Claudio Zancan

The present study aims to evaluate the factors that influence the value perception of portable consumer electronics devices such: smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks, and readers of e-books. This quantitative research considers as main references the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Theory of Diffusion of Innovation (RTD), the Unified Theory of Acceptance of Technology (UTAUT), and Social Influence (SI). The Cluster Analysis allowed the identification of three distinct groups of consumers: Innovative, Followers, and Late Adopters. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed a significant difference between the means of the factors associated with acceptance of technology for the analyzed groups. The survey results indicate that organizations should know better consumers of these portable devices doing actions aligned with each adopter profile.

RESUMO Este artigo explorou o construto Qualidade do Relacionamento (QR) formado a partir da combinação de outros três: a Satisfação, a Confiança eo Comprometimento no Relacionamento. O setor analisado foi o Canal de Distribuição da maçã brasileira na visão dos dirigentes estratégicos das empresas produtoras no que tange aos relacionamentos duradouros estabelecidos com empresas distribuidoras.

This article investigates the influence exerted by relationships between academic institutions and attributes of graduate management programs in shaping the structure of the Brazilian Graduate Management Program network. The research was designed according to a social network approach and the data collection was undertaken between February and July of 2007 and included the coordinators of the 58 programs that were operating at that time, to whom a link to an electronic questionnaire was e-mailed. Thirty two (55%) of these coordinators completed the questionnaire, providing information on the relationships between their programs and the other 57 programs in the following activities: joint research, shared scientific production, promotion of scientific events, shared courses, academic staff exchanges, graduate student exchanges and participation in examination boards for dissertations and theses. The programs' attributes were obtained from the websites of each program and CAPES. The main results showed: (1) a low density network with mostly weak relationships between programs, (2) a network structure defined by geographical location and research area, with the better connected networks in the areas of Organization and Organizational Behaviour and Strategy; and (3) a network in which UFRGS is the most central program and the FGV/SP, USP/SP, UFRGS and FGV/RJ are the most prestigious.

This article investigates the influence exerted by relationships between academic institutions and attributes of graduate management programs in shaping the structure of the Brazilian Graduate Management Program network. The research was designed according to a social network approach and the data collection was undertaken between February and July of 2007 and included the coordinators of the 58 programs that were operating at that time, to whom a link to an electronic questionnaire was e-mailed. Thirty two (55%) of these coordinators completed the questionnaire, providing information on the relationships between their programs and the other 57 programs in the following activities: joint research, shared scientific production, promotion of scientific events, shared courses, academic staff exchanges, graduate student exchanges and participation in
examination boards for dissertations and theses. The programs’ attributes were obtained from the websites of each program and CAPES. The main results showed: (1) a low density network with mostly weak relationships between programs, (2) a network structure defined by geographical location and research area, with the better connected networks in the areas of Organization and Organizational Behaviour and Strategy; and (3) a network in which UFRGS is the most central program and the FGV/SP, USP/SP, UFRGS and FGV/RJ are the most prestigious.
Key words: social networks; research networks; post-graduate; management graduate.

This article investigates the influence exerted by relationships between academic institutions and attributes of graduate management programs in shaping the structure of the Brazilian Graduate Management Program network. The research was designed according to a social network approach and the data collection was undertaken between February and July of 2007 and included the coordinators of the 58 programs that were operating at that time, to whom a link to an electronic questionnaire was e-mailed. Thirty two (55%) of these coordinators completed the questionnaire, providing information on the relationships between their programs and the other 57 programs in the following activities: joint research, shared scientific production, promotion of scientific events, shared courses, academic staff exchanges, graduate student exchanges and participation in examination boards for dissertations and theses. The programs' attributes were obtained from the websites of each program and CAPES. The main results showed: (1) a low density network with mostly weak relationships between programs, (2) a network structure defined by geographical location and research area, with the better connected networks in the areas of Organization and Organizational Behaviour and Strategy; and (3) a network in which UFRGS is the most central program and the FGV/SP, USP/SP, UFRGS and FGV/RJ are the most prestigious.