Subjectively construed identities and discourse: towards a research agenda for construction management

Identity issues are under-explored in construction management. We provide a brief introduction to the organization studies literature on subjectively construed identities, focusing on discourse, agency, relations of power and identity work. The construction management literature is investigated in order to examine identity concerns as they relate to construction managers centred on (1) professionalism; (2) ethics; (3) relational aspects of self-identity; (4) competence, knowledge and tools; and (5) national culture. Identity, we argue, is a key performance issue, and needs to be accounted for in explanations of the success and failure of projects. Our overriding concern is to raise identity issues in order to demonstrate their importance to researchers in construction management and to spark debate. The purpose of this work is not to provide answers or to propose prescriptive models, but to explore ideas, raise awareness and to generate questions for further programmatic research. To this end, we promote empirical work and theorizing by outlining elements of a research agenda which argues that 'identity' is a potentially generative theme for scholars in construction management.

Condições brasileiras que impactam a implementação de modelos de gestão importados

Este trabalho discorre sobre a competitividade na Sociedade do Conhecimento, também considerada uma Sociedade Pós-Capitalista, Pós-Moderna. Nessa perspectiva o conhecimento é o bem de maior valor, que entretanto, está subordinado à vontade do indivíduo em acumulá-lo e aplicá-lo. As organizações de países avançados, em busca de maior competitividade, criam modelos de gestão, que são importados pelas sociedades menos desenvolvidas como forma de ampliar seus níveis de produtividade, mas o fato de copiar, apenas, não garante sucesso da aplicação em função da cultura e condições sócio-econômicas locais. No Brasil, tais características favorecem importação desses modelos porém, eles não trazem os resultados esperados. São essas as condições brasileiras que procuramos demonstrar, nos níveis teórico aplicado; este último, mediante um estudo de caso representativo de uma importação que deu certo, favorecido por essas mesmas condições brasileiras.

O piso salarial nacional: a valorização do professor na Constituição de 1988

The paper investigates the legal mechanisms used by the Legislature and the Executive to implement the constitutional principle of the teacher s minimum wage, which is proclaimed in the Constitution as a strategy of professional appreciation for this category. The text demonstrates that the legal mechanisms used to value the teacher were: the 1988 Constitution, the constitutional amendments to this Charter updated and modified the original text in relation to the matter, and finally, the Minimum Wage Law . Article nº 206 of 1988 s Federal Constitution established that basic education teachers, who work in public schools, would be entitled to a national minimum wage. Law nº 11.738/2008 ( Minimum Wage Law ) regulated the matter and made other determinations on the relationship between the State and the teachers such as the establishment of parameters for the distribution of the workload of teachers. Based on this law, since 2009 the minimum wage has been set annually by the Federal Government. However, state governments and municipalities throughout Brazil protested prescriptions contained in the Minimum Wage Law . In this context, some governors and mayors led the Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of this law. The complainants considered that there was unconstitutional by the following: definition of the teacher s workday, which in the complainants point of view was competence of local governments; ensuring that teachers receive salaries tied to the minimum wage with retroactive effect; transformation of the minimum wage in basic salary, lack of sufficient budget in the states and municipalities to honor with the new values to be paid to teachers and, finally, determining workload for the teacher to perform other activities besides classroom activities. At the trial held at the STF the majority of Ministers rejected the claim and considered that the Minimum Wage Law , taken together, was constitutional. However, this decision did not alter the position of the managers or the interpretation of the ministers who agreed with the unconstitutionality of some aspects of the law. This means that one law can present differences in interpretation between ordinary people and among members of the Judiciary. The search showed the following conclusions: the law is not a definitive parameter of justice, because it is deeply linked to various interests; the development, implementation, and judgment of laws dealing with minimum wage of teaching are linked to historical and cultural aspects of society; the demand for enhancement of teacher and setting a minimum wage has only emerged in the late twentieth century, a fact explained in this work based on data that indicate the recent concern of Brazilian State with schooling a phenomenon typically Republican and with the professionalization of teaching emerging concern from the knowledge society; the Legislative and Executive search mechanism to implement the minimum wage of the teachers because of the contemporary need for professionalization of teaching