A pandemia de COVID-19 tem ceifado milhares de vidas ao redor do mundo e provocado inúmeras dificuldades para o desenvolvimento das atividades econômicas. Nesse contexto, as atividades de varejo foram especialmente transformadas, uma vez que algumas das recomendações base da Organização Mundial de Saúde foram quarentena e isolamento social, medidas que impossibilitam o acesso de consumidores aos estabelecimentos, além de afetar a capacidade de produção. Esta pesquisa objetiva investigar iniciativas de uso de ferramentas digitais em processos realizadas por micro e pequenas empresas (divulgação, comercialização, pagamento e distribuição), no contexto da pandemia do COVID-19. Para isso, foi realizado um estudo exploratório no qual foram contatados por telefone 50 proprietários de pequenos estabelecimentos que não possuíam nenhuma estratégia digital antes da pandemia. Através da análise dos dados, foi possível constatar uma incipiente transformação digital forçada, que pode ser caracterizada por divulgação através de redes sociais, negociação através de aplicativos de troca de mensagens, pagamento prioritariamente eletrônico, e entregas através de serviços de aplicativos, por meio de motos e bicicletas. A combinação de diferentes tecnologias tem contribuído para a sobrevivência dos pequenos negócios e o abastecimento da sociedade em tempos de pandemia.

This paper aims to evaluate customer perceptions regarding the benefits generated by sustainability 4.0 in the banking sector through a survey. A structured questionnaire was developed with 55 factors divided into economic, social, and environmental dimensions. A total of 90 questionnaires were collected. Descriptive statistics and Kendall’s coefficient of agreement were used with the intention of measuring the degree of agreement or disagreement between bank customers’ responses. The results indicated a positive perception of customers regarding the relationship between sustainable practices and economic, social, and environmental aspects, with a relatively high agreement. The best-rated benefits were related to economic and environmental aspects, such as reducing service time and efficient use of digital resources. However, there was a diversity of opinions regarding social aspects, with some issues receiving lower ratings, especially related to the permanence of employees and the autonomy of elderly customers. This suggests concerns about the impact of technology on maintaining banking jobs and the accessibility of financial services for specific groups, such as the elderly. It is concluded that by focusing on customer perception, the study offers a holistic view of the implications of sustainability 4.0, going beyond traditional analyses focused on organizations.

This study aims to obtain information on the most expressive intelligent mobility systems implemented in the main cities of the world, analyze the data and discuss their effects in favor of improving the population’s quality of life. This is a narrative literature review study, with a qualitative and exploratory approach. The material collection process was carried out from November 2020 to June 2021, using the Scielo, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Wiley and Proquest (ASIA) databases. The articles analyzed allow us to say that smart mobility is an integrated system composed of several projects and actions aimed at sustainability, governments and private institutions started to develop promising initiatives for the urban mobility segment, through ICT tools in order to solve the problems arising from the impacts of urbanization. In fact, the results of the installation of technological instruments to collect data in cities and the interconnectedness of information enable the creation of intelligent service delivery models with the potential to measure the quality of the thematic axis of mobility, as well as providing opportunities for well-being of citizens and the industrial development of the city.

The current economic and social context has required health systems to provide top quality services and to be efficient in controlling costs. An obstacle to achieve these goals is the inappropriate health services demand. This study aims to present these inappropriate health service demand determinants from data on telephone calls made to a medical advice call centre. This study used a Brazilian medical advice call centre data sample in the period of November and December 2012 (n = 19690), which supplied data on the user’s initial request, the physician’s recommendation, information on the patient and circumstances (the day and time of the day of the telephone call). The convergence between user intent and medical recommendation consists in adequate demand; otherwise the divergence consists in an inadequate one. In this way, using a logistic regression model, the critical factors that determine inappropriate health services request could be estimated. In general, the user’s initial intent is the most critical for the inappropriate health system demand occurrence: the greater the complexity of the patient’s initial intent, the greater the chance the intent is wrong: (OR: 1.160; 95% CI: 1.113-1.210). With regard to the social characteristics, men are more likely to make inappropriate requests (OR: 1.102; 95% CI: 1038-1169); as well as youngsters are more likely to use the system incorrectly (OR = .993; 95% CI: .992 - .994). Regarding the circumstances (day and time of the call), requests in the final hours of the day and on days close to the weekend are more likely to be the inappropriate ones (OR: 1.082 for each six hour increase; 95% CI: 1.049-1.116) and weekday (OR: 1.017 for each day increase; 95% CI: 1.002-1.032). The critical profile for the inappropriate use occurrence consists of males and youngsters, who use the health service in the final hours of the day and at weekends, and mainly want to use more complex services. A practical implication of this research is to provide health systems managers, supporting information to the most critical users in order to assist them in making a decision when asking for health care.

Brazil is the largest producer and consumer of processed tomato products in Latin America. However, the consumption preferences related to this product are poorly studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of certain characteristics of processed tomato product packaging on Brazilian consumer preferences. The revised Personal Involvement Inventory (PII) and conjoint analysis (CA) were applied to 206 consumers in Brazil. Four packaging attributes were evaluated: colour (green, red, and yellow); material (sachets, tin, and brick carton packaging); the presence of additional information; and the presence of “easy-open” devices. The CA technique showed that in general, the Brazilian participants were influenced positively by red brick carton and sachet packaging and by the presence of additional information and a device that facilitated opening the package. The results presented in this study are useful for the food industry to develop packaging and marketing strategies using consumer profiles.

The potential of Industry 4.0 enabling tools is emerging as a strategic factor for the adaptation and innovation of companies in the clothing sector. Thus, the aim is to identify global trends and practices in I4.0 applications in the clothing sector based on a systematic literature review. From the systematic literature review, 11 articles were selected from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The results showed global trends in the application of I4.0 enabling tools, such as the Internet of Things, Cybersecurity and Additive Manufacturing, in addition to the benefits that I4.0 can provide in manufacturing, such as the possibility of efficient processes with lower operating costs. When studying the perception of businesspeople, the most critical dimensions were: vertical integration, flexibility, data analysis, supply chain integration, traceability, remote production monitoring, strategy, organizational culture and people. The originality of the paper is highlighted by its specific sectoral focus, emerging applications of Industry 4.0 and holistic approach to the value chain. In addition to the academic contribution in terms of mapping key global trends, identifying challenges and opportunities and providing a basis for future research, the results can provide practical recommendations for companies in the apparel sector seeking to start or accelerate their digital transformation journey.