Fatores críticos de sucesso como antecedentes da aceitação de um sistema de informação em uma universidade federal

In recent decades the public sector comes under pressure in order to improve its performance. The use of Information Technology (IT) has been a tool increasingly used in reaching that goal. Thus, it has become an important issue in public organizations, particularly in institutions of higher education, determine which factors influence the acceptance and use of technology, impacting on the success of its implementation and the desired organizational results. The Technology Acceptance Model - TAM was used as the basis for this study and is based on the constructs perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. However, when it comes to integrated management systems due to the complexity of its implementation,organizational factors were added to thus seek further explanation of the acceptance of such systems. Thus, added to the model five TAM constructs related to critical success factors in implementing ERP systems, they are: support of top management, communication, training, cooperation, and technological complexity (BUENO and SALMERON, 2008). Based on the foregoing, launches the following research problem: What factors influence the acceptance and use of SIE / module academic at the Federal University of Para, from the users' perception of teachers and technicians? The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of organizational factors, and behavioral antecedents of behavioral intention to use the SIE / module academic UFPA in the perspective of teachers and technical users. This is applied research, exploratory and descriptive, quantitative with the implementation of a survey, and data collection occurred through a structured questionnaire applied to a sample of 229 teachers and 30 technical and administrative staff. Data analysis was carried out through descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling with the technique of partial least squares (PLS). Effected primarily to assess the measurement model, which were verified reliability, convergent and discriminant validity for all indicators and constructs. Then the structural model was analyzed using the bootstrap resampling technique like. In assessing statistical significance, all hypotheses were supported. The coefficient of determination (R ²) was high or average in five of the six endogenous variables, so the model explains 47.3% of the variation in behavioral intention. It is noteworthy that among the antecedents of behavioral intention (BI) analyzed in this study, perceived usefulness is the variable that has a greater effect on behavioral intention, followed by ease of use (PEU) and attitude (AT). Among the organizational aspects (critical success factors) studied technological complexity (TC) and training (ERT) were those with greatest effect on behavioral intention to use, although these effects were lower than those produced by behavioral factors (originating from TAM). It is pointed out further that the support of senior management (TMS) showed, among all variables, the least effect on the intention to use (BI) and was followed by communications (COM) and cooperation (CO), which exert a low effect on behavioral intention (BI). Therefore, as other studies on the TAM constructs were adequate for the present research. Thus, the study contributed towards proving evidence that the Technology Acceptance Model can be applied to predict the acceptance of integrated management systems, even in public. Keywords: Technology

Modelagem do desempenho ambiental dos projetos de exploração e produção aplicando equações estruturais

A legislação ambiental e os principais agentes que se relacionam com a empresa se constituem em fatores exógenos que não podem ser negligenciados ao formular-se e avaliar-se a política ambiental corporativa. As influências exógenas e seus efeitos sobre a gestão ambiental e o gerenciamento de projetos de exploração e produção (E&P) e, por essa via, sobre o desempenho ambiental, foram objetos de estudo desta tese. Embora o desempenho ambiental seja um assunto relevante, a pesquisa sobre esse tema ainda é escassa. Tal carência desponta ainda mais acentuada quando se aborda o desempenho ambiental de projetos na indústria de petróleo e gás. O principal objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a relação entre a legislação ambiental vigente, as ações de órgãos reguladores, fornecedores, empresas terceirizadas e comunidades locais e o desempenho ambiental dos projetos de E&P na indústria de petróleo e gás e, também, analisar os efeitos do sistema de gestão ambiental e o gerenciamento dos projetos sobre tal desempenho. Na fase abdutiva, foi conduzido um estudo de caso com abordagem qualitativa em uma grande empresa brasileira do setor de petróleo e gás, na fase dedutiva, foi realizada uma pesquisa survey explanatória de corte transversal com abordagem quantitativa, incluindo 113 projetos de E&P de cinco unidades executoras da empresa. Foi formulado um modelo conceitual, com cinco construtos e sete hipóteses de pesquisa, representativo dos efeitos de fatores externos sobre o desempenho ambiental dos projetos de E&P. Os dados foram tratados aplicando a Análise Fatorial Exploratória e a Modelagem de Equações Estruturais com aplicação dos softwares IBM® SPSS® Statistics 20.0 e IBM® SPSS® Amos 18.0. O modelo de equações estruturais foi reespecificado e estimado utilizando o método de Máxima Verossimilhança e o procedimento bootstrap com 2000 reamostragens, até alcançar adequados valores dos índices de ajustamento. O modelo mostrou boa aderência às evidências empíricas, representando uma teoria explicativa dos fatores que influenciam o desempenho ambiental dos projetos de E&P na empresa estudada. As estatísticas descritivas apontaram adequado desempenho dos projetos de E&P com relação aos efluentes descartados, volume de água reutilizada, redução de resíduos e práticas de reciclagem. Identificou-se que projetos de maior porte alcançam melhor desempenho ambiental em relação aos de menor tamanho. Não foram achadas diferenças significativas entre os desempenhos de projetos executados por unidades operacionais distintas. Os resultados da modelagem indicaram que nem a legislação ambiental, nem os agentes externos exercem influência significativa sobre a sistemática da gestão dos projetos de E&P. Os agentes externos atuam sobre a gestão ambiental da empresa exercitando capacidades colaborativas, obstrutivas e propositivas. A legislação ambiental é percebida como entrave ao desenvolvimento dos projetos ao longo de seu ciclo de vida, principalmente, pelas deficiências dos órgãos ambientais. Identificou-se que o sistema de gestão ambiental influencia diretamente o Programa de Desenvolvimento e Execução de Projetos de E&P, que, por sua vez, provoca efeitos diretos e indiretos sobre o desempenho ambiental. Finalmente, comprovou-se que o Sistema de Gestão Ambiental da empresa é determinante para o desempenho ambiental dos projetos de E&P, tanto pelos seus efeitos diretos, como pelos indiretos, estes últimos mediados pela sistemática de gestão dos projetos de E&P

Sistemas de dunas do parque das Dunas e Barreiras do Inferno/Natal (RN: levantamento geológico /geofísico, elaboração do modelo deterministico e avaliação da vulnerabilidade/suscetibilidade

The current work was developed on the dune systems of the Parque das Dunas and Barreira do Inferno. These places are located in the cities of Natal and Parnamirim (RN, Brazil), respectively. This project has the purpose of developing the deterministic model on a specific blowout at Parque das Dunas, based in the geophysical interpretations of the lines gotten with the Ground Penetration Radar and the planialtimetric acquisitions of the topographical surface of the land. Also analyses of the vulnerability/susceptibility of these dune systems had been done in relation to the human pressures. To develop its deterministic model, it is necessary to acquire inner and outer geometries of the cited blowout. In order to depict inner geometries underneath the surface are used the GPR observing the altimetric control for topographical correction of the GPR lines. As for the outer geometries, the geodesic GPS gives us the planialtimetric points (x, y and z points) with milimetric precision, resulting in high-resolution surfaces. Using interpolation methods of the planialtimetric points was possible create Digital Elevations Models (DEM´s) of these surfaces. As a result, 1,161.4 meters of GPR lines were acquired on the blowout at the Parque das Dunas and 3,735.27 meters on the blowout at the Barreira do Inferno. These lines had been acquired with a 200 MHz antenna, except the 7 and 8 lines, for which we had been used a 100 MHz antenna. The gotten data had been processed and interpreted, being possible to identify boundary surfaces of first, second and third order. The first order boundary surface is related with the contact of the rocks of the Barreiras Group with the aeolian deposits. These deposits had been divided in two groups (Group 1 and Group 2) which are related with the geometry of stratum and the dip of its stratifications. Group 1 presented stratum of sigmoidal and irregular geometries and involved bodies where the reflectors had presented dips that had varied of 20 to the 28 degrees for the Parque das Dunas blowout and of 22 to the 29 degrees for the Barreira do Inferno blowout. Usually, it was limited in the base for the first order surface and in the top for the second order surface. Group 2 presented stratum of trough, wedge or lens geometries, limited in the base for the second order vi surface, where the corresponding deposits had more shown smoothed reflectors or with dips of low angle. The Deterministic and Digital Elevation Models had been developed from the integration and interpretation of the 2D data with the GOCAD® program. In Digital Elevations Models it was possible to see, for the localities, corridor or trough-shaped blowouts. In Deterministic Model it was possible to see first and second order boundary surfaces. For the vulnerability/susceptibility of the dune systems it was applied the methodology proposal by Boderè al (1991); however the same one did not show adequate because it evaluates actual coastal dunes. Actual coastal dunes are dunes that are presented in balance with the current environmental conditions. Therefore, a new methodology was proposal which characterizes the supplying and activity sedimentary, as well as the human pressures. For the methodology developed in this work, both the localities had presented a good management. The Parque das Dunas was characterized as a relic dune system and the Barreira do Inferno was characterized as a palimpsestic dune system. Also two Thematic Maps had been elaborated for the environmental characterization of the studied dune systems, with software ArcGis 8.3, and its respective data bases

Estabilização de órbitas periódicas instáveis utilizando controle por modos deslizantes com compensação adaptativa

The chaotic behavior has been widely observed in nature, from physical and chemical phenomena to biological systems, present in many engineering applications and found in both simple mechanical oscillators and advanced communication systems. With regard to mechanical systems, the effects of nonlinearities on the dynamic behavior of the system are often of undesirable character, which has motivated the development of compensation strategies. However, it has been recently found that there are situations in which the richness of nonlinear dynamics becomes attractive. Due to their parametric sensitivity, chaotic systems can suffer considerable changes by small variations on the value of their parameters, which is extremely favorable when we want to give greater flexibility to the controlled system. Hence, we analyze in this work the parametric sensitivity of Duffing oscillator, in particular its unstable periodic orbits and Poincar´e section due to changes in nominal value of the parameter that multiplies the cubic term. Since the amount of energy needed to stabilize Unstable Periodic Orbits is minimum, we analyze the control action needed to control and stabilize such orbits which belong to different versions of the Duffing oscillator. For that we will use a smoothed sliding mode controller with an adaptive compensation term based on Fourier series.

As relações da tríplice hélice nas fundações de apoio brasileiras: uma avaliação da dinâmica de captação de recursos para projetos de inovação

Foundations support constitute one of the types of legal entities of private law forged with the purpose of supporting research projects, education and extension and institutional, scientific and technological development of Brazil. Observed as links of the relationship between company, university, and government, foundations supporting emerge in the Brazilian scene from the principle to establish an economic platform of development based on three pillars: science, technology and innovation – ST&I. In applied terms, these ones operate as tools of debureaucratisation making the management between public entities more agile, especially in the academic management in accordance with the approach of Triple Helix. From the exposed, the present study has as purpose understanding how the relation of Triple Helix intervenes in the fund-raising process of Brazilian foundations support. To understand the relations submitted, it was used the interaction models University-Company-Government recommended by Sábato and Botana (1968), the approach of the Triple Helix proposed by Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff (2000), as well as the perspective of the national innovation systems discussed by Freeman (1987, 1995), Nelson (1990, 1993) and Lundvall (1992). The research object of this study consists of 26 state foundations that support research associated with the National Council of the State Foundations of Supporting Research - CONFAP, as well as the 102 foundations in support of IES associated with the National Council of Foundations of Support for Institutions of Higher Education and Scientific and Technological Research – CONFIES, totaling 128 entities. As a research strategy, this study is considered as an applied research with a quantitative approach. Primary research data were collected using the e-mail Survey procedure. Seventy-five observations were collected, which corresponds to 58.59% of the research universe. It is considering the use of the bootstrap method in order to validate the use of the sample in the analysis of results. For data analysis, it was used descriptive statistics and multivariate data analysis techniques: the cluster analysis; the canonical correlation and the binary logistic regression. From the obtained canonical roots, the results indicated that the dependency relationship between the variables of relations (with the actors of the Triple Helix) and the financial resources invested in innovation projects is low, assuming the null hypothesis of this study, that the relations of the Triple Helix do not have interfered positively or negatively in raising funds for investments in innovation projects. On the other hand, the results obtained with the cluster analysis indicate that entities which have greater quantitative and financial amounts of projects are mostly large foundations (over 100 employees), which support up to five IES, publish management reports and use in their capital structure, greater financing of the public department. Finally, it is pertinent to note that the power of the classification of the logistic model obtained in this study showed high predictive capacity (80.0%) providing to the academic community replication in environments of similar analysis.

Avaliação e correções de testes de hipóteses em modelos de sobrevivência com fração de cura

Survival models deals with the modelling of time to event data. In certain situations, a share of the population can no longer be subjected to the event occurrence. In this context, the cure fraction models emerged. Among the models that incorporate a fraction of cured one of the most known is the promotion time model. In the present study we discuss hypothesis testing in the promotion time model with Weibull distribution for the failure times of susceptible individuals. Hypothesis testing in this model may be performed based on likelihood ratio, gradient, score or Wald statistics. The critical values are obtained from asymptotic approximations, which may result in size distortions in nite sample sizes. This study proposes bootstrap corrections to the aforementioned tests and Bartlett bootstrap to the likelihood ratio statistic in Weibull promotion time model. Using Monte Carlo simulations we compared the nite sample performances of the proposed corrections in contrast with the usual tests. The numerical evidence favors the proposed corrected tests. At the end of the work an empirical application is presented.

Fatores críticos de sucesso como antecedentes da aceitação de um sistema de informação em uma universidade federal

In recent decades the public sector comes under pressure in order to improve its performance. The use of Information Technology (IT) has been a tool increasingly used in reaching that goal. Thus, it has become an important issue in public organizations, particularly in institutions of higher education, determine which factors influence the acceptance and use of technology, impacting on the success of its implementation and the desired organizational results. The Technology Acceptance Model - TAM was used as the basis for this study and is based on the constructs perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. However, when it comes to integrated management systems due to the complexity of its implementation,organizational factors were added to thus seek further explanation of the acceptance of such systems. Thus, added to the model five TAM constructs related to critical success factors in implementing ERP systems, they are: support of top management, communication, training, cooperation, and technological complexity (BUENO and SALMERON, 2008). Based on the foregoing, launches the following research problem: What factors influence the acceptance and use of SIE / module academic at the Federal University of Para, from the users' perception of teachers and technicians? The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of organizational factors, and behavioral antecedents of behavioral intention to use the SIE / module academic UFPA in the perspective of teachers and technical users. This is applied research, exploratory and descriptive, quantitative with the implementation of a survey, and data collection occurred through a structured questionnaire applied to a sample of 229 teachers and 30 technical and administrative staff. Data analysis was carried out through descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling with the technique of partial least squares (PLS). Effected primarily to assess the measurement model, which were verified reliability, convergent and discriminant validity for all indicators and constructs. Then the structural model was analyzed using the bootstrap resampling technique like. In assessing statistical significance, all hypotheses were supported. The coefficient of determination (R ²) was high or average in five of the six endogenous variables, so the model explains 47.3% of the variation in behavioral intention. It is noteworthy that among the antecedents of behavioral intention (BI) analyzed in this study, perceived usefulness is the variable that has a greater effect on behavioral intention, followed by ease of use (PEU) and attitude (AT). Among the organizational aspects (critical success factors) studied technological complexity (TC) and training (ERT) were those with greatest effect on behavioral intention to use, although these effects were lower than those produced by behavioral factors (originating from TAM). It is pointed out further that the support of senior management (TMS) showed, among all variables, the least effect on the intention to use (BI) and was followed by communications (COM) and cooperation (CO), which exert a low effect on behavioral intention (BI). Therefore, as other studies on the TAM constructs were adequate for the present research. Thus, the study contributed towards proving evidence that the Technology Acceptance Model can be applied to predict the acceptance of integrated management systems, even in public. Keywords: Technology

Modelagem do desempenho ambiental dos projetos de exploração e produção aplicando equações estruturais

A legislação ambiental e os principais agentes que se relacionam com a empresa se constituem em fatores exógenos que não podem ser negligenciados ao formular-se e avaliar-se a política ambiental corporativa. As influências exógenas e seus efeitos sobre a gestão ambiental e o gerenciamento de projetos de exploração e produção (E&P) e, por essa via, sobre o desempenho ambiental, foram objetos de estudo desta tese. Embora o desempenho ambiental seja um assunto relevante, a pesquisa sobre esse tema ainda é escassa. Tal carência desponta ainda mais acentuada quando se aborda o desempenho ambiental de projetos na indústria de petróleo e gás. O principal objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a relação entre a legislação ambiental vigente, as ações de órgãos reguladores, fornecedores, empresas terceirizadas e comunidades locais e o desempenho ambiental dos projetos de E&P na indústria de petróleo e gás e, também, analisar os efeitos do sistema de gestão ambiental e o gerenciamento dos projetos sobre tal desempenho. Na fase abdutiva, foi conduzido um estudo de caso com abordagem qualitativa em uma grande empresa brasileira do setor de petróleo e gás, na fase dedutiva, foi realizada uma pesquisa survey explanatória de corte transversal com abordagem quantitativa, incluindo 113 projetos de E&P de cinco unidades executoras da empresa. Foi formulado um modelo conceitual, com cinco construtos e sete hipóteses de pesquisa, representativo dos efeitos de fatores externos sobre o desempenho ambiental dos projetos de E&P. Os dados foram tratados aplicando a Análise Fatorial Exploratória e a Modelagem de Equações Estruturais com aplicação dos softwares IBM® SPSS® Statistics 20.0 e IBM® SPSS® Amos 18.0. O modelo de equações estruturais foi reespecificado e estimado utilizando o método de Máxima Verossimilhança e o procedimento bootstrap com 2000 reamostragens, até alcançar adequados valores dos índices de ajustamento. O modelo mostrou boa aderência às evidências empíricas, representando uma teoria explicativa dos fatores que influenciam o desempenho ambiental dos projetos de E&P na empresa estudada. As estatísticas descritivas apontaram adequado desempenho dos projetos de E&P com relação aos efluentes descartados, volume de água reutilizada, redução de resíduos e práticas de reciclagem. Identificou-se que projetos de maior porte alcançam melhor desempenho ambiental em relação aos de menor tamanho. Não foram achadas diferenças significativas entre os desempenhos de projetos executados por unidades operacionais distintas. Os resultados da modelagem indicaram que nem a legislação ambiental, nem os agentes externos exercem influência significativa sobre a sistemática da gestão dos projetos de E&P. Os agentes externos atuam sobre a gestão ambiental da empresa exercitando capacidades colaborativas, obstrutivas e propositivas. A legislação ambiental é percebida como entrave ao desenvolvimento dos projetos ao longo de seu ciclo de vida, principalmente, pelas deficiências dos órgãos ambientais. Identificou-se que o sistema de gestão ambiental influencia diretamente o Programa de Desenvolvimento e Execução de Projetos de E&P, que, por sua vez, provoca efeitos diretos e indiretos sobre o desempenho ambiental. Finalmente, comprovou-se que o Sistema de Gestão Ambiental da empresa é determinante para o desempenho ambiental dos projetos de E&P, tanto pelos seus efeitos diretos, como pelos indiretos, estes últimos mediados pela sistemática de gestão dos projetos de E&P