Suchergebnisse

We analysed the process of construction and connection to the electrical grid of four Spanish nuclear power plants with different financial and technological foreign partners: those of Zorita (PWR by Westinghouse), Garoña (BWR by General Electric) and Vandellós I (GCR by EDF) (belonging to the first generation of atomic plants and producing electricity from 1969–72) and that of Trillo I (PWR by KWU, connected in 1988). These four examples allow us to observe how the learning curve of nuclear engineering and the acquisition of skills by Spanish companies evolved. Progressively the domestic industry achieved higher levels of participation, fostered by the Ministry of Industry and Energy. When the atomic plants under construction were paralysed by the nuclear moratorium of 1984, and several other projects were abandoned by the utilities along the way, Spain had developed an industrial sector around the fabrication of service components and engineering for nuclear power plants to compete internationally. ; The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Government through research grants HAR2014-53825-R and HAR2017-86086-R. Additionally, Rubio-Varas and De la Torre received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014–2018 under grant agreement N°662268.

Interest in the use of new technologies as an instrument for the modernisation of public management is something common in public administrations. Local governments have recently invested considerable human and material resources to try to deliver services in a more efficient way. Although the progress made in the implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) has been significant, an analysis of all local government shows that its impact on the reform policies has been unequal, and that the real objectives of these processes of modernisation have not always been the same. Most governments have chosen a strategy that reproduces the way that the traditional administration works; whereas only a few have tried to make use of the potential that ICT offers to provide more transparency, new online services and to make administrations more receptive to citizens' needs. The first section of this article gives global data about the development of ICT in Spanish municipalities. Next, the websites of Spanish cities are analysed to identify the factors that enhance e-government and its implementation in the benefit of transparency, interaction with citizens and accountability

As Escandell-Vidal (1996) points out, there have been important changes in the way language use has beenstudied. For several years, politeness mechanisms have been considered to be universal but investigations carriedout on different cultures have revealed that this is not the case. There is a great amount of variation acrosscultures not only in the linguistic forms but also in the strategies they use in verbal interaction.Facing this change, my aim here is to show to what extent the specific behaviour of a specific culture doesimpinge on its language. To this purpose, I have restricted my study to a particular social setting and then I havecontrasted the results in two different languages. In fact, I will analyse the specific linguistic strategies used byEnglish and Spanish politicians in Parliament.I have chosen this setting for two reasons. First of all because this is a social event which is controlled by veryspecific rules of behaviour and so it could show important differences and/or similarities between these twocultures with regard to: (a) what values are selected in order to formalise these rules of behaviour; (b) howpoliticians depart from or adhere to these rules; and (c) how is language manipulated in order to achieve somepolitical ends. And secondly because as Wilson puts it ". politicians' language does not merely convey themessage, but creates for the listener a controlled cognitive environment from which any interpretation is manipu-lated" (1991, p. 11).Finally, I hope this paper offers some empirical evidence about the universality or specificity of some polite-ness mechanisms

PurposeThe literature on manufacturing strategy has focused on analysis of content and process. Limited attention has been given to the concept of manufacturing strategy in taxonomical terms. The purpose of this study is to highlight a taxonomy of manufacturing strategies in Spanish industrial companies.Design/methodology/approachA cluster analysis was performed. The classification variable used was based on competitive priorities relating to cost, quality, flexibility, delivery, service and environmental protection. The sample group consisted of 353 companies, belonging to different sectors.FindingsEmpirical analysis results demonstrate the existence of two manufacturing strategies and significant differences in structure and infrastructure policies but not in performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of the study are not generalizable, given the nature of the sample. Future studies should consider larger samples, including more countries and contexts.Practical implicationsA taxonomy of manufacturing strategies will serve as a useful mechanism to better understand Spain's manufacturing role and position in European and global economies.Originality/valueThe taxonomy presented contributes to the development and enhancement of operations management theory and demonstrates the current strategic importance of the manufacturing function in Spanish companies.

Advertising is a particularly representative case of Popular Culture. Recently, the terms Femvertising and Ad-her-tising have been coined to refer to female-targeted advertising that exhibits qualities of empowering women, feminism, female activism, or women leadership and equality. This article argues that companies producing these female-empowering advertisements show different degrees of commitment to equality, but in certain cases they intend to manipulate users for bigger profits with faux activism. However, feminist strategies in advertising have the potential to disrupt gender norms, and users have the capacity to express dissatisfaction with such tactics. The research on the Spanish market is very limited; therefore, this article will explore and compare two contemporary advertising campaigns by companies Kaiku and Desigual to reveal strategies that in certain cases show a progress in terms or the advancement to gender equality, but in other cases they reinforce inequality by the reproduction of stereotypes. A detailed analysis of the Desigual advertisement "Tú decides" illustrates the power of users to reject a pseudo-feminist campaign.

In recent years, grandparental childcare has been instrumental to Spanish parents' ability to engage in paid work. At the same time, the use of formal childcare services, paid domestic assistance and parental leave-taking have also intensified. The objectives of this study are: (1) to estimate the scope of the support received from grandparents in caring for children; and (2) to assess the impact of the diversification of childcare resources on highly frequent grandparental childcare in two-parent families. The sample covered the 2304 parents with at least one child under 13 interviewed on the occasion of the Survey on the Use of Parental Leave in Spain, 2012. Three types of factors were analysed: (1) use of external childcare resources; (2) time devoted by parents to childcare and paid work; and (3) control factors measuring grandparents' availability, childcare needs and income. The findings suggested that international comparative studies based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) underestimate the scope of grandparental childcare. Two-parent families with higher incomes resorted less frequently to grandparental childcare. In addition, formal childcare services, paid domestic work and parental leaves are associated with less frequent grandparental involvement. Overall, the findings suggest that more diversified deployment of the available resources may contribute to reducing grandparental childcare.

Despite the fact that the loss of biodiversity continues to be an unresolved problem at a global level, it is possible to identify new alternatives and initiatives in biodiversity conservation. From the environmental strategic framework created worldwide, an important World Network of Biosphere Reserves has been implemented under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, which in the European Union in general, and in Spain in particular, is strongly interrelated with Natura 2000 network that is created under Directive 92/43/EEC. In the present work, the importance of the Spanish Atlantic region for biodiversity is assessed, contextualizing the networks of protected areas created in this territory and valuing the created synergies that have favored the start-up of projects and agreements aimed at reducing the loss of biodiversity and achieving sustainability.