Criminality and legitimization in seawaters: a study on the pirates of Malabar during the age of european commercial expansion (1500-1800)

The maritime piracy included a wide variety of associated criminal activities including attack and confiscation of vessels and merchandise, imprisonment or torturing of merchants and rulers in sea-space in return for ransom money, attack and raiding of coastal trading centers and villages, creation of fear and terror in chief channels of navigation and attacking commercial competitors as a strategy to weaken the trading ability and the wealth-mobilizing ability of their rivals. All this applied to coastal south west India during the period under study. The merchant chiefs of Cannanore like Mamale Marakkar and later under Poca Amame (Pokar Ahamad) and Pocarallee (Pokar Ali) were some of the better known protagonists that the Portuguese had to deal with. But the Malabar corsairs had their corresponding English and Sicilian corsairs in the Mediterranean.

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.

Desvios de prazos e de custos na execução de empreitadas de obras públicas

Portugal atravessa atualmente um período de recessão que afeta todos os setores da indústria nacional, incluindo o da construção. A margem para erros não é tolerada e a resposta da indústria da construção terá que passar por uma análise aprofundada das falhas cometidas e posteriormente por uma procura de novas soluções que otimizem os processos de produção, de forma a permitir ganhos de eficiência e capacidade produtiva. O incumprimento dos prazos e os desvios orçamentais são dois dos fatores que frequentemente caraterizam as obras públicas e consequentemente geram prejuízo para os utentes, para o Estado e são geradores de litígios entre as entidades envolvidas. Através do presente trabalho, pretende-se contribuir para uma melhor perceção da dimensão financeira e temporal das obras públicas, juntamente com as anomalias mais correntes, suas causas e consequências. O estudo englobou a análise de 41 empreendimentos de Obras Públicas, considerando vários tipos de obras, distribuídas por todo o território nacional. Esta análise foi baseada na informação constante nos relatórios de auditoria publicados pelo Tribunal de Contas entre 2008 e 2011, apresentando-se no presente trabalho um resumo das causas mais frequentes dos desvios nos prazos e nos custos nas obras públicas nacionais. É ainda apresentada uma comparação dos resultados obtidos com estudos semelhantes, assim como um conjunto de recomendações direcionadas aos vários intervenientes no setor, na sequência do estudo realizado.