The art of being together: a social constructionist perspective on dialogic methods in the organizational context

The purpose of this project is to understand, under a social constructionist approach, what are the meanings that external facilitators and organizational members (sponsors) working with dialogic methods place on themselves and their work. Dialogic methods, with the objective of engaging groups in flows of conversations to envisage and co-create their own future, are growing fast within organizations as a means to achieve collective change. Sharing constructionist ideas about the possibility of multiple realities and language as constitutive of such realities, dialogue has turned into a promising way for transformation, especially in a macro context of constant change and increasing complexity, where traditional structures, relationships and forms of work are questioned. Research on the topic has mostly focused on specific methods or applications, with few attempts to study it in a broader sense. Also, despite the fact that dialogic methods work on the assumption that realities are socially constructed, few studies approach the topic from a social constructionist perspective, as a research methodology per se. Thus, while most existing research aims at explaining whether or how particular methods meet particular results, my intention is to explore the meanings sustaining these new forms of organizational practice. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 25 people working with dialogic methods: 11 facilitators and 14 sponsors, from 8 different organizations in Brazil. Firstly, the research findings indicate several contextual elements that seem to sustain the choices for dialogic methods. Within this context, there does not seem to be a clear or specific demand for dialogic methods, but a set of different motivations, objectives and focuses, bringing about several contrasts in the way participants name, describe and explain their experiences with such methods, including tensions on power relations, knowledge creation, identity and communication. Secondly, some central ideas or images were identified within such contrasts, pointing at both directions: dialogic methods as opportunities for the creation of new organizational realities (with images of a ‘door’ or a ‘flow’, for instance, which suggest that dialogic methods may open up the access to other perspectives and the creation of new realities); and dialogic methods as new instrumental mechanisms that seem to reproduce the traditional and non-dialogical forms of work and relationship. The individualistic tradition and its tendency for rational schematism - pointed out by social constructionist scholars as strong traditions in our Western Culture - could be observed in some participants’ accounts with the image of dialogic methods as a ‘gym’, for instance, in which dialogical – and idealized –‘abilities’ could be taught and trained, turning dialogue into a tool, rather than a means for transformation. As a conclusion, I discuss what the implications of such taken-for-granted assumptions may be, and offer some insights into dialogue (and dialogic methods) as ‘the art of being together’.

Gestão Social em Empreendimentos Econômicos Solidários: uma abordagem no Oeste Potiguar

The central research question was to search for data to ratify the theory and discourse of the so-called practitioners of economic solidarity, by defending the substantive rationality should guide the principles of economic solidary, designing the space economy incidental and not the primacy of relations in determining social as well, reflecting the predominance of dimensions of social management in administrative practices of ESS's. For both analyzed the theoretical dimensions of social management - sociopolitical, economic, organizational and environmental - manifested in organizational practices supportive of economic organization Potiguar West. For the success of the research realized the triangulation involving a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches. At first the research will use a quantitative approach, from the cluster analysis, to verify the behavior of the sample chosen for this study. In the second stage of the qualitative study was carried out focus group technique (FLICK, 2002) for further analysis of the dimensions of social management on organizational practices supportive of economic organization, related to the principles of Solidary Economy, established in a quantitative approach. In quantitative analysis, the socio-political dimension, it was clear that the more equity instruments of internal and external, from the purposeful living in public spaces, the best monetary results. Another point worth stressing concerns the economic dimension, with the practice reciprocity prevailing in market. Thus, the qualitative approach was possible to understand the processes of exchange of product or service. Rural enterprises surveyed in the allocation of the agro-ecological products have the following scale of priority, sequentially: self-consumption (domestic), market and exchange. The research leads to the fact that training and practices that enhance the socio-political dimension (knowledge, empowerment, sense of belonging) become the guiding principle for the strengthening of the social management in the context of other dimensions, leading to gains sociopolitical, economic, organizational and environmental. Despite the weaknesses found in the organizational dimension and environment, both in a quantitative as in qualitative, we determined that the practices of ESS's Potiguar West incorporate predominantly elements of social management and economic solidarity, with a preponderance of substantive rationality in the primacy of the instrumental. Finally, research has brought information that the participants of the ESS's do not give the money economy primacy in determining social relations, which in turn leads to the confirmation that, in practice the solidarity economy, prevailing the dominance of substantive rationality, as a guide for organizational practices

Responsabilidade social: visões e perspectivas de empresários do segmento industrial do Rio Grande do Norte

The theme Corporate Social Responsibility is relatively recent both in the academic field and in the business practice. Because of the lack of socialization of experiences and precision of concepts, there are gaps regarding the understanding of the subject and, also, how to conduct operations. This study just seeks to investigate such matter, focusing applications of social responsibility in business. It takes, as empirical field, winners of the PSQT - SESI Prize of Quality at Work in Rio Grande do Norte (2002-2007) in order to systematize the various approaches on the issue, aiming to reveal subjective visions and perspectives of the theme. It is characterized as a qualitative study, carried out by structured interview. The universe was composed by 15 companies. It was used analysis of content categorical as an axis for the interpretation of the information. Three approaches guided the analysis: Business Ethics, (normative); Business & Society (contractual); Social Issues Management (strategic). The findings are related in three ways: 1) reasons for the CSR practice; 2) the results obtained; 3) the means of CSR. It was found that the award participation occurs, mostly, linked to SESI invitations, so, as an articulated movement of industrial corporations in Brazil it occurs, also, because of the organizational commitment with the society and the possibility of internal and social growths and because of the importance attributed to the report as an instrument of consultancy. There are no indicators to check impacts of organizational interventions, in spite of the existence of planning for the actions. Social responsibility appears as a tool to reinforce the organizational image and to increase satisfaction of the employees. There is a tendency of large and medium firms to a contractual commitment while the small and the micros firms are on strategic or normative level. The analysis of the perspectives of social responsibility future revealed trends towards for strategic approach

Do encantamento dos números à realidade dos fatos: conciliação entre os balanços patrimonial e social da ALUNORTE

The social balance is turning into an instrument capable of identifying the Organizational Commitment socio-environmental. The objective of the Social Balance is to present the application of company resources on socio-environmental investments internally and externally. The research was developed based on the Balance Social and Sheet from Alumina North Brazil S / A, ALUNORTE, for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, with the purpose of describing the finding of the Balance Social and Sheet from ALUNORTE about social responsibility. To validate the proposal were doing comparisons between accounting and financial datas from Alunorte and Y.Yamada, in order to highlight what they say and indicators confirm the privileges of the first against second

O marketing e a atuação social das empresas: uma relação possível

The present work is about a study of multiple cases with exploratory and descriptiveperspective and qualitative emphasis. Its field of study is constituted by three local companieswith description of social performance, with emphasis in the personal interview with thecontrollers. Its main objective consists of understanding as it has occurred the marketingrelation with the enterprise social performance in the context of these companies located inthe State of the Rio Grande do Norte who carry out social investments. For this, it hassearched to analyze the types and characteristics of the developed social actions, to evaluatethe motivations and objectives of the accomplishment of social actions, to verify theimportance and influence of the social performance in the dynamics of the companies, toverify the level of specific knowledge and information in the areas of marketing and socialperformance in the companies and to evaluate the process of communication (promotion andspreading) of the social performance carried out by the companies. It has been verified thatthe company A directly associates it its social and ambient activities with differentiationbenefits, competitiveness, creation of value, loyalty, relationships, image, prestige,positioning of the company, sale and financial return, beyond benefits in the internal level asbigger motivation of its employees and retention of talents, not existing rejection to theinterlacement of the concepts related to the marketing and the social one. Already in companyB rejection in relating its practical social to the marketing, being observed after posteriorquestionings, that the relation of direct and indirect form exists and those divulgations of theseactions are carried out, contradicting the arguments of the controllers of that the actions wouldnot be carried out to generate media. In company C, it been verified rejection andcontradiction with relation to the concepts related to the marketing, alleging itself that theimage of the harnessed company to its social performance is not used in proper benefit,evidencing itself that this company divulges its action and is marketable benefited, even so isnot this the main objective of its social programs. It has concluded that the association ofthese two concepts is positive and favorable to the development of the businesses and thesocial actions of the companies, legitimizing them and benefiting the involved company,groups in the actions and the society that profits socially from the private social involvement in the social matters

A produção do mobiliário urbano nos espaços públicos :o desenho do mobiliário urbano nos projetos de reordenamento das orlas do Rio Grande do Norte

This work aims to analyze and evaluate the Urban furniture designed to public areas according to the Revitalization planning for Rio Grande do Norte coastland, defining visual relations among urban elements in the landscape of revitalized public urban areas with cultural, paisagistic and touristic values and the design process used for developing urban furniture to those areas, observing the incoming consequences use to that process in a specific urban context which alters use, functions, cultural images as well as social values attributed to each particular place. Environmental perceptions, legibility of local cultural references and their representation through the design of urban elements, act in a positive or negative manner over the inhabitants cognition process of some particular revitalized area, determining new use and attributions to those areas. Designs for coastal urban interventions try excessively to standardize technical media, construction materials and planning configurations, creating artificial sceneries that segregates users, imposing new structures and usage, generating, consequently, the so called non-places and burlesque regionalism. The research is divided into 4 chapters: 1) Theoretical support (Industrial design; Urban furniture; Public urban spaces; Urban image and environmental perception; Urban occupation and interventions in coastland areas); 2) Methodological procedures and data collection; 3) Analysis of Rio Grande do Norte coastal areas and their urban interventions; 4) Final considerations and Industrial Design contributions to the subject

Avaliação ecológico-econômica do manguezal de Macau/RN e a importância da aplicação de práticas preservacionistas pela indústria petrolífera local

This work presents the results of a survey in oil-producing region of the Macau City, northern coast of Rio Grande do Norte. All work was performed under the Project for Monitoring Environmental Change and the Influence of Hydrodynamic forcing on Morphology Beach Grass Fields, Serra Potiguar in Macau, with the support of the Laboratory of Geoprocessing, linked to PRH22 - Training Program in Geology Geophysics and Information Technology Oil and Gas - Department of Geology/CCET/UFRN and the Post-Graduation in Science and Engineering Oil/PPGCEP/UFRN. Within the economic-ecological context, this paper assesses the importance of mangrove ecosystem in the region of Macau and its surroundings as well as in the following investigative exploration of potential areas for projects involving reforestation and / or Environmental Restoration. At first it was confirmed the ecological potential of mangrove forests, with primary functions: (i) protection and stabilization of the shoreline, (ii) nursery of marine life, and (iii) source of organic matter to aquatic ecosystems, (iv) refuge of species, among others. In the second phase, using Landsat imagery and techniques of Digital Image Processing (DIP), I came across about 18,000 acres of land that can be worked on environmental projects, being inserted in the rules signed the Kyoto Protocol to the market carbon. The results also revealed a total area of 14,723.75 hectares of activity of shrimp production and salting that can be harnessed for the social, economic and environmental potential of the region, considering that over 60% of this area, ie, 8,800 acres, may be used in the planting of the genus Avicennia considered by the literature that the species best sequesters atmospheric carbon, reaching a mean value of 59.79 tons / ha of mangrove

O pedagogo como agente de transformação social para além dos muros escolares

This thesis concerns the problem about the pedagogue actuation in the social education into no scholars places. It search to understand the context and the social pedagogue role to his praxis and formation that enlarger the possibilities of the social educative practices into no scholars places. In this direction, we developed an investigation about the actuation of the pedagogues-educators in Natal city, in the 2007-2010 periods, into Municipal Secretary of the Labor and Social Assistance (SEMTAS). Considering that pedagogues are regularly attached in social educators profession as municipals public employees, we re the objective to evaluate their role into the social executed in the no scholars places, with the focus in the environmental dimensions of theirs work s places, pedagogical organization, institutional management and the professional formation. It privileged in this research the Specialized Reference Center of Social Assistance II (CREAS II), the Passages Houses I, II and III, the Social-Educative Measures in Open Environment Execution Program of Natal city (PENSEMA) and the Pitimbú Educational Center (CEDUC-Pitimbú). To realize this study it developed a research with qualitative nature by critic ethnography approach privileging those information collected with the social pedagogue-educators of the mentioned places. Through the methodological procedures adopted; beyond the bibliographical review we remarked the documental research, the semi-structured interview, the questionnaires-routes and the field observations. The analytical results revealed that the politics to the social education in Brazil historically came been dimensioned by the fight of social movements demanding the fundamental rights to the excluded people; that the SEMTAS politics of social education present a relative basic social protection to the excluded children and young people specially into law view; that the politics of social education in Natal city it s close of the logic of sanitarian attention about the disadvantaged groups; that the conceptual, methodological and formatives fragilities needs to the social pedagogues-educators praxis into non scholars places made difficult the operation capacity of a educative proposition anchored in a institutional action guided by the idea of emancipator education; that the SEMTAS take face several difficulties to developed a web assistance as preview in the reception proposition elaborated by the social pedagogues-educators. However in despite the tensions we remarked the value of this potentiality to the non scholar social education in her attempt to constitute herself in a legitimate space to the pedagogue professional actuation. In despite the obstacles to work and formation quotidian, across those non scholar spaces in the municipalities institutes to the social politics, it demonstrated personal sensibility and professional creativity in learning mediations and educative action to the children and younger derived from exclusion process and the social iniquities

A representação social de disciplinas didático-pedagógicas no contexto da formação inicial docente: um entremear de saberes

We seek, through this study, to analyze about social representation that the students of licentiate degree course of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte - IFRN - have about didactic-pedagogical subjects. We utilize the Social Representations Theory (MOSCOVICI, 2009; 2012; JODELET, 2001) as a theoretical and methodological contribution and as aim, we identify this social representation and understand how it is influenced by the formation of these undergraduates. So we developed the research under the seven undergraduate classroom courses offered by IFRN, namely: Biology, Spanish, Physics, Geography, Computer Science, Mathematics and Chemistry, covering units located both in the capital and in the countryside. While methodological approach we used the Procedure of Multiple Classification (PMC) - (ROAZZI, 1995), whose realization requires a set of words achieved through of Free Technique of Words Association - FTWA - (ABRIC, 1998). For this realization we have a total of one hundred twenty (120) participants, with thirty (30) in FTWA and other stage in the realization of free classification and directed that correspond to the MPR. Achieved the empirical data, we use the analysis of content (BARDIN, 2011; FRANCO, 2007) and multidimensional (ROAZZI, 1995) for the course of his interpretation. Finally, we identify the social representation of didactic and pedagogical subjects centered around the idea that it is through these subjects that can achieve the profile of "good professional" as one who gathers knowledge and attributes required for the full development of teaching involving capabilities it and characteristics that mark the sense of professionalism. Furthermore, we found that the anchoring social representation on the understanding that these disciplines "teach the teacher to be" in the image and its objectification of the "good teacher", ie, one that reaches through the training process and experiences, qualities that make it unique and able to carry full professional. Still see that the actions of the teacher trainer affects the way students perceive, assume and engage in the study of teaching and pedagogical subjects and it reflects significantly the social representation then created

A dimensão social do desenho: um estudo sobre as interações no processo de (re) construção imagética da criança no Ensino Fundamental

In the historical-cultural perspective, the drawing is processed by means of a shared and complex way, under diverse relations with the other and with the immersed signs of the culture. That is, something constituted by the social interactions and that can modify the structure of the psychological functions, therefore as socialized sign, propitiates the incorporation of the functions socially. In this way, the figuration carrier sensitive and established meanings historically disclosing the shared experiences and the ways of the subject to think and perceive the world. Such reflections gave shape to the main problem of this research: how to think over about the drawing at the school to incide in the reconstruction of the childs imaginative language? Under such perspective, this work deals with the interactions in the production process of the drawing of the children in a context of teach-Iearning of the elementary school having as goal to analyze the interactions established in the cIassroom in the process of production of the drawings; to propose situations of learnings that favor the advance graphical expression of the students; and to identify in the interactive games some relations between body expression and drawing. For its accomplishment, it was opted for the construction process based in the collaborative investigation by the fact to propitiate negotiations, sharing and confrontation of ideas, becoming possible a joint construction of the knowledge. For this research, the researcher and the collaborating teacher, as well as the involved children, become themselves into co-authors of the context studied. As locus of the research, it was chosen a first cycle class, with 30 students, from Municipal School Profª. Emília Ramos (Natal/RN - Brazil), whose election took in account the fact of this school to constitute in a promotional space of reflections and professional development of teachers in service and, at the same time, for presentinglimitations theoretic- methodological in the field of teaching for Arts. In the process of the research, it was perceived that the children with the support of the verbal language formulates meanings on the seen and imagined object, printing lines and forms that if overlap to the physiological aspects of the visual perception. That is, the drawing discloses a reality appraised, enriched for the picked up vision of the image, but the meanings established for the author, or observer who becomes it perceivable and identified. In the systemizing situations, it was observed that the teaching-Iearning process of the drawing, implies a co-construction between teachers and learners. And, moreover, the necessity to interlace emotion and cognition by means of plastic-corporal interactions that foment drawing experiences, whose process concurs for the imagenative reconstruct of the apprentices

Fonte de energia alternativa: um estudo sobre a percepção ambiental, social e econômica do biodiesel com docentes do Centro de Tecnologia do gás da cidade de Natal RN

Meaning fuel and renewal energy source s derivative additives, the term biodiesel exists in Brazil since 1980, when it was signed its first patent by Expedito Parente. Since then, its importance has grown gradually due to the worsening of the ambient problems, since its use has became a highly promising alternative to the pollution decrease, as in the carbon dioxide issue as with the smoke and sulfur oxide. In Brazil, it was created the National Program of Production, whose objective is to insert the new product in the country s energy matrix, strengthening the economy and creating new employment opportunities, being an important product to the national energetic independence, since Brazil still imports diesel to its domestic consumption. This study aims to identify the ambient, social and economic perception of the teachers from the Technology Center of Natal city (CTGÁS-RN) to the biodiesel. For that, it was used a questionnaire closed questions, organized in the likart scale, directed to the tree spheres of the research analysis, the biodiesel and its social, ambient and economic nuances, totaling 31 questionnaires full answered. In its objectives, the research was descriptive and in its approach it was qualitative. To the data analysis it was used statistical tools (Statistic software, 6.1 version and Microsoft Excel 2003). The research revealed the predominance of the ambient aspect in the sight of the teachers, followed by the social ones. The economic factors represent a minor percentage in the analysis when compared to other

Diagnóstico para implantação do sistema de gestão ambiental em postos revendedores de combustíveis no município de Paranamirim RN: um estudo de caso

natural resources that still enjoy, in the certainty that if we do not, could culminate at the end of that remains. The environmental contamination by fuels in the retail service of oil and biofuels, has been a subject of growing research in Brazil, due to the large pollution potential of this activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the importance of implementing the Environmental Management System (EMS) in fuel retail service stations in the city of Parnamirim-RN, but also describe the current situation the same as licensing and environmental characterization; identify existing barriers to implementation of EMS on the costs, technologies, knowledge, vision, present the potential benefits for the implementation of the EMS (social, economic and environmental), to identify the existence of plans for future action to implement the EMS , as a subsidy to promote the implementation of it. The methodology was developed through analysis of documents provided by the environmental agency responsible for licensing of retail service stations and fuel pala ANP. For data collection, we used the questionnaire was applied directly to managers or managers of sub-stations. Data were collected in 12 of 30 posts in the municipality. For purposes of data treatment was performed a descriptive analysis with respect to the opinion of twelve managers (respondents). The data acquired, according to the Likert scale were tabulated and analyzed using software SPSS 17.0 and Excel 2003, it was generated tables and graphs to observe the behavior of the data. The results showed that most respondents have a schooling level higher (58.3%) of the jobs surveyed 50% work on average 6 to 10 years and 41.6% are in operation for over 11 years , 75.0% do not have a license to operate and 12 stations, 58.3% were sued for not having a license to operate and are therefore in full commercial activity, 83% of jobs have some practice environmentally responsible, 75% agree in making planning future action to implement 8 the EMS in their ventures, 70% in full agreement that the high cost is a form of impediment to implementation of EMS; 66.67% agreed that resistance to change is an impediment to implementation of EMS; 90.91% agreed that the implementation of EMS is very complex, 80% of respondents agreed in a very significant environmental legislation is also a key factor preventing the implementation of EMS is noteworthy that 100% of respondents agreed that the knowledge about the use of the EMS will help to solve environmental problems in the fuel retail service stations, the implementation of the EMS will benefit with increased efficiency of resources applied to the findings by the agreement of 91.66% of respondents, where only 8, 33% disagreed, there was also a percentage of 100%, agreed that the company's image will be a great benefit, but also a contribution to solving environmental problems in the fuel retail service stations. Thus, the importance of the implementation of EMS in the fuel retail service stations in the city of Parnamirim-RN, with an urgent need to be deployed. And the bodies responsible for policy on state-run and supervise more tightly and action, this type of activity, in order to regulate the sustainable functioning of retail service stations of fuel, thus promoting a better quality of life for the population of the municipality of natal-RN

A influência da responsabilidade social empresarial na satisfação e fidelidade do cliente : um estudo com compradores de automóveis

This study presents an investigation of the influence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in customer s satisfaction and loyalty through a study with car s buyers, besides that, it aims to contribute to conceptual models of satisfaction and loyalty analysis by applying the model of Johnson et al. (2001), adapted for the introduction of variables of CSR and conscious consumption, in a car dealership in Natal / RN. The methodology has a descriptive quantitative approach and for the analysis results were applied statistical methods of simple and multiple linear regression analysis, descriptive analysis and exploratory analysis. The field research provided 90 valid forms. The results show that CSR affects the image of the company studied and is also one of the elements of the compound of satisfaction and loyalty. This study concludes that CSR should be considered in the strategic and marketing actions of firms