Logística externa de materiais : dificuldades em obras de construção em Angola

The objectives of this article are to analyze the role of external logistics in the construction sites in Angola and to evaluate the problems inherent in this activity in this country so we can find ways of increasing the rationalization of the production and, as a consequence of that, the competitiveness of Portuguese contractors operating in Angola. In spite of logistics being an administrative process that is incorporated, mainly, in the seriated industrial companies, it must also be applied to the construction industry because it presents unquestionable and vital benefits to its performance. Nevertheless, the evolution of logistics applied to the construction has been poor, which is proved by the limited bibliography in this area. This happens for two reasons: the intrinsic specificities of this industry and the consequent inapplicability of algorithms to rationalize production. Although it’s not viable to approach the logistics of construction through numeric models, it’s not unreasonable to study logistics applied to this area. Despite the fact that an approach to the construction logistics by numeric modeling is not viable, studying this theme continues to be meaningful. In most of the industries and especially in the construction one, the supply of resources (materials, equipments, workmanship or subcontractors) is an essential factor for the success of a business. The optimization of management of the supply chain for the construction industry constitutes one of the ways of optimizing a company and, especially, of increasing the profitability of its operations. Only through an improved logistic efficiency is it possible to take competitive advantage in the current market and, particularly, in the international market. In order for that to happen it is necessary to start making businessmen aware of the specific logistic difficulties in this industry and of ways to solve them either by disclosing them or by making businessmen reflect about them.

A intervenção cubana em Angola revisitada

Documentos entretanto desclassificados nos arquivos cubanos e russos permitem um novo olhar sobre a intervenção cubana em Angola. Esta não só foi decidida autonomamente pelos cubanos, como teve, evidentemente o beneplácito sociético. Porém, essa mesma operação político-militar não foi produto das circunstâncias, antes se enquadrando nas tradicionais linhas orientadoras da política externa do regime castrista.

Lugares de Memória da Escravatura e do Tráfico Negreiro (Angola, Cabo Verde, Guiné-Bissau, Moçambique, São Tomé e Príncipe)

Throughout the lengthy duration of this extremely violent slavery phenomenon where man's cruelty is made evident, it gave rise to places of memory: monuments, toponyms, ethnonymns, stories, legends and myths. Collective memory has constantly recycled this basic fabric. The aim of this Catalogue, dedicated to acknowledging the memory of places in the Portuguese-speaking African countries, is to identify, list, map and give information about the different sites of memory: those that can be seen and touched, without however forgetting those which have re-enacted the creative process thanks to oral tradition.

Confiança nas Instituições e Valores Culturais : Estudo Internacional Comparado entre Angola, Cabo Verde, Moçambique e Portugal

The present study shows the results of an international comparative research carried out in four Portuguese-speaking countries: Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique and Portugal. The purpose is, firstly, to find these countries cultural profile according to Hofstede/ Minkov dimensions as well as to measure the citizens` level of trust in institutions and, secondly, to analyze the relation between cultural values and level of trust. A bibliographic and theoretical review has been made on the main theoretical references about trust as far as its multiple forms and dimensions are concerned. Then, a scale of confidence in institutions has been drawn. An extensive analysis has been carried out, using qualitative and quantitative methods, including factorial analysis and simple linear regression. The results provide relevant information on what makes the four target countries very alike and on what differentiates them the most. In Portugal, a tendency towards a growing trust in institutions of public offering has been registered, whereas in the African countries, citizens tend to trust institutions of private offering more. All the institutions connected with the judicial and political sphere of society have been negatively qualified by the respondents in all countries, in a relatively similar way.