factories helps these companies to stay in the market, this paper studies the content of manufacturing strategy, its alignment with the competitive strategy and with the production system. A research methodology combined a cross-sectional exploratory survey with 40 companies and a multiple case research in three companies. It was observed that the manufacturing strategy adopted is aligned with the competitive strategy of companies. It was observed also that the production system is suitable for manufacturing strategy, but results in some incompatibility with the delivery performance and cost. The main limitation of this study is the geographic concentration of companies participants. / Aparentemente, as marcenarias apresentam uma organização produtiva desatualizada, no entanto, elas estão ativas no mercado há bastante tempo. Visando entender como a estratégia de produção adotada pelas microempresas de marcenaria contribui a permanência dessas empresas no mercado, este trabalho estuda o conteúdo de estratégia de produção, seu alinhamento com a estratégia competitiva e com o sistema de produção. Como metodologia de pesquisa combinou-se um levantamento exploratório transversal com 40 empresas e um Estudo de Caso múltiplo em três empresas. Observou-se que a estratégia de produção adotada está alinhada a estratégia competitiva das empresas. Observou-se, também, que o sistema de produção é adequado a estratégia de produção, mas resulta em algumas incompatibilidades com o custo e o desempenho de entregas. A principal limitação deste trabalho é a concentração geográfica das empresas estudadas.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:52:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5676.pdf: 1794179 bytes, checksum: b112409fce4e6fb21289f2f9284f8537 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-12-03 / The Production Strategy has been the subject of several academic articles, with researches in different industries. On the other hand, Supply Strategy does not have references in a similar number and there is a gap to be filled. Furthermore, it is scarce the study of organizations in the same supply chain, and the influence between them. This study aims to describe and analyze the influence of a large elevator company's supply strategy on the production strategy of two of its suppliers, who designed 99% of its production to the customer company and the other with only 15 % of total volume. Through a case study, consisting of interviews conducted in the participating companies, it was found that the customer company´s Supply Strategy has greater influence on vendor's Production Strategy with higher production dedicated to it. This conclusion is taken by events such as the deployment of a new plant the city of the customer company, changes in engineering, plant layout, information systems and logistics of goods according to the customer needs. On the other hand, it was observed that the influence that the same company has over the other supplier is tenuous due to its low percentage of production that is destined to the customer company, and fact that the latter has a larger number of customers who must take account. Is worth nothing that the biggest influence does not necessarily translate into better performance in the short term, as in this study, the supplier with lower production percentage showed better performance compared to competing priorities, but the highest percentage, had to be more in line with customer needs following the same score in different priorities. / A Estratégia de Produção vem sendo tema de muitos artigos acadêmicos, com pesquisas em diferentes indústrias. Já a Estratégia de Suprimentos não possui referências bibliográficas em quantidade similar, existindo uma lacuna a ser preenchida. Adicionalmente, o estudo de organizações na mesma cadeia de suprimentos e a influência que existe entre elas são temas escassos na literatura. Este trabalho tem como objetivo descrever e analisar a Estratégia de Suprimentos de uma grande empresa de elevadores, verificando sua possível influência sobre as Estratégias de Produção de dois de seus fornecedores, cujos percentuais de produção destinados à empresa cliente representam 99% e 15% do volume total, respectivamente. Por meio de um estudo de caso, composto por entrevistas realizadas nas empresas participantes, verificou-se que a Estratégia de Suprimentos da empresa cliente possui maior influência na Estratégia de Produção do fornecedor com maior porcentagem de produção dedicada a mesma. Tal conclusão se deve a fatos como a implantação de uma nova unidade fabril na cidade da empresa cliente, alterações em engenharia, layout da fábrica, sistemas de informação e logística das mercadorias, conforme as necessidades do cliente. Por outro lado, observou-se que a influência que a mesma empresa exerce sobre o outro fornecedor é tênue, devido à pequena porcentagem de produção que é destinada à empresa cliente, e ao fato de que o último possui maior número de clientes que deve atender. É importante ressaltar que a maior influência não necessariamente se traduz em melhor desempenho em curto prazo, pois, neste estudo, o fornecedor com menor porcentagem de produção apresentou melhor desempenho em relação às prioridades competitivas, embora o de maior porcentagem, ainda assim, tenha apresentado estar mais de acordo com as necessidades do cliente, seguindo a mesma pontuação em diversas prioridades.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:53:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LARA_Felipe_2013.pdf: 1825704 bytes, checksum: 1d7d812adbc962b561ef6a21f67332d9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-07 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / It is believed that the production function must support the competitive strategy, offering an important contribution to the competitiveness of an organization. The production strategy, whose content is determined by competitive priorities and the structural and infrastructural decision areas, plays a fundamental role in this process and should be aligned with competitive strategy. Moreover, recognition of the importance of innovation and technology has intensified to the point of becoming one of the most representative items in a company. Thus, based on the importance of manufacturing strategy and innovation in the organizational context, this study aimed to analyze the influence exercised by competitive priorities in the occurrence of innovations in small companies of metal mechanic sector in Sorocaba/SP. Since small businesses have certain specific characteristics, the study aimed to analyze how these specificities influence the practice of competitive priorities and the occurrence of innovation. To collect and analyze the data, it was used a qualitative approach and method of multicase study. Among the main results, it was found that the quality, flexibility, delivery and cost proved, in that order of importance, as generators of innovation practices in the surveyed companies. The quality and flexibility were closely related to product and process technological innovations. In the case of non-technological innovations, quality influenced the organizational and marketing innovations. Regarding the characteristics of small businesses, as facilitating factors for the practice of competitive priorities and the adoption of innovations, it was observed the specificities centered on the figure of the owner, on internal organization and the influence of the environment. As factors that worked as barriers are related to the specificities centered on the influence of the environment, mainly, and the specific focus on internal organizational of the company. / Acredita-se que a função produção deve dar suporte à estratégia competitiva, oferecendo uma contribuição importante para a competitividade de uma organização. A estratégia de produção, cujo conteúdo é determinado pelas prioridades competitivas e pelas áreas de decisão estruturais e infraestruturais, têm papel fundamental nesse processo e deve estar alinhada à estratégia competitiva. Por outro lado, o reconhecimento da importância da inovação e da tecnologia tem se intensificado a tal ponto de se transformarem em um dos itens mais representativos em uma companhia. Assim, partindo da importância da estratégia de produção e da inovação no contexto organizacional, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar a influência exercida pelas prioridades competitivas na ocorrência de inovações em pequenas empresas do setor metal mecânico da região de Sorocaba/SP. Por se tratar de empresas de pequeno porte que possuem determinadas características específicas, o trabalho objetivou ainda analisar como essas especificidades influenciam na prática das prioridades competitivas e na ocorrência da inovação. Para coleta e análise dos dados, utilizou-se da abordagem qualitativa e do método de estudo de multicasos. Entre os principais resultados, verificou-se que a qualidade, a flexibilidade, a entrega e o custo se mostraram, nessa ordem de importância, como geradoras de práticas de inovação nas empresas pesquisadas. A qualidade e a flexibilidade estiveram intimamente relacionadas às inovações tecnológicas de produto e processo. Nas inovações não tecnológicas, a qualidade influenciou as inovações de marketing e organizacional. Ainda se evidenciou a flexibilidade como geradora de inovações de marketing e o custo e a entrega como fatores que levaram à inovação organizacional. Em relação às especificidades das pequenas empresas, como fatores facilitadores para a prática das prioridades competitivas e para a adoção das inovações, foram evidenciadas especificidades centradas na figura do proprietário, na forma de organização da empresa e na influência exercida pelo ambiente. Como fatores que atuaram como barreiras, com maior destaque, estão as especificidades relacionadas à influência exercida pelo ambiente e as especificidades centradas na forma de organização da empresa.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:53:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SILVA_Brena_2015.pdf: 2472067 bytes, checksum: 94189b9daa94ee6a53a36b5a8274dc05 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-11 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / Six Sigma is an improvement program adopted by many companies to improve their business performance. However, some studies indicate that the relationship between Six Sigma and competitive advantage is not that clear. In this context, the main objective of this dissertation is to identify the relationship between the implementation factors of Six Sigma and competitive priorities in companies that operating in Brazil. As steps, this research conducted bibliometric analysis, content analysis, descriptive analysis and factor analysis. The research investigated 45 companies, through a survey, to find the relationship between Six Sigma implementation factors with competitive priorities in Brazil. Implantation factors identified were: "collect and availability of data", "previous infrastructure", "performance indicators", "goal setting", "capacity for change", "top management involvement" and "statistical thinking" . The results indicate the implementation factors that have relationship with competitive priorities are "collection and availability of data," "previous infrastructure" and "capacity for change". In addition to this result, it was found that the dimensions of competitive priorities that have relationship with implementation factors are "reliability" and "flexibility". / O Seis Sigma é um programa de melhoria adotado por muitas empresas para melhorar o seu desempenho nos negócios. No entanto, algumas pesquisas apontam que a relação entre o Seis Sigma e a melhoria da vantagem competitiva não está clara. Nesse contexto, o objetivo dessa dissertação é identificar o relacionamento entre os fatores de implantação do Seis Sigma e as prioridades competitivas em empresas que operam no Brasil. Como etapas, essa pesquisa realizou análises bibliométrica e de conteúdo, análise descritiva e análise fatorial. A pesquisa investigou 45 empresas, por meio de uma survey, para encontrar o relacionamento entre os fatores de implantação do Seis Sigma com as prioridades competitivas no Brasil. Os fatores de implantação identificados foram: coleta e disponibilização de dados , infraestrutura prévia , uso de indicadores de desempenho , estabelecimento de metas , capacidade cultural , envolvimento da alta administração e pensamento estatístico . Os resultados apontam para o relacionamento entre os fatores coleta e disponibilização dos dados , infraestrutura prévia e capacidade de mudança com o fator prioridade. Além desse resultado, foi encontrado que as dimensões confiabilidade e flexibilidade das prioridades competitivas possuem relação com os fatores de implantação do Seis Sigma.

Orientador: Vagner Cavenaghi. / Banca: José de Souza Rodrigues. / Banca: Andreia Marize Rodrigues. / Resumo: O vigente processo de globalização da economia e dos mercados, caracterizado principalmente pelo fim das fronteiras protecionistas e pela competição em dimensão global, tem aumentado o nível de competição entre as empresas industriais. Pesquisas têm demonstrado a dificuldade que as empresas industriais encontram em elaborar e implementar suas estratégias de negócios e principalmente as estratégias de manufatura. As Pequenas Empresas Industriais Brasileiras (PEIBs) participam desse cenário global, em particular, com inúmeras desvantagens estruturais quando comparadas às grandes empresas. Ressalta-se que a literatura básica disponível e as pesquisas são geralmente desenvolvidas para as grandes empresas. Os fatores estratédicos de manufatura que contribuem para a estratégia do negócio são igualmente importantes para que as empresas possuam maior vantagem competitiva no seu setor. A base conceitual foi obtida pela revisão bibliográfica, de estudo e pesquisas relevantes da área de conhecimento. As dimensões utilizadas para a análise da competitividade das PEIBs foram: Desempenho Produtivo, Qualidade, Desing, Tecnologia e Recursos Humanos, sendo a pesquisa Indicadores de Competitividade da Indústria Brasileira -Micro e Pequenas Empresas (ICIB), do Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas, adotada como referência. O objetivo central foi estabelecer um comparativo das cinco dimensões de análise das empresas industriais brasileiras com as empresas moveleiras do Arranjo Produtivo Local de Votuporanga, SP (APL), considerado o segundo mais importante do Brasil. O objetivo secundário foi avaliar a presença do tipo de vantagem competitiva existente e a sua estratégia de produção. Por meio de uma Pesquisa de Campo exploratória e qualitativa, realizada em empresas industriais moveleiras de Votuporanga, comparou-se... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The current process of economic globalization and markets, characterized mainly by the end of the protectionist borders and in global competition, has incresed the level of competition among industrial firms. Polls have shown the difficulty that the industry is to develop and implement their strategies and business strategies, especially those manufacturing. Small Industrial Enterprises Brasileiras (PEIBs) part of this global scenario, in particular, with many structural disadvantages when compared to large enterprises. It is noteworthy that the available literature and basic research are usually developed for large companies. The strategic factors that contribute to the manufacturing strategy of the business are also important for companies to have greater advantage in its sector. The conceptual basis was obtained by review of relevant studies ans research in the area of knowledge. The dimensions used for the analysis of competitiveness of PEIBs were: Productive Performance, Quality, Design, Technology and Human Resources, and the search for indicators of the Brazilian Industry Competitiveness - Micro and Small Enterprises (ICIB), the Brazilian Service of Support to Micro and Small Enterprises, adopted as reference. The central objective was to establish a comparative analysis of the five dimensions of the Brazilian industrial companies with business furniture in the Local Productive Arrangement Votuporanga, SP (APL), considered the sencond most important in Brazil. The secondary purpose was to evaluate the presence of the type of competitive advantage and its existing strategy of production. Using a search field exploratory and qualitative, in the furniture industry Votuporanga, compared with the search results ICIB, and we obtained a comparative table showing the importance of competitive strategy in the furniture... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

German regional policy has changed from a strategy of redistribution to a regional growth focused policy- strategies, which are often seen as opposites. Both policies, however, still have to relate to the constitutional objective “to achieve equal living conditions for the country’s citizens.” This paper examines what effects a political change may have had on the interpretation of the German constitutional objective. Its aim is to examine German regional policy and its relationship to justice, using John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice. My research is a critcal ideology analysis, made up of a qualitative text analysis of the German government’s last annual report on the German reunification. I will also discuss whether there is any evidence of this change of policy- mentioned above- in the annual report. My conclusion is that there is some evidence of this change of policy in the report, and that the government is still very aware of the constitutional objective, though it interprets it differently today. Today there is a stronger political focus on creating growth and on trying to secure the welfare state. The government is focusing on a policy, which aims to secure a high- though most likely unequal- standard of living, rather than on one that would only be able to guarantee a low, but more equal, standard of living.