The Role of dynamic capabilities in e-business transformation

The domain of e-business is characterised by rapid change and in such markets managers can no longer rely on the resources that they have assembled to provide their extant competitive position. Instead they must be able to combine resources in new ways, gain additional resources and dispose of superfluous resources, and to do this repeatedly and rapidly if they are to compete successfully. The term ?dynamic capabilities? is emerging in the strategic management literature for these skills. This study seeks to identify the dynamic capabilities that are necessary for e-business transformation and to identify practices in developing these capabilities that are both effective and common across companies, and might therefore be considered as ?best practice?. Eight distinct dynamic capabilities are identified, each appearing to address either innovative or integrative aspects of e-business transformation. Consistent with previous studies of dynamic markets it was found that ?best practice? involved simple, experiential and iterative approaches to these necessary capabilities

Water quality, pollutant loads, and multivariate analysis of the effects of sewage discharges into urban streams of Southeast Brazil

Water demand, pollution, and climate change threaten water security in industrialized and urbanized regions worldwide, especially in developing countries. Investments in massive infrastructure have often not met the water needs of the population, requiring water resource managers to adopt new approaches, such as decentralized and regionalized management at the micro-basin scale. However, little is known about the impact of anthropogenic activities on the water quality and vulnerability of streams that cross urban areas and feed into the main rivers and reservoirs supplying cities and industrial regions. The main goals of this research were to evaluate the water quality, pollutant loads, and effect of untreated sewage discharges in streams of the Piracicaba river basin, in the municipality of Americana, Southeast Brazil. The water quality parameters evaluated were as follows: pH, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, biochemical oxygen demand, inorganic phosphorus, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, real colour, turbidity, total dissolved solids, metals (Ba, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Cd, and Zn), total coliforms, and Escherichia coli. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analyses were performed. The results revealed chemical and biological degradation of the water resources, and vulnerability of the urban streams due to the release of untreated sewage into these waterways. The findings indicate the need for an immediate implementation of policies to monitor and control discharges of industrial effluents into the sewage collection systems, as well as discharges of sewage into rainwater drainage systems, together with the maintenance of green spaces.Institute of Science and Technology São Paulo State University (UNESP), Av. Tres de Março 511, 18.080-180Centro Universitário Salesiano de São Paulo (UNISAL), Rua Dom Bosco, 100Institute of Science and Technology São Paulo State University (UNESP), Av. Tres de Março 511, 18.080-18