Educación y obra pública durante el primer peronismo : La construcción de escuelas en la provincia de Buenos Aires

Este artículo se propone analizar el Plan Integral de Edificación Escolar (PIEE) que se aprobó en la provincia de Buenos Aires en 1948. El estudio de los cambios que implicó en relación a los proyectos anteriores, y de los alcances y límites de su aplicación durante las gestiones de Domingo A. Mercante (1946-1952) y Carlos Aloé (1952-1955), permite señalar que la ejecución del plan de edificación que impactó de manera significativa en el número de establecimientos educativos fiscales, fue posible debido a una modificación en la inversión de los recursos y a la mayor intervención de las agencias estatales en la planificación de las edificaciones, relacionada con la mayor injerencia en el área educativa que adquirió el Estado provincial durante este periodo

[Consolidation and reorganization activities, status and results of facilities management pursuant to Executive Order 2003-10] /

Illinois Executive Order 2003-10 authorized the consoldiation of facilities management for agencies, offices, divisions, departments, bureaus, boards and commissions directly responsible to the Governor into the Dept. of Central Management Services (CMS). Facilities management functions include the operation and maintenance of state-owned or state-leased facilties.

Educación y obra pública durante el primer peronismo : La construcción de escuelas en la provincia de Buenos Aires

Este artículo se propone analizar el Plan Integral de Edificación Escolar (PIEE) que se aprobó en la provincia de Buenos Aires en 1948. El estudio de los cambios que implicó en relación a los proyectos anteriores, y de los alcances y límites de su aplicación durante las gestiones de Domingo A. Mercante (1946-1952) y Carlos Aloé (1952-1955), permite señalar que la ejecución del plan de edificación que impactó de manera significativa en el número de establecimientos educativos fiscales, fue posible debido a una modificación en la inversión de los recursos y a la mayor intervención de las agencias estatales en la planificación de las edificaciones, relacionada con la mayor injerencia en el área educativa que adquirió el Estado provincial durante este periodo

Quotable value: A case of increasing value

In 2005 Quotable Value was New Zealand’s largest valuation and property information organisation with approximately 230 staff and 22 offices throughout the country. While Government reforms within New Zealand had forced this former Government department to operate in a competitive market, a booming property industry and a number of innovative projects generating new income streams had fuelled Quotable Value’s success and growth. Recent changes in the economic environment, however, and predictions that the property bubble would soon burst, also presented a number of threats. The challenge for Quotable Value was how to sustain and build further growth.

DESEMPENHO DE ORGANIZAÇÃO SOCIAL (OS) NO GERENCIAMENTO DE ORGANISMOS PÚBLICOS: ESTUDO DESCRITIVO-EXPLORATÓRIO DO CENTRO NACIONAL DE PESQUISA EM ENERGIA E MATERIAIS - CNPEM

Este trabalho discutiu o desempenho do Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais CNPEM, que deu início às suas atividades como Associação Brasileira de Tecnologia de Luz Síncrotron - ABTLuS, Organização Social (OS), entidade da sociedade civil, sem fins lucrativos, disciplinada pela Lei 9.637 de 15 de maio de 1998, para gerir organismos públicos mediante a assinatura de contrato de gestão baseado em metas a serem cumpridas. O modelo nasceu concomitantemente com a criação do Ministério da Administração e Reforma do Estado MARE, na gestão do ministro Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira, no governo do presidente Fernando Henrique Cardoso - FHC, tendo como princípio básico a prestação de serviços sociais, nas áreas de cultura, educação, pesquisa científica, proteção e preservação do meio ambiente e saúde, na expectativa de que ele pudesse prestar melhores serviços do que as empresas estatais e as entidades da administração direta. Hoje, dez anos se passaram e o CNPEM continua prestando serviços na área de pesquisa científica ao CNPq e ao MCT, apesar de não haver apoio para a criação de novas OS na esfera do governo federal, o que indicou ameaças ao seu ciclo de vida. A pesquisa desenvolveu-se através de estudo descritivo-exploratório, interpretando dados por intermédio do processo de hermenêutica para interpretação de dados retirados dos documentos institucionais, com conclusão favorável à continuidade do modelo, tendo em vista que a pesquisa demonstra que ele é legal, legítimo e competente no cumprimento das metas e missão, bem como está em plena forma física, sem ameaças ao seu ciclo de vida, demonstrando que tem muito a oferecer para a ciência brasileira e, como não poderia deixar de ser, a milhares de usuários espalhados pelo Brasil e o mundo.

A integração de conteúdo jornalístico à publicidade: trocas simbólicas entre as marcas Petrobras e Superinteressante

A trabalho examina o discurso contido nos anúncios institucionais da empresa estatal brasileira Petrobras. O material analisado compreende anúncios veiculados entre os anos de 2006 e 2007 na revista Superinteressante, publicada pela editora Abril. Objetivou-se identificar as novas formas de manipulação da informação e como ocorrem as trocas simbólicas na apropriação do conteúdo jornalístico pela publicidade. Para tanto, empregou-se a metodologia de Análise de Discurso.(AU)

In search of a sustainable success strategy in the Chinese chemical industry

The Chinese chemical industry is facing fierce competition and changing market dynamics due to the change in the country's economic policy. Its government has applied administr.ttive actions rather than simply relying on the market to address the changing dynamics. It has attempted to privatise government-owned enterprises by corporatisation coupled with industrial restructuring. This paper uses a case study of Peony Printing Ink Co Ltd, a state-owned chemical enterprise, to illustrate the effectiveness of developing internal competences to improve long-term operational performance rather than the adoption of a privatisation approach.

Success strategies in the Chinese chemical industry: a survey and case study investigations

The chemical industry in China is facing fierce competition and exposure to market forces as a result of changes in the country's economic policy. The Chinese government has applied administrative actions rather than simply relying on market forces to address the changing dynamics. It has attempted to privatise state-owned chemical enterprises (SOCEs) by corporatisation, coupled with industrial restructuring by merging individual state-owned enterprises into groups. Based on a quantitative survey in combination with case studies of two Chinese chemical enterprises, this paper concludes that in this industry building competences is more effective than privatisation and restructuring to improve performance.

Does the Chinese banking system promote the growth of firms?

Using a large panel dataset of Chinese manufacturing enterprises during 1999-2005, which accounts for over 90% of China's industrial output, and robust econometric procedures we show that the Chinese banking system has helped to support the growth of both firm value added and TFP. We find that access to bank loans is positively correlated with future value added and TFP growth. We also find that firms with access to bank loans tend to grow faster in regions with greater banking sector development. While the effects of bank loans on firm growth are more pronounced in the case of purely private-owned and foreign firms, they are positive and statistically significant even in the case of state-owned and collectively-owned firms. We show that excluding loss-making firms from the sample does not change the qualitative nature of our results.

Foreign direct investment, access to finance, and innovation activity in Chinese enterprises

A recent, comprehensive database is used to investigate the link between inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and innovation activity in China. The results of the analysis suggest that private and collectively owned firms with foreign capital participation and those with good access to domestic bank loans innovate more than other firms do. Among enterprises not owned by the state, inward FDI at the sectoral level is positively associated with domestic innovative activity only among firms that engage in their own research and development or that have good access to domestic finance. At the sector level the effect of inward FDI into technology transfer is distinguished from the effect on domestic credit opportunities. FDI affecting credit is of little significance for state-owned enterprises and is independent of their access to finance. In contrast, better access to credit is an important channel through which FDI affects the innovation of domestic private and collectively owned enterprises.

Technology transfer and Chinese government policy:opportunities and implications for business

State-owned enterprises in China have been given greater autonomy and responsibility, have freer access to foreign technology, and are being encouraged to form groups to gain from rationalization and integration. This article uses case studies to identify the key strategic issues that affect the commercial viability of foreign technology acquisition by state-owned enterprises within the context of enterprise reforms. All the case study enterprises used technology transfer to develop new or improved products. Technologies acquired as parts of subcontracting arrangements and well-established technologies to produce end-use products are easier to manage and operate profitably. However, the latter type of technology has been imported by numerous enterprises and has led to fierce competition and industy restructuring. Importing capital-intensive and complex technology to produce major components for products, such as cars, is more difficult and requires closer coordination with customers and suppliers.

Privatization : problems of implementation in Egypt

This study aims to investigate to what extent the views of the managers of the enterprises to be privatized are a barrier to smooth implementation of privatization as opposed to other problems. Accordingly, the research tackles two main issues: Identification and analysis of the major problems encountered in the implementation of the Egyptian privatization programme and at which level these problems exist while proposing different approaches to tackle them; and views of public sector top and middle-level managers regarding the main issues of privatization. The study relies upon a literature survey, interviews with stakeholders, a survey of managers' attitudes and several illustrative case studies. A model of "good practice" for the smooth and effective implementation of privatization has been designed. Practice in Egypt has then been studied and compared with the "good practice" model. Lack of strictness and firmness in implementing the announced privatization programme has been found to be a characteristic of Egyptian practice. This is partly attributable to the inadequacy of the programme and partly to the different obstacles to implementation. The main obstacles are doubtful desirability of privatization on the part of the managers at different implementation levels, resistance of stakeholders, in adequately of the legal framework governing privatization, redundant labour, lack of an efficient monitoring system allowing for accountability, inefficient marketing of privatization, ineffective communication, insufficient information at different levels and problems related to valuation and selling procedures. A large part of the thesis is concerned with SOE (State Owned Enterprise) managers' attitudes on and understanding of the privatization (appraised through surveys). Although most managers have stated their acceptance of privatization, many of their responses show that they do not accept selling SOEs. They understand privatization to include enterprise reform and restructuring, changing procedures and giving more authority to company executives, but not necessarily as selling SOEs. The majority of managers still see many issues that have to be addressed for smooth implementation of privatization e.g. insufficiency of information, incompleteness of legal framework, restructuring and labour problems. The main contribution to knowledge of this thesis is the study of problems of implementing privatization in developing countries especially managers' resistance to privatization as a major change, partly because of the threat it poses and partly because of the lack of understanding of privatization and implications of operating private businesses. A programme of persuading managers and offsetting the unfavourable effects is recommended as an outcome of the study. Five different phrases and words for the national Index to theses are: Egypt, privatization, implementation of privatization, problems of implementing privatization and managers' attitudes towards privatization.

A longitudinal study of Chinese managerial behaviour:an inside view of decision-making under the economic reform

This research compared decision making processes in six Chinese state-owned enterprises during the period 1985 to 1988. The research objectives were: a) To examine changes in the managerial behaviour over a period of 1985 to 1988 with a focus on decision-making; b) Through this examination, to throw light on the means by which government policies on economic reform were implemented at the enterprise level; c) To illustrate problems encountered in the decentralization programme which was a major part of China's economic reform. The research was conducted by means of intensive interviews with more than eighty managers and a survey of documents relating to specific decisions. A total of sixty cases of decision-making were selected from five decision topics: purchasing of inputs, pricing of outputs, recruitment of labour, organizational change and innovation, which occurred in 1985 (or before) and in 1988/89. Data from the interviews were used to investigate environmental conditions, relations between the enterprise and its higher authority, interactions between management and the party system, the role of information, and effectiveness of regulations and government policies on enterprise management. The analysis of the data indicates that the decision processes in the different enterprises have some similarities in regard to actor involvement, the flow of decision activities, interactions with the authorities, information usage and the effect of regulations. Comparison of the same or similar decision contents over time indicates that the achievement of decentralization varied according to the topic of decision. Managerial authority was delegated to enterprises when the authorities relaxed their control over resource allocation. When acquisition of necessary resources is dependent upon the planning system or the decision matter is sensitive, because it involves change to the institutional framework (e.g. the Party), then a high degree of centralization was retained, resulting in a marginal change in managerial behaviour. The economic reform failed to increase decision efficiency and effectiveness of decision-making. The prevailing institutional frameworks were regarded as negative to the change. The research argues that the decision process is likely to be more contingent on the decision content than the organization. Three types of decision process have been conceptualized, each of them related to a certain type of decision content. This argument gives attention to the perspectives of institution and power in a way which facilitates an elaboration of organizational analysis. The problems encountered in the reform of China's industrial enterprises are identified and discussed. General recommendations for policies of further reform are offered, based on the analysis of decision process and managerial behaviour.

The contract management responsibility system in China : an institutional interpretation

Thesis is about the enterprise reform in China in general, and the Contract Management Responsibility System (the CMRS) in particular. The latter is a new institutional arrangement to deal with the relation between the government and the state-owned enterprise which has always been at the centre of the enterprise reform. The focus of the research is on the process of institutionalization in order to study the problems of the emergence of a free enterprise system in China. The research is conducted by four in-depth case studies to reveal how the CMRS is running and what interaction is taking place between the government and the state-owned enterprise under the system. Drawing on the empirical work, the thesis analyzes the features of the CMRS and the characteristics of its implementation process with respect to the structural-institutional paradigm, and the property rights approach. The research shows that to establish a market-type relation between the government and the enterprise is a complicated and dynamic process. It involves the understanding of the two different economic mechanisms, market and planning, and the interations taken by two parties. It concludes that the CMRS is an unstable system, either going back to the previous system or moving towards a market system, because its dynamic and control dimension are dysfunctional.

Safety culture during major organisational change

This research examines the effect of major changes, in the external context, on the safety culture of a UK generating company. It was focused on an organisation which was originally part of the state owned Central Electricity Generating Board and which, by the end of the research period, was a self-contained generating company, operating in a competitive market and a wholly owned subsidiary of a US utility. The research represents an attempt to identify the nature and culture of the original organisation and to identify, analyse and explain the effects of the forces of change in moulding the final organisation. The research framework employed a qualitative methodology to investigate the effects of change, supported by a safety culture questionnaire, based on factors identified in the third report of the ACSNI Human Factors Study Group; Organising for Safety, as being indicators of safety culture. An additional research objective was to assess the usefulness of the ACSNI factors as indicators of safety culture. Findings were that the original organisation was an engineering dominated technocracy with a technocentric safety culture. Values and beliefs were very strongly held and resistant to change and much of the original safety culture survived unchanged into the new organisation. The effects of very long periods of uncertainty about the future were damaging to management/worker relationships but several factors were identified which effectively insulated the organisation from any of the effects of change. The forces of change had introduced a beneficial appreciation of the crucial relationship between safety risk assessment and commercial risk assessment.Although the technical strength of the original safety culture survived, so did the essential weakness of a low level of appreciation of the human behavioural aspects of safety. This led to a limited, functionalist world view of safety culture, which assumed that cultural change was simpler to achieve than was the case and an inability to make progress in certain areas which were essentially behavioural problems.The factors identified by ACSNI provided a useful basis for the site research methodology and for identifying areas of relative strength and weakness in the site safety arrangements.