Projecto de avalia����o de interfaces ��� PAI

Para obten����o do grau de Doutor pela Universidade de Vigo com men����o internacional Departamento de Inform��tica

Supporting real-time parallel task models with work-stealing

Dynamic parallel scheduling using work-stealing has gained popularity in academia and industry for its good performance, ease of implementation and theoretical bounds on space and time. Cores treat their own double-ended queues (deques) as a stack, pushing and popping threads from the bottom, but treat the deque of another randomly selected busy core as a queue, stealing threads only from the top, whenever they are idle. However, this standard approach cannot be directly applied to real-time systems, where the importance of parallelising tasks is increasing due to the limitations of multiprocessor scheduling theory regarding parallelism. Using one deque per core is obviously a source of priority inversion since high priority tasks may eventually be enqueued after lower priority tasks, possibly leading to deadline misses as in this case the lower priority tasks are the candidates when a stealing operation occurs. Our proposal is to replace the single non-priority deque of work-stealing with ordered per-processor priority deques of ready threads. The scheduling algorithm starts with a single deque per-core, but unlike traditional work-stealing, the total number of deques in the system may now exceed the number of processors. Instead of stealing randomly, cores steal from the highest priority deque.

A filosofia da qualidade total aplicada a uma empresa do sector alimentar

Mestrado em Controlo de Gest��o e dos Neg��cios

Boas pr��ticas de igualdade de g��nero e sua rela����o nos dom��nios da satisfa����o laboral e clima organizacional

A Igualdade entre Homens e Mulheres e a n��o discrimina����o constituem princ��pios fundamentais da Constitui����o da Republica Portuguesa e do Tratado que institui a Uni��o Europeia ��� Tratado de Lisboa. A desigualdade entre Homens e Mulheres constitui uma viola����o dos direitos fundamentais, e imp��e um pesado custo �� economia na medida em que se desaproveitam talentos em fun����o do g��nero. A promo����o de uma efetiva igualdade entre Homens e Mulheres constitui um dever fundamental do Estado. A promo����o da participa����o ativa de Homens e Mulheres na vida pol��tica, ao n��vel da administra����o central, regional e local, �� tamb��m um forte indicador da qualidade da democracia de um estado. Tomando por base a tem��tica da Igualdade de G��nero, o Roteiro para a Igualdade entre Homens e Mulheres (2006-2010), o pacto Europeu para a Igualdade entre os Sexos (2006), a Estrat��gia para a Igualdade entre Homens e Mulheres 2010-2015 que elencam a����es consideradas priorit��rias ��� igualdade na independ��ncia econ��mica; igualdade na remunera����o por trabalho igual e por trabalho de igual valor; igualdade na tomada de decis��es; promo����o da dignidade e a integridade, p��r fim �� viol��ncia de g��nero; e quest��es horizontais ��� pap��is desempenhados por Homens e Mulheres, legisla����o, governa����o e instrumentos no dom��nio da igualdade entre Homens e Mulheres, o objeto deste estudo centra-se na atividade do Estado Portugu��s, mais concretamente ao n��vel local. Procurou-se enquadrar esta tem��tica na Gest��o dos Recursos Humanos, na busca de um conhecimento mais aprofundado sobre a implementa����o de Boas Pr��ticas de Igualdade de G��nero e a sua rela����o nos dom��nios da Satisfa����o Laboral assim como no Clima Organizacional. O presente estudo exp��e uma abordagem quantitativa, de car��cter descritivo, explorat��rio, correlacional e preditivo. O tratamento estat��stico realizou-se com recurso ao programa IBM SPSS Statistics, vers��o 21. Os resultados encontrados apontam para uma associa����o positiva entre a exist��ncia de boas pr��ticas de igualdade de g��nero e a satisfa����o laboral dos trabalhadores, assim como do clima organizacional. S��o apresentadas pistas para a interven����o no dom��nio da fun����o da gest��o e desenvolvimento dos recursos humanos.

How to integrate stories and ICT in content-based units of work for English learning

The aim of this article is to show how it is possible to integrate stories and ICT in Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) for English as a foreign language (EFL) learning in bilingual schools. Two Units of Work are presented. One, for the second year of Primary, is based on a Science topic, ���Materials���. The story used is ���The three little pigs��� and the computer program ���JClic���. The other one is based on a Science and Arts topic for the sixth year of Primary, the story used is ���Charlotte���s Web��� and the computer program ���Atenex���.

Effects of team task structure on team climate for innovation and team outcomes

In this cross-sectional study we analyzed, whether team climate for innovation mediates the relationship between team task structure and innovative behavior, job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, and work stress. 310 employees in 20 work teams of an automotive company participated in this study. 10 teams had been changed from a restrictive to a more self-regulating team model by providing task variety, autonomy, team-specific goals, and feedback in order to increase team effectiveness. Data support the supposed causal chain, although only with respect to team innovative behavior all required effects were statistically significant. Longitudinal designs and larger samples are needed to prove the assumed causal relationships, but results indicate that implementing self-regulating teams might be an effective strategy for improving innovative behavior and thus team and company effectiveness.

Teamwork and Gendered Work Cultures: The Case of Finland

In this article I focus on women workers��� experiences of transformation from line work to teamworking in Finnish clothing companies in the 1990s and also show what happened after this transformation in the clothing branch. The undertone of it is rather melancholic. Following an initial period of intensive and successful development, clothing work was moved from Finland to countries of cheap labour, such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia, and even China. In this type of network manufacturing, the development of modern information and communication technologies played a central role. My aim is to present the standpoint of women clothing workers in this process. The main body of the empirical data of my study consists of dialogues with clothing workers, union representatives, supervisors and managers. I also make use of my fieldwork notes, memos and research diaries from three companies over a period of five years. Furthermore, in the background lie the action research material from Scandinavian type work conferences and the survey material of an extensive mail inquiry that covered the whole branch in Finland. My own research started in 1991 as a mail inquiry and then continued as a case study in companies from 1992 to 2000, by employing action research and ethnographic methodologies.

The First WORKS Conference on Transformation of Work in a Global Knowledge Economy

The relationship between the changes of the global economy and individual working conditions formed the background of the first WORKS conference ���The transformation of work in a global knowledge economy: towards a conceptual framework���, held in Chania, Greece from 21st ��� 22nd September, 2006 and attended by around 50 European researchers. Experts from academia and trade unions from all over the world were invited to give insights into their field of research, contributing to one of the main topics of the conference: (i) globalisation and organisational restructuring, (ii) workers��� organisation, the quality of working life and the gender dimension and (iii) global experiences and recommendations.

The recognition of work

The following article argues that recognition structures in work relations differ significantly in the sphere of paid work in contrast to unpaid work in private spheres. According to the systematic approach on recognition of Axel Honneth three different levels of recognition are identified: the interpersonal recognition, organisational recognition and societal recognition. Based on this framework it can be stated that recognition structures in the sphere of paid work and in private spheres differ very much. Whereas recognition in private spheres depends very much on personal relations, thus on the interpersonal level, recognition in employment relationships can be moreover built on organisational structures. Comparing recognition structures in both fields it becomes apparent, that recognition in field of employment can be characterised as much more concrete, comparable and measurable. Therefore, it can be concluded that the structural differences of recognition contribute to the high societal and individual importance of employment in contrast to unpaid work in private spheres.

Into a new phase of the research on restructuring of work in the knowledge society: the Third WORKS General Assembly in Sofia (Bulgaria)

The WORKS Project started two years ago (2005), involving the efforts of research institutes of 13 European countries with the main purpose of improving the understanding of the major changes in work in the knowledge-based society, taking account both of global forces and the regional diversity within Europe. This research meeting in Sofia (Bulgaria) aimed to present synthetically the massive amount of data collected in the case studies (occupational and organisational) and with the quantitative research during last year.

The globalisation in the clothing sector and its implications for work organisation: a view from the Portuguese case

The clothing sector in Portugal is still seen, in many aspects as a traditional sector with some average characteristics, such as: low level of qualifications, less flexible labour legislation and stronger unionisation, very low salaries and low capability of investment in innovation and new technology. Is, nevertheless, a very important sector in terms of labour market, with increased weight in the exporting structure. Globalisation and delocalisation are having a strong impact in the organisation of work and in occupational careers in the sector. With the pressure of global competitiveness in what concerns time and prices, very few companies are able to keep a position in the market without changes in organisation of work and workers. And those that can perform good responses to such challenges are achieving a better economical stability. The companies have found different ways to face this reality according to size, capital and position. We could find two main paths: one where companies outsource a part or the entire production to another territory (for example, several manufacturing tasks), close and/or dismissal the workers. Other path, where companies up skilled their capacities investing, for example, in design, workers training, conception and introduction of new or original products. This paper will present some results from the European project WORKS ��� Work organisation and restructuring in the knowledge society (6th Framework Programme), focusing the Portuguese case studies in several clothing companies in what concern implications of global context for the companies in general and for the workers in particular, in a comparative analysis with some other European countries.

International Conference on ���Foresight Studies on Work in the Knowledge Society��� in Monte de Caparica (FCT-UNL) on 19-20 October 2006

On 19 and 20 October 2006, the Research Centre on Enterprise and Work Organisation (IET) organised the first international conference on ���Foresight Studies on Work in the Knowledge Society���. It took place at the auditorium of the new Library of FCT-UNL and had the support of the research project ���CodeWork@VO��� (financed by FCT-MCTES and co-ordinated by INESC, Porto). The conference related to the European research project ���Work Organisation and Restructuring in the Knowledge Society��� (WORKS), which is financed by the European Commission. The main objective of the conference was to analyse and discuss research findings on the trends of work structures in the knowledge society, and to debate on new work organisation models and new forms of work supported by ICT.

Management Structure and Work Team Processes; Responsibilities and Responsiveness

This paper explores the management structure of the team-based organization. First it provides a theoretical model of structures and processes of work teams. The structure determines the team���s responsibilities in terms of authority and expertise about specific regulation tasks. The responsiveness of teams to these responsibilities are the processes of teamwork, in terms of three dimensions, indicating to what extent teams indeed use the space provided to them. The research question that this paper addresses is to what extent the position of responsibilities in the team-based organization affect team responsiveness. This is done by two hypotheses. First, the effect of the so-called proximity of regulation tasks is tested. It is expected that the responsibility for tasks positioned higher in the organization (i.e. further from the team) generally has a negative effect on team responsiveness, whereas tasks positioned lower in the organization (i.e. closer to the team) will have a positive effect on the way in which teams respond. Second, the relationship between the number of tasks for which the team is responsible with team responsiveness is tested. Theory suggests that teams being responsible for a larger number of tasks perform better, i.e. show higher responsiveness. These hypotheses are tested by a study of 109 production teams in the automotive industry. The results show that, as the theory predicts, increasing numbers of responsibilities have positive effects on team responsiveness. However, the delegation of expertise to teams seems to be the most important predictor of responsiveness. Also, not all regulation tasks show to have effects on team responsiveness. Most tasks do not show to have any significant effect at all. A number of tasks affects team responsiveness positively, when their responsibility is positioned lower in the organization, but also a number of tasks affects team responsiveness positively when located higher in the organization, i.e. further from the teams in the production. The results indicate that more attention can be paid to the distribution of responsibilities, in particular expertise, to teams. Indeed delegating more expertise improve team responsiveness, however some tasks might be located better at higher organizational levels, indicating that there are limitations to what responsibilities teams can handle.

Working in IT projects ��� Options and Limits of Work Design

Flexible forms of work like project work are gaining importance in industry and services. Looking at the research on project work, the vast majority of present literature is on project management, but increasingly, problems concerning the quality of work and the efficiency of project teams become visible. The question now is how project work can be structured in order to simultaneously provide efficient and flexible work and healthy working conditions ensuring the development of human resources for a long time. Selected results of publicly funded research into project work will be presented based on case studies in 7 software development /IT consulting project teams (N=34). A set of different methods was applied: interviews with management/project managers, group interviews on work constraints, a monthly diary about well-being and critical incidences in the course of the project, and a final evaluation questionnaire on project outcomes focusing on economic and health aspects. Findings reveal that different types of projects exist with varying degree of team members��� autonomy and influence on work structuring. An effect of self-regulation on mental strain could not be found. The results emphasize, that contradicting requirements and insufficient organizational resources with respect to the work requirements lead to an increased work intensity or work obstruction. These contradicting requirements are identified as main drivers for generating stress. Finally, employees with high values on stress for more than 2 months have significantly higher exhaustion rates than those with only one month peaks. Structuring project work and taking into account the dynamics of project work, there is a need for an active role of the project team in contract negotiation or the detailed definition of work ��� this is not only a question of individual autonomy but of negotiation the range of option for work structuring. Therefore, along with the sequential definition of the (software) product, the working conditions need to be re-defined.

Noise management at work

Every single day millions of European workers are exposed to noise at work. One in five of European���s workers have to raise his voice to be heard for at least half of the time that there are at work and 7% suffer from work-related hearing impairment. In Europe noise-induced hearing loss is the most common reported occupational disease. This paper deals with issues related with noise management at work, especially regarding the compliance with the new noise European Directive, (2003/10/EC).