Liderança virtuosa, comprometimento organizacional e desempenho individual

Num mundo hipercompetitivo, a afirmação da virtuosidade tem enfrentado consideráveis resistências, sendo mesmo considerada como sinónimo de fraqueza ou ingenuidade. Todavia, e perante evidências dos potenciais perigos do exercício da liderança desprovido de valores, ética e moralidade, elevam-se as vozes em defesa de uma liderança virtuosa, capaz de aportar contributos significativamente positivos às organizações e seus colaboradores. Partindo desta premissa, esta investigação teve como objetivo analisar, com base nas perceções dos liderados, o impacto da liderança virtuosa no comprometimento organizacional, assim como o contributo deste último no desempenho individual. Sustentados numa metodologia quantitativa, inquirimos, numa primeira fase, 113 liderados provenientes de organizações localizadas no território português, com vista a apurar quais as virtudes que mais valorizavam num líder. Os dados para o teste de hipóteses foram recolhidos através da aplicação de uma bateria de testes junto de 351 liderados, também a exercer funções em organizações a operar em Portugal. Os resultados sugerem que as perceções dos liderados em torno de três dimensões de virtuosidade da liderança (liderança baseada em valores, perseverança e maturidade) contribuem para o comprometimento organizacional, sobretudo nas suas vertentes afetiva e normativa e, que este último, por sua vez, é capaz de influenciar positivamente o desempenho individual.

The impact of firm-promoted accreditation of prior learning processes on the worker-organization relationship

The process of Competences Recognition, Validation and Certification , also known as Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL), is an innovative means of attaining school certificates for individuals without an academic background. The main objective of this process is to validate what people have learned in informal contexts, in order to attribute academic certificates. With the increasing interest of the qualification of workers and governmental support, more and more Portuguese organizations promote this process within their facilities and their work hours. This study explores the relationship between the promotion of this Human Resource Development Programme and employee’s attitudes (Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment) and behaviours (Extra-role Organizational Citizenship Behaviours) towards the organization they work for. Results of a cross-sectional survey of Portuguese Industrial Workers (N=135) showed that statistical significant results are in the higher levels of Voice Behaviours (a dimension of Extra-role Organizational Citizenship Behaviour in the groups of workers who were involved or had graduated from the firm promoted APL process.

Condições de trabalho, comprometimento organizacional e saúde mental: um estudo no setor da bricolage

A presente investigação tem como objetivo principal avaliar a relação entre as Condições de Trabalho, o Comprometimento Organizacional, a Satisfação Social, e a Saúde Mental dos trabalhadores no setor da Bricolage. É sua intenção compreender se as Condições de Trabalho são preditoras de Comprometimento Organizacional e Satisfação com as Relações Sociais, e se o Comprometimento Organizacional explica o Burnout, a Ansiedade e a Depressão destes trabalhadores. Investiga igualmente, através de análises exploratórias, a possível influência de algumas variáveis sociodemográficas e profissionais nos diversos construtos verificados. Participaram neste estudo, num universo de 564 colaboradores de organizações de venda de material de Bricolage da região Norte de Portugal, 190 trabalhadores (33,7%), sendo que 42,6% (n = 81) são do sexo Feminino e 57,4% (n = 109) do sexo Masculino. A metodologia do estudo seguiu uma abordagem quantitativa, com carácter descritivo, exploratório e preditivo, com utilização de inquérito por questionário. A recolha de dados foi feita num único momento através de uma série de instrumentos, entre os quais: Cuestionario de Condiciones de Trabajo (qCT) – Escalas Método e Ambiente; Three-Component Model of Organizational Commitment; The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12); World Health Organization Quality of Life – Bref (WHOQOL-Bref) – Escala das Relações Sociais; Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey (MBI-GS); Ficha Demográfico Profissional. As análises psicométricas destes mostraram uma validade e uma fidelidade bastante satisfatória. Os resultados obtidos neste estudo apontam, que as Condições de Trabalho são preditoras, quer do Comprometimento Organizacional, quer da Satisfação com as Relações Sociais. O Comprometimento Organizacional é, preditor significativo de maior Saúde Mental, e igualmente de menor síndrome de Burnout. As análises exploratórias mostraram diferenças significativas em termos de variáveis sociodemográficas (e.g. Idade: Comprometimento Organizacional, Saúde Mental e Burnout; Estado Civil: Condições de Trabalho; Número de Filhos: Comprometimento Organizacional). Quanto às variáveis profissionais, foram encontradas significâncias na Antiguidade (Comprometimento Organizacional e Saúde Mental) e na Função (Comprometimento Organizacional, Condições de Trabalho e Burnout). No final deste trabalho são discutidos e apresentados os principais resultados obtidos e as suas conclusões.

O Contributo do sistema SAP R/3 no controlo interno na REFER

Dissertação apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Contabilidade para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Auditoria Orientador: Mestre Agostinho Sousa Pinto

Optimization model for medium term natural gas commitment

In this paper we study the optimal natural gas commitment for a known demand scenario. This study implies the best location of GSUs to supply all demands and the optimal allocation from sources to gas loads, through an appropriate transportation mode, in order to minimize total system costs. Our emphasis is on the formulation and use of a suitable optimization model, reflecting real-world operations and the constraints of natural gas systems. The mathematical model is based on a Lagrangean heuristic, using the Lagrangean relaxation, an efficient approach to solve the problem. Computational results are presented for Iberian and American natural gas systems, geographically organized in 65 and 88 load nodes, respectively. The location model results, supported by the computational application GasView, show the optimal location and allocation solution, system total costs and suggest a suitable gas transportation mode, presented in both numerical and graphic supports.

A new MILP based approach for unit commitment in power production planning

This paper presents a complete, quadratic programming formulation of the standard thermal unit commitment problem in power generation planning, together with a novel iterative optimisation algorithm for its solution. The algorithm, based on a mixed-integer formulation of the problem, considers piecewise linear approximations of the quadratic fuel cost function that are dynamically updated in an iterative way, converging to the optimum; this avoids the requirement of resorting to quadratic programming, making the solution process much quicker. From extensive computational tests on a broad set of benchmark instances of this problem, the algorithm was found to be flexible and capable of easily incorporating different problem constraints. Indeed, it is able to tackle ramp constraints, which although very important in practice were rarely considered in previous publications. Most importantly, optimal solutions were obtained for several well-known benchmark instances, including instances of practical relevance, that are not yet known to have been solved to optimality. Computational experiments and their results showed that the method proposed is both simple and extremely effective.

Retaining repatriates: an exploratory study in portuguese companies

This study aims to understand the factors which may explain the retention of repatriates from companies acting within Portugal. These factors can be related either to the individual, or to the work, to the organisation or to non-working contexts. Eight companies located in Portugal have participated in this study. Several semi-structured interviews were done to 16 organizational representatives and to 28 repatriates. The obtained results show that the repatriates’ retention on the visited companies may be influenced by several categories of factors. We can conclude that it is (1) the good relation with the leadership, (2) the recognition of the performed job but, also (3) the seniority, (4) the age and the (5) depressed national job market. These are the major factors that emerge as relevant factors for the retention. Hence, there is not only one category of explaining determining factors for the retention decision, but there are several. These findings will be discussed in detail and implications and suggestions for future research will be proposed as well.

Linking transformational leadership and organisation commitment

The main goal of this paper is to analyse the impacts of transformational leadership on organisational commitment. To this effect we developed a case study following a quantitative methodological approach. The research was conducted at the Serralves Foundation (Porto, Portugal) to empirically test the proposed research model and its hypothesis. The empirical results confirm that transformational leadership are not significantly influenced by commitment. As the main limitation of this study we highlight the fact that it does not consider the leaders’ perspective on their subordinates’ behaviour.

Strategic Planning and Organizational Effectiveness in Social Service Organizations in Portugal

This study aims to understand the reality of social service organizations, the level of implementation of the strategic planning as well as the impact of its application on organizational effectiveness. At first, we will group organizations in clusters according to the level of strategic planning implementation and its degree of effectiveness. Secondly, we will analyse all the different groups. Given the growing number of social service organizations and the consequent complexity of their structures, it turns out the need for these organizations adopt formal management techniques. Strategic planning is a valuable strategic management tool and one of its main objectives is to make organizations more effective. Therefore, the research has been conducted in order to determine if strategic planning is implemented in social service organizations and which effects has its application on organizational effectiveness. The survey, applied to 220 social service organizations, allowed us to gather them into different clusters, showing that different levels of strategic planning determine distinct degrees of organizational efficiency. Finally, it should be noted that findings of this research may be essential to decision makers of these organizations, because it was shown that the adoption of strategic planning has a positive influence on organizational effectiveness of social service organizations.

Road drivers performance appraisal using a MCDA method: a case study in the road transport company

Performance evaluation increasingly assumes a more important role in any organizational environment. In the transport area, the drivers are the company’s image and for this reason it is important to develop and increase their performance and commitment to the company goals. This evaluation can be used to motivate driver to improve their performance and to discover training needs. This work aims to create a performance appraisal evaluation model of the drivers based on the multi-criteria decision aid methodology. The MMASSI (Multicriteria Methodology to Support Selection of Information Systems) methodology was adapted by using a template supporting the evaluation according to the freight transportation company in study. The evaluation process involved all drivers (collaborators being evaluated), their supervisors and the company management. The final output is a ranking of the drivers, based on their performance, for each one of the scenarios used.

MCDA applied to performance appraisal of short-haul truck drivers: a case study in a portuguese trucking company

Performance appraisal increasingly assumes a more important role in any organizational environment. In the trucking industry, drivers are the company's image and for this reason it is important to develop and increase their performance and commitment to the company's goals. This paper aims to create a performance appraisal model for trucking drivers, based on a multi-criteria decision aid methodology. The PROMETHEE and MMASSI methodologies were adapted using the criteria used for performance appraisal by the trucking company studied. The appraisal involved all the truck drivers, their supervisors and the company's Managing Director. The final output is a ranking of the drivers, based on their performance, for each one of the scenarios used. The results are to be used as a decision-making tool to allocate drivers to the domestic haul service.

ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems through the Lens of Organizational Culture

Both managers and scholars have convictions about the organizational approaches that best support organizational performance of the respective organizations and its Quality Management Systems. After a literature review of ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems (including the changes introduced by the 2015 edition), Organizational Culture theories are addressed and input from a CEO´s focus group was gathered. The importance of organizational culture for the success of Quality Management Systems and the achievement of the organizational desired results is highlighted. The article advances a proposal to analyze ISO 9001 International Standard through the lens of organizational culture theories identifying a stronger open systems approach (influence of the environment, dynamic perspective, need for survival) of the 2015 ISO 9001 edition when compared with the 2008 one. This provides additional knowledge both to scholars and practitioners for a better understanding of the culture issues that can maximize ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems 2015 edition contributions to organizational enduring success.

Impact of Supplier Management Strategies on the Organizational Performance of ISO 9001 Certified Organizations

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to discuss the impact of Supplier orientation and the resulting Supply Chain Management (SCM) approach, on the organizational performance of ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems certified organizations. Methodology/Approach: Following a literature review, a full structural conceptual model was proposed. An online survey was administered to managers of Portuguese organizations with certified ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems. Descriptive Statistics and Structural Model Equations were used to validate the proposed conceptual model. Findings: There are positive relationships between Organization Strategy and Supplier Orientation, between Supplier Orientation and Stakeholders Satisfaction, and between Stakeholders Satisfaction and Organizational Performance Orientation, supporting ISO 9001:2015. These findings provide insights that supplier orientation, mediated by stakeholder satisfaction, is an essential tool for organizational competitive sustainable advantage. Research Limitation/implication: The analysis was based on managers of ISO 9001 certified organizations perceptions, so additional studies with actual data and longitudinal studies should be useful for further validation. Originality/Value of paper: The importance of the overall organizational ecosystem is highlighted with potential impact on the more than 1 Million ISO 9001 organizations certified worldwide and in their suppliers.