Democratic dialogue and collective learning in the context of self-managed teams

This paper provides a longitudinal, empirical view of the multifaceted and reciprocal processes of organizational learning in a context of self-managed teams. Organizational learning is seen as a social construction between people and actions in a work setting. The notion of learning as situated (Brown & Duguid 1989, Lave& Wenger 1991, Gherardi & al. 1998, Easterby-Smith & Araujo 1999, Abma 2003) opens up the possibility for placing the focus of research on learning in the community rather than in individual learning processes. Further, in studying processes in their social context, we cannot avoid taking power relations into consideration (Contu & Willmott 2003). The study is based on an action research with a methodology close to the ‘democratic dialogue’ presented by Gustavsen (2001). This gives a ground for research into how the learning discourse developed in the case study organization over a period of 5 years, during which time the company abandoned a middle management level of hierarchy and the teams had to figure out how to work as self-managed units. This paper discusses the (re)construction of power relations and its role in organizational learning. Power relations are discussed both in vertical and horizontal work relations. A special emphasis is placed on the dialectic between managerial aims and the space for reflection on the side of employees. I argue that learning is crucial in the search for the limits for empowerment and that these limits are negotiated both in actions and speech. This study unfolds a purpose-oriented learning process, constructing an open dialogue, and describes a favourable context for creative, knowledge building communities.

Filosofi, uomini e bruti. Note per la storia di un'antropologia

pp. 105-125

Da igualdade perante a lei ao imposto per capita na teoria de Thomas Hobbes

pp. 281-295

Reporting earnings per share: Evidence from Portuguese annual reports

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Some Preliminaries in Approaching Carlos Seixas’ Keyboard Sonatas

The figure and the oeuvre of Carlos Seixas (1704-42) were rediscovered in the 1930s chiefly by the British musicologist Macario Santiago Kastner (1908-92), whose writings and editions raised the attention of international scholars and interpreters for the Portuguese composer. Nevertheless, and in spite of an unusual editorial tradition for Portuguese standards, a critical appraisal of the body of sources of Seixas' keyboard sonatas has never been attempted, to the point of even impeding the knowledge of how many there really are. This article deals briefly with the issues of source situation, authorship attribution and the distinctive characteristics of Seixas' style, offering a preliminary catalogue of the sonatas and a description of four of the manuscript collections containing them, housed at the National Library of Portugal. Textual peculiarities and problems of works surviving in more than one source are examined and the question of text 'banalization' by means of the incorporation of performance practice gestures is also discussed, advancing the hypothesis of the existence of two different traditions for some of the sonatas―one written and one 'oral'―that merge in the texts known to us.

Glia-Motoneuron dialogue in ALS onset and progression in SOD1G93A-mice model

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by the pro-gressive loss of motoneurons (MN). Increasing evidence points glial cells as key players for ALS onset and progression. Indeed, MN-glia signalling pathways involving either neuroprotection or inflammation are likely to be altered in ALS. We aimed to study the molecules related with glial function and/or reactivity by evaluating glial markers and hemichannels, mainly present in astrocytes. We also studied molecules involved in mi-croglia-MN dialogue (CXCR3/CCL21; CX3CR1/CX3CL1; MFG-E8), as well as proliferation (Ki-67) and inflammatory-related molecules (TLR2/4, NLRP3; IL-18) and alarming/calming signals (HMGB1/autotaxin). We used lumbar spinal cord (SC) homogenates from mice expressing a mutant human-SOD1 protein (mSOD1) at presymptomatic and late-symptomatic ALS stages. SJL (WT) mice at same ages were used as controls. We observed decreased expression of genes associated with astrocytic (GFAP and S100B) and microglial (CD11b) markers in mSOD1 at the presymptomatic phase, as well as diminished levels of gap junction components pannexin1 and connexin43 and expression of Ki-67 and decreased autotax-in. In addition, microglial-MN communication was negatively affected in mSOD1 mice as well as in-flammatory response. Interestingly, we observed astrocytic (S100B) and microglial (CD11b) reactivity, increased proliferation (Ki-67) and increased autotaxin expression in symptomatic mSOD1 mice. In-creased MN-microglial dialogue (CXCR3/CCL21; CX3CR1/CX3CL1; MFG-E8) and hemichannel activ-ity, namely connexin43 and pannexin1, were also observed in mSOD1 at the symptomatic phase, along with an elevated inflammatory response as indicated by increased levels of HMGB1 and NLRP3. Our results suggest that decreased autotaxin expression is a feature of the presymptomatic stage, and precede the network of pro-inflammatory-related symptomatic determinants, including HMGB1, CCL21, CX3CL1, and NLRP3. The identification of the molecules and signaling pathways that are dif-ferentially activated along ALS progression will contribute for a better design of therapeutic strategies for disease onset and progression.

Real convergence in per capita output and growth in Eurozone: A time-series approach

The real convergence hypothesis has spurred a myriad of empirical tests and approaches in the economic literature. This Work Project intends to test for real output and growth convergence in all N(N-1)/2 possible pairs of output and output growth gaps of 14 Eurozone countries. This paper follows a time-series approach, as it tests for the presence of unit roots and persistence changes in the above mentioned pairs of output gaps, as well as for the existence of growth convergence with autoregressive models. Overall, significantly greater evidence has been found to support growth convergence rather than output convergence in our sample.

Inventare musei per ordinare e rappresentare il mondo. La Guardaroba nuova di Palazzo Vecchio e le Sale della cosmografia e delle matematiche agli Uffizi a Firenze

Este artigo traça a história da invenção e construção de dois lugares museológicos (um literário e outro real) na Florença da segunda metade do século XVI, chamando a atenção para o seu significado no contexto do saber da época. O projecto cosmográfico para o Guarda-roupa novo do Palazzo Vecchio e as Salas da Cosmografia e das Matemáticas nos Uffizi oferecem a possibilidade de explorar dois sistemas semióticos que permitem explorar os processos de invenção e criação do museu como lugar – literário, imaginário, arquitectónico, epistemológico – no qual e através do qual se ordena e representa o mundo. O primeiro destes espaços é o projecto cosmográfico idealizado por volta de 1560 por Cosimo I, Giorgio Vasari e Miniato Pitti para o Guarda-roupa novo do Palazzo Vecchio, actualmente conhecido, impropriamente, como “Sala das cartas geográficas”. O projecto nunca foi concluído; porém existiu e continua a existir e a fascinar como “espaço literário” através de uma página visionária na segunda edição das Vite de Giorgio Vasari. O segundo lugar é a Sala da Cosmografia, mandada construir por Ferdinando I em 1589, juntamente com a contígua Sala das Matemáticas o da Arquitectura Militar na Galleria degli Uffizi. No centro do novo projecto expositivo, totalmente concluído, pela primeira vez, foram colocados os instrumentos e livros científicos e, implicitamente, o Homem como observador e demiurgo do mundo.

“Del palazzo de’ cesari” genesi e riferimenti dell’attività di Filippo Juvarra per D. João V di Portogallo

Tal como os outros soberanos do Antigo Regime, D. João V procurava a legitimidade do Império Português a nível europeu, através dos grandes projetos arquitetónicos. O novo palácio real e a igreja patriarcal que Juavarra desenhou em 1719 para a cidade de Lisboa teve que representar e simbolizar o poder do rei. Um estudo pormenorizado sobre parte da arquitectura de Juvarra parece revelar uma estreita relação, não com a contemporânea Roma dos Papas, mas antes com a majestosa arquitectura da Roma Imperial. D. João V tinha o ensejo de ser considerado um imperador e a arquitectura de Juvarra demonstra-o claramente.