Information warfare : corporate attack and defence in a digital world

This text introduces the concepts of information warfare from a non-military, organizational perspective. It is designed to stimulate managers to develop policies, strategies, and tactics for the aggressive use and defence of their data and knowledge base. The book covers the full gambit of information warfare subjects from the direct attack on computer systems to the more subtle psychological technique of perception management. It provides the framework needed to build management strategies in this area. The topics covered include the basics of information warfare, corporate intelligence systems, the use of deception, security of systems, modes of attack, a methodology to develop defensive measures, plus specific issues associated with information warfare.

Politica empresarial e suas repercussões na gerencia de imagem de uma organização gerida pelo governo: o caso da Empresa Brasileira de Correios e Telegrafos (ECT)

Abordando a Política Empresarial como a disciplina mais diretamente ligada à direção geral da empresa, a dissertação apresenta um modelo de análise onde o Marketing é enfocado de forma inovadora. Analisa o papel do Estado como um dos componentes integrantes da Política Empresarial, introduz o leitor nos principais conceitos do "Modelo Strategor" criado pelo Centre HEC-ISA e aprofunda na formação e gerência da Imagem dentro de uma orientação estratégica mais ampla com ênfase nos aspectos mercadológicos. Diante desse quadro referencial, a Empresa Brasileira de Correios e Telégrafos (ECT) é analisada através de entrevistas e observações participativas com seus principais estrategistas relatando como nesse caso concreto a Política Empresarial afetou o gerenciamento da Imagem Corporativa.

Clima e cultura de segurança do paciente em uma maternidade escola: percepção dos profissionais de enfermagem em terapia intensiva

Since the publication of the report "To Err is Human" by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) , which estimated that between 44.000 to 98.000 Americans die annually as a result of errors in health care, patient safety spent gaining prominence, emerging studies assess the safety culture by measuring the safety climate. In this context, the aim of this study was to identify safety culture perceived by nursing professionals working in the intensive care unit of a maternity school in Natal/RN through the Security Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). This was a descriptive study, cross-sectional and quantitative approach undertaken in the Intensive Care Unit Maternal and Neonatal a maternity school in Natal/RN. The project was submitted to and approved by Brazil Platform Zip/UFRN under number 309 540 and CAAE 16489713.7.0000.5537. It was used to collect data two instruments: a questionnaire in order to collect socio-demographic data of the subjects and the Questionário Atitudes de Segurança , a cultural adaptation to Portuguese of the instrument of the World Health Organization titled Safety Attitudes Questionnaire - (SAQ ) Short Form 2006. The collected data were analyzed quantitatively by the organization in electronic databases in Microsoft Excel 2010 spreadsheet and exported to statistical software for free access to be coded, tabulated and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study included a total of 50 nurses, 31 and 19 of the NICU Maternal ICU, predominantly female, mean age 35 years, median time of 10 years training and working in maternity, mostly, less than 05 anos. As a result, two articles were produced. The first refers to the first two domains of the instrument entitled "climate of teamwork" and "climate security" . The scores of the two areas were slightly higher in Maternal ICU compared to the NICU, but no sector has reached the ideal minimum score of 75: in the first domain Maternal ICU had an average of 74.77, with medians of 75 and 100, while Neonatal ICU reached an average of 69.61 with median also 75 and 100, while the second field means were 69.35 and 66.01 for Maternal and Neonatal ICUs respectively, with a median of 100 in the two sectors. The second article relates to the field "Perception Management Unit and Hospital", which 9 assessed the perception of management units and motherhood by professionals. In general, the items of the domain in question also obtained scores below the ideal minimum: 63.68 to 51.02 and maternal ICU for neonatal, featuring a clear separation between the management and the professionals who work in direct care. These findings indicate a warning sign for the institution and point to the need to implement actions aimed at patient safety

O PAPEL DO GESTOR ESCOLAR NO PROCESSO DE QUALIFICAÇÃO PROFISSIONAL DOS ALUNOS NO ENSINO MÉDIO UM ESTUDO DE CASO EM UMA ESCOLA PÚBLICA ESTADUAL PAULISTA

A presente dissertação trata do papel da gestão escolar no Ensino Médio, no processo de qualificação profissional dos alunos em uma escola pública estadual na periferia do município de Osasco São Paulo. Observa-se que um novo modelo de gestão na educação é discutido nos últimos anos no Brasil. Os Governos Federais junto com o Ministério da Educação têm apresentado programas sociais com o objetivo de que o jovem brasileiro possa se profissionalizar e estar apto a enfrentar um mercado de trabalho competitivo. Entre os programas do Governo destaca-se o Prouni, (Programa de Universidade para todos), representa um programa do Ministério da Educação criado em 2004 com a finalidade de conceder bolsas de ensino integral e parcial em instituições privadas de ensino superior, em cursos de graduação, destinada a estudantes brasileiros que não tenham cursado o ensino superior. Essas bolsas são concedidas aos alunos que participaram do Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM). Em 2011, o Ministério da Educação criou o Programa Nacional de Acesso ao Ensino Técnico e Emprego (Pronatec) com o propósito de ampliar a oferta de cursos de educação profissional e tecnológica. Com esses e outros programas oferecidos pelo Governo pretende-se preparar os jovens para o mercado de trabalho. A pergunta norteadora deste estudo é: qual o papel do gestor escolar do Ensino Médio e suas ações visando a qualificação profissional do aluno? A pesquisa busca analisar a gestão escolar no Ensino Médio, tendo como foco o papel do gestor de uma escola pública no processo de escolha da qualificação profissional dos alunos do Ensino Médio. Para auxiliar o alcance desse objetivo, foram delimitados dois aspectos para estudo: a) analisar as ações e concepções políticas da gestão escolar pela percepção do corpo docente e de funcionários da escola; b) analisar as ações da gestão escolar visando à qualificação profissional por meio da visão de alunos em curso e de egressos. Trata-se de uma pesquisa que será qualitativa exploratória- descritiva. A pesquisa documental e as entrevistas semiestruturadas fazem parte da coleta de dados que irão subsidiar a análise final. A contribuição científica e social que se discute neste trabalho é a reflexão sobre a gestão da escola no Ensino Médio no processo de qualificação profissional dos alunos.

Stakeholder impact analysis of infrastructure project management in developing countries : a study of perception of project managers in state-owned engineering firms in Vietnam

Construction projects can involve a diverse range of stakeholders and the success of the project depends very much on fulfilling their needs and expectations. It is important, therefore, to identify and recognize project stakeholders and develop a rigorous stakeholder management process. However, limited research has investigated the impact of stakeholders on construction projects in developing countries. A stakeholder impact analysis (SIA), based on an approach developed by Olander (2007), was adopted to investigate the stakeholders' impact on state-owned civil engineering projects in Vietnam. This involved the analysis of a questionnaire survey of 57 project managers to determine the relative importance of different stakeholders. The results show the client to have the highest level of impact on the projects, followed by project managers and the senior management of state-owned engineering firms. The SIA also provides suggestions to project managers in developing and evaluating the stakeholder management process.

Hendra Virus and Horse Owners – Risk Perception and Management

Hendra virus is a highly pathogenic novel paramyxovirus causing sporadic fatal infection in horses and humans in Australia. Species of fruit-bats (genus Pteropus), commonly known as flying-foxes, are the natural host of the virus. We undertook a survey of horse owners in the states of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia to assess the level of adoption of recommended risk management strategies and to identify impediments to adoption. Survey questionnaires were completed by 1431 respondents from the target states, and from a spectrum of industry sectors. Hendra virus knowledge varied with sector, but was generally limited, with only 13% of respondents rating their level of knowledge as high or very high. The majority of respondents (63%) had seen their state’s Hendra virus information for horse owners, and a similar proportion found the information useful. Fifty-six percent of respondents thought it moderately, very or extremely likely that a Hendra virus case could occur in their area, yet only 37% said they would consider Hendra virus if their horse was sick. Only 13% of respondents stabled their horses overnight, although another 24% said it would be easy or very easy to do so, but hadn’t done so. Only 13% and 15% of respondents respectively had horse feed bins and water points under solid cover. Responses varied significantly with state, likely reflecting different Hendra virus history. The survey identified inconsistent awareness and/or adoption of available knowledge, confusion in relation to Hendra virus risk perception, with both over-and under-estimation of true risk, and lag in the uptake of recommended risk minimisation strategies, even when these were readily implementable. However, we also identified frustration and potential alienation by horse owners who found the recommended strategies impractical, onerous and prohibitively expensive. The insights gained from this survey have broader application to other complex risk-management scenarios.

The European Flood Alert System and the communication, perception, and use of ensemble predictions for operational flood risk management

Although ensemble prediction systems (EPS) are increasingly promoted as the scientific state-of-the-art for operational flood forecasting, the communication, perception, and use of the resulting alerts have received much less attention. Using a variety of qualitative research methods, including direct user feedback at training workshops, participant observation during site visits to 25 forecasting centres across Europe, and in-depth interviews with 69 forecasters, civil protection officials, and policy makers involved in operational flood risk management in 17 European countries, this article discusses the perception, communication, and use of European Flood Alert System (EFAS) alerts in operational flood management. In particular, this article describes how the design of EFAS alerts has evolved in response to user feedback and desires for a hydrographic-like way of visualizing EFAS outputs. It also documents a variety of forecaster perceptions about the value and skill of EFAS forecasts and the best way of using them to inform operational decision making. EFAS flood alerts were generally welcomed by flood forecasters as a sort of ‘pre-alert’ to spur greater internal vigilance. In most cases, however, they did not lead, by themselves, to further preparatory action or to earlier warnings to the public or emergency services. Their hesitancy to act in response to medium-term, probabilistic alerts highlights some wider institutional obstacles to the hopes in the research community that EPS will be readily embraced by operational forecasters and lead to immediate improvements in flood incident management. The EFAS experience offers lessons for other hydrological services seeking to implement EPS operationally for flood forecasting and warning. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Measuring student perception and actual usage of online learning management system

Online learning management systems are in use to facilitate the face to face learning process in many universities. There are many variables that shape and influence a student’s perception of an online learning management system. This study investigates whether there is a relationship between the perception of a student regarding the learning management system and their actual usage of such system. It is believed to help better understand the student usage of online learning management system. An online questionnaire was published on a course management system for a selected subject and the student participation was voluntary. Results indicate that no significant relationship between the perception students had about the learning management system and the actual use of the system. Interestingly, a significant relationship was found between having internet access away from university and the student perception about the system. Students who had internet access away from university had better perception about the learning management system even though there was no significant difference in the level of online learning management system usage between the groups.

Evaluation of the owner's perception in the use of homemade diets for the nutritional management of dogs

Many dog owners see homemade diets as a way of increasing the bond with their pets, even though they may not have the convenience of commercial diets. Modifications of ingredients, quality and proportion might change the nutritional composition of the diet, generating nutritional imbalances. The present study evaluated how dog owners use and adhere to homemade diets prescribed by veterinary nutritionists over an extended period of time. Forty-six owners of dogs fed a homemade diet for at least 6 months were selected for the present study. Owners were invited to answer questions by first reading all possible answers and then selecting the one that best indicated their opinion. The results were evaluated through descriptive statistics. Thirty-five owners (76·1 %) found that the diets are easy to prepare. Fourteen owners (30·4 %) admitted to modifying the diets, 40 % did not adequately control the amount of provided ingredients, 73·9 % did not use the recommended amounts of soyabean oil and salt, and 34·8 % did not correctly use the vitamin, mineral or amino acid supplements. Twenty-six owners (56·5 %) reported that their dogs refused to eat at least one food item. All of these alterations make the nutritional composition of the diets unpredictable and likely nutritionally imbalanced. Although homemade diets could be a useful tool for the nutritional management of dogs with certain diseases, not all owners are able to appropriately use this type of diet and adhere to it for an extended period of time and this limitation needs to be considered when recommending the use of homemade diets.

Assessing the passengers’ perception of implemented advanced management measures in bus service

The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the passenger?s perception of some attributes related to quality of bus services, and how this perception changes with the implementation of different measures. Surveys to passengers riding different bus lines were conducted in two scenarios: before the implementation of the measures and after the measures were implemented. The results of the passenger surveys were statistically analysed; then, an ordered logit model was used to analyse the differences between surveys thanks to the implemented measures. Finally, a factor analysis was done to identify the underlying unobserved factors (latent variables) that the respondents perceived