OMNIWORKS: Omnidirectional vision for human-UAV co-working

The OMNIWORKS project objective is to develop an autonomous and modular aerial inspection system for an off-shore meteorological mast up to 90m in length. The UAV was equipped with an omni-directional camera and vertical take-off/landing capabilities that should be simple enough to operate as to not need the interventions of a professional pilot under challenging situations. Therefore the tests included different aspects used to evaluate both the technical performance of the UAV behavior as well as the operators? point of view.

Robots and humans as co-workers? The human-centred perspective of work with autonomous systems

The design of work organisation systems with automated equipment is facing new challenges and the emergence of new concepts. The social aspects that are related with new concepts on the complex work environments (CWE) are becoming more relevant for that design. The work with autonomous systems implies options in the design of workplaces. Especially that happens in such complex environments. The concepts of “agents”, “co-working” or “human-centred technical systems” reveal new dimensions related to human-computer interaction (HCI). With an increase in the number and complexity of those human-technology interfaces, the capacities of human intervention can become limited, originating further problems. The case of robotics is used to exemplify the issues related with automation in working environments and the emergence of new HCI approaches that would include social implications. We conclude that studies on technology assessment of industrial robotics and autonomous agents on manufacturing environment should also focus on the human involvement strategies in organisations. A needed participatory strategy implies a new approach to workplaces design. This means that the research focus must be on the relation between technology and social dimensions not as separate entities, but integrated in the design of an interaction system.

The curious absence of inter-municipal co-operation in England

In Europe local authorities often work with their neighbouring municipalities, whether to address a specific task or goal or through the course of regular policy making and implementation. In England, however, inter-municipal co-operation (IMC) is less common. Councils may work with service providers from the private and non-profit sectors but less often with neighbouring local authorities. Why this is the case may be explained by a number of historical and policy factors that often encourage councils to compete, rather than to work collaboratively with each other. The present government has encouraged councils to work in partnership with other organizations but there are few examples of increased horizontal cooperation between local authorities. Instead the prevailing model remains fixed on vertical co-working predicated on a principal-agent relationship between higher and lower tiers of government.

A method to analyse the alignment of core values in collaborative networked organisations

Since collaborative networked organisations are usually formed by independent and heterogeneous entities, it is natural that each member holds his own set of values, and that conflicts among partners might emerge because of some misalignment of values. In contrast, it is often stated in literature that the alignment between the value systems of members involved in collaborative processes is a prerequisite for successful co-working. As a result, the issue of core value alignment in collaborative networks started to attract attention. However, methods to analyse such alignment are lacking mainly because the concept of 'alignment' in this context is still ill defined and shows a multifaceted nature. As a contribution to the area, this article introduces an approach based on causal models and graph theory for the analysis of core value alignment in collaborative networks. The potential application of the approach is then discussed in the virtual organisations' breeding environment context.

Eurooppalainen näkökulma suomalaiseen kulttuurijohtamiseen ja suomalaiseen yhteiskuntaan sopeutuminen

Tässä tutkielmassa korostuu Euroopan sisäinen kulttuurillinen erilaisuus ja sen vaatimukset Suomessa toimiville monikansallisille organisaatioille. Eurooppalaista johtamista on tutkittu jo vuosikymmenten ajan, mutta erityisesti suomalaisesta, Suomessa työskentelevien eurooppalaisten näkökulmasta ei vastaavaa tutkimusta tiettävästi ole aiemmin tehty. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää suomalaisen kulttuurin ja johtajuuden arvoeroja muiden Euroopan Unionin maiden kansalaisten näkökulmasta. Pohjois-Euroopan maista tutkimuksessa on mukana edustajia Ruotsista, Tanskasta ja Hollannista. Keski-Euroopan maista edustusta löytyy Saksasta ja Itävallasta, kun Etelä-Eurooppaa edustavat ranskalaiset ja italialaiset henkilöt. Itäisestä Euroopasta mukana on latvialaisia henkilöitä ja anglo-Euroopasta britannialaisia. Tutkimus kartoittaa tutkimukseen mukaan otettujen maiden yhteisö- ja johtamiskulttuurillisia törmäyskohtia suomalaisen kulttuurin kanssa, jotta Suomessa toimivat monikansalliset työyhteisöt löytäisivät yhä parempia strategioita eurooppalaisen ihmispääoman, eurooppalaisten työntekijöiden ja näiden osaamisen, johtamiseksi ja monikansallisen yhteisön toimivuuden ymmärtämiseksi ja parantamiseksi. Näitä törmäyskohtia tarkastellaan empiirisesti Hofsteden (1984) kulttuuridimensioiden, Housen ym. (1999) GLOBE-tutkimuksen ja Koopmanin ym. (1999) johtajuusulottuvuuksien avulla. Tutkimusaineisto koostuu Internet-pohjaisesta kyselystä, joka suoritettiin keväällä 2010. Siihen osallistui 75 Suomessa työskentelevää Euroopan Unionin kansalaista. Analysointimenetelmänä tutkimuksessa käytetään klusterointia, keskiarvoistuksia, Kruskall Wallisin testiä ja sisällönanalyysiä tukemaan määrällisen analyysin tuloksia ja tuomaan esiin siitä poikkeavia havaintoja. Tutkimuksen ytimessä on johtamiskulttuurilliset erot, joista tehdään laajempaa analyysiä edellä mainituin keinoin. Yhteisökulttuurillisia eroja havainnoidaan tutkimuskyselyyn perustuvien väittämien perusteella tehtyjen histogrammien avulla. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että maantieteellinen, uskonnollinen tai poliittinen läheisyys eivät määritä kulttuurillista läheisyyttä tai johda kulttuurilliseen sopeutumiseen. Poliittinen raja kahden naapurin välillä saattaa johtaa saman asian kokemiseen kahdella täysin eri tavalla. Lisäksi tuloksista käy ilmi, että yhteisökulttuurilliset ja johtamiskulttuurilliset arvot eivät välttämättä kulje käsikkäin Suomessa työskentelevien eurooppalaisten näkökulmasta. Yleisinä kulttuurillisina kipukohtina tutkimuksessa nousee esiin suomalaisen kulttuurin sosiaalisuuden ja kommunikaation puutteellisuus, toisaalta suomalaiseen kulttuuriin sopeutumista helpottaa suomalainen rehellisyys ja suoruus. Johtamiskulttuurillisina haasteina eurooppalaiset kokevat suomalaisen tyyppijohtajan kyvyttömyyden riskien ottamiseen ja kannustusmenetelmien puutteet. Tämän lisäksi tutkimuksessa tulee ilmi useita tiettyihin kansallisuuksiin liittyviä törmäyskohtia. Tutkimus on nähtävä tämän hetken kuvauksena. Kulttuuritutkimus sisältää monia tekijöitä, jotka ovat jatkuvassa muutoksessa ja lisäksi hyvin subjektiivisia. Kulttuurijohtajuus merkitsee kuitenkin nyt ja tulevaisuudessa kykyä olla innovatiivinen, joustava ja herkkä sosiaalisille merkityksille.

As práticas que sustentam o trabalho colaborativo em espaços de coworking e o papel das tecnologias de informação e comunicação: estudo de caso da Goma

A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo explorar o papel das tecnologias da informação e comunicação (TIC) em espaços de coworking. Para tanto, adotou-se como foco central a investigação das práticas de trabalho colaborativo, como uma das manifestações deste tipo de ambiente. Como coworking entende-se o fenômeno social que reúne profissionais independentes e aqueles com local de trabalho flexível que trabalham melhor em conjunto do que sozinhos, definição sustentada pela própria comunidade, como se demonstra neste trabalho. Espaços de coworking, de acordo com o que estabeleceram, são ambientes relacionados com construção de comunidade e sustentabilidade, nos quais os participantes concordam em defender os valores estabelecidos pelos fundadores do movimento, bem como interagir e compartilhar uns com os outros. A literatura sobre o tema, sobretudo no campo de Sistemas de Informação (SI), é ainda incipiente e expõe um tema de estudo ainda em construção. Quando o termo coworking surgiu, no fim dos anos 1990, ainda designava uma nova forma de realizar o trabalho, com o apoio das TIC dentro das organizações tradicionais. Os estudos realizados em campo acusam um amadurecimento desse conceito, que se distingue entre uma nova forma de realizar o trabalho, a partir do co-working - mais ligada à prática da colaboração em um ambiente de trabalho tradicional -, e um novo modelo de trabalho, com a emergência dos espaços de coworking. O presente trabalho busca contribuir com esse novo campo de estudo, desenvolvendo uma pesquisa qualitativa de caráter exploratório com um estudo de caso realizado na Goma, que se identifica como uma associação de empreendedores. Os dados encontrados em campo - a partir dos métodos da observação, entrevista semiestruturada e análise documental - expuseram um espaço em que as práticas de trabalho colaborativo ultrapassam o âmbito empresarial. Ao ser um espaço cogerido pelos seus membros, os quais são, todos, donos da associação, eles a transformam em um ambiente dinâmico de cocriação e aprendizado. Nesse espaço, que também é um coworking, as TIC apresentam-se como recursos estruturantes que ajudam tanto na organização do grupo quanto na realização dos seus trabalhos em conjunto.

Marine Park Espacio de Innovación Marina

[ES] Marinepark es un espacio de co-working para empresas del sector marino; un lugar en el que tratar de concentrar empresas que trabajen en tópicos relacionados con el medio marino y afines, tratando de contribuir de esa manera a la creación de colaboraciones directas, a incrementar la visibilidad de las empresas del sector, etc.

Ensino colaborativo e educação física: contribuições à inclusão escolar

In Brazil, special education public is a challenge to all teachers, especially to Physical Education ones. Among others, it encompasses students with disabilities, students with intellectual giftedness, and students with pervasive developmental disorder. Besides posing challenges, the inclusion process causes worry and generates debates on problems that impede the full partaking of such pupils in schooling practices related to physical education. This thesis presents a research that focused on these matters by means of co-working involving the researcher and the Physical Education teacher in regular classrooms following co-teaching perspective. The starting point of the research is the following question: what contributions co-working involving Physical Education teacher and researcher may provide to people with disabilities and to Physical Education teacher in regular schools attended by students who are the special education’s target? The research aimed at discussing and analyzing the development of such co-working activity involving the researcher and Physical Education teacher. It followed co-teaching perspective and was put into practice in a public school in Uberlândia, state of Minas Gerais. Participant qualitative approach, which recognizes relations between social sciences and intervention in social reality, was the methodological choice to develop the research in three phases: 1) making the research; 2) intervening in social reality; 3) assessing/diagnosing it. Strategies to gather data included semi structured interview, questionnaire, participant observation, and group interview. Data come, above all, from oral accounts as well as from the work by the group of participants of the research, which means, researcher, Physical Education teacher who works at regular schools and three teachers who deal with AEE (Atendimento Educacional Especial), a special educational teaching program. The concept of inclusion is discussed accordingly to authors such as Miranda (2001), Mantoan (2001), Duarte and Santos (2003), Mittler (2003), Rodrigues (2006), and Bueno (2008). The conception of co-working is developed in the light of studies by Capellini (2004) and Mendes (2009), among others. Results point out not only initial conditions of anguish, doubts and hardships, but also a will to debate difficulties Physical Education teachers face in their daily pedagogical activities at school. Likewise, results showed that teachers who took part in the research are interested in continuing their training in connection with co-teaching as strategy to teach physical education at inclusive schools.

Paisajes mixtos

[ES]Proyecto co-working en el zócalo del risco de San Juan en el que destaca la estructura metálica y las cerchas que la conforman. Está compuesto por una parte social de servicio de comedor, cafetería y adminitración y otra parte de co-working con aulas polivalentes, aulas taller, salas de estudio y zonas de esparcimiento y descanso. 

Cuenta con una planta soterrada de aparcamiento. 

Behavioral Norms in Virtual Organizations

Part 2: Behaviour and Coordination

Study on the valorization routes of ashes from thermoelectric power plants working under mono-and co-combustion regimes

Thesis submitted to obtain the Doctoral degree in Energy and Bioenergy

Working of Women’s Industrial Co-operative Societies in Kerala

This study deals with the working of Women’s Industrial Co-operative Societies (WICS) in Kerala. The formation of women’s co-operatives was identified as a lucrative enterprise and a feasible proposition for empowerment of women through encouraging and ensuring their active participation in the process of social and economic development. The problem of unemployment of Women and poverty in India can be tackled effectively only through suitable and appropriate self-employment schemes. WICS help to supplement the income of families and thus raise the standard of living. WICS in Kerala have a significant role in the elimination of industrial backwardness and mounting employment. This study focuses its attention on the performance aspects of WICS. It also gives an introduction to the co-operative movement and review of literature on industrial co-operatives in general and women’s industrial co-operatives in particular.