Browsing by Author "Silva, Monica"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Alliances in SMEs and cooperatives involved in business with low income sectors in Latin America
    (2011) Koljatic, Mladen; Silva, Monica
    The paper reports the findings of an exploratory study to assess the nature of alliances that businesses and nonprofits have developed with SMEs and cooperatives operating in low income sectors in Latin America. Cross-sector alliances were categorized according to Austin's collaboration continuum framework (2000). The findings indicate that the proportion of cooperatives engaged in at least one alliance with businesses or other non-profit organizations is higher than that of SMEs, with cross-sector alliances falling predominantly into the transactional category. Allied organizations appear to play an important role in orchestrating value chains for cooperative business ventures but not for those of SMEs.
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    College Admission Tests and Social Responsibility
    (2021) Koljatic, Mladen; Silva, Monica; Sireci, Stephen G.
    In this article we address the mounting criticism and rejection of standardized tests used in the selection of students for college or university education. Admission tests are being increasingly demonized in many parts of the world and many colleges and universities are dropping tests for selection purposes, claiming the tests are detrimental to fair selection. The testing industry is at the center of this criticism and is accused of maintaining, and even facilitating, the social ills associated with admissions testing, much like iconic business corporations were accused of supporting unfair labor practices in the 1990s. The response of some business corporations to those criticisms was to embrace corporate social responsibility and increase transparency and accountability in their operations. Unfortunately, such acceptance of responsibility and increased transparency have not emerged in the testing industry. We believe the legitimacy of admission tests will continue to be challenged until the testing industry adopts a new way of conducting their business to regain the goodwill of relevant stakeholders in society that so far have been largely ignored.
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    Do Business Schools Influence Students' Awareness of Social Issues? Evidence from Two of Chile's Leading MBA Programs
    (2015) Koljatic, Mladen; Silva, Monica
    This study explores the role that business schools have in developing favorable attitudes toward business involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Two cohorts of incoming students from two internationally accredited MBA programs in Chile and two cohorts of graduating students from the same institutions were compared in terms of their attitudes toward the role of business in alleviating social ills and the role they assigned to business schools in preparing managers to effectively address social issues. The attitudes expressed by graduates of the two programs changed after program completion. Faculty attitudes toward business involvement in CSR may play a role in the observed differences between the graduates of both institutions.
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    Exercise Induces an Augmented Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Unfolded Protein Response in a Mouse Model of Obesity Produced by a High-Fat Diet
    (2023) Apablaza, Pia; Borquez, Juan Carlos; Mendoza, Rodrigo; Silva, Monica; Tapia, Gladys; Espinosa, Alejandra; Troncoso, Rodrigo; Videla, Luis A.; Juretic, Nevenka; del Campo, Andrea
    Increase in body fat contributes to loss of function and changes in skeletal muscle, accelerating sarcopenia, a phenomenon known as sarco-obesity or sarcopenic obesity. Studies suggest that obesity decreases the skeletal muscle (SM)'s ability to oxidize glucose, increases fatty acid oxidation and reactive oxygen species production, due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Exercise improves mitochondrial dysfunction in obesity; however, it is not known if exercise regulates the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) in the SM. Our study aimed to determine the mito-nuclear UPRmt in response to exercise in a model of obesity, and how this response is associated with the improvement in SM functioning after exercise training. C57BL/6 mice were fed a normal diet and high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks. After 8 weeks, animals were subdivided into sedentary and exercised for the remaining 4 weeks. Grip strength and maximal velocity of mice submitted to HFD improved after training. Our results show an increase in the activation of UPRmt after exercise while in obese mice, proteostasis is basally decreased but shows a more pronounced increase with exercise. These results correlate with improvement in the circulating triglycerides, suggesting mitochondrial proteostasis could be protective and could be related to mitochondrial fuel utilization in SM.
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    Modeling appeals in university accreditation in Chile: an exploratory study
    (2024) Barroilhet, Agustin; Silva, Monica; Quiroga, Bernardo F.
    In Chile, university administrators may appeal to a secondary agency to challenge the accreditation decisions of the primary national accreditation agency. The study analyzes the appeal judgments, using an empirical approach to identify arguments used by the secondary agency to justify its decisions. The analyses identify several factors, such as improvements since the last accreditation, faculty productivity, and financial standing, as the most relevant predictors of appeal success. The appellate agency, however, tends to emphasize the absence of deficiencies or weaknesses associated with these factors when it grants an appeal, sidestepping the primary agency's criteria and standards for accreditation. Such an approach may be appropriate given the heterogeneous landscape of the Chilean higher education system, providing leeway to drive excellence in more selective institutions while maintaining some minimum standards in less selective ones.
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    Parent brand susceptibility to negative feedback effects from brand extensions: A meta-analysis of experimental consumer findings
    (2023) Milberg, Sandra J.; Cuneo, Andres; Silva, Monica; Goodstein, Ronald C.
    Given the prevalence of brand extensions in the market, it is important to consider extensions' potentially harmful effects on the parent brand, that is, negative feedback effects. This paper integrates experimental research on negative feedback effects using a meta-analytic framework. The results support previous findings for extension evaluations, parent brand breadth, parent brand image fit, and consumer task motivation on the occurrence of negative feedback effects. However, four moderator variables found in earlier work are not significant: accessibility of extension information, parent brand awareness, branding strategy, and participant type. Mixed findings related to extension fit, valence of extension information, and parent brand quality are clarified, indicating that extension fit and valence of information appear to drive negative feedback while parent brand quality does not. Four methodological factors have significant effects: within-subject-dependent variable designs, parent brand product class, type of brand, and whether the extension was evaluated, suggesting that the effects may be, in part, an artifact of background factors. The results provide insights into when brands seem vulnerable to negative feedback effects, while simultaneously identifying common market scenarios under which brands appear less susceptible. Finally, a post hoc model points to involvement and level of processing as two key constructs that may underlie the effects of moderators.
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    Students' reading comprehension level and reading demands in teacher education programs: the elephant in the room?
    (2024) Orellana, Pelusa; Silva, Monica; Iglesias, Vicente
    Introduction Reading comprehension is considered a key ability for students in teacher education programs.Methods Data from 72 students enrolled in a Chilean school of education was used to estimate the contribution of reading proficiency in first-semester academic performance using regression analysis.Results Reading comprehension made a significant, albeit modest contribution to predict students' academic performance, after controlling for their scores in the standardized national admission tests and high-school grades. The students' average reading level was below the level of text complexity required in their first term and, although by their senior year they had made significant progress in reading comprehension, their reading level continued to be lower than text demands.Discussion A qualitative exploration of students' reading behaviors and attitudes revealed they devoted few hours per week to reading class material and even less time to reading for leisure. Faculty were cognizant of the reading deficits of their students but had few suggestions as to how to address. Future studies in higher education should confirm whether the misfit between reading proficiency and reading demands observed in this school of education is the exception or the rule.
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    The Right to be Fairly Assessed
    (2024) Barroilhet, Agustin; Silva, Monica; Geisinger, Kurt F.
    Merit-based procedures should be constantly reevaluated according to the circumstances to remain both valid and fair-two interrelated concepts. Inducing reevaluation, however, is difficult. These procedures are controlled by legitimate authorities, are rule and contract-bound, and can become quickly entrenched. This resistance to change calls for specific legal tools and institutions that can favour a potential review. This article advances the first of these tools: enacting the right to be fairly assessed. With this aim, we first explain why challenges to merit-based procedures are complex and then provide contingent justifications to base potential challenges. Our concern is the role of biases and conflicts of interests of authorities who define and control merit-based procedures. We then turn our focus to the institutional aspects of the problem. Administrative alternatives to induce reevaluation involve complex challenges, hence our defence of an actionable legal right. We illustrate the usefulness of this approach by showing how courts enforce fairness in testing in the USA. The need for the right to be both validly and fairly assessed is based on Chilean examples. Still, our argument also applies to other nations lacking equitable remedies and actions to deal with the same issues.
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    Uncertainty reduction mechanisms in cross-sector alliances in Latin America
    (ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC, 2008) Koljatic, Mladen; Silva, Monica
    The present study explores three uncertainty reduction mechanisms that arise in the context of business alliance formation to assess whether these same mechanisms also operate in the development of alliances between non-profits and businesses. Secondary data from field-based case studies of Latin American cross-sector alliances are the focus of this analysis. The findings show that the same mechanisms operate to reduce uncertainty in cross-sector alliance formation and that alliance experience appears to determine the presence of some mechanisms. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.