Globalização de capacidades tecnológicas inovadoras e o papel de subsidiárias de empresas transnacionais (ETNs) no contexto de países em desenvolvimento: a trajetória de uma empresa do setor de TIC no Brasil

This dissertation seeks to add new evidence to the international debate on globalization of innovation in the developing countries context. Globalization of innovation, in this dissertation, is defined and measured by the types, levels and rate of innovative technological capability accumulation and the underlying technological learning processes (sources of capabilities) at the firm level in late-industrializing countries ¿ or developing countries. This relationship is examined within a large transnational corporation (TNC) subsidiary of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in Brasil: Motorola do Brasil during over the period from 1996 to 2006. In the international literature there is a strong debate on the extent to which innovative technological capabilities have been spreading internationally. But, the most of the studies are focused on early industrialized countries. In other words, there is still a scarcity of analysis, mainly at the firm level, from the perspective of developing countries. This dissertation supports itself in analytical basis developed in the international literature on accumulation of technological capabilities and learning in the context of developing countries. The learning processes examined in this dissertation are: (i) intra-firm learning processes; (ii) inter-firm learning processes (links between mother and sister companies); and (iii) links between the firm and other organizations of the innovation system (universities, research institutes, among others). Based on first-hand empirical evidence, qualitative and quantitative, collected on the basis of extensive fieldwork, this dissertation examines these issues with adequate level of detail and depth, in this large company in Brazil. The study results suggest that: Concerning the path of the technological capability accumulation, the firm exhibited heterogeneity in the path of accumulation of technological capabilities to distinct functions. For the functions Software Engineering and Process and Management Project the firm reached the Level 6 (Innovative Intermediate Superior), on a scale that ranges from 1 to 7; In relation to technological capability sources, the firm deliberately sought and built sources of knowledge in order to develop and sustain its innovative technological capabilities. The dissertation, thus, contributes to adding new empirical evidence to the debate on globalization of innovative capabilities from a late-industrializing perspective.

Globalização de capacidades tecnológicas inovadoras e o papel de subsidiárias de empresas transnacionais( ETNs) No contexto de países em desenvolvimento: a trajetória de uma empresa do setor de TIC no Brasil

This dissertation seeks to add new evidence to the international debate on globalization of innovation in the developing countries context. Globalization of innovation, in this dissertation, is defined and measured by the types, levels and rate of innovative technological capability accumulation and the underlying technological learning processes (sources of capabilities) at the firm level in late-industrializing countries ¿ or developing countries. This relationship is examined within a large transnational corporation (TNC) subsidiary of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in Brasil: Motorola do Brasil during over the period from 1996 to 2006. In the international literature there is a strong debate on the extent to which innovative technological capabilities have been spreading internationally. But, the most of the studies are focused on early industrialized countries. In other words, there is still a scarcity of analysis, mainly at the firm level, from the perspective of developing countries. This dissertation supports itself in analytical basis developed in the international literature on accumulation of technological capabilities and learning in the context of developing countries. The learning processes examined in this dissertation are: (i) intra-firm learning processes; (ii) inter-firm learning processes (links between mother and sister companies); and (iii) links between the firm and other organizations of the innovation system (universities, research institutes, among others). Based on first-hand empirical evidence, qualitative and quantitative, collected on the basis of extensive fieldwork, this dissertation examines these issues with adequate level of detail and depth, in this large company in Brazil. The study results suggest that: Concerning the path of the technological capability accumulation, the firm exhibited heterogeneity in the path of accumulation of technological capabilities to distinct functions. For the functions Software Engineering and Process and Management Project the firm reached the Level 6 (Innovative Intermediate Superior), on a scale that ranges from 1 to 7; In relation to technological capability sources, the firm deliberately sought and built sources of knowledge in order to develop and sustain its innovative technological capabilities. The dissertation, thus, contributes to adding new empirical evidence to the debate on globalization of innovative capabilities from a late-industrializing perspective.

Rumos para interpretação da avaliação educacional

Estudos atuais mais sistemáticos sobre avaliação educacional têm, sucessivamente, privilegiado o exame do seu carater técnico. Uma série de teóricos filiam-se a este tipo de postura que se resume em operacionalizar a prática de avaliaçao, indicando um conjunto de procedimentos a serem seguidos, para transformá-la num processo objetivo e eficaz. No Brasil, a projeção desse modo de pensar é uma constante nos escritos examinados de alguns estudiosos sobre o assunto, e se apresenta ostensivamente nas diretrizes emanadas dos órgãos oficiais de educação. Tanto num,como noutro caso, observa-se a aceitação incondicional do quadro teórico definido nos estudos de tendência tecnicista, projetados sobre a avaliação. A partir destas constatações tentou-se relacionar a tendência de apresentar a avaliação educacional como um problema de caráter exclusivamente técnico com a matriz teórica que o engendra. Esta matriz foi localizada no quadro de explicação teleológico ou funcional, subordinada à lógica formal, cujo conteúdo permite tornar legitimo o tratamento da avaliação como um problema de caracteristicas predominantemente técnicas. Porém, ao ser assim tratada, a avaliação fica sujeita a alguns limites. São os limites a ela impostos decorrentes da matriz teorica adotada pelos estudiosos da avaliação de tendência tecnicista, cuja parcialidade impede a análise do conjunto de implicações incidentes sobre a prática de avaliação. A estes somam-se os limites reais. A superação de alguns limites impostos à avaliação e ducacional ensejam a investigação, no conjunto de relações sociais vigentes nas sociedades, das funções sociais cumpridas pelo aparelho escolar. Neste contexto é possivel imputar a avaliação o desempenho de diferentes papéis conforme a perspectiva politica a ela atribuida e à escola. Mas o caminho de superaçao das restrições da prática de avaliação encontra-se na própria escola, quando ela se transforma no instrumento real de formação do homem enquanto ser coletivo e que participa efetivamente da construção da sociedade.

Convexity in multidimensional mechanism design

The present article initiates a systematic study of the behavior of a strictly increasing, C2 , utility function u(a), seen as a function of agents' types, a, when the set of types, A, is a compact, convex subset of iRm . When A is a m-dimensional rectangle it shows that there is a diffeomorphism of A such that the function U = u o H is strictly increasing, C2 , and strictly convexo Moreover, when A is a strictly convex leveI set of a nowhere singular function, there exists a change of coordinates H such that B = H-1(A) is a strictly convex set and U = u o H : B ~ iR is a strictly convex function, as long as a characteristic number of u is smaller than a characteristic number of A. Therefore, a utility function can be assumed convex in agents' types without loss of generality in a wide variety of economic environments.