Abusive supervision and contextual performance:The mediating role of emotional exhaustion and the moderating role of work unit structure

This study examined the processes linking abusive supervision to employee contextual performance by focusing on the mediating influence of emotional exhaustion and the moderating influence of work unit structure. Data were obtained from 285 subordinate-supervisor dyads from three manufacturing companies in north-eastern China. The results revealed that: (i) emotional exhaustion mediated the relationships between abusive supervision and the contextual performance dimensions of interpersonal facilitation and job dedication; and (ii) work unit structure moderated these relationships such that the relationships were stronger in mechanistic than in organic work unit structures. © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Estudio de clasificación de los proyectos informáticos y del establecimiento de su estructura de descomposición del trabajo (EDT)

L'objectiu d'aquest treball és establir un criteri de classificació dels projectes informàtics, trobar-ne els diferents tipus i desenvolupar les estructures de descomposició del treball (EDT) per a cada tipus. Aquest criteri s'orientarà a fixar les màximes diferències entre tipus. Una vegada se'ls hagi localitzat, s'establiran les EDT corresponents a cada tipus, centrant el desenvolupament de cada estructura a reflectir les diferències entre les distintes descomposicions.

Classificació dels projectes informàtics i les EDT's

Aquest projecte tracta de recopilar tots els conceptes, criteris i característiques que es poden aplicar a un projecte amb l'ànim de que els lliuraments de projectes siguin fidels i es corresponguin amb la pràctica i realitat del servei o producte que es desitgi desenvolupar. Per garantir l'èxit ens centrarem en el disseny, planificació i visualització dels projectes fent ús de les WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) o EDT (Estructura del treball). Aquesta tècnica permet a l'equip de projecte exposar esquemàticament quin és el seu abast i socialitzar-les entre els diversos actors o persones involucrades de manera clara i esquematitzada.

Puulevyteollisuuden laitteiden toimitusprojektien hallinta

Työn tavoitteena oli antaa suosituksia jatkotoimenpiteistä projektihallinnan parantamiseksi. Työssä perehdyttiin projektien organisoinnista ja projektihallinnan menetelmistä sekä työkaluista kirjoitettuun kirjallisuuteen. Tämän jälkeen tarkasteltiin projektihallinnan toteutusta käytännössä, tutustumalla yrityksen projektihallinnan ohjeistukseen ja benchmarkkaamalla kolmea projektiyritystä. Projektihallinnan ongelmia kartoitettiin myös haastattelemalla projektitoimintaan osallistuvaa henkilöstöä.Yhtä oikeaa projektihallinnan toteutustapaa ei ole, vaan se riippuu yrityksen toimintaympäristöstä ja kulttuurista. Tärkeintä on luoda aluksi suotuisat olosuhteet projektiryhmien toiminnalle, jonka jälkeen voidaan kehittää projektihallinnan osaamisalueita. Kehitettävää näyttää olevan niin projektien organisoinnissa kuin myös projektihallinnan osaamisalueissa.Projektihallinnan parantamiseksi suositellaan ensiksi projektien organisoinnin tarkistamista. Tämän jälkeen on syytä vaiheistaa uudelleen projektin toteutus, tarkistaa vaadittavat myyntisopimuksen antamat lähtötiedot ja luoda menetelmät tarjous- ja toteutusvaiheen riskien- ja muutostenhallinnalle. Projektin toteutusvaiheen ositusta suositellaan tulevaisuudessa muutettavaksi enemmän projektihallintaa palvelevaksi. Uuden ositusmenetelmän avulla voidaan luoda uusia työkaluja aikataulutukseen, resurssienhallintaan ja kustannushallintaan.

EPC-projektin hallinta ja johtaminen

Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena oli tutkia erään projektiliiketoimintaa harjoittavan yrityksen toimintajärjestelmää. Työn lähtökohtana oli yrityksen toimittamien projektien laajuuden nopea kasvu lähivuosien aikana. Työssä tutkittiin yrityksen nykyistä toimintajärjestelmää ja sen ohjeistusta nimen omaan EPC (engineering procurement construction) projekteissa. Toimintajärjestelmän ohjeistusta tutkittiin yrityksessä tehdyillä henkilöhaastatteluilla sekä vertaamalla olemassa olevia ohjeita ja kuvauksia projektin hallinnan ja johtamisen teorioihin. Teoriat, joihin yrityksen toimintajärjestelmää työssä verrattiin olivat Project Management Institute:n, Project Management Body of Knowledge ja International standard ISO 10006, Quality Management guidelines to quality in project management. Työn teoriaosassa käsiteltiin projektin hallintaa ja johtamista, projektin eri vaiheita, projektin organisointia ja ositusta sekä projektikulttuuria. Työn tuloksena luotiin käsitys siitä, mitä osaprosesseja EPC-projektin hallintaan ja johtamiseen kohdeyrityksessä liittyy. Prosesseja tutkimalla muodostettiin käsitys yrityksen toimintajärjestelmän ohjeistuksen tasosta ja esitettiin tältä pohjalta mahdollisuuksia toimintajärjestelmän kehittämiseksi. Yhtenä työn keskeisimmistä tuloksista esitettiin EPC-projektin projektikuvaus.

Development of Cost Estimation with Feedback Information in EPCM Business

Target company of this study is a large machinery company, which is, inter alia, engaged in energy and pulp engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) supply business. The main objective of this study was to develop cost estimation of the target company by providing more accurate, reliable and up-to-date information through enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Another objective was to find cost-effective methods to collect total cost of ownership information to support more informed supplier selection decision making. This study is primarily action-oriented, but also constructive, and it can be divided in two sections: theoretical literature review and empirical study on the abovementioned part of the target company’s business. Development of information collection is, in addition to literature review, based on nearly 30 qualitative interviews of employees at various organizational units, functions and levels at the target company. At the core of development was to make initial data more accurate, reliable and available, a necessary prerequisite for informed use of the information. Certain development suggestions and paths were presented in order to regain confidence in ERP system as information source by reorganizing work breakdown structure and by complementing mere cost information with quantitative, technical and scope information. Several methods to use the information ever more effectively were also discussed. While implementation of the development suggestions outreached the scope of this study, it was forwarded in test environment and interest groups.

Project Charter, Scope, and Time Management In the Movie Industry

This thesis explores how the project charter development, project scope management, and project time management are executed in a Finnish movie production. The deviations and analogies between a case movie production and best practices suggested in PMBOK are presented. Empirical material from the case is gathered with two semi-structured interviews with a producer and a line producer. The interview data is categorized according to PMBOK knowledge areas. The analysis is complemented with movie industry specific norms found in popular movie production guides. The described and observed methods are linked together and the relationship between them is discussed. The project charter development, which is referred as a green light process in the movie industry, is mostly analogous between all areas. The deviations are in the level of formality. The green lighting in the case movie was accomplished without bureaucratic reports described in movie production guides. The empirical material shows that project management conventions and movie industry employ similar methods especially in scope management. Project management practices introduce a work breakdown structure (WBS) method, and movie production accomplishes the same task by developing a shooting script. Time management of the case movie deviates on most parts from the methods suggested in PMBOK. The major deviation is resource management. PMBOK suggests creating a resource breakdown structure. The case movie production accomplished this through budgeting process. Furthermore the popular movie production guides also disregard resource management as sovereign process. However the activity listing is quite analogous between the case movie and PMBOK. The final key observation is that although there is a broad set of effective and detailed movie industry specific methods, a comprehensive methodology that would cover the whole production process, such as Prince2 or Scrum, seems to be missing from the movie industry.

Project charter, scope, and time management in the movie industry

This thesis explores how the project charter development, project scope management, and project time management are executed in a Finnish movie production. The deviations and analogies between a case movie production and best practices suggested in PMBOK are presented. Empirical material from the case is gathered with two semi-structured interviews with a producer and a line producer. The interview data is categorized according to PMBOK knowledge areas. The analysis is complemented with movie industry specific norms found in popular movie production guides. The described and observed methods are linked together and the relationship between them is discussed. The project charter development, which is referred as a green light process in the movie industry, is mostly analogous between all areas. The deviations are in the level of formality. The green lighting in the case movie was accomplished without bureaucratic reports described in movie production guides. The empirical material shows that project management conventions and movie industry employ similar methods especially in scope management. Project management practices introduce a work breakdown structure (WBS) method, and movie production accomplishes the same task by developing a shooting script. Time management of the case movie deviates on most parts from the methods suggested in PMBOK. The major deviation is resource management. PMBOK suggests creating a resource breakdown structure. The case movie production accomplished this through budgeting process. Furthermore the popular movie production guides also disregard resource management as sovereign process. However the activity listing is quite analogous between the case movie and PMBOK. The final key observation is that although there is a broad set of effective and detailed movie industry specific methods, a comprehensive methodology that would cover the whole production process, such as Prince2 or Scrum, seems to be missing from the movie industry.

Työn osituksen kehittäminen kustannusten kirjaamisen ja seurannan tarkentamiseksi projekteissa

Työn päätavoite on selvittää kohdeyrityksen projektien tehtävien jakoon ja työn jäsentämiseen käytettävän työn osituksen rakenteen ongelmat projektikustannusten kirjaamisessa. Tämän lisäksi tavoitellaan kustannusläpi-näkyvyyden kasvua, mittaamisen helpottumista ja kustannusarvioinnin tarkentumista antamalla kehitys-ehdotuksia rakenteen tarkentamiseksi ja yksinkertaistamiseksi. Työ on laadullista ja toiminnallista tapaus-tutkimusta. Teoriaosuuden aineistona on tieteellisiä artikkeleita, kirjoja, lehtiä ja muita aiheeseen liittyviä julkaisuja. Empiirinen osa koostuu yrityksen sisäisistä haastatteluista sekä esikuva-analyysihaastatteluista. Kehitysehdotusten analysointiin ja valintaan käytetään GAP–analyysiä ja toteutettavuustarkastelua. Työn keskeisimpänä tuloksena on neljä kehitysehdotusta, jotka pohjautuvat teorioiden suosituksiin työn osituksen rakenteen sisällöstä. Tällä työllä pyritään myös tuomaan esille kehitystarvetta yrityksessä ja antamaan suunta sekä alkusysäys kehitysprosessille kohti toimivampaa projektien kustannusseurantaa.

Diseño de una red que permita la comunicación del Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses. Prueba piloto Bogotá - Medellín

El presente proyecto presenta una alternativa para diseñar la infraestructuratecnológica de redes y seguridad informática a nivel nacional que le permita alInstituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses garantizar la seguridadde transmisión de datos y oportunidad de la informaci

Metodología para la gestión de proyectos de tecnología informática en la empresa privada

Son muchos los fatores que hacen que un proyecto falle, tales como la falta de una visión clara del proyecto, el alcance mal definido, las expectativas no realistas, la falta de soporte a nivel ejecutivo, presupuestos incompletos, falta de recursos y por último el uso de metodologías no estructuradas. El propósito de ésta tesis es investigar y analizar las metodologías más utilizadas en el manejo de proyectos de tecnología informática, con el objeto de obtener una guia de utilización de una metodología que permita a las Empresas reducir costos, optimizar el uso de recursos y asegurar la calidad de la información a su vez que proporciona un conjunto de herramientas que permite implementar las mejores prácticas en la planeación, el control de las habilidades entre los líderes y a su vez introducir un lenguaje común y la estandarización de documentos en el manejo de proyectos. Igualmente se detallarán herramientas que se utilizan en el ciclo de vida de la gestión de un proyecto tales como el análisis de costos, el análisis financiero, el método de estructura jerárquica de tareas conocido como Work Breakdown Structure. Se presenta un caso práctico donde se utilizan las técnicas de la metodología propuesta lo que demuestra su aplicabilidad en el entorno convirtiéndose en una herramietna útil para la gestión de proyectos de informática.

Integrated learning of computer applications for production engineering

A high productivity rate in Engineering is related to an efficient management of the flow of the large quantities of information and associated decision making activities that are consubstantial to the Engineering processes both in design and production contexts. Dealing with such problems from an integrated point of view and mimicking real scenarios is not given much attention in Engineering degrees. In the context of Engineering Education, there are a number of courses designed for developing specific competencies, as required by the academic curricula, but not that many in which integration competencies are the main target. In this paper, a course devoted to that aim is discussed. The course is taught in a Marine Engineering degree but the philosophy could be used in any Engineering field. All the lessons are given in a computer room in which every student can use each all the treated software applications. The first part of the course is dedicated to Project Management: the students acquire skills in defining, using Ms-PROJECT, the work breakdown structure (WBS), and the organization breakdown structure (OBS) in Engineering projects, through a series of examples of increasing complexity, ending up with the case of vessel construction. The second part of the course is dedicated to the use of a database manager, Ms-ACCESS, for managing production related information. A series of increasing complexity examples is treated ending up with the management of the pipe database of a real vessel. This database consists of a few thousand of pipes, for which a production timing frame is defined, which connects this part of the course with the first one. Finally, the third part of the course is devoted to the work with FORAN, an Engineering Production package of widespread use in the shipbuilding industry. With this package, the frames and plates where all the outfitting will be carried out are defined through cooperative work by the studens, working simultaneously in the same 3D model. In the paper, specific details about the learning process are given. Surveys have been posed to the students in order to get feed-back from their experience as well as to assess their satisfaction with the learning process. Results from these surveys are discussed in the paper

Integrated learning of production engineering software applications in a shipbuilding context

Acourse focused on the acquisition of integration competencies in ship production engineering, organized in collaboration with selected industry partners, is presented in this paper. The first part of the course is dedicated to Project Management: the students acquire skills in defining, using MS-PROJECT, the work breakdown structure (WBS), and the organization breakdown structure (OBS) in Engineering projects, through a series of examples of increasing complexity with the final one being the construction planning of a vessel. The second part of the course is dedicated to the use of a database manager, MS-ACCESS, in managing production related information.Aseries of increasing complexity examples is treated, the final one being the management of the piping database of a real vessel. This database consists of several thousand pipes, for which a production timing frame is defined connecting this part of the course with the first one. Finally, the third part of the course is devoted to working withFORAN,an Engineering Production application developed bySENERand widely used in the shipbuilding industry. With this application, the structural elements where all the outfittings will be located are defined through cooperative work by the students, working simultaneously in the same 3D model. In this paper, specific details about the learning process are given. Surveys have been posed to the students in order to get feedback from their experience as well as to assess their satisfaction with the learning process, compared to more traditional ones. Results from these surveys are discussed in the paper.

The impact of night work on subjective reports of well-being: an exploratory study of health care workers from five nations

OBJECTIVE: To carry out a survey data collection from health care workers in Brazil, Croatia, Poland, Ukraine and the USA with two primary goals: (1) to provide information about which aspects of well-being are most likely to need attention when shiftwork management solutions are being developed, and (2) to explore whether nations are likely to differ with respect to the impacts of night work on the well-being of workers involved in health care work. METHODS: The respondents from each nation were sorted into night worker and non-night worker groups. Worker perceptions of being physically tired, mentally tired, and tense at the end of the workday were examined. Subjective reports of perceived felt age were also studied. For each of these four dependent variables, an ANCOVA analysis was carried out. Hours worked per week, stability of weekly work schedule, and chronological age were the covariates for these analyses. RESULTS: The results clearly support the general proposal that nations differ significantly in worker perceptions of well-being. In addition, perceptions of physical and mental tiredness at the end of the workday were higher for night workers. For the perception of being physically tired at the end of a workday, the manner and degree to which the night shift impacts the workers varies by nation. CONCLUSIONS: Additional research is needed to determine if the nation and work schedule differences observed are related to differences in job tasks, work schedule structure, off-the-job variables, and/or other worker demographic variables.

Work motivation and pro-social behavior in the delivery of public services : theoretical and empirical insights

This Ph.D. dissertation seeks to study the work motivation of employees in the delivery of public services. The questioning on work motivation in public services in not new but it becomes central for governments which are now facing unprecedented public debts. The objective of this research is twofold : First, we want to see if the work motivation of employees in public services is a continuum (intrinsic and extrinsic motivations cannot coexist) or a bi-dimensional construct (intrinsic and extrinsic motivations coexist simultaneously). The research in public administration literature has focused on the concept of public service motivation, and considered motivation to be uni-dimensional (Perry and Hondeghem 2008). However, no study has yet tackled both types of motivation, the intrinsic and extrinsic ones, in the same time. This dissertation proposes, in Part I, a theoretical assessment and an empirical test of a global work motivational structure, by using a self-constructed Swiss dataset with employees from three public services, the education sector, the security sector and the public administrative services sector. Our findings suggest that work motivation in public services in not uni-dimensional but bi-dimensional, the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations coexist simultaneously and can be positively correlated (Amabile et al. 1994). Our findings show that intrinsic motivation is as important as extrinsic motivation, thus, the assumption that employees in public services are less attracted by extrinsic rewards is not confirmed for this sample. Other important finding concerns the public service motivation concept, which, as theoretically predicted, represents the major motivational dimension of employees in the delivery of public services. Second, the theory of public service motivation makes the assumption that employees in public services engage in activities that go beyond their self-interest, but never uses this construct as a determinant for their pro-social behavior. In the same time, several studies (Gregg et al. 2011 and Georgellis et al. 2011) bring evidence about the pro-social behavior of employees in public services. However, they do not identify which type of motivation is at the origin of this behavior, they only make the assumption of an intrinsically motivated behavior. We analyze the pro-social behavior of employees in public services and use the public service motivation as determinant of their pro-social behavior. We add other determinants highlighted by the theory of pro-social behavior (Bénabou and Tirole 2006), by Le Grand (2003) and by fit theories (Besley and Ghatak 2005). We test these determinants on Part II and identify for each sector of activity the positive or the negative impact on pro-social behavior of Swiss employees. Contrary to expectations, we find, for this sample, that both intrinsic and extrinsic factors have a positive impact on pro-social behavior, no crowding-out effect is identified in this sample. We confirm the hypothesis of Le Grand (2003) about the positive impact of the opportunity cost on pro-social behavior. Our results suggest a mix of action-oriented altruism and out-put oriented altruism of employees in public services. These results are relevant when designing incentives schemes for employees in the delivery of public services.