Consolidating Program Accreditation Data for Regional Review

Regional accreditors often desire the same metrics and data collected by professional program reviews, but may use different terminologies to describe this information; as a result, some schools must manually translate or even recollect data already stored. This report profiles strategies to proactively consolidate the language and policies of accreditation to avoid duplication of labor and to efficiently route program accreditation data that will be repurposed in regional review. It also suggests ways to select new technologies that can streamline data collection, storage, and presentation.

Antecedentes à resistência à implantação de sistemas de informação: uma análise de sistemas de gestão eletrônica de documentos

O trabalho a seguir objetivou o desenvolvimento de um meta-modelo de análise para estudo do fenômeno da resistência durante a implementação de um sistema de gerenciamento eletrônico de documentos (GED). O estudo foi conduzido por meio de uma abordagem quantitativa e explanatória e buscou elencar os principais expoentes da literatura acadêmica no tema da resistência. A partir de suas concepções, os fatores mais relevantes no campo da resistência contextualizada a um sistema de gerenciamento eletrônico de documentos foram evidenciados. O meta-modelo gerado, o qual serviu de base para a análise estatística, identificou os seguintes antecedentes ao comportamento de resistência: características pessoais, sistemas e interação. Este, por sua vez, divide-se na interação poder e política e na interação sócio-técnica. A partir da identificação desses vetores e montagem do meta-modelo, foi elaborado um questionário de investigação, o qual foi distribuído via Internet. Foram colhidas 133 respostas de usuários que tivessem vivenciado pelo menos uma experiência de implantação de um sistema de gerenciamento eletrônico de documentos. Os dados foram então submetidos a tratamento estatístico na ferramenta SPSS por meio de análise fatorial e regressão linear múltipla. Os resultados obtidos permitiram identificar os fatores de maior influência no comportamento de resistência e confirmar/refutar as hipóteses originalmente propostas. O meta-modelo gerado também promoveu a discussão dos resultados com base na teoria utilizada, gerando novos insights para o entendimento do comportamento de resistência no contexto do GED.

Royalties minerais e capacidade de gestão em governos locais: um estudo em municípios mineradores de Minas Gerais

O presente estudo tem por objetivo realizar um diagnóstico da capacidade de gestão pública local dos municípios dependentes da atividade de extração mineral em Minas Gerais, a fim de avaliar seu nível de qualificação, identificar limitações ao fortalecimento institucional da gestão e investigar como a gestão municipal tem evoluído a partir do recebimento dos recursos da Compensação Financeira pela Exploração de Recursos Minerais (CFEM). A variável “capacidade de gestão” foi operacionalizada a partir da metodologia “Government Performance Project” (GPP), que propõe cinco dimensões de análise, a saber: gestão financeira, gestão de capital, gestão de pessoas, gestão de tecnologia da informação e gestão por resultados. Busca-se responder às seguintes questões: nas cidades mineiras dependentes economicamente da atividade de extração mineral, o poder público municipal demonstra capacidade de gestão adequada no desempenho de sua função? O recebimento dos recursos extras tem propiciado a melhoria da qualidade de gestão municipal? Para o desenvolvimento do estudo, realizou-se um estudo de casos múltiplos, tendo sido selecionados três municípios mineiros dependentes há vários anos da atividade de extração mineral: Mariana, Catas Altas e São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo. Foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas com técnicos, secretários municipais, prefeitos e cidadãos, buscando investigar a capacidade de gestão do poder público local nessas cidades. Embora os três municípios apresentem características comuns, como dependência da atividade mineral, proximidade territorial, contexto econômico e níveis de arrecadação elevados, nota-se que tais municípios representam três realidades diferentes, com níveis de desenvolvimento distintos. Foi possível identificar que os municípios estudados, sobretudo Catas Altas e São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo, adotam boas práticas na gestão municipal. O município de Mariana apresentou recentemente boas iniciativas de mudança na gestão, entretanto, as mudanças políticas têm impedido que estas sejam concretizadas. Além das dimensões de análise do GPP, foi possível identificar outros fatores relevantes para o fortalecimento institucional da gestão, tais como, planejamento, perfil do gestor e contexto político. Verificou-se ainda que os impactos da mineração não se restringem à cidade mineradora, mas também às cidades localizadas no entorno da mina.

Gestão do Conhecimento e o uso estratégico de Tecnologias de Informação: um estudo em Redes de Franquias no Estado do Rio Grande do Norte

This study discusses the use of information technologies for knowledge management in networks of franchises in the Rio Grande do Norte/Brazil, whose management and operation are complex activities, characterized by the geographic spread of their network unities, creating barriers to communication and information sharing between franchisors, franchisees and final customers. In view of this, the following hypotheses were formulated: the knowledge management can be a positive alternative for improving communication between units; and information technology can eliminate many problems related mainly to capture and share knowledge. In general, it aims to investigate, in qualitative and quantitative aspects, how information technology can support knowledge management in networks of franchises. Specifically purposes to register the existence of managerial practices related to knowledge management in enterprises at the franchising sector; to verify whether they have the technological resources with the potential to facilitate the sharing of information; to identify what are the technologies of information and communication used in the organizational environment; and suggest measures that will facilitate the process of organizational learning, using information technology and communication as tools. It concludes that knowledge management becomes a positive alternative, especially in strengthening of bonds of communication and sharing of knowledge between the franchises. In this regard, information technology must provide all the services of the corporation to facilitate communication between franchisor and franchisee, through a single and integrated system. However, they still show unsuitable for more sophisticated technology platforms

Desenvolvimento de um sistema de laudos histopatológicos baseado na plataforma microsoft .net 2.0

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

University students' assessment of entrepreneurial environments

Entrepreneurial intention is a primary step to create new venture in the entrepreneurial process. Environmental conditions are one of the main factors that are strengthening or weakening intention of prospective entrepreneur. Therefore, it is important to develop conducive environments for entrepreneurship to promote entrepreneurial intention. Moreover, the promoted entrepreneurial intention will raise the rate of new venture creation. This paper investigates the relationships between five key environments for entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention. The five entrepreneurial environments are: government policies and procedures, socioeconomic conditions, entrepreneurial and business skills, financial assistance, and non-financial assistance, respectively. Conjoint analysis was used to determine the significance of five environmental factors conducive to entrepreneurial intention. In this conjoint experiment, 1370 decisions were made by 137 university students. Significant relationships were found between all of these environmental factors and intention. Comparative importance of environmental factors was also calculated, along with sub-conjoint analyses based on characteristics of the sample.

The Impact of Green Supply Chain Practices on Supply Chain Performance

Supply Chain Management (SCM) has become a critical factor to sustain organization’s competitive advantages. In this regard, many firms and researchers have attempted to find out factors that affect either positively or negatively on SCM. Recently, Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) has been receiving the spotlight in many studies. Social and political concerns about the environment in Korea emerged in the early 1990s when Korean government established new environmental regulations in order to implement environmental management throughout the entire supply chain. The Korean government established national GSCM strategies. However, there has been minimal research on measuring GSCM performance among Korean enterprises. It is critical to conduct the research on the relationship between GSCM practices and supply chain performance among Korean firms. In this research, the relationship among Korean enterprises will be empirically tested. The supply chain performance measurement system includes three dimensions: resource, output, and flexibility.

Impacto dos modelos de referência e maturidade no gerenciamento de projetos: estudo exploratório em projetos de tecnologia da informação

Modelos de maturidade e modelos de referência em gerenciamento de projetos têm sido implantados de forma crescente na área de tecnologia da informação (TI). Este artigo tem por objetivo analisar o impacto do grau de maturidade organizacional em gerenciamento de projetos e o da adoção de modelos de referência no sucesso de projetos de TI. Foi adotada a abordagem de pesquisa quantitativa, com levantamento junto a 51 profissionais da área. Os resultados apontam para correlação positiva entre o grau de maturidade organizacional em gerenciamento de projetos e a satisfação das demandas dos stakeholders (principais interessados no projeto). Também foi constatada relação estatística positiva entre a adoção do PMBoK e o sucesso de projetos de TI, no que concerne ao atendimento dos requisitos e satisfação das demandas dos stakeholders.

Chief Audit Executives’ Evaluations of Whistle-Blowing Allegations

This study examines the effects of the source of whistle-blowing allegations and potential for allegations to trigger concerns about reputation threats on Chief Audit Executives’ handling of whistle-blowing allegations. The participants for this study, 79 Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) and deputy CAEs, evaluated whistle-blowing reports related to financial reporting malfeasance that were received from either an anonymous or a non-anonymous source. The whistle-blowing reports alleged that the wrongdoing resulted from either the exploitation of substantial weaknesses in internal controls (suggesting higher responsibility of the CAE and internal audit) or the circumvention of internal controls (suggesting lower responsibility of the CAE or internal audit). Findings indicate that CAEs believe anonymous whistle-blowing reports to be significantly less credible than non-anonymous reports. Although CAEs assessed lower credibility ratings for the reports alleging wrongdoing by the exploitation of substantial weaknesses in internal controls, they allocated more resources to investigating these allegations.

Power and Politics in Organizations

Aristotle made the observation that man is a political animal. Engineers often like to think they are above the fray when it comes to organizational politics, but most organizational theorists believe politics is a fundamental dynamic in any group. This paper examines the various ways that people use power within organizations to negotiate the political interactions in the work place.

HIV/AIDS policy for employers in religious communities

Surveys of national religious denominational offices and of churches in Texas were conducted to evaluate the prevalence of HIV/AIDS policies for members and employees, and to get feedback on a proposed HIV/AIDS policy. Most religious organizations in Texas do not have a HIV/AIDS policy for their employees. Analysis of the data from 77 church questionnaire surveys revealed only 17 (22.1%) policies in existence. From the current data, policies for employees were most prevalent among Catholic churches with 8 (47.1%) and Baptist churches with 7 (41.2%). Nine of the churches (52.9%) who had HIV/AIDS policies for their employees were categorized as having 2501-5000 members. In 1994 and 1995 the largest number of policies developed by churches totaled 8 (47.1%). The findings of this exploratory study in Texas were consistent with the survey of 7 national denominational offices which demonstrated that only the Lutheran church had a policy (14.3%). The literature is consistent with the finding that some churches have decided no separate HIV/AIDS policy is needed for employees. More than half of the employers reporting a HIV/AIDS related experience still feel they do not need a specific policy (CDC, 1992). The range of number of employees in churches varied widely from a high of 54.5% of churches with 15-50 employees to a low of 7.8% of churches with more than 100 employees. Seventy-one of the churches (92.2%) reported that they had no employees infected with HIV/AIDS, while 1 church (1.3%) reported having more than 1 employee infected with HIV/AIDS. This indicates that churches are reacting to incidence of the HIV/AIDS infection rather than preparing ahead. The results of this study clearly indicate the need to develop a comprehensive HIV/AIDS policy for employees in religious communities. Church employees must carefully consider all the issues in the workplace when adopting and implementing a HIV/AIDS policy. A comprehensive policy was developed and guidelines are suggested. ^

Cost-benefit analysis: The ``gold standard'' re-examined

The dissertation reviews the recommendations of the Panel on Cost Effectiveness in Health and Medicine (Panel) convened by the US Public Health Service in 1993 in four areas: aggregation of costs and benefits, methods of estimating resources used, definition of population impacted and perspective used in cost benefit analysis. Financial data from a clinical trial was used to test whether different approaches in each of the above four areas would change the net benefit resulting from a cost benefit analysis. Differences in aggregation of cost and benefit resulted in the same net benefit, but not the same cost/benefit ratios. Differences in resource use estimation methods, population subgroups definitions and perspectives all produced different net benefits. Difference in perspective resulted in different and often opposing decisions as to whether the proposed intervention from the clinical trial should be implemented. ^

Production Streamlining through Design, Implementation, and Analysis of Lean Manufacturing Methods

Through the correct implementation of lean manufacturing methods, a company can greatly improve their business. Over a period of three months at TTM Technologies, I utilized my knowledge to fix existing problems ans streamline production. In addition, other trouble areas in their production process were discovered and proper lean methods were used to address them. TTM Technologies saw many changed in the right direction over this time period.

A Student Manual for Venture Consulting

This manual is written to provide students taking the venture consulting class a better understanding of how to consult a small or medium sized business. It covers topics such as how to find a client, how to determine the business problem, how to collect data from customers as well as managers and employees, and how to come up with solution recommendations. By reading the manual, students will gain a better understanding of the consulting industry and will have a guide to help them through the project.