Science (Universidade Europeia)
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The influence of feminism on the development and branding strategies of fashion brands
No full textFashion and femininity have always completed each other. The fashion industry has been more connected with woman since she entered the labor market. The end of the hoop skirt, the first Chanel pants, Saint Laurent’s Tuxedo, Quant’s miniskirt, until more recently, a T-shirt with the slogan of activist Chimamanda Adichie, “We Should All Be Feminists,” for Dior, turning to apparel as an ally of the feminine evolution. Considering the relationship between fashion and feminism, this paper aims to discuss the influence of the feminist movement in the development of branding strategies in the fashion industry, presenting feminism as a social-political movement and brand equity as a post-purchase relationship. The present study was developed through a mixed methodology, where questionnaires had open and closed questions, to obtain quantitative and qualitative data, thus analyzing the consumer and fashion brands as social agents. This study becomes relevant since it deals with feminism as a political and cultural ideological movement that has broadly emerged in the last years in the field of fashion. Besides, it helps to uncover new loyalty relationships that brands are building with their customers. Thus, from the concept of glocalization, it is possible to translate and unite in communicational tools the brand and consumer thinking, to achieve a true social transformation
The covid-19 impacts on the hospitality industry highlights from experts in Portugal
No full textPurpose - To better understand the impact of COVID -19 on the tourism sector, with a focus on the hospitality industry, and how these changes will affect the sector and business responsiveness. Design - This is research focusing on the COVID-19 impacts on the hospitality sector in Portugal. The study reports in detail how a group of experts perceived this critical situation caused by the pandemic. Methodology - For data collection, a focus group was conducted with six experts in the field. A thematic analysis was conducted to interpret the data and NVivo software was used to organise and define the themes. Findings - Experts emphasised the massive collective dismissals in large hotel chains, the possible loss of 50 million jobs in the tourism sector, and the negative impact on the entire value chain. The low occupancy rate had a negative financial impact, as total revenues in the sector plummeted by more than 70% compared to the previous year. This pandemic required significant adjustments from operations to ensure safe operations. Participants not only stressed the importance of motivating and bringing teams together, but also described strategies to increase employee engagement. Another area of growth during the pandemic was food delivery platforms. Originality of the research - This is the first time research describing economic, financial, organizational, operational, and technological impact of COVID -19 on the hospitality industry. Hopefully these study results will help hotel and restaurant managers better plan their strategy following this pandemic
Enhancing human-centered design methods through jobs to be done: An exploratory study to enhance UX
No full textOften, the creation of digital products tends to prioritize the Design of the interface instead of focusing on how to solve the user’s problems. In order to undertake deeper user research and build better products, the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) methodology might be a feasible addition to the general UX toolbox. Despite that the JTBD framework has been around for a while now, it has gained popularity among UX Designers just recently. Nevertheless, at the moment of this research, there is not enough research or information available about how to combine these methodologies; but a comparative study could provide a valuable stepping stone to decide the course of action to perform further research. If successful, this study can lead to insights that would be beneficial to the Design Community, as well as the companies and institutions investing in software and app development, and most importantly, for the end user
Memory - Object - Talent: Art and design for social and cultural inclusion of immigrants and refugees
No full textWhat kind of art and design practice can be developed to boost the social and cultural inclusion of newly
arrived immigrants and refugees to their new places of residence? Is there something the host society can do to involve
artists, designers, stakeholders, and citizens to support these vulnerable new fellow citizens, to help them feel more
confident with their new lives and promote their emancipation? With this and other questions in mind, we decided to
develop a hybrid art and design participatory project with immigrant and refugee communities, which took place in the
summer of 2019, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (US). The political situation of the US, which was at the moment somehow
hostile to new immigrants, was the perfect context for our project to make a strong statement. The article starts by
contextualizing the project in sociological terms, as well as arguing about this hybrid practice field of participatory art
and design, specifically through some paradigmatic case studies. We also focus on other topics that are central to our
practice, such as the domain of participation and creative thinking, as well as the importance of strategically
considering each part of the project as a specific mechanism. In a more conceptual approach, we also focus on the
migrants’ overwhelming situation, inspired by Paulo Freire´s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” where he advocates the
development of a “praxis” to liberate both the oppressed and the oppressors and promote a righteous society.
Following is a description of the methodology used for the interaction with the participants, namely the creation of a
specific game, which is a form of self-representation and enhancement of the engaged immigrant and refugee
communities. The core of the article is concerned with the project’s playful nature, which is explained according to the
concept of game by Hans-Georg Gadamer. The article ends with some extra data collected through interviews, as well
as a reflection concerning the experimented practice
Além dos limites do varejo físico: As dificuldades das lojas físicas ao implementarem um e-commerce
No full textObjetivo: O presente estudo visa identificar as principais dificuldades enfrentadas pelos proprietários de lojas físicas ao implementarem uma plataforma e-commerce.
Método / abordagem: Desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa qualitativa de cunho exploratório por meio de entrevistas com dez proprietários de lojas físicas, os quais possuem uma plataforma e-commerce em funcionamento e atuam em diversos segmentos de negócio.
Principais resultados: Entre as dificuldades enfrentadas, observa-se maior carga de trabalho, a falta de profissionais qualificados para executar a operação, dificuldade de contratação e confiança nos serviços das agências digitais, dificuldade com a produção de conteúdo para os produtos divulgados no e-commerce e dificuldade de integração do estoque da loja física e da loja online.
Contribuições metodológicas / sociais / gerenciais: Os gestores brasileiros precisam estar atentos ao planejarem e implementarem um novo canal de vendas como um e-commerce. A gestão de uma loja online demanda conhecimento, planejamento, organização e integração entre as operações realizadas na loja física e na loja online.
Originalidade / relevância: A presente pesquisa possibilitou compreender as dificuldades de implementação de uma plataforma e-commerce no contexto de empresas brasileiras já consolidadas no varejo físico. Com o intuito de mitigar as dificuldades, foi possível mapear os pontos de atenção que devem ser previstos pelos gestores brasileiros ao iniciarem a implementação de um e-commerce
Stakeholders' perspectives on hosting large-scale sports events
No full textSpecial events, in general, and sports events, in particular, are a major focus and revenue generator for cities that host these events. They are time specific, and they can have a variety of shortor long-term, positive or negative impacts, which contribute to both beneficial or harmful outcomes. If prolonged over time, these outcomes have been called “legacies.” This study sought to explore key stakeholders’ perspectives on the attributes needed to host large-scale sports events. The research concentrated on identifying the main factors that attract large-scale sports events to specific municipalities, motivations to sponsor these events, and the main challenges faced by official agencies during events. The data were collected from 22 participants in a focus group meeting including three main types of stakeholders: event organizers, event sponsors, and official entities. The interview transcripts were processed using mixed-content analysis methods. The results revealed that the main themes mentioned by event organizers are media coverage, sports infrastructure, sponsor brands, discipline in sports, event organization, event and city security, motivation, capacity (e.g., accommodations), stakeholder commitment, residents, and territorial impacts. Sponsors are usually large well-known firms, and discussions about them covered the following themes: event–sponsor fit, sponsorship returns, mega-event territorial marketing, brand strategy, and sponsorship competition. The main themes mentioned by official entities are accessibility, events that sell cities, destination visibility, security, protection of athletes and the public, hospitals, residents, changes, and territory. This study’s findings contribute to the existing literature by focusing on the specific case of largescale sports events and examining three main event stakeholders’ perspectives. Managerial implications are also discussed
Physical fitness and anthropometrical profile for the recruits of the elite close protection unit of the Portuguese public security police
No full textThe initial assessment of physical fitness (PF) is associated with daily duty tasks/performance, and health-indicators (risk of injury/illnesses) of police officers. This research aimed to characterize the demographic, sports practice, PF, and metabolic profile of Elite Portuguese Public Security Police recruits. This cross-sectional study included 32 participants (age 30.1 ± 2.7 years old). The following data were collected: demographic, sports practice, PF (e.g. muscular resistance [pull/sit/push-ups], cardiorespiratory fitness [Cooper Test]), and metabolic measures (e.g. blood pressure [systolic/ diastolic]). A robust PF and metabolic profile was observed: sit-ups 79.6 ± 11.6 rep.; push-ups 65.4 ± 17.3 rep.; VO2max prediction 49.6 ± 4.7 ml/kg/min; Body Mass Index 23.5 ± 2.1 kg/m2; fat mass 10.7 ± 2.3%; systolic blood pressure 134.0 ± 12.0 mm Hg, and diastolic blood pressure 74.6 ± 12.5 mm Hg. Deeper knowledge on initial PF and its impact on health may be relevant for policing policy, allowing one to define assessment guidelines and implement regular training to optimize PF throughout police officers´ lives and careers, with potentially general health benefits
Moving pictograms
No full textAlthough pictograms and motion are part of our day-to-day life, few are the examples that tie these two topics together. The aim of our study in connection with information design was to examine the significance of adding motion to a reality that is seen as being chiefly analog. Based on theoretical concepts, case studies and the results of field research that included interviews, surveys and focus groups, we developed and tested speculative propositions for adding motion to thirteen AIGA system pictograms. The research findings have led us to conclude that the introduction of motion could be an important contribution to facilitate the interpretation of pictograms and to enable them to develop in others ways, for example, to encourage civic behaviour, enhance the content of a message and to create emotional ties. We witnessed with this research that moving pictographs are better to decode, when compared with static pictographs. We achieved this result by comparing the original AIGA pictograms with a modification that we applied to the same pictograms in order to add movement. The results are extremely relevant, because satisfaction rates are quite high, as care was taken to conduct interviews and focus groups with designers and non-designers
Big girls don’t cry: An assessment of research units’ leadership and gender distribution in higher education institutions
No full textAcademia is often pointed out as a challenging environment to evolve in, especially for women. Whilst women perform in multidisciplinary settings, studies point out still-existing gender gaps in academia, especially in positions of power. This study looks at decision-making positions in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), specifically in Portuguese academic research. Furthermore, we seek to understand if research roles are distributed equally gender-wise among cohorts in research units, as well as if deans’ genders are a factor of influence in such role attributions. We will look at the research roles in academia, particularly research units fostered by HEIs, to observe gender distribution based on total cohorts. Using univariate and bivariate tests, our research aims to assess gender distribution in leading research roles in public and private institutions. We take the specific case of Portugal; therefore, we cannot extrapolate the results to other countries. However, outcomes point out resisting differences in fields of research and coordination and role distribution among R&D units, as well as in fundamental relations between power positions in academia and research
Taking the digital innovation journey beyond technology: A Human-Centered Design approach
No full textThe digital innovation era creates new company challenges and amplifies the gap between leaders and followers. This paper builds on a human-centered design (HCD) approach, arguing that companies can bridge this gap by mastering the human aspects of their digital journey. The research goal is to explore a practitioner-derived perspective on how their companies have approached digital innovation through the lens of human-centered design, i.e., putting humans at the center and looking at the more 'human' aspects of digital technologies. A study was conducted online with professional managers' views from the field of digital innovation. The findings were clustered using the Digital Transformation Framework. This approach allowed the development of four propositions that can be verified in future studies into how companies can use HCD approaches to engage customers and employees better and navigate the digital innovation journey